Perun Eagle (3.5e Epic Spell)

''Invoking the name of Perun and holding the god's holy symbol aloft, you toss forth the piece of dryad-oak wood with the embedded emerald and ruby to call forth the primal elements he commands - the lightning and the fire - to create a gigantic eagle made of air and fire elementals. The eagle cries out loudly, then lifts off and launches lightning at your foes. You smirk triumphantly as the carnage unfolds, watching Perun's pet smite the infidels who defy his will.''

You summon a Colossal eagle, with a wingspan well over 100 feet wide, made of numerous air and fire elementals. This great eagle is essentially an exemplar of Perun's power, dispatched to aid the caster, and as such, it has numerous unique characteristics. The Hit Dice of your Perun eagle is equal to your caster level, so statistical values that are dependent on level/Hit Dice (like base attack bonus, ranks in skills, and base saving throw bonuses) aren't included or factored into the statistics block. You'll have to calculate those for yourself. (The Perun eagle prefers to take ranks in Spot, Listen, Hide, Move Silently, Tumble, Sense Motive, and Intimidate, but Diplomacy, Survival, and Spellcraft are also considered class skills for it. Diplomacy is only a class skill because of its use of White Raven maneuvers.)

Combat
The Perun eagle may have a large full attack routine and some maneuver-like abilities, but don't be fooled - it's not a melee fighter. Its poor Strength score for its size category condemns its melee attacks to have virtually no chance of connecting, especially if your caster level is low and its BAB isn't up to snuff. Where the Perun eagle shines is in ranged combat. It has a pair of rays that it can use every round as an attack action; it can fire one of them as a standard action, or it can fire both of them as part of a full attack action. (Rather sensibly, it uses the rays as its primary weapon, leaving all of its physical attacks save for its talons as secondary weapons. The melee weapons other than the talons are seldom used in a standard attack action or charge, due to their being weak and inaccurate.) On top of the rays, the Perun eagle has a wide range of spell-like abilities, many of which it can use at will, possessing both offensive and supporting techniques. It also has a few big-gun attacks that it can use to put huge amounts of hurt on the opposition!

The Perun eagle will attempt to aid the caster to the best of its ability (though, as previously mentioned, it may also end up relying on its caster to help it out as well). The caster can direct the eagle not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions, but while the eagle generally defers to the caster's wishes, it might disobey if it deems a different course of action to be more tactically sound. The eagle never outright betrays the caster, and always acts in what it perceives to be the caster's best interest. (For example, it may prioritize attacking somebody engaged in melee combat with the caster over attacking whomever the caster ordered it to attack, especially if the designated target is not likely to be defeated quickly or the caster is being overwhelmed by immediate direct threats.)

 : Perun is the Slavic deity of lightning and fire. His avatar, the Perun eagle, is a master of both elements. As an attack action (a standard action or part of a full attack), the Perun eagle can fire a ray of lightning from its wing. This ray is a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 100 feet (maximum range is 15 range increments, &minus;2 penalty to attack roll for each range increment). If it hits, it does 6d10 electricity damage. The Perun eagle adds its Wisdom modifier to the damage roll. The lightning ray has a threat range of 19-20 and has a critical hit multiplier of &times;2. It gains a +3 bonus to attack rolls against metallic foes, foes wearing metal armor, or foes carrying a lot of metal.

 : Perun is the Slavic deity of lightning and fire. His avatar, the Perun eagle, is a master of both elements. As an attack action (a standard action or part of a full attack), the Perun eagle can fire a ray of fire from its wing. This ray is a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 100 feet (maximum range is 15 range increments, &minus;2 penalty to attack roll for each range increment). If it hits, it does 6d10 fire damage. The Perun eagle adds its Wisdom modifier to the damage roll. The flame ray has a threat range of 19-20 and has a critical hit multiplier of &times;2. It gains a +1 bonus to damage rolls against metallic foes, foes wearing metal armor, or foes carrying a lot of metal.

 : If the Perun eagle hits an opponent with a talon or bite attack, it may attempt to grapple the foe as a free action. If it wins, it seizes the foe in its talons/beak and may deal energy damage to them each round. The Perun eagle usually doesn't even try to grab foes of Huge or larger size, as it can't lift them off the ground very well; however, against Large and smaller opponents, it has a penchant for carrying them high into the sky and then dropping them. It then proceeds to pepper them with rays, spell-like abilities, and perhaps a Thundaza or Firaza as the foe plummets to the ground, unable to alter their descent path and evade the attacks.

