View source for Battlehead, Warhead (3.5e Monster)

== Warhead ==

{{Author
|author_name=Ganteka Future
|date_created=2 December 2015
|status=Tentative Completion
}}

''This is Large-sized, advanced, tougher version of the [[Battlehead (3.5e Monster)|battlehead]].''
__NOTOC__
<onlyinclude>{{Stat Block 2
|summary=An ambush predator capable of making temporary [[SRD:About Planes#Dead Magic|dead-magic zones]]. Attacks with pincers and a sharp beak.
|name=
|cr=13
|al= Neutral
|size= Large
|type= [[SRD:Aberration Type|Aberration]]
|subtypes=Xenotheric
|init= +9
|listen= +27
|spot= +31
|sens=[[SRD:Darkvision|Darkvision]] 180 ft., [[SRD:Low-Light Vision|Low-Light Vision]], [[SRD:Tremorsense|Tremorsense]] 180 ft.
|ac= 22 
|touch= 14 
|flat= 17
|othac=
|acmods=+5 [[SRD:Dexterity|Dexterity]], +8 natural, –1 Size
|hp= 192
|hd= 18d8
|othhp= [[SRD:Damage Reduction|DR]] 9/—, [[SRD:Fast Healing|Fast Healing]] 1
|fort= +12<!--(+6 base, +6 Con-->
|ref= +11<!--(+6 base, +5 Dex-->
|will= +14 (+16*)<!--(+11 base, +3 Wis, +2 Enchantments*-->
|spd= 60 ft. (12 squares)
|burrow= 30 ft.
|othspd=Pounce
|bab= +13/+8/+3
|grp= +27
|melee1= pincers +23 (1d8+10 piercing and slashing, 19-20/×2)
|melee2= Full Attack: 2 pincers +23 (1d8+10, 19-20/×2 piercing and slashing), 1 beak +17 (1d6+5 piercing and slashing and bludgeoning), rend (1d6+15 piercing and slashing and bludgeoning)
|atkop=
|sa=[[Healing Surge (3.5e Feat)|Healing Surge]], [[SRD:Improved Grab|Improved Grab]], [[#Magic Drain|Magic Drain]], [[SRD:Pounce|Pounce]] 
|str=31<!--(+10)-->
|dex=20<!--(+5)-->
|con=23<!--(+6)-->
|int=7<!--(–2)-->
|wis=16<!--(+3)-->
|cha=12<!--(+1)-->
|sq=[[Bio-Energy (3.5e Creature Ability)|Bio-Energy Pool]] (10), [[SRD:Resistance to Energy|Energy Resistance]] 10 [[SRD:Cold Effect|Cold]] & [[SRD:Fire Effect|Fire]], Immune to [[SRD:Acid Effect|Acid]] & [[SRD:Electricity Effect|Electricity]] damage
|feats=[[SRD:Improved Initiative|Improved Initiative]], [[SRD:Track|Track]], [[Healing Surge (3.5e Feat)|Healing Surge]], [[Mental Backlash (3.5e Feat)|Mental Backlash]], [[SRD:Improved Critical|Improved Critical (pincers)]], [[Improved Resistance (3.5e Feat)|Improved Resistance]], [[SRD:Skill Focus|Skill Focus]] ([[SRD:Spot Skill|Spot]]){{B}}
|skills=[[SRD:Balance Skill|Balance]] +14, [[SRD:Climb Skill|Climb]] +15, [[SRD:Hide Skill|Hide]] +26, [[SRD:Listen Skill|Listen]] +27, [[SRD:Move Silently Skill|Move Silently]] +15, [[SRD:Spot Skill|Spot]] +31, [[SRD:Survival Skill|Survival]] +31
|hdadv=19-22 (Large)
|san1=[[SRD:Pounce|Pounce]] {{Ex}}
|sad1=If a warhead [[SRD:Charge|charges]], it can make a full attack, including a rend attack.
|san2=[[SRD:Improved Grab|Improved Grab]] {{Ex}}
|sad2=To use this ability, a warhead must hit with its beak attack. It can then attempt to start a [[SRD:Grapple|grapple]] as a [[SRD:Free Actions|free action]] without provoking an [[SRD:Attacks of Opportunity|attack of opportunity]]. If it wins the [[SRD:Grapple|grapple check]], it establishes a hold and can rend.
|san3=Rend {{Ex}}
|sad3=A warhead rends with its powerful beak, spinning and rolling to tear apart its prey dealing 1d6+15 damage.
|san4=[[Bio-Energy (3.5e Creature Ability)|Bio-Energy]] {{Ex}}
|sad4=A warhead's ''bio-energy pool'' can hold a maximum amount of charges equal to 3 plus its [[SRD:Constitution|Constitution]] modifier (minimum 1), and recharges at a rate of 1 charge per minute. These charges may be expended to facilitate its [[#Magic Drain|Magic Drain]] or used with various [[Xenotheric (3.5e Feat Type)|Xenotheric feats]]. 
|san5=Magic Drain {{Ex}}
|sad5=A warhead can expend 1 bio-energy charge as a [[SRD:Standard Actions|standard action]] to absorb the essence of magic within a 30 foot radius around itself. In doing so, it creates a [[SRD:About Planes#Dead Magic|dead magic zone]] that lasts for 10 minutes. As a [[SRD:Full-Round Actions|full-round action]], a warhead may expend 2 bio-energy charges to absorb the essence of magic within a 60 foot radius around itself. An aura of twinkling green sparks marks the boundaries of these zones. A warhead within a [[SRD:About Planes#Dead Magic|dead magic zone]] actually becomes more dangerous, gaining extraordinary speed, as if a weight had been lifted off of it. A warhead gains a +10 foot bonus to its land speed and burrow speeds. A warhead cannot use its supernatural telepathy within a dead magic zone.
