Monsters

In rare circumstances, a vampire that has recently consumed a significant quantity of blood gains the ability to breed successfully with living humanoids or monstrous humanoids, creating half-vampire offspring. Also, in the unusual case of a pregnant humanoid or monstrous humanoid who survives a vampire’s blood drain attack, the child may be born “tainted” by the attacker’s vampirism. Regardless of the origin, the children produced by such events are typically branded as outcasts, welcome neither among the living or the undead.

A half-vampire is drawn to other living creatures, and feels far more comfortable when living in towns or cities. Still, half-vampires know that they must keep their identities secret or else risk the hatred and violence of others.

Half-vampires are often physically attractive and persuasive. Their skin is pale, even ashen in color.

Unlike their undead forebears, half-vampires enjoy the freedom (or curse) of pursuing any alignment, though most tend toward neutrality or evil. Those rare few good-aligned half-vampires often feel haunted by their heritage, sometimes working to undo the evil of their ancestry.

SAMPLE HALF-VAMPIRE

Half-Vampire 1st-Level Gnoll Barbarian

The hyena-headed figure standing before you has a particularly feral appearance, its muscular hands clenched tightly around a greataxe.

Combat

This half-vampire uses stealth to approach its prey, then attacking savagely with its greataxe. It typically drains blood only from unconscious or otherwise helpless foes.

A half-vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Blood Drain (Ex): This half-vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. It can’t drain more points of Constitution in a single hour than its Constitution score. When a half-vampire drains a victim’s Constitution, it gains 5 temporary hit points, no matter how many points it drains. Temporary hit points gained in this way last for up to 1 hour.

Blood Dependency (Ex): If a half-vampire does not use its blood drain special attack against at least one living creature each day, it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. Each day after the first that the half-vampire does not drink blood directly from a living creature, the DC increases by 1 until it fails the save and becomes fatigued. After that, it must make a DC 20 Fortitude save each week (with the DC increasing by 1 each week thereafter) that it does not use its blood drain or become exhausted.

The fatigue or exhaustion caused by blood dependency cannot be eliminated by rest (though magic can offset the condition until the vampire fails another save). Using its blood drain ability eliminates a half-vampire’s fatigue immediately, or reduces exhaustion to fatigue.

Fast Healing (Ex): A half-vampire heals 1 point of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point but less than half its full normal hit points. As long as the vampire has more than half its full normal hit points, its fast healing does not function (but other forms of healing still function normally).

Rage (Ex): Once per day, a half-vampire gnoll barbarian can enter a state of fierce rage that lasts for 6 rounds. The following changes last as long as it rages: hp 24; AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 13; Grp ++5/+7; Atk or Full Atk +7 melee (1d12+7 greataxe) or +7 (1d6+5 slam); SV Fort +8; Str 21, Con 17. Uncanny Dodge (Ex): This half-vampire gnoll barbarian retains its Dexterity bonus to AC even when flat-footed or targeted by an unseen foe (it still loses its Dexterity bonus if paralyzed or otherwise immobile).

Skills: This half-vampire gnoll barbarian has a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks (already calculated into the statistics above).

Possessions: +2 leather armor, greataxe.

CREATING A HALF-VAMPIRE

A half-vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Armor Class: A half-vampire’s natural armor bonus improves by 2.

Attack: A half-vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a slam attack if it didn’t already have one. If the base creature can use weapons, the half-vampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A half-vampire fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has one). A half-vampire armed with a weapon uses its slam or a weapon, as it desires. A half-vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Full Attack: A half-vampire fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has one). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a slam or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.

Damage: A half-vampire has a slam attack. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table below according to the half-vampire’s size. Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value from the table below, whichever is better.

Special Attacks: A half-vampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains one of those described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 half-vampire’s HD + half-vampire’s Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Blood Drain (Ex): Some half-vampires can suck blood from a living victim with their fangs by making a successful grapple check. If the half-vampire pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. A half-vampire can’t drain more points of Constitution in a single hour than its Constitution score. When a half-vampire drains a victim’s Constitution, it gains 5 temporary hit points, no matter how many points it drains. Temporary hit points gained in this way last for up to 1 hour. If a half-vampire has this ability, it also gains the blood dependency special quality described below.

Charm Gaze (Su): Some half-vampires can charm humanoid or monstrous humanoid opponents just by looking into their eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the half-vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at the half-vampire are not affected. Anyone the half-vampire targets must make a successful Will save or fall under the half-vampire’s influence as though affected by a charm monster spell (caster level equal to HD). Any creature that successfully saves against a half-vampire’s charm gaze cannot be affected by that halfvampire’s charm gaze for 24 hours. The ability has a range of 30 feet.

Children of the Night (Su): Some half-vampires can command the lesser creatures of the world. Once per day, a half-vampire that has this special attack can call forth 1d4 rat swarms, 1d3 bat swarms, or a pack of 1d6 wolves as a standard action. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this ability might summon other creatures of equivalent power.) These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the half-vampire for up to 1 hour.

Special Qualities: A half-vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains those described below.

Blood Dependency (Ex): If a half-vampire does not use its blood drain special attack against at least one living creature each day, it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. Each day after the first that the half-vampire does not drink blood directly from a living creature, the DC increases by 1 until it fails the save and becomes fatigued. After that, it must make a DC 20 Fortitude save each week (with the DC increasing by 1 each week thereafter) that it does not use its blood drain or become exhausted.

The fatigue or exhaustion caused by blood dependency cannot be eliminated by rest (though magic can offset the condition until the vampire fails another save). Using its blood drain ability eliminates a half-vampire’s fatigue immediately, or reduces exhaustion to fatigue.

Only half-vampires with the blood drain special attack (see above) gain this special quality.

Damage Reduction (Su): A half-vampire has damage reduction 5/silver or magic.

Fast Healing (Ex): A half-vampire heals 1 point of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point but less than half its full normal hit points. As long as the vampire has more than half its full normal hit points, its fast healing does not function (but other forms of healing still function normally).

Resistances (Ex): A half-vampire has resistance to cold 5 and electricity 5.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +2, Cha +2.

Skills: Half-vampires have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks. Otherwise, same as the base creature.

Feats: A half-vampire gains Improved Initiative, if the base creature doesn’t already have that feat.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.

Organization: Solitary.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1.

Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +2.

A hooded pupil is a humanoid or a giant who was lured by the promises of necromancy, envious of the power the necromancer wields and the unending existence the vampire enjoys, but yet are not ready to relinquish life.

Hooded pupils usually are found serving an “apprenticeship” with a more powerful intelligent undead. The undead master sometimes has need for living servants to advance its ends in societies of the living. On the other hand, the living pupil sees firsthand what it means to fully embrace the darkness.

Hooded pupils are usually only created when a powerful undead bequeaths a secret of necromancy to one who accepts its truth. As testament to their apprenticeship, hooded pupils are most often dressed in some sort of ominous hooded mantle.

SAMPLE HOODED PUPIL

This example uses an ettin as the base creature.

Hooded Pupil Ettin

A smell like an open grave heralds this hulking figure. It is draped in ominous black folds, its features lost beneath a night-dark hood wide enough to conceal more than a single head.

COMBAT

A hooded pupil ettin relishes its heightened abilities in combat, usually beginning any conflict with its clutch of Orcus ability. Once threats are dealt with, it attempts to drink the blood of any smaller enemy it can grapple.

Clutch of Orcus (Sp): Once per day, a hooded pupil can use the spell clutch of Orcus (see page 63). Caster level 10th. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Drink Blood (Su): Once per day, a hooded pupil ettin can suck blood from a living victim who has damage that is yet unhealed (a hooded pupil ettin doesn’t have exceptionally sharp teeth, so it must sip from wounds). It does so by making a successful grapple check. Against a pinned or helpless foe, it drinks blood, dealing 2 points of Constitution damage.

Spider Climb (Su): A hooded pupil ettin can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.

Superior Two-Weapon Fighting (Ex): A hooded pupil ettin fights with a morningstar or javelin in each hand. Because each of its two heads controls an arm, the ettin does not take a penalty on attack rolls or damage rolls for attacking with two weapons.

Skills: An ettin’s two heads give it a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, and Search checks. As a hooded pupil, the creature also gains an additional +2 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.

CREATING A HOODED PUPIL

A hooded pupil uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. /p>

Armor Class: The outermost layers of the hooded pupil’s skin thickens into an all-encompassing yellow callus, granting the base creature an improvement of +2 to its natural armor bonus.

