“One spewed acid, one cast the brimstones of death. Yet, the creature they stood beholdant to, bore the same name. Ky’emrah-ha - the chimera.”

Chimera

Chimeras stand among the most wretched and accursed creatures of the lands. Wielding brimstone, venom, and physical strength, they are the topic of many bedside stories of victorious heroes and knights. In reality, most who have the misfortune to battle them only tell tales of a mortal struggle against a vicious beast that struck swiftly and without remorse. Smart adventurers might find themselves able to use the chimera’s limited intelligence against it - even smarter ones may opt to avoid encountering one entirely.

The three headed merchant of death, chimeras can be easily identified by their serpent-head tail and a goat head protruding their midsection, all while bearing the body of a lion. 2 meters long with the addition of an up to 1 meter long serpent tail, chimeras are roughly equal in size to a lion, only taller due to the goat head. They are strong, agile, and carry a plethora of miasma to claim another victim of their accursed existence.

Written by Insert and Electric

DM Guide

The information below is almost exclusively intended for DMs: an explanation of the creature's behavior, weaknesses, its unique abilities, and a full statblock to aid in rolling checks and contests where applicable. Characters may freely have the knowledge of the information in the above post. The information below is more OOC-facing and can be learned in detail via IC research (a research ticket or event) or known in vague, broad strokes where applicable: common sense applies! A Falstoners may have a vague idea of a Faded Steppe creature's abilities, but not specifics. For example: "the creature spews blood, but I don't know how, when, and what that looks like."

Every unique spell, feat, or ability interaction is not defined for beasts. It is assumed that DM discretion will be used for ruling interactions that aren't immediately written. Additionally, the mechanics of bestiary creatures are set-in-stone and not open for adjustment unless otherwise noted through DMed encounters.

Spoilers ahead... proceed with caution! Here be dragons!

Behavior

Chimeras are ambush hunters–at least, they attempt to be. The amalgamation of animals upon them often gives them away: the silent paws of a lion rendered inconsequential in comparison to loud, annoying braying of the goat head. They are not particularly smart and will prioritize bloodlust over survival. As their meal of choice is typically cattle or unassuming mortals, that strategy usually serves them well. Albeit their habitat ranges, they most often prowl forests, meadows and hill-lands, utilizing the underbrushes as their hunting grounds. When engaging, chimeras often will seek to block off their prey from escaping with their fiery breath and their venomous snake-head bites to cause a quick and painful death. Once dead, their prey is whisked away to be consumed in a chimera’s den.

Weaknesses

The weakness of the chimeras are its heads and the order in which they are removed. Taking the serpent head removes its venomous bite; taking the goat head lessens its accuracy; taking the lion head removes its fiery breath. Furthermore, due to the structure of their body, they are fairly lean, making it hard for the beast to resist direct physical attacks in meaningful ways, often trying to avoid said attacks instead of tanking them. Once their tails are cut, ranged attacks become rather effective at dealing with it.

Statblock

Boons

[Streams of Death] Each head of the chimera bears its own means of espousing death:

• [Fire Breath] The lion head may spew fire in a 4x4 area in Melee distance. Anyone caught in the blaze must make a DEX: Acrobatics check to avoid licks of flame. On a failure or mixed success, they take 5 damage. Should anyone end their turn in the affected area, they must make this check again. 
• [Venomous Bite] The serpent head may lash out to bite a target within Skirmishing range. This attack is rolled with a /roll attack 3 3 GP, is graze piercing, and does not trigger Quickfooted. The bite itself does 3 damage to the target. Upon being bit, the target must roll a STR: Fortitude check: on a failure, they take 1 damage at the start of their turn for the next 1d3 turns from snake venom. While under the influence of snake venom, Ranged attacks are made with a -2 penalty.

[All-Round Awareness] With the additional heads, the chimera can keep a good awareness of its surroundings from both elusive targets and physical threats. The chimera makes INT: Perception checks with each additional head of it providing a +1 to the roll, leading to it starting combat with a +3 to Perception.

Banes

[Separate Heads] Throughout the battle, the chimera’s withering state is indicated by heads being cut off. This can be up to DM discretion, but one head is typically lost at 50 HP and a second at 20 HP. Upon reaching 0 HP, the final head is struck and the beast is dead.  The DM should indicate when a head is cut off, and let the players choose which head is removed. For example, when an attack puts the chimera at 50 HP, the DM may ask which head they are striking for and then emote that head being lost from the attack. After losing a head, its respective ability is lost and the awareness bonus from it is nullified too. 

[Natural Armour] While still benefitting from armour rolls when taking damage (for this beast, it uses Light Armour), it does not physically have armour. This means that weapons such as Whips and Finesse Blades, which do additional damage against unarmoured targets, deal that additional damage to the beast. 

Mechanics Guidance

• Light Armour 
• 60-80 HP
• 3 actions per turn
• 8m (8 blocks) movement per turn
• Attack rolls and damage - General guideline:
  • Bite Attack
    • /roll attack 2 4-5
    • 4-5 damage
    • 1 action.
    • Melee distance
  • Maul Attack
    • /roll attack 3 3-4 AP
    • 3-4 AP damage
    • Shoves target back 4 blocks
    • 1 action
    • Melee distance
  • [Fire Breath] See Boons.
    • No roll
    • 2 actions
  • [Venomous Bite] See Boons.
    • /roll attack 3 3 GP
    • 3 damage
    • 2 actions
    • Skirmishing distance
• For the purposes of contesting spells or making otherwise necessary checks, the following stats are provided:

Note! The chimera starts with an additional +3 Perception (/roll perception +3) from [All-Round Awareness]. For each head that is removed, this modifier drops by 1.