Remorhaz
Description
In a world of ice and snow, the remorhaz is particularly feared for the terrible fires that burn within its body. These internal fires cause the armor plates along its back to glow red-hot when the creature is particularly angry, excited, or in pain. Creatures adapted to arctic regions are often particularly vulnerable to fire, making the remorhaz's primary defense an incredibly potent one and securing its role as a dangerous predator in such frozen reaches.
Remorhazes dwell in extensive warrens carved into the hearts of glaciers. The beasts use their heat to melt tunnels through ice, tunnels whose smooth glassy sides swiftly refreeze in their wake to create uncommonly stable and numerous mazes.
Although the remorhaz has much in common superficially with lesser vermin, the beast is surprisingly intelligent. While not capable of speech, the typical remorhaz has a good grasp of the Giant tongue, and tribes of giants often use this to their advantage to secure allegiances with the great beasts. Frost giants are particularly obsessed with them, for those giants who brave the cruel and deadly burns a remorhaz can inflict to become “worm friends” gain a potent weapon to use against their enemies—an assassin capable of burrowing up through the floor of a glacial keep to strike directly against a frost giant's greatest weakness: fire. Other giants use the beasts as living forges, for their backs are hot enough to melt metal.
A remorhaz is 25 feet long and weighs 10,000 pounds.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- bite +13 (3d6+9 plus grab)
- Space
- 15 ft.
- Reach
- 15 ft.
Ability Scores
Special Attacks
Heat — An enraged remorhaz generates heat so intense that anything touching its body takes 8d6 points of fire damage. Creatures striking a remorhaz with natural attacks or unarmed strikes are subject to this damage, but creatures striking with melee weapons are not. The heat can melt or burn weapons; any weapon that strikes a remorhaz is allowed a DC 19 Fortitude save to avoid taking damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
swallow whole (2d6+9 plus 8d6 fire, AC 15, hp 9)
Feats
Special Abilities
Universal Monster Rules
Feats, Traits & Items
As a standard action, the creature may perform an awesome blow combat maneuver. If the creature's maneuver succeeds against a corporeal opponent smaller than itself, its opponent takes damage (typically slam damage plus Strength bonus) and is knocked flying 10 feet in a direction of the attacking creature's choice and falls prone. The attacking creature can only push the opponent in a straight line, and the opponent can't move closer to the attacking creature than the square it started in. If an obstacle prevents the completion of the opponent's move, the opponent and the obstacle each take 1d6 points of damage, and the opponent is knocked prone in the space adjacent to the obstacle.
As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to bull rush a foe. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to bull rush you.
You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage.
You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving the chosen skill. If you have 10 or more ranks in that skill, this bonus increases to +6.
Skills
Perception +16
- Type
- Magical Beast
- Alignment
- N
- Size
- Huge
- Environment
- cold deserts and glaciers
- Organization
- solitary
- Treasure
- none
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +16
- Languages
- Giant (cannot speak)
- Source
- Bestiary