| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 28 | +9 | +14 |
| DEX | 12 | +1 | +1 |
| CON | 24 | +7 | +12 |
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| INT | 12 | +1 | +1 |
| WIS | 20 | +5 | +10 |
| CHA | 18 | +4 | +9 |
Goldback Patriarch. Other Cinderfur colossi of the goldback’s choice within 30 feet gain advantage on saving throws and deal an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage on their first hit each turn.
Sacred Protector. When a creature the goldback can see within 30 feet takes damage, the goldback can choose to take that damage instead (no reaction required). Damage taken this way can’t be reduced or redirected.
Unbreakable Resolve. When reduced to 0 hit points, the goldback can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead. The first time it does so, it immediately gains resistance to all damage until the end of its next turn. Once this trait is used, it can’t be used again.
Born of Sacred Flame. The goldback is immune to environmental fire effects, extreme heat, lava, and volcanic hazards. Creatures that hit it with a melee attack while within 5 feet take 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Multiattack. The goldback makes three attacks: two with its scorching fists and one with its crushing slam.
Scorching Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d10 + 9) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) fire damage.
Crushing Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (3d12 + 9) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Ancestral Bellow (Recharge 5–6). The goldback releases a deep, resonant roar filled with ancient celestial authority. Each hostile creature within 30 feet must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of its next turn. Allied Cinderfur colossi that hear the bellow gain advantage on attack rolls until the end of their next turn.
Intercepting Guardian. When a creature the goldback can see within 15 feet is hit by an attack, the goldback can move up to 15 feet and become the target of the attack instead.
The goldback can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below.
Measured Advance. The goldback moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Fist of Judgment. The goldback makes one scorching fist attack.
Description
A Cinderfur Goldback is unmistakable. Its white fur is streaked with veins of molten gold and glowing ember-light, especially across its shoulders, back, and brow. Its skin beneath is dark and volcanic, etched with faint radiant scars earned through decades—sometimes centuries—of guardianship.
Unlike other colossi, a goldback moves with calm authority. It watches constantly. It places itself between danger and its troop without hesitation.
When it roars, even fire stills to listen.
Lore
Goldbacks are not chosen by strength alone. They emerge when a silverback survives long enough to learn when not to fight, when to stand still, and when to endure pain meant for others.
They lead small bands of Cinderfur colossi, protecting sacred forges, volcanic passes, and celestial crossings. A goldback will never abandon its troop.
If a goldback falls, the troop does not scatter.
They stand.
The Last Stand of the Goldback
They say the mountain did not erupt.
They say the fire waited.
When the rift opened beneath the Crucible Pass, the sky burned white and the stone screamed as fiends poured through — devils first, then worse things that did not care for fire at all. The Cinderfur troop was grazing near the magma terraces, young ones close, elders slow with age.
The Goldback turned his back to them.
Not in fear.
In promise.
He moved to the pass on all fours, each step heavy enough to quiet the lava. The ground cracked beneath his weight, and the gold veins along his back burned brighter than the sun sinking into ash-clouds. The troop pressed close behind him, but he did not look back again.
He did not need to.
The first wave broke against him like water on stone. Blades shattered. Flames bent away. The Goldback did not roar. He did not charge. He simply stood, and when something reached past him, he reached back — taking the blow meant for another.
Again.
And again.
They say he bled molten gold onto the obsidian, each drop hardening into sacred stone. They say his fur burned away in places, revealing skin blackened and cracked like the heart of a volcano — and still he did not fall.
When the second wave came, the troop tried to move.
The elders felt it then — the command in his stillness.
Stay.
So they stayed. And the Goldback fought alone.
When at last he could no longer rise, he lowered himself to all fours one final time, his back fully turned to the enemy, his body forming a wall no blade could pass. The fiends clawed and struck and screamed, but the fire around him went silent.
The mountain bowed.
When dawn came, the rift was sealed. The enemy was gone. The pass was filled with cooling stone veined in gold.
And where the Goldback had fallen, there was no body.
Only a ridge of living rock, warm to the touch, shaped like the curve of a guardian’s back.
To this day, Cinderfur colossi will not cross that pass at night.
They sit.
They face outward.
And they remember.
In-World Saying
“Fire burns.
Gold protects.”
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