Palkia (3.5e Monster)



Summary::A mighty aquatic dragon appears before you, glaring questioningly at you with piercing red eyes. Space appears to ripple erratically around it. The pearls embedded in its shoulders pulsate with an odd energy.

The Pokémon revered as the deity of space in the Sinnoh region, Palkia is an incredibly powerful dragon with power over space. It is said that space is formed by Palkia's breaths, and that space begun to expand when Palkia's lungs first began to breathe.

Combat
Out of the Sinnoh "Creation Trio" (Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina), Palkia is the most mobile and the most magically inclined. It has a potent arsenal of spacial magic that it can use to befuddle and dismantle its opponents, and when that isn't enough, it has a few special techniques it can use to seal the enemy's fate.

 : Palkia can breathe a 60' cone of spacial fracturing once every 1d4 rounds. The cone does 2d6 damage per Hit Die Palkia possesses to anything caught in its area, Reflex save for half. Creatures who fail their saves by 5 or more are paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is 10 + ½ Palkia's Hit Die + Palkia's Constitution modifier (28 in the sample Palkia's case). For anything that cares, half of the damage is considered to be acid damage and the other half is considered to be force damage. The entire attack is a [Dragon] effect.

 : Palkia's signature move, this may not pack as much raw power as Dialga's Roar of Time, but it is still a move of above-average power that has a knack for hitting harder than it ought to. As a full-round action, Palkia may use its power to rip space apart at the seams and insert a chunk of raw nonexistence directly into the bodies of its foes, savagely cutting them up from the inside out. All foes within 60' of Palkia take 2d12 damage per Hit Dice Palkia has, but are allowed a Fortitude save for half. There is also a 20% chance (roll on a d%) that this move will critically hit; when this happens, the move does twice as much damage as normal (roll 4d12 per Hit Dice Palkia has) and the Fortitude save DC is doubled. The save DC is equal to 10 + ½ Palkia's Hit Die + Palkia's Charisma modifier (24 for the sample Palkia, 48 on a critical hit, enhanced by Ability Focus). Palkia may use Spacial Rend once every 2d10 rounds. This move is a [Dragon] effect.

 : Palkia's other signature move, few who push Palkia far enough to use this technique live to tell the tale. As a standard action usable once per day per 10 HD Palkia possesses, it may rip a hole in the fabric of space at any space within its melee reach. This hole is a gate to Palkia's home dimension that sucks in magical energy. The gate itself becomes impassable terrain; none may enter its square, and anyone standing where it's generated must make a Reflex save (DC equal to 10 + ½ Palkia's Hit Dice + Palkia's Wisdom modifier (22 for the sample Palkia)) or get sucked in and utterly obliterated, adding their HD to the spell level accumulated by the gate. Any magical or psionic effects generated within 300' of the gate that were not cast by Palkia or its allies (including spells, spell-like abilities, powers, psi-like abilities, or supernatural effects, including supernatural maneuvers) are sucked into the gate. An effect that suffers this fate has its energy completely absorbed by the gap in space and fails to have any effect. In this respect, the gate functions just like an energy transformation field. After 4 rounds, the gate fires its accumulated energy in the form of a massive beam of pure spacial energy, dealing 8d12 damage per absorbed spell level to all entities within a 500-foot cone (except for Palkia and its allies). The cone is generated from the gate in any direction; Palkia chooses the direction when the beam fires. Creatures caught in the beam are entitled to a Reflex save for half damage (DC equal to 10 + ½ Palkia's Hit Dice + Palkia's Intelligence modifier (27 for the sample Palkia)). Once the beam is fired, the gate closes and its energy transformation field goes away. This move is a [Dragon] effect.

 : At will as a standard action, Palkia can launch a swirling ring of water at an opponent as a ranged touch attack, range increment of 50'. An opponent struck with this water ring takes 1d6 points of damage per HD Palkia has and must succeed on a Will save or become confused for 1d4+1 rounds. This move is a [Water] effect. The save DC is equal to 10 + ½ Palkia's Hit Die + Palkia's Charisma modifier (22 for the sample Palkia).

