General Rules: Monsters - Ratman, Mauler

Ratman, Mauler (adapted from Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen)
Large Monstrous Humanoid (Slytheen)

Hit Dice: 6d8+36 (63 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 feet
Armor Class: 16 (-1 size, +7 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +6/+17

Attack: Claw +12 melee (2d6+7 plus disease, slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: 2 claws +12 melee (2d6+7 plus disease, slashing, 20 x2) and bite +10 melee (1d6+3 plus disease, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/15 feet
Special Attacks: Disease, double-strike
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/+1, immunity to disease, regeneration 1
Saves: Fortitude +8, Reflex +5, Will +4
Abilities: Str 24, Int 6, Wis 8, Dex 10, Con 23, Cha 7

Skills: Listen +4, Spot +5

Feats: Multiattack, Power Attack
Environment: Any except arctic

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: No coins, twice goods (all in jewelry); no items
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: 7 - 10 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -

Maulers are unique among the slytheen in that they are the creation of other slytheen. The Red Witches select a ratman who has particularly shone in battle and feed them a potion brewed from the blood of many creatures (the exact mixture is a closely guarded secret). The potion causes the ratman many days of agonizing pain as attendants scourge and cut his flesh to allow for the expanding muscles and bones beneath. Many do not survive this procedure; those that do become the most fearsome and physically powerful of all the ratmen.

Maulers stand close to 10 feet tall and weigh nearly 750 pounds. Their gray-black hides often have patches bereft of fur, and they are covered head to toe in scars. They wear no clothing but usually rivet bits of armor and metal plates to their bodies - mainly on the skull and torso - a process which seems to cause them no particular discomfort. A mauler's arms and hands are grotesquely oversized for its body, each arm is easily as long as the creature is tall, and each hand almost the size of the mauler's own torso. This twisted abnormality prevents maulers from using normal weapons, but greatly enhances their reach.

Maulers bond, as dog to master, with the first individual they see after the transformation upon opening their eyes. They follow their masters' orders without fail. Having no clan structure of their own, maulers serve only their masters and follow the customs of their master's broods.

All of a mauler's treasure is in the form of jewelry, mostly chains, collars, and cuffs, as it is something of a status symbol among masters to drape their maulers with ostentatious wealth.

Combat
In combat, maulers are vicious and implacable foes. They fight with tooth and claw to an opponent's destruction. Even after a foe's death, a mauler must make a DC 15 Will save to break off from continuing to maul its victim; hence its name. The mauler receives a +5 bonus to this roll if its master orders it to cease combat.

Disease (Ex): Maulers are often crawling with disease. Both the claws and the bite of a mauler can infect a target with a number of ailments including black pox, flower fever, and  lung rot.

Double-Strike (Ex): A mauler opens combat with a double claw strike, which is handled as a two-handed attack and must be made against a single target (dealing 2d6+10 points of damage on a successful strike). A mauler usually concentrates all its force on one adversary at a time.

Immune to Disease (Ex): Even though they are carriers, maulers remain immune to to all forms of disease.

Regeneration (Ex): A mauler regenerates 1 hit point per round. Fire and acid damage cannot be regenerated and severed limbs cannot be reattached.

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