Amber Prowler

Mage-hunting apparatus. A construct.

Imagine a stylized lion or tiger sculpted out of amber. Its semi translucent body casts an orange shadow.

Gracefully stilted, prowling brute, mechanically obsessive.


 
HD: 4 Armor: as plate
Hit it: normal Dodge it: normal
Move: fast  

It is immune to fatigue, fear, poison and diseases (because it’s an object). It resists fire and magic. It can climb most surfaces like a cat and jump 30’. However, anti-magic zones and dispel effects paralyze it, and, when it dies, it crumbles and leaves behind 1D6 chunks of amber (valuable treasure).

Attacks (1/round)

Rake. The amber prowler makes two melee attacks (1D8) against a target.

Pounce. The amber prowler makes a running jump on a target. If it fails to dodge, it takes damage (2D8) and is knocked prone.

Capture. The amber prowler makes a grapple attempt, inflicting nonlethal damage (1D8) on a success. While grappled, the target cannot cast spells.

Detect Magic. The amber prowler detects all sources of magic in sight.



Random Encounter
  1. Monster: 1 amber prowler & 1 mage.
  2. Lair: A pedestal for the prowler, engraved with arcane runes of a powerful wizard syndicate.
      OR
    Omen: The sound of a heavy creature landing from a jump followed by ominous clawed footsteps.
  3. Spoor: 1D6 mages on a recon or cleaning mission.
  4. Tracks: Very heavy set lion tracks.
  5. Trace: Arcane sentry from a powerful wizard syndicate.
  6. Trace: 1 humanoid on the run from a powerful wizard syndicate.
Crafting Instructions

Creating an amber prowler takes 4 Spell Dice and the equivalent of 4 treasures in amber. Roll 1D6 to know the result. Add 1 to your roll for each additional Spell Die spent.

  1. Behaves like a domestic cat.
  2. Behaves like a feral tiger.
  3. Will work for 1 mission.
  4. Is afraid of water and dogs.
  5. 1/6 chance it will become feral after catching each target.
  6. It is perfectly under your control.


DM Notes

I encountered two different iterations of the amber golem in DnD: the amber statues in the Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd which are reflavored stone golems, and the monster found in the Mystara Monster Manual from 2e upon which this adaptation is based. I gave a new name to this version, since it is the least generic one of the two: it was designed to hunt mages, and, contrary to the image we have of golems, it’s very fast. — SaltyGoo

Written on November 14, 2020