The Clockwork Crown
The Clockwork Crown is a defensive engine designed to punish intruders who cross a ceremonial chamber without following the movements of the ancient court. It does not simply fire at random. Its pylons rotate, acquire targets, and alter the battlefield with pulses of force, rewarding patient observation while making haste increasingly dangerous.
The Clockwork Crown
Defenses
Detection
“A circular brass dais fills the center of the ruined chamber. Six waist-high clockwork pylons surround a recessed iron gear, each fitted with a cracked crystal lens. Fine copper wires run through the floor and disappear beneath collapsed masonry. The entire mechanism ticks softly, though no two pylons keep the same rhythm.”
Standard Engagement
The hazard activates when a creature steps onto the central dais, tampers with the recessed gear, or moves through the chamber without following the six-symbol sequence. It also activates if any pylon is attacked.
At initiative count 20, the hazard performs one action based on the number of active pylons. Six or five active pylons: use Homing Bolt, then rotate one pylon. Four or three active pylons: use Arcane Pulse in two different areas. Two active pylons: use Sweeping Blades, then use Arcane Pulse. One active pylon: use Arcane Pulse twice, targeting different areas if possible. The hazard never targets a creature that is completely behind total cover unless no other valid target exists.
The hazard resets at dawn if it has not been disabled. Destroyed pylons remain destroyed, but the remaining pylons recalibrate and continue operating. If all pylons are intact, the mechanism can reactivate 1 minute after its last target leaves the chamber.
Each creature in a 10-foot-radius area centered on a chosen pylon must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d10 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The area becomes difficult terrain until the start of the hazard's next turn as loose gears and stone fragments scatter across it.
One pylon marks a creature it can see within 60 feet. The marked creature sheds dim blue light in a 5-foot radius and cannot benefit from invisibility against the hazard. At the end of the marked creature's next turn, the pylon fires a homing bolt at it. The target must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d10 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The mark then ends.
The central gear locks, and two 10-foot-long, 5-foot-wide lines of spinning metal sweep across the dais. Creatures in either line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 slashing damage and be pushed 10 feet. A creature that succeeds takes half damage and is not pushed.
The hazard has six active pylons. Each pylon can target creatures within 60 feet and has line of sight through the crystal lens in its head. A pylon that is destroyed or disabled cannot contribute to the routine.
A creature that spends an action observing the mechanism and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check can determine the next active pylon. Until the end of that creature's next turn, it has advantage on saving throws against that pylon's effects and can move across the dais without triggering its movement response.
Whenever a creature moves more than 15 feet across the dais during a single turn, the next pylon in the sequence immediately marks that creature with Homing Bolt. This reaction can occur only once per round.
If a creature stands adjacent to two pylons at once, both pylons briefly synchronize. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 lightning damage, and the two pylons become unable to use Homing Bolt until the next initiative count 20.
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