Bulette
Bulette (CR 9)
Solitary monstrosities, Bulettes are burrowing fiends created many thousands of years ago by some mad fool. They have escaped into the wild, and their magical strength serves them well as they prey upon just about everything they can catch.
Bulettes are maddened murderers, the sort of beast who will lay beneath the surface and follow you to your home and eat your children as you watch. Their strength, even for their enormous size, is mind-boggling. They can burrow through earth at good speed and tear their way through solid stone like a strong man clearing brush. Even worse, bulettes, despite their squat shape, are not clumsy. They are ridiculously agile, able to leap as if mounted on springs and dodge blows in combat like the most lissome elf. Their prowess is unnerving to see and utterly unnatural in origin.
Their huge maws administer gigantic bites that leave their victims battered and torn, their claws can strike in all directions, and all of this is driven by a dull, vicious intelligence that glares at the world in mute rage, always wanting more to kill, more to kill...
Bulettes are so vicious the main thing that limits their numbers in the wild is their own savage nature. Bulettes breed slowly, since it is hard for two of them to tolerate each other for long enough to raise any pups. That said, it is not uncommon to find a Bulette with one or more pups at its side, as the pups tend to stick to the monstrous parent for several years as they slowly mature. If you are extremely unfortunate, you may encounter a mated pair, although that is mercifully rare. Mated pairs may or may not have pups as well...
General
CR 9 Hit Dice 14
XP 25,600 (Threat Role included)
NE Huge Magical Beast
Init +8; Senses Low-Light Vision 120ft, Scent, Standard Tremorsense 60ft, Perception +15
Defense
AC 28, touch 18, flat-footed 22 (+5 armor, +6 dex, +5 natural, +2 deflection)
hp 480 Threat Role included.
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +12
Aura: -
SR: -
Special Defenses Resurgence
Immunities Immunity to first 5 incidence of any Status Effects, See Threat Role
Weaknesses -
Offense
Speed 40 ft, Burrow 40ft, Earth Glide 10ft.
Space / Reach 15 ft. / 10 ft.
Single Melee Savage Bite +16 (4d8+16/x2) + Bruised
Full Melee Savage Bite +16 (4d8+16/x2) + Bruised, 2x Claws +15 (4d6+2/x2)
Ranged none, but see Breaching
Special Attacks Breaching, Resurgence
Action Points 2, See Threat Role
Statistics
Str 26, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 4, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 25
Feats
- Combat Reflexes (Effect: Up to five attacks of opportunity per round.)
- Mobility (Effect: AC 32 versus Attacks of Opportunity)
Skills Acrobatics +13
Languages -
Special Abilities
- Breaching (Ex)
As a full attack action, the bulette may use its unholy strength to either spring into the air or plunge through the ground and move a number of squares equal to its move rating. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and must end in a 15'×15' unoccupied space that the bulette can fit into without squeezing. At the end of this movement, the bulette can make a claw attack against every foe in its reach. (Claws: +15 (4d6+2/×2))
- Resurgence (Ex)
When it is reduced to zero hit points for the first time in a combat, the bulette is not killed. Instead, it burrows beneath the surface and vanishes, as a triggered free action. Combat progresses normally until the next round, when at its normal initiative count, the bulette bursts to the surface again, anywhere within 20' of its last position. At this point, the bulette is reset to half its original hit point total and any status conditions it was suffering are cleared.
Any enemy figure whose space is completely or partially inside the bulette's space is violently tossed aside by this resurgence. Allied creatures are simply moved aside with no other ill effects. The bulette may move any and all creatures affected by resurgence to any legal square adjacent to its space. This is considered a forced movement and does not provoke. All enemy creatures moved in this way may make a Reflex save versus a DC of 19. If they fail this save, they are rendered prone adjacent to the bulette and take 5d6 of damage. If they save, they are not prone and take half damage. Bursting to the surface after Resurgence is a move action for the bulette, and it may attack normally afterwards.
Treasure
sell value of approximately 16,000 gp (Threat Role included)
Combat Tactics
Bulettes are fearsome and terrible in combat. They are fully aware of their Combat Reflexes and Mobility abilities, and will move back or take five-foot steps to open up the range and get more attacks of opportunity every chance they get. They will spread their Savage Bite around if possible, to slow down any healing their victims are using. When they are getting pressed, they will use Breaching to shake up the field of battle, going to attack ranged and supporting characters, and force any melee attackers to close the distance again and suffer even more attacks of opportunity with that Savage Bite.
