The definitive rd 3 edition Ravenloft Monstrous List

Sources:
The main sources for this document are : John W Mangrums A-Z monsters list, and the blurbs project, as suggested by fans on the FoS site (from the years 2006 to 2007), and Knowledge checks for monsters posted on the WotC board by fans, of which JWM did a large part, especially for the monsters found in Ravenloft. Chris Nichols additional suggested monster list, either on the main board, or while working on the Nocturnal Sea report. Plus monsters added by Jol Paquin of the FoS: - from WotCs Monster Manual 5 (which wasnt released when the A-Z project started); - some new monsters from Dragon mag and Pathfinder, as well as interesting sources, - monsters from FoS report (Souragne, Zherisia, Nocturnal Sea), FoS VRS Dopp files. It includes the official erratas, and the suggested fix, official or not Additional names for monsters New monster files and things posted by RL authors This PDF can be searched with Ctrl-F!

If you want to add blurbs to monsters that do not have one, please sent them my way, Ill add them to this document!

Knowledge check: A Peek Behind the Rules Curtain

So how do designers determine the Difficulty Class for Knowledge checks about creatures? The following is excerpted from Monster Manual IV: The description of the Knowledge skill indicates that in general, the baseline DC of checks to identify monsters and remember one bit of useful information about their special powers or vulnerabilities is equal to 10 + the monster's HD. Every 5 points by which the check result exceeds the DC yields another useful piece of information (PH 78). As a general rule of thumb, a DC 15 check or higher will reveal all of the base creature's type and subtype traits as defined in the glossary. This often includes information about energy resistance or various immunities. For instance, a DC 15 Knowledge (arcana) check reveals that dragons have high hit points (12-sided HD), all good saves, and have darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision. They eat, sleep, and breathe. Information specific to the creature, such as its type of damage resistance, spell-like abilities, or immunities come with the high DC check results.

A
Aboleth [Monster Manual]
CR7 Proposed by CNichols for the NS Gaz See also: Aboleth "Ecology of the Aboleth, The" Brandon Grist Dragon#131(36) D&D1

Afflicted beast [new]

JWM: I'm not quite done with the afflicted beast yet, but basically it's an option for what happens when a lycanthrope bites a normal member of its phenotype (a werewolf biting a wolf, for example) and afflicts it with lycanthropy. The afflicted beast doesn't become a true lycanthrope and can't spread the Dread Disease, but when exposed to its trigger it adopts the alignment of its progenitor and becomes more powerful and more aggressive. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about afflicted beasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This slavering, overgrown predator is no mere animal it is an afflicted beast. Once a simple animal, it has been touched by the Dread Disease of lycanthropy. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 Animals exposed to lycanthropy cannot become werebeasts themselves, but sometimes, they are tainted by a shadow of the curse. Afflicted beasts grow strong and malevolent when exposed to whatever triggers the change in their bloodline usually the light of the full moon. An afflicted beast cannot spread lycanthropy. 23 While transformed, an afflicted beast is unusually resistant to damage, but it shares the same material and chemical bane as the lycanthrope that created it (for afflicted wolves, this is usually silver and wolfsbane). 28 An afflicted beast has a ravenous appetite and may fly into a mad rage if subjected to pain. Magic such as remove curse or remove disease can sometimes cleanse an afflicted beast of the Dread Diseases taint. --September 3rd, 757 second day of full moon Belenus! In the last days, I do not recognize Greyfur, my old wolf companion. A strange glow now lights his gaze. Since yesterday, I find him looking at me strangely, like if his animal thoughts have somehow changed. Its difficult to explain. I can still force my will upon Greyfur, but

Abomination [Carnival]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about abominations. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This hideous mass of writhing flesh is an abomination, a nearly mindless mutation. This result reveals all aberration traits. 21 An abominations misshapen lump of a body sprouts numerous dangerous limbs and appendages, which pose unique threats. No two abominations are alike. 26 Abominations were once normal humanoids, but were transformed by unthinkable magic. Driven insane and trapped in this form, abominations are immune to polymorph effects, fear, and all forms of mind control. 31 Abominations are created at the whim of Isolde, mistress of the Carnival that displays these monstrous freaks. 36 Only a wish or miracle can restore an abomination to normal. --Behold this freak among freaks, this monster in the eyes of monsters. I defy you to tear your eyes from the mass of roiling, noisome flesh at the bottom of this dank pit. A true horror, is it not? So malformed, one would never suspect that the shapeless fiend you look upon was once a man like any one of you. Professor Archemo Pacali, Carnival barker

his whole body expression has changed, like he evolved? And I still wonder what happened in the hills when he came back with this nasty bite in its flank. This is not a goblyn wound. However, this wound has now healed satisfactory. The wandering goblyn tonight didnt have a chance against my wolf: even before I was ready to fight it, Greyfur jumped on it and snapped his neck with ease. When I think about the way my wolf looked at me after his kill, a savage expression of joy in his eyes, it gives me the shivers - A Druids diary in Forlorn.

37 Several varieties of akikage exist, including the more versatile greater akikage (a type of ghost) and the ansasshia, an akikage tasked to serve a specific, living master. 42 This result reveals the methods for binding an akikage into ones service as an ansasshia. --Bound by death to death Blade wrapped in smoke and shadow Leaves cold death behind --Rokushima haiku

Akikage (shadow assassin) [RL Monstrous Compendium III; Denizens of Dread]

CR7 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about akikage. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This misty figure is an akikage, also known as a shadow assassin. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. Akikage never speak. 22 An akikage is the spirit of an assassin that died during an unsuccessful attempt at killing a specific target. Akikage are obsessed with completing their final mission, and attack with their chilling touch. Akikage may appear to be armed, but this is just part of the spirits manifestation. 27 An akikage is usually invisible, turning visible only after it attacks. An akikage retains some of the killing arts it had mastered in life, including the ability to make sneak attacks. 32 Normal animals panic in the presence of an akikage, even when it is invisible. If an akikage appears and begins to draw shadowy vapors toward itself, it is gathering its ki in order to make a deadly strike. Unless the akikage is interrupted, the spirits next attack will burn with an unearthly cold that may even freeze its victims heart into a solid block of ice.

Albatross [Stormwrack - animal] animal]

Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about albatrosses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 11: This hefty, seagoing bird is an albatross. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Albatrosses feed on tiny squid and fish, but they sometimes follow ships to scavenge from their refuse. Albatrosses are capable of extremely long flights and can be sighted miles from land. BARDIC KNOWLEDGE DC 16: Many sailors consider it extremely unlucky to kill an albatross.

Albesadow (see (see vampire, vampire, elven) elven) [RLMC I; Denizens of Dread] Alchemical child [VR [VR's VR's Arsenal]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about alchemical children. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This creature is actually an alchemical child, a duplicate grown in a vat of alchemical fluids. This

result reveals all construct traits and the living construct subtype. 21 An enhanced version of alchemical children, known as enlightened children, also exists. Enlightened children are created using more advanced alchemical formulas and have additional abilities. Although they are similar to magical clones in some ways, alchemical children do not possess any of the memories of the original creature, unless specifically given such in a separate procedure. Alchemical children are highly resistant to acid. Slain alchemical children dissolve into steaming ichor. 26 An alchemical child is telepathically linked to its creator. Through this bond, the child can relay everything it sees, and the creator can issue commands. This result also reveals the general process for creating alchemical and enlightened children. 31 The creator of an enlightened child can grant it several alchemical abilities, such as an acidic touch, poisonous blood, the ability to reshape its feature. The creator can even free its child from the aging process, making it ageless like a golem. --Take care to use all of the best & freshest of these Things, most especially in the matter of Blood; for the expense of a spoilt child of the ordinary persuasion, in both money & grief, is as nothing compared to that of a spoilt Alchemical Childe. Notes on the Alchemie, Paridon, published 567 BC

ripped away. I threw up as Howard asked Korivr what he saw. "All he could do was mutter incomprehensively under his breath. It was then I saw It, in all Its glorious majesty. It stood like a triumphant God, it's holy being infusing my mind. I watched as it used its tentacles to rip Howard's mind apart. "But it left me alive, and now I worship it." - Extract from Claude DuBec's psychological profile, transcript by Dr Illhousen See also: Alhoon "Magic In the Evening" Ed Greenwood Dragon#185(63) D&D2

Allip [Monster Manual]

CR3 Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about allips. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Characters who recognize the creatures' ancestry can also use Bardic Knowledge to learn more. Knowledge (Religion) DC Result 13 This creature is an allip, the spectral remains of someone driven to suicide by madness. This result reveals all undead and incorporeal traits. 18 Though it can cause no physical harm, an allip's touch can drain away a victim's willpower. Also, an allip babbles incoherently to itself, and those who hear this babble can become hypnotised. Allips cannot, however, speak intelligibly. 23 It is dangerous to try to connect metally with an allip, be that through thought detection, mind control or telepathy as an allip's mind is so tortured as to damage any other mind that touches it. Bardic Knowledge DC Result

Alchemical undead [Dragon 350] 350]

Under Creatures of corruption CR 6 undead, alchemically tainted

Alhoon (a.ka. mind flayer lich) [Lords of Madness]

"It was a dry, papery sound that was out of place in the damp cavern that first drew my concern. We eventually found Korivr and Renee. The poor girl had a hole in the front of her skull. Her mind

13 The babble ability of an allip is a sonic effect and can be countered with bardic music. --In the corner of Garners barn, where a frayed rope hung from the rafters, I could see a cloud of tattered rags twist and float. Rags or were they shadows? I cannot say. Sighs, words, sobs rustled through the darkness. In a rush, the thing in the corner came at me, gibbering. I heard Allyk and Rosanna shout, but faintly as my world filled with onrushing blackness, the touch of rotten cloth and the shades cold cries. I hear it still Journal of Thomasson, Dementlieuse farmer See also Dragon #336 and Pathfinders bestiary.

mimic the former. The ancient dead are the deathless remains of those who have refused to move on to the afterlife, be it because they are bound by duty to serve as guards, because they cannot believe they are dead, or because they refuse to relinquish their grip on worldly power and pleasures. Ancient dead generally retain all the special attacks and qualities of the base creature. 28 The mere sight of an ancient dead invoked tremendous awe and despair, which can paralyze witnesses. An ancient deads flesh is unnaturally tough, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. Each ancient dead is vulnerable to a specific form of energy often fire. Ancient dead exist in a range of power, with higher-ranking ancient dead possessing more potent physical and supernatural powers. 33 The ancient dead carry supernaturally powerful disease-like curses with their touch. The most common of these ancient plagues is mummy rot, which can be cured only by casting break enchantment or remove curse. This plague is highly resistant, though not immune, to healing spells. Victims killed by mummy rot crumble away to dust. More powerful ancient dead may be immune to one or more forms of energy. 38 More powerful ancient dead can rejuvenate any damage dealt to their bodies. An ancient dead is helpless while rejuvenating, but more powerful ancient dead take less time to rejuvenate. The most powerful ancient dead can reform their bodies even after being reduced to ash, and can be permanently destroyed only through the use of ancient rites specific to individual ancient dead. --"You have to understand, we were young, indolent, and rich, always a dangerous combination. And we weren't the first to break into Florian's crypt to leave behind flowers, bad poetry, and other memorials to the way he captured the spirit of our times with his music. Andre thought to stay awhile, sing the bard's songs and smoke some of the Hazlani magic that the bard loved. We all agreed, seeking a catharsis to move us past this first real loss in our quite sheltered lives.

Ambiant (DT&DL) Ancient dead (dread mummy) [R3E, VR's VR's Guide to the Ancient Dead]
Errata: All samples of the Ancient Dead use the 8d12 + class HD formula for hit points. It is astonishingly wrong, as the template suggests changing the hit point dice to d12, and thats it (as all undead templates). It should be: 5d12 = 33 HP 7d12 = 45 HP 9d12 = 58 HP 10d12 = 65 HP 12d12 = 78 HP Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures ancient dead nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This desiccated corpse, wrapped in moldering burial finery, is one of the ancient dead, called a mummy by some. This result reveals all deathless traits. 23 Ancient dead are not the undead creatures known as mummies, though some sages believe that the latter represent a necromantic attempt to

"We alighted our candles in the gloomy mausoleum and in their cheery light partook of wine and song and poppy, soon quite forgetting ourselves. As such, while I caught that Andre rearranged the candles and drew straight lines between, I failed to discern any pattern and thought nothing of it. When Andre led our song to show our love and our adoration and our devotion to this angel come down to us and taken back too early, I thought nothing of it. And when our chants changed to a call-and-repeat in the tongue I'd later learn was Har'Akiri, I thought nothing of it. But when I saw that ruby signet ring of Florian's, the one I'd so admired when I saw it during his last concert, still worn upon the withered hand that'd just ripped through the stone casket... It was then I realized I'd spent too much of my life not thinking." Hymn of the Dead by Donatien Naiffleur of Port-a-Lucine, semi-autobiographical

creatures avoid this fate, the stench of rot alone is nauseating. 40 If an angel of decay strikes the same opponent several times in quick succession, its foul energies cause the victims wounds to instantly fester and rot. --We arrived too late: Jezebel was able to complete her foolish summoning of an abyssal creature. The stink near the wood clearing was nearly unbearable. What few remained of Jezebels body rested in a pool of foul smelling liquid rot. Erik fainted. But suddenly this monstrosity flew over us, tainting us by its mere presence. We fled this horrible place. Erik is still missing. Jorane Amos, Letter to her superiors

Anguilian [Stormwrack]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about anguilians. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This strange cross between a humanoid and an eel is an anguilian. This result reveals all aberration traits and the aquatic subtype. Anguilians speak a dialect of Sahuagin, and clever individuals may also know Aquan or the racial tongues of other aquatic races. 17 Anguilians are tribal, deep sea hunters whose preferred prey is whales and squid. However, they are generally malevolent and have sometimes been known to raid ships or coastal communities under cover of night. An anguilian can survive out of water for about five hours. Anguilians can see in the dark, but their eyes are extremely sensitive to bright light. 22 Anguilians can wield weapons, but just as often prefer to attack with their bony pincers and lamprey-like maws. An anguilian can latch onto an opponent with its maw, then drink the creatures blood. 27 Anguilians can communicate simple concepts with eels and dire eels, and can train these creatures to act as guardians. Aquilians need to keep their skin moist, so fire is particularly effective against them.

See also RL CS.

Angel of Decay [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about angels of decay. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This repulsive, rotting mockery of a celestial is an angel of decay, a powerful undead horror. This result reveals all undead traits. Angels of decay speak Abyssal and Common. 30 These creatures draw their power from the energies of decay; their faint phsyical resemblabnce to angels is nothing more than unfortunate happenstance. An angel of decays festering flesh ignores most lesser wounds, but magic weapons forged of admantine can pierce their supernatural defenses. 35 An angel of decays body constantly streams with rivulets of corruption. This liquid rot pools to about five paces in every direction, and causes the flesh of any corporeal creature that comes into contact with it to rapidly slough away. Even if

32 Anguilians respect nothing but power. When they attack underwater, they try to surround their foes in all three dimensions, forming a rough sphere. --We had reports from fishermen about an abandoned merchant boat drifting about a mile south-west of the Mordentshire Bay. Me and a few other fellow Lamplighters boarded the small Lamordian ship later this very day. All 6 crew members were dead, often with signs of violence in the area where their body stood. Their dead face expressed fear. They appear to be drained of all blood, and oddly they all bear the same round leech-like mark. This mark puzzled us, since its very large: about 6 to 8. Usual body precautions with blood suckers have been used prior to putting the sailor men to their last rest in the cemetery. Deposition of Mordentshire Sheriff, on the HMS Valiant affair

Nova Vaasa for heresy and showing living nightgowns).

Animator [RLMC III; Denizens of Dread]

CR 1-11 Errata: The sample Animators have "Same as the base object +1" as Challenge Ratings. Object is a game term and never has a challenge rating for start. So, using the MM 3.5 as reference, the CRs could be: Size CR Tiny 1 Small 2 Medium 3 Large 4 Huge 6 Gargantuan 8 Colossal 11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about animators. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This attacking object is actually being manipulated by an undead spirit called an animator. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 20 In its true form, an animator is formless and invisible. Its defining trait is its ability to possess and animate mundane objects, using them to terrify or attack living creatures. When it is not animating an object, an animator is virtually unable to affect its surroundings. Dispel evil drives an animator out of an object, as does destroying the object. Neither actually harms the spirit, however. 25 Unlike animated objects created by magic, animators cannot flex rigid materials, such as wood or metal. However, they can animate linked objects, such as chains or suits of armor. Animators can also telepathically levitate the objects they possess. Spells such as soul bind, trap the soul, and anti-magic field can trap an animator in the object it currently occupies. 30 Animators feed on negative emotions. They often adopt a living ward, using their animated objects and spell-like abilities such as crushing

Animated object [Monster Manual]

CR - 10 I still say it takes a real sick son-of-a-gun of a wizard to kill people with cabinetry. - Attributed to Geddar Ironheart "That Ezra-damned thief!" screamed Silvana. The heavy furnishing of her room, where we tried to catch the thief who terrorized Mordentshire, was animating as soon as the man, his face covered by a black scarf, hit it with a magical mallet. Hadn't it be a tragic situation, I'd be laughing hard, as two pointed riding boot were kicking my fellow cleric in her back. I started to unleash a spell aimed to bind the man, but one of Silvana's nighgowns flew over my head, covering my eyes and preventing me from casting my spell. "Don't you DARE use your dagger!" Silvana yelled at me, while fending off her old boots' attacks "that nightgown is made of Rokuma silk!" - From "Beginnings", first book from the "Trilogy of the Two Clerics" serie by Sir Julius Renaut (published in Mordent, Richemulot, Dementlieu and Martira Bay. Banned in Borca, Hazlan and

despair, fear, and rage to ensure a constant supply of the sensations it craves. Animators slowly fade away is separated from its ward or denied its diet of fear, jealousy, and wrath. However, an animator can adopt a new ward whenever it wishes. To destroy an animator, you must trap it in an object, then destroy that object. --"Well, Arthur. The matter is settled; no-one could or did leave the room after Master Despain was stabbed. Therefore, there can only be one conclusion." "That his murderer is still here," I said. The reader can imagine my emotion at that moment--to be present with the person or thing that could effect so brutal a murder, all unknowing! "But, then, where...?" As I spoke the greatsword which had transfixed Despain moved, shuddering as if attempting to free itself of the corpse which burdened it. Arthur Sedgwick, "The Man Who Wasn't There", The Casebook of Alanik Ray

successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 These red-flecked, platter-sized gobs of jelly are a kind of ooze called bloodbloaters. They are not particularly dangerous on their own, but they attack in swarms. This result reveals all ooze traits and the aquatic and swarm subtypes. 16 Bloodbloaters are mindless predators drawn to creatures swimming through the water with them. When they attack, they slither over their prey, then attach themselves and begin to suck out the creatures blood at a shocking rate. 21 Bloodbloaters have no sense of satiation. If they drink more than their fill, they simply flush excess blood into the surrounding water and continue draining blood until the victim goes dry. Fire is particularly damaging to bloodbloaters. --While I was in the swamp to fish my dogs diner, I saw strange disgusting jelly-like things in the water when we passed in one brook. I do not usually mind floating things in the water but these repulsive things seemed to gather in my swamp boat trail and follow my boat... Just before they left my boat trail to flock around my hunting dog, I think there were more then a hundred of these odd floating blobs! Before I could catch his leash, my dog jumped in the water to run after a large meaty frog. I didnt really see what happened to the animal, because bushes prevented me to witness his death, but my dog yelped in pain for a moment before its last scream was drowned in the water What were these things? My dog drowned and I found nothing but these floating nauseating amoeba things. I left this place as quick as I could. As told by a young noble in Souragne

Ape [Monster Manual - animal] animal]

CR2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about apes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This hairy, heavyset primate is an ape. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 19: Apes are omnivorous, but primarily feed on fruit and plants. However, they are powerfully built and highly territorial, and can pose a danger to intruders. Before an ape attacks, however, it usually displays seemingly violent acts of aggression, hoping to scare off the interloper.

Aquatic ooze, flotsam ooze [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about floatsam oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Aquatic ooze, bloodbloater [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about bloodbloaters. When a character makes a

DC Result 12 This sticky mass of floating debris is glued together by a transparent slime called a flotsam ooze. This result reveals all ooze traits and the aquatic subtype. 17 A flotsam ooze is a mindless predator that attacks prey by lashing out with a psuedopod. The oozes attacks move with startling speed, and it secretes a powerful adhesive. 22 Once organic material is affixed to a flotsam ooze, the ooze beats it into submission, then slowly digests it over the course of several days. Weapons that strike the ooze may also adhere to its mass. A flotsam ooze is nearly invisible in water, but it can also survive in air. 27 Soap and lye can weaken a flotsam oozes adhesive. The adhesive also breaks down naturally within moments once the ooze dies. The swamp hunter then told us about a strange thing he saw once in the marshes when he was young. Still after all these years, he seemed quite shocked by this bad memory. In his childhood, he said, he and his friends once found an odd floating heap of debris: rocks, branches, wooden planks and similar things. One of them dared prodding the heap with a spear, thinking it hid rodents that would be fun to frighten. To his surprise, his spear was glued to the thing but worse a gelatinous tentacle came from under the water surface and hit him! It held him there, and more tentacles hit him while he was drowned in the water, screaming!

that quickly digests any organic matter but is particularly destructive against wood. These secretions are also poisonous, causing tremors and possible paralysis. 26 A reekmurk constantly extends thousands of hairlike tendrils several paces in every direction, feeling for prey. Any creature that touches these tendrils is subjected to their acidic secretions. A reekmurk is immune to cold. 31 A reekmurk is utterly fearless in its pursuit of prey, but it instinctually retreats from the scorching touch of sunlight. During year 740, large waves disturbed the cold waters north of Lamordia, you might remember these weird times. Well, in 740, one night, it is after one of these monstrous treacherous waves that our boat capsized. All of us were able to swim and get on the top of the metallic hull. We thought we were lucky to escape this event with our lives. Then we smelled something horrible, much worse than when we retrieve rotten fishes in the water and their stench arrive at our nostrils, believe me. Then we saw it, but it looked like a large cloud of squid ink. We screamed when a dirty black tentacle came from this cloud, and began prodding the hull until it grabbed one of my sailors by the leg. His flesh burned like if acid as struck him! It swiftly dragged him in the water before we could help him and he was swallowed by the ink cloud. The tentacle came back for its horrible prodding after about half an hour, but we managed to escape its grasp. After a few minutes of this terror, the suns first ray came at the horizon, and the thing left. I still have no idea what this thing was We were rescued by a merchant boat a few hours later. - Tavern tale, by old Captain Haskins

Aquatic ooze, reekmurk [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about reekmurks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This pool of black oil is a reekmurk, an ooze normally found only in the lightless ocean depths. This result reveals all ooze traits and the aquatic subtype. 21 A reekmurk is a mindless predator that takes its name from its nauseating stench. A reekmurk attacks by extending a long tentacle to lash at prey. A reekmurk constantly secretes a powerful acid

Arak, Arak, all (Shadow Fey) [DoD, The Shadow Rift, VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey]
See VRGttSF powers and abilities, changeling, way to DM, fey creations, etc. Shadow fey subtype: VRGttSF p 103 See also changelings, half-fey, fey touched

Arak, alven (Carrot Top, Fire Flit) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] - CGood
CR 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about alven. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This brightly colored sprite goes by many names, including fire flits, carrot tops, and night sprites. These Seelie fey are master gardeners, but they are never seen by day. This result reveals all fey traits. Fire flits speak Sylvan. 18 These sprites call themselves the alven. They are a form of shadow fey: spirits that call the Shadow Rift their home. Like all shadow fey, they burn to ash in sunlight. The best way to impress alven is to compliment their gardens or offer a gift of seeds. An alven simply ignores most attacks, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. 23 Never offer cut flowers to an alven; its an inexcusable offense. When alven dance through the air, the mystic patterns they trace can enthrall even blind and deafen mortal onlookers. Alven never lose their way in the wilds; they ask the plants themselves the way. An alven is immune to electricity and slightly resistant to spells. 28 Alven are minor innate drudic spellcasters. They can see invisible creatures and take the form of butterflies or bumblebees. Stone weapons simply pass right through them. --"Never you take a flower from that meadow, sir!" she told me, her old eyes bright and strange. "When I was but a wee thing my sister plucked but one flower from it, a sweet bright daisy, and put it in her hair; and that very night the fey-folk came and plucked every hair from her head, and made little wreathes of golden hair for the flowers, as

those that saw it told us, for we could never dare to venture there for many a year after." Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Arak, brag (Whitfolk) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] - lawful neutral
CR 6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about brag. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 15: This colorless, beardless dwarf is actually a fey creature commonly known as whitfolk. These fey are master builders and architects, but they are never seen by day. This result reveals all fey traits. Whitfolk speak Sylvan and a language of their own, which is indistinguishable from horse whinnies. DC 20: Whitfolk call themselves the brag. They have no strong affiliation to either the Seelie or Unseelie, with a presence in both courts. Brag are a form of shadow fey: spirits that call the Shadow Rift their home. Like all shadow fey, they burn to ash in sunlight. The best way to impress a brag is with a demonstration of your architectural skills. A brag simply ignores most attacks, but weapons made of leather or forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. DC 25: Mortals who meet a brags unsettling gaze may fall asleep. A brags powerful kick can addle the mind of its recipient, leaving the creature under the delusion that it is a horse. A brag is immune to fire and resistant to spells. DC 30: Brag have some talent as innate sorcerers. They can take the form of sturdy ponies. Wooden weapons simply pass right through a brag, but they find the sting of a whip especially painful. ---

"Ayuh, Thaddeus is one of my best men now," the old man said, "but during his 'prenticeship I thought I was going to have to send him packing. If he applied himself he was fine, but he had a way of lettin' his mind wander and messin' up work-and then cussin' or throwin' tools around. "Well, one day it was goin' especial bad and Thaddy was in a real temper. When he hit his thumb hammerin' down a hoop, he just about turned the air blue with his cursin'... and then I heard a high voice sayin', 'Well, perhaps if you knew something about working with your hands you wouldn't waste so much work waggling your tongue.' "We both turned and there was a wee fellow there- one of those halflin's, we thought, but I'm not so sure now-- just standin' there like he'd been there for hours, lookin' at us and shakin' his head. Thaddy got red in the face and said 'And what makes you think you can talk so big, little man?' and spat at his feet. "The halflin' let out a loud snort like Master Henry's old plowhorse and then faster than I can tell ye he jumped right up and gave Thaddy a kick in the chest that knocked him off the bench-- and I'll be damned if Thaddy didn't suddenly let out a neigh like a bloody horse and try runnin' after the little guy on all fours yet! The halflin' laughed and... well, he was just *gone*. "Took me and two other 'prentices to get hold of Thaddy-- took a kick in the shin for that, and Jo got a nasty bite-- and we ended up havin' to hobble him with ropes. Even then, Thaddy wouldn't stop whinnyin' for hours. "Ezra be praised, he was fine the next day, and sometimes I wonder if the small man meant to kick the sense out of Thaddy or back into him. Oh, he still loses his temper now and again, but when he gets in too much of a temper--" here, the old man let out a chuckle-- "I just bring this out at tea and he straightens right up." And he patted a worn leather feedbag on the bench beside him. Interview with cooper Giles Bennett, found among the Weathermay-Foxgrove's notes for the Guide to the Shadow Fey. An annotation in the handwriting

of Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove suggests that this story was omitted from the final manuscript for reasons unknown.

Arak, fir (Tolly(Tolly-Knocks or Gremlins) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] - G or E
CR6 My blood froze in my veins as I saw the creatures surrounding Ashlein's pale form. Her life blood stained the long delecate fingers of the child like beings and their large heads nodded in silent agreement as they dug deeper into the gaping wound. I could see flashes of silver and copper as their fingers flew over the tattered remains of her heart. After several agonising moments the creatures pulled back and I could hear a faint ticking of moving parts and the bitter sweet sound of Ashleins moans... Sir Pipin Powderhill, The tale of the Clockwork Heart

Arak, gwytune [RL Gaz V] lawful neutral

CR6 "He is a kidnapper, a slaver," I told the ram-horned man. "He is a murderer many times over, he killed my mother before my eyes." "I cannot take part in a religious dispute," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I am totally unacquainted with your respective dogmas and can hardly help you resolve this sort of question." I despaired; but then my eyes fell to the book he held, as gently as if it were his own babe in arms. "He has committed book-murder," I said, staring the faerie in the eye. "Thousands of books he has burned." "A fiend, a devil!" the ram-man exclaimed. "He must be brought to justice!" Excerpt from the testimony of Moran Darksburg regarding the death of Talon Riens Esbeck

Arak, muryan (Dancing Men) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the SF SF]

clapped it on its head and gave us a hangman's grin. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest See also Redcap [Monster Manual III, Pathfinder 4]

chaotic neutral
CR 7 The dancing-man glided forward, its eyes fixed on my companion. "Come, bright son of Summer," it commanded in its sweet voice. "We dance. Dance well, and you shall tread the measures with me in Endless Twilight." Harespex made no reply, but drew his longsword and stepped forward. As he did so, I saw that his eyes were as blank and unfocused as a sleepwalker's. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Arak, shee (faeries) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] - neutral
CR 5 "She dances like no tomorrow under the silver moon, her feet never touching the pool. Her music is the evening wind, her rhythm the gentle rippling of water beneath her delicate toes. Her hair is as steel, yet it trails white and fades away in gossamer. She is as a swan, illuminated by her own inner light. One glimpse of her true form and she disappears; one touch of her fingers, and you fade away." --Gaston d'Ouevire (of Port-a-Lucine), Romance of the Countryside

Arak, portune (Hodge(Hodge-Podgers) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] lawful good
CR 2 GWF: It must be difficult to organize so many books! If one were mis-shelved you might never find it again. PLC: Actually, that's very rare indeed; our librarians are very industrious. Here is our terrarium (here we looked at the small garden located at the center of the Great Library). Replete with tortoise and light-lizards. We give them the run of the library, when they choose to have it. Mascots, you might say. From G. Weathermay-Foxgrove's notes on her visit to the Great Library of Port-a-Lucine, guided by head curator Pierre Lacomte.

Arak, sith (Shades) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] lawful evil
CR5 His moon-bright hair fell over me; the wind sighed as it passed through the cemetary trees, and the long grass danced, but far less gracefully than he and I. The touch of his fingers at my back was a burning promise of ecstasy--not the insipid ecstasies of Life, but the fuller and deeper pleasures of Death. Fellow-Travelers: Love and Death in Darkon, second sequel to The Dead Travel Fast

Arak, powrie (Redcap) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] chaotic evil
CR4 There was a buzzing, as if the King of Flies was there, and the sharp reek of blood even before we entered the room. Throwing open the door, we saw the thing crouched over its victim, knife in hand; a creature like a starved child with wasp wings. Dabbling its cap at Mistress Hartree's slit throat, it

Arak, teg (Bogies) [The Shadow Rift, VR's VR's Guide to the Shadow Fey] Fey] neutral evil
CR3 Come all ye wild folk Come without warning, Come to wreak our mischief, Gone before the morning.

Come while the humans sleep, Take them unawares, Come join the High Hunt, Chase the men like hares. Sing herry-down, derry-down Sing we all together, Sing for the wild wind and the stormy weather. from the Marcusen Manuscript, trans. G. Weathermay-Foxgrove

Errata: Teg can cast Animal cleric domain spells as a 5th-level cleric. The Tegs DR should be listed as having "DR 15/+2 and gold" (Errata) Please note that in DenDr, all araks DR have been reduced to 5 instead of 15, and teg now have "DR 5/gold" (DMs prerogative, I guess!)

15 This icy, vaporous form is a snow wraith, also known as an arayashka. This result reveals all undead traits and the cold and incorporeal subtypes. 20 Snow wraiths appear only during intense blizzards like those in which they died. An arayashkas unearthly senses are unhindered by snowfall, even in complete whiteout conditions. 25 A snow wraith can slowly drain the heat from a nearby source, such as a campfire or a living creature. These spirits often try to extinguish warming flames or freeze victims to death while remaining hidden by the blizzards snows a few paces away. 30 A snow wraiths touch is bitterly cold, causing victims to grow numb and weak. Victims slain by an arayashkas touch rises as new snow wraiths the next time snow falls on their grave. Victims who survive a snow wraiths touch can recover more quickly than normal by resting in sweltering heat, such as a sweat lodge ---

Aranea [Monster [Monster Manual]

CR4 "Please, come in," my hostess said, smiling. "Step into my parlor." It was a beautifully appointed room, with elaborate silk hangings on the walls and the chairs and sopha decorated with exquisitely knotted doilies of every sort. Seeing that they had caught my eye, she said, "Do you like them? I made them all myself." I hastened to assure her that I thought her work the height of elegance; that Arachne herself could hardly have outdone her. In the House of Silk, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre by Jean Lafolie

Clever Ivan stayed in the tree, singing and throwing snowballs at the wolves while he waited for them to get bored and go away; but then the sky grew dark, and the wind began to howl, and the wolves fled into the woods, as well they might, for the zilinya neshka brings worse things than wolves with it when it comes. The Story of Clever Ivan and the Arayashka, traditional Vorostokov

Arcane head [The Nightmare Lands]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about arcane heads. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 These flying, screeching heads are called arcane heads. This result reveals all construct traits. 17 Arcane heads attack by bashing into their foes, stunning them.

Arayashka [Denizens of Dread, Dark of the Moon]

CR5 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about arayashka. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

22 By working together, a complete flock of thirteen arcane heads can open a magical portal that acts like a two-way gate spell, leading into or out of dreamscapes. 27 Arcane heads are the creation of, and actively serve, the primal witch Mullonga, a mysterious member of the Nightmare Court. --"It was scary, Mummy. They came and the nasty woman was there. They bounced and screamed and sang. Just heads, Mummy, just heads! But I saw Daddy and Granpapa! Does that mean they're dead, Mummy, because they're just heads in my dream? "Mummy, when is Daddy coming home?" - A story recounted by Jane Mycroft, after her daughter was found dead in her bed.

Delirious thoughts of a sick and weak widower in Sebua: No! I plead you not to go hunting for her, Sahib! Please! My wife is back for me, on this moonless night! For me! The thirst for her! I could not believe the shouts my neighbours made Nahlah is back! We thought she died in the desert! But she came to my house tonight! Yes, Sahib! My tears of joy from seeing her dried quickly when she came to embrace me. The thirst! She came from the realm of Osiris for me! Oh, the thirst for her! Then your priest friend chased her! The thirst! The thirst!!! We chased this skeletal creature from the village with our holy symbols. Later, six persons were found dried dead in and around the village. We shall hunt this horror tomorrow. Journal of Dominic, humble anchorite
(for the record, Nahlah is a genuine Arabic female first name, meaning a glass of water)

Ashen Husk [Sandstorm]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about ashen husks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This desiccated corpse is an ashen husk, the undead remains of someone who died of thirst. This result reveals all undead traits. 18 Ashen husks are shambling, mindless undead that attack any living creatures they encounter with their bony fists. They dont even feel most minor blows that strike them, but dismembering them with slashing weapons can prove quite effective. 23 The air around an ashen husk continuously wavers with the heat of the desert wastes. Living creatures that enter this aura instantly become parched, and weaker creatures can become dangerously dehydrated. Protecting oneself from extreme heat as if preparing for a trek across the desert can offer some protection. 28 Creatures slain by an ashen husks dehydrating aura rise as new ashen husks several days later. ---

Assassin bug, giant [Denizens [Denizens of Dread]

CR2 N. deV. claims to have heard "clicking" directly before attack and claims that the digestion/exsanguination of Powellers (poor fellow!) is remarkably similar to feeding of the beetle A. matador on mice. Pointed out that this is ridiculous--would require that "bug" be the size of a horse! Some kind of vampire? Variant were-rat? Nathaneal Dent, grimetrekker, Pont-a-Museau, case notes on expedition 7/7/754

Assassin Vine [Monster Manual]

CR3 Assassin vine instructions: One goat per week for each patch plus fertilizer. Weed regularly. Harvest berries at eight to ten weeks. The largest (Vyniknot) gets a goblin, kobold, other, in place of goat. Variant vines in underground garden receive silver-laced fertilizer. Use oil of quessence when near vines. Gardeners log-book at Veneficus

Astral construct [Expanded Psionics Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about astral constructs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This shimmering, quicksilver creature is actually an astral contruct, composed of animate ectoplasm. This result reveals all construct traits. 15 Astral constructs obey the psionic who conjure them via their metacreative powers. Their ectoplasmic bodies are resistant to damage, but magic weapons are particularly effective. 20 More powerful psionicists can create larger and more powerful astral constructs. Astral constructs may have a wide range of powers, which their psionic creators select while manifesting the construct. More powerful astral constructs possess a wider variety of more powerful abilities. --"Master Ulathar did not even turn to face us, but as we approached, we found a monstrosity in our midst. A titan shaped of a hard, glistening, milkywhite substance, it was as though the very Mists had crystallized into an ogre out of legend. Even before it had fully manifested, it lashed out at us with its long, many-jointed claws. Without even trying, I could sense the aura of hatred and egomania, so like to Master Ulathar's, that surrounded our adversary's new minion. It was congealed madness, pride and malice given shape." --from the journals of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

DC Result 16 This huge, reptilian monster is the avanc. Long ago, he was an evil man, and was transformed into a ravenous beast. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the aquatic subtype. 21 The avanc can crush small boats with its powerful bite and tail slap. It usually attacks by clamping its jaws around a victim, then drags the poor soul underwater to drown. It can crawl onto shore for a time, but its truly at home in the water. 26 While swimming in deep water, the avanc can thrash around, creating a vortex that can suck swimmers and small boats to the bottom of Lake Kronov. 31 The avanc can communicate with the fish of Lake Kronov. --Shading my eyes, I stared down into the water while Harespex readied the harpoon and line. Suddenly, something moved beneath us--a shadowed form passing beneath us perpendicular to our course. It moved deliberately but by no means slowly, and for three long heart's beats I waited for its form to pass entirely. By my rough estimate the creature was thirty feet in length. Turning to Harespex, his preparations now complete, I signaled to him to stow the harpoon. At a loss to convey what I had just seen, I finally said only, "We're going to need a bigger boat." Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

B
Baboon [Monster Manual - animal]
CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about baboons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Avanc [The [The Shadow Rift; Ravenloft Gazetteer V]

CR6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (local) can learn more about the avanc. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 11: This large monkey is a baboon, known for its doglike snout and aggressive demeanor. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Baboons are gifted climbers, but they spend most of their time scavenging on the ground. When threatened, baboons gather in groups before overwhelming their foes.

Bajang [Oriental Adventures] Adventures]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bajangs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This stunted, feral-looking humanoid is a bajang, a malevolent nature spirit associated with tropical jungles that have been courrupted by evil. This result reveals all fey traits. Bajangs speak Sylvan and Common. 20 Bajangs are vicious and cruel, and prefer to attack helpless victims such as sleeping creatures. Their sharp talons secrete a venom that leaves its victim too weak to fight back. 25 A bajang can assume the form of a small wildcat. Bajangs can always be identified by their bright orange eyes, regardless of their form. A bajang can also utilize bane, divination, ghost sound, gust of wind, steam breath, and transfix as spell-like abilities. 30 Like a dryad, a bajang is mystically linked to a specific tree in the corrupted forest it calls home. A bajang dies immediately if its tree is destroyed. --Dear Ezra, we even have to be wary with cats in this place! In the strange forests of Rokushima Taiyoo, we were followed by a strange cat, with orange eyes. We first thought it was a peculiar creature of this island. We were wrong. Later, when Maria was alone hunting for diner, the cat followed her and then led her to a deer trail, which Maria followed. But this cat wasnt a helpful spirit. When Maria was far in the forest, near some kind of ruins, she said, it transformed into some kind of ape-like goblin that viciously attacked her with its claws. The creature eventually fled before Marias sword, but her strength took many days before coming back. Martins letter to the Mordent Ezra church

Backward man [Denizens of Dread]

CR4 The good folk of Mordent have stories of any number of bizarre bogies, the most amusingly miscellaneous being the "backward-man"--an old man going on all fours, stomach-up (hence the name) and full of tentacles, if I understood the description correctly. I hardly know whether to congratulate them on their imagination or take them to task for crediting a creature so obviously impossible in its physiology. (Two days later) I owe the Mordentish an apology in the matter of the backward-man. I was obliged to kill one in the front room this morning. From the wastebooks used to compile the Doomsday Gazetteer

Badger [Monster Manual - animal]

Cr Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about badgers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This wedge-shaped, striped mammal is a badger, a creature known for its foul temper.. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Badgers primarily hunt smaller mammals, such as mice, squirrels, and voles. Injured badgers often fly into mad rages. A raging badger is particularly dangerous and never backs down from a fight.

Bakhna Rakhna [DoD] see Goblin, dread dread Bane wraith [Heroes of Horror]
Hes now got all of them. My closest friends are now dead. Tonight, while we were trying to flee on the road to Karg, this spectre got my wife and my son. I was powerless to save them. My sword passed through it. Why is this thing haunting me? Leaving me alive after killing my loved ones? Why wasnt I killed with them? Whatever he thinks, I wasnt responsible for his death and the gruesome massacre of his family, in this cursed hamlet near Necropolis. The leaders sent us to destroy this family of traitors. I told him! Why not go after the leaders? They ordered this, not me! I was just following the orders. I wasnt the one who had the idea to ravage his family. I told him I regret but still he killed them all. The last thing I will do is I will not give him the pleasure to kill me. Notes found on a man hanging from a tree, possibly a suicide

attack paladins and clerics who serve the forces of good. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 18 This result reveals the specific ritual required to create banedead (see text). --We had to retreat from the evil shrine after the first assault inside the mountain temple went horribly wrong. We got the information that all the priests of this awful cult were gone, and we trust they were taken care of by the 4th battalion. We expected undead minions, but what the cultist left behind to guard the temple was atrociously dangerous. The cunning creatures left us enter the temple and then while we were deep inside, they sneakily attacked us with great speed. They were everywhere! The undying hate in their face! Their hideous large claw got six of our men before we were finally able to retreat. I request a large supply of gun powder to blow the entrance and seal this horrible place forever. Paul Klotz, engineer, 3rd Falkovnian battalion; Message to his superior

Banedead [Monsters of Faerun]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about banedead. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 13 This withered humanoid is a banedead, an undead minion created from the fanatical worshipper of an evil deity. This result reveals all undead traits. 18 A banedead attacks with its sharp claws and bite. Unlike simple zombies, these creatures retain much of their intellect and are capable of utilizing complex tactics. 23 A banedeads flesh is preternaturally tough, but silver weapons can pierce its defenses. A banedeads claws sap the agility and coordination of the living creatures they strike. 28 Banedead are usually found in the service of powerful evil clerics. They go out of their way to

Baneguard [Monsters of Faerun]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about banedead. Characters who recognize a baneguards nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 14 This skeletal warrior is a moderately powerful undead minion called a baneguard. This result reveals all undead traits. 19 Because it lacks internal organs or soft tissues, a baneguard is immune to cold. Most glancing weapon blows simply clatter off its skeletal body, but smashing its bones with bludgeoning weapons can prove quite effective.

24 A baneguard can use magic missile every few moments and blink once every ten minutes as spell-like abilities. 29 More powerful baneguards, called direguards, appear to be clad in shadowy, semitransparent armor, and their eye sockets burn with unholy flame. These direguards are slightly harder to damage, and they can see invisibile foes. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 16 A cleric of at least 14th level can create baneguards with the create undead spell. 21 To create direguards, the cleric must be at least 16th level. --"Beware, you who would violate the sanctity of this resting place of the Lawgiver's chosen. The faithful servants of the Unbending Lord shall return from the Iron Paradise to assail you, and they shall use their weapons of iron and eldritch power to condemn you to the Hell of Slaves" Inscription on a Hazlani aerkebiskop's sepulchre.

Knowledge (local) check reveals the same information, but in this case the DC increases by 5. A character who recognizes a banshees nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC 27: This ghostly, mournful woman is a banshee, also known as a wailing spirit. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. Banshees speak the languages they knew in life. DC 32: Banshees are exceptionally powerful spirits, driven by their hatred for all life. The mere sight of a banshee can leave even experienced warriors feeling weak and feeble. A banshees mournful wailing can strike nearby creatures dead. Fortunately, a banshees wail holds this power only at night, and even then only for a few uses. DC 37: Three times a day, a banshee can pinpoint the presence of living creatures up to half a mile away. A banshees touch leaves living creatures feeling listless and dull. DC 42: The presence of a banshee usually stunts plant life within half a mile. This sometimes hints at the location of the gravelike lair to which a banshee typically retreats by day. Bardic Knowledge DC 32: A banshees deadly wail is a sonic effect that can be countered with bardic music. --We finally arrived to the old and dusty throne room of Nedragaard Keep. Answering Jezebels calling, the phantoms appeared to us, eerily floating above ground in their supernatural elven beauty. We are the thirteen voices of guilt, said the one called Gisella. The voices of forgotten pain, said the banshee named Lareeda. The voices that remembers your sins, sneered Marantha.

Banflur clann [Gaz. 1, Forlorn] Forlorn]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Banshee [Monster Manual II]

JWM: The most infamous banshees in Ravenloft are those in the retinue of Lord Soth, darklord of Sithicus. During Soths reign, if one of these dozen banshees was destroyed, then within the span of eight nights another elfmaids spirit would rise to join the chorus of doubt and deceit. Even after his downfall in 753 BC, these tormentors continue to haunt the shattered ruins of Nedragaard Keep. --(Underlined text is Ravenloft-specific. Though, come to think of it, it could also apply to Dragonlance by swapping Nedralund for Sithicus.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about banshees. In Sithicus, a

Then they said in unison The slithering greeneyes shadow is restless! Integrity torments her! The blackened knight left his throne, but still painful guilt is found here! The guilt! The painful guilt! - From the journals of Jameld of Hroth.

Barracuda [Stormwrack - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about barracudas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This sleek, elongated fish is a barracuda, an ambush predator known for its speed. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 17: Barracudas lie in wait for prey to come into view, then rush forward in a burst of speed to snap up the fish in their fanged jaws. Barracudas have been known to stalk unfamiliar creatures (such as humanoid swimmers) across their territorial reefs, but they generally do not attack unless provoked.

Banshrae Banshrae [Monster Manual 5]

CR 8 Fey with blowgun and some bardic powers. Serve as messengers for evil feys

Baobhan sith (Black Sprite) [Denizens [Denizens of Dread] - CE

CR3 "The hand is the fist, the fist is the knife, but neither hand nor fist nor knife kills, human-thing. It is our hate that does that. And that is why we laugh; because you do not understand us. It is our hate that kills, and now we will kill you." Then the air was filled with laughter, and, horribly, I found myself laughing, too; because for that one moment (may I never have another such!) I understood what the voice had meant. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Basilisk [Monster Manual]

CR 5 We could now hear the beast, its scales scraping against the ground--could even hear the heavy, dull exhalation of each fetid breath. I imagined--or perhaps it was not imagination, at all--that I could smell that breath, still rank with Mikkel's blood. Harkon shouted, and I could see the flare of the daylight spell even through the cloth over my eyes; I lifted the great silvered mirror, knowing that if our surmise was incorrect I would literally be fighting blind. From the journals of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald This monster is presented by JWM in the netbook: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library/New RavenloftMonsters_JWM.zip

Barghest [Monster [Monster Manual]

Cr 4 "Did silver work? "No." "Cold iron?" "No." "Gold?" "No." "Platinum?" "We don't have any." "Wood? Stone?" "No." The door shuddered again, and a long vertical crack appeared in it as the wolf-thing flung itself at the door again. "Do we have something else?" "Well...no." From the journal of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

Bastellus (Dream Stalker) [Denizens of Dread]

CR 6 I noted with very great interest an increase in the number and severity of nightmares experienced by the patients in block C in the last six weeks. I therefore spent last night in that hallway with two orderlies, to see if some external condition might

be influencing this group. You can imagine my surprise as I observed that the patient in room 117, at the north end of the hall, was first to awake, screaming; no sooner had I collected his impressions than the patient in 118 awoke in a similar condition. Each and every patient from 117 to 132 (at the south end of C block) experienced a nightmare in sequence during the course of the night. Further investigation into the phenomenon is demanded. Case notebook for October 754, Dr. Heinrich Dominiani

its skeleton. However, smashing a bonebat with bludgeoning weapons is often effective. 22 A bonebats bite paralyzes living creatures for several minutes. Only elves are immune to this effect. 27 A bonebat can see extremely well in the dark, and can even sense the presence of invisible foes within twenty paces. --() Also, do not send your messages anymore via this large skeleton bat. I understand you want to show off your minor arcane skills to me, but this unordinary messenger sent everybody in town running for cover. Our law officers had many request from the masses about this creature. As reliable as it seems to be, it is really out of place in here: you are not in Thay anymore. I sometimes wonder how you are thinking. - Postscript by Hazlik to an anonymous wizard in Nova Vaasa.

Bat [Monster Manual - animal]

Cr 1/10 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about bats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This leathery-winged rodent is immediately identifiable as a common bat. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Common bats are nocturnal insectivores. They use echolocation to sense their surroundings with great precision. A bat can cannot hear must rely on its vision, which is extremely poor. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt bats for use as familiars. Such mages tend to have particularly sharp hearing.

Bat, carrion bat [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1 JWM: Shriek (Ex): As a standard action, a carrion bat can loose a piercing blast, affecting any creatures in a 10-foot cone. A victim caught in the cone must make a successful DC 12 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. This is a sonic attack. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about carrion bats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This large, screeching creature is a carrion bat. This ravenous predator feeds on vermin, but kills larger creatures to attract its actual prey. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 16 Carrion bats use a powerful shriek to momentarily stun larger creatures. 21 A carrion bat uses echolocation to perceive its surroundings. If deafened, the bat must rely on its weak vision instead.

Bat, bonebat [Monsters of Faerun]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bonebats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This flying skeleton, composed of little more than bone and scraps of papery leather, is a bonebat. This result reveals all undead traits. 17 A bonebat has no internal organs or soft tissues, so many minor weapon strikes simply skitter off

--My beloved hawk lay dead at my feet. She had been sent plummeting from the evening sky of Barovia by neither wound nor illness but rather the accursed shriek of a hideous bat of extraordinary size which had the gall to smirk down at us from an overhanging branch. Slowly I drew forth my throwing dagger but the foul creature sensed the danger and spit forth its hideous cry. I froze in place and it swooped down at my exposed neck. In the instant that it would have sliced me open, I twisted away and my sword connected solidly, knocking it to the ground. Not a heart-beat was lost in silencing it forever. Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army.

A few nights ago, Kazandra found a new pet--no, not the handsome but foolish young men she usually favors, but a bat. I was about to say 'common bat', but this thing seems decidedly uncommon. I can't exert any influence over it, and I've found it watching me with a strange look of intelligence in its eyes. One of those eyes has a greenish tint to it . . . almost like Kazandra's damaged one. Most of all, last night, I saw a drunken nobleman accost Tavelia on a balcony while she was hosting one of her little soirees at the Cosmopolis Club. The bat swooped down from out of the night sky and fastened on the back of his neck. He was dead within a minute. --Personal files of Tavelia, 753 BC

Bat, skeletal bat [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1/3

Bean nidhe [Gaz. 1, Forlorn]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Bear [Monster [Monster Manual - animal] Bat, sentinel bat [RL MC I]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about sentinel bats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This sinister bat is a sentinel bat. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 16 Sentinel bats are sometimes drawn to powerfully evil figures, whom they serve much as familiars serve an arcane spellcaster. They arrive of their own accord, and cannot be purposefully summoned. 21 Like a familiar, a sentinel bat grows more powerful alongside its master. A sentinel bat often develops a subtle physical mark reflecting its masters true nature. 26 A sentinel bats master can magically scry through the bats senses, observing everything that the bat perceives. --Brown CR2, black CR 4 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bears. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This stocky, furry mammal is a bear, a clever but unpredictable omnivore. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: Bears are often drawn to humanoid camp sites to steal food that has not been properly secured. Many different varieties of bear exist. Black bears tend to be smaller, but can climb trees. DC 22: Some bears can reach a weight of nearly a ton. They are too large to climb trees, but have little fear of humanoids and tend to grapple prey while tearing them apart. In temperate regions, brown bears are the most common of these large breeds. Polar bears fill this niche in arctic regions.

Beetle, giant [Monster Manual, vermin]

CR2 BOMBARDIER BEETLE; CR 1/3 FIRE BEETLE; CR4 GIANT STAG BEETLE JWM: note that Sithican rangers ride giant stag beetles. GIANT BOMBARDIER BEETLE LORE Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about giant bombardier beetles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This monstrous insect is a giant variant of the common bombardier beetle. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 17: Giant bombardier beetles primarily feed on carrion and offal. They attack only to defend themselves or their nests. Due to its bulk, it cannot fly or skitter up walls. DC 22: A giant bombardier beetle that feels threatened can spit a cone of acid at nearby foes. GIANT FIRE BEETLE LORE Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about giant fire beetles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This oversized insect is a giant fire beetle. These scavengers have two luminescent glands just above their eyes which emit a red glow like burning embers, illuminating an area about six paces across. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 16: A fire beetle has a particularly nasty bites. Due to its bulk, it cannot fly or skitter up walls. Harvested glands retain their luminescence for several days, and are highly prized by miners and others who work underground. GIANT STAG BEETLE LORE (Underlined text is Ravenloft-specific.) Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge

(nature) can learn more about giant stag beetles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (nature) DC 14: This hulking insect is a giant stag beetle, which takes its name from its antlerlike, chitinous horns. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 19: Giant stag beetles are herbivores with ravenous appetites. Left unchecked, they can devour entire fields of crops. They attack only if they feel threatened. Due to their bulk, they cannot fly or skitter up walls. DC 24: A giant stag beetle is a lumbering creature that often simply tramples right over threats smaller than itself. Bardic Knowledge DC 14: The elves of Sithicus have somehow learned how to train giant stag beetles, which their wilderness rangers ride as mounts. --Jameld had often told me that his people made it their practice to domesticate the great stag beetles, larger than a horse, which make their home in the forests of Sithicus. Despite my high opinion of his honesty I was never really able to believe that such a thing was possible; the intelligence of a beetle of the ordinary sort is so limited that training one seemed to me to be the epitome of an exercise in futility. On my recent visit, however, Jameld showed me his own mount--by his lights, a true beauty, which he calls "Eothacha" ("Dawnchaser"). Having seen him put it through its paces, I am forced to concede that one can, in fact, train a giant stag beetle to serve as a mount. I am, of course, left with the far more pressing question of why anyone would want to do such a thing. Rudolph van Richten, private correspondence with Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove

Beetle, scarab [Denizens of Dread]

Grave CR1/2, Giant CR2, Monstrous CR4

is so frightful it can literally leave opponents weak at the knees. DC 29: Bhuts can possess humanoid corpses, operating it like a puppet. The resulting corpse is somewhat like an intelligent, unusually coordinated zombie. While possessed by a bhut, the corpses bite delivers a mind-numbing poison that can even induce a coma or death. Victims who succumb to a bhuts poison rise as new bhuts when the sun next sets. DC 34: While in its natural state, a bhut cannot abide contact with earth or stone; any such contactincluding with weapons made of these materialsburn the bhuts incorporeal flesh. A bhut protected from this vulnerability while possessing a corpse. --One, two, three and four He is entering the corpse five, six, seven, eight, he is exiting the grave nine, ten, eleven, twelve he is gazing from the road run as faster as you can he is out to... get... you! From a Rajian children's count (translated in Mordentish by Giorgio Satagi of Lechberg, Borcan explorer, now fakir)

Beholderkin, Beholderkin, Eye of the Deep [Lords of Madness] Madness]

Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz; CR 8

Belker [Monster Manual]

CR6 The sole survivor was in sad shape when Sister Helene allowed me to see him. She took the opportunity to change his bandages as I questioned him, and I caught a glimpse of the wounds. They were like none I'd seen in my career. There were only exit wounds; no point of entry was visible, yet the edges were ragged, like those of an animal attack, not the mark of a weapon. The damage to his chest and throat was severe, but he was cooperative, croaking out brief answers to my queries as best he could. But that all changed when I took the liberty of lighting my pipe. The victim became wild and deranged, stiffening in fear as though in a fit, staring madly at the pipe smoke. The sisters tried to calm him, but ultimately, I was asked to leave, and I complied. Report filed by Lamplighter Colin Dunwitty on the incident at Hallworth manor.

Bhut [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bhuts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This horrifying spirit is a bhut, the undead remains of someone who died a sudden, violent death in remote lands. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. DC 24: Bhuts tend to avoid direct combat, preferring to act against the living with subtlety and subterfuge. When revealed, a bhut attacks with a deadly, incporeal bite. A bhuts appearance

Bison [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bison. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This massively built, horned ungulate is a bison, a creature distantly related to domesticated cattle. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: Bison are herbivores, but they can be aggressive during mating season and when defending their young. Bison are easily spooked,

and a stampeding herd will heedlessly trample over anything in its path.

Blackskate [Stormwrack]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about blackskates. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This mismatched clump of bones and detritus in the vague shape of a manta ray is a blackskate, an undead creature formed in the deepest, darkest trenches of the ocean floor. This result reveals all undead traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 19: Blackskates are drawn to attack warm, living creatures. They usually attack by swimming past opponents, jabbing them with the poisonous stinger in its tail as it goes. Blackskate venom causes the poisoned flesh to die and rot away. A blackskates bony body deflects glancing blows, but hacking it apart with slashing weapons can prove effective, if difficult underwater. DC 24: Blackskates do not feed on the creatures they kill, but once a day the taste of blood in the water can send a blackskate into a berserk, thrashing rage. A blackskate can inerringly track any creature whose blood it has tasted, so long as the subject remains in the same body of water. Blackskates will often track fleeing prey for hundreds of miles if they must --Dr. Fulviani: Can you hear me, Gregor? Gregor Cossal: Yes. Dr. Fulviani: Now, I want you to remember what you saw down there. Gregor Cossal: The priest... He cast the spell to allow us to find the city... So we could breath under water... Dr. Fulviani: What city? Gregor Cossal: That of the deep ones. Dr. Fulviani: Go on. Gregor Cossal: The only light we had was provided by Christina... The water was black... The floor was littered with bones of fish... Some as

big as an ox... I could see, in the ink we were swimming in, something that LOOKED like a city... Then the bones raised. Dr. Fulviani: What do you mean? Gregor Cossal: The bones... They moved and formed a great creature... Like the ray I used to fish in Martira Bay, with my father. Only bigger. Then... It moved with grace toward Christina... It bit her hand. The one with the light. Then It was all dark... Dr. Fulviani: ... Let's move another topic, Gregor. Excerpt from an interview in Mikki Sanitarium, Chateaufaux.

Blackwing [MM5] MM5]

CR 8 large skeletal undead bird

Blaspheme [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about blasphemes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This looming guardian, stitched together from numerous corpses, is a blaspheme, created by madmen in a bygone age. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 24: A blaspheme resonates with unholy power. Living creatures bitten by a blaspheme are weakened and momentarily dazed by the contact. The best way to deal with a blaspheme is to hack it to pieces with slashing weapons. DC 29: Blasphemes are surprisingly lithe and agile. Theyre even capable of changing direction when charging a foe. Blasphemes are immune to cold. --The thing suddenly appeared from a door in the lichs ruined lair, grinning wildly and babbling insanely. At first we thought it was a mad construct, but its supernatural undead nature was found later by our researches. It rushed at me, hissing and showing off its mean looking black teeth. I figured I was lost, since the shoulder-belt

of my crossbow was entangled with that of my backpack and I could not prepare myself for this blasphemous horror. When it ran toward me I saw its immense hate in its eyes, and its hunger too... But suddenly it erratically changed its course to attack Viktor, our anchorite. By chance, Viktor was ready to receive the charge with his spear. This gave us time to hack at the thing until all its parts hideously fell apart - Van Richtens journal

Bleakborn (Moil zombie) [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bleakborns. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 18: This frozen corpse is a bleakborn, a shambling horror that feeds on the warmth of the living. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 23: When a bleakborn detects living prey, it lurches forward to beat the creature to death with fists that burn with otherworldly cold. The mere presence of a bleakborn drains the heat from living creatures within 10 paces, though creatures immune to cold are unaffected. A bleakborn is resistant to turning. DC 28: Some obscure texts refer to bleakborns as Moil zombies, named for the legendary city in which they were first created. A bleakborn uses the heat it drains from the living to close its wounds. Even a Moil zombie that appears to have been destroyed can reanimate when the living draw near. Any humanoid slain by a bleakborn rises as a zombie after a few moments. Bleakborn speak both a local language and Moilian. DC 33: Fire heals a bleakborn rather than dealing damage. Despite appearances, Moil zombies are not immune to other sources of cold. On rare occasion, bleakborns victim rises as a new bleakborn rather than as a mere zombie, but only the gods can say when or why this occurs. ---

It was the damnedest thing. High on Death's Glacier we were about to receive civilised company. A toboggan rider, dusted in ice particles glistening with the light of the full moon, bore down rapidly upon our position. The threat of arrows and arrows themselves did not slow the chap. An instant after we marked him as being a parody of life, we were hammered by a wave of cold that fell a third of us. Too late I ordered the men to scatter for within seconds the dead out numbered the living and were rising to fill out the ranks of our foe. I would not be here had the thing been just that little bit cleverer and put its sled beyond use. Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, remembering his mission to the Sleeping Beast Mountains

PS: The official description of when bleakborn spawn vs. zombie spawn are created seems confused if not flat out contradictory. Also its healing when reduced to/below zero seems less than clear (comment by Cure)

Blightspawned [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR +1. Blightspawned are perversions of nature, tainted by poison and evil druidic magic. Fueled by rot and hate, blightspawned creatures seek to corrupt and ruin all things natural and wholesome. The rot that blightspawn carry changes their type to plant, and is communicable by any natural attack. This blight touch does both Cha and Con damage. Creatures reduced to 0 Cha due to the blight become blightspawn; creatures reduced to 0 Con simply die. Blightspawn eventually succomb to the rot they carry within and die, only to immediated rise again as juju zombies. In Ravenloft, the corrupted treants of the Black Circle create blightspawn to combat both the druids of Forlorn and the goblyn forces of Tristen ApBlanc. The Black Circle sometimes passes the secret of creating blightspawn to hags and evil druids in order to further corrupt the natural world to their liking.

--"We were trying to reach the castle, Tristenoira, because we'd been told there was some sort of unclaimed treasure in it. Naturally, we had to make it through that damned forest. No problem, right? It's just a bunch of trees, right?" "Wrong. We hadn't been in the woods more than five minutes when the trees started rustling, branches and leaves swaying, making a sound like silibant laughter. Then a voice like thunder shouts something, and out of the undergrowth come... all kinds of critters - badgers, stoats, squirrels, a couple of deer, others. But every last one is sick or something, with patches of black and green rot on 'em, and eyes burning green as witchfire." "Have you ever seen a man torn to pieces by a dozen animals that ought to be harmless? I did. Three of my friends. And lost my leg as well." - Interview with Batrau Ghuirov, resident of Immol

Mme Maisonbleu: "[...] and why was your brother impaled?" Anonymous:"He killed an hawk" Mme Maisonbleu:"An hawk? He died so horribly for this?" Anonymous:"It was one of the ferocious hawk the butcher Drakov raise in his Hala-damned castle. It gave my brother a lot of a fight." Mme Maisonbleu:"What do you mean 'fight'?" Anonymous:"It was attacking our rabbits. My brother hit it with the pitchfork. It was screaming, impaled on the spikes, but it was still moving. It kept biting at my brother for a full minute... By Hala, it kept biting even as my brother snapped its neck!" From the article Interview with a Falkovnian disertor by M.me Christine Maisonbleu, published on the Minute of Port-au-Lucine.

Blood amniote [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about blood amniotes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This heaving wave of congealing blood is a blood amniote, an undead horror composed of the blood and fluids of its past victims. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 24: These mindless killers form flowing pseudopods to deliver crushing blows to their victims. Although blood amniotes are not oozes, their amorphous form grants them many of the same traits. They cannot be flanked. A blood amniotes oozing mass simply absorbs most weapon blows. DC 29: Whenever a blood amniote strikes a living creature, a portion of the victims blood forces its way out through the creatures pores and streams into the amniote, strengthening it. A blood amniotes wounds heal quickly so long as the creature remains animate.

Bloodhawk [LotB p56] p56]

Falkovnia mainly; CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about blood hawks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This fiece raptor is a blood hawk. It is a vicious predator that often attacks humans even when it is already well fed. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 15 A blood hawks beak is so sharp that wounds from its bite bleed freely until the bloodflow is staunched. This blood loss is often deadlier than the bite that caused it. 20 Particularly well trained blood hawks are so fierce that they fight to the death, even to the point when other creatures would pass out from their wounds. ---

DC 34: Whenever a blood amniote absorbs enough blood and life energy, it splits in two, forming a second blood amniote. --It was maddening enough that our captain had orders to behead our dead where they fell. But it was far too much when the spilt blood that pooled at our feet reared up in a hulking congealed mass that bore the shifting and twisted faces of our dispatched comrades. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, recalling the Dead Mans Campaign of 722

Tomorrow, they will bring the caliban child out of the blood, and we shall see the results. Of course, we have already the results. Who in the Red Academy has not see the blood calibans that guard the academy grounds, with their skin stained red with blood and the blood-hunger in their eyes? - Journal of Taklar Uent, student at the Red Academy

Bloodmote cloud [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bloodmote clouds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 16: This buzzing menace is a swarm of undead mosquitos, known in tales as a bloodmote cloud. Bloodmote clouds can be distinguished from normal mosquitos by their unnervingly deep drone and the sickening stench of fresh blood. This result reveals all undead traits and the swarm subtype. DC 21: These vampiric insects feed on the blood of living creatures. Unlike living vermin, their thirst is never sated, and the cloud is fully capable of draining a large creature dry. --It was a sound strategy. We had satisfied ourselves that the peasants' tale was true. Our confidence grew as the mosquitos, which made the bog a living Hell, sped past us with complete indifference. Then it came, that buzzing, swirling black cloud of living death, which bore the rank odour of the very blood it craved. The trifling spell would not withhold it from its feast. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, explaining his longstanding aversion to flying insects

Blooded One [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR +1. Blooded ones are created through a ritual devised by the Red Wizards of Thay - a ritual that Hazlik brought with him to the Demiplane of Dread. By immersing a young humanoid in a pool of alchemically prepared blood, Hazlik can transform the subject into a powerful warrior. Blooded ones gain +2 natural armor, +2 Str, +4 Con, and the feat Combat Reflexes. One per day, a blooded one may issue a mighty war cry that give it and all nearby blooded ones a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. The process of creating a blooded one only works on creatures that have not reached maturity; the alchemical blood is a deadly poison to any adult being. --Lord Hazlik showed us the blooding ritual today. He cut the throats of to Rashemani wretches who had been suspended upside-down above the ceremonial baptismal font. After the font was filled, Lord Hazlik spent several hours adding the necessary alchemical components and arcane preparations (full details in lecture notebook D). When he finished, Eleni ushered a little caliban child, perhaps two or three years of age, into the room. She and Lord Hazlik did something that paralyzed the child and submerged it in the pool of blood and placed a stone lid over the font.

