Steampunk Week - Clockwork Scorpion

Clockwork Scorpion CR3

1 ton of brass and iron comes clanking around the corner, it snaps its nastily serrated pincers at you before it charges, it’s syringe like tail dripping with a noxious green liquid.

Clockwork template (Advanced bestiary pg.43)

XP 800
N Construct (vermin)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+7 natural, +2 Dex)
hp 36 (3d10+20)
Fort -, Ref +2, Will +1
Immune construct traits Resistance acid, cold, and fire 10

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft., climb 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d4+2), sting +4 (1d4+2 plus poison)
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d4+4)

STATISTICS

Str 15, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 6, Cha 0
Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 16 (28 vs. trip)

Skills Climb +2, Perception -2, Stealth +0

SQ mindless

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Poison (ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Str; cure 1 save. As this is in a syringe, it can easily be replaced with a more virulent poison.

Hardness (Ex): A clockwork creature has a hardness of 10. This quality functions like object hardness, even though a clockwork scorpion is not an object.

Metal Body (Ex): Beneath its skin, a clockwork creature is largely composed of metal. It counts as a ferrous creature for the purpose of rusting grasp and other spells that have special effects on metal.

Vulnerability to Electricity (Ex): Because the delicate interior mechanisms of a clockwork creature are particularly vulnerable to electricity damage, it takes double damage from electricity on a failed save and half damage on a successful save.

Windup Key (Ex): A clockwork creature must be wound up each day by placing a small key into a special orifice and turning it—an action that provokes attacks of opportunity.

For each full round that the key is turned, the clockwork creature can be active for 4 hours (maximum 24 hours). In most cases, the creator either retains his construct’s key or gives it to the clockwork creature so that it can keep itself running. When the clockwork creature runs down, it becomes immobile, helpless, and unconscious, and it remains so until wound up again. Anyone can wind up a clockwork creature without the key by making a successful Open Locks check as a full-round action (DC based on the quality of lock the creator built into the clockwork creature). This technique allows the clockwork creature 4 hours of activity (maximum 24 hours) for each such successful check.

ECOLOGY

Environment as creator
Organization solitary, pair, or swarm (3–12)
Treasure none

The clockwork scorpion is quite obviously based on the cave scorpion. The scorpion’s tail syringe is loaded with 10 doses of poison, typically this is medium scorpion poison, however any injection poison may be loaded into the syringe.