Vespercoil Magnus

Gargantuan

Construct

CR 20

Unaligned

Vespercoil Magnus

Gothic Steam Juggernaut

A thunderous, six-wheeled iron behemoth that prowls gaslit avenues like a living fortress, the Vespercoil Magnus blends baroque carriage work with obscene industrial machinery. Its batlike rear fins slice the night wind and fold like wings, while coal-fired lungs belch steam, lantern-glow eyes scan for prey, and a cacophony of gears and pistons announces its arrival. It is not merely a vehicle — it is a city-sized predator on treads, designed to batter through barricades, sweep aside crowds, and rake opponents with grappling hooks and heavy cannon. Facing it on a narrow, cobbled street is to find the world rearranged by iron and flame.

Stat block

Armour

20

armored iron plating

Hit points

330

20d20+120

Speed

80ft

80 ft., swim 0 ft., climb 0 ft.

Challenge

20

25,000 XP

STR

26

+8

DEX

14

+2

CON

22

+6

INT

12

+1

WIS

14

+2

CHA

10

+0

Saving throws

STR +13, CON +12

Skills

Perception +9, Intimidation +6

Resistances

bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage immunities

poison, psychic

Condition immunities

charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious

Senses

darkvision 120 ft., blindsight 30 ft., passive Perception 19

Languages

understands Common but can't speak

Actions

Multiattack. The Vespercoil Magnus makes three attacks: one Ram attack, one Cannon Volley, and one Wing Sweep.

Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 36 (4d12+8) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is also knocked prone and pinned beneath the Magnus' battering prow (escape DC 21 Strength or Dexterity). A pinned creature is restrained and takes 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the Magnus' turns until freed.

Cannon Volley. Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 45 (6d10+6) fire damage. On a hit, the target must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or catch fire, taking 14 (4d6) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can extinguish the flames by using an action to make a successful DC 10 Dexterity check to beat the fire; magical means also end it.

Wing Sweep. The Magnus unfurls its batlike fins in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that cone must make a DC 20 Strength saving throw, taking 22 (4d8+6) bludgeoning damage and being pushed 15 feet on a failed save, or half as much damage and not pushed on a success. Objects not bolted down are toppled.

Grapnel Harpoon (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d8+6) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 21). While grappled by the Magnus, the target is dragged up to 30 feet toward the Magnus on the Magnus' turns.

Steam Overdrive (Recharge 6). The Magnus vents superheated steam and overclocks its engines. Each hostile creature within 30 feet must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Then the Magnus gains advantage on attack rolls and increases speed by 30 feet until the end of its next turn as systems surge.

Reactions

Reactive Armor. When reduced to half its hit points or fewer, the Magnus grants itself +2 to AC until the start of its next turn by bracing armored plates and latching shields.

Legendary actions

The creature can take 3 legendary actions per round, choosing from the options below.

Roll. The Magnus moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Gatling Burst. The Magnus makes a Cannon Volley attack against one target.

Smoke Barrage (2 Actions). The Magnus expels a choking cloud of steam and soot in a 15-foot radius centered on itself. Creatures in the area must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turn. The area is lightly obscured until the end of the Magnus' next turn.

Lore

The Vespercoil Magnus is a product of an age where clockwork artisans and steamwrights sought to make war machines from nocturnal myth. Commissioned in secret by an industrial patron of the Blackbarrow Consortium, a cadre of inventors led by the recluse engineer Thaddeus Rennick fused armored coachcraft with mining steam engines and experimental recoil cannons. Once completed, the Magnus served as an ostentatious protector for Consortium transports — and later as a roaming enforcer across the city's poorer wards. Legends say the Magnus developed more than mechanical reliability: crews report that the chassis holds a stubborn, uncanny awareness, steering clear of certain alleys and pausing at ruined gates as if remembering past collisions. The scholar Verity Hallow of the Guild of Streetwrights cataloged three surviving field notes about the Magnus and warns that scavengers who harvest its parts often disappear in the night. The Blackbarrow Consortium denies responsibility, but smugglers and insurgent cells still whisper of 'the iron bat' as both deterrent and omen.

Appearance

A hulking six-wheeled coach roughly the size of a two-story house on wheels. The front is a plated prow like a battering ram, riveted bladed fenders over massive spoke wheels driven by exposed piston banks. The cabin is a low, armored box with a pair of circular glass 'eyes'—gas lanterns set behind punched iron shutters—and a lateral array of smokestacks along the flanks. At the rear rise two enormous leather-and-brace wings whose ribs are forged iron struts that fold and lock with visible linkages; when deployed they act as aerodynamic fins and stabilizers. Brass filigree and engraved panels betray its coachwork origins, but the surface is scarred with soot, scorch marks, and welded repairs. Chains, grapnels, and spool-fed volley guns hang from subframes. For scale: a human stands barely waist-high against one tire and can stand beneath the wing so that the Magnus' rear would dwarf a standard doorway.

Made with the free LoreKeeper Monster Generator · D&D 5e-compatible stat block · Free to use at your table · Licence

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