Quirksteed
The silhouette of a horse can be seen amongst the murky fog in front of you. It nears at an alarming pace, and as it draws close you see more clearly a thick rubbery hide and vicious fanged maw.
Name CR 2
XP 800
True Neutral Large Aberration
Init +2;
Senses Darkvision; Perception +7
Defenses
AC 13, Touch 11, flatfooted 11; (+2 Dex, +2 Nat, -1 Size )
HP 17 (2d8+8);
Fort +4,
Ref +2,
Will +5
Offenses
Speed 50 ft.
Melee 1 Bite +4 (1d8 +3), 2 Claws +2 (1d6 +1), 1 Tail Slap +2 (1d4 +1 plus Poison)
Space 10 ft.;
Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks
Trample (1d6+4, DC 14)
Statistics
Str 16,
Dex 14,
Con 18,
Int 3,
Wis 14,
Cha 8
Base Atk +1;
CMB +5;
CMD
Feats Run, Multiattack
Skills Perception +7, Stealth +8, Swim +7
Languages None
Special Abilities
Poison (Ex) Tail—injury; save Fort DC 15, frequency 1/round for 2 rounds, effect 1d3 Dex, cure 1 save;
Ecology
Environment Any warm environment
Organization: Solitary, Pair or Herd (3-20)
Treasure: None
Distant cousins of horses and other equine animals, primeval Quirksteeds are much more deadly carnivores than their relatives, as well as much more difficult to train. Quirksteeds typically travel in familial herds to run down prey, usually by overrunning them with their clawed legs and returning for a (sometimes unnecessary) bite or two. Although technically a Quirksteed could eat almost anything, much like dragons, they have never been observed to eat anything other than fresh or cooked meat. They are not picky when it comes to the kind of meat and will become very aggressive, even to 'masters', if hungry.
For the DM: Quirksteeds are strong-willed and somewhat overconfident, but noticeably less so when encountered on their own or in smaller numbers. If an opponent withstands their first few attacks they may simply turn and run, confident they can find an easier meal elsewhere. They usually only use their tail slap on opponents attempting to circle around them and reserve their clawed legs for their trample attacks unless a meal is being particularly stubborn.