Spes Magna Games

Animals are amazing. They often have abilities that seem as if they’ve been lifted out of some science fiction story. Game stats for animals often (usually?) give the short shrift to some of the remarkable things animals can do. For example, a tiger’s roar can stun its prey via infrasound frequencies. Check out Pathfinder‘s tiger stats. There’s no stunning sonic roar attack there (and, in my opinion, there should be).

Let’s look at snakes, since today is all about the S. Pathfinder snakes have the scent extraordinary ability, which makes sense. Snakes track prey through scent. The receptors on the snake’s tongue provide a sort of directional sense of smell and taste at range. Yes, that snake can sort of taste you without actually having to lick you. Snakes can also detect movement by picking up faint vibrations transmitted through the ground and the air. It’s not impossible to sneak up on a snake, but it isn’t that easy either. Many types of snakes — and not just pit vipers — also exhibit sensitivity to the infrared portion of the spectrum.

If I were going to feature snakes as a regular foe for my players’ characters, I’d consider beefing them up just a bit. All snakes should have a racial bonus to Perception checks and/or Skill Focus (Perception) as a feat or bonus feat. This bonus would account for the snake’s superior olfactory senses and its ability to detect vibrations. Tremorsense might seem like a good fit, but this ability is too good for the average snake since tremorsense permits the ability to automatically pinpoint a creature’s location. As mentioned above, it is possible to sneak up on a snake if one is sufficiently stealthy.

But what about that infrared sensitivity? The game doesn’t have a good equivalent. Darkvision doesn’t fit because darkvision is sort of magical. The easiest thing to do is to ignore penalties for Perception checks related to darkness that a snake would otherwise suffer so long as the snake is sensing a warm-blooded creature. (Or, in the case of creatures without blood, those that otherwise generate their own body heat, such as fire elementals, although what a snake would be doing preying on a fire elemental, I don’t know.)

Snakes also tend to be ambush predators, many of which stalk their prey. Racial bonuses to Escape Artist (to squeeze into lairs) and Stealth are appropriate. (Most snake game stats include the latter.)

When a snake constricts its prey, unconsciousness or death by asphyxiation is a real risk. The constrictor is sensitive enough to detect when its prey exhales, and it tightens its grip at that time, putting more pressure on the lungs and reducing the capacity of those organs to inhale. The rules enable a constrictor to inflict additional damage with every successful grapple check, but they don’t reflect the risk of asphyxiation.

I’d like to playtest a variation of the suffocation rules to reflect the asphyxiation hazard associated with constriction. A character being constricted has enough air to last 2 rounds per point of Constitution plus 1 additional round per point of Strength. If a character takes a standard or full-round action, the remaining air duration for the character is reduced by 1 round. Also, remaining air duration is reduced by 1 round per point of damage the character suffers due to constriction. Once a character has no more air left, he must make a DC 10 Constitution check in order to avoid suffocation. The check must be repeated each round, with the DC increasing by +1 for each previous success. When the character fails one of these Constitution checks, he begins to suffocate. In the first round, he falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, he drops to –1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, he suffocates.

Tags: A to Z, animals, Pathfinder monsters

Sultan Nagendra rules a desert kingdom that controls several important oases and, therefore, controls the trade routes through the region as well. Things were not always so. Decades ago, Nagendra was a desert giant outcast, banished from his tribe because of his too enthusiastic worship of Apep, the Great Serpent. Bound, blindfolded, and weaponless, Nagendra’s people drove him to the Sun’s Anvil, the most terrible part of the desert. Everyone fully expected him to die therein of thirst.

Apep had other plans.

The Great Serpent transformed Nagendra into a terrifying creature of earth and dust and vengeance. When Nagendra emerged from the Sun’s Anvil, he brought with him a zealous tribe of desert giants, forged into a disciplined fighting force ready to enslave and conquer in Nagendra’s and Apep’s names. He first targeted his former tribe, killing or capturing the leaders. Those captured he fought in single combat over several days as a both a spectacle for his followers as well as a demonstration of his personal power. The sons of the leaders were also slain, but the wives and daughters were spared to become his wives. Nagendra then turned his sights on the oases communities, and he handily smashed the defenses of each in turn. Every time, his policy was the same: death to the leaders, but clemency to the people.

