Formian Queen

Formian Queen CR 17

XP 102,400
LN Large monstrous humanoid
Init –3 (+1 with hive mind); Senses blindsense (scent, vibration) 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +34 (+38 with hive mind)

DEFENSE

HP 290
EAC 30; KAC 31
Fort +17; Ref +15; Will +22
Defensive Abilities fast healing 10; DR 10/—; Resistances sonic 10

OFFENSE

Speed 5 ft.
Melee claw +28 (8d6+15 S)
Ranged banshee sonic pistol +26 (4d8+17 So; critical deafen [DC 24])
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Offensive Abilities possess formian, telepathic feedback
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th; ranged +26)

1/day—enshrining refuge (DC 26), snuff life (DC 26)
3/day—commune with nature, feeblemind (DC 25), heat leech (DC 25), teleport
At will—greater invisibility, mind thrust (4th level, DC 24)

STATISTICS

Str –2; Dex –3; Con +8; Int +5; Wis +4; Cha +11
Skills Diplomacy +34, Intimidate +34, Life Science +29, Mysticism +29, Physical Science +29
Feats Blind-Fight
Languages Castrovelian, Common, Terran; telepathy 200 ft.
Other Abilities hive frenzy, hive mind Gear banshee sonic pistol with 1 super-capacity battery (80 charges)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Hive Frenzy (Su)

Once per day as a standard action, a formian queen can issue a command to all formians within range of her telepathy, stirring them into a frenzy. Each affected formian gains the benefits of haste for 1 minute.

Hive Mind (Ex)

Formians operate from a shared hive intelligence that allows them to communicate nearly instantaneously. While within telepathic range of at least one other formian with this ability, a formian gains a +4 bonus to initiative and to Perception checks. If one formian is aware of a combatant, all members of the hive mind within range are aware of it, and a member of the hive mind cannot be surprised unless all members within range are surprised. If one member of the hive mind succeeds at a Will save to disbelieve an illusion effect, all members of that hive mind within telepathic range also disbelieve the effect.

Possess Formian (Su)

As a full action, a formian queen can transfer her consciousness to the body of any formian within range of her telepathy that she has Line_of_Effect”>line of effect to. This ability functions like dominate person (caster level = formian queen’s CR), except that it works only on formians; for as long as the target is affected and the queen’s consciousness is outside of her body, the queen’s body is unconscious (though she is aware if any damage is done to it). An unwilling target can attempt a DC 24 Will saving throw to resist being possessed in this manner, but the queen’s offspring are usually willing. The queen receives all sensory input from the target creature; she can speak through it, and she can use her total skill bonus for Intelligence -, Wisdom -, and Charisma -based skills. If the target creature is slain or moves to a different plane from the queen’s body, the queen returns to her own body immediately; otherwise, she can return to her own body as a move action, ending the possession effect.

Telepathic Feedback (Su)

As a standard action, a formian queen can unleash a blast of debilitating telepathic feedback. Each non-formian creature within range of her telepathy must succeed at a DC 24 Will save or take a –2 penalty to ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for 1 minute.

Creatures with telepathy or limited telepathy take a –2 penalty to the saving throw to resist a formian queen’s telepathic feedback. A creature that succeeds at its saving throw is immune to the formian queen’s telepathic feedback for 24 hours, and a creature can be affected by only one telepathic feedback at a time. This is a mind-affecting effect.

ECOLOGY

Environment any land or underground
Organization hive (1 plus 300–8,000 formians)

The queen is the center of a formian hive, figuratively and literally. A queen’s physical existence is rooted in reproduction: her first responsibility is laying the eggs that populate the hive. Indeed, she can’t actually stop this process, which takes place largely without conscious thought as she goes about her business. In emergencies, some queens resort to extreme hormonal treatments to suppress their laying, but such drastic means are rarely employed. Once they start laying, most queens never physically move more than a few feet at a time; in the rare event that they must be relocated, they are carried upon massive palanquins by members of the hive or are installed on hovering thrones.

These physical constraints don’t mean a queen is helpless or powerless. A queen has defensive capabilities unparalleled in the hive, including the ability to teleport herself away from danger if overwhelmed. She can turn her telepathic prowess into a weapon to harm and disable foes, and she can possess any member of the hive to borrow their senses and inspect locations, interact with others, or confront intruders “in person.” Each formian hive—typically an entire settlement—has its own queen, and the hive is absolutely subordinate to the queen, epitomizing the ultimate order and hierarchical nature of formian society. In the distant past, this loyalty led to tremendous conflict between hives, as each queen and hive pursued its own agenda and perceived the others as threats.

The long-ago establishment of the abstract concept of the “Overqueen” among the formian queens enabled separate hives to unify their goals and operations, effectively creating one metahive among all of formian society on that planet. The directives established by the Overqueen are purposefully broad suggestions promoting the well-being of the formian race, so as to avoid infighting between queens trying to set more specific goals.

Within a hive, the queen is the absolute authority: she establishes the overall direction and goals for the hive, which the various hive members—from the powerful myrmarchs down to the countless workers—strive to carry out. Part of this comes from the fact that the vast majority of a hive’s members are direct offspring of the queen (in fact, when a new queen takes over, a hive sees massive turnover as its members are rapidly replaced with the new queen’s brood); as with most social insects, the genetic similarity of a single queen’s offspring leads to tight social bonds and minimal competition. The queen is typically quite active in the hive’s operations, meeting with myrmarchs and taskmasters personally to provide specific and detailed instruction.