Kyurem (3.5e Monster)



* If not using the Tome of Prowess, Kyurem uses its ranks in Intimidate for Dread Chill's effects.

Summary::The pale gray dragon before you looks broken and bitter. It glares at you maliciously, its tail glows a pale blue, and everything is suddenly cold... very, very cold... you can't move... you're frozen solid... The dragon grins, seizes your friend, and consumes her as you helplessly watch. What kind of monster did you just stumble upon...?!?

Kyurem is what remains of the original dragon that split into Reshiram and Zekrom. Once noble and good-hearted, this embodiment of wuji - the absence of yin and yang - has been driven insane by its loss. The loss of its yin and yang has left Kyurem utterly devoid of morals, and now it will stop at nothing to become whole again; anyone who gets in its way will have a very difficult fight on their hands, with the price of defeat being utter obliteration.

Combat
"Kyurem is an empty being. The remnants of a certain Pokémon when it split into Reshiram and Zekrom... My desire is absolute rule of Unova! ...That's right! Kyurem will be the vessel into which my desires will be poured!"

Kyurem lacks the raw power of the dragons borne from its body, but makes up for that with a savage ruthlessness and cruelty. Its signature Glaciate attack freezes absolutely everything in its vicinity. Its Fusion Freeze is a bizarre and terrible power... The longer Kyurem remains in combat, the more it feeds off of its foes, and the stronger it becomes!

Kyurem represents wuji - that is, nothingness. It is incomplete, and painfully aware of that fact. Its goal is to find Reshiram and Zekrom, and force them to become part of it once more. Anything that stands between Kyurem and its goal is just an annoyance to it - and its response to an annoyance is to rip it apart or devour the offender's corpse, adding their power to its own.

The side-effects of being hit with Kyurem's melee attacks (except for the effects of its Debilitating Strike and Bleeding Strike feats) can be negated with a DC 44 Fortitude save (the save DC is Strength-based). The save DCs for all of Kyurem's abilities, except for its spell-like abilities, are equal to 10 + half of Kyurem's HD (16) + key ability modifier. (The save DCs of the spell-like abilities are calculated as through they were spells.)

 : Kyurem's natural weapons are treated as though they had the icy burst property.

 : Kyurem is highly skilled with its natural weapons, and its attacks never feel stiff or awkward. Its natural weapons are treated like they were manufactured weapons for the purpose of applying its Strength bonus to damage (its claws and wings are treated as light weapons, its bite is treated as a one-handed weapon, and its tail is treated as a two-handed weapon). Kyurem is still not able to get extra attacks by courtesy of its base attack bonus, instead using all of its natural weapons in its full attack like any other creature would.

 : As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, Kyurem can concentrate the essence of utter nothingness in its tail, manifested as ice - the absence of energy. As part of that same full-round action, Kyurem then blasts everything within 2500 feet of it with numbing cold that freezes everything. The affected area instantaneously becomes a frostfell region, and remains so for up to 1 year after Kyurem's departure. All creatures caught in the area take 10d10 cold damage (Reflex save for half), and creatures failing the Reflex save must make a Fortitude save or be slowed (as the spell) for 33 rounds. A creature that fails the Fortitude save must also make a Will save or else permanently lose the ability to move, frozen into ice and unable to take even mental actions as the cold utterly immobilizes body and mind. Any who suffer this fate are essentially petrified (as flesh to stone), but still aware - just unable to do anything but watch as Kyurem destroys everything in the vicinity. Kyurem may also use Fusion Freeze on a frozen opponent, as the opponent is essentially helpless. A creature frozen by Glaciate can only be freed from the ice by Reshiram's flame or Zekrom's lightning, and the ice only melts on its own if Kyurem leaves an area within 1 mile of the victim for more than 1 consecutive year. The save DCs are 47 (Constitution-based, enhanced by Ability Focus). The duration of the slow effect is equal to Kyurem's HD. Kyurem can use Glaciate once every 2d6&minus;2 rounds.

Kyurem's Glaciate can be interrupted just like a spell, with an effective spell level of 10 (treated as an epic spell). If Kyurem is distracted while using Glaciate, it must succeed on a Concentration check, or that use of the ability will be wasted.

