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View Full Version : Pathfinder Resuscitating the Equar – Planar Horses of Every Stripe!



Scalamander
2015-08-30, 10:47 PM
These guys first appeared in Dragon #243 and, other than the Favonian, none have ever seen write ups in the later editions. Here are my ideas based on the original article and some of my own inspiration. Eventually I hope to post all of the original nine plus some offshoots of my own design. Let me know what you think.

Equar Subtype
Equars are a race of horse-like magical beasts whose many breeds have adapted to life on the Outer Planes. Equars have the following traits unless otherwise noted.
• Immunity to petrification, disease and poison
• Independent Spirit (Ex) All Equar gain a +4 morale bonus on saves against charm and compulsion spells and effects.
• Keen Senses (Ex) All Equar gain a +4 racial bonus on Perception checks to avoid being surprised.
• Recall (Sp) Once per day an Equar can use plane shift to transport themselves and their rider, if any, back to their home plane (noted in their description).
• All Equars speak equine and any language common to their home plane.

Trothspyre (CR 7)
XP 3,200
LG Large Magical Beast (Equar, Extraplanar)
Init +3; Senses scent, Perception +12
Aura protection from evil (rider only)
Languages Celestial, Equine
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AC 17 (+3 Dex, +5 natural, -1 size), touch 12, flat-footed 14, combat 29 (33 against bull rush or trip)
hp 120 (10d10+70); DR 5/evil
Immune disease, petrification, poison
Weakness nightfall vulnerability
Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +7 (+4 bonus against charm and compulsion effects)
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Speed 50ft.
Melee Gore +16 (2d6+6 plus 1 positive), 2 hooves +11 (1d6+3)
Space 10ft.; Reach 5ft.
Base Atk +10; Combat +15
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Spell-like Abilities (Caster level 10th, concentration +14)
3/day – detect evil, discern lies (Will DC 19), protection from evil
1/day – cure serious wounds, plane shift (plus rider, Celestia only)
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Abilities Str 23, Dex 16, Con 25, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 18
SQ sanctified horn
Feats Diehard, Endurance, Improved Natural Attack (gore), Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (gore)
Skills Heal +7, Perception +12 Racial +4 Perception
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Nightfall Vulnerability (Su): Once the sun goes down, the Trothspyre goes more than 40ft. underground or it is in the area of a darkness spell, it takes a -2 penalty to its AC, attacks and damage rolls as long as the condition persists.

Sanctified Horn (Su): A touch from a Trothspyre’s horn heals 1 point of damage and ends bleed effects. The gore natural attack deals double damage to chaotic evil creatures and the undead. Good creatures take no damage from the attack. A Trothspyre can also deliver its cure serious wounds spell-like ability through its gore natural attack.

Lore
Arcana DC 10 - This creature is a Trothspyre, one breed of a race of outer-planes dwelling magical horse beasts known as Equars.

DC 15 – A Trothspyre can be brought to the material realm by a lawful good summoner who must undertake a ritual to summon the creature and then negotiate a contract for its service.

DC 17 – A Trothspyre refuses to eat anything but grains and oats that have been blessed, as the spell, by a lawful good priest.

DC 17 – A Trothspyre demands at least four hours of the day be devoted to sun bathing and grazing in the sunshine.

DC 20 – The crystal horn of a Trothspyre has healing properties and is especially effective at defeating demons, undead and other chaotic evil creatures.

DC 25 – A Trothspyre becomes skittish and nervous once it can no longer see the sun and its ability to dodge hits and deliver its own is greatly reduced.

Planes DC 12 – Horse-like creatures called Trothspyres run in great herds on the 1st layer of Celestia.

Scalamander
2015-08-31, 10:35 AM
For a creature with so much focus on poison, it seemed odd that they couldn't actually poison anyone. I changed their special tongue attack so that it will be more effective than dealing damage only to creatures that have natural poison attacks.