Special Attacks: A hooded pupil retains all the base creature’s special attacks and gains those described below.

Clutch of Orcus (Sp): Once per day, a hooded pupil can use the spell clutch of Orcus (see page 63). Caster level 10th. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Drink Blood (Su): Once per day, a hooded pupil can suck blood from a living victim who has damage that is yet unhealed (the hooded pupil doesn’t have exceptionally sharp teeth, unless the base creature has a bite attack, so it must sip from wounds). It does so by making a successful grapple check (it usually prefers to use this ability on foes that are already helpless). Against a pinned or helpless foe, it drinks blood, dealing 2 points of Constitution damage.

Special Qualities: A hooded pupil retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.

Resistance to Cold (Ex): Hooded pupils gain resistance to cold 5.

Spider Climb (Su): Hooded pupils can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.

Abilities: A hooded pupil gains a taste of unholy strength and mental vigor. Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Wis +2, Cha +2.

Skills: Hooded pupils have a +2 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.

Feats: Hooded pupils gain Alertness, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Reflexes, if the base creature meets the prerequisites and it doesn’t already have these feats.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.

Challenge Rating: +1.

Alignment: Always evil (any).

Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +4.

Tramping out of the night is a dreadful giant corpse. For all that its eyes are lifeless and devoid of mind, the creature’s gaze still promises swift death to any that it can catch and crush in its mighty grip.

Any undead army would be happy to recruit a hulking corpse. Its raw power combined with its mindless devotion to whatever master is powerful enough to command it ensures a swift victory over lesser foes. Of course, few can command a hulking corpse. Thus, these creatures are often found wandering the night, seeking only to crush, destroy, and rend.

COMBAT

A hulking corpse never employs subtlety or strategy. It bulls in, attempting to grab and rend its foes until they cease moving.

A hulking corpse normally attacks using its Power Attack feat, taking a –5 penalty on its attack rolls and gaining a +5 bonus on damage rolls.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a hulking corpse must hit with a claw attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Mindless (Ex): Hulking corpses are mindless, having no Intelligence score, so they do not have any skills. A hulking corpse is immune to all mind-affecting spells and abilities.

Rend (Ex): A hulking corpse that wins a grapple check after a successful claw attack establishes a hold, latching onto the opponent’s body and tearing the flesh. This attack deals an extra 3d6+12 points of damage.

Mummies are undead creatures, embalmed using ancient necromantic lore. Often set as guardians for sacred sites, mummies defend their charges until destroyed. Should a mummy be unable to defend its charge for any reason, it becomes an unreasoning spirit of vengeance, hunting those who desecrated the site it was tasked to defend.

A mummy appears withered and desiccated, its features hidden beneath centuries-old funereal wrappings. It moves with a slow, shambling gait and groans with the weight of the ages. Symbols of the deity it once served often mark these horrid creatures. While other undead stink of carrion, the herbs and powders used to create a mummy give off a sharp, pungent odor, like that of a spice cabinet.

SAMPLE MUMMIFIED CREATURE

This example uses an ogre as the base creature.

Combat

Despair (Su): At the mere sight of a mummified ogre, the viewer must make a DC 12 Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by that mummified ogre’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease—slam, Fortitude DC 16, incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot persists until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described in the template description below. An afflicted creature that dies shrivels away into dust that blows away into nothing at the first wind.

CREATING A MUMMIFIED CREATURE

A mummified creature speaks all the languages it spoke in life, and it has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead, and it gains the augmented subtype. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12.

Speed: A mummified creature’s land speed decreases by 10 feet (to a minimum of 10 feet). The speeds for other movement modes are unchanged.

AC: A mummified creature’s natural armor bonus is +10 or the base creature’s natural armor bonus, whichever is higher.

Attack: A mummified creature retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a slam attack if it didn’t already have one. If the base creature can use weapons, the mummified creature retains this ability. A mummified creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A mummified creature fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A mummified creature armed with a weapon uses its slam or a weapon, as it desires.

Damage: A mummified creature has a slam attack. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table below according to the creature’s size.

A mummified creature can infect a foe with mummy rot (see below) with all of its natural weapons.

Full Attack: A mummified creature fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a slam or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.

Special Attacks: A mummified creature gains the two special attacks described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 mummified creature’s HD + mummified creature’s Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Despair (Su): At the mere sight of a mummified creature, the viewer must make a successful Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that target cannot be affected again by that mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours.

Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease— natural weapon, Fortitude DC as above, incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha.

Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot persists until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below.

Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with mummy rot must make a DC 20 caster level check, or else the spell has no effect on the afflicted character.

To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot can be magically cured as any normal disease.

An afflicted creature that dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand that blows away into nothing at the first wind.

Special Qualities: A mummified creature gains the special qualities described below.

Damage Reduction (Ex): A mummified creature’s undead body is tough, giving it damage reduction 5/—.

Vulnerability to Fire (Ex): A mummified creature takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from fire attacks.

Abilities: A mummified creature’s ability scores are modified as follows: Str +8, Int –4 (minimum 1), Wis +4, Cha +4. As an undead creature, a mummified creature has no Constitution score.

Climate/Terrain: Any.

Organization: Solitary, warden squad (2–4), or guardian detail (6–10).

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +3.

Alignment: Always lawful evil.

Level Adjustment: +4.

MUMMIFIED CHARACTERS

The process of becoming a mummy is usually involuntary, but expressing the wish to become a mummy to the proper priests (and paying the proper fees) can convince them to bring you back to life as a mummy—especially if some of your friends make sure the priests do what you paid them to do. The mummy retains all class abilities it had in life, provided that its new ability scores still allow it to use them (a wizard loses access to some spell levels, for instance). A loss of Intelligence does not retroactively remove skill points from a mummified creature.

A mummified character has the favored class it had in life, unless it is unable to continue in that class because of a change in ability score or alignment. In such a case, fighter becomes its favored class.

The wavering silhouette of a humanoid materializes. Its reaching, half-seen hand threatens to snag your soul.

A murk is an incorporeal, free-roaming blot of undead essence with a nugget of sentience. It exists to spread gloom and, when possible, drain life energy.

Most murks are no more than 6 feet tall. They cannot speak intelligibly.

COMBAT

Murks haunt tombs, crypts, cemeteries, and other places where undead roam.

Confer Negative Level (Su): Any humanoid reduced to Wisdom 0 by a murk (see Wisdom damage, below) gains one negative level. The DC is 12 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. When a murk bestows a negative level on a victim, it gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit). These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

A murk that bestows a negative level on a 1 HD creature kills the creature, which becomes a murk under the control of its killer within 1d4 rounds.

Inescapable Craving: A murk has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for Wisdom and life force, which it satisfies by using its Wisdom damage and confer negative level abilities.

Wisdom Damage (Su): The touch of a murk deals 1d6 points of Wisdom damage to a living foe.

A necromental is the undead remnant of an elemental creature. It retains only a fraction of the self-awareness that the elemental had in life, but it becomes twisted and evil.

SAMPLE NECROMENTAL

This example uses a Large earth elemental as the base

creature.

Large Earth Necromental

This walking pile of crumbling earth and stone radiates a palpable aura of death.

Combat

Create Spawn (Su): An elemental slain by a necromental’s energy drain attack (see below) rises as a necromental 1d4 days after death.

Earth Glide (Ex): An earth necromental can glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing earth necromental flings the creature back 30 feet, stunning it for 1 round unless it makes a DC 15 Fortitude save.

Earth Mastery (Ex): An earth necromental gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls if both it and its foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, the necromental takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls and damage rolls. (These modifiers are not already calculated into the statistics above.)

Elemental Traits: An earth necromental has immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, and stunning. It is not subject to critical hits or flanking. It cannot be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected (though a limited wish,wish,miracle, or true resurrection spell can restore life).

Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by an earth necromental’s natural weapon attack gain one negative level. An earth necromental can use its energy drain ability once per round. The save to remove the negative level 24 hours later has a DC of 14. When an earth necromental bestows a negative level on a victim, it gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit). These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

Fast Healing (Ex): An earth necromental heals 3 points of damage each round as long as it has at least 1 hit point and is within 5 feet of earth, stone, or metal.

Push (Ex): An earth necromental can start a bull rush maneuver without provoking attacks of opportunity. The combat modifiers given in Earth Mastery, above, also apply to the necromental’s opposed Strength checks.

