The brazen bull

Please be aware that the following monster's and abilities include references to torture and similar darker themes, if you feel uncomfortable with these topics feel free to stop reading now.

Brazen bull

Large construct, Neutral evil

  • Armor Class 18 (natural armour)
  • Hit Points 60(8d8 + 24)
  • Speed 40ft
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 10 (0) 16 (+3) 7 (-2) 7 (-2) 8 (-1)
  • Skills Intimidation +1
  • Damage immunities Fire, Poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't adamantine.
  • Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
  • Senses Dark vision 60ft passive Perception 8
  • Languages understands the languages of its creator but can't speak
  • Challenge 6 maybe 7?

Flame source While the Brazen Bull has a suitable living victim inside it a creature within 5ft of it may use an action to activate this ability, the victim inside it takes its turn immediately before the Bulls, if it is able to take the Feed Flames action the Bull gains the ability to take following bonus actions including Heated Horns, Regenerate, Terrible Noise and Fire Breath. When ever it does so it inflicts 2d6 fire damage on the victim within it. It cannot do this if it takes 10 or more points of cold damage on a turn. The Victim within the Brazen Bull cannot move or see outside of the Brazen Bull

Unwilling healing At the start of its turn the Brazen bull can heal the victim inside it for 2d4+2 hit points, it may do this for a maximum of 3 times before the reservoir of healing potion must be refilled.

Fire absorbtion Whenever the Brazen Bull is subjected to fire damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the fire damage dealt.

Immutable Form. The Brazen Bull is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Mage bane When ever a creature targets the brazen bull with a spell attack or casts a spell with the Brazen Bull within the area of effect roll a 1d20. On a 1 the spell instead targets the caster, areas of effect that use a sphere, circle, cylinder, or cube will be centred on the caster. Lines and cones are reflected back in the direction of the caster originating from the bull. Any spells or abilities that would normally allow the caster to choose which creatures are effected by the spell do not apply.

A small Mercy Critical hits against the Brazen Bull also do damage to the victim, additionally when the brazen Bull takes fire or lighting damage the victim within it takes equal damage.

Trampling Charge. If the Brazen Pull moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the Braze Bull can make one attack with its hooves against it as a bonus action.

Actions

Gore Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage

Hoves Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage

Bonus actions

Heated horns Until the end of its turn the Brazen Bull does an additional 4d6 fire damage when it hits a creature with a gore attack.

Regenerate The Brazen Bull heals for 4d6 hit points

Terrible noise A horrifing mixture of screams and hot air is blasted out through the mouth and noise of the Brazen Bull. Creatures within 60ft of the Brazen Bull that can hear it must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw, on a failed save they are frightened of the Brazen Bull until the end of the Brazen Bull's next turn.

Fire Breath The Brazen Bull emits 15ft cone of fire from its mouth, each creature in that area must make a DC 15 dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 fire damage

The Brazen Bull is something of a terror weapon, both disturbing in the manner it is powered and vicious in its effect against the enemies of those who unleash it. In apperance the construct appears to be made like a bronze bull. Without a power source within it the Brazen Bull often seems quite sedate, following the orders of the master it is bound to in a slow and steady fashion. But this quite changes when it is pepared properly for a battle. A mage, typically a sorceror is placed within the bull, a hatch opening in the rear and the victim bound into place face down within the interior of the Bull. This individual is often a rebel, murderer or arsonist.

Victim

Medium humanoid, any alignment

  • Armor Class 10
  • Hit Points 18 (4d8)
  • Speed 30ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
10 (0) 10 (0) 10 (+4) 12 (+1) 10 (0) 14 (+2)
  • Damage resistance Fire
  • Senses passive Perception 10
  • Languages Common
  • Challenge 2

Fire Tattoos This victim has been given magical tattoos to give them fire resistance

Mage Spiked While the victim is mage spiked they are compelled to take the Feed the Flame action every turn. While the Brazen Bull not incapacitated and the Spike is active the Mind Spike cannot be removed. However should the Bull be incapacitated, killed or the mage spike deactivated (which can be done by casting dispel magic it, causing it to deactivate for 1 minute it can be removed with a successful DC 15 medicine check. A successful check causes 3d6 points of psychic damage to the victim as the spike is removed wguke on a failed check the Victim takes 18 points of psychic damage.

Actions

Spell Casting The Victim is a 3rd level spell caster, its spellcasting ability is charisma (Spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks) It has the following spells prepared

At will: Minor illusion, Light, Message

2/day each: Charm Person, Mage armour Cloud of daggers, Scorching ray

Feed the flame The victim shoots flames from their hands, taking 2d6 fire damage and powering the Bull it is within

A small hole is located in the back of the Bull's neck which aligns with the back of the victim's head with a device known as a mage spike, meanwhile the construction of the bull forces a tube connected to a reservoir containing a healing potion is forced into the victim's mouth. Those particularly unlucky victims may have also been given magical items or tattoos that give them fire resistance, drawing out their death. When the fighting starts the overseer commanding the Brazen Bull or another one of its allies will drive the spike through the hole, often with a hammer, driven part of the way into the victim's brain, but carefully aligned so as not to kill them immediately.