Equar, Banecourser (CR 7)
XP 3,200
LE Large Magical Beast (Equar, Extraplanar)
Init +3; Senses see in darkness, scent; Perception +12
Aura black rider (light sensitivity, protection from good and see in darkness, rider only)
Languages Equine, Infernal
__________________________________________________ _______________________________________________
AC 17 (+3 Dex, +5 natural, -1 size), touch 12, flat-footed 14, combat 31 (35 against bull rush or trip)
hp 110 (10d10 + 60); DR 5/silver
Immune disease, petrification, poison
Weakness silver aversion
Fort +15, Ref +10, Will +8 (+4 bonus against charm and compulsion effects)
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Speed 50 ft.
Melee 2 hooves +16 (1d8 + 7) and tongue +14 (1d6 + 3 plus poison / venom theft)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +10; Combat +18
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Spell-like Abilities (Caster level 10th, Concentration +13)
At will - charm person (DC, detect poison, neutralize poison
1/day - glibness (DC 18), plane shift (plus rider, Baator only), suggestion (DC 18)
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Abilities Str 24, Dex 17, Con 22, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 17
SQ regal bearing, venom theft
Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Multiattack, Run*, Weapon Focus (hoof)
Skills Intimidate +10, Perception +12

Regal Bearing (Su): A Banecourser may use the aid another action to add a +2 profane bonus to any Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate skill check that its rider performs as long as it is astride its back.

Silver Aversion (Su): A Banecourser cannot cross a line of silver and if it becomes trapped in a circle of silver it plane shifts back to Baator as an immediate action.

Venom Theft (Su): If a Banecourser hits a creature with its tongue and that creature has a natural ability to poison, items that cause poisoning or vials of poison, those abilities and/or items are suppressed for 1d6+1 rounds.
If a Banecourser has suppressed a poison ability in the last 24 hours, it can choose to add that poison to its tongue attack. A Banecourser must always use the last poison it suppressed for this attack. The poison lasts until the Banecourser strikes another creature with poison abilities or items.

Lore
Arcana DC 10 - This creature is a Banecourser, one breed of a race of outer-planes dwelling magical horse beasts known as Equars.

DC 15 – A Banecourser can be brought to the material realm by a lawful evil summoner who must undertake a ritual to summon the creature and then negotiate a contract for its service.

DC 17 – A Banecourser requires that it be fed at least 50gp of poison a day or else it will refuse to allow its summoner to mount it and may break the contract entirely.

DC 20 – Once sitting astride the Banecourser, the rider finds that all their bribes, threats and deals go a lot smoother

DC 22 – The tongue of a Banecourser is barbed and covered in blue-green boils. It has the ability to steal the poison from an enemy and then use it against them.

DC 26 – A Banecourser will not willingly cross a line of silver metal or dust and if it becomes trapped in a circle of such materials, it uses plane shift, as the spell, to return to Baator.

Planes DC 10 – Banecoursers are horse-like creatures native to the first layer of Hell and commonly rounded up into the infernal cavalry.

Scalamander
2015-09-03, 06:59 PM
Here I am with another one after being sick for a while with no motivation. This guy has upped natural armor for being so metal and rocky sounding in its descriptions. I also picturing it ramming other creatures with the thick plates on its head rather then a more normal bite. Otherwise the original was somewhat lacking in special abilities other then its augmenting of the rider so I gave it command, after looking at the special ability for the inevitable subdomain. Apparently the Equar and the Inevitables are linked in some way that I will get around to fleshing out later. In the meantime, let me know what you think.

Equar, Lithicthil (CR 6)
XP 2,600
LN Large Magical Beast (Equar, Extraplanar)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
Aura (immunity to fear effects, rider only)
Languages Equine, Vaati
AC 18 (+2 Dex, +7 natural, -1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 16, combat 29 (33 against bull rush or trip)
hp 126 (9d10 + 81); DR 5/chaos
Immune disease, petrification, poison
Weakness chaos magic vulnerability
Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +8 (+4 bonus against charm and compulsion effects)
Speed 50 ft.
Melee Head Butt +15 (1d8+7) and 2 hooves +13 (1d6+3)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +9; Combat +17
SA augment rider
Spell-like Abilities (Caster level 9th, Concentration +11)
At will – detect charm, remove fear
3/day – command (Will DC 17)
1/day – meld into stone, plane shift (plus rider, Mechanus only)
Abilities Str 24, Dex 15, Con 28, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 15
SQ -
Feats Endurance, Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Multiattack, Run*, Weapon Focus (hoof)
Skills Perception +14, Sense Motive +11

