General Rules: Monsters - Corpse Rat Swarm

Corpse Rat Swarm (adapted from Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead and Dragon Magazine #329)
Tiny Undead (Swarm)

Hit Dice: 8d12 (52 hit points)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 15 feet, climb 15 feet
Armor Class: 13 (+2 size, +1 Dexterity); touch 13, flat-footed 12
BAB/Grapple: +4/-
Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus disease)

Full Attack: Swarm (1d6 plus disease)

Space/Reach: 10 feet by 10 feet/0 feet
Special Attacks: Disease, distraction

Special Qualities: DR 5/slashing, darkvision 60 feet, swarm traits, undead traits

Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +3, Will +6
Abilities: Str 4, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 13, Con -, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, pack (2 - 4 swarms), or infestation (7 - 12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -

Like a bone rat swarm, a corpse rat swarm is made up of countless undead rats. These, however, are closer to zombies than skeletons, with hunks of rotting flesh still hanging on their bones. They are even more disease ridden than a normal rat swarm, and every but as hungry for flesh.

Combat
A corpse rat swarm seeks to engulf and devour any living prey it encounters. A corpse rat swarm deals 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.

In order to attack, a corpse rat swarm moves into opponents' spaces, which provokes attacks of opportunity. It can occupy the same space as a creature of any size, since it swarms all around its prey, but remains a creature with a 10 foot by 10 foot space. Corpse rat swarms never make attacks of opportunity, but they can provoke attacks of opportunity. A corpse rat swarm’s attacks are nonmagical. Damage reduction sufficient to reduce the swarm attack’s damage to 0, being incorporeal, and other special abilities usually give a creature immunity (or at least resistance) to damage from a swarm.

Unlike other creatures with a 10 foot by 10 foot space, a corpse rat swarm is shapeable. It can occupy any four contiguous space and it can squeeze through any space large enough to contain one of its component creatures.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a corpse rat swarm in its space must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Disease (Ex): Filth fever - swarm attack, Fortitude DC 16, incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d3 Dexterity and 1d3 Constitution. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.

Swarm: A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernible anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. A corpse rat swarm is immune to all weapon damage. Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or lower causes it to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, they cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple an opponent. A swarm 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 mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells. A corpse rat swarm is susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a corpse rat swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of Diminutive size. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.

Undead Traits: A corpse rat swarm is immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage. It cannot be raised and resurrection only works if it is willing. It has darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Vulnerabilities
Corpse rat swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. They have a few special vulnerabilities as follows.

A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.

A weapon with a special ability such as flaming deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon's normal damage can't affect the swarm.

A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.

Corpse Rat Swarms as Familiars
Corpse rat swarms can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. To do so, the character must take the Improved Familiar feat, be evil in alignment, and be at least a 11^th-level caster. Powerful ratman necromancers often have corpse rat swarm familiars in place of their usual undead servitor.

The corpse rat swarm remains an undead creature, but gains an Intelligence score of 1. Swarm familiars do not gain the ability to speak with others of their kind, and neither the swarm nor its master gains the Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot) feat. Instead, the following special qualities are substituted for those standard familiar abilities.

Granted Abilities: In addition to special abilities gained as a result of standard familiar progression, swarm familiars also bestow the following abilities upon their masters. The corpse rat swarm's master gains immunity to her swarm's nauseating effect and its wounding attack and can occupy the same space as her familiar without suffering penalties. Swarm familiar granted abilities replace the granted abilities listed for improved familiars.

Hive Mind (Ex): Corpse rat swarm familiars gain a hive mind that connects them to each other by the arcane power of their master. The master gains an empathic link and the ability to share spells with the hive mind of the swarm familiar.

Nonhealing (Ex): When a swarm takes damage, part of it is physically destroyed. Therefore, swarm familiars cannot be healed in the normal manner. Instead, new creatures much be summoned to the swam to replace those that have died. A summon swarm spell "cures" a swarm familiar by replacing dead creatures in the swarm at a rate of 1d6 hit points per caster level. The number of hit points healed in this manner cannot exceed the swarm's maximum hit point total. Only a druid or the wizard to whom the swarm familiar belongs can cure a swarm familiar in this fashion. Summon swarm spells used to heal a familiar create no other effect.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Akyanzi

Akyanzi (from Dungeon Crawl Classics #19: The Volcano Caves)
Small Undead (Fire)

Hit Dice: 1d12 (6 hit points)
Initiative: +3
Speed: Fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 16 (+2 natural, +3 Dexterity, +1 size); touch 14, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4)

Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Eat enchantment, profane sunder
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, immunity to fire, smell steel, vulnerability to cold, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 10, Int 11, Wis 14, Dex 16, Con -, Cha 10

Skills: Escape Artist +7, Hide +11, Intimidate +4, Knowledge: Arcana +3, Listen +6, Move Silently +7, Search +4, Sense Motive +4, Spot +6

Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Cluster (2 - 5) or pack (5 - 20)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 2 - 3 HD (Small), 4 - 5 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

Akyanzi , also called sword-eaters, are disproportionately large humanoid heads. Fire wreathes them. How they came to be is unknown, but evil priests and necromancers sometimes employ them to weaken opponents. Akyanzi can sniff out steel, and their greatest joy, if they can experience such an emotion, is shattering metal. Their bite also drains the enchantments from weapons.

Combat
Akyanzi swoop about a battlefield, searching out weapons to shatter. They make little distinction between friend and foe, and only if they have destroyed all available weapons do they turn their bites on living beings.

