The material below is Open Game Content
Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary
| Author | Chris Aylott et al |
| Publisher | Atlas Games |
| Publish date | 2003 |
| OGL Section 15 | fantasy-bestiary |
Da Fong Queen
Large Monstrous Humanoid
Hit Dice 4d8+20 (38 hp)
Initiative +4 (Improved Initiative)
Speed 30 ft.
AC 11 (+1 natural)
Attacks Bite +5 melee
Damage Bite 1d8+1
Face/Reach 5 ft. x 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks Drain Spell
Special Qualities Create Wax, Darkvision 120 ft., Enchant Wax, Harvest Residue, Hive Mind, Spell Resistance 24
Saves Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +8
Abilities Str 12, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 19, Cha 10
Skills Craft (hive) +7, Intuit Direction +4, Listen +6, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Spellcraft +8, Spot +6, Wilderness Lore +5
Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative
Climate/Terrain Temperate and warm forest
Organization Hive (one queen served by 100+ workers including at least ten 12th-level clerics, five-12th level fighters and three 8th-level sorcerers)
Challenge Rating 5
Treasure Standard
Alignment Usually neutral good
Advancement 5–8 HD (Large)
QUEEN
Da fong queens speak Common and Draconic. Although queens do not have wings, they can still speak the native Da Fong language using their mandibles, which contain specialized chitinous flaps that compensate for this lack. If a queen is attacked, the entire hive immediately comes to her assistance, unflinchingly sacrificing themselves for her.
Create Wax (Su) A da fong queen is a mystical bottleneck through which harvested magic residue is converted into da fong wax, which can be used raw to build hives or further enchanted by the queen with special qualities. If she makes a Concentration skill check (DC 30 – her Constitution modifier), she can pull residue collected by her workers into the Material Plane, channeling it into a receptacle. Each round that she does this, she may pull through 5 cubic feet of the substance.
However, there is a physical strain that takes its toll on her when doing so, inflicting 1d4 points of damage each round she uses this ability. For more information on da fong wax, see below.
Enchant Wax (Su) Once per day, a queen may enchant a batch of wax equal to or less than 1 cubic foot per Constitution modifier point she has with one special quality; see below. Enchanting a batch requires 1 hour. This ability may only be used on a single batch up to a maximum of two times, conferring upon it just two special qualities and no more.
Drain Spell (Su) If a da fong makes a successful grapple attack against a spellcasting opponent, beginning on the following round it may temporarily drain 1 prepared spell or spell slot per round until either the opponent breaks free or all his spells or spell slots have been drained. The spell or spell slot returns as normal the next day.
Harvest Residue (Su) A da fong may harvest the magic residue that has built up around any living creature that gives its consent; the subject can negate the Harvest Residue process at will at any time during the process. To harvest a creature’s residue, the da fong must make a successful Will check (DC 23) each hour for a number of hours equal to the other creature’s primary spellcasting ability modifier plus its total spellcasting levels. At the end of that time, the creature’s residue has been entirely removed. The harvester’s Will check successes don’t need to be consecutive, but each failure increases the harvest time by one hour. Non-spellcasting creatures have significantly less residue to harvest, and so the duration required to remove it is equal to their Wisdom modifier, with a minimum of one hour for those with a zero or negative rating. A creature undergoing the harvest slips into unconsciousness for the duration of the process. Harvested residue is automatically channeled back to the da fong hive.
A side effect of having one’s residue harvested results in the spellcaster being able to cast spells at 1 level higher than his current level for a number of days equal to his primary spellcasting ability score modifier, with a minimum of 1 day. It takes harvested spellcasters a number of months equal to 12 – their spellcaster level, to a minimum of one month, to accumulate enough residue to undergo another harvest. Non-spellcasters require a period of one year between harvests.
A da fong may not harvest from said creatures before this accumulation time is up.
Hive Mind (Ex) The da fong queen is in constant communication with all of her workers within a 50-mile radius. If one is aware of a particular danger, she is as well. No da fong in a group is considered flanked or flat-footed unless all of them are.
Monstrous Humanoid Monstrous humanoids have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet, and are proficient with all simple weapons and with any weapons mentioned in their entries. Da fong queens have an extended Darkvision range of 120 feet.
Skills Da fong do not require artisan’s tools to use their Craft (hive) skill without a penalty. This is worked into their skills, above.
Spell Resistance (Ex) To determine if a spell or spell-like ability works against the creature, the spellcaster makes a level check (1d20 + caster level). If the result equals or exceeds 24, the spell works normally, though the creature still gets a saving throw if the spell allows such.
New Magical Material
Da Fong Wax Only da fong queens produce this strange, tan substance. It is made of magic residue, a substance every living creature accumulates but which only the da fong know how to harvest and, more importantly, utilize.
When freshly channeled by a queen onto the Material Plane, the wax is soft, warm, and doughy. Over the course of an hour it hardens. Whatever shape it is in when this happens is the shape it will keep until destroyed. Most commonly, raw da fong wax is used as a construction material for the bee people’s cities. Non-enchanted wax used for walls and doors has a hardness of 10, 20 hp per inch of thickness, a break DC of 25 +1 per 3 inches of thickness, and a Climb DC of 20. Da fong wax can be made into weapons and armor, if one is so inclined, though the overall quality is negligible at best; they don’t usually survive their first encounter with combat.
One notable feature of the wax is that da fong queens can augment it in such a way that it becomes enchanted with up to two special qualities. The qualities known to be regularly used in da fong hive construction are listed below.
Cold Immunity The material is immune to cold damage, but fire attacks do double damage. At night, the material gives off a bluish glow. If later enchanted with Fire Immunity, this quality is lost.
Defensive The material gains SR 12, a break DC +10, hardness +10, and hp +100. If later enchanted with the Offensive quality, this quality is lost.
Fire Immunity The material is immune to fire damage, but cold attacks do double damage. At night the material gives off a yellow glow. If later enchanted with Cold Immunity, this quality is lost. Magic Immunity: The material gains SR 18 and an absolute immunity to one school of magic: abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, or transmutation. If the material also contains the Defensive quality, then this SR takes precedence. If later enchanted with the Spell Turning quality, then this quality is lost.
Offensive This material attacks an enemy type specified during the enchantment process. When said enemy type comes within 10 feet of the material, it takes damage as per the spell inflict serious wounds; the Will save DC is 13 + the queen’s Constitution modifier for half damage. If later enchanted with the Defensive quality, this one is lost.
Spell Turning The material gains the permanent quality to turn magic back at its source, similarly to the spell of the same name. During a 1-hour period, the material may reflect up to 12 spell levels, after which time it resets itself. If later enchanted with the Magic Immunity quality, this quality is lost.
Toxic The material’s surface maintains a constant layer of contact poison (DC 17) with an initial damage of 1d4 temporary Strength and secondary damage of 1d4 temporary Constitution.
Wind Wall The material has a barrier of wind flowing over a single surface, no matter what shape that surface takes. It functions like the spell wind wall with the exception that it doesn’t need to be vertical; “up” for horizontal surfaces is away from the surface itself, whichever direction it faces; thus intruders are usually thrown away from the hive. The windy barrier is permanently in effect. Wax so enchanted must be revitalized once per week with fresh, mundane wax — a task usually reserved for worker drones. If revitalization is missed even once, then the enchanted wax permanently loses all of its special qualities. Also, if a batch of enchanted wax loses half its hit points in damage, its special qualities are lost. As such, the enchanted form of the wax isn’t often found outside da fong hive cities.