Augment Rider (Su): As a full-round action, a Lithicthil Equar can grant its rider a +2 axiomatic bonus to one of their ability scores, as determined by the Lithicthil Equar. This bonus lasts until the Lithicthil Equar decides to spend another full-round action to remove or change the ability score the bonus affects. If the rider goes more than 100ft. away from the Lithicthil Equar the bonus also disappears and once the rider is again within range, the Lithicthil Equar can take a new full-round action to once again bestow the bonus.

Chaos Magic Vulnerability (Su): Any spell with the chaos descriptor that affects the Lithicthil Equar deals chaotic damage equal to the caster level of the spell. This damage is in addition to any caused by the spell and takes effect even if the original spell was non-damaging.

Lore

Arcana DC 12 – This creature is a Lithicthil, one breed of a race of outer-planes dwelling horse-beasts.

DC 16 – Lithicthil’s are known to enhance the natural abilities of their riders and so are highly sought out for mounts. The riders never realize it is the Lithicthil itself that decides which of the rider’s abilities to enhance.

DC 18 – Chaos magic is especially damaging to Lithicthil’s and even being near such a spell causes them a great deal of pain.

Planes DC 14 – The Lithicthil makes its home on Mechanus and can use its lawful powers to command other creatures to do its bidding

DC 17 - One of the largest herds of on Mechanus is led by a giant Lithicthil known as the Implacable Courser, who many whisper used to number among the ranks of the Elite Inevitables.

Debihuman
2015-09-20, 06:20 PM
Nice to see these updated to Pathfinder. Originally, there were greater and lesser versions of these. Special abilities that cause damage should have a saving throw. Here are my suggested changes.

Just some minor editing critiques. Augment Rider could be a bit clearer.

Augment Rider (Su): As a full-round action, a lithicthil can grant a +2 axiomatic bonus to one of its rider's ability scores, as determined by the lithicthil. This bonus lasts until the lithicthil decides to spend another full-round action to remove or change the ability score the bonus affects. If the rider goes more than 100 ft. away from the lithicthil, the bonus disappears; once the rider is again within range, the lithicthil can take a new full-round action to once again bestow the bonus.

Chaos Magic Vulnerability needs to be a little clearer since there is no "chaotic damage" type. The correct descriptor is [chaotic] not chaos. Also, there probably should be a save involved to avoid the additional damage.

Chaos Magic Vulnerability (Su): Any spell with the [chaotic] descriptor that affects a lithicthil also deals an amount of damage equal to the caster level of the spell. This damage is in addition to any caused by the spell and takes effect even if the original spell was non-damaging. A lithicthil equar may make a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + spell level + spellcaster's spellcasting ability modifier) to avoid this additional damage.


Does Silver Aversion only affect just the banecourser or would the planeshift also affect its rider? It's possible that the banecouser equar planeshifts but leaves the rider behind.

Venom Theft is a bit confusing. I think this is a bit clearer. There should be a Reflex save for creatures to avoid having their poisons stolen.

Venom Theft (Su): If a banecourser hits a creature with its tongue and that creature has a natural ability to poison, or has items that cause poisoning, or has vials of poison, those abilities and/or items are suppressed for 1d6+1 rounds unless the affected creature succeeds at a Reflex save (DC 19). If a banecourser has suppressed a poison ability in the last 24 hours, it can choose to add that poison to its tongue attack. A banecourser must always use the last poison it suppressed for this attack. The poison lasts until the banecourser strikes another creature with poison abilities or items. The save DC is Charisma-based.

This is as far as I've gotten but let me know what you think.

Debby