Bloodroot [Denizens of Dread, plant]

CR3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bloodroots. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore

is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 These writhing, crimson-tinted tendrils are a bloodroot. This result reveals all plant traits. 18 Bloodroots feed by poisoning their prey. This toxin causes euphoria, followed by death. The bloodroot then drains the blood from the victims corpse. 23 A bloodroot uses scent and vibration to sense its surroundings. It is unaffected by sight- or sound-based effects. Its sap can be distilled into bloodroot poison (for effects, see the DMG). --We were, as we thought, prepared for every eventuality, being well equipped against every creature of the night, silver, holy water and so forth at the ready; but there was a creature of the daylight with which we had not reckoned, and as we passed beneath it into the mouldering tomb below, it assaulted us with its thousand dagger-like roots. One does not normally number courage among the vegetative virtues, and yet it seems to me that the bloodroot (for so they call it in this place) was a right puissant and even an illtempered foe. - Reginald St. Jacques, Remarks upon an Expedition in Souragne

you must wipe out the entire patch, or theyll grow back. 26 Contact with salt inflicts severe pain to a bloodrose bush. A bloodrose that touches something coated in salt will not touch it again. Dousing a bloodrose with salt water may even kill it. --Some of the roses had an exquisite crimson veining in their bone-white blooms; pointing them out to my patroness, I asked if it had been very difficult to breed so exotic a type. Glancing out the window of the carriage, she smiled slightly and replied, in her enigmatical way, "It is not so very difficult. It is a matter of feeding, not breeding, my dear." Nostalia Romaine, Memoirs

Bloodrot [Heroes of Horror]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bloodrots. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This heaving pool of blood and congealing fluids is a bloodrot, believed to be the undead remains of an ooze. This result reveals all undead traits. 25 In fact, bloodroots are not undead oozes. These undead fluids are all that remain of a creature that was completely dissolved in acid. Although bloodrots are not oozes, they act much like one, forming pseudopods to flail at foes. If a bloodroot strikes a foe, it attempts to wrap itself around the creature and crush it to death. Its amorphous body simply absorbs glancing weapon blows. 30 The touch of a bloodrot spreads a disease-like curse called blood fever. Like mummy rot, this lethal disease impairs magical healing and cannot be cured until the curse is broken with break enchantment or remove curse. A creature that succumbs to blood fever dissolves into a pool of blood and fluid, which the bloodroot feeds upon.

Bloodrose [Denizens of Dread, plant]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bloodroses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 These beautiful white roses are actually a dangerous species known as bloodroses. This result reveals all plant traits. 16 Bloodroses lash out at living prey with their thorny vines, soaking up the spilled blood with their extensive root system. 21 Bloodroses are sensitive to vibrations, but cannot see, smell, or hear.To destroy a bloodrose,

Striking a bloodroot with a slashing or piercing weapon causes its to split into two smaller bloodroot, but otherwise causes the creature no harm. 35 A bloodroot can supernaturally sense the distance and direction to any creature infected with blood fever, and uses this ability to track any prey that escape its clutches. If a bloodroot senses that it is in danger of being destroyed, it can attempt to force itself into the bloodstream of any creature infected with bloodroot, disappearing into its body and nauseating the victim. Remove curse or heal can expel the bloodrot. --When we returned to the Angel of Decay summoning place, three days after, the smell of rot was overwhelming. Jezebel and Eriks corpse were found horribly liquefied into pools of reddish liquid matter. But while we were busy searching the place for the necromantic book used by Jezebel, as our superiors requested, the pools coalesced into a wave-like thing that attacked us! We were able to flee this horrible place in the forest, but Kev found strange ooze-like liquids on his doorstep this morning? Advice needed. Jorane Amos, Letter to her superiors

Bog hound [Howls in the Night]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about bog hounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This eerie, eyeless hound is a bog hound, a supernatural creature composed of reeds and muck. This result reveals all construct traits. 17 The spirit animating a bog hound is immediately dispersed by contact with sunlight. 22 Bog hounds exist to perpetuate terrible curses, ensuring that no one ever lifts the curse. 27 Bog hounds serve a terrible master, a huge mastiff called the Moor Hound. --Moor Hound Lore : Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about the Moor Hound. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This monstrous mastiff is a supernatural terror called the Moor Hound. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 21 The Moor Hound exists to guard terrible curses, and is the master of a pack of lesser spirits called bog hounds. This result reveals the Mists subtype. Legends also speak of the Great Moor Hound, which is the size of a cottage. 26 The Moor Hound can quickly recover from most attacks, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses and exposure to daylight renders it vulnerable to damage until the sun sets. 31 Lifting the curse guarded by the Moor Hound robs the creature of most of its power, permanently dispelling its ability to regenerate damage. --We were traveling the road from Mordent to Dementlieu when we heard these terrible howling. Me and Peter are experimented soldiers, but these wolves really gave us the creeps, believe me!

Boar [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about boars. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This bristly, tusked pig is a wild boar, a creature closely related to domesticated swine. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Although boars are not carnivores mainly feeding on plants and burrowing insects they are extremely bad tempered and prone to charging anything that threatens them. Boars can be so ferocious that they continue fighting to their final breath.

And we realized with dread there were no trees to climb to if these howling creatures attacked. Thankfully, we walked with a quicker pace and we have the strange feeling they let us pass. For you see, these were not natural creatures: when I saw their large mastiff shape in the shadows, calmly watching us, their eyes reflected no light An often heard tale in Chateaunoir

imps has its own code of behavior, which is must follow. For example, a clutch of bog imps may allow travelers to pass unaccosted if they can name the imps clan name. The code of law is different for each clutch, however. A bog imp that violates its own code is greatly weakened. ---

Bog imp [Heroes of Horror]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bog imps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This scaly, toadlike creature is a bog imp. Despite the name, it is a fey spirit native to swamps, not a fiend. This result reveals all fey traits and the aquatic subtype. Bog imps speak Sylvan and Common. Some of them can also speak a little Elven. 20 Bog imps torment anyone who passes through their territory. Bog imps lack combat prowess, but a scratch from one of their claws can sicken a mortal for several minutes. With just a glance, a bog imp can will any foe within 20 paces who is standing on a soft surface (such as mud) to be sucked down into the mire. A bog imp can exist comfortably in or out of the water. A bog imp ignores glancing blows, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. Bog imps have a strange connection to elves, but it is little understood. 25 Any mundane liquids that come near a bog imp immediately stagnate. A bog imp can swim well, and it can also burrow through wet earth or viscous fluids with remarkable speed. A bog imp is immune to acid, paralysis, poison, and sleep. If an elf is drowned by a bog imp, the elfs spirit merges with the surrounding swamp. Rather than going to its intended afterlife, the spirit eventually reforms as a new bog imp. 30 A bog imps strong will is resistant to mindaffecting spells and effects. Each clutch of bog

In the Southern parts of Sithicus, the elves believe that when they die by drowning, their spirit sometimes comes back as little, mischievous gremlin-like green creature. Their spirit is then transformed to insatiable cruelty and evil playfulness. These green gremlins are also said to love to watch people drown. -- From a bards folklore notes

Bogeyman [DT&DL [DT&DL] T&DL]

JWM: I think it would be appropriate if the Bogeyman blurbs were accredited as snippets from the Hans & Jakob Gleam tales named for them. "If you don't leave on the lights tonight, you're in for a big surprise, If you should put out the lights tonight, you'll fear to believe your eyes, For every scare that ever there was Will leap and creep and seek you, because Tonight's the night the boogeymen play their worst tricks" -- Taunting children's rhyme...

Bogeyman, Alligator Alligator Lenny [DT&DL]

CR7 There was a humming, and a buzzing, and the sound of something big breathing behind them, and Katerina saw the red eyes of the Alligator Man burning as he looked up at them from the storm sewer. "Walk a little faster, Papa," she said, clutching her daisies tighter. "There's a bad man down there." And she pointed to where the red eyes gleamed. "Little Katerina," her father said, smiling. "There's no bad man. That's just the lantern light on the puddles." Katerina did not reply; she had already concluded that her father was not going to be of much help to her in this matter.

This version of the story, Richemulot 733, offers more circumstantial detail than most--names and realistic detail, more consciously literary. Not clear whether this makes it more or less likely to be an original account. File with "Alligator Lenny" stories. Hans Gleam, private notes --Why not just use the rhyme from CotN: Vampires for Alligator Lenny? I think it works well. Whispered sounds behind you, Gurgle underfoot, No one ever to find you, No one dares to look, Alligator Lenny Gags you with his stink, Plucks your every penny, Drowns you in the drink -Children's Jump rope rhyme

Hide from sight In the night Close the window and shine the light. Heart will beat Oh so sweet Just the hearts that he likes to eat. Nothing fat Thin and flat Squeezes in like a scuttling rat Treasure fair Lucky pair Little twins in the darkness there. Out again Very plain Grown-ups nod at a simple swain They depart Vanished heart Off to tea in a rattling cart. - Rhyme found chalked on a wall in Port-a-Lucine

Bogeyman, the Bad Thing [DT&DL]

CR3 "Adon continued to dig his spade into the earth with each stroke, while his mind played over the events of the previous night. How did it happen? How could it happen? His Lorenz was such a gentle child. But lately he had been struck by a mood, a temper which darkened his features. And the bags under his eyes. The boy wasn't sleeping well. But why did he do it? And why lie about it? He loved that dog; he ought to; they were both young together, and were inseparable since their first meeting. What made him go for the hatchet last night? And why did he keep insisting that it wasn't him, that it was the Bad Thing?"

Bogeyman, Madame Croquemitaine [DT&DL]

CR5 Chemical composition: 59% glucose 23% fructose 15% starch. Plus binding agents, associated colouring (bright pink) Investigation of samples of paper taken from the paper wrapping the item reveal traces of the same. Control substance, a humbug purchased nearby, reveals identical composition. Several other such sweet papers, recovered from other children interacting with the obese woman, produce similar results, within an error margin of 5%.

Bogeyman, Monsieur Croquemitaine [DT&DL]

CR5 Hear a knock Rattle the lock Midnight strikes on the big old clock.

It's a sweet. Just a sweet. .... So why did it kill my daughter? - Final lab notes of Dr Wilhelm Strauss

get all tangled up..." "So you do my little darling and I may be able to help you with that as well." The creature turned and winked at me as I stood transfixed. He reached deep into the midnight black bag he had at his side and produced a comb of pure white ivory and handed it Marie as she squealed with glee. "Well my lovely little one I have miles to go before I reach my home at the end of the white road and the hour is late." he said tipping his hat and within moments he was long out of sight. Shaking off the odd feeling the creature put on me I took Marie home where she would comb her hair every night. Within a week we saw the first signs as her hair began to thin. A month later she was bauld, with in two the wasting disease had taken her from us. All while she would sit in front of the mirror with tears in her eyes combing hair that was no longer there. Tomorrow I take off to find the white road and when I get there I will skin that fox alive..." As told by Jon Basset Demount in a final letter to his cousin

Bogeyman, Mister Fox [DT&DL]

CR4 horribly wicked and immoral. The children who disappeared had friends of the same age, who know part of the terrible story. These children are at first too afraid to speak after what happened to their friends. But after some time, kindness and patience, I learned about other badly corrupt magical toys given by Mister Fox to innocent children, including a small mechanical Jack-inthe-box that starts playing by itself after midnight. If the children look at it, it stops. But when he was sleeping after hours of terror, or a sleepless night or two, what got out of the box at the end of the song? And where is the kid now? Another known toy is a small silver coloured pan wooden pipe. It was given by Mister Fox to a little girl, who disappeared from her room a few days after. Her brother is dreadfully afraid of the pipe. I understand he played with it once since his sister vanished, and that a certain chord made him hear his sister crying and pleading to get out of the dark forest instead of the innocent pipe music. On a torn piece of paper found behind Jacob Gleams book case, University of Dementieu. *** "Marie saw him first standing by the stream, his bushy tail sticking out of his long coat. I don't know why but she ran away from me and tugged at his coat. "Mister mister,"she squealed in her bright little voice, "You're a kitty!" The creature turned with a grin, his smile far too wide for his small face. "What a bright little girl you are my dear but I must correct you as I am a fox. But you are still a bright little girl so you may be able to help me find a hare. "I've got red hair but my curls

Bogeyman, the Scissorman [DT&DL]

CR 8 Dear journal, Yesterday was Daniels turn! I heard my parents say they found Daniel in his bed, and he wasnt alive. They didnt want to discuss this in front of me but I heard them saying it was full of blood. Like for Maurice and Jeanne. Im scarred. My stupid parents do not hear what I try to tell them. I know who did this, we all knew. Im afraid and do not want to go outside. Now Im the last. Im too afraid to sleep, since I also heard these scissors noise yesterday night at my window. Tonight, my parents said they will let me sleep in the room besides theirs, and they will let the door opened. If he arrives, they will hear and protect me. Scissorman case #3 (Chateaufaux, year 755): excerpts from the last victims personal journal.

From Hans Gleams notes.

--"In the distance, do you see that light? That is the highest window of Scribe's Tower. A light has burned in that window since my father showed it to me as a boy, and since his father showed it to him as a boy, and since grandfather's father showed it to grandfather as a boy. By that light, there is a scribe who has been writing something since who knows when. The scribe has been writing for a very, very long time. He writes and the years pass and flesh becomes dust. But the bones keep writing." - Taldemor Galadric of Kislova to his son

Bone rat swarm [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bone rat swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This clattering horde of skeletal rodents is a swarm of bone rats. This result reveals all undead traits and the swarm subtype. 19 Although the swarm skitters across the ground as one, it is composed of hundreds of fleshless rats. Targeting individual rats can prove vexing, but crushing the swarm with bludgeoning weapons can prove effective. 24 Bone rat swarms attack by crawling over and around living creatures, subjecting victims to hundreds of tiny bites. Because they lack soft tissues, the bone rats are immune to cold. --I have it! Finally, something to use against le Grand Dame! I know about her predilection for the vermin of the city, so I've devised a way to use them against her. Scores of dead rats, polished to the bone and given unholy life through my power! I'll send them against her, yes I will! Then she will learn not to scorn my affection! -Last, bloodstained entry in the Journal of Medraut of Pont-a-Museau

Bone tree (Dragon mag compendium)

Suggest by JP Huge poisonous carnivorous plant

Boneclaw [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about boneclaws. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC 15: The spindly, unnaturally long fingers and talons on this towering corpse mark it as a boneclaw, a dangerous undead minion. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 20: A boneclaw can extend its already lengthy razor-sharp talons to spear foes more than six paces away. Glancing blows skitter off a boneclaws skeletal body, but smahing a boneclaw with bludgeoning weapons can prove effective. DC 25: A boneclaw is resistant to turning and immune to cold. Knowledge (arcana) DC 16: This result reveals the details of the rite for creating boneclaws (see Dragon Magazine #336). --Christina Masall: We were... Far. Our friend, Marcel, made the floor collapse behind us, and the

Bone Creature [Book of Vile Darkness]

Chris Nichols: Template, CR remains the same. Bone creatures are essentially intelligent skeletons, retaining their skills, feats, and abilities from life. They can be created via create undead. Although bone creatures can be created through spells, in Ravenloft they often result from powerful curses. They may also arise spontaneously, when beings of extraordinary will refuse to die even once flesh crumbles into dust. This may occur when a person focuses obcessively on a task or duty for years on end, not ever noticing their moment of death.

bridge over the abyss, in that horrible, horrible crypt [the patient screams and sobs]... It was then... We were looking away from that monsters [sobs] and then... I felt Marcel's hot blood on my face. He was dead, and he didn't even had the time to realize it! [cries] Dr. Fulviani: How did he die? Christina Masall: The claws... The claws... They reached over the chasm, directly into Marcel's heart! From an interview with a patient of the Mikki Sanitarium, made by Dr. Dario Fulviani See also Dragon #336

--Dr. Fulviani: You and your friend were in Tepest, right? Christina Masall: No! No! [sobs and screams] Dr. Fulviani: Relax, Christina. Tell me everything. [mesmerism begins] Christina Masall: Yes... We enter the mound... It was of the goblins... [shivers]. We saw a rite... Dr. Fulviani: What kind of rite? Christina Masall: There was a dead goblin... A GIANT goblin. A shaman was upon its corpse... Three dead goblins near him. Then the shaman casts a spell... The corpses of the goblins shudder... [water begins to form at the corner of the eyes] Dr Fulviani: Then what? Christina Masall: The marrow... The marrow of their bones flows from their mouth into the giant goblin... And it MOVES! IT MOVES! From an interview with a patient of the Mikki Sanitarium, made by Dr. Dario Fulviani

Bonedrinker [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bonedrinker. A character who recognizes a bonedrinkers nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 16 This repulsive, ghoulish creature is a bonedrinker, an undead horror ritually created from a goblinoids corpse. This result reveals all undead traits. 21 Bonedrinkers are feral predators. They pounce on their foes, then grapple them with the two slender tentacles that emerge from their soreridden flesh. A bonedrinker is mildly resistant to cold, fire, and sonic attacks. 26 The saliva in a bonedrinkers bite contains toxins that dissolve bones in still-living creatures, resulting in a painful death. Bonedrinkers prefer to stalk lone victims, but may attack groups when their hunger grows ravenous. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 21 This result reveals the ritual for creating a bonedrinker (see MM III text).

Boneless [Denizens of Dread]

(template) Too late to save the poor ferryman, we nevertheless rejoiced over vanquishing so many of the lich's servants, and hoped that the cargo it sought to steal might contain something we could use against the creature. In our haste to find the imaginary prize, we set aside a half-dozen barrels of water after only a cursory look inside. It was only when Mycanron got parched did he discover something pressed tight against the bottom of a barrel, which he mistook for an oilskin bundle. His cry of discovery was cut short by a pair of ropelike arms that throttled the life from him as we ran to help. It pulled him halfway inside the barrel before any of us reached him, and even as we wondered what could fit in such a small space, the rest of them slithered out of the other water barrels. The lich hadn't sent that gang to steal anything: it had been rescuing troops! - from the fireside tales of Alphonse Tremain, Kartakan bard.

Bonestorm Bonestorm (Pathfinder 10) 10)

CR 8 A swirling, 15-foot-high, funnel cloud composed of thousands of jagged human bones whirls in an uncontrolled vortex of death. From it, the air splits with the deafening grind of bone-onbone

been the commanding voice of our captain was instead a pitiful wail that collapsed into a loathsome gurgling. In the ensuing bedlam it was my inspiration to look up. I managed the climb into the natural chimney that would deliver from the debacle the time worn bones that you have here before you and them alone. - Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, recounting his escape from the Maw of Death in G'henna

Boneyard [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about boneyards. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 24: This massive serpent, made from the skeletons of countless creatures, is an undead horror known by many names, including boneyards, bone weirds, dancing bones, and bone takers. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 29: A boneyard attacks by snatching up smaller creatues with its crushing bite. When a boneyard bites any creature that has a skeleton, a few of the victims bones melt away to join the boneyards fleshless mass. A boneyard ignores most weapon strikes. DC 34: A boneyard is resistant to magic and immune to cold. Once a day, a boneyard can create lesser skeletons from its own mass, controlling them like summoned creatures. DC 39: A boneyard that pins a creature can quickly tear out the victims entire skeleton --For reasons that I will never know the captain sent us marching into the black maw. Incredibly the walls, floor and ceiling were not of stone but of bone, human bone, animal bone, unidentified bone. The resilient stuff chattered without cracking under our boots as we trundled down the passage. Suddenly comrades plunged from sight as the floor gave way in a half dozen places. But it was not only the floor that betrayed us. The walls and ceiling melted away too in a terrible clattering of bone as the stuff flowed like water back to the cave entrance, where it gathered itself to cut off all escape and begin its assault. What should have

Bony hands [VRG to the Walking Dead]

CR3 May 14, 752. Eyes acting up, must see doctor. Weather nice. Brats unruly. Lashed Viggo again, locked Inge in closet. Inge getting worse; loss of brother? Must see doctor, saw Andor again, third time today. Guilt? Not withholding much, but daughter wants horse. Not my fault, they suffer or I suffer. Inge won't look me in eyes. Ungrateful brats, all of them. Fed better than on street, but complain more. Maybe right; Andor not first to die this month: Gunnar, Lucia, Sofie. See them too, outside windows, in corner of kitchen. See Andor even now, in corner of office, see Lucia by door; look at Andor, see Lucia; look at Lucia, see Andor. Look straight, see nothing. Look at door, see Lucia next to it. Can't make out face, but their eyes. Hungry eyes, even dead. Gunnar joining, all staring, hungry eyes. Must see doctor. Why me? Better life than on streets. Look at Andor, see Lucia. Look at Lucia, see Gunnar. Not my fault. Stalking me. Hungry eyes. Staring. Stalking. Look at Gunnar, see Lucia. Look at Lucia, see Sofie. Why me? Did my best. Must see doctor. Not my fault. They keep staring. Hungry eyes. Moving toward me. Not my fault, not my fault, not m --- Last entry from logbook of Konraad Weigand, Iron Caress Orphanage, Headmaster 748-752. Case closed in June 752, officially listed as due to a pack of rabid dogs; real cause unknown.

Boowray [Denizens of Dread]

CR3 Every night the maid gazed out that dirty window looking at something unseen by the rest of us. Her child was dead only one season but in her

sadness...or should it be madness she could not come to grips with its death. She clamed she saw her child reborn in the ever present mists. In her delusions her precious Steven would come to her every night telling tales of the other side and asking her to help him come back. We tolerated her actions until the night we found her standing over the bloody form of our own newborn screaming about a sacrifice to bring her son back. As she was led up the gallows I finally saw her "son". The child or creature as I now know it to be stood in the shadows silently laughing. Its childlike looks and bright green eyes belaying a soul of pure evil. - Told to a Barovian Guard after the hanging of Marie Pertova.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about brains in jars. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 Sadly, the brain floating in this strange jar is not merely a grisly exhibit. The mind within this dead brain yet lives, and it hungers for control over the living. This result reveals all undead traits and the psionic subtype. 19 A brain in a jar cannot defend itself physically, but its psionic prowess is formidable. If a brain in a jar focuses its attention on a single foe, it can assault that creatures mind, causing severe pain and possibly even death. The brain uses telepathy to sense its surroundings, so it cannot be blinded. 24 A brain in a jar can mentally reach out to rebuke or control undead minds, much like an evil cleric. Living creatures unwise enough to touch the mind of a brain in a jar with any form of telepathy may find their own minds seared by the brains seething madness. 29 A brain in a jar can rely on the psi-like abilities of psionic dominate, psionic suggestion, and telekinesis, which it uses to bend its foes to its will. --The words that summoned me to the dusty anatomy lab were assuredly those of the renowned biologist Latimus Rienis. I unlocked the sample room door, which swung open effortlessly, and stepped eagerly into the place for I was impatient to be reunited with my long departed mentor. But there was no one there, only row upon row of body parts, of every imaginable sort and size, suspended in preservative-filled glass jars. The door shut softly behind me. It was unlocked but I could not budge it. No sooner had I abandoned the attempt than I heard, not so much with my ears as inside my head, You see my esteemed colleagues, the fool has come. Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, Professor of Biology at the University of Il Aluk in

Bowlyn [Denizens of Dread]

CR3 Old Capp was singing in his whining voice in the galley, the same song he always sang, just as I had heard it every night on that long, miserable voyage to Rokushima Taiyoo. It was so familiar a sound that it was several minutes before I remembered we had buried him at sea--truth be told, that we had "buried" him alive, to keep the plague that had made him a living skeleton from taking hold in the ship and killing us all. I heard his footsteps in the passageway, and his imbecile laugh; he stopped at the door of my cabin, and I could feel his gaze on me. "Like a bad penny, ain't I?" he asked, his voice high and querulous. "I always come back, matie." The Voyage of the Bon-Chance, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Brain in a jar [Libris Mortis]

JWM: The Brain of Port-a-Lucine is not actually a Libris Mortis brain in a jar (those are undead, while it's a living aberration). These are a more generic version of the same concept. ---

Exile at Karg, describing to his therapist a recurrent nightmare

itself against the bars. I couldn't suppress a gasp, and Vlad grinned to see it. "Well Greta..." he said, reaching down for a key to unlock the cage. "Didn't I say that I'd get you something special for our aniversary..." "Why... Herr Ludzig..." I breathed, he loves it when I call him that. "It's just perfect! A whole meal all in one." "Trust me..." he said, baring those beautiful fangs. "No two are ever quite the same. A unique culinary delight..." My mouth watered in anticipation. - Memoires of Greta Haskopf, Vampyre debutante.

Breathdrinker [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about breathdrinkers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This misty, translucent figure is a breathdrinker, a dangerous creature native to the Elemental Plane of Air. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. Breathdrinkers speak Auran and often learn a local language. 22 Breathdrinkers are normally invisible. They become visible only when they attack. It is difficult to harm a breathdrinkers vaporous body, but magic weapons prove effective. 27 A breathdrinker feeds by stealing the breath directly from the lungs of helpless creatures, which can quickly prove lethal to the victim. 32 Opponents who meet a breathdrinkers glowing gaze may be briefly paralyzed with fear. --This repulsive air-based creature feeds on the polluted air contained by human lungs. How superbly disgusting to feed on these pitiable humans exhalations! It tried to fool me by becoming invisible but of course I was able to put it back in the glass container where it came from. I shall watch its thirst in the next months, unless of course I grow bored with it. - from a lichs bestiary notes

Broken one, Markovian Markovian [Book of Sacrifices]

JWM: For a quick refresher, Markovian broken ones are all man-animal combinations, while the generic 3E broken one can be hideously misshapen in all sorts of ways. Shattered brethren are psionic Bluetspur broken ones Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about broken ones. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This twisted, bestial creature is a broken one. This result reveals all aberration traits. 18 Broken ones are not natural creatures. They are created in twisted experiments or magical accidents. 23 Broken ones combine humanoid and animalistic traits. Their abilities vary widely from one individual to another, usually in the form of special physical talents, such as enhanced scent, leaping ability, and the like. --Dear Matilda,

Broken one [Denizens of Dread]

CR3 It was just breathtaking. Head of a fish, three arms dangling from its scaly hide, legs that looked like they were melting into stumps. And the eyes... they were human, and so filled with rage. I shivered in anticipation, and reached out a hand. The thing snarled, throwing

I hope this reaches you and I want you to know that I love you. We have been shipwrecked with no hope for rescue. For three days now we have stayed on the beach, hoping to see a ship on the horizon. They came for Dieter yesterday, we found his clothes shredded as if by an animal, blood everywhere, but only the footprints of men around where he was taken. By Ezra, we saw one of them. It looked like a cat, but walked like a man, it growled like a cat, but spoke like a man. Oh, my Matilda, it was an abomination unto Ezra. Food runs low, but some of the men think that they have seen a hut in the jungle. We go now, hoping to find respite. I write this and cast it into the ocean, hoping it will reach you. Know that I love you now and always will. - Message found in a bottle in the Sea of Sorrows, the name at the end smeared away.

When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) DC Result 13 This bony, one-eyed ghoul is a tigbanua buso. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 18 A buso attacks with its sharp fangs and talons. A busos claws carry a terrible curse similar to lycanthropy. Humanoid victims who succumb to the curse have a growing chance each night of transforming into tagmaling busos, which resemble their buso creators in both appearance and behavior. This result reveals the shapechanger subtype. 23 A tigbanua buso is always surrounded by an aura of fear. 28 Victims of the tagmaling curse cannot create more busos like themselves. To cure an afflicted victim, the original tigbanua buso must be slain, and then remove disease or remove curse must be cast on the tagmaling before 99 nights have passed. One hundred nights after affliction, the curse becomes permanent. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 15 Legend claims busos were once helpful creatures, but degenerated over time. --[...]it was then, after spending a night inside the old kami temple, besieged by those aberration that, until sunset, were normal commoners, that our Noble and pure Shujin [...] Heaven-blessed Yamisama, gave us the order to burn the village of Three Points to the ground, to slay every villager and to burn their corpses on pyres blessed by a kami-guided shaman of the mountain. The search for the one-eyed abomination that caused their death, my old friend, is left to you and your sons and your servants. I hope the kami will guide you in your quest. Excerpts from a letter from Most Honored General Taro to Most Honorable Yakisuke-sama, clanlord of White Crane Clan, of Minami-no-Kashaku.

Bruja [Denizens of Dread]

CR4 Errata: The hit points of the Bruja should be 36 HP They dragged the repulsive crone roughly to the pyre in the city square, and I could not help but think of the trials I had witnessed many a time in my homeland. But something was different here. The witch did not shout her defiance, nor plead for mercy, nor lash out with her spellcraft. She strode forward calmly, hollow and resigned. And when they lashed her down and lit the flame, she said only, "Yes, at last, the time has come." Sister Dacey of Tepest, Journeys Among the Heathen Horselords

Burrow Root [MM5] MM5]

CR 8 huge eel-like carnivorous plant

Buso [Oriental Adventures]

BUSO LORE (Oriental Adventures) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about busos.

Bussengeist see geist

C
Cadaver collector [Monster Manual III]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about cadaver collectors. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This spike-encrusted, mechanical giant is a cadaver collector, a powerful construct akin to a golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 27 Cadaver collectors are created by powerful spellcasters to collect corpses for all manner of dark purposes. They are usually seen wandering battlefields, crushing soldiers underfoot as they collect the fallen for their arcane generals. Cadaver collectors are almost completely immune to magic. Their iron-hard bodies are resistant to harm, though adamantine weapons can prove effective. 32 Although their metal fists can crush bone by themselves, cadaver collectors typically attack by snatching up smaller creatures and violently impaling them on their spikes. Once impaled, it takes a heroic feat of strength to pull oneself free. A cadaver collector is affected normally by magical rust attacks. Spells that alter stone (such as transmute rock to mud) damage a cadaver collector, but have no other effect. 37 A cadaver collector usually begins combat by spewing a cone of paralyzing gas at nearby foes. Sonic-based magical attacks briefly slow a cadaver collector, but have no other effect. Electrical attacks heal the cadaver collector and break any slow effects. 42 Spells of 3rd level or lower that cannot penetrate a cadaver collectors defenses invariably rebound on their caster. --JWM: These monsters were originally created by Vecna to fill his ranks on the battlefields of the

Burning Peaks. After the destruction of that cluster, however, it's possible that one or more of these creatures could have been flung into the Mists, to remeerge at some other time and place. After this terrible battle, I walked the fields of death near the end of the day, trying to get inspiration for a song to the madness of Drakovs war, while avoiding getting too much spooked. The odour of fresh blood was overwhelming. The Falkovnians had already passed to embark those that could be saved and healed, and they killed the helpless others. Then I saw this large metallic monster reflected by the light of a dying fire. This thing walked mechanically through the killing field, and methodically collected the dead corpses by skewing them on spikes all over its metal body. I say collected, since I do not have other words to express what I think the creature was doing. But it was huge and terrible in its cold systematic mode of functioning. Then it came a little close to my hidden watch position and I left the field quietly. I still wonder who or what needed all these dead bodies. an old bard tale in Rivalis

Caliban [Ravenloft 3rd Edition]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (local) can learn more about calibans. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This brutish, misshapen humanoid is a caliban, an unnatural race of cannibals. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 17 Calibans are born to human parents, but were twisted in the womb by evil supernatural forces, such as exposure to witches. Calibans are physically powerful, but dimwitted and violent. 22 Calibans can see in the dark. They are not innately evil, but often become cruel due to their

unkind upbringings. They are related to mongrelfolk. Calibans who find each other and cluster together in groups often learn the Mongrelfolk language. --T'is not my fault that I am a monster Tricky fate played my Mother for a fool And twisted my looks, stole my beauty and Created this wretch. Laugh and thy words will Rip my dignity away. But know that With the stealing of looks comes the gift Of brutality From the Storm Wracked Island, by Lemot Sediam Juste

29 A caller from the deeps watery mass simply flows around glancing blows. While a caller grapples a victim, the otherworldly chill of its touch saps the creatures vitality. 34 Once per hour, a caller from the deeps can summon either a water elemental or a fiendish shark to its aid. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 24 A caller from the deeps siren call is a sonic effect and can be countered with bardic music --I was staring at the black night sea from atop the Valiant, [the ship Silvana's father lent to Marco and Silvana to reach Vechor at the end of the first book of the saga] when I saw it. Or rather, I felt it. The sea had become much more dark, so dark that even the stars of that beautiful summer night were no more reflecting on its surface. The sea was so beautiful, that night... It was calling my very soul. I could remember the long swim with my dear Julia at night... The passionate love that followed our night swim, when we still lived in our pacific hut on the Jagged Shore... The sea was calling me. I could feel it. Julia was somewhere in there, I was sure. I was about to jump, when Silvana grabbed my cape and dragged my far from the railing. "Wake up, Marco, you cretin!" she yelled at me. Only then I saw the amorphous blot of ink covering the light of the stars. Silvana clutched her pendant, showing the symbol of Ezra, and whispered "It seems that, if you don't go to the sea, the sea comes to you..." I said nothing, ashamed, and grabbed my dagger... From "The Stormy Sea", second book from the "Trilogy of the Two Clerics" serie by Sir Julius Renaut (published in Mordent, Richemulot, Dementlieu and Martira Bay. Banned in Borca, Hazlan and Nova Vaasa for heresy and scabrous contents).

See Qtr 8 - Guide to the Caliban Race (Brutes and banshees)

Caliban, vampire vampire [FoS Nocturnal Sea Report]

See Vampire, Caliban

Caller from the deeps [Stormwrack]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about callers from the deeps. A character who recognizes a caller from the deeps nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 19 This swirling cloud of cold, inky black water is a caller from the deeps. These entities form from the death and detritus that gathers in the very deepest, darkest chasms of the ocean floor. This result reveals all elemental traits and the water subtype. 24 As a spell-like ability, a caller from the deeps can use a sirens call to tempt sailors into jumping overboard. Once victims are in the water, the caller wraps its inky tendrils around them and crushes the life from them.

Caller in darkness [Expanded Psionics Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about callers in darkness. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 The dozens of tortured faces visible in this rolling bank of pale mist mark it as a caller in darkness, the undead remains of countless victims who died together in terror. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal and psionic subtypes.

natural, or outliers of the Worlds-End Mists. The uneasiness that gripped my heart, likewise, I put down merely to my own guilt and remorse over the evils I had witnessed and even abetted in this very place. It was only with a glimpse of the face of my old colleague Endorlas in the swirling white vapors--a lad of elven stock, who had been set upon by three other apprentices when he rebelled against Ulathar's 'teachings'--that I realized both the lich's sins and my own had left yet another taint upon our land." --From the journal of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

Camel [Monster Manual & Sandstorm animal] animal]

CR 1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about camels. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This humped creature is a camel. Denizens of arid wastes prize these herbivores, calling them ships of the desert. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Camels are extremely sure-footed on the shifting desert sands, and can survive for lengthy periods without food or water. For this reason, they are often domesticated for use as mounts and beasts of burden. Both one-humped and twohumped camels exist. Some desert riders even raise and train warcamels that carry them fearlessly into battle. DC 21: Among sages, one-humped and twohumped camels are often called dromedary and Bactrian camels, respectively. Dromedaries thrive in warm, sandy deserts. Bactrian camels live in cooler, rockier deserts, and tend to be hardier but slower than dromedaries.

24 A caller in darkness attacks by touching living creatures with tendrils of its wispy, death-imbued essence. The spirit of any creature slain by a caller in darkness is merges with the rest of the entitys trapped spirits. Animals balk at the presence of a caller in darkness and panic if they come within 10 paces of one. 29 A caller in darkness can also steal the soul of any nearby creature that is paralyzed, asleep, unconscious, or otherwise rendered mentally helpless. Callers in darkness are powerless in sunlight and flee from it. When exposed to sunlight, they cannot attack and can barely move. 34 A caller in darkness can manifest the following psi-like abilities: clairvoyant sense, concussion blast, co-opt concentration, death urge, detect psionics, ego whip, mind thrust, psychic crush, and psionic suggestion. -"Even months after Master Ulathar's destruction, his wickedness stains both Kartakass and my soul. To ensure we had not overlooked some legacy of malign will that could plague the land in later years, we returned to a small village I and his other acolytes had visited with him, where he had instructed us in the arts of wounding and slaying others with their own fears. "At first, I thought the banks of fog among the collapsing and abandoned houses to be purely

Caryatid Caryatid Column (Pathfinder)

CR3 construct

Carrion crawler [Monster Manual]

CR4 We were dragged by those horrible, dessiccated corpses, to a great room with a circular pit in the middle. The air was full with the smell of death, and I and Silvana started praying aloud for the mercy of our two godesses. Then we saw him. Tomtadet, the dreaded Tomtadet, was standing there, on the edge of the pit. He laughed at us, dragged in chains before him, and opened his purple silk cape, as if greeting us. He showed us a tattoo on his bare back. "This, my arch-enemies, is my new tattoo. This tattoo is called "Victory". I think you can guess why I had it made as soon as my servants captured the two of you alive." He laughed again. We could not reply, since a gag was in our mouths, clearly to prevent our spellcasting. Tomtadet grasped my hair and made me look in the pit. Three aberrations of nature were in there, three monsters so horrible I could not even describe them now. They were part centipede, part caterpillar, part snail... With tentacles near mouths filled with pointed teeth... Slithering on the bottom of the pit, slowly but voraciously consuming the body of young Artu, the Rashemani guide that accompanied us in Ramulai. "These" the desplicable wizard continued "are creations of great magick, granted to me by His Most Great Stupidity Hazlik... A gift for someone who is now his greatest enemy! Hah!" He laughed again, his voice booming in the cellar. I prayed Hala he didn't suspect our plan... From "Lord of the Ensonmmark", third and last book from the "Trilogy of the Two Clerics" serie by Sir Julius Renaut (published in Mordent, Richemulot, Dementlieu and Martira Bay. Banned in Borca, Hazlan and Nova Vaasa for heresy and public insult of Divine Lord Hazlik).

DC Result 14 This horrid, tentacled, crablike creature is a carrion stalker, a parasite that lays its larvae in the dead. This result reveals all aberration traits. 19 Carrion stalkers lash out with paralyzing tentacles, dragging their victims in for the kill. 24 Once a carrion stalker pulls a pinned victim close, it expels a burst of wormlike larvae which burrow into the creatures flesh. 29 Once a carrion stalker expels a larval burst, it cant do so again for weeks and tends to ignore passing creatures in the meantime. --We saw poor Eduardo, lying dead, his guts on display to the whole world. I tells ya, it's the worstest thing I'd ever did see. Those wolves ate him up good. Of course, then the man's guts started to move, started to sniff like an animal. Then they moved. Twasn't a dead man we where looking at, but a beastie that looked like the viscera of our friend, chewing on his head. I take no shame in admittin' to heaving my guts up that day. -Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese adventurer.

Carrion Storm [Pathfinder 2] 2]

Swarm of undead birds / crow raven

Carrionette [Denizens of Dread, Dread, Dragon Magazine #339] #339]

CR1 Errata: The carrionette's attacks should read: Attacks: Straight razor +3 melee; or silver needle +5 ranged. In addition, in the skills, it should receive a +10 racial bonus to Climb checks (netting the same final +8 score) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about carrionettes. In Odiare, the same information can be gained with a Knowledge (local) check, but using this sill raises the DC by 5. When a character makes a successful skill check,

Carrion stalker [Denizens of Dread]

CR2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about carrion stalkers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result: 13 This tiny wooden manikin is a malevolent, animated puppet or doll called a carrionette. This result reveals all construct traits. 18 Unlike most constructs, carrionettes are fairly intelligent and are capable of speech. Carrionettes are immune to electricity and can use ventriloquism at will as a spell-like ability. More dangerous, they can fling silver needles at foes up to five paces away. These needles, which remain attached to the carrionette by silver threads, can slow or even paralyze living creatures. 23 Carrionettes envy the living. If they drive a silver needle into a paralyzed victims neck, they switch minds with that creature. The carrionettes animating spirit takes control of its hosts body, and the soul of its victim finds itself trapped in the carrionettes wooden frame. 28 To reverse the mind switch, the living creature inhabiting a carrionette must drive a silver needle into the neck of its true body. Any spell or effect that can negate a magic jar also ends the exchange immediately. Destroying a carrionette inhabited by a living host kills the hosts body as wel, and the possessing carrionette with it. Thus, carrionettes never destroy their original bodies after a mind switch, usually locking up the puppet instead. --No sooner had we laid the unfortunate girl-child on the table than we heard a thumping overhead, as if something fairly heavy had been cast to the floor. "The cat?" Despadon asked. Shrugging, I took up the lantern and went upstairs to look. There in the hallway lay a child's doll--doubtless the toy of the comatose young girl we had left upstairs. It was a delicate thing, with a cherubic face of white porcelain in a flood of gold hair, so cunning made that the eyes seemed to open and close in the flickering lantern light. Marietta, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Casurua (Dragon mag compendium)

Proposed by JP Undead cloud of eyes

Cat [Monster Manual - animal]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcan) can learn more about cats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This feline is a common domestic housecat. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Cats hunt rodents, birds, and other small prey with their sharp fangs and retractable claws. Cats are excellent climbers. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt cats for use as familiars. Such mages tend to be exceptionally quiet and graceful in their movements.

Cat, Crypt, see Crypt Cat Cat, Midnight, see Midnight Cat Cat, Plain (Denizens of Darkness) Cat, Serval [Sandstorm - animal]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about servals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This slender, spotted, long-legged savannah wildcat is a serval. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Servals pounce of the small animals they hunt. Once they strike, they hold on with their jaws and sharp talons, using their hind claws to rake the creatures soft belly. However, they seldom attack creatures larger than themselves.

Cat, Skeletal [MC III] III] Catoblepas [Monster manual II] II]
Proposed by JP, rare in Souragne

Cerebral symbiont [Fiend Folio, Folio, app 2] 2] Cerebral symbiont: cerebral hood [Fiend Folio]
I was looking at the ceiling of the cave the Mists brought me in after the lightning hit the Spire. I could feel a voice in my head, a calm, relaxing voice. That cavern was the place where I ever wanted to be. It was my home. I felt claws caressing my chest, slimy tentacles prodding my head... Then I saw a large ray-like creature descending from the ceiling, over my head. I was relaxed. It was my friend, the voice in my mind said. I could see nothing, then. The cloak of leather was on my head. Then I was myself no more. I was not to be myself for the next seven months. From the journal of Batu Basemap, Rashemani Warlock of Hala.

Centipede, monstrous [Monster Manual]

CR 1/8, , , 1,2,6, 9 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about monstrous centipedes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This skittering creature is a monstrously large centipede. This result reveals all humanoid traits. DC 15: Monstrous centipedes typically anything that might be food. The venom they inject with their bite can slowly paralyze their prey, leaving the creature helpless while the centipede feeds. DC 20: Monstrous centipedes can grow to truly enormous sizes. Larger centipedes have more potent venom. Even the largest monstrous centipedes can skitter along walls or ceilings as well as they can across a floor. --In that very first moment we thought it was a snake; when Geddar had dispatched it, I measured it at three feet from head to tail. Our guide noted it was "just a baby"; when I asked him just how big the centipedes get in that part of the world, he shrugged and spread his arms to their full width, then made a little fillip with his fingers as if to say, "There's really no limit." At the time I suspected him of pulling my leg. Unpublished notes on the first expedition to Har'Akir, Rudolph van Richten

Cerebral symbiont: mind leech [Fiend Folio, Folio, app 2] 2]

Tomtadet was dead. Silvana was barely standing, and my arm was severely burned. We were victorious, by Hala and Ezra's twin blessings. It was then: I saw it. Slowly crawling out of the dead wizard's neck, was a small creature, similiar to a worm ora a leech, colored of a reddish purple, slithering as if possessing an innate intelligence. As it moved toward me, I could feel a voice in the back of my head: it was the creature, begging to be pick up and placed on my own neck! The horrible creature ended its pathetic life under my boots. Was it the source of much of Tomtadet powers? From "Lord of the Ensonmmark", third and last book from the "Trilogy of the Two Clerics" serie by Sir Julius Renaut (published in Mordent, Richemulot, Dementlieu and Martira Bay. Banned in Borca, Hazlan and Nova Vaasa for heresy and references to the "By The Lawgiver's Holy And Powerful Decree Best Forgotten And Lost Realm Of Unholiness Named Bluetspur, May It Be Lost In The Mists Forever").

Cerebral symbiont: psionic sinew [Fiend Folio, Folio, app 2] 2]

To be honest, none of us quite knew what to expect when we moved in to arrest that murderous lunatic. From his handiwork, we'd almost expected something more animal than man. When we burst in and found a bloke who could've been mistaken for just another day labourer, had we not known better, we were almost ready to start laughing I suppose. Nothing funny about when those claws came out, long as a shortsword and twice as sharp. I swear, he took more of a pounding than any man like that has the right to, and for a fellow wearing nothing but his work clothes, our clubs bounced off him a touch more than they should've. Never did work out what the trick behind all that was, and since we couldn't take him alive, I guess we never will. Still, makes you wonder where he learned to do all that, doesn't it? Unnamed Paridonian detective, on the attempted arrest of the "Griffoth Street Mauler"

Charnel hound [Monster Manual III]

JWM: These monsters were originally created by Vecna to fill his ranks on the battlefields of the Burning Peaks. After the destruction of that cluster, however, it's possible that one or more of these creatures could have been flung into the Mists, to remeerge at some other time and place. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about charnel hounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This massive, hound-shaped horror, composed of hundreds of fused corpses, is called a charnel hound. This result reveals all undead traits. 28 Charnel hounds are created by powerful necromancers, who use them as guardians or terrible engines of war. A charnel hound lashes out at foes with its jagged claws and teeth. If a charnel hound hits a foe with both claws, it can tear that creature apart. 33 Charnel hounds are truly terrifying to behold. They are highly resistant to magic, and their rotting flesh simply ignores most physical attacks. Magic silver weapons can pierce their defenses, however. 38 Whenever a charnel hound cuts down a living foe, it can absorb that creatures body into its own mass whether the foe is now dead or merely on the brink of death. This kills the victim and empowers the hound. Fortunately, charnel hounds loathe daylight and fight poorly while exposed to it. --Dr. Fulviani: Can you hear me, Antonia? Antonia B.: Yes... Dr. Fulviani: Very well. I want you to go back to that time in that graveyard in Darkon. Antonia B.: No! No! Dr. Fulviani: You will go there.

Changeling (kin) [Denizens of Dread, Dread, VRGttSF] VRGttSF]

Powriekin, Sheekin, Sithkin, Tegkin CR 0 or 1 To my surprise, Mistress Eiadhe received my thanks and praise with a very ill grace, and our hostess, overhearing me, made a brusque sign motioning me to silence; puzzled, I made some excuse and followed her into the next room. "Young master," she said, her voice low and angry, "you're not of our folk, so you're not to know. But you must never praise a person so. Never. If the Fair Folk should hear you, what would become of Mistress Eiadh then? Will you comfort her family if they wake to find her elfshot tomorrow morn?" Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Changeling Fog [VTGttMists] VTGttMists]

Antonia B.: I'm opening the gates. I'm walking in. The corpses have been stolen. The villagers are scared. Dr. Fulviani: Go on, my dear. Antonia B.: I enter. I prepare holy water in my hand. Then... The corpses start to dig out of the grave. Dr. Fulviani: Did you use the water? Antonia B.: I can't... I'm too scared... Dr. Fulviani: Why? Antonia B.: There is a dog... A giant dog. It is... Oh, Ezra... It is made of corpses... Dr. Fulviani: What does it do? Antonia B.: It is baying... Baying... It is baying right now in my head! Make it stop! From the personal notes of Dr. Dario Fulviani, in the Mikki Sanitarium of Chateaufaux. See also Dragon #336

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about chosen ones. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This gaunt and leathery humanoid is a chosen one. Originally human, these creatures have been magically twisted into deranged minions. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 17 A chosen one attacks with its sharp claws and teeth. A chosen ones bite injects a deadly venom. 22 A chosen one exists in a constant state of agony, and is conditioned to believe that everyone but its creator as the cause of its pain. Chosen ones thus attack anyone they see with unquenchable fury. However, the longer a chosen one fights, the greater the chance that it will suddenly remember some sliver of its former existence and go beserk, running off to avenge itself on its master, if it can. 27 Chosen ones are created by the Red Wizards of Thay, who guard the secrets of their creation tightly. --[...]most important thing is to channel evil and hatred in Rashemani specimens[...]rture and pain are the quickest way to accomplish this, especially that of loved on[...]so that the specimen can feel such pure hatred for his slayer, and thus[...]member to ward yourse[...] sting the spell![...]Should an apprentice forg[...]most probalby the newly-awakened undead will leash at him[...]stead of his enemies[...] - From a blood-spattered note from Hazlik to his apprentices, found near the rent corpse of Samalek, graduated from the Red Academy in 765 BC.

Cheetah [Monster Manual - animal]

CR2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about cheetahs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This spotted great cat is a cheetah, a savannah predator. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 18: Cheetahs can reach startling speeds in short sprints. DC 22: When a cheetah strikes a creature with its fangs or claws, it tries to wrench the creature to the ground.

Choker [Monster Manual]

Suggested by Chris Nichols CR2

Chosen one [Monsters of Faern]

JWM: Chosen ones are primarily created by Hazlik and his apprentices. ---

Chuul [Monster Manual]

Suggested by Chris Nichols CR7 JWM: I believe theyre specifically mentioned in the Hazlan gazetteer. ---

7.17.57...after injection with the putative mutagenic serum 13/A/2 the crayfish were returned to their enclosure. 7.20.57 Experiment with serum 13/A/2 must be delayed; a groundskeeper finding the injected crayfish apparently took them home with the intention of eating them. (Note: instruct factor to hire new groundskeeper.) The loss of the experiment is highly annoying, but anecdotal evidence of the groundskeeper's cousin indicates that the results were impressive. Attempt with spiders? Spiders considered inedible even by the most stupid. Hazlik, laboratory notes

Cinder swarm [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about cinder swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This roiling cloud of burning embers and acrid smoke is a creature called a cinder swarm, which is native to the Elemental Plane of Fire. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire and swarm subtypes. 28 A cinder swarm usually initiates combat simply by flowing over the nearest opponent. Cinder swarms burn to the touch and can ignite flammable materials. The cinders within the swarm speak Ignan, but it is nearly impossible to communicate with an individual cinder. 33 Unlike most elementals, cinder swarms are decidedly malevolent. Once combat has begun, a cinder swarm tends to focus its attacks on whatever opponents prove most threatening. --10/01/759 I witnessed today a most disturbing scene during my stay in an unnamed village near Viktal, maybe even more disturbing than my true memories returning after crossing Darkonese borders. A cleric of the Inquisition, true leader of the

community, was preparing to burn two people at the stake, under the pretense of witchcraft. One of them was the man who had been my guide in the woods. The same evening, it seems, he got drunk (thanks to the money I gave him) and said something about the Inquisitor's mother. The other one, it was evident, was a minus habens, whose diversity was to be his death. The Inquisitor shouted, before igniting the pyre: "May this fire purge the wicked". I prepared to cast a spell for distraction, so I could quench the fire with a create water and spirit those unfortunate solus away from the stake during the confusion. Then, the cinders from the pyre began to coalesce, to fuse in an undulating mass of fire, that moved away from the wood and literally jumped on the cleric, burning him to ashes. In the terror and ensuing panic, I was able to "kill" those creatures and to free the two men. I must say, this land has a soft spot for poetic justice. From the private journal of Witch Claire Silence of Viaki.

Cloaker, dread, outlander [Monster Manual]

CR5 JWM: This is the standard MM cloaker. They aren't native to Ravenloft. Cloaker Lore WotC Cloakers are bizarre and devious creatures that lurk in the tunnels and warrens beneath the earth. They are intelligent, yet cruel beings with a distinctly alien mindset. Humanoids have yet to comprehend their mysterious goals. Knowledge (Nature) (Dungeoneering) or Knowledge

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about cloakers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result 11 This creature is a cloaker, a foul creature that prowls the vast caverns beneath the earth. It reveals all aberration traits. 16 When at rest cloakers closely resemble large black cloaks, which aids their disguise. They can fly, and they can also unfurl and completely engulf a Medium creature. 21 Cloakers can produce a dangerous subsonic moan that causes shakiness, fear, nausea, or stupor in its victims. 26 A cloaker can manipulate the shadows, producing several effects that mimic the following spells -- obscure vision, dancing images, and silent image.

Cloaker, dread, resplendent [Denizens of Dread]

CR5 Personally, I found Giulietta's behaviour this evening inexcusable. It is simply a common courtesy not to overshadow your hostess. To turn up to an informal party dressed in such a gaudy and tasteless thing, all flashing jewels and glitter... the woman simply has no manners. Doesn't she know that capes are to be left in the cloakroom? Of course we can normally put up with her eccentricities, one keeps friends who like to poke around in crypts primarily for amusement value. Unfortunately, dear Ivana was not amused. I was really rather surprised how much of the party that Giulietta attended. I am certain that the cocktail which Ivana offered her normally works so much more quickly. Other than that, of course, the evening was an unparalleled success, although it fell to me to store Giulietta in one of the cloakrooms. I must admit, I was rather irked to discover that one of the other guests must have taken her cape by mistake. It would have gone beautifully next week for fancy dress. - From the Private Diaries of Nostalia Romaine

--They say the air went bad, and that made me imagine what happened after the cave-in. It isn't so! The collapse sealed us in, but it opened up a deeper tunnel. Good air came through the gap, but not only air. It let THEM in. Gods! It all happened so fast. They hit the lantern bearers first, so we didn't have a good look at 'em 'fore the lights went dark. I just saw these flat shapes moving along the stone walls, hard to make out against the stone. The colors seemed to blend in, like a rock lizard will do. There was this queer noise, like clothes rustling in a draughty hall closet. Then it was all pitch black, and all I could hear were the screams of my mates. I hid under a mine cart. Was still there, three days later, when the rescue crew broke through to us. To me, since all the others were vanished. That gap had been closed up, too. Those things must have done it. That's why I had to quit the mines. Cannot stand to be shut in, or left in the dark. And those things are still down there.... - a story told by an old man in Bergovitsa, likely a lie to excite the sympathy of strangers See also Pathfinders Dungeon Denizens Revisited

Cloaker, dread, shadow [Denizens of Dread]

CR5 The Great King gave several beautiful black cloaks to lucky guests at the beginning of the masque, including the Marquis de Verre, with whom I danced not once, not twice, but thrice, including the closing waltz. I sense a new conquest may be made there, dear sister! In truth it was a most diverting evening, but quite a taxing one; I have not quite been myself for the last two days, and write to you from bed even now. Letter to Lucrezia Drakkeshart Drakkeshart, both of Darkon to Marta

Cloaker, dread, tattered (undead) [Denizens of Dread]

CR5 Also, J. came back from his exploration of R. d. Lachryma side tunnel with a horrible ratty cloak which he refuses to take off; if he persists in wearing it I may be forced to steal the thing at least long enough to wash it, as it is still rather odorous. Can't think what has gotten into J., but must be careful of his feelings at present, as his cat died this afternoon. Entry for 5/12/744, journal of Nathaneal Dent, grimetrekker

to rest, but as we were prepared only for a mission of observation, we exercised the better part of valor... and ran for our lives. - Notes on the Expedition to the Lost Citadel, Professor A. Krenshaw of the University of Il Aluk

Construct, dread (construct of obsession) [Denizens of of Dread]

Bollenbach proposes that this procedure actually imbues the body with a "soul" capable of distinguishing right and wrong, which is manifestly ridiculous on the evidence. I never heard of any such creature with any moral understanding whatsoever; and surely we need not posit that every animating force inhabiting a physical body be, ipso facto, a moral actor? marginal notes on Van Richten's Guide to the Created, Erik van Rijn

Cockatrice [Monster Manual]

CR3 Ianna looked in the henhouse and saw there a great fat toad, seated on a strange speckled egg--an egg the size of a goose's, or bigger. "Granny, Granny," she said, "such a strange nestmother you have for your little chickens!" "All my little chickens have such a nest-mother, my sweet," the bean chailleach replied, smiling to show her iron teeth. "It makes them grow strong and fat." Ianna and the Bad Hen, traditional Tepestani

Corpse candle [Denizens of Dread]

CR6 "Poor dear, he was shaking like an aspen leaf when he left this morning." "Left before breakfast? Not like Marcus..." "Bless you, no! But then... well... after that dreadful business over at Arden farm..." "Aye... dreadful. Buried her this morning. People like that ought to be strung up..." "Too true. But I think it hit Marcus worst of all... after finding those bodies... ugh, makes me quesy to thing about it..." "Don't you go thinking about it too much. I don't want two of you brooding on it, it's bad for the mind. You know, he wouldn't sit near the fire last night. Kept glancing over at it and mumbling." "Mumbling?"

Composite walking dead [VRGttWD [VRGttWD p12] p12]

When I first saw it there in the shadows, my first thought was of the centaurs of myth. I was not alone in my thoughts of fanciful creatures, for later I would learn that my colleague, Humphries, seeing the abomination at first from the opposite vantage, thought it a pegasus. Alas, it was no noble creature of the classic tales, though perhaps its creator is well-versed in such prose. I daresay he was trying for something of a manticore or lammasu, for as the thing shambled forward, we saw that this madman had stitched together the corpses of a man and a once-fine stallion. I know not where he found the wings, for they appeared to be those of a bat, but larger than any bat we had heard of in even the wildest of Barovian folktales. I wish I could say that we set the poor defiled man

"Aye, something about 'soon...' and that he was 'still trying to find them...'. Load of rubbish if you ask me." "Still... I do worry about the boy. His teacher says he's been missing from school." "Heh, don't you worry yourself about the lad. He's just going through that age." "True... everyone has to grow up eventually. But it makes an old woman wistful..." "Tell you what, why don't you put his old night light in his room when he comes home tonight? There's nothing like a bit of candle light to help you forget your troubles." - Overheard the Night before the fire at Grebe farm, East Mordentshire.

following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This heaving mass of putrescent rodents is a swarm of corpse rats. This result reveals all undead traits and the swarm subtype. 19 Although the swarm crawls across the ground as one, it is composed of hundreds of zombified rats. Targeting individual rats can prove vexing, but hacking at the swarm with slashing weapons can prove effective. 24 Corpse rats swarms attack by crawling over and around living creatures, subjecting victims to hundreds of tiny bites and spreading filith fever. --"Honeeeeyyyyyyy! Thaere are RATS in the kitchen!" "By Ezra's mercy, woman... Just SWAT them with you mop!" "But I ALREADY DID! LAST WEEK!" - Darkonese joke *** The grime was clinging to my boots. In the murky water I could see things better not be descript. But THEY were behind me. I could hear their small paws trampling in the sewer tunnel, the echo carried in multiple directions. Their squeaking was starting to sound like a chant, the smell of decadence of their small corpses was overwhelming. I was starting to lose hope. I came to an intersection in the tunnel. Four dark tunnels were meeting in a larger vault. The flickering light of my lantern could not pierce the shadows. Then I understood why the squeaking and the trampling were so close and pervasive. They were coming from ALL THE DIRECTIONS. From Memories of a Tunnel Dweller, by Ralph "Mudboots" LaRache, grimetrekker.

Corpse Creature [Book of Vile Darkness] Darkness]

Suggested by Chris Nichols Dear journal, one week after slaying this dreadful abomination, we went back to this forgotten chapel to retrieve the holy items that were stolen by this treacherous priest and this illithid thing that was probably controlling him. One week ago, we defeated this tentacled monster and we saw the priest flee. When we came back, we were ready to detect whatever traps and spells the priest could have left behind for revenge. But we were not ready to face the illithid creature, again. Its corpse was in the same position as when it fell when Geddars hammer hit it, but to our surprise it rose as a shambling corpse and struck us with its unholy mental attack. Thankfully, Geddar defeated it again, but I fear for our priests sanity. Van Richtens private diary

Corpse rat swarm [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about corpse rat swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the

***

When I arrived with the buckets of water from the Vuchar river, he sat hunched at work before a prodigious pile of dead rats, separating flesh from bone with a knife. When I returned with more water the prodigious pile of dead rats sat hunched at work upon him, separating flesh from bone with tooth and claw. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, recalling the death on December 23, 750 of company cook Timvad Nayor

(inc. pr Bartree, Ez. rest him), but no longer; esp. as so many have been tempted (& mr than tempted, in truth) to make the exp. of eating men's flesh direct. Ship's log of the Stormrake, Captain Elias Blackburn, recovered from Saragoss in 749

Crawling apocalypse [Sandstorm]

"One wonders how such barren earth can harbor a powerful thing so fertile in men's fears. The priests say it is but myth, but I dare say now that I have seen it with my own eyes, perhaps fortunate that I witnessed its emergence from a safe distance. It was after dusk when it heaved from the sands outside the city, a wretched gargantuan mass of onyx bone and tentacle, a terrible nightmare that transcends the boundaries of time. Wreathed in the barrenness of the wastes it let out a cry not unlike a chorus of trumpets. It seemed to fear the setting sun, and fell back into the earthly hell it had come from. Where it receded no hole could be seen--it was as if the earth itself gave succor to its primeval slumber." -- Gustav diMuelikki, caravan trader of G'Henna

Corrupted Creature [Book of Vile Darkness, Dragon 350] 350]

Suggested by Chris Nichols See also Dragon 350, under Creatures of corruption:

Corvus Regis (raven) see Kings Raven Crab, monstrous [Stormwrack]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about monstrous crabs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This scuttling crustacean is a monstrously large crab. This result reveals all vermin traits and the aquatic subtype. 15 Crabs are ravenous scavengers that eat whatever meat they can find, including any creature smaller than themselves and their own dead. Monstrous crabs crush foes with their oversized pincers. 20 Monstrous crabs can grow to truly enormous sizes. Although they live in seawater, they can survive indefinitely on land. --7.10.738 Caught and killed crab today, feast for all hands. At one time we mt. have scrupled to eat a creat. wh. had made itself fat on dead men's flesh

Crawling claw [Monsters of Faern]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about crawling claws. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 These crawling claws are magical constructs, mindless minions created by an arcane spellcaster. This result reveals all construct traits and the swarm subtype. 16 Crawling claws are created from humanoids amputated left hands. They usually attack in the dozens, flinging themselves at foes at digging into the opponents flesh with their nails or talons. They are particularly dangerous against foes that have fallen to the ground. 21 Crawling claws cannot see, so they are immune to all sight-based effects. A crawling claw is somewhat resistant to magic.

"Whaddaya mean 'Ya hear someone snap fingers'? The house shouldn't be inhabited" "Well, I hear it, I tell ya I hear it!" "Johnson, this family was said to be misterious and spooky... But they're all d-e-a-d now!" "Look! There! I saw it!" "Look wh-aaaaaaaargh!" ... *snap* *snap* - From the play Conversation between two dead homeless in an abandoned house of the Mordentshire environs, by Sir Resteph Dams (never published). *** My mother always said: "The left hand is the hand of the fiends". I always wrote with my left hand. I did everything with my left hand, from eating to spellcasting. Then I lost my left hand, and it fell in possession of our necromantic nemesis. Only then I understood it. My mother was always right. *** Even as the hands freakish intelligence seemed to grow, its flesh decomposed. It started slowly, with discolored patches of bruised skin, but progressed to greenish-black blotches, and started spreading up Dunkels forearm. When the hand started to reek of rotten meat, the chiurgeon was called for, despite Dunkels urgent, desperate pleas against it. The chiurgeon immediately declared Kralles hand to be gangrenous, and pronounced that it must be amputated at once. Kralle went into a panic, pitifully pleading for them not to remove his hand. Obviously in a feverish delirium, Kralle insisted that, so long as the hand was anchored at the end of his arm, he could keep it under control. The healer ignored his ranting, calmly warning Kralle that, if the hand was not removed, it would surely drag him into the grave with it. After the hand was amputated, Kralle made just one, feeble request before he passed out. Bury it deep. --from the notes of the Corvia militia. Footnote: This is actually a piece of flavor text from John's entry for the crawling claw in "The Forgotten Children" netbook. See also Dragon #336

Crawling Crawling ivy [Denizens of Dread, Dread, under plant] plant]

CR2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about crawling ivy. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This patch of leafy vines is actually a monstrous plant called crawling ivy. This result reveals all plant traits. 17 Crawling ivy often lets creatures climb over it, waiting for the most opportune to lash out and entangle its prey. 22 Crawling ivy feeds on blood, which it drains using its magenta-veined leaves. Crawling ivy can sometimes be trained to serve a master to a limited degree, acting as a guardian. 27 Crawling ivy sprouts clumps of berries each autumn. If collected, these berries can be prepared into an herbal poultice that helps stop blood loss. --Handsome large dark-green leaves with magenta veins, flourishes in semi-shaded areas and does not require rich soil. Available as clipping, unusual transport requirements double normal delivery price. N.B. Tends to be invasive & can be intractable without careful handling. NOT RECOMMENDED for the casual enthusiast. Beauraix' Commercial Catalogue of Flora

Crimson bones [Denizens of Dread]

CR2 As Harespex cleaved the second blood-drenched skeleton's head from its shoulders, a fine spray of red droplets coated his hands and arms. The thing fell, but even as it did so Harespex dropped his sword, turning frightened eyes toward me. "The blood," he whispered. "It's burning me, Mac Laren." - Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Crimson death [Monster Manual II]

(The bardic knowledge is Ravenloft-specific.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about crimson deaths. Characters who recognize a crimson deaths nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 21 This vaguely humanoid knot of fog somewhat resembles a wraith, but it actually a misty creature called a crimson death. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 26 A crimson death feeds on the blood of living creatures. It is a stealthy predator, and if it sneaks up on a victim, it wraps its misty tendrils around the victim and starts draining blood through its skin. A crimson death has a ravenous appetite, so it often leaves its victims completely drained of blood. As the creature feeds, its normally colorless mists flush deep crimson. 31 Due to its vaporous form, a crimson death is usually hard to spot in foggy conditions, and it can slip through the tiniest of cracks. Unlike incorporeal spirits, however, a crimson death cannot pass through solid objects. 36 Although a crimson deaths misty tendrils actually have no strength, the creature can telepathically lift and carry fairly heavy objects. The crimson death often uses this ability to cart off the bodies of its victims. A crimson deaths lair is often marked by a charnel house of exsanguinated corpses, still wearing whatever gear they were carrying when they died. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 21 Some legends claim that crimson deaths are the lingering, tortured spirits of vampires destroyed by flame or sunlight, and whose remains were not then properly laid to rest. 26 Decades ago, the kingdom of Darkon was ravaged by a lethal plague called the Crimson Death, but the name seems to be coincidental. ---

Around the fire, our guide told us of a strange kind of phantom, and he was irritated that we had a hard time believing him. But heres his story. He was a soldier before this arm wound forced him to do something else for a living. He said his regiment once was searching for a lost soldier in light moors, and suddenly they found a thick patch of water weeds that held the corpses of many beings, floating in the weeds. He said may be twenty dead bodies were there. Then they heard a splashing noise in the back on the group: one of their comrades just fell in the water and started yelling in pain. Panic spread to the group as they saw a hideous fog creature holding to the man, its white-red color slowly changing from to blood red, like if the phantom was draining his blood They ran away from the place, leaving their friend, and without fighting it. Ive never heard of an incorporeal bloodsucker before, and never since then, so I wonder if this was a tall tale, but our guide seemed to believe what he was telling us. - An adventurers journal in Darkon. See also Dragon #336

Crocodile Crocodile [Monster Manual - animal]

CR2; GIANT CR 4 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about camels. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This toothy reptile is a crocodile. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 14: A crocodile is an ambush predator that lurks in murky waters. A slap from its tail can be as dangerous as its bite. Although most crocodiles are about 12 feet long, some can grow more than 20 feet from tip to tail. DC 22: When a crocodile bites its prey, it keeps its prey in a vicelike grip and attempts to drown it. A crocodile can hold its breath for minutes at a time.

