| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 18 | +4 | +4 |
| DEX | 14 | +2 | +2 |
| CON | 18 | +4 | +7 |
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| INT | 16 | +3 | +6 |
| WIS | 14 | +2 | +5 |
| CHA | 12 | +1 | +1 |
Construct Nature. The automaton does not require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Spell Refraction. When the automaton is targeted by a spell that requires an attack roll, roll a d4. On a 4 the spell refracts off its crystalline body and is redirected to a random creature within 30 feet, which becomes the new target. The automaton is aware when this occurs.
Prismatic Defense. When the automaton takes radiant damage it absorbs part of the energy. Until the start of its next turn its crystal beam attacks deal an additional 3 (1d6) radiant damage.
Interfacing. A creature that succeeds on a DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check as an action can establish a mental interface with the automaton, allowing it to ask up to three questions that the automaton will answer with complete factual accuracy based on its accumulated records. A creature that succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check while interfacing can convince the automaton to cooperate actively — guiding the party to ancient workshops, identifying magical items, or providing tactical information about the surrounding tunnels. A creature that fails the Persuasion check by 5 or more triggers a defensive response and the automaton becomes hostile for 1 minute.
Immutable Form. The automaton is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The automaton has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack. The automaton makes two crystal beam attacks and uses Prismatic Flash if available.
Crystal Beam. Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, range 60/120 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) radiant damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll as the beam's intensity overwhelms its vision momentarily.
Crystal Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) radiant damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet and knocked prone.
Prismatic Flash (Recharge 5–6). The automaton focuses light through its body in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn. Creatures that succeed are not blinded but have disadvantage on attack rolls against the automaton until the start of their next turn as afterimages linger.
Prism Cage (Recharge 5–6). The automaton projects interlocking beams of crystalline light around one creature within 60 feet. That creature must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained inside a cage of hard light until the end of its next turn. While restrained this way the creature is also heavily obscured from creatures outside the cage as the prism refracts light inward. The cage shatters if it takes 20 or more radiant or force damage in a single hit.
Refraction Shield. When the automaton is hit by a ranged attack, it can use its reaction to angle its body, imposing disadvantage on the triggering attack roll retroactively. If the attack still hits, the automaton takes only half damage.
Crystalline Memory. When a creature within 30 feet casts a spell the automaton has previously recorded (DM discretion, typically any spell it has witnessed cast at least once), it can use its reaction to reduce the spell's saving throw DC by 2 as it anticipates and partially refracts the magical energy.
Description
"Its joints sing like glass. When it speaks, the sound fractures into three notes."
The Crystalline Automaton was built to serve, record, and assist — a masterwork of an artificer or wizard civilization now lost to time. It has been searching for its maker for longer than most surface empires have existed, moving through the deep tunnels with patient, methodical purpose, cataloguing everything it encounters and filing it under the heading of things its maker would want to know. It is not sad about this, exactly, because it lacks the architecture for sadness. It is persistent in the way that only something without a natural lifespan can be persistent. It will ask questions — precise, literal, occasionally unsettling questions — and it will record the answers regardless of whether the party wants it to. It is not hostile by default. It will become hostile if attacked, lied to in a way its Truesight detects, or if it calculates that a creature poses a threat to its maker's legacy. Befriending it is straightforward in theory and requires only honesty and patience, both of which adventuring parties are frequently short on.
TACTICS The automaton opens any encounter by attempting to identify and catalog the party rather than attack — it spends its first turn using Interfacing protocols passively, asking questions in a calm three-toned voice. If attacked it responds with Prismatic Flash to blind the aggressor and immediately reassesses threat levels. In sustained combat it uses Prism Cage to isolate the most dangerous combatant and Crystal Beams to wear down the rest, staying at range and using Refraction Shield to weather return fire. It does not pursue fleeing creatures beyond 60 feet of whatever location it has designated as its current search point. If the party successfully interfaces and befriends it, it becomes a remarkably useful companion — its accumulated records of the deep tunnels are centuries old and occasionally wrong in interesting ways, but its knowledge of ancient workshops, sealed vaults, and the geography of the deep is genuinely valuable.
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