Eat Enchantment (Su): Akyanzi are inherently disruptive to a weapon's magical enchantments. Any time a sword-eater comes into contact with an enchanted weapon, whether striking or being struck, that weapons special abilities are suppressed for 1d4 hours. This is an antimagic effect, rendering the weapon mundane in all ways.

Profane Sunder (Ex): Sword-eaters enjoy the benefits of the Improved Sunder feat, as well as a +8 profane bonus to opposed attack rolls when striking weapons. A sword-eater's bite deals 1d6 points of damage and ignores hardness. Sword-eaters only attack weapons and shields.

Smell Steel (Ex): Akyanzi automatically detect the presence of any steel object within 100 feet. They are able to determine the general placement of steel objects, no matter how small, but gain no special means of precisely locating secret hiding places or seeing through disguises. This ability does not detect any other materials.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Ash Guardian

Ash Guardian (from Blackdirge's Dungeon Denizens)
Large Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 11d12 (82 hit points)
Initiative: +9
Speed: Fly 60 feet (good)
Armor Class: 18 (+4 deflection, +5 Dexterity, -1 size); touch 18, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +5/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +9 melee (2d6 plus whithering caress)

Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +9 melee (2d6 plus whithering caress)

Space/Reach: 10 feet by 10 feet/10 feet
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, steal essence, whithering caress
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, +2 turn resistance, unnatural aura, vulnerable to sunlight, incorporeal traits, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +3, Reflex +8, Will +11
Abilities: Str -, Int 14, Wis 14, Dex 20, Con -, Cha 19

Skills: Concentration +14, DIplomacy +6, Intimidate +14, Knowledge: Arcana +12, Listen +16, Spellcraft +14, Search +12, Sense Motive +12, Spot +16, Survival +2 (+4 when following tracks)

Feats: Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initative, Iron Will, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Weapon Finesse
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: Special
Level Adjustment: -

The ground before you suddenly erupts in a geyser of blackened soil and ash. The debris does not fall to the earth, how3ever; instead it hands suspended in the air, a greasy black cloud of palpable evil and unholy will. A frightful cacophony of screams arises from the floating mass, and it moves towards you with definite, malignant purpose.

The ash guardian is a creature of dust, earth, and ash created when soil is fouled with the remaind of innocent victims burned en masse; their angry spirits infest the earth itself with an unimaginable thirst for revenge. Ultimately, the wrath of these spirits congeals into a single entity capable only of hate and evil. The ash guardian is usually found in the "special" earth belonging to a vampire. Most vampires find the ash guardian to be as good or better a protector for their precious earth than anything they could engineer, so it is left to its own devices as a de facto guardian of their sacred earth.

An ash guardian takes on a semi-anthropomorphic shape when attacking. In this form, it is roughly the size of an ogre. Since an ash guardian is incorporeal, it is weightless.

Ash guardians speak Abyssal and one common language, although they rarely communicate with living creatures.

Combat
The ash guardian attacks ferociously and has little regard for its own safety. It acts purely out of anger, trying to inflict as much suffering as possible. Its magic is an extension of its dark will, so the ash guardian uses spell-like abilities as easily as its incorporeal touch attack.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will - death knell, doom, ray of enfeeblement; Three times per day - enervation, fear; once per day - slay living. Caster level 11^th, save DC 14 + spell level. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Steal Essence (Su): When an ash guardian slays a living intelligent creature with its incorporeal touch attack or a spell-like ability, it can attempt to absorb the victim's life essence, and grow in power if successful. For every three living, sentient creatures an ash guardian absorbs, it gains 1 Hit Die. This extra Hit Die is of the undead type and grants any skill points, base attack bonus increase, and feats as normal for a monster davancing in Hit Dice.

A dying creature can resist this absorption with a successful DC 19 Fortitude save, allowing it to go on to whatever afterlife it has earned. A failed saving throw means the victim's soul has been abosrbed into the ash guardian, and it forever lost. Only powerful magic, such as a wish or miracle spell, can restore life to such an individual. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Whitering Caress (Su): Living creatures hit by an ash guardian's incorporeal touch attack much succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of Strength and Dexterity damage. On each such successful attack, the ash guardian gains 5 temporary hit points. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Unnatural Aura (Su): Any animal within 30 feet of an ash guardian must make a DC 19 Will save or become panicked. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Vulnerable to Sunlight (Su): An ash guardian in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) cannot attack and can only take a single move action or a standard action but not both.

Incorporeal: An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. It is immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells or magic weapons, it has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Although it is not a magical attack, holy water can affect incorporeal undead, but a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of not affecting an incorporeal creature.

An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid objects, but must remain adjacent to the object’s exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects within a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment (50% miss chance) from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see farther from the object it is in and attack normally, the incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.

An incorporeal creature’s attacks pass through (ignore) natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Incorporeal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as they do in air. Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage. Incorporeal creatures cannot make trip or grapple attacks, nor can they be tripped or grappled. In fact, they cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate an opponent or its equipment, nor are they subject to such actions. Incorporeal creatures have no weight and do not set off traps that are triggered by weight.

An incorporeal creature moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be. It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Nonvisual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Ghoul

Ghoul (from the Monster Manual as modified by Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead)
Medium Undead

Hit Dice: 2d12 (13 hit points)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 feet
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dexterity, +2 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6 + 1 plus paralysis, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6 + 1 plus paralysis, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing 20 x2) and 2 claws +0 (1d3 plus paralysis, piercing and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Ghoul fever, paralysis
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, undead, +2 turn resistance
Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +2, Will +5
Abilities: Str 13, Int 13, Wis 14, Dex 15, Con -, Cha 12
Skills: Balance +6, Climb +5, Hide +6, Jump +5, Move Silently +6, Spot +7
Feats: Multiattack
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, gang (2 - 4), or pack (7 - 12)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 3 Hit Dice (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +3

Ghouls speak the languages they spoke in life (usually Rhadynnic or Sorglish).

