Ice Borer (3.5e Monster)

Author: Aarnott (talk) Date Created: 21:27, 30 June 2011 (UTC) Status: Done Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Ice Borer

Ice Borer, Juvenile

CR 1/2

	N Small Magical Beast (Cold)
Init/Senses	+0/Blind, tremorsense 60ft.; Listen +1, Spot +1
AC	13, touch 11, flat-footed 13; Burrow Cover (+2 natural, +1 size)
hp	6 (1d10+1 HD)
Immune	cold
Fort/Ref/Will	+3/+2/+1
Weakness	vulnerability to fire
Speed	10ft. (2 squares), burrow 25ft. (5 squares); Burrow Cover
Melee	bite +2 (1d3-2)
Space/Reach	5ft./5ft.
Base Atk/Grp	+1/-5
Atk Options	Burrow Strike, Frost Bite (+1d6 cold)
Abilities	Str 7, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 6
Feats	Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills	Escape Artist +5, Survival +4
Advancement	2 HD (Small)
Blind	An ice borer is blind and can only "see" with its tremorsense. It has fine tuned this sense and is attracted to attack warm living creatures, however.
Burrow Cover (Ex)	If an ice borer starts its turn below ground, it gets cover if it goes above ground until the start of its next turn (+4 AC, +2 reflex saves).
Burrow Strike (Ex)	Enemies are considered flat-footed against an ice borer if they have no way to detect it while it is underground and then it charges the target.
Frost Bite (Ex)	If an ice borer qualifies for a sneak attack, it deals an extra 1d6 cold damage with a successful bite attack.

Ice Borer, Adult

CR 2

	N Small Magical Beast (Cold)
Init/Senses	+2/Blind, tremorsense 60ft.; Listen +1, Spot +1
AC	15, touch 13, flat-footed 13; Burrow Cover (+2 natural, +2 dex, +1 size)
hp	19 (3d10+3 HD)
Immune	cold
Fort/Ref/Will	+4/+3/+2
Weakness	vulnerability to fire
Speed	10ft. (2 squares), burrow 30ft. (6 squares); Burrow Cover
Melee	bite +6/+1 (1d3-2)
Space/Reach	5ft./5ft.
Base Atk/Grp	+3/-3
Atk Options	Burrow Strike, Frost Bite (+2d6 cold)
Abilities	Str 7, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 6
Feats	Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Finesse
Skills	Escape Artist +8, Survival +5
Advancement	4-5 HD (Small)
Blind	An ice borer is blind and can only "see" with its tremorsense. It has fine tuned this sense and is attracted to attack warm living creatures, however.
Burrow Cover (Ex)	If an ice borer starts its turn below ground, it gets cover if it goes above ground until the start of its next turn (+4 AC, +2 reflex saves).
Burrow Strike (Ex)	Enemies are considered flat-footed against an ice borer if they have no way to detect it while it is underground and then it charges the target.
Frost Bite (Ex)	If an ice borer qualifies for a sneak attack, it deals an extra 2d6 cold damage with a successful bite attack.

Ice Borer, Greater

CR 4

	N Medium Magical Beast (Cold)
Init/Senses	+1/Blind, tremorsense 120ft.; Listen +1, Spot +1
AC	16, touch 11, flat-footed 15; Burrow Cover, Dodge, Mobility (+5 natural, +1 dex)
hp	39 (6d10+6 HD)
Immune	cold
Fort/Ref/Will	+6/+6/+3
Weakness	vulnerability to fire
Speed	10ft. (2 squares), burrow 40ft. (8 squares); Burrow Cover
Melee	bite +8/+6 (1d4+2)
Space/Reach	5ft./5ft.
Base Atk/Grp	+6/+8
Atk Options	Burrow Strike, Frost Bite (+3d6 cold)
Abilities	Str 14, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 6
Feats	Multiattack, Dodge, Mobility
Skills	Survival +10
Advancement	7-8 HD (Medium)
Blind	An ice borer is blind and can only "see" with its tremorsense. It has fine tuned this sense and is attracted to attack warm living creatures, however.
Burrow Cover (Ex)	If an ice borer starts its turn below ground, it gets cover if it goes above ground until the start of its next turn (+4 AC, +2 reflex saves).
Burrow Strike (Ex)	Enemies are considered flat-footed against an ice borer if they have no way to detect it while it is underground and then it charges the target.
Frost Bite (Ex)	If an ice borer qualifies for a sneak attack, it deals an extra 3d6 cold damage with a successful bite attack.

Bursting through the snow and earth below you, an ice borer emerges. The creature resembles a grub in shape, but it is composed of a tough, red, icy substance that reflects light like a mirror. It has sharp mandibles that it uses to bore through rock, ice, and snow, and it has a long needle protruding from its mouth.

Ice borers are a common monstrous pest in icy environments. When they are near cities, they attack livestock and unattended children. They are often intelligent enough to avoid attacking adult humanoids, and it is speculated that they can communicate with each other somehow to share this aversion. Farther out in the wilds, however, ice borers will not hesitate to attack groups of creatures.

Ice borers have a special ability to inject a target with a fluid that freezes their blood. Whenever an ice borer can surprise or distract its target, it is able to inject it with the fluid and deal extra cold damage. Ice borers feed exclusively on frozen flesh.

Combat

Ice borers like to strike and retreat, making full use of their ability to create cover for themselves and use their frost bite ability. A typical ice borer uses the following tactics:

• Round 1: Burrow Strike a target, hitting with a frost bite.
• Round 2: Withdraw action to go below ground.
• Round 3: Repeat.

Adult and greater ice borers will sometimes stay above ground to make two attacks per round if they can use frost bite, increasing the overall damage it can deal. They also will often work together to create flanking opportunities.

Training an Ice Borer

Ice borers make excellent guards, especially in caves. Training an ice borer from hatching into its juvenile stage requires two weeks of work and a DC 20 Handle Animal check.

More training must be done before the ice borer becomes an adult (2 months after becoming a juvenile) or else it will become wild. The training requires two weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check.

Even more training must be done before the ice borer becomes greater (4 months after becoming an adult) or else it will become wild. The training requires two weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check.

Ice borers live one year after they become greater ice borers.

Ice borer eggs are worth 500 gp apiece on the open market. Trained juveniles are worth 1,000 gp each, trained adults are worth 2,000 gp each, and trained greater ice borers are worth 4,000 gp each.

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