Linnorm, Cairn
Pallid and horribly gaunt, this enormous but emaciated dragonlike creature has two forearms and no wings.
Linnorm, Cairn (CR 18)
Gargantuan DragonAlignment: Chaotic Evil
Initiative: +11
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision, Scent, True Seeing; Perception +24
Speed: 40 feet, Climb 40 feet, Fly 100 feet (average)
Space: 20 feet
Defense
Armor Class: 35, touch 13, flat-footed 28 (+7 Dex, +22 natural, -4 size)Hit Points: 290 (20d12+160) Regeneration 10 (cold iron)
Saving Throws: Fort +20, Ref +21, Will +17
Freedom of Movement
Damage Reduction: 15/cold iron
Immunity: acid, curse effects, energy drain, mind-affecting effects, negative energy, paralysis, poison, sleep
Spell Resistance: 29
Offense
Melee: bite +29 (3d8+13/19-20 plus poison), 2 claws +29 (2d6+13), tail +24 (3d6+6 plus Grab)Reach: 20 feet
Special Attacks: Breath Weapon, Constrict (tail, 2d6+19), death Curse
Statistics
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 (+13) | 24 (+7) | 26 (+8) | 5 (-3) | 20 (+5) | 27 (+8) |
CMB +37 (+41 Grapple)
CMD 54 (can't be tripped)
Feats: Blind-Fight, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Perception), Vital Strike
Skills: Climb +33, Fly +13, Perception +24, Stealth +26, Swim +28
- Racial Modifiers: +8 Stealth
Special Abilities
Breath Weapon (Su)
Once every 1d4 rounds as a standard action, a cairn linnorm can expel a 60-foot cone of acidic bile, dealing 18d8 points of acid damage to all creatures struck. In addition, this bile is infused with negative energy, and inflicts 1d4 negative levels on all creatures struck by it. A successful DC 28 Reflex save halves the damage and completely negates the negative levels. The save DC is Constitution-based.Death Curse (Su)
Curse of Decay: save Will DC 28; effect the creature takes 1 point of Constitution damage per day, and ages at an accelerated rate of 1 year per day, eventually incurring all of the penalties of old age but none of the benefits (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 169).Poison (Ex)
- Delivery: Bite-injury
- Fortitude Save: 28
- Frequency: 1/round for 10 rounds
- Track: Fatal Constitution
- Initial Effect: 4d6 acid damage
- Secondary Effect: 4d6 acid damage
- Saves: 2 consecutive saves
Victims cannot recover from the effects of this poison's track unless cured by a Heal or Restoration spell, or equivalent. .
Ecology
Environment: Cold HillsOrganization: solitary
Treasure: triple
Cairn linnorms prefer to dwell in necropolises, amid reaches of burial mounds, or in caverns below the scorched earth of legendary battlefields. These linnorms particularly relish the flavor of undead flesh-while they cannot consume incorporeal undead, regions they haunt are typically barren of corporeal undead not canny enough to avoid the cairn linnorm's ravenous appetite.
An incredibly powerful undead creature might use a cairn linnorm as a guardian, manipulating the dragon while it selects a cairn or tomb well within the linnorm's territory. While cairn linnorms will not hesitate to feed on undead creatures they encounter, some ancient superstition shared by all of their kind prevents them from actually entering a tomb or other enclosed burial site unless granted permission by the tomb's undead denizens or a priest devoted to the religion associated with the site.
Likewise, a cairn linnorm somehow caught within a tomb large enough to contain it prefers not to leave without securing similar permission to do so. These limitations are purely psychological, and if pressed (such as by an enemy seeking to use a tomb entrance as a defense), a cairn linnorm can break such restrictions.
A cairn linnorm is 60 feet long and weighs 12,000 pounds.