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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardBulette

Bulettes are fearsome predators that roam just beneath the surface of desolate wilderness areas. When they burrow through the ground, only the fin of their thickly armored backs protrudes above—at least until they are ready to leap out and strike their prey. Their appearance, appetite, and iconic dorsal fin have earned the nickname “landshark.”

A typical bulette claims a territory of approximately 500 square miles. When it finds an area rich in food, such as a farming village, it adds that area to its regular patrol route. Over the course of a few months, it can wipe entire settlements off the map. Bulettes are fiercely competitive creatures that battle relentlessly with other predators in their territory. They actively avoid contact or conflict with other members of their kind unless seeking a mate. Bulette pairs share territory and mate for life—a mated pair of bulettes being the only known exception to the creature’s penchant for solitude. They rear their young for a short period of time. The mated pair instruct the young bulette how to hunt, teaching their spawn which creatures are easiest to kill and which creatures to avoid. The mated pair drive off their young after its first successful hunt.

The first bulettes were magically created guardians, intended to serve as frightening pets for a power-hungry and sadistic wizard. The technique for their creation, as well as their original purpose, has since been lost to history, and multiple conflicting accounts of ancient texts exist with dozens of wizards claiming to have been the first inventor of the notorious beast. Some sages postulate that the original inventor may have been an elf—a theory born out of little more than the curious fact that bulettes, for all their ravenous nature, seem to find elf flesh unpalatable. Unfortunately for elves who stumble into a bulette’s path, bulettes are no less likely to kill them than any other intruder, simply leaving the bodies unconsumed where they fall.

Recall Knowledge - Animal (Nature): DC 24
Unspecific Lore: DC 22
Specific Lore: DC 19

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Changes from being Weak are marked in red below.
NOTE: The -2 damage penalty to non-strike offensive abilities (-4 if the ability is limited, such as spells) is NOT factored in.

Weak BuletteCreature 7

Legacy Content

N Huge Animal 
Source Bestiary pg. 48
Perception +16; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet
Skills Acrobatics +14, Athletics +19
Str +7, Dex +2, Con +6, Int -4, Wis +2, Cha -2
AC 28; Fort +18, Ref +14, Will +12
HP 100
Speed 40 feet, burrow 30 feet; powerful jumper
Melee [one-action] jaws +19 [+14/+9], Damage 2d10-2+10 piercingMelee [one-action] claw +19 [+15/+11] (agile), Damage 2d8-2+10 slashingFavored Prey A bulette gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attack and damage rolls with its jaws against a specific type of creature designated as its favorite food. Unless otherwise stated, a bulette’s favored prey is halflings. Elves are never a favored prey for bulettes.Leaping Charge [two-actions] The bulette attempts a High Jump or Long Jump . If it’s adjacent to an enemy at the apex of its High Jump or at the end of its Long Jump, it can make a claw Strike against the enemy at that moment. If the bulette jumps at least 5 feet vertically or at least 20 feet horizontally, it can attempt two claw Strikes instead of one. The bulette’s multiple attack penalty doesn’t increase until it has made all the claw Strikes that are part of its Leaping Charge.Powerful Jumper A bulette jumps 10 feet up on a successful High Jump, or 20 feet up on a critical success.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Bulette Appetites

Although bulettes will eat almost any living creature that they can catch within their vicious jaws, most of them have a particular fondness for the flesh of halflings or horses. Lacking other food, a bulette might gnaw upon vegetable matter or even inanimate objects, although they don't gain actual nourishment from doing so, this need to feed being merely an extension of a deeply compelling instinct.