Animentals

Description

(From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix III - 1998):

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It’s said that the Elemental Planes shape the Prime Material Plane, forming the basis for all things found there. Sometimes, however, it works the other way.

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See, when an animal dies on the Prime, its spirit usually wends its way to the Outer Plane that most closely matches the alignment or devotion it had while alive (often, the Beastlands). Sometimes, though, a portion of the deader’s life energy is left over, and it passes through to the Inner Planes instead – most likely shunted through a vortex leading to one of the Elemental Planes. The residual force finds its way to a new plane of primal energy and matter, where, like a reflection in a pond, it creates a duplicate or the beast it once animated on the Prime. The new form — known as an animental — is composed of whatever element is at hand.

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Thus, inner-planar travelers have encountered birds made of fire, snakes made of smoke, wolves made of water, and elk made of ice. But animentals can resemble monsters, too, though it happens a bit more rarely. A planewalker might find a griffon composed of minerals, a basilisk formed from air, or a dragon made of lightning. The combinations are usually surprising, and only rarely make “logical” sense. For example, most folks’d expect an animental fish to be shaped out of water or a bird to be made from air, but such combinations occur no more frequently than any other.

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For reasons no graybeards yet tumbled to, no one’s ever seen elemental humanoids created in this fashion. The Inner Planes just don’t seem to spawn counterparts for humans, elves, dwarves, or even monsters like orcs, gnolls, and ogres. But that doesn’t stop berks from rattling their bone-boxes. One well-known rumor talks about animental giants, but no proofs been given to date. Still, chant has it that animental humanoids do exist and are, in fact, the true progenitors of geniekind. Others say that the reason no one’s run into animental humanoids is that they’d all rounded up by dao slavers. Both of these rumors seem extraordinarily far-fetched.

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Combat: In general, an animental fights in the same manner as the actual beast it represents. In almost every way, however, it’s slightly superior to its prime-material counterpart.

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While the animental’s Hit Dice, THAC0, number of attacks, and Intelligence all remain the same, it usually inflicts greater damage and has a better Armor Class. First of all, the creature’s physical attacks are enhanced by its new composition, whether it’s due to heat from flame, steam, or magma; the choking fumes of smoke or ash; the impact of stony earth or forceful air; and so on. Thus, all damage per attack is increased by an additional 1d4 points for animentals of size S or M, 1d6 points for animentals of size L and 1d8 points for those even larger. The creature’s new composition enhances its natural defenses, too – the animental’s Armor Class improves by two steps (due to the noncorporeal nature of flame or steam, the protection of hardy earth or mineral, and so on).

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Special attacks involving elements, such as a petrifying gaze (stone) or flaming breath (fire), are retained only if the animental is composed of the appropriate element. If the creature can’t use the special attack, approximately 25% of the time it adopts a new and more appropriate power. For example, a medusa made of fire might turn her victims into pillars of flame via her gaze (or, perhaps, simply into volcanic obsidian or ash). A blue dragon that’s become a beast of ooze might see its lightning breath replaced by a gout of corrosive slime.

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The animental has about a 50% chance of retaining other special abilities – such as poison, regeneration, disease, and so forth – and a 30% chance of retaining spell-like abilities.

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All animentals can fly or swim through their respective element without difficulty, but they otherwise move at the normal rate for the prime-material creature they mirror.

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When slain, animentals revert to their component elements (a stone bat crumbles to pebbles, a smoke dragonn fades away, and so on), leaving no trace that they ever existed.

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Habitat/Society: Being creatures that exist as imitations of life rather than as true life, these beasts have no real culture. They’re truly natives of their own elements, unable to leave their home planes except in the most special of circumstances (such as when summoned by a rare spell into an area that has large amounts of their respective element). Most other elemental beings ignore animentals as phantoms, though a few employ them as guards or pets.

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Remember, though, that not all animentals are “dumb” beasts. They keep the same Intelligence they had when they lived as real creatures. That means that if the original, flesh-and-blood being was able to communicate in some manner (speech, telepathy, or the like), the animental can do the same.