 : The Perun eagle may follow a charge with a full attack. Because its melee is subpar, however, it rarely does so. Still, it is an eagle, and eagles are known to dive-bomb their prey...

 : The Perun eagle may make an attack of opportunity with any ranged attack it possesses that it could use as part of a regular attack action (this includes its Lightning Ray and Flame Ray, but not its spell-like abilities, including Thundaza or Firaza, not even spell-like abilities that involve ranged touch attacks). The Perun eagle treats each range increment as equivalent to two when making a ranged attack of opportunity, halving its maximum attack distance and doubling its ranged attack penalties, because it has to make its attack hastily to catch the foe off-guard (and compensate for any motions they might be making). Anything that could provoke a normal attack of opportunity, except for a normal move action (moving one's speed), always provokes a ranged attack of opportunity. (A double move action, run, charge, bull rush, or other reckless motion still provokes a ranged attack of opportunity.) However, the Perun eagle still has to realize that a foe's left itself open in order to take advantage of the opportunity; this is accomplished with a success on a Spot check with a DC equal to the target's opposed Hide check + 1 for every 25 feet of distance between the Perun eagle and the opponent in question. The Perun eagle may use any other feats or abilities that involve attacks of opportunity, such as Combat Reflexes, with the Snipe ability (though some may be rendered useless by explicitly requiring melee combat). Likewise, any abilities a target may have to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity in melee when they normally would, such as Improved Bull Rush or Improved Combat Casting, also enable it to avoid provoking ranged attacks of opportunity. The Perun eagle cannot make more than one attack of opportunity (whether melee or ranged) for a given opportunity, and its ranged attacks of opportunity count against its normal limit for attacks of opportunity in a round. A ranged attack of opportunity does not itself provoke a ranged attack of opportunity (this is to prevent a two-way barrage of ranged attacks of opportunity that only ends when one creature runs out of ammo, runs out of attacks of opportunity for the round, fails to spot the opportunity, or dies or is otherwise incapacitated).

Because of the Perun eagle ' s Stand Still (Tome) feat's BAB +6 benefit, a target moving its speed provokes a ranged attack of opportunity from it, just like it would provoke an attack of opportunity in melee, as long as the Perun eagle has The Edge on that enemy (has a higher base attack bonus). Treat this as a benefit of Stand Still as well as a benefit of Snipe.

1/3 rounds: Perun bolt. Save DCs are Wisdom-based. (Because of the Perun eagle ' s Dynamic Potential feat, the save DCs are equal to 20 + caster's spellcasting modifier + ½ the Perun eagle ' s HD + the Perun eagle ' s Wisdom modifier + other modifiers.)

It may use each of them once before needing to refresh as a full-round action. It may also refresh one maneuver for every 20 damage it absorbs through its energy absorption qualities. It uses its natural weapons to perform the maneuvers. The Perun eagle ' s maneuver-like abilities may be initiated as ranged attacks, even if the maneuvers they imitate cannot. The Perun eagle ' s initiator level is equal to its HD. Maneuver-like abilities: red tornado, mantle of Jurikan, sudden updraft, razor wind, infinite barrel roll, exploding thunder strike, rocs fall, everyone dies, heroes affinity, order forged from chaos, white raven hammer, all for one, one for all.

 : One of the Perun eagle ' s big knock-'em-dead attacks, this high-level electricity spell is sure to leave a stinging mark. Once every eight rounds, as a standard action, the Perun eagle can call upon its master's power to generate a massive electrical discharge. This electrical discharge forms a 100-foot-radius sphere of crackling lightning anywhere within 300 feet of the Perun eagle, even in midair. Any creature within the sphere when it forms (or unfortunate enough to wind up inside during the following round) takes 4d8 electricity damage per hit die the Perun eagle possesses, but is allowed a Reflex save for half damage. Victims also suffer paralysis for 1 round per 10 points of damage taken, plus one additional round for each die on the damage roll that came up as a natural 8 (success on the Reflex save goes a long way towards mitigating the paralysis). However, they are also entitled to a Fortitude save to mitigate the effect; succeeding on this secondary save reduces the paralysis duration by 20 rounds (to a minimum of 0). Paralyzed creatures that were flying may drop out of the sky, and creatures that were swimming can't swim and might drown. Because of the Perun eagle ' s Dynamic Potential feat, the save DC is equal to 20 + spellcaster's spellcasting modifier + ½ of the Perun eagle ' s Hit Die + the Perun eagle ' s Wisdom modifier + other modifiers (such as Ability Focus).