Design Notes: I’m skeptical that Nagendra is really CR 20, although that is what the numbers add up to based on base creature, templates, et cetera. He’s tough, but he doesn’t look like CR 20 tough. I really need to compare his relevant numbers to CR 20 baselines and tweak as necessary, but I’ve run out of time if I’m going to N posted before today runs out. Perhaps I’ll revisit Nagendra later.

Sultan Nagendra
Giant Earth-Infused Dust Creature Desert Giant Fighter 2/Serpent Archer 6
CR 20; XP 307,200
LE Huge outsider (air, augmented giant, earth, elemental, extraplanar)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, tremorsense 20 ft.; Perception +14

DEFENSE
AC 35, touch 13, flat-footed 30 (+8 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural, -2 size); Mobility
hp 288 (21d10+168)
Fort +19, Ref +15, Will +8 (+9 against fear)
Defensive Abilities air mastery, bravery, rock catching; Immune elemental traits, fire

OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., burrow 50 ft.
Melee Bastion or Lawbringer +25/+20/+15 (2d6+15/15-20), or
Melee Bastion and Lawbringer +23/+23/+18/+13 (2d6+10/15-20), or
Melee 2 slams +23 (2d6+10), or
Ranged Farbiter +22/+17/+12 (2d8+12/19-20, x3), or
Ranged Farbiter +20/+20/+14/+9 (2d8+12/19-20, x3), or
Ranged rock +19 (2d6+10), or
Ranged 2 rocks +17/+17 (2d6+10)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks exude dust, grounded, rock throwing (100 ft.), sand blast, scimitar training, serpent arrow

TACTICS
Nagendra’s forte is delivering a gob of damage whether in melee or at range.

* Bastion is a +3 defending scimitar. Nagendra typically boosts his AC by +2 when fighting with it. Lawbringer is a +1 axiomatic scimitar. It deals a bonus 2d6 points of damage against chaotic creatures. Nagrenda’s attack stats above do not include the modifiers for these weapons.
* Farbiter is a +2 distance composite longbow [Str +10]. It has a 220-foot range increment.
* Nagendra almost always exudes dust in combat. This surrounds him in a stationary 20-foot radius of blinding dust (see below).
* When full attacking but not using Rapid Shot, Nagendra uses Manyshot. This adds 2d8 for the additional arrow with his first shot.
* If Nagendra uses Deadly Aim with any ranged attack, apply a -4 attack roll penalty and add +8 damage for each missile.
* If he uses Improved Vital Strike with any single attack, roll the damage three times; then add Strength, et cetera, the extra damage for Devastating Strike. Here’s a breakdown: two-handed scimitar (2d6+21 plus 4d6), one-handed scimitar (2d6+16 plus 4d6), slam (2d6+16 plus 4d6), longbow (2d8+6 plus 4d8), or rock (2d6+16 plus 4d6). Nagendra uses Improved Vital Strike in combination with Shot on the Run.
* Nagendra is highly mobile. He uses his normal speed, burrowing, and airborne abilities to keep from being pinned down, maintain advantageous positioning, et cetera. Whenever Nagendra takes a move action, he relies on Improved Vital Strike and Devastating Strike to keep his damage output high.

STATISTICS
Str 31, Dex 18, Con 26, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +17; CMB +29; CMD 44 (48 vs. disarm and sunder with scimitars)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Devastating Strike, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (longbow) (B), Improved Critical (scimitar), Improved Vital Strike (B), Iron Will (B), Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run (B), Two-Weapon Fighting, Vital Strike (B), Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Handle Animal +15 (+18 with snakes), Intimidate +32, Perception +14, Stealth +12, Survival +18; Racial Modifier +4 Stealth
Languages Auran, Common, Giant, Terran
SQ airborne, sandwalking, snake charmer, snake poison

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Air Mastery (Ex): Any airborne creature takes a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against Nagendra.

Airborne (Su): At will, Nagendra can walk on air as though with an air walk spell. In addition, he always falls as if affected by a feather fall spell. When falling, Nagendra can be moved on the wind as noted in the description of the air walk spell.