Crypt cat [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1/3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about crypt cats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This desiccated feline is a crypt cat, an animal ritualistically prepared to serve as a guardian in the afterlife. This result reveals all deathless traits. 17 A crypt cat attacks much like a living cat would, by biting and scratching with its claws. Wounds dealt by a crypt cat tend to fester, preventing them from healing properly. Only heal, remove disease, or similar magic can cure the infection. 22 A crypt cat is nearly skeletal. Because of this, it is immune to cold, and slashing and piercing weapons tend to skitter off its bones. Bludgeoning weapons are fully effective, however. 27 Crypt cats invariably serve a greater master, which is usually a more powerful ancient dead not unlike themselves. --JWM: These creatures are ancient dead (deathless), not undead see Deathless type. The first was Professor deMeran. I found his body in the small hut he used in his staying in Har'Akir. Flies were all over him, feasting in his blood. In his hand, a small golden scarab we found in the tomb, not yet catalogued. His throath was slit by four claws on a small paw. The second was Ifi, our beautiful guide. She wasted slowly, her wounds festering and sore. Every night, a small claw wounding her some more. Tonight I'll be the last. May Ezra guide my soul. The feline scream at my window - claws rasping on th From the last entry of the diary of Doctor McDarmon of Mordentshire, Mordent (naturalized Akiri).

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This fluttering spirit of a lithe humanoid in a flowing cloak is a crypt chanter, noted for the otherworldly songs and music they constantly produce. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 22 Crypt chanters never speak directly to mortals, though they may sometimes communicate through the lyrics of their music. These lyrics are usually in Abyssal. However, a crypt chanters haunting melodies creep their way into the minds of living creatures. Listeners who succumb are first dazed, then enthralled. Eventually, their life energy seeps away entirely. 27 A crypt chanter is slightly resistant to turning. However, natural sunlight renders a crypt chanter utterly powerless, so these spirits always flee from the light of day. 32 Any humanoids slain by a crypt chanters lethal melody rise a few moments later as new crypt chanters enslaved to their creator. --I do not know why Joseph asked me to accompany him in this cemetery at night, because when the chant started, he hit me on the head with his cudgel, and it made me unconscious, you know. The chant was so wonderful, very sad and frightening, but the most strange and beautiful voice at the same time. But then Joseph hit me so I dont know how long it lasted. It was more fascinating than those vistanis songs, really. I came to myself in the early hours of morning, and Joseph was laying on the ground, his face showing a mix of awe and horror. Ive never been back to this place at night. - as told to his friends, by Maurice in Darkon

Crypt chanter [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about crypt chanters. When a character

Crypt warden, dread [Book of Exalted Deeds]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about crypt wardens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This skeletal warrior is a crypt warden, the result of a guard or soldier who voluntarily chose to protect this structure after death. This result reveals all deathless traits. 23 A crypt warden is nearly skeletal. Because of this, slashing and piercing weapons tend to skitter off its bones. Bludgeoning weapons are fully effective, however. A crypt guardian can use holy smite against its foes at will as a spell-like ability. Crypt wardens usually speak the local language and Celestial. 28 Crypt wardens are fearless defenders of their tombs. They can animate objects at will, often turning their tombs dcor against intruders. Crypts wardens are resistant to magic. 33 Crypt wardens rise from their tombs only when the structures they guard have been violated. When the intrusion has been dealt with, their spirits willingly return to the afterlife. --JWM: These creatures are ancient dead (deathless), not undead see Deathless type Ghastria Smith: Well, I was in a tomb in the southern Core... Mme Maisonbleu: Where, exactly? Ghastria Smith: I cannot tell you. I swore I wouldn't. Mme Maisonbleu: Continue, please. Ghastria Smith: After rooms of traps and empty corridors, I entered the inner chamber, or to be more precise its anti-chamber, to find a guardian. It was a skeleton dressed in a wonderfully built gold armor, the like of those you see in ancient scrolls. It wielded a magnificent greatsword made of platinum. Mme Maisonbleu: What did it do? Ghastria Smith: Nothing. It looked at me with its empty socket and politely bowed. Then it spoke:

"This tomb is sacred -it said- and it is my duty and pleasure to be its guardian. If you are a decent man, then you will not advance toward me. Should my perceptions be deceived, then you will come toward me, and I will be forced to slay you. Do not force me to stain my sword with the blood it never spilled in life" Mme Maisonbleu: What did you do? I can't wait for the tale of the battle! Ghastria Smith: My lady, there was no battle! We bowed and I retreated. I promised him to never reveal the location of the tomb, and I even hid better its entrance. Mme Maisonbleu: Why did you do such a thing? Ghastria Smith: Surely the skeleton was not an adversary to be understimated... And I picture myself as decent man, you know? From the article Interview with a crypt raider by M.me Christine Maisonbleu, published on the Minute of Port-au-Lucine.

D
Darkenbeast [Monsters of Faern]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about darkenbeasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This batwinged creature is a darkenbeast, a magical creation. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 19 Spellcasters create darkenbeasts from ordinary animals. Darkenbeasts then serve their master as messengers or guardians. Darkenbeasts are immune to mind-influencing effects. 24 Darkenbeasts tend to fight heedlessly, starting combat by plunging from the air in a charge. A spellcaster can imprint a single spell into each darkenbeast he or she creates. The spellcaster can later trigger this spell as a spell-like abilitiy. The magical energy consumes the darkenbeast. 29 Darkenbeasts shy away from bright light, hampering their attacks. If a darkenbeast is

exposed to bright light for an extended period, there is an increasing chance that the darkenbeast will permanently revert to the normal animal from which it was created. A sunbeam spell automatically reverts a darkenbeast to normal. --"...no mistaking it, Old Silas was as cruel a man as any in these parts: vicious to his wife, brutal to his boys and scornful to his daughters. Worst of all, by far, to his beasts, from his broken-down carthorse to those miserable sacks of bones and feathers in the henhouse. He starved his cattle, kicked his sheep into moving if they wouldn't heed his raggedy old dog; he cut the throats of piglets without even hiding them from the sow's sight, and what kind of a gods-fearing man does that, I ask you? If ever a farmer deserved his own livestock's hatred, Old Silas was that man. "Thinking back, now, I can't help but wonder if that foul fiend of a Hazlani knew Silas was such a man, when he choose whose farm to work his deviltries upon. Because those things he'd warped and twisted those dumb, pitiable beasts into -- the things that tore Old Silas to pieces, first of all their prey -- seemed like that very hatred he'd kindled in them, made flesh: vile hatred for him, and for all men, and boasting all the claws and spines and teeth and terror them poor beasts must've wished they'd had, to turn against such a cruel, uncaring master...." -- Malcolm Byrne, witness to the Hillsdarrow Farm massacre

To find a new sun. 'Sandro, o 'Sandro, You'll never find pardon, 'Sandro, o Sandro, You must leave the vardos. Then I'll be a darkling, A man of the night; I'll love death and dark And flee from the light. Traditional Vistani children's rhyme

Deadborn Deadborn Vulture [MM5] MM5]

CR 8 magical beast that come back to life as a zombie after its death

Deamon Deamon see Demon Deathweb Deathweb [Pathfinder 4] 4]

CR 6 Sort of gargantuan undead spider

Death dog [Fiend Folio]

JWM: In the domain of HarAkir, scores of death dog packs prowl the Valley of Kings, home to many ancient tombs, including that of Pharaoh Anhktepot. They seldom stray far, taking shelter in the innumerable cracks and hollows lining the valley walls and rushing forward in waves to attack anything that intrudes on their territory. No one knows what sustains these beasts in such barren terrain. On the Night of Thoth, an irregular, astrologically determined event when Anhktepots tomb mystically opens, the death dogs retreat to their lairs. So long as the pharaohs tomb stands open, the death dogs remain in their dens, peering down at explorers with flinty eyes and attacking only if approached. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), or bardic knowledge can learn more about death dogs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. A character who recognizes a death dogs

Darque (DT&DL) Darkling [Champions of Darkness]

(TEMPLATE) Sandro, 'Sandro, What hast thou done? 'Sandro, 'Sandro, Where hast thou gone? Opened a grave, A life for to save, Walked into darkness

nature can make a Knowledge (local) check to learn more. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) DC Result 12 This mangy, two-headed canine is a death dog. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 17 Death dogs are cunning hunters that knock their prey to the ground before tearing them apart. 22 A death dogs two sets of jaws carry a deadly disease. Early symptoms include jaundiced skin and swollen eyes and throat. Knowledge (local) DC Result 15 Scores of death dogs roam the Valley of Kings in HarAkir, acting as feral guardians to the tombs of those ancient rulers. 20 The death dogs retreat to their dens on the Night of Thoth, for once allowing intruders to pass by unaccosted. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 12 According to legend, death dogs are descended from Cerberus, the mythical three-headed hound that guards the gates of the underworld. --We were spending a few days in HarAkir to meet scholars there, actually looking to identify the symbols found by our uncle on Ivanas Death Stone long ago. But we also had read about Anhktepots tomb in his notes, and were eager to explore it, and at least locate it on a map. Because this place was said to be a den of evil according to our uncle. Alas, nobody in the small hamlet of Mubar wanted to show us the way, less escort us there. Dogs, they said, large dogs in the desert near the crypt. But not ordinary wild dogs, they said. They told us of two-headed dogs and we wondered for a while if they were not pulling our leg. Later, Allam, one of the scholars we were to meet, confirmed the existence of these two-headed dogs strangely confining themselves to the crypt surrounding area.

Unprepared to fight magical beasts this time, we didnt go near the crypt From Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove journals

Deaths Deaths horsemen [new, JWM] JWM]

Death Undaunted Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (local) can learn more about Deaths Horsemen. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This monstrous rider is one of Deaths Horsemen. Although it appears undead a creature composed of animate negative energy manifested in physical form. This result reveals all elemental traits and the evil subtype. 27 Three Horsemen serve Death; they are known by many names, including Famine, Pestilence, and War. Their minds are linked, so whatever one knows, they all know. 32 A Horsemen is surrounded by the forces of entropy. Its touch even its mere presence spreads the affliction for which it is named. 37 Deaths Horsemen can create steeds for themselves merely by touching a normal horse. This slays the horse and created a monstrous steed that acts as an extension of the Horseman itself. 42 Each Horsemen is repelled by the tokens symbolizing its conceptual antithesis. This result reveals the details of the Horsemans antithetical token. --A sudden chorus of terror erupted ahead of me in the marketplace. Mad panic flashed through the crowd. People trampled each other to flee and rushed the outer stalls, savagely tearing food out of each others clutches and desperately stuffing it down their own throats. Nearer at hand, I watched a row of smoked ducks blacken and shrivel before my very eyes. As the crowd thinned, I saw the source of everyones terror. An emaciated corpse sat slumped in the saddle of an equally wasted horse. The horror snatched up a halfling child,

dragging him kicking and screaming onto the saddle. Just like the smoked meat, I watched the flesh shrivel from the childs bones! The monster defiantly addressed the panicked crowd. We seek a fiery eye, it said. Its voice was horrible. Give it to us, and the suffering of this innocent will end. Witness account, Rivalis, August 755 BC War: Reports came rushing in of a riot spreading through the South District, though no one could offer any guess as to what had sparked such unrest. I immediately dispatched every available constable to the scene, leading them myself. We soon reached a miserable scene a street filled with men, women, and children all viciously hacking and bashing at each other with whatever weapons they could grab. I ordered my men in to end the violence, only to watch my own constables turn savage! They attacked everyone around them as mindlessly as the rioters themselves. I rushed ahead in horror, screaming at my men to stop but so help me, I felt the bloodlust come over me as well. Before I could act, however, someone struck the back of my head and I fell to the cobbles, dazed. That was when I saw it. A terrible warrior, completely hidden beneath mauled black plate, rode past me on a mauled warhorse. It strode through the melee, the mindless killers parting for it. It struck me as a general inspecting its troops. But whatever that thing was, it was no living knight. Its voice alone made that quite clear. We know the fiery eye is near, it bellowed. Know that we seek it! Know that we are! Know to fear us! Chief Constable Liam Osguls report, Martira Bay, August 755 BC

Death engine [Die Vecna Die]

JWM: One of Vecna's most horrific necromantic war engines. PCs encounter a partially destroyed version of one in Vecna Reborn. Yes, I still have nightmares about these war horrors. I wake up screaming and looking at my guts to see if its rotting. I was a mercenary in a battle in Tovag when I saw these atrocious things in action. There is no word strong enough to say how disgusted we were in front of this, and how terrifying this machine made out of dead flesh was. Let me try to explain Imagine endless rows of corpses heads on the thing, each screaming its own evil mantras, or howling in pain. We could hear this terrifying noise a long time before actually seeing the thing. The sound of the damned, this really was. Imagine many arms fused all over it, from humans, animals and other things, trying to grab and tear to pieces whatever passes near it, and also making it move forward. Imagine a detestable aura of bleak corruption around its base, visibly warping the very land under it and altering it to miasma and bubbling rot. I know many people caught deadly diseases in its path, and these people rotted within minutes, screaming in pain. Now imagine this machine, wandering loose on a battlefield, without control, spreading death, diseases and corruption in an insane random pattern, even within its own side. Many warriors in my unit ran from terror when they saw it. And yes, this thing can only come from an amazingly evil mind. - a mercenary tale

This monster is presented by JWM in the netbook: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library/New RavenloftMonsters_JWM.zip

Death knight [Monster Manual II, Dragon 2 90] 90]

Knowledge of the Death Knight

The following table shows the results of a Religion check as it relates to death knights. Religion Result DC Death knights are skeletal warriors who retain the intelligence and combat skills 15 they had in life. They often lead other undead soldiers in a war against the living. Death knights are warriors who chose to become undead. Often they have a specific goal or vendetta that provoked 20 their transformations, but some simply fear the afterlife so much that they instead choose an eternal living death. A death knight carries its soul in its weapon. This weapon has the power to become ghostly and pierce armor as if it was not there. If you take a death knights weapon, you weaken the knight. 25 A death knight can also surround itself in a burst of unholy fire that burns the living and wreathes undead in dangerous green and black flames. A death knights soul weapon weakens anyone else who wields it as long as the death knight has not been destroyed. If you break a death knights weapon, the 30 knight can restore it with a touch. Death knights bolster nearby undead allies, so its best to separate the knight from its minions. See also Dragon #336

DC Result 27 This hulking, waxy grey humanoid is a deathbringer, a powerful undead warrior. Necromancers often create these creatures to lead their undead armies. This result reveals all undead traits. Deathbringers can usually hiss Common and either Abyssal or Infernal through their sewn-shut lips. 32 Deathbringers are unsubtle killers, using brute strength to plow through foes. A notorious deathbringer tactic is to trip their foes and then trample them. 37 A deathbringer can release a silent buirst of negative energy up to more than 30 paces away. Deathbringers use these bursts both to harm the living and to heal themselves and their undead allies. Once a deathbringer releases a burst, it must wait a few moments before it can do so again. 42 A deathbringer can produce a greater dispelling effect at will. --Yes, those war machines made of corpses in Cavitius were terrible. But that wasnt all. They had one of their generals, or whatever title it had as a commanding officer, a tall, large brute with a large spiked war flail in each hand. This general didnt stay back to command its troops from a safe distance: it stood first line and was also a terrible warrior. One of our best cavalier tried to take it down, but the brute made the horse trip on the ground, and then it endlessly flailed horse and man on the ground until they were unrecognizable from each other. Then it laughed maniacally and some of the human warriors around it fell on the ground or had nasty bloody wounds appearing on them, while the undead were healed by the same supernatural effect! It was later sent to a magical pit in the ground by a magic user on our side. But it wasnt destroyed, Im quite sure of it.

Deathbringer [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Vecna is known to have created several of these horrors to serve as officers in the armies of Cavitius, and a few may have survived the destruction of the Burning Peaks. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about deathbringers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

- a mercenary tale

Deathlock [Libris Mortis]

JWM: In Ravenloft, some occult scholars theorize that deathlocks may represent the aftereffects of failed attempts to attain lichdom. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about deathlocks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This cadaverous corpses eyes crackle with magical energy. This is a deathlock, the remains of a spellcaster so charged with arcane power that it cannot rest in peace. This result reveals all undead traits. Deathlocks speak Abyssal, Infernal, and Common. 18 Some sages believe deathlocks are the result of failed attempts to become liches. Unlike liches, they have lost all but paltry fragments of their memories and arcane prowess. However, deathlocks can use detect magic, inflict minor wounds, and read magic at will as spell-like abilities. 23 Deathlocks can also use cause fear, death knell, ghoul glyph, magic missile, and summon monster I as spell-like abilities several times a day. They prefer to rely on these abilities, attacking from a distance. Deathlocks are resistant to turning. -- red with blood, Ah! Ah! The petty necromancer also wrote me from his island about another strange unwanted effect when one worthy wizard is trying to become a lich. Sometimes, the wizard fails to attain this higher state of mind, but instead of being destroyed, it becomes something N. calls a deathlock. He describes it as a spell casting corpse of minor abilities, but who has lost its once keen mind and wishes the destruction of all things instead of the continuation of its arcane researches. It will even destroy its whole library research facilities and all it has built in its wizard life.

Becoming insane, another pathetic peril those jailers have found to block us from our shining destiny. Ah! But this warning happens to late for me, for you see already On a torn paper found in Il-Aluk

Deaths head tree [Denizens of Dread, Dread, Dragon # 339] 339]

CR9 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about deaths head tree. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This macabre willow tree is a deaths head tree, a monstrous plant that germinated in blood-soaked soil. This result reveals all plant traits. 24 The severed heads dangling from the branches are actually the trees fruit. Their teeth are actually sharp seeds that lodge in victims flesh. Due to its constant exposure to death, a deaths head tree is resistant to necromantic effects. 29 Deaths head fruit can also spit their seeds and even detach from the tree. They float on the breeze, having grown buoyant as they bloat with the gasses of decay. Deaths head trees ignore creatures that give off no heat. 34 A deaths head tree often signals the presence of an ancient site of battle. The tree has no use for treasure, so its half-buried victims often still bear whatever treasures they had when they died. --So my pretty little Elf thing yea would look upon the face of your long lost father, kiss his cheek once more, let him whisper little nonsenses in your ear? Tis a far sweeter thing than to have yea for tea. We be off then to the Willows Grove. -The Three Hags of Tepest

Deathless type [see Book of Exalted Exalted Deeds] Deeds] Deathshrieker [Monster Manual III]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about deathshriekers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This horrible, screaming apparition is called a deathshrieker. These skeletal spirits form at the sites of bloody battlefields, charnel houses, or similar locales of mass death. They are the embodiment of countless victims cries of agony and woe as they met violent ends. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 30 Deathshriekers typically plunge themselves into the thick of battle, trying to affect as many foes as possible with their dreadful abilities. The mere sight of a deathshrieker can paralyze witnesses with fear. Its touch drains victims vivacity and their will to live. Although deathshriekers have little interest in communicating with the living, they do usually speak one or two common local languages. 35 Once a day, a deathshrieker can release a soulnumbing wail of pure agony and despair. This unearthly howl persists for several moments, drowning out all normal conversation. In addition, nearby creatures may be deafened, stunned, and even driven insane by the sheer misery of the wailing. 40 A deathshrieker cannot abide complete silence, even to the point of suffering damage whenever magically silenced. When a deathshrieker is destroyed, it dissipates into one last, truly spiritwrenching scream powerful enough to sap the life force of every creature within 100 paces that hears its death rattle. ---

It is widely known, throughout Darkon, that truly gruesome deaths, especially those that happen on battlefields and in poor houses, or those that happen regularly in the streets of Paridon, generate undead. I dismiss all of this as rubbish! Undead are only born of the foulest necromancy. There are, of course, exceptions. For example, a year after I came back to my native Darkon from my travel in Dementlieu and Markovia, I witnessed a creature called Eiulatus in Darkonese. This creature, an horrible undead whose semblance was that of a ghostly skeleton, was roaming the place of a battle of the first Falkovnian invasion. The ghost was screaming like he was being torn apart by some unseen force. I must admit that, in spite of all of my noteworthy willpower, even I was moved to fear! From All that is true about this world a pamphlet by the Toret Warlock Claude Seymar of Martira Bay.

Deathtouched [Dragon # 313] 313] Deep Deep hound [Races of Stone]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about deep hounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This stocky grey dog is a deep hound. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 19 Deep hounds are usually domesticated by dwarves for use as guardians and companions. They are more easily trained than most magical beasts. 24 A deep hound is acclimated to life underground. Its eyes are sensitive to bright lights, which leave it dazzled. --The dwarves we met in those caverns for trade were not very friendly, and didnt offer us any of their famous ale, but at least they were honest. When we set the terms of the trade after long discussions, a monstrously large hound effortlessly

dragged the metal chunks outside, where we took property of it. You should have seen it, this hound was bigger then a bull! - a merchant tale in Darkon

DC 20: This shapeless mass of oozing corruption is an alkilith, a vile demon despised even by most other denizens of the Abyss. This result reveals all outsider traits and the tanarri subtype. DC 25: Despite their oozelike appearance, alkiliths are highly intelligent and surprisingly quick. An alkilith attacks foes by lashing them with its acidic pseudopods. Unlike most tanarri, alkiliths are completely immune to acid, and they are immune to sleep, paralysis, stunning, and polymorphing. An alkiliths oozing body simply ignores most attacks, but good-aligned or cold iron weapons can pierce its defenses. Even then, only bludgeoning weapons can produce maximum effect. DC 30: At will, an alkilith can dissipate itself into a noxious cloud of vapor as toxic as a cloudkill spell. An alkilith is highly resistant to magic and is immune to the effects of toxic gases. Alkiliths can command nearby oozes, directing them like puppets. DC 35: An alkilith can attempt to summon a hezrou in battle, but it usually prefers to rely on its spell-like abilities: cone of cold, contagion, desecrate, detect magic, dispel magic, enervation, hold monster, magic circle against good, stinking cloud, unholy blight, and wall of ice. If a battle turns against the alkilith, it can use greater teleport to escape. --Warden Defors: ...the trail led through the village which has been mentioned previously... Inquisitor Despain: Aix-la-Forte. WD: Yes. On entering the village we saw that the plague-fiend had been there before us. Every person, Ezra being witness to it, bore the mark of the beast, and I gave the order that it be cleansed before we moved on. ID: You say, cleansed. You mean you burned every man, woman and child to death, is that not correct, Warden? WD: Yes, that is correct, Inquisitor. ID: No other solution was possible? Not with twelve men strong in the Faith at your back? WD: I think that the sequel to these events--I refer to what happened in Neufectenburg--showed my actions to be necessary and proper, Inquisitor.

Demodand, shator [Fiend Folio]

Demodand. Shator: Drigor, author of the Madrigorian. "My kind are held in a honeyed trap here in these Mists. We are tempted to gain a power by tying ourselves to the land, a power that would elevate us in stature compared to the other Infernal creatures. Demons and Devils would have to pay us the respect we are due. But the irony is that our abilities would tie us to the land. I feel that staying untethered is my safest route. Though the ability to hide my magnificent form, the rolls of supple flesh, the large, eloquent mouth and the delicate wings of my being, would help me avoid being a target for all would-be dogooders in this accursed land." -Extract from the Mandragorian.

Demon (fiends)
JWM: Fiends in General: Most of the fiends listed here are represented in Ravenloft by a single known individual. Feel free to incorporate these villains. See also RL CS

Demon, alkilith [Fiend Folio]

Demon, Alkilith: Marasmos from Children of the Night: Demons. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about alkiliths. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Court transcript of the trial of Warden Esmond Defors before the Ezran Inquisition

Demon, babau [Monster Manual]

CR6 Demon, Babau: The Whistling Fiend, who wiped out Creeana. There's things in this world beyond our ken, son. I was near Creena when the thing came. All black skin and bones, covered in red stuff. A big horn stuck out back of its head and it carried a wicked pike. Things where bad enough, sure as eggs is eggs. Then it started whistling. Not afeared to say that that day, I turned and ran as fast as I could. Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer

up Ebonbane now for 3E, I'd retroactively make him an extremely powerful version of the demonic "type" introduced in the first Book of Fiends book (or whatever the title was) was WotC put out a few years back -- the demons, not tanar'ri, that are naturally formless but possess mortals. Don't remember the name and I don't have access to my books for now. High Priest Mikhal Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 The book is the Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss and the type is the loumara. Ebonbane as loumara...so essentially he's not a being of physical matter but is more like energy? Strangely that makes a lot of sense. How else could he be bound inside a magic sword? Not his soul but his entire being.

Daemon, Leukodaemon [Pathfinder Pathfinder 8] 8]

Sort of demon with disease

Demon, dretch dretch [Monster Manual]

CR 2 To my astonishment and disgust, the thing began to weep great black tears. "I too am a servant of the Most Low Lords," it sniveled, "and you should not despise me, dirt-thing. Avant, Gallipat!" Suddenly a second demon, equally vulgar and hideous, stood by the first. Having no desire to prolong this extremely unfortunate interview, I invoked Galliter's white inferno and disposed of my disappointing visitors, burning the small ivory idols they had brought with them as well. From the laboratory notebooks of the lich known as Phantom's Bane

Demon, mane [Book [Book of Vile Darkness] Darkness]

JWM: Formed directly from the souls of chaotic evil creatures sent to the Abyss for eternity, manes are the lowest form of the demons, even lower than the dretches. They have no magical abilities at all and are almost mindless. They act more like wild beasts than anything else. Manes are 3-foot-tall humanoids with pale, bloated flesh riddled with maggots. Their white eyes show no signs of sentience, but their claws and jagged teeth betray their feral nature. "This place has its pleasures, but there is nothing here to compare to the great battlefields of Hell! Ah, there was delight! To have even a mane to slaughter would recall me to old times, at least. Have you seen a mane, Captain? Well, you missed nothing by the lack. They are puling miserable things, less even than a human, which they much resemble, though they are less clever; the worst of their wretched race. We mowed down a thousand in two minutes at the Carceri Flats and were bathed in their ichor as if it were a spring dew! Though, to be sure, they are not toothsome--the maggots, you know." From The Beast of Ehrendton

Demon, Demon, Ebonbane [Bane of the Shadowborn] Shadowborn]

Mangrum Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 Ebonbane is a unique entity who the Mists can't contain in its true form, not so much due to raw power as its metaphysical makeup. Were I to stat

Demon, marilith [Monster Manual]

CR 17 Demon, Marilith: Baltoi, trapped under the Sleeping Beast. I see myself standing. I'm issuing orders. I'm bathing in blood. Thunderclap. I stir. Then I bask again in my dreams. I have a strange creature before me. It is like a horrible gargoyle with reptilian skin of a tainted red. It is whriting in pain. Two of my arms are teasing him with silvered pokers. The other four are carefully tearing his limbs. He is screaming. I have no question to make. I live only for his pain. Thunderclap. I stir. I see a great army, spanning at least two countries. It is ready for a bloody fight. A bloody war. A shout, they charge. Thunderclap. ... I almost opened my eyes. I could see a dark hall, where my body is confined. Then I fell asleep again. What is real? What is not? I'll never know. I'll just wait some more thunderclaps... --Demon Marilith (take 2, more gore than horror) "Again questioning of any of the four survivors of the massacre brought no results. It's been 16 days now since the remains of the merchant train were discovered by the patrol. Still, the four survivor's mad ramblings make no sense at all, even after they were administered by a local priest named Benalion that claims he can call the power of the Gods. He was indeed able to miracusly heal many of their wounds so Benalion must be saying the truth. However he said there was nothing he could do about their minds. We need to find who did that massacre. The lycanthropes? Perhaps. However the wounds on many of the bodies were made by cutting instruments although others seemed to be crushed as if a huge constrictor crushed them. Yet it

seemed some caution was taken for many of the victims to not die of their wounds. I shudder to think of the state we found many of the victims; their suffering seems to have been prolonged for hours after their arms and legs were cut off. What twisted mind could have brought so much suffering to living beings and leave the valuables lying around? We can always put the blame on a vistani curse to dissuade the local people; Invidians seem ready to blame everything on the vistani. However, I'm not sure the boy lord would be so easily convinced. Perhaps the walking dead? They harbor a hate for the living. But why would they let anyone alive after all? All the four could do, those that still had their tongues, was to mourn pitifully. Their resemblance to some of the tortured that were still indentifiable was evident. But would the living dead recognise parent and child or siblings through physical resemblance? Would they care? One word the survivors keep repeating when they can be made to talk: "Marilith" among mad ramblings about a multiple swords slashing, a huge snake-woman and other, more unerving things they witnessed that creature doing, some of which still turn my stomach. It seems that all of them agree it was a single, huge creature. I can discard their rumblings about multiple hands as born out of their fear, but from my experience when dealing with panicked, griefstriken, mentally unsettled peasants, they increase the number of assailants, don't decrease it; "an army" is usually less than 10. Marilith... I've never in my adventures, travels and investigations heard of anything like that. A big snake woman with supernatural abilities and inhuman strength. How could all of them remember and even repeat that name? Did the creature forced them to memorize it? If so, why?" - A page of the journal of late investigator and adventurer Bornic Hald, found pinned on his savaged body, near the broken holy symbol of Ezra, belonging to the missing cleric Benalion.

Demon, nalfeshnee [Monster Manual]

CR14 Demon, Nalfeshnee: Malistroi, leader of the Army of Darkness and creator of demonwracked creatures. "It was the night after my return to Zhukar that the thing unleased by Madar's insane plots reached the city. I saw it land atop the Temple, confronting Petrovna there. By the eerie gray glow of the High Altar, I could make out the details--the feathered black wings, the ape-like arms and chest, the toothy boar's head--that told me that, while increased in size and power, this was the same creature that we had believed to be the Provider." --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov

Demon, shadow demon [Denizens [Denizens of Darkness, Darkness, BoVD] BoVD]

Errata: The middle of the first paragraph should read, "They require no sustenance, existing only to spread evil, fear and destruction wherever they go. Fortunately, however, they have lost their reality wrinkles over time" --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow demons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 18: This jagged, monstrous black silhouette is a shadow demon, a denizen of the Abyss that trades in souls. This result reveals all outsider traits and the incorporeal subtype. Shadow demons communicate telepathically. DC 23: Although shadow demons are incorporeal, their deadly claws flow with vile energy and become corporeal whenever they touch flesh, allowing these fiends to slice flesh and grapple foes. Opponents who try to pin the fiend in return find their limbs passing right through the demon, however. Shadow demons often attack by pouncing on their victims, then raking with their hind claws. DC 28: A shadow demon draws physical power from surrounding darkness. Conversely, exposure to bright lights drains their power, usually causing them to flee. Although shadow demons are not undead, they share many advantages of those accursed spirits. This result reveals a shadow demons immunities. DC 33: A shadow demon enjoys an array of spelllike abilities. It can create darkness at will. Once per day, it can create deeper darkness and damning darkness. Once a week, it can use a magic jar to make off with a mortals soul. --He turned at the top of the staircase, and stopped. There in the great mirror he saw it--a shadow perched upon his shoulder, which seemed to whisper in his ear and caress his face with its long,

Demon, quasit [Monster Manual]

CR2 Then there came a hideous little man, a man with wings; his skin was green and covered in boils, and he had long clever fingers and long sharp teeth. He drank up the bowl of milk, and then he broke it--clack!--on the stone floor. Then Jolenta knew her present had been accepted. "Little man, little man," she called. "Teach me how to get gold and jewels and a fine young husband, and you shall sleep on my pillow and eat from my plate, and I'll give you a lock of my long gold hair." The little man turned to her and smiled and said, "Jolenta, my dear, you're a wise girl and you know how to entice a fellow; but you must give me one thing more, and that's your first-born child." "Done!" said Jolenta, and the little man laughed and laughed, and leapt to her shoulder and whispered his first secret to her. The Red Witch, traditional Tepestani

delicate hands. As he stood paralyzed in horror, the thing turned its face to the mirror and smiled at him; and then it drew his own shadow around it like a cloak and disappeared. The Man Who Sold His Shadow, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Demon, succubus [Monster Manual]

CR7 Demon, Succubus: Elsepeth, the soul collector. "With her flesh Zhanna tempted me, but being sworn to Ezra, I was unmoved. With riches she tempted me, but Ezra provides all I need, so I swayed not. With the successes of others she tempted me, but as only Ezra may decide a man's station in life, I did not quaver. With mockery she derided my silent stillness as indolence, but busy in prayer I faltered not. With invective she sought to raise my ire, but as Ezra is my center of calm, I did not lash out in reply. And, desperate to reach me in some way, she lauded my virtue and praised me as the greatest of all of Ezra's faithful, but in Ezra's service I had shed my prideful ways and remained still in my circle of protection. "The life seemed then to flee her as she dropped her seeming and fell to her knees. Her wings, hidden since our first encounter, drooped even as her shoulders did, and she threw up a pitieous cry to the heavens. Weeping freely, she recanted her very existence, swearing to undo all of her momentous evil if Ezra would but take her into Her arms. As her breast heaved in sobbing and she made to tear her clothes, I felt such great pity for so lowly a creature. I stepped forward and caught her hands, offering Ezra's forgiveness and succor. As she smiled, sweet but sad, and drew me into her embrace, I chanced to look back at the circle, only then realizing I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book." --- From The Nature of Evil: Demonic Entities in Our Land Today -------------

(This is quite loosely based on the scene from Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" where Jack Frost encounters the King Of All Tears, which starts on page 159 of the trade paperback "Entropy In The UK", with temptations of the seven deadly sins in the place of KOAT's illusions. Originally done to fit Drigor, but modified as John Mangrum rightfully pointed out that it didn't quite fit; I didn't realize that 3rd Ed shator were different from 2nd Ed shator. I chose not to use Elsepeth as the succubi as I didn't want to get into how the writer would be able to escape one of Elspeth's dolls...)

Demonwracked creature [Circle of Darkness]

JWM: In the Abyss, nalfeshnees are the lords of woe. They judge the spirits brought before them and feed on the hatred and despair. Through arcane rituals and the power of the Abyss, they transform the husks of the damned into lesser fiends to fuel the Blood Wars. In the Demiplane of Dread, nalfeshnees ties to the Abyss are severed; they cannot summon demonic aid to their side, nor can they complete the proper rituals to transform the damned. However, should a nalfeshnee come into possession of a talisman of great power and evil, such as a cursed major artifact, it can tap into that power to warp the flesh of its victims, partially transforming them into demonlike wretches. These demonwracked creatures do not possess all of the powers of true fiends, but they are able to replicate most of their models extraordinary abilities. Combat: To create a demonwracked creature, a nalfeshnee must seize a living humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant, requiring a successful grapple check. Once the victim is in its clutches, the nalfeshnee expends one of its summon attempts for the day to pour wrenching, evil energies through the mortals flesh. The victim must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be transformed in both body and soul. The save DC is Charisma-based. If the subject has a lawful alignment, she gains a +1 circumstance bonus on her saving throw; if she is good, she gains a +2 circumstance bonus. If the subject is chaotic, she suffers a 1 circumstance penalty, and a 2 penalty if she is evil. If the subject is Innocent, she

gains an additional +2 sacred bonus to her save. These modifiers all stack with each other (thus, a lawful good Innocent gains a total +5 bonus to resist the transformation). Once transformed, the subjects type permanently changes to monstrous humanoid. To be transformed into a given type of demonwracked creature, a victim must have at least as many Hit Dice as the type of demon it is modeled after. Demonwracked creatures retain none of their former abilities and only dim fragments of their former identities. Only a wish or miracle can restore the victim. Demonwracked creatures fearfully serve the demon that created them until destroyed. Although no records exist of it yet occurring, other types of fiends (such as powerful devils or yugoloths) may also be able to create equivalent (devilwracked) creatures using the same techniques. Demonwracked Traits: Most demonwracked creatures possess the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creatures entry). Damage reduction 5/cold iron or good. Immune to poison. Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, and fire 5. Although demonwracked creatures seldom speak, they still understand the languages they knew before their transformation. Just haul out a copy of Circle of Darkness for more.

reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the evil subtype. 21 An apeman is a mortal permanently transformed into the image of a lesser demon called a bar-lgura. This result reveals all demonwracked traits. 26 An apeman is physically powerful and nimble. It pounces on foes and rips at them with its claws and teeth. 31 An apeman can change the coloration of its skin at will, like a chameleon, making it easy to hide. --"As I tried to find shelter in Zhukar, I noticed a hideous shape leap over the city wall. It landed only a few dozen feet from me, leaning on its mighty forearms. I only caught a glimpse of its dagger-like claws and fangs before it shambled off on some errand--undoubtedly in the service of either Petrovna or the demon-thing I fled." --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov J W Mangrum : Apeman (Demonwracked Bar-Lgura) Usually CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Evil) Initiative: +4 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 20 ft. Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +2, Spot +2 Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+10 Attack: Claw +10 melee (1d6+4) Full Attack: 2 claws +10 melee (1d6+4) and bite +5 melee (1d6+2) Special Attacks: Pounce Hit Dice: 6d8+18 Hit Points: 45 hp) Armor Class: 22 (+4 Dex, +8 natural) touch 14, flat-footed 18 Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron or good Immune: Poison Resist: Acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, fire 5 Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +7 Defense Options: Dodge, Mobility Abilities: Str 18, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 12

Demonwracked creature, apeman [Circle of Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about apemen. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This orangutan-like creature is an apeman, a variety of demonwracked creature. This result

Skills: Balance +7, Climb +7, Hide +13, Jump +23, Move Silently +6, Sense Motive +2, Tumble +9 Languages: See text Outcast Rating: 9 (+1 size, +3 appearance, +3 reputation, +1 beyond the pale, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Dodge, Mobility Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (311) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Usually chaotic evil Advancement: 712 HD (Medium); 1318 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: Apemen are the demonwracked equivalent of bar-lguras (also known as leaping demons). They resemble lumbering, fiendish orangutans. Demons typically create apemen to serve as scouts and skirmishers. When apemen are created in groups, they prefer to operate together in small packs. Unlike true bar-lguras, apemen are not particularly cunning opponents, preferring to simply launch themselves at opponents and tear them limb from limb. Standing 5 to 6 feet tall and weighing about 300 pounds, an apeman is covered in reddish-brown hair, but it can change color. Its face is apelike, with gray skin and wicked fangs. Its barrel-chested body and thick limbs are powerful, with the latter ending in cruel talons. Apemen usually walk on all fours, but they are capable of walking upright with a shambling gate. Unlike true bar-lguras, apemen never wield weapons or don armor. Combat Apemen enjoy setting ambushes and attacking foes with surprise. They leap into combat and throttle opponents with their powerful limbs. If they outnumber their foes, some apemen grapple and hold the enemy while the others tear at them with powerful claws. Pounce (Ex): If an apeman charges, it can make a full attack even though it has moved.

Skills: An apeman can change the color of its skin at will, allowing it to blend with its surroundings like a chameleon and conferring a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks. An apeman receives a +10 racial bonus on Jump checks. An apemans jumping distance is not limited by its height.

Demonwracked creature, bloated [Circle of Darkness] Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about bloated. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This squat, distended humanoid is a bloated, a kind of demonwracked creature. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the evil subtype. 17 A bloated is a mortal permanently transformed into the image of a lesser demon called a dretch. This result reveals all demonwracked traits. 22 Once per day, a bloated can belch forth a noxious cloud of vapor that acts as a stinking cloud. --"'They came upon the village just a few days after you left us,' Tvoshe told me. 'There were a dozen of them, things out of the Dark Wastes. Four of them were blasphemously overweight, bloated things that wobbled towards us. The stench of rotted food was overwhelming . . . '" --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov J W Mangrum: Bloated (Demonwracked Dretch) Usually CE Small Monstrous Humanoid (Evil) Initiative: +0 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +1, Spot +1 Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +2/1 Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d6+1)

 Stone +2 ranged (1d4+1) Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d6+1) and bite +2 melee (1d3) Special Attacks: Foul belch Hit Dice: 2d8+4 Hit Points: 13 Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +5 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 16 Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron or good Immune: Poison Resist: Acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, fire 5 Saves: Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +3 Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 11 Skills: Hide +5, Move Silently +2, Sense Motive +0 Languages: See text Outcast Rating: 8 (+3 appearance, +3 reputation, +1 beyond the pale, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Multiattack Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary, pair, gang (35), crowd (6 15), or mob (1040) Challenge Rating: 1 Treasure: None Advancement: 36 HD (Small) Level Adjustment: The bloated are bulbous wretches warped to resemble dretches. They are short, squat, and rubbery, with swollen torsos and gangly limbs. Their slack, slobbering mouths are lined with small fangs. A bloated stands 4 feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds. Combat The bloated are petty and vicious creatures that often work together to overpower larger foes. They usually initiate combat by pelting their foes with stones from a distance. If forced into melee, a bloated typically emits a foul belch to weaken the opposition before attacking with its claws and bite. Foul Belch (Ex): Once per day, as a standard action, a bloated can belch forth a noxious cloud of vapor with the effects of a stinking cloud (caster level 2nd, Fortitude DC 13), centered on itself. The save DC is Constitution based. Bloated

are immune to their own stinking clouds and those of their kind.

Demonwracked creature, impling [Circle of Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about implings. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This stunted, bloated humanoid is an impling, a kind of demonwracked creature. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the evil subtype. 16 An impling is a mortal permanently transformed into the image of a lesser demon called a mane. This result reveals all demonwracked traits. 21 An impling is a nearly mindless creature that attack foes with no regard for their own safety. When an impling dies, it dissolves into a cloud of acidic vapor. --"'The other eight were less of an offense to the Devourer--indeed, they looked like those who had begun the holy path of sacrifice, with swollen stomaches and wasted limbs, but then turned to evil before they had been welcomed into Zhakata's embrace. They tore at us with wicked claws, and when Vorik stabbed one of them with his pitchfork, it burst into a cloud that ate through both the tool and him!' Tvoshe shuddered at the memory." --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov J W Mangrum: Impling (Demonwracked Mane) Usually CE Small Monstrous Humanoid (Evil) Initiative: +0 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen 4, Spot 4 Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +1/3

Attack: Claw +2 melee (1d3) Full Attack: 2 claws +2 melee (1d3) and bite +0 melee (1d4) Special Attacks: Acidic cloud Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp) Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 14 Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron or good Immune: Poison Resist: Acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, fire 5 Saves: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will 2 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 3, Wis 3, Cha 4 Skills: Climb +2, Jump +2, Sense Motive 4 Languages: See text Outcast Rating: 8 (+3 appearance, +3 reputation, +1 beyond the pale, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Multiattack Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary, swarm (615), or horde (10100) Challenge Rating: 1/2 Treasure: None Advancement: 26 HD (Small) Level Adjustment: These horrid, twisted midgets resemble manes. Their bloated bellies, spindly arms and diseased flesh make them truly repugnant, and they possess cruel fangs and claws. Implings cannot speak but understand simple orders given by their master. An impling stands 3 feet tall and weighs about 50 pounds. Combat Like the manes they resemble, implings are nearly mindless yet instinctually cruel. They gang up to throw themselves at foes with no regard for their own safety. Acidic Cloud (Ex): When an impling dies, it dissolves into a cloud of noxious vapor. Anyone within 10 feet of the slain impling who fails a DC 20 Reflex save takes 1d6 points of acid damage.

The save DC is Constitution-based, with a +10 racial bonus.

Demonwracked creature, rejected [Circle of Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about rejected. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This oozing, misshapen wretch is a rejected, a kind of demonwracked creature. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the evil subtype. 21 A rejected is a mortal permanently transformed into the image of a lesser demon. In this case, however, the process seems to have failed, and this monster resembles no known fiend. This result reveals all demonwracked traits. 24 The stingers on a rejecteds tail deliver a paralytic poison. --"After it crushed Yart, it turned its gaze on the mongrelmen, reshaping them by its malefic will into even more loathsome thing. The one closest to me did not even flinch oozing sores burst out on his flesh. Strange growths, like stunted wings, emerged from his back, and a long thin tail sprouted from his behind. "It was at that point that I decided that even if this was the Provider, I had no interest in his gifts . . . " --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov J W Mangrum: Rejected Usually CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Evil) Initiative: +0 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 40 ft. (clumsy) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +1, Spot +1 Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+6 Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d4+2)

Full Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d4+2) and tail sting +4 melee (1d6+1 plus poison) Special Attacks: Poison Hit Dice: 4d8+4 Hit Points: 22 Armor Class: 18 (+8 natural) touch 10, flat-footed 18 Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron or good Immune: Poison Resist: Acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, fire 5 Saves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +5 Defense Options: Diehard Abilities: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8 Skills: Climb +9, Sense Motive +1, Swim +9 Languages: See text Outcast Rating: 9 (+1 size, +3 appearance, +3 reputation, +1 beyond the pale, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Diehard, Multiattack Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 59 HD (Medium); 1016 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: These awful demonwracked creatures do not resemble any known fiend. None can say whether nalfeshnees create the rejected on purpose or whether they represent some flaw or failure in the process. A rejected is vaguely humanoid, but has pale, oozing flesh, a horrid stench, and skin puckered by weeping sores. Great folds of flesh sprout from its back, resembling a rotting cloaker or manta ray. A rejected can spread these fleshy flaps wide to fly. A rejecteds unspeakably distorted face surrounds a drooling maw lined with sharp teeth. A rejected stands 6 feet tall and weighs about 200 pounds. Combat The rejected swoop down from the sky to bite their foes and lash out with their stingray-like tails. They fight with no regard for their own

safety. Indeed, they seem to fight to the death in the hopes of achieving its sweet release. Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 13, initial damage paralysis 1d4+1 rounds, secondary damage none. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Demonwracked creature, shapeless [Circle of Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shapeless. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This malformed humanoid with malleable flesh is a shapeless, a kind of demonwracked creature This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the evil subtype. 20 A shapeless is a mortal permanently transformed into the image of a lesser demon called a rutterkin. This result reveals all demonwracked traits. 25 A shapeless can wield weapons or slash at foes with its claws. A shapeless secretes a fearinducing contact poison through its skin, which affects any creature that touches the shapeless or is struck by its claws. 30 A shapeless can use telekinesis three times per day as a spell-like ability. --"One of the most pathetic mongrelmen, a pitiable creature called Petchko, had the courage to challenge the unleashed monster. Its gaze turned upon him, and he fell into a trance and began to change like all the others. His features softened as though his flesh had turned to clay, and his skull began to acquire a strangely pointed shape." --Life Under the Devourer, by Olvoro Vladinov J W Mangrum: Shapeless (Demonwracked Rutterkin) Usually CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Evil) Initiative: +2

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +4, Spot +4 Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+7 Attack: Double axe +7 melee (1d8+2/3) Claw +7 melee (1d6+2) Full Attack: Double axe +5 melee (1d8+2/3) and double axe +5 melee (1d8+1/3) 2 claws +7 melee (1d6+2) Special Attacks: Fear toxin, telekinesis Hit Dice: 5d8+10 Hit Points: 32 Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 16 Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron or good Immune: Poison Resist: Acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, fire 5 Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5 Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 10 Skills: Climb +3, Jump +4, Move Silently +4, Sense Motive +1, Tumble +3 Languages: See text Outcast Rating: 8 (+1 size, +3 appearance, +3 reputation, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Alertness, Two-Weapon Fighting Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary or gang (310) Challenge Rating: 2 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 610 HD (Medium); 1115 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: These malformed creatures resemble rutterkin, taking the form of oddly misshapen humans with pointed skulls, distorted features, and claylike flesh. Their limbs are malformed, and they move with ungainly, staggering steps. A shapeless demonwracked creature stands 5 to 7 feet tall and weighs about 200300 pounds. Combat Shapeless retain enough of their minds to wield weapons, preferring heavy, axes or scythes with which they can butcher their foes. They occasionally wear armor, when it is available and

their forms are not so malformed as to keep it from fitting them. Fear Toxin (Ex): Shapeless excrete a poison through their skin that affects any opponents hit by their claw attacks or that grapple with them. Contact, Fortitude DC 14, initial damage panicked for 2d4 rounds, secondary damage none. Telekinesis (Sp): A shapeless can use telekinesis 3/day. DC 15 Will save negates; caster level 6th.

Devil
DEVIL LORE (GENERAL) Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about devils. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 15 Devils are outsiders from the Nine Hells of Baator, a lawful evil realm, and many of them belong to a special race known as baatezu. Baatezu are immune to fire and poison, resistant to acid and cold, can see in darkness of any kind, can summon others of their kind, and possess telepathy. They enjoy bullying and causing untold misery in mortal beings. 20 Devils are the eternal foes of demons. The two races have been engaged in an eternal conflict known as the Blood War. In most cases, devils speak Infernal, Celestial, and Draconic. 25 Devils have a rigid caste system in which authority derives not only from power but also from station. They extend their power by corrupting mortals -- those who are successful receive elevated status. ---

JWM: Fiends in General: Most of the fiends listed here are represented in Ravenloft by a single known individual. Feel free to incorporate these villains.
Devils are fiends from lawful evil-aligned planes. Many devils are surrounded by a fear aura, which they use to break up powerful groups and defeat opponents piecemeal. Devils with spell-like abilities use their illusion abilities to delude and confuse foes as much as possible. A favorite trick is to create illusory reinforcements; enemies can never be entirely sure if a threat is only a figment or real summoned devils joining the fray.

--Devil, Bearded: One entered Ravenloft with the styx devil during the Grand Conjunction and posed as a mortal in Chateaufaux. There is no house among the Dukes of Hell who have not their own guards and sentinels, of whom the great majority are great bearded devils, anthropomorphous, though with a long tail, clawed on both hands and feet; their beards are a great source of pride to such, and a devil of this sort bathes its beard in the ichor of those they have slain in combat to work them into fantastical shapes and great matted tangles; a long beard soaked with the blood of many enemies is a mark of status among them, and to be shaved is their great fear, far more than of death. From Five Visions of Hell, attributed to Yakov Dilisnya

Devil, bearded (barbazu) (barbazu) [Monster Manual]

CR5 Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about bearded devils. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 16 Bearded devils, also known as barbazu, serve as shock troops in hell's armies. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 21 Bearded devils carry fearsome glaives that cause wounds that do not heal normally. A bearded devil's natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. They have damage reduction 5/silver or good. 26 Bearded devils can work themselves into a frenzy, similar to a barbarian's rage. Once per day, they can attempt to summon several lemures or another bearded devil. 31 Bearded devils can cast greater teleport at will. A victim struck by a bearded devil's beard may contract a horrible disease known as devil chills -this causes Strength damage.

Devil, chain (kyton) [Monster Manual]

CR6 Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about chain devils. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 18 Chain devils are chain-shrouded beings, often mistaken for undead. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 23 They have damage reduction 5/silver or good, are immune to cold, can regenerate, and lack many of the abilities normally associated with devils. A chain devil's natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

28 The chains that make up this devil's clothing, armor, and weapons can be animated to create a whirling sphere of death and destruction. Chain devils can climb with alarming speed. 33 A chain devil can alter its face to resemble one of an opponent's departed loved ones or enemies, instilling deep woe. --All things are most evident when placed in immediate contrast with their opposites. The foolish think that pain is ugly, that it disfigures the soul; but the wise know the reverse is true. It is agony that refines, that makes beauty pure and sweet. The foolish think that chains imprison a man; the wise know it is not so. Chains make a man free. - Reflections, the Marquis de Penible

29 Erinyes carry stout ropes that can entangle opponents as if by an animated rope. Once per day, they can attempt to summon several lemures or bearded devils. 34 Erinyes can use the following spell-like abilities: charm monster, greater teleport, minor image, and unholy blight. --"Forsaking all others in heaven and earth, I pledge myself to you, Queen and Angel of the Night. There is no good other than what pleases you, no truth other than the words of your sweet lips, no beauty other than your face and form. I surrender my soul to the voluptuous darkness of your embrace." "I accept your pledge, my servant, and will keep you forever under my dominion. I will free you from the tyranny of virtue, and reveal to you the glories and delights of Hell." --Vows from a legendary 'dark wedding' between an erinyes and a fallen paladin, found in a fragmentary manuscript in the ruined cathedral in Mordentshire.

Devil, erinyes [Monster Manual] Manual]

CR8 Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about erinyes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 19 Erinyes are thought to be fallen angels, who now serve the lords of the Nine Hells as scouts, servants, and even concubines. Unlike most devils, erinyes are very comely. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 24 They have damage reduction 5/good, excellent spell resistance, and resistance to both acid and cold. An erinyes' natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Erinyes can use true seeing at will.

Devil, Styx (amnizu) [Monster Manual II]

Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about amnizus. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 15 Amnizus are short, stocky, winged devils that serve as trackers and troubleshooters in the hellish realms. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 20 Amnizus are immune to any effect that affects their Intelligence. They have good spell resistance and can regenerate (though they take normal

damage from acid, from holy weapons, and from attacks that deal holy damage). An aminzu's natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 25 The touch of an amnizu duplicates the effects of a feeblemind spell. Once per day, amnizus can attempt to summon other advespas or another amnizu with variable levels of success. 35 Amnizus can use the following spell-like abilities: fireball, major image, and sequester. --Devil, Styx: One entered Ravenloft during the Grand Conjunction and posed as Henri Melano, the mayor of Chateaufaux (Chilling Tales) Mayor Melano wasnt very good for us, no. He changed the laws so often it was difficult to keep track of the edict and all the new taxes. But his Black Watch has been dissolved, and now its much better. Whats really bad is that many people from the region now have a terrible opinion of our city. Thats bad for trade, you know Say what? Those rumours about him actually being a monster? Dont believe them, they are ridiculous. I saw the mayor often with my own eyes, as I see you now, and he wasnt such a thing. Who told you that? Zazette? - Madame Griers tale, short after a new mayor was appointed by the Council. She owns the Laughing Pig Inn in Chateaufaux (These NPCs are from Chilling Tales)

Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 20 Horned devils serve as the Nine Hells' elite defense force and are feared by almost every other devil. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 25 They have damage reduction 10/good and silver, are immune to fire and poison, are resistant to acid and cold, have superior spell resistance, and can regenerate. A horned devil's natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 30 Horned devils can produce an aura of fear, as the spell. The damage dealt by their spiked chains can stun opponents. In addition, the wounds caused by the horned devil's tail attack create a persistent injury that cannot heal naturally and resists healing spells. Once per day, horned devils can attempt to summon several lemures, bearded devils, barbed devils, or a single horned devil, with variable levels of success. 35 Horned devils can use the following spell-like abilities: dispel chaos, dispel good, fireball, lightning bolt, greater teleport, magic circle against good, and persistent image. --Devil, Horned: The Black Duke, cult leader of the Brothers of the Whip. The credo "Might makes right" may be abominated by lesser religions, such as the milksop Ezrans or the witches of Hala, but we who worship that highest god, whose very name it is death to speak, know that this is merely a cover for their weakness. The Divinity creates right; could he possibly allow his servants to falter when they serve him well? Commentaries on "The Book of Stone", "Reinhold Schwartzgraf" ---

Devil, horned (cornugon) [Monster Manual]

CR16 Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about horned devils. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

The credo "Might makes right" may be abominated by lesser men, but we who serve Omnipotence, and see its lash raised among us to scourge out weakness, know that it is a simple statement of fact. To allow the weak to rule the strong is against the order of Nature, set forth from the hand of Omnipotence. All praise to that Being which stands among us unseen and whose prowess guides us in the True Path! The Secret Scourges of the Brothers of the Whip, Reinhold Schwartzgraf

at will. It can use suggestion once a day, and can use commune to ask six questions a week. 27 Many different varieties of imp exist, each with slightly different abilities and reflecting different venal sins and petty evils. As a few examples, assassin imps are skilled at eliminating foes with carefully planned accidents. Bloodbag imps can curse their foes to bleed freely, but drinking the imps blood has curative properties. Euphoric imps secrete hallucinogenic slime in their stingers. Filth imps spread disease and emit a sickening stench. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 10 Evil mages sometimes recruit imps for use as their arcane familiars. 14 A spellcaster can conjure any variety of imp with a summon monster IV spell. --Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about imps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (The Planes) DC Result 15 Imps are craven, obsequious devils that often serve as familiars to mortal spellcasters. This reveals all outsider and baatezu traits. 20 They have damage reduction 5/good or silver, fast healing, immunity to poison, and resistance to fire. An imp's natural weapons as well as any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 25 Imps possess stingers filled with poison that causes Dexterity damage. Imps can assume other alternate forms, typically that of a monstrous spider, raven, rat, or boar.

Devil, imp, imp [Monster Manual]

JWM - Covers the following: Imp: Monster Manual (under Devil) CR2 Assassin imp: Denizens of Dread (under Imp, Assassin) CR4 Bloodbag imp, euphoric imp, and filth imp: Fiend Folio (under Devil, Imp) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about imps. Characters who recognize an imp can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 12 This tiny, batwinged devil is an imp, one of the weakest of all the fiends native to the Nine Hells. This result reveals all outsider traits and the evil subtype. Imps speak Infernal, Celestial, and Draconic. 17 The poison stinger in an imps tail causes muscle tremors, possibly leading to paralysis. An imps infernal flesh resists most glancing blows, and it recovers quickly from its wounds, but weapons that are either blessed or silver can pierce its defenses. An imp is resistant to fire and immune to poison. They primarily rely on deceit and hit-and-run tactics in combat. 22 An imp can assume the form of one or two lesser creatures, such as a goat, monstrous spider, raven, or boar. As spell-like abilities, an imp can detect good, detect magic, and turn itself invisible

30 Imps can use the following spell-like abilities: detect good, detect magic, invisibility, and suggestion.

-from the journal of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish explorer

Devil, imp, assassin imp [Denizens of Dread]

CR4 Devil, Imp, Assassin: These guys dont have any special ties to the Dark Powers any more; theyre just another type of specialized imp like bloodbag, euphoric, and filth imps. Errata: Assassin Imp: Add the Mists subtype. --"Evina gently placed the teapot upon her table, then walked over to her window, and opened it. A shadowy blur oozed into the little girl's room, whereupon a tiny red man appeared, seated at the table. ""I'm sorry I was late: I was helping Mother bake bread for the MacIntires. Their house burned down last night." ""Yes, I know, milady," the imp said. "It's not the tardiness that troubles me. Your mother is a silly, foolish woman to give anything to those inbred savages. Why, wasn't it just yesterday that Billy MacIntire threw a dirt clod at you, milady?" ""Mother said that all who suffer deserve kindness, even if they don't deserve it." The imp broke a cookie in half and poured a little cream. ""I see, milady. Still, I'm not terribly sure if your mother trusts you." ""Why not?" Evina became flustered, and started rearranging the flowers in the vase on her dresser. "She let me boil our tea, and she even gave me the shears to cut my own flowers so the stems wouldn't be raggedy." ""Forgive, milady, I know it pains you to hear anyone speak ill of your mother, as, after all, you owe your whole existence to her, but, let me rephrase what I'm trying to say..." It put its cup and half-eaten cookie down and got up from the table. "If your mother trusts you, like you say, then why did she hire strange men, armed to the teeth, no less, to spy on you in your closet?" "And with a flourish of its arm, it opened Evina's closet, revealing Claude's hiding place."

Devil, imp [Fiend Folio]

There are also in that place any number of lesser devils, among whom I saw a great number of batwinged, scorpion-tailed mannikins of the size of a newborn child, whose employment is to attach themselves as familiar spirits, either to a greater devil or to those who fancy themselves masters of the Arcane Art; these latter they drive to perversions and abominations, tempting them to ever-greater abuses of that power which no wise man takes upon himself. From Five Visions of Hell, attributed to Yakov Dilisnya

Devil, imp, bloodbag imp [Fiend Folio]

"Been to the Gathering, this night. Vladimir took me to a "special chamber". Inside, a little creature, like a big bat, and a prisoner. Felt like entering another world. The creature pointed the finger to the prisoner, a little girl from the streets. She seemed in pain. Then Vlad told me to enjoy myself. Killed her slowly. Wounds kept bleeding. Bleed and bleed and bleed until she was pale and dead. The Vlad chained me and started hitting me with a whip. Then he unchained me and told me to drink. The creature was in his hand. Like a large and bloated bat. Could see his entrails. V shown me how. I did like he did, and bit on the creature. Hot blood in my mouth. Sweet and tasty. My wound healed. Little creature was trembling in ecstasy, like he was mating. I want to taste it again. From the personal diary of Vlad Drakov II

Devil, imp, euphoric imp [Fiend Folio]

The Hazlani scum managed to get away, and I'm sorry to say he's managed to do quite a bit "business" in our neighborhood. We had some of those he sold to sent to the Celebrents...bloody hell, one of them was a girl couldn't have been more than twelve years old. I hope the Divinity

can help them. Still, what really puzzles me is what he was selling, stuff unlike anything I ever saw, a sort of greenish slime you inject. No one's heard of anything like it before, and that bookworm we asked said something about it being not quite natural. Still, if we catch word of him in our territory again, we'll be sure to get him. This is our home, and we don't tolerate that sort of thing here. Journal Wallace Collins, leader of the Allan Street Boys, Paridon

Devourer [monster manual] manual]

CR11; Wasnt in JWMs list See also Dragon #336

Dhampir (half(half-vampire) [Denizens of Dread]

(Template) Lore incorporates some elements from the halfvampire in Libris Mortis Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures dhampir heritage. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. The DCs are unusually high due to the rarity of these creatures. DC 19: This creature is a dhampir, also known as a half-vampire, the child of a living mother and a vampiric father. Although dhampirs inherit some traits from their undead sires, they are living creatures. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the vampire subtype. DC 24: Like their vampire sires, dhampirs are physically and mentally powerful. In addition, they inherit their fathers abilityand needto drain the blood of living creatures. Unlike a vampire, however, dhampirs are not necessarily evil, though many are, and they do cast reflections and shadows. DC 29: A dhampir can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider and can dominate the weakminded simply by looking into their eyes. Exposure to daylight does not harm a dhampir, but it does temporarily rob it of its supernatural powers. A dhampir is physically resilient and their wounds heal quickly, but weapons that are either magic or silver can pierce its defenses. DC 34: A dhampir is resistant to cold, electricity, and energy drain. It can bend bats, rats, and wolves to its will. When a dhampir dies, regardless of the cause of death, it is doomed to rise again as

Devil, imp, filth imp [Fiend Folio]

As I study the strange creature captive in the basement of my villa, I become even more excited than the time I created the White Pox. As I said, under its disgusting and viscid appearance, it is a wonderful concentrate of filth and diseases! I think I can extract at least five new "children" from its skin, and maybe more from the tissue of its batlike wings. It heals really quickly, so I can take even bigger samples than with every other creature. It lives on filth, and finding wonderful filth, here, is not a daunting task. (note: try to see if a stomach disease can be found in its entrails, tomorrow) From the lab notes of Malus Sceleris.

Devil, imp : Choleric, Choleric, Melancholic, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Sanguine [Dragon 338] 338] Devil, lemure [Monster Manual]
CR1 I saw also the most wretched of creatures, like men degenerated into jellies, mired in the most horrible fear of their masters and loathing of themselves; they covered the floor of Hell like maggots on a rotting corpse for many leagues in all directions. In them I saw the ignominy, the weakness, the stupidity of all evil actions clearly drawn. from Five Visions of Hell, attributed to Yakov Dilisnya

a vampire several days after burial unless its body is destroyed as one would destroy a vampire. --The man awaiting me was tall, with regular, aristocratic features and a commanding air. He was pale, with dark hair worn longer than is the custom in our country and piercing gray eyes; his hand enclosed mine in a grip of iron. "Arthur Sedgwick, at your service," I introduced myself. "Tamarlane Gundar," he said, revealing long white teeth in what I belatedly realized was a friendly smile. "Gundar!" I said, trying to cover my confusion with humor. "That is a name to conjure with, surely." "I assure you, Master Sedgwick, it is mine by right," he said, frowning. The Mark of Blood, from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about dharculuses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 The eyeless, eelike serpents writhing through the air are actually the probing tentacles of a cunning planar predator called a dharculus. This result reveals all aberration traits. 24 The bulk of a dharculus wormlike body exists on the Ethereal Plane, but it can extend its mawed tentacles into the Material Plane to seek prey. While extending its tentacles, a dharculus is partly ethereal and partly material, so it can be attacked by foes on either plane. However, since it isnt completely on either plane, striking it can prove tricky. If a dharculus retracts its tentacles from the Material Plane, it becomes completely ethereal. 29 If a dharculus attaches all six of its jawed tentacles to a single creature, it presses its massive central maw just far enough into the Material Plane to tear chunks of flesh out of its prey. Even then, the main mass of the dharculus is visible to material creatures only as a strange thickness in the air. A dharculus is resistant to magic. ---

See also Libris Mortis- half vampire See also Dragon # 313 (Katane = half-vampire)

Dharculus Dharculus [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Medium Aberration (Extraplanar), CR 9, neutral. Imagine a graboid from Tremors, except that instead of burrowing through the earth and poking its jawed tentacles up from the soil to snag prey, it lurks in the Near Ethereal, poking its tentacles through to the Material Plane. Another ethereal monster in the Lovecraftian if you can see it, it can see you category. Has human-level intelligence. [Planar Handbook] It is not unknown for these ethereal predators to inadvertently enter the Demiplane of Dread, where they share the Near Ethereal with spirits of the restless dead.

