Gorgon

Gorgon Creature8

Uncommon N Large Beast

Senses Perception +19; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet

Skills Athletics +19

Str +7, Dex +3, Con +6, Int -4, Wis +5, Cha +3

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AC 28; Fort +18, Ref +13, Will +17

HP 135; Immunities petrification

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Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] horn +20, Damage 2d12+10 piercing

Melee [one-action] hoof +18, Damage 2d6+10 bludgeoning

Breath Weapon [two-actions] (earth, incapacitation, primal, transmutation) The gorgon breathes a 60-foot cone of green gas. Each creature in the area must attempt a DC 25 Fortitude save. The gorgon can’t use Breath Weapon again for 1d4 rounds.

Critical Success The creature is unaffected.

Success The creature’s body hardens and stiffens, causing it to become slowed 1 for 1 round.

Failure The creature becomes petrified for 1 minute. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns.

Critical Failure The creature becomes petrified permanently.

Powerful Charge [two-actions] The gorgon Strides twice, then makes a horn Strike. If it moved at least 20 feet from its starting position, the Strike’s damage is increased to 3d12+12.

Trample [three-actions] Medium or smaller, hoof, DC 26

About

Though they may resemble constructs to the untrained eye due to their metallic, interlocking armor plates that look and feel like polished stone, gorgons are a creature of flesh and bone. These ill-tempered beasts greet interlopers with a charge or trample accompanied with belches of petrifying breath. Gorgons are dangerous on their own, and when they band together in herds, they become especially deadly.

Gorgons typically subsist on petrified flesh or fossils. These supernatural beasts can gain sustenance from natural stone if they must, though they find raw stone flavorless, so it’s not a preferred food source. In battle, gorgons use their petrifying breath to turn their prey into stone. They break up the resulting statues with their hooves or horns and swallow the stony chunks with loud chewing bites. Gorgons cannot digest unpetrified organic material, and if they try, they experience sickness and great gastrointestinal peril. Such discomforts are not life threatening to gorgons, but they do make the creatures even more ill tempered than usual-much to the chagrin of anyone they subsequently encounter.

Gorgon flesh tastes vaguely like beef, but with a gritty, earthy texture and aftertaste that most meat connoisseurs find off-putting. Creatures with a close association to earth and stone are more likely to find the flavor appetizing; stone giants in particular consider gorgon steaks to be delicacies. Some cultures, notably dwarven cultures, consider the preparation of gorgon for meals as both a physical and a culinary challenge. Chefs who work with gorgon flesh can find renown for their skill in creating palatable dishes from such naturally unpalatable meat.

While many have tried to train gorgons as mounts or beasts of war, the combination of their notoriously short tempers and the difficulty in containing the effects of their petrifying breath make this a difficult task. In most cases, those who attempt to domesticate gorgons end up creating untamed gorgon breeding grounds.