Burrow (Ex): Nagendra can burrow through rock at half speed, and he does not leave a tunnel behind when it burrows.

Craft Snake Salve (Su): Nagendra can concoct snake salve. He can make this magic item as if he met all of the prerequisites, and his caster level for creating this item is equal to his serpent archer class level. When under the influence of snake salve (or a magic fang spell), Nagendra’s snake arrow is treated as a weapon with the enhancement bonus the spell provides (so a snake-arrow with a +1 enhancement bonus to its bite from snake salve is treated as a +1 arrow).

Exude Dust (Su): At will as a free action, Nagendra can exude a cloud of dust that surrounds his body. This cloud functions like an obscuring mist spell, except all dust creatures can see through it normally. Any other creature caught within in the cloud must succeed on a DC 29 Reflex save or be blinded by the stinging dust. (The save DC is Constitution-based.) Success indicates that the creature closed or otherwise covered its eyes before the dust could affect them. The creature must keep its eyes closed or covered while within the dust cloud or risk blindness. A creature that enters the dust cloud with its eyes closed or covered need not make a save against blindness unless it opens its eyes while within the dust cloud. A creature blinded by Nagendra’s cloud of dust regains its sight 1d4 rounds after its last exposure to a dust cloud with its eyes open. Blinding exposure of even a single eye blinds all eyes supernaturally.

Grounded (Ex): While in contact with the earth, Nagendra gains a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls for melee attacks.

Sand Blast (Su): At will as a standard action, a dust creature can emit an abrasive jet of dust-filled wind that damages objects and other creatures. This wind takes the form of a 5-foot-wide, 20-foot long line that causes 10d4 points of slashing damage. Any creature caught within the area may attempt a DC 29 Reflex save for half damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Sandwalking (Ex): A desert giant travels at full speed across sand, rocky ground, or dust, and leaves no trail behind unless it chooses to.

Scimitar Training (Ex): All desert giants are proficient with scimitars, and can wield them as if they were light weapons. A desert giant adds its full Strength bonus to attacks made with a scimitar wielded in its off hand, and gains a +4 bonus to CMD versus disarm and sunder attempts when fighting with a scimitar in each hand.

Serpent Arrow (Su): Nagendra may remove a Medium snake from a container (similar to drawing an arrow or bolt from a quiver) and pull its body straight and stiff, suitable for firing from a bow (longbow, shortbow, composite longbow, or composite shortbow) or crossbow (light or heavy). Nagendra can draw and straighten snakes as a free action up to 6 times per round; otherwise, doing so is a move-equivalent action. When fired from a bow in this manner, the snake deals normal damage for the bow. If the snake is a poisonous snake, it also injects the target with poison as if he had been bitten by the snake. After being fired in this manner, the snake is stunned for 1 round (normally falling to the ground at the feet of the target). Once the snake recovers, it continues to attack the target.

If not fired, a drawn snake relaxes from its stiffened state after one round.

Snake Charmer (Ex): Nagendra especially intuitive when dealing with normal snakes and thus receives a morale bonus on all Handle Animal checks when dealing with normal snakes equal to 1/2 his serpent archer level (minimum +1).

Snake Poison (Ex): Nagendra is familiar with handling snakes and dealing with snake venom. He never risks accidentally poisoning himself when handling snakes he has tamed.

GEAR
Bastion (+3 defending scimitar), Farbiter (+2 distance composite longbow [Str +10]), Lawbringer (+1 axiomatic scimitar), +5 studded leather, plus 65,000 gp of other gear selected from the royal armories and treasuries, depending on the situation. Nagendra almost always carries a sack full of Medium venomous snakes.

Tags: A to Z, NPCs, Pathfinder monsters

Gröd the Gorilla transformed from a common jungle ape into an evil, intelligent beast after exposure to the eldritch energies of a glowing hunk of starmetal that fell from the heavens. Those same energies unlocked wild psionic powers from the beast’s mind. With its newfound abilities, it took the name Gröd and began a terrible career as an evil adventurer. That was years ago. Since that fateful day, Gröd has grown in power and influence. He now rules a savage band of greenskin orcs augmented by a motley assortment of ogres and girallons. From his treetop fortresses, Gröd lives the life of a warlord, exacting tribute from those who travel through his domain as well as waging skirmishes against nearby rivals.

