Talus
Once a Stone Talus is awoken, it begins rampaging, attempting to kill whatever woke it. It will only stop when the offending creature flees for its life. Thankfully, Talus are easily outpaced.
While fighting, the Stone Talus will attempt to close to melee and smash its foe with its stony fists. If no foe is within its movement range to smash in melee, it will stay still, and Bombard a foe with a Boulder.
Talus Lore
Novice (DC 7)
It’s impossible to tell a Talus from a large boulder, until you get too close. If you feel the earth move under your feet, run – it may be that you’ve awakened a Stone Talus!
Journeyman (DC 10)
If you see a ripe, jutting vein of sparkling ore in the middle of nowhere, beware – it is likely a resting Talus. Many fools have let their greed be the end of them in this way.
Adept (DC 13)
Goron miners share a tale of a headstrong delver who tunneled deep into an uninhabited mountain, only to discover it was a giant Talus. However, there are different versions of the story – some where the Talus rends a rift in the earth, some where the delver defeats the Talus and scatters riches throughout the world, and some where he digs within the massive Talus, and takes control of the unthinking beast…
Expert (DC 16)
Subrosians may have dealt with Talus in the distant past, as well – the stories are unclear. This has lead some scholars to believe that they originate from beneath the crust of the earth.
| Talus | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank 2 Natural Warrior MINIBOSS | |||||
| HP: 80 | MP: 0 | SP: 40 | |||
| Defense: 16 (Extreme) | Concentration: 12 | ||||
| Initiative: +2 | Evasion: 6 | ||||
| Size: Huge | Vitality: 20 | ||||
| Movement: 3 (Walking) | |||||
| Sweep | Damage: 13, (Element) | ||||
| To-Hit Check: +7 | Range: Sweep 2 | ||||
| Boulder Bombard | Damage: 13, (Element) | ||||
| 4 Stamina | Range: Blast 2 within 8 squares | ||||
| Use Requirement: At least one fist remaining. | |||||
| The affected area is now (Element’s Terrain). The Talus loses one of its Fists. | |||||
| Windup Strike | Damage: 13, (Element) | ||||
| 6 Stamina | Range: Melee | ||||
| Roll To-Hit target’s Concentration; on success, this attack deals 6 more damage. | |||||
| Default Weapon: Talus’ Boulders (x2) | |||||
| (Rank 2 Natural Fist, (Element) damage) | |||||
| Accuracy: 5 | Attack: 7 | Durability: 8 | |||
| Elemental Aura (Passive) | |||||
| If grappled, touched, or struck with a bare hand or Hands-Free Weapon, the attacking creature is inflicted with (Element’s Status). If struck with (Vulnerability) damage, this creature’s aura disappears until the end of its next turn, and it may be safely touched. | |||||
| Fists of Clay (Weak Point) | |||||
| Each of a Talus’ Fists can be targeted by attacks, separate from its main body, and are Hard to Hit. If struck with any Critical Hit or Blunt attack, the fist will disintegrate – this causes the Talus no damage, but reduces its Accuracy by 1 and Slows it. If both fists are destroyed, the Talus is Halted and can only use its Strike Basic Attack. The Talus may spend a turn regenerating its Fists, ending these conditions. | |||||
| Orebrain (Weak Point) | |||||
| The Talus has a large ore node atop it. If fired upon from a distance, the ore node is Hard to Hit. The ore node can be struck in melee if the attacker first climbs on top of the Stone Talus (a DC 13 Athletics check, DC 10 if the Talus is Slowed, DC 7 if Halted). This ore node is its weak point. If its ore node is struck in melee, the Talus will spend its next turn shuddering, throwing the attacker off its back in a random direction (and potentially causing fall damage; the Talus is 3 squares tall). | |||||
| Silent Stone (Passive) | |||||
| +5 to Agility for the purposes of Stealth checks while not moving. | |||||
| Sweeping Striker (Passive) | |||||
| This creature may make Sweep Basic Attacks with all Melee weapons. | |||||
| Instinctive Intelligence | |||||
| Immunity: (Element’s status), Blinded, Sick | |||||
| Vulnerability: Blunt damage, (Vulnerability Element) | |||||
| Combat | 6 | Willpower | 0 | Accuracy | 2 |
| Hearts | 5 | Magic | 0 | Stamina | 5 |
| Athletics | 8 | Arcana | 0 | Nature | 0 |
| Civilization | 0 | Perception | 2 | Agility | 2 |
| Fortitude | 10 | Influence | 0 | Command | 0 |
| Intimidate | 4 | Discipline | 2 | Insight | 0 |
| Mechanics | 0 | Perform | 0 | Guile | 0 |
| Smithing | 0 | Enchanting | 0 | Cooking | 0 |
| Drops | 6 materials, equally split between | ||||
| (Element’s Gemstone) (Rank 2) | |||||
| Metal (Rank 2) | |||||
| Stone (if using Stone) (Rank 2) | |||||
Talus, Pebblit, and Elements
Talus and Pebblits’ Vulnerabilities and abilities depend on the element they’ve taken on. Use this table to determine what effects a Talus or Pebblit of a given element might have.
| Element | Gemstone | Status | Vulnerability | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | Onyx | Blind | Light | Mire |
| Earth | Emerald | Sand-Covered | Ice | Sand, Deep |
| Fire | Ruby | On Fire | Water | Brushfire |
| Ice | Sapphire | Slowed | Fire | Ice, Dry |
| Light | Diamond | Cursed | Dark | Tall Grass |
| Shock | Topaz | Off-Balance | Earth | Electrified |
| Water | Opal | Soaked | Shock | Water, Fresh |