|san6=[[Healing Surge (3.5e Feat)|Healing Surge]] {{Ex}}
|sad6=By expending one [[Xenotheric (3.5e Creature Subtype)#Bio-Energy|bio-energy]] charge, a warhead forcibly speeds up its metabolism to create a healing surge. It heals 1d8 points of damage for every 2 [[SRD:Hit Dice|HD]] and every point of [[SRD:Constitution|Constitution]] bonus it has (9d8+6). Performing a healing surge is a [[SRD:Standard Actions|standard action]].
|san7=[[Mental Backlash (3.5e Feat)|Mental Backlash]] {{Ps}}
|sad7=A warhead is under a constant ''[[SRD:Nondetection|nondetection]]'' effect ([[SRD:Caster Level|caster level]] equal to its [[SRD:Hit Dice|HD]] of 18). Furthermore, any attempt to magically divine its location, alignment, thoughts or some other aspect of its being triggers a ''[[SRD:Confusion|confusion]]'' effect in the scryer unless he succeeds on a [[SRD:Will|Will]] save (DC 10+1/2 the warhead's HD + the warhead's [[SRD:Charisma|Charisma]] modifier) of 19. The ''[[SRD:Confusion|confusion]]'' lasts for 1 round.
|san8=Limited Telepathy {{Su}}
|sad8=A warhead can communicate with other warheads and battleheads within 200 feet. Doing so, it is only capable of expressing simple thoughts, commands, emotions and concepts, such as "attack the big one", "hungry, time for hunt" and "retreat quickly, follow later".
|san9=[[SRD:Tremorsense|Tremorsense]] {{Ex}}
|sad9=A warhead is attuned to the tiny vibrations that travel through the ground, granting it [[SRD:Tremorsense|tremorsense]] out to 180 feet.
|san10=Ability Drain Immunity {{Ex}}
|sad10=A warhead's biology is highly resilient. Any [[SRD:Ability Score Loss|ability drain, damage]] or [[SRD:Ability Burn|burn]] a warhead suffers is automatically negated.
|san11=[[SRD:Track|Track]] & [[SRD:Scent|Scent]] {{Ex}}
|sad11=A warhead may [[SRD:Track|track]] targets by [[SRD:Scent|scent]]
|san12=Superior Vision {{Ex}}
|sad12=A warhead gains [[SRD:Low-Light Vision|Low-light vision]] and [[SRD:Darkvision|Darkvision]] out to 180 feet. It heals blindness naturally after a full rest. The [[SRD:Spot Skill|Spot]] skill is always a class skill for a warhead. Warheads gain the [[SRD:Skill Focus|Skill Focus]] ([[SRD:Spot Skill|Spot]]) feat as a bonus feat.
|san13=Xenotheric Blood {{Ex}}
|sad13=Warheads have immunity to [[SRD:Poison|poisons]], [[SRD:Polymorph|polymorphing]], [[SRD:Petrified|petrification]] and form-altering effects.
|san14=Alien Mind {{Ex}}
|sad14=+2 on saves against [[SRD:Stunned|stunning]] and [[SRD:Mind-Affecting Effect|mind-affecting]] effects ([[SRD:Charm Subschool|charms]], [[SRD:Compulsion Subschool|compulsions]], [[SRD:Phantasm Subschool|phantasms]], [[SRD:Pattern Subschool|patterns]], and morale effects). Noted with an asterix above.
|san15=Meager Subsistence {{Ex}}
|sad15=A warhead may feed off of any organic or mineral material as food and needs only one quarter the amount of food and water per day that a human requires. See: [[SRD:Environment#Starvation and Thirst|Starvation and Thirst]].
|san16=Endure Atmosphere {{Ex}}
|sad16=A warhead has the extraordinary ability to ''[[SRD:Endure Elements|endure elements]]'', suffering no ill effects from a hot or cold environment. In addition, a warhead can breathe so long as there is an atmosphere. A warhead suffers no adverse condition to breathing smoke, volcanic gases or other vapors that are harmful to most creatures.
|san17=Hold Breath {{Ex}}
|sad17=A warhead can hold its breath for a number of hours equal to 2 × its [[SRD:Constitution|Constitution]] score before it risks [[SRD:Environment#Suffocation|suffocation]]. A warhead that suffocates instead becomes mostly dormant, considered to be taking 10 on any sensory skill check. A warhead that detects activity may shake off its dormancy, regaining consciousness as a standard action. A warhead may not become active unless exposed to an atmosphere.
}}</onlyinclude>


