Amazons, Archons and Azers [Blood & Treasure]

I'm now working my through the monster chapter doing a first pass on editing before it goes to Tanner for a more thorough look, and I decided "Why not preview a few monsters on the blog". (i.e. I needed a quick and easy post for the day because I'm busy as spit).

I figure this can give folks an idea about the format (different than in earlier previews - a format I liked but just became too difficult to layout effectively and make the info easy for the TK to access during play) and maybe preview a few of the new monsters in the game.

AMAZON
Medium Humanoid, Alignment Varies, Average Intelligence; Company (1d20)

HD: 1 + 1
AC: 16 (chainmail and shield)
ATK: Longsword (1d8+1) or longbow (100 ft., 1d8+1)
MV: 30
SV: F 15, R 13, W 15
XP: 100 (CL 2)

Amazons are humanoid females who are expert warriors. All amazons are uncommonly tall and handsome. They come in three varieties, named after the color of their skin; the blue amazons, green amazons and red amazons. All amazons eschew accepting males into their society, but do require them for mating. Male humans are often taken by them in raids, mated with, and then sent on their way. Boys born onto the island are given to mercenary bands composed of the sons of amazons. These men, who lack the special abilities of their mothers, are called myrmidons. They look like their fathers, but their eye color and personality matches their mother.

Blue amazons are Lawful (LG) and worship the goddess of wisdom and war. Their skin is deep azure and they have hair that shines like silver. They are the wisest of the amazons, and enjoy a magic resistance of 10% and immunity to surprise. Blue amazons fight in close-knit ranks with spears and shields and they wear platemail (AC 19). They are usually led by clerics or paladins.

Green amazons are Neutral (N) and worship the goddess of the hunt. Their skin is jade green and their hair dark, forest green. Green amazons dwell in the woodlands, spending their days hunting. They can survive and track as well as rangers and can attack twice per round with their longbows. They are usually led by druids or rangers.

Red amazons are Chaotic (CE) and worship the goddess of black magic. Their skin is vivid crimson and their hair jet black. Red amazons fight as berserkers, attacking twice per round with their long swords, and they are immune to fear. They are usually led by chaos clerics or warlocks.

Organization: Band of 80 warriors plus 50% non-combatants plus leader of 4th to 7th level (1d4+3).

ARCHON
Archons are celestials that are not unlike angels, but of an inferior class. Archons speak Celestial, Infernal, and Draconic, but can speak with almost any creature using tongues.

A righteous aura surrounds archons that fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of an archon must succeed on a Will save to resist its effects. Those who fail take a –2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit the archon.

Spells: Continuous—magic circle against evil, tongues; At will—teleport

HOUND ARCHON
Medium Outsider, Lawful (LG), Average Intelligence; Pack (1d6)

HD: 6
AC: 19 [+1]
ATK: Bite (1d8) and slam (1d4) or +1 greatsword (2d6) and bite (1d8)
MV: 40
SV: F 10, R 10, W 10; +4 save vs. poison
XP: 3,000 (CL 8)

Hound archons look like well-muscled humans with canine heads. Hound archons prefer to attack with their natural weapons but occasionally use +1 greatswords.

A hound archon can assume any canine form of small to large size. While in canine form, the hound archon loses its bite, slam, and greatsword attacks, but gains the bite attack of the form it chooses.

Once per day, a hound archon can attempt to smite a Chaotic creature, doing double damage if it hits.

Special Qualities: Immune to electricity and petrification, magic resistance 15%

Spells: Continuous—magic circle against evil, tongues; At will—aid, continual flame, detect evil, message, teleport

LANTERN ARCHON
Small Outsider, Lawful (LG), Low Intelligence; Gleam (1d6)

HD: 1
AC: 15 [+1]
ATK: 2 light rays (30 ft., 1d6)
MV: Fly 60
SV: F 14, R 12, W 14; +4 save vs. poison
XP: 250 (CL 3)

Lantern archons appear as floating balls of light that glow about as brightly as a torch. Only their destruction can extinguish the glow, though they can try to hide it. A lantern archon has little reason to get within melee range. It usually hovers just close enough to bring the enemy within its aura of menace and then blasts away with its light rays. Lantern archons prefer to concentrate on a single opponent, seeking to reduce enemy numbers quickly.

Special Qualities: Immune to electricity and petrification

Spells: Continuous—magic circle against evil, tongues; At will— aid, detect evil, continual flame

TRUMPET ARCHON
Medium Outsider, Lawful (LG), High Intelligence; Blast (1d6)

HD: 12
AC: 23 [+1]
ATK: +2 greatsword (3d6)
MV: 40 (Fly 90)
SV: F 7, R 7, W 6; +4 save vs. poison
XP: 3,000 (CL 14)

Trumpet archons are angelic humanoids that carry long, silver trumpets. If forced into an extended battle, the archon sounds its trumpet and attacks with a vengeance. An archon’s trumpet produces music of utter clarity, piercing beauty, and, if the trumpet archon wills it, paralyzing awe. All creatures except archons within 100 feet of the blast must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. The archon can also command its trumpet to become a +2 greatsword. If a trumpet is stolen, it becomes a chunk of useless metal until the owner can recover it. Woe betides the thief caught with one.

Special Qualities: Immune to electricity and petrification, magic resistance 30%

Spells: Continuous—magic circle against evil, tongues; At will—detect evil, continual flame, message

AZER
Medium Outsider (Fire), Lawful (LN), Average Intelligence; Squad (1d6)

HD: 2
AC: 21 (Scale, shield)
ATK: Battleaxe (1d8 + 1 fire)
MV: 30
SV: F 12, R 12, W 12
XP: 200 (CL 3)

Azers are dwarf-like beings native to the Elemental Plane of Fire. They wear kilts of brass, bronze, or copper and speak Fire Elemental and Dwarf (50% chance). Although unfriendly and taciturn, azers rarely provoke a fight except to relieve a foe of gems, which they love. Azers wield broad-headed spears or well-crafted hammers. An azer’s body is intensely hot, so its unarmed attacks and metal weapons deal extra fire damage.

Special Qualities: Immune to fire, magic resistance 5%, vulnerable to cold

Organization: Clan of 100 azer plus 50% non-combatants plus 7 HD leader

AZERS AS CHARACTERS
Azer characters modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str +1, Int +1, Cha -2. They have darkvision to a range of 60 and retain the special abilities of normal azer. Azer speak Fire Elemental, and may also speak the other elemental tongues and Celestial, Dwarf and Infernal. Azer can multi-class as cleric/fighters, fighter/magic-users and fighter/ thieves. Whatever their class, they can only advance to a max of 6th level.