Athanor

Monster Encyclopaedia I: Ravagers of the Realms

Author August Hahn, Gareth Hanrahan, Lizard

Series Monster Encyclopaedia

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Athanors are living alchemical engines, golems powered not by the eternal force of magic, but by using internal reactors and alembics to transform energy from their surroundings into motive force. Unlike the more common golems, athanors can construct more of their kind. Over time, the needs of the silver and gold athanors grew too great; there were simply too many living engines to be fed. The mobs turned on the living engines and most were destroyed. Wizards turned to more tractable golems and the art of constructing athanors fell out of memory. Still, there are a few living engines hiding in the secret places of the world. Athanors need an external power source (electricity for the copper caste, blood for the silvers and emotions for the gold). An athanor takes one point of nonlethal damage after each day in which it does not feed. If this nonlethal damage exceeds the athanor’s current hit points, it shuts down until it is fed again. An athanor can stay in this shut- down state for an indefinite amount of time.

Athanor Copper

Athanor, Copper
Medium construct
Hit Dice	4d10+20 (42 hp)
Initiative	+0
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class	16 (+2 Dexterity, +4 natural), touch 12, flat- footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple	+3/+4
Attack	Slam +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack	Slam +5 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	Convert electricity
Special Qualities	construct traits, Darkvision 60 ft., damage reduction 2/adamantine, resistance to fire 5
Saves	Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +0
Abilities	Strength 13, Dexterity 14, Constitution -, Intelligence 11, Wisdom 11, Charisma 8
Skills	Climb +5, Craft (copperworking) +6, Hide +5, Move Silently +4, Spot +3
Feats	Dodge, Skill Focus (Craft (copperworking))
Environment	Any mountains
Organisation	Solitary or forge (5-10)
Challenge Rating	2
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Usually neutral
Advancement	By character class
Level Adjustment	+5

This creature is a vaguely human-shaped being made out of yellowish metal. It hunches protectively over its stomach, which is dotted with glass portholes and little pipes.

Copper athanors are the lowliest of their kind, designed for use as workers and servants. They are slightly stronger and faster than humans, but lack initiative and creativity. Once shown how to perform a task by the wiser gold athanors, the coppers could imitate it perfectly. Gangs of copper athanors would scurry to building sites and factories, working away tirelessly for their human masters.

Now the copper athanors hide in the highest mountains. They are powered by the raging force of lightning itself, electricity. As this force can be conducted by copper, in the old days a single lightning bolt spell could be distributed among dozens of athanors by means of heavy cables. Athanors made daily visits to great temples where their internal cells were replenished. Some athanor tribes have managed to build their own temples, which are powered by natural lightning bolts from the sky or by tribal wizards. Most coppers, however, are dependant on finding the tallest peak in a mountain range and hoping the storm touches them before they starve to death.

Combat

Copper athanors are cautious fighters; they know that electricity is hard to come by and that if they exhaust themselves, they might be shut down for centuries. They therefore prefer to attack indirectly and lazily, by pushing rocks down on enemies, cutting ropes, releasing wild animals and so on. Copper athanors will bargain with any spellcaster or entity capable of dealing them electrical damage, hoping to trade their services in exchange for sustenance. However, many overly-ambitious wizards have been kidnapped and dragged off into the hills against their wills to feed a hungry copper tribe.

Convert Electricity (Su): A copper athanor who takes electrical damage instead converts it into healing. It cannot rise above its normal hit point total using this ability, and if it takes enough electrical damage to bring it above twice its normal hit point total in one attack, it must make a Fortitude save (DC equals damage minus the athanor’s hit points) or explode. For example, an athanor with 20 hit points remaining is hit by a blue dragon’s breath weapon for 50 points of damage. It is healed back up to its full hit point total of 42 hit points; the excess eight hit points are lost. If the athanor had been at full (42) hit points when struck, it would have had to make a DC 8 Fortitude save to avoid exploding.

Athanor Silver

Athanor, Silver
Medium construct
Hit Dice	8d10+20 (64 hp)
Initiative	+3
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class	23 (+3 Dexterity, +8 natural, +2 heavy steel shield), touch 13, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple	+6/+10
Attack	longsword +10 melee (1d10+4)
Full Attack	longsword +10/+5 melee (1d10+4)
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	Convert blood, inflict gaping wound
Special Qualities	construct traits, Darkvision 60 ft., damage reduction 5/adamantine, spell-like abilities
Saves	Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +4
Abilities	Strength 18, Dexterity 16, Constitution -, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 15, Charisma 12
Skills	Bluff +5, Craft (silversmithing) +5, Disguise +9, Move Silently +7, Ride +7, Search +5, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6
Feats	CleaveB, Combat ExpertiseB, Mounted Combat, Power AttackB, Ride-By Attack, Skill Focus (Disguise)
Environment	Any
Organisation	Solitary or raiding party (5-10)
Challenge Rating	8
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Usually chaotic evil
Advancement	By character class
Level Adjustment	+9

This creature is a swordsman with skin of silver metal. It is covered in gore and gibbets of flesh.

The silver caste athanors were built as warriors and guards. Therefore, their alchemical fuel was chosen to be one substance that they would regularly come in contact with – blood. Every wound that a silver athanor inflicted would feed the construct‘s internal furnaces, driving it to even greater exploits of violence. The beautiful machines would walk out of any conflict gleaming and pristine, as the gore flowed down channels into the little mouths at the edges of their armour plates.

