Thursday, May 2, 2019

The Clockwork Realm Revisited

Roughly a year ago, I presented Visitors from the Clockwork Realm, a quick look at part of the cosmology of my "Time of the Tarrasque" campaign setting. Today I have another monster from that realm to share with you, but first I should describe this plane's place in my setting.

In my campaign, each of the planets is actually another plane, or at least the principal entrance to that plane. This means that outer space and Astral apace are essentially the same thing. Each world corresponds to one of the Inner or Outer Planes of the standard Pathfinder cosmology, but they are known by different names, and there is no contact between this multiverse and Golarion's multiverse.

The lawful neutral outer plane is Caelicus, a blue-white planet that is home to the Prothonian gods, the first pantheon worshiped by humans. The Clockwork Realm is an immense machine moon that circles Caelicus. This mechanical demiplane is invisible from the mortal world of Udara (the Material Plane), so knowledge of the Clockwork Realm has only recently begun to spread there. (See my previous column on the subject.)

The following creature is a native of the Clockwork Realm that rarely if ever leaves its home plane due to its eternal duties there. An overseer orb is likely to investigate any intrusion into its home plane, particularly if that invasion has been a violent, destructive one.

Sagathundus

This massive floating orb is composed of armor places and clockwork gears. A half dozen spindly mechanical arms end in immense tools or pincers. Dozens of fist-sized crystalline orbs are set into sockets on and between its armor plates.

SAGATHUNDUS (Overseer Orb) (CR 16)

XP 76,800
LN Gargantuan construct (extraplanar, lawful)
Init +0; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +32

Defense
AC 30, touch 6, flat-footed 30 (+24 natural, -4 size)
hp 170 (20d10+60); fast healing 5
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +16
DR 15/adamantine; Immune construct traits; Resist acid 15, cold 15, fire 15; SR 25

Offense
Speed fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 pincers +28 (2d8+12 plus grab), +1 flaming spear +27 (4d6+6/x3 plus 1d6 fire), +1 keen battleaxe +27 (4d6+6/19-20, x3), +1 shocking longsword +27 (4d6+6/19-20 plus 1d6 electricity), +1 thundering warhammer +27 (4d6+6/x3 [plus 1d6 sonic on crit])
Ranged 2 javelins +16 (3d6+12)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th, concentration +28, ranged touch +16)
Constant--true seeing
At will--detect chaos/evil/good/law, detect thoughts (DC 22), magic circle against chaos, empowered make whole
3/day--analyze dwoemer (DC 24), dispel magic, order's wrath (DC 22), disintegrate (DC 23)
1/day--dictum (DC 25), discern location (DC 26), shield of law (DC 26)

Statistics
Str 34, Dex 10, Con --, Int 30, Wis 26, Cha 26
Base Atk +20; CMB +36 (+40 grab); CMD 46 (cannot be tripped)
Feats Ability Focus (detect thoughts), Alertness, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Empower Spell-like Ability (make whole), Flyby Attack, Improved Sunder, Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +30, Craft (clockwork) +30, Craft (any two other) +30, Diplomacy +28, Fly +24, Knowledge (arcana) +30, Knowledge (engineering) +30, Knowledge (planes) +30, Perception +36, Sense Motive +32, Spellcraft +30; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal, Terran, 2 others
SQ alloyed strike, arcane engineer, fast crafter

Ecology
Environment Clockwork Realm
Organization solitary, pair, or work gang (3-4)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities
Alloyed Strike (Ex) The weapons of a sagathundus (including its javelins and attached magical weapons) are treated as adamantine, lawful, and magic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Arcane Engineer (Su) A sagathundus uses its spell-like abilities' caster level to qualify for any item creation feat it learns.
Fast Crafter (Ex) A sagathundus crafts items at a phenomenal speed, producing a full day's work in only one hour. When crafting magic items and constructs, it requires only one hour per 1,000 gp of the item's price. It may spend a maximum of 8 hours per day crafting magic items (for a maximum of 8,000 gp value per day's work).

The sagathundi, or overseer orbs, are a race of gigantic, hyper-intelligent constructs who are tasked with the maintenance of the Clockwork Realm and its native inhabitants. (Unlike most inhabitants of that realm, they are not clockworks themselves, despite their mechanical appearance.) These expert engineers are peaceful by nature, but can be dangerous and utterly ruthless in combat when they perceive danger to their charges. Each overseer orb has six limbs that can be extended or retracted from its body: two pincers to hold and manipulate objects; a welding tool (treat as a +1 flaming spear in combat); a circular saw (treat as a +1 keen battleaxe); an electrified cutting blade (+1 shocking longsword); and a massive hammer (+1 thundering warhammer). These weapons are intrinsic parts of the creature, and cease functioning immediately if removed from its body or if the orb is destroyed. If a limb is severed but the orb survives, it can use its make whole spell-like ability to reattach the limb; this requires one minute of uninterrupted work and at least one working pincer.

Prime Orb (+2 CR): The greatest sagathundi are Colossal in size. Apply the advanced and giant simple templates to create such a paragon.

My original LEGO model (from 2014)

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