Buy me a coffeeAurumvorax
Powerful muscles ripple beneath the golden fur of this small yet fearsome eight-legged beast.
Aurumvoraxes are very aggressive creatures, and lead solitary lives except when they mate. Adults typically claim the hunting area within a mile of their warrens, ruthlessly driving away other predators. In addition to fresh meat, aurumvoraxes are fond of gnawing on metals (particularly gold and copper), though whether they do this to sharpen their teeth or because of some nutritional need is unknown. Aurumvorax warrens can stretch for thousands of feet, often winding deep into the earth. The avaricious appetite of aurumvoraxes has earned them the appellation “golden gorger” among dwarves, who have lost more than a few miners to the dangerous beasts.
In battle, an aurumvorax latches onto its victim with its jaws and gouges savage wounds with its claws. It rarely looses its grip before it or its foe is dead. It typically attacks the nearest living creature regardless of size and ignores any wounds it suffers at the hands of others until its prey is dead.
A typical aurumvorax is only 3 feet long but weighs more than 200 pounds, for it is densely packed with muscle and thick, sturdy bones. Its fur is golden, while its claws are black and sharp. Its weight relative to its body size makes it a poor swimmer, and most dislike crossing water, though they can trundle along the bottom of still or slow water if necessary.
Adult aurumvoraxes are impossible to train, but their offspring are valued for training as guard beasts. A healthy aurumvorax kit can be sold for 5,000 gp or more to a discerning buyer. Female aurumvoraxes rarely give birth to more than one offspring at a time and are ferociously protective of their young.
An aurumvorax drags its prey back to its lair to consume at its leisure, and its bone-midden often contains valuable belongings from past kills. Uneaten precious metals, discarded gems, and well-chewed metal items can also be found in its warrens. Despite its metallic coloration, an aurumvorax is not vulnerable to attacks that target metal, such as heat metal or the touch of a rust monster—in fact, aurumvoraxes easily kill and eat rust monsters, and some dwarf clans use aurumvorax pets to protect their storehouses against them.
AURUMVORAX – 5e stats
AURUMVORAX – 5e stats – ANGRY GOLEM GAMES (angrygolem-games.com)
Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 20
Hit Points 54 (12d6 + 12)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 15 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +3
Proficiency Bonus +5 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 (+1) | 17 (+3) | 13 (+2) | 2 (-4) | 11 (+0) | 5 (-3) |
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +8
Senses passive Perception 13
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, fire (magical)
Damage Immunity fire (nonmagical), poison
Damage Immunities poison
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Jaws Lock. After it hits with its bite, the aurumvorax locks its jaws on the target, inflicting 6 (2d4+1) points of piercing damage per round until either the aurumvorax or its target is dead.
Rake. The aurumvorax rakes its victim with 2d4 of its legs, causing 6 (2d4+1) slashing damage per additional hit. An opponent who is held by an aurumvorax receives no dexterity adjustment to Armor Class. The aurumvorax can use this ability only in combination with the jaws lock.
ACTIONS
- Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (2d4 + 1) piercing damage
DESCRIPTION
Despite being only the size of a large badger, the aurumvorax, or golden gorger
, is an incredibly dangerous creature. The animal is covered with coarse golden hair and has small silver eyes with golden pupils. It has eight powerful legs that end in 3-inch-long copper claws. The aurumvorax’s shoulders are massively muscled while its heavy jaw is full of coppery teeth.
The creature weighs over 500 pounds. This incredible density provides the animal with much of its natural protection. This, combined with its speed, power, and sheer viciousness, makes it one of the most dangerous species yet known.
COMBAT
The aurumvorax charges any creature that enters its territory. A female of the species receives advantage to attack rolls when guarding her young.
The creature bites at its prey until it hits, clamping its massive jaws onto the victim.
After it hits, the aurumvorax locks its jaws and hangs on, inflicting damage until either the aurumvorax or its enemy is dead. Only death will cause the aurumvorax to relax its grip.
Once its jaws lock, the aurumvorax also rakes its victim with 2-8 of its legs, causing 2d4+1 hit points of damage per additional hit. An opponent who is held by an aurumvorax receives no dexterity adjustment to Armor Class.
Due to its incredibly dense hide and bones, the aurumvorax takes only half damage from blunt weapons. It is immune to the effects of small, normal fires and takes only half damage from magical fires. Neither poison nor gases have any effect on the sturdy creature.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
The aurumvorax makes its solitary home in light forests, hills, and at the timberline on mountainsides. An aurumvorax chooses a likely spot and then uses its powerfully clawed legs to create a burrow, sometimes into solid rock.
Due to their unusual dietary needs, aurumvorae make their lairs in spots that either contain rich veins of gold ore or are very near to an area where gold is readily available.
The aurumvorax is a solitary creature which jealously guards its territory, even from others of its kind. The only time adult aurumvorae willingly meet is during mating season, which occurs approximately every eight years.
The pair will stay together for a week or two before the male returns to his territory and the female prepares for the birth of her kits. A litter of 1d6+2 kits is born four months after mating. For the first two weeks of life, the kits are blind and hairless. They must be fed both meat and precious ores, including gold, in order to survive. It is unusual for more than 1-2 of the strongest kits to survive. If a kit is found and adopted
before its eyes are open, it can be tamed and trained.
Dwarves tend to dislike aurumvoraces, though some communities have been known to raise one or more of the beasts for use in sniffing out veins of ore.
ECOLOGY
In order to survive, the aurumvorax supplements its carnivorous diet with quantities of gold. The ability to digest and utilize gold and other ores makes it possible for the creature to develop the dense fur, hide, and bones that protect it so well.
If an aurumvorax is killed with a minimum of cutting damage to its hide, the hide may be turned into a garment of incredible strength and beauty worth 15,000-20,000 gold pieces. The garment will also protect its wearer as armor, the specific Armor Class depending on the size of the aurumvorax. A garment with AC 2 weighs 50 pounds, one with AC 3 weighs 40 pounds, and one with AC 4 weighs 30 pounds.
The wearer also receives a +4 bonus on saving throws vs. normal fires and a +2 bonus on saving throws vs. magical fire.
If an aurumvorax is burned in a forge, approximately 150-200 pounds of gold are left behind. This burning process is very difficult and usually takes between one and two weeks to perform. Of course, the hide may be removed before the creature is burned; if burned at the same time, the hide will provide an additional 21-40 (1d20+20) pounds of gold.
The aurumvorax’s teeth and claws are also prized for decoration, and can bring up to 1 gp each on the open market.
Aurumvorax CR 9
XP 6,400
N Small magical beast
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +13
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 19 (+4 Dex, +8 natural, +1 size)
hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +7
Defensive Abilities ferocity; DR 10/piercing or slashing; Immune poison; Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Melee bite +18 (1d6+5 plus grab), 4 claws +18 (1d4+5 plus grab)
Special Attacks rake (4 claws +18, 1d4+5)
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +12; CMB +16 (+24 grapple); CMD 30 (42 vs. trip)
Feats Bleeding Critical, Critical Focus, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Perception +13, Stealth +17
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Grab (Ex)
An aurumvorax can grab a foe of up to one size category larger than itself (Medium size for most aurumvoraxes). It gains a +8 racial bonus on grapple attempts rather than the normal +4 racial bonus afforded by the grab ability.
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate plains, hills, or forests
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.