The Ground-Seeking Ward | Fantasy Hazard Generated by CharGen

The hazard

The conduit’s defense system reads nearby motion as an attempted breach. It lashes the battlefield with grounded arcs and, if given an opening, tears energy from the conduit itself. Zaricia can use that instability to hasten her work, so the party must split its attention between stopping her and containing the ward.

Complex
Mechanical
Electricity

Stealth: (expert) to notice the ward before it activates; the hazard is hidden among the conduit’s ordinary filaments.
Trigger: The hazard rolls initiative when a creature moves within 20 feet of the exposed coupling or attempts to damage, manipulate, or disable the conduit.
Disable: Three anchor nodes surround the basalt ring. Each is a separate target for Disable; a creature adjacent to one can use two actions and attempt Crafting or Thievery. A success disables that node, and a critical success disables that node and one other. The hazard is disabled when all three nodes are disabled. Alternatively, disconnecting the power feed requires two successful Crafting checks, each taking two actions, at the conduit junction.
Initiative: +20
Routine: The ward uses Ground-Seeking Arc against one eligible creature within 30 feet, then uses Conduit Siphon if Zaricia is adjacent to the exposed coupling. It does not use Conduit Siphon if Zaricia is not adjacent to the coupling.
Reset: The hazard resets automatically at the start of each round while at least one anchor node remains active and the power feed is connected.

Damage

Immunities

Critical hits, Object immunities

Weaknesses

10 to sonic

Effects

2

Ground-Seeking Arc
DC 28
The hazard releases a branching arc at one creature within 30 feet that is not behind cover from the basalt ring. The target attempts a basic Reflex save, taking electricity damage on a failure, half damage on a success, double damage on a critical failure, or no damage on a critical success. On a failed save, the target is also off-guard until the start of its next turn.
Conduit Siphon
If Zaricia is adjacent to the exposed coupling at the start of the hazard’s turn, the ward feeds energy into her attempt to break the conduit. The conduit takes 20 damage, ignoring hardness, and Zaricia gains a +1 circumstance bonus to her next check made to break it before the end of her next turn. This effect can occur only once per round.

Special rules

Line of Discharge.The ward does not target creatures behind cover from the basalt ring. Its arcs cannot pass through solid walls or sealed doors.

Separate Conduit.The ward can be disabled without destroying the conduit. Attacks against the hazard that would damage the conduit instead affect the basalt ring, provided the attacker can reach the ring.

Spotting it

Discovery

A creature that succeeds at Perception notices the filaments twitching toward movement and the faint charge gathering at the anchor nodes.

Perception

+20

Stop it

Signs of dangerCopper filaments lift toward nearby creatures as they move. · A sharp ozone smell intensifies around the anchor nodes. · The exposed coupling pulses blue-white whenever Zaricia nears it.

Countermeasures

DC 28A creature adjacent to the coupling can use an Interact action to clamp its insulated cover shut, preventing the hazard from targeting the conduit until the cover is opened again. The clamp requires a successful Crafting check or Thievery check.
DC 28A creature adjacent to a visible anchor node can use two Interact actions and attempt Crafting or Thievery to sever its filaments. On a success, one of the three anchor nodes is disabled; on a critical success, two are disabled. The hazard is disabled when all three nodes are severed.
DC 28A creature can use an Interact action to drive a metal grounding spike into the basalt ring with a successful Crafting check. On a success, the next discharge deals half damage and the spike is destroyed; on a critical success, the discharge is negated.
DC 28The hazard is disabled if its power feed is disconnected with two successful Crafting checks made at the conduit junction. Each check takes two actions.

In short

Keep Zaricia away from the exposed coupling, ground the copper filaments, or disable the basalt ring.

Its story

What it looks like

The conduit runs through a waist-high ring of black basalt, its surface webbed with copper filaments.

Why it is here

Protect the conduit from tampering while creating a dangerous complication in the fight to stop Zaricia.

Who made it

The conduit’s original engineers, who built the ward as an emergency safeguard against sabotage.

Lore

The ward was designed to keep saboteurs from tampering with the conduit.

Where it is found

A fortified conduit chamber or industrial battlefield, with the conduit and its exposed coupling at the center of the fight.

Variants

A frostbound version deals cold damage and leaves slick ice around the ring on a failed Reflex save.

A security-tuned version ignores Zaricia and targets the creature carrying a key, insignia, or other recognized authorization token.

A failing version discharges every other round, but its Conduit Siphon effect deals 30 damage to the conduit.

Plot hooks

The ward’s original authorization key is still held by a former engineer who may be willing to help, if the party can find them.

The conduit is carrying a message or prisoner’s memories along with its power, making careless damage to it a moral risk.

Zaricia has learned to bait the ward into siphoning energy at a precise moment, turning its attack into part of her plan.

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn The Ground-Seeking Ward into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.