...little Toby has grown quite impossible to manage in the last few months, claiming to see things in the house and so forth. Only last week he broke a good mirror because he said it showed "snakes" in it; he now refuses to look into any mirror in the house, and has taken even to avoiding the windows, so that the "snakes" will not see his reflection, burst through the glass, and eat him! I pointed out that we look in mirrors often, and remain uneaten; to which he only replied that, as we couldn't see them, naturally they couldn't see us! I am quite convinced he is merely indulging in these fits to get attention, and I have arranged for him to visit Dr. Heinfroth's asylum for a time for observation; he charges fearfully high rates, but nothing is too good for our son!...

letter from Sophie Ste. Claire to her sister, Port-aLucine, Dementlieu, October 759

Dire Dire badger [Monster Manual]

CR2 DC Result 12 This squat, striped mammal is a dire badger. It is a vicious beast that does not tolerate the intrusions of other creatures. This result reveals all animal traits. 17 A dire badger can burrow through soft earth, and often flies into a berserk rage while fighting opponents. --I was in Sithicus at the time, before the Night of the Screaming Shadows. Gods, that was a rough time. Stopped at a tavern for a pint, then headed off to the Valachani border. Saw the damnedest thing, huge, great hairy beastie, chewing on this man's corpse. Being the hardened adventurer I am, I tried to chase it off, but it raised it's head and, blow me! If t'weren't a great badger of some kind! Now, I know badgers can be vicious if roused, so I took my leave and walked away. Heck, I even ignored the tooth-covered cart that the poor man must've been driving. Damnedest thing I ever saw. - Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer.

Dire Animals [Monster Manual]

JWM: So many are included because theyre not just useful as standalone creatures; theyre also handy as base animals for lycanthropes and numerous other templates, not mention as minions for more fearsome monsters. In Ravenloft, dire animals are just massive, feral versions of their normal kin; although they may look prehistoric, they usually dont have the obvious random armor plating and horns D&D sticks on. Also, a dire animal isnt necessarily a separate species from its normal cousins. Deep in untamed wildernesses, where humanoids have no power, the creatures of nature may simply grow large and fierce, unbound by the limits of civilization.

Dire ape [Monster Manual]

CR3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about dire animals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This massive gorilla is a dire ape. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 A dire ape is incredibly strong and can literally tear its foes limb from limb. --You humans think you are powerful because you have steel swords and steel skins and guns; but it is the steel and the firepowder that are powerful, and not you. Without them Here the great ape paused its prowl and took Macdougal by the arm, lifting him into the air and dashing him to the ground, where he lay like a broken doll. That is the lesson you will learn here, it said, turning its all-too-human gaze over us again. Here it is the strength of sinew and tooth and claw that counts, and you have none. In the Wildlands, Captain John Smith

Dire barracuda [Stormwrack]

DC Result 14 This streamlined fish is a dire barracuda, a quick and aggressive predator. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. 19 A dire barracuda attacks using its deadly bite, and can flash through the water with startling speed when it charges. --6.13.738 Hve bn fishing to + stores of food. Cont. difficulties w/finding line for task. Perford brought line w/whch claims t.hve caught sharks, but when put out w/bait (lst of beef, too gone w/wrms fr eating), line cut thr. as if w/knife. Whtevr is done there has teeth.

Ship's log of the Stormrake, Captain Elias Blackburn, recovered from Saragoss in 749

terrifying rude power, far more striking than a natural philosophers labeled illustration in a Darkonese bestiary. Sometimes he is still seen in the high peaks, he continued. Some worship him still. Adventures of a Wanderer , Larraby Quift

Dire bat [Monster Manual]

CR2 12 This leathery creature is a dire bat. Dire bats are easily excited, and usually attack any creatures they encounter. This result reveals all animal traits. 17 Dire bats use echolocation to sense their surroundings. If deafened, they must rely on their weak vision instead. --As it skittered across the courtyard I thought it a deformed childperhaps an unfortunate like the footless beggar we had seen at the city gate. Only when it spread two wings which seemed in the moonlight like ships sails did I realize what it was. The horses, Djembala said, and we hurried to where we had stabled them. My own stallion Rajah lay there, his blood black in the pale light where the demon-bat had bit him. He died before dawn, his head in my lap. Anecdotes, Rashim Tagreb

Dire boar [Monster Manual]

CR4 14 This hulking swine is a dire boar. It is an illtempered omnivore that attacks anything that gets near it. This result reveals all animal traits. 19 A dire boar is an incredibly fierce combatant, continuing to fight long after other creatures would pass out from their wounds. --My delectable Elf lass, a shortspear is a fine weapon for sticking pigs, but show a little care for your flesh and take, if not a longspear, then at least a proper spear, for we are to hunt Grandfather Boar himself. -Harkon Lukas

Dire eagle [Races of Stone]

13 This powerful raptor is a dire eagle. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 Like smaller eagles, these creatures prefer to dive at their prey from above. A dire eagle has extremely sharp vision. --I dashed into the clearing at the foot of the cliff and clambered up it, expecting at any moment to feel the teeth of a wolf on my legs; reaching a ledge some twenty feet above the ground I looked back at my pursuers. They had stayed at the timberline, where they paced back and forth nervously, and after a moment they faded away into the forest. At first I congratulated myself on my good fortune; then it occurred to me to wonder what might be the cause of it. Looking downward and to my right I saw a veritable charnel house of bones, stark and white in the afternoon sunlight; looking upward, I saw the nesta mess of branches some thirty feet across projecting slightly from the cliff

Dire bear [Monster Manual]

CR7 17 This house-sized ursine is a dire bear. It is an omnivore that is usually content to ignore creatures that avoid it, but it will fearlessly defend its kills and its young. This result reveals all animal traits. 22 A dire bear can snatch up foes with its lethal claws. --You see here the drawings of the First Men, our ancestors, our guide said, gesturing with his torch toward the cavern wall. See, here is the Bear Totem. I gasped involuntarily; although crude, the massive figure, depicted surrounded by a ring of dwarfish man-figures with spears, had a

face, perhaps fifty feet above me. Looking back down to the bones, I caught the eye of a human skull. It seemed I might have escaped wolves, only to be eaten by eagles, just as in the famous proverb. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

tusks jutting downward from the upper lip rather than horns, and a snout longer than a man is tall, snaky and sinuous with muscle yet able to pick up a blade of grass with its tip, one has some idea of their nature; but no word can convey the awful majesty of their presence. In the Wildlands, Captain John Smith

Dire eel [Stormwrack]

13 This serpentine fish is a dire eel. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. 18 Dire eels usually lurk out of view in coral reefs, where they dart out to clamp their powerful jaws around passing prey. --5.1.738 Visit frm 2 wndring slimerakes, offered var. goods incl. muckboots (for wlking on seaslime), hrbs claimd to be med., also sewing needles fr sails, clothes. These dserv some mntion; length of a finger, shrper than our stl needles. Sppsdly made from eel's teeth. Eels mst be imprsv herabouts. Ship's log of the Stormrake, Captain Elias Blackburn, recovered from Saragoss in 749

Dire elk [Monster Manual II]

DC Result 14 This towering beast with the broad antlers is a dire elk. Dire elks are herbivores, but aggressively defend their young. This result reveals all animal traits. 19 A dire elk will attempt to frighten away foes before attacking. Once battle begins, the elk attacks by trampling opponents into the ground. --Even the deer of the high peaks are frightening not so much because of their aggressive nature, or animosity to man, but because they too are sized beyond the human scale. The wapiti, or forest elk, grow there to be taller than the tallest man at the shoulder, and their belling on an autumn morning is like the sounding of the deep war horns of Darkon; it makes the very earth to tremble. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Dire elephant [Monster Manual II]

DC Result 20 This walking mountain is a dire elephant. It is an herbivore, but also moody and somewhat unpredicatable. This result reveals all animal traits. 25 A dire elephant attacks by smashing foes with its trunk or trampling creatures even entire caravan wagons under its massive feet. However, these elephants can sometimes be trained for use as beasts of burden. --In this place you shall be judged neither by man nor by mans justice, but by the Law of the Jungle! Now abase yourself, for you come into the presence of your judges. I was hurled forward, falling to my knees; raising my head, I saw so fearful a sight that it might shake the heart of any man. I knelt before three great oliphaunts, greatest of all jungle beasts. If one can imagine a bull twice the height and ten times the bulk of the largest of cattle, but with

Dire fox - see fox, sliverfox Dire hawk [Monster [Monster Manual II, Races of the Wild]
Dire Animals (H-M) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about dire animals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Dire Hawk (MM II, Races of the Wild) DC Result 12 This fearsome raptor is a dire hawk. This result reveals all animal traits.

17 Dire hawks swoop down from high altitudes, snatching up smaller prey and carrying them away to feed upon. Although difficult, a dire hawk can be trained for use as an animal companion. --It killed two of us falconers and blinded another, but that hardly meant anything to the Kingfuhrer. It was only when it broke from its jesses and killed twenty or more raptors--gyrfalcons, eagles, even bloodhawks going down before it like so many chickens before a hawk--that he could be persuaded to have it removed from the mews. Even then he simply had it released. Ezra send it has not learned a taste for human flesh. Master falconer Tobin Schwartzkopf

19 When forced to fight, dire horses trample their foes with their hooves. They can be trained to accept a rider. --Old Rivtoff tells me that he has something which I will have to see to believe; he claims that one of his sons has brought back a horse twenty-four hands at the shoulder from the deep plains, and he is busy making plans to breed it to his mare Szeytla. If he is not exaggerating, and if the mare lives, it will be a notable steed indeed. Journal of Tristen Hiregaard

Dire hippopotamus [Sandstorm]

24 This hulking creature is a dire hippopotamus, also known as a water horse. Its is an herbivore, but does not hesitate to kill any creature that threatens or startles it. This result reveals all animal traits. 29 Although not particularly stealthy, a dire hippopotus can remain underwater for exteneded periods, and often rests quietly in murky water with just the top of its head visible above the surface. --This beast, whom they call River-horse, is a great menace to all who go upon the waters, as he is enraged by any incursion into his demesne and will come up beneath the boat to capsize it; because of his great bulk only the largest boats are immune from his attentions. Those unfortunates thereby forced to swim he savages with his great tusks. For all his ferocity he eats no more meat than the cattle, yet he causes more death than any other creature of those parts. From Harralds Bestiary

Dire jackal [Sandstorm]

DC Result 12 This huge canine is a dire jackal. Unlike its lesser kin, it is a fearless hunter. This result reveals all animal traits. 17 Dire jackals hunt alone or in mated pairs, dragging their prey to the ground before killing them. --Merciful Ezra! I swore, jerking backward. The thing was the size of a wolfa big wolf. Selective breeding, the old tinker said, with a malicious grin. I aim to improve the stock. Progress, always progress, isnt that right? This with a conspiratorial wink at the enormous jackal at the edge of the circle of light made by our fire. And progress never comes without clearing away the old; which makes it an ideal by-word for those who feed upon the dead. Farelle, Reginald St. Jacques

Dire lion [Monster Manual]

CR5 15 This tawny cat is a dire lion, a predator the size of a horse. This result reveals all animal traits. 20 A dire lion pounces on its prey, and a pride of dire lions will not be afraid to attack creatures larger than themselves.

Dire horse [Monster Manual II]

DC Result 14 This powerfully-built equine is a dire horse. It is an aggressive herbivore that prefers to be left alone. This result reveals all animal traits.

--If it had been only been the size of the beast, I would not have faltered (though to see it pace, high at the shoulder as a horse, was an awful thing). It was the gravitas of itthe clear bold eyes, the grace (nothing diminished, for all its massive frame), the mane like a crownthat stayed my hand. Well is it called the King of beasts, I whispered. At this (though it was a hundred yards away) it turned toward me and growled, in human speech, I am not king here. And suddenly it was gone in the tall grass, leaving us to wonder at what we had seen and heard. This was our first encounter in the Wildlands; if I had been a wiser man, it would have been our last. In the Wildlands, Captain John Smith

Dire polar bear [Frostburn]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about dire animals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. 21 This towering white ursine is a dire polar bear, a dire bear adapted to cold climates. This result reveals all animal traits. 26 A dire polar bear is an aggressive hunter that will stalk smaller creatures across miles of frozen wasteland. It tears its prey apart with its claws and teeth. --Winter is a great bear, a great white bear; icicles are his teeth, snow his pelt, the zilinya neshka his breath. Sometimes a wanderer may see him in the storm; if he does, that man will never return to his home again. Traditional Voros

Dire maggot [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about dire maggots. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This repulsive grub is a dire maggot, the larval form of an even larger monstrous fly. This result reveals all vermin traits. 17 A dire maggot is nearly mindless and tries to eat any creature that crosses its path. It paralyzes prey with its toxic saliva. --In that country, where Death holds sway over all, one sees Life emerge in weird and dreadful ways; there are great bronze-backed flies which lay their eggs in charnel houses, and their worm-children grow fat, first on human flesh and then on their fellows, until they seem great fat snakes or that legendary fish (not found in this world) called lamprey History of Tovag, volume 2, Tertius Escritor

Dire puma [Sandstorm]

14 This huge, black cougar is a dire puma. This result reveals all animal traits. 19 Dire pumas pounce on their prey from above whenever possible, tearing the creature open with their raking talons. --Behind me I heard the scream againlike the yowl of a house-cat magnified a thousand times. I thought of the bull-elk I had found that morning with a broken neck, and the paw-print my hand could not begin to cover beside it; and I knew I must find shelter before dark; a fire and a place to put my back would be little enough against such a creature, if it chose to attack, and yet it was all I could hope to find. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Dire rat [Monster Manual]

CR 1/3

10 This child-sized rodent is a dire rat. Dire rats are scavengers, but fearlessly defend their territory. This result reveals all animal traits. 15 A dire rat spreads filth fever, a dangerous disease, with its sharp bite. --GWF claimed to be shocked and astonished by the size of the rats we saw today (killed one just under two stone), also complained of the smell. Told her not to be missish, and what on earth did she expect in a sewer anyway? Had the desired effect of putting her back up; she will be on her mettle and inclined to sniff at any rat smaller than a mastiff, which is good as we visit the Central Line tomorrow and I cant have her fainting when she sees the granddaddies. 5/24/755, journal of Nathaneal Dent, grimetrekker

--- Struggle and Victory in the Animal Kingdom by Inard Milhavet. (Book name taken from a reference in GazIII, p86)

Dire rhinoceros rhinoceros [Fiend Folio]

DC Result 19 This wooly, horned creature is a dire rhinceros. It is an herbivore, but highly irritable. This result reveals all animal traits. 24 A dire rhinoceros typically charges its foes, either trampling them or impaling them on its deadly horn. --Apparently this creature is the basis of the Mordentish legends of the unicorn, and in some sense the descriptions are not unlike; it is rather more horse-like than anything else, with the flywhisk tail of folklore (though it has no cloven hoof), and, of course, the famous hornthough here at the end of the nose, rather than centered in the forehead. But how hideous the beast in comparison with its fantastic progeny! Where the unicorn is grace and beauty, this nose-horned beast was the epitome of blunt, brute savagery, stupid, ill-tempered and ungainly. In the Wildlands, Captain John Smith

Dire raven [Ravenloft Gazetteer I]

CR1 DC Result 10 This ebon bird is a dire raven. It is a scavenger that attacks only to defend its carrion meals. This result reveals all animal traits. 15 Dire ravens are attracted to shiny baubles, and if attacked, instinctually try to peck out their opponents eyes. --Another example is the corvus barovicus, a breed of raven distinguished by its enormous size, with the largest recorded example of this subspecie measuring 3'6" from beak to tail. Like its brethren, the corvus barovicus is omnivorous, consuming fruits, grains, insects and carrion though this subspecie is more likely than the others to actively hunt small animals, aided by a beak proportionally thinner than the common corvus corax. This tendency has ensured its dominance in the food chain and allowed this breed to spread through the southern forested realms such as Barovia, Invidia and Kartakass. Folklore of the area also grants to these ravens the power of speech and higher cognition, inspiring some naturalists to call for the creation of a new subspecie, corvus sapiens, but my own research has found that such myths are purely that.

Dire shark [Monster Manual]

CR9 DC Result 19 This ship-sized fish is a dire shark, a predator with a maw full of razor-sharp fangs. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. 24 A dire shark can smell blood in the water from a mile away and can swallow a creature as large as a horse in one bite. --At first we took it for a sail, but soon that happy illusion was dispelled. It took its time in approaching our little skiff, circling near and then distancing itself again. The dorsal fin stood at the height of a tall man above the water, making a sound like the tearing of silk as it ripped through the waves around us.

After an hour or so of this, that menacing form sank into the ocean and was gone; just at this moment we saw the island well to windward. Without warning Simpson launched himself over the side and struck out strongly; he had swum perhaps fifty paces when a mouth like a mausoleum door opened before him, and he was gone. Deposition of Captain Horatio Withers in the death of Jonas Simpson, Mordent, 733

Captain John Smithwill hold an exhibition in Bond Street No. 422 this coming Friday to display curios and taxidermical specimens brought back from his recent expedition to the Wildlands via Sri Raji[A]mong the many marvels he saw there, your correspondent saw prodigies of Nature the like of which can hardly be imagine. The skin of a great pithon, that devilish snake of Sri Raji, was shown me; stretched out across the floor it measured fifty-two feet four inches, without the headit was captured and killed after eating a baggage mule Paridon Newsbill, 2 Feb 757

Dire animal, smilodon (saber(saber-toothed tiger) [Frostburn]

DC Result 15 This stocky, fanged feline is a saber-toothed tiger, a type of dire animal also known as a smilodon. This result reveals all animal traits. 20 A saber-toothed tiger tries to pounce on its prey, then tear out their throats with its exceptionally deadly incisors. --Last and greatest is the cat called smilodon, or sometimes, especially in their folk-stories, KnifeFighter, because of the bravos who fight with a knife in each hand. A knife made of the great canine teeth of such a beast is considered a powerful symbol of wealth, and of physical prowess if one obtains one for himself by killing the beast. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Dire tiger [Monster Manual]

CR8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about dire animals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This huge, striped feline is a dire tiger. They are patient stalkers that prefer to attack prey once it drops its guard. This result reveals all animal traits. 23 A dire tiger can leap dozens of feet through the air when pouncing, tearing its victim apart with its fangs and retractable claws. --Exhibition on Bond Street to Be Held 7 Feb 757 also the skin of a tiger, greater than any yet seen, whose canines were as long as your correspondents palm, shot and killed while attacking an elephant on which Captain John Smith was riding; those who have seen or heard of the elephant can form some idea of the size of the beast which might attempt such a feat Paridon Newsbill, 2 Feb 757

Dire snake [Monster Manual II]

DC Result 15 This massive serpent is a dire snake. This result reveals all animal traits. 20 A dire snake combines the most dangerous elements of lesser serpents. It can both constrict prey and inject deadly venom with its fangs. --Exhibition on Bond Street to Be Held 7 Feb 757

Dire toad [Monster Manual II]

DC Result

13 This man-sized amphibian is a dire toad. They are generally dangerous only when disturbed. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 A dire toad can lash out with its tongue and swallow prey up to the size of a human child in a single gulp. 23 A dire toads toothless bite is not terribly damaging, but delivers a dangerous poison. --But that Granddaddy Toad, he dont say a word. So Anansi, he begin to get angry. Dont you sass me, ol Toad, as I be your elder and your better both! Where has that stone got to? Youd better show me your tongue and say a few words or youll be sorry for it. Just then go flying by that old hoopoe-bird, (who is a sight bigger than Anansi, I remind you) and Grandaddy Toad he let flip out with his tongue tsass!and where the old hoopoe-bird was flying there aint nothing, and Granddaddy Toad cleaning a few feathers from his mouth with his thumbs. That quiets Anansi down a bit, and he says, Well, I seen enough of your tongue, I guess, Grandaddy Toad. But if you be seeing that stone I hope youll say so. Granddaddy Toad, he blink and nod, and thats all the answer Anansi gets; so he goes on his way. Anansi and the Stone of Wisdom, traditional Souragnien

Today we found a specimen of the great landturtle tortuga maximus maximus in the most amusing fashion; Professor Quant was informed by Kopa, the native guide, that he had spotted one of the great land-behemoths, and pointed to it. The professor thought it was at some distance and actually clambered up onto the shell of the beast to get a better look, causing no end of hilarity as we endeavored to explain that his goal was actually and literally under foot! His mistake was very natural; the beast had evidently been at rest for some time, and a great deal of dirt and even a few weeds had accumulated on its shell, which we measured as twelve feet across and almost five in height. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Dire vulture [Sandstorm]

DC Result 13 This ugly, stooped bird is a dire vulture. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 Dire vultures feed on carrion. Thanks to scraps of rotting flesh cling to their feathers, they emit a sickening stench. 23 Due to their disgusting diet, dire vultures are exceptionally hardy and highly resistant to disease. --Old Kebros, king of the air, he comes, our guide muttered. Best not to be here when he arrives. He gestured quickly toward the sky, where the wheeling carrion-eaters could already be seen. Surely they wouldnt attack a group of living, healthy men, I argued. I would think we could take as long as we need for the analysis. Our guide shook his head and pointed mutely to the sky. Looking up again, I saw the reason for his concern. Among the many smaller vultures glided two monstrous forms, four times the wingspan of their compatriots. I take your point, I told him. Lets go. Rudolf van Richten, unpublished notes on an expedition to HarAkir

Dire tortoise [Sandstorm]

DC Result 18 This massive, armored reptile is a dire tortoise. It feeds on desert plants, but is ill-tempered and likely to attack anything that annoys it. This result reveals all animal traits. 28 Despite its sluggish appearance, a dire tortoise is capable of snapping at foes with lightning speed. ---

Dire weasel [Monster Manual]

CR2 DC Result 12 This long, manic creature is a dire weasel. This result reveals all animal traits. 17 A dire weasel latches onto its prey with its powerful jaws. It then refuses to let go and sucks out the victims blood through the open wound. --Ki-naga, snake-body, snake killer! Neck-biter, blood drinker! Red-eye, bloody mouth, the fearless one, Shadowdancer, shadowed slayer! Song of the Mongoose, traditional Rajian, trans. Malcolm Hopper

DC Result 14 This shaggy, wedge-shaped mammal is a dire wolverine, also known as a glutton. This result reveals all animal traits. 19 A dire wolverine is a foul-tempered creature that often flies into berserk rages when attacking its prey. --Misha insisted that we secure the supplies by suspending them in mid-air at least twenty feet from the groundan arduous task, and one that had me asking angrily what on earth could possibly necessitate this precaution. When we came back to the camp I had my answer. We found that something had been in our camp neither man nor wolf, the two greatest dangers, but some other fell creature that Misha called the glutton. It left a track something like a weasels, if one can imagine a weasel eight feet long and half that broad, and it had scraped the bark from the tree where we had stashed the supplies to a height of almost ten feet. The glutton, he do anything for food, Misha remarked. We are lucky this one too big to climb. Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Dire wolf [Monster Manual]

CR3 DC Result 13 This hulking lupine creature is a dire wolf. This result reveals all animal traits. 18 Dire wolves are pack hunters that use their sheer mass to drag creatures to the ground, then tear them apart once prone. --Our outlander visitor laughed aloud at the mention of Grandfather Wolf and said, in his barbaric pidgen, "You have not here such great wolves, nyet? In the woods of Vorostokov we such have as you cannot imagine. Big, big! He come into a house, he break the door; a stag he carry away in his teeth. Here they are little dogs like for a woman's pet." Harkon smiled and leaned back. "Oh, I'm sure the wolves you have seen here have been puny, contemptible things, Master Alexei. But be of good cheer; you may yet see bigger." From the journals of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

Doedridere [Gaz. 5, Nova Vaasa]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Dog [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1/3; Riding CR 1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about dogs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This barking creature is a common domesticated dog. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Humanoids have bred dogs into scores of different breeds, from tiny lap dogs to working dogs nearly as large as a man. Halflings sometimes train the largest dog breeds for use as

Dire wolverine [Monster Manual]

CR4

riding beasts. Dogs have a strong sense of smell, and are used to track game or as guard animals.

Dokufu (mountain spider) [Oriental Adventures]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about dokufus. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 29 This hulking, shapechanging spider is a dokufu, also known as a mountain spider. This result reveals all aberration traits and the shapechanger subtype. Most dokufu speak Sylvan and Common. 34 A dokufu can assume human form, which it uses to lure its prey into secluded areas. In its true form, a dokufu is terrifying, and can swallow creatures up to the size of a horse whole. 39 A dokufus digestive system is swarming with its young. In its natural form, it can spew these monstrous spiders at foes. 44 If a dokufu in its natural form can use its claws to implant an egg in a victims torso. Remove disease can kill the egg; otherwise the spawn devours the still-living creature from the inside out once it hatches about a month later. --In this wicked land of ICath, we were chasing what we first thought was a hag when we entered this nightmare. Really, this was much worse then a hag hunt. The old lady wasnt a hag, which in itself would have been terrible, but she was a supernatural creature able to shape change into a terrible, huge dark spider! When we fought this monstrous spider, the beast swallowed poor Anthony whole! I still hear his scream of pain when I think about how it happened. Then the monster vomited spiders at our face, and fled as the two paladins came to the fight. We destroyed the tiny spiders but we never found the huge spider fiend. It probably left the region, or waited until we left ICath. However, what is worse is for Helen. We were able to rescue her alive from this spiders den, but

three days later, she was found dead in her bed, a lot of blood around her and a huge hole in her belly, like if something has crawled out of her shattered body I cant stand spiders since then, they give me the creeps - a priests tale in Nova Vaasa

Donkey [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1/6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about donkeys. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This grey equine is a donkey. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Donkeys are common beasts of burden, known for being particularly stable on their hooves. They can be stubborn, however.

Doom guard [Monster Manual II, as Dread Guard] Guard]

(Note: In Ravenloft, the setting where these creatures originated, dread guards are called doom guards. The bardic knowledge results are Ravenloft-specific.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about dread guards. A character who recognizes a dread guards nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 13 This animate suit of armor is a construct called a dread guard. This result reveals all construct traits. 18 Unlike most constructs, a dread guard is semiintelligent and can proficiently wield weapons, but it remains an utterly loyal servant of its master. This result also reveals the procedure for creating dread guards.

23 A dread guard is resistant to cold and fire. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 18 Dread guards patrol the walls of Castle Avernus, home to Azalin, the wizard king of Darkon. 23 Azalin Rex was the original creator of dread guards, and although the secrets of their creation have since spread, he is said to know secret means of manufacturing them relatively cheaply and quickly. Azalin Rex is said to have been the original inventor of doom guards, though most of the secrets of their creation have spread during the subsequent centuries. [] To this day, doom guards patrol the walls of Castle Avernus with such regularity that their feet have worn ruts into the stone. --At the annual bal of the King in Avernus, we once tried to sneak and explore this famously fascinating castle to find things we could steal, or information we could sell. But we didnt go very far from the main room, as a seemingly harmless suit of armour suddenly chased us back to the ballroom This armour set was empty, but it moved and brandished a rusty sword. We didn't want to attract attention with the noise of a fight. We were luckier with our skills on the guests instead. - A thiefs tale in Darkon (Cheeze ;), 40 000 gp cost to fabricate one of these 27 hp creature?)

(Underlined text refers to a Ravenloft variant called the dread doppelganger.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about dread doppelgangers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This featureless humanoid is a doppelganger, a creature that can perfectly mimic other people. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the shapechanger subtype. 18 A doppelganger can perfectly mimic the form of any Small or Medium humanoid, including specific individuals. Doppelgangers often work together in clans, secretly helping each other maintain their stolen identities. 23 A greater doppelganger can continuously read the surface thoughts of the people around it. It uses this ability to help stay in character. A rare variant is the greater doppelganger, which can consume minds. 28 A doppelganger can wrap its carried gear in limited glamers, making objects of a given type (clothing, weapons, tools, and so on) assume whatever appearance the doppelganger wants. Glamered items return to their true appearance if separated from the doppelganger, however. --How is it possible? I asked at last. Sir Hobbs went in to speak with Mr. Farquhar; Mr. Farquhar emerged after their argument and went down into the street; Sir Hobbs never came out at all, as far as we can tell, and yet it is Mr. Farquhars body we have before us, and Sir Hobbs is nowhere to be found. Not only possible, but easy, in this city, Ray replied, his mouth set in a firm line. To explain these events is childs play; but the puzzle of finding a man able to change his face, in a city of thousandsthat is a worthy challenge. An Incident in Paridon, from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick

Doppleganger, outlander [Monster Manual]

CR3; Suggested by Chris Nichols

Doppelganger, dread [Denizens of Dread]

CR3

See also FoS Zherisia report for Doppelganger Salient Powers

Doppelganger, greater [Monsters of Faern]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about greater doppelgangers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This gangly humanoid is a greater doppelganger, a more powerful variety of the common doppelganger. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the shapechanger subtype. 27 A greater doppelganger can perfectly mimic the form of any Small or Medium humanoid, including specific individuals. Unlike lesser doppelgangers, these pompous creatures tend to work alone. 32 A greater doppelganger can continuously read the surface thoughts of the people around it. It can also use magic items, regardless of the identity is has assumed. 37 If a greater doppelganger eats a humanoids brain, it gains all the memories and abilities of that creature. A greater doppelganger cannot gain powerful divinely-granted abilities, however. 42 A greater doppelganger can disrupt magical polymorph effects, damaging polymorphed targets with a mere touch. --Dear journal, Im writing this in a state of confusion. Im exhausted and this might be the cause of my trouble. Everything will be clearer tomorrow, I hope. Late afternoon today, we had a report of a body floating near the southern docks. I retrieved it tonight with my men and to my immense surprise, the body, bloated by water, is a copy of Inspector Wilderton! How can it be, since Wilderton works at a desk near me? I saw him again this morning, and he was as witty as usual!

There were some rocks remaining in his pockets as if someone threw the body in the water with the intention of drowning it forever. But the fabric was later ruptured by the water and the rocks fell off and the body floated. Also, strangely, a large hole has been punctured in the back of his head, and his brain is missing. I assume that fishes in the canal thought it was a delicacy while the body was held at the bottom. Tomorrow, I will show this puzzling discovery to Wilderton, in the hope he might have an explanation for this weird case. - Last entry in Constable Van Horne private journal, shown as possible clue to the investigation of the nearly simultaneous disappearance of Inspector Wilderton and Constable Van Horne, in Martyra Bay

Doppelganger Plant [Den of Dr]

(under Plant, Dread) ; CR 6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about doppelganger plants. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This sprawling patch of coffin-sized pods is a doppelganger plant. This result reveals all plant traits. 21 A doppelganger plant cannot move or defend itself physically, but it possesses a vast, malign intelligence and feeds on humanoid souls. Each night, the plant can spiritually reach out and draw a humanoids life force into itself. The humanoid lives on as a soulless puppet of the plant, called a podling. 26 The plant knows everything its podlings know. Because a podling has no mind or spirit of its own, it is immune to all mind-affecting and death effects. As the doppelganger plant slowly devours a humanoids soul, the podlings body slowly wastes away, hollowing out like a rotten pumpkin.

31 Destroying a pod before the soul trapped inside is consumed frees the soul, restoring that podling to normal. If the soul is consumed, the podling wastes away completely can cannot be restored to life by any means short of true resurrection. 36 Destroying all vines that connect a doppelganger plants pods also breaks the plants control over its podlings. However, to permanently destroy the plant, both its pods and its vines must be destroyed. --Proof of the fecundity of these wretched swamps is that while the meteor only struck two days ago, the crater is already infested with vegetation. One specimen in particular might be of interest to those dirt-grubbing botanists in Il Aluk a mass of entangling vines, with gigantic, oblong pods smothered between them. Well have to clear them out to recover the fallen star those lackwits from the village who tagged along might be of some use after all. It will keep until tomorrow, though; our guide suggests that we sleep here tonight and get an early start. Last entry in the journal of Hendrich von Brahen, Professor of Astronomy at the Bratslava Institute

go? And at last he just withered away, withered away, and I found his body in the garden one morning, and it was just a shell, thats all; a manshaped shell, as if it had been a pumpkin, where my Horace used to have been. Deposition of Caitlin MacCallem regarding the death of her husband, recorded by Inquisitor MacTeague of the Most Holy Belenite Inquisition, 23 June 758

Dracolich Dracolich
See also: Dracolich "Cult of the Dragon, The" Ed Greenwood Dragon#110(12) D&D1 Dracolich "Ecology of the Dracolich, The" Pett & Vaughan Dragon#344(84) D&D3

Dragon eel [Monster Manual III] III]

Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz, CR 11

Dragon, shadow [Monsters of Faern]

Dragon, Shadow: More or less synonymous with Ebb. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about shadow dragons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This winged, shadowy reptile is a shadow dragon. This result reveals all dragon traits and the shadow subtype. 18 Shadow dragons have ties to the Plane of Shadow and lair in areas of broken light and darkness, such as in deep caverns. Shadow dragons easily blend into the pools of darkness that fill their lairs. 23 A shadow dragons breath weapon is a cone of smoky shadows that drain life energy. 28 Shadow dragons have a variety of magical abilities, including dimension door, mirror image, nondetection, and shadow walk. Shadow dragons are also innately talented sorcerous spellcasters who prefer to use illusions to confuse their foes.

Doppelganger plant, podling [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Azalin suggest that the doppelganger plant suffers from some particularly nasty flying monkey business. Here's how the entire first paragraph of the doppelganger plant's Combat section should read: "The doppelganger plant has no physical way to defend itself." Just cross out the rest of the paragraph. Well, but when he come back he wasnt hardly the same at all, at all. He used to sit on the porch and just bask there in the sun and vegetate, or go out in the garden with his feet bare. Horace, thats dirty, said I, but he never paid me no never-mind anymore. And he never ate, but just picked liked a bird; and always trying to get me to go down to the wood where hed found that old stone, that he said used to have been a star, which I never would do, as who would tend the house if we was both to

33 Three times per day, a great wyrm shadow dragon can conure up a surrounding mass of shadows that extinguish light sources and allow shadow creatures to conceal themselves as if invisible. --We had snuck into the chamber of her hoard. Gold and jewels piled around us called out to be taken. Ebb had left her lair unguarded, a foolish move. It was then the rolling darkness took over us. Black winged death descended from the surface of the cavern, landing behind us. I turned, watching the stalwart priest Thaddeus fell to the ground screaming in terror. Ebon scales covered a lizard like body. No light reflected from the black pits. A long, thin neck topped with a hideous head leered at us. "Your second mistake was coming here," the thing hissed in a hoarse voice. "Ebb..." I whispered, terror turning my bowels to liquid. I swear, the thing grinned, "That was your first mistake. My name is Gloom, and I am your destruction." -recounted by Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer

DC Result 13 This lightly decayed walking corpse is a form of enhanced zombie known as a dread warrior. This result reveals all undead traits. 18 Dread warriors are created from experienced warrirors, animated within a day of their death. Using special techniques, these zombies retain the warriors will to fight and martial prowess. They retain only fragments of their minds, however, and may be confused by complex orders. 23 Although far more competent than ordinary zombies, a dread warriors reflexes are still somewhat damaged by its decaying tissues. Dread warriors can use ranged weapons, but their aim is poor. --Security [black], encryption [Talos II] Destroy after reading Re: Suggestion that research be directed toward "fighting fire with fire" and generating un-dead warriors to march against Darkon. Initial efforts have proven surprisingly fruitful. Improvement in both manual dexterity and in retention of conceptualization abilities has proven less difficult than expected. Border raid utilizing new "death troops" scheduled for June 760. KF must NOT BE INFORMED of progress at present. Internal memorandum, Radiant Tower See also Unapproachable East version

Dread Guards see Doom Guards Dread warrior [Monsters of Faern]

Dread Warrior: Medium Undead, CR 3, neutral evil. Basically, a slightly-more-powerful-thanaverage zombie made from a dead warrior, capable of using weapons and possessed of limited intelligence. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about dread warriors. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Dreamspawns [Denizens of Dread]

Errata: These creatures should be elementals (dream) rather than outsiders. JWM: Also, as a minor editorial note, rather than communicating in the "voices of bats," remember that dream spawn's native language is Oneiros, described as sounding like half-whispered lullabies, capable of lulling unwary mortals to sleep.

Dream spawn, ennui [Denizens of Dread]

CR6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ennui. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This eerily indistinct, winged figure is an ennui, the most powerful form of dream spawn. This result reveals all elemental traits and the dream subtype. 23 Ennui are the masters of the dreamscapes in which they are found, directing the actions of lesser dreamspawn. Ennui speak Oneiros, but they also understand all languages known to the dreamer. An ennui can take nearly any form, and literally feeds on fear. An ennui is resistant to magic. 28 Hearing Oneiros lulls mortals to sleep. Dream spawn can absorb memories with a touch, gaining access to much of a dreamers knowledge and weakening the victims intellect. An ennuis quicksilver body is nearly impervious to harm, but magic weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. 33 An ennui can turn itself invisible at will. Natural sunlight renders an ennui powerless and slowly boils it away. It an ennui latches onto a foe with all four arms, it can rend the victims flesh for extra damage. 38 An ennui can use a dreamer as a portal to pull itself between a dreamscape and the waking world. However, they rarely do so, simply because dream spawn are far more powerful within dreamscapes. --The murmuring water relaxed the Falkovnian and wore away his wariness. Sleep crept over him. He was snatched up into a dream. In it he saw himself from the outside. He was desperate to wake himself but could not. His perspective widened. He was being hunted by the methodical and astute captain of the Vistin militia, the thread of his very thoughts being tracked where there were no prints to follow. Then he was seized violently out of his sleep, pinned face down

to the ground, silenced with a razor blade pulling at his mouth like a bridle, and bound at the wrists. Next he was dragged to his feet, held from behind, menaced with a second razor blade, and asked softly, "Do you wish to confess your sins?" When he gave no sign the voice whispered, "Let us begin." -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler, wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, recalling the nightmare that would preoccupy his final hours

Dream spawn, gray morph [Denizens of Dread]

CR3 JWM: Along with pale morphs and shadow morphs, gray morphs are among the most prevalent varieties of lesser dream spawn. Gray morphs are pathetic creatures that play the supporting cast in dreamscapes, impersonating animals and minor characters. They are obedient and unimaginative, dutifully assisting shadow morphs as they terrorize dreamers. When not actively involved in dreamscapes, they huddle together in groups and passively wait for new dream seeds to come along to give them identity and purpose. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about gray morphs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This shifting entity is a spirit of elemental dream called a gray morph. This result reveals all elemental traits and the dream subtype. 18 Gray morphs are among the weakest of lesser dream spawn. Gray morphs speak Oneiros, but they also understand all languages known to the dreamer. A gray morph can take many forms, and literally feeds on fear. 23 Hearing Oneiros lulls mortals to sleep. Dream spawn can absorb memories with a touch, gaining access to much of a dreamers knowledge and weakening the victims intellect. A gray morphs

quicksilver body is resistant to harm, but magic weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. 28 Natural sunlight renders a gray morph powerless and quickly boils it away to nothing. --[A]t last I came to a window of that high tower and was able to look out; I cannot say what I expected, but it was not what I saw. It was a city; the streets (which I could see as if they were at hand, though the tower was so tall) were lined with tiny grey mannikins, without eyes or ears or features of any kind, walking up and down. There was a low continual murmur like the memory of a mother's lullaby as they whispered to each other in the weird hushed language of the Dream-men. It was the City of Nod, not as we see it in our waking life, but as it is; the capital of the Land of Nightmare, the home of the Nightmare Host. From a purported journal of Dr. Gregory Illhousen written in the Nightmare Lands, purchased by the Great Library of Port-a-Lucine, 21 February 759

11 This flitting entitiy is a spirit of elemental dream called a pale morph. This result reveals all elemental traits and the dream subtype. 16 Pale morphs are the weakest of all dream spawn. Pale morphs speak Oneiros, but they also understand all languages known to the dreamer. A pale morph can take the form of many lesser creature, and literally feeds on fear. 21 Hearing Oneiros lulls mortals to sleep. Dream spawn can absorb memories with a touch, gaining access to much of a dreamers knowledge and weakening the victims intellect. A pale morphs quicksilver body is somewhat resistant to harm, but magic weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. 26 Natural sunlight instantly destroys a pale morph. 31 Some spellcasters who specialize in dream magic acquire pale morphs for use as familiars. These creatures help their masters dream with great clarity and detail. --I threw open the door and saw a bizarre and eerie scene; the "room" was a vast gray plain, on which stood a number of pale and flimsy creatures like starving children. They squeaked and fluttered, leaping here and there and quickly merging (to my startled eyes) into walls, books, a table, a chair, forming at last (it took perhaps two heartbeats) my father's library. It was as if I had turned the light on a stage between acts and caught the stage-hands rearranging the scenery--if there existed any place in the waking world in which the stage-hands were the scenery. From a purported journal of Dr. Gregory Illhousen written in the Nightmare Lands, purchased by the Great Library of Port-a-Lucine, 21 February 759

Dream spawn, pale morph [new]

JWM: Pale morphs are the lowliest of the dream spawn. In dreamscapes, they play the roles of distant figures and minor objects. They are poor at mimicking fine details, however. If a pale morph assumes the shape of an ancient tome, it might look fine at first glance, but a reader who flipped through its pages would discover them filled with unintelligible gibberish, not words. --Pale Morph Lore New Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about pale morphs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Dream spawn, shadow morph [Denizens [Denizens of Dread]

CR5 JWM: Shadow morphs are among the most powerful of the lesser dream spawn. They direct the events in a dreamscape, either aiding an ennui or acting as overseers themselves, and tailor their actions to inspire the most fright in dreamers. They play major roles in dreams, impersonating

vanquished foes, departed loved ones, or whatever terrors a dreamer secretly dreads. Like other lesser dream spawn, shadow morphs have no true society. They seek dreams to give them form and substance, waiting listlessly when not so engaged. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow morphs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This shifting entity is a spirit of elemental dream known as a shadow morph. This result reveals all elemental traits and the dream subtype. 20 Shadow morphs are among the most powerful of lesser dream spawn. They may guide dreamscapes themselves or act as the servants of ennui. Shadow morphs speak Oneiros, but they also understand all languages known to the dreamer. A shadow morph can take many forms, and literally feeds on fear. 25 Hearing Oneiros lulls mortals to sleep. Dream spawn can absorb memories with a touch, gaining access to much of a dreamers knowledge and weakening the victims intellect. A shadow morphs quicksilver body is resistant to harm, but magic weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. 30 Natural sunlight renders a shadow morph powerless and quickly boils it away to nothing. 35 A shadow morph can issue a blood-chilling howl so terrifying that it can briefly paralyze nearby listeners with fear. --The shadowy figure which had been my father moved closer, and I could see now that it had no face--its head was a smooth, featureless oval atop an almost-human body. At this last revelation of terror I was struck motionless. "Now you see," it crooned. "Now you see the truth. It is a vision reserved for those about to die."

I bit my cheek until the blood came, but I did not wake, could not wake, and I knew that I had wandered into the land where Dream and Waking mingle and are fused. From a purported journal of Dr. Gregory Illhousen written in the Nightmare Lands, purchased by the Great Library of Port-a-Lucine, 21 February 759

Dream vestige [Libris Mortis]

Dream Vestige: Has the Dream subtype. Has ties to the Nightmare Lands, for the obvious reasons. Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about dream vestiges. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Bardic Knowledge DC 26: The first dream vestige is said to have arisen from the combined souls of an entire city population, slain as one in accursed sleep. Knowledge (religion) DC 26: This rolling river of fog, accompanied by the dreamlike cries of the damned, is a dream vestige. This result reveals all undead traits and the dream and incorporeal subtypes. DC 31: Mortals may be shaken just by the unnatural sight of a dream vestiges attack. When a vestige does attack, it caresses foes with its misty tendrils, stealing some of their minds. Eventually, the victim may slip into a coma. Comatose victims are bodily absorbed into the dream vestiges mass. Mindless creatures are immune to a dream vestiges caress, however, A dream vestiges misty body simply swirls around most weapon strikes. DC 36: A dream vestige is surrounded by an aura of pure desecration, as if the vestige itself were an evil shrine. Whenever a dream spawn feeds on enough mortal minds, it splits in two, spawning a new dream vestige. A dream vestige is highly resistant to magic. DC 41: A dream vestige can pull itself fully into the world of dreams. In the fluid time of dreams, it

can quickly fly across the landscape before returning to other planes. --By all evidence the man is an outlander and was skilled in the art. But something robbed him of his wits and drove him deep into madness. Doctor I., in whom I have considerable confidence, all but confessed that there is no prospect of recovery, at least not by his methods. The fellow is obsessed with a whisperer in the night. He describes it, in effect, as twenty thousand murmuring nightmares fused by torment and hunger into a malignant will. The entity struck with unerring tendrils of mists at him and his companions, its touch overwhelming them with mind-numbing visions, until they at last were claimed bodily by it. To escape this fate, whether in life or in death, the man shattered a staff of the greatest power. But he is quite sure that he has not escaped it, that it has his scent, that it has followed him to this world, that we are all doomed. -Correspondence of Eleni of Toyalis to Lord Hazlik, intercepted by Barovian agents

dreamscape, dreamweavers can weave or unweave literally any object. 26 If a dreamweaver is brought into the waking world, it can fetch exceptional prices from the right buyers. Sleeping near objects woven from dreamweaver silk either prevent or cause nightmares, depending of the type of dreamweaver (light or dark). However, sunlight instantly destroys dreamweavers. --The case of XXXXX, the brag commonly known as Walltapper, against YYYYY, the shee commonly known as Nightlily; alleged by the aggrieved party that YYYYY borrowed a cloak of black dreamweaver silk from XXXXX for the discomfiting of a mortal with whom YYYYY had had a dispute over a birch tree. YYYYY failing to retrieve the cloak in good time, it was destroyed by sunlight. Judged in the presence of Queen Maeve that YYYYY must provide to XXXXX a spindle of four dreamweavers, two black and two white, for a period sufficient to make silk enough for two new cloaks. From The Marcusen Manuscript, trans. G. Weathermay-Foxgrove

Dreamweaver [Denizens of Dread]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about dreamweaver. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This strange spider is a spirit of elemental dream called a dreamweaver. This result reveals all elemental traits and the dream subtype. 16 Dreamweavers spin the stuff of which dreams are made. They usually remain unseen, but particularly lucid dreamers can sometimes spot them out of the corner of their eye. Dreamweavers understand Oneiros, but do not speak. A dreamweavers bite injects sleep-inducing poison. 21 Two varieties of dreamweaver exist. Light dreamweavers, which are rosy-colored, weave sweet dreams, Dark dreamweavers, which are black as night, weave nightmares. Within a

Drowned [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about drowned. Experienced sailors (characters trained in Profession [sailor]) can learn the same information with a Knowledge (local) check, but in this case the DC increases by 5. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This bloated, fish-eaten corpse is a deadly undead horror called a drowned, the remains of a drowned due to the negligence or malice of another. This result reveals all undead traits. The drowned usually speak Abyssal and whatever language they knew in life.

DC 24: Unlike zombies, the drowned are intelligent and physically powerful, battering the hated living with their sodden fists.. Even more dangerous, a drowned is surrounded by a necromantic aura that makes living creatures feel as though they too are drowning. Foes within 10 paces of a drowned must hold their breath or face suffocation. Light within this aura softens and wavers, as if underwater. DC 29: So long as it remains animate, a drowned recovers quickly from its wounds. --2/6/758 This sea voyage is one of the most frightening I ever made. The way to Markovia is riddled, it seems, with difficulties and hardships. A great vessel, during the night, approached us. It was an old ship, like those that sailed the Sea of Sorrows two centuries ago. This night, on insistence of Anchorite Seymar (a person I came to despise greatly, I must admit), we will explore it. Later that night I must pen this now, before I faint again. Writing is a good way of exorcizing our ghosts. During the exploration of the ship that boarded us, we found out that the whole crew was made of undead. Some of them were truly horrible. Bloated and partially decomposed, they were exhuding a thick mist, like the sprays of the sea. As soon as they came near us, I felt my lungs fill with water, but i was quick enough to hold my breath. JeanMichelle, Tids and Anchorite Claude were not so lucky. There were more than twenty of them, and only I and Lyr were still standing. The others were choking, like suffocating under water... From the private journal of Witch Claire Silence of Port-au-Lucine. See also Dragon #336

Drownling [Denizens of Dread]

CR3 If you should see a little girl there by Dollwiths Pool, young master, never you give her your hand! the old man said. She and her sisters are fey, the drownlings they call them; they look like wee lasses drenched to the bone, and one pretends to drown while the other calls for help. But the third, you see, she has a little net; and she wraps it around a man in the water, and all three together drag him to the bottom. So they took young Martin Fiske, and so theyll do to you if you let them. Sixty Nights in Tepest, Bertram Mac Laren

Dryad [Monster Manual]

CR3 Today, we will be one. All those days, spying on her, looking at her singing, naked, to the tree... All those nights of fever, my body aching for her perfect figure... This day we will be one. This day I will travel to her, for she granted me the pleasure of sharing her embrace. Yesterday, we travelled through her tree, and our bodies merged, sweetest bliss, the like I never felt with you, my dear Lenora. This is why I must go. I love both you and Stefan, but I cannot deny my body, and the pleasure of my soul. With eternal love, Kristoph Last letter of the fey-stolen Kristoph Lamani of Immol

Dustblight [Sandstorm]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about dustblights. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This revolting, ash-covered humanoid is a dustblight, a solitary wasteland predator. This

result reveals all aberration traits. Dustblights speak Asherati, and sometimes learn a local language. 18 Dustblights prefer to rend their foes with their claws. A dustblight can sense even the smallest vibrations in the ground up to twenty paces away. 23 Dustblights feed on blood, though they typically kill creatures before drinking their blood. Dustblights often blind foes by kicking sand in their eyes while attacking. 28 Dustblights despise asheratis; these two races attack each other on sight. Some tales claim that dustblights are descended from asheratis who were transformed by a wicked curse. Dustblights are fond of ashworms, and often train them for use as mounts. --They say that a man who sleeps in the deep desert will see it, sometimes. They say he was a man who came by night and filled the oasis of his enemy's family with sand, so that the good water was burnt away in the sun; or that he was a man who quarreled with his neighbor and buried him to his neck in sand, then left him to die of sun-madness and thirst. We do not know the truth. But they say he was cursed, and now the thing he has become is always thirsty. Har'Akiri folk-tale

wounds, though magic weapons can still pierce its defenses. 25 A dustform creature has none of the special attacks of the base creature. Instead, it can spew forth a gout of dust and sand that can flay flesh from bone. 25 A critical strike with any bludgeoning weapon has a chance of instantly blasting a dustform creature back into a lifeless cloud of sand from which it came. --"The corpse in the white robes was the last of the three. Claude fired his crossbow at it, but it was too fast: One moment, it was creeping about the fallen statues, and then the next, it clawed Michael's chest as Claude's arrow clattered among the rocks. As we drew our swords, it clambered to the top of a pillar to address us. ""Vandals! Why have you come to this place to murder my comrades Rahad and Hamuk?" "Claude stepped forward as I cradled Michael. ""We came to these ruins to find the Spear of Dagon, to stop the monster Ishud," Claude angrily shouted. "We were attacked and we had to def-" ""High Priest Ishud? A monster? How can you speak of the high priest like that?" ""The high priest rises from his tomb each night to prey on the villagers," I added. ""I can not allow vandals to steal the holy relic I guard to murder the high priest!" And with that, it drew a blackened horn from its blood-spattered robes, and brought it to its lipless mouth. As the trumpet's piercing note sounded through the air, clouds of sand boiled out of the cracks and crevasses. Just as we thought we would suffocate, the clouds of sand congealed into a mass of writhing, snapping, tawny horse-sized lizards. And with a grandiose sweep of its bony arm, the whiterobed corpse shouted: "There shall be no mercy to the blasphemers! Tear them to pieces!"" -from the journal of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish explorer

Dustform creature [Sandstorm]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about dustform creatures. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This entity is a dustform creature, a magical construct created from animated arid dirt and fine sand. This result reveals all construct traits. 20 A dustform creature has all the special qualities of the base creature. It can also sense vibrations in the air, allowing it so sense opponents without seeing them, and its sandy body ignores lesser

Dungeon Phantom [Dragon [Dragon 355] 355]

Ghost that does and reset traps

Dwarf [Monster Manual]

CR "...In our travels, we saw many places. In some, I was the one who received the cold shoulder, the startled stares, or the whispered gossip. There are, of course, such places where we humans are the anomaly. Why, in the deserts of Har'Akir, some even mistook him for their god, Bes. But in most of those lands, it was he, my dear friend, who bore the brunt of the predjudice, fear, and ignorance. Called an animal, an evil spirit, halfman, freak, Hill-man, monster, but he withstood it all, with a grace that belied his stocky frame, and a singleminded devotion to rid the world of the evils that plagued the very people who hated him. He was a stalwart companion, a fierce warrior, a friendly barkeep, and a good friend. We will miss him." -- Eulogy of Geddar Ironheart, as given by Dr. Rudolph Van Richten

E
Eagle [Monster Manual - animal]
CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about eagles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This noble-looking raptor is an eagle. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Eagles feed on rodents and other small animals. They have exceptionally keen eyesight.

13 This seemingly ghostly earth elemental is actually an earth whisper, a creature native to the Elemental Plane of Earth. This result reveals all elemental traits plus the earth and incorporeal subtypes. Earth whispers speak Terran, plus a local tongue and the languages of several races known for their affinity to earth, such as dwarves and gnomes. 18 Earth whispers are malign entities that see themselves as avengers who punish anyone who dares steal the earths natural treasures. An earth whispers touch stiffens a victims limbs. Repeated attacks can even petrify opponents. 23 An earth whisper can induce uncontrollable avarice in another creature. Anyone who succumbs to this mental whisper may briefly attack the nearest ally displaying an earthen treasure, such as a jewel or stone or metal object. 28 An earth whisper can also induce an unreasoning phobia of being pushed out of the earth in another creature. Those who succumb dash blindly as far underground as they can progress for about a minute. 33 An earth whisper can control earth creatures much like an evil cleric controls the undead. It also possesses the spell-like abilities of spike stones, stone shape, and wall of stone. --We decided to give the old darkonese mine a try. We didnt believe the local tales that it was being haunted. Inside, we found fair streaks of silver, and all prospects were looking good for this expedition. But suddenly, Hrarl attacked Oodu with his war hammer! We ran toward Hrarl and after a fight, were able to get hold of him. Then good old miner Teyhin suddenly ran away toward the entrance, screaming like a frightened kid! Me and Ganlir looked at each other. I knew what he was thinking. Supernatural, I murmured. We took our gears and left the mine. Looking back, I think I saw a ghost like light in the darkness, but perhaps it was my imagination Tiyas tale in Dwarf mining anecdotes and other stories

Earth whisper [Races of Stone Stone p187]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about earth whispers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Eel [Stormwrack - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about eels. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This serpentlike fish is an eel. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Small eels are inoffensive, but the larger species are dangerous predators. When an eel bites its prey, it clamps down and doesnt release its jaws until they prey is dead.

host body, it sets the body on fire and uses energy drain against it every round. So, in short, think of an incredibly powerful odem that causes spontaneous combustion. --Q: What is the name of the Burning Spirit? A: It may not be revealed to Man. Q: What is the reason for which he burns? A: He burns for the vengeance which life denied him. Q: What is the fuel that feeds his fire? A: Strong wrath and stronger hatred. Q: How shall this fire be extinguished? A: Only when its fuel is spent. Q: When will that time come? A: When all the world is ash. from The Second Book of Deaths, Har'Akir See also Dragon #336

Effigy [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about effigies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 27 This translucent, humanoid flame is an effigy, a powerful spirit that covets the life energy of living creatures. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 32 An effigys touch burns like fire and drains life energy. Effigies are immune to fire but vulnerable to cold. 37 Effigies crave to inhabit the corporeal bodies of living folk once more. If they touch a person, they can possess the victims body. The possessed victims spirit remains locked in a struggle with the effigy for control. 42 Effigies are so infused with raw, fiery hatred that the bodies they possess immediately burst into flame. Thus, they reduce their possessed victims to ash in a matter of minutes. --JWM: Basically, an effigy is an incorporeal spirit that possesses living bodies. In its true form, it resembles a transparent humanoid composed of multicolored flame. However, it's compelled by its burning hatred, and can't help but destroy the humanoid bodies it possesses. While possessing a

Eladrin, ghaele (Isolde) [Monster Manual] (under Eladrin)

CR13 (There's a wee touch of old Planescape lore tucked in here, which hasn't necessarily carried over to 3E. Still, it's fine as lore.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ghaele eladrins. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This noble, elf-like entity is actually a ghaele, a type of celestial called eladrins. This result reveals all outsider traits. 28 Eladrins hail from the upper plane of Aborea. They seek out goodly mortals and protect them from evil forces. This result reveals all eladrin traits. Ghaeles speak Celestial, Infernal, and Draconic.

33 Ghaeles are the knights-errant of the eladrins. They secretly work among mortals, helping them muster defenses against the many threats of evil. Ghaeles are innately powerful divine spellcasters, and often wield powerful, opalescent magic weapons. Through a form of telepathy, ghaeles can speak with any creature that has a language. 38 A ghaele continually emits raw celestial energy, unseen yet powerful. Evil creatures attacks are less effective within a ghaeles aura. A ghaeles penetrating gaze strikes fear into the hearts of evil creatures and can even strike some of its lesser minions dead. 43 In its true form, a ghaele is an incandescent ball of heavenly light. In this form, it can fly and emit rays of light that sear its foes. However, by the ancient rules of their kind, ghaeles must never reveal their true nature to the mortals they help, lest they be banished from the Material Plane for a year and a day. 48 A ghaele has a variety of powerful spell-like abilities, including aid, chain lightning, charm monster, color spray, comprehend languages, continual flame, cure light wounds, dancing lights, detect evil, detect thoughts, disguise self, dispel magic, hold monster, major image, prismatic spray, see invisibility, and wall of force. They can also turn themselves invisible or teleport at will. --JWM: Feel free to use Isolde as an example. In my version of her, she's pretty much a straight-up ghaele -- rather than being trapped in human form by the Dark Powers or whatever, she goes by the 2nd ed. Planescape take -- required to conceal her true nature from mortals by the ancient rules of her kind. --Just before noon, we found a mob of about sixty persons in the market square. The mob looked angry and about to lynch this albino girl, I think her name was Blasse. Well, the last-ride rope was already tied on a tree, and the ropes end around the albinos neck.

We stayed near, but we werent planning on doing anything to stop this funny show. We were eight so we could have stopped this, but who would care about this freak white girl anyway? We were wagering instead on how much time she will writhe on the rope, ha, ha Then someone finally kicked the chair where the girl was standing, and there she was jerking on the rope. While the crowd was cheering, we were laughing at her face and loudly counting the seconds, when a thrown dagger cut the rope. Looking back, we saw the dagger was thrown by one of the Carnival freaks, a man with black and white painted faces. We were thinking of moving in and seizing their illegal weapon when we saw the girl with them. She suddenly got all our attention. She was a tall noble lady, but all dressed in mens clothes coloured black. In another occasion, all men would have been struck by her beauty and cascading long black hairs, but now all looked at her with fear: her battle sword was held in front of her and it was obvious she knew how to use it with deadly accuracy. The freaks chopped the rope and saved the albino girl from the mob, and they left with her in direction of the Carnival. The crowd quickly dispersed. I dont know what it was with this noble girl, but she had something. It surely wasnt one girl on which we wanted to try our swords or test our authority! When she left, we saw her walking to a wall and grabbing a Carnival sign, and angrily tearing it to pieces, before resuming her walk toward the Carnival A Barovian militian in Zeidenburg (inspired from Carnival Blasses adventure, of course)

Elder brain [Lords of Madness]

JWM: The God-Brain of Bluetspur is a highly advanced elder brain.

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about elder brains. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 35 This enormous pulsating brain, covered in writhing tendrils and aglow with psionic power is an elder brain, the ultimate stage in the mind flayer life cycle. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 40 The unquestioned rulers of mind flayer society, elder brains possess unimaginably powerful intellects. An elder brain has no sensory organs. Instead, it telepathically senses its surroundings, so it cannot be blinded or deafened. Furthermore, it can pinpoint and communicate with any unshielded sentient mind within well over 100 paces. It can float slowly using telekinesis, and can defend itself with an intensely powerful, stunning mind blast. 45 If a creature is unwise enough to move within reach of an elder brains tendrils, the elder brain can seize the creature and extract its brain in mere moments. An elder brain regenerates most wounds, but is susceptible to sonic energy and acid. It is the right and obligation of every mind flayer to merge with the elder brain after death. Within the elder brains consciousness, their identities live on forever. 50 Elder brains are incredibly powerful innate psions, specializing as telepaths. Once per day, an elder brain can bud a vaguely humanoid-shaped growth from its mass. An elder brain can telepathically control up to three of these brain golems at a time. Few mind flayers know the truth that when they merge with the elder brain, their identities are consumed utterly, their thoughts serving only to invigorate the elder brain. ---The bumpkin believes that I am bluffing, believes that he can read my face. When I know his mind!

-Ah, the electricity of first contact, of primal fear. -The thoughts are exotic, not Thaani in the least. -Smelll us Marcus, see us Marcus, be us Marcus, be one. -Artur, take us out of this light. We must be united. -Beasts that presume to judge the butcher. Severed from the sun, you will be reborn better. -Lidia, it is Marcus. Do not resist us. Join your knowledge to our power. Reveries of the God-Brain of Blutspur in connection with a psionic card sharp who lost his mind

Elemental, air air [Monster Manual]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Air Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Air Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about air elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as an air elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is an air elemental, a living manifestation of wind and air. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. Air elementals speak Auran. 16 An air elemental batters foes with its forceful winds. Its mastery over the air around it allows it to keep airborne foes off balance, helping avoid their attacks. 21 More powerful air elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. An air elemental can transform itself into a vortex, picking up foes and battering them while they hang suspended in the air. 26 Air elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in

swarms. The largest air elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of tornados.

Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into dangerous Mist elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon earth elementals in the Land of Mists inescapably produce Mist elementals. --This is the beginning of wisdom, to know the names of those from which the world is built, and their epitomes, whose service the master of the arcane may demand. Here is wisdom: the epitome of Air may be summoned, and it is by the following names you must greet her: Sprite, Tornado, Tempest, Vortex, the Airy Abyss. Primas causas, or The Book of First Things, standard textbook for arcane studies

more effective when both it and its opponent are touching the ground. 21 More powerful earth elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. An earth elemental can glide through earth and stone (but not metal) as easily as a fish swims through water. An earth elemental can also use its solid mass to shove foes with a particularly effective bull rush. Casting move earth on an area containing a burrowing earth elemental can stun the creature and fling it back several paces. 26 Earth elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest earth elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of mountains. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into treacherous grave elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon earth elementals in the Land of Mists inescapably produce grave elementals. --Here is wisdom: the epitome of Earth may be summoned, and it is by the following names you must greet him: Gnome, Earthquake, Tremor, Stoneheart, the Living Obelisk. Primas causas, or The Book of First Things, standard textbook for arcane studies

Elemental, earth [Monster Manual]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Earth Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Earth Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about earth elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as an earth elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is an earth elemental, a living manifestation of soil and stone. This result reveals all elemental traits and the earth subtype. Earth elementals speak Terran. 16 An earth elemental pummels foes with its stony fists. Its mastery over the earth makes its attacks

Elemental, fire [Monster Manual]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Fire Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Fire Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about fire elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as a fire elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes)

DC Result 11 This creature is an fire elemental, a living manifestation of roaring flames. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. A fire elemental speaks Ignan. 16 A fire elemental bashes foes with its fists. In addition to the sheer strength of its blows, its living flames burn whatever it touches. 21 Fire elementals are immune to fire, and more powerful elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. However, they are vulnerable to cold and cannot enter water or any nonflammable liquid. 26 Fire elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest fire elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of forest fires. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into treacherous pyre elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon fire elementals in the Land of Mists invariably produce pyre elementals. --Here is wisdom: the epitome of Fire may be summoned, and it is by the following names you must greet him: Salamander, Inferno, Blaze, Brand, Wildfire. Primas causas, or The Book of First Things, standard textbook for arcane studies

the creature as a water elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is a water elemental, a living manifestation of flowing water. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. A water elemental speaks Aquan. 16 A water elemental batters foes with its fist-like waves. Its mastery over water makes its attacks more effective if both it and its opponent are touching water. However, a water elementals attacks are much less effective if either it or its foe are touching the ground. It can easily overturn watercraft smaller than itself, and its touch extinguishes open flames.. 21 More powerful water elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. A water elemental can transform itself into a small whirlpool, sucking foes to the bottom and battering them with its rushing currents. 26 Water elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest water elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of tidal waves. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into dangerous blood elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon water elementals in the Land of Mists invariably produce blood elementals. --Here is wisdom: the epitome of Water may be summoned, and it is by the following names you must greet her: Undine, Tsunami, Wave, Seawrack, Maelstrom. Primas causas, or The Book of First Things, standard textbook for arcane studies

Elemental, water [Monster Manual]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Water Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Water Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about water elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify

Elemental, corrupted [new]

JWM: This was in the file of new monsters I put out a while back. Oh yea of little knowing. Unrivaled is Her power. And great are our dark resources. Yet you fear imprisonment between walls of stone. From the deep I shall call a creature of fire, earth, and whistling bone. And if you so much as flinch before it, I shall add your soul to those already forever bitten by its flames. -Grandoch Khardoon, Vomited Up From the Bowels of Hell, unfinished, anonymous manuscript This monster is presented by JWM in the netbook: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library/New RavenloftMonsters_JWM.zip

forces of the demiplane. This result reveals all elemental traits and the water subtype.A blood elemental can understand any spoken language, but never speaks. Blood elementals can be conjured only from pools of fresh blood or water drawn from a drowned humanoids lungs. 17 A blood elemental batters foes with its coppery tendrils, and drains blood with a touch. Its mastery over blood makes its attacks more effective against creatures with blood pumping through their veins. However, a blood elementals attacks are much less effective against bloodless creatures. A blood elementals touch extinguishes open flames, but the creature cannot enter a body of water without its fluids being dispersed. 22 More powerful blood elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. A blood elemental can simply flow over smaller creatures, completely engulfing them. Engulfed creatures are subjected to the elementals blood drain. --"Very well, then, let us combine your medical evidence with the condition of the room. What was the cause of death?" "Internal damage from the beating he suffered, combined with exsanguination," I replied. "The skin is broken nowhere, but there is a general lividity and signs of stress to the skin...he was beaten and the blood taken from his veins directly through the skin, Alanik!" My friend nodded once. "And the designs of blood on the floor, however artistic, can hardly have been produced intentionally; it would have taken far too much time." I shuddered as the outlines of a truly ghastly scenario began to make themselves apparent to me. The Bloody Room, from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick

Elemental, dread [Denizens of Dread]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about dread elementals. The table below refers to dread elementals in general; check the lore sections of specific dread elementals for additional information. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 When conjured in an area soaked with spiritual evil, dread elementals sometimes appear in unexpectedly powerful forms.