The silver athanors were the first to become openly rebellious; like metal vampires, their hungers grew too intense for them to just wait for blood. They went out and took it by force, cutting people apart with their silver swords and bathing in the sanguine essence that flowed forth. The streets ran with blood.

When the athanors were banished, the surviving silver athanors could not bear to be exiled from human civilisation. While they could sustain themselves on animals, they greatly preferred the quick, rich taste of human blood. They therefore began to disguise themselves as humans, putting on suits of armour and wrapping their metal faces in the flayed skin of their victims. The silver athanors became mercenaries for hire, slipping from one battlefield to the next in search of more and more bloodshed.

Mostly, they hide their identities, pretending to be knights- errant or wandering mercenary troupes, but there are some warlords so corrupt or merciless that they are quite happy to openly employ bloodthirsty killing machines. The silver athanors scorn the coppers as mindless drones and the golds as manipulative weaklings; they live only for the perfection of the kill.

Combat

A silver athanor is a terrifying foe as the more blood it spills, the stronger it becomes. They are efficient killers, but prefer to keep their foes on the brink of death instead of killing them outright – athanors often drag fallen foes off the battlefield to drain them dry.

Convert Blood (Su): A silver athanor absorbs blood from injuries around it. If any living creature is damaged within five feet of the athanor, the blood jumps to it. The athanor is healed of an amount of damage equal to half the damage dealt. A silver athanor can rise above its normal hit point total using this ability, and if it gains enough healing to bring it above twice its normal hit point total, it must make a Fortitude save (DC equals hit points gained minus the athanor’s hit points) or explode.

Gaping Wound (Ex): If an athanor uses the Power Attack feat with a piercing or slashing weapon, it deals double damage with a one-handed weapon and triple damage with a two-handed weapon when attacking a living creature.

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day: bull’s strength, death knell (DC 13), haste. Caster level 8th. DC’s are Charisma– based.

Athanor Gold

Athanor, Gold
Medium construct
Hit Dice	12d10+20 (86 hp)
Initiative	+2
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class	24 (+2 Dexterity, +12 natural), touch 12, flat- footed 22
Base Attack/Grapple	+9/+10
Attack	Slam +10 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack	Slam +10/+5 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	Convert will, spellcasting, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities	construct traits, Darkvision 60 ft., damage reduction 10/adamantine, resistance to acid and electrical 10
Saves	Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +8
Abilities	Strength 12, Dexterity 14, Constitution -, Intelligence 20, Wisdom 18, Charisma 18
Skills	Appraise +13, Bluff +12, Concentration +8, Craft (goldsmithing) +14, Decipher Script +13, Diplomacy +18, Forgery +13, Gather Information +12, Knowledge (nobility & royalty) +13, Listen +12, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +13, Spot +12
Feats	Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Extend spell, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (enchantment)
Environment	Any
Organisation	Solitary
Challenge Rating	11
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Usually neutral evil
Advancement	By character class
Level Adjustment	+14

This magnificent creature is a humanoid figure made of shining gold. It smiles pleasantly towards you.

Gold athanors were made to be counsellors and sages. Their internal engines were constructed in an astonishingly subtle fashion – while the copper athanors subsisted on electricity and the silvers fed on blood, the gold caste were to gain their strength from their master’s commands. They were built to feed on will. The intent was that the very act of ordering the athanor would give it all the strength it needed to carry out that order.

The design was flawed. Any willpower could be absorbed by the construct and transformed into fuel. Those who employed gold athanors as advisors or major-domos soon lost all will of their own and were forced to consult with the machines on every decision, no matter how trivial. They became slaves to their own servants; if it were not for the bloody thirst of the silvers, the gold betrayal might have gone unnoticed for generations.

Today, gold athanors are by far the rarest of their kind. They cannot hide, as do the coppers, nor can they easily conceal their true nature like silvers. The gold athanors must seek out those who know nothing of the dark history of the machines and become first their servants, then their masters.

Combat

Gold athanors rely on their spell-casting abilities in combat, preferring to keep a wall of charmed servants between themselves and the enemy. Ideally, they spend some time talking to their foes before fighting, to give their will-sapping engines time to work.

Convert Will (Su): Any time that a creature within 30 feet of a gold athanor makes a wisdom-based ability or skill check or a Will save, the athanor deals one point of wisdom damage to that creature and heals five points of damage.

Spellcasting (Sp): All gold athanors have the spellcasting abilities of a 9th level wizard (enchantment specialist, necromancy barred). Should the athanor take class levels in wizard, then these levels stack with extra wizard levels. The athanor usually has the following spells prepared:

• 0th – daze x3, detect magic, read magic;
• 1st – charm person x2, expeditious retreat, hypnotism, sleep,;
• 2nd – blur, hideous laugher x2, resist energy, summon swarm;
• 3rd – hold person x2, suggestion x2;
• 4th – charm monster, confusion, lesser geas;
• 5th – dominate person, hold monster. Save DCs are 15 + spell level (17 + spell level for enchantment spells).

Spell-Like Abilities: At will: detect thoughts (DC 16);

3/day: Charm Person (DC 15), eagle’s splendour, fox’s cunning glibness;

1/day: greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of gear only), scrying (DC 18). Caster level 12th. DCs are Charisma-based.