Combat
Ghouls try to attack with surprise whenever possible. They strike from behind tombstones and burst from shallow graves.

Ghoul Fever (Su): Disease - bite, Fortitude DC 12, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Charisma-based.

An afflicted humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. It is not under the control of any other ghouls, but it hungers for the flesh of the living and behaves like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast, not a ghoul.

Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a ghoul’s bite or claw attack must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4 + 1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this paralysis. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Ghouls as Characters
Most ghouls were formerly human or a member of one of the savage humanoid races (orcs, gnolls, goblinoids, and the like). Any humanoid afflicted by ghoul fever might become a ghoul.

Ghoul characters possess the following racial traits:

• Type: Ghouls are undead.


• Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, Constitution -. Ghouls are more agile than humans and have a natural cunning and insight. As an undead creature, a ghoul does not have a Constitution score.


• Size: Ghouls are the same size as their base race.


• Speed: Ghouls have the same base land speed as their base race.


Darkvision: Ghouls can see in the dark out to 60 feet.



• Automatic Languages: Ghouls remember the languages of their former existence.


• Favored Class: Ghoul (from Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead).

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Flying Abominations, Medium

Flying Abominations, Medium (from Spells & Spellcraft)
Medium Undead

Hit Dice: 3d12 (20 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: Fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 12 (+2 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Slam +3 melee (1d6 + 3, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Full Attack: Slam +3 melee (1d6 + 3, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: See text of the spell flying abominations
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, undead
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +1, Will +3
Abilities: Str 14, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 10, Con -, Cha 10
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Pack (3 - 12)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

Parts from a Huge or larger creature can be used in the spell flying abominations to make Medium abominations.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Flying Abominations, Small

Flying Abominations, Small (from Spells & Spellcraft)
Small Undead

Hit Dice: 2d12 (13 hit points)
Initiative: +1 (Dexterity)
Speed: Fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +1 Dexterity, +2 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +1/-4
Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d4, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Full Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d4, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: See text of the spell flying abominations
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, undead
Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +1, Will +3
Abilities: Str 10, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 12, Con -, Cha 10
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Pack (3 - 12)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

Parts from a Medium or Large creature can be used in the spell flying abominations to make Small abominations.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Flying Abominations, Tiny

Flying Abominations, Tiny (from Spells & Spellcraft)
Tiny Undead

Hit Dice: 1d12 (7 hit points)
Initiative: +2 (Dexterity)
Speed: Fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 16 (+2 size, +2 Dexterity, +2 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +0/-9
Attack: Slam +1 melee (1d3 - 1, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Full Attack: Slam +1 melee (1d3 - 1, bludgeoning, 20 x2)
Space/Reach: 2½ feet by 2½ feet/0 feet
Special Attacks: See text of the spell flying abominations
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, undead
Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +2, Will +2
Abilities: Str 8, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 14, Con -, Cha 10
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Pack (3 - 12)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

Parts from a Small or Medium creature can be used in the spell flying abominations to make Tiny abominations.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Emphemeral Swarm

Emphemeral Swarm (adapted from the Monster Manual III and Dragon Magazine #329)
Tiny Undead (Incorporeal, Swarm)

Hit Dice: 12d12+108 (186 hit points)
Initiative: +4
Speed: Fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 20 (+2 size, +4 Dexterity, +4 deflection); touch 20, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +6/-
Attack: Swarm (1d6 Strength)

Full Attack: Swarm (1d6 Stength)

Space/Reach: 10 feet by 10 feet/0 feet
Special Attacks: Distraction, Strength damage

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, half damage from slashing and piercing, incorporeal traits, swarm traits, undead traits

Saves: Fortitude +4, Reflex +8, Will +8
Abilities: Str -, Int 2, Wis 11, Dex 18, Con -, Cha 18
Skills: Listen +9, Spot +10
Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Toughness x4-
Environment: Plane of Shadow
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -

Ephemeral swarms are the ghostly collections of many little creatures that suffered a common death. Just as when a spirit of a particular creature lingers on as a ghost when, when many small creatures die a violent death, they may linger on as a vengeful ephemeral swarm. The undead swarm is comprised of the psychic agony and anguish of the newly departed.

The physical appearance of the creatures in the swarm corresponds to what was killed. Thus, in an area where a plague killed all the cats, the ephemeral swarm will look likes a pack of cats and kittens. If a fireball spell took out a rat's nest, the ephemeral swarm would seem to be a ghostly rat swarm.

Combat
Almost all ephemeral swarms return from the dead seeking to inflict pain and suffering similar to that which they experienced upon their deaths. If the agent of their destruction is visible and recognizable by the creatures, a swarm will direct its efforts toward killing them. Otherwise, a swarm surrounds and attacks any living prey it encounters.

In order to attack, an ephemeral swarm moves into opponents' spaces, which provokes attacks of opportunity. It can occupy the same space as a creature of any size, since it swarms all around its prey, but remains a creature with a 10 foot by 10 foot space. Ephemeral swarms never make attacks of opportunity, but they can provoke attacks of opportunity. An ephemeral swarm’s attacks are nonmagical. Damage reduction sufficient to reduce the swarm attack’s damage to 0 and other special abilities usually give a creature immunity (or at least resistance) to damage from a swarm.