Elemental, dread, blood [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about blood elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This undulating crimson mass is a blood elemental, a water elemental corrupted by the dark

Elemental, dread, Grave [Den of Dr]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about grave elementals. When a

character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. 12 This massive figure composed of shattered bones, grinding headstones, and clumped soil is a grave elemental, an earth elemental corrupted by the dark forces of the demiplane. This result reveals all elemental traits and the earth subtype. Grave elementals can be conjured only within burial grounds. 17 A grave elemental pummels foes with its stony fists. Its mastery over burial grounds makes its attacks more effective when both it and its opponent are touching the ground or a raised funerary structure, such as a tomb. By exerting its will, a grave elemental can thrust a corpse up from a buried grave or slowly drag opponents underground. 22 More powerful grave elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. A grave elemental can glide through earth and stone (but not metal) as easily as a fish swims through water. A grave elemental can also use its solid mass to shove foes with a particularly effective bull rush. Casting move earth on an area containing a burrowing grave elemental can stun the creature and fling it back several paces. --As the incantation peaked, the earth shuddered beneath us, and then rose into a mountainous form of hideous construction. Shaped from moldy earth and crumbling tombstones, coffins wood and dead mens bones, it quaked with barely constrained power and hatred, both for the hallowed earth of the temple nearby, and for we puny beings that dared call it forth and bind it. The Occultists Apprentices, Friedrich and Hilda Kreutzer

12 This shifting bank of fog is a mist elemental, an air elemental corrupted by the dark forces of the demiplane. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. Mist elementals can be conjured only within foggy areas or within 100 paces of the Misty Border. 17 A mist elemental batters foes with its misty tendrils. Its mastery over the air around it allows it to keep airborne foes off balance, helping avoid their attacks. However, a mist elemental prefers to attack by infusing itself into another creatures lungs, temporarily turning that creature against its allies. 22 More powerful mist elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. A mist elemental is nearly invisible in foggy areas and can disperse its vaporpis mass. In this dispersed form, the elemental cannot make physical attacks, but is much more difficult to damage. --Any man of the Land of Mists knows that they are terrible, inscrutable, the very symbol of that Fate some say is inimical to man, and is at best indifferent; but never before had I see the Mists angry; and not merely angry, but enraged. We were assaulted by a gale of hurricane force, and a vortex that threatened to split us in two. That was my first inkling of the power of the creature we confronted, a power I was to see confirmed many times again over the course of hunting those masters of the arcane. From the working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Lich

Elemental, dread, Pyre [Den of Dr]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about pyre elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This dancing pillar of flame is a pyre elemental, a fire elemental corrupted by the dark forces of the demiplane. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. Pyre elementals can be

Elemental, dread, mist [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1,3,5,7,9,11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about mist elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

conjured only from a fire which consumed the body of at least one humanoid. If the fire has gone out, setting a new fire atop the ashes will suffice. 17 A pyre elemental bashes foes with its flaming tendrils. In addition to the sheer strength of its blows, its living flames burn whatever it touches. A pyre elemental can heal its wounds by burning living creatures to death. 22 Pyre elementals are immune to fire, and more powerful elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. However, they are vulnerable to cold and cannot enter water or any nonflammable liquid. With a touch, a pyre elemental can animate a humanoid corpse as a burning, mindless skeleton, which attack nearby creatures until consumed by their flames. --Out of the depths it burst forth, as though a chasm had opened into the Infernal Regions. A column of crimson fire, it lashed out with ghostly blue tentacles of flame. All around it withered in the monstrous heat, and within, I saw bones and skulls forced to dance like ashes and embers on a hot wind. Memoirs of Aradain Mournseworth, paladin of Ezra

DC Result 12 This horrible spirit is an elemental grue. This result reveals all elemental traits and the grues elemental subtype. 17 Grues are spawned in dark pits of evil on the Elemental Planes; like true elementals, a different variety exists for each element. Their mere presence disrupts magic utilizing their originating element. 22 A grue typically has a minor attack form related to this element. This result reveals the chaggrins sneak attack, the hargrinns fire spray, the ildriss natural invisibility, and vardiggs water spray. 27 A pearl-like magic object forms at each grues heart. If extracted, its arcane inscriptions can reveal an elemental spell suitable for scribing into a spellbook. Spellcraft DC Result 14 Elemental grues can be summoned with a summon monster IV spell. --Among creatures of this type also note the grue, useful principally by virtue of the spell-seed which may be rendered from their essence. These may be considered "impure" or "defiled" elemental types, and may be noted by the distortion of their physical forms, ranging from the subtle (the "faces" noted in the air grue, the eye-spots of the water) to the grotesque (the burning mannikin of fire, the mud-mole of earth) and by their aura of malice, quite unlike the inhuman affect of the true elemental. From an untitled bestiary found in the library of the lich known as Phantom's Bane

Elemental grue [Complete Arcane, Dragon # 285]

JWM: Medium elemental, CR 2, always neutral evil. These twisted elemental creatures are spawned by the taint of evil magic in dark areas of the elemental planes. Their presence disrupts elemental magic of their type. Wizards covet them because at the heart of each grue lies a pearl-like elemental spell seed, which a wizard can extract (by killing the grue) and transcribe into their spellbook. ELEMENTAL GRUE LORE (Complete Arcane) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) or Spellcraft can learn more about elemental grues. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes)

Elemental grue, air (Ildriss) [Complete Arcane]

JWM: An air grue is normally invisible, but if rendered visible, it appears as a roiling cloud of dark vapor, its face marked by angry, everchanging features.

Elemental grue, earth (chaggrin) [Complete Arcane]

JWM: A chaggrin resembles a mole the size of a hog, with long, filthy claws and beady, hate-filled eyes. It is made of clumped soil and rock.

Elemental grue, fire (harggin) [Complete Arcane]

JWM: A harginn is a creature of lurid, darting flame that dances and capers obscenely. Its shape and size are roughly humanoid, but its features shift and crackle like the leaping flames of a bonfire.

Elemental grue, water (Vardigg) [Complete Arcane]

JWM: A vardigg resembles a loose, frigid mass of tainted water encased in a dripping membrane. Streams and pseudopods of liquid flail away from its shapeless body, while dark malignant eyespots drift across its surface. [Complete Arcane]

DC Result 11 This creature is an air elemental, a living manifestation of wind and air. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. Air elementals speak Auran. 16 An air elemental batters foes with its forceful winds. Its mastery over the air around it allows it to keep airborne foes off balance, helping avoid their attacks. 21 More powerful air elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. An air elemental can transform itself into a vortex, picking up foes and battering them while they hang suspended in the air. 26 Air elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest air elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of tornados. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into dangerous Mist elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon earth elementals in the Land of Mists inescapably produce Mist elementals. --"Big storm comin', Captain," the mate muttered as we stared toward the murky gray-green clouds building at the horizon. "Gonna be a hard blow, sure." "I don't like it," Captain Handspall said, just loud enough for us to hear him. "It's not natural for the wind to change this quickly..." Just as he said this, the crew and passengers gasped with one voice. The vortex of clouds had built into a waterspout, and in the clouds above that sinister twisting funnel we saw limned, for one moment only, the features of an enormous human face. pamphlet titled The Wreck of the Ste. Claire, (supposedly) published in Port-a-Lucine, 644

Elemental monolith, air [Complete Arcane]

JWM: Gargantuan, CR 17 versions of common elementals. They are rulers of their kind, and obeyed even by elder elementals. [Complete Arcane] --Air Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Air Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about air elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as an air elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes)

Elemental monolith, earth [Complete Arcane]

Earth Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Earth Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about earth elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as an earth elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is an earth elemental, a living manifestation of soil and stone. This result reveals all elemental traits and the earth subtype. Earth elementals speak Terran. 16 An earth elemental pummels foes with its stony fists. Its mastery over the earth makes its attacks more effective when both it and its opponent are touching the ground. 21 More powerful earth elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. An earth elemental can glide through earth and stone (but not metal) as easily as a fish swims through water. An earth elemental can also use its solid mass to shove foes with a particularly effective bull rush. Casting move earth on an area containing a burrowing earth elemental can stun the creature and fling it back several paces. 26 Earth elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest earth elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of mountains. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into treacherous grave elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon earth elementals in the Land of Mists inescapably produce grave elementals. ---

At first we thought it was an earthquake--a minor tremor, certainly nothing dangerous--but it went on and on, a dark subterranean rumble shaking the ground around us. Ivan (whose ears are much better than mine) said, as if to himself, "Singing?" We saw it at the same moment; one of the hillocks of tumbled stone a few furlongs off was not a "hill" at all, but a great figure with something of the shape of a man. The sight of it was indescribably piercing; both frightening and pitiable at once. Somehow, even without physiognomy, the sight and sound of it conveyed an indescribable loneliness, as if its song (for such it must have been) mourned a world lost to it forever. private journal of George Weathermay

Elemental monolith, fire [Complete Arcane]

Fire Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Fire Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about fire elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as a fire elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is an fire elemental, a living manifestation of roaring flames. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. A fire elemental speaks Ignan. 16 A fire elemental bashes foes with its fists. In addition to the sheer strength of its blows, its living flames burn whatever it touches. 21 Fire elementals are immune to fire, and more powerful elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. However, they are vulnerable to cold and cannot enter water or any nonflammable liquid.

26 Fire elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest fire elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of forest fires. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into treacherous pyre elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon fire elementals in the Land of Mists invariably produce pyre elementals. --...her drawn white mask was a mask of wrath, her hair writhed about her face like Medusa's; in her rage she had bitten through her lip, and blood and spittle frothed from her mouth as she shrieked. "Payment there shall be for me and mine!" she cried. "In the name of Infernus, Pyrrhus, and Ahriman, let Hell hear me! This place shall be holocaust to my spirit of vengeance!" As she spoke she thrust forward her hands, and there was ripped from the ground a great sheet of fire, which formed itself into the shape of a man. Like a silent spectre of flame it stood, considering our little town, and all that could be heard was the susurration of the flames. "Go!" she whispered, and the fire-thing rolled forward. Carrietta, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as a water elemental can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the Planes) DC Result 11 This creature is a water elemental, a living manifestation of flowing water. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. A water elemental speaks Aquan. 16 A water elemental batters foes with its fist-like waves. Its mastery over water makes its attacks more effective if both it and its opponent are touching water. However, a water elementals attacks are much less effective if either it or its foe are touching the ground. It can easily overturn watercraft smaller than itself, and its touch extinguishes open flames.. 21 More powerful water elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. A water elemental can transform itself into a small whirlpool, sucking foes to the bottom and battering them with its rushing currents. 26 Water elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest water elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of tidal waves. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into dangerous blood elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon water elementals in the Land of Mists invariably produce blood elementals. ---

Elemental monolith, water [Complete Arcane]

Water Elemental Lore Monster Manual (as Elemental) and Water Monolith Lore Complete Arcane (as Elemental Monolith) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about water elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the

There is a story told on that coast of the devilry done by a mage there (for they are of all people given to the practice of the Art); for he summoned a elemental spirit, an avatar of Deep Oceanus, to dredge out a harbor for the town he represented. The elemental being greater than any to that time seen or heard of in all that country, it broke his compelling power and seized him, then pulled all that city beneath the waves. Some say this is the origin of the stories of the fabled city Shay-lot,

others that Martira Bay is the place where the city once stood. Catalog of the World Entire

Elemental, storm [Monster Manual III]

(Underlined text is Ravenloft-specific.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about storm elementals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Those who identify the creature as a storm elemental can also make a Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 12 This creature is a storm elemental, a living manifestation of natures wrath. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. Storm elementals speak Auran. 17 An air elemental batters foes with its dark and cloudy fists, which crackle with electricity. Its mastery over the air around it allows it to keep airborne foes off balance, helping it to avoid their attacks. A storm elemental can also blast foes with an arc of lightning and thunder, dealing both electricity and sonic damage. 22 More powerful storm elementals are generally resistant to physical harm. In addition, all storm elementals are healed by electricity- and sonicbased attacks. A storm elemental cant heal itself with its own lightning and thunder, however. 27 Storm elementals grow larger and more powerful over the course of their centuries-long existence. Larval elementals, called elementites, travel in swarms. The largest storm elmentals, the monoliths and primal elementals, are the size of massive stormfronts. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 13 Storm elementals can be conjured using summon monster or summon natures ally spells (as shown in MM III). Knowledge (Ravenloft)

DC Result 15 When conjured in the Land of Mists, these creatures are sometimes twisted by unnatural forces into dangerous corrupted storm elementals. 20 Attempts to magically summon storm elementals in the Land of Mists inescapably produce corrupted storm elementals. --You cannot even imagine the superstition of some of the Darkonese I know. An elf I met, a young (as young as an elf can be) and lovely lass, told me of a story passed along her family. It is said that, during the powerful storms on the Nocturnal Sea, air and fire merge, and lightning is born. How ignorant. She even tried to make me believe that sometimes the lightning comes to life and develop an almost human body. Being a druid, she even cast a spell to summon one: I saw nothing more than a small-sized and oddly-colored air primal (no educated person would call them "elementals", as I always I say). I'm sure of what I say and of what I know. The rumbling I heard coming form it, you can be certain, was just the effect of a ghost sound spell surreptitiously cast by that delicate elven girl. From All that is true about this world a pamphlet by the Toret Warlock Claude Seymar of Martira Bay.

Elemental, undead
JWM: These are very rare, since elementals are usually destroyed utterly when they die. On rare occasion, they're created when a common elemental is killed by a massive exposure to negative energy.

Elemental, undead, cinderspawn [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Large Undead (fire), CR 6, chaotic evil. A cinderspawn is a burnt-out undead fire elemental. It appears as a coal-black, charred humanoid flickering with blue-white flame. it drains Charisma, and anyone who touches it suffers cold damage.[Libris Mortis]

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about cinderspawn. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This gaunt black humanoid, flickering with dim blue flames, is a cinderspawn, the undead remains of a fire elemental. This result reveals all undead traits and the fire subtype. 25 Cinderspawn despise the warmth of living creatures and seek to snuff it out whenever they encounter it. 30 A cinderspawn is shrouded in icy blue flames that deal cold damage to any creature that touches them. 35 Divine spellcasters who can either turn or rebuke both undead and fire creatures find it particularly easy to turn or rebuke cinderspawn. --Imagine having every song you ever sang, in joy and in sorrow, drip, drip, dripping out of you like blood. And you are perfectly conscious of the loss counted off by the drops. It is your very genius that quickens the dance, that quickens the night black parody of man licked by, and licking you with, insatiable flame. -Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about desiccators. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This salt-encrusted, distended creature is a desiccator, the undead remains of a water elemental. This result reveals all undead traits and the water subtype. 19 Desiccators long to quench their unnatural thirst with the fluids of living creatures. A desiccator usually begins combat with its breath weapon, a blast of desiccating air that mildly saps its victims health. 24 A desiccator then attacks opponents with its fists. A desiccator is not particurly strong, but its attacks also dry out its foes, causing fatigue and empowering the desiccator. 29 Divine spellcasters who can either turn or rebuke both undead and water creatures find it particularly easy to turn or rebuke desiccators. --We did not have time to prepare an appropriate construct and involving outsiders was unthinkable. The unliving would not do and the living, even with the amarnath, were too likely to become their opposite. That left elementals and a test demonstrated that they could withstand the Shroud. Covered by a storm, we entered the city with two bound elementals of the air, eventually setting them upon the natives as a distraction. An earth elemental bore the prize to the Vulchar where a bound water elemental lay in wait with a barge. But its exposure to the veil of death had been too long and a century upon the salt flats of Har'Akir could not have been less kind. What had been a force of nature was now a calcified, inexplicably quadrupedal form, distinguished by a yawning maw and a strength perfectly insufficient to bear us away. Fatally, attention turned from the useless thing to the summoning of a substitute, leaving unmarked, in our very midst, a newly minted minion of Death, with a breath more withering than the wind of the Ashen Wastes.

Elemental, undead, desiccator [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Small Undead (water), CR 2, neutral evil. Desiccators are dried-out undead water elementals. It resembles a small, salt-encrusted humanoid with withered limbs and a distended belly. Its only facial feature is a round, gaping mouth. It has a desiccating breath weapon and drains water from living creatures with its touch (which deals damage and causes fatigue).[Libris Mortis]

-Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River

Elemental, undead, dust wight [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about dust wights. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 26 This haggard, crumbling earth elemental is actually a dust wight, the undead remains of a living earth elemental. This result reveals all undead traits and the earth subtype. Dust wights speak Terran. 31 A dust wight attacks with its stony fists. Dust wights particularly despise anything made of stone or metal, and their touch erodes creatures and objects crafted from these materials. 36 A dust wight is constantly surrounded by a cloud of dust. Living creatures exposed to this dust slowly turn to stone. Spells such as stone shape or move earth can halt the transformation. A dust wights solid mass deflects most blows, but admantine weapons can pierce its defenses. 41 Divine spellcasters who can either turn or rebuke both undead and earth creatures find it particularly easy to turn or rebuke dust wights. --The discussion was heated. Albertus was insisting that it was a creature he stubbornly called "elemental" (not knowing that cultured people should refer to them as "primals"). I said more than once that it was just another kind of undead monster. The dust it was loosing around itself was just the dust of the grave. I ordered three of my disciples to charge the creature along with me. We were successful. The creature was destroyed, though at the cost of the life one of my disciples and of Albertus. As soon as they neared the creature, the dust seemed to move on its own accord and entered their lungs

and deposited on their skin. A few seconds later, they were two statues. Only my noteworthy fibre allowed me to resist its effect. I must say I did not found a skeleton inside the body. In truth, there was was no body, since the monster fell in a pile of dust after a few hits from my fey-forged mace and a few prayers to the goddesses. I nevertheless stick to my hypotesis. Anyway, one can witness the tombs of Albertus in Martira Bay. I paid for it with the money I gathered during my time as an adventurer. It is the one with the lifelike monument on the pedestal. From A recount of my exploit by Toret Warlock Claude Seymar, of Martira Bay.

Elemental, undead, voidwraith [Libris [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead (Air), CR 6, neutral evil. A voidwraith is an undead air elemental. It resembles an extra-amorphos wraith - a formless cloud of darkness. It's surrounded by an aura of vaccuum (so living foes can't breathe) and can steal living creatures' breath with its touch.[Libris Mortis] --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about voidwraiths. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result 16 This amorphous cloud of darkness is a voidwraith, the undead remains of an air elemental. This result reveals all undead traits and the earth subtype. Voidwraiths speak Auran. 21 A voidwraith attacks by lashing out with its smoky tendrils. When a voidwraith stikes a living creature, it tries to steal the victims breath, literally sucking the air from its lungs and draining its health. Opponents can resist this attack by holding their breath.. 26 A voidwraith is constantly surrounded by an aura of near-vacuum. Adjacent creatures that need

to breathe must hold their breath or risk suffocation. 31 Divine spellcasters who can either turn or rebuke both undead and air creatures find it particularly easy to turn or rebuke voidwraiths. --The dead whisper true. But Death will not be cheated a second time. The stratagem does not admit of repetition. And I escaped only its bony hands, not its ashen realm. What is to be salvaged from this? Much is confirmed. And I may have glimpsed something unexpected. I do not believe that Death was simply gloating in choosing to torment me with the undead minions newly minted from the elementals that we had summoned to its abode. It shares some profound affinity with them that exceeds that with the other slain. It might have taken my soul personally and I expect it ultimately intended to, indeed still intends to. But it took the greatest pleasure, a mothers pleasure, in letting the wreck of the air elemental in particular, that roiling, red-eyed abyss, suck from my lungs not just the air that I breathe but, little by little, my very life. -Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River

Elementite swarm swarm [Planar Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about elementite swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This swarm is composed of fist-sized elementals, known as elementites. This result reveals all elemental traits plus the swarm subtype and the appropriate elemental subtype. 22 Elementites cluster together in swarms for mutual protection; the few that survive will eventually develop into common elementals. Elementites attack by swarming over foes and battering them from all directions. In addition,

reveal the following about the appropriate elementite type: Air elementites tend to blow creatures off their feet as the swarm flows over them. Earth elementites can glide through earth and stone (though not metal) as easily as a fish swims through water. Fire elementites burn to the touch and can ignite flammable materials. Water elementites douse any nonmagical flames they swarm over. 27 Reveal the following about the appropriate elementite type: Due to their rudimentary mastery over the air, air elementites can keep airborne creatures somewhat off-guard, weakening their attacks. Casting move earth on an area that contains burrowing earth elementites momentarily stuns the swarm and hurls it back several paces. Fire elementites are immune to fire, but vulnerable to cold. Due to their rudimentary mastery over the water, water elementites can attack more effectively when both it and its opponent are touching water. Their attacks are far less effective when either the swarm or its opponent is touching the ground. Unlike larger elementals, water elementites cannot overturn watercraft. 32 Like insect larvae, elementites are immature, barely sentient versions of standard elementals. Only a few will survive to develop into larger forms. Elementals continue to grow in size and power over the course of their long existence, with elemental monoliths and primal elementals being the most powerful. --The qualities of the truly elemental pertain from the greatest scale (the epitomes, in all their forms, ranging up to those avatars called monoliths) down to the most tiny, such as might be evident in every spark, every breath of air, each drop of water, each grain of sand. Even these, the smallest of their type, are in power not inconsiderable when, as often happens, they join in bands of thousands upon thousands and act in concert. from The Book of First Things, standard magical textbook

Elementite swarm, air [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Tiny Elemental (Swarm), CR 4, neutral. These are swarms of barely sentient elementals. They're basically the larval form of elementals. [Planar Handbook] Elementite Swarm, Air: Resembles a shimmering breeze. It's very good at tripping opponents.

sheer size and physical power. Elephants tend to charge and trample creatures that threaten them. Humanoids in tropical lands sometimes domesticate elephants for use as mounts and beasts of burden. DC 27: Two distinct varieties of elephant exist. African elephants are slighter larger and more powerful, while Indian elephants are more easily trained.

Elementite swarm, earth [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Resembles buckling earth made up of small rocks. Like earth elementals, it can glide through earth and stone.

Elf, high elf [Monster Manual]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about elves. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This willowy humanoid is an elf, a civilized race of nonhumans renowned for their artistry and extreme longevity. This result reveals all humanoid traits. Elves have their own language, and they know Common. Clever elves often speak other racial languages as well. 15 Elves live in harmony with nature and are talented arcanists. Compared to humans, they are dextrous but relatively frail. Culturally, elves receive extensive training with the sword and bow as they mature. 20 An elf has sharp senses, heightened by their attunement to the natural world. Elves see well in dim light and can often sense hidden doors just by passing near them. 25 Elves do not sleep or dream, and are immune to sleep effects. Instead, they refresh themselves by entering a meditative reverie for a few hours a night. 30 Numerous elven subraces exist, with the high elf being most common. Other varieities include gray elves, wild elves, wood elves, aquatic elves, and the infamous dark elves called the drow. Elves can also interbreed with humans, producing halfelves. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about half-elves. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore

Elementite swarm, fire [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Resembles a crackling mass of sparks and flames. Like fire elementals, its touch sets things on fire

Elementite swarm, water [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Resembles a choppy patch of water. it has powers similar to a water elemental, plus the elementites can force themselves down into a creature's lungs, drowning it. [Planar Handbook]

Elephant [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 7 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about elephants. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 17: This massive gray beast is an elephant, easily identified by its long, prehensile trunk. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 22: Elephants are herbivores, but they are territorial and can be unpredictable. Wild or angry elephants can be extremely dangerous due to their

is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This exotic-looking individual with the slightly pointed ears is a half-elf, the child of a human and an elf. This result reveals all humanoid traits. Halfelves spreak the language of whatever society in which they were raised, though they typically know both Elven and Common. 17 The lifespan of a half-elf is longer than a humans, but much shorter than that of an elf. Half-elves thus find it difficult to find a place in either society, so they often travel widely and find roles as natural mediators. 22 Half-elves have sharp senses and can see well in dim light, though they lack their elven parents knack for noticing hidden passages. 27 Half-elves retain their elven parents immunity to sleep effects, but also inherit their human parents need to sleep and dream. --Elven values have always been curious and alien to mortals, the mindset of eternals is a hard one to grasp. Many researchers have simply dismissed the elf as insane, devoid of any and all logic. This is not an entirely invalid opinion, the elf see patterns in the stars and think in terms of magics not earthly and mundane logic. To say nothing of the dream-like nature of fey lands where the simplest of rational thoughts are alien and their mindset begins to make sense. Add to this centuries of association and memories and what may be a simple mental step for an elf seems like a wild and fantastic leap of logic for mere humans. Elven beliefs are the epitome of this, personal and so bizarre that to even try to understand them gives me a headache. From Jonothan Lochspeare Races of the mists, part III

the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This lithe, ebon-skinned humanoid is a dark elf, also known as a drow. This result reveals all humanoid traits. These suberttanean elves speak both Elven and Undercommon, and typically also speak Common. Some drow also learn oher racial languages or a form of sign language known only to them. 17 Drow are known for their evil natures, matriarchal cultures, and zealous worship of malign, arachnid gods. They are more delicate than humans, but also more dextrous and more cunning. Drow are talented spellcasters, with drow women holding all divine roles. Culturally, drow train their children with the rapier, short sword, and hand crossbow, and they often poison their weapons. 22 A drows sharp senses are attuned to life underground. Drow can see so well in the dark that sudden exposure to bright light can blind them. 27 Drow do not sleep or dream, and are immune to sleep effects. Instead, they refresh themselves by entering a meditative reverie for a few hours a night. Drow are resistant to magic, but once per day they can use spell-like abilities to create dancing lights, darkness, and faerie fire, which they use to disorient their foes. 32 Numerous other elven subraces exist, with the rest living in harmony with nature on the surface. Other varieities include high elves, gray elves, wild elves, wood elves, and even aquatic elves. Drow can also interbreed with humans, producing half-elves. --A few of these dark elves are rumoured to inhabit the deepest caves of Darkon. Their wickedness is said to be beyond everything. A dwarf once told me they can impale a human baby (or any other race then their, including other type of elves), just for the fun of watching it die. They kill each other in their endless power games. Their innate magical power is whispered to be remarkable and very sinister. They can see through darkness and worship a long dead spider idol.

Elf, drow [Monster Manual]

CR1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about drow. When a character makes a successful skill check,

These dark elves are so fantastic, they are probably another of the fey tall tales. From Jonothan Lochspeare unpublished notes

Elvsra [Gaz. 4, Valachan]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Entombed [Frostburn]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about entombed. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 The well-preserved corpse within this greentinged block of ice is one of the entombed, an undead creature that retains the ability to think and move. Its necromantic energies extend out into the ice around it, giving it the stature of an ogre. This result reveals all undead traits and the cold subtype. Entombed can hear, and can understand a local language, but they cannot speak. 25 The entombed are forever imprisoned within the ice, but they can glide through that ice and snow like a fish swims through water. A entombeds touch burns with the cold of the netherworld. 30 If an entombed gets a living creature in its clutches, it can drain the heat right from the creatures body, freezing it solid. An entombed can also attempt to drag a foe its grabbed into solid ice, trapping it in a cold and airless tomb. An entombed can sense vibrations through snow and ice. 35 If an entombed slays a humanoid and encases it in ice (such as by bodily dragging it into a block of ice), that corpse animates within moments as a new entombed. --Last February, we were again hunting this cursed evil monster constructed by Mordenheim, for what we hoped was the last time, and we were walking the jagged ice canal between Lamordia and the Isle of Agony, this part of the Fingers Islands where the creature makes his lair. But the creature that attacked us while we were resting was not a creature similar to Adam. Its

Elven hound (cooshee) [Races of the Wild p189] p189]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about elven hound. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This massive, green-furred dog is an elven hound, also known as a cooshie. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 17 Cooshies are bred and raised by elves. Like their elf masters, elven hounds are resistant to enchantments. 22 Once an hour, elven hounds are capable of reaching incredible speeds in a brief sprint. 27 Elven hound pups and adults fetch high prices at market, though they are seldom found for sale. Cooshies tend to distrust nonelves, so most are trained by and for elf masters, who use them for hunting or as guard animals. --I was hunting with friends in the woods of southern Darkon when we found ourselves suddenly circled by a number of extremely large and massive dogs, with greenish pelt. Denis tried to charm them, but the hounds proved themselves extremely resistant against our rangers charms. I then thought these were supernatural hounds, but soon after their master made herself seen. It was an elf. She said that we crossed the limit of elven territory and gave us a warning to withdraw from it. I knew other elves were probably watching, and sharp arrows pointed to our hearts. It was quite clear there was going to be only one warning. I said that we didnt know this was an elven territory and we were going to leave now. For an hour, we saw the hounds escorting us until we reached the limits of an old forest. A hunter tale.

thick icy limbs attacked us from under the ice itself, and it tried to drag me inside the ice with terrible force. But the most dreadful is that I saw a terrible sorrow in the eyes of the desiccated corpse trapped inside the ice. What was this thing? Thankfully I was able to break its grasp and we fled the place. But Adam only got a short time before I go back. - From Ivan Dragonovs tales

him hard! We were shocked, but the worst is Martin was eaten by the cemetery ground. This thing entombed our friend! We heard Martins screams, but I have shame to say we fled the place because we couldnt do otherwise. When we came back three days after, we unearthed Martins body and we carried it back to our camp. His face expressed a terrible fear, like if he knew all along what happened to him... Thank Ezra, we didnt see this horrible forsaken creature again - a scholar tale

Entomber [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about entombers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This filthy and shrunken humanoid, reeking of carrion, is an undead graverobber called an entomber. This result reveals all undead traits. Entombers understand Common, but since their lips are sewn shut, they cannot speak. 20 Necromancers often use entombers to do their dirty work. Whenever an entomber strikes a creature, it can magically pound it into a shallow grave, though it can only do this on a surface of stone, earth, or softer materials. An entombers body is unnaturally tough enough enough to deflect glancing blows, but silver weapons can pierce its defenses. 25 An entombed victims location is indicated by the low mound of broken earth or stone. An entombed victim can attempt to struggle free, and an ally can dig it up, but the victim has only moments before it runs out of air. With a touch, an entomber can also instantly exhume any body, living or dead, buried within 10 feet of the surface. --We were exploring the last of these old elaborate cemeteries of Sri Raji when we saw a shape moving toward us in the twilight. The man was hideous, and very dirty. Flies were swirling around it. Martin tries to speak to it, but the man slammed

Entropic reaper [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about entropic reapers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This scythe-wielding cloaked skeleton is an entropal reaper, an undead horror that arose in the Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo. This result reveals all undead traits and the chaotic subtype. Entropic reapers speak Abyssal, Celestial, and Common. 27 Entropic reapers serve evil entities of pure chaos, who send them forth to the Material Plane to slaughter lawfully-aligned creatures. To this end, an entropic reaper can plane shift once a day. These entities are masters of the scythe, dealing fearful wounds with its blade. 32 Entropic reapers are none too picky about who they kill. These reapers imbue any scythe they wield with the fluctuating chaos of Limbo. Victims struck by a reapers entropic blade may be struck mad by the agony of their seething flesh as they dissipate into nothingness. An entropic reaper ignores most minor blows, but lawfully-aligned weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. 37 An entropic reaper is highly resistant to magic and, until destroyed, recovers from even grevious wounds with shocking speed.

--I at first thought this thing to be a grim reaper. While there are many similarities in appearance, this unliving creature is much more powerful. But its scythe was an amazing thing. It was fabricated out of darkness, and when it moved around the creature, it seemed like light itself was attracted to it, making the area where the unloving stood bleaker. The blade struck one of my henchmen, and the men dissolved into something not unlike ectoplasm. It seemed very painful. But as I wanted to neutralize this unliving and grasp its scythe, it retracted to the plane of shadows, and then fled from me. Its a major disappointment, as this blade looked promising for a new dominant arcane incantation. It reminded me of these theories on arcane matter-sucking holes in the sky. Very promising and intriguing - a lichs journal in Nova Vaasa

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about dusk beasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This shadowy, two-headed lizard is a dusk beast, a creature native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all outsider traits. 23 A dusk beast feeds on areas of deep shadow. They slowly starve in areas of either bright light or complete darkness. It is fiercely territorial, and tends to attack anyone who carries a bright light into its feeding grounds. 28 A dusk beast can stretch its shadowy necks and tail, giving it an unexpectedly long reach. --"Old MacMurtry, he's got himself a guard dog, see? Except it's not a dog. It's a black thing the size of a big dog, except it has two heads, and sometimes it's not there. I truly don't care if you believe me, because it's true. If you see him go out sometimes on a moonlit night you'll see it following along behind him, going from shadow to shadow. Except I'm not sure he sees it, and sometimes I kinda wonder if he got it on purpose, or if he doesn't know it's there, and it's...you know. Following him for its own reasons." (Private interview with Sean Tovey, Smythe's Ferry. Further investigation provided no evidence for the existence of Dophe MacMurtry's "pet".) Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove, private notes

Ephemera [Manual of the Planes]

JWM: These creatures lurk in the Umbral Curtain (the Plane of Shadow equivalent to the Near Ethereal) -- a concept I never got to try out in the published books. Ephemera (general): Non-undead creatures native to the Plane of Shadow, their bodies composed of shadowstuff. Also fall into the if you can see them, they can see you category. Dont have reality wrinkles. [Manual of the Planes]

Ephemera, Ephemera, dusk beast [Manual of the Planes]

JWM: Medium Outsider [Extraplanar], CR 3, neutral. A two-headed lizard with a barbed tail, seemingly composed of darkness, thats the size of a man. Possesses nearly human-level intelligence, and can stretch its shadowstuff body somewhat. Despite their intelligence, theyre basically just territorial predators. ---

Ephemera, ecalypse [Manual of the Planes] Planes]

JWM: Large Outsider [Extraplanar], CR 9, neutral. Vaguely resembling a horse, these creatures have six legs and a gray, semitransparent body, sometimes allowing bones and internal structures to be seen. Unlike horses, they growl rather than neigh. They communicate telepathically with each other, and can sometimes be used as steeds by those powerful enough to

tame them. Semi-intelligent. They can merge with shadows. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ecalypses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This colorless, six-legged, nearly insubstantial equine creature is an acalypse, a creature native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all outsider traits. 25 In shadowy areas, an encalyse can blend into the darkness, making it all but invisible. Ecalypses are wild and fiercely independent creatures, but they can sometimes be broken and trained to accept a saddle. 30 Ecalypses only accept the rider who broke them, so they are never found for sale. An ecalypse can turn itself and its rider incorporeal at will. 35 An ecalypse has several useful spell-like abilities, including find the path, repulsion, and shadow walk. It can also plane shift itself and its rider once a day. --The two riders were approaching across the salt flat; behind them heat lightning lashed down on the strange ruined city. Their mounts might, at a distance, have been mistaken for horses, but they had a way of skittering sideways which no horse could duplicate, and the wind brought me their growling, more like that of bears or wolves than of any ruminant. As they came closer I saw, too, that these strange steeds had six legs. I stepped out from behind the stone, and the riders seemed to notice me for the first time; instantly, without any obvious communication between them, they stepped sideways--as it seemed, into their own shadows--and were gone. From a purported diary of Dr. Gregory Illhausen

Ephemera, umbral banyan [Manual of the Planes]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about umbral banyans. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This shadow-cloaked tree is an umbral banyan, a predatory plant native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all plant traits. 30 Umbral banyans lurk in the shadows of dense forests, patiently waiting for prey to come its way. Until it attacks, an umbral banyan is hard seldom noticed. An umbral banyan can speak Sylvan, but seldom does. 35 When an umbral banyan attacks, it lashes out with its hanging vines, grapples a victim, and yanks the hapless creature up off the ground. An umbral banyan slowly saps the strength from its grappled victims. 40 Once an umbral banyan has snatched a victim, it can briefly shift itself and its grappled prey to the Plane of Shadow, where it attempts to finish off its isolated foes before returning for more. --I dont know what kind of plant this was, or hell if it was a plant at all! Let me tell you this: we were in the wild jungles of Sri Raji, traveling to the ruins of an observatory where we were to look on the walls at signs for the next eclipse. It was important for this astronomer who hired us. Anyway, this huge banyan tree suddenly started moving and it attacked us while we were traveling in this jungle. Its treacherous nooses took the astronomer and strangled him while lifting him from the ground. We used fire magick, a tell tale tool against plants, but the way it collapsed in the shadows and disappeared leaved us clueless about this thing. We came back the next day but didnt find any trace of this banyan tree, or of the astronomer. Its like it never been there at all - a druids tale in a Darkon tavern

Ephemeral swarm [Monster Manual III]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about ephemeral swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This swirling collection of translucent creatures is an ephemeral swarm, a bestial chorus of lesser creatures slain en masse, their spirits united in death. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal and swarm subtypes. 20 Although the swarm flows through the air as one, it is composed of numerous little spirits. Targeting individual spirits can prove vexing, but attacks with magic bludgeoning weapons are often effective. 25 Ephemeral swarms attack by flowing over and around living creatures, draining the victims strength with their loathsome touch. --[...] You can imagine my surprise, my dear Claire, when I did as you suggested and exited Darkonese borders! I recalled instantly all of my life! [...] I resolved to go to Port-au-Lucine as soon as I could, so to see my true country. There, after meeting again my family (who invited me once more to marry, since a girl in its prime should not... You know how it goes, don't you?) and discovering that the pogroms against we halflings had intensified, I was summoned by our old friend Germaine, of the gendarmerie. He asked me to descend in the sewers (as I did before meeting you and our other friends): it seemed that a new resurgence of giant centipede was menacing the halfling community. As fast as I could, I gathered a small crew. We descended in the sewers and found some dead rats. It seemed to me that they died of starvation: they simply were completely paralyzed! After a few hours of exploration, we found out the culprit: in a great chamber there was a mass of writing centipedes... But I noticed something my companion didn't: they were already dead, as some were cut in half, others were lacking legs and head! I could even see the floor of the sewers

trough them. It was the ghost of the centipedes I killed more than three years ago! We moved away as soon as we could, since I didn't want to risk the life of my men. My, dear friend, I'm afraid we will need your help... Private letter form Constable Lyr Brushgather of Delagia to Witch Claire Silence of Viaki

Ermordenung [Denizens of Dread]

TEMPLATE Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about ermordenung. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This pale, statuesque individual is an ermordenung, a courier and confidante to Ivana Boristi hand-picked for his or her tact, cold beauty, and utter loyalty. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 23 Ermordenung are master poisoners, capable of delivering lethal contact poisons with just a touch. Due to their extensive exposure to poisons, they are highly resistant to being poisoned themselves. 28 Ermordenung are actually lethally poisonous to the touch. They cannot suppress this ability. They are immune to all poisons save the touch of another ermordenung. All ermordenung have pale skin and pitch-black hair. 33 Ermordenung have been permanently transformed from normal folk by Ivana Boristi, who alone holds the power of their creation. All ermordenung serve as her minions. --The man who grabbed her suddenly choked, pawing at his throat as he fell backwards. He writhed on the ground in agony till he finally stopped moving. But even as he lay dying, I did nothing to help; I was too busy staring at her. Had I not seen a man of twice my girth fall from just a touch, I would have swept her into my arms and kissed her without hesitation, regardless of

consequences. Some nights, when she plagues my dreams, I wish I had. -Ferrius Casteele

Ethereal slayer [Monster Manual II]

JWM: These monsters sometimes enter the Demiplane of Dread by accident while traveling in the Deep Ethereal, after which they lurk in the Near Ethereal. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ethereal slayers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 26 This monstrous alien horror is an ethereal slayer, an ambush predator native to the Ethereal Plane. These fiends are dimly intelligent, but are fast and purely malevolent. This result reveals all outsider traits and the chaotic and evil subtypes. 31 Ethereal slayers possess a powerful detect magic ability that allows them to detect magical auras on the Material Plane while they remain on the Ethereal. They often linger unseen near these magical treasures, waiting for unwary planar traffic. When an ethereal slayer strikes, it attacks with its shredding mandibles and wicked, mantislike pincers. 36 An ethereal slayer can plane shift twice a day to pursue prey to the Material Plane, then retreat after eating its fill. Its chitinous armor deflects most attacks, but good-aligned magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 41 An ethereal slayer is strongly resistant to magic. It can use dimensional anchor at will to trap ethereal creatures in the Ethereal Plane. --We had heard the stories of a haunting at the Farwaes manor, and had made our usual preparations for ghost hunting; I asked M. Mikkelson to accompany us, as his ghost-sight would surely prove invaluable in our expedition. Entering the house during daylight hours, we had made only a cursory inspection when I heard Mikkelson shout, "What the devil?" in a tone quite unlike his usual conciliatory manner of speaking to the restless dead. Hurrying into the hallway, we

Ethereal marauder [Monster Manual]

CR3 JWM: These monsters sometimes enter the Demiplane of Dread by accident while traveling in the Deep Ethereal, after which they lurk in the Near Ethereal. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ethereal marauders. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This bizarre, tri-jawed creature is an ethereal marauder, a predator native to the Ethereal Plane. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 18 Ethereal marauders are fairly intelligent, but have no known culture or society; they exist solely to hunt. An ethereal marauder attacks with its powerful bite. 23 An ethereal marauder relies on hit-and-run tactics to wear down its foes. The creature can shift to the Material Plane, bite an opponent, and then shift back to the Ethereal Plane before its victims can react. --While looking for Elisabeths possible hiding place in the mists, we were suddenly facing this thing. Really, I have never seen, or heard, of such a thing. It was like a worm or a lizard standing on its back legs. Strange skin colours too, all blue and grey hued. But then it opened its mouth, to show an impossibly large mouth, where all its inners were black teeth! We discussed it afterward and the consensus is that it looked like a toothed snake with legs. Edwin tried to ward him off our group by presenting its torch, but he was bitten instead. Then Geraldine hit it with her sword and the thing vanished Elisabeth Yquery vanishing case inquiry.

saw him pass at a dead run, yelling to us, "Get out of here!" as he went. When we caught up with him at some distance from the manor house, I asked what on earth he had seen there. "It's not a haunting," he said, his face even more pale than usual. "It's not...I saw a thing in there, like a spider--a crab--I don't know how to describe it. Big. Whatever it is, it's not a ghost." private journal of George Weathermay

went away among the webs; and Little Tip, in his hat of invisibility, followed him. Little Tip and the Spider People, traditional Tepestani See also Dragon 343

Evolved undead [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about evolved undead. The base DC is (12 + the base creatures CR); the DCs given below are for the sample evolved wraith. The character must make a separate Knowledge (religion) check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 After centuries of undeath, this creature has grown more powerful, evolving new abilities. Evolved undead often become leaders of their kind. 21 Evolved corporeal undead are physically tougher than normal; evolved incorporeal undead develop more forceful personalities. Both varieties recover quickly from their wounds. 26 Evolved undead develop new spell-like abilities they can use once a day, including circle of death, cloudkill, cone of cold, confusion, contagion, creeping doom, greater dispel magic, greater invisibility, haste, hold monster, see invisibility, or unholy blight. A single evolved undead seldom gains more than one or two of these abilities, however, and its impossible to predict what of these powers a given undead may possess. --The documented tales changed little in well over a century. The innocent, the guilty, the foolhardy would find themselves at the door of Mill Manor, cross the threshold of the strangely resilient structure, and enter the great hall with its immense chandelier. They would discover little of the disorder that is to be expected in a place so long abandoned. Few of them would spot the subtle signs of the bloody violence that has so deeply

Ettercap [Monster Manual]

CR3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about ettercaps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This hideous, spiderlike humanoid is called an ettercap. This result reveals all aberration traits. They are somewhat intelligent and usually speak Common. 20 Ettercaps have no real society; they exist to hunt and breed. They feel a great affinity for spiders, however, and often keep them as pets and guardians. 25 An ettercaps bite injects a debilitating poison that can cause loss of muscle control, leading to paralysis. Ettercaps are not particularly brave, and usually flee if a fight turns against them. 30 Ettercaps can weave vast webs, and can even spin and throw them like nets. Ettercaps are instinctually talented trapmakers, and often incorporate numerous traps into their lairs. --Next there came a chittering, and a rasping, and a clicking, and a tapping, and the great spiders moved aside, and a little man with the face of a spider came into the clearing. He lifted his hands and began to gesture to the spiders, and the spiders began to dance, filling up the clearing with their silk as they went and forming it into great nets and snares to catch the unwary. At last the dance was done, and the spider-man lowered his hands and

stained the place. And almost none would escape a taste, at the very least, of the fury that is congealed there. Without warning and with terrible accuracy, a blade would draw itself from concealment, take aim at tender flesh, and hurl itself forth. Then another. And another. Individuals who stood their ground and fought died. Where as those who fled typically survived to recount their tale. But something has changed in the last decade or two. For the innocent no longer escape Mill Manor and the less than innocent speak now not only of honed blades but also of a blackness, sticky and stinking, that more than one described as reminiscent of a grave overladen with rotting flowers. -Unpublished note of Doctor Rudolf Van Ritchen

The Ministry of Finance cleared his throat, and said: my dear Kingfuhrer, we again got a report from Stadtfuhrer Theodorn in Morfenzi. She mentions again of a powerful undead creature praying on your populace living near the Rift. Her efforts to get rid of it failed so far, because she hasnt enough soldiers to make an effective hunt. She asks for a battalion of soldiers dedicated to this task, led by a Talon. With Bloody nonsense, interrupted Vlad Drakov, while pounding his throne with his fist. See what you get when promoting a woman? That really was a silly idea, Vigo! After a moment of silence in the room, he got calmer and asked What did she say of this damned bag of bones again? The Ministry of Finance again cleared his throat, and looked at his notes. A vicious skeleton-like thing, but with magic powers, one Bah!, said Drakov. In short, it is tricking the peasants to kill each other, and was seen throwing balls of fire at the peasants, he finished. Great father, if I may, said Vigo, I would like to head this expedition and get your land cleared of this undead thing. Not a chance in hell, replied Vlad Drakov. What does she think we are, this schoolgirl in Morfenzi? Bug collectors? If we agree for this one, we will get endless similar requests about anything and any matter from all over Falkovnia. No, make sure instead this Gondegal and his fools learn of this creature through the usual means. Let them do the dirty work for us. Brilliant, my great lord!, said the Ministry of Finance, while Vigo was tightening his fists behind his cloak.

Eye of fear and flame [Book of Vile Darkness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about eyes of fear and flame. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This hooded, skeletal creature is an eye of fear and flame, an undead horror created by the gods of chaos and evil. This result reveals all undead traits. It speaks Common. 23 An eye of fear and flame has a valuable jewel set into each eye socket. The creature usually attacks by drawing back its hood to reveal one gem or the other. The black gem is the eye of fear, which terrorizes those it sees. The red gem is the eye of flame, which burns that which it sees with unholy fire. 28 In addition to its jeweled eyes, an eye of fear and flame can also call upon several spell-like abilities at will, including detect good, detect law, detect thoughts, and true seeing. It can also use ethereal jaunt twice a day. 33 Any vision-affecting spell (such as blindness or power word: blind) cast on an eye of fear and flame is reflected back at its caster. ---

F
Famine spirit (ravenous ghoul) [Monster Manual II]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about famine spirits. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 29 This hideously obese, decaying humanoid is a famine spirit, a powerful form of undead also known as a ravenous ghoul. This result reveals all undead traits. 34 A famine spirit lunges at living creatures with its fangs and claws, seeking to sate its bottomless hunger. A famine spirit has a chance of biting off a victims head with a single bite, and can unhinge its jaw to swallow that head in a single gulp. 39 A famine spirit is surrounded by a wide aura with the effects of a symbol of pain. It also recovers quickly from its wounds. 44 Famine spirits do not feed on the undead, so they often collect a retinue of lesser ghouls and ghasts that scavenge from its leftovers. In the rare case that a famine spirit does not completely consume a victim, the corpse rises a few days later as a new famine spirit. Casting protection from evil on the corpse can stop the transformation. 49 A famine spirit can temporarily slip into the Ethereal Plane three times a day, and it can see invisible creatures. --After we were successful on our hunt of the Glutton of GHenna, our first energies were put to cure poor Nikolass hand. But alas, no amount of curing could mend what those terrible jaws had done, and Nikolass broken hand was completely lost to him. I pity him but Im sure his inner strength will help him face this challenge. Then I searched our uncles paper on hungry dead. In these notes, I found something ghastly. There was once in Darkon a similar monster to the

Glutton, a ghoul of insatiable hunger and terrible powers. The adventurer that told our uncle details on this creature said it was seen eating at least 50 corpses on a deserted battlefield, in less then a day! They engaged it in combat, but some of them were trembling when near the monster, as if its hideous presence was causing them pain. But the worse is that one of the fighters got bit in the head, and it was sliced from the mans body. I shiver just to think of what much worse could have happened to our dear Nikolas. - Laurie WFs journal See also Dragon #336

Fearweed [Denizens of Dread]

CR1 "Fear weed, Runco vereor, is something of a misnomer. Unfortunately, madness weed, Runco rabies, is little better. In any case, the candles were the success that I had expected. For obvious reasons living bees would not readily do the work thus a hive was slain and infused with my potency. Its members gathered the pollen, embedding it in their wax. The wax was cast into shape, the steak knives were honed to a razors edge, and thus I was well armed to meet over dinner the arguments of La Socit de la raison claire." -Passage from Lord of Necropolis, a forged and calumnious autobiographical parody of the life of Azalin Rex

Fenhound [Denizens of Dread]

CR4 Errata: Add the Mists subtype. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about fenhounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This softly glowing mastiff is a fenhound, a creature that only appears on nights of the full moon. This result reveals all outsider traits.

20 Fenhounds relentlessly track their prey across the swamps they call home. A fenhound can always follow its quarrys trail. Fenhounds attack with their fearsome bite, usually dragging victims to the ground in the process. 25 A fenhounds shimmering aura is concentrated moonlight. It protects the fenhound from physical harm and helps it resist most magic. A fenhound cannot be harmed by light-based magic or divine magic dedicated to the sun, moon, or revenge. However, magic weapons can still pierce a fenhounds supernatural defenses. 30 A fenhound can strike fear in the hearts of its foes simply by baying at the moon. If a fenhounds moonlight aura is suppressed (perhaps in an antimagic shell), it loses most of its supernatural defenses. 35 Despite its fearsome demeanor, a fenhound is a force of good. Fenhounds appear only when someone commits an evil deed within their moors, and relentlessly hunt the villain. If a fenhound is slain, two more take its place on the following full moon. The only way to permanently escape a fenhound hunt is to fully atone for ones crimes. --Lord Candor: To what to I owe this late visit, my friend? Are you not content with stealing my wealth and my son, that you now wish something else from me? Lord Craven: Toy not with me. Call off your hounds, lest I take your head! They have plagued me every night I have set foot outside for a fortnight past. Lord Candor: By your own actions, I have no hounds to send. Lord Craven: None indeed! Then from whence comes this dreadful baying? -From The Hound upon the Fen, a poor selling Mordentish play.

DC Result 15 This ghastly spirit is a fetch, a malevolent reflection that seeks to steal the life of the creature it mirrors. This result reveals all outsider traits and the incorporeal subtype. 20 A fetch attacks by projecting itself from a visible mirror. A fetch focuses on attacking the creature it reflects, and is invisible to all other foes. It possesses all the abilities of the creature it reflects, and its attacks drain that creatures life energy. A fetch casts no reflection, and while it is active, neither does the creature it mirrors. 25 As a fetch drains its duplicates life energy, it gradually materializes until it becomes fully corporeal. A fetch is the reversed mirror-image of its real duplicate, both physically and spiritually. A fetch can use mirrors like magic portals to travel from one mirror to another. 30 Fetches are native to the little-known Plane of Mirrors. A fetch projecting itself from that plane must remain within sight of a mirror at all times. A fetch cannot see or hear any creature that does not normally cast a reflection. --Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who's the fairest of them all? Confess, confess, it is I My reflection could not lie. -A vain, foolish girl visiting Carnival

Fey, Fey, folkloric [Van Richtens Guide to the Shadow Fey p 16] 16] Feytouched [Fiend Folio, Van Richtens Guide to the Shadow Shadow Fey p108]
(Alvenkin, Bragkin, Firkin, Muryankin, Portunekin, powriekin, sheekin, sithkin, tegkin) (Ravenloft-specific lore is underlined.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about a creatures feytouched nature.

Fetch, dread [Carnival + Dragon # 313]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures fetch nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the reflected creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

They may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 A few of this creatures odd, sylvan traits hint at a touch of fey ancestry. This result reveals all fey traits. 16 Unlike true fey, creatures that are merely feytouched are mortal (though sometimes unusually long-lived, like half-elves). Compared to their mortal ancestors, feytouched tend to be nimble and outgoing, though somewhat frail. They are neither innately benevolent nor malevolent, but either way, they tend to have playful personalities. 21 Feytouched with particularly outgoing personalities may develop spell-like abilities, including charm person, dancing lights, daze, and ghost sound, which they can use once a day. 26 Feytouched tend to be lucky, and their slightly otherwordly minds are immune to all mindaffecting spells and effects. However, if a feytouched is descended from the shadow fey, it loses its special abilities while exposed to sunlight. --"Begone, demon in human form! Begone, with your deceptive skin of porcelain! Still now your breath that smells of a thousand blooms but reeks of brimstone! Shut now forever your eyes that glisten with stars but burn with hellfire! You are Blasphemy! You are not my daughter! Begone! May the woods take you and never return you back!" -- polemic of Inquisitor Brian Guillachan against his newborn feytouched daughter, Brigdarrow, Tepest See also Fiend folio version

Fiends (see demon and devil). Base info on fiends see demons Fiendish creature [Monster Manual p107]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures fiendish nature. (They may need to make a different Knowledge check to learn about the base creatures traits.) When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This creature has been tainted by its fiendish origins. This result reveals all the traits of the creatures current type (such as magical beast). 17 A fiendish creature is resistant to cold and fire. More powerful fiendish creatures can also resist weapon damage, but good-aligned weapons can still pierce their defenses. 22 Fiendish creatures can see in the dark and are resistant to spells. 27 Once per day, a fiendish creature can channel its evil energies into a melee attack, smiting a good-aligned foe for extra damage. --"... I done told him. I done told him that dog t'weren't right. But my boy did have a soft spot for critters, and he jes' laughed at his ol' pa, and took him in. I done told him again that night I saw the mutt sittin' in the burning woodshed, not dead, not scared, just sittin' and lookin' at me. Them eyes weren't no hound eyes I ever seen. And the thing just walked outta them flames, fancy as you please, without a scratch or a singe on 'im. I knew then he was from hell alright; I'm sure 'a that, ain't nothin you say'll change my mind. So I wasn't surprised at'all when he done that... to my boy.... my little boy.... Sad, yup, sadder then I'll ever be, and sorry and angry too, but not surprised a bit, no sir." -- Testimony of Farmer Holt of Viaki, in the "Demon Dog" incident.

Fiendish symbiont: symbiont: fiendish familiar [Fiend Folio]

There was an outlander sorcerer, a man of puissant evil, who came among us some moons gone by, who did much wickedness in the land, until our noble King (long may his reign endure!) came forth at the head of a band of our young men and smote the miscreant. And, in truth, the evidence of his corruption was seen immediately in this: that he carried within his breast another mouth, which did utter strange blasphemies (this died with him); that his hair and skin crawled with vermin; and that his belly was already distended in the moment of death with worms, as if he had been dead many a day. These vermin and these worms our King (whose word is the law of his subjects) commanded should be taken up in vessels that were thereafter sealed, that he might make more close examination of them, and this was done; those who participated thereafter being much prone to the falling sickness, to divine madness, biting at the flesh, and so forth, all signs of the favor which obedience had won them. common Vechorian tale, accepted by some as having historical basis

bodies can deflect glancing blows, but adamantine weapons can prove effective. 23 Several varieties of figurine have been created, each one identifiable by the material used to create it and the animal it is fashioned to resemble. Each variety of figurine possesses its own special abilities. This result reveals the special attacks and qualities of each figurine, and also reveals the method for creating figurines. 28 The dark magic animating a figurine is far too powerful to be properly contained by its miniature body. Eventually, the power awakens these constructs, granting them a malign cunning, free will, and a hatred for those who possess true life.

Figurine, ceramic [Denizens of Dread]

CR1 "But, Griselda, these are exquisite!" I told her, and indeed they were--tiny statuettes, the largest no bigger than a man's palm, but carved or sculpted with the most minute detail in the forms of various animals. The old man had worked with several media; there were a rank of reptiles, cast in potter's clay and decorated with paints; insects and spiders carved from single crystals; a whole tribe of brutish apes made from black volcanic glass; and, at the rear, a scrimshaw elephant and a porcelain tiger lorded it over their smaller fellows, though this last needed cleaning; its gold and black stripes were spattered with rust-brown paint. "They are horrible, horrible," she muttered, biting at her lip. "At night I hear them talk among themselves, like so many mice. I am glad he is dead! Now he can make no more." The Menagerie, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Fiendish symbiont: symbiont: gutworm [Fiend Folio] Fiendish symbiont: soul tick [Fiend [Fiend Folio] Figurine, all [Denizens of Dread]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about figurines. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This miniature, animalistic sculpture is a magically animated figurine. This result reveals all construct traits. 18 Figurines are mindless combatants that fight as commanded by their masters. Their hardened

Figurine, crystal [Denizens of Dread]

CR1

Figurine, ivory [Denizens of Dread] Dread]

CR3

Figurine, obsidian [Denizens of Dread]

CR2

Figurine, porcelain [Denizens of Dread]

CR3

Fihyr [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about fihyrs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This horrid, tentacled monstrocity is a fihyr, a literal nightmare made flesh. This result reveals all aberration traits and the dream subtype. 19 Fihyrs feed on fear and despair. They exist solely to cause havoc, and pay no heed toward their own survival. The mere sight of a fihyrs ferocious attack can terrify onlookers. A fihyr is somewhat resistant to magic. 24 Fihyrs are instantly slain by exposure to natural sunlight, though they betray no fear of it. Rarely, great fihyrs come into being. These powerful fihyrs are unique among dream creatures in that sunlight does not harm them, although they despise and avoid it. 29 Great fihyrs are far more cunning than their lesser kin and can turn invisible at will. Unlike common fihyrs, these horrors do take steps to assure their own survival. 34 A great fihyr can evoke feelings of intense fear, sorrow, or rage from other creatures as a spell-like ability. The emotion lasts for as long as the fihyr concentrates, and it can remain invisible while doing so. --[...]Let me indulge more on the subject of superstition. One of the people who had the pleasure of travelling with me during my time outside Darkon was a well educated and rational halfling, a master crafter of pulvus ignea, who had the only defect to have developed in his life a rather... Lamordian view on religion.

He told me of an encounter he had before meeting me. He told me confuse words of "pure fear", "terrors", "tentacles and wings"... He told me of something that cornered him and the other companions in an old farm and seemed to grow stronger and larger with every passing minute they were trapped, frightened, in that house. To destroy the creature, he told me, they resolved in burning down the building. As you can see, even the most rational persoan can be swayed by mere superstition: I can tell you the creature was nothing more than the illusion cast by an evil mage we had to fight some weeks later. I am sure of it, since in all my travels, I never faced such a creature. From All that is true about this world a pamphlet by the Toret Warlock Claude Seymar of Martyra Bay.

Flayed Flayed rider (nuckalavee) (FoS NS Gaz) Gaz)

Legend claims the Flayed Rider was once a man, yet the shape that rears up from the fouled ponds stagnant water is less human than any goblyn. Its squat, malformed mans torso is wedded at the waist to a quadruped body only superficially equine, furless and slime-slickened, with dripping frills of fin and a long tail like an eels, now lashing the brackish waters surface to froth. Its wrists join to webbed, taloned things more paw than hand; ungainly frog-feet, also clawed, sprout from its fetlocks in place of hooves. Worse even than its grossly-bloated, ogrish face or the hate-filled, spit-spraying bellow of rage it unleashes, is its skin: transparent as a tadpoles belly, such that the taut cords of blanched muscles, the ivory of bone and sickly yellow of gristle, the ropy coils of gut in its paired bellies and the pulsing streams of black blood within its veins, are hideously cast into view. Ezras mercy, let it not have been a man

Fleas of Madness (MC III) see Maddening Flea Fog cadaver see Zombie, fog Foresaken shell [Libris Mortis]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about forsaken shells. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This heaving, slithering skin is a forsaken shell, the outer remains of a victim slain by necromantic forces. This result reveals all undead traits. 21 A forsaken shell lashes at its foes with torn flaps of skin. These creatures are incredibly strong, and if they grab hold of a foe, they can slowly crush it to death. The presence of a forsaken shell is often presaged by the discovery of its gruesome, flayed victims. 26 If a living creature is slain by a forsaken shell, then after a few moments its skin sloughs off and animates as a new forsaken shell. --Not only can the foul fey flay a man alive. With their malign magiks they can cause the poor wretchs hide to rise up and wrench the remaining life from him. Although this is done only after the skin has been sent slithering off to deal with the fellows family and has returned with the grisly proof of the dasterly deed in tow. -Wyan of Viktal, "Hammer of Shades"

undead remains of a desert traveler who died of thirst. This result reveals all undead traits. 19 Forlorn husks are driven by a burning thirst. They are intelligent and stealthy predators, using their sharp claws and fangs to slash open wounds in their victims. A forlorn husks dry flesh deflects glancing blows, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 24 A forlorn husk can drain moisture from a grappled victim, sucking out the fluids through any open wound. Any humanoid killed by having its fluids drained away rises as a new forlorn husk within a day or two. A forlorn husk's wounds heal quickly. 29 A forlorn husk can climb walls like a spider. The creatures ravenous thirst is so overpowering that may even ignore living foes in favor of obtaining visible sources of water even holy water. A distracted forlorn husk is not helpless, however; it may attack foes to reach water, and it can defend itself while drinking. --Well, ladies and gentlemen, you heard our spell casting client this afternoon, we are soon going to HarAkir, said the woman, after taking a long breath at her expensive cigar. But, Madame Montarri, how are we to get there and how will we find such a creature?, said a younger men around the table. Its remains will be easy to bring back to Darkon after we kill it, but we will have to find it first! And HarAkir is an endless field of sand, he added. Hear, hear First, my tender one, let me the mist navigation part. I got a good sense for this, and a vistani head too, I might add, she replied with a mischievous smile. Second, if I understand what our well paying client said, this undead creature is thirsty for water, she continued. Not blood or anything, just plain water. So well bring plenty of it to fly fish it. Barrels and barrels. It might be long, as you say, but this contract is the juiciest in a long time

Forlorn husk [Sandstorm] [Sandstorm]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about forlorn husks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This sinister figure with parchment-like skin and glowing green eyes is a forlorn husk, the

And what our spell caster client wants to do with the remains of this creature isnt our business. Our business is to get there, and bring it back, dead. - Heard at a Red Vardo Traders reunion

15 Fumewood termites hungrily consume both wood and flesh. They are usually encountered in swarms, but even a single termite can be dangerous. A Fumewood termites bite is venomous, capable of numbing or even paralyzing its victim. 20 A Fumewood termite that bites exposed flesh burrows into creature, infesting the flesh as other termites would infest a dead tree. It only burrows for a few moments a day before eating its fill, but continues to slowly bore a winding tunnel through the victims flesh until it is extracted or the victim is stripped of flesh. This result also reveals the procedure for removing infesting termites. --The employment of the Fumewood termite, native to the Fumewood logically enough, is essentially limited to Sithicus. Binding and gagging an individual in the immediate vicinity of a colony, while effective, is unambitious, unless there is some pressing need to be rid completely of both flesh and bones. It is better to bring a witless subject into the presence of a swarm, affording a good show and a better alibi. More recommendable still, with some time and privacy, is to introduce a single termite into the arm of a properly restrained person. The movement of the creature under the skin can be appreciated, the pain is sharply focussed, and death comes slowly. But a case can also be made for the nose, the ear or even the eye. And with a few spares at hand, albeit not literally, the cheek or mouth are also worthy of consideration. -Torture Techniques both Old and New, doctoral thesis of Linda Dilisnya, Brautslava Institute

Formorian giant [Monster Manual II] II]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Fox [Frostburn - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about foxes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This bushy-tailed, doglike animal is a fox. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Foxes feed on rodents, small birds, and similar game. They flee from creatures larger than themselves, and are renowned for their cunning methods of evading hunters.

Fox , silverfox - see Silverfox Frostwind Virago [MM5] MM5]

A sort of giant fey from the cold

Fumewood termite [Book of Sacrifices/Spectre of the Black Rose]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about Fumewood termites. In Sithicus, a Knowledge (local) check reveals the same information, but the DC increases by +5. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 The termites native to the Fumewood of Sithicus are reputed to have dangerously ravenous appetites. This result reveals all vermin traits.

