50
Legacy of the Dragons
Hate Reaper
Combat
Small Magical Beast Hit Dice: 3d10+3 (19 hp), dying/dead –2/–12 Initiative: +4 Speed: 20 feet, burrow 10 feet AC: 18 (+1 size, +4 Dexterity, +3 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 14 Base Attack/Grapple: +3/–2 Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4–1) Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4–1) and 2 claws –2 melee (1d3–1) Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet (Face/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet) Special Attacks: Aura of rage, inspire terror Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, tremorsense 60 feet Saves: Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +4 Abilities: Str 8, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 4, Wis 13, Cha 16 Skills: Sneak* +12, Spot +3 Feats: Affinity With Skill (Sneak), Compensate for Size, Iron Will
Hate reapers avoid physical confrontation with their prey— they rarely take part in the fights they cause. They remain burrowed in the dirt while their victims battle nearby. After the fight, they dig to the surface and enjoy their meal. Luckily for travelers, a hate reaper must look upon its intended victims to affect their emotions. While it can take cover during a battle, to instigate a fight it must find a convenient hiding spot to observe a path or other location. If cornered, it uses its inspire terror ability to force its foes to flee. Should that tactic fail, it attempts to burrow to safety. * Skills (Ex): The thick, soft pads on a reaper’s paws grant it a +4 racial bonus to all Sneak checks to move quietly. Aura of Rage (Su): A hate reaper can focus its malevolent eyes on a single creature and push it into a bloodthirsty rage. This ability is a mind-affecting effect. The target must make a Will save (DC 13) or enter a bloodthirsty frenzy. The victim attacks the nearest accessible living creature for 2d4 rounds using its physical attacks. The rage prevents a victim from using supernatural, spell-like, or other magical abilities. Doing anything besides drawing a melee weapon and attacking with it is beyond its ability. If prevented from reaching the nearest visible target by a barrier of some sort, the victim screams and rages until the effect ends. In this state, a victim gains a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution but suffers a –2 penalty to AC. This ability has a range of 120 feet. The reaper must be able to see its target, though the target does not need to look upon the reaper (as with a gaze attack). Inspire Terror (Su): By using an effect similar to aura of rage, a hate reaper can emit waves of horror that force its victims into a blind panic. All creatures within 30 feet of the reaper must make Will saves (DC 13) or flee the area for 2d4 rounds. Victims use double move actions to move as far away from the reaper as possible, though they avoid any dangerous environment and never take suicidal actions when moving. If forced into a corner, a victim stops moving but takes no action to attack. This is a mind-affecting effect. A fleeing victim never attacks or takes other offensive action, but if it is attacked this effect immediately ends. The presence of an immediate, physical threat breaks the magical influence. Tremorsense (Ex): A hate reaper automatically detects the presence and location of any creature or object that stands on the ground within 60 feet of it.
Environment: Warm plains Organization: Solitary or pack (3–18) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 4–6 HD (Small) Level Adjustment: +1 This small, rodentlike magical beast manipulates the emotions of humanoids and animals it encounters. Hate reapers are so named for their magical ability to inspire a murderous rage in other creatures. They reach roughly 3 feet in length. They have coarse hair along their bodies; black, malevolent eyes; and jagged, needlelike teeth. Their handlike paws end in thick, sharp claws that they use to burrow. A hate reaper hides in loose soil, usually in a spot near a well-traveled path or a watering hole. It can amplify a creature’s emotions, allowing it to incite fights between normally docile creatures. In the aftermath of the struggle, the hate reaper burrows beneath the fallen foes and feeds on their remains. These troublesome rodents are usually solitary, though they may gather in small packs to bring an entire area under their influence. No one can guess how many violent arguments, clan feuds, and even wars these creatures have touched off. Most right-minded folk hunt them mercilessly. While hate reapers approach humanoid intelligence, they have a wholly alien outlook. Popular lore holds that reapers feed only on emotions, but gnaw marks left on their victims suggest otherwise. Hate reapers usually stay in wilderness areas, but sometimes greedy folk use them as weapons. To cause tension between neighboring realms, a diplomat might secretly place a hate reaper near a chamber scheduled to hold a political conference. Corrupt town guards sometimes let captive hate reapers loose in taverns. After the brawl the creature touches off, the guards accept generous bribes to keep the participants out of jail.
Hate Reapers and Alchemy Alchemists who deal with banned or quasi-legal concoctions value hate reapers for the wide range of substances that can be extracted from them. Sages believe that a reaper’s glands and organs absorb and store the emotions they evoke in other creatures, ranging from rage and fear to ecstasy and contentment. Some of these mixtures can prove beneficial. For instance, an ill patient that receives a dose of reaper extract may become energetic and hopeful, its body revived
