#azruverda

 One last time (for now) we take a look at an archetype from Construct Handbook, and yes, it is one of the ones specifically designed to kill constructs… But at least for this one it makes sense and isn’t just “a scholar of constructs and their lore, but all their abilities are geared towards killing them”.

Anyway, the construct saboteur is exactly what you expect it is, a rogue specializing in the destruction of constructs, but there are a few things to note that make it interesting.

You see, back in 3.5, the edition of D&D that Pathfinder 1e was based on, constructs were one of several creature types that were completely immune to precision and critical hit damage, a category that included the likes of elementals, oozes, and undead as well, the reason being that such creatures lacked an internal anatomy (or at least a functional one), to target.

While some creatures retain that trait, such as elementals and oozes purely because there are no organs or discernable anatomy to target, Pathfinder removed that from most constructs and undead on the reasoning that while they have no organs, such creatures do have areas where one can maximize damage, such joints or locuses of mystical/unholy power, which can be damaged to inhibit function. For constructs, these could be anything from vulnerable joints to runes that can be ruined, or gearboxes that can be jammed.

And that is where the gimmick of today’s subject really comes into play, for these rogues can not only deal extra damage with their sneak attack, but also take advantage of the unique vulnerabilities of constructs to debilitate them further, similar to the rogue talents that add extra effects to sneak attack with other creatures that a construct would be immune to, such as bleed or nausea and whatnot.

As one might imagine, these saboteurs might arise as tomb-breakers specializing in ancient ruins with construct guardians, or they might be rebels in a land where machines are tools of oppression, or survivors in wastelands plagued by alien machines.

 Befitting their occupation, these sneaks are quite knowledgeable about the inner workings of constructs and other similar mechanisms and architecture. Additionally, they learn how to channel minor magical power into their weaponry to enhance their attacks, which in turn serves as the focus for their later abilities.

Indeed, by using the arcane to empower their weapon while also targeting the weak points of a construct, they can target parts of their construction or animating forces to debilitate them. For example, they might blind them, or temporarily weaken the magic immunity of some constructs, overwhelm their bodies to reduce their activity, or dramatically slow their speed.

They also study the materials from which constructs are made, learning the best ways to bypass the inherent durability therein.

A simple archetype, but one that gives the rogue an edge against construct foes. If your campaign has a lot of dungeons with construct guardians, or takes place in a setting where constructs are common like Golarion’s Numeria, this archetype might be quite useful, but in places where it is not, it is luckily so intrusive as to make them unviable for other scenarios. That being said, don’t ask them to disable magical traps or be the first line of defense in discovering traps in the first place.

 While these figures are not necessarily defined by their relationship with constructs, it likely does have a heavy influence. They might hate them, or they might view them as a valuable resource, or as simply something to be good at destroying for the profits.

  One would assume that most constructs would be at a disadvantage underwater, but the advanced magical weaponry of the stone men of sunken Anoga make them quite formidable in protecting the ruins abandoned to the waves. However, some locathah tribes have studied the constructs to find their weaknesses, opening up ruins for salvage and exploration.

 Angry and depanding recompense, an azruverda, normally peaceful beetle-like beings, has begun accosting travellers looking for a specific band of adventurers. Apparently, this band came and destroyed all of the constructs the lonely creature had come to regard as her friends in her abandoned temple home, and now she seeks to avenge them.

The Azruverda is an aberration that I’ve found that a number of people have done gushing reviews and analysis of and I can’t deny that it is a large part of why I’ve got them on to this list.  But F. Wesley Schneider and The Daily Bestiary have great commentaries on this still fairly little known creature.  The Azruverda is instantly memorable for a number of reasons, the most infamous being that it once had this art and people were confused as to the change.

Now I personally like both arts, but the original does kind of raise some slight misconstructions.  People seemed to think that this original art implied a connection to Indian or Nepalese mythology due to the Buddha-esque head, which would track since Pathfinder is chock full of mythical creatures of many pantheons (which I love).  In actuality though, this head was seemingly somewhat of a misunderstanding of intent and the Azruverda does not exist in any mythology.  So while the Azruverda very well could help to fill in an Indian/Nepalese adventure, their are other monsters that I feel are better somewhat better for that task, but it still bears mentioning that this can lean into that.  The other interesting thing on the Azruverda is that it’s good.  This doesn’t exclude it from being a Big Monster Evil Guy, since this is a party-neutral series and this is a great villain for an all evil party, but if you play the way I do it doesn’t mean it has to be evil.  This does open up better possibilities of a Big Bad that is misinformed or an enemy out of complication or war or something else.  The azruverda fills a unique role of gardener and designer of the Underdark (sorry Darklands).  They have a few interesting mechanical perks.  The damaging acid spit is nothing to write home about but the extensive control of vermin is extremely helpful if set up well and the spells are all well themed and give options.  I don’t think they have enough abilities for their CR but you can get creative with the options, with them mapping out a perhaps toxic garden that they have many traps and tricks set up throughout.