===Skills===

'''[[SRD:Skills (Creature Statistic)|Skills]]:''' A warhead gains a +4 racial bonus on [[SRD:Balance Skill|Balance]], [[SRD:Listen Skill|Listen]], [[SRD:Move Silently Skill|Move Silently]] and [[SRD:Spot Skill|Spot]] check and a +8 racial bonus on [[SRD:Survival Skill|Survival]] skill checks. It gains skill points based on its [[SRD:Wisdom|Wisdom]] instead of [[SRD:Intelligence|Intelligence]].<!--2 + Wis skills: 
Balance: +5 Ranks +5 Dex +4 Racial
Climb: +5 Ranks +10 Str
Hide: +21 Ranks +5 Dex
Listen: +21 Ranks + 3 Wis +4 Racial
Move Silently: +6 Ranks +5 Dex +4 Racial
Spot:+21 Ranks +3 Wis +3 Feat +4 Racial
Sense Motive: +5 Ranks +3 Wis
Survival:+21 Ranks +2 Wis +8 Racial-->

===Strategies and Tactics===
[[Image:Battlehead.png|right|Don't get close. ''Pinch pinch pinch'']]

Warheads are older, stronger, bigger, faster, smarter, tougher and trickier beasts than their younger forms, the [[Battlehead (3.5e Monster)|battlehead]]. Very few creatures challenge their dominance on [[Messos Myonel (3.5e Environment)|Messos Myonel]], preferring to give them a wide berth. Reaching such an age and power is rare among their kind.

Warheads are cunning and patient ambush predators, holding still in sands and gravels, waiting for prey where they employ their dead magic zones to hinder any counter measures. Warheads prefer to retreat from a fight than risk their death. If an ambush fails within the first couple rounds of the attack, a warhead will withdraw, often burrowing away to safety. It is not unknown for warheads, in a moment of great weakness, to submit peacefully to an intelligent opponent (most likely a highly organized patrol of [[Complete Xeno (3.5e Sourcebook)/Appilon|appilons]]).

