Automaton, Sharpshooter AutomatonThis construct resembles a humanoid with a large crossbow built into its arm. It floats with no apparent mechanism.Sharpshooter Automaton CR 15Source Construct Handbook pg. 28
XP 51,200
LN Medium construct (automaton, extraplanar)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, see invisibility; Perception +27DefenseAC 29, touch 14, flat-footed 25 (+4 Dex, +15 natural)
hp 130 (20d10+20); fast healing 10
Fort +6, Ref +14, Will +10
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, sharpshooter's sense; DR 15/adamantine; Immune construct traits, electricity; Resist cold 10, sonic 10; SR 26
Weaknesses vulnerable mindOffenseSpeed fly 100 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +24 (1d8+6)
Ranged automated crossbow +25/+20/+15/+10 (2d8+6/17-20 plus 1d6 fire)
Special Attacks arcane propulsion, bolt volley, energy beam
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +24)
Constant—see invisibility
At will—hold person (DC 16), mirror image, web (DC 16)
3/day—chain lightning (DC 20), wall of force
1/day—plane shift (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), reverse gravityStatisticsStr 18, Dex 20, Con —, Int 17, Wis 19, Cha 18
Base Atk +20; CMB +24; CMD 40
Feats Far Shot, Hover, Improved Critical (automated crossbow), Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Manyshot, Pinpoint Targeting, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
Skills Diplomacy +27, Fly +36, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (geography) +26, Knowledge (local) +26, Perception +27, Spellcraft +26
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ automaton core, intelligent constructEcologyEnvironment any (Axis)
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure automated crossbowSpecial AbilitiesArcane Propulsion (Su) A sharpshooter automaton flies using arcane energy that radiates out from itself. A creature that ends its turn adjacent to a sharpshooter automaton takes 2d8 points of fire damage.
Automated Crossbow (Ex) A sharpshooter automaton’s automated crossbow is treated as a Large +2 flaming heavy crossbow. The powerful weapon is treated as a siege weapon for the purposes of wind effects, wind wall, and similar effects. While the crossbow is built into the automaton, the automaton adds its Strength bonus as a bonus on damage rolls and reloads as a free action.
Bolt Volley (Ex) As a standard action, a sharpshooter automaton can fire a spray of arrows that covers a 30-foot-radius area. If it uses a full-round action, the size of the area increases to a 50-foot radius. It makes a single attack roll against all creatures in the area using its highest base attack bonus at a –4 penalty. Each creature struck takes 6d8 points of damage plus 1d6 points of fire damage. The sharpshooter automaton can use this attack once every 1d4 rounds as it must regenerate its ammunition, but it can continue to use its automated crossbow as normal during this time.
Energy Beam (Ex) A sharpshooter automaton can focus the energy in its core to make a ranged touch attack against a creature within 120 feet as a standard action. The beam deals 15d6 points of damage on a hit; half of this damage is fire damage and half is force damage. Upon striking its target, the energy beam explodes in a 10-foot-radius burst. Creatures in the explosion area, including the original target, take 10d6 points of fire damage (Reflex DC 24 half). The sharpshooter automaton can use its energy beam once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Wisdom-based.
Sharpshooter’s Sense (Ex) A sharpshooter automaton’s core is instilled with a knack for combat awareness, granting it all-around vision. Additionally, it adds its Wisdom modifier as a bonus on Reflex saves.DescriptionSharpshooter automatons contain the minds of the best archers and crossbow specialists known throughout the Jistka Imperium, who competed in tournaments to earn the right to an automaton body. They served as the artillery of the automatons, attacking enemies with such precision and at such a great distance that many targets fell long before they were aware of an imminent attack.
Efficiency was the key of the sharpshooter automaton’s design. Their frames are just large enough to house the components necessary to power the construct alongside their magical weapons. Though the frames followed a similar pattern of design across these automatons, many sharpshooters chose to embellish their forms with intricate runic patterns or fearsome designs reminiscent of tattoos. A sharpshooter automaton is typically 4 feet tall and weighs 215 pounds. The largest sharpshooter automatons, however, housed extremely large ranged weapons or even siege weapons, such as ballistae capable of destroying a keep’s walls.
A sharpshooter automaton’s automaton core directs a considerable amount of its power to the arcane propulsion that allows the construct to fly. This energy appears invisible to the naked eye, but creatures capable of detecting magical auras perceive it as something resembling a magical flame. This propulsion constantly releases excess energy capable of burning creatures too close to the sharpshooter.
The technology that fuels a sharpshooter’s flight similarly powers its weapon. The crossbow built into most sharpshooters siphons planar energy from the automaton core and reconstitutes it to create the large bolts its weapon requires. These bolts allow a sharpshooter automaton to fire enormous volleys without ever lacking ammunition. Once a bolt leaves the automaton’s reserve, it becomes relatively unstable, however, and generally dissipates in minutes, returning to the parts of the Great Beyond from which it was drawn.
