Verminous Constructs
Welcome again to From the Workshop, where we showcase a bevy of new magic items, monsters and even alternate class features. This week I have a trio of constructs based off of the cobra construct archetype, but using different creatures instead of a cobra.
Iron Scorpion
First up we have the iron scorpion. The iron scorpion has a deadly accurate ranged delivery system for contact poisons in addition to its poison sting.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Find Target (Su): Once per day, an iron scorpion's creator can order it to find and kill a specific creature within 1 mile, which it does as if guided by discern location. The creator must have seen or be holding an item from the specified creature for this order to function.
Poison (Ex): An iron scorpion's sting injects poison from a hidden reservoir within its body. Because it is a construct, the scorpion does not naturally produce this poison, and its creator must refill this reservoir manually. The reservoir holds enough poison for 3 successful sting attacks, after which the creature merely deals sting damage. Refilling the reservoir takes 5 rounds and provokes attacks of opportunity. The creator can fill the reservoir with any injury poison (typically large scorpion venom), though acid, alchemical substances, and even stranger liquids have been used.
Large Scorpion Venom: Sting—injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Str damage; cure 1 save.
Poison Spray (Ex): An iron scorpion can spray poison into the eyes of its opponent as a ranged touch attack. The poisons used for the spray are stored in a different reservoir than the sting poison. This second reservoir is smaller than the sting’s reservoir and can only hold enough poison for 2 spray attacks. A creature hit by the poison must make Fortitude saves to resist the poison, and must also succeed a DC 10 Reflex save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. The creator can fill this reservoir with any contact poison (typically violet venom), though acid, alchemical substances, and even stranger liquids have been used.
Violet Venom: Sting—contact; save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 6 minutes; effect 1d2 Str and 1d2 Con damage; cure 1 save.
Construction
An iron scorpion's body is built from 100 pounds of magically treated materials (typically iron).
CL 11th; Price 15,000 gp (iron); 75,000 gp (adamantine), 30,000 gp (cold iron), 16,000 (darkwood), or 37,500 gp (mithral)
Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, discern location, geas/quest; Skill Craft (armor), Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (carpentry [for darkwood scorpions only]), or Craft (weapons) DC 15; Cost 7,500 gp (iron); 37,500 gp (adamantine); 15,000 gp (cold iron); 8,000 gp (darkwood); 18,750 gp (mithral)
Variants
Iron is the most common material for these creations, but some crafters prefer more exotic materials when creating these constructs.
Adamantine Scorpion (+1 CR): This scorpion is more solidly built than others. Its natural armor bonus increases to +12, it gains +5 hp per HD, and it gains DR 10/—.
Cold Iron Scorpion (+0 CR): This scorpion’s natural attacks count as cold iron for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction.
Darkwood Scorpion (+0 CR): This scorpion is more mobile; it gains a burrow speed of 30 ft. (that functions only in sand) and a climb speed of 30 ft.
Mithral Scorpion (+1 CR): This scorpion is much swifter. Its Dexterity increases by +4 and its speed to 70 ft., and it gains the ability to grab and constrict with its claws.
Iron Spider
Next we have the iron spider. Thanks to the addition of a web spell in its creation, the iron spider is capable of creating webs just like its organic cousins.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Find Target (Su): Once per day, an iron spider's creator can order it to find and kill a specific creature within 1 mile, which it does as if guided by discern location. The creator must have seen or be holding an item from the specified creature for this order to function.
Poison (Ex): An iron spider's bite injects poison from a hidden reservoir within its body. Because it is a construct, the spider does not naturally produce this poison, and its creator must refill this reservoir manually. The reservoir holds enough poison for 3 successful bite attacks, after which the creature merely deals bite damage. Refilling the reservoir takes 5 rounds and provokes attacks of opportunity. The creator can fill the reservoir with any injury poison (typically medium spider venom), though acid, alchemical substances, and even stranger liquids have been used.
Medium spider venom: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 14; frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Str damage; cure 1 save.
Construction
An iron spider's body is built from 100 pounds of magically treated materials (typically iron).
CL 7th; Price 4,000 gp (iron); 20,000 gp (adamantine), 8,000 gp (cold iron), 5,000 (darkwood), or 10,000 gp (mithral)
Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, discern location, geas/quest, web; Skill Craft (armor), Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (carpentry [for darkwood spiders only]), or Craft (weapons) DC 15; Cost 2,000 gp (iron); 10,000 gp (adamantine); 4,000 gp (cold iron); 2,500 gp (darkwood); 5,000 gp (mithral)
Variants
Iron is the most common material for these creations, but some crafters prefer more exotic materials when creating these constructs.
Adamantine Spider (+1 CR): This spider is more solidly built than others. Its natural armor bonus increases to +12, it gains +5 hp per HD, and it gains DR 10/—.
Cold Iron Spider (+0 CR): This spider’s natural attacks count as cold iron for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction.
Darkwood Spider (+0 CR): This spider is more mobile; it gains a swim speed of 30 ft. and its climb speed increases to 30 ft.
Mithral Spider (+1 CR): This spider is much swifter. Its Dexterity increases by +4 and its speed to 50 ft., and it can make 2 bite attacks per round as a full attack action.
Iron Wasp
Finally we have the iron wasp. The iron wasp boasts the largest poison reservoir of any of the iron construct, capable of holding almost twice the amount other iron constructs are capable of holding.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Find Target (Su): Once per day, an iron wasp's creator can order it to find and kill a specific creature within 1 mile, which it does as if guided by discern location. The creator must have seen or be holding an item from the specified creature for this order to function.
Poison (Ex): An iron wasp's bite injects poison from a hidden reservoir within its body. Because it is a construct, the wasp does not naturally produce this poison, and its creator must refill this reservoir manually. The reservoir holds enough poison for 5 successful sting attacks, after which the creature merely deals sting damage. Refilling the reservoir takes 1 minute and provokes attacks of opportunity. The creator can fill the reservoir with any injury poison (typically giant wasp poison), though acid, alchemical substances, and even stranger liquids have been used.
Giant wasp poison: Sting—injury; save Fort DC 18; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex damage; cure 1 save.
Construction
CL 9th; Price 12,000 gp (iron); 60,000 gp (adamantine), 24,000 gp (cold iron), 13,000 (darkwood), or 30,000 gp (mithral)
Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, discern location, fly, geas/quest; Skill Craft (armor), Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (carpentry [for darkwood wasps only]), or Craft (weapons) DC 15; Cost 6,000 gp (iron); 30,000 gp (adamantine); 12,000 gp (cold iron); 7,200 gp (darkwood); 15,000 gp (mithral)
Variant
Iron is the most common material for these creations, but some crafters prefer more exotic materials when creating these constructs.
Adamantine Wasp (+1 CR): This wasp is more solidly built than others, but the extra weight hinders its ability to fly. Its natural armor bonus increases to +12, it gains +5 hp per HD, it gains DR 10/—, and its fly speed’s maneuverability becomes poor.
Cold Iron Wasp (+0 CR): This wasp’s natural attacks count as cold iron for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction.
Darkwood Wasp (+0 CR): This wasp is more mobile; its land speed increases by 10 ft. and its fly speed’s maneuverability becomes good.
Mithral Wasp (+1 CR): This wasp is much swifter. Its Dexterity increases by +4 and its fly speed to 80 ft., and it can make 2 sting attacks per round as a full attack action.