Flashing Astral Construct

Flashing Astral Construct (CR 16)

Neutral - Medium - Construct

Lore:	Know (Arcana)
34		47
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

27

Perception:
37	+27
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Blindsense 120 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.
• Hover 50 ft.
• Lesser Flight 50 ft.

Defense

AC

38

Man Def

39

Monster Health
475	237	31
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+13
Refl:	+13
Will:	+18

Strong Against:

• (Construct 1) Immune (no effect): diseases (infected, diseased, blighted), poisons (tainted, poisoned, blighted), ability damage (dilution, damage, drain), and essence damage (suppression, omission, destruction)
• (Construct 2) Immune (no effect): bleeds (bruised, bleed, ruptured), fatigued, exhausted
• (Construct 3) Immune (no effect): magical sleep (drowsy, sluggish, asleep), paralyzed, stunned
• (Construct 4) Immune (no effect): any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)
• Immune to Positive (energy, uncommon) and Negative (energy, uncommon) energy

• Immune to Fear
• Immune to damage caused by any spell or ability with the Light descriptor

Weak Against:

• Cannot heal damage on its own, but can be repaired via Make Whole, Greater Make Whole, Field Repair, or a workshop and the Creator feat.

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+24

Man Off

+27

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Astral Saber +24 (3d8+18/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Ghost Touch

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Astral Saber +24 (3d8+18/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Ghost Touch

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Razing Flash +24 (3d8+18/19-20 x2)
  as Light (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 1000 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Razing Flash +24 (3d8+18/19-20 x2)
  as Light (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 1000 ft.)

Siege Damage:

• 1x Razing Flash +27 (1d6+2)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 1000 ft.)
  only damages structures and unattended objects

Statistics

20

STR

22

DEX

—

CON

8

INT

20

WIS

20

CHA

Skills:

• Diplomacy: 27
• Knowledge (Local): 27
• Perception: 27
• Sense Motive: 27
• All other skills: 22 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, possibly others depending upon builder

Feats:

Special Abilities

Flashing Highlights (Su, Gaze) Swift Action

As a swift action, a Flashing Astral Construct may activate an ectoplasmic sheen to their surface that reflects ambient light into punishing, darting, highlights. Any creature within 50 feet that looks at a Flashing Astral Construct with their gaze attack active must make a Reflex Saving Throw at the beginning of their turns, versus a DC of 27 or be Blinded to all vision permanently. If the save is made, the creature is still Dazzled until the beginning of their next turn. Both effects may be avoided by averting your gaze or not looking at the Construct, but any attacks made against the Flashing Astral Construct miss on a Natural Roll of 12 or less on the die ( Total Concealment (see Gaze attack rules) unless you have some non-vision sense that allows combat targeting.

Searing Flash (Sp) Standard Action 1/Enc

Concentration: 1d20 + 19 vs. a DC of 31 (12 needed on the die) Once per encounter as a standard action, a Flashing Astral Construct may emit a burst of pure Light, so bright that shocked survivors tell of being able to see the skeletons of their friends right through their armor. The Searing Flash is incredibly bright, but lasts so briefly it might be easy to think you'd imagined it, except for the shattered ruin it leaves behind. Searing Flash affects a 35-foot diameter area (7 x 7 squares), within 30 feet of the Flashing Astral Construct. All creatures caught in the area of effect suffer 3d8+18 points of Light (energy, uncommon) damage, but may make a Reflex save, DC 27, to take only half damage. Searing Flash also inflicts one point of durability damage on all unattended objects of size Fine and smaller in its area of effect regardless of their material, and inflicts one point of durability damage on unattended objects smaller than size Medium if they are made of 'soft' material such as cloth, wood, fur, leather, and the like. Size Small and larger objects made of stone or metal, or reinforced with stone or metal, are immune to this Sunder effect. All objects size Medium or larger are immune to this Sunder effect.

Flashing Astral Construct

Astral Constructs are a more sophisticated type of created magical device than a Golem. Golems are enormously powerful and extremely dangerous, but over the long centuries, the creators of Golems had noticed one great lack of all Golems, no matter how sophisticated: Golems are not subtle.

Golems are massive engines of destruction, plain and simple, and while that can be very comforting when an insane Dragon is howling for your blood, let's be honest, there are many threats that Golems are practically useless to handle. As a first effort to handle this perceived lack in the design of Golems, Animated Objects were conceived and constructed in great numbers. Animated Objects are very popular, even to this day. Animated Objects are much less obtrusive than Golems, so they can be placed around the house and grounds and will draw much less attention, but once the combat begins, Animated Objects were, again, found to be a bit less than stellar at dealing with threats that were similarly subtle and unobtrusive.

Once again, the Creators and Makers, the Tinkers and Thinkers and Masterminds, went back to the drawing board, and on the third attempt, ages ago, they finally harnessed the actual material of the Ether itself, or, Ectoplasm.

Ectoplasm, Soulstuff, Spiritum, Raw Mana, Astral Materia, or Dark Matter, whatever you call it, it was learned that you can indeed make constructs from the eerie extradimensional material, and so the Astral Constructs were created. This was a much, much more successful endeavor!