If a Bulette is taking damage from a foe it cannot reach, such as a flying foe or one that is stealthed or invisible to all its senses, the Bulette will immediately burrow away, leaving any of its pups behind. If a Bulette flees in this manner, it is NOT defeated and the adventurers gain no rewards, just as for the pups. A Bulette which has fled in this manner will then patiently stalk the adventurers and will attack them in town or at another opportune time, preferably while they are asleep.
Bulettes will usually spend one action point early in the fight so they can take a normal move and then use a full attack action against a soft target. They almost always save their second action point to use when they use Resurgence, so after they burst to the surface they can get a full attack action against a prone target.
Bulettes are completely fearless and will fight to the death without even a pause.
Note to Referees
Bulettes are Threat rated monsters. A single Bulette is a good encounter for four player characters. For each player character in your party after four, add a Bullette Pup to the encounter until you reach three. If you have eight players, first, wow, and second, they should encounter a mated pair of Bulettes. Yikes.... If you have even more players than that, keep adding pups and Bulettes to keep the encounter challenging.
Bulette Pup (CR 9)
Bulette Pups are the Henchmen for the terrible Bulettes. It is possible to meet a Bulette Pup without a Bulette, using them as a standalone monster, but referees should emphasize that where there are Pups, there are likely to be adults.
Juvenile Bulettes are horrific monsters all by themselves, but their jealous parents won't let them leave their sight until the lesser fiends are able to fight their way clear. As a result, nearly all Bulette Pups are encountered while their parent is nearby.
As terrible as the Bulette Pup is, most adventurers who have fought a Bulette barely mention the lesser monster.
Because Bulettes are just that nasty.
Even though they are large, armored, and deadly monstrosities, Bulette Pups are overshadowed by their terrible parents in every way, and as a result are little remarked in adventurers circles.
During battle, any time the parent is close to the Pup, the Pup will attack with frenzied strength as it seeks to impress its parent. Pups will deliberately maneuver to try and fight close enough to their parent to gain this benefit, as they try to show their parent that they are ready to "leave the nest," as it were.
General
CR 9 Hit Dice 14
XP 6,400
NE Large Monstrous Beast
Init +4; Senses darkvision 120ft, tremorsense 60ft, Perception +14
Defense
AC 28, touch 18, flat-footed 22 (+5 armor, +6 dex, +5 natural, +2 deflection)
hp 160
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +8
Aura: -
SR: -
Special Defenses: -
Immunities: -
Weaknesses: -
Offense
Speed 40 ft., Burrow 40ft, Earth Glide 10 ft.
Space / Reach: 10 ft. / 5 ft.
Single Melee Savage Bite +15 (2d8+8/x2)
Full Melee Savage Bite +15 (2d8+8/x2), 2x Claws +15 (2d6+1/x2)
Ranged -
Special Attacks Show Off, Break For It!
Action Points 0
Statistics
Str 22, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 4, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 25
Feats -
Skills -
Languages -
Special Abilities
- Break for It! (Ex)
If the Bulette is killed (after its Resurgence) while the Bulette Pup is still alive, as an immediate triggered reaction the Bulette Pup burrows away and vanishes, finally free of the tyranny of its monstrous parent. However, if a Bulette Pup uses its Break For It power, it is NOT considered to be defeated, and does NOT grant experience or treasure.
- Show Off (Ex)
Any time the Bulette Pup is in the Bulette's threatened area, the Bulette Pup gains +4 damage with all its attacks as it seeks to impress the greater monster — and avoid getting a swat for slacking off...
Treasure
sell value of approximately 4,000 gp
Combat Tactics
Bulette Pups have only two interests when in a fight with their parental monstrosities:
- Impress their parent Bulette
- Escape!
Bulette Pups will try to stay close to the Bulette to gain the Showoff bonus, and will attack savagely while they do. If at all possible they will try to gain full attacks, although given how mobile the adult Bulette is, that isn't always possible
Aside from that, as soon as the adult Bulette is killed or flees, they leave instantly, with no hesitation. However, since an escaped Bulette Pup just means another adult Bulette soon, if the players allow a Bulette Pup to escape this way it is NOT a victory and grants no rewards. So, this gives players a hard choice: Concentrate on the Bulette to shorten the battle, or concentrate on the pups to maximize their rewards.