 : Once per minute, Palkia can briefly expand its aura. All within 30' are automatically struck and take 1d6+1 Force damage per level; however, this is a [Fighting] effect. There is no way at all to avoid this effect, although the rare resistance or immunity to Force damage can still apply to the damage. In a Contest, this always gets a minimum of one point.

 (Su): Once per three rounds, Palkia can telekinetically launch up to 3 chunks of stone within 100 feet. These are launched as ranged attacks at separate targets, and, if at least as large as a Medium character, deal 6d6 damage each. Furthermore, upon activation, Palkia gains a +1 enhancement bonus to natural armour and to all ability scores for the next five minutes. Using AncientPower while the bonus is still in effect improves the bonus by 1 (to a maximum of +6 total for natural armor and each ability score) and resets the duration - Palkia knows to throw random rocks around every minute or so just to keep the bonuses at the maximum. This is a [Rock] effect.

However, it uses Intelligence, not Charisma, as its spellcasting stat. It also takes spells from other spell lists, most prominently the druid and cleric lists, when those spells suit its elemental themes. Spells per Day: 6/8/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/6. Typical Spells Known: 0th: lesser dispel magic, sponge, weakening, prismatic point, Ell's dramatic action, daze, launch item, stick , mending. 1st: magic missile, frighten, spell flower, blood wind , blossom of razors. 2nd: wraithstrike, baleful transposition , snowball swarm , earth lock , boiling sphere. 3rd: explosive runes, refresh magic, expanding breath, magic hovermissile, greater mage armor. 4th: rocks fall, Ishara's instant infarction, arcane theft, dimensional anchor, wall of ice. 5th: earth power (flame strike from below as a [Ground] effect), teleport, greater dimension door, analyze teleportation. 6th: greater dispel magic, disintegrate, transmute water to acid. 7th: greater teleport, mass drown, choking death. 8th: monsoon, polymorph any object, prismatic wall. 9th: reality maelstrom, tsunami , singularity. Sponge, Boiling Sphere, Transmute Water to Acid, Mass Drown, and Tsunami are [Water] effects. Snowball Swarm and Wall of Ice are [Ice] effects. Blossom of Razors and Rocks Fall are [Rock] effects. Earth Power and Choking Death are [Ground] effects. Blood Wind, Disintegrate, Reality Maelstrom, and Singularity are [Dragon] effects. Palkia usually casts greater mage armor at the start of each day.

 : Palkia's mastery of space enhances its agility. Its swim speed at 1 HD is 200 feet. It improves to 220 ft. at 2 HD, then increases by 10 ft. for every HD gained after that. Furthermore, its fly speed improves from 150 to 200 feet at 10 HD, and its maneuverability improves by 1 grade every 10 HD after that (until it reaches perfect, at which point its fly speed improves by 5 feet per HD after that). Palkia's maneuverability was poor until it gained its 20th Hit Die.

' :''' Used as the spell, caster level equal to Palkia's HD, usable 3 times/day.

' :''' Used as the spell, caster level equal to Palkia's HD, usable 1 time/day.

 : Palkia is the master of space, and uses this mastery to protect itself in combat. It has a deflection bonus to AC equal to ½ of its Hit Die. Unlike a deflection bonus from any other source, the deflection bonus from Spacial Guard is halved (round down) if Palkia is flat-footed (Palkia can't manipulate space to defend itself as effectively if it's caught off-guard).

 (Su): Anyone who makes an attack against Palkia must make a Will save vs. DC 22 after the attack is resolved. If they fail, they become fatigued for 3 rounds. If already fatigued, they become exhausted instead. This applies to any harmful ability, whether it be a regular attack, a spell, a supernatural ability, or anything else that targets Palkia or includes it in the area of effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

For reasons that will never be explained, Cranidos, Rampardos, Reshiram, Zekrom, White Kyurem, Black Kyurem, and some specimens of Pinsir are immune to this. Scholars and loremasters, if they even know of this, would be puzzled for many years.