The Iron Gods Adventure Path, The Ninth World (Homebrew)
M91/BASTION CR: 18 (20,000 XP)
Huge construct (robot), any lawful
Armor Class: 22 (noqual enameled skymetal body)
Hit Points: 399 (21d12 + 147) plus 90 hp force field
Speed:
40 ft
Saving Throws: DEX 1d20+10
Skills: Perception 1d20+12
Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren’t skymetal (adamantine)
Damage Immunities: necrotic, poison, psychic
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses: truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 22
Languages: All (Universal Translators)
Challenge Rating: 18 (20,000 XP)
Gift of the Machine Gods. As a creature of ancient arcana (technology), Bastion gains many damage and condition resistances and immunities, but they are also susceptible to electrical attacks:
- Automatically gains a proficiency or feat as needed though it can only have one new ability active at any given time. It does this as part of short rest downloading the knowledge it needs to finish a mission at hand.
- Is combat-hardened and has a damage threshold equal to half its CR rounded down, that is, it reduces all individual attacks by the threshold numbers damage.
- Has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or sound and has double proficiency bonus in the Perception skill as it constantly scans its surroundings for danger.
- All robots have a weakness to lightning based damage. They have disadvantage on saving throws against attacks that do lightning damage and on a natural 1 are stunned until the end of its next turn.
- Robots built by the Ancients were built to last. Each has a continuous reanimation protocol active which heals/mends the robot a number of hit points equal to its CR (minimum of 1) per round. This ability ceases to function when the robot is reduced to 0 hit points.
Empowered Attacks. Bastion’s melee attacks are treated as magical for the purpose of bypassing resistance and immunity to nonmagical weapons.
Immunity to Magic. Bastion is immune to and absorbs any spell or spell-like ability. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against it, as detailed below:
- Magical lightning damage slows Bastion until the end of its next round, with no saving throw. If hasted, magical lightning attacks instead negates the haste effect.
- Dispel Magic negates its Impeded Magic ability for 1d4 rounds.
Impeded Magic. A spellcaster within 60 feet of Bastion must succeed at a Constitution ability check (DC 15 + the level of the spell being cast) to successfully cast a spell — if this check fails, Bastion absorbs the spell and the caster loses the spell.
Overwhelming Nanite Surge (3/Day). If Bastion fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed.
Quantum Force Field. Bastion is sheathed in a thin layer of shimmering quantum energy that grants it 90 temporary hit points. All damage dealt to it with an active force field is reduced from these hit points first. If the force field is active, the robot is immune to critical hits; force attacks and loses its weakness to lightning damage. The force field has an effective regeneration of 90, but once reduced to 0; the force field shuts down and does not reactivate until a long rest is completed.
Spell Absorption. Whenever Bastion absorbs a spell, he heals 5 points of damage per spell level. Healing more than his normal hit point maximum grants him temporary hit points. These hit points stack with his Quantum Force Field if still active. Absorbing a spell gives him the benefits of the haste spell for 1 round per spell level absorbed.
Spell Sunder. A creature struck by Bastion’s Force Slam attack is targeted by
dispel magic. Bastion absorbs any spells so sundered.
Actions
Multiattack. Bastion makes two Force Slam attacks against two opponents (so four attacks but not against the same opponent). He also uses Gravitywave if available.
Force Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: 1d20[/i +13] to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 ( 3d8+7 ) bludgeoning damage plus 10 ( 3d6 ) force damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 19). Bastion can grapple up to four targets. When Bastion moves, all creatures he is grappling move with him. On a natural 20, the target takes an extra 14 bludgeoning damage if it's a construct. If a construct has 25 hit points or fewer after taking this damage, it is destroyed. Additionally, a target is also targeted by the Spell Sunder trait. A creature that takes force damage and is reduced to 0 hit points is utterly destroyed and their soul is claimed by UNITY.
Gravitywave (Recharges 5-6). Spinning up his shoulder mounted gravity cannons Bastion unleashes a barrage of graviton beams. The barrage targets all creatures within 30 feet of him and each must succeed on a DC 24 Constitution saving throw, taking 45 ( 10d8 ) force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature reduced to zero hit points by this attack is utterly destroyed and their soul is claimed by UNITY. In addition, targets are subjected to a reverse gravity effect (as the spell) regardless if the target made or failed the saving throw.
Legendary Actions
Bastion can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Bastion regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Crush. One creature that Bastion is grappling is crushed for 20 (3d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
- Fling. Bastion releases one creature it is grappling by flinging the creature up to 60 feet away from it, in a direction of his choice. If the flung creature meets a solid surface, such as a wall or floor, the creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was flung.
- Gravitywave. (Costs 3 Actions). Bastion recharges Gravitywave and uses it.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Bastion takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; Bastion can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Automated Laz-Cannons pop out of cunningly hidden recesses in the roof and spray the area with gunfire. They are superhumanly accurate and only hit enemy creatures. Each creature in the room must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 12 (4d6) radiant damage.
- The room is flooded with noqual infused gas. All spellcasters must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or lose a randomly memorized spell (or a random spell slot for spontaneous casters like sorcerers).
- One creature Bastion can see within 60 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished to the Matrix - a digital plane - a different plane of existence UNITY has programmed into being. To escape, the creature must use its action to make a DC 15 Charisma ability check. If the creature wins, it escapes the digital plane. Otherwise, the effect ends on initiative count 20 on the next round. When the effect ends, the creature reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that one is occupied.
Bastion resides in Silver Mount the home of his goddess UNITY. He sits at the nerve center of those ancient ruins surrounded by magical divination screens (monitors) which he observes and directs UNITY’s faithful. If encountered without clearing the entire level he is on, every construct on the level or servant of UNITY will arrive to aide him within 1d4 rounds.
This four-armed gleaming, green-enameled humanoid shaped machine was designed and built to hunt and kill magic-users. Bastion acts as the proxy of the Machine Goddess known as UNITY (different versions act as both the Iron Goddess and Golden Goddesses proxy, though they are different machines).
- Iron. This version appears to be made from pitted iron veined with green noqual and single baleful purple eye.
- Golden. This version is entirely gold, with a single blue eye. A subtle green glow comes from his noqual infused circuitry.
Suggested Environments
Bastion can be found protecting UNITY’s domain of Silver Mount (or the Golden Goddesses Luna Castellum).