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→Combat: Magma Storm tweak, Crunch flavor, and link-making
Heatran is ferocious in battle. Unlike its cousins [[Frostran (3.5e Monster)|Frostran]] and [[Voltran (3.5e Monster)|Voltran]], Heatran has no horribly low ability scores to exploit, with its lowest ability being its Intelligence (which it has no real use for, and it has enough smarts to come up with battle plans that make the most of its abilities). It's not as powerful physically as Frostran, but ''much'' stronger than Voltran. Likewise, its nonphysical attacks may not pack as much oomph as Voltran's, but they're stronger than Frostran's. Its defenses may not be as solid as Frostran's, but they're strong enough to keep it safe from most opponents (and unlike Voltran, Heatran's not going to go down like a welterweight chump after a single decent hit). Heatran's also quick enough to keep up with smaller enemies, and it can use its climbing and jumping abilities to cut off foes that think they can outrun it. Its abilities are comfortably in between Frostran's and Voltran's, which arguably makes it the toughest of the Tran trio. Heatran's a dangerous adversary both up close and from far away, so you'd better be ready for a big fight!
Heatran's body is built for climbing. It has a +16 racial bonus on Climb checks and may take 10 even when rushed or threatened. Heatran is fond of climbing up walls, then leaping off to pounce on a foe with its [[Vicious Pounce (3.5e Skill Trick)|Vicious Pounce]] skill trick. In enclosed spaces such as the interior of a volcano (Heatran's favorite battleground), it tends to jump all over the room like a ninja on crack, firing off [[#Magma Storm|Magma Storms]], [[#Earth Power|Earth Powers]], and [[#AncientPower|AncientPowers ]] to soften up its enemies from afar. Once it's managed to entangle most of its foes, it will proceed to repeatedly jump on top of them, hitting them with bites, slams, and [[#Lava Plume|Lava Plumes]]. While not nearly as fast as Voltran, Heatran is a ''lot'' faster than it looks, and will eagerly vex its foes and try to frustrate goad them into leaving themselves vulnerablemaking a mistake.
'''{{Anchor|Flash Fire}} {{Su}}:''' Whenever hit by an effect that would normally deal Fire damage to Heatran, that damage is negated, and unless the effect originated from Heatran itself, it becomes even more powerful, empowering any fire effects it unleashes in the next round. If the effect continues over multiple rounds, it remains Empowered for each round. Even if Flash Fire is suppressed (such as by an ''antimagic field''), Heatran is still immune to fire. Only an ability that bypasses immunity to fire, like [[Reshiram (3.5e Monster)|Reshiram's]] [[Reshiram (3.5e Monster)#Turboblaze|Turboblaze]], can fully defeat Flash Fire and damage Heatran with fire attacks.
'''{{Anchor|Scary Face}} ([[Su]]):''' Heatran can make itself look extra fierce, and is able to make an [[SRD:Intimidate Skill|Intimidate]] check to demoralize as a Swift action.
'''{{Anchor|Crunch}} {{Su}}:''' Heatran's bite attack is able to smash bones. Heatran's bite attack deals damage as though it was one size category larger, and forces any creature struck by it to succeed on a DC 30 Fortitude save (the save DC is Strength-based). A creature that fails the Fortitude save loses 1 point of natural armor, 1 point of damage reduction, and 1 point of [[Martial Defense (3.5e Creature Ability)|martial defense]] for 1 minute. Another successful Crunch reduces the target's natural armor, damage reduction, and martial defense by a further 1 (to a maximum penalty of −6) and refreshes the duration. This is a [Dark] effect.
Heatran can invest essentia into its Crunch to improve its save DC by 1 for every point of invested essentia. (As Crunch and [[#Fire Fang|Fire Fang]] share the same save DC, this increases the save DC of Fire Fang as well.)
Heatran may invest essentia into Lava Plume to extend the range by 10 feet per invested essentia point. As a baseline, the range is 30 feet per 10 HD. Heatran adds 1 die of damage per 2 HD.
'''{{Anchor|Iron Head}} {{Ex}}:''' Any creature struck by Heatran's slam attack must succeed on a DC 30 Fortitude save or be [[SRD:Stunned|stunned ]] for 1 round. The save DC is Strength-based. This is a [Steel] effect.
'''{{Anchor|Earth Power}} ([[Sp]]):''' This is a [[SRD:Flame Strike|''flame strike'']] from below rather than from above. Instead of divine energy, half of the damage is a [Ground] effect and the other half is fire damage. (Actually, the whole move is a [Ground] effect, ''not'' a [Fire] effect, even though half of the damage is fire damage. It's still considered a fire effect, though - the move is considered a [Ground] effect for interacting with Pokémon traits, and half of the damage is considered fire damage for the purpose of interacting with other game effects.) Heatran's caster level is equal to its Hit Dice. The save DC of 36 is Charisma-based. Heatran may use ''earth power'' at will.
'''{{Anchor|Stone Edge}} {{Sp}}:''' Heatran may cast [[SRD:Spike Stones|''spike stones'']] at will. This is a [Rock] effect.
Heatran may invest essentia into Stone Edge to increase the damage per spiked square to 3d8 with the first essentia point, then to add 3 dice of damage to the damage dealt by the spikes per square for each additional point of essentia invested.{{sidebar|What the heck kind of formula is this?|Heatran is effectively making a [[SRD:Use Rope Skill|Use Rope]] check to determine the Escape Artist DC to end the entanglement from Magma Storm. It is treated as having as many ranks in Use Rope as its HD will allow (assuming that Use Rope is a class skill) and uses its Charisma modifier instead of its Dexterity modifier. Of course, it has no actual ranks in Use Rope, as a quadrupedal creature actually using a rope would just be silly.}}<nowiki></nowiki>
'''{{Anchor|Magma Storm}} {{Su}}:''' Heatran's signature move, Magma Storm is arguably its most potent weapon. At will, Heatran may launch a serpentine torrent of magma as a ranged touch attack at a single target within Long range. If the move connects, that creature takes 30d12 fire damage and is [[SRD:Entangled|entangled ]] with no save allowed. Every round that the creature victim remains entangled, it takes an additional 11d12 fire damage. An [[SRD:Escape Artist Skill|Escape Artist]] check is necessary to escape the entangling magma; Heatran sets the check DC by making an HD check (1d20 + Heatran's HD + 3 + Heatran's Charisma modifier). The entangling magma becomes inert as soon as the victim frees itself, ending the effect; otherwise, it becomes inert on its own after 5 rounds if the creature has not escaped by then, automatically freeing the victim. The check DC and number of continuous damage are dice is equal to Heatran's Charisma-based modifier (minimum 1); the number of initial damage dice is equal to Heatran's HD-based). This move is a [Fire] effect.
Heatran may invest essentia into Magma Storm to increase the initial and continuous damage by 1 die each per point of invested essentia, as well as to increase the Escape Artist check DC by 2 per point of invested essentia.
'''{{Anchor|Ground Vulnerability}} {{Ex}}:''' Heatran's only significant weakness is a sensitivity to ground-based attacks. Being a flaming metallic creature tends to have that sort of result. Heatran takes a -−10 penalty on saving throws against [Ground] effects. If a [Ground] effect doesn't allow a saving throw, Heatran takes double damage and is sad.
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