Fungus, shrieker [Monster Manual]

CR1; Suggested by Chris Nichols

Fungus, Fungus, violet fungus [Monster Manual]

CR3; Suggested by Chris Nichols

Furies [Denizens of Dread]

3 x CR 11 Alecto (the Implacable, She who must not be named), Tisiphone (the Avenger), Megarea (the Disputatious)

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about the Furies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 These hideous, batwinged bird women are the Furies, a trio of fiendish harpies who exist to snuff out the flickers of redemption in a heart turned black by sin. This result reveals all outsider traits and the evil, lawful, native and Mists subtypes. 28 When the Furies detect a black-hearted villains desire to redeem himself, they appear to him three times to lead him astray. If a villain resists all three visits, the Furies will never appear to him again. They can take the form of old women, and each one carries a magic scourge. A Furys breath carries the nauseating stench of rotten flesh, which she can use as a breath weapon. 33 On their first visit, the Fures simply try to talk the villain back onto the path of damnation, turning him against his allies. The Furies have potent supernatural defenses, but good-aligned weapons remain particularly effective against them. The three Furies always appear to together and coordinate their attacks. A Furys scourge lashes a foes spirit as much as his flesh. 38 On their second visit, the Furies resort to threats, listing the villains crimes and declaring that his soul will never be cleansed. Of the three sisters, Alecto the Implacable is a powerful divine spellcaster. Megarea the Disputatious wields mighty sorcerous powers, and Tisiphone the Avenger is a fearsome warrior. The Furies are immune to paralysis, polymorph, and mindinfluencing effects. The attacks of creatures whose souls are utterly untouched by sin are just as effective against Furies as blessed weapons. 43 On their final visit, the Furies reveal their true forms and attempt to destroy (and devour) the villain. If a single Fury is destroyed, she boils away as black smoke, but will eventually return. A mortal slain by the Furies can never be restored to life; all attempts automatically result in undeath at best. Although they are not undead, so foul are the Furies that concentrated positive energy burns them. 48 To permanently destroy the Furies, all three must be slain on the same day, and the killing

blows must be delivered by foes whose spirits are completely pure. A Fury cannot bring herself to permanently harm any good-hearted creature. --"Call them the Kindly Ones," the crone muttered. "At that there can be no offense. They have names, aye, but naming calls, and they must not be called. They seek you already; all those who walk in darkness and then turn to the light are their lawful prey. Beware the Iron Three, the Implacable, the Avenger, the Disputatious, and if they find you...only then...must you hail them." She scrawled three words in Darkonese script on the paper. Alecto, Tisiphone, Megarea. "Do not name them unless they find you," she repeated, putting it in my hands. Eumenides, from "Twelve Tales of the Macabre", Jean Lafolie

G
Gaki, all [Oriental Adventures]
Gaki (general): Minor undead spirits, the souls of wicked mortals forced to return to the world of the living as punishment for their sins. By far most common types of walking dead in Far Eastern realms. All gaki share a limited array of stealthy spell-like abilities, plus the ability to fly and the power to assume the form of a common insect. [Oriental Adventures]

Gaki, nikuniku-gaki [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Medium Undead (Spirit), CR 1, chaotic evil. The undead forms of miserly merchants and others who were exceedingly greedy in life. Phyiscally somewhat similar to jiki-ketsu-gaki, but they lack any special powers beyond those of all gaki. Their behavior is more akin to ghouls they simply attack people, drag them off into the woods, and eat them.

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about jiki-niku-gaki. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This ghoulish creature with palid, flaking skin is a jiki-niku-gaki, the restless spirit of someone who was ruled by greed in life. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 16: Like all gaki, jiki-niku-gaki can fly and turn themselves invisible at will. They can also take the form of common insects, and several times a day they can use passwall as a spell-like ability. DC 21: Jiki-niku-gki killers driven by an obsessive hunger for living flesh. They possess just enough cunning to ambush their victims. A jiki-niku-gaki ignores glancing blows, but weapons wielded by foes of great honor can pierce their defenses. A jiki-niku-gaki recovers quickly from its wounds. --Of the merchant Wazira they say that he ate up men, because his greed took the food from the mouths of many honest laborers who died in the famines when he demended their last copper coin for a bowl of rice. Being himself such a great glutton, it is no surprise that he hungers, even after his death, for man's flesh. They say he is seen sometimes on the road between Takeda and Moroshi, stirring a pot filled with men's bones; but that a traveler who presents him with a copper cash may pass freely. Kenzo Nakamura, The History of the Islands of the Sun

DC 14: This bony, ghoulish humanoid is a shikkigaki, the walking corpse of an irresponsible healer, negligent servant, or even a corrupted nature spirit. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 19: Like all gaki, shikki-gaki can fly and turn themselves invisible at will. They can also take the form of common insects, and several times a day they can use passwall as a spell-like ability. DC 24: Shikki-gaki are dimly intelligent, compelled by their insatiable hunger for humanoid flesh. A shikki-gakis claws carry a deadly supernatural disease called gaki fever. A shikkigakis bony body deflects glancing blows, but weapons wielded by foes of great honor can pierce their defenses. DC 29: A shikki-gaki recovers quickly from its wounds. Those that were nature spirits in life spend their daylight hours in the form of large mushroom. A shikki-gaki in mushroom form can be destroyed by being doused with a dipper of hot soup or salt water. --The cave was damp and cold, and made Shiro's nose itch. He accompanied there his grandfather, carrying his exorcist staff and a bowl of hot, steaming soup. Grandfather praied all the way to the cavern. They discended for about thirty minutes, then Grandfather took the staff and the soup and ordered Shiro to wait there. He, then, disappeared in the dark of the cavern. He waited for a long time, kicking coobles, counting the cracks in the cavern's ceiling, and poking the many mushrooms growing on the walls. He could hear Grandfather chanting the litany he sang in every village that requested his assistance. He could even hear a strange buzzing sound... Like snoring. The the chant stopped. Then the sound of something washed on the floor. A scream. "Grandfather!" he yelled. Nobody answered. Them from the darkness, a figure came. It was Grandfather tired as always after he did his work. The bowl in his hand was empty. "Let us go, Shiro." the old man said "The village is now safe"

Gaki, shikkishikki-gaki [Oriental Adventures]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about shikki-gaki. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Gaki, shinenshinen-gaki [Oriental Adventures]

Shinen-gaki: Medium Undead (Fire, Spirit), CR 6, chaotic evil. The undead forms of treacherous or cowardly soldiers. They appear as a hovering ball of flame, not unlike a will-o-wisp, and burn all that they touch. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about shinen-gaki. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This hovering ball of flame is a shinengaki, the restless spirit of traitorous or cowardly soldier. This result reveals all undead traits and the fire subtype. DC 19: Like all gaki, shinen-gaki can fly and turn themselves invisible at will. They can also take the form of common insects, and several times a day they can use passwall as a spell-like ability. DC 24: A shinen-gaki burns to the touch. If its victims attempt to flee, it often attempts to surround its foes with a circle of fire. DC 29: Shinen-gaki simply ignore most attacks, but magic weapons can pierce their defenses. A shinen-gaki recovers quickly from its wounds. --Military Governor Ozuna had the traitors crucified in the courtyard before his palace, but his own cruel deeds (which were very many) soon came home to roost; for the courtyard was afterward haunted by their vengeful spirits, who appeared on every first night of the new moon and burned in the air until the rising sun dispelled their light. One year after their death the shinen-gaki appeared and advanced on his abode, and, entering, burned all within whom they could find, leaving the Governor's Palace in ashes. The place is still widely considered accursed, and none save the bravest with sleep within its walls.

Kenzo Nakamura, The History of the Islands of the Sun

Gaki, jikijiki-ketsuketsu-gaki [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Medium Undead (Spirit), CR 6, chaotic evil. The undead forms of corrupted monks and other holy men. Somewhat akin to vampire spawn they have dark, greasy skin, fangs and claws, and bloodshot eyes. Unlike other gaki, they retain human-level intelligence and can speak. They drain blood and can use a musical instrument to hypnotize victims. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about jiki-ketsu-gaki. A character who recognizes a jik-ketsu-gakis nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC 16: This gaunt, greasily creature with the sharp fangs and claws is a jiki-ketsu-gaki, the cursed spirit of a corrupted holy man or woman. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 21: Like all gaki, jiki-ketsu-gaki can fly and turn themselves invisible at will. They can also take the form of common insects, and several times a day they can use passwall as a spell-like ability. DC 26: Jiki-ketsu-gaki are the most cunning and talkative of their kind. They drain blood from living foes that fall into their clutches. Their undead flesh instantly heals most wounds, but magic weapons can pierce their defenses. DC 31: Most jiki-ketsu-gaki carry a stringed instrument called a biwa, with which they play music that fascinates mortal minds. Jiki-ketsu-gaki recover quickly from their wounds and are immune to both fire and cold. Bardic Knowledge

DC 31: A jiki-ketsu-gakis fascinating music is a sonic effect that can be countered by bardic music.. --There was an old man seated on top of the wall, dressed in the robes of a monk; but his teeth were too long for his mouth, and his fingernails were claws, and his skin was dark and greasy. Kazuo was not fooled at all; he knew it was no ordinary monk. But it never does harm to be polite, and so he said politely, "Pardon me, uncle, but which is the road that leads to Takeda? "Well, my nephew," the gaki replied, "if you go to the left and hurry, you may be there before the sun rises. Whereas, if you go to the right, you will never seen the sun rise at all." "Thank you, uncle, but it is quite dark--which is the path to the left?" cried Kazuo. but the gaki was already gone. You can guess what happened next. Kazuo turned to the right--because he could not tell his left from right in the dark--and set off boldly down the road, as he thought, to Takeda. Foolish Kazuo Goes To Takeda, traditional Rokushiman

--Eventually we decided to just bash any statue we saw a couple of times with a mace, 'cause it was hardly worth wonderin' which ones were gonna jump us when we turned our backs. I told that to a Dementlieuse muckety-muck one time and he just about jumped out of his skin; said somethin' about "destroying artistic treasures". Artistic treasures my beard, I told him; they were a menace, and any dungeon-delver with a sense of self-preservation would've done the same. --- Geddar Ironheart
See also Pathfinder classic horror revisited

Gaunt (doppelganger) [FoS VRS Dopp] Geist [Denizens of Dread] (ex gheist) Bussengeist, poltergeist
(template) Those on the far side of the Veil vary among themselves in personality and attributes as much or more as do those we call the Living...among the most innocuous are those spirits whose sole stock and store of influence over the living is to reveal to them the manner of their passing over. Such an encounter may be frightening but is unlikely to prove dangerous; the prospect for freeing a spirit of this type of whatever shackles bind it to the world of the Living is much better than for most... Ars traversis, or The Art of Crossing Over, anonymous, first published in Mordent, 644 BC

Gargoyle [Monster Manual]

CR4 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about gargoyles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This monstrous, animate statue is a living creature called a gargoyle. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the earth subtype. 19 Gargoyles can perch indefinitely without moving, easily passing themselves off as grotesque statues until victims come near. A gargoyle possesses only a dim intelligence, but it speaks Terran and Common. 24 A gargoyles stony hide deflects most minor blows, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 29 Several subraces of gargoyle exist, including the aquatic kapoacinth.

Genie, efreeti [Monster Manual]

CR 8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about efreet. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This fiery, devilish-looking giant is an efreeti, a type of genie. This result reveals all outsider traits

and the fire subtype. Efreet speak Auran, Ignan, Infernal, and Common. Genies are renowned for their ability to grant wishes. 25 Genies are clever entities who prefer to outwit opponents. If trapped, they try to bargain their way out, offering to use their magical abilities as boons. In fact, however, most genies lack the power to grant wishes. As a genie, an efreeti can plane shift itself and up to eight other creatures between the Material Plane, the Astral Plane, and any of the elemental planes. 30 The malevolent efreet particularly enjoy befuddling their foes. Twice per day, an efreeti can magically enlarge or shrink itself or any humanoid. An efreetis body is so hot it burns to the touch. 35 An efreeti has numerous spell-like abilities it can call upon. At will, it can detect magic or produce flames in a number of different lesser ways. Three times per day, it can polymorph itself, use gaseous form or invisibility, and produce a permanent image or wall of fire. --Rashaad rang the bell once, and the air trembled; he rang it twice, and the fountain broke and poured out its water on the earth; he rang it thrice, and the earth shook as if it would twist itself asunder. Then there was a murmur, like a fire in a great furnace, and the air shook like a mirage on a summer's day, and the afriti stood before him, a great spirit like a man, with thews of molten brass and hair like flames rising from his head. "Master," it greeted him. "To he who rings the bell I grant three wishes; speak, for thy servant heareth thee." Rashaad and the Afriti, from The One Thousand Nights, Ahman ibn Akkad

Ghedens are spawned by elding mortal essence with zombies, skeletons, or other undead automatons. Sometimes from botched resurrection spells.

Ghost [Monster Manual, Denizens of Dread]

(template) GHOST LORE Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about ghosts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 12 This incorporeal creature is a ghost, the remnants of one who cannot rest in peace after death. This result reveals all undead and incorporeal traits. 17 A ghost lies on the Ethereal Plane and cannot normally interact with the Material Plane. However, it can manifest itself in order to do so. While manifested, a ghost can sometimes be harmed by corporeal sources and magic. 22 A defeated ghost reforms 2d4 days after its "destruction" - the only way to permanently defeat it is to find out the reason why it is unable to pass on. 27 This result reveals the reason for the ghost's existence. ---

Ghast see ghoul Gheden Gheden [Dragon #313] #313]

Suggested by JP Sort of half-undead

As we rode from your home at Heather House to Barrow Cross, where we would turn south for the road to Valachan, we passed five or six people on the road; as is my habit I saluted each by raising my hat and greeting them with a few words, and all but one surly old fellow replied in kind. George likewise greeted some, but ignored others.

At length George asked me what in the Mists I was up to, raising my hat and speaking at random. When I told him I was simply being polite to his neighbors and urged him to do likewise, he paled and was quiet for some time, then told me he had only seen two of them. It was thus I learned that my recent illness had given me a strange gift indeed; I saw the restless dead just as I did the living. In Mordent especially this proved very useful, but sometimes extremely confusing! Recounted by Mattias Mikkelson to Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove See also RL CS See also Pathfinder classic horror revisited See also Dragon #336

Ghoul [Monster Manual] Manual]

CR 1 Ghoul Lore WotC: 12 Ghouls are undead who feast upon corpses and carrion. They are tough and intelligent creatures. This reveals all undead traits. 17 The bite of a ghoul infects the victim with a horrible disease called ghoul fever. Those who die from this disease rise again to become a ghoul themselves. 22 The bite or touch of a ghoul causes paralysis in its victim. 27 There are other variations of ghouls, including the aquatic lacedon and the more powerful ghast. Common at lower levels, ghouls are particularly dangerous foes for adventurers, since their abilities can help spawn new ghouls for them to face. Knowledge (Religion) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more ghouls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 Ghouls are undead who feast upon corpses and carrion. They are tough and intelligent creatures. This reveals all undead traits. 17 The bite of a ghoul infects the victim with a horrible disease called ghoul fever. Those who die from this disease rise again to become a ghoul themselves. 22 The bite or touch of a ghoul causes paralysis in its victim. 27 There are other variations of ghouls, including the aquatic lacedon and the more powerful ghast. ---

Ghost brute [Libris Mortis, Dragon #300]

Yes, Ive been protected by a ghost since I was young. Yes, you heard me, by a ghost being. You will think Im crazy, but I tell you this is true. I was killed once by wolves. I was only 8, and I went with Bones, my dog, into the forest to gather some mushrooms for my mother. She was selling them at the market, you know. But a pack of wolves viciously cornered us and killed us both. Fortunately for me, a priest was touched by my fathers grief and raised me from the dead. I have no souvenirs from this event, only when I was again alive and woke up in my bed, with my parents crying from joy. But since then, Ive often seen the ghost of my dog around me, and it protected me from harm. Since then, many people have tried to harm me, but they were bitten by my dog. Believe me. Now that I warned you, you should go your way and leave me alone. Bones, come here, good dog! - heard on a street See also Dragon #300

Ghoul or ghul, the name most commonly given to these cannibal horrors, is actually Pharazian in origin; I am at a loss to explain how it might have become current throughout the Core at the present time, unless the creature (which propagates, as so many creatures of the night do, by defiling human beings who then fall under the same curse) actually originated there. Grave robbing and cannibalized corpses are the key signs of the presence of these monstrosities... working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead Ghast CR 3 By the Sword and Shield, what a stench! It was lucky for us we grimetrekkers get just as bad, day by day, because the topsiders went down quick when they got a whiff. It was like the Main Line below the tannery on a hot day. De V. and I were able to keep our feet, and we went after the deadeaters hammer and tongs. They were tougher than the ordinary sort, though they looked just the same, and I've been laid up with a fever the last two days from a scratch I took from one of them; a fine green color the wound has today, but the sawbones says I'll probably keep the arm. Entry 24.3.752 from the journal of Nathanael Dent, grimetrekker
See also Pathfinder Classic horror revisited

hungry for your flesh, but these truly are. Really, they are corpse eaters, you see. Unbury you and eat everything including your weak bones. But you would see one in a pack of ghouls and you would not notice, they are like the others. But their bite will make you sick. It would make you very ill, possibly incurably, trust me. And one of their kind you would become madly hungry but these flesh hunters lack something that makes us better the communion of all these minds altogetherNow give me a hug, dearest - from notes of a interview with one corpse possessed by Toben the Many

Ghoul, Ravenous (Dragon mag compendium)

Suggested by JP

Ghoul lord [Denizens of Dread]

(template) I am the lady of all I survey, she stated with manifest glee as her barely clothed arm, with that leathery skin and taloned hand, cut a grandiose arc over the vast graveyard, leaving greenish wisps of vapour in its wake. She continued, A small kingdom it is, but it is mine and we do eat good, very good. Then she turned her ill eye upon me, Your slave is sick and fearful in my presence, but you not. I know why. You share the hunger. You would sup with me. What would you have my slaves fetch us? -Interview with a Ghoul --Menu in Celebration of New Year's Eve 750 BC -Gnome liver terraine soaked in Kartakan port -Elf tongue stuff with thigh bone marrow -Leg of Halfling preserved in its own juices -Blackend Dwarf ribs -Jellied Lamordian Brains L'cole dHaute Cuisine, Il Aluk

See also Dragon #336

Ghoul, ghoulish ghoulish creatures [Dragon mag Compendium] Compendium]

Suggested by JP

Ghoul, ghastly ghastly creatures [Dragon mag Compendium, Dragon # 307] 307]
Suggested by JP

Ghoul, gravetouched [Libris Mortis]

Hungry, they are, my dear. Sweet morsel they would say you are! So young and pretty! Im not

Giant Giant eagle [Monster Manual (Eagle, giant)] giant)]

CR 3 Suggested by Chris Nichols

and is not subject to precision-based damage (such as sneak attacks). 20 A gibbering mouther is only semi-intelligent and is not innately evil, but it feeds on the bodily fluids of other creatures and instinctively prefers those of intelligent creatures. Mouthers can speak Common, but are seldom capable of communicating anything other than gibberish. When a mouther senses the presence of other creatures, it begins to gibber madly. This insane babble can induce supernatural confusion in those who hear it. 25 A gibbering mouther attacks by grappling its prey. Its touch is acidic, and it drains the blood of trapped foes. A mouther can completely engulf creatures up to the size of an adult human. A gibbering mouthers amorphous flesh simply absorbs glancing blows from sharp blades, but bludgeoning weapons can prove quite effective. 30 A gibbering mouther can harry nearby foes by spitting acid into their eyes. If pressed, it can also soften the earth beneath its mass, miring its foes in a knee-deep, quicksand-like morass.. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 20 Some sages believe that gibbering mothers originated in an alien universe called the Far Realm. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 20 A gibbering mouthers confusing gibberish is a sonic effect and can be blocked with bardic music. --A thousand eyes to receive Its beauty, A thousand mouths to taste Its savor, A thousand tongues to proclaim Its glory. This is the Messenger which was promised us, the One who is Legion, whose tongues express all truths, whose eyes receive all light, whose mouths consume all that is fit to be consumed. Eagerly we await the coming of the Messenger! The Book of Thaan-Naagaaru, supposedly retrieved from Bluetspur, 637 BC

Giant, Hill [Monster Manual]

CR7 Submitted by JP Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Nature) and Knowledge (Religion) can learn more about Hill Giants. When a character makes a successful check, the following lore is revealed, including information from lower DCs. Knowledge (Nature) DC Result 17 Hill Giants are large brutish creatures that lack much of an intelligence. This result reveals all Giant traits. 22 Hill Giants live in small nomadic family units as hunter-gathers. Larger groups are extended families. 27 Hill Giants are capable of throwing and catching large boulders. A favorite tactic of Hill Giants is to attack from higher ground, throwing volleys of boulders are their prey until it is smashed into the ground.

Giant owl [Monster Manual (Owl, giant)] giant)]

CR3 Suggested by Chris Nichols

Gibbering mouther [Lords of Madness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about gibbering mouthers. A character who recognizes a gibbering mouthers nature can make a bardic knowledge check or a Knowledge (the planes) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC Result 15 This insane, amorphous mass of eyes and maws is a gibbering mouther. This result reveals all aberration traits. Like oozes, it cannot be flanked

Glaistig [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Medium Fey, CR 6, chaotic neutral. Incredibly beautiful, female fey that dwell in pools and lakes. They have an insatiable thirst for humanoid blood. They mostly resemble human or half-elven women, but they have goat legs with long white fur, which they hide with long dresses or by staying waist deep in the water. They can actually be somewhat helpful when theyve recently fedunlike vampires, they arent purely malevolent. They have a beguiling song and are mystically linked to their pools, as dryads are to their trees. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about glaistigs. Characters who recognize a glaistigs nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 16 The gorgeous woman wading in this pool is actually a glaistig, a dangerous fey. They are easily distinguished by their sharp fangs and goatlike legs, though they take pains to conceal these features. This result reveals all fey traits. Glaistigs speak Sylvan, Elven, and Common. 21 A glaistig possesses a ravenous thirst for mortal blood, but she only needs to feed about once a month. Glaistigs can beguile mortals with their songs, and can even sing underwater. A glaistig ignores glancing blows, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce her defenses. 26 A glaistig is mystically bound to a single body of water, such as a pool or river. If a glaistig wanders farther than 100 paces from her pool, she begins to drown. In her pool, however, she can breathe normally underwater. A glaistig is resistant to cold and fire. Despite their bloodthirst, glaistigs are not inherently malevolent, though like most fey they are always fickle and unpredictable. If a glaistig is well fed, she is as likely to help

mortals as to attack them, and sometimes seeks mortal companionship. 31 A glaistig can use dancing lights, fog cloud, and hypnotism at will as spell-like abilities. Once a day, it can also grant water breathing to a mortal companion. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 21 A glaistigs beguiling song is a sonic effect which can be countered with bardic music. --The folk of that place [Tepest] have their own strange religion, which until very recent times made much of the propitiation of fey spirits. There is a hamlet, I am told (and told more than once) where not a generation gone by they would, in every year, take some miscreant or criminal and cut his throat over the brook which watered their flocks, to placate the water-woman (who they say had the form of a beautiful woman above the waist, and a goat below) who lived therein. This practice being ended by the Inquisition, the spring soon went dry, and all those who once lived there found themselves obliged to find a new home. Folk-tales of the Eastern Core, Magnus Wolfsbane

Gnome [Monster Manual]

CR (includes forest gnomes and whisper gnomes from Races of Stone) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about gnomes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This small, spindly humanoid is a gnome, one of the civilized nonhuman races. This result reveals all humanoid traits. Gnomes speak their own language, but also learn Common. Clever gnomes often know other racial languages as well. 15 Gnomes can see well in dim light and have sharp ears. They have a particular dislike for the

more bestial smallfolk, such as goblins and kobolds, and are well-versed at evading the ponderous attacks of giants. 20 Gnomes are renowned for two traits: their sense of humor and their innate talents for arcane illusions. As a spell-like ability, any gnome can speak with burrowing mammals, and talented gnomes can produce dancing lights, ghost sound, and prestidigitation as well. 25 Several varieties of gnome exist, with the rock gnome by far the most common. More reclusive variants include forest gnomes, who can blend into the woodlands, and whisper gnomes, a close cousin to the rock gnome known for their stealthy and suspicious natures. --The people of that country calle themselves Gnomes, which means earth-men or those instructed in the secret; they are very industrious in all artifice & very clever in the making of all potions, draughts & concoctions of all useful sorts; they are a people diminutive and not handsome, very given to the making of jests, and very practiced in the fey arts and magicks which they claim to be their birthright. Catalogue of the World Entire

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about goblins. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This ugly, stunted humanoid is a goblin, the most common of all goblinoid breeds. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the goblinoid subtype. Goblins have their own guttural language, though a few clever individuals may also learn a local language. 15 Goblins are nomadic scavengers that live in large, violent tribes. They are also malicious and petty, and enjoy raiding the isolated homes of civilized humanoids for food and supplies. Goblins can see in the dark. 20 Goblins are talented trapmakers, which they use to mark their territory and guard their burrows. They are cowardly creatures, and attack only when their victims are helpless or they have overwhelming numbers of their side. 25 Goblins have a natural affinity for worgs, which they use as mounts and guardians.

Goatsucker see vampire, goblin Goblins (all)

Goblins (all): As discussed in RL Gaz V, all goblin subtypes in RL are different breeds of the same degenerate race. For a quick recap, goblins, bakhna rakhna, forestkith are actual ("natural") breeds. Hobgoblins are the goblin equivalent of calibans, and bugbears are produced when hobgoblins breed with each other. And here's an added physical detail that got left out of RL Gaz V: Inbreeding, birth defects, and childhood scarring are endemic. Most goblinoids are marked by torn ears, milky eyes, harelips, club feet, skin left pockmarked by disease or fire, twisted limbs, birthmarks, and so on, though these deformities rarely hinder them.

Goblin, dread, bakhna rakhna (ghost person) [Denizens of Dread]

CR 2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about bakhna rakhna. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This ugly, ashen humanoid is a bakhna rakhna, a breed of albino goblin. They also also known as ghost people. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the goblinoid subtype. Bakhna rakhna speak Goblin, though some may also learn Sylvan or a local language. 16 Like most other goblinoids, bakhna rakhna are nomadic scavengers that like to raid isolated farmsteads for food and supplies. They are cowardly creatures, and prefer to avoid combat. Bakhna rakhna are highly sensitive to light, and

usually hide themselves in dark spaces during the hours of daylight. 21 If the civilized humanoids they raid resist the baknha rakhnas thievery, these creatures quickly turn vindictive. A bakhna rakhnas blood contains a paralytic toxin, which the ghost people use to coat their weapons. 26 A bakhna rakhna can phase door several times a day, and use this ability to slip past others defenses. Bakhna rakhna flee from serious resistance, but always return to collect their fallen. --The little old woman was tired of this nonsense; she wanted to cook her leg of mutton and eat it herself, and leave her pie to cool on the windowsill while she went to market without coming back to find it eaten and the dish thrown in a corner when the ghost-goblins had finished their meal. She sat in her rocking-chair and thought and thought about it; and finally she had an idea. That evening she came home from market with a good quantity of rat poison and a pound of sugar, and she made a most delicious sugar-cake which she placed with care in the center of her table. Oh, how I hope the ghost-goblins do not eat my beautiful cake! she exclaimed aloud. The Old Womans Cake, traditional Mordentish

successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 These hairy, apelike humanoids are forestkith goblins, a rare and feral breed of goblinoid. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the goblinoid subtype. Forestkith goblins, also known simply as kith, speak a little Goblin but are incapable of learning how to read or write. 17 Like common goblins, forestkith goblins prefer to ambush their foes, overwhelming their opponents with trickery and sheer numbers. A forestkith goblin can see in the dark, but it is dazzled in bright light. 22 When attacking in numbers, forestkith goblins enter a chaotic frenzy that can bewilder and frighten their foes. 27 Forestkith goblins are well adapted to their forest homes. They can even hide by transforming themselves into small trees. However, once in tree form, a forestkith goblin cannot revert to its true form until it is wounded or the following sunset. --We thought that we had fled beyond the reach of the forest-folk, and as the afternoon wore into evening we took refuge in a small copse of strange crooked trees near (we hoped) where our path would cross the road leading back to the village. It was not a restful place, however; it seemed a little goblin-face peeped at us from each surrounding tree, and at last Harespex prevailed on me to leave before the sunset found us there still. Only much later did I learn of our narrow escape, for there are those among the goblins who take the form of trees during daylight hours and walk the woods by night; if we had found ourselves among such, we might very well have died that night. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Goblin, Goblin, dread, forestkith goblin [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Small Humanoid (Goblinoid), CR 1/2, chaotic evil. A, rare, hairy, and particularly feral breed of goblins that hunt anything that intrudes on their forested territories. Theyre excellent climbers and can frighten foes with their insane attacks. They can even transform themselves into small trees to hide, though once they use this power, theyre stuck in tree form until sunset or until they take damage. [Monster Manual III] --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about forestkith goblins. When a character makes a

Goblin, dread, goblin [Monster Manual]

CR 1/3 We heard the drums first, throbbing in the night air with their wicked rhythm; their beat was a promise of bloodshed, a glove thrown down to all

civilization, all peace, all tranquility. As we came closer we heard the high shrill ululations of the goblins themselves, piercing the night like the cries of monstrous bats; soon we could see the fires, and the grotesquely twisted shapes of the forest-people dancing around them, casting themselves into the air, twisting, spinning and leaping in a parody of combat, brandishing their crude daggers and spears at one another. Sixty Nights in Tepest, Bertram Mac Laren

Goblin, Dread (Bugbear) [MM]

CR 2 The beast beat the last of the smaller creatures against the boulder until the goblin was little but a sack of blood and shattered bone. Turning, it tossed its victim amongst the other corpses. Now I could see it clearly. It was both taller and broader than I, hirsute, much like a bear but with elements human, porcine, and... other. A filthy loincloth of uncured animal skin and a rope belt adorned with three severed hands were the beasts only garments. Drool glistened amongst its jutting fangs. The beast squatted to retrieve a large sword, scarred and pitted with long use, probably scavenged from some barrow mound. Suddenly, the creature snuffled and licked at the air. A feral light came to its eyes and it took a step toward my hiding place. It had scented me and would be on me in moments. Research notes of Eldgar Fionwick, goblin hunter and researcher

12 This ugly, mans-sized humanoid is a hobgoblin, a larger cousin of the common goblin. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the goblinoid subtype. Hobgoblins speak Goblin, and a few clever individuals may also learn a local language. 17 On average, a hobgoblin is physically more powerful than a human, and are capable of surprisingly sophisticated battle tactics. Hobgoblins can see in the dark. 22 Hobgoblins are more lawfully-minded and much braver than their common kin, but are still bullies at heart and favor stealth over a fair fight. Unlike common goblins, they keep their weapons and armor in good repair. Hobgoblins often rule goblin tribes. 27 Hobgoblins are the goblinoid version of calibans. They are born when a normal goblin is warped in the womb by foul supernatural forces. --There are among the goblins of Tepest certain sports or freaks, much larger than the common run of such creatures and even more misshapen, which must be considered analagous to the human caliban. And yet, how differently are such aberrations received! Among humans, the "mark of the beast" is occasion for shame, for loathing, at best for pity; among the goblins, such a creature is talismanic or even heroic, superior in strength and therefore in worth. Is this because the warfaring culture of the goblins puts a premium on strength above all else? Because so many goblins are deformed that any useful deformity is welcome? Autochthons of Tepest, Erik van Rijn

Goblin, dread, hobgoblin [Monster Manual]

CR (Ravenloft-specific text is underlined -- in Ravenloft, all goblinoids are members of the same mongrel race.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about hobgoblins. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Goblin beast, goblin hunting spider [Ravenloft Gazetteer V]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about goblin beasts. Characters may need to make separate Knowledge checks to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

14 This creature was been permanently warped by unnatural forces, transforming it into a goblin beast. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 19 Goblin beasts are to the beasts of the wild as calibans are to human kind. Their birth heralds the presence of supernatural evil, such as a witch. Goblyn beasts are stronger, smarter, and decidedly more malevolent than their natural kin. Fortunately, they are visibly warped as well. 24 Goblins have an unnatural affinity for goblin beasts, often using them as mounts or guardians. These fell creatures are often found together. --I dunno. I hate a goblin more than any human, I guess, but I think you underestimate em. They arent bright, exactly, but if you think theyre stupid you might end up admiring the inside of one of their cooking pots. They breed critters up, like these spiders they have, bout the size of a small pig. Theyre vicious and theyre smart, and the goblins have em tame, or mostly. Sometimes the goblins will set em to making trapswebs and tripwires and nets, things of that kind. Sure, sometimes theyll eat a goblin, too, but as my old friend van Richten says about things like that, it would be unwise to rely on it. Geddar Ironheart

George Weathermay to Rudolph van Richten, private correspondence

Goblyn [Denizens of Dread, Dread, Dragon Magazine #339] #339]

CR 2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about goblyns. In Forlorn, a Knowledge (local) check reveals the same information. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This misshapen, leering creature is a goblyn, a humanoid transformed by dark magic into a foul minion of a more powerful master. Goblyns are not actually related to goblinoids in any way, but they share enough similarities that they are often confused for each other. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the goblinoid subtype. DC 17: Goblyns are fearsome, frantic combatants. They may startle unprepared foes with a sudden flash of their teeth. Goblyns are most notorious for their habit of biting off chunks of flesh from the face and throat of their victims, a trait goblyns call feasting. Goblyn feasting leaves horrific scarring on its survivors. DC 22: Goblyns never sleep and are immune to fatigue and sleep effects. They do not feel pain. A goblyn is telepathically linked to its master, and through that master, to all other goblyns the master controls. --The goblyn (Epulum Bestia) is native to the forest of Forlorn. This bipedel of roughly human stature and form spends much of its time, curiously enough, putting to ruin this very forest. Make no mistake, this is not random violence on the part of an unthinking brute. The action is perfectly deliberate, although to what end science cannot yet say. The distinguishing feature of the goblyn is its enormous jaw set with teeth that recall nothing so much as those of the shark. Remarkably, the humanoid is sleepless and can sustain itself on any sort of biomass whatsoever. Goblyns, in a parody of the people who formerly inhabited the domain,

Goblin beast, goblin wolf (worg) [Monster Manual, Ravenloft Gazetteer Gazetteer V]
CR 2 I am not sure youd believe me, old friend, but I tell you only what I saw and heard myself. The goblins milled about, and then several more rode in on the back of wolvesa custom of theirs I am sure youre familiar with. One of the chieftains, as I took him (or possibly herwith goblins I can rarely tell) to be, asked the riders a questionbut it was one of the wolves who answered. I cannot claim to speak Goblin at all, but to my ears it reproduced the familiar goblin gabble nearperfectly. It could not possibly have been mistaken for any vocalization commonly made by beasts of any sortI am forced to revise my opinion of the danger posed by goblin wolves upward considerably.

are creatures of the clan. War, sport, and play are their favoured activities. Torture, combining elements of each, passes among them for art and is held in high esteem. More curious is their fondness, presumably acquired, for playing noughts and crosses. And of course as my face attests, no discussion of goblyns is complete without noting their propensity to feast on the living flesh of those who meet them in battle. -Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, Professor of Biology at the University of Il Aluk in Exile at Karg, lecturing on the flora and fauna of the great southern forests (I'd like to point out that as of Van Richten's Arsenal, Prof. Nicholsi is dead, as he is referred to as "the late Professor Abelhous Nicholsi." Also, in the Ravenloft Gazetteer 1 web enhancement, there was a sidebar on the origins of goblyns that may be useful. Chris Nichols)

creation, then the standard creation process applies. Golems of obsession do not cost exorbitant sums or require untold magics to construct, however. The creator of a dread golem must personally construct the golems body (requiring specific skills), and expend the requisite costs in gold pieces (body only), XP and time. The creator need not cast any spells or possess any craft item feats. A golem created through this method automatically gains the dread golem template (see Chapter Five of the Ravenloft core book). Bone Golem: A bone golems body must be constructed from the bones of skeletal undead. Only 10% of any one skeleton can be used in the creation of the golem, so bone golems often incorporate bones collected from 20 or more creatures. The golem costs 25,000 gp, including the scant 100 gp needed for the construction of the body. Assembling the body requires one month and a successful Knowledge (anatomy) or Heal check (DC 12). The creator must be 18th level and able to cast arcane spells. Completing the ritual drains 1,400 XP from the creator and requires animate dead, symbol (fear), binding and wish. Doll Golem: A doll golem costs 15,000 gp to create, though only 10 gp of this represents the cost of constructing the body. Assembling the body requires two weeks and a successful Craft (carpentry or sewing) check (DC 15). The creator must be 15th level and able to cast divine spells. Completing the ritual drains 1,100 XP from the caster and requires animate objects, bless, holy word (or blasphemy), prayer, and Tashas hideous laughter (which must be cast by an arcane spellcaster). Gargoyle Golem: A gargoyle golems body is carved from a single slab of granite weighing at least 2,000 pounds. The golem costs 75,000 gp to create, including 1,000 gp for the body and 15,000 for special vestments, which can be reused. Assembling the body requires two months and a successful Craft (sculpting or stonemasonry) check (DC 17). The creator must be 16th level and able to cast divine spells. Completing the ritual drains 1,200 XP from the creator and requires holy word (or blasphemy), prayer, stone shape, and

Goblyn fog [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Golem (Constructs)

See also Gaz 2, RL CS and CoD

Golem, black ice [Dra [Dragon ragon 324] 324]

Suggested by JP

Golem, carrion [Pathfinder 7] 7]

Suggested by JP

Golem, coral [Stormwrack]

Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz, CR 9

Golem, dread [Denizens of Dread]

Dread Golems: Following a fan question (how do we create a zombie golem, mechanical golem etc through the common, spell using methods? Which spells and components are used, how much money and how many XP are expended?), this addendum material was proposed by Azalin: Construction: As described in the Monster Manual, a golems creator must first supply the golems body and a specially prepared workroom. If the creator uses magic to grant life to her

flesh to stone (which must be supplied by an arcane spellcaster). Glass Golem: A glass golems body is meticulously crafted from hundreds of pieces of stained glass in a thin iron framework. The golem costs 100,000 gp to create, including 10,000 gp for the construction of the body. Assembling the body requires three months and a successful Craft (glassworking) check (DC 18). The creator must be a 14th-level spellcaster; due to the spells required, these golems are usually created by arcane and divine spellcasters working in concert. Completing the ritual drains 1000 XP (which can be divided between multiple creators) and requires animate objects, prismatic spray, rainbow pattern and miracle. Mechanical Golem: A mechanical golems body is created from thousands of intricate metal parts. The golem costs 125,000 gp, including 30,000 for the golem and 60,000 for a special, highly advanced workshop (CL 8+), which can be reused. Assembling the body requires 10 months and a successful Craft (clockmaking) check (DC 30). Completing the construction drains 1,400 XP from the creator and requires animate objects, chain lightning, fabricate, grease, and either miracle or wish. Zombie Golem: A zombie golems body must be constructed from the ruined corpses of former zombies. Only 10% of any one zombie can be used in the creation of the golem, so zombie golems often incorporate parts collected from 20 or more creatures. The golem costs 50,000 gp, including the 100 gp needed for the construction of the body. Assembling the body requires one month and a successful Craft (leatherworking) or Heal check (DC 13). The creator must be 16th level and able to cast arcane spells. Completing the ritual drains 1,200 XP from the creator and requires bull's strength, control undead, limited wish, polymorph any object and stinking cloud. JWM: Note that these golems aren't necessarily golems of obsession (the template hasn't been applied).

Golem, alchemical [Monster Manual III, III, Dragon # 302] 302]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about alchemical golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 21: This mass of oily chemicals swirling within a vaguely humanoid, transparent membrane is an alchemical golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 26: An alchemical golem is a mindless combatant that obeys the commands of its creator. It is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its body absorbs most attacks. However, edged weapons and those forged of adamantine can pierce its defenses. A neutralize poison spell slows the creature for a few moments. DC 31: An alchemical golem secretes highly potent acid through its membrane, burning anyone who touches it or is struck by its powerful firsts. Casting poison on an alchemical golem repairs it. The golem can also repair itself by consuming a special alchemical mixture brewed by its master. Any particularly damaging blow that strikes an alchemical golem momentarily ruptures its membrane, releasing a burst of toxic chemicals that spray all over adjacent creatures. This result also reveals the procedure for creating alchemical golems. DC 36: The elemental spirit animating an alchemical golem is highly unstable. The longer an alchemical golem fights, the greater the chance that it will fly into a berserk frenzy, attacking all that stands before iteven its master. Every few moments, an alchemical golem can spew a cone of toxic fumes at its foes. When an alchemical golem is destroyed, its membrane automatically ruptures, splattering toxic chemicals on everything within 5 paces. --It has become obvious to those practitioners of the High Alchemy with whom I have spoken that the creation of an Alchemical Childe is a process

fraught with difficulty and peril. Unfortunately, not all of them are wise enough to therefore leave well enough alone. One gentleman of my acquaintance claims to have improved on the Alchemical Childe in a way heretofore never seen; Wisdom forfend that his claims have any grain of truth to them, for the creature he describes, merging the Childe with even stronger arcane essences, could only be a devastatingly powerful and perverted creation. Celebrant Agatha Claremont to Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

DC 25: A brass golem relentlessly destroys anything standing in the way of its programmed goal. A brass golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its metal body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and electricity slows the creature for a few moments. DC 30: If a brass golems goal becomes simply impossible, the golem loses its enchantment permanently. A brass golem attacks by ramming foes with its curling horns or by delivering powerful blows with its massive greataxe. Rather than dealing damage, magical fire actually repairs an brass golem and breaks any slow effect currently affecting it. A brass golem is a relentless tracker. This result also reveals the procedure for creating brass golems. DC 35: A brass golem can throw one foe a day into a magical maze. Brass golems are immune to their own maze effects, but a golem can willingly enter its own maze to pursue a trapped foe. --There was at one time a great statue made of brass situated in the center of King's Court, near the former University of Il Aluk, notable, in the days when that city was inhabited by the living, chiefly because no bird would set foot on it, nor bedung its noble features. (This writer observed the statue while a student at the University, and can attest to this feature, at least.) It is claimed that the statue walked away from its pedestal on the night of the Hour of Ascension, and has since been seen at times on the road between the Slain City and Castle Avernus; but this writer remains without reliable evidence of the truth of this story. Folk-tales of the Eastern Core, Magnus Wolfsbane

Golem, bone [Denizens of Dread]

CR 10 "Yasmine tossed her torch down into the new chamber, then we all entered after it. "Unlike the hallways and other rooms of the king's tomb, bones and broken skulls littered the floor: it was impossible to set foot in that desiccated abattoir without stepping on the brittle debris. "When I bent over to retrieve the torch, a bony claw seized my hand. Then a chorus of shrill voices burst from the skulls of the room... ""If you all wish to see Mei Fu Wang, you first must give a tithe to the Duke of Skulls!" "And with that, a great, dusty bulwark of giggling, chittering skulls and sharpened bones pulled itself free of its hiding place." - from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

Golem, brass [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about brass golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 20: What appears to be a hulking, armored minotaur is actually a construct called a brass golem. Each of these constructs is created to fulfill one specific goal. This result reveals all construct traits.

Golem, cadaver [Heroes [Heroes of Horror]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about cadaver golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result 19 This patchwork composite of humanoid body parts is easily mistaken for a flesh golem, but its intelligent tactics reveal that it is an intelligent variant called a cadaver golem. This result reveals all construct traits. This result also reveals the procedure for creating cadaver golems. 24 A cadaver golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its unnatural flesh deflects most minor attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and cure or heal spells slow the creature for several moments. Some sages believe cadaver golems were first arose from a errant attempt to create a standard flesh golem. 29 A cadaver golem flails at foes with its powerful fists, and it can assimilate body parts from its fallen foes, replacing limbs, internal organs, and similar parts. Even more dangerously, a cadaver golem can inherit skills and abilities from the body parts it has assimilated. A cadaver golem will often harvest corpses specifically to gain desired abilities. Inflict or harm spells break any slow effects on a cadaver golem. 34 Casting regenerate on a cadaver golem causes its assimilated body parts to squirm and reject their unnatural host. This seriously damages the golem and temporarily prevents it from being able to utilize any assimilated skills or abilities. --While on the isle of Graben we had one exceedingly strange and unpleasant interlude; I cannot think what it might have meant, or if it was as we thought it was at all. While visiting with the leading family of that place my companion and I looked into an adjacent field and saw, as we thought, a villager plowing--but with the plow being pulled by a massive figure going on two legs and with at least two heads. Seeing our horrified expressions, the goodman of the house hurried us inside before we could make any closer examination. Jan, whose eyesight is excellent, later told me that it almost seemed that the thing was composed of at least four human corpses joined together by some horrifying magic.

An Account of the Voyage of the Endurance, Marko Tellwith

Golem, Golem, chain [Monster Manual II p44] p44]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about chain golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 17 This writhing, humanoid mass of barbed chains is a chain golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 22 A chain golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its rattling body tends to deflect ranged attacks. However, electricity slows the creature for a few moments. 27 The razor-sharp barbs and blades on the golems chains slice through living flesh, opening wounds that bleed freely unless quickly staunched. Rather than damaging it, magical fire actually repairs a chain golem and breaks any slow effect on the golem. 32 A chain golem can protect itself by throwing a blade barrier around itself, using its own bladed chains to create the barrier. The barrier flays most creatures who dare to cross it. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 17 Chain golems are the creations of chain devils, who guard the secrets of their construction closely. 22 Chain golems typically serve chain devils as bodyguards or guardians. 27 Chain devils sometimes send chain golems on errands to other planes, often to deliver a message or retrieve a particular item. As a note, some of these creatures have me thinking about a pet idea -- a "crititical failure" result, for creatures that can be easily mistaken for other monsters. I'm going to refrain from including them, for the sake of consistency, but for example, for the chain golem, a result of DC 11 or less (a failure of more than 5) might net you this:

<11 This chain-wrapped humanoid is a chain devil. This result reveals all outsider traits. --"You have discovered my child. Isn't it magnificent? A stroke of sheer brilliance. Do you know what I call it? What was that? Chain got your tongue? Well we will see to the most apt adjustments in a moment. It would be a crime for you to not be free to lend voice to the ultimate trial of your existence. You do realise that a chain can go right through a man? But before that know that it is called the Automatic Chain and that it is I who gave barb, hook, and link life." -The Chaining, unfinished autobiography of Francois de Penible

stands before it even its master. Once per day, a clay golem can haste itself in combat. --The mystes of the Zalahiri say, that man is formed from dust, and the Making God mixed this dust with his spittle to make mud, from which he fashioned a man and a woman, who were the first parents of all humankind. It was and is the custom among them, therefore, to make to themselves servitors in their own image, fashioned of barrow clay, which they call gholam; but just as men to the gods are but very indifferent servants, proud, insubordinate and wrathful, so the gholam inevitably becomes toward his mortal maker. From the Har'Akiri Book of Heresies, trans. Malcolm Hopper

Golem, clay [Monster Manual]

CR 10 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about clay golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This crudely shaped clay figure is a clay golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 25 A clay golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its solid body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective. A disintegrate spell slightly damages a clay golem and slows it for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating clay golems. 30 A clay golem flails at foes with its powerful fists. The cursed wounds it deals do not heal naturally, and may disrupt magical healing. Move earth repels a clay golem, and an earthquake spell momentarily stops it in its tracks. Both spells also damage the golem. Rather than dealing damage, magical acid actually repairs a clay golem. 35 The elemental spirit animating a clay golem is only tenuously controlled by its master. The longer a clay golem fights, the greater the chance that it will fly into a berserk frenzy, attacking all that

Golem, doll [Denizens of Dread]

CR 8 "And will it do just what I say, Maman?" "Yes, of course, Henri darling. M'sieur Achronnaix made it especially for you, so that you might have a playmate and a guardian both." Henri's fat little hands squeezed at the air as he considered this information. "Thank you very much, Maman," he said at last. "Come, Jacques!" And the doll turned to its master and bowed. "I am coming, M'seiur Henri," it replied in its clear, high voice, and together they trotted out of the room. The next morning Julietta, the housemaid, found her mistress' little pug Harlequin lying on the hearth-rug strangled; and as the good woman wept over her pet, Henri looked on in approbation from a secluded corner. Jacques' feelings were impossible to decipher, as his porcelain face had not been endowed with sufficient flexibility to grant him any power of expression. Bad Jacques, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie See also Pathfinder 7 version: Doll, soulbound

Golem, flesh [Monster Manual, Manual, Denizens of Dread]

CR 7 MM CR 11 DoD Errata: Dread Flesh Golem: Hit points are listed as 12d10 (49 hp). However, with the average hit points (5.5/level x 12), it should be 66. But in addition, from the monster manual Core Book, constructs gain bonus hit points according to size. As large creatures, Dread Flesh Golems should have +30. So the entry should read: Hit Dice: 12d10+30 (96 hp). --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about flesh golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This hideous, humanoid composite of crudely stitched-together body parts is a flesh golem. This result reveals all construct traits. This result also reveals the procedure for creating flesh golems. 24 A flesh golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its unnatural flesh deflects most minor attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and magical cold and fire slow the creature for several moments. 29 A flesh golem flails at foes with its powerful fists. Rather than dealing damage, magical electricity actually repairs a flesh golem and breaks any slow effect currently affecting it. 34 The elemental spirit animating a flesh golem is only tenuously controlled by its master. The longer a flesh golem fights, the greater the chance that it will fly into a berserk frenzy, attacking all that stands before it even its master. However, its master can forcefully talk the golem back into submission. --This one's kinda silly; let me know if you want something else. Vivienne: But surely, Msieur Gallimafrey, it must be a great trial to have so various a nature! I can only imagine the difficulty one has in finding

shirts when his arms came from two different men. The Creature (sighing): Truly, Mselle Vivienne, it is very difficult to find a tailor who can accommodate me; and yet I have other troubles of an even more pressing nature. You see, my maker supplied me with the haunches of a svelte young dancer, and my left hand was borrowed of that notorious rake Jacques Delgado; so that, unless I attend with care, I pinch myself quite black and blue! From the operetta The Adventures of Young Heidenmor --The cage rang like a great bell as lightning struck the rods at the top of the tower again and again; sparks flew along the lines between the various apparati, and within the cage I could see something writhe. "Er...Herr Mordenheim?" I said, pointing toward it. "It's...alive." He glanced at it with remarkable sang froid and replied, "Oh. Yes, it's alive." Turning away with disinterest, he said, "Merely a repetition of an old experiment; I'm trying to re-establish certain baselines with the equipment." I looked into the cage again, and bit back a scream; a human face looked out at me, its features locked in an expression of the most extreme agony. Journal of Gerard Devolant See also Pathfinder classic horror revisited

Golem, gargoyle [Denizens of Dread]

CR 10 I asked Toret Severin about the stories of hauntings at the Great Cathedral, and the rumors that Ezra herself has raised guardians from the stones to protect Her home. He chuckled slightly and led me outside; the moonlight washed the

cathedral in light almost as bright as day. "Whether Ezra has done a miracle or not, I couldn't say," he said. "But count the gargoyles up there on this side, where the wall meets the roof." The Cathedral must be at least one hundred fifty feet or more in height, and the moonlight, though clear, cast odd shadows; but I counted six, and told him so. "That is my count, as well," he said, looking upward, "and yet on no fewer than six occasions I have counted seven." Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove to Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 21 This vaguely humanoid mass of moist earth, shattered stone, and shards of bone is a grave dirt golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 26 A grave dirt golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its earthen body deflects minor attacks. However, adamantine bludgeoning weapons can prove effective. A disintegrate spell slightly damages a grave dirt golem and slows it for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating grave dirt golems. 31 A grave dirt golem flails at foes with its powerful fists. These strikes grind negative energy-infused grave soil into the victims wounds, dealing additional damage within a few seconds. Move earth repels and damages a grave dirt golem. Rather than dealing damage, electricity actually repairs a grave dirt golem. 36 The elemental spirit animating a grave dirt golem is only tenuously controlled by its master. The longer a grave dirt golem fights, the greater the chance that it will fly into a berserk frenzy, attacking all that stands before it even its master. --You were wise to run from that lumbering shade and to keep running for it is relentless. Know that it is a thing of earth, but in this land all earth is earth of the grave, and so a skull crowns its boneridden, bloated bulk. One must not let ones person be touched by it, for its soil is fouled with the unlife of the dead, even if it is not itself one. Destruction is its yolk and so it is left to its hateful consumption by the Dark Lady. But it wouldnt dare test its strength against that of the Eternal Order. Within Marbh-Cathair you are safe. Let us go now to the walls and watch the sunrise. -Unwald Rottennail, demented sentinel of the Eternal Order

Golem, glass [Denizens of Dread]

CR 8 "He would not pay," the artisan gabbled. "Ten years we spent, ten years! I put every copper I had into those windows; children hungry, wife in rags, but it had to be perfect, perfect. And then he pretended that my work was late, though the delays were his, and tore up the contract; and the judges backed him, of course, a warden of the Church. But Justice was with me; Justice helped me." "Yes," Alanik replied, looking up at the window, which showed Justice with her scales in one hand and sword in the other, "I am sure she did. It was very artistic of you to show her with a bloodstained sword--old blood, too, not fresh!" The glazier stared up at the window with us, as if only now seeing the unmistakable rust-brown stains on the glass sword of the effigy. The Accounts of Justice, from The Life of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick See also Stained Glass Golem MMII

Golem, Golem, grave dirt [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about grave dirt golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the

Golem, hangman (rope golem) [Monster Manual III, III, Dragon # 302] 302]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about hangman golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 23: This tall, gangly humanoid construct is a hangman golem, also known more simply as a rope golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 28: A hangman golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its sinuous body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective. A rope trick spell completely paralyzes a hangman golem for just a moment. A hangman golem is vulnerable to fire. This result also reveals the procedure for creating hangman golems. DC 33: A hangman golem flails at foes with its knotted fists, which have an unusually long reach. Every few moments, the golem can briefly extend a number of its ropes to strike at every foe within easy reach. An animate rope spell hastes a hangman golem for a few moments. DC 38: When a hangman golem strikes a foe, it usually grabs the creature and starts strangling it. Once per day, a hangman golem can completely unravel itself without causing itself any harm, becoming nothing more than a loose pile of ropes, usually to avoid detection. The golem can reform itself at will. --We met this unknown creature in Darkon, and we are pretty sure its a new form of golem. In a crypt where we were looking for clues on the disappearance of duck hunters, we opened a door to see this huge humanoid, made entirely of rope. But the first thing we saw in the darkness was its pair of whitish glowing eyes. With the ropes swirling on top of its head, my first thought was that we were facing a medusa, but then it came into our torch light and we had a good view of its body constructed with ropes. My sister had the genius idea to quickly cast a rope trick spell on it, and this stopped the creature in its track for a

moment. While I used this time to close the door to this room, I saw many shattered corpses in this room, surely victims of this rope golem. My sister then locked the door magically, trapping this thing inside the crypt forever. We let a warning message on the stone door and we left this place, grateful that it didnt reach us in close combat. Note added to Van Richten Guide to Created by the twins

Golem, ice [Frostburn]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about ice golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This towering ice sculpture, carved in the shape of an armored warrior, is an ice golem. This result reveals all construct traits and the cold subtype. DC 24: An ice golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its frozen body deflects most attacks. However, bludgeoning weapons can smash it to pieces, and fire-based magic affects it normally (taking the golems vulnerability to fire into account). This result also reveals the procedure for creating ice golems. DC 29: An ice golem flails at foes with its powerful fists. Every few moments, it can spray a burst of razor-sharp, bitingly cold ice shards at everything within reach. Rather than dealing damage, magical cold actually repairs an ice golem. DC 34: An ice golem can climb on any icy surface, as if using a spider climb spell. --I am pleased to find that the principles which were sufficient for the creation of the snow golem (see previous) are sufficient as well for the creation of the ice golem (see immediately proceeding, esp. pages 68-222). Although the transition might seem trivial to the uninitiated, the transferral of

principles between even very similar elements (viz. the so-called "flesh golem" and my own recent creation, which I have styled the "cadaver golem") requires great care lest some oversight of seemingly minor details lead to great flaws in the final work. At any rate, Ice-9 is completed, and I have placed it with the snow golems in the courtyard until a more suitable place recommends itself. laboratory notebook of Meredoth

to watch and listen for anything attracted by the noise of our attempted exit. Soon I realized the bell was growing louder; I dismissed the thought as unimportant, but it grew louder still, and could now be heard clearly over Geddar's axe-work. What on earth? I wondered. Understanding came almost too late. "Geddar! Shauten!" I yelled, hurrying to them. "Get away from there! It's coming!" Not ten seconds later the great iron golem smashed through the door, its great brutal bulk, man-shape but three times the height of a tall man, filling the passageway. working notes from Van Richten's Guide to the Lich

Golem, iron [Monster Manual] Manual]

CR 13 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about iron golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This massive metal figure is an iron golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 28 An iron golem attacks by smashing foes with its powerful fists. It is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its ironclad body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and electricity slows the creature for a few moments. 33 Rather than damaging it, magical fire actually repairs an iron golem and breaks any slow effect currently affecting it. 38 An iron golem can spew a cone of lethal poisonous gas at nearby foes. The golem is affected normally by magical rust effects, such as a rusting grasp spell. --We heard the tolling of the great bell again as we crossed the entryway toward the exit leading to the upper network of passages, sounding far off in the cavernous expanse of the lich's barrow; as we reached the door, we were brought to a halt. Someone or something had barred the door from the other side! Geddar took his axe and began a frontal assault, and Shauten endeavoured to find a spell which would address our needs; I stood back

Golem, lesser, fungus* [Dragon 341]

JWM: About the size of a beefy human, composed of fungi and plant matter fused into a hard rubberlike substance, Fairly tough and strong, but mainly dangerous due to the spores it carries. These give it a poisonous breath weapon, and wounds from its slam attacks fester so that the damage doesn't heal naturally. Primarily created by druids. --We did not lack for speed. The Loathsome Consort had seen to that by limiting our baggage to little more than what his strange, bipedal porting creatures could manage. They were tireless, strong, frightful. A great secret indeed had been stolen from HER for with them we could push deep and seize greater knowledge still. But only in returning did we realised their full value. For the dead they had left behind, slain by the spores they exuded and transformed into rich beds of mushrooms, alone kept us alive, as the Loathsome Consort had intended. -Vomited Up From the Bowels of Hell, unfinished, anonymous manuscript

Golem, lesser, junk* [Dragon 341]

JWM: I imagine a Nosos connection for these things. --Old Jakob made himself a son, Hey, ho, ain't you most done? To do his work from dusk till dawn. Search all the leavings and take up the pickings; Hey, ho, ain't you 'most done? Tin cans, old pans, a pail, a nail, A mop, a strop, a bucket, a locket, Old rags, old bags, a kite, a knife, That was the making of Jakob's son. Search all the leavings and take up the pickings; Hey, ho, ain't you 'most done? from Old Jakob's Son, traditional Nosan

-"What do you mean by this nonsense, noting in the log of the Retriever that the cause of death was not, as I and my peers could well imagine, savages boldly met or sea fearlessly braved, but was by, as you write, 'paper cut'?" -"'Paper cuts,' sir. Three score I'd venture." Inquiry into the death of Captain Weathermay, discoverer of Sri Raji

Golem, lesser, tin* [Dragon 341]

JWM: Looks somewhat like an armored human. Not very tough in combat; it has no natural attacks, though it can wield weapons. It has limited intelligence, which give it the ability to speak and the ability to perform specific skilled tasks (the golem's creator "programs" it with ranks in two Craft or Profession skills). In Hour of the Knife, a local guild created a tin golem (a precursor to the creature described here) and modeled it after a streetwalker, intending to use it as bait for Bloody Jack. --Little Dorte went a short way, she went a long way, and at last she came to a little clearing in the woods, and a wee house; and there before it stood a most unusual man, a man all made of tin! He must once have shone beautifully, but he had rusted stiff, and now the rain and the sun had made him green and brown, with only a hint of his shiny skin beneath. Little Dorte knew that such men are made by witches and warlocks to serve them, and at first she was afraid; but then she took heart, for the cottage was long deserted and the man had obviously not been cared for in years; and it occurred to her that it might not be an ill thing to have such a creature at her beck and call. Therefore she took a little lard from her hamper, and rubbed it in the tin man's joints 'til he could move. "Now, then, Tin Man," she said. "I am your mistress now, and you must obey me. Nod if you agree!" And the tin man nodded his head.

Golem, lesser, maggot* [Requiem, Dragon 339]

There is a saying in Darkon that Life breeds Death. And yet, how often we see that Death breeds Life, as well, as when decaying flesh brings forth the larval fly! Therefore this creation is a philosophical whole, binding Life brought from Death to unlife, that it may thereafter slay the living. Fragmentary manuscript held in Special Collections in the Great Library of Port-a-Lucine, author unknown

Golem, lesser, paper* [Dragon 341]

JWM: Small Construct, CR 1, neutral. An origami humanoid folded from a single sheet of paper. Instead of hands, its two arms taper into razorsharp points. Very decorative; creators commonly model them on samurai (with paper "swords" incorporated into the design). Extremely agile (especially compared to other golems) and dangerous in large numbers. Vulnerable to fire and slashing weapons, as one might expect. Generally found in the Scattered Lotus Archipelago. ---

"That's good," she declared, and handed him her hamper. "Take this, and follow me." And together they set off into the woods, the little girl before and the tin man after. Little Dorte and the Three Strange Men, traditional Kartakan

Golem, lesser, wood* [Dragon 341]

The interrogation of the corpses proved effective. The racial hatred that fired the boyer, driven to the greatest height by the Gundarakite dagger gnawing at his guts, breached the eldritch sphere as he gazed upon himself burnt in effigy. But that alone would not have sufficed to achieve this. The requisite spiritual vessel was the chain of office and the catalyst was the murderer himself who hung it upon the construction and set the whole alight. And what ironic justice, that fool of a farmer kneeling down before it, a divinity indeed, its presence burning away his flesh and its talons skewering him clean through. He too might have thrown off the shackles of the mortal coil had he been cut of better stuff. -Journal entry of Count Strahd von Zarovich concerning the Effigy of Ivan Szimin

I can hardly even begin to say how one constructs a golem, if that indeed was what it was, of mists, of the Mists. Perhaps one does not so much choose to do it, as one is chosen to do so . . . . The emaciated and tattooed Hazlani mage had lent his very shape, swollen and stretched, to the towering entity, casting in swirling mist a figure so improbable that we were carried off by a terrible laughter that proved ultimately to be the death of two of our number. The desperation of our plight, although hammered home by bone crushing blows, dawned upon us in its full enormity when Song Mistress Lairelle, who had given us courage against its frightful howl, was caught squarely in the chin, dissolved into mists, and was lost to all existence . . . or so I hope and pray at least . . . . -Working note for Van Ritchens Guide to The Created

Golem, mud [Monster Manual III, III, Dragon # 302] 302]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about mud golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 21: This crudely formed, vaguely humanoid mound of oozing muck is a mud golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 26: A mud golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its semisolid body absorbs most attacks. However, adamantine bludgeoning weapons can prove effective, and a transmute mud to rock effect slows the creature for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating mud golems. DC 31: A mud golem is a mindless combatant that fights as directed by its master, but it does have just enough instinctual cunning to hide in swampy areas by burying itself in the mire. When foes approach, the golem strikes. A mud golem can press a grabbed foe into its torso, completely engulfing it. A transmute rock to mud effect completely repairs a mud golem.

Golem, mechanical [Denizens of Dread]

CR 11 circuits 3, 6, 10 operating below normal tolerances mechanical defect in sirvomotor 3, lateral movement compromised some difficulty with optical detection unit (see fig 6A detail) continued problems with insulation but offers interesting options in combatfeature not bug! get bigger knife Page from a notebook of Easan the Mad

Golem, mist [Denizens of Dread]

CR 14

DC 36: A mud golem can spew a cone of slippery mud at nearby foes. The mud does no harm, but may blind opponents as is as slick as a grease spell. Casting stone to flesh on a mud golem does not transform it, but does temporarily leave it vulnerable to physical attacks. --So, I took my axe to it and hacked it into so many mud-pies, I guess you could say. Afterward I asked the Doctor about it, 'cause I thought it must have been some kind of elemental. Maybe if a water elemental and an earth elemental had kids, or something. But the Doctor said no, the odds were it was a golem, and he showed me the diagram from the book we looted (and it was about all we got, too). "A golem?" I said when he told me. "Burn me black, these wizards will make golems out of anything". Geddar Ironheart

nose and mouth, risking suffocation. Rather than dealing damage, blast of sand and flaywind burst spells actually repair a sand golem; a fuse sand spell repairs it completely. DC 37: A sand golem is constantly surrounded by a dense cloud of blowing sand that causes brownout conditions to the limit of the golems reach. Each sand golem is mystically bound to a set of magic amulets at the time of its creation. The wearer of such an amulet can command its bound golem from any distance --You have begin on the trail of this creature for how long? One? Two weeks? I have begin following this creature for three years. All the way from my homeland. I know what it is and I have learned where it came from. The creature was created by Hatem al-Gabali, a shair. He sought to create a powerful servant. First he built a large mold to mix the ingredients and form the creature. To this he added the sands of Qual-Zinnar, the site where Caliph Aziz al-Jaffiri was murdered at the hands of his youngest son, some 80 years ago. The sand on which the holy caliphs blood was split was considered by all to be cursed. No one dared go there before al-Gabali. Next the sorcerer added the waters of the Black Sands Oasis, where the young Princess Jasmine, beloved daughter of Caliph Said al-Jamae, drowned. With this mixture of sand and water, al-Gabali used his wizardly powers to capture a gen of the desert and force it into the form he had created. He sought a loyal servant bound to his will, but that is not what he got. Either the curse of Qual-Zinnar or the haunted waters of the Black Sands overwhelmed the summon gen, filling it with a murderous sense of betrayal and loss. In any case the creature is cursed to never be free of these sensations. It now hunts those it feels are responsible for acts of betrayal or who have caused the death of a young child. And now it has come to your city. Notes from an interview conducted by Constable Sturm Androv in the case file marked The Smotherer

Golem, rune [Dragon 343] 343]

Under creature catalog V - un peu similaire Azenwrath

Golem, sand [Sandstorm p182] p182]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about sand golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 22: This vaguely humanoid, walking sand dune is a sand golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 27: A sand golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its ever-shifting body absorbs minor attacks. However, adamantine bludgeoning weapons can prove effective, and a transmute mud to rock effect slows the creature for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating sand golems. DC 32: A sand golem attacks by smashing foes with its powerful fists. Whenever it strikes a living foe, some of its sand is rammed into the victims

Golem, Skeletal (FoS Nocturnal Sea report)

This ungainly-looking, morbid automaton resembles an oversized human skeleton, hastily assembled from mismatched bones, and bound together with string and splinters of wood. Its torso is encased by a metal breastplate. Although roughly humanoid, the creature has four arms: two at its shoulders, the other two attached asymmetrically to its lower ribs. Each of its fleshless hands carries a sword, which it swings with a surprising grace.

