Flashing Astral Construct
Flashing Astral Construct (CR 16)
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 extra-dimensional 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 extra-dimensional pests.
GENERAL
CR 16 Hit Dice 24
XP 76,800
N, Medium, Construct
Init +7; Senses Standard Blindsense 60 ft, Perception +25
DEFENSE
AC 39, touch 23, flat-footed 33 (+10 armor, +6 dex, +6 natural, +7 deflection)
hp 374
Fort +15, Ref +15, Will +19
Aura: -
SR: -
Special Defenses: None, but see Flashing Highlights Gaze Attack
Immunities:
- Immune to Fear
- Immune to Positive and Negative energy
- Immune to damage caused by a spell or ability with the Light descriptor
Weaknesses: -
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., Hover 50 ft, Lesser Flight 30 ft
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Single Melee Astral Saber +26 (3d8+10/19-20x2), Ghost Touch property
Full Melee 2x Astral Saber +26 (3d8+10/19-20x2), Ghost Touch property
Ranged Flash of Light +27 (3d8+10/x2); Range Increment 100, max range 1000, Special energy damage: Light
Full Ranged 3x Flash of Light +27 (3d8+10/x2); Range Increment 100, max range 1000, Special energy damage: Light
Special Attacks Flashing Highlights Gaze Attack, Searing Flash Blast
Action Points 0
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 22, Con -, Int 8, Wis 20, Cha 20
Base Atk +16; CMB +26; CMD 34
Feats -
Skills Sense Motive +27, Diplomacy +27, Knowledge (Local), +27
Languages Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
- Flashing Highlights (Su; Gaze Attack)
Any creature that looks at a Flashing Astral Construct must make a Reflex Saving Throw at the beginning of their round against a DC of 24 or be Blinded permanently. If the save is made, the creature is still Dazzled until the beginning of their next round. Both effects may be avoided by averting your gaze, but any attacks made against the Flashing Astral Construct are at a fifty percent miss chance unless you have some non-vision sense that allows combat targeting.
- Searing Flash (Sp)
- Concentration : d20 + 19 with 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 7 x 7 area, and has a range of 30 feet. All creatures caught in the area of effect suffer 8d6+1 points of Light damage, but may make a Reflex save, DC 24, to take only half damage. Searing Flash also inflicts one automatic Sunder success on all unattended objects of size Fine and smaller in its area of effect regardless of their material, and inflicts one automatic Sunder 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 are immune to this Sunder effect. All objects size Medium or larger are immune to this Sunder effect.
TREASURE
sell value of approximately 23,750 gp
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 leaves 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 aura and go airborne, moving as far away as they can and maintain line of sight and line of effect with their Flash of Light attacks. They will then fire Flashes of Light at spellcasters and powerful ranged attackers.
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 instead plunge into melee as fast as possible, to get their Astral Sabers 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.