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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardJabberwock

Few beasts have inspired as many legends, poems, songs, and myths in as many cultures, as this bizarre draconic creature. The jabberwock hails from the fey realm of the First World and is part of a group of powerful First World creatures known collectively as the Tane.

Like all members of the Tane, jabberwocks are living creatures that age, eat, drink, and sleep, but do not reproduce normally. Instead, they are created directly by the godlike Eldest who rule the First World, and they serve at the pleasure (or frustration) of these capricious and mysterious entities. Believed to be the most powerful of all the Tane, jabberwocks are typically only ever created with one purpose: to wreak destruction and havoc upon the Material Plane. One of the Eldest might send a jabberwock to devastate a country, continent, or even entire world in order to get revenge for some slight made against them by a single mortal. Sometimes, no specific insult or injury is required, as some of the Eldest resent the very existence of the Material Plane and periodically create jabberwocks simply to express the wrath of the First World against its younger and less chaotic sibling.

Once a jabberwock arrives on the Material Plane, its first order of business is to seek out a lair. It prefers dwelling in remote forest locations about a day's flight from civilization—the more dangerous the woodland is to those who might eventually come hunting it, the better!

The relationship between jabberwocks and vorpal weapons is the subject of much debate and speculation among scholars, and the various poems, songs, and legends about the jabberwock do little to clarify the issue, conflicting and diverging on this point. Some believe that vorpal weapons were first created specifically to combat jabberwocks, but others take the story one step further. They cite evidence in certain ancient myths that there may once have been only a single, unique jabberwock, so powerful that nothing could so much as scratch it—nothing, that is, except for the first vorpal sword, crafted for that very purpose. So epic was the resulting battle that it created strange echoes throughout reality, and as a result, these echoes, in the form of vorpal weapons, can now be found on many worlds. Those who subscribe to this belief claim that the jabberwocks seen today are but pale imitations of this proto-jabberwock, and they speculate that only the combined efforts of several Eldest would be sufficient to create such a creature again.

Variant Jabberwocks

The Eldest have sometimes altered certain aspects of the jabberwocks they create. Some of the more notorious or legendary variant jabberwocks include the following.

Frumious Jabberwock: Frumious jabberwocks have two heads. They are level 24 and gain an extra action on each of their turns they can use only to make a jaws Strike.

Mimsy Jabberwock: Typically hailing from wintry regions of the First World, mimsy jabberwocks have glowing blue-white scales, resist cold instead of fire, and have eyes that burn with blue flames that deal cold damage instead of fire damage.

Slithy Jabberwock: Wreaking destruction beneath the waves, these sinuous and slimy jabberwocks are amphibious, have a swim Speed of 80 feet instead of the normal fly Speed, and do not have a wing Strike. A slithy jabberwock's whiffling aura is activated whenever it swims, makes a tail Strike, or Burbles.

Recall Knowledge - Dragon (Arcana): DC 51
Unspecific Lore: DC 49
Specific Lore: DC 46

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

JabberwockCreature 23

Legacy Content

Rare CE Huge Dragon Tane 
Source Bestiary 2 pg. 150 2.0
Perception +17; darkvision, scent 120 feet, true seeing
Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, Gnomish, Sylvan
Skills Acrobatics +17, Athletics +21, Intimidation +18, Nature +15, Survival +17
Str +11, Dex +7, Con +10, Int +4, Wis +9, Cha +8
Planar Acclimation The jabberwock always treats the plane it is currently located on as its home plane.
AC 26; Fort +16, Ref +14, Will +17
HP 500, regeneration 25 (deactivated by vorpal weapons); Immunities paralyzed, sleep; Resistances fire 20; Weaknesses vorpal weapons 20, vorpal fear
Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 100 feet, DC 20Vorpal Fear A jabberwock damaged by a vorpal weapon becomes frightened 2 (or frightened 4 on a critical hit).Claws That Catch [reaction] Trigger A creature within the jabberwock's reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, leaves a square during a move action, makes a ranged attack, or uses a concentrate action; Effect The jabberwock makes a claw Strike against the triggering creature. If the Strike hits, the jabberwock disrupts the triggering action.
Speed 35 feet, fly 60 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +19 [+14/+9] (deadly 2d12, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d12+19 piercingMelee [one-action] claw +19 [+15/+11] (agile, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d8+19 slashing plus Improved GrabMelee [one-action] tail +19 [+14/+9] (magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d10+19 bludgeoning plus Improved KnockdownMelee [one-action] wing +17 [+13/+9] (magical, agile, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d8+19 bludgeoningRanged [one-action] eyes of flame +19 [+14/+9] (fire, magical, range increment 60 feet), Effect 10d6 fire plus 4d6 persistent firePrimal Innate Spells DC 20; Constant (10th) true seeing
Burble [two-actions] The jabberwock creates a blast of strange noises and shouted nonsense in the various languages it knows (and invariably some languages it doesn't know), creating one of two effects. The jabberwock can't Burble again for 1d4 rounds.
  • Confusion (aura, emotion, enchantment, mental, primal) 60 feet. Each creature in the emanation must succeed at a DC 23 Will save or become confused for 1d4 rounds.
  • Sonic Beam (evocation, primal, sonic) The jabberwock focuses its Burbling into a 60.foot line of sonic energy that deals 24d6 sonic damage to creatures in the area (DC 23 basic Reflex save).
Jaws That Bite If the jabberwock makes a jaws attack and rolls a natural 19 on the d20 roll, the attack is a critical hit. This has no effect if the 19 would be a failure.Whiffling [reaction] (aura) Trigger The jabberwock Flies or makes a wing Strike; Effect The jabberwock's wings whiffle, creating severe winds within a 30-foot emanation. These winds move outward from the jabberwock, and they persist until the start of the jabberwock's next turn. During this time, flight of any kind in the emanation requires a successful DC 20 Acrobatics check to Maneuver in Flight, and creatures flying toward the jabberwock are moving through greater difficult terrain. Creatures on the ground in the emanation must succeed at a DC 20 Athletics check to approach the jabberwock.

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Jabberwock Treasure

Jabberwocks have no interest in treasure for its own sake, but they gather objects of great value or power specifically to entice mortals into seeking it out. As a result, jabberwocks quickly amass impressive hoards of treasures taken from nearby areas.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Jabberwocks and Dragons

Although jabberwocks may fear vorpal weapons and are filled with rage against all mortal creatures, few things invite a jabberwock's wrath more than a Material Plane dragon. Some scholars believe that in the same way the First World is believed to have been a template or “first draft” of the Material Plane, dragons were created in the likeness of jabberwocks. A jabberwock that learns of a nearby dragon will attempt to kill it to the exclusion of all other priorities.