 : One of the Perun eagle ' s big knock-'em-dead attacks, this high-level fire spell is sure to leave a stinging mark. Once every eight rounds, as a standard action, the Perun eagle can call upon its master's power to generate a massive flame burst. This flame burst forms a 100-foot-radius sphere of roaring fire anywhere within 300 feet of the Perun eagle, even in midair. Any creature within the sphere when it forms (or unfortunate enough to wind up inside during the following round) takes 4d8 fire damage per hit die the Perun eagle possesses, but is allowed a Reflex save for half damage. Victims must also succeed on a Fortitude save or contract soul burn. Success on the Reflex save grants a creature a +20 bonus on the Fortitude save, and success on the Fortitude save by 10 or more allows a victim to not contract soul burn at all. Use the save DC of this ability instead of soul burn's DC for this initial save. Because of the Perun eagle ' s Dynamic Potential feat, the save DC is equal to 20 + spellcaster's spellcasting modifier + ½ of the Perun eagle ' s Hit Die + the Perun eagle ' s Wisdom modifier + other modifiers (such as Ability Focus).

 : This works just like a primal fire elemental's burn ability, except that it uses the Perun eagle ' s HD and ability modifiers. Furthermore, the Perun eagle inflicts electricity damage along with fire damage whenever its burn ability activates, and the burn ability works through all of the Perun eagle ' s natural melee weapon attacks, not just its slam attack. Opponents striking the Perun eagle with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take the fire and electricity damage of the slam attack.

 : This works just like a primal air elemental's whirlwind ability, except that it uses the Perun eagle ' s HD and ability modifiers. Furthermore, the Perun eagle inflicts 12d6 fire damage and 12d6 electricity damage per round to all opponents caught in its whirlwind form.

 : Airborne opponents take a &minus;2 penalty to attack and damage rolls made against the Perun eagle.

 : Eagles have very sharp vision, and this is doubly so for the Perun eagle. It has a +12 racial bonus on Spot checks, has Sharp-Eyed as a bonus feat, and gains an insight bonus equal to its Wisdom modifier (if positive) to its AC and saving throws against any opponent it can see. (These bonuses are not reflected in the statistics block.)

 : Whenever the Perun eagle is targeted by an affect that allows a Reflex save for half damage, it instead takes no damage on a successful save or half damage on a failed save. The Perun eagle cannot benefit from improved evasion if it is helpless.

End of the Spell
When the spell expires or is dispelled, or the Perun eagle has its HP reduced to 0 or is otherwise "killed" (death effect, Constitution reduced to 0, negative levels = HD, etc.), the Perun eagle disperses into its constituent elementals, which immediately return to their own planes. Perun eagle has a +30 bonus to its DC for resisting dispel checks.

Final Notes
Though this spell refers to Perun, you may substitute whichever god is most appropriate to your campaign, such as Zeus or Thor. Change the name of the spell accordingly. Whichever deity you choose to associate this spell with, it is only available to followers of that deity.

Material Component: A strip of wood from a dryad's oak tree, an emerald worth 60,000 gp, and a ruby worth 60,000 gp. You may substitute a heart of air with 20 charges for the emerald and a heart of fire with 20 charges for the ruby (you may substitute for either gem or both of them in this fashion). You must have attuned yourself to a heart of element to use it as a material component for this spell. If you use a heart of element as a material component in this fashion, the heart is not consumed (as it is an artifact, even epic spells cannot destroy it), but all 20 of its charges are expended, leaving its spell-like abilities unusable until it is recharged.

Focus: A silver holy symbol of Perun worth 3,000 gp. For a cleric, druid, or other divine spellcaster, this can be the same holy symbol you use to cast your other spells, but it must be made of silver and worth at least 3,000 gp in order to cast Perun eagle. (The focus is not expensive enough to affect the Spellcraft DC.)

XP Cost: 6,000 XP.