General Rules: Monsters - Mesmeric Crawler

Mesmeric Crawler (modified for rules compliance from Mercenaries)
Large Aberration

Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (16 hit points)
Initiative: +2 (Dexterity)
Speed: 30 feet, climb 15 feet
Armor Class: 15 (-1 size, +2 Dexterity, +4 natural); touch 11, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +3/+9
Attack: Tentacle +4 melee (Paralysis)

Full Attack: 4 tentacles +4 melee (Paralysis) and bite +2 melee (1d6+1, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 10 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Spell-like ability, paralysis
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, scent
Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 14, Int 6, Wis 12, Dex 15, Con 12, Cha 6
Skills: Climb +6, Listen +5, Spot +5
Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Multiattack
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary or team (2 - 5)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement: 4 - 5 HD (Large)

Intelligent cousins to the carrion crawler, mesmeric crawlers are horrific looking creatures that can corrupt the minds of others into doing their bidding. The have the same elongated, larva-like body and beady eyes as carrion crawlers. They have fewer legs and tentacles, for if things go its way, a mesmeric crawler will never have to run down or melee with its victims.

Their intelligence and their power to charm others make mesmeric crawlers formidable bounty hunters and those who can stomach dealing with them prize their services. They prefer to use their powers of mind control to compel others to do their hunting for them, so that their quarry need never know that it pursues them. They understand concepts of kinship and freindship hold sway among intelligent races, and that charming a loved one or familiar acquaintance of a fugitive into hunting him or her down can make the task infinitely easier.

Mesmeric crawlers appear to have no language of their own, as they do not speak. Those who have dealt with them report that they seem to understand common lnaguages well enough.

Combat
Mesmeric crawlers prefer to let others do the fighting for them, if fighting becomes necessary. They can track their quarry using their keen sense of smell, but when they have their prey cornered, they would rather use their charm ability to get other creatures to make the actual capture than do it themselves.

If they must, they will melee with their paralyzing tentacles, but they would rather stand back and let their dupes do the work.

Charm Monster (Sp): Up to six times per day, a mesmeric crawler may attempt to charm another creature. This ability fucntions as if the crawler were casting charm monster as a 7^th level sorcerer.

Paralysis (Ex): Whenever a mesmeric crawler scores a hit with one of its tentacles, the victim must make a successful DC 13 Forttiude save or be paralyzed for 2d6 minutes.

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