Gröd’s personality mixes a sort of superficial sophistication with bouts of intense savagery. He affects an informed taste for finery and higher cultural pursuits, but isn’t above eating a slain enemy uncooked, tearing flesh and snapping bones to suck marrow. Gröd evinces an irrational hatred of adventurers who move faster than he does.

Design Notes: Gröd was built by applying the awaken spell to a normal Pathfinder gorilla, but with the Strength score increased to a more appropriately gorilla-like level. I then adjusted the gorilla’s CR to 4 before adding 8 levels of wilder, counting those levels as a non-key class. This bumped Gröd’s CR to 8. The additional +1 CR results from giving Gröd equipment equal to that of an 8th-level PC instead of a 8th-level NPC. All psionic abilities, skills, feats, and equipment come from Psionics Unleashed by Dreamscarred Press. I highly recommend this book if you like both psionics and Pathfinder. You can check out its OGC at this link.

Gröd the Gorilla
Awakened Gorilla Warrior Wilder 8
CR 9; XP 6,400
NE Large magical beast (augmented animal, psionic)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +14

DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+6 armor, +3 Dex, +2 dodge, +3 natural, -1 size)
hp 121 (5d8+15 plus 8d8+24 plus 13 Toughness plus 8 Psionic Body)
Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +10
Defensive Abilities elude attack +2

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee 2 slams +17 (1d6+8 plus 1d6 electricity), or
Ranged +1 teleporting javelin +12 (1d8+9, range increment 30 ft.)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Psionic Powers Known (68 pp/day, ML 8th; concentration +11, +15 defensively):
4th – empathic feedback (Will DC 18)
3rd – body adjustment
2nd – mental disruption (Will DC 16)
1st – energy ray, force screen

STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 16 (14)
Base Atk +9; CMB +18; CMD 31
Feats Combat Manifestation, Great Fortitude, Mental Leap, Psionic Body, Psionic Meditation, Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness (B)
Skills Acrobatics +18 (+22 jumping), Autohypnosis +14, Climb +23, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (psionics) +13, Perception +14, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +9, Swim +15, Use Magic Device +14; Racial Modifier +8 Climb; Armor Check Penalty -1
Languages Common, Giant, Orc

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Hardened Body (Ex): Gröd’s deep and intense connection to his body means that when his mind surges with power, his body grows more powerful. Gröd gains 5 temporary hit points whenever he gain the benefits of surging euphoria. These temporary hit points last for the duration of Gröd’s surging euphoria.

Psychic Enervation (Ex): Pushing himself by invoking a wild surge is dangerous. Immediately following each wild surge, Gröd may be overcome by the strain of his effort. The chance of suffering psychic enervation is 15%. When overcome by psychic enervation, Gröd is staggered until the end of his next turn and loses a number of hit points equal to his normal manifester level (the increase in manifester level from his wild surge does not increase the number of hit points lost). Gröd may expend his psionic focus as a free action when he would suffer psychic enervation to convert this damage into power point loss, although he is still staggered as normal.

Surge Blast (Su): Gröd can channel his wild surge into a blast of uncontrolled phrenic energy. As a standard action and by expending psionic focus, Gröd can make a ranged touch attack (range 30 feet) that deals 3d6 points of force damage.

Surging Euphoria (Ex): When Gröd uses his wild surge ability, he gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws for 3 rounds. If Gröd is overcome by psychic enervation following his wild surge, he does not gain the morale bonus for this use of his wild surge ability.

Wild Surge (Su): Gröd can let his passion and emotion rise to the surface in a wild surge when he manifests a power. During a wild surge, Gröd gains phenomenal psionic strength, but may harm himself by the reckless use of his power (see psychic enervation).

Gröd can choose to invoke a wild surge whenever he manifests a power. When he does so, he gains +3 to his manifester level with that manifestation of the power. The manifester level boost gives him the ability to augment his powers to a higher degree than he otherwise could; however, he pays no extra power point for this wild surge. Instead, the additional 3 power points that would normally be required to augment the power is effectively supplied by the wild surge.