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Ecology: Animentals are aberrations, an exception to all the rules; they fit into the strange ecologies of the Inner Planes as best they can. Because most of those planes have no plant life, even “normally” herbivorous beasts become meat-eaters, preying upon visitors or other inhabitants found there.

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The point should be made that animentals are no longer the creatures they were, no longer made of flesh and blood, no longer slaves to terrestrial natures. They’ve become beasts of elemental energy and matter — only their appearances still bring to mind the animals or monsters they used to be. Many graybeards theorize that animentals aren’t even living beings in the truest sense, and are, in fact, little more than reflections of life, with no more substance than images in a mirror. This might be overstating the point, but the essence of the statement gives a body something to rattle about in his brain-box.

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(From 3rd Edition Manual of the Planes - 2001):

 

ELEMENT CREATURES:

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The different Elemental Planes are home to creatures that are made entirely of the elemental material of their native plane.The templates below present examples from each of the Inner Planes, as well as a couple of alternative planes.

 

Air Element Creatures:

Air element creatures dwell in the Elemental Plane of Air. They appear as shifting clouds in the same general form as similar material beings, with darker bits of fog for eyes and mouth.

 

Creating an Air Element Creature:  "Air element" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature of the following base types: aberration, animal, beast, magical beast, plant, or vermin. The creature's typе changes to "elemental (air)." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

 

Hit Dice: Change to d8.

Speed: An air element creature has a fly speed of 100 feet, unless the base creature has a higher fly speed, with perfect maneuverability.

Special Attacks: An air element creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following.

Air Mastery (Ex): Airborne creatures suffer a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against an air element creature.

Special Qualities: An air element creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following ones:

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 - Elemental: Immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning. Not subject to critical hits.

- Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

- Damage reduction (see the table below).

 

Hit Dice:     Damage Reduction:

1-7             --

8-11            5/+1

12+            10/+1​

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Saves: Same as the base creature.

Abilities: Change from the base creature as follows: Dex +6.

Skills: Same as the base creature. If the air element creature has an Intelligence of 4 or greater, it speaks Auran.

Feats: Same as the base creature, with the added feat of Flyby Attack.

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Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Same as the base creature.

Challenge Rating: Up to 3 HD, same as the base creature.

3 HD to 7 HD, same as the base creature +1.

8+ HD, same as the base creature +2.

Treasure: Same as the base creature. Alignment: Usually neutral.

Advancement: Same as the base creature.

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Earth Element Creatures:

Earth element creatures dwell in the Elemental Plane of Earth. They appear as shambling hulks with the same general form as similar material beings but are made entirely of stone, earth, and soil. Their eyes are multifaceted crystals.

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Creating an Earth Element Creature: "Earth element" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature of the following base types: aberration, animal, beast, magical beast, plant, or vermin. The creature's type changes to "elemental (earth)." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

 

Hit Dice: Change to d8.

Speed: Gains burrow at the base creature's normal speed or 20 feet, whichever is less, in addition to the normal speed for the base creature.

AC: Natural armor improves by +3.

Special Attacks: An earth element creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following.

Earth Mastery (Ex): An earth element creature gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its foe touch the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, the earth element creature suffers a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls.

Burrow (Ex): An earth element creature can glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish moves through water, in a manner similar to a xorn's.

Special Qualities: An earth element creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following ones:

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- Elemental: Immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning. Not subject to critical hits.

- Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

- Damage reduction (see the table).

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Hit Dice:     Damage Reduction:

1-7             --

8-11            5/+1

12+            10/+1

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Tremorsense (Ex): The earth element creature can automatically sense the location of anything within 60 feetthat is in contact with the ground. If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value. Saves: Same as the base creature.

 

Abilities: Change from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex-2.

Skills: Same as the base creature. If the earth elementcreature has an Intelligence of 4 or greater, it speaks Terran.

Feats: Same as the base creature.

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Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Same as the base creature. Challenge Rating: Up to 3 HD, same as the basecreature. 3 HD to 7 HD, same as the base creature +1. 8+ HD, same as the base creature +2.

