Slinger
Slinger
CR 2 N Magical Beast
This lizard is covered with overlapping, rocky scales. They bristle along its back and cluster at the tip of its tail.
Slingers are scavenging lizards that live in the leaf litter and in cave environments. They eat primarily carrion, feces and fungi, and sequester the toxins that accumulate in these noxious foods into a greasy glandular solution that coats the scales on their tail. This is intensely venomous, and slingers use this to fire on threatening creatures before skittering away and hiding. Slingers are territorial—they often return to where they were attacked after a few hours to see if any creatures were killed, and then feed on the meat and any fungi that grow on it over the course of the next several weeks. They only use melee attacks if cornered or grabbed.
Slingers tolerate each other, primarily because they have a hard time getting through each other’s tough scales. Sometimes they engage in wrestling matches and mouth gaping intimidation displays for feeding rights on a particular corpse or mushroom patch, but these rarely result in serious injury. Males develop patches that glow in darkvision during the mating season, and show these off while doing pushups or other displays to attract females.
A slinger can be taken as a familiar by a caster with a neutral alignment component using the Improved Familiar feat at CL 7th.
Slinger CR 2
XP 600
N Tiny magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +3
Defense
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 15 (2d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2; +2 vs. sickness, nausea, poison, disease
DR 5/bludgeoning
Defensive Abilities scavenger
Offense
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +3 (1d4-1), sting +3 (1d3-1 plus poison)
Ranged venom scale +6 (1d4-1 plus poison)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Statistics
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 1, Wis10, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 11 (15 vs. trip)
Feats Iron Will
Skills Climb +15, Perception +3, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +16 Climb
SQ expert climber
Ecology
Environment any forests and underground
Organization solitary, pair or colony (3-12)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Expert Climber (Ex) A slinger is treated as being under the effects of a non-magical spider climb effect. Its racial bonus to Climb checks is doubled to +16.
Poison (Ex) Sting or venom scale—injury; save Fort DC 13; duration 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d3 Con damage; cure 2 saves. The save DC is Constitution based.
Scavenger (Ex) A slinger gains a +2 racial bonus on all Fortitude saves against disease, poison, or effects that cause the sickened or nauseated condition.
Venom Scale (Ex) As a standard action, a slinger can flick a venomous scale from its tail. Treat this as a thrown weapon attack with a range increment of 20 feet that deals 1d4 points of piercing damage and exposes the creature struck to the slinger’s poison. A slinger can use its venom scales 10 times per week, and they regrow over the course of a week when expended. A slinger with no venom scales left cannot use its sting attack.