CREATING A NECROMENTAL

“Necromental” is an acquired template that can be added to any elemental (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A necromental uses all the base creature’s statistics, attacks, and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The base creature’s type changes to undead, and it gains the augmented subtype. It retains any other subtypes as well, except for alignment subtypes (such as good). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice from class levels (to a minimum of 1), and raise remaining Hit Dice to d12s.

Armor Class: The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by 2.

Special Attacks: A necromental retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below.

Create Spawn (Su): An elemental slain by a necromental’s energy drain attack rises as a necromental 1d4 days after death.

Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a necromental’s natural weapon attack gain one negative level. A necromental can use its energy drain ability once per round, regardless of the number of natural weapon attacks the necromental possesses. The save DC to remove the negative level 24 hours later is 10 + 1/2 the necromental’s HD. When a necromental bestows a negative level on a victim, it gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit). These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

Special Qualities: A necromental retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the one described below.

Fast Healing (Ex): A necromental heals 3 points of damage each round as long as it has at least 1 hit point and is within 5 feet of some form of its element (air for necromentals with the air subtype; earth, stone, or metal for necromentals with the earth subtype; flame for necromentals with the fire subtype; or water for necromentals with the water subtype).

Abilities: A necromental has no Constitution score. Its Intelligence changes to 1, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Feats: A necromental gains Great Fortitude as a bonus feat.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1.

Alignment: Always neutral evil.

Advancement: Same as base creature (or — if the base creature advances by character class).

Level Adjustment:—.

Necropolitans are humanoids who renounce life and embrace undeath in a special ritual called the Ritual of Crucimigration (see below).

A necropolitan’s skin is dry, withered, and powdery. Its eyes are as pale as driven snow, and as lifeless. It continues to dress in the fashion it preferred while living. Necropolitans are considered citizens of the little-known city of Nocturnus, but if their nature is revealed elsewhere, they are feared and hunted like common monsters.

SAMPLE NECROPOLITAN

This example uses a 5th-level human wizard as the base creature.

Necropolitan, 5th-Level Human Wizard

This withered human has eyes so blue they are more accurately described as white, as if drained of color and life. The figure wears severe black clothing and clutches a thin wand in one gnarled hand.

Combat

This necropolitan acts much like a typical wizard, though it focuses its attacks on any character prominently displaying a holy symbol or otherwise appearing to be a cleric. It typically has mage armor active (included in statistics above) whenever it anticipates combat.

Resist Control (Ex): Necropolitans have a +2 profane bonus on their Will saving throws to resist the effect of a control undead spell.

Unnatural Resilience (Ex): Necropolitans automatically heal hit point damage and ability damage at the same rate as a living creature. The Heal skill has no effect on necropolitans; however, negative energy (such as an inflict spell) heals them.

Wizard Spells Prepared (caster level 5th): 0—daze (DC 13), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 13), touch of fatigue (+1 melee touch; DC 13); 1st—color spray (DC 14), expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic missile; 2nd—false life, flaming sphere (DC 15), web (DC 15); 3rd—deep slumber (DC 16), lightning bolt (DC 16).

Possessions: ring of protection +1, wand of hold person (20 charges), brooch of shielding (60 points remaining), arcane scroll of dispel magic, arcane scroll of fly, 20 pp.

CREATING A NECROPOLITAN

“Necropolitan” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A necropolitan speaks any languages it knew in life, and it has all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead, and it gains the augmented subtype. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Increase to d12.

Special Qualities: A necropolitan retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.

Resist Control (Ex): Necropolitans have a +2 profane bonus on their Will saving throws to resist the effect of a control undead spell.

Turn Resistance (Ex): A necropolitan has +2 turn resistance.

Unnatural Resilience (Ex): Necropolitans automatically heal hit point damage and ability damage at the same rate as a living creature. The Heal skill has no effect on necropolitans; however, negative energy (such as an inflict spell) heals them.

Abilities: Same as the base creature, except that as undead creatures, necropolitans have no Constitution score.

Advancement: By character class.

Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature. (Becoming a necropolitan involves losing a level—see Ritual of Crucimigration, below—so the advantages of the undead type cancel out what would other wise be a larger adjustment.)

Ritual of Crucimigration

Any living humanoid or monstrous humanoid can petition for consideration to undergo the Ritual of Crucimigration, which (if successful) enables the creature to become a necropolitan. The petition for consideration requires a fee of 3,000 gp and a written plea.

The Ritual: The first part of the ritual requires the placement of the petitioner on a standing pole. Cursed nails are used to affix the petitioner, and then the pole is lifted into place. The resultant excruciating pain that shoots like molten metal through the petitioner’sfingers and up the arms is not what finally ends the petitioner’s mortal life, however, since death usually comes from asphyxiation and heart failure. As petitioners feel death’s chill enter their bodies, many have second thoughts, but it is far too late to go back—the cursed nails and chanting of the ritual ensures that the Crucimigration is completed.

The ceremony that lasts for 24 hours—the usual time it takes for the petitioner to perish. During this period, two or three zombie servitors keep up a chant initiated by the ritual leader when the petitioner is first placed into position. Upon hearing the petitioner’s last breath, the ritual leader calls forth the names of evil powers and gods to forge a link with the Negative Energy Plane, and then impales the petitioner. Dying, the petitioner is reborn as a necropolitan, dead but animate.

Game Effect: Immediately upon opening its undead eyes, a new necropolitan loses a level as if the spell raise dead had been used on it and it was alive instead of animate. (If the subject has no levels to lose, it is simply destroyed.) It then also loses an additional 1,000 XP. If the loss of this much XP forces the necropolitan to lose another level, then it loses another level. No spell, not even restoration, can restore this lost XP. Petitioners may not spend experience points they don’t have—if the level loss and the 1,000 XP cost drains a creature to 0 XP or less, it is destroyed, turned to dust, and can never be raised or revived again using any means. If the ritual is interrupted before it is completed, the petitioner is merely dead.

Soft and putrescent, this creature’s form is wrapped in tight circles of cloth, though bloated, swollen tissue still seeps through. The odor of this creature goes beyond the stink of carrion; the putrefaction of its body is like a physical force that moves before it.

Plague blights are animated corpses of humanoids who died from plague or rot. In undeath, they seek to putrefy all that is pure. They are wily and may attempt to trick their victims into allowing themselves get close enough to touch.

Plague blights speak whatever languages they spoke before being claimed by plague, plus Common.

COMBAT

In melee combat, the stench of a plague blight sickens its opponents. Far worse is its touch, which brings on a terrible wasting disease in its victims, rotting the flesh in seconds and sending tendrils of dead flesh ever inward toward the heart.

A plague blight’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned for purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Gangrenous Stench (Ex): Whenever a plague blight desires, it causes its horrible odor of rot to emanate from the folds of its wrappings. All living creatures within 10 feet of the plague blight must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of Strength damage and become nauseated. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Gangrenous Touch (Su): Supernatural disease (accelerated)—slam, Fortitude DC 15, incubation period instant; damage 1d4 Con. Unlike normal diseases (see Disease, page 292 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide), gangrenous touch requires a saving throw every round. It visibly progresses over a period of seconds, turning the afflicted area putrescent and gangrenous. The rot continues until the victim makes two successful saving throws in a row, the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies), or the victim receives a remove disease spell or similar treatment. Once it is infected or it successfully saves, a creature can’t be infected by gangrenous touch again for 24 hours.

The body of a victim claimed by gangrenous touch sloughs into a brittle, stinking mass of putrescent ruin that molders to nothing over the course of 24 hours, unless remove disease is cast on the remains within that time.

Resistant to Blows (Ex): Physical attacks deal only half damage to a plague blight. Apply this effect before damage reduction.

Two fiery green eyes glare from a shrouded, halfreal visage of this vaguely humanoid shade. Either it is dressed in robes, or its ectoplasmic flesh is naturally loose and flowing. Dark symbols hang in the air just above and about its form, free-standing glyphs that viscerally demonstrate the creature’s anathema to all things divine.

Quells are incorporeal creatures of malevolence and the night. They despise all living things, as well as the light that nurtures them, but the urge that truly drives them is their hatred of those who serve deities.

If they could, quells would commit deicide, though of course such actions are far beyond a quell’s power. However, while a quell cannot directly affect a deity, it does have a power over the connection between a deity and its followers.

Because of their powers, quells are sought out by bands of more powerful undead or necromancers.

A quell is about as tall as a human, and is weightless.

Quells speak Common and Infernal.

