Linnorm, Cairn
Pallid and horribly gaunt, this enormous but emaciated dragonlike
creature has two forearms and no wings.
CAIRN LINNORM CR 18
XP 153,600
CE Gargantuan dragon
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, true
seeing; Perception +24
DEFENSE
AC 35, touch 13, flat-footed 28 (+7 Dex, +22 natural, –4 size)
hp 290 (20d12+160); regeneration 10 (cold iron)
Fort +20, Ref +21, Will +17
Defensive Abilities freedom of movement; DR 15/cold iron;
Immune acid, curse effects, energy drain, mind-affecting
effects, negative energy, paralysis, poison, sleep; SR 29
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 100 ft. (average)
Melee bite +29 (3d8+13/19–20 plus poison), 2 claws +29 (2d6+13),
tail +24 (3d6+6 plus grab)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon, constrict (tail, 2d6+19),
death curse
STATISTICS
Str 37, Dex 24, Con 26, Int 5, Wis 20, Cha 27
Base Atk +20; CMB +37 (+41 grapple); CMD 54
(can’t be tripped)
Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Great Cleave,
Improved Critical (bite), Improved
Initiative, Improved Vital Strike,
Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack,
Skill Focus (Perception), Vital Strike
Skills Climb +33, Fly +13, Perception +24,
Stealth +26, Swim +36; Racial Modifiers
Acrobatics (+4 when jumping), +8 Stealth
Languages Aklo, Draconic, Sylvan
ECOLOGY
Environment cold hills
Organization solitary
Treasure triple
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Breath Weapon (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds
as a standard action, a cairn linnorm
can expel a 60-foot cone of
acidic bile, dealing 18d8 points of
acid damage to all creatures
struck. In addition, this bile is
infused with negative energy,
and inflicts 1d4 negative
levels on all creatures struck
by it. A successful DC 28 Reflex
save halves the damage and
completely negates the negative levels. The save DC is
Constitution-based.
Death Curse (Su) Curse of Decay: save Will DC 28; effect the
creature takes 1 point of Constitution damage per day, and
ages at an accelerated rate of 1 year per day, eventually
incurring all of the penalties of old age but none of the
benefits (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 169).
Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 28; frequency 1/round for
10 rounds; effect 4d6 acid damage and 1d6 Con drain; cure 2
consecutive saves.
Cairn linnorms prefer to dwell in necropolises, amid
reaches of burial mounds, or in caverns below the scorched
earth of legendary battlefields. These linnorms particularly
relish the flavor of undead flesh—while they cannot
consume incorporeal undead, regions they haunt are
typically barren of corporeal undead not canny enough to
avoid the cairn linnorm’s ravenous appetite. An incredibly
powerful undead creature might use a cairn linnorm as a
guardian, manipulating the dragon while it selects a cairn
or tomb well within the linnorm’s territory. While cairn
linnorms will not hesitate to feed on undead creatures
they encounter, some ancient superstition shared by all of
their kind prevents them from actually entering a tomb or
other enclosed burial site unless granted permission by
the tomb’s undead denizens or a priest devoted to the
religion associated with the site. Likewise, a cairn
linnorm somehow caught within a tomb large
enough to contain it prefers not to leave without
securing similar permission to
do so. These limitations are
purely psychological, and
if pressed (such as by an
enemy seeking to use a tomb
entrance as a defense), a cairn
linnorm can break such restrictions.
A cairn linnorm is 60 feet long and weighs
12,000 pounds.