Bull Master

Medium humanoid, Any Non-Good alignment

  • Armor Class 15 (scale mail)
  • Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)
  • Speed 30ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 (+2) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 10 (0) 8 (-1)
  • Resistances Fire
  • Skills Arcana +5, Medicane +2,
  • Senses passive Perception 10
  • Languages Common
  • Challenge 3

Hardened to the Screams The Bull Master is immune to the effects of the Brazen Bull's Terrible Noise ability

Magical Weapon The Bull Master's Mace attacks are considered Magical.

Actions

Multiattack The Bull Master can make two Mace or Fire Spear attacks

Mace Melee weapons attack. +4 to hit, reach 5ft. One target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) bludgeoning damage

Fire Spear Ranged Spell Attack +5 to hit Range, range 90ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10+3) Fire damage

Spell Casting The Bull Master casts one of the following spells, their spell casting ability is intelligence (Spell save DC 13, +5 to hit spell attacks)

At will: Mending, Spare the Dying, Detect Magic

2/day each: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds,Expeditious Retreat, Sanctuary

1/day each: Counter spell, Heat metal

Sink Spike The Bull Master may use an action to strike the Mage Spike when within 5ft of the Brazen Bull,

The magical effects of the Mage Spike causes the victim, most reliably with sorcerors who's connection to magic is a natural one, to begin to produce magical flames within the confines of the Bull's interior chamber. Much of the heat is absorbed by the Bull, still scoldingly hot for the victim but keeping the temperature from rising to fatal levels instantly. The healing postion begins to be drip fed into the victim's stomach, again slowing the process of their death. The screams of the dying mage often mixed with the sounds of hot air rushing out of the nose in a manner designed to sound like a bull's bellows with a metallic ring to them that are haunting for anyone who knows the origin.

When empowered by the flames in this way the Bull appears to carry out the orders of its master in as violent a manner as possible, many get the impression it relishes the violence it inflicts both on the victim within it and those whom it is ordered to kill.

Further more, a strange interaction between the magic of the mage spike and that of the bull's construction appears to make the thing risky to target with spells. Often mages who attempt to destroy the bull with magic will find it goes off it instead loops around and strikes them or detonates in their hands as they set it off.

Arcane rituals can be used to transfer the the control of a brazen bull between masters which can allow easier use of the Brazen Bull within a military structure or allowing it to be bought and sold as a weapon. While it requires significantly less magical knowledge to successfully control the Bull it is more common to see this being done by artificers who have at least some ability to help maintain the Bull.

Attempting to use more... humane fuels for the Brazen Bulls is possible, coal or an alchemical source of fire is possible. However, its difficult to reach the same temperatures, and virtually impossible to do with the hatches closed that keeps both attacks and air out of the interior of the construct. As such while a fire maybe used to assist with the out of combat powering of the construct it is difficult to make this hot enough to sustain some of its abilities.

Homebrew setting specific lore

The following information is specific to my homebrew setting but you may wish to use it to inspire your own use of this monster.

The precessor of the Brazen Bull originated around a 137 years ago, shortly after the assassination of Ioannes III. Ioannes, the last of the Alterian Dynasty, had in his reign permitted and fostered various necromantic organisations in line with his own personnal conversion to the Cult of the Black Sun. With his death his successor Theophanes went about purging these and in turn the Black Sun Rebellion rose up along with a spike in rogue necromancer schools.

It was in this context Ravenne, known to history as a capable military engineer, a pioneer in artificer magic and a rather disturbed man created the Bronze Men. They functioned in a similar manner but for being shaped more like a large humanoid. These early version were much less efficent, and between this and the fact that they seemed to manifest malevolent desires Ravenne, who valued predictability and reliability in his creations beyond all else, abandoned the original project.

The Brazen Bull as we know it was created by one of his students, Tolemaios, reshaped into the form of the holy animal of Solos. Much of the core magical mechanisms behind the working the Brazen Bull were already present in the Bronze men but improvements to the Mage Spike proved particularly successful and improving the capability of the Bull, particularly when pared with a sorceror adept in fire magic.

In more recent times the generals of the Solar Autocracy have used the Brazen Bulls relatively sparingly. A good sorceror is an uncommon and valuable asset such that even beyond the moral implications feeding one into the Brazen Bull is generally not something done under more extreme circumstances. The average illegal sorceror is unlikely to meet such a fate but sometimes if a group of rogue mages or otherwise contain numerous magic casters. Both the terrible fate that could await those those who resist and the risk of the magic distrupting properties of the bull can prove useful at forcing a surrender. The cost to produce these are not insignificant, but they are still easier to produce than the highly complex internal mechanisms of a full Iron Golem, a creature generally reserved for high ranking guard duty.

Those who command the Brazen Bulls, often known as Bull Masters, are then generally articiers in military service. They are generally not the ones who made their Bulls, this difficult and time consuming process is left to expert constuctwrights, but have enough knowledge to help maintain the construct. They tend to be regarded as odd individals by and large. Some are sadists who enjoy the more horrific aspects of their work, some are so obsessed with duty or perhaps the constructs themselves to the point it overrides values like compassion and empathy for those used to fuel their charges. Not helped is the fact they're likely to be moved around a lot, assigned to assist local units hunt enemy mages and not a permanent part of a unit.

As a final mechanical note on the Bull Master while the artificer doesn't actually have counter spell and its a little higher level than all their other spells i figured if they're supposed to be an individual dedicated to hunting mages it felt right to give it to them.