Magma Paraelemental Shaper
Size/Type: Medium Elemental (Earth, Extraplanar, Fire, Fluid)
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 20 ft.
Armor Class: 19 (+1 Dex, +8 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+6
Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d6+4 plus 1d6 fire)
Full Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d6+4 plus 1d6 fire)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Engulf, heat, molten body, spellshape channeling, spellshaping
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., elemental traits, fluid traits, hardening, immunity to fire, malleable form, vulnerability to cold and water
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 17
Skills: Listen +3, Spot +4
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack
Environment: Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement: 5-7 HD (Medium); 8-15 HD (Large); 16-20 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: --
Magma pours out of the ground, forming a hulking, humanoid figure. Though the magma forming its chest, arms, and legs begins to cool quickly, the creature’s hands and feet remain a fiery red, and it moves with a decidedly liquid motion.
Birthed in the heart of extraplanar volcanoes, magma paraelemental shapers can erupt into violence without warning. They wield the powers of the Crushing Stone, Screeching Roc, and Searing Flame circles.
Magma paraelemental shapers live on the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth. Accordingly, they speak both Ignan and Terran in low, rumbling voices.
Combat
Magma paraelemental shapers love to surge into melee combat. Given a chance, they'll engulf foes smaller than they are. Though they are easily damaged by water and cold effects, such attacks also serve to harden their bodies, making them tougher to destroy.
Heat (Ex): A magma paraelemental shaper's slam attack deals bludgeoning damage plus fire damage from the paraelemental's molten body. Creatures hitting a magma paraelemental shaper with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the paraelemental's normal attack.
Engulf (Ex): As a standard action, a magma paraelemental shaper can flow over creatures at least one size category smaller than it, entrapping them within its form. The paraelemental simply moves into the opponents' space; any creature whose space it completely covers is subject to the engulf attack. The paraelemental cannot make attacks during a round in which it engulfs. It can engulf as many creatures as fit in its space.
Opponents can make attacks of opportunity against the paraelemental, but if they do so they are not entitled to a saving throw. Those who do not attempt attacks of opportunity must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex save or be engulfed; on a success, they are pushed back or aside (opponent's choice) as the creature moves forward. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Engulfed creatures are considered to be pinned and trapped within the magma paraelemental shaper's body and are subject to the effects of its molten body ability (see below). An engulfed creature that breathes air might drown (see page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). To escape, the victim must escape the pin and then escape the grapple by winning grapple checks against the paraelemental. The victim can choose to make Escape Artist checks in place of grapple checks. If the magma paraelemental shaper is killed, any engulfed victims are freed.
Molten Body (Ex): A magma paraelemental shaper is made of molten stone that melts metal and lights combustible objects on fire. The paraelemental's molten body deals 15 points of damage per round to wooden or metal objects, but the paraelemental must remain in contact with the object for 1 full round to deal this damage. A magma paraelemental shaper sets fire to any combustibles in a space it occupies or moves through, and it sheds shadowy illumination out to 15 feet. A magma paraelemental shaper can burrow through solid rock or metal.
Creatures engulfed by a magma paraelemental shaper are also subject to the effects of its molten body. Each round, at the beginning of the paraelemental's turn, any creatures that it has engulfed take 2d6 points of fire damage. An engulfed creature that succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save takes half damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Finally, though water damages a magma paraelemental shaper (see below), the intense heat of its body boils water instantly. A magma paraelemental shaper can evaporate 1 gallon of water per round, but the paraelemental must remain in contact with the water for 1 full round (and take damage accordingly) in order to do so. Creatures made of water and creatures with the water subtype are unaffected by this ability.
Spellshape Channeling (Sp): A magma paraelemental shaper can channel the rockslam, sonorous pulse, and fireblast spellshape attacks through its slam attack. This ability functions like the spellshape champion class feature of the same name (see page 24 of The Codex of Spellshaping: The Twelve Circles).
Spellshaping: A magma paraelemental shaper knows several arcane formulae from the Crushing Stone, Screeching Roc, and Searing Flame circles (shaper level 4th), using its Charisma to determine its spellshaping ability. It recovers expended formulae by resting and meditating for 5 minutes. It can shape each formula once per encounter.
Major—Blistering Flames (2nd), Earthbreaker (2nd), Pulsing Wave (1st)
Minor—Overwhelming Slam (2nd), Scorching Blast (1st)
Fluid Traits: As a creature with the fluid subtype, a magma paraelemental shaper is not subject to critical hits, flanking, nonlethal damage, or ability drain. Due to the fluid nature of its body, a magma paraelemental shaper takes half damage from all weapons, though a weapon with a special ability such as flaming or frost deals its full energy damage with each hit.
