I’ve got a point to make about something tricky in Pathfinder, but first let me give you three new statblocks for mythological creatures.

Nephilim

Giants descended from deities in ancient times, nephilims are all but extinct today. They resemble enormous, noble humanoids with feathery wings, handsome features, and a crown of bone horns growing from their heads. Masters of magical essences and the arts of war alike, nephilims are gracious in peace and fearsome in battle.

Nephilim Hero Creature 11

Rare, LG, Large, Fire, Humanoid, Nephilim

Perception +21; darkvision

Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan

Skills Acrobatics +17, Arcana +18, Athletics +23, Diplomacy +23, Medicine +21, Religion +21, Society +18

Str +6, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +3, Wis +4, Cha +4

Items godsblade

AC 32, Fort +22, Ref +20, Will +22; +1 status to all saves vs. magic

HP 230; Immunities fire, paralyzed, sleep; Weaknesses cold 10

Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 90 feet, DC 27

Attack of Opportunity [reaction] godsblade only.

Speed 40 feet, fly 140 feet, swim 40 feet

Melee [one-action] godsblade +24 (fire, reach 10 feet), Damage 2d10+12 slashing plus 2d6 fire

Melee [one-action] fist +24 (agile), Damage 2d10+12 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] foot +22 (reach 10 feet), Damage 2d10+10 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] horns +22 (agile, reach 10 feet), Damage 1d12+10 piercing

Arcane Innate Spells DC 29; 3rd locate (gems only); 1st detect alignment (evil only)

Call Primordial Essence [two-actions] The nephilim summons forth magical energy in one of two ways. The nephilim can’t use Call Primordial Essence again for 1d4 rounds.

Raging Flame (arcane, evocation, fire); The nephilim hurls a blast of flame in a 30-foot cone that deals 11d6 fire damage (DC 31 basic Reflex save).

Void Essence (arcane, necromancy); The nephilim draws away strength from enemies. Each creature within a 30-foot cone must succeed at a DC 31 Fortitude save or become enfeebled 1 for 1 minute (or enfeebled 2 on a critical failure).

Close Combat Fury [two-actions] The nephilim makes two fist Strikes and one horns Strike in any order.

Resurgence When the nephilim scores a critical hit with a Strike, they recharge Call Primordial Essence.


Nephilim Warden Creature 15

Rare, LG, Huge, Fire, Humanoid, Nephilim

Perception +29; darkvision

Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Sylvan

Skills Acrobatics +22, Arcana +24, Athletics +28, Diplomacy +29, Medicine +27, Religion +29, Society +26

Str +7, Dex +3, Con +6, Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +4

Items godsblade

AC 38, Fort +28, Ref +25, Will +28; +1 status to all saves vs. magic

HP 330; Immunities fire, paralyzed, sleep; Weaknesses cold 15

Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 90 feet, DC 33

Attack of Opportunity [reaction] godsblade only.

Noble Grace [reaction] Trigger The nephilim fails a saving throw. Effect The nephilim improves its result by one degree of success, turning a failure into a success or a critical failure into a normal failure. The nephilim can’t use this ability again for 1d4 rounds.

Speed 50 feet, fly 180 feet, swim 50 feet

Melee [one-action] godsblade +30 (fire, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 3d12+15 slashing plus 3d6 fire

Melee [one-action] fist +30 (agile, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 3d10+15 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] foot +28 (magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 3d10+13 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] horns +28 (agile, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 2d12+13 piercing

Arcane Innate Spells DC 35; 7th sunburst; 3rd locate (gems only); 1st detect alignment (evil only)

Call Primordial Essence [two-actions] As nephilim hero, but a 40-foot cone, DC 37, the raging flame deals 15d6 fire damage and the void essence causes enfeebled 2 (enfeebled 3 on a critical failure).

Close Combat Fury [two-actions] As nephilim hero.

Resurgence As nephilim hero.


Nephilim Sovereign Creature 20

Rare, LG, Gargantuan, Fire, Humanoid, Nephilim

Perception +36; darkvision

Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnomish, Jotun, Sylvan

Skills Acrobatics +29, Arcana +31, Athletics +35, Diplomacy +35, Medicine +36, Religion +36, Society +35

Str +9, Dex +5, Con +8, Int +7, Wis +8, Cha +5

Items godsblade

AC 46, Fort +37, Ref +34, Will +39; +1 status to all saves vs. magic

HP 450; Immunities fire, paralyzed, sleep; Weaknesses cold 20

Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 90 feet, DC 39

Attack of Opportunity [reaction] godsblade only.

Extra Reaction The nephilim gains 2 reactions at the start of its turn each round.

Noble Grace [reaction] As nephilim warden.

Speed 60 feet, fly 200 feet, swim 60 feet

Melee [one-action] godsblade +38 (fire, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 4d12+17 slashing plus 4d6 fire

Melee [one-action] fist +38 (agile, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d10+17 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] foot +36 (magical, reach 25 feet), Damage 4d10+15 bludgeoning

Melee [one-action] horns +36 (agile, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 2d12+15 piercing

Arcane Innate Spells DC 41; 10th sunburst; 3rd locate (gems only); 1st detect alignment (evil only)

Call Primordial Essence [two-actions] As nephilim hero, but a 50-foot cone, DC 44, the raging flame deals 20d6 fire damage and the void essence causes enfeebled 3 (enfeebled 4 on a critical failure).

Close Combat Fury [two-actions] As nephilim hero.

Resurgence As nephilim hero.

 

Okay, great, so what? I didn’t design these, I just stole them. These are the three gold dragon stat blocks from the Pathfinder Bestiary, renamed and reflavored a bit. No numbers have changed. (My changes, beyond names and flavor, were only these: I swapped the Humanoid and Nephilim traits for the Dragon trait; I deleted scent; I changed some physical damage types, and I gave it a weapon in place of its jaws attack and therefore had to add an Items line.)

Should you do this for a project you write? No, it looks lazy and someone's bound to notice when they can look in detail at the stat block. Should you do it in your home games? Absolutely! Taken in isolation, a creature’s stat blocks can stand in for any number of other creatures, particularly if you just present them a little differently. Because of less interconnectedness in numbers (linking Hit Dice to creature type, for example), this is much easier to do in Pathfinder Second Edition than it was in First Edition. There’s an entire hidden Bestiary inside your Bestiary, if you reflavor liberally!