Library / Bestiary

Sard

CR 19.00 Plant CE Colossal
This wriggling and leafless tree moves on spidery legs. Flickering motes of blood-red lightning dance in the cracks of its bark.

The sard is an ancient elm, oak, or pine tree that has been infused with lightning and raw life by one of the strange gods of the fey realm. One of the legendary beasts known as the Tane, a sard has “sap” that consists of red lightning—all of the sard's electrical attacks manifest with this same eerie-colored energy.

A sard can pass for an old dead tree—especially when the creature uses its tree shape spell-like ability. Yet despite its enormous size and ungainly shape, the sard is in fact a swift and agile monster. It can move with unsettling grace and speed, crawling across the ground on long spidery roots like an immense insect. It attacks either with a single slam of its immense trunk or by launching volleys of foot-long thorns that inject the creature's poisonous, electrified sap.

Sards are nearly as intelligent as most humans, but few actually use this intelligence for productive purposes—the first sards were created as a form of living siege engine, and they quite enjoy this destructive role, often seeking out fortresses or even towns to systematically destroy.

STR
42
DEX
27
CON
30
INT
9
WIS
22
CHA
25
HP
333 (23d8+230); fast healing 10
AC
34, touch 10, flat-footed 26 (+8 Dex, +24 natural, -8 size)
Speed
50 ft., climb 30 ft.
Init
+8
Melee
2 slams +25 (4d10+16/19-20 plus 4d6 electricity)
Ranged
4 thorns +17 (2d8+16 plus poison)
Space
30 ft.
Reach
30 ft.
BAB
+17
CMB
+41
CMD
59 (67 vs. trip)
Fort
+23
Ref
+17
Will
+13
DR
15/cold iron and slashing
SR
30
Defensive Abilities
death throes, electrical jolt

Planar Acclimation — A sard is always considered to be on its home plane, regardless of what plane it finds itself upon. It never gains the extraplanar subtype.

Improved Bull Rush from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> 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.</p>

Improved Critical from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> When using the weapon you selected, your threat range is doubled.</p>

<p class="stat-block-1"> Once per day, you may reroll a Reflex save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.</p>

<p class="stat-block-1"> Your ranged attacks ignore the AC bonus granted to targets by anything less than total cover, and the miss chance granted to targets by anything less than total concealment. Total cover and total concealment provide their normal benefits against your ranged attacks.</p>

Improved Sunder from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a sunder combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to sunder an item. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to sunder your gear. </p>

Lightning Reflexes from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You get a +2 bonus on all Reflex saving throws.</p>

Point-Blank Shot from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.</p>

Power Attack from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You can choose to take a &ndash;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 (&ndash;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 &ndash;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.</p>

Precise Shot from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the standard &ndash;4 penalty on your attack roll.</p>

Vital Strike from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as <i>flaming</i>), precision based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.</p>

Climb +24, Perception +32

spell-like abilities:
At will—Control Weather, At will—Lightning Bolt, At will—Tree Shape, At will—Transport Via Plants, 3/day—Chain Lightning, 3/day—Lightning Bolt, 1/day—Storm Of Vengeance, 1/day—Whirlwind
Details
Type
Plant
Alignment
CE
Size
Colossal
Environment
any forests
Organization
solitary
Treasure
triple
Senses
blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 30 ft.; Perception +32
Languages
Aklo, Sylvan
Source
Bestiary 2
Sources Used in This Record
18 House/Core
  • Uses feat: Improved Bull Rush (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Critical (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Lightning Reflexes (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Precise Shot (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Sunder (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Lightning Reflexes (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Point-Blank Shot (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Power Attack (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Precise Shot (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Vital Strike (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Control Weather (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Lightning Bolt (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Tree Shape (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Transport Via Plants (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Chain Lightning (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Lightning Bolt (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Storm Of Vengeance (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Whirlwind (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
OGL 1.0a Notice. Pathfinder-derived Open Game Content on this page is used under the Open Game License v1.0a and Section 15 notice.