Bonesinger (Template

and its hooves are a fiendish red. An artaaglith normally carries a battle axe inscribed with skulls and other symbols of death, and this battleaxe functions as its holy symbol for the purpose of the creature using its cleric magic.

Artaagliths are commonly called goat demons, although that is a misnomer, since they are ram-headed rather than goat-headed. An artaaglith can be summoned with summon monster VI or called with lesser planar ally or similar spells.

COMBAT

Artaagliths are adequate combatants, but they prefer to use their spelllike abilities and undead servants to fight enemies, rather than doing so themselves.

They use their magic to enhance their undead and often channel negative energy to bolster them as well. They are aware that they and undead are both immune to poison, so they often choose to soften up a group of enemies with a stinking cloud spell before charging in to fight, ignoring the cloud’s effects. Cruel and vindictive, they are fond of using death knell on a fallen opponent, even while other foes remain standing.

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—animate dead, cause fear, death knell, desecrate, stinking cloud. These abilities are as the spells cast by a 5th-level cleric.

Spells: Artaagliths cast spells as 5th-level clerics and have access to the Evil and Undeath domains.

Tanar’ri Qualities: Like all demons, artaagliths are immune to poison and electricity, have cold, fire, and acid resistance 20, and can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language (except dretches).

Turn Undead (Su): Artaagliths turn undead as 5th-level clerics.

ARTAAGLITH CHARACTERS

Artaagliths normally advance as clerics. Any cleric levels they gain stack with their spellcasting ability, their effective caster level for spell-like abilities, and their ability to turn undead.

A bonesinger is a kind of skeletal undead formed from an evil bard. It retains its power of song and gains other strange abilities, including the power to enhance the spells of other bonesingers. Bonesingers look like skeletons dressed in tattered bard’s clothing, which is often decorated with skulls and other images of death. They are constantly surrounded by a subtle swirling breeze that whistles across the grooves and channels in their bones, creating a faint, haunting keening. These undead usually assist more powerful spellcasters or act as lieutenants or support members to undead battalions. They have a reputation for being seers and sometimes experience prophetic visions from Orcus.

CREATING A BONESINGER “Bonesinger” is a template that can be applied to any creature that has at least one level as a bard (referred to hereafter as the base creature). The creature’s type changes to undead. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. A cleric of 12th level or higher can create a bonesinger with the create undead spell. The cleric or another person assisting must have at least 5 ranks in Craft (sculpture) and 5 ranks in Perform in order to prepare the body before the spell.

Hit Dice: Increase to d12.

AC: A bonesinger gains a +3 natural armor bonus. If the base creature already has natural armor, use the better value.

Special Attacks: A bonesinger retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains the following special attack. Wind of Death (Su): Once per day, a bonesinger can create a roiling area of winds that smells of rotting corpses. The wind of death works like a gust of wind, plus any creature caught in it must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2

bonesinger’s HD + bonesinger’s Cha modifier) or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds.

Special Qualities: A bonesinger retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the following abilities.

Cooperative Magic (Sp): A bonesinger can use a standard action to increase by 2 the save DC of a spell cast by an adjacent bonesinger or a wind of death attack made by an adjacent bonesinger. The bonesinger must ready an action to help in this manner; the trigger is the other bonesinger beginning to cast a spell or use its wind of death attack.

Corrupt Healing: A bonesinger produces inflict effects with its spells instead of cure effects.

Singing Bones (Sp): Before it is animated as an undead, the bones of a bonesinger are carved with grooves and tiny holes by a master musician. The unnatural breeze that surrounds a bonesinger augments its musical performance, giving it a +2 bonus on all Perform checks as if it had the Skill Focus (Perform) feat. It loses this bonus when it is within an area of silence or in any place with no air (underwater, in a vacuum, and so on). Because of the constant noise about it, a bonesinger takes a –10 penalty on Move Silently checks.

Abilities: As an undead creature, a bonesinger has no Constitution score.

Skills: Same as the base creature.

Climate-Terrain: Same as the base creature and underground.

Organization: Solitary or band (2–5).

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature.

Treasure: Same as the base creature.

Alignment: Usually neutral evil or chaotic evil.

Advancement: Same as the base creature; most bonesingers continue to advance as bards.

SAMPLE BONESINGER

This example uses a 3rd-level human bard as the base creature.

Bonesinger

Medium-Size Undead

Hit Dice: 3d12+3 (22 hp)

Initiative: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)

Speed: 30 ft.

AC: 17 (+3 natural, +3 masterwork studded leather, +1Dex)

Attacks: Masterwork short sword +3 melee

Damage: Masterwork short sword 1d6

Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Spells, wind of death

Special Qualities: Bardic knowledge, bardic music, cooperative magic, corrupt healing, singing bones, undead traits Saves: Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +5 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 8, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 15 Skills: Balance +3, Concentration +5, Jump +2, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Listen +7, Perform +10, Scry +8, Spellcraft +5, Tumble +7, Use Magic Device +8 Feats: Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Toughness Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary or band (2–5) Challenge Rating: 3 Alignment: Neutral evil Advancement: By character class (bard)

Combat The Fortitude save DC for this bonesinger’s wind of death attack is 13. Bardic Music: 3/day in any combination: countersong, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage. Magic Items Carried: cloak of resistance +1, potion of invisibility, scrolls of cause fear, grease, hold person, and shout. Bard Spells Known (3/2; base DC 12 + spell level; 15% chance of spell failure): 0—detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic; 1st—charm person, inflict light wounds, sleep. Undead Traits: Immune to mindaffecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromantic effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or death from massive damage. A bonesinger cannot be raised, and resurrection works only if it is willing. The creature has darkvision (60-foot range).