DC 31: A stained glass golem attacks by slashing foes with its limbs, which are exceptionally sharp. A mending spell repairs a stained glass golem of some of the damage it has suffered.

Golem, stone [Monster Manual]

CR 11 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about stone golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 21 This walking statue is a stone golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 26 A stone golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its rocky body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and a transmute rock to mud spell slows the creature for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating stone golems. 31 A stone golem attacks by smashing foes with its powerful fists. A transmute mud to rock spell repairs a stone golem of all damage it has suffered. Casting stone to flesh on a stone golem doesnt actually damage it, but does drastically weaken its defenses against attacks and magic for a few seconds. 36 A stone golem can slow a nearby opponent every few moments without having to pause in its attacks. --"He breathed life into me, he molded me, he spoke to me as a son; yes, he loved me." "And yet you killed him?" I exclaimed. The cold marble hands clenched until I saw a powder of dust fall from them. "He poured his soul into me! He gave me every human appetite, and the means of satisfying none. How can a statue eat, sleep, breathe? Where shall he find the family that will take him in?" He fell silent, then continued, his harsh voice low and impassioned, "Did I say 'none'? Your pardon, Doctor. One human urge I have that I can gratify--

Golem, snow [Denizens of Dread]

CR10 The language barrier was here, again, unexpectedly troublesome; when Kelvar came running up to us yelling about "snow-men", it took him several seconds of precious time to explain to us that he did not mean the innocuous forms piled up by Lamordian children at Darkest Night, but rather large and extremely dangerous ambulatory statues, or golems, made of snow. Account of the Voyage of the Endurance, Marko Tellwith

Golem, stained glass [Monster Manual II] II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about stained glass golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 21: This glittering figure emerging from the window frame is a stained glass golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 26: A stained glass is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its unnaturally hardened body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and shatter spells and sonic effects affect it normally. This result also reveals the procedure for creating stained glass golems.

the urge to destroy. And that urge I mean to sate, if it be possible." Stonehands, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

relatives rose up as a single colossus to strike down the living. -Working note for Van Ritchens Guide to The Created

Golem, tombstone [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about tombstone golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This hulking mass of fused headstones is a tombstone golem. This result reveals all construct traits. 28 A tombstone golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its rocky body deflects most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and a transmute rock to mud spell slows the creature for a few moments. This result also reveals the procedure for creating tombstone golems. 33 A tombstone golem attacks by smashing foes with its powerful fists. A transmute mud to rock spell repairs a tombstone golem of all damage it has suffered. Casting stone to flesh on a tombstone golem doesnt actually damage it, but does drastically weaken its defenses against attacks and magic for a few seconds. 38 Every few moments, a tombstone golem can channel negative energy through one of its melee attacks, instantly snuffing out the life force of the creature it strikes like a slay living spell. --Such were the sins of Bloody Stoneheart against his own people that they cursed him so that the touch of unworked stone was fire to him. And it did not take long for the authorities to put him to flight from the cities. But he would find a reliable source of cut stone in the graveyards where he set to the crafting of his revenge. Within a few months, the named and dated markers of deceased

Golem, wax [Denizens of Dread, Dread, Dragon 341] 341]

CR 6 The fever robbed him of his daughter, his wife, and his hunger for life. But he eventually found his appetite and threw himself as never before into his work. Yet for all his toil, nothing was forthcoming. The figures of Baron Bahkolis, Lady Aderre and her son Malocchio were so overdue that I at last stole into his studio to speak to him. He was slumped unconscious before two uncommissioned works. The first, although unfinished, bore the unmistakable figure and features of his spouse. The second, perfect in its every detail, captured the radiant life of his child. What was strange, however, and that would presage the terrors to come, was the pose that he had lent it, for its hand rested, as though lovingly, upon him as he slept. -Claudette Petra, proprietor of Madame Petras Wax Museum, interviewed by the Martira Bay constabulary

Golem, web [Monster Manual III, III, Dragon 302] 302]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about web golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 17: This vaguely humanoid mass of tightly wound spider silk, bearing the eight eyes and fangs of a spider, is a web golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 22: A web golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its silken body is surprisingly resilient, deflecting most attacks. However, adamantine weapons can prove effective, and a grease spell slows the creature for a few moments.

DC 27: A web golem attacks with its powerful fists, and its bite injects venom that leaves victims as weak as babes. Web golems are vulnerable to fire. A web golems silk is extremely sticky, so anything that strikes itincluding weapons and creaturesrisks getting stuck. This result also reveals the procedure for creating web golems. DC 32: A web golem can spin a web (as the spell) several times a day. It can climb walls like a spider, and its movement is not hindered by web effects, including its own. --Sir Canifax is truly a fascinating character and we were eager to meet him after this letter exchange. This tall, old gentleman with a top hat says he retired from adventuring (but me and Laurie doubt he really is). He was willing to share details on a creature we are hunting, but in fact he didnt tell us many things we didnt knew already about the Telling Man see these notes. However, the discussion later switched to our uncle, and Canifax expressed regrets never to have met him in person. Laurie tried to discuss a point of magick, but we felt his unease and left him take the conversation elsewhere without insisting. Then the conversation wandered about golems and he told us about a particularly disgusting type of construct, made entirely of webs! Canifax destroyed one a long time ago. Crawling among large spiders, this humanoid construct has many spider features: eight eyes, poisonous fangs and ability to crawl on ceilings. He said its web body was also very sticky. Canifax is a very good raconteur, making the monster particularly creepy, but I do not think he was exaggerating this tale. Canifax assured us the golem builder was also destroyed. But I shiver to think somebody could find eventual notes and start building one of these horrors these days Note added to Van Richten Guide to Created by the twins

Golem, zombie [Denizens of Dread]

CR 12 After consideration, I have decided that the creation of the 'zombie golem' (see notebooks 4713) cannot be described as truly original work, as it is the merest transposition of principle from the famous 'flesh golem', the only difference being the instillation of an necromantic animus into the constituent corpses before beginning assembly of the construct. Such is the subtlety of my tormentors. Azalin Rex, laboratory notebook 913 page 37

Gorgon [Monster Manual]

CR 8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about gorgons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This armored bull is called a gorgon. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 23 A gorgon constantly exhales clouds of sickly green fumes. A gorgon can use these fumes as a breath weapon several times a day, instantly turning living creatures to stone. 28 Gorgons are highly aggressive, and will trample nearly any creature they see. They cannot be trained or domesticated. 33 Gorgon blood holds an unusual supernatural quality: If gorgon blood is stirred into mortar, any walls built with the resulting mixture become solid barriers to ghosts and other ethereal travelers. --They still tell stories here of the Iron Bull, who appears from the deep plains when the land is befouled by blood or filth or fire to wreak a horrible vengeance on those who pollute the land. They say that he is stronger than the strongest horse, and that a sword or a spear employed against him will turn again and strike its owner down; they say also that his breath turns wheat or wood to chalk and flesh to stone. I was shown what might, with some imagination, be thought a

human figure carved in stone and told in all seriousness that it had once been a particularly wicked quarryman, who fouled the river with tailings from his pit; the Iron Bull came and turned him into one of his own stones, and the quarry he worked lies overgrown and unused to this day. Folk-tales of the Eastern Core, Magnus Wolfsbane

Greenvise [Monster Manual II, II, Dragon #292] #292]

JWM: Huge Plant, CR 10, neutral. In essence, a massive, semi-intelligent, ambulatory Venus flytrap. Its main attack is to slam foes, stuff them in its leafy maw, and swallow them whole, but if push comes to shove it can also exude a deadly acidic fog. It can sense the location of any creature in contact with vegetation. Only active by day. I generally consider it useful as a predator in the jungles of the Verdurous Lands. (I.E., it's "random encounter" fodder.) --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about greenvises. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 22: This monstrous plant is a kind of massive, ambulatory flytrap called a greenvise. This result reveals all plant traits. DC 27: A greenvise battering its prey with its thick tendrils before snapping up the creature with its thorny maw. A greenvise can swallow an entire horse in one gulp. Greenvises are diurnal, hunting by day and resting by night. DC 32: Twice per day, a greenvise can protect itself by exuding a large cloud of highly acidic vapor that hangs in the air for several moments. Greenvises are themselves immune to acid. DC 37: Through a strange sort of woodsense, a greenvise can sense the presence of anything within 20 paces that is in contact with any plant life. --"Your system of classification is as quaint as it is wrong. Omnivorous and carnivorous diets are the preserve of animals? And teeth too, I suppose! Hazard a guess as to the creature that burnt me thus."

Grave Ooze [Denizens of Dread] see Ooze Graveyard Sludge [MM5] - see Ooze, Graveyard Gray jester [Heroes of Horror]
A book on darkonese folklore I was reading told me about a puzzling being that could possibly be a subtype of bogeyman? I need to search more on these gray jester, as it is often called, to make an educated guess on its exact nature. In short, I learned from this book the creature always appears as a very thin jester, clown or mime and mainly attacks children. This fact attracted my attention, of course. It is said to entertain children and then use the grim ability of draining the joyous emotions from the children it attacks, leaving them as mind drained automatons under the jesters control. Does this bogeyman feed on joyous thought? However I understand from the book many adults have seen the creature, which is puzzling and wildly atypical from the other bogeymen. More enquiry needed on this case. Hans Gleam, private notes

Gray Wyrm, the

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Green Maiden, Maiden, the (Gaz 2)

-The re-education of Charlie Wescote, Ship's Biologist of the HMS Retriever

Gremishka [Denizens of Dread]

CR 1/3 "Mayor Bonnivale emerged from the bushes around Bellweather Manor to meet his new "business partner," the spiritualist Glamgel. Bonnivale thrust a heavy sack of coins before Glamgel, who casually hid it within his voluminous blue robe. Glamgel, in turn, shook his right sleeve, and produced a cat. Or rather, a catlike creature with tremendous eyes and huge, funnel-like ears. "Bonnivale eagerly pointed Bellweather Manor out to the creature, who, in turn, simply gawked back at him, apparently in awe of the mayor's bowler hat. Glamgel shook his head, picked up a rock, and hurled it through one of the manor windows. While the mayor fearfully clutched his bowler, afraid that his scheme was now laid bare to the world, the spiritualist pointed to the smashed pane, and the creature eagerly clambered up the wall, and entered the house through the broken window. "When I turned back to see the two malefactors, both mayor and spiritualist were gone." --passage from Spirit Circles And Shadowed Pits, Memoirs of Jeremy Addler

long as it lives, perhaps long after the site itself has been forgotten and gone to seed. In lands where the dead are feared or revered, such as Darkon and Mordent, some folk offer a different account of the grims origin. They claim that when a new graveyard or other burial site is consecrated (again, using a hallow spell), the spirit of the first creature to be laid to rest there automatically rises up and becomes a grim rather than moving on to its deserved afterlife. Where this belief holds sway, one or more animals traditionally a dog, cat, and owl sacrificed and buried together are often the first to be put to ground, sparing any deceased humans from assuming the role. If grims do form from the spirits of the dead, they retain only dim memories of their lives, which surface only when the possibility of their final rest presents itself. Once created, a grim can reach the afterlife only by being destroyed or by having another creature willingly volunteer to take its place shortly before dying and being interred within the grims territory. Grims are patient creatures, however, and do not actively seek their own destruction. Only one grim can be bound to any given site at a time. Attempts to bind additional grims produce no results. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about grims. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This macabre animal is actually a guardian spirit called a grim This result reveals all magical beast traits. 21 Grims can take the form of a large dog, cat, or owl, but once chosen they must remain in the same form all night. This result reveals the shapechanger subtype. 26 Grims are powerful guardians against supernatural evil, set in place by spellcasters to watch over hallowed grounds. 31 Grims are powerless during daylight hours, automatically retreating to the spirit world at

Grim [Denizens of Dread]

CR 6 JWM: Binding a Grim. The true nature of these strange, spiritual entities is far from certain, but the method of binding a grim to a site is not so mysterious. First, the territory the grim is to guard must somehow be bounded by a physical border, such as a low stone wall or similar markers. Temples and other structures are automatically bounded. Next, a divine spellcaster must sanctify the site with a hallow spell. A spellcaster must now cast magic circle against evil within the hallowed area. Lastly, a spellcaster must cast summon monster V at night, while inside the magic circle, with the specific intention of summoning a grim. If these steps are followed correctly, a grim appears and guards the site for as

cocks crow and not returning until the last rays of sun have set. --When a young agent of mine failed to return with the bones I investigated. My approach could not have been stealthier, at least until dead and live alike were set on edge by the cry of a great and ghastly owl who presided over the place with a sense of propriety proper to none but myself. I bid it begone. Yet it failed to so much as flinch. More astonishing still, it fixed its will upon my being and urged flight upon my soul. Unperturbed by its failure in this, it leapt from its towering perch and swooped down at me, its claws extended to rend my flesh. The grace with which I side-stepped it gave it no pause. It was a determined and remarkable creature, but I was impatient, preoccupied with matters of consequence, and simply spoke a word that sent it from existence. I thought nothing more of the thing, until a second young agent sent to that graveyard failed to return to me last night, two centuries after the first. -Strahd von Zarovich consulting Madame Eva

"She stepped out of her bed, and the door gently opened. A tall figure, shrouded in black silk emerged from the doorway, offering its skeletal hand to Mme. Anna. ""It is time." ""Yes, it is time." "She took its hand, and then they were both gone." -passage from Spirit Circles And Shadowed Pits, Memoirs of Jeremy Addler

Grimweird [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 11, lawful evil. A weak and withered undead creature that possesses potent spell-like abilities. The most significant of these powers is its ability to magically summon evil creatures to its aid. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about grimweirds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 21: The weak and withered appearance of this humanoid undead is deceiving; the presence of its minions hints that it is a grimweird, a creature that has tapped into the Negative Energy Plain to reap great power. This result reveals all undead traits. Grimweirds speak the languages they knew in life. DC 26: Grimweirds are best known for their ability to summon powerful, evil allies to aid it. Every few moments, a grimweird can use lesser planar binding and summon monster VI as spelllike abilities. DC 31: In close combat, a grimweird drains life energy with its claws. Once per day, it can use dispel magic and protection from chaos/good/evil/law as spell-like abilities. DC 36: The creatures summoned by a grimweird are unusually strong and resilient for their kind ---

Grimlock [Monster Manual]

CR 1 Suggested by Chris Nichols Dr#327 - Jan 05 - Ecology of the Grimlock These blind creatures are often found with mind flayers, often as their private armies.

Grim reaper [Denizens of Dread]

CR 7 "The wards remained in place, the candles remained lit, and the magic circles remained undisturbed. Nothing would be able to harm Mme. Anna while she recovered from her illness. The only thing we did not anticipate was Mme. Anna, herself. "When the clock struck 1:45, she rose from her bed, something that she could not do in the last 10 days of her illness, and blew out the warding candle on her nightstand. She turned to me, and with a sad, wistful smile, she told me, "It is time."

Of all the restless spirits said to haunt that dark & misty land (and there are many), but few are more feared than the Dark Mourner, whose song is said to summon all fell creature to its side, so that he who would oppose it finds himself surrounded at once by all enemies of the living, drawn from miles around to the Mourner's aid, perishing, therefore, before he can so much as raise his blade. from Catalog of the World Entire

creatures. Remove curse and similar spells can remove this paralysis. This result also reveals procedure for creating grisgols. 35 Striking a grisgol with any object other than a piercing weapon throws out a cloud of choking dust and mold. Living creatures who breathe it in may contract slimy doom. Casting erase on a grisgol damages it. A grisgol can use ten different spell-like abilities, each once per day, but the specific spells differ from one grisgol to the next and reflect the trapped lichs spirit bonded to the construct. 40 Casting secret page on a grisgol renders it invisible. Destroying a grisgol frees the lichs spirit trapped within it, unless the phylactery is uncovered and destroyed. However, after a grisgol is destroyed, anyone who examines the magic writings on its parchment wrappings may be driven mad by a powerful curse. Nothing short of a limited wish can remove this curse. --Standing next to the dread Phantom's Bane was a creature which we took at first to be a mummy, as it appeared to be a human frame wrapped in what appeared to be long rolls of cloth. "I have no more time to entertain you," the lich said in its inhuman whisper. "I leave you with my good friend the Red Hand. At one time he and I were enemies, but I won him over at last, and he has served me well. I hope our own relationship follows the same course, Master Van Richten. Adieu." What that the image of the lich flickered and disappeared--its presence had been merely illusionary! As it did so the "mummy" strode forward, and I could see it was actually a creation of metal rods, crystals, and wood, bound in papyri on which I seemed to see blasphemous arcana of great power written... Working notes for Van Richten's Guide to the Lich

Grisgol [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Large Construct, CR 15, neutral. A golem constructed from broken and worn-out magic items. Since its limbs are wrapped in magic scrolls, it can be mistaken for a mummy from a distance. A grisgol can only be created by a lich, and the lichs phylactery sits at the grisgols heart, empowering it. It has numerous lich-like powers, including a paralyzing, negative energy-imbued touch and spell-like abilities, plus striking it kicks up infectious dust. Once its destroyed, anyone examining its remains may be driven mad by a powerful curse. In short, a powerful guardian for a lichs life force. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about grisgols. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 What first appears to be a strange kind of mummy is in fact a grisgol, a construct created by a powerful spellcaster from scores of broken and discarded magic items. This result reveals all construct traits. 30 A grisgol is immune to almost all forms of magic, and its magic-charged body deflects most attacks. However, magic piercing weapons can penetrate its defenses. A grisgol is powered by the phylactery of a lich imprisoned at its heart. Its attacks flow with damaging negative energy, which can also permanently paralyze living

H
Hag, annis [Monster Manual]
CR 6 (underlined text is Ravenloft specific. In other settings, you can ignore it or pass it off as mere superstition.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about annis. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This towering, hideous, blue-skinned crone is an annis, a physically powerful form of hag. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hags usually speak Giant and Common. 21 An annis has a ravenous appetite for humanoid flesh. They attack with their razor-sharp talons and iron-hard teeth. If they get a foe in their clutches, they can brutally tear through the victims flesh. An annis dense flesh resists minor cuts, but bludgeoning weapons can prove effective. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. 26 Annis can use disguise self and fog cloud several times a day as spell-like abilities. They enjoy posing as common folk to lure hapless victims into their clutches. Like all hags, they are scheming creatures that despise natural beauty. An annis is resistant to magic. 31 Annis are often masters of foul magical arts. When they form coveys with at least two other hags, they pool their power, gaining the ability to use animate dead, bestow curse, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana, polymorph, veil, and vision as spell-like abilities. 36 Hag coveys can also create hags eyes, magical gems through which the hags can scry at will. ---

The professor caught my arm as I left his bedside, though his arms lacked the strength to stop me. "I could not call myself a friend if I condoned this course of action," he said to me. "But if you are determined, I can advise you." "Then do so, for I am," I replied. "Very well," he sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "If you go to the Tall Woman, you must remember three things: first, be there of your own free will and tell her as such, for those who are sent to her are hers by right. Second, no matter how she treats you, you must treat her with the utmost respect. Third, you must ask nothing of her, for such things lead to harm more often than good." I nodded and left, all the time wondering how my friend had knowledge of dealing with such dark creatures... -From the table notes of Dariel Swift, a researcher of Dark Magiks See also Pathfinder classic horror revisited, and RLCS

Hag, Bheur [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: These hags are harbingers of winter, with terrible powers over cold. Bheurs carry a wooden staff called a graystaff that is the focus of much of their power. Bheur hags can also change to a Large size form to combat their foes. Perhaps most horrifically, bheur hags can consume *any* slain or helpless foe in a single round. Seeing this horrific feast can cause viewers to go blind or be driven mad. In Ravenloft, bheur hags dwell in the Frozen Reaches and the heights of the Balinoks, the Mountains of Misery and the Sleeping Beast. When winter comes, the range of the bheurs is greatly increased, as they may range as far as the snows reach. Some claim that there is really only one bheur hag and that she is the embodiment of winter. Accordingly, the bheur must be slain for spring to return, but ever if slain the bheur will return to life when winter comes again. ---

As the wind whipped about him and the snow grew ever deeper, Radu realized he had no choice but to accept the old woman's request, for a winter's night in the heights of the Balinoks without shelter was a sure death. "Yes, grandmother," said Radu. "I agree that my horse for a night's shelter is a fair trade." "You've done right by this old woman, young man," said the old woman, with a smile that made her uglier than ever. And with that, she walked up to Danzi, looked him up and down once, and struck the horse sharply between the eyes with her staff. Poor Danzi instantly fell over dead. Next, the old woman licked her lips and opened her mouth wide, kneeling over the horse's body. What happened next, Radu did not want to know, so he closed his eyes. But he could still hear, and thought that if he looked at what the old woman was doing he might go blind or mad. - from Radu and Old Woman Winter, in 10 Tales from the Balinoks

short-term, however, since the dead skin soon rots away. 22 A bog hag can still rely on her sharp talons while disguised as a humanoid, but this instantly shreds the stolen skin. A bog hags claws carry a lethal disease called bog rot. 27 Bog hags prefer to attack by grappling foes and forcing their heads underwater until they drown, leaving the skin intact. When a bog hag first dons a new skin, she quickly heals from her wounds. Once fully healed, however, a bog hag needs to don a fresh skin to use this ability again. --Dear Rainard, I write you in times of pain and sadness. Your dear sister is no more among us. You know I lost the only person I ever loved. I do not have a lot of time to explain the way she died, so Ill go directly to the point. Poor Rustine fell to a terrible creature, a wicked hag living in the Black swamp. We felt something was wrong when her behaviour suddenly changed and she asked us to sell everything we had in order to leave this horrible place with the maximum amount of gold we could get. We didnt understand her sudden desire to leave the place, but nonetheless I asked around if anybody wanted to buy our modest house. After, we spent days packing our things.While we were packing, and only a few days has passed since her change, then horror struck us. A dog in the street bit Rustine, and suddenly, I saw the flesh on her leg ripped to shreds by the dog. I was surprised that such a small dog could make this horrible bite, but people in the street yelled and I saw Rustine trying to hide her wound. But we all saw green skin with scales under what seemed like an horrible disguise of flesh! Then the thing screamed and large talons ripped Rustines flesh and came out in the light! As horrible as it was, we burned the thing and we saw it for what it really was: a green hag wearing Rustine skin! Horrible, let me tell you.

Hag, Bog [Oriental Adventure]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about bog hags. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 The green flesh beneath this persons torn skin reveals it to be a bog hag, a hideous crone easily mistaken for a green hag. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the shapechanger subtype. Bog hags speak Giant and Common. 17 A bog hag lacks the physical and mystical power of her more fearsome kin, but she possesses the horrific ability to disguise herself as a normal humanoid by flaying a victim and wrapping herself in the victims skin. This disguise is only

We never found Rustines resting place so I assume the thing that wore her skin also ate her. More when we meet in a month. Julien

A dune hag can use the spell-like abilities of disguise self, haboob, skin of the cactus, and hallucinatory terrain several times a day. 24 Dune hags can mentally enslave humanoids with a kiss. A dune hags hardened hide deflects glancing blows. A dune hag is also resistant to magic. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. --Beware of the dune princess, travelers! If this crone ever kisses you, you will loose your head and see her as the most beautiful woman of the desert lands. Then you will follow her in the desert and you will loose your heart and never be seen again. HarAkir wisewoman tale

Hag, dread [Ravenloft Third Edition]

Baba Yaga ate up the seven loaves of good white bread; she ate up the great bowl of borscht; she ate up the suckling pig and the great pile of mashed turnips; then she ate up the side of beef, a whole half of a young steer it was, and all the while she drank down the best vodka as if it were water. At last she ate up a great round of the best cow's cheese, wax and all, then she sat back, picking her iron teeth with a rib of the steer, and lit her pipe. (Smoking after meals is one of Baba Yaga's many bad habits.) "Did you enjoy your meal, Grandmother?" Ivana asked politely. "Yes," Baba Yaga allowed reluctantly. "I did. But you have not yet won! There remains a third task to be completed before you may go on your way, and if you cannot finish it--well, then, I'll be eating you tomorrow at this time." The Story of Ivana and Baba Yaga, traditional Voros

Hag, green hag [Monster Manual]

CR 5 (I know Dragon did an Ecology article on the green hag fairly recently - Dr#331 - May 05, but their lore table wasn't quite to my liking. Ravenloft specific) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about green hags. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This hideous green crone is a green hag, a twisted creature found in the deepest swamps. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hags usually speak Giant and Common. 20 A green hag has a ravenous appetite for humanoid flesh. Despite their strength, they prefer to use stealth and trickery against their foes. Green hags can mimic the sounds of nearly any animal theyve ever heard. These hags also know how to sap a creatures strength simply by clutching it in just the right spot. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause

Hag, dune [Sandstorm]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about dune hags. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. (A little Ravenloft-specific info in this one.) DC Result 14 This inhumanly tall, greenish-brown, and hideously ugly crone is a dune hag, a twisted creature that calls the desert wastes her home. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hags usually speak Giant and a local language. 19 Dune hags have a ravenous appetite for humanoid flesh. Despite their strength, they prefer to use trickery and compulsion against their foes.

natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. 25 Green hags have several powerful spell-like abilities, including dancing lights, disguise self, ghost sound, invisibility, pass without trace, tongues, and water breathing. They enjoy posing as common folk to lure hapless victims into their clutches. Like all hags, they are scheming creatures that despise natural beauty. A green hag is resistant to magic. 30 Green hags are often masters of foul magical arts. When they form coveys with at least two other hags, they pool their power, gaining the ability to use animate dead, bestow curse, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana, polymorph, veil, and vision as spell-like abilities. 35 Hag coveys can also create hags eyes, magical gems through which the hags can scry at will. --Jenny Greenteeth sits in the moonlight pale, Pickin' at her teeth with a coffin nail Hey, Jenny, hey, ho, Jenny, go, Jenny walking out tonight looking for a beau. See her in the moonlight pretty as can be, Hey, Jenny, ho, Jenny, save a kiss for me! See her in the morning after kissing of her man, Blood at her lips and blood on her hands. Jenny in the moonlight, slender as a switch, Jenny in the sunlight, green-toothed witch, Careful as you go tonight, fine young man, Jenny's walking out tonight, catch you if she can. Hey, Jenny, hey, ho, Jenny, ho Jenny walking out tonight looking for a beau! The Ballad of Jenny Greenteeth, traditional Mordentish

heartstone, which strengthens her powers. Styrix (RL Gaz II) is a night hag. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about night hags. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This midnight-hued crone is a type of fiend called a night hag. This result reveals all outsider traits and the evil subtype. Some scholars believe night hags are the ultimate stage of truly ancient and powerful mortal hags (such as green hags). 24 The connection between night hags and mortal hags is mere speculation. Night hags are native to the Gray Wastes of Hades, where they trade in mortal flesh and souls. They are immune to cold, fire, charm, sleep, and fear. 29 Night hags resist spells and their iron-hard skin deflects most weapon blows, though magic weapions forged of cold iron can still pierce their defenses. A night hags bite carries a dangerous disease called demon fever. 34 Night hags can haunt the dreams of chaotic or evil mortals, draining their health. A night hag has numerous spell-like abilities she can use at will, including etherealness, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, sleep, and the ability to polymorph herself and detect magic and alignments. 39 All night hags carry a magic periapt called a heartstone, into which they pour much of their power. A heartstone instantly cures its bearers diseases, and thus can fetch a high price from the right buyer. A night hag who loses her heartstone cannot use etherealness or haunt mortals dreams until she makes another, a process that requires a month of effort. ---

Hag, night [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar), CR 9, neutral evil. Fiendish, midnight-blue hags from the lower plane of Hades that trade in mortal souls. They spread disease with their bite, possess potent spell-like abilities, and can haunt mortal's dreams. Each night hag carries a magic trinket called a

"As your soul is about to be dispatched to eternal torment, I thought that you might appreciate a truth or three. The beautiful girl in the dream, who gave herself to you night after night before leading you here, well that was me. That thing on the floor over there that so disgusts you, that is what remains of your cuckolded husband. And oh yes,

your daughter, you know I was going to eat her too, but then I thought that a lifetime, short though it will probably be, of servicing the sailors at the local brothel would be so much more fitting." -Styrix playing with prey, before feeding it as fuel to her Rift Spanner

He had not gone far when he saw an old woman sitting on the beach and weeping, just as he had been told, all wrapped and veiled until her skin could not be seen at all. Cautiously he came to her side, and said, "Can I help you, Grandmother?" "Oh, young man, I've lost my golden ring among all this sand. Surely you'll help an old woman to find her golden ring?" "Of course, Grandmother," he replied, and put on the spectacles the peddler had given him for just such an occasion. And it was just as well he did, for as he bent his face to the sand the old woman put aside her veil and grinned, and he felt his heart turn to ice to see her face, so ugly and evil it was! But the peddler's spectacles did their work, and he did not fall down in a faint, nor lose his strength, as men do when they see that awful face; and so when she flew at his throat with her horrid clawed hands he was prepared. The Magic Spectacles, traditional Mordentish

Hag, sea hag [Monster Manual]

CR 4 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about sea hags. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This oozing, jaundiced crone is a sea hag, a twisted creature native to the oceans or stagnant lakes. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hags usually speak Giant and Common. 19 Sea hags are so hideous that the mere sight of their faces can cause opponents to go weak at the knees. They prefer direct attacks, and slash their enemies to ribbons with their long claws. A sea hag can survive comfortably both above and below the waters surface. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. 24 Several times a day, a sea hag can cast her evil eye on another creature, addling its mind with fear for three days. Some victims are even struck dead from fright on the spot. Assuming the victim survives, remove curse or dispel evil can end the effect. They enjoy posing as common folk to lure hapless victims into their clutches. Like all hags, they are scheming creatures that despise natural beauty. A sea hag is resistant to magic. 29 Sea hags are often masters of foul magical arts. When they form coveys with at least two other hags, they pool their power, gaining the ability to use animate dead, bestow curse, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana, polymorph, veil, and vision as spell-like abilities. 34 Hag coveys can also create hags eyes, magical gems through which the hags can scry at will. ---

Hag, Shrieking [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR 10. A plains-dwelling hag with the power to command the wind and a maddening shriek. They can also rend their foes. In Ravenloft, these hags dwell primarily on the Vaasan Plateau. --Laera - Whither goes thou, strange and ancient, blackheart hag? Witch - I go where the winds take me. The wind it whispers secrets to me, and I follow the course the secrets set. Laera - What secret has brought you here? Witch - The secret of your death, child. from The Secrets of the Winds, a Nova Vaasan play

Hag, spectral [Denizens of Dread]

Spectral Annis CR 8 Spectral Green Hag CR 7 Spectral Sea Hag CR 6 JWM: Y'know, honestly, when you break it down this monster is really just a regular hag with the equivalent of "spectral creature" template stuck on, and I'm seriously considering treating it as such. But go ahead and write a blurb; whether it's under Hag, Spectral or the sample creature for a Spectral Creature, I can still use it.

The hag simply sat in her chair of woven bones at the far end of the room, smoking her pipe and staring at the fire, seemingly unconcerned that we had just smashed in the door to her cottage. The ring of drawn swords seemed to bother her not at all. "Where is Aryana, witch?" shouted Sir Landrick. "Tell us now and perhaps we shall let you live!" The crone chuckled at this. "Little one," she called, exhaling a long stream of smoke. "Come and get rid of this rabble for mother, won't you?" From the darkness of the back room stepped a hulking brute, its skin a lesser shade of blue than the hag's. Its skin was hairy and wart-pocked, its arms long and gangly, its position hunched, its hair lank and greasy, and its eyes red with malice. It draw a cracked and blackened sword from somewhere behind the door frame, and then it spoke. "Yes, maw-maw." And then it was among us.

Hagspawn [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR Character level + 1. Hagspawn are the rare male offspring of hags. Typically abandoned at birth, hagspawn resemble particularly large and brutish humans, and inherit their mothers' wicked tendencies. They are violent bullies and thugs, always seeking to intimidate and dominate those weaker than them. Hagspawn have high Str and Con, low Cha, an improved AC, spell resistance. Favored class is barbarian. In Ravenloft, hagspawn can appear anywhere hags can be found. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about hagspawn. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This gangly, hunched figure is a hagspawn, the male offspring of a hag. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hagspawn usually speak Giant and Common. 19 Desipite their sickly physical appearance, hagspawn are much stronger and somewhat healthier than humans. Their considerable strength is their main asset, so they tend to prefer melee combat. 24 Hagspawn often work in the service of one or more hags, sometimes bullying weaker creatures into working with them. When not in the service of hags, their main motivations are hunger for flesh and hatred of natural beauty. Hagspawn lack any spell-like abilities, but are resistant to magic. ---

- excerpt from an unsigned diary found in an estate sale in Karg

HalfHalf-farspawn [Lords of Madness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures half-farspawn nature. The DC of the Knowledge check is (halffarspawns CR +10); the DCs below represent the sample creature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This hideous monster seems to be a hybrid between a familiar creature and the twisted entities of the Far Realm, a place of madness and chaos beyond the bounds of the multiverse. This result reveals all outsider traits.

25 These alien entities are resistant to acid and electricity and immune to poison. Their loathsome flesh instantly heals minor wounds, but magic weapons can pierce their defenses. A halffarspawn retains the natural weapons of its mortal parent, but also sprouts a pair of lashing, prehensile tentacles. 30 At will, a half-farspawn can shift into a form reflecting its Far Realm heritage: a grotesque, tentacled mass. Half-farspawn are resistant to magic. Sentient half-farspawn can use an array of spell-like abilities, generally once per day. The weakest half-farspawn can use abilities like blur and touch of idiocy, ranging up to scintillating pattern, summon monster IX, and implosion among the most powerful of their kind. 35 While in its true, alien form, a half-farspawn attacks with its tentacles, sprouting yet another pair to take on foes. Due to its amorphous physiology, it cannot be flanked and is not subject to precision-based damage, such as critical hits or sneak attacks. Once a day, a half-farspawn can channel its energies to virtually ensure that one of its attacks strikes home. --This vistani womans case is interesting as it is unique. From what I understand of what happened when she lost her marbles, she liked to gaze in the mists and peek at the travelers stuck in it. It was a good source of revenue for the tribe to rescue then and bring them back to solid land. But it seems one day she saw something in the crystal ball, and that something looked back at her. She has lost her sanity since this moment and often screams about a tentacled being with six eyes that would be talking to her in her head. Im puzzled for the treatment that could help her and I will write Dr Illhousen tomorrow about her case. Notes on patient # 423, Mordent Asylum

Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This creatures otherworldly, sylvan traits indicate that one of its parents was likely a fey spirit. This result reveals all fey traits. 20 Half-fey inherit many traits from their fey parent. They are immune to mind-influencing effects, and they ignore most minor attacks, though weapons forged of cold iron can pierce their defenses. 25 Particularly outgoing half-fey develop spelllike abilities, such as charm person, dancing lights, daze, and faerie fire. Half-fey gain a wide variety of more potent spell-like abilities as they grow in power, generally in the form of illusions and enchantments. 30 Half-fey may also inherit specific traits from their fey parent, such as additional spell-like abilities, minor resistances, or insect-like wings. --Was a man in the village where I grew up whom all knew was fey-blooded, for he had horse's hooves for feet, and his fists like hooves when he balled them, and a long mane as it were of black hair down his back. He was main simple and never harmed a soul, so we didn't go about in fear of him; he could talk to horses and was a wonderful ostler, though he never would ride. A weatherprophet he was, too, and he could say whether a foal would be colt or filly a month before it were born. But an inquisitor came and wanted him to burn; no, we said, he's a good lad and never any trouble, for all he's fey. But he took fright and run off, and never came back for to live in the village again, though we'd seem him sometimes, at dawn or dusk, out in the fields; and mama often had me leave out a bowl of mash, for if he should be hungered. Folk-tales of the Eastern Core, Magnus Wolfsbane

HalfHalf-fey [Fiend Folio/VRG Folio/VRG tt SF]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about a creatures half-fey nature. Characters may need to make a separate

HalfHalf-fiend [Monster Manual]

(template) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures half-

fiendish nature. (Characters may have to make a different Knowledge check to learn about the base creatures traits.) When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This creature is the product of a mating between a mortal creature and a fiend. This result reveals all outsider traits. 18 A half-fiend is resistant to acid, cold, electricity, and fire. It is immune to poison and can see in the dark. 23 A half-fiends unnatural flesh resists most weapon blows, but magic weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. The creature is also resistant to spells. 28 Once per day, a half-fiend can channel its evil energies into a melee attack, smiting a goodaligned foe for extra damage. Particularly powerful and strong-minded half-fiends can also call upon spell-like abilities, ranging from darkness and desecrate on up to summon monster IX and destruction. --"My lord Malocchio can lay claim to a more distinguished heritage yet. Surely you must have heard that he grew to manhood in the span of a day? That the wild wolves and all birds of carrion are at his beck and call? That on each hand he has an extra finger, an infallible sign of wizardly power? That even the Vistani scum tremble before his evil eye?" My jailor smiled and combed his greasy hair back from his forehead with his fingers. "And what are we to conclude from all these evidences?" He leaned close, his foul breath pouring over me, and whispered, "His mother is a witch, aye. But his father...his father is a duke of Hell itself. What can your Gundar offer in comparison?" from a personal account of Vardan Taltos, Gundarakite rebel, to Toret Johann Severin

HalfHalf-golem, all [Monster Manual II WE] WE]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about a creatures half-golem nature. Characters need to make separate Knowledge checks to learn about the base creature or to know specifics about the types of golem incorporated into this creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 15: This creature has had several limbs replaced with artificial replacements. The melding of flesh and lifeless matter makes the creature look half-alive, half-golem. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 20: A half-golems unnaturally armored body deflects glancing blows, but adamantine weapons can strike home. A half-golem is immune to almost all forms of magic, but is susceptible to the same spell effects that can affect the type of golem incorporated into its body. DC 25: This result reveals the special attacks and qualities a half-golem gains from its unnatural grafts. This result also reveals the process of creating half-golems. DC 30: Half-golems are created as the result of grafting magically created limbs onto living creatures, usually done to replace lost body parts. The more body parts a creature replaces with golem limbs, however, the greater the chance that the elemental spirits animating the limbs will seize control of the creatures mind, robbing the halfgolem of its humanity.

HalfHalf-golem, brass [Monster Manual II WE] WE]

Im so relieved to see this salesman leave my inn. Not that he was violent, drinking too much, or otherwise unpleasant, mind you. This traveler was a quiet gentleman, but there was something really odd about him. You see, I saw him taking his bath. Dont look at me oddly, it was a mistake; I thought I heard him say enter or something. He quickly took a towel and hid his body from me, but I had the time to see his left arm was made of metal! I

swear this is true! It was bolted to his shoulder like the wheel of my cart to the shaft. I apologized, tried to look like I didnt see anything odd, and left his room. I know you would not believe me, but this mans arm is made of brass! A Inn owner gossip

HalfHalf-golem, clay [Monster Manual II]

"Of dust Man was made, and dust he shall become in the end," Dr. Hawthorne told me, his spectacles two circles of light before his mask-like face. "Of course, things are happening rather--well, asymmetrically--in your case. Half of you, roughly, has hastened to the grave; therefore, I was obliged to reinforce what remains with..." "Dust?" I asked, quizzically. Despite his manifest madness, it seemed the logical conclusion to this quasi-theological exposition. "Well, clay," he responded. "It's within the meaning of the act, I'm sure. Stand up, m'sieur." I swung my legs over the edge of the bed obediently. Words cannot describe my feelings as I saw them to be two well-formed columns of pale clay. Autobiography of Malcolm Sykes, published Mordent 634

clinic...his attacker was evidently a very powerful left-handed man, who beat him severely about the neck and head and left him for dead...the constabulary is temporarily stymied in part by the lack of any discernable motive, as Fanshaw was well-liked in his social circle, in addition to his well-known willingness to give advanced and experimental medical treatment even to the poorest members of the community. Paridon Newsbill, 4 April 748

HalfHalf-golem, iron [Monster Manual II]

Jacob looked in awe at the mass of sculpted iron that adorned his once scarred and crippled left side. Each vein and muscle a testament to the doctors fiendish skill. With controlled movements he picked up the stone goblet from the table and drank deep of the sweet wine. "Excellent. The wields are holding and joint b-3 is showing full range of motion. A few more days and you will ready to exact revenge on those who attacked you. Are you ready?" As if answering for him the iron fist clenched reducing the goblet to a fine powder... Ironheart By Samual Fairfax

HalfHalf-golem, stained glass [Monster Manual II WE] WE]

JWM: The MM2 stained glass golem is the same creature as Ravenloft's glass golem. --"We had all thought Dannel a little obsessed with his work, spending days on even the smallest window. During the creation of rose window for the grand cathedral I swear he went a fortnight with nothing but water and will to keep him going. But when he lost his arm to the rot I've never seen such sadness in man eyes. He cryed a torrent of tears over his unfinished masterpiece, a grand warrior fully as tall as a man made with the finest Borcan glass. For days on end he would sit before it with a bottle in his hand staring up at it with eyes long since cried out. We did what we could for him, bringing him food and keeping his shop tidy. After a while the visits

HalfHalf-golem, flesh [Monster Manual II]

Triumph of modern medicine The famous anatomist James Fanshaw today released from his charity clinic day laborer Edward "Red Ned" Fiennes, who returns to his vocation as a bricklayer with a new left arm and leg to replace those lost in a work accident earlier this week...Fanshaw's surgical skill were sufficient to graft an arm and leg taken from anatomical specimens onto the unfortunate Fiennes... Paridon Newsbill 28 February 748 Tragedy in Bridge Street! Reknowned man of science James Fanshaw was found murdered today in his Bridge Street

dwindled from once a week to twice a week then a month then four. With winter closing in I had though to bring him home with us for Yuletide and try to break him out of his funk. I opened the door to his shop and was shocked to see the grand warrior shattered, a few pieces still in the frame glinting with frost. It was a twinkle of light that drew my eye to Dannel sitting in the lightless workroom...or rather the moster he had become. Where once had been a clean cut stump now glittered with the addition of an arm made of the shards of the shattered window. The arm was a thing of horrid beauty that can only be made by a mad man. Small rivers of dried blood dulled the gleaming as he held the broken form of child in his arms, a thousand cuts visable on his tiny body. 'I had to do it...the devil children...broke it they did...REVENGE!' were the last words he said as the guards drug him away to the gallows I couldn't bare to look at the rainbow on the ground as the sun set behind his body as it swung in the wind..." Erick Von Holtz speaking to Doctor Van Richten during his research for VRGT:Created

the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This tentacle-faced creature strongly resembles a mind flayer, also known as an illithid, but unusual traits indicate it may be some kind of hybrid. This reveals all aberration traits. 22 Half-illithids are not considered true illithids by their mind flayer kin, and thus hold a lesser status in their alien society. Like mind flayers, halfillithids can produce a powerful mind blast that stuns creatures, but they can do so only once a day. Half-illithids are often little more than elite slaves, focusing their unusual talents on special tasks or terrorizing the lesser races used for chattel. 27 Like true mind flayers, half-illithids subsist on the brains of sentient beings. Their facial tentacles can grapple with an opponent and extract the brain in mere moments. 32 Particularly strong-willed half-illithids can manifest one or more psionic powers as spell-like abilities a few times a day, including detect thoughts, suggestion, levitate, and charm monster. 37 Mind flayers reproduce through a process called ceremorphosis, in which the mind flayers implant their tadpoles inside a living humanoids brain. Only tadpoles placed within living humans produces a true illithid. Implanting a tadpole in other creatures produces a number of illithid-like horrors, of which the half-illithid is the most common. 42 Other products of mind flayer fleshcrafting include urophions (a tadpoles implanted in a roper) and uchuulons (a tadpole implanted in a chuul). --Yes, Van Richten, the brain eaters love to craft flesh and create new aberrations at their image. The creatures you just read about are indeed real. The illithids play god with their so called science, but I call it perversion of what was meant to be and what wasnt. We were once in this terrible

HalfHalf-golem, stone [Monster Manual II]

"And lo the fallen champion was placed on the sacred alter. Each beat of his heart pumped trickles of lifeblood from the ragged stubs where his arms once belonged. With not a word the priests took to there tasks. Seven to the rituals of healing, seven more took up the sacred hammers. For one moon the great hall echoed with the rhythmic sounds of their craft. As the moon rose over the lands of man they presented to champion two new arms carved from the very heart of the earth itself. " "And so a new champion arose from the altar. And to him was given the power of mountain and all fell before his mighty blows. " Negnar Stonehands Dwarven legend

HalfHalf-illithid [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about a creatures half-illithid nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creatures traits. When a character makes a successful skill check,

storm blasted land called Bluetspur, and we saw these things. They were half like these brain eaters, and half elves, ogres, calibans and we even saw one with lycanthropic traits. Who knows what else their demented brilliant mind created? From a discussion with Van Richten

HalfHalf-vampire (see Dhampir) Halfling [Monster Manual]

CR (There's a little extra Ravenloft material in here. If not using RL, replace the underlined sentence with "These nomadic smallfolk are widely traveled.") Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about halflings. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This childlike humanoid is a halfling. These civilized nonhumans are most common in Darkon, but have spread throughout the Land of Mists. This result reveals all humanoid traits. Halflings have their own tongue, but also speak the local language. Clever halflings may know other racial languages as well. 15 Halflings use their small size and nimble physique to escape notice, evade the ponderous attacks of larger creatures, and slip into places where they are not necessarily invited. 20 Desipite their small stature, halflings are generally brave and good-natured. Legend has it that, long ago, a hag created halflings when she tried to strip away all but the best nature of a human, leaving a benevolent man no bigger than a child. 25 Several halfling subraces exist, of which the lightfoot halfling is the most common. Other varieties include the somewhat rare tallfellows, who are larger than their cousins and are generally found in elven lands, and deep halflings, who live near dwarves far underground. ---

Running the little beggars down is easy. Surprising them and fixing them in place less so. Sinking ones claws and teeth into them takes some effort, for they can be dodgy, unless they are dead. It is best to get in close by them right quick for they love to pelt you with all manner of hurtful stuff. And dont turn your back on them. They make good eating, especially the plump ones, often smelling of sweet cakes while still kicking and of fish after a few days. Their shoeless feet are delectable. Have you ever tried one cooked? -Interview with a Ghoul --In the days long past the great provider Yondalla looked down at the world and spoke."The world is bare and wild. I need a race that can tend my fields and tame my animals." And so Yondalla turned to Corellon Larethian and asked him to make her a race. Pucking a tree from the great forrests he caved the first elf but this creature was too frail and lanky to tend Yondalla's fields. So Yondalla turned to Moradin and asked him to create a race for her. Hefting his great axe he carved from the great mountan the first dwarf but this creature was too stubborn and greedy to tend Yondalla's fields. So Yondalla turned to Gruumsh and asked him to create a race for her. Trusting his gnarled hand into the great swamp Gruumsh drew up a lump of sludge and formed it into the first orc but this creature was far too ugly and stupid to tend Yondalla's fields. Degected Yondalla pulled a large clumb of sod from her fields and thought back on the other gods creations. She would create a race of her ownshort and stout unlike the elves, kind and generous unlike the dwarves and lovely and clever unlike the orcs. And from her hands came the first halfling and to it was given all Yondalla's fields and her blessing. Halfing creation myth

Hannya [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Hannya: Medium Monstrous Humanoid, CR 4, chaotic evil. A female spellcaster from a Far

Eastern tradition who has made a dark pact to permanently transform herself into a serpentine form of hag. Somewhat resembles a reptilian green hag from the waist up; serpentine body from the waist down. It has limited innate magical ability compared to other hags (merely the power to read and control minds), but can constrict with its coils. Like other hags, it can shapechange. Violets repel it, like a mirror repels vampires. --(Ravenloft-specific lore is underlined. Basically, it just lumps hannya in with other hags.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about hannya. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This serpentine crone is a hannya, a particularly monstrous form of hag. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hannya speak Common, Draconic, and Yuan-Ti. 19 Hannya are as cowardly as they are cruel. A hannya is likely to flee if she faces serious opposition. When a hannya strikes, she tears her victims flesh with her sharp fangs and claws. If a hannya latches onto a victim with both claws, she usually tries to wrap the foe in her serpentine coils and crush the life from it. Hannya were once human spellcasters, forever transformed by unspeakable pacts made in their quest for power. 24 A hannya can assume the form of any humanoid, usually taking the form of a harmless old woman. She can also detect thoughts and plant mental suggestions at will, using these abilities to lure lone victims into a false sense of security. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. 29 A hannya cannot tolerate the presence of violets. She will not enter any home decorated with them, nor can she attack any creature carrying them. When hannya form coveys with at

least two other hags, they pool their power, gaining the ability to use animate dead, bestow curse, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana, polymorph, veil, and vision as spell-like abilities. 34 Hag coveys can also create hags eyes, magical gems through which the hags can scry at will. --Kazuo shuddered in spite of himself; the snake must have been very large to leave such a trail. But the voice of the old woman called again, "Help! Help me!" and Kazuo pressed forward, for surely it would be shameful to leave an old woman in need of assistance unaided, snake or no snake. But as he went he saw a patch of violets, and he remembered the advice of the kami, that the violet is a flower strong against all evil deeds; so he stooped and gathered a handful, and hurried to help the old woman calling for his assistance. Foolish Kazuo and the Hannya, traditional Rokushiman --"Please, O Most Wise, save my daughter. The demon took her soul, and so I came to your hut, crossing the mountains and the wild river, the swamp and the woods" Jiro said "My clothes are worn, and my stomach empty" "Yes, I will help your daughter" the old woman said "You traveled long and hard, young man. Now rest" Thus, Jiro sat in the hut of the wise woman, adorned of symbols of death. "I know of the demon in your daughter's body, and he was my enemy. But mind you, young man: my help will not come without a price" the wise woman said "And you will pay it, for I will save, yes, and then take the life of your daughter, should you not agree to my price" It was only then that Jiro saw the small horns on her face, the terrible visage and bent shoulders, and understood that the price would be dire ideed. "Jiro and the witch" traditional Rokumi tale

Blurb note: I know the Hannya of OA is more a serpentine hag, but since the "true" hannya is like this, I preferred to depict it more like its traditional Japanese form.

Haunt, Haunt, Bridge [MM5 [MM5] M5] Haunt, Haunt, Forest [MM5 [MM5] M5] Haunt, Smoke (PF 3) Haunt, Haunt, Taunting [MM5 [MM5] M5] (jester) Hawk [Monster Manual - animal]
CR 1/3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about hawks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This small raptor is a hawk. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Hawks have exceptionally keen vision, and are sometimes trained by humanoids to hunt small game. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt hawks for use as familiars. Such mages tend to have particularly keen vision in good lighting.

and may speak several languages, including Elven and Undercommon. 20 A head hunter has a deadly bite, and if threatened, can even spit its venom a short distance to equally lethal effect. 25 Given time, head hunters spin large webs with fine strands so sharp and strong they can cleave through flesh like a hot knife through butter. An unwary creature who wanders into a head hunters web may find itself sliced to pieces. 30 Head hunters can insert their legs down the throat of a decapitated humanoid, working the corpse like a puppet. In this guise, they can move among humanoids and lure fresh prey to their webs. 35 Head hunters can cocoon corpses in their webs. Their webbing preserves dead flesh, keeping the body fresh for up to a year. This also extends the time limit on casting raise dead and similar spells. --When the mane of dishevelled hair broke the crest of the ridge we were overcome with joy. Roya had returned to us. The badlands had not claimed another victim. And in the moment afterward we knew the perfect opposite of that emotion, for worse even than the eight legs that bore her head towards us, was the twisted, hungry expression branded upon that formerly cherubic face. Beheaded: Collected Tales, an unfinished manuscript by Jacqueline Montarri

Hearth fiend [Denizens of Dread]

CR 2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about hearth fiends. Characters who recognize the creatures nature can also make a Knowledge (Ravenloft) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 13 The leering face cackling at you from the fire is that of a hearth fiend. This result reveals all elemental traits and the fire subtype. Hearth fiends speak Ignan.

Head hunter [Denizens of Dread]

CR 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about head hunters. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This ghastly, head-shaped spider is a head hunter. These creatures take their name from their habit of collecting humanoid heads. This result reveals all aberration traits. They are intelligent

18 Hearth fiends are weak creatures on their home plane, which breeds resentment. A hearth fiend can only exist by possessing an existing fire, much like a ghost can possess a living creature. A hearth fiends power is determined by the size of the fire it inhabits. A hearth fiend defends itself by shooting out fiery bolts, which can ignite flammable materials. Through a limited form of telepathy, hearth fiends can communicate with any creature that has a language. 23 Hearth fiends can sense fires across planar borders, and can sometimes cross over into them. A fire inhabited by a hearth flame cannot be extinguished by standard methods, but magically created water can still snuff it out. A hearth fiend always wants to expand the flames it inhabits. To this end, it whispers to weak-minded individuals, charming them into setting ever-larger fires. 28 Three times per day, a hearth fiend can expel several floating embers that stay alight for several minutes. Until these embers go out, the hearth fiend can see through them as if using an arcane eye spell. If the embers ignite a flammable object, the hearth fiend can transfer itself to the new fire. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 15 Whenever a fire spell is cast in the lands of Mist, a small chance exists that a hearth fiend will take note and enter the newly created flame. It really was a very charming fire; there is nothing more pleasant than the motion and color of flame. I fancied to see a face in it, a little man smiling and nodding at me with the greatest goodwill. I thought to myself, "It would be nice to have the fire bigger," and the little man seemed to nod in agreement. Amused by the thought of gratifying this phantasm, I diligently set to thrusting firewood into the stove and soon had transformed the little cooking fire into quite a merry blaze. Flamebrother, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Still, close enough for horseshoes. As always, underlined text is Ravenloft-only.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about hebi-noonna. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) DC Result 25 This lovely woman with arms like snakes is a hebi-no-onna, a vain and malevolent creature. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Hebino-onna speak the local language and Draconic. 30 Hebi-no-onna prefer to surround themselves with treasures and zealous admirers. They are often cult leaders. A hebi-no-onnas serpent arms deliver a deadly poison with their bite. A hebi-noonna can communicate telepathically with any intelligent reptile. 35 A hebi-no-onnas human mouth can also deliver a poisonous bite that plunges its victim into nightmarish hallucinations. It can only use this attack a few times a day, however. A hebi-no-onna also possesses powerful innate sorcerous abilities. 40 A hebi-no-onna can hypnotize foes with her gaze. She can command normal serpents to give their lives for her, and she is immune to the gaze attacks of other reptilian creatures. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 30 Some folk believe that hebi-no-onna are distantly related to yuan-ti, another degenerate race that arose from the unnatural mingling of humanoids and serpentkind. 35 The Vistani call the venom in a hebi-no-onnas human bite daigatu, or nightmare wine. 40 When a hebi-no-onna uses her hypnotic gaze, she sometimes sways like a cobra, and her eyes become black slits in yellow pupils --Her silken kimono reached the floor. Her porclein, exotic feature smiled beautifically at Alanik. "Rokuma women are known for their... talents, Ray-San," she said, bowing slightly at Alanik.

HebiHebi-nono-onna (snake woman) [Denizens of Dread/Oriental Adventures]

CR 16 (This lore favors OA, but I think I incorporated a few aspects of the DoD version too.

Alanik merely smiled as she spoke, "But you are hardly a woman now, are you Samako?" She hissed, and drew her arms from the billowing folds of her sleeves. Alanik was right, she was no woman, for her arms where two writhing snakes. Before she could move, Alanik had drawn his pistol and unleashed a shot between her eyes. "You can come out now, my dear Arthur," he said, "She will not bother us further tonight." -From the Journals of Arthur Sedgwick.

"Artabaxes! Ahriman! Chivvy him!" The voice of the Black Duke rang out behind me, and I heard the baying of his monstrous hounds as they took my scent. Cutting sharply to the left, I plunged into the ravine, making for the stream I had seen earlier... ...I had not heard the hounds for some minutes, and I began to hope against hope that they had proved fallible, after all. Ducking my head to the water, I drank; when I raised my face, I found myself eye to eye with one of the Duke's hellhounds. Its eyes glowed with a malignant red phosphor, and gouts of flames dripped from its jaws and plunged hissing into the stream. from The Beast of Ehrendton

Hellhound [Monster [Monster Manual]

CR 3 Hell Hound Lore WotC Hell hounds hunt efficiently, and packs of these fire-breathing creatures usually surround their prey. If a victim gets away, hell hounds track the fleeing victim relentlessly. Knowledge (the Planes) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about hell hounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) can also be used, but all check DCs increase by 5. DC Result 14 This infernal-looking canine is a hell hound. This reveals all outsider traits. 19 Hell hounds are consummate trackers and often employ pack tactics. The bite of a hell hound deals additional fire damage and they can breathe fire every few rounds. 24 Larger, more powerful versions of the hell hound exist, including the Nessian warhound. They are used as mounts and hunters for the devil princes of the Nine Hells. ---

Helmed horror [Monsters of Faern]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about helmed horrors. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 20: This empty, yet animate suit of plate mail is an ancient form of guardian called a helmed horror. This result reveals all construct traits. DC 25: A helmed horror is a mindless, physically powerful combatant that fights as directed by its master. A helmed horror imbues any weapon it wields with magical energy. This temporarily grants the weapon a minor magical power, such as making it a flaming, keen, or wounding weapon. DC 30: Each helmed horror is immune to three spells, as chosen by its creator. Helmed horrors are most commonly immune to fireball, ice storm, and lightning bolt. DC 35: A helmed horror can air walk or feather fall at will. The arcane secrets of creating helmed horrors have been lost to time. --I have finished deciphering the ancient scrolls about the tomb of Pharaoh Arrtemut. This tomb is said to be protected by a very ancient being in armor, possibly an ancient dead that worshiped

this Pharaoh, or a construct, Im not sure from what I read. Those texts are not always easy to understand. It is said this thing is able to walk on thin air and jump into chasms without arm. This thing is also wielding the Sword of the Moon; its like a fire sword but made of the pure cold flames of a frozen hell layer. Do we really need to get to this place? Heard while planning the looting of Pharaoh Arrtemuts tomb See also Dragon # 302: Battle Horror

Hestdrikker [Gaz. 5, Nova Vaasa]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Hestskaerere [Gaz. [Gaz. 5, Nova Vaasa]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

12 This misshapen little bat-winged creature is a homunculus, a magical creation. This result reveals all construct traits. 17 Homunculi are usually created by arcane spellcasters, who primarily use them as spies. Although it is not a fearsome combatant, a homunculus can inject sleep-inducing venom with its bite. 22 A homunculus cannot speak, but it is linked telepathically to its creator. So long as a homunculus remains relatively nearby, the creatures master also sees and hears everything its minion witnesses. A homunculus never willingly wanders beyond the range of the telepathic link with its master. 27 A homunculus body is formed from a mixture of clay, ashes, mandrake root, spring water, and one pint of the creators blood. Destroying a homunculus instantly strikes a painful blow to its master --The homunculus I have created was birthed from its vessel today. It resembles a newborn babe, but wizened, with touches of canine and amphibian. A pair of bats wings adorns its back and it smiles at me with teeth like little nails. Its eyes, though, are too knowing; perhaps I have made a mistake From the spellbook of Rhodan Borgulio

Hippopotamus [Sandstorm - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about hippopotamuses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 16: This massive creature is a hippopotamus, or river horse. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 21: Hippopotami are herbivores, but they are highly territorial and can be extremely dangerous. Their massive tusks can bite through a metal shield. DC 26: A hippopotamus can hold its breath for at least 15 minutes.

Hook Hook killer

See also: Hook Killer "Urban Legends" J.D. Wiker Dragon#269(97) Alternity

Hopping vampire [Oriental Adventures]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about hopping vampires. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This stiff, greenish figure is a hopping vampire. They are often created when corpses are buried without due respect. This result reveals all undead traits. Hopping vampires do not speak, but they still understand the common languages they knew in life.

Homunculus [monster manual] manual]

CR 1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about homunculi. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

20 Hopping vampires are animated by only part of the deceased creatures soul; this leaves their bodies rigid with death. Hopping vampires attack with all the subtlety of rabid animals. Like more powerful vampires, they feed on blood, but they do not suck it directly from the veins of living creatures. Instead, they lash out with their razorsharp claws, greedily drinking from the victims slashed throat. 25 Anyone who survives the slashing of a hopping vampires claws is subjected to a dire curse that may transform them into a hopping vampire over the course of several days. Hopping or dancing on pure sticky rice for at least an hour a day can temporarily delay the transformation. 30 Casting remove curse on an accursed victim before the change is complete lifts the curse and reverses the transformation. Once the change is complete, only a wish or miracle can restore the victim. Hopping vampires cannot see living creatures only their breath. If you hold your breath, hopping vampires cannot see you, but their senses are unimpeded by darkness, invisibility, or other visual tricks. --Dear Ezra, what was this?, asked Laurie, panting. I dont know, but it seemed like a vampire to me, said Xavier while looking at the corpse now slowly dissolving on the ground. Have you noticed its fury and near insane fierceness?, said Laurie while looking at Xavier, it didnt care that I was in its back, it just wanted to get to your throat! And the way it was constantly sniffing around, that was really unusual. Did this thing needed to breathe?, concluded Xavier.

DC 11: This sleek equine is a common horse. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Horses are commonly domesticated for use as mounts or to pull carts, wagons, or plows. Humanoids have bred horses for numerous uses; some are bred for speed, others for strength. Horses can also be trained to carry riders fearlessly into battle.
Horses are widely domesticated for riding and as beasts of burden.

Combat
A horse not trained for war does not normally use its hooves to attack. Its hoof attack is treated as a secondary attack and adds only half the horses Strength bonus to damage. (These secondary attacks are noted with an asterisk in the Attack and Full Attack entries for the heavy horse and the light horse.)

Horseman, Deaths voir Death Hound, mastiff, Phantom Hound, Carcass Hound [Denizens of Dread]
CR 1 (PHANTOM CR 2)

Huecuva [Fiend Folio]

JWM: A huecuva is a holy person (generally a divine spellcaster or monk) who failed in their vows and were thus cursed to an eternity of undeath. Sometimes they were just evil clerics cursed by their own gods. They look like skeletons wearing rotted ceremonial vestments. They generally retain evil versions of their divine powers and spread a deadly supernatural disease -"huecuva blight" -- with their touch. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures huecuva nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Horse [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1 (WAR HORSE CR 2) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about foxes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

14 The tattered priestly raiments on this skeletal corpse hint that it is a huecuva, a once-pious divine spellcaster who was cursed for failing in their vows. This result reveals all undead traits. 19 A huecuva retains the divine powers it possessed in life. However, since those gifts are now granted by the powers of darkness, they are often warped into evil equivalents. 24 Huecuva particularly despise good-hearted holy folk, who remind these wretches of their fall from grace. A huecuvas natural attacks carry a wasting disease known as huecuva blight. 29 A heucuva's skeletal body deflects most minor attacks, but silver weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. --Dear journal. I again questioned Bishop Terejk about the fate of my brother, and again felt he didnt say everything he knew. He was reluctant to speak of him. I know my brother was influenced by this wicked spirit and did a great wrong to the church, but I still feel he deserves a decent sepulchre nonetheless. I again had this strange vision of my brother last night, where he was roaming this abandoned evil cult chapel in the woods, two days north of here, so I decided to travel there tomorrow and see for myself if there are truths behind this vision of my poor misguided brother. Quiet travel so far. I use the travel hours to pray for guidance. (scribbled: ) Its much worse than I thought. Ezra, save me! Last entries of a novices journal found in a grotto See also Pathfinders bestiary and Dragon #336.

character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This massive, walking cadaver is a hulking corpse, an undead minion that combines brutal physical power with mindless aggression. This result reveals all undead traits. 24 A hulking corpse wades among its foes, tearing them apart with its fangs and claws. If a hulking corpse grabs a foe, it latches on and rends the creatures flesh. 29 A hulking corpse doesnt even feel most minor blows to its lifeless flesh. However, bludgeoning weapons can prove particularly effective. --JWM: In Ravenloft, the most notorious creator of hulking corpses was Vecna, the Maimed God. Under his command, hulking corpses were one of the many horrors dispatched to tear through Tovagian soldiers in the Burning Peaks. Although Vecna destroyed the Burning Peaks in 755 BC, many of his vile creations may have been scattered into the Mists, only to emerge in other domains much later and without warning. --So this is the work of the Whispered One, of the Breaker of the Chain. But it is artless! There is almost none of his craft in it. It is a childs toy, a witless play thing, a distraction from THEM. It is fit only for Ezrite terrifying, ogre throwing, treant wrestling! Or to receive the new Lamordian ambassador . . . . -Lord of Necropolis, a forged and calumnious autobiographical parody of the life of Azalin Rex

Hulzurdan (see (see vampire, dwarven) Human, vistani voir vistani Hyena [Monster [Monster Manual - animal]
CR 1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about hyenas. When a character makes

Hulking corpse [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about hulking corpses. When a

a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This spotted, doglike creature is a hyena, a plains-dwelling pack hunter and scavenger. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Hyenas are particularly known for their unsettling, laughter-like barking. When hyenas bite their prey, they try to wrench it to the ground so the entire pack can fall upon it. DC 21: Rather than killing their prey directly, hyenas tend to chase and harass an animal until it collapses from exhaustion and can no longer defend itself. Lions and hyenas often compete for the same kills and have been known to viciously attack each other.

JWM: Template Construct (Cold), neutral. The conjure ice beast spell creates artificial creatures from pale blue ice that exist to serve the caster for a short duration. The ice beast has some coldbased abilities, but lacks most of the base creatures special abilities. In Ravenlofts its a useful way to work around the settings limitations on summoning spells. --The shamans of the high peaks have their own servitors--beasts made of deep blue glacial ice, which they summon to their aid in time of distress. It was never made clear to me if the shamans sculpt these creatures and then animate them, or if their spells call them up out of the living ice (as the Sanguinians call the glaciers that never melt), but either way they are effective servants to their masters, and far more convenient in that still, cold place than any creature which would require that its master feed and care for it. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

I
Ice beast [Frostburn]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about ice beasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This frozen creature is an ice beast, a construct created with conjure ice beast spells. This result reveals all construct traits and the cold subtype. 16 An ice beast is a mindless sculpture of animate snow and ice. Although it can be modeled on virtually any creature, it has none of the special abilities of its model. More powerful ice beasts are resistant to damage, but magic weapons can pierce their defenses. 21 The spellcaster who conjures an ice beast can give it a few special abilities, such an aura of cold or a freezing breath weapon. Specific abilities vary from one ice beast to the next. ---

Icegaunt [Frostburn]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about icegaunts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This weathered stranger is not a living creature it is an undead creature called an icegaunt. This result reveals all undead traits and the cold subtype. 21 Icegaunts are often created as the result of ritual sacrifices to mountain gods, though sometimes they simply died of exposure. They now roam the high peaks, hoping to lure other travelers to a frozen death. An ice gaunt is supernaturally cold to the touch. 26 An icegaunts tough, withered flesh resists most minor attacks. However, magic weapons can pierce its defenses. They are generally so well preserved by the cold that they can sometimes pass themselves off as living guides. In addition to their biting cold, an icegaunts attacks drain the stamina of its victims.

