Half-Tarrasque (3.5e Template)
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A creature stands before you, vaguely humanoid in shape, with a tough-looking carapace and great, powerful claws.
A half-tarrasque is usually the spawn of the tarrasque and a mad wizard or other creature capable of changing shape. Some cultists of religions worshipping the tarrasque seek to spread its spawn into the world. Fortunately, in almost all cases of a half-tarrasque being conceived, the answer is 'A wizard did it'.
Creating a Half-Tarrasque
"Half-Tarrasque" is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
A half-tarrasque uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to Magical Beast. Size increases by one size category if the base creature is Large or larger, and two size categories otherwise. Do not recalculate base attack bonus or saves.
Hit Dice
Increase base creature’s racial HD size up to d10 if it was lower, if not, it remains the size it was.
Speed
As base creature. Despite their size, half-tarrasques are relatively slow.
Armor Class
Natural armor improves by +8
Attack
All half-tarrasques have two claw attacks and a bite attack, and the claws are the primary natural weapon. Large and larger half-tarrasques gain a gore attack. If the base creature can use weapons, the half-tarrasque retains this ability. A half-tarrasque fighting without weapons uses a claw when making an attack. When it has a weapon, it usually uses the weapon instead.
Full Attack
A half-tarrasque fighting without weapons uses both claws, its bite, and its gore if applicable when making a full attack. If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack and its bite as a natural secondary attack. If it has a hand free, it uses a claw as an additional natural secondary attack.
Half-tarrasques have bite, claw and often gore attacks. If the base creature does not have these attack forms, use the damage values listed. Otherwise, use the values below or the base creature’s damage values, whichever are greater.
Tiny: Bite 1d3, claws 1d2
Small: Bite 1d4, claws 1d3
Medium: Bite: 1d6, claws 1d4
Large: Bite 1d8, claws 1d6, gore 2d6
Huge: Bite 2d6, claws 1d8, gore 2d8
Gargantuan: Bite 3d6, claws 2d6, gore 4d6
Colossal: Bite 4d6, claws 3d6, gore 6d6
Colossal Plus: Bite 4d8, claws 4d6, gore 8d6
Special Attacks
A half-tarrasque does not lose or gain any special attacks.
Special Qualities
Carapace (Ex)
A half-tarrasque’s armorlike carapace is exceptionally tough and highly reflective, and has a 3% chance per each hit die of deflecting any given ray, line, cone, or even magic missile spell. There is a 10% chance of reflecting any such deflected effect back at the caster; otherwise, it is merely negated.
Regeneration (Ex)
Nonmagical weapons deal nonlethal damage to a half-tarrasque, and any magical weapon wielded against it must penetrate the half-tarrasque's SR with each successful hit (using the caster level of its creator or in the case of spells cast on the weapons, the CL of the caster) for the weapon to be classed as magical for that particular strike. For creatures whose natural weapons are classed as magical, use the attacker's HD in place of CL. A half-tarrasque gets a +8 racial bonus to saves against effects that produce incurable or bleeding wounds, such as mummy rot, a sword with the wounding special ability, or a clay golem’s cursed wound ability. Spells or supernatural abilities which manage to overcome or ignore SR deal lethal damage, but regular fire, acid, etc. does not. A half-tarrasque has regeneration equal to half its' HD.
Magic Resistance (Ex)
A half-tarrasque has SR equal to its Hit Dice plus fifteen or that of the base creature, whichever is higher. However, a half-tarrasque's resistance to magic also impedes any spell it tries to cast, and it must succeed a spellcraft check of DC equal to its HD plus 15 to cast any arcane spell or use any spell-like abilities mimicking arcane spells. In addition its spell resistance cannot be lowered even for beneficial effects.
Deathblood Link (Ex)
Whenever a half-tarrasque dies while on the same plane as the Tarrasque itself, the Tarrasque heals 100 HP. If the Tarrasque has been slain using a Wish or Miracle, a ritually-prepared sacrifice of a half-tarrasque can return it to life at -9 HP. The sacrificed half-tarrasque cannot be returned to life by any means short of a Wish or Miracle.
Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +18, Dex -4, Con +10, Int -4, Wis -2, Cha -2. These include the modifiers for changing size categories.
Skills
A half-tarrasque gains skill points as a magical beast and has skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier) × (HD + 3). Do not include Hit Dice from class levels in this calculation—the half-tarrasque gains magical beast skill points only for its racial Hit Dice, and gains the normal amount of skill points for its class levels. Treat skills from the base creature’s list as class skills, and other skills as cross-class.
Feats
A half-tarrasque can choose to count as one size category larger for determining whether it is eligible for any feat on the fighter bonus feat list.
Environment
As base creature.
Organization
Usually solitary or as base creature.
Challenge Rating
The base creature's CR increases by 6.
Treasure
As base creature, but all magic items randomly generated are instead psionic, alchemical, technological, or otherwise nonmagical while functioning in the same way as the magic item would have.
Alignment
Usually Chaotic (Any).
Advancement
By character class or as base creature. A half-tarrasque's favoured class remains the same as that of the base creature, except if the base creature's favoured class is an Arcane Caster. If so, its favoured class automatically changes to Barbarian. A half-tarrasque male drow has Cleric as its' favoured class instead of Barbarian.
Level Adjustment
LA +7.
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