Skildpadder

Skildpadder (Giant Tortoise-Bullette) CR 10

This enormous gray-green reptile trods forward on four mammoth legs, its back and head covered by a tortoise-like shell. It is easily one of the largest creatures you have ever seen, the size of a small fortress.

XP 9,600
N Gargantuan animal
Init +2; Senses darkvision 80 ft., scent, tremorsense 200 ft.; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 24, touch 4, flatfooted 24 (–2 Dex, +20 natural, –4 size)
hp 150 (12d8+96)
Fort +15, Ref +6, Will +7

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft.
Melee bite +15 (2d10+16 plus grab, Crit 19-20/x2), 2 claws* +15 (2d8+15) *not used if a beast of burden
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks swallow whole (2d8+12 plus 8 acid, AC 20, 15 hp)

TACTICS

During Combat Skildpadders are witless and have no real tactics; when feral, they viciously attack anything in their territory. Skilled beastmasters turn domesticated skildpadders toward raiders or wandering monsters and orders them to attack, but otherwise it simply moves away until it has taken 10 hit points of damage (at which point it attacks and attempts to escape).

STATISTICS

Str 33, Dex 6, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 6
Base Atk +9; CMB +24 (+28 grapple); CMD 32 (36 vs. trip)
Feats Endurance, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness
Skills Perception +24

ECOLOGY

Environment any underground (or any mostly dry with some water sources available)
Organization solitary, mated feral pair, band (2–4) or family (2 plus 3-5 young)
Treasure none

Skildpadder are massive creatures bred as beasts of burden. They are able to carry four times their own weight upon their back and thus make perfect vessels for carrying ore. Stout folk build entire storage facilities and even homes upon the backs of these tortoise-like creatures; some are even known to live out their entire life riding atop and steering the great beasts. Those that do gain a great affinity for animal handling when riding a skildpadder and can command them to attack when needed.

It is a rule to never walk in front of a skildpadder unless one wishes to become a quick meal—they are ravenous eaters and can swallow Medium- or Small-sized creatures whole (and larger creatures may lose a limb or even a head). Although skildpadder gain the claws of their bulette ancestors, they are trained not to use them and these are typically trimmed back on a regular basis by their stout beastmasters. The dwarves do not wish the skildpadder to rear up lest they spill their cargo or harm any passengers riding along. These creatures are normally very aggressive when left to go feral; luckily, most the dwarves carefully breed giant tortoises and bulettes to achieve the desired result of a skildpadder and spend many years training them in the transport of cargo.

Skildpadder love to eat the vermin that live in dwarf villages and there is rarely a lack of food available for the favored beasts of burden. They are found near large underground lakes and other areas that are mostly dry with a clean source of water, though skildpadder are very poor swimmers and most drown when attempting to cross deep water. The average skildpadder is 60 feet in diameter, but they can grow to a diameter of 100 feet, and weigh in the dozens of tons (or more for the largest specimens).

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Aventyr Bestiary © 2017 AAW GAMES LLC Authors Mike Myler, Jonathan G. Nelson Developers, Michael Allen, Curtis Baum, Wolfgang Baur, Brian Berg, Adam Daigle, Jeffrey Gomez, Joshua Gullion, Jacob Kellogg, Jared Jeanquart, Juan Lucha, Justin Andrew Mason, Jonathan McAnulty, Michael McCarthy, Raven Mimura, Brian Wiborg Monster, Will Myers, Mike Myler, Jason Nelson, Jonathan G. Nelson, Owen K.C. Stephens, Colin Stricklin, Cory Vickruck, Stephen Yeardley Jonathan G. Nelson

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