Level-dependent power effects are also improved, depending on the power Gröd manifests with his wild surge. This improvement in manifester level does not grant any other benefits outside of the manifestation (he gains no higher-level class abilities, for instance).

Gröd can expend his psionic focus to manifest a psionic power without expending any power points, powering the manifestation with only his wild surge. He manifests this power as if all power points were paid by his wild surge ability. This results in the power being manifested as if the base power point cost of the power was paid, along with augmentation equal to his wild surge amount, but he may not augment the power beyond the amount of his wild surge, and when checking for psychic enervation, the chance to be overcome doubles to 30%. Gröd must wait 10 minutes after wild surging in this fashion before he can do so again.

EQUIPMENT
+2 chain shirt of landing, +1 teleporting javelin, bracers of mighty shocking fists (as an amulet of mighty fists but occupying the wrist slot), headband of alluring charisma +2, potion of displacement, potion of greater magic fang +2, psionatrix of telepathy, ring of forcefangs, plus 2,550 gp of other stuff, some of which should be spent for various magical scrolls for use via Use Magic Device

Tags: A to Z, NPCs, Pathfinder monsters, psionics

I was surfing Interwaves recently and came across a couple of lengthy blogposts about some of the stupider monsters that have popped up in various versions of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Some the stupidest have been monsters that combine normal animals. Since I don’t want to be left out of the stupid combo-animal carnival, I humbly submit the catbirdopus, which combines a domestic cat, a hawk, and an octopus.

Catbirdopus
CR 1/2; XP 200
N Small animal (aquatic)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5

DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 9 (2d8)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +1
Defensive Abilities ink cloud

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (average), swim 15 ft., jet 100 ft.
Melee 2 talons +5 (1d3-2), bite +5 (1d3-2 plus poison), tentacles +3 (grab)
Special Attacks poison (Fort 11)

STATISTICS
Str 7, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB -2; CMD +1 (cannot be tripped)
Feats Multiattack (B), Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +5, Escape Artist +8, Fly +12, Perception +5, Stealth +13; Racial Modifiers +2 Climb, +5 Escape Artist, +4 Perception, +6 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ink Cloud (Ex): A catbirdopus can emit a 10-foot-radius sphere of ink once per minute as a free action. The ink provides total concealment in water, and persists for 1 minute.

Jet (Ex): A catbirdopus can jet backward once per round as a full-round action, at a speed of 100 feet. It must move in a straight line while jetting, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it does so.

Poison (Ex): Bite – injury; save Fort DC 11; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1 Str; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based.

ECOLOGY
Environment temperate and hot water
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure none

Catbirdopus Companions
Starting Statistics: Size Small; AC +1 natural armor; Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (average), swim 15 ft., jet 100 ft.; Attack 2 talons +5 (1d3-2), bite +5 (1d3), tentacles +3 (grab); Ability Scores Str 7, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6; Special Qualities jet, low-light vision, ink cloud, scent.

4th-Level Advancement: Attack bite (1d3 plus poison [frequency 1 round (6), effect 1 Str damage, cure 1 save, Con-based DC]); Ability Scores Str +2, Con +2; Special Attacks poison.

Tags: Pathfinder monsters

Mystery obscures Lumusi’s origins. Through some ancient ritual, an entire rat swarm became awakened. This in itself wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but Lumusi possesses an evil disposition and a desire to inflict loss on others. It lurks in the hidden places of urban areas and farming communities. From its lair, it stealths out under cover of night to wreak havoc. It uses its spells to charm animals and vermin (thanks to its Vermin Heart feat), damage crops and property, and cause sickness and death.

