Shutdown. If targeted by dispel magic, the horror must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
Unusual Nature. The horror doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Multiattack. The horror makes one Bite attack and two Rotating Saw attacks, or it makes two Lightning Jolt attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.
Rotating Saw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage.
Lightning Jolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +4 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) lightning damage.
Spelljamming Helm Interface. The horror attaches to a spelljamming helm it can see within 5 feet of itself and attunes to the helm instantly. If another creature is already attuned to the helm, that creature’s attunement to the helm ends when the horror’s attunement begins. The horror can operate the helm even though it isn’t a spellcaster. The horror can detach from the helm as a bonus action, which ends its attunement to the helm.
Description
Clockwork horrors are ruthless insectile automatons— eldritch machines encased in adamantine or some other precious metal. They roam Wildspace in commandeered spelljamming ships, gathering the precious metals and crystals they need to build more of their kind. Clockwork horrors have no goal beyond replication and will stop at nothing to create new clockwork horrors. The time it takes for a clockwork horror to build another of its kind, assuming it has the requisite materials, is approximately ten days.
The body of a clockwork horror is about two feet in diameter, but the legs give it an overall diameter of four feet. Embedded in the front of its head is a crystal that enables the clockwork horror to see.
Clockwork horrors communicate with each other by means of clicks, whirs, and similar mechanical sounds that imitate the Thri-kreen language perfectly, leading some to speculate the first clockwork horror was the brainchild of a thri-kreen artificer. A horror can also emit light from its crystal eye, issuing dot-and-dash messages to other creatures that can see the light. Creatures besides clockwork horrors can learn this blinking light code, which is called Ziklight.
When another creature gets in its way, a clockwork horror attacks that creature with its razor-sharp mandibles and two tiny rotating saws mounted at the tips of its forelimbs. A horror can also discharge bolts of lightning from a short lightning rod embedded in its body.
When a clockwork horror dies, the magic that created it consumes it over a period of 1 minute. Its metallic body and crystal eye degrade rapidly until nothing is left but a small heap of glittering dust.
Honestly I wondered that too at first. For the people who don’t know, these guys originally had like five or six variants. Each were progressively stronger than the last up until the adamantine version, of which only one existed and it basically acted as the central brain for the race (reminiscent of the borg).
Basically this thing can communicate in eldritch morse code, right?
Wow this is more powerful then I expected. (I expected a 1/2 or maybe 1 challenge level.)
Absolutely, and they likely use this to quickly communicate across the length of their fleets without needing to be next to each other
Only CR 2?
Granted the bite and the saw don't deal much damage but damn these things are built like tanks.
I kind of hope we eventully get some varients
This is some Final Fantasy X fight right here.
Love it!
yessss
While it may not be a spell the characters can pick, it is identified here as a spell attack, so anything the reqires a spell, ie counterspell, magic resistance, would work here.
Spell attacks don't mean you're casting a spell, its just a differentiation between a weapon attack or otherwise. An example I'd use is the three Radiant Soul monk features; the radiant sun bolt is a spell attack but not a spell, very similar to the lightning jolt attack on these little fellas. The 6th level Searing Arc Strike specifies you cast Burning Hands as a bonus action, therefore you can counterspell that. However, Searing Sun Burst just uses an action to magically create the explosive orb, therefore you can't counterspell as it doesn't meet the counterspell trigger. However, magic resistance would give you advantage on the saves for Arc Strike and Sun Burst as they are a spell and other magical effect respectively.
I stand corrected:
I love the art
I am also wondering where the rest of these guys are.
Its Wisdom based. Look at the modifiers and saveing throws, the math checks out. Its odd that a machine is a wisdom caster, but that's the best choice for it lol
That art just makes me think of a certain set of lyrics.
THE UNENLIGHTENED MASSES
a spell attack is the roll you make to hit with a spell or spell like ability.
Fun trivia fact: an unarmed strike (without a weapon) counts as a weapon attack.
It’s so futuristic compared to most other constructs
Their Lightning Jolt is STR or DEX based, nor CON based. Also, there is no indication that their Bite is strength based or it’s saws are DEX based, since their strength and DEX are equal.
I agree
Maybe it's to represent higher levels of perception and awareness?