Astral Constructs are unobtrusive when dormant, incredibly hard to damage in combat, and best of all, since they are made of the same extraplanar material as the very worst of the sneaky, subtle threats out there, they are fully effective against such things as phantoms, shadows, ghosts, fog monsters, and the like. Yes, astral constructs are fairly difficult to build, and so there is plenty of room for good solid Golems and Animated Objects in any Wizard's home-defense plan, but at the same time, no self-respecting Wizard will neglect to have at least a few Astral Constructs around the Tower, just to handle the shadowy and peculiar threats that come from arcane explorations of the Deep Dark. Not to mention that Astral Constructs can be built in forms that are down-right decorative, for a very reasonable fee.

Flashing Astral Constructs are much like lesser variations of the devices, but since they are more difficult to make, they are commensurately more effective. With large light-based area of effects, the Flashing Construct is a sure bet for any landlord seeking to stave off extradimensional pests.

Combat Tactics

Despite being Constructs, Flashing Astral Constructs are NOT mindless. Their intelligence and sentience is not of a high order, and they are perfectly obedient to their creator or owner, but they definitely have minds and personality and often even foibles and quirks that leave no doubt that they have minds of their own. That being said, in combat, they are completely without scruples, feelings, fear, or mercy.

Flashing Astral Constructs are powerful ranged attackers, and they know it. When combat begins against foes of a mundane sort, they will immediately activate their Flashing Highlights gaze attack and either Hover up walls and cliffs, or go airborne, moving out of melee range while maintaining line of sight and line of effect with their Razing Flash attacks. They will then fire Razing Flashes at spellcasters and powerful ranged attackers.

If property damage is not a concern, they can use their Razing Flash power to slowly but steadily carve smoking holes through doors, walls, ceilings, etc. They will attack without fear or regard to human decency, and a group of Flashing Astral Constructs defending their Maker or Owner will often leave a smoking ruin behind as they burn straight through walls and buildings to get their charge out of harms way. If ordered on the offensive, it is not uncommon for them to burn right through a roof unannounced and attack their targets by ambush.

If they are forced into melee, they will manifest their Astral Sabers, smoking blades of eerie ectoplasm, and attack fearlessly.

If they are fighting creatures with the ability to go Incorporeal, they will plunge into melee as fast as possible, to get their Astral Sabers and Flashing Highlights gaze attack working against such foes.

They will often withhold their deadly Searing Flash. If they are fighting inside the home or property of their Maker or owner, they will seek to avoid the collateral damage the power leaves behind, and will instead try to use their very long-range attacks to wear down a foe. If one of them is destroyed at range, or the fight is otherwise going poorly, they will break out the Searing Flash in the second or third round of combat, in an attempt to 'turn things around.' Since they are immune to their own Light damage, they will use their attacks with wild abandon. Alternatively, if they are fighting in a ruin, or wilderness, or anyplace else where they are not worried about the property damage, they will frequently begin a battle with a smashing series of Searing Flashes, seeking to burn their foes to the ground before the fight even gets properly underway. Opponents who have been assaulted with this brutal alpha strike and survived are rare indeed!

As a note: Their Searing Flash is a spell-like ability, and they are not good casters, and they know it. If they are forced to cast while engaged, they will attempt to take a five-foot step out of melee and trigger it if at all possible. Wise combatants will seek to bottle them up or knock them prone, although their ability to hover can make the prone approach difficult.

Out of Combat

Astral Constructs have minds, and are designed to be used in the homes of the powerful and worthy. They are made of ectoplasm, and their appearance can vary widely and can be formed into almost any shape or appearance. They often appear as urns, vases, cabinets, and the like, so they are as unobtrusive as possible. Equally popular is to find them shaped into the form of servants, such as butlers and footmen, and they frequently have skills and abilities of considerable use around the household. Less common but still popular is to find them in the form of attractive and decorative creatures, such as dancers, house-slaves, concubines, or exotic pets like cheetahs and the like. The personalities they are created with vary, of course, but they are frequently made to be quite droll and reserved, especially the ones meant to be used as servants.

In short, the players can never know if that lovely dancer who is decorating the arm of their evil target is simply a lovely victim to be rescued...or a deadly and efficient killing engine.

An interesting case arises when an Astral Construct has outlived its owner or Maker. Usually, ownership is transferred to an heir, but occasionally, an Astral Construct will find its owner dead and with no heir in sight. Such Astral Constructs can seek service, and often do, but occasionally will strike out on their own. Such free Astral Constructs can almost always be detected by the fact that they will have a Rod of Repairs or even more potent device on their person or in their belongings. For an Astral Construct, such devices are effectively a source of Heals, and can improve their lifespan tremendously.

Rewards

XP: 76,800

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 43,125 gp.

Weight: 160 lbs.     Volume: 6.4 cu. ft.

• The material used to make a Flashing Construct is very valuable, and a good amount can be salvaged from the wreckage of any defeated ones.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)