Linnorm, Cairn

Pallid and horribly gaunt, this enormous but emaciated dragonlike creature has two forearms and no wings.

Cairn Linnorm CR 18

XP 153,600
CE Gargantuan dragon
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, true seeing; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 35, touch 13, flat-footed 28 (+7 Dex, +22 natural, -4 size)
hp 290 (20d12+160); regeneration 10 (cold iron)
Fort +20, Ref +21, Will +17
Defensive Abilities freedom of movement; DR 15/cold iron; Immune acid, curse effects, energy drain, mind-affecting effects, negative energy, paralysis, poison, sleep; SR 29

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 100 ft. (average)
Melee bite +29 (3d8+13/19-20 plus poison), 2 claws +29 (2d6+13), tail +24 (3d6+6 plus grab)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon, constrict (tail, 2d6+19), death curse

STATISTICS

Str 37, Dex 24, Con 26, Int 5, Wis 20, Cha 27
Base Atk +20; CMB +37 (+41 grapple); CMD 54 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Vital Strike
Skills Climb +33, Fly +13, Perception +24, Stealth +26, Swim +36; Racial Modifiers Acrobatics (+4 when jumping), +8 Stealth
Languages Aklo, Draconic, Sylvan

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Breath Weapon (Su)

Once every 1d4 rounds as a standard action, a cairn linnorm can expel a 60-foot cone of acidic bile, dealing 18d8 points of acid damage to all creatures struck. In addition, this bile is infused with negative energy, and inflicts 1d4 negative levels on all creatures struck by it. A successful DC 28 Reflex save halves the damage and completely negates the negative levels. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Death Curse (Su)

Curse of Decay: save Will DC 28; effect the creature takes 1 point of Constitution damage per day, and ages at an accelerated rate of 1 year per day, eventually incurring all of the penalties of old age but none of the benefits.

Poison (Ex)

Bite—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/round for 10 rounds; effect 4d6 acid damage and 1d6 Con drain; cure 2 consecutive saves.

ECOLOGY

Environment cold hills
Organization solitary
Treasure triple

Cairn linnorms prefer to dwell in necropolises, amid reaches of burial mounds, or in caverns below the scorched earth oflegendary battlefields. These linnorms particularly relish the flavor of undead flesh—while they cannot consume incorporeal undead, regions they haunt are typically barren of corporeal undead not canny enough to avoid the cairn linnorm’s ravenous appetite. An incredibly powerful undead creature might use a cairn linnorm as a guardian, manipulating the dragon while it selects a cairn or tomb well within the linnorm’s territory. While cairn linnorms will not hesitate to feed on undead creatures they encounter, some ancient superstition shared by all of their kind prevents them from actually entering a tomb or other enclosed burial site unless granted permission by the tomb’s undead denizens or a priest devoted to the religion associated with the site. Likewise, a cairn linnorm somehow caught within a tomb large enough to contain it prefers not to leave without securing similar permission to do so. These limitations are purely psychological, and if pressed (such as by an enemy seeking to use a tomb entrance as a defense), a cairn linnorm can break such restrictions.

A cairn linnorm is 60 feet long and weighs 12,000 pounds.

Variant: Linnorm, Cairn, Chaos Serpent (CR 17)

[Source]

This is an enormous multi-colored, cobra-like serpent of ever shifting scales. Chaos serpents love to travel and seem drawn to ruins and other areas that have been subject to mass destruction.

Melee bite +29 (3d8+13/19-20 plus poison) and tail +24 (3d6+6 plus grab); this replaces a cairn linnorm’s normal melee attacks.

Chaotic Immunity (Su)

Roll a d10 randomly whenever a chaos serpent is subject to damage from an energy attack; on a result of a 9 or 10 it is immune to that energy type.

This replaces a cairn linnorm’s immunity to acid.

Breath Weapon (Su)

Once every 1d4 rounds as a standard action, a chaos serpent can expel a chaotic blast of power with a range of 60 ft. to attack its foes.

The shape, substance, and damage are all random, so the attack might be a flaming cone of feathers, a ray of spurting water, a burst of kittens (which vanish moments after the attack’s completion), or any other of thousands of possibilities. First, roll on the table below to determine the area of effect. After determining the area of effect, choose the target(s). After choosing the target(s), roll to determine damage dealt and then the substance the blast consists of. If the substance includes a descriptor, such as [fire], the damage is of that type.

Otherwise, it is considered bludgeoning damage. Roll once for each aspect (once for area of effect, once for damage, once for substance). All matter created by this effect disappears at the beginning of the chaos serpent’s next round.

If damage or a penalty is inflicted, a successful Ref save (DC 28) results in half damage or half the penalty. If a condition is inflicted, a successful Will Save (DC 28) results in a partial effect that lasts for only 1 round unless otherwise stated. The duration of damage is instantaneous while the duration of penalties and conditions is 1 minute unless otherwise stated. If chaotic blast instead has a spell effect, use duration of that spell.

Spells simulated by chaotic blast affect all creatures and/or objects in the area of effect. A chaos serpent is immune to the effects of its own chaotic blast.

This replaces a cairn linnorm’s normal breath weapon special attack.

Death Curse (Su)

When a creature slays a chaos serpent, the slayer is affected by the curse of chaos.

Curse of Chaos: save Will DC 25; effect: each day, one ability at random is affected. Roll 1d6 to determine which ability is changed. For that particular day, the ability gains a -10 penalty (to a minimum of 1). Alternatively, each day the GM may select any curse effect she wishes, though the GM should avoid repeating curse effects. The save DC is Charisma-based. This replaces a cairn linnorm’s normal Death Curse special attack.

Poison (Su)

Bite—injury; save: Fort DC 28; frequency: 1/round for 10 rounds; effect: 4d6 damage from a random energy type and 1d6 ability drain from a random ability score; cure: 3 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based. This replaces a cairn linnorm’s normal poison special attack.

Chaos Serpent Breath Weapon Table

d20	Area/Targets/Effect	Damage Dealt	Substance
1	60 ft. cone	9d6	Acid [acid]
2	60 ft. cone	12d6	Frost [cold]
3	Four 10-ft. cubes	12d6	Lightning [electricity]
4	Four 10-ft. cubes	18d6	Fire [fire]
5	Ray (ranged touch no save)	18d6	Sonic [sonic]
6	Ray (ranged touch no save)	21d6	Water [water]
7	Cylinder (10-ft. radius, 40-ft. high)	21d6	Shards of metal and stone
8	Cylinder (10-ft. radius, 40-ft. high)	Enhancement penalty: 1d4 Str +9 Str/halves penalty	Intense wind [air]
9	15-ft. radius spread	Enhancement penalty: 1d4 Dex +9 Dex/ halves penalty	Many tiny fury animals, all of the same species
10	15-ft. radius spread	staggered/sickened	Animal matter
11	5 ft. wide line out to range	Blinded/dazzled	Plant matter
12	5 ft. wide out to range	Panicked/shaken	Coinage
13	18 creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart	Exhausted/fatigued	Spider webs
14	18 creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart	Nauseated/sickened	Insects
15	Creature or object bitten	Paralyzed/staggered	Slime or ooze
16	Creature or object bitten	1d3+1 negative levels/1 negative level	Household objects
17	One creature or object	Stunned/confused	Prismatic [light]
18	One creature or object	Sleep/confused	Stones [earth]
19	5-ft.-diameter sphere (controlled like flaming sphere)	Unconscious/stunned	Roll twice and combine
20	All creatures, no two of which can be more than 60 ft. apart	Helpless (1 hour)/stunned	Invisible force [force]