General Rules: Monsters - Spark Guardian

Spark Guardian (from Complete Warrior)
Tiny Construct

Hit Dice: 2d10 (11 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 20 feet, fly 20 feet (good)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 size, +2 Dexterity, +4 natural); touch 14, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +1/-8 (see below)
Attack: Talons +5 melee (1d2-1, slashing, 20 x2) or sparks +5 ranged (2d6, electricity, 20 x2) (see below)

Full Attack: Talons +5 melee (1d2-1, slashing, 20 x2) or sparks +5 ranged (2d6, electricity, 20 x2) (see below)

Space/Reach: 2½ feet by 2½ feet/0 feet
Special Attacks: -

Special Qualities: Construct, damage reduction 5/-, darkvision 60 feet, fast healing 1, find master, low-light vision

Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +2, Will +0
Abilities: Str 8, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 14, Con -, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3 - 4 HD (Tiny); 5 - 6 HD (Small)

Spark guardians are mechanical birds that shoot sparks at anyone who threatens their master. These familiars are commonly used by the mages of the Collegium.

Spark guardians are the most basic type of guardian familiar. They usually circle above their master, shooting sparks out of their beaks at enemies. If it isn't undertaking a specific task for its master, a spark guardian flies nearby, prepared to defend its master with its spark attack.br/>

A spark guardian is the size of a songbird or an owl, but it weighs about 10 pounds.

Note: Because it is always a familiar, a spark guardian has the same base attack bonus as its master.

Combat
Spark guardians know that they are ill-equipped for melee combat. Instead they do their best to remain our of enemies' range, flinging their sparks at them from above.

Sparks (Su): The spark guardian's sparks have a range increment of 100 feet.

Find Master (Su): No matter the distance, as long as it is on the same plane, a spark guardian can find its master. A spark guardian applies its Dexterity modifier, not its Strength modifier, as a bonus on its melee attack roll.

Construct: Spark guardians are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects. Spark guardians cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired through the use of the Craft Construct feat or arcane magic. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality. Spark guardians are not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. They are immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless). Spark guardians are not at risk of death from massive damage but are immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less. Since it was never alive, a spark guardian cannot be raised or resurrected. Gauntlet guardians do not eat, sleep, or breathe.

Spark Guardians as Familiars
Spark guardians can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. To do so, the character must take the Improved Familiar feat, be at least a 7^th-level caster, and construct the spark guardian himself.

Spark guardians retain their own hit points if they are higher than one-half of their master's total. Their effective Hit Dice is their master's character level or the guardian familiar's Hit Dice, whichever is greater. They lack the improved evasion and empathic link abilities of most other familiars and do not confer the Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot) feat on their master. They respond to the master's verbal commands and they understand any language the master knew when she created the spark guardian. Because they are mindless constructs, they do not get smarter when their master attains higher level. Spark guardians never speak.

If a spark guardian dies, its master does not have to wait a year and a day to replace it (as is the case with normal familiars). However, a character cannot start to build a new guardian familiar if he or she already possesses one.

A spark guardian is built from wood, leather, and copper. The materials cost 2,000 shillings. The guardian's master may assemble the body or hire someone to do the job. Creating the body requires a DC 16 Profession: Engineering check. After the body is sculpted, the spark guardian is animated through an extended magical ritual that requires a specially prepared laboratory or workroom, similar to an alchemist's laboratory and costing 500 shillings to establish. If the creator is personally constructing the creature's body, the building and the ritual can be performed together.

A spark guardian with more than 2 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds 1,000 shillings to the market price, and the price increases by 5,000 shillings if the creature's size increases to Small, modifying the cost to create accordingly.

Caster Level: 7^th; Prerequisites: Craft Construct, lightning bolt, locate creature, minor creation; Market Price: 10,000 shillings; Cost to Create: 7,000 shillings and 400 experience points.

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