“The Fighting Machine” © Holly Humphries, accessed at InPrint here

[With a property that has been adapted as frequently as The World of the Worlds, adaptation drift sets in. And one of the biggest changes from the original to modern versions is the invincibility of the fighting machines. In 1953′s film adaptation, a Martian saucer could withstand a direct hit from an atomic bomb, which seems to have set the tone for future versions. But in the original book, a tripod can be taken out with mortars and Maxim guns. It’s just that they’re faster than 1890s British artillery and come in numbers sufficient to wipe out an army before the humans can successfully retaliate. So I wanted my version of the fighting machine to be strong and dangerous, but not overwhelmingly so. The (buckwild, highly recommended) Pathfinder module Rasputin Must Die! pits 13th level characters against WWI era weapons and expects them to survive but be challenged by the experience, so that was the CR range I went with.]

Robot, Sarmak Fighting Machine
CR 14 N Construct
This metal giant stands on three long, spindly legs, its main body held higher than a building. Said body has a hooded structure overlooking an array of lights and sensors. A cluster of snaking tentacles hangs from the lower side of the body, capable of extending and retracting.

The sarmak fighting machine, sometimes referred to simply as a tripod, is the cornerstone of sarmak colonial warfare. When not being piloted, they are inert metal, but when a sarmak is at the controls, it is a deadly force more than a match for an entire army. Their primary weapons are black smoke, a lethal chemical cloud, and beams of deadly heat capable of incinerating creatures and lighting buildings on fire. When not using these weapons (such as when the heat ray is recharging), the fighting machines simply trample over foes, or grab them in their tentacles and fling them great distances.

Although a single sarmak fighting machine is a devastating enemy, they typically travel in groups. Sarmaks are skilled tacticians—they coordinate the firing of their heat rays to ensure that the timing of attacks is as fast as possible, and catch particularly fortified positions in the crossfire of beams from different angles. Although the fighting machines themselves are incredibly durable, their occupants are still flaccid and ill-adapted to high gravity environments. If an adventurer can reach the cockpit and break it open, dispatching the sarmak inside is much easier than completely destroying the tripod.

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“Earth Elemental - Pathfinder” © Paizo Publishing, by Sally Gottschalk. Accessed at her deviantArt here

[The elementals in Pathfinder 2e are less tied to the Small/Medium/Large/Huge/Greater/Elder formula established in D&D 3.0 and carried over to Pathfinder 1e. For example, the stone mauler is a CR 9, the same CR as a Greater elemental in the old schema, but is Large instead of Huge. They also tend to have more interesting and variable abilities, as opposed to the identical elementals previously.

This art piece is not used in any Bestiary for any elemental, stone mauler or otherwise, but is “official” Paizo content. This appeared as a cardboard pawn in the Summon Monster collection. I dig its underbite and kaiju-like head.]

Stone Mauler
CR 9 N Outsider (elemental)
This creature is vaguely ape-like, with large muscular arms and short legs. Its body is made of stone, jagged chunks of colorful crystals growing from it like spines.

Stone maulers are a variety of earth elemental infused with veins of precious stone. Crystals grow from their surfaces and from surfaces that they pass by, creating an eerie rippling as they move. Stone maulers often work in service of shaitans as messengers or mercenaries, trading their services for more gems, which they consume in order to incorporate into their own bodies. Xorns consider stone maulers to be delicious but dangerous prey, and sometimes form parties to hunt them.

A stone mauler’s body is their primary weapon. They can punch with devastating force and pluck crystals off of their skin to throw as missiles. The crystals that grow from any stone they touch are razor-sharp, and prevent fleshy creatures from getting too close. If badly injured or threatened, they crumble, breaking their bodies apart in order to burrow straight down in an instant. Most stone maulers flee from a fight after this point, but some have learned that they can use this ability early in a fight to allow themselves to reposition after having surveyed the battlefield.

The body of a stone mauler contains precious stones equal to a normal treasure of its CR. An hour worth of work and a DC 19 Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Profession (miner) check is necessary to recover all of the stones—otherwise, a treasure value worth half a normal treasure are recovered.

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“Yokai and Kami” © ArtStation user “Mamslick”, accessed at his gallery here

[I didn’t much care for the Pathfinder 1e version of the rokurokubi. Not that it’s a bad monster; it’s a fun take on the rokurokubi as a hag. But it’s not a good representation of the actual folkloric entity. The rokurokubi is one of many yokai that seem to exist as a way of entertaining male anxieties about women, particularly in the context of a society as patriarchal as Edo period Japan. So many yokai look like beautiful women… but then they getcha! And a lot of them getcha because you deserved it. These yokai start as humans, and then form from the abused, the neglected and the downtrodden. These people don’t have a real voice in society, but turning into a monster lets them act out. Sound familiar?

Which is why, even though the Paizo’s 2e rokurokubi has acceptable art, I’m not using it. Because it’s a man, and rokurokubi are women in the stories nine times out of ten. Plus, I’m posting this for Monster Girl Summer.]

Rokurokubi
CR 3 CN Monstrous Humanoid
This woman is beautiful, but clearly monstrous, as she has a neck that is twice the length of the rest of her body.

A rokurokubi is a cursed creature that represents the adage “turnabout is fair play”. The misdeeds of a person, particularly a wealthy, egotistical and stingy one, can cause their child, lover or other person close to them to become a rokurokubi. This especially occurs if the person to become a rokurokubi is abused, as it empowers them to strike back at their tormentor. Rather than sleep, the newly formed yokai begins to play pranks in the night, anything from drinking all the lamp oil to startling people by peering around corners to inflicting bloody wounds. They prefer to ruin lives and reputations rather than kill, at least initially. Most rokurokubi end up quite enjoying their new state, and move around in society after having dealt with their initial oppressor.