COMBAT

Quells are poor combatants. Their power lies in their ability to break connections between clerics and their deities.

Coupled Intercession (Su): Whenever a quell takes a standard action to aid another quell in an intercession attempt, the effective cleric level of the quell increases by 1. Several quells could all take standard actions to aid a single quell’s intercession attempt, each increasing the effective cleric level of the intercession attempt.

Daylight Powerlessness (Ex): Quells are utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flee from it.

Intercession (Su): A quell can cut divine spellcasters off from their source of power. To do so, the quell makes a turning check as if it were a cleric of a level equal to the quell’s Hit Dice (5th level). The result indicates the highest-level divine spellcasters the quell can cut off from their deity. The turning damage result indicates the maximum total Hit Dice of divine spellcasters within 60 feet the ability can affect. The quell’s intercession affects the closest divine spellcasters it can affect first. Normally, affected divine spellcasters cannot turn undead or cast divine spells for 1 minute; however, if the quell has twice as many HD as the spellcaster has divine levels, the divine spellcaster loses the ability to cast divine spells for 24 hours. If the quell attacks an affected divine spellcaster in any way, or the affected spellcaster receives an atonement spell, the intercession ends. The quell’s allies and other creatures can attack the divine spellcaster without breaking the intercession. A quell can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + its Charisma modifier (five times for a typical creature).

An empty set of clothing, dingy and stained, flings itself forward, seemingly eager to reach you.

A raiment is the clothing of a victim of some atrocious crime, animated by the spirit of the vengeful victim, mindlessly intent on using its only remaining tool to cause as much pain and suffering as its long-missing flesh felt in death.

The clothing sometimes retains other personal belongings of its former owners as well. Different raiments may appear in different styles of dress, but most require a sufficient mass of clothing to give them a shape and the ability to wrap their sleeves around the necks of prospective victims.

A raiment weighs 10 to 20 pounds and does not speak.

COMBAT

A raiment sometimes lies quiescent, like a pile of cast-off rags, attacking only when its victims are close enough to surprise.

Constrict (Ex): A raiment deals 1d2+3 points of damage with a successful grapple check against a Large or smaller creature, in addition to the normal 1d2+3 points of damage for its regular attack. Because it wraps itself around its victim’s neck, a creature in the raiment’s grasp cannot speak or cast spells that have verbal components.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a raiment must hit a Large or smaller opponent with a coat sleeve attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. A raiment is hard to grapple because of its body configuration, so it gains a +4 bonus on its grapple checks (already figured into the statistics above). If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.

Mindless (Ex): A raiment is mindless, so it has no Intelligence score and no feats or skills. A raiment is immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.

Revived fossils are the remains of animals or monsters that were preserved in a petrified state. Fossils are found encased in stone or other geological deposits, but revived fossils are the freed and animated remains of the dead. They are mindless automatons that obey the orders of their evil masters.

A revived fossil does only what it is ordered to do. It can draw no conclusions of its own and takes no initiative. Because of this limitation, its instructions must always be simple, such as “Kill anyone who walks down this road.” A revived fossil attacks until destroyed, for that is what it was created to do.

Revived fossils cannot be created with the animate dead spell, but instead are created through special necromantic rituals that vary depending on the fossil to be revived.

SAMPLE REVIVED FOSSIL

This example uses a megaraptor as the base creature.

Revived Fossil Megaraptor

A vicious-looking creature of petrified bones, still partially imprisoned in stone, lumbers forward.

Combat

A revived fossil megaraptor uses its talons and foreclaws to shred prey.

CREATING A REVIVED FOSSIL

“Revived fossil” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A revived fossil has all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. It retains any subtype except for alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as goblinoid or reptilian). It also gains the augmented subtype.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice gained from experience and raise remaining Hit Dice to d12s.

Speed: Winged revived fossils can’t use their wings to fly. If the base creature flew magically, so can the revived fossil.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus changes to a number based on the revived fossil’s size:

Attacks: A revived fossil retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature, except for attacks that can’t work without flesh (such as a mind flayer’s tentacle attacks). A creature with hands gains one claw attack per hand; a revived fossil can strike with each of its claw attacks at its full attack bonus. A revived fossil’s base attack bonus is equal to 1/2 its Hit Dice.

Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A claw attack deals damage depending on the revived fossil’s size. (If the base creature already had claw or talon attacks, use whichever damage value is higher.)

Special Attacks: A revived fossil retains none of the base creature’s special attacks.

Special Qualities: A revived fossil loses most special qualities of the base creature, though it retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A revived fossil also gains the following special qualities.

Bonus Hit Points: Because its body is a mass of stone, a revived fossil is hard to destroy. It gains bonus hit points based on size, as shown on the following table.

Damage Reduction 10/Adamantine: Revived fossils are similar to animated stone statues.

Immunity to Cold (Ex): Revived fossils are not affected by cold.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.

Abilities: A revived fossil’s Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Skills: A revived fossil has no skills.

Feats: A revived fossil loses all feats of the base creature but gains Combat Reflexes.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.

Organization: Any.

Challenge Rating: Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always neutral evil.

Advancement: As base creature (or — if the base creature advances by character class).

Level Adjustment:—.

A knot of flaccidly flapping membranes kites through the air, now drifting with the currents, now stooping swiftly through the air toward you.

Skin kites are undead creatures made up of the stolen skin of past victims. They feed on the skin of living beings, replenishing their own constantly rotting skin, as well as using new skin as spawning material for new skin kites.

No two skin kites appear the same. They display a range of different colors, depending on the creatures from which they were harvested. Many skin kites have rotting clumps of hair or fur, unintended additional trophies from past victims.

A skin kite has no body, only a wingspan, which is about 5 feet. It weighs about 5 pounds.

COMBAT

A skin kite attacks by landing on a victim and melding a portion of its undead membrane with its victim’s skin.

Diet Dependent: A skin kite is diet dependent (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) upon skin, which it acquires by using its steal skin ability.

Launch Kite (Ex): When a skin kite has absorbed 4 points of Charisma (through its steal skin ability; see below), it attempts to retreat to a safe place where it can take a full-round action to spawn a new skin kite with the stolen skin. A freshly launched skin kite has a number of hit points equal to the original’s current total (its full normal hit points are equal to the original’s full normal total, even if its current hit points are lower than that).

Meld (Ex): If a skin kite hits a Small or larger creature with a melee touch attack, it melds with the opponent’s body. An attached skin kite is effectively grappling its prey. The skin kite loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, but while melded, it is hard to remove. Skin kites have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (figured into the statistics above).

A melded skin kite can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove a melded skin kite by grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the skin kite, which forcefully peels the creature off and also deals 1d6 points of damage.

Steal Skin (Ex): A skin kite steals portions of its foe’s skin, absorbing them directly into itself, dealing 1d4 points of Charisma damage in each round when it remains melded. Once it has dealt 4 points of Charisma damage, it detaches and flies off to launch a kite. If its victim reaches Charisma 0 before a skin kite has dealt 4 points of Charisma damage, the skin kite unmelds and seeks a new target.

A faint whirring sound and the stench of death precedes a great shape scudding through the air. The creature has a humanoid form with the skull of a long-toothed bull. Its upper arms are great wings, and its lower legs end in cruel, clawed talons. No skin or fur can be seen beneath the dingy gray funerary wrappings that cover the entire creature like a mummy.

Skirrs are predators that hunt the edges of necropolises, great expanses of deadly swamps, deserts, or other places where victims might be found alone, hurt, and pressed by dangers from directions other than the sky. That’s when skirrs swoop in to attack.

Skirrs measure, wingtip-to-wingtip, 50 feet or more, and weigh about 20,000 pounds.

Skirrs know no languages.

COMBAT

Skirrs are predators that scavenge the bodies of those killed by sudden stops. Their favored tactic is to swoop down, grab a victim, ascend to a height of at least 200 feet, and then drop the victim in a deadly fall.

Diet Dependent: A skirr is diet dependent (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) upon flesh, which it devours from the dead bodies of its victims.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a skirr must hit a Large or smaller opponent with a bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and usually flies upward as quickly as possible, intent on dropping its victim from a great height.

The horrible creature walking into view is a mass of free-roaming intestines, flaccid organs, and a few odd rib bones. Dragging behind it like a dead weight is a lolling, maggot-ridden humanoid head.

A skulking cyst is disgorged from the rotting corpse of a living creature, born of a necrotic cyst that eventually kills its host (see the necrotic cyst spell, page 68).

