Skyray (3.5e Monster)

''As the largest creatures to ever roam the skies of the material, the skyrays were once revered as gods by primitive folks. The rays themselves drift as they always have on the currents of the weather, ever unaware of the creatures living far below.''

Skyrays are beings of immense size, that drift upon air as if weightless. A fully grown skyray is roughly 250 to 300 feet long, though they sport three enormous tails that extend far behind their bodies as far as 500 feet away. The skyray's wingspan is over 300 feet. The most affluent of civilizations use skyrays as transportation that can cross the planes, or as unassailable fortresses that float in the sky.

Skyrays are strangely light for their size, weighing 'only' 15,000 tons, though how these creatures stay afloat so effortlessly is a mystery that has baffled philosophers and scientists alike.

Combat
A skyray can remain afloat without effort, thanks to countless sacs lining their ventral carapace releasing a strange compound that somehow nullifies the skyray's personal gravity. A skyray can maintain its altitude as long as it carries a heavy load or lighter. The maximum load for a standard skyray is approximately 8,000 metric tons.

A skyray's three massive tendril-like tails are used to sense and alter the air currents, allowing the ray to maneuver as if swimming through the sky. If provoked, the tails may be used to call forth great storms.

Skyrays are docile by nature and very rarely attack. They will usually only become hostile when provoked or when unwelcome creatures intrude upon their nesting skies.

Damage from any area effect, and physical damage dealt by two-handed weapons fashioned for creatures of less than Gargantuan size is halved (before applying damage reduction). One-handed weapons are considered one size smaller, and light weapons two sizes smaller for the purpose of damaging a skyray. Against smaller creatures, a skyray incurs a cumulative -4 penalty to Spot checks for each size category below Gargantuan. Against all targeted spells, a skyray has an effective spell and psionic dampening of 15 due to its massive size. Furthermore, a skyray is immune to damage and drain to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity and Constitution), and doesn't automatically fail a Fortitude save on a roll of 1.

Skyrays may make only a single move action per round, and one standard action every other round. They may accelerate at a maximum of 50 feet per round up to their maximum hover and fly speed of 100 feet.

 : Using static electricity gathered from its feelers and a focusing organ at the tip of its head, a skyray can charge a tremendous amount of electricity and release it in a targeted blast. The lightning blast detonates on contact with a solid creature or object and detonates, dealing 30d6 points of electricity damage in a 50-foot-radius spread. Creatures in the area may make a DC 32 Reflex save to halve the damage dealt, but any creature hit directly by the attack is not allowed a saving throw.

 : The skyray releases a roiling cloud of electrified vapour from its ventral sacs, that slowly spreads and drops down to the ground below. This effect is treated as an electricity-substituted pure incendiary cloud with a 200-foot starting radius, and 200 feet high down from the ray's underside. Every subsequent round, the miasma of thunder spreads out 50 feet further away and descends by a maximum of 50 feet or until it reaches the ground. The miasma lasts for a number of rounds equal to the skyray's Hit Dice (standardly 45), before dissipating. Creatures caught within the miasma must make DC 32 Reflex saves against its effects, as per the pure incendiary cloud spell.

 : A skyray may plane shift, as the spell, at will. It requires 30 minutes in order to prepare the shift and traverse from one plane to the next. The ray may only plane shift while at an altitude of at least 10,000 feet. Any plane the ray desires to shift to must possess a sufficiently large body of salt water to sustain it. Although the ray's plane shift ability is susceptible to error same as the spell, it always ends up at a similarly high altitude within the air. Spells that bar dimensional travel do not affect a skyray's plane shift, although a sufficiently large antimagic area can prevent it from shifting.

When a skyray plane shifts, it creates a magical current linking the air of the skies on two different planes using the elemental plane of air as a go-between. As such, any flight capable creature can travel along across the planes provided it remains within the skyray's natural reach. A creature that ventures out of the ray's reach during a plane shift is immediately ejected from the current and is catapulted back onto the plane of origin, unless it makes a DC 40 Fortitude save.

 : When threatened directly in combat, a skyray will oft resort to its potent psionic power. The skyray releases a massive, hemispherical pulse from the node at the tip of its head that affects any creature with a mind within 200 feet in front of it, as per the ultrablast power, dealing 30d10 points of typeless damage. Due to its incorporeal nature, the pulse ignores line of effect except for any barriers designed to counter psionic attacks. Any creatures that take damage from the psionic pulse must also make a DC 32 Fortitude save or become Stunned for 1 round.