Source Alien Archive 3 pg. 108Tekenki CR 17 XP 102,400
CE Colossal construct (magical, technological)
Init +8; Senses blindsense (thought) 120 ft., sense the masses; Perception +29
DefenseHP 340
EAC 31; KAC 33
Fort +17; Ref +13; Will +17
Defensive Abilities construct immunities, integrated weapons; Resistances cold 30, fire 30
OffenseSpeed 100 ft., fly 100 ft. (jets, clumsy), swim 100 ft.
Melee slam +32 (6d12+28 B)
Ranged integrated white star plasma cannon +29 (6d10+17 E & F; critical burn 3d8)
Space 150 ft.; Reach 60 ft.
Offensive Abilities demolish structures, electromagnetic pulse, unwieldy fireStatisticsSTR +11; DEX +8; CON —; INT +5; WIS +5; CHA +5
Skills Acrobatics +29 (+21 to fly), Athletics +29, Intimidate +34, Piloting +29, Sense Motive +29
Languages Ancient Daimalkan, Common
Other Abilities internal ammunition, spaceflight
Gear white star plasma cannons (3)EcologyEnvironment any (Daimalko)
Organization solitarySpecial AbilitiesDemolish Structures (Ex) A tekenki’s slam ignores the hardness of structures not made of adamantine alloy or a harder material. Against structures made of such materials, a tekenki’s slam ignores half of the hardness.
Electromagnetic Pulse (Su) Once per day as a full action, a tekenki can release an electromagnetic pulse. The pulse causes technology within 60 feet, including weapons without the analog special property, armor environmental protections, powered armor, technological and hybrid items, and starships, to cease functioning for 1 minute. Items that have an item level equal to or higher than the tekenki’s CR are unaffected. A creature wearing or wielding affected technology can reduce the duration for that technology to 1d4 rounds by succeeding at a DC 22 Reflex saving throw. A technological construct must succeed at this save or be staggered for 1 round.
Internal Ammunition (Ex) A tekenki needs no batteries for its plasma cannons or similar powered weapons. Tekenkis that utilize other weapons can produce the needed ammunition. If these weapons are removed from the tekenki, they must be fitted with conventional ammunition.
Sense the Masses (Su) Large concentrations of sapient creatures are like beacons that call to tekenkis. A tekenki can sense groups of 2,000 or more such creatures gathered together in a single settlement at a range of 5 miles. This ability does not allow a tekenki to know how many creatures are in a given location, but it does allow it to pinpoint pockets of sapient life and know which pockets are the most populous.
Unwieldy Fire (Ex) A tekenki can use any of its integrated unwieldy weapons to make a full attack, provided the tekenki has at least one such weapon per attack.DescriptionTekenkis are outliers among the massive hulks known collectively as colossi or kaiju. Most such horrors are organic in nature, but tekenkis are mechanical. Plates of magic-infused alloys etched with bizarre patterns cover their bodies. Atop this hulk are plasma cannons that draw power from the tekenki’s internal fusion, fueled by whatever material the monster occasionally consumes. A tekenki also carries a reserve of eldritch energy that allows the creature to neutralize technology, plunging the region around the creature into disarray when technology stops working.
These rare colossi are found across the galaxy. Some people believe tekenkis came from Daimalko, but the truth remains unknown. On Daimalko, numerous colossi rose from the planet’s evaporated oceans 200 years ago during a cataclysm called the Awakening. Tekenkis rampage across that planet today, using their uncanny abilities to sense population centers and wreak havoc on embattled survivors, most of whom have huddled underground since the colossi arose. However, tekenkis are more likely to battle the far less rare kyokors and other colossi. Such a clash is as devastating to the area in which it occurs as it is to either titanic monster.
The fact that tekenkis appeared after the initial Awakening and regularly seek battle with other colossi has led some to suspect they came from elsewhere. Studies have also shown that tekenkis are capable of technological spaceflight, although none have been observed doing so, and few ever fly at all except in what resembles an extended leap. Perhaps they sensed the Awakening and came to Daimalko in response. Maybe they were always on the planet, an ancient check to the primal horror the colossi represent. Some among Daimalko’s people, the damai, seek the origins of the tekenkis, hoping to turn the mechanical beasts into allies in the fight to retake Daimalko from the colossi.
Whatever their origin, there is little chance that tekenkis are naturally occurring. Those who have studied these hulks have determined that tekenkis have internal engineering similar to pre-Gap machinery, although their space-related tech seems more recent. Daimalkan legends, which also speak of the slumbering creatures that eventually awakened to destroy the planet, told of masters who—in their hubris— wished to control Daimalko’s technology. Although these tales were never tied to the colossi, some lore experts and scientists have wondered if an ancient Daimalkan cabal is responsible for creating tekenkis and programming them to adapt to their circumstances. A fringe few believe that these lost masters were behind the creation of all Daimalkan colossi.
In the first decades after the Awakening, the damai hardly differentiated between the enormous horrors that devastated their civilizations. However, after 50 years, leaders who became known as the Guardians discovered mystical, rune-scribed orbs deep underground. The Guardians used these artifacts, which convey information about colossi to users, and the empathic bonds the orbs created among the Guardians to keep their people safe from the rampaging colossi. As their settlements became more stable and a few Guardians ushered some damai back aboveground, scholars studied the colossi. Some brave souls mounted expeditions into the blasted wilderness, while other colonies sent strike teams against colossi. These brave souls took note of two tekenki qualities: First, the Guardian orbs convey no data about the mechanical colossi. Second, tekenkis can neutralize technology with electromagnetic blasts. Damai have yet to create a reliable way to fight tekenkis, so a tekenki sighting can drive inhabitants of a surface colony belowground again.
Daimalko was never a hub of interstellar activity, but after the Awakening, colossi hunters and scientists ventured to the planet in droves. Some tried to extract colossi to study for noble purposes, but others have sought to study and then replicate the beasts for their own ends. A few groups determined to learn more about these monstrosities succeeded in disabling and spiriting away dormant colossi. Tragically, more than one of these creatures, including a few tekenkis, reanimated on the destination worlds and destroyed the facilities that held them. Such monsters still rampage across their new homes. Wherever tekenkis and other colossi are found away from Daimalko, the remains of an ill-fated experimental facility are somewhere nearby. Finding a tekenki on another world without such a link to Daimalko could lend credence to the theory that they come from elsewhere and, possibly, point the way to their origins.
A typical tekenki is 60 feet tall and 150 feet long and weighs 250 tons.
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