A skulking cyst prefers shadows and dark corners, only revealing the horror of its form when it strikes lone victims from hiding. Though often cloaked in the detritus of a previous victim, the skulking cyst’s true “heart” is a 1-foot-diameter spherical sac that contains fluid and semisolid necrotic flesh, which slowly undulates as if in a mockery of breath.

A skulking cyst does not speak, but it understands Common and the languages its fleshy carapace originally spoke in life.

COMBAT

A creature of shadows, a skulking cyst prefers to launch attacks on lone victims from dark ceilings and sewer grates.

Attach (Ex): If a skulking cyst hits with an intestine, it latches onto the opponent’s body. An attached skulking cyst has an AC of 15.

Blood Drain (Ex): A skulking cyst drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage in each round it remains attached. Once it has drained 7 points of Constitution, it uses its necrotic cyst spell-like ability. After that, it drops off and attempts to skitter away into a shadowed corner or other hidden location.

Inescapable Craving: A skulking cyst has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for blood, which it satisfies by using its blood drain ability.

Spell Like Abilities: 3/day—darkness; 1/day— necrotic cyst (see page 68). Caster level 3rd.

Skills: A skulking cyst has a +8 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently (already calculated into the statistics above).

A slender, wiry corpse moves toward you, supernatural agility obvious in its motions. Its leathery, desiccated flesh ripples across its body, tolerant of the creature’s quick movements despite being lifeless parchment.

Slaughter wights are undead that have been specially touched by dark gods, endowing them with a vicious hatred of life that goes beyond that of simple walking dead. A slaughter wight’s appearance is an exaggerated and horrifying effigy of the form it had in life.

Though sometimes found lurking in barrows, more often slaughter wights skulk through the nighttime streets of large cities seeking to fulfill an order or contract on a living human target. After all, slaughter wights make exceptional assassins.

A slaughter wight is about the height and weight of a human.

Slaughter wights speak Common.

COMBAT

Slaughter wights are deadly combatants, not only because of their supernaturally strong blows and ability to drain life from their foes, but also because of their special knowledge that allows them to deal and master death (see feats).

A slaughter wight normally attacks using its Power Attack feat, taking a –5 penalty on its attack rolls and gaining a +5 bonus on damage rolls.

Augmented Critical (Ex): A slaughter wight is so practiced at dealing death that it has learned the trick of better aiming its blows to deal maximum damage. Coupled with its Improved Critical feat, a slaughter wight’s threat range for its slam attack is 17–20.

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a slaughter wight becomes a normal wight in 1d4 rounds. Spawn created by a slaughter wight are under its command and remain enslaved until their master’s destruction. They have the statistics of normal wights (see Monster Manual, page 255 ) and do not retain any of the abilities they had in life.

Sometimes a newly created spawn becomes a slaughter wight instead of a mere wight, though the wiles of the dark gods determine such instances (that is, the DM decides when this occurs).

Energy Drain (Su): A living creature hit by a slaughter wight’s slam attack gains one negative level. Removing the negative level requires a DC 21 Fortitude save. The save DC is Charisma-based. When a slaughter wight bestows a negative level on a victim, it gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit). These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

Inescapable Craving: A slaughter wight has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for life force, which it satisfies by using its energy drain attack.

This pale creature resembles a human child with slug-white skin. Its black eyes are too knowing for their size, and its too-wide mouth is home to rot and ruin.

Slaymates are undead creatures given a semblance of life when a guardian’s betrayal, either outright or through negligence, leads to death. A slaymate’s appearance is a weird and twisted reflection of the form it had in life.

Slaymates are highly prized by necromancers, and thus are rarely encountered alone, but instead are found in the presence of evil spellcasters and others who dabble in necromancy. Many a slaymate can be found riding, papoose style, on the back of a necromancer who values the slaymate’s special abilities.

A slaymate is about the height and weight of an eight-year-old human child.

Slaymates speak Common.

COMBAT

Slaymates, when forced to fight, have a disease-laden bite.

Pale Aura (Su): A slaymate produces an invisible aura in a 10-foot radius around itself. Any creature within the aura that uses a metamagic feat on a spell from the school of necromancy can prepare or use the spell as if it took up a spell slot one level lower than what the metamagic necromancy spell would normally require.

For instance, if a caster wants to produce an enlarged fear spell, the enlargement would normally require the spellcaster to prepare the spell (or cast it on the fly) as if it were one level higher than it actually is. But, in the radius of a slaymate’s pale aura, the caster prepares an enlarged fear spell as if the spell were being cast normally.

Pale Wasting (Su): Supernatural disease—bite, Fortitude DC 14, incubation period 1 day; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Str. The save DC is Charisma-based.

A smiling, brightly clothed figure stands before you.

In life, a spectral lyrist used its powers of performance and persuasion to further the cause of evil and strife, whether by urging listeners to commit violence or simply luring the innocent to their deaths. Cursed to forever walk the earth, it blames those still alive for its undead state and seeks to commit even greater evils against them.

A spectral lyrist can appear as any medium humanoid, and it doesn’t share the insubstantial or diaphanous appearance of other incorporeal creatures when so disguised. A lyrist is weightless, regardless of appearance.

Spectral lyrists speak Common, plus one other language common to humanoids in its environment, such as Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, or Orc.

COMBAT

A spectral lyrist uses its ability to bluff and change its appearance to present itself as a friendly creature, putting victims at ease until it can use its fascinate and suggestion abilities. Once victims are close enough, it uses its touch attack to drain their Charisma.

Alter Appearance (Su): As a free action once per round, a spectral lyrist can alter its appearance. It can appear as any humanoid creature of Medium size, and it gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks when it uses this ability. Unless the disguise is pierced by a successful Spot check, onlookers don’t even notice the lyrist’s incorporeal nature until an attack passes harmlessly through the creature.

Bardic Music (Su): A spectral lyrist has the bardic music abilities of fascinate and suggestion. These function identically to the bard class features of the same name. A spectral lyrist can use these abilities a total of six times per day.

Charisma Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a spectral lyrist’s touch attack must make a DC 18 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of Charisma drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. When a spectral lyrist drains a victim’s Charisma, it gains 5 temporary hit points and 1 temporary Charisma point, no matter how many points it drains. Temporary hit points and ability points gained in this way last for 1 up to hour.

Inescapable Craving: A spectral lyrist has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for Charisma, which it satisfies by using its Charisma drain attack.

The vampire that explodes into a flock of bats, the mummy that crumbles into a pile of scorpions—these are swarm-shifters, undead that have been granted the dark power to become swarms.

A swarm-shifter appears like a normal undead creature until its body explodes into a swarm. There are many varieties of swarm-shifters, and although some are more common than others, swarm-shifters do not seem limited to certain kinds of swarms by their form of undeath.

SAMPLE SWARM-SHIFTER

This example uses a 13th-level mummy druid as the base creature.

Swarm-Shifter 13th-Level Mummy King Druid

A swirling cloud of brown sand ten feet across approaches you rapidly. The dust devil contracts, swirling together and compacting. Suddenly, it coalesces into a withered corpse in funeral wrappings.

Combat

A Thousand Faces (Su): This mummy king can change its appearance at will, as if using the alter self spell, but only while in its normal form.

Animal Companion (Ex): As a 13th-level druid, this mummy king has an animal companion. The mummy king typically sets this animal to guard a location or object.

Despair (Su): At the mere sight of this mummy king, the viewer must make a DC 18 Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that viewer cannot be affected again by this mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease—slam, Fortitude DC 18, incubation period 1 minute, damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot persists until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below.

Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with mummy rot must make a successful DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the afflicted character.

To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot can be magically cured as any normal disease.

An afflicted creature who dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand and dust that blows away into nothing at the first wind.

Nature Sense (Ex): +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.

Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex): This mummy king gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of fey.

Swarm Form (Su): This mummy king is able to turn into a swarm of beetles, sand, or scorpions. See the swarm-shifter template for more details.

