Monster - Argnot

[Altrunchen]

Introduction:
This is a little monster I came up with that is intended to be a pretty simple yet difficult encounter. It's a big, heavy armored quadruped that has decent armor and some formidable defenses. These things are basically supposed to be damage sponges for whatever reason the DM could come up with.

Information
Argnots are a species of heavily armored creatures that burrow deep into solid rock to form their homes. Once in a while they can be seen above ground when they are seeking out a mate or if they are moving to a new home. Sometimes argnots will forage above ground if the water table is very high but this is rather uncommon. Argnots are omnivores and eat anything from roots, bushes, trees and grubs to moles or whatever is smaller than they are and can be broken into tiny pieces by their claws. In fact argnots do not have teeth but instead have a sharp beak akin to that of a turtle. Therefore they must break up their food with their powerful claws before using their long sticky tongues to pull the pieces into their mouths for consumption. They are known for being very territorial and will lash out very quickly with their powerful claws at any creature who threatens them.

Argnots live to be about 230 years old and reach maturation at about 28 years after birth. Argnot pregnancy takes about 16 months after conception. At the end of this period the argnot mother digs a nest deep into the ground where the rock is significantly warm, there she lays her eggs which usually hatch about a week after being laid. They tend to live in colonies that consist of groups of families. Each family has one female and one male and can host anywhere from 1 to 10 offspring. Colonies tend to reach a cap at around 100 or so members. Generally speaking, colonies will migrate together and will create elaborate cave systems by burrowing together.

There are subtle differences between argnot males and females. These being differences in the hormones and pheromones and of course in the reproductive systems of each of them. Apart from these factors, argnots are not as different across genders as opposed to other species.

Many basements, caves, sewers, tombs, dungeons, and other underground complexes have been known to be tunneled into by argnots. In fact the most typical circumstance where sapient life is exposed to argnots is during expeditions underground.

A top-down token of an argnot that I made.

Argnot
Size/Type: Huge Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 7d10+56 (94 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 20 ft.
Armor Class: 19, touch 7, flat-footed 20 (-2 size, -1 dex, +12 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+24
Attack: Claw +14 (3d6+13)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +14 (3d6+13)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction (10 -/-), Immunity to Fire, Immunity to Cold, Immunity to Electricity, Acid Resistance 10, Sonic Resistance 10, Scent, Darkvision
Saves: Fort +15, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 8, Con 26, Int 4, Wis 8, Cha 6
Skills: Listen 1,Search 3, Spot 1, Survival 1
Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary, Pair, Family (3-10), Colony (6-100)
Challenge Rating: 6.9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 8-14 (Gargantuan), 15-21 (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: —

Argnots stand to be about 8' 6" high and tend to grow to be about 16' 0" long. Generally they weigh around 30,000 lbs.

[Debihuman]

Very flavorful background. A few missteps but that is easily fixed.

Damage reduction 10/- is necessary because it is very slow. How far is their darkvision? Standard is 60 feet.
Most of its special abilities are kinda boring. Sonic resistance feels tacked on as it has no roar or howl.

It has 10 skill points to use, but why is its Wisdom so low? These things live for over two hundred years, and survive. That suggests they can outwit their opponents since they clearly can't outrun them.

Generally, such big creatures in large numbers would require huge amounts of food, which is usually scarce underground. Where are the trees they eat? Are you creating an underground forest for them or do they spend a great deal of time at the surface foraging for food? With their name, I half expected them to be rock eaters. Also, why aren't the drow hunting these for food? They are slow and have no resistance to poison or spells. I can't imagine there are enough small mammals underground to support a colony of these things. You might want to rethink their food source.

It has an Int 4, so it should understand at least one language, even if it can't speak. These may not be clever, but they would have some tactics.

Challenge rating should be a whole number. These strike me as a 6 rather than a 7.

Debby