Praetorian (3.5e Monster)
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These mighty war machines were once men, divine champions of matchless power that saw continued servitude to their gods as preferable to death. As reward for their everlasting fealty, their quasi-dead remains were implanted within massive mechanized exosuits with which they could transcend their mortality and continue rooting out heretics of the faith.
While built upon the remains of once-good and pious servants of benevolent deities, praetorians are anything but. Their crusades against enemies of their doxy may take any form, and they quell any perceived injustice without hesitation. This is the result of their death as a living thing and their subsequent melding with the mechanical, and as a result the praetorian is every bit as soulless as an ordinary undead. As such, the 'blessing' of becoming a praetorian is subjective at the very least.
A praetorian contains all the zealous drive of its former self, but the undead remains that once kindled the spark of life no longer resonate with the presence of the soul. The result is a being without mercy or conscience, whose remaining character imprint of devoted worship makes it perfect for religious indoctrination. As a consequence, praetorians have a rather liberal interpretation of religious canon and an equally broad perception of whatever constitutes a transgression of it.
Praetorians are bipedal mechanoids of extreme bulk and stand roughly 20 to 24 feet tall, weighing in at 80,000 pounds. Although their general profile and heavy armoring suggests functionality as a walking tank, they move well and can do so indefinitely without sustenance.
Praetorians have a large amount of weapons mounted on their arms and bodies, many of which they can use parallel.
Combat[edit]
A praetorian's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields are treated as good-aligned and law-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
A praetorian gains a sacred bonus to Armor Class, saving throws, hit points per HD and shield hit points per HD equal to his Charisma modifier. These bonuses are included in the above statistics.
Awesome Blow: As a standard action, a praetorian can deliver an awesome blow against an Large or smaller opponent with a successful slam attack. After resolving the attack, he makes an automatic bull rush attempt (+30 modifier) and knocks back his foe by 5 feet plus 5 additional feet for every 5 points by which he beats the target's opposing check. The target falls prone upon landing. If as a result of an awesome blow the target impacts a solid barrier such as a stone wall before traveling the intended distance, he is dealt damage as if he were hit by the praetorian's slam attack, including adjustments for Power Attack.
Revive (Su): Up to seven times per day as a full-round action, a praetorian can instantly recover 200 hit points and 200 shield points.
Shield: A praetorian has an extremely powerful personal shield that gives it a +3 deflection bonus to AC. This deflection bonus remains even if the shield is down. A praetorian's shield has 420 hit points. The shield cannot absorb more damage than it has hit points at any time. A praetorian's shield regains 30 hit points per minute.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will—daylight, detect undead, dispel magic, protection from chaos/evil, shield other; 3/day—bull's strength, death ward, dispel chaos/dispel evil (DC 21), resist energy; 1/day—holy sword, holy word. Caster level 20th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.
Armaments[edit]
A praetorian has the following weapons in its arsenal.
Gatling Slugs: Twin rapid-fire cannons discharging quick bursts of half-molten slugs that eviscerate everything in their path. Two parallel 120-foot lines, standard action 20d6 adamantine piercing damage, Reflex DC 32 half.
Napalmer: A mounted flamethrower. 60-foot cone, standard action 20d6+20 fire damage, half of which stems from divine sources and is irreducible by resistance or immunity to fire. Reflex DC 32 half.
Warp Cannon: Mounted in the right arm, this weapon discharges a dark energy vortex that near-simultaneously explodes and implodes, ripping everything in the blast area to shreds. 30-foot-radius spread at Long range (800 ft.), standard action 40d6 force damage. Cooldown 1d4+1 rounds. Reflex DC 32 half.
A warp cannon blast disintegrates walls of force and other Force effects, and completely bypasses any shields in the area, reducing them to 0 hit points in the process. Any creature or object reduced to 0 or less hit points by a warp cannon blast is completely disintegrated.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Monsters
| Alignment | Always lawful neutral + |
| Author | Sulacu + |
| Challenge Rating | 20 + |
| Environment | Any + |
| Identifier | 3.5e Monster + |
| Level Adjustment | — + |
| Rating | Unrated + |
| Size | Huge + |
| Subtype | Augmented Undead +, Good + and Lawful + |
| Title | Praetorian + |
| Type | Construct + |