Swarm-Shifter Mummy King, 13th-Level Druid, Beetle Swarm Form: CR 16; Diminutive undead (shapechanger, swarm); HD 21; hp 131; Init +5; Spd 30 ft., burrow 20 ft., fly 10 ft. (poor); AC 29, touch 19, flat-footed 25; Base Atk +13; Grp —; Atk or Full Atk swarm (5d6); Space/Reach 10 ft./—; SA distraction (DC 24), swarm; SQ animal companion, damage reduction 5/—, darkvision 60 ft., hive mind, immune to weapon damage, nature sense, resist nature’s lure, swarm form (beetle, scorpion, and sand), swarm traits, trackless step, tremorsense, undead traits, vulnerability to fire, wild empathy +17 (+13 magical beasts); AL NE; SV Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +18; Str 14, Dex 21, Con —, Int 9, Wis 18, Cha 19. Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Disguise +5, Hide +24, Knowledge (nature) +1, Listen +10, Move Silently +12, Spot +10, Survival +6; Alertness, Augment Summoning, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Improved Natural Attack (slam), Improved Toughness, Spell Focus (conjuration).

Swarm-Shifter Mummy King, 13th-Level Druid, Sand Swarm Form: CR 16; Fine undead; HD 21; hp 131; Init +6; Spd fly 60 ft. (perfect); AC 30, touch 20, flat-footed 25; Base Atk +13; Grp —; Atk or Full Atk swarm (5d6); Space/Reach 10 ft./—; SA distraction (DC 24), swarm; SQ animal companion, damage reduction 5/—, darkvision 60 ft., hive mind, immune to weapon damage, nature sense, resist nature’s lure, swarm form (beetle, scorpion, and sand), swarm traits, trackless step, undead traits, vulnerability to fire, wild empathy +17 (+13 magical beasts); AL NE; SV Fort +12, Ref +14, Will +18; Str 14, Dex 23, Con —, Int 9, Wis 18, Cha 19. Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Disguise +5, Hide +28, Knowledge (nature) +1, Listen +10, Move Silently +12, Spot +10, Survival +6; Alertness, Augment Summoning, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Improved Natural Attack (slam), Improved Toughness, Spell Focus (conjuration).

Swarm-Shifter Mummy King, 13th-Level Druid, Scorpion Swarm Form: CR 16; Diminutive undead (shapechanger, swarm);HD 21; hp 131; Init +5; Spd 20 ft.; AC 29, touch 19, flatfooted 25; Base Atk +13; Grp —; Atk or Full Atk swarm (5d6 plus poison); Space/Reach 10 ft./—; SA distraction (DC 24), poison DC 24; initial and secondary 1d2 Con), swarm; SQ animal companion, damage reduction 5/—, darkvision 60 ft., hive mind, immune to weapon damage, nature sense, resist nature’s lure, swarm form (beetle, scorpion, and sand), swarm traits, trackless step, tremorsense, undead traits, vulnerability to fire, wild empathy +17 (+13 magical beasts); AL NE; SV Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +18; Str 14, Dex 21, Con —, Int 9, Wis 18, Cha 19. Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Disguise +5, Hide +24, Knowledge (nature) +1, Listen +10, Move Silently +12, Spot +10, Survival +8; Alertness, Augment Summoning, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Improved Natural Attack (slam), Improved Toughness, Spell Focus (conjuration).

Trackless Step (Ex): This mummy king druid leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked.

Wild Empathy (Ex): As the druid ability described on page 35 of the Player’s Handbook.

Woodland Stride (Ex): This mummy king can move through natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain at its normal speed and without damage or other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are magically manipulated to impede motion still affect it. Druid Spells Prepared (caster level 11th): 0—detect magic (2), flare (DC 14), guidance, read magic, resistance; 1st—calm animals, charm animal (DC 15), hide from animals, longstrider, magic fang, obscuring mist; 2nd—barkskin, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, resist energy, soften earth and stone, summon swarm; 3rd—call lightning (2) (DC 17), meld into stone, protection from energy, quench; 4th—air walk, dispel magic, flame strike (DC 18), giant vermin, spike stones; 5th—insect plague, transmute mud to rock, unhallow; 6th—antilife shell, wall of stone; 7th—creeping doom (DC 21). (Different mummy kings may have different spells prepared.)

Possessions:+3 glamered leather, +1 keen shocking burst scimitar, cloak of resistance +3. (Different mummy kings may have different possessions.)

CREATING A SWARM-SHIFTER

“Swarm-shifter” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal undead with an Intelligence score (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A swarm-shifter uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Note: Unlike most templates, an undead can potentially acquire this template more than once, gaining a new swarm form with each application.

Size and Type: The base creature’s type and size do not change, but it gains the shapechanger subtype. When in swarm form, it also has the swarm subtype and a new size (as determined by the particular swarm form, each described below). The swarm’s size influences how wind affects it and how weapons damage it.

Hit Dice: The base creature retains its Hit Dice and hit points when it takes swarm form, but changing forms heals damage (as described in the swarm form ability description, below).

Speed: When in swarm form, the base creature has the movement modes and speeds listed for the particular kind of swarm (each described below).

Armor Class: When in swarm form, change the base creature’s natural armor according to its size change using Table 4–2, page 291 of the Monster Manual. In swarm form, the base creature also gains a new size modifier to Armor Class depending on the swarm’s size, as shown in Table 7–1, page 314 of the Monster Manual.

Base Attack/Grapple: When in swarm form, the base creature cannot grapple or be grappled. See the swarm subtype for details.

Attack and Full Attack: When in swarm form, the base creature lacks its normal attacks. Instead, a swarm-shifter has a swarm attack. This attack automatically damages any creature in the swarm-shifter’s space when it ends its move.

If the base creature’s natural attacks are treated in a manner that allowed it to overcome damage reduction, it retains that ability with its swarm attack in swarm form. For example, if the base creature’s natural attacks are treated as chaotic-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction, its swarm attack is also treated as chaotic-aligned for this purpose.

Damage: The amount of damage a swarm-shifter deals with its swarm attack is based on its Hit Dice, as shown in the table below.

Space/Reach: When the base creature is in swarm form, it has a space of 10 feet. In swarm form, it has a reach of 0 feet, it cannot make attacks of opportunity, and it provokes attacks of opportunity when it enters a creature’s space. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and moves through other creatures’ squares without impediment and vice versa. The swarm can move through holes and cracks large enough for its component creatures.

Special Attacks: When in swarm form, a swarm-shifter loses all the special attacks of the base creature. It gains the distraction and swarm special attacks, and gains new special attacks dependent on the swarm form it takes (as described in the individual swarm form entries below).

Distraction (Ex): As described in the Swarm Traits section at the beginning of this chapter.

Swarm (Ex): As described under the Attack and Damage entries above, the base creature in swarm form has a swarm attack.

Special Qualities: The base creature retains all special qualities and gains the swarm form special quality. When the base creature is in swarm form, it also gains the hive mind special quality. It loses special qualities of the base creature that rely on the base creature’s shape or abilities it lacks in swarm form. In addition, it gains other special qualities dependent on the swarm form it takes (as described in the individual entries below).

Hive Mind (Ex): A swarm-shifter with this ability is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of effects that command, control, turn, rebuke, bolster, or destroy undead specifically. A swarm-shifter in swarm form is affected by turn and rebuke attempts just like the base creature.

Swarm Form (Su): The base creature can take the form of an undead swarm at will. The swarm (or swarms, if this template is applied multiple times) the base creature can turn into is chosen when this template is first applied. Each form alters the base creature in swarm form in different ways (as described in the individual entries below).

Changing shape to or from swarm form is a standard action that infuses the undead with negative energy and heals 1 hit point of damage per HD of the base creature. The undead cannot change from swarm form to its normal form in an area where its body could not normally fit. As with the alter self spell, the base creature’s items are absorbed into the swarm form and provide no benefit. When it would normally be dispersed due to damage taken, the swarm reverts to the base creature’s form and is destroyed (except in the case of vampires, liches, and other undead with special destruction rules).

If the swarm-shifter has multiple swarm forms, it can change from one swarm form directly into another, losing the first swarm’s traits and gaining those of the other. When switching from one swarm form to another, the undead does not heal damage.

Although the use of this ability is a supernatural effect, remaining in one form or another is not supernatural, and the base creature in swarm form does not change into its normal shape in an antimagic field. True seeing and similar magic reveals both forms.

Abilities: The base creature’s Strength and Dexterity scores are different in swarm form due to the swarm creatures’ size. When the base creature takes swarm form, change the base creature’s Strength and Dexterity scores according to Table 4–2, page 291 of the Monster Manual. This template cannot reduce the base creature’s Strength in swarm form to less than 1.

Skills: An undead in swarm form gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks to act like a normal grouping of its constituent creatures. An undead in sand swarm form gains this bonus when acting like inanimate sand. An undead in parts swarm form gains this bonus when acting like inanimate body parts. In swarm form, the swarm creatures’ new size, speed, and ability scores can affect skill bonuses. An undead in swarm form loses the ability to speak.

