Trelons
| Large Monstrous Humanoid | |
| Hit Dice: | 3d8+6 (19 hp) |
| Initiative: | +3 (Dex) |
| Speed: | 30 ft. |
| Armor Class: | 18 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural) |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | 0 |
| Attack: | 0 |
| Full Attack: | 2 claws +5 melee |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Materialize |
| Special Qualities: | Immunities, light vulnerability, supernatural senses |
| Saves: | Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +4 |
| Abilities: | Str 17, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 7 |
| Skills: | Hide +5, Listen +4, Move Silently +4, Scry +2, Search +2, Spot +2 |
| Feats: | Cleave |
| Environment: | Cold land and underground |
| Organization: | Swarm (2-5) |
| Challenge Rating: | 3 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Neutral Evil |
| Advancement: | 4 to 6 HD (Large), 7 to 9 HD (Huge) |
| Level Adjustment: | 0 |
Trelons have been described as a "mixture of orange and shadow." They have two long arms that end in curved spikes, two mandibles near their fanged mouths, and two long, spindly legs.
Trelons speak their own language, a combination of soft clicks and chittering noises that rises to a near-defeaning screeching when they strike.
CombatA trelon swarm is terrible to behold. When they appear, they mob any nearby creature, tearing through their victims like scythes. Trelons attack with their two armspikes, bisecting an opponent like a pair of cutting shears. When they have killed an opponent, the mandibles around their mouth scoop up the remains of their victims. They do not stop to feed until they have killed every non-trelon in sight.Materialize (Su): Trelons materialize without warning when an opponent comes within 30 feet of their swarm - until this occurs, the creature has no way of telling that it is approaching a trelon swarm. Where the trelons come from is unknown, but they appear only in shadowy conditions where there is no natural light. Opponents must make a Spot check (DC 20) to notice the materializing trelons in time to react; otherwise, it is surprised (see the Player's handbook). Trelons never "appear" at distances greater than 30 feet from their victim. Trelons can dematerialize as a standard action, after which they will not return, but never do so if there are arcane spellcasters present.
Supernatural Senses (Su): Trelons can instantly determine if a particular creature has the ability to cast arcane spells. Furthermore, trelons have the ability to sense a creature no matter how well it is hidden. Trelons are immediately aware of the precise location of any invisible or displaced creature within 60 feet, and prefer to direct their attacks towards them. Magical cloaking seems to fill a trelon with rage.
Light Vulnerability (Ex): Trelons do not like natural light, including torches and strong lanterns, and will not attack an opponent within 5 feet of such a light source. Magical light, on the other hand, drives the trelon into a frenzy, and it attacks any opponent using these without hesitation.
Immunities (Ex): Trelons are unaffected by hold spells, all illusions, mind-influencing spells, and protection from evil.
Skills: Trelons gain a +4 racial bonus to Hide, Listen, Scry, and Search checks. This bonus is NOT reflected in the stats listed above.Habitat/SocietyTrelons originated one of of the Prime Material worlds and were brought to the Outlands by a sorcerer for use as living weapons. This sorcerer transported them to the Academy of Weavers near Curst, where the trelons murdered the entire school of illusionists in their sleep. It is unknown how they are able to hunt arcane spellcasters so easily; some believe that the trelons track them by its shadow, emotions, or its unique sound. Several sages suspect that trelons may have a hive mentality, but this is pure speculation based on their insectoid appearance.0EcologyNone
- 989 reads
Some interesting ideas here, but also some serious implementation problems. Namely, this creature seems to have several "neener-neener" features—things about it that seem to exist just to mess with the PCs and remove otherwise reasonable ways of dealing with them, with little or no justification. They're immune to protection from evil? Why? I understand they're created to deal with magic-users, and this is a spell magic-users would be likely to use to protect against them, but if it were that simple to create something immune to protection from evil, why wouldn't fiends do it all the time? They can automatically sense any creature no matter how well it's hidden? That's... problematic. If they can see invisibility, fine, even true seeing would be dandy, but as it is just stating that they know where every creature is and that's that seems like a cheat.
Also, one nitpick:
Why on Earth not? Usually racial skill bonuses (along with pretty much any other skill bonuses) are included in the stats listed in the stat block; saves the DM the extra bother of keeping track of them himself.
I don't mean to be too hard on this; like I said, it has some interesting ideas. I sort of like the way they just materialize unpredictably when people come near... honestly, that could be considered a bit of a cheat too, I suppose, but this one I think works; it adds flavor and it's something unique. Has potential, just needs a little bit of tweaking.
Oh, dear... I just noticed one major omission. How much damage does the trelon's claw attack do? That's... kind of important, I'd think. (Also, why are the Base Attack/Grapple and Attack listed as 0?)