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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardOuroboros

Ouroboros are the embodiment of eternity. Though they're prevalent as a symbol, often scrawled across the margins of alchemical tomes, few know that the beasts actually exist in the Astral Plane, where they fly through the silvery-gray void like a serpentine wheel. The ouroboros is usually depicted as a snake devouring its tail. This circular symbol is synonymous with infinity, self-sufficiency, and eternal unity.

An ouroboros' form exemplifies the unfathomable concepts of forever. Its undulating body is composed of smaller serpents, who are in turn composed of ever smaller serpents, continuing indefinitely. These smaller components are recycled as the ouroboros devours its tail, existing in a perpetual, cyclical process of creation and destruction. It is a massive creature, forming a loop roughly 50 feet in diameter and weighing hundreds of tons.

An ouroboros's most striking feature is its ability to almost instantly grow new flesh and heal from nearly any wound. This profound regenerative ability comes in part from an ouroboros's magical blood, which is rumored to have many miraculous properties.

Through their inscrutable behavior suggests that an ouroboros is mindless, the creatures boast crude intellects and can understand speech, though they have no way to speak. They possess an instinctive, almost obsessive will to survive and defend themselves ferociously if threatened in even the slightest way. Often these perceived threats take the form of another creature simply existing within the ouroboros's line of sight, leading other Astral creatures to give these powerful beings a wide berth. The only creature an ouroboros reliably ignores is another ouroboros, but they're so incredibly rare that these meetings occur only once an age.

Being entirely self-sustaining, an ouroboros rarely deigns to emerge from its consumption to engage with the Material Plane. Yet, the creature remains capable of inflicting tremendous devastation that far surpasses what it could wreak leveraging only its massive size alone. Left to its own devices, an ouroboros is likely to simply roam the Astral Plane in eon-spanning cycles, following some pattern too long and large for any mortal to even chart, much less fully comprehend. When conjured to the Material Plane, however, an ouroboros eagerly begins to initiate the cycle of renewal for which it is best known, beginning with that cycle's first step: destruction.

Recall Knowledge - Astral (Occultism): DC 47
Recall Knowledge - Beast (Arcana, Nature): DC 47
Unspecific Lore: DC 45
Specific Lore: DC 42