Although most sharpshooter automatons use crossbows as their weapon of choice, archers of all kinds volunteered to become the new constructs, as the automaton’s expert construction allowed for perfection of an archer’s skill. The first sharpshooter automatons took to the skies in early combat, raining death on their enemies, but they soon found that sandstorms and other magical protections rendered an aerial approach ineffective. In time, they eventually learned to overcome such defenses, but as a whole they were too few to shift battles in favor of the Jistka Imperium. Among the most notable of these heroes was Khimar of the High Watch, whose volleys were said to resemble torrential downpours.
Since the fall of Jistka, the sharpshooter automatons scattered to the winds, intent on finding their own purpose in a world without a land or people they could call their own. Even with their planar abilities, some sharpshooter automatons remained on Golarion. Leveraging the freedom granted by their flight, these automatons can be found around the world, seemingly as wanderers. A number of them act as itinerant saviors, slaying large creatures on the verge of attacking villages or rescuing travelers caught in tough spots. Occasional tales crop up among travelers claiming that they were saved from peril by a rain of bolts, but that when they returned to the site of the rescue hours later, they found nothing. Other sharpshooter automatons keep watch in the skies, hovering thousands of feet in the air over important structures and locations throughout Golarion. While the locations appear random to a modern observer, most of these are places important to the individual automaton or of significance in Jistkan history, such as locations mentioned in the Poleiheira.
Now, besides those few on the Material Plane, most sharpshooter automatons reside in Axis with others of their kind. However, a few visit the Maelstrom on a regular basis, pushed toward the chaotic uncertainty of these planar depths by some sort of melancholy. These automatons tend to avoid other creatures and keep to themselves, and most proteans know that even in that chaotic realm, the constructs remain quite powerful, and thus keep their distance. Although the automatons in the Maelstrom are few, they are generally quite familiar with their favored region of the plane, and their powerful sight allows them to keep track of the chaos for miles in every direction. Most notable among these self-exiled sharpshooter automatons is Alvara the All-Seer. Those who know of her claim that the millennia through which she has stayed in the Maelstrom allows her to accurately understand and even predict the nature of the chaotic seas in which she resides.Creatures in "Automaton" CategorySource Construct Handbook pg. 21
Automatons are lawful neutral constructs with the extraplanar subtype. An automaton has the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry). - Darkvision 120 feet and low-light vision.
- Immunity to electricity.
- Resistance to cold 10 and sonic 10.
- Most automatons are resistant to magic. Such an automaton has SR equal to 11 + its CR.
- Telepathy.
- An automaton is proficient with its natural weapons, all simple weapons, and all weapons mentioned in its entry.
- An automaton's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful and magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
- Automaton Core (Ex): All automatons are powered by a planar core infused with life energy. A destroyed automaton leaves behind an automaton core, which can be harvested with a successful Spellcraft check.
- Intelligent Construct (Ex): Automatons are intelligent constructs and can take class levels, can gain feats, and can gain class skills and additional skill points. An automaton gains a number of skill points equal to 4 + its Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) per Hit Die. The following are class skills for automatons: Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Fly, Intimidate, Knowledge (all), Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Stealth, and Use Magic Device.
- Vulnerable Mind (Ex): Automatons are not immune to mind-affecting effects.
Automaton Cores Although the bodies of automatons are wonders in and of themselves, the true technological marvels they bear are the automaton cores that power these constructs. The secret to the creation of automaton cores has since been lost to time, but each core contains a spark of consciousness from a particular individual, combined with a significant portion of planar energy. These two components are merged using powerful magical energy to form a core of seemingly limitless arcane potential that powers an automaton. This energy courses throughout an automaton's body, powering the construct and completing an internal connection that allows the individual automaton's consciousness to remain active.
Powering an automaton with a core other than its original core can cause a conflict with the consciousness stored within the body. The two different individuals may engage in a mental struggle as each attempts to wrest control of the body from the other. This usually leads to one individual consciousness overpowering the other, but it occasionally creates a new, shared consciousness wherein the two individuals meld to form a single new entity with shared memories.
Removing an automaton core from a destroyed or willing automaton is a laborious and risky process that requires a number of hours equal to half the automaton's CR. After this time, the remover must attempt a Spellcraft check with a DC equal to 20 + the automaton's CR. On a success, the automaton core is removed and can be used normally. On a failed check, the removal attempt is unsuccessful and cannot be attempted again for 24 hours. Failing this check by more than 5 causes damage to the core and reduces its total number of spell points by 1. Returning a core to an inactive automaton's body to restore the creature requires another Spellcraft check with the same DC. If the consciousness in the body and the core are incompatible or unwilling to meld, the two attempt an opposed Charisma check. The winner of the opposed roll takes over as the dominant consciousness, but it may find itself opposed again later.
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