While highly aggressive, they exhibit tactical reasoning beyond what their intelligence might suggest, always being careful to attack clever appilons, retreating to tend to wounds, or tracking prey across long distances with their keen senses. They employ their powerful pincers, dead magic zones and ambush tactics, singling out foes. Warheads often lead roving packs of smaller [[Battlehead (3.5e Monster)|battleheads]] on hunts. Like all complex life on [[Messos Myonel (3.5e Environment)|Messos Myonel]], they can feed off of minerals and microorganisms to sustain themselves, but they prefer meat, and fresh meat at that.

===Ecology===

'''Environment:''' Native to [[Messos Myonel (3.5e Environment)|Messos Myonel]], warheads are found throughout the planet's surface, as well as underground in cave systems, though they prefer being above ground where loose sand and scree is most common for hiding. Occasionally, a warhead will find its way into water, often to escape surface storms, where it can hold its breath for hours as it scuttles along the bottom. Warheads are poor swimmers and prefer to walk along the bottom of bodies of water, where they hunt for aquatic prey.

'''Typical Physical Characteristics:''' Warheads have four main features to their body: a shell, four pincers, a four-part beak and four limbs. They have a hard, cone-shaped shelled body with four dome-like glassy eyes of a dark bluish color. Their shell ranges from greens to browns, grays, rusty reds and pale yellows. From the front of their head jut four large pincers, a pair of large pincers and a pair of small pincers that pinch shut within the arc of the larger pair. In the center is a four-part beak, with each part having a long, rasping and brightly colored tongue. From the narrow end of their shell, four long, muscular limbs protrude, keeping the creature ambulatory. Each limb ends with four blunt, hard nails used for digging and gouging prey.

'''Alignment:''' Warheads hunt for food, and much like animals, they are neutrally aligned. They typically lack the outlook on their world that suggests anything other than survival as a means of taking action.

===Lore===

Stories are told of warheads coordinating with [[Battlehead (3.5e Monster)|battleheads]] to enter into [[Complete Xeno (3.5e Sourcebook)/Appilon|appilon]] sanctuaries. Such fearsome beasts are capable of attacking several adult appilons at once. A warhead off its homeworld is truly a terror since most environments aren't built to sustain or support its behavior and cornering one in the wild is nearly impossible.

===Behavior===

Warheads are highly reclusive and don't risk unnecessary confrontation. However, such beasts are also highly confident and aggressive. They lay in wait for their prey to come to them, often near areas of key resources where travelers must frequent.

Warheads sharpen their pincers on crystals, chipping off pieces as they grow too large or become blunted after a fight. Their pincers are much like crystal and stone, rather than bone, and when chipped, leave a very sharp and strong edge.

At rest, a warhead goes into a dormant phase underground, slowing its metabolism down. It still retains its sensory abilities in this state, taking 10 on any necessary check. It shakes out of its torpor as a [[SRD:Standard Actions|standard action]]. A resting warhead does not employ its [[SRD:About Planes#Dead Magic|dead magic zone]], as doing so riles it up. A resting warhead may employ its [[SRD:About Planes#Dead Magic|dead magic zone]] to raise itself out of its torpor as a [[SRD:Standard Actions|standard action]].

'''Reproduction:''' Warheads in mating season tend to become nuisances, as they tend to become highly aggressive and free-roaming. Wandering warheads will often try to settle into prime areas inhabited by other creatures that they wish to prey upon. In this state, a warhead may simply kill to mark its new territory and not eat its prey.

===Typical Treasure===

Some warheads hole up in the same territory for long periods of time. The trash of their kills tends to pile up around them. Occasionally, these bits of treasure will be used as lures on the surface to draw in prey eager for a prize.


----
{{3.5e Monsters Breadcrumb}}
[[Category:3.5e]]
[[Category:User]]
[[Category:Monster]]

{{Navboxes}}
Author	Ganteka Future +
Challenge Rating	13 +
Identifier	3.5e Monster +
Rating	Undiscussed +
Size	Large +
Subtype	Xenotheric +
Summary	An ambush predator capable of making temporary dead-magic zones. Attacks with pincers and a sharp beak. +
Title	Battlehead, Warhead +
Type	Aberration +