Treasure: Same as the base creature.

Alignment: Usually neutral.

Advancement: Same as the base creature.

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Fire Element Creatures:

Fire element creatures dwell on the Elemental Plane of Fire. They have the same general form as material beings but are bathed in flame, hair and fur replaced with fire, and scaled or armored portions replaced with blackened ash and charcoal. Their eyes glow with blue flames.

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Creating a Fire Element Creature:

reating a Fire Element Creature "Fire element" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature of the following base types: aberration, animal, beast, magical beast, plant, or vermin. The creature's type changes to "elemental (fire)." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

 

Hit Dice: Change to d8.

Special Attacks: A fire element creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following.

Heat (Ex): In addition to the damage from their attacks, fire element creatures deal additional fire damage with their natural weapons (including claw, bite, slam, or tail attack).The amount of damage depends on the HD total of the creature (see the table below).

Burn (Ex): Those hit by the natural weapons ofa fire element creature must succeed at a Reflex save or catch fire. The flame burns for 1d4 rounds (See Catching on Fire in Chapter 3 of the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide).The save DC is equal to 7+ the fire element creature's HD total.

Creatures hitting a fire element creature with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the fire element creature's attack, and also catch fire unless they succeed at a Reflex save.

Special Qualities: A fire element creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following ones:

Elemental: Immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning. Not subject to critical hits. Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. Damage reduction (see the table below).

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Hit Dice:     Damage Reduction:           Additional Fire Damage:

1-3             --                                   --

4-7             --                                   1d4

8-11            5/+1                               1d6

12+            10/+1                               2d6

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Fire Subtype (Ex): Fire immunity, double damage from cold except onasuccessful save.

If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value.

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Saves: Same as the base creature.

Abilities: Same as the base creature.

Skills: Same as the base creature. If the fire element creature has an Intelligence of 4 or greater, it speaks Ignan.

Feats: Same as the base creature.

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Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Same as the base creature.

Challenge Rating: Up to 3 HD, same as the base creature. 3 HD to 7 HD, same as the base creature +1. 8+ HD, same as the base creature +2.

Treasure: Same as the base creature.

Alignment: Usually neutral.

Advancement: Same as the base creature.

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Water Element Creatures:

Water element creatures dwell in the Elemental Plane of Water. They have viscous, fluid bodies in the same general form as similar material beings. Glowing orbs of green serve as eyes, and a concavity lined with coral as a mouth.

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Creating a Water Element Creature: "Water element" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature of the following base types: aberration, animal, beast, magical beast, plant, or vermin. The creature's type changes to "elemental (water)." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

 

Hit Dice: Change to d8.

Speed: Swim 90 feet in addition to the normal speed for the base creature.

Special Attacks: A water element creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following.

Water Mastery (Ex): A water element creature gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both it and its opponent touch water. If the opponent or water element creature is landbound, the water element creature suffers a-4 penalty on attack and damage rolls.

Drench (Ex): The water element creature's touch puts out torches, campfires, exposed lanterns, and other open flames of nonmagical origin, if these are of Large size or smaller. The creature can dispel magical fire it touches as dispel magic cast by a sorcerer whose level equals the water element creature's HD total. It gains no benefit or disadvantage against creatures from the Ele- mental Plane of Fire.

 

Special Qualities: A water element creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following ones:

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- Elemental: Immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning. Not subject to critical hits.

- Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

- Damage reduction (see the table below).

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Hit Dice:     Damage Reduction:

1-7             --

8-11            5/+1

12+            10/+1

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If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value.

 

Saves: Same as the base creature.

Abilities: Same as the base creature.

Skills: Same as the base creature. If the air element creature has an Intelligence of 4 or greater, it speaks Aquan.

Feats: Same as the base creature.

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Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Same as the base creature.

Challenge Rating: Up to 3 HD, same as the basecreature.

3 HD to 7 HD, same as the base creature +1.

8+ HD, same as the base creature +2.

Treasure: Same as the base creature.

Alignment: Usually neutral.

Advancement: Same as the base creature.