A magma paraelemental shaper cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, nor can it grapple opponents normally (though it can make grapple checks to keep an engulfed creature from escaping), and it automatically succeeds on Escape Artist checks made to escape from ropes, manacles, and tight spaces. A magma paraelemental shaper is never staggered, but reducing it to 0 hit points causes it to lose integrity and break apart (though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attacks).
Hardening (Ex): If a magma paraelemental shaper takes damage equal to half of its full normal hit points from water or cold damage within 1 minute, its body hardens into volcanic rock. This hardening lasts for 5 rounds, after which the creature returns to its fluid form. While hardened, the magma paraelemental shaper's statistics change as follows:
The paraelemental loses the fluid subtype and all fluid traits (including the engulf and malleable form abilities). It also loses the molten body ability, as well as its vulnerabilities to cold and water.
It gains the solid subtype and the associated traits (including hardness 8 and bonus hit points based on its size, if the paraelemental is Medium or larger).
Finally, the paraelemental takes a -4 penalty to its Dexterity score and gains a +4 bonus to its Strength score and a +2 increase to its natural armor.
Any creatures engulfed by the paraelemental when it hardens become trapped within the paraelemental's solid body and can no longer escape through grappling or Escape Artist checks. Instead, a trapped creature can escape only by making a DC 15 Strength check. The check DC is Constitution-based. On a successful check, the trapped creature breaks out of the paraelemental's body, dealing 1d6 points of damage to the paraelemental. Any creatures trapped within a hardened paraelemental are freed normally if the paraelemental is killed.
Malleable Form (Ex): A magma paraelemental shaper's control over its form allows it to flow through tiny cracks in objects and move through obstacles. A magma paraelemental shaper moves at normal speed through terrain that slows movement. It can move through permeable objects at half speed, though it cannot move through completely solid barriers. For example, a magma paraelemental shaper could flow through a wooden or brick wall by squeezing into cracks and channels, but it could not move through a wall of solid iron or rock (though it might be able to burrow through such a barrier).
Vulnerability to Water (Ex): A magma paraelemental shaper is vulnerable to water, taking 1d6 points of damage per round of exposure, except in the case of total immersion, which deals 20d6 points of damage per round.
Damage dealt by weapons or attack forms made of water (such as a water elemental's slam attack) is not halved by a magma paraelemental shaper's fluid nature; instead, such attacks deal half again as much (+50%) damage to a magma paraelemental shaper. In addition, a create water spell (or another spell that creates water) cast into a magma paraelemental shaper's space deals 1d6 damage per caster level to the paraelemental. The magma paraelemental shaper receives no saving throw against such a spell.
Advancement
Whenever a magma paraelemental shaper gains a new Hit Die, it learns a new formula from the Crushing Stone, Screeching Roc, or Searing Flame circles. Additionally, at every even-numbered Hit Die, a magma paraelemental shaper can choose to learn a new formula in place of one it already knows. In effect, it loses the old formula in exchange for the new one. It can choose a new formula of any level it likes, as long as it observes the normal restriction on the highest-level formula that it can know according to its shaper level; it need not replace the old formula with a formula of the same level. Like any spellshaper, a magma paraelemental shaper must meet a formula's prerequisites in order to learn it.
When a magma paraelemental shaper reaches 8 Hit Dice, it becomes Large, and its statistics change as follows: +4 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +1 Charisma. In addition, it gains a +1 increase to its natural armor bonus, it gains a second slam attack (which it makes at its highest base attack bonus), and the damage dealt to engulfed creatures by its molten body ability increases to 3d6 points of fire damage. When a Large magma paraelemental shaper hardens, its Dexterity penalty is equal to -6, its Strength bonus is equal to +6, and its increase to natural armor is equal to +3. A Large magma paraelemental shaper provides shadowy illumination out to 30 feet.
When a magma paraelemental shaper reaches 16 Hit Dice, it becomes Huge, and its statistics change as follows: +4 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +1 Charisma. In addition, the damage dealt to engulfed creatures by its molten body ability increases to 4d6 points of fire damage. When a Huge magma paraelemental shaper hardens, its Dexterity penalty is equal to -8, its Strength bonus is equal to +8, and its increase to natural armor is equal to +4. A Huge magma paraelemental shaper provides shadowy illumination out to 60 feet.
For the purpose of determining the Challenge Rating of an advanced magma paraelemental shaper, treat its elemental Hit Dice as though they were associated class levels.