Plated Python
Level 12Attacks
Abilities
(2d10+10) bludgeoning, DC 32 fortitude The monster deals the listed amount of damage to any number of creatures Grabbed or Restrained by it. Each of those creatures can attempt a basic Fortitude save with the listed DC.
The plated python lets its breath sink into the ground, transforming it to brittle stone within a 30-foot emanation. The stone is difficult terrain to all other creatures. Other creatures on the ground in this area when it transforms must succeed at a DC 29 reflex save or be Immobilized as the stone beneath them crumbles to rubble. A creature immobilized in this way can Escape normally or use three total Interact actions to dig themself free.
Requirements The plated python has a creature Grabbed
The python's breath seeps into the grabbed creature. That creature must attempt a DC 32 fortitude save. Critical Success The creature is unaffected. Success The creature's body hardens and stiffens, causing it to become Slowed 1 for 1 round. Failure The creature is Petrified for 1 round and Swallowed Whole. Critical Failure The creature is petrified permanently and Swallowed Whole.
When a plated python burrows through ground, it petrifies and destroys the material in front of it, leaving a 5-foot diameter tunnel in its wake. A plated python doesn't need to Squeeze to pass through any space at least that wide.
Large, (3d10+5) acid, Rupture 20 This damage ignores the hardness of petrified creatures. The monster attempts to swallow a creature of the listed size or smaller that it has grabbed or restrained in its jaws or mouth. If a swallowed creature is of the maximum size listed, the monster can't use Swallow Whole again. If the creature is smaller than the maximum, the monster can usually swallow more creatures; the GM determines the maximum. The monster attempts an athletics check opposed by the grabbed creature's Reflex DC. If it succeeds, it swallows the creature. The monster's mouth or jaws no longer grab a creature it has swallowed, so the monster is free to use them to Strike or Grab once again. The monster can't attack creatures it has swallowed. A swallowed creature is Grabbed, is Slowed 1, and has to hold its breath or start suffocating. The swallowed creature takes the listed amount of damage when first swallowed and at the end of each of its turns while it's swallowed. If the victim Escapes this ability's grabbed condition, it exits through the monster's mouth. This frees any other creature grabbed in the monster's mouth or jaws. A swallowed creature can attack the monster that has swallowed it, but only with unarmed attacks or with weapons of light Bulk or less. The swallowing creature is Off-Guard against the attack. If the monster takes piercing or slashing damage equaling or exceeding the listed Rupture value from a single attack or spell, the swallowed creature cuts itself free. A creature that gets free by either Escaping or cutting itself free can immediately breathe and exits the swallowing monster's space. Effect: Engulf and Swallow Whole If the monster dies, a swallowed creature can be freed by creatures adjacent to the corpse if they spend a combined total of 3 actions cutting the monster open with a weapon or unarmed attack that deals piercing or slashing damage.
The plated python lunges to its full length, making a jaws Strike with a reach of 60 feet. If the Strike hits, its target is Grabbed and pulled to an empty space adjacent to the plated python. The python can attack through any material it can burrow through, leaving a stone tunnel as normal.
Requirements The monster's last action was a successful Strike that lists Grab in its damage entry, or the monster has a creature Grabbed or Restrained Effect If used after a Strike, the monster attempts to Grapple the creature using the body part it attacked with. This attempt neither applies nor counts toward the creature's multiple attack penalty. The monster can instead use Grab and choose one creature it's grabbing or restraining with an appendage that has Grab to automatically extend that condition to the end of the monster's next turn.
Description
Gorgons are a broad group of animals that share a few peculiar traits. All gorgons are covered in armored plates and breathe petrifying gases. Other than these features, gorgons can resemble almost any animal. While some gorgons may seem like less physically imposing creatures, they should never be underestimated. Gorgons are canny hunters, and even a small puff of their breath can immobilize almost any prey.
One of the most fearsome gorgons is the gigantic plated python, covered from nose to tail in large metallic scales. Rather than the venom used by many other snakes, its breath turns both creatures and objects into stone. While this poses the most danger to the prey caught in its jaws, it can also transform large areas to brittle and lifeless stone that the snakes can easily tunnel through.
Plated pythons typically live in pairs or trios and are extremely territorial. The fights between plated pythons over territory are vicious and tend to leave long-lasting effects on the landscape. They defend their territory aggressively against other creatures they see as a threat, including people and large animals. Their habitats can be identified by the stone tunnels left behind by their burrowing, and wary travelers use these as a sign to change course. Particularly bold adventurers might try to use the tunnels for passage, protected as they are from elements and other wildlife, but they do risk coming face to face with a plated python.