 : As a 3-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, Kyurem can extend tendrils from its back to seize a helpless or dead opponent (or one that it has pinned) and make them part of its body. If the opponent is frozen (such as by Glaciate, Dread Chill, freeze, creeping chills, frostfell, fimbulvetr, entomb, etc.), Kyurem only requires 1 round to absorb it. An opponent assimilated in this fashion cannot be revived, even by wish or miracle, unless the fusion can somehow be undone. Kyurem gains +1 HD for every opponent assimilated in this fashion, as well as gaining 1 special attack, special quality, feat, or skill trick the opponent possesses. (Kyurem cannot gain HD from an opponent that would be too weak for it to gain XP by defeating normally (that is, it has a CR equal to or less than Kyurem's HD &minus; 12). This is based on the CR of the individual creature, not the ECR of its entire group. However, Kyurem still regains hp for assimilating such an opponent; see Aura of Void below.) If Kyurem merges with Reshiram or Zekrom in this fashion, it will become White Kyurem or Black Kyurem, respectively, at the conclusion of the action.

This action is considered an 8th-level spell for the purpose of being interrupted by the actions of opponents and setting the DC of any Concentration checks Kyurem is required to make as a consequence of being distracted. If Kyurem fails a Concentration check, it drops the foe it was absorbing in alarm, ruining its progress, but it can try again on its next turn. (Of course, unless it really wants the foe in question and/or is pressed for time to absorb it, it's more likely to try to shred whoever was responsible for distracting it into lifeless chunks of meat... Kyurem has serious anger issues.) A foe whose helpless condition is lifted while in the process of being assimilated (or who was merely being pinned) is entitled to make a grapple check or Escape Artist check every round in order to escape; if the victim's check result beats Kyurem's grapple check, then it will either revert to grappling Kyurem (if it succeeded on a grapple check) or outright escape and be free to act on its next turn (if it succeeded on an Escape Artist check), and either way, Kyurem's progress will be foiled. (Unfortunately, that will wind up pissing it off...)

 : Kyurem's breath weapon is a 75-foot line of severe cold, 15 feet high and 15 feet wide, that deals 8d8 points of cold damage, Reflex save half (DC 45, Constitution-based). After using its breath weapon, Kyurem cannot use it again for 1d4 rounds.

 : As a dragon, Kyurem is capable of entering a truly terrifying rage. This Outrage lasts for three rounds. During the Outrage, Kyurem increases the save DC of all of its abilities by +4 and gains a +4 bonus to its attack rolls. Additionally, any damage it delivers (physical, spell-like, or otherwise) is increased by 1d8 per two hit dice. Entering an Outrage is a Swift action. It cannot be cut short. When Outrage ends, Kyurem becomes fatigued and confused for five rounds (see Utter Malice below).

 : At will, Kyurem may use a standard action to launch a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 100 feet that does 4d12+12 points of damage. This is a [Dragon] effect. Kyurem adds its Charisma modifier to the damage roll.

 : If Kyurem successfully pins a foe and isn't interested in absorbing it, then that foe is in for a very rough time. With a successful grapple check, Kyurem can freely attack an opponent that it has pinned with its entire full attack routine (using a full-round action as normal), and every attack is treated as though it was a coup de grace (automatic critical hit, target must make a Fortitude save for each attack (DC = 10 + damage dealt) or die). Furthermore, the regular Fortitude saves to avoid the side-effects of Kyurem's attacks are not applicable; instead, the secondary effects kick in if the creature succeeds on its coup de grace Fortitude save by 10 or less. ...Yes, that's right, Kyurem hits the target with six coup de grace attacks in a single round. As with an ordinary coup de grace, Kyurem provokes an attack of opportunity by doing this (in fact, it provokes three attacks of opportunity - one for every two attacks it makes - by thoroughly focusing its attention on its victim, but this is an overly fine detail to anyone without Combat Reflexes or a similar feat). If Kyurem is struck by an attack or otherwise distracted while using Brutalize, it has to make a Concentration check; if it fails, its attack routine is disrupted and the opponent gets to make a grapple check to escape. (Continuous damage, such as acid arrow, forces Kyurem to make three Concentration checks to successfully complete the Brutalize attack - one for each of the three attacks of opportunity it provokes. It may make 2 attacks for each of these Concentration checks that it succeeds on, and all 3 have the same DC.) Any creature killed by the Brutalize attack is ripped to teeny-tiny pieces by Kyurem's fury, rendering it impossible for Kyurem to absorb that creature but also preventing it from being restored to life by anything less powerful than a resurrection spell.

