Zweilous (3.5e Monster)



''You encounter a two-headed dragon whose heads appear to be bickering with each other. Upon hearing your approach, the dragon charges into a rock wall, then reorients itself and redirects its attack towards you.''

Zweilous is a larger, two-headed version of Deino. It's even more ill-tempered than before, but it's still somewhat comical due to its blind clumsiness and the fact that its heads have a penchant for fighting each other.

Combat
Zweilous is essentially a stronger Deino. It's just as clumsy, but even more ferocious. Unlike its evolution, Zweilous's two heads are independent of each other and are each able to control the body on their own, allowing it to survive a single decapitation just like an ettin does.

The sample Zweilous has almost as many HD as the Dragonite and Garchomp described elsewhere on this wiki. This is not because Zweilous is an especially powerful species, but because it's a slow-growing one. By the time a Deino becomes a Zweilous, a Gible has already become a Garchomp, a Bagon has already become a Salamence, a Beldum has already become a Metagross, a Dratini has already become a Dragonair and is on the verge of becoming a Dragonite, and a Larvitar has already become a Pupitar and is on the verge of becoming a Tyranitar. Zweilous is really on the same power level as other mid-stage pseudo-legends (Dragonair, Noctowl, Pupitar, Shelgon, Metang, and Gabite). The discrepancy in Hit Die can be solved through monster advancement.

 (Ex): Zweilous is severely lacking in terms of accuracy, but makes up for this with raw power. It has a &minus;3 penalty to all attack rolls and a +3 bonus to damage rolls. This is in addition to any bonuses or penalties it may take due to Power Attack.

 (Ex): Zweilous has no eyes, which means that it's blind. As such, it tends to rely on its other senses, mainly hearing and smell, to figure out where it and its prey are. (Unlike many naturally blind creatures, Zweilous has no blindsense, which is probably why it's so clumsy. Don't be surprised if its attack ends up nowhere near its target.)


 *  (Sp): This is a flame strike from below rather than from above. Instead of divine energy, half of the damage is a [Ground] effect. (Actually, the whole move is a [Ground] effect, not a [Fire] effect, even though half of the damage is fire damage.) Zweilous's caster level is equal to its Hit Dice. Save DC is Charisma-based. Zweilous may use earth power once per day for every 4 Hit Die it possesses (minimum once per day). (Unfortunately for Zweilous, its lack of vision means that it's prone to missing wildly.)
 *  (Sp): Zweilous may generate a ripple of nightmares as a standard action once every 1d4 rounds. This ripple creates 4 15-foot-radius bursts within Medium range of Zweilous. Any creature caught within one of these bursts takes 1d10+Int negative energy damage and is immobilized for 1 round; a Fortitude save is allowed to halve the damage and negate the immobilization (the DC is Intelligence-based). Creatures affected by the Dark Pulse must also succeed on a Will save (save DC is Wisdom-based) or take a &minus;2 penalty to attack rolls and all defenses (armor class, saving throws, spell resistance, spell dampening, martial defense, energy resistance, etc.) This is a [Dark] effect. (Unfortunately for Zweilous, its lack of vision means that it's prone to missing wildly.)
 *  (Ex): When making its headbutt attack, Zweilous may elect to add 6d12 damage to the attack. If it does, it takes 3d12 backlash damage. This is a [Rock] effect. Backlash damage cannot be resisted by any means, and a creature killed by backlash damage loses an additional Hit Die if and when it is brought back to life.
 *  (Su): Zweilous's bite attack inflicts an additional 1d6 fire damage, and a failure by 5 or more on the Fortitude save causes the target to become burned. This is a [Fire] effect.
 *  (Su): Zweilous's bite attack inflicts an additional 1d6 electric damage, and a failure of 5 or more on the Fortitude save causes the target to become numbed. This is an [Electric] effect.
 *  (Su): Zweilous's bite attack inflicts an additional 1d6 cold damage, and a failure of 5 or more on the Fortitude save causes the target to become frozen, as the freeze spell, until it manages to break free with a DC 16 Strength check. This is an [Ice] effect.

If an ability does not allow a save and deals damage, it takes half damage. It also gains a +4 bonus on saves against against mind-affecting spells.

 (Ex): If Zweilous spends a Swift action focusing, and does not move more than 5' in the round, its next bite attack threatens a critical on a natural 17-20. If Improved Critical is taken, this becomes 15-20.

 (Ex): Zweilous's bite is laced with dark energy. If its bite connects, the target must succeed on a DC 21 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. This is a [Dark] effect.

 : Zweilous has a headbutt attack as a secondary natural weapon, which does 1d8+Str damage (plus an additional +3 due to Hustle) and is capable of causing the target to flinch just like the bite attack. This is a [Normal] effect.

 : Zweilous has a breath weapon, usable once every 1d4 rounds, which deals 1d8 damage per HD Zweilous has. The breath weapon takes the form of a 50-foot line. Creatures caught in the path of the attack can halve the damage with a Reflex save (save DC is Constitution-based). A creature that fails its save by 5 or more is paralyzed for 5 rounds. This is a [Dragon] effect.

 : Zweilous's jaws can easily smash bones. Zweilous's bite attacks deal damage as though it was one size category larger, and a creature that fails the Fortitude save loses 1 point of natural armor, 1 point of damage reduction, and 1 point of martial defense for 1 minute. Another successful Crunch reduces the target's natural armor, damage reduction, and martial defense by a further 1 (to a maximum penalty of &minus;6) and refreshes the duration. This is a [Dark] effect.

Zweilous may spend bio-energy when using Crunch to increase its save DC by 1 per bio-energy charge spent, or drain bio-energy charges to increase the save DC by 2 per bio-energy charge drained. As Zweilous's Bite and its elemental fang (Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, or Ice Fang) share the same save DC as Crunch, spending bio-energy in this fashion increases their save DCs as well.

 : At will, Zweilous may use a standard action to launch a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 80 feet that does 2d12 points of damage. This is a [Dragon] effect. Zweilous adds its Charisma modifier to the damage roll.

 : As a swift action, Zweilous can get itself hyped up for battle. It gains a +2 morale bonus to damage rolls and save DCs for 1 minute.

 : Zweilous gains additional power when charging, and can slam its body into foes in a most devastating manner. When charging, if it hits, the foe takes an additional 1d6 points of damage per hit die and is knocked prone if they fail a Balance check (the DC is equal to the damage dealt). If the foe is knocked prone, Zweilous can continue the charge to another foe as long as it has movement left. This is a [Dragon] effect.

 : Zweilous's two heads are independent of each other and are each able to control the body on their own, allowing it to survive a single decapitation just like an ettin does.

Advancement
At 17 HD, Zweilous learns  : Zweilous gains an alternate breath weapon that takes the form of a 40-foot cone of intense sound. This cone does 1d6 damage per HD Zweilous has (the damage can be halved with a Reflex save, save DC is Constitution-based). A creature that fails its save by 5 or more is deafened for the rest of the encounter. This is a [Normal] effect.

Oddly enough, Hyper Voice is completely useless on creatures with "soundproof" qualities, such as Electrode, Exploud, and Mr. Mime.

At 24 HD, Zweilous learns  : When Zweilous enters an Outrage, which takes a full-round action, everything within 30 feet takes 1d6 damage per hit die. This leaves a smoking crater in the ground. The following round, it automatically uses the ability again, this time hitting for 1d8 damage per hit die out to 60 feet. Finally, on the third round, it deals 2d6 damage per hit die out to 90 feet, then becomes exhausted for one minute. This cannot be used while Fatigued or Exhausted. This is a [Dragon] effect.