D&D 5E: Animate Battle Platforms in Chirak

Animate Battle Platform

CR 13 (10,000 XP)

LN huge living construct

Initiative +0

DEFENSE

AC 20 (grafted plate armor)

HP 250 (20D12+120)

Resistance: fire, all non-magical slashing, piercing or bludgeoning attacks.

Immunity: poison, disease

Magic Resistance: the battle platform rolls advantage on magic saving throws.

Indomitable: When the battle platform reaches zero HP it continues to function with only a single action until it takes additional damage equal to its CON score (22). When at zero HP it is unable to use its maelstrom generator and begins leaking radiant energy (see Reactor Leak, below).

OFFENSE

Speed 30 feet

Multiattack the battle platform can strike with any combination of four hammer arm or bolt rifle attacks per action. The battle platform may instead initiate one bolt spray or maelstrom generator attack in place of multiattack.

Melee Attack – Hammer Arm +13 to hit, reach 15 ft, one main target, hit 4D8+10 bludgeoning damage; all targets adjacent to the main target must make DC 19 Dexterity Saves or suffer the damage as well

Ranged attack – Bolt Rifle +8 to hit (range 120 ft), hit 4D8+2 piercing damage.

Ranged attack – Bolt spray +7 to hit (all targets in a 60 foot cone), hit 4D8+2 piercing damage each.

Ranged attack - Maelstrom Generator: all targets within a 30’ radius, 16D10 fire damage; Reflex Save DC 19 for half damage; Recharge 5,6

Statistics

STR 26 (+8), DEX 10 (0), CON 22 (+6), INT 12 (+1), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 18 (+4)

Saves STR +9, CON +8, CHA +6

Languages: Logos, Old Mythric or Espanean, 25% chance of tradespeak or other

Senses: darkvision, perception +7 (passive 17)

Skills: Athletics +13, History +6

TRAITS

Living Construct: The animate is a living construct, and does not need to eat, breathe or sleep, though an animate with spell casting ability will need to meditate. Animates are immune to poison and disease. Living contructs do have an animating spirit, however, and intelligence. As such they are not resistant to mind altering effects.

Elemental Imbuement (fire): animates may imbue themselves with resistance to one elemental type. The sample guardian is imbued with fire, but this can vary among any of the elemental types.

Armament: The battleform’s hammer arm and bolt rifle are attached to its arms, and cannot be removed except by force. The bolt rifle has a reloading chamber built into the animate’s forearm which carries up to 400 steel bolts at a time. Some guardians have these bolts enchanted (in the same fashion as enchanted arrows). The animate can fire its bolt rifle multiple times per round, and the battleform version has a range of 400 feet. It can spray a conical area for maximum effect (bolt spray attack).

Reactor Leak: A Battleform which has taken damage reducing it to zero HP begins to release dangerous waves of radiating elemental energy. Each round the battleform will radiate sickening radiation. All creatures in a 30 foot radius (Constitution DC 19; 2D8 radiant damage per round of exposure and weakened; must make a save on any round starting in or moving through the 30 foot radius). The effect ends 1D6 rounds after the animate ceases to function, when the elemental portal in its core closes.

Maelstrom Generator: Battleforms can charge up their elemental soul and release it in a torrent of energy from their internal generator pack. They lose this ability if they have reached zero HP, however.  This attack requires time to recharge between uses, but is otherwise unlimited (it taps directly into the elemental planes).

Unique Treasure up to 50,000 gold pieces in salvageable alchemical and magical parts that can be used in enchantments or as spell components can be harvested from a guardian animateis remains. An Arcana check (DC 17) can reveal 1D6 rare spell components for spells of levels 6-9.

  An even larger and more vicious looking version of the guardian, the battleform is usually modeled after dragons, manticores, and other four-legged monsters. They are much like guardians in that they are covered in thick metal plates, engraved with runic warnings in Old Mythric, and suffused with radiant elemental energy pouring from the cracks and seams of their armor. 

   Animate battleforms are (according to some artificers who study the animate culture) no longer being made, at least not in Beltraine (there is plenty of evidence that the Black Dome churns them out regularly). The majority of battleforms which exist today are ancient relics from the time of the apocalypse, the last Great War machines of old employed by the vast armies summoned to the defense of the twelve gods. Although their memories are faulty at best after only a few centuries of use, a handful of surviving battleforms claim to remember some brief details of that ancient time period, and love to recount stories to those who they are certain are not foes. Most battleforms display a keen sense of wisdom, even if they lack the driving force of intellect found in the collector models.

   Usually only seen patrolling the perimeter of approach to an animate enclave, or deep in the bowels of a subterranean animate city, the battleforms are the ultimate defense of the land, vicious bruisers who will destroy anything that is not permitted within the limits of the city proper.