Feats: Same as the base creature, but when the base creature is in swarm form it cannot benefit from feats that rely on attacks (such as Power Attack and Combat Expertise), special attacks of the base creature, or other abilities the base creature cannot use in swarm form.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1. If this template is applied multiple times, the base creature’s Challenge Rating increases by 2, regardless of how many swarm forms the creature can take in excess of one.

Level Adjustment: —.

SWARM FORMS

When this template is applied, one of the following forms must be chosen for the swarm-shifter:

Swarm of Undead Bats

Diminutive Undead (Swarm)

Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), fly 40 ft. (good).

Special Attacks: An undead in bat swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Wounding (Ex): A living creature damaged by the swarm attack continues to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleeding loss. The bleeding can be stopped with a DC 10 Heal check or the application of a cure spell or some other healing magic.

Special Qualities: An undead in bat swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Blindsense (Ex): A bat swarm notices and locates creatures within 20 feet by hearing.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Swarm of Undead Beetles

Diminutive Undead (Swarm)

Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 20 ft., fly 10 ft. (poor).

Special Qualities: An undead in beetle swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Tremorsense (Ex): A swarm of beetles can pinpoint the location of anything in contact with the ground within 60 feet.

Swarm of Undead Centipedes

Diminutive Undead (Swarm)

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.

Special Attacks: An undead in centipede swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Poison (Ex): Swarm attack, Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 swarm HD + Cha modifier, initial and secondary damage 1d4 Dex.

Special Qualities: An undead in centipede swarm form has the following additional special quality, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Swarm of Undead Flies

Speed: Fly 40 ft. (8 squares) (perfect).

Special Attacks: An undead in fly swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Disease (Ex): Red ache—swarm attack, Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 swarm HD + Cha modifier, incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d8 Dex.

Special Qualities: An undead in fly swarm form has the following additional special quality, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Fine creatures.

Swarm of Undead Leeches

Diminutive Undead (Aquatic, Swarm)

Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), swim 30 ft.

Special Attacks: An undead in leech swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Wounding (Ex): A living creature damaged by the swarm attack continues to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleeding loss. The bleeding can be stopped with a DC 10 Heal check or the application of a cure spell or some other healing magic.

Special Qualities: An undead in leech swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Tremorsense (Ex): A swarm of leeches can pinpoint the location of anything in contact with the ground or in the water with it within 30 feet.

Swarm of Undead Maggots (or Worms)

Fine Undead

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares).

Special Attacks: An undead in maggot swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Extended Nausea (Ex): A creature nauseated by a maggot swarm’s distraction special attack remains nauseated for 2d4 rounds.

Special Qualities: An undead in maggot swarm form has the following additional special quality, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Fine creatures.

Swarm of Undead Parts

Tiny Undead

This swarm is composed of the body of the base creature broken into a pile of bones, sometimes including rotted flesh and organs. This swarm can skitter and slosh across the ground or rise in a cyclone of limbs and pieces.

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 20 ft. (poor).

Special Attacks: An undead in parts swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Fear (Su): A creature damaged by a parts swarm must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the swarm’s HD + Cha modifier) or be frightened for 1d4 rounds.

Parts (Ex): A parts swarm undead is a swarm made up of the body parts of the undead creature. This causes the swarm to deal an extra 1d6 points of damage with its swarm attack.

Special Qualities: An undead in parts swarm form has the following additional special quality, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Half Damage From Slashing and Piercing (Ex): Slashing and piercing attacks deal half damage to a swarm of Tiny creatures.

Swarm of Undead Rats

Tiny Undead

Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 15 ft.

Special Attacks: An undead in rat swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Disease (Ex): Filth fever—swarm attack, Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 swarm HD + Cha modifier, incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d3 Dex and 1d3 Con.

Special Qualities: An undead in rat-swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Half Damage From Slashing and Piercing (Ex): Slashing and piercing attacks deal half damage to a swarm of Tiny creatures.

Scent (Ex): See the Monster Manual.

Swarm of Undead Sand (or Tomb Dust or Grave Dirt)

Fine Undead

Speed: Fly 60 ft. (12 squares) (perfect).

Special Qualities: An undead in sand swarm form has the following additional special quality, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Fine creatures.

Swarm of Undead Scorpions

Diminutive Undead (Swarm)

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares).

Special Attacks: An undead in scorpion swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Poison (Ex): Swarm attack, Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 swarm HD + Cha modifier, initial and secondary damage 1d2 Con.

Special Qualities: An undead in scorpion swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Tremorsense (Ex): A swarm of scorpions can pinpoint the location of anything in contact with the ground within 60 feet.

Swarm of Undead Spiders

Diminutive Undead (Swarm)

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.

Special Attacks: An undead in spider swarm form has the following additional special attack.

Poison (Ex): Swarm attack, Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 swarm HD + Cha modifier, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Str.

Special Qualities: An undead in spider swarm form has the following additional special qualities, in addition to darkvision out to 60 feet and undead traits.

Immune to Weapon Damage (Ex): Weapon attacks are useless against a swarm of Diminutive creatures.

Tremorsense (Ex): A swarm of spiders can pinpoint the location of anything in contact with the ground within 60 feet.

These tiny, vaguely humanoid creatures are animated accumulations of tomb litter—shards of bone, lone teeth, matted hair, bits of shattered tombstone, and grave dirt.

Tomb motes sometimes spontaneously arise in graveyards with a high concentration of buried magic, undead activity, and/or mass burials. As accumulations of grave detritus, tomb motes are surprisingly smart and vicious.

Tomb motes weigh 5 to 8 pounds and measure no more than 1 foot in height.

Tomb motes understand Common and Abyssal but do not speak.

COMBAT

Tomb motes typically attack from ambush due to their size. If possible, they attempt to attack a foe en masse.

Disease (Ex): A creature struck by a tomb mote’s bite attack must make a DC 13 Fortitude save or be infected with a disease known as corpse bloat (incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d6 Str). The skin of a diseased victim turns a hue of green, bloats, and is warm to the touch. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Quickness (Su): A tomb mote is supernaturally quick. It can take an extra standard action or move action during its turn each round.

Like shadows, umbral creatures are creatures of living darkness. They hate life and light with equal fervor. Their touch bestows the painful chill of nonexistence, making them very dangerous opponents.

An umbral creature looks like a shadowy version of a material creature, and it may easily be mistaken for a living creature from the Plane of Shadow. Umbral creatures are difficult to see in dark or gloomy areas, but they stand out starkly in brightly illuminated places.

Natural enemies of all that live, umbral creatures are aggressive and predatory. They are quick to strike and make short work of those unprepared to deal with them.

SAMPLE UMBRAL CREATURE

This example uses a displacer beast as the base creature.

Umbral Displacer Beast

A murky, vaguely feline shape crouches before you.

Combat

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid reduced to Strength 0 by an umbral displacer beast rises as a shadow under the control of its killer in 1d4 rounds.

Displacement (Su): A light-bending glamer continually surrounds an umbral displacer beast, making it difficult to surmise the creature’s true location. Any melee or ranged attack directed at it has a 50% miss chance unless the attacker can locate the beast by some means other than sight. A true seeing effect allows the user to see the beast’s position, but see invisibility has no effect.

Inescapable Craving: An umbral displacer beast has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for Strength, which it satisfies by using its Strength damage ability.

Resistance to Ranged Attacks (Su): An umbral displacer beast has a +2 resistance bonus on saves against any ranged magical attack that specifically targets it (except for ranged touch attacks).

Strength Damage (Su): The touch of an umbral displacer beast deals 1d8 points of Strength damage to a living foe. A creature reduced to Strength 0 by an umbral displacer beast dies.

Skills: An umbral displacer beast has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks, thanks to its displacement ability.

CREATING AN UMBRAL CREATURE

“Umbral creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any aberration, dragon, giant, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid with a Charisma score of at least 8 (hereafter referred to as the base creature). Humanoids instead become shadows, as described on page 221 of the the Monster Manual.

Umbral creatures speak whatever languages they spoke in life. An umbral creature has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead, and it gains the incorporeal and augmented subtypes. It retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as goblinoid). Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice from class levels (to a minimum of 1), and raise the remaining Hit Dice to d12s.

Speed: The creature’s speed becomes fly 40 feet (perfect).