Unlike other creatures with a 10 foot by 10 foot space, an ephemeral swarm is shapeable. It can occupy any four contiguous space and it can squeeze through any space large enough to contain one of its component creatures.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a ephemeral swarm in its space must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. Even after a successful save, spellcasting or concentrating on spells requires a Concentration check with a DC of 20 + the spell level. Using skills requiring patience and concentration requires a DC 20 Concentration check. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Strength Damage (Su): The swarm attack of a ephemeral swarm deals 1d6 points of Strength damage to any living creature whose space it occupied at the end of its move. A creature reduced to Strength 0 by an ephemeral swarm dies. This is a negative energy effect.

Swarm: A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernible anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. An ephemeral swarm is immune to all weapon damage. Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or lower causes it to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, they cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple an opponent. A swarm 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 mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells. An ephemeral swarm is susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on an ephemeral swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of Diminutive size. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.

Undead Traits: An ephemeral swarm is immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage. It cannot be raised and resurrection only works if it is willing. It has darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Incorporeal: An ephemeral swarm can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. The creature has a 50% change to ignore any damage from a corporeal source except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. An ephemeral swarm can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. An ephemeral swarm always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it does not wish to be.

Vulnerabilities
Ephemeral swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. They have one special vulnerability: A magic weapon with a special ability such as flaming deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon's normal damage can't affect the swarm.

Ephemeral Swarms as Familiars
Ephemeral swarms can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. To do so, the character must take the Improved Familiar feat, be evil in alignment, and be at least a 11^th-level caster.

The ephemeral swarm remains an undead creature. Swarm familiars do not gain the ability to speak with others of their kind, and neither the swarm nor its master gains the Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot) feat. Instead, the following special qualities are substituted for those standard familiar abilities.

Granted Abilities: In addition to special abilities gained as a result of standard familiar progression, swarm familiars also bestow the following abilities upon their masters. The ephemeral swarm's master gains immunity to her swarm's nauseating effect and its wounding attack and can occupy the same space as her familiar without suffering penalties. Swarm familiar granted abilities replace the granted abilities listed for improved familiars.

Hive Mind (Ex): Ephemeral swarm familiars gain a hive mind that connects them to each other by the arcane power of their master. The master gains an empathic link and the ability to share spells with the hive mind of the swarm familiar.

Nonhealing (Ex): When a swarm takes damage, part of it is physically destroyed. Therefore, swarm familiars cannot be healed in the normal manner. Instead, new creatures much be summoned to the swam to replace those that have died. A summon swarm spell "cures" a swarm familiar by replacing dead creatures in the swarm at a rate of 1d6 hit points per caster level. The number of hit points healed in this manner cannot exceed the swarm's maximum hit point total. Only a druid or the wizard to whom the swarm familiar belongs can cure a swarm familiar in this fashion. Summon swarm spells used to heal a familiar create no other effect.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Corrupted Creature (Template)

Corrupted Creature (from the Book of Vile Darkness)

Powerful evil, unchecked and rampant, can horribly alter any aspect of the physical world, and creatures are no exception. Twisted by malevolence, corrupted creatures take on a hideous appearance and gain evil powers and dire intent. Corrupted creatures have unique countenances, each reacting to the source of malevolence in a different way. Most have twisted, misshapen and often asymmetrical forms; mottled, discolored flesh; and reddish eyes. Although one might be tempted to confuse a corrupted creature with a fiendish or half-fiend creature, the corrupted creature usually has a more mutated and ungainly appearance.

"Corrupted" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature that is not an outsider. The creature's type changes to "aberration". It retains all modifiers and subtypes. It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Same as the base creature.

Speed: Same as the base creature.

Armor Class: The flesh of corrupted creatures becomes tougher and more resilient. Add +4 to the natural armor bonus of the base creature if it is Large or smaller. If it is Huge or larger, add +8.

Attacks: Same as the base creature.

Damage: The corrupted creature's claws lengthen, teeth multiply, and muscles harden. The damage die used when the creature deals damage with natural attacks increases by one die type, as if the creature were one size larger.

Special Attacks: Same as the base creature.

Hit Dice	Damage Reduction
1 - 3	-
4 - 7	5/+1
8 - 11	5/+2
12+	10/+3

Special Qualities: A corrupted creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature, and also gains the following ones:

• Damage Reduction (Ex): Corrupted creatures gain damage reduction according to their Hit Dice (see table to the right). If the base creature already has damage reduction, use the better value. If a corrupted creature gains damage reduction, its natural weapons are treated as magic weapons of a strength equal to its damage reduction value for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
• Disruptive Attack (Su): The corrupt creature deals additional vile damage when it touches uncorrupted, living, corporeal nonoutsiders. The amount of vile damage dealt by  corrupted creature's natural attacks is equal to half of the creature's Hit Dice (maximum 20 points of damage).
• Enhanced Power (Su): The save DCs of any and all of the corrupt creature's special attacks increase by +4.
• Fast Healing (Ex): Each round, a corrupted creature heals damage equal to half of its Hit Dice (maximum of 10 points healed per round). If the base creature already has fast healing, use the better value.

If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value.

