Planar Bestiary
Fiendish apparitions born in the cursed volcanic smoke and ash of Gehenna, solfatars can be flung into other dimensions via periodic eruptions by one of the mighty peaks dominating the plane.
Explosively expelled from their native dimension as a mass of molten rock, a solfatar is a force for destruction from the very moment of their creation. From the detonation and impact of one's arrival, a fiendish creature of ash and volcanic smoke materializes. In areas of mist and fog, a solfatar can blend in completely, becoming nearly invisible until they seem to materialize and strike. However, those with keen senses may smell a faint hint of sulfur in the air right before they attack.
Motive: Drown victims in ash, burn them with fire
Environment: Gehenna or worlds of the Material Plane near active volcanos, in groups of two or three raining down from on high as blobs of molten rock
Health: 18
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Immediate; short when flying
Modifications: Stealth as level 6 in misty, smoggy, or smoky areas
Combat: The solfatar attacks twice each round with their claws. If both claws hit the same target, in addition to taking damage twice, the target is grabbed until they escape with a successful Might task as their action. All a grabbed victim's physical tasks are hindered. Each round (including the round they were grabbed), superheated volcanic gasses seep into the victim's lungs, inflicting 4 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor). The target descends one step on the damage track each time they spend three sequential rounds grabbed by a solfatar.
The solfatar can fling themself a short distance at a target once every few rounds, resembling a lava bomb as they fly through the air. On a failed Speed defense task, a target takes 6 points of damage plus 6 points of damage from fire, and they are grabbed by the solfatar.
A solfatar is immune to fire and poison attacks but vulnerable to cold; every time they take 1 point of cold damage, they take 1 additional minor wound (1 point).
Interaction: A solfatar is an intelligent being, nearly as large as a human, that speaks telepathically or in the language of fiends. Any given individual could have some agenda other than simply asphyxiating and burning victims. Even so, dispatching prey also likely remains a favorite pastime.
Use: An adroit smith, keen to forge a magic weapon that may one day feature in the tales told by bards across the planes, offers a bounty for the capture of a live solfatar, in hopes of binding them to their smelter.
Solfatars are a variety of Lower Plane fiend known as yugoloths.
GM Intrusion: A character attempting to use a spell, special ability, or item that restores Pool points or removes a debilitating condition fails, as a horrific, burning odor (the "scent of Gehenna") wafts across them from the solfatar.