Hive, Hive BruteThis hulking, four-legged beast has thick, chitinous plates covering its body. Steaming acid drips from its snapping maw.Hive Brute CR 8Source Nidal, Land of Shadows pg. 56
XP 4,800
NE Large aberration (Hive)
Init +6; Senses blindsense 60 ft., blindsight 10 ft., hive mind; Perception +14DefenseAC 21, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+2 Dex, +10 natural, -1 size)
hp 102 (12d8+48)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +11
Defensive Abilities corrosive blood (1d6 acid), heat adaptability; Immune acidOffenseSpeed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +15 (1d8+7), 2 claws +15 (1d6+7/19-20), tail slap +10 (1d8+3)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks acid spray, death throes (12d6, DC 19)StatisticsStr 24, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 3
Base Atk +9; CMB +17; CMD 29 (33 vs trip)
Feats Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Climb +15, Perception +14, Stealth +7, Survival +12
Languages Aklo (can't speak)
SQ blindEcologyEnvironment any
Organization solitary, pair, or hive (1-10 plus 1-50 hive workers and warriors plus 1 queen
Treasure incidentalSpecial AbilitiesAcid Spray (Ex) A hive brute can spray a fine mist of acid in a 30-foot cone as a standard action once every 1d4 rounds. Creatures in this area take 6d6 points of acid damage. Additionally, creatures damaged by the hive brute’s acid spray continue to take 6d6 points of acid damage each round for the next 1d3 rounds. A creature that succeeds at a DC 19 Reflex saving throw halves the initial damage and negates the ongoing damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.DescriptionAt the center of the Uskwood, the Shades of the Uskwood keep a hive queen imprisoned in a magical cell, yet her influence is not so easily contained. Near the Uskheart, the queen’s spawn are very common. Most of these creatures are hive warriors, hive-corrupted humanoids, or animals with the hive creature simple template, but sometimes they are different creatures altogether. Animals or other monstrous beasts that reject their role as incubation vessels for hive larvae sometimes instead become powerful hive creatures in their own right.
Often found wandering the Uskwood alone or in pairs rather than as part of the central hive near Uskheart, hive brutes lack the intelligence and cunning of their kin, but they make up for the deficit with more primal physical abilities. When in a large group of other hive creatures, brutes assist both workers and warriors in their tasks, serving as beasts of burden and war beasts in equal measure.Creatures in "Hive" CategorySource Horror Adventures pg. 233
The hive are an invasive species of aberrations that consume worlds like locusts. Hive creatures have the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry). - Immunity to acid.
- Blind: A hive creature is blind. It is immune to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight. Unlike other aberrations, a hive creature doesn’t have darkvision.
- Blindsense 60 feet.
- Blindsight 10 feet.
- Corrosive Blood (Ex): A hive creature’s blood is highly caustic. Every time the hive creature is damaged by a piercing or slashing weapon, the attacking creature takes acid damage according to the table below (or double damage if the attack is a critical hit). Using a reach weapon does not endanger the attacker in this way. If the hive creature has the swallow whole ability, it adds this damage to its swallow whole damage.
| Size of Hive Creature | Points of Acid Damage | | Medium or smaller | 1d4 | | Large | 1d6 | | Huge | 1d8 | | Gargantuan | 2d6 | | Colossal | 2d8 |
- Death Throes (Ex): When a hive creature dies, it exudes a pool of its corrosive blood in the space it occupies. This pool deals 1d6 points of acid damage per Hit Die of the hive creature for 3 rounds to objects and creatures in those squares (Reflex half ). This acid damages whatever surface it is on, and if it deals enough damage to destroy the surface, the acid falls down to any subsequent floor below and continues to deal damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
- Heat Adaptability (Ex): Hive creatures are considered to always be under the effect of endure elements with regard to hot climates.
- Hive Mind (Ex): Hive creatures have no language of their own, instead communicating simple concepts via pheromone discharge and body language that other creatures with the hive subtype understand. This ability functions within line of sight. If one hive creature is able to act in the surprise round of combat, all other hive creatures in line of sight can also act, and a hive creature isn’t flanked unless all hive creatures within line of sight are flanked.
- A hive creature doesn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep.
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