You mean this guy?

What?! What’s weird about him?

The azruverda has kind of accidentally become one of my favorite perfect storm monsters. Everything went so wonky with this guy that it came all the way around to the other side and became awesome* again!

So. I put together the initial monster lists for all of Pathfinder’s hardcover bestiaries. I love bestiaries, I got into gaming because of bestiaries, I ran every Pathfinder AP bestiary for a long, long time, and creating big collections of cool monsters is one of my favorite parts about my job.

One part of this means I have a huge analysis file of every monster in the Pathfinder RPG, cross-referencing every creature type and CR and alignment and so on and so forth (many interns died to bring me this information). And you know what that revealed one day?

THIS WAS THE ONLY GOOD-ALIGNED ABERRATION.

The guardian naga was in there close a lawful neutral, but yeah, the flumph was the only, ONLY good aberration.

Now we’ve already done a ton of work on the flumph to make them cool*

I mean, Misfit Monsters Redeemed makes them aliens trying to warn other worlds about the Great Old Ones after all. But still, that’s a big gap in an area a general as creature type.

So we obviously needed a new good-aligned aberration.

I constantly have a list going of new cool monsters for future bestiary books. I’m also constantly adding to that list as I read, watch movies, play games, etc. The Paizo community is also great with this (just check out the Bestiary 5 wishlist!)

And what do I see on my list?

Azruverda: Beetle with human features.

What the hell’s that?

I search. Nothing.

I look more.

Oh.

So I’d been playing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia earlier in the year—I’m kind of a big video gamer and a huge Castlevania fan (maybe duh, just look at my page)—and there’s a boss called Arthroverta. It’s a giant beetle with a child-like human face situated on its shell over its beetle face.

That’s twisted, so I can see why it went on the list. I totally mispelled it, but it was only for my notes anyway, so no biggie. Not like we could directly steal the name anyway.

James Sutter had just written up the flail snail in Misfit Monsters as giant zen poets who wrote epics using their slime trails, so I had some idea riffing off that about these guys being like crystal-rolling dung beetle druids who created these pristine sanctuaries in the Darklands. I also like things that look alien or otherwise horrifying but that are actually friendly.

So I put it on the first list for Bestiary 3, largely as a place holder (it was a name with a concept which sure beats an empty page).

And it sat, and sat, and other issues came up, and the weirdly named CG bug guy became the least of the book’s worries.

Then the art order deadline came around and I got to that one. “Well,” I thought, “Giant bug druid with people-parts, that could be colorful and cool looking. Lets see what we get.”

Ordering art is a challenging thing. Many artists make their living off freelance in a way few RPG writers do. Also, game companies are often staffed by skilled game designs and writers, but rarely by skilled illustrators. When problematic words come in, we can just fix them. When a piece of art comes in that’s wonky… well. Things that are wrong, we can certainly get changed. Things that are a far shot from what you had in your head, well, you had your shot with the art order. Getting exactly what you imagined was never really part of the equation.

When the azruverda’s art came in and it looked like a beetle with a humanoid face we got what we asked for. I was expecting something more with a carapace shaped more like a weird face and brightly colored crystals on its shell, but what we got wasn’t technically wrong. Weird as hell, yeah, but wrong? No. So it stayed.

We needed to be distinct from the creature that inspired it anyway since we couldn’t blatantly rip off that look. The line between inspiration and infringement can be a tricky one.

That’s the story that got it into Bestiary 3, but strangely, that’s not really the end.

So I was never super happy with the azruverda’s look. There’s nothing at all wrong with the quality of the work, the artist did a fine job, but I always felt there was a nebulous mark this could be closer to.

The Pathfinder Pawns gave us a second shot. Since the pawns are little cardboard minis sized by creature type any image we put on the pawn has to actually fit on the pawn. That means that a lot of images that work just fine in books, where they have all the room they need, don’t work for pawns. So we always need to reorder a handful of pieces for these collections. Also, if there’s any monsters we think could stand a revised look, that’s the time.

So we took that opportunity with the Pathfinder Pawns: Bestiary 3 Box, which I think is just hitting stores. Not only is there a new look for the azruverda in there, but we put it on the box!

As you can kind of see in the product picture, we went much more jade beetle with the look and got the face to be more part of the carapace. It’s less alien than it was before and more bug-man, but that’s cool. It’s still weird, but it’s not as mind-blowing so and you get from just looking at it that’s some sort of mystical being.

So that’s going to be the official look for those guys going forward. As bizarre as the story is, I like that it’s a distinctly Pathfinder story. Yoy always hear about how the rust monster came from a bunch of plastic dinosaur toys and the displacer beast is really just A. E. van Vogt’s Black Destroyer, but here’s a convoluted tale for a uniquely Pathfinder monster.  

And now one that has a largely happy* ending.