Helmasaur (5e Creature)
Helmasaur[edit]
Medium beast, unaligned Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Saving Throws Con +3 Armored Charge. While its Fragile Armor is still in place, if the helmasaur moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a slam attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength 13 saving throw or be knocked prone. Fragile Shell. The helmasaur is protected by a rigid but brittle shell that covers its face or back. This shell can be destroyed with a called shot that deals at least 10 bludgeoning damage, or when exposed to at least 10 thunder damage at once. (Your DM may allow other effects to remove the shell, such as a clawshot attack.) Once the shell is removed or destroyed, the helmasaur's AC becomes 12. The helmasaur can regrow its shell by completing a long rest. ACTIONSBite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage. REACTIONSSlip Out. When it is grappled or restrained, the helmasaur can use its reaction to destroy its Fragile Shell and automatically succeed on any ability check or saving throw to end these conditions. |
A helmasaur takes the form of a stocky quadruped creature with leathery hide, reminiscent of both a small rhinoceros and a large reptile. They tend towards dark habitats such as caves or dense jungles, and usually live in small omnivorous herds that both graze on flora and hunt down fauna. They are aggressively defensive of their herd and territory, and a helmasaur typically charges down any foreign entity that dares to wander into its range of vision. Natural Armor. Helmasaurs have a most peculiar adaptation. The natural armor their bodies form grows upon their head like a helmet, or upper back like a shield. This armor is remarkably fragile, akin in this regard to the sturdy but easily broken shell of a snail. Although this armor is primarily protective, the helmasaur can remove its shell to use it as a decoy for prey, or otherwise dislodge the shell to escape an enemy's grip.
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Variant: Helmasaurus[edit]
A helmasaurus is a slightly mutated helmasaur, noted for the fact its armor is visibly bulkier and more durable. Indeed, a helmasaurus' armor cannot be removed. It lacks the Fragile Shell trait and the Slip Out reaction. |
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Variant: Unarmored Helmasaur[edit]
This variant of helmasaur lacks its signature armor, either due to a handicap or because the armor was recently destroyed. It has an AC of 12, and lacks both the Armored Charge and Fragile Shell traits.
An unarmored helmasaur has a Challenge Rating of 1/2 (100 XP). |
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See also[edit]
- Helmasaur King, a larger, older, and more powerful version of this creature
- Hiploop, a creature that grows and "wears" a similar steel-like shell
- Gyorm, another creature protected by an almost impervious shell that can be removed with relative ease
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