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 OuroborosCreature 20

Legacy Content

Rare N Gargantuan Astral Beast 
Source Bestiary 3 pg. 195
Perception +33; darkvision
Languages Aklo; (can't speak any language)
Skills Acrobatics +34, Athletics +39
Str +10, Dex +5, Con +7, Int -4, Wis +4, Cha +8
AC 43; Fort +36, Ref +32, Will +31; +1 status to all saves vs. magic
HP 470, regeneration 50 (deactivated by fire); Immunities acid, death effects, disease, negative, poison, precision; Weaknesses piercing 15, slashing 15
Unfathomable Infinity (aura, incapacitation, mental, visual) 100 feet. The ouroboros is the embodiment of perfect infinity, and this concept pulls at the threads of mortal minds, desperately straining the limits of their comprehension. When a creature ends its turn in the aura, it must attempt a DC 39 Will save. The creature is then temporarily immune for 1 minute. Critical Success The creature is stupefied 1 for 1 round. Success The creature is stupefied 1 for 1 minute. Failure The creature is stupefied 1 for 1 minute and stunned 3. Critical Failure The creature is stupefied 3 and stunned, both for 1 minute.Attack of Opportunity [free-action] Incalculable fangs only. Because the ouroboros contains an infinite number of snakes that act independently, its Attack of Opportunity is a free action (though it can still use only one per trigger).Sanguine Spray When the ouroboros takes slashing or piercing damage, or when Devour Tail ends, blood gushes from the wound in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area takes 5d6 acid damage (DC 39 basic Reflex save). A creature that takes any damage is exposed to the ouroboros's regenerative blood (see below). Where the blood falls upon ground, it coagulates into magical snakes that bite at anyone who passes. This is hazardous terrain deals 17 piercing damage and 5 poison damage to any non-ouroboros creature that moves through the square or ends its turn there. A creature that avoids all the piercing damage doesn't take the poison damage. After 1 hour, a blood patch permanently becomes a living snake, typically an emperor cobra.
Speed 100 feet, fly 100 feet
Melee [one-action] maw +37 [+32/+27] (magical, reach 30 feet), Damage 4d12-2+18 piercing plus Improved GrabMelee [one-action] body +37 [+32/+27] (magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 4d10-2+18 bludgeoningMelee [one-action] incalculable fangs +35 [+31/+27] (agile, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 3d6-2+16 piercing plus 2d8 poisonMelee [one-action] tail +37 [+32/+27] (magical, reach 30 feet), Damage 4d12-2+18 bludgeoningDevour Tail [one-action] An ouroboros spend most of its life eating its own tail, which perpetually regrows at the same rate it's consumed. The ouroboros places its maw around the end of its tail and begins devouring its own body.
While the ouroboros is consuming itself, its regeneration can't be suppressed, and it is immune to drained, enfeebled, fatigued, persistent damage, and sickened conditions. If any of these conditions is in effect when the ouroboros takes this action, the condition immediately ends. While eating its tail, the ouroboros can't make maw or tail strikes, and its Speeds are 50 feet. It continues devouring its tail even while dying, unconscious, stunned, or otherwise unable to act.
To end this effect, the ouroboros must first be immobilized, then a creature must successfully Grapple it, which tears the maw free in addition to its normal effects. The ouroboros can also cease Devouring its Tail with a single action. Either of these tears the maw free of the tail, causing the stump to spill blood as described in sanguine spray.Fast Swallow [reaction] Trigger The ouroboros Grabs a creature with their maw; Effect The ouroboros uses Swallow Whole.Flying Wheel [two-actions] Requirements The ouroboros is eating its own tail (see Devour Tail); Effect As Trample, except the ouroboros can Fly up to double its Speed instead of Striding. Huge or smaller, body, DC 43Regenerative Blood (contact, curse, incapacitation, poison, polymorph, primal, transmutation) The regenerative and transmutative properties of ouroboros blood regenerate and mutate a creature's body into ouroboros-like snakes. A creature already affected by regenerative blood is immune to additional exposure. Saving Throw DC 40 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 24 hours; Stage 1 regeneration 5 (deactivated by fire), slowed 1, and clumsy 2 (12 hours); Stage 2 regeneration 5 (deactivated by fire), slowed 2 and clumsy 4 (12 hours); Stage 3 The creature's body transmutes into a mass of writhing snakes, with the effects an 8th-level animal form spell but with an unlimited duration.Swallow Whole [one-action] (attack) Huge, 4d10+9 acid, Rupture 50

Sidebar - Additional Lore Mythological Permeations

The ouroboros's depiction varies across Golarion's cultures. Some imagery depicts a dragon feasting on their own tail, indicating the possibility for different kinds of ouroboros. The first ouroboros was referred to as “the coiled one,” and is credited by some faiths as having assisted in the expansion of the universe and defining the cyclical nature of life and procreation. It is now theorized to have become the barrier of the Astral Plane

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Ouroboros Blood

Alchemists have attempted many times to harness the impressive regenerative powers of ouroboros blood. Experiments with ouroboros blood have been met with drawbacks as immense as the results. It's suspected that the blood can be used in place of diamonds in a resurrect ritual to bring back those the normal ritual would fail to return to life, or it can be treated to create a powerful healing elixir. However, most experiments have failed, with subjects plagued with serpent-like mutations and resurrected bodies degenerating into clusters of snakes. Regardless of how difficult it is to use, the blood is rare and potent enough to be quite valuable. Some wealthy necromancers have wasted gallons of the valuable blood in repeated failed rituals.