Wearing bronze helmets green with age and armor made of seashells, each scowling fish man passes its hand over an odd-looking, tube-like device at its hip attached by a line to a round metal shield. A magnetic whine is heard and each shield thrums with energy as each warrior draws a deadly looking trident and takes a practiced defensive stance.
For Sunken Empires fans, the underdeep holds many challenges. All the more challenging when they use vril-powered weapons and armor of the ancients! Vril-charged hoplite shields add another +3 shield bonus to AC. Give each skum team member some fighter levels, and you have a dangerous elite underwater squad.
Skum Temple Guards (6)Â Â Â Â Â Â CR 8 (13)
XP 600 (6,400 total)
Fighter 6
LE Medium monstrous humanoid (aquatic)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6 …
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 22 (+5 armor, +1 Dex, +2 natural, +5 shield)
hp 90 (2d10+9 and 6d10+30)
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +8
Resist cold 10
OFFENSE
Speed 15 ft.; swim 30 ft.
Melee trident +15/+10 (1d8+7) or claw +10 (1d4+3), bite +10 (1d6+3)
Ranged trident +12 (1d8+7)
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 13, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +8; CMB +12; CMD 23
Feats Multiattack (B), Toughness, Combat Reflexes, Stand Still, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (trident), Weapon Specialization (Trident), Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +6,Intimidate +6, Perception +6 (+10 underwater), Perform (wind instrument or sing) +3, Stealth +6 (+10 underwater), Swim +17; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception and Stealth underwater
Languages Aboleth, Undercommon
SQ amphibious, bravery +2, armor training 1, weapon training spears +1
Equipment seashell suit, hoplite shield, trident or barbed net (2 guards only), vril battery (33 charges).
TACTICS
If intruders are nigh, the skum guards power up their hoplite shields (+3 to AC) and use Vital Strike at first opportunity.
(This post is Product Identity.)
Hey James,
Am I right to vaguely recall these Skum? And will I see more from the same source :-)
These look great! I’m getting ready to start up a new campaign for my gaming group, and will definitely be incorporating these skum into an encounter or three.
@Darkjoy – Yes, you may remember these guys. More? We’ll see.
@Pantasmavore – Glad you like the encounter! Sunken Empires is a wonderful supplement. I encourage you and anyone ‘offshore’ to check out Brandon Hodge’s project from Open Design!