Lumusi the Crawling Horde
Awakened rat swarm blight druid 9
CR 10; XP 9,600
NE Tiny magical beast (augmented animal, swarm)
Init +9; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +20
Aura forgetfulness (30-ft. radius, Will DC 19, 9 rounds/day)

DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 size)
hp 94 (14d8+28)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +12
Defensive Abilities swarm traits (as a swarm of tiny creatures, a rat swarm takes only half damage from piercing and slashing attacks); Immune disease, nauseated condition, sickened condition

OFFENSE
Speed 15 ft., climb 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Melee swarm (1d6 plus disease)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks disease (Fort DC 16), distraction (Fort DC 16), miasma (Fort DC 19)
Druid Spells Prepared (CL 9th):
5th (2+1)- cure critical wounds, enervation*, flame strike (Elemental Spell, Heighten Spell) (Ref DC 20)
4th (3+1)- cure serious wounds, dispel magic, hurricane blast (Heighten Spell) (Ref DC 20), shadow conjuration*
3rd (4+1)- burning gaze (Elemental Spell, Heighten Spell) (Fort DC 18), cure moderate wounds, deeper darkness*, protection from energy, sleet storm
2nd (5+1)- barkskin, blindness/deafness* (Fort DC 17) (blindness only), elemental speech, glide, pox pustules (Fort DC 17), wood shape
1st (6+1)- charm animal (Will DC 16), cure light wounds (x2), entangle (Ref DC 16), longstrider, obscuring mist*, touch of the sea
0 (4)- create water, detect magic, read magic, resistance
*Domain Spells
Nature Bond Subdomain Loss

STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 20, Cha 9
Base Atk +9; CMB –; CMD —
Feats Ability Focus (disease, distraction), Aspect of the Beast (wild instinct), Blind-Fight (B), Elemental Spell (cold), Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Natural Spell, Skill Focus (Perception), Vermin Heart
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +24, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +20, Stealth +15, Survival +21, Swim +16 (+24 to perform a special action or avoid a hazard); Racial Modifiers +8 Climb, +8 on Swim checks to perform a special action or avoid a hazard, uses Dex to modify Climb and Swim
Languages Common, Druidic
SQ nature sense, vermin empathy +8, wild shape 3/day, woodland stride

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Aura of Forgetfulness (Su): Lumusi can emit a 30-foot aura of forgetfulness for 9 rounds per day. These rounds do not need to be consecutive. Creatures you target in this area must make a DC 19 Will save or have no memory of any time spent inside the area. In addition, spellcasters in the area lose one prepared spell or available spell slot per round spent in the area, starting with 1st-level spells and going up through higher-level spells. Spellcasters are allowed a save each round to negate this loss (this save is separate from the memory loss save).

Disease (Ex): Filth fever; injury; save Fort DC 16; onset 1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3 Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Distraction (Ex): Lumusi can nauseate the creatures that it damages. Any living creature that takes damage from a creature with the distraction ability is nauseated for 1 round; a Fortitude save negates the effect.

Miasma (Ex): If Lumusi is adjacent to a creature at the beginning of its turn, the creature must succeed at a DC 19 Fortitude save become sickened for 1 round. A creature of the animal, fey, or plant type that fails its save is nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 1 minute thereafter. If the creature makes its save, it is immune to this effect for 24 hours, as are creatures immune to disease.

Touch of Darkness (Sp): As a melee touch attack, Lumusi can cause a creature’s vision to be fraught with shadows and darkness. The creature touched treats all other creatures as if they had concealment, suffering a 20% miss chance on all attack rolls. This effect lasts for 5 rounds. Lumusi can use this ability 8 times per day equal.

Vermin Empathy (Su): Lumusi can improve the attitude of vermin as a normal druid can with animals. Vermin have a starting attitude of unfriendly. Lumusi can also improve the attitude of animals and mindless undead creatures that were formerly animals, but it takes a -4 penalty on the check unless the animal or undead has a disease special attack.

Wild Shape (Su): Lumusi has the ability to turn itself into any Diminutive, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, or Huge animal and back again. This ability functions like the beast shape III spell, except as noted here. Lumusi can also assume the form of a Small or Medium elemental as if using elemental body II. Furthermore, it can take the form of a Small or Medium plant creature as if using plant shape I.

Lumusi loses its ability to speak while in animal form because it is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but it can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as its new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.) The effect lasts for 9 hours, or until Lumusi changes back. Changing form is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

NOTE
Due to Lumusi’s unusual nature, it has no equipment. As a result, its CR is 1 lower than expected.

Tags: Pathfinder monsters, rat swarm