31 Icegaunts are fairly potent innate druidic spellcasters. Their spells typically focus on coldand wilderness travel-related effects. People slain by an icegaunt rise as new icegaunts at the next stroke of midnight. --JWM: Medium Undead (Cold), CR 6, neutral evil. Humanoids who froze to death and were essentially mummified by the cold climate. Because of this, theyre fairly well-preserved, and sometimes act as false guides, leading other explorers to be lost and die in the wilderness, just as they did. Its freezing touch drains life, and it has considerable druidic spellcasting ability. --You can imagine our joy when we saw Piotr again, for when the zilinya neskha had separated us we had given him up for dead. It had been six moons since we had seen him. He told us he had found a fallen tree, and bedded beneath it till the snow passed; then he went south (we had gone north) and found a little hamlet there, where he had stayed until striking out for home again. But little by little our joy turned to doubt, and then to suspicion. Jan told me that Piotr took off his glove, and his hand was black with frostbite--and yet he handled his skinning knife with great dexterity as we skinned the buck. And I noticed, too, that he would not come near the fire for any reason, and he refused the meat we offered, saying his stomach was upset. So when Piotr offered to lead us to the "hamlet" where he had stayed, we knew better than to accept! He cajoled, then grew angry and threatened; but there were three of us and only one of him, and he went away. But if you see Piotr in the woods, well, you must not leave the path to follow him for any reason. Any reason at all. Larraby Quift, from Adventures of a Wanderer; attributed to Mikhail Zolnik

Illithids Illithids (see mind flayer) Illithidae Illithidae [Lords of Madness]

JWM: In the sunless domain of Bluetspur, it is believed that the mind flayers purposefully fleshcraft these creatures as part of their longrange plans to transform the Lands of Mist into a world more to their tastes.

Illithidae, Illithidae, embrac [Lords of Madness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about embracs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This repulsive, tentacled sac is an embrac, a subterranean ambush predator. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 22 Embracs wait for creature to wander near their cramped boltholes, then snatch up victims with their tentacles and crush them to death. These tentacles are also lined with bony hooks that inject debilitating venom. The presence of embracs usually indicates a nearby colony of mind flayers. 27 Opponents can sever an embracs tentacles to free a trapped victim. An embrac can call upon several psi-like abilities to overpower its prey, including concussion blast, ego whip, greater concealing amorpha, and mental disruption, which it can use a few times a day. Embracs are dimly intelligent and are as likely to prey on mind flayers as any other creature, so the connection between these species is unclear. 32 It takes an embrac about two weeks to regrow a severed tentacle. Embracs are only found in ecologies that have been completely reshaped by mind flayers. Embracs may be native to the original illithid homeworld, or illithids may fleshcraft these creatures as they reshape worlds in their own image. ---

JWM: Large Aberration (Psionic), CR 7, neutral. Illithidae are other creatures that originate from the illithid homeworld. The mind flayers also fleshcraft these creatures to create their own alien ecologies. These creatures are basically illithid wildlife, and dont serve illithids any more than bears serve humans. They roam around wild in the tunnels and fissures of Bluetspur. An embrac is a hulking, dimly intelligent ambush predator that somewhat resembles a cross between a spider and a squid. It has poison-barbed tentacles and psionic powers. --Our party warily trudged along, the constant droning that the land emitted serving to breakdown our concentration. We neared a small rock outcropping when a hideous creature suddenly darted out and attached itself to our swordsman, Xarin. At first glance, it looked like one of the overlords of this damnable land, with its long tentacles flailing all about. That is were the similarities ended, however. It had the short, squat body of a spider with thin, hairy legs that bound Xarin's arms to his side. It was quick, too. Before we could raise our weapons to attack, it had already darted behind a large boulder, no doubt skurrying away to its underground lair to enjoy the fresh catch.

result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 20 A kigrid pounces onto its prey, clamping down with its powerful jaws as it rakes the victim with the venomous spurs near its hind claws. The presence of kigrids usually indicates a nearby colony of mind flayers. 25 Kigrids are smart enough to steer prey into dead-end tunnels or off of cliffs. These creatures also have the psi-like abilities of concealing amorpha, id insinuation, and read thoughts, which they can use three times a day. Kigrids speak Undercommon. Kigrids as dangerous to mind flayers as are to any other creature, so the connection between these species is unclear. 30 Kigrids are only found in ecologies that have been completely reshaped by mind flayers. Kigrids may be native to the original mind flayer homeworld, or mind flayers may fleshcraft these creatures as they reshape worlds in their own image. --JWM: Medium Aberration (Psionic), CR 5, neutral. A kigrid is vaguely feline, with eyes along its jawline (as if its face were upside down). A powerful predator, somewhat intelligent, that hunts in packs. It has psionic abilities and poison barbs in its hind feet, which come into play when it rakes its prey. --So, these druids all go swarming the one way swearing that they're going to catch the panther, and then they all go swarming the other way screaming "Abomination, abomination!" and so forth. So I went to have a look. It was pretty abominable, all right. I guess I could see how the old man mistook it for a biggish panther, but anyone who wasn't half-blind wouldn't have made that mistake. For one thing, panthers usually have eyes; also, they aren't green. Harad ap Fittle, interview with Toret Johan Severin

- "On Bluetspur", an excerpt from Hidden Lands, Hidden Perils by Orbius

Illithidae, kigrid [Lords of Madness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about kigrids. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This hideous, stocky quadruped is a kigrid, a fiercely cunning subterranean pack hunter. This

Illithidae, saltor [Lords of Madness]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about saltors. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This alien, baboonlike creature with a beard of tentacles is a saltor, a subterranean scavenger. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 18 Saltors are nearly as smart as humans. When a saltor is threatened, it may release a painfully loud, stunning screech. Once a saltor screeches, it cannot do so again for an hour. Saltors lie low on the food chain in their native environs, but make up for their lack of natural weapons with intelligence and tool use. They are not particularly brave, but may attack wanderers who exhibit weakness. The presence of saltors usually indicates a nearby colony of mind flayers. 23 Saltors possess a few psionic talents. They can use concealing amorpha and a sonic energy ray three times a day, and can hustle once a day. Saltors are generally dangerous, but they may cooperate with intruders who offer them useful tools such as metal weapons in trade. Saltors and mind flayers have little interaction, so the connection between these species is unclear. 28 Saltors are only found in ecologies that have been completely reshaped by mind flayers. Saltors may be native to the original mind flayer homeworld, or mind flayers may fleshcraft these creatures as they reshape worlds in their own image. --JWM: Small Aberration (Psionic), CR 3, neutral evil. A salter is a subterranean scavenger that resembles a hairless baboon with eyes along its jawlike and a beard of tentacles. Nearly as intelligent as humans, they possess psionic powers and a painful screech. ---

Some say that Bluetspur is only a figment of a fevered madman's imagination. Others say it was a part of our very land not such a long time ago. I have been there, and I know the truth. I have walked its wasteland and I have seen some of the horrors it has to offer While hiding out in a cave to protect myself from the night-lightning I heard a screeching from the depths. It made all the hairs on my body stand up on end. I don't know how long I stood there maybe seconds, maybe minutes. What finally broke my fear-induced trance was a second screeching. This time, it was much, much closer. I fled as fast as my legs could carry me, unconcerned with the ubiquitous lightning strikes that greeted me. I looked back one final time and could just barely make out two rows of dimly glowing eyes peering out of the dark mouth of the cave. - Hidden Lands, Hidden Perils by Orbius

Imp - see Devil Impersonator [Denizens of Dread]

CR 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about impersonators. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This amorphous mass is an impersonator, a bizarre form of ooze that possesses a rudiementary intelligence. This result reveals all ooze traits and the shapechanger subtype. 20 Impersonators attack by flowing around unsuspecting creatures. An impersonator secretes a toxin that paralyzes on contact, leaving the victim helpless. 25 Impersonators feed on blood, which they siphon from their helpless victims. An impersonators paralytic toxin also has anesthetic properties, so a sleeping creature may have no idea

that it is being fed upon, sensing only a deepening chill. 30 An impersonator can mimic the form and memories of any Small or Medium creature from which it has recently fed. 35 While borrowing a creatures identity, an impersonator is not consciously aware of its true nature, making its masquerade even more effective. However, its transformation is merely skin deep, so it has no internal structures and retains all the advantages of its ooze traits. --JWM: Small Oooze (Shapechanger), CR 3, neutral evil. A native Ravenloft creature, these strange oozes paralyze their prey, suck out its blood through the skin, then replicates the form and mind of the (Small or Medium) victim its just fed on. It can remain in that form for a number of hours equal to the Con it drains. While in a replicated form, the impersonator is only subconsciously aware of its true nature, which allows it to act naturally with ease. ---"What do you conclude from the facts Pendleton?" -"An unknown man was seen entering this hovel just before sun rise but was not seen to have exited it. The woman was seen exiting it an hour later. Yet her bone white, lifeless body was soon to be discovered tucked in its bed. It has barely a drop of blood left in it. There is no evidence of violence visited upon the corpse and I dare say the woman died comfortably in her sleep. Nothing obvious was carted off and it is difficult to imagine that there was anything worth stealing to begin with." -"On the contrary Pendleton, for starters there was the blood." -"Well, yes Vail, the blood. A vampire then, one that walks by day and that is possessed of arcane talent? Or a doppleganger, evidently with sanguine tastes?" -"No my good friend, I do not believe so. It is unthinkable that either would have been so cautious as to leave no mark upon the corpse yet so incautious as to have left this mountain of incriminating evidence. We hunt something else, something less intelligent, something

indiscriminate, that needs blood but that does not take it as a vampire would and that assumes its victim's shape rather than its identity as the doppleganger does." -The Case of the Formless Killer, Colonel Oliver Pendleton

Intellect Intellect devourer [Expanded Psionics Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about intellect devourers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This quadrupedal brain is an alien creature called an intellect devourer. These horrors feed on humanoid brains. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 22 An intellect devourer possesses a range of psilike abilities, including body adjustment, cloud mind, compression, detect psionics, ego whip, empty mind, id insinuation, intellect fortress, and painful strike. These intelligent predators understand Common, though they cannot speak. 27 If an intellect devourer overcomes a lone humanoid, it psionically merges with its victims brain, absorbing it in the process. While implanted inside the victims skull, the intellect devourer can work the victims body like a puppet and can speak all languages known to the victim. When the intellect devourer bursts out of the victims skull, the victim is instantly slain. These creatures often pose as their most recent victim to lure in more prey. 32 Intellect devourers sometimes serve as spies for more power masters, such as mind flayers. Intellect devourers are unusually vulnerable to protection from evil, reacting to this spell like a summoned creature. --JWM: Small Aberration (Evil, Psionic), CR 7, chaotic evil. Essentially a brain that clambers around on four clawed feet. Quite intelligent, it

attempts to kill its prey, then devour the victims brain and crawl inside its head. It can then walk around, using the victims body like a puppet, for up to a week. Vulnerable to protection from evil, possesses potent psionic abilities. These creatures sometimes serve the mind flayers, acting as spies among the thralls. --You will spare me the excuse that your people do not talk of such matters with outsiders. You are in my land, I am your lord, and this is my preserve. No one, no thing, hunts here without my permission. This is to say that my hand is extended to you and your people. Accept my assistance by withholding nothing from me as to this deceased brain that by all evidence clawed its way uninvited into the skull of this unfortunate lying before us, a young woman trusted by an important servant of mine. -Count Strahd von Zarovich in conference with Chorin MurThaan

15 This disturbance of air is actually an invisible stalker. This reveals all elemental traits and the air subtype. 20 Invisible stalkers are so named because they have natural invisibility, remaining so even when they attack. Their attack is a powerful buffet of wind. See invisibility reveals a dim outline while true seeing shows a roiling cloud of vapor. 25 Invisible stalkers are consummate trackers and can spot even the tiniest of tracks. They can follow complex orders, but resent lengthy missions or complex tasks, which they try to distort as much as they can. 30 Invisibility purge has no effect on invisible stalkers. --...we saw Johann suspended in mid-air, struggling against something that held him captive. "Please, m'lady," I said. "It was only a bird, he didn't mean any harm. We didn't know they were your pets." "I do not care what excuses you make for him," the cold-eyed woman in black said. "He is a murderer, and he will be dealt with accordingly. Primus, Segundus, tear him apart." The things that held poor Johan did as she commanded. We never saw them, and I cannot imagine what they must have been like, but they were fearfully strong. They broke his body like a man might do with a rat. from the testimony of able seaman Horace Greenspan regarding the loss of HMS Defiant, Admiralty Court, Darkon, June 753

Invisible stalker [Monster Manual]

CR 7 from WotC know your enemy These strange beings from the Elemental Plane of Air most commonly serve as summoned assassins and guardians. Remarkably intelligent for elementals, invisible stalkers track their prey with single-minded purpose. Needless to say, you won't be finding a D&D Miniature of an invisible stalker any time soon . . . Knowledge (the Planes) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about invisible stalkers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Iron cobra - voir Mechanichal serpent Ixitxachitl (including vampiric ixitxachitl) [Monster Manual II]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about ixitxachitls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore

is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This sinister ray is an intelligent creature called an ixitxachitl. This result reveals all aberration traits and the aquatic subtype. These creatures have their own language. 16 Ixitxachitls rule over their undersea lairs, usually built within coral reefs. They are highly territorial and ruthlessly command many slaves. An individual ixitxachitl is not a particularly fearsome foe, though it will sometimes hide itself on the sandy sea floor to ambush opponents. 21 Like land-dwelling humanoids, ixitxachitls can master many careers. They sometimes become powerful clerics, generally in service to powers of chaos and evil. Because of this, some ixitxachitls are cursed to become aquatic vampires in death. 26 The origin of vampiric ixitxachitls given in the previous result is incorrect. On rare occasion, ixitxachitl hatchlings can inexplicably mutate into more fearsome creatures. These creatures are not undead, but their bite drains life energy and they heal quickly from their wounds. Vampiric ixitxachitls often lord over their communities. JWM: Ixitxachitl, Vampiric: The origins of vampiric ixitxachitls are obscure, but some occult sages believe they may be the ixitxachitl equivalent of calibans, created when a clutch of ixitxachitl eggs develops in a sinkhole of evil or similarly tainted undersea location. Small Aberration (Aquatic), CR 1, neutral evil. (Vampiric ixitxachitl are CR 3). Basically intelligent, evil manta rays. Extremely territorial and slavers, they wage war on other intelligent races that encroach on their turf. (Although personally weak, they can take class levels, and are often clerics.) Vampiric ixitxachitl arent undead, but have an energy drain attack. They may be the equivalent of calibans. --In the name of Holy Ezra, all this is true. My name is H... (large section here made illegible by water damage)

...woke to find ourselves in the dark and underwater, in an airy cave where the devilfish have kept us from drowning. We have been here three sleeps. Oldby and Narrax are dead. They took Janus before our last sleep; when he returned he lay in the corner and refused to speak. Harford says the devilfish eat men's souls and they have taken his. Harford and I have decided to swim for it; I will put this in a bottle and release it if we are abo... (remainder illegible) Message found in a bottle in Blaustein, 742

J
Jack frost frost [Denizens of Dread]
CR 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about jack frosts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This blue-skinned creature resembles a frozen child, but it is actually a malevolent nature spirit known in folklore as a jack frost. This result reveals all fey traits. 20 Jack frosts embody the dangers of a winter storm. They feed on body heat and delight in playing cruel tricks on mortals. A jack frost is bitterly cold to the touch, and its bite can inflict frostbite instantly. This result reveals the cold subtype. 25 Jack frosts always travel in groups called flurries. These spirits can also take the form of a flurry of snowfall or a cloud of freezing vapor. 30 A jack frost in snowfall form can hypnotize onlookers with the supernatural patterns of its

snowflakes. In vaporous form, a jack frost can flow around living creatures, freezing them solid. --Hoarfrost spangles sleeping trees, Winter's fingers, icy breeze, Come the blizzard, freezing fast, Jack Frost dances in the blast. His fingers pluck at every coat, His breath blows hard at every throat, Cold wind bringing winter fast, Jack Frost dances in the blast. Traveller, careful as you go, Jack Frost dances in the snow! Embrace you with his icy grasp, Jack Frost dances in the blast. Jack Frost, traditional Lamordian

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This slender, dog-headed humanoid is a jackal lord, a foul creature from the desert wastes. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Jackal lords are highly intelligent; they speak Infernal and a local language. 23 Jackal lords are cowards at heart, but are masters at usurping power for themselves. They prefer to leave combat to their slaves and lackeys, but are powerful innate divine spellcasters. A jackal lord instantly heals minor injuries, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its supernatural defenses. 28 A jackal lord can commincate with, and even dominate, any canine animals. A jackal lord has several spell-like abilities, including cats grace, change self, detect good, detect magic, shadow walk, and suggestion. 33 A jackal lord can assume the form of a large jackal or summon jackals to its aid. Once a day, a jackal lord can lay a powerful curse with its gaze that transforms a foe into a jackal. 38 A jackal lord can lift the curse of the jackal by meeting the gaze of a polymorphed victim. Otherwise, only a limited wish, wish, or miracle can break the curse. --"So, you've come for your lover," the sheikh growled, his eyes glowing like coals between the veil that covered his face and the turban that covered his head. "He has been my slave these seven years and more, so his debt to me is paid; but there is amusement to be had in a game of skill, is there not, m'lady? Let us set a wager; if you can know him when you see him, he is yours; if you do not, you...are mine." "I will never forget his face," Asjanna replied. "Nothing in the wide world could cause me to mistake him for another." "Let us hope you are correct," the sheikh replied courteously (but there was malice in his voice). "He is in the plaza with his fellow-servants. Choose him out and he is yours."

Jackal lord [Fiend Folio]

JWM: In Ravenloft, most jackal lords worship Anubis, representing a more sinister aspect of that god. Jackal lord clerics have access to the Law, Magic, and Repose cleric domains. Alternatively, jackal lords could be worshippers of Set, in which case, their alignment is chaotic evil. Jackal lords that worship Set have access to the Darkness, Evil, and Strength cleric domains. Medium Monstrous Humanoid, CR 8, lawful evil. Jackal lords are slender, wiry humanoids with the head of a black jackal. They possess significant divine magical abilities, and lead aristocratic lives while remaining in the shadows of the Amber Wastes. A jackal lord can command jackals and can assume the form of a jackal. Once per day, with its gaze, it can transform another creature into a jackal via a powerful curse. --Jackal Lord Lore Fiend Folio Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about jackal lords. When a character

As he spoke the sheikh drew back the curtain, and Asjanna rushed forward; but what was her astonishment and horror to see the plaza filled with jackals. At last she knew why the sheikh was so closely veiled, and why he had made the wager; and now both Abdul's life and her own depended on her choice. The Garden of the Black Sheikh, traditional Pharazian

As opposed to the enmity between wolfweres and werewolves, jackalweres have no unusual feelings toward werejackals they are merely potential prey, like all other living creatures. Alternate Form (Su): A jackalwere can shift form as a standard action as though using the polymorph spell. Although jackalweres can assume the form of any Small or Medium humanoid, their ability is not exact. When it assumes humanoid form, a jackalwere can select a race and three generalized characteristics, but not its exact appearance. A jackalwere can select any three of the following characteristics to control: * Gender (male, female, androgynous) * Size (within the races size category tall, short, etc.) * Build (muscular, normal, thin, fat, etc.) * Comeliness (beautiful, average, ugly) * Color of body parts (hair, skin, eyes) * Distinguishing features (scar, lisp, missing limb, etc.) For example, the jackalwere might choose to be beautiful, blond, and female but would be unable to control its height, build, or distinguishing features. The jackalweres body has a shape memory as well. It can choose to become an exact shape that it has held before, and usually has a few favorite forms that it uses over and over when returning to humanoid form. For example, it might choose to repeatedly return to the form of a tall man with a scar. A jackalwere can retain as many different forms in its shape memory as it has racial Hit Dice (thus, four for the typical jackalwere presented here). --He was a very vulgar old man, lewd and wrathful, but I had been advised to take no note of it, and took no offence at his jibes; but I began to be rather sorry I had come. There was also something strangely soporific in the gleam of his squint eyes; whether from the fire, or the days exertions, I began to feel myself slipping into slumber, and as I did so my host's physiognomy seemed to flicker. At one moment his face was itself, rather ill-

Jackalwere, dread [Fiend Folio, Hour of the Knife]

JWM: Small/Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger), CR 2, chaotic evil. A trickster beast that can assume the form of a Small or Medium humanoid (with a fair amount of control and variety) to hunt prey. Its gaze can put others to sleep. While present in Paridon and the Amber Wastes, theyre most at home in the little-known domain of Farelle. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about jackalweres. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This dun-colored wild dog is actually a jackalwere, a trickster beast that takes human form to lure in its prey. This result reveals all magical beast amd shapechanger traits. A jackalwere speaks Common and can communicate with normal jackals. 17 A jackalweres true form is that of a seemingly normal jackal. It can also assume humanoid form and a bipedal hybrid form. A jackalweres flesh is unnaturally resistant to damage, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. 22 A jackalwere can put other creatures to sleep with its gaze. 27 A jackalwere can take the form of any humanoid, but it has only limited control over its exact appearance. It cannot mimic a specific individual. ---

favoured but by not means unusual; and then I thought to see it shift to some more canine form, the eyes yellow, the eyeteeth long and sharp; and the hand he reached toward me seemed the paw of a small dog, or perhaps a jackal. Reginald St. Jacques, Farelle

Jahi [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about jahis. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 26 This ghostly, three-faced serpent is a jahi, a malevolent spirit spawned by unfulfilled desires. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 31 A jahi usually selects a living chosen one, using that poor soul as a puppet to enact its own hedonistic desires. The jahi usually remains curled around the chosen ones neck, and ensures its puppets devotion with its dominate person spelllike ability, which it can use several times a day. 36 A jahi literally feeds on the animal magnetism of its dominated thralls. With a mere touch, it can leave opponents bland and listless. Prolonged contact results in even more severe loss of charisma. In extreme cases, a victim may lapse into a coma. 41 Jahis often form cults dedicated to themselves, with dominated thralls as their worshippers. A jahi that completely drains away its chosen ones persona can merge with its victim and replace the chosen ones allure with its own. --I had been directed to the decrepit tower where the ancient wizard was said to live. In the gloomy interior his figure couldn't be seen clearly. The gravelly voice was steady and calm: "Jahi? Yes, I know much about those spirits. They did me a great wrong.

Even then, so long ago, I was a magus of not inconsiderable power, gained with much toil and danger. My spells won me great riches and happiness. But when, after spending a long time deep underground, learning strange knowledge from sun-fearing beings, I returned home, I found it changed into part a whorehouse and part a temple. My poor wife - so young and so beautiful! - was leading a life of debauchery, surrounded by a promiscuous cabal. She told me many cruel and false words, but I espied a ghostly three-headed snake coiled on her breast and I knew the source of my misfortune! Jahi tried to break my will, but I proved the stronger. I paralysed its slaves and defeated the snake, although it resisted my magic and flied through the air to escape my dagger. My wife lied senseless on the ground, but my power could constrain even the gods, and I saved her. After putting my house to rights and incinerating the shameful paramours of my wife, I left again, since the great works of magic I had began could only with great loss be left alone. What a terrible surprise awaited my on my second return! My wife had escaped. Servants told me she climbed many times at night a certain bare, mistenshrouded hill, and returned at last with another smoky snake on her neck. Then I knew that I must delve into deeper lore to defeat for ever the power of the jahi. After a long search, I found a book in the library of Il Aluk. It came through the mists from a foreign land, and was written in language which no living man can read. I deciphered it nevertheless, and found within it much about the great druj Jahi the Whore, the undead three-headed dragon Azi Dahaka, and their poisonous brood of snakes. I found also an incantation to banish them forever. Alas, my quest was in vain! Only a living man could speak that spell, and no living man can study in the library of Necropolis." He opened the door. The last rays of the setting sun broken through the clouds and illuminated his

skeletal fingers, withered face and sunken and lustreless eyes. From the notes of Gennifer WeathermayFoxgrove.

laugh out the other side of his face. To this day I don't know how I didn't drown. I've seen about all there is to see in those tunnels, and had more close scrapes than I care to think of, and that's the closest I've ever been to death. diary of Nathanael Dent, grimetrekker, 7.3.753

Jermlaine [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about jermlaines. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 These tiny, wrinkly humanoids are jermalines, also known as jinx-kin and banemidges, This result reveals all fey traits. 15 These mischievous fey have an affinity for rats. Their language sounds like the chittering of rodents, and they can communicate with rats. A few jermlaines also know the language of another subterranean race, such as Dwarf, Gnome, or Goblin. 20 Jermlaines flee from most foes. However, they often set traps around their lairs. Once larger folk are snared, the jermalines surge forth to steal the creatures equipment and pummel the victim into unconsciousness. --JWM: In Ravenloft, replace Orc as one of the jermlaine's possible languages with Mongrelfolk. Tiny Fey, CR 1/2, neutral evil. These tiny, somewhat ratlike fey have an affinity for rats and dire rats. They enjoy ambushing larger folk in their snares and traps, then swarm all over them, knock them out, and steal all their valuables (and possibly shave off their hair as well). Appeared in The Awakening. --...at which he laughed. "Rat-people," he said, "Terrifying." At which I grew a bit hot under the collar, I confess, and told him if he had ever been underground in a tunnel too small to turn in, with no light because a rat-man had snatched it fron his hand, and then heard the rat-people working to open a sluice-gate to the river upstream, he would

Jolly Roger Roger [Denizens of Dread]

CR 6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about jolly rogers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This grinning, waterlogged corpse is a jolly roger, so named for their similarity to the common pirate ensign. These creatures are the undead remains of pirates who died at sea. This result reveals all undead traits. 19 Foes who see a jolly rogers decaying face and hear its gurgling laughter may succumb to incapacitating fits of maniacal laughter. A jolly roger doesnt even feel most minor strikes to its bloated flesh, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. A jolly roger commands a crew of sea zombies. 24 A jolly rogers necromantic touch subjects living creatures to wracking spasms of painful laughter that can quickly prove fatal. A jolly rogers waterlogged body is resistant to fire and immune to cold and water-based spells. A jolly roger never abaondons ship. 29 Victims slain by a jolly rogers touch rises a day later as bloated members of its zombie crew. A jolly roger keeps its ship afloat by will alone. If the jolly roger leaves its ship or is destroyed, its ship will soon sink. --Mournsworth was ever a jolly fellow. He loved a good joke. He loved a bad joke. He loved a malicious joke and a vicious prank too. To sign on with his crew a mate had to demonstrate a sense of humour. A sailor who in truth lacked one or, for that matter, a thick skin wasnt long for his

presence. Roger punned constantly and swore incessantly. He named his ship the HMS Esra and he was oft heard whispering and chuckling to himself, By the deep, shes a fine lass, my lady of the Mists. The details of his birth were obscure and there were whispers of Darkonese, Sri Rajan, Vistana, even fiendish blood. Others suggested that he was born of a woman long secreted away in the sanatarium. By Ezra he was eccentric, but his judgement upon the waves was inspired. For his callousness I can imagine that he was cursed a dozen times, thrice in my presence at least, once by meself. Id wager that one of those curses stuck, for he is still out there, long beyond his time, chuckling upon the sorrowful sea. -Interview with retired Captain Walford Halloway

K
Kalij [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Katane [Dragon #313]
Submitted by JP voir Dhampir Sorte de half-undead (voir Fetch)

Keeper of Secrets, the

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Juju zombie [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Template, CR +2. A powerful zombie animated by particularly strong necromancy (create undead by a 16th-level spellcaster). These zombies have improved Str and Dex, retain some Int, gain a Climb speed, improved AC, +4 turn resistance, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, and Toughness. Their immune to magic missiles and electricity damage. Juju zombies are found anywhere sufficiently powerful necromancers dwell, though they are particularly common in Darkon and Souragne. --Yf ye be puycyent, know thys - ye strength of your dead servants ys yn proportyon to your own. Yf ye be strong, yt too wyll be strong, to crush your enemyes. Yf ye be smart, yt too wyll be smart, to weyld weapons - club, blade, and bow. Ye dead servants shall fyght most fyercely, and run and climb wyth agylyty, and resyst ye bolts of magyck and lyghtnyng. Be warned however, that your dead servants wyll now hate ye and ever seek to be free of your command. Lose not your grasp on the reyns of ye dead servants, lest ye dead servants bryng ye to a most unfortunate end. - from the Tyrahgaunt Text by Yrym-Sybarr

Kelp angler [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about kelp anglers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This floating mass of seaweed is a dangerous predator called a kelp angler. Like a huge jellyfish, it floats in the water, snatching up prey with its tangled tendrils. This result reveals all plant traits and the aquatic subtype. 24 Kelp anglers can alter their coloration, allowing them to easily blend into kelp beds and similarly overgrown bodies of water. When a kelp angler snags a victim in its tendrils, it holds on tight, crushing and drowning its prey. 29 Kelp anglers can sense nearby creatures even invisible ones with a sense akin to a dolphins sonar. A silence spell can negate this ability. Kelp anglers are immune to cold and their pulpy bodies simply absorb bludgeoning attacks. 34 Kelp anglers are only dimly intelligent, but extremely patient predators. They seldom reveal themselves before they strike. They quickly regenerate most forms of damage, but are vulnerable to acid. 39 A kelp angler can use several spell-like abilities against its victims, including confusion, dispel magic, displacement, and entangle.

--JWM: Although kelp anglers are present in the Nocturnal Sea, the Sea of Sorrows, and the waters of coastal domains, they particularly thrive in the kelp-choked waters of Saragoss, where they prey on both creatures swimming under the kelp carpet and those walking atop it. Large Plant (Aquatic), CR 9, netural. Resembling a big clump of tangled seaweed in the shape of a jellyfish and possessed of dim intelligence, kelp anglers float on the surface amid kelp beds. They use their tendrils to lash out at prey that comes near. Has a few spell-like abilities and is extremely resilient to damage. --6.16.738 Almst lost D tday to bizrr thing. Srt of amb. seawd whc puts out feelrs to ctch food. D was struck of one & ws draggd below, but Mr S cut "line" w/hs clsp knf, savd him. (Mch sawing necess., crttr v. tough in skn.) Chased thing away w/noise, hrpn. 1st mt. said (& I agree) smthing wrng w/a place whr plants fish for men. Ship's log of the Stormrake, Captain Elias Blackburn, recovered from Saragoss in 749

knock opponents off their feet with their powerful kicks. 30 A kelpie uses a variety of spell-like abilities, including cause fear, charm person, crushing despair, and detect thoughts, to lure victims to their watery doom. 35 A kelpie can assume human form, and can appear as either gender. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 19 You can summon a kelpie with a summon natures ally IX spell. --JWM: Kelpies have an inconstant relationship with drownlings. Some folk have reported seeing the creatures acting in unison to lure victims to their deaths, while others claim to have witnessed the creatures battling over territory. Large Fey (Aquatic), CR 10, chaotic evil. In its true form, a kelpie resembles a foul-smelling warhorse thats been lying in a lake for the last week. It can also assume human form. It attempts to lure mortals near its watery lair so it can drown them. Has a few mind-affecting magical abilities. --"Come with me, child," the great gray horse said. "You'll never have another chance to ride another such as myself. I appear only to the most beautiful child in the Lake Country once in a year, and I never come to the same child more than once." He was a beautiful horse, tall and dapple-gray, with his long white tail and long white mane; but Marie looked into his great green eyes, and in them she saw herself drowning in Lake Duchamps, with the wild green kelp all around her. The Kelpie, traditional Dementlieuse

Kelpie [Fiend Folio]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about kelpie. Characters who recognize a kelpies nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 20 This sodden horse is actually a malevolent spirit called a kelpie. This result reveals all fey traits. Kelpies speak Sylvan and Common. 25 Kelpies live in lakes and ponds, and take great pleasure from drowning mortals. A kelpies often

Kings raven (corvus regis) [Ravenloft Gazetteer II]

The guiding premise of the Dead Mans Campaign was simply wrong. Still, notable

strategic and tactical errors were made too. A rarely noted one concerns aerial supremacy. It was an article of faith that the Falkovnians possessed it. What kings raven could ever kill a blood hawk? What kings raven could hunt down and kill a man? But marshal strength is not the whole of aerial let alone military supremacy. Strength must be wielded to effect. That is to say with intelligence. And in that respect Vlads forces were very far from supreme. In terms of communication and spying the average kings raven is more than a match for the best blood hawk. And the quality of that intelligence is such that tactics can be, in effect, changed on the fly and strategy can be sharpened in the moment. Now how many Falkovnians do you think that sent to the grave . . . not that they stayed there . . . -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, discussing the Deadmans Campaign over a glass of wine in the Blood o the Vine Inn

27 After a kizoku has wooed a victim for a month, he entices her to perform a terrible act of betrayal against those who truly care for her. The deed done, the kizoku takes the damned womans soul and her body transforms into a weeping willow. A kizoku must consume the soul of at least one woman a year to sustain itself, so its home is often distinguished by a grove of these willows. 32 A kizoku can call upon a potent array of spelllike abilities, including alter self, calm emotions, charm person, color spray, command, confusion, crushing despair, daze, detect scrying, dimension door, disguise self, displacement, enthrall, gaseous form, hold person, hypnotism, mind fog, mislead, rage, slow, and suggestion, using each once a day. It can also fly and turn itself invisible at will. 37 A kizoku is legendarily difficult to kill, since it regenerates from all forms of damage. To slay a kizoku, someone who loved one of the kizokus victims must find her willow and craft a weapon from its heartwood, killing the tree. Only such a weapon can permanently destroy the kizoku. Once a kizoku is slain, the souls it consumed return to their willows. If the trees are still alive, victims can be then restored to normal with the appropriate magic. --He is so handsome, so charming, that I can barely abide his absence. When I am with him, I feel as though I have been lifted into the heavens; compared to him, my husband is a greedy, graceless lout. Even the strange mark upon his right hand does nothing to detract from his beauty, for he is indeed as fair as the moon and as mysterious as the ebon night. Diary of a Rokuma noblewoman

Kizoku [Denizens of Dread]

CR 7 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about kizoku. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This handsome and charming man is not the human he appears to be he is a kizoku, a foul creature that feeds on the life energy of his lovers. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Kizoku are known to speak many languages. 22 All kizoku are male, and each one bears a beauty mark in the shape of a crescent moon somewhere on his body. For a kizoku, it is not enough to merely take a womans soul; first he must corrupt her, feeding as much on the loss of innocence as on the spirit itself. A kizoku who spends any extended time with a woman can seduce her into an euphoric state in which her life holds joy and meaning only with the kizoku at her side, similar to a powerful form of charm person.

Knight Terror
See also: Knight Terror "Seeds of Evil" James Wyatt Dragon#249(33) D&D2

Kobold [Monster Manual]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about kobolds. When a character

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This spindly little humanoid lizard is a kobold. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the reptilian subtype. Kobolds speak Draconic. 15 Kobolds are not known for their bravery or ferocity in battle. However, they can be cunning, and usually attack only when they have overwhelming odds in their favor. 20 Kobolds are rather pettily malevolent. They are omnivores, and live in dark places, usually dense forests or underground. They are talented miners and can see in the dark, but their eyes are sensitive to bright light. 25 Kobolds hate most humanoids and fey, but they particularly despise gnomes and sprites. They often protect their warrens with clever mechanical traps. Some folk claim that kobolds are distantly related to dragons. --A decided change has come over the kobold bands roaming the Mountains of Misery. They have become more focused in their raids on caravans, especially at night. Many of their attacks are preceded by some large thing blocking out the moonlight. Black from soot and ash the painted fiends attack, all the while yipping about their great- winged goddess born from shadow. From the journal of Arken Vandred, Darkonese mercenary

monolithic, sealed city of Shay-lot lying at the bottom of the Nocturnal Sea, and they are often seen swimming through its shadows. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about kopru. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This vaguely eel-like creature with barbed tails, clawed arms, and four tentacles on its face is a kopru, a sinister denizen of the deep. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the aquatic subtype. Kopru speak Aquan and a local language.

21 In addition to their vicious claws and bites, kopru attempt to wrap their tails around their foes, constricting them as they continue the attack. 26 Once per day, a kopru can use dominate person on a foe up to sixty paces away. Although a fearsome melee combatant in water, a kopru is nearly helpless on land. 31 Kopru were once masters of a grandiose underwater civilization, but their society has degenerated over time. Some sages believe kopru may be distantly related to mind flayers. --"Isnt it precious? The pearls, the platinum, the strangely long, fluid design? Have you ever witnessed anything comparable? No doubt one such as you will have heard whispers of Shay-lot, of the city lost beneath the sea. This is its key. Take it into your hand. Do you not hear the waves, taste the salt, feel the tug of the current in your hair? I assure you that its owner dreams much, much more. But what is one such as I to do with the sea? What is gold, indeed forgotten treasures untold, to the Vistani? But a chain that is not to be borne. The thing offends me. It is a curse, filling my thoughts with concerns that would turn me from the open road. Veritably I have spoken of it, have told you its truth. It is mine now to do with as I wish and I would sell it to you. Let us come to a

Konge Skyggehest
Suggested by Chris Nichols

Kopru [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Many generations ago, the koprus built a large and mysterious civilization under the sea. For unknown reasons their society declined, becoming ever more decrepit and degenerate, until now almost none of its former glory remains. Kopru are suspected to be the builders of the

mutually agreeable price for a key that is a treasure." -Dr. Vinchenzio, travelling showman and Vistani outcast See also: Kopru "Ecology of the Kopru, The" Tito Leati Dragon#354(58) D&D3

through the water at high speeds. A kraken can also use resist energy as a spell-like ability to protect itself. DC 37: A kraken can control weather and control winds as spell-like abilities, turning the winds and sea itself against its hapless victims. Krakens often rule vast undersea kingdoms, far beneath the waves. See also: Kraken "Ecology of the Kraken, The" Richard Pett Dragon#334(60) D&D3

Kraken [Monster Manual]

Suggested by Chris Nichols (JWM: This lore uses as its basis the kraken lore presented in The Ecology of the Kraken by Richard Pett, Dragon Magazine #334.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about krakens. Sailors and seafolk (any character trained in Profession [sailor]) can make a Knowledge (local) check to learn the same information, but in this case the DC rises by 5. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 22: This brutish and gigantic squid is a kraken, a beast of legendary power. Krakens plunder ships in search of food and wealth, which they collect in coral palaces deep underwater. This result reveals all magical beasts traits and the aquatic subtype.

Krenshar [Monster Manual]

CR 1 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about krenshars. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This strange, catlike creature is a krenshar. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 16 Krenshars are social creatures that hunt in small packs or prides. They possess a sharp cunning that sometimes seems eerily intelligent. 21 The skin on a krenshars face is extremely flexible. A krenshar can pull this skin back, exposiring the skull beneath to frighten prey. 26 Krenshar cubs raised in captivity can be domesticated (if not truly tamed), producing fierce and loyal companions. --JWM: (Krenshars are included on the encounter list for Hazlan in Gaz I, implying that, in this setting, they might be a product of Hazlik's experimentation.) Chris Nichols: In fact, S specifically mentions krenshar in the text as being believed to have been created by the wizard-kings of Hazlan's past. I can only suppose it was the product of experimentation on a plains cat; when it pulled the skin back from its face to reveal the naked skull beneath I wondered if it might be some kind of undead, but a cursory examination of the corpse after I dispatched it proved this was not so. I was led to

DC 27: A kraken possess malign pride and intelligence to match its incredible physical prowess. A kraken uses its two massive, barbed tentacles to snatch sailors off the decks of their ships, then crushes them with its eight arms before devouring them with a beak strong enough to bite through steel. In some cases, a kraken may simply crush the ship itself to splinters, picking off survivors as they try to save themselves. A kraken can also turn the seas denizens against its opponents by mentally dominating sea animals and pressing intelligent aquatic creatures into slavery. Krakens speak Common and Aquan. DC 32: A kraken will usually retreat if several of its tentacles are severed. Lost tentacles eventually grow back. A kraken can cover its retreat by ejecting clouds of murky black ink, and can jet

marvel again at the sheer grotesqueness of so many products of the Tables; they are not merely perversions of nature, but pointless perversions, apparently produced in answer to mere whim indulged to the point of madness. George Weathermay, private journal

L
Lake serpent, undead (Forlorn Serpent) [Ravenloft Gazetteer I, Castles Forlorn]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about the forlorn serpent Agatha. In Forlorn, a Knowledge (local) check can reveal the same information, but in this case the DC increases by 5. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 23: The Lake of Red Tears is reputed to be home to a massive, decaying lake serpent. This result reveals all undead traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 28: Denizens of Forlorn have named this creature Agatha, or Aggie for short. The forlorn serpent is seldom seen, but is known to feed on living creatures. Despite its bulk, the serpent is capable of surprising bursts of speed. It can lunge from the water like the crack of a whip, snatching up prey nearly 10 paces away and dragging them into the lakes depths to drown. DC 33: The attack of the forlorn serpent is terrifying to behold. The serpents rotting flesh simply ignores most weapon strikes, but hacking at it with slashing weapons has proven effective in the past. DC 38: Agatha can spew a line of toxic fumes over long distances every few moments. In the absence of high winds, the deadly fumes hang in the air for several seconds before dissipating. ---

No biologist trained in Darkon is wholly unfamiliar with necrology. And only the most bigoted would deny that something of the nature of life can be learned through it. Still, it is an art, not a science, and a very black art at that. The biologist who openly professes interest, let alone competence, in necrology is a rare bird. My expedition to Forlorn included one. He had pieced together centuries of information concerning the creature said to lurk in the Lake of Red Tears. When we reached its bleak shore, he disturbed the placid waters and the great coiled thing rose up to indulge our curiosity. Rather than join us at a safe distance, he waded forth towards the monstrous serpent, intent, I dare say, upon commanding its might, although to what purpose I do not know. But Agatha, as he had always referred to it, snapped him up with a single bite and his agonized scream, escaping from that ripped and holed carcass of unlife, survived him, echoing from the cliffs. -Inaugural address to the Biology Department of the University of Dementlieu, Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, visiting professor from the University of Il Aluk in Exile at Karg

Lamia [Monster Manual]

CR 6 Suggested by Chris Nichols

Lantern jack [Van [Van Richtens Arsenal p46]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about lantern jacks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This jack-o-lantern-headed walking plant is a lantern jack. They sprout from magic pumpkins called lantern jack seeds. This result reveals all plant traits. They can only use simple gestures to communicate, but they understand the language of whoever sprouted them. 15 Lantern jacks are generally useful for menial labor. They can fight with weapons if so commanded, but are ungainly at it. If using Knowledge (nature), the character also knows the specifics of the rite to create a lantern jack seed.

20 Although lantern jack seeds last indefinitely, a sprouted lantern jack only lives for a week before it withers. A lantern jack must plant roots and rest for three hours a night. 25 On occasion, a lantern jack may develop free will and the desire to extend its brief life at any cost. --And the pumpkin said, But I do not wish to spoil and die. I am new to this world and its wonders. The magician replied, Death is the spice of life. All who are born are born to die. The pumpkin thought about this for a long moment before replying brightly, You created me, you created life, you are a god, give me everlasting life. The magician chuckled bitterly, Oh, were it so Jack. My beloved Sylvie would not die. But know that I am only a humble stage magician. She too shall one day die. After the magician had returned to his tinkering the pumpkin whispered, Indeed she will. And then we will have your measure. -Lantern Jack and the Stage Magician, Dementieuse folktale

feeds on animals. This result reveals all plant traits. 19 Lashweeds sense their prey in large part by sensing the vibration of their footfalls. Lashweeds sometimes stand silently, listening to the earth as they blend in with surrounding flora. When on the prowl, however, they emit a deep thrumming, like a beating of a war drum. This makes them easy to detect, but greatly enhances their tremorsense. 24 Lashweeds always launch an attack by trying to spray a blinding poison into its victims eyes, then uses the razor-sharp thorns on its lashing tendrils to flay them as they stumble about. After a lashweed kills a victim, it feeds on the creatures blood. Excess blood oozes out through pores on its central stalk. 29 Three times a day, a lashweed can entangle foes as a spell-like ability. Lashweeds move quickly through even dense undergrowth, but magically manipulated plant growth (such as entangle) affects them normally. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 19 Vistani legend claims that lashweeds were first created when a powerful necromancer defeated a band of druids and staked them out in a field to die of exposure. They used their dying breaths to chant druidic curses, and the first lashweeds sprouted from their corpses to seek revenge. --Mistress Montarri's group came through again, delivering the seed-pod as requested. A little death - perhaps a child from the Quartier Ouvrier, a bit of blood, and my new darling will grow. I do hope it will play well with my other children... It is a pity dear Abelhaus has passed on. I would have loved for my newest baby to have him as a playmate... for a little while. Journal of Julia Fyrehaaven, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Dementlieu

Larval Flayer Lore see mind flayer Lashweed [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Large Plant, CR 4, neutral. Dimly intelligent, mobile plants with thorty, lashing vines and the ability to spit blinding poison. Seemingly inspired by the Triffids. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about lashweeds. A character who recognizes a lashweeds nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 14 This shuffling, veiny snarl of thorny vines and dark fibers is a lashweed, a monstrous plant that

Lebendtod [Denizens of Dread, Dread, FoS NS Gaz] Gaz]

(template) I was watching Lady Katya down by the lakeside shes a beauty, that one. She took off her shoes, then her gown. I knew I shouldnt be watching, but I kept on anyway, and then, she she took of her head! Tale of a commoner from Graben Island See FoS NS Gaz: Lebendtod template

powders. The trail of his blood lead us deep within the mine shaft. "The game is over, Glamgel! Your bag of tricks is empty!" I screamed. "Glamgel grinned as he clutched his bleeding arm." ""That may be so, but I always have a friend to help me out!" He snapped his fingers, and an oxsized worm with tarry skin oozed out of a crevisse in the ceiling. It bared its fanged, triple-jawed mouth at us in a gurgling roar. Glamgel fled our wrath, laughing all the way." -- from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

Lecrotta Lecrotta [Monster of Faerun] Faerun]

(listed in random encounter table of Feast of Goblyns)

Leech, giant [Stormwrack]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about giant leeches. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This black, flattened, squirming worm is a monstrously large leech. This result reveals all vermin traits and the aquatic subtype. 15 Like their lesser kin, giant leeches feed on warm blood. A single giant leech will usually drink its fill and detach before killing its prey, but three or four leeches attached to the same creature can drain their victim dry. 20 A giant leech naturally anesthetizes the wound it makes as it bites, so sleeping or unwary victims may not even be aware that a leech has attached itself to them. Giant leeches spread red ache with their bites. 25 Giant leeches are eyeless. They sense their surroundings through a combination of scent, vibration, warmth, and sound, so they cannot be blinded. --"Thanks to Yasmine's counterspells, that accursed spiritualist was out of both magic and blasting

Leech, occult, mindsapper leech [RL MC III (as ps psionic leech)]

JWM: Leeches, standard in size and appearance, that attach themselves to larger creatures and parasitically feed on them. Unlike standard leeches, they drain supernatural energy as well as blood (they don't drain enough blood to cause lasting harm, however). Mindsapper Leech: Fine Vermin (Aquatic, Psionic), CR 1/3, neutral. Leeches that drain power points and/or daily uses of psi-like abilities from its victims. If attacked, it unleashes a backlash of psionic energy. Distinguished from normal leeches by a slight bluish tinge and an ever-so-faint red glow. [RL MC III] --"I know you have your methods, Alanik," I said, "but was it really necessary to trek to the middle of a mosquito, horsefly, and leech-infested swamp to confront M'sieur Negroponte?" "Perhaps not strictly necessary," he replied coolly, his eyes scanning the surroundings carefully. "But it will make our task much easier, considering his unusual talents, of which we heard so much earlier today. I take it you failed to notice the very slight blue tint to the leeches you have been pulling from your legs the last half-hour or so?" "I confess, it had quite escaped my attention," I responded drily.

Alanik chuckled. "Good. Let us hope M'sieur Negroponte is no more observant than you are." The Mind Leech, from The New Casebook of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick

leechwalkers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This loathsome, shambling humanoid is actually a leechwalker, a creature composed of a colony of thousands of individual leeches. This result reveals all vermin traits. 25 Leechwalkers feed on blood. Not only can they drink the blood of living foes, the wounds they deal continue to bleed freely unless quickly staunched. 30 A leechwalker can see in all directions at once, so it cannot be flanked and is not easily surprised. 35 Because it is composed of many different creatures, a leechwalker is immune to many things that can harm normal vermin, including nonlethal damage, ability drain, and death from massive damage. --T.B. opined that the corpse we found in the New River Channel must have been attacked by vampires! Because the body had been drained of blood! So we should bring garlic! And mirrors! (!s are to depict T.'s conversational style, which can never end a sentence without a flourish.) Pointed out that it is the custom of vampires to bite once at the neck, not hundreds of times across the entire body, and advised him to formulate an alternative hypothesis. (!) Journal of Nathanael Dent, grimetrekker, 12/12/754

Leech, occult, witchbane leech [RL MC III (as magical leech), Denizens of Darkness]
JWM: Fine Vermin (Aquatic), CR 1/3, neutral. These leeches drain arcane magical energy, including spell slots and supernatural and spelllike abilities with limited uses per day. If attacked, they release a backlash of arcane energy. [RL MC III] --The thorp had a girl they were certain had been aiding the fey. While Jermeyn, the local Inquisitor, was investigating the matter, they kept her in a little hut the community used as a jail cell. I got a chance to look at her one night and it was a pitious thing. She couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen, rail-thin, dirty, and sobbing. Her hands were bound in front of her with a short manacle. But the worst thing was that her ragged blouse had been torn away at the back. Attached to the girl's shoulders were three fat leeches. When I asked about this later, one of the villagers told me that the leeches prevented the girl from using "fey deviltry," but could not explain how. Supposedly, Inquisitor Jermeyn could explain it better, but it seemed better to move onward given the suspicious glances the villagers had been giving me since my visit to the jail-hut. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

Leopard [Monster Manual - animal]

CR2 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about leopards. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This sleek, spotted great cat is a leopard. Numerous similar great cats exist in a variety of environments, including panthers, jaguars, and

Leechwalker [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Medium Vermin, CR 10, neutral. A humanshaped form composed of thousands of linked leeches. It can grapple foes and drain their blood. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about

mountain lions. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: These deadly jungle cats can pounce on their prey from considerable distances. Once they strike, they dig in with their fangs and forepaws and use their hind claws to rake the creatures soft belly.

We heard the clop of hooves, and then something outside spoke with Randolph's voice--but spoke without words, a mere mimicry of the rise and fall of human speech, perfectly phrased and perfectly meaningless. It was too much for Sarah; she leapt for the door and threw it open. In the next instant she and I were trying to force it closed; but the beast threw its shoulder against the door and bowled us over, forcing its way into the room. It was a thing like a horse, with the head of a badger, and it stank like a rotting corpse on a hot day. Eyewitness account recounted by Lukas Kaspan, recorded in private diary of Rudolph van Richten

Leucrotta [Monsters of Faern]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about leucrottas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This ugly cross between a stag and a badger is called a leucrotta. These malevolent creatures roam desolate areas. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 19 Leucrotta are quite intelligent. They are also murderous bullies, and sometimes hunt humans. Leucrottas speak Draconic, Giant, and Common, and they have an uncanny knack for mimicking voices theyve heard. Natural animals will not feed from a leucrottas kill. 24 Rather than teeth, a leucrottas jaws are lined by sharp ridges of incredibly hard bone. A leucrotta can bite right through an opponents armor, rending leather, steel, and the flesh beneath. 29 Leucrottas are immune to charm and compulsion effects. Leucrottas like to fight near cliffs. If they can, they take the opportunity to force foes over the edge, hopefully to their deaths. ---JWM: Leucrottas have appeared in a handful of Ravenloft sourcebooks and adventures, including Gaz I and Dark of the Moon. Large Magical Beast, CR 4, chaotic evil. Resembling an ugly cross between a stag and a badger, these creatures are smarter than humans and sometimes hunt them for sport. The bone ridges they have for teeth can deliver an exceptionally damaging bite. [Monsters of Faern] ---

Lich [Monster Manual]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about liches. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) DC Result 23 This withered, nearly skeletal mage is an arcane horror known as a lich, a spellcaster who used foul magic to defy death. This result reveals all undead traits. 28 A lich is every bit as potent a spellcaster as it was in life, and it has centuries to study the arcane arts. A lichs body is unusually tough, but magic bludgeoning weapons can pierce its defenses. A lichs touch flows with necromantic energy, permanently paralyzing living creatures with its unnatural chill. 33 A lich is surrounded by a necromantic aura that visibly dims nearby light sources. Living creatures exposed to this aura may be terrified by its unnatural energies. A lich is resistant to turning, and is immune to cold, electricity, and mindinfluencing effects. A lich cannot be polymorphed unless it wants to be. 38 A lich stores its life force in a magic container called a phylactery. This item is usually extremely valuable and easily portable, such as a gem or piece jewelry. If a lich is destroyed, its life force is drawn back into its phylactery. After recuperating for a few days, the spirit re-emerges to occupy a

nearby corpse, restoring the lich at full strength. You cannot permanently destroy a lich without also destroying its phylactery, so liches usually hide their phylacteries well. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 28 This result reveals the process for becoming a lich. --There are only three things worth seeking: Immortality, Omniscience, Omnipotence. There is only one way to achieve them. He who is clothed in the Raiment of Clarity will rule over Existence; he who is not clad in that garment must serve the one so clothed. Herein is written the beginning of power, and of wisdom, and of eternal life. Preface to The Raiment of Clarity See also RL CS, Dragon #336

waste who used foul magic to defy death. This result reveals all undead traits. 28 In life, a dry lich was a potent desert spellcaster known as a walker in the waste, and it retains these harsh gifts in undeath. A dry lichs salt-cured flesh is unusually tough, but magic bludgeoning weapons can pierce its defenses. A dry lichs touch flows with necromantic energy that drains moisture from living creatures. Plants and creatures of elemental water are particularly vulnerable to the touch of a dry lich. 33 A dry lich is surrounded by a necromantic aura that living creatures sense as an overwhelming sense of age, loss, and death. Such creatures exposed to this aura may be terrified by its unnatural energies. A dry lich is resistant to turning and immune to mind-influencing effects. A dry lich cannot be polymorphed unless it wants to be. A dry lich draws energy from the desert around it, allowing it to rapidly recover from wounds so long as it is in an arid environment. Exposing the dry lich to significant moisture (such as fog) or humidity suppresses this ability. All water burns a dry lich like holy water. 38 A lich stores its internal organs in a set of five magic containers called canopic jars. If a dry lich is destroyed, its life force is drawn back into these canopic jars. After recuperating for a several weeks, the spirit re-emerges to occupy a nearby corpse, restoring the dry lich at full strength. You cannot permanently destroy a dry lich without also destroying its canopic jars, so dry liches usually hide their canopic jars well. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 28 This result reveals the details of the Sere Rite. --It is, of course, quicker to go by way of the Dry Lakes, but this can only directly after the rainy season, when the lakes are filled; not, as many outlanders think, because then the Dry Lakes can be used for water (they are much too brackish to drink at any time), but because when the lakes are gone, leaving only the hard salt pan, the Old Man of the Dunes comes down out of his winter home

Lich, dry [Sandstorm]

JWM: Template Undead. The final fate of a walker in the waste (a Sandstorm prestige class). A salt-encrusted, desiccated undead that could be mistaken for a salt mummy. Surrounded by an aura of despair and drains Con with its touch. Normal water burns it like holy water. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures dry lich nature. Characters need to make a different Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) DC Result 23 This desiccated, nearly skeletal mage is an arcane horror known as a dry lich, a walker in the

and walk to and fro throughout all the dry season, killing any he finds there. Luq al-Taber, Pharazian caravan leader

Lich, elemental [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Undead. A lich variant that specializes in commanding the elements. --Earth, air, fire, water, life and death. I am the master of all these things. There is nothing beneath sun or moon to which I bow, nothing between Mist and Mist over which I have no dominion. Who shall stand against me? I shall rend him spirit from flesh, he shall be made an offering upon the Four Altars. He who seeks me here seeks in vain; the tomb itself has no power to hold the Master of Elements. Inscription on a cenotaph located outside HarThelen, Sithicus

tattoos, creating semiliving companions for their owners. --All night we heard Kiroborobo talking, as if in conversation; and every so often the wind sat just so, so that a strange high voice seemed to answer him. In the morning I ventured to ask him who he had been speaking to, and he said, "My otherself," pointing to his chest. I did not understand him then, nor for a long time afterward; but when I learned more of the Abbers' customs I knew he had been pointing, not to indicate himself, but to the black skull emblazoned on his very skin. from a puported diary of Dr. Gregory Illhousen

Living wall [Denizens of Dread]

CR 8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about living walls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 The groping mass of wailing corpses reaching for you from the wall are an unholy construct called a living wall, created by melding scores of bodies together. This result reveals all construct traits. 23 A living wall may rely on many different attack forms, depending on the corpses fused into their mass. Warriors still lash out with their weapons, spellcasters can utilize the spells they had prepared as spell-like abilities, and so on. If a living wall strikes a foe with claws, a bite, or another natural weapon it attempts to grab on tight. Like mundane walls, living walls are immobile, impassible obstacles. 28 If a living wall grabs hold of a living creature or a once-living corpse, it attempts to absorb the creature into its mass. The creature soon partially emerges as yet another doomed soul lashing out at anything that draws near. Although absorbed creatures may cry out to former allies, their individual identities are completely consumed by the walls gestalt. When at rest, a living wall hides

Lich, psionic (see Psilich) Lion [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about lions. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: The mane on this tawny great cat marks it as a lion, a deadly savannah predator. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 18: Lions pounce on their prey. Once they strike, they dig in with their fangs and forepaws and use their hind claws to rake the creatures soft belly.

Living tattoo [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Construct (Symbiont). Abber nomads trap dream spirits and imbue them into

behind a glamer that lets it blend into the mundane walls around it. This result also revels the process for creating a living wall. 33 A living wall is immune to flesh to stone spells and the like. Despite its appearance, a living wall is not made of stone, so magic used to bypass stone barriers fail against it. Any corpse abandoned within 100 paces of a living wall for a month animates just long enough to merge with the wall. Living walls exist in a state of constant, insane agony. They seek their own destruction, but not as much as that of all that lives. They hate their creators most of all. Only true resurrection can restore an absorbed creature. --There is hardly a man, woman or child who does not know at least one thing worth preserving. Yet they all are to die and rot away, even the children, damning their knowledge to oblivion. No longer. I save them. I guard what they have learnt. They endure within these walls. They are not corpses difficultly unearthed. And they are not hollowed out shells of their former selves. They are at hand. They are possessed of intelligence. And once I have mastered the rite for breaking through their raving madness, few indeed will be the secrets hidden from me. And so it is time. Tell me. Tell me all. And you will serve me in life, enjoying a natural death. Otherwise, I will give you, as I have given your servant, to their grasping hands. I will wed you to them in collective torment til stone becomes sand and perhaps beyond. -Interview with a Lich See also Dragon 343 version

DC 10: This lethargic little reptile is a common lizard. It primarily feeds on fruit and insects. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Many different varieties of lizard exist, in all different shapes and sizes. Horned lizards are covered in sharp spines and can startle predators by spraying blood from their eyes. Monitor lizards can grow to the size of a man and are dangerous carnivores. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 20: Some mages adopt lizards for use as familiars. Such mages tend to be particularly talented climbers.

Lizardfolk [Monster Manual]

CR 1 Suggested by Chris Nichols

Lost (or Echoes, or Shells) (DT&DL) Lost Ones now now is under madness Lost soul [The Nightmare Lands]
JWM: 1 soul: Medium Undead (Dream), CR 1/4, chaotic evil. 2 souls: Medium Undead (Dream), CR 1/2, chaotic evil. 8 souls: Large Undead (Dream), CR 3, chaotic evil. 32 souls: Huge Undead (Dream), CR 9, chaotic evil. The mortal remains of humanoids who die while physically wandering the Nightmare Lands. Semitransparent undead, individually not much more than an eerie zombie. However, when two lost souls tough, they merge together into an ever-growing, semiamorphous mass that can tear its victims apart. ---

Lizard [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1/6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about foxes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE)

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about lost souls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes) or Knowledge (religion) DC Result 12 This writhing mass of corpses is a lost soul, a remnant of those who have died while physically

present in dreamscapes. This result reveals all undead traits and the dream subtype. 17 An individual lost soul poses little threat, but whenever two or more of these creatures touch, they permanently meld together into ever larger and more powerful forms. 22 Entering melee with a melded lost soul can be a lethal prospect, since they can latch onto victims and tear them apart. 27 Once merged, only a wish or miracle can separate individual lost souls. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 20 Any giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid that dies while physically present in the Nightmare Lands will likely rise within a few hours as a lost soul. 25 Lost souls created in the Terrain Between appear corporeal, while those created in dreamscapes have a ghostly appearance. The only difference between the two varieties, however, is that ghostly lost souls gradually fade from existence if they leave dreamscapes. --I have now seen several of these strange wandering spirits, which I have dubbed "lost souls" from the impression of loneliness and dread which I have always sensed in their presence. They are certainly not kindly disposed to such as I, but when solitary they are not truly menacing, often seeming to lack either the will or the confidence to approach even a lone wanderer such as I. I have, however, seen three or four join together into a frightful and aggressive creature of many arms and hands; if their ability to aggregate is not limited, a dozen of them acting together would surely be able to dismember even a strong man in mere moments. from a purported diary of Dr. Gregory Illhousen See also: Lost Soul "Chinese Undead" David Sweet Dragon#26(20) OD&D

Lycanthrope Lore
(Ravenloft-specific info is underlined. Conversely, a few bits of lore here actually don't apply in Ravenloft.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about a creatures lycanthropic nature. The base DC for this check is based on the racial Hit Dice of the base animal. Base Animal Hit Dice Knowledge Check DC 12 HD HD +12 35 HD HD +13 610 HD HD +14 1120 HD HD +15 21+ HD HD +16 Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. DCs on the table below represent the common werewolf. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This snarling beast is a lycanthrope, an accursed person with the ability to transform into a feral beast. This result reveals all traits of the shapechanger subtype. 19 A lycanthropes true form is humanoid. However, it can also assume the shape of a specific animal (such as a wolf) or a hybrid form combining the worst features of man and animal. A lycanthrope transmits the curse of lycanthropy with its bite; victims who survive a lycanthrope attack may be doomed to become lycanthropes themselves. If you are bitten by a lycanthrope, you should eat a sprig of belladonna as soon as possible it may fight off the affliction. 24 Lycanthropy manifests on one of two ways. True lycanthropes are born that way. The dread disease is natural to them; they can transform at will, and they cannot be cured. Their victims are afflicted lycanthropes otherwise normal folk cursed to become lycanthropes by the bite of a werebeast. These folk cannot control their changes, transforming only under the light of the full moon. These folk can be cured, but the

process is not easy. Fortunately, afflicted lycanthropes cannot further spread the dread disease. While in a bestial form, a lycanthrope nearly instantly heals most lesser wounds, but silver weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. A remove disease or heal spell cast by a powerful cleric can cure lycanthropy, but only within three days of contracting the affliction. 29 Many different varieties of lycanthrope exist, each one taking the shape of a different animal (such as werewolves, wererats, and the like). Afflicted lycanthropes often have no memory of their lunar transformations. A lycanthrope has sharp senses and is empathically attuned to normal animals like its bestial shape. It can control such animals as its minions. This result also reveals the lycanthropes chemical vulnerability. A remove curse or break enchantment spell cast by a powerful cleric can cure an afflicted lycanthrope regardless of when the victim was afflicted, but the spell must be cast on a night of the full moon. 34 By exerting a great deal of effort, afflicted lycanthropes can gradually gain limited control over their transformations. Pain can also trigger a lycanthropes change into bestial form. This result also reveals whether this type of lycanthrope is particularly good or evil by nature and the full details of the cleansing cure. See also RLCS, CoD and Classic horrors revisited.

Lycanthrope, louploup-garou, lowland [Denizens of Dread]

CR 5 JWM: A moderately powerful werewolf variant that uses a worg as its phenotype. --"Luke!" the cooler-headed of the two said, grabbing his companion by the arm. "Remember what Captain Timothy said about fighting while ashore." The young bravo stepped back and snarled. "Very well, then," he said, his face distorted into a mask of rage in which his long white teeth were very apparent. "I won't give you the lesson you deserve here. Meet me at the dogfighting pit this evening, and we'll settle this once and for all." He did not know, of course, that I had already guessed his secret; and he could not have guessed at mine. private diary of Matton Blanchard

Lycanthrope, louploup-garou, mountain [Denizens of Dread]

CR 5 The hills rang with howling, and the tall old crone, her eyes the color of the yellow moon, stepped forward. Behind her came a great gray wolf, of the height of a man at the shoulder, who fawned on her as a lapdog on its mistress. "You have fled in vain, fools," she said, her voice high and harsh. "You have thought to find shelter among your own kind, behind your walls, beneath your roofs, within your stockades. All for naught, and now you must join with us or die. Here reigns the Wolf!" Kartakan feeshka, first teller unknown

Lycanthrope, loup du noir [?]

This is the oath, as Mikhail revealed it to me: I am Hunger. I am Thirst. All those who go on four legs or on two are my lawful prey. Only against he who wears the skin, his wife and children, shall I not raise my hand nor paw nor mouth. He who wears the skin is my brother, and I support him in all things he may do. In all things I heed the word of the Black Wolf, who feeds us all. I did not ask him how he learned it. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

Lycanthrope, sea stalker voir lycanthrope, lycanthrope, weresea cat Lycanthrope, wereape [new]
"My esteemed colleague, is this proