Bloodrot

Illus. by Daarken

of its disguise self ability to appear as it did in life, or as someone it is impersonating. Due to the bane wraith’s tainted and undead nature, living beings often feel vaguely uneasy around one, but they might not attribute this to the bane wraith itself. Bane wraiths are roughly human in size and completely weightless. They speak whatever languages they did in life.

COMBAT

Bane wraiths are fearsome opponents, making efficient use of their incorporeal touch to slay or incapacitate their foes. What makes a bane wraith truly alarming, however, is that it rarely attacks its enemies directly. Rather, should a bane wraith grow angry at a living being—and the temperament of these creatures makes them all too easily angered—it prefers instead to hunt down the friends and loved ones of its living foe. A single bane wraith can torment an individual for months or even years, hunting down all those she cares about. Ability Drain (Su): A bane wraith can drain either Strength or Wisdom with a touch. It must decide which ability it is draining before rolling its attack. While the effects of a bane wraith’s Strength drain are immediately noticeable, its Wisdom-draining attack is more subtle. If the target does not realize he has been attacked—if, for instance, the bane wraith brushes against him in a crowd, or attacks from concealment—he must make a DC 18 Wisdom check (with his new, reduced Wisdom score) to realize that anything untoward has occurred. If a bane wraith continues to use its Strength drain on a target it has already reduced to 0 Strength, it deals Constitution drain instead. Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a bane wraith becomes a standard wraith in 1d4 rounds. Spawn are under the command of the bane wraith that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life, although they do physically resemble their former selves. Empathic Sense (Ex): When a bane wraith draws within 30 feet of any sentient being, it immediately and instinctively knows the name and appearance of every one of that individual’s friends and loved ones. Furthermore, it gains a general sense of where the individual believes her loved ones to be, although this information might not be accurate. This ability allows no save, but spells or abilities that make the subject immune to mind-reading or telepathy block this power. False Substance (Ex): A bane wraith looks more solid than most incorporeal creatures. In anything other than

direct lighting, observers must make a DC 18 Spot check to notice that a bane wraith is incorporeal. Incorporeal Traits: A bane wraith is harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. It has a 50 chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source, except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. It can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore natural armor, armor, and shields, but defl ection bonuses and force effects work normally against it. An incorporeal creature always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be. See page 310 of the Monster Manual for full information on the incorporeal subtype. Spell-Like Abilities: At will—detect thoughts (DC 16), disguise self (10 bonus on Disguise checks already calculated into skill totals, above). Caster level 8th. The save DCs are Charisma-based. Undead Traits: A bane wraith is immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities, poison, magical sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is Bane wraith harmless. It is not subject to extra damage from 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 works only if it is willing. It has darkvision out to 60 feet. BLOODROT Medium Undead Hit Dice: 10d12 (65 hp) Initiative: –5 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft. Armor Class: 5 (–5 Dex), touch 5, fl at-footed 5 Base Attack/Grapple: 5/8 Attack: Slam 8 melee (1d64 plus blood fever) Full Attack: Slam 8 melee (1d64 plus blood fever) Space/Reach: 5 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Blood fever, constrict 1d64, improved grab, sanguineous mount Special Qualities: Blindsight 60 ft., damage reduction 5/—, immunities, split, track infected, undead traits Saves: Fort 3, Ref –2, Will 2 Abilities: Str 17, Dex 1, Con —, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 14 Skills: Climb 11 Feats: — Environment: Underground or urban

Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 7 Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: 11–20 HD (Medium); 21–30 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: —

What appears to be a large pool of slick, dark blood with patches of more viscous fl uids, suddenly surges forward like a slug.

A bloodrot is an oozelike undead. While sages originally believed that bloodrots were slain oozes animated by necromantic spells, they have now come to understand that the bloodrot is not a true ooze at all, despite its oozelike form. Rather, a bloodrot is formed from the remaining fl uids of a creature dissolved in acid or otherwise liquefi ed. Bloodrots have no goal save to consume the fl uids of the living, whom they dissolve with their blood fever ability. Most bloodrots have a diameter of roughly 8 feet and a thickness of 2 to 6 inches. A typical specimen weighs about 400 pounds.

COMBAT

A bloodrot attacks with pseudopods of its own substance, often striking at a surprising distance. While unintelligent, it possesses an instinctive cunning that enables it to recognize advantageous circumstances for attack—or for retreat if a fight turns against it. A bloodrot prefers to kill its prey immediately after infecting them, so as to enjoy a meal then and there, but if it appears to be losing a battle it retreats and tracks those whom it has infected to consume later. Blood Fever (Su): Supernatural disease—slam (or any physical contact, including grappling or striking a bloodrot with unarmed attacks), Fortitude DC 17, incubation period 1 minute, damage 1d6 Con and 1d4 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based. Unlike normal diseases, blood fever continues until the creature reaches 0 Constitution (and dies) or is cured. Blood fever is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature affl icted with blood fever must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect. To eliminate blood fever, the curse must fi rst be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the creature, and the blood fever can be magically cured as any normal disease. An affl icted creature who dies of blood fever—or who dies of any other cause while infected with blood fever—dissolves into a puddle of thick blood and liquefi ed fl esh and organs. A bloodrot feeds on these remains. Constrict (Ex): A bloodrot deals automatic slam damage with a successful grapple check, in addition to possibly infecting the target with blood fever. Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a bloodrot must hit with a slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict. Creatures who have not already contracted blood fever must make a new save every round while grappled to avoid contracting the disease. Sanguineous Mount (Su): If a bloodrot is losing a battle, it might attempt to hide within the body of anyone already infected with blood fever. The bloodrot need merely touch someone it has already infected, and it can then seep into his body. The individual can resist this invasion with a DC 17 Fortitude save. Failure on the save means the bloodrot occupies the target’s bloodstream, and the target is nauseated as long as the bloodrot remains within him. The bloodrot can be expelled through the use of remove disease or heal, if the caster succeeds on a DC 20 caster level check. Otherwise, it can remain for up to 24 hours before it must depart, gushing forth from the host’s various orifi ces. Split (Ex): Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to a bloodrot. Instead, the creature splits into two identical bloodrots, each with half of the original’s current hit points (round down). A bloodrot with 10 or fewer hit points cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points. Splitting only occurs if an attack would deal actual damage; blows that are completely nullifi ed by a bloodrot’s damage reduction do not cause it to split. Track Infected (Su): A bloodrot can sense the distance and direction to anyone currently infected with blood

Bloodrot

Illus. by Daarken