Many rokurokubi live their lives as uninhibited and hedonistic people most of the time, revealing their monstrosity in order to get something they want or to lash out at someone who is rude to them. Their necks can be as short as that of an ordinary (albeit willowy) person, or as long as a constrictor serpent’s whole body. Their teeth are sharp and inflict bloody wounds, and they are experts at scaring people. Perhaps the strangest ability of a rokurokubi is its ability to drink oil and heal from it. Even alchemical bombs can be swallowed safely, if the rokurokubi manages to catch them in their teeth.

Rokurokubi can form from any type of humanoid, although most of them are human. In patriarchal societies, women more frequently turn into rokurokubi than men, but any sex and gender is possible. They have the lifespan ordinary to members of their original species. A few rokurokubi reject this, making pacts with shadowy powers for immortality—these are the universally sinister rokurobabas.

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“Myrmecoleon Fanart” © Reddit user “EtrianDemifiend”, accessed at Reddit here

[The myrmecoleon is another medieval bestiary monster originating from mistranslations and misunderstandings; it takes the figurative name “ant-lion”, for an insect, all too literally. @a-book-of-creatures​ has a good explanation here. There’s also already a Pathfinder 1e monster of the same name, but it’s just a giant bug, not a gonzo chimera. The name I’ve gone with, then, is an alternate name listed by @a-book-of-creatures​. I’ve also borrowed some of its spell-like abilities from the Shin Megami Tensei version of this creature, of which the above image is fanart.]

Formicaleon
CR 6 CE Magical Beast
This bizarre creature has the forequarters of a lion and the hindquarters of an ant. Its front two legs are muscular and end in clawed paws, and its four hind legs are spindly and thin.

A formicaleon is a strange hybrid creature that makes use of its chimerical appearance to deceive and mislead. They are sometimes known as “ant-lions”, not to be confused with the ordinary animal of the same name. Legend has that the foreparts of a formicaleon can eat live on only meat and the hindparts on only grain, and so the formicaleon starves for lack of food. This is a lie formicaleons tell to make themselves seem pitiful and weak. Formicaleons will often wheedle their way into the good graces of other creatures, claiming to have divinatory abilities or offering their skill as a magical healer. Then, they mooch off of their benefactor, and kill and eat them when they get tired of the charade.

Formicaleons are wandering creatures, and typically solitary. They do possess a certain amount of self-loathing, and may engage in tricks and lies even when not strategically valuable. They prefer to fight lone targets rather than parties, and will often flee from a concerted defense. There is some truth to the legend of formicaleon dietary peculiarities—they require both animal and vegetable matter, and can be remarkably picky in what they eat and when. Formicaleon kills are often marked by strange mutilations, as the monsters eat only a few of the organs and move on, leaving the rest for scavengers.

A formicaleon is about eight feet long and stands four feet at the shoulder.

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Image by Ruby Siswanto, © Paizo Publishing. Accessed at the Paizo blog here

[Did you realize that there’s no official scorpion swarm in Pathfinder 1e? One appears in Kobold Press’ Southlands Bestiary, but the first official Paizo scorpion swarm appeared in the 2nd Edition Bestiary. So this loose conversion is as much about filling a mechanical niche as anything else.]

Scorpion Swarm
CR 3 N Vermin
Moving in a wave is a cluster of hundreds of tiny scorpions.

Scorpion swarms are somewhat rarer than swarms of other vermin, perhaps because scorpions are frequently cannibalistic and territorial. Large swarms of scorpions can form when the creatures are kept docile through magic or chemical means, or under the influence of gods of nature and venom. A scorpion swarm can also be used to represent a mass of juvenile giant scorpions, as scorpions often carry their young on their back to transport them to food sources. If food is scarce, such juvenile swarms will eat their own mother before turning on each other, and only a small number of the swarm survives to adulthood even under good conditions.

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Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Sponsored by @justicegundam82. The penqual fits in with the tumblak as PF2E sahkils that are a bunch of humanoids squished together. As such, and because their foci (claustrophobia and agoraphobia) are often seen as “opposites”, I wanted the flavor text to include some reference to them both. The original stats make them a Huge swarm of Medium creatures; troop rules didn’t exist in PF2e yet, but that seems like the logical mechanical niche in both editions.]

Sahkil, Penqual
CR 15 NE Outsider (extraplanar)
This seething mass consists of a mob of humanoid figures. Each of them is subtly disturbing in appearance—they have dead black eyes, no noses or mouths, and their fingers and toes are long talons. The mob moves as a single unit.

Penquals are sahkils that represent agoraphobia and the fear of crowds. Although they resemble a mass of separate humanoid figures, each penqual is indeed a single entity, their bodies held together with thin fleshy appendages like umbilical cords. They tend to wear clothes and disguise themselves as a group of mundane humanoids when hunting on the Material Plane. Penqual attacks tend to focus around festivals, markets and other places where crowds gather, where the monsters can mingle unnoticed while on the search for those who are already showing signs of discomfort and anxiety. Penquals and tumblaks, the sahkils of claustrophobia, view each other as rivals, and debate the relative merits of confined versus open spaces in causing dread.

Penquals do not bother with individual attacks, instead attempting to devastate all opponents in their reach with a flurry of claws and fists. Their look of fear renders creatures slowed in addition to afraid, and penquals delight in prolonging a futile chase for a few rounds before grabbing an enemy and tearing them apart. Penquals enjoy making people edgy and uncomfortable in addition to overwhelming them with terror. A penqual might use nightmare and antipathy spells to stoke tensions for days or weeks before a scheduled mass gathering, where they abandon subtlety and indulge to bloody violence.

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