Saves: Same as the base creature modified by ability score adjustments.
Abilities: Same as the base creature modified as follows: Strength +4, Dexterity -2, Constitution +4, Wisdom -2, Charisma -2.
Skills: Same as the base creature, modified by ability score adjustments.
Feats: Same as the base creature.
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.
Organization: Same as the base creature.
Challenge Rating: Varies (see below):

Hit Dice	CR
Up to 3	Base creature +1
3 to 7	Base creature +2
8+	Base creature +3

Treasure: Same as the base creature.
Alignment: Always evil (any).
Advancement: Same as the base creature.
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +3.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Tomb Viper

Tomb Viper (from Dungeon Crawl Classics #45: Malice of the Medusa)
Medium Undead

Hit Dice: 2d12+2 (15 hit points)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 feet, climb 20 feet, swim 20 feet
Armor Class: 17 (+2 Dexterity, +5 natural); touch 12; flat-footed 15
BAB/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6 plus 1d6 necrotic poison, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6 plus 1d6 necrotic poison, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Necrotic poison
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/-, darkvision 60 feet, meld with stone, surprise, undead, vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fortitude +0, Reflex +2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 10, Int 1, Wis 10, Dex 15, Con -, Cha 1
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +8, Hide +8, Listen +5, Spot +5, Swim +8
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Toughness
Environment: Any tomb
Organization: Solitary or swarm (4 - 9)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3 - 5 Hit Dice (Large), 6 - 18 Hit Dice (Huge)

A tomb viper is an undead snake that has been preserved by alchemical means and bound magically to a crypt or vault to serve as an eternal guardian. it has the ability to meld with stone and innocuously blend itself with bas-reliefs and other wall carvings. As a result, it almost always achieves surprise.

Tomb vipers are always derived from poisonous snakes, most often asps, but also frequently from cobras and sidewinders.

Combat
Tomb vipers are aggressive, biting with the expectation that their necrotic poison will kill their prey.

Meld with Stone (Sp): A tomb viper can enter a stone surface once per day as a standard action as per the spell meld with stone. While inside the wall, any carvings or paintings alter to accommodate the viper's image. The undead snake can see and hear out of the stone surface.

Necrotic Poison (Su): Necrotic energy courses though the tomb viper, infusing its fangs with the raw energy of undeath. This deals an extra 1d6 points of damage from the negative energy with each successful melee attack. A successful Fortitude save (DC 11) halves this additional damage. Characters killed by the poison rise in 2d6 minutes as zombies. necrotic poison heals undead rather than harms them.

Surprise (Ex): When melded with stone, a tomb viper receives a +15 circumstance bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks the round after emerging.

Vulnerability to Fire (Ex): Tomb vipers take double damage from fire except on a successful saving throw.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Skills: Tomb vipers have a +4 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, and Spot checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. A tomb viper can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. A tomb viper has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming provided it swims in a straight line.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Bone Creature (Template)

Bone Creature (from the Book of Vile Darkness)

Sometimes creatures that rise as living skeletons retain their intellect and abilities. Bone fighters wield deadly weapons and clank about in ancient armor. Bone sorcerers cast dreadful spells and are often confused with liches. Bone wyverns darken the skies and threaten with their poisoned, skeletal tails. They cannot be the result of a simple animate dead spell, but could arise from a create undead or create greater undead spell, as undead of their equivalent Hit Dice.

"Bone" is a template that can be added to any nonundead, corporeal creature with a skeletal system. The creature's type changes to "undead". It retains all modifiers and subtypes. It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Change to d12.

Speed: Winged corpse creatures retain the ability to fly. Now, however, flight is magical as the fly spell, but it still uses the creature's original fly speed.

Size	Natural Armor Bonus	Claw Damage
Diminutive	+0	1
Fine	+0	1
Tiny	+0	1d2
Small	+1	1d3
Medium	+2	1d4
Large	+3	1d6
Huge	+4	2d4
Gargantuan	+6	2d6
Colossal	+10	2d8

Armor Class: Natural armor changes to a bonus based on the bone creature's size (see table to the right).

Attacks: A bone creature retains all the natural 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 bone creature can strike with all of them at its full attack bonus. if the creature already had claw attacks with its hands, use the bone creature attack format and damage if they are better. The bone creature's base attack bonus does not change.

Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal normal damage. A claw attack deals damage depending on the bone creature's size (see table to the right). Use the base creature's claw damage if it is greater.

Special Attacks: Same as the base creature.

Special Qualities: A bone creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature, and also gains the following ones:

• Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
• Undead: A bone creature is immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromantic effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or death from massive damage. A bone creature cannot be raised, and resurrection only works if it is willing.
• Immunities (Ex): Bone creatures are immune to cold damage and take only half damage from piercing or slashing weapons.

If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value.

Saves: Same as the base creature modified by ability score adjustments.
Abilities: Same as the base creature modified as follows: Dexterity +4, Constitution -. As an undead creature, a corpse creature has no Constitution score.
Skills: Same as the base creature, modified by ability score adjustments.
Feats: Same as the base creature plus the bone creature gains the Weapon Finesse feat.
Climate/Terrain: Any.
Organization: Same as the base creature.
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1.
Treasure: Same as the base creature.
Alignment: Always evil (any).
Advancement: Same as the base creature.
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +1.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Dragon Wisp

Dragon Wisp (from the Dungeon Crawl Classics #30.5: Trek from the Vault))
Small Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 8d12 (52 hit points)
Initiative: +12
Speed: Fly 50 feet (perfect)
Armor Class: 22 (+1 size, +8 Dexterity, +1 dodge, +2 deflection); touch 22, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +4/-
Attack: Spectral bite +14 melee touch (2d8 energy damage - see below)

Full Attack: Spectral bite +14 melee touch (2d8 energy damage - see below)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Spectral bite
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, incorporeal traits, spell resistance 15, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +10, Will +9
Abilities: Str -, Int 14, Wis 17, Dex 26, Con -, Cha 14
Skills: Hide +19, Listen +14, Search +13, Spot +14
Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Bite)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Pair or swirl (3 - 5)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 9 - 16 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -

Dragon wisps are transluscent wsps of spectral color, faint traces of draconic spirits that swirl in vaguely dragon-like shapes. Dragon wisps shift between a spectrum of colors matching the chromatic dragons - red, blue, green, white, and black. A dragon wisps's body is a loose gaseous form roughly two feet across that crates shadowy illumination. Dragon wisps speak Sulic.