Usable 8 times/day: creeping chills, freezing fog, freezing sphere, greater creeping cold , antimagic ray , absorption , ice flowers. Usable 4 times/day: fimbulvetr, frostfell, entomb , glacier , field of icy razors. Usable 2 times/day: sphere of ultimate annihilation, dire winter, frost of void. Kyurem's caster level for its spell-like abilities is equal to ¾ its Hit Dice, rounded up (25 for the example Kyurem). The save DCs are Charisma-based.

 : Kyurem is thoroughly determined to become whole again, and it has zero tolerance for being thwarted or opposed. Every time an opponent deals damage to Kyurem, Kyurem gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls (as well as save DCs) against that opponent for every 5 points of damage that it took (minimum +1). These bonuses apply to melee attacks, spell-like abilities, and special attacks. Utter Malice bonuses stack with each other and last until the end of the encounter. Thus, any party facing Kyurem should try to make sure that the sturdiest and most evasive characters are the ones who do the most damage. If any one member of the party does most of the damage, he or she will probably wind up dead in short order. And if you mess around while fighting Kyurem, don't be surprised if you get TPK'd!

Kyurem gets really pissed off when its Fusion Freeze fails. Disrupting its concentration on Fusion Freeze will cause it to gain a +5 bonus to its attack and damage rolls and save DCs against whomever interrupted it (in addition to the increase it got from taking damage). It will also devote its attention to killing the one responsible for at least 2 rounds, and is very likely to use Outrage to amplify its battle skill and damage output even further. (You may have noticed that Kyurem isn't fatigued as a consequence of using Outrage for as long as other dragons; this is because it tends to be outraged on a near-perpetual basis, so it's gotten used to it by now.)

Thankfully, calm emotions can instantaneously reduce Kyurem's Utter Malice bonuses against the whole party by 10, to a minimum of the baseline +0, in addition to its usual effects. (Kyurem's not stupid, though, and may very well focus on killing the person casting calm emotions on it. Watch out!)

 : Kyurem's body is perpetually frozen. Any foe striking Kyurem with a natural weapon or unarmed attack takes 1d4 cold damage. In addition, Kyurem has a +3 deflection bonus to AC and a +3 deflection bonus to saving throws (reflected in its statistics block).

 : Kyurem's body is like a black hole - it constantly draws energy into itself. On Kyurem's initiative count each round, it does 4d4+4 points of cold damage to all within 60 feet of it (targets are allowed a DC 45 (Constitution-based) Fortitude save to halve the damage; the damage is enhanced by Kyurem's Wisdom modifier). It gains temporary hit points equal to half of the damage it inflicts in this way. These temporary hit points stack with each other, and they last for one hour.

Kyurem also gains temporary hit points equal to 1/10th of the damage it deals with its other attacks, as the void in its soul feeds upon the energy of its victims. Even worse, if it manages to use Fusion Freeze successfully, Kyurem instantly regains 200 hp + 20 hp for each HD its victim possessed - if this brings it over its maximum hit point total, then it gains the excess as temporary hit points, and yes, these will stack with the temporary hit points it gains through the other aspects of its Aura of Void. (Using Fusion Freeze also gives Kyurem 1 more HD, which allows it to have still more hit points.)

In addition to all of that, the area within a 1-mile radius of Kyurem is considered a frostfell region. Whenever Kyurem moves, the frostfell radius moves with it, freeing a patch of land from the grip of winter even as an equal-sized area is subjected to the bitter cold of Kyurem's wuji.

 (Su): Anyone who makes an attack against Kyurem must make a Will save vs. DC 34 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 Kyurem 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, and some specimens of Pinsir are immune to this. Scholars and loremasters, if they even know of this, would be puzzled for many years.

Advancement
With the assistance of a Pokémaster (Training check, DC 48), Kyurem can learn  : Once per hour, Kyurem can use a full-round action to call down a massive meteor anywhere within Long range. A 50' radius area is hit, with all in the area suffering 400 damage with a Ref Save for half (Charisma-based). Those who fail the save are knocked prone and pinned under a very real meteor (and Kyurem can use Fusion Freeze or Brutalize on them as if it was pinning them itself). Using this bestows a &minus;4 penalty to Kyurem's Charisma until it next rests. This is a [Dragon] effect. In a contest, after all points are awarded, the Contest ends due to obliteration of the stadium.