[Creature] A gentle abomination...

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Acervusaestuo


Drawn by Krimm Blackleaf. All rights reserved, etc.

Colossal Aberration
Hit Dice: 67d8+1005 (1306 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 200 ft. (40 squares)
Armor Class: 64 (+1 dex, +65 natural, -8 size), touch 9, flat-footed 63
Base Attack/Grapple: +50/+95
Attack: Bite +71 melee (5d8+24)
Full Attack: Bite +71 melee (5d8+24) and 8 slams +71 melee (4d8+12)
Space/Reach: 250 ft./200 ft. (300 ft. with slam)
Special Attacks: Crazy legs, husk of the immortal, ponderous
Special Qualities: Aberrant biology, blindsight 1000 ft., damage reduction 25/epic, resistance to acid and sonic 20
Saves: Fort +43, Ref +25, Will +50
Abilities: Str 58, Dex 12, Con 41, Int 3, Wis 5, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +45, Hide +50, Jump +45, Move Silently +29, Swim +39
Feats: Awesome Blow, Blind-Fight Dark Stalker, Defensive Sweep Diehard, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Bullrush, Improved Initiative, Improved Multiattack, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder,Knockback, Leap Attack, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Quick Recovery, Power Attack, Run, Snatch, Steadfast Determination
Epic Feats: Dire Charge, Epic Endurance, Epic Fortitude, Epic Skill Focus (hide)
Environment: Xoriat
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 40
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually Chaotic Neutral
Advancement: 68+ HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: -

This is a creature so large as to be almost impossible, appearing much as a fleshy, murky greenish-grey mass from which protrudes dozens of towering, segmented legs. It's mouth is a great opening in the body, surrounded by grasping limbs, with row after row of fangs. An slim, long tongue constantly flicks out out and twitches about, sensing it's environment.

An acervusaestuo is an experimental being cloned from the flesh of a Daelkyr scientist and allowed to grow and mutate like cancer. Unlike most of his experiments however this one continued to grow, and still does so, but at the current size it's continued growth is so slow as to be near unnoticeable.

It feeds off the thick, energy-filled mist that covers its land, only occasionally grabbing and eating something that piques its curiosity. It is quite light for it's size and retains a nimbleness at complete odds with it's bulk. It moves in what appears as a controlled stumble of flailing limbs that nevertheless grants it considerable speed and agility.

Despite their size and ferocious appearance they are actually quite gentle, skittish creatures more given to fleeing and hiding than attacking. They are often known to stalk creatures for amusement through the mists, but often run away if caught doing so.

An acervusaestuo cannot speak. They are roughly 250 feet in length, and stands 400 feet tall. They weigh roughly 10,000 lbs.

Combat
An acervusaestuo will rarely attack unless backed into a corner and threatened. They then retaliate with devasting results, leaping with desperation at their opponent and trashing the area. While in this state they will blindly attack anything that moves.

Abberant Biology: An acervusaestuo has immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning effects. It is also immune to psychometabolic powers.

Blindsight (Ex): An acervusaestuo is blind (and immune to gaze attacks and similar abilities), but it maneuvers and fights as well as a sighted creature by using it's tongue for scent and determining air pressure to ascertain its surroundings. Used together it gains blindsight and the scent ability out to 1000 feet.

Crazy Legs (Ex): An acervusaestuo's limbs seem to have a mind of their own and can continue to use it's slam attacks or flee in a straight line even if the creature would normally be rendered unconscious or in some way rendered immobilized yet not bound or stuck in some way. Even mental effects cannot keep an acervusaestuo from fleeing or using it's slam attacks.

An acervusaestuo may even disconnect one of it's legs and leave it behind, twitching and attacking. This leg is considered a colossal animated object with a speed of 20 feet, a hardness of 15, 250 foot space/200-foot reach, and can use the Constrict and Trample ability. While disconnected the acervusaestuo loses a slam attack. The acervusaestuo can lose as many legs as it has slam attacks though retains enough legs to continue movement. They regrow 1 leg per 1d4 days, though can reconnect a leg by holding it to the stump. The limb dies within 1 day.

Husk of the Immortal (Su): If an acervusaestuo is reduced to -10 hit points it does not truly die, though appears dead to all senses and spells. Its flesh however begins to twitch and swell as it's limbs shrivel. Within 1d10 minutes the entire form has become a lumpy, cancerous husk. This husk has a hardness of 15 and is 20 feet thick and each 10-foot square has 20 hit points per inch of thickness. Creatures can hit the husk automatically, though must succeed on a DC 48 reflex save or have their weapon become stuck in the mass. The object is immediately enveloped and slowly dissolved over the course of a day. The section of flesh must be breached to retrieve it. A section of husk whose hit points drop to 0 is breached. Those within may further damage the acervusaestuo, but unless reduced to minus hit points equal to it's normal positive total the husk will still allow the creature to regenerate by the following means.
Every living thing within 500 feet must succeed on a DC 48 fortitude save each round or take 4d6 points of Constitution damage. As well, it saps the life from all vegetation, no matter how small, as the Diminish Plants spell, effecting the area with both versions simultaneously.
The acervusaestuo heals 1 point of damage for every point of constitution dealt. It rises from the husk once it's hit point total is risen to half it's normal total. Until this total is reached it remains in a stage of suspended animation. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Ponderous (Ex): If it wishes, an acervusaestuo can can stomp violently as part of it's move action, shaking the ground around it. Those within 100 feet must succeed on a DC 72 balance check or fall prone. The save DC is Strength-based.

[Lappy9000]

[Stycotl]

very nice, but i think the cr is too high, even given attack modifiers and stuff. i'm not sure how much lower it should go, because epic is ridiculous anyway, but i'd probably say 30-35.

EDIT: giving this guy a 14+hit dice SR would alone make it more qualifiable in my mind for its current cr, though it would still feel a little lacking. maybe another special quality that plays far realms-style tricks with pc's that attempt teleport spells or something, which they most certainly will do given this guy's reach.

[The Demented One]

Awesomely epic, but with just a few quibbles.

• It's got a sub-10 touch AC, and no spell resistance. That'd make it easy pickings for casters far below level 40. Giving it SR around 50 would fix that up nicely.
• Some way to deal with fliers or ranged attacks would be nice, an acidic spit weapon might work for that.
• The acid and sonic resistances could pretty easily be upgraded to immunity, and resistances to other energy types wouldn't be out of place given the high CR.
• And finally, it might be worth mentioning that nny2 of deviantart also happens to be Krimm Blackleaf of GitP.

[Icewalker]

That's really cool. I know even less about mechanics at that level though, so no comment there.

However...(watchmen spoiler. Hopefully you've read it)

Spoiler

Show

Gotta say, Husk of the Immortal reminds me a lot of the end of Watchmen. Adventure potential in there