AC: The creature loses its natural armor bonus but gains a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier or +1, whichever is greater.

Base Attack: An umbral creature has a base attack bonus equal to 1/2 its Hit Dice.

Attack: The creature loses all its attacks and gains an incorporeal touch attack that it can use once per round.

Full Attack: An umbral creature uses its touch attack.

Damage: An umbral creature’s incorporeal touch attack deals Strength damage (as outlined in its Strength damage ability description) based on the creature’s size, according to the table below.

Special Attacks: An umbral creature retains the base creature’s special attacks (though some of these may not be useable by the creature due to its incorporeal form) and gains the special attacks described below.

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid reduced to Strength 0 by an umbral displacer beast dies and rises as a shadow under the control of its killer in 1d4 rounds.

Strength Damage (Su): The touch of an umbral creature deals Strength damage to a living foe (as shown in the above table).

Special Qualities: An umbral creature gains the special qualities described below.

Inescapable Craving: An umbral creature has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for Strength, which it satisfies by using its Strength damage ability.

Turn Resistance (Ex): An umbral creature gains +2 turn resistance.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD +2.

Abilities: Dex +4, Int –4 (minimum 1), Wis +2, Cha +2. As an incorporeal undead, an umbral creature has no Strength or Constitution score.

Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Solitary, pair, gang (3–4), or clutch (2–4 plus 2–7 shadows).

Challenge Rating: As base creature +2 (or +3 if Huge or larger).

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always chaotic evil.

Advancement: As base creature (or — if base creature’s advancement is by character class).

Level Adjustment:—.

This creature appears only somewhat solid, with a mostly shapeless body. Its only definite features include a pale, white, masklike face bearing a perpetual grin and a pair of particularly long and nasty claws.

The visage is a devious undead creature that steals the identity of its victims to further its chaotic and evil aims. The first visages were formed from the spirits of demons by Orcus, Demon Prince of Undead, while he had assumed the identity of Tenebrous. When he reassumed his true identity and mantle, however, Orcus discarded the visages from his service, and since that time, they have reproduced by spawning new visages from any evil outsiders.

Though a visage appears incorporeal, it does not actually possess that quality. A visage isn’t very dense, though, and only weighs about 75 pounds despite its size. In its normal form, it is sometimes mistaken for a wraith.

Visages speak Common and Abyssal.

COMBAT

Visages prefer subterfuge to overt combat, since their physical attacks aren’t very threatening. They use their dominate person and lucidity control abilities to influence weak-willed individuals, hoping to draw them to places where they can finish them off secretly and assume their identities. Then, the visage uses this new identity to sow chaos and discord as long as possible.

A visage’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as chaotic-aligned and evil-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Assume Identity (Su): A visage can, as a free action, take on the form of someone it has killed within the last round. A visage in an assumed identity gains a +20 bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks made to pass as the victim. It also gains proficiency in the skills of the victim; treat this as an enhancement bonus to the skill check equal to the number of ranks the victim had in life. The visage does not gain the victim’s extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like abilities, nor does it gain any spellcasting powers of the victim. The visage retains its own ability scores, special attacks, and special qualities.

This effect lasts for 24 hours, though the visage can dismiss it at will. While a visage is in the form of its victim, that victim can’t be returned to life except by a true resurrection spell (which also immediately ends the effect on the visage). After 24 hours, or if the identity is dismissed, the soul is damaged, and the victim can be returned to life only by a miracle or wish spell followed by a true resurrection.

Create Spawn (Su): Any evil outsider slain by a visage becomes a visage 24 hours after death. Spawn are under the command of the visage that created them and remain enslaved until death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

Dominate Person (Sp): Once per day, a visage can use dominate person, as the spell cast at 12th level (Will DC 19 negates). The save DC is Charisma-based.

Lucidity Control (Su): A visage can create a major image, similar to the major image spell except that only one target, selected by the visage, can perceive the illusion (Will DC 21 disbelief). The save DC is Charisma-based.

Positive Immunity (Ex): A visage is immune to damage from positive energy effects, including holy water, cure wounds spells, and the like. It gains no immunity to turning.

Sneak Attack (Ex): A visage deals an extra 4d6 points of damage on any successful attack against flat-footed or flanked targets, or against a target that has been denied its Dexterity bonus for any reason. This damage applies to point-blank ranged attacks as well. Creatures with concealment, creatures without discernible anatomies, and creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits are also immune to the visage’s sneak attack.

Skills: A visage gets a +10 racial bonus on Escape Artist and Move Silently checks (already figured into the statistics above).

This creature appears to be a formless cloud of darkness, broken only by two pinpoints of glowing red. A breeze blows toward it, as if it were drawing air into its body.

A voidwraith is an undead manifestation of elemental air. It hungers for the breath of the living.

Voidwraiths vaguely resemble wraiths in their appearance, but are more amorphous and cloudlike. Still, they share the wraith’s hatred for all living things.

A voidwraith fills an area roughly 5 feet on a side, with cloudlike tendrils reaching beyond that. As an incorporeal creature, a voidwraith has no weight.

Voidwraiths speak Auran.

COMBAT

A voidwraith lurks in dark places until it can sweep out and attack a living victim. Thanks to its stealth and speed, it often surprises targets.

Airless Aura (Su): A voidwraith’s body is surrounded by an aura of near vacuum at all times. This means that any creatures adjacent to the voidwraith have no air to breathe and must hold their breath (see Suffocation, page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Elemental Turning Vulnerability (Ex): A character who can turn undead and also turn air creatures gains a +2 bonus on turning checks to turn a voidwraith. A character who can rebuke undead and also rebuke air creatures gains a +2 bonus on turning checks to rebuke a voidwraith.

Inescapable Craving: A voidwraith has an inescapable craving (see the Undead Metabolism section in Chapter 1) for Constitution, which it satisfies by using its steal breath ability,.

Steal Breath (Su): Living creatures hit by a voidwraith’s touch attack must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d2 points of Constitution drain. (Creatures with the air subtype take a–4 penalty on this save.) When a voidwraith drains a victim’s Constitution, it gains 5 temporary hit points, no matter how many points it drains. Temporary hit points gained in this way last for 1 up to hour. The save DC is Charisma-based.

If the target creature is holding its breath and fails the save, the number of rounds of remaining breath is reduced by 2 per point of Constitution drained. If this reduction exhausts all of the target’s remaining breath, it creature must begin making Constitution checks or start to suffocate (see Suffocation, page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Skills: A voidwraith has a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks.

The empty orbs of this wizened corpse leak a vile, black ichor that streaks the creature’s face and body, coating its clawed limbs. As the ichor runs into the creature’s mouth, it bubbles and pops, so that its constant wailing emerges as a gurgling keen.

Wheeps are undead servants of more powerful unliving lords, usually serving as bodyguards but sometimes sent on missions to procure from guarded cemeteries the remains of particularly powerful and trusted figures. Their average size belies a powerful undead strength, fueled by their undying sorrow.

Eyeless, a wheep is in constant pain, sniffling and crying aloud unless it is trying to hide or move silently. From its hollow eye sockets, a wheep continuously produces a poison with the appearance of black bile. It is easy to track wheeps that have passed through an area in the last hour, because they leave behind a trail of their poisonous tears. After an hour, the bile decomposes and evaporates.

A wheep stands nearly 6 feet tall and weighs about 200 pounds.

Wheeps speak Common.

COMBAT

Those close enough to hear a wheep’s cries may be taken aback, but they are likely to be far more threatened by the creature’s poison-coated claws and maw.

Poison Tears (Ex): The poison tears that continually pour from a wheep’s empty eyes are actually an injury poison that coats the creature’s claws and fills its mouth. Whenever a wheep succeeds on a claw or bite attack, its foe is subject to the poison—injury, Fortitude DC 19, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Con. The save DC is Charisma-based. After an hour, the poisonous bile decomposes and evaporates, losing all efficacy.

Unholy Grace (Su): A wheep adds its Charisma modifier as a bonus on all its saving throws and as a deflection bonus to its Armor Class (already figured into the statistics above).

Weeping Dirge (Su): When it chooses (which is almost always, unless moving silently), a wheep can spend a free action each round crying and blubbering. All who hear the wheep’s awful, grave-born sorrow must make DC 19 Will saves or be shaken for the duration of the encounter. Once a particular creature saves against a wheep’s dirge, that creature cannot be affected again by the same wheep for 24 hours. This is a sonic effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.