Mutant Cryptid Pine Pangolin
CREATURE 8Variant pine pangolin
These creatures sleep while hanging upside down by their partially curled tails and rely on their thick wooden scales to protect them from danger. One such danger the scales negate is the falling damage from deliberately rolling up and dropping onto the head of an unsuspecting opponent, which is one of their favorite combat strategies. Beneath their scales, pine pangolin bodies secrete a thick, sticky tar that serves as a secondary line of defense.
The mutant pangolin's death reveals one last surprise as it explodes into splinters. When it dies, it explodes, dealing 4d6 piercing damage to each creature in a 10-foot emanation, with a DC 26 basic Reflex save.
The mutant pine pangolin falls Prone, closes up its scales, and rolls into a ball. While Rolled Up, the pangolin gains resistance 10 to physical damage and total immunity to falling damage from heights of 50 feet or less. The only action the pine pangolin can take is to Stand, and the effects of Roll Up end once the pangolin Stands.
The mutant pine pangolin secretes a brown, sticky tar within a 5-foot emanation, making those squares difficult terrain for 1 minute. Each creature that enters or starts its turn in a tarred square must succeed at a DC 26 Fortitude save or become Immobilized until it Escapes. On a critical failure, the creature falls Prone; prone creatures take a –2 circumstance penalty to their checks to Escape the tar. The pine pangolin is immune to the effects of its own tar.
Whenever the mutant pine pangolin takes energy damage to which it isn't resistant or immune, after taking the damage normally, it gains resistance 5 to that damage type. If it had a resistance to a different damage type from shifting iridescence, it replaces the old resistance with the new resistance.
This mutant pine pangolin is traumatized by the former Conference Z staff who teamed up to hold it down while experimenting on it. The first time each round the mutant pine pangolin comes within 15 feet of any character who took the Aid action, or is attacked while being flanked by two characters, it takes 8 mental damage and must attempt a DC 26 Will save. On a failure, it is Stunned 1 (Stunned 3 on a critical failure).
The monster can instead use Grab and choose one creature it's grabbing or restraining with an appendage that has Grab to automatically extend that condition to the end of the monster's next turn.