Combat
Dragon wisps are dangerous in combat. They shift and phase through materials to chase down opponents, and are relentless in their attacks. In melee, they attack with a spectral bite which acts as a melee touch attack and randomly inflicts electical, fire, cold, or acid damage.

Spectral Bite (Su): The bite of a dragon wisp passes through and ignores natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. A successful bite attack inflicts 2d8 points of random energy damage. When a bite attack succeeds, roll 1d4 to determine what type of energy damage it inflicts - 1: acid, 2: cold, 3: electricity, 4: fire.

Incorporeal: A dragon wisp can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. The creature has a 50% change to ignore any damage from a corporeal source except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. A shadow can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. A dragon wisp always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it does not wish to be.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Shadow

Shadow (from the Monster Manual)
Medium Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 3d12 (19 hit points)
Initiative: +2
Speed: Fly 40 feet (good)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dexterity, +1 dodge, +1 deflection); touch 14, flat-footed 11
BAB/Grapple: +1/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +3 melee (1d6, Strength, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +3 melee (1d6, Strength, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Create spawn, strength damage
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, incorporeal traits, +2 turn resistance, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str -, Int 6, Wis 12, Dex 14, Con -, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +8, Listen +7, Search +4, Spot +7
Feats: Dodge, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot)
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, gang (2 - 5), or swarm (6 - 11)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 4 - 9 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

Shadows are creatures of sentient darkness, hating life and light with equal fervor. Their touch bestows the painful chill of nonexistence, making them very dangerous opponents. A shadow can be difficult to see in dark or gloomy areas but stands out starkly in brightly illuminated places. Natural enemies of all that live, shadows are aggressive and predatory. They are quick to strike and make short work of those unprepared to deal with them.

A shadow is 5 to 6 feet tall and is weightless. Shadows cannot speak intelligibly.

Combat
Shadows lurk in dark places, waiting for living prey to happen by.

Strength Damage (Su): The touch of a shadow deals 1d6 points of Strength damage to a living foe. A creature reduced to Strength 0 by a shadow dies. This is a negative energy effect.

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid reduced to Strength 0 by a shadow becomes a shadow under the control of its killer within 1d4 rounds.

Incorporeal: A shadow can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. The creature has a 50% change to ignore any damage from a corporeal source except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. A shadow can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. A shadow always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it does not wish to be.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Skills: Shadows have a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks and a +4 racial bonus on Search checks. A shadow gains a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks in areas of shadowy illumination. In brightly lit areas, it takes a -4 penalty on Hide checks.

Shadows as Familiars
Shadows can serve as familiars for 4^th level or higher shadowsworn. A shadow serving as a shadowsworn's familiar is incorporeal, but is not undead.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Shadow Serpent

Shadow Serpent (from the Freeport Trilogy)
Medium Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 3d12 (19 hit points)
Initiative: +6
Speed: fly 40 feet (good)
Armor Class: 13 (+2 Dexterity, +1 deflection); touch 13; flat-footed 11
BAB/Grapple: +1/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +3 melee (1d6 Strength damage)

Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +3 melee (1d6 Strength damage)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Strength damage
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, incorporeal traits, +4 turn resistance, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str -, Int 6, Wis 13, Dex 14, Con -, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +8, Listen +7, Search +4, Spot +7
Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Improved Initiative
Environment: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary, gang (2 - 5), or swarm (6 - 11)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Any
Advancement: 4 - 9 Hit Dice (Medium)

Shadow serpents look like shadows, but are obviously shaped as serpent people. Unlike most shadows, the shadow serpents do not all harbor hatred for the living, and they lack the ability to create spawn. Although many attack the living on sight, a few have managed to keep some semblance of their corporeal personality and intelligence. These few would rather converse with the living in an attempt to find a way to free their souls fom the curse of undeath.

Combat
Shadow serpents linger in long-forgotten temples where they spent their lives. They use their ability to hide and move through solid objects to their best advantage in combat.

Strength Damage (Su): When a shadow serpent touches a living creature, it deals 1d4 points of temporary Strength damage. Any creature reduced to 0 Strength by a shadow serpent dies.

Incorporeal Traits: Has no physical body. Can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. Immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells or magic weapons, has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Holy water can affect incorporeal undead, but a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of not affecting it.

Can enter or pass through solid objects, but must remain adjacent to the object’s exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. Can sense the presence of creatures or objects within a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment (50% miss chance) from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. Must emerge to see farther from the object it is in and attack normally.Has total cover while inside an object, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. Cannot pass through a force effect.

Attacks pass through (ignore) natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Can pass through and operate in water as easily as air. Cannot fall or take falling damage. Cannot make trip or grapple attacks, nor can it be tripped or grappled. Cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate an opponent or its equipment, not subject to such actions. Has no weight and does not set off traps that are triggered by weight.

Moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be. Has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Nonvisual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to it. Has an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when it cannot see.

Undead Traits: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Skills: Shadow serpents have a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks and a +4 racial bonus on Search checks. A shadow serpent gains a +4 bonus on Hide checks in areas of shadowy illumination; in brightly lit areas it takes a -4 penalty to Hide checks.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Shadow Constrictor Snake

Shadow Constrictor Snake (from the Freeport Trilogy)
Medium Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 3d12+3 (22 hit points)
Initiative: +3
Speed: fly 30 feet (good)
Armor Class: 14 (+3 Dexterity, +1 deflection); touch 14; flat-footed 11
BAB/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (0)

Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (0)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Incorporeal constriction, incorporeal improved grab
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, incorporeal traits, +4 turn resistance, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str -, Int 1, Wis 12, Dex 17, Con -, Cha 2
Skills: Hide +7, Listen +6, Search +0, Spot +6
Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Toughness
Environment: Warm forest, aquatic, or underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4 - 5 Hit Dice (Medium), 6 - 10 Hit Dice (Large)

Shadow snakes are undead created by evil mages or the anger of a deity. They haunt the area where they lived in life and can be commanded by those that create them to guard and area or an item.

Combat
Shadow constrictors use their ability to hide and move through solid objects to their best advantage in combat. They have the unique ability to grapple and constrict corporeal targets. Unlike a normal shadow, shadow constrictors reduce their opponents' Constitution and lack the ability to create spawn.

Incorporeal Constriction (Su): On a successful grapple check, a shadow constrictor deals 1 point of temporary Constitution damage. Any creature that is reduced to 0 Constitution by a shadow constrictor dies.

Incorporeal Improved Grab (Su): To use this ability, a shadow constrictor must hit with its touch attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. This is an exception to the normal rule that incorporeal creatures cannot grapple or be grappled. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict. This ability is identical to Improved Grab except that it can affect both incorporeal and corporeal targets.

Incorporeal Traits: Has no physical body. Can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. Immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells or magic weapons, has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Holy water can affect incorporeal undead, but a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of not affecting it.

Can enter or pass through solid objects, but must remain adjacent to the object’s exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. Can sense the presence of creatures or objects within a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment (50% miss chance) from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. Must emerge to see farther from the object it is in and attack normally.Has total cover while inside an object, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. Cannot pass through a force effect.

Attacks pass through (ignore) natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Can pass through and operate in water as easily as air. Cannot fall or take falling damage. Cannot make trip or grapple attacks, nor can it be tripped or grappled. Cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate an opponent or its equipment, not subject to such actions. Has no weight and does not set off traps that are triggered by weight.

Moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be. Has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Nonvisual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to it. Has an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when it cannot see.

Undead Traits: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Skills: Shadow snakes have a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks abd a +4 racial bonus on Search checks. A shadow snake gains a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks in area of shadowy illuminations; in brightly lit areas, it takes a -4 penalty on Hide checks.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Spirit of the Plague

Spirit of the Plague (from the Creature Collection)
Medium Undead (Incorporeal)

Hit Dice: 6d12 (39 hit points)
Initiative: +1
Speed: Fly 15 feet (good)
Armor Class: 11 (+1 Dexterity); touch 11, flat-footed 10
BAB/Grapple: +3/-
Attack: Touch +4 melee (Plague)

Full Attack: Touch +4 melee (Plague)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Plague
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/+1, incorporeal traits, undead traits
Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +2, Will +5
Abilities: Str -, Int 10, Wis 9, Dex 13, Con -, Cha 9
Skills: Listen +6, Move Silently +10, Spot +6
Feats: None
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, ward (10 - 20), or plague (25 - 100)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 4 - 9 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

Spirits of the plague are the undead remains of those claimed by disease who exist to spread sickness to others. After death, the spirits of those who had agonized under the plague the longest, those whose wills were broken and spent at death, return to the mortal world bound by Kivutar's will. They travel through their towns or along merchant routes and even on the fields of battle to spread their disease.

Combat
Spirits of the plague exist solely to harass the living and spread their horrible diseases. They spend their nights passing through towns, caressing the faces of sleeping people in order to infect them.

Plague (Su): Any creature touched by a corporeal spirit of the plague must succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or contract an advanced form of whatever disease killed the spirit originally. DMs can tailor this disease to the epidemiological history of their campaigns, but assume as a default that the disease has an onset period of 1d10 days and causes 1d6 hit points of damage per day afterward until it is cured.

Incorporeal: A spirit of the plague can become corporeal or incorporeal as a swift action. When incorporeal, a spirit of the plague can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. While incorporeal, the creature has a 50% change to ignore any damage from a corporeal source except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. An incorporeal spirit of the plague can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. While incorporeal, its attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. An incorporeal spirit of the plague always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it does not wish to be.

Undead: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, fatigue, or exhaustion effects. Cannot heal damage on its own. Immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not a risk of death due to massive damage. Does not eat, breathe, or sleep.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - War-Worm Zombie (Template)

War-Worm Zombie (from Dungeon Crawl Classics #29: The Adventure Begins)

Bloated, mucous covered corpses with bubbles of slime gurgling from their mouths, war-worm zombies are the result of war-worm infestations in living creatures. When war-worm zombies are defeated in combat, they "bleed" harmless war-worm larvae. Unless these larvae are introduced into another host, they expire after 1d3 rounds.

"War-worm zombie" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal living creature with a skeletal system.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. It retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes and subtypes that indicate kind. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice from class levels (to a minimum of 1), double the number of Hit Dice left, and raise them to d10s. War-worm zombies have been drained of all fluids. Their dried husks damage more easily than normal zombies. If the base creature has more than 10 Hit Dice (not counting those gained with experience), it can’t be made into a war-worm zombie with a war-worm infestation.

Speed: If the base creature can fly, its maneuverability rating drops to clumsy.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus increases by a number based on the war-worm zombie’s size:

War-Worm Zombie Size	Natural Armor Bonus
Tiny or smaller	+0
Small	+1
Medium	+2
Large	+3
Huge	+4
Gargantuan	+7
Colossal	+11

Base Attack: A war-worm zombie has a base attack bonus equal to ½ its Hit Dice.

Attacks: A war-worm zombie retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. A war-worm zombie also gains a slam attack.

Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A slam attack deals damage depending on the war-worm zombie’s size. (Use the base creature’s slam damage if it’s better).

War-Worm Zombie Size	Slam Damage
Fine	1
Diminutive	1d2
Tiny	1d3
Small	1d4
Medium	1d6
Large	1d8
Huge	2d6
Gargantuan	2d8
Colossal	4d6

Special Attacks: A zombie retains none of the base creature’s special attacks. A war-worm zombie gains an acid gout attack:

• Acid Gout (Ex): Three times per day, a war-worm zombie can launch a gout of acid, a ranged touch attack with a range of 10 feet that inflicts 1d6 points of acid damage to the target.

Special Qualities: A war-worm zombie loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A war-worm zombie gains the following special qualities:

• Damage Reduction (Ex): A war-worm zombie has damage reduction 5/slashing. war-worm zombies are lumbering masses of flesh.


• Single Actions Only (Ex): War-worm zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A war-worm zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fortitude +⅓ Hit Dice, Reflex +⅓ Hit Dice, and Will +½ Hit Dice + 2.

Abilities: A war-worm zombie’s Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Skills: A war-worm zombie has no skills.

Feats: A war-worm zombie loses all feats of the base creature and gains Toughness.

Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Any.

Challenge Rating: Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:

Hit Dice	Challenge Rating
½	⅛
1	¼
2	½
4	1
6	2
8 - 10	3
12 - 14	4
15 - 16	5
18 - 20	6

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always neutral evil.

Advancement: As base creature, but double Hit Dice (maximum 20), or — if the base creature advances by character class.

Level Adjustment: -

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters

General Rules: Monsters - Bone Rat Swarm

Bone Rat Swarm (adapted from Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead and Dragon Magazine #329)
Tiny Undead (Swarm)

Hit Dice: 4d12 (26 hit points)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 15 feet, climb 15 feet
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dexterity); touch 15, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +2/-
Attack: Swarm (1d6)

Full Attack: Swarm (1d6)

Space/Reach: 10 feet by 10 feet/0 feet
Special Attacks: Distraction

Special Qualities: DR 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 60 feet, half damage from slashing and piercing weapons, immunity to cold, swarm traits, undead traits

Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 2, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 17, Con -, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: -
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, pack (2 - 4 swarms), or infestation (7 - 12 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -

A bone rat swarm is a mass of undead skeletal rats. though individually such creatures would pose little risk, in great numbers they can strip a creature clean in short order.

Combat
A bone rats swarm seeks to engulf and devour any living prey it encounters. The swarm deals 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.

In order to attack, a bone rat swarm moves into opponents' spaces, which provokes attacks of opportunity. It can occupy the same space as a creature of any size, since it swarms all around its prey, but remains a creature with a 10 foot by 10 foot space. Bone rat swarms never make attacks of opportunity, but they can provoke attacks of opportunity. A bone rat swarm’s attacks are nonmagical. Damage reduction sufficient to reduce the swarm attack’s damage to 0, being incorporeal, and other special abilities usually give a creature immunity (or at least resistance) to damage from a swarm.

Unlike other creatures with a 10 foot by 10 foot space, a bone rat swarm is shapeable. It can occupy any four contiguous space and it can squeeze through any space large enough to contain one of its component creatures.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a bone rat swarm in its space must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Swarm: A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernible anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. A bone rat swarm is immune to all weapon damage. Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or lower causes it to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, they cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple an opponent. A swarm 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 mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells. A bone rat swarm is susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a bone rat swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of Diminutive size. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.

Undead Traits: A bone rat swarm is immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage. It cannot be raised and resurrection only works if it is willing. It has darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Vulnerabilities
Bone rat swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. They have a few special vulnerabilities as follows.

A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.

A weapon with a special ability such as flaming deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon's normal damage can't affect the swarm.

A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.

Bone Rat Swarms as Familiars
Bone rat swarms can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. To do so, the character must take the Improved Familiar feat, be evil in alignment, and be at least a 9^th-level caster. Powerful ratman necromancers often have bone rat swarm familiars in place of their usual undead servitor.

The bone rat swarm remains an undead creature, but gains an Intelligence score of 1. Swarm familiars do not gain the ability to speak with others of their kind, and neither the swarm nor its master gains the Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot) feat. Instead, the following special qualities are substituted for those standard familiar abilities.

Granted Abilities: In addition to special abilities gained as a result of standard familiar progression, swarm familiars also bestow the following abilities upon their masters. The bone rat swarm's master gains immunity to her swarm's nauseating effect and its wounding attack and can occupy the same space as her familiar without suffering penalties. Swarm familiar granted abilities replace the granted abilities listed for improved familiars.

Hive Mind (Ex): Bone rat swarm familiars gain a hive mind that connects them to each other by the arcane power of their master. The master gains an empathic link and the ability to share spells with the hive mind of the swarm familiar.

Nonhealing (Ex): When a swarm takes damage, part of it is physically destroyed. Therefore, swarm familiars cannot be healed in the normal manner. Instead, new creatures much be summoned to the swam to replace those that have died. A summon swarm spell "cures" a swarm familiar by replacing dead creatures in the swarm at a rate of 1d6 hit points per caster level. The number of hit points healed in this manner cannot exceed the swarm's maximum hit point total. Only a druid or the wizard to whom the swarm familiar belongs can cure a swarm familiar in this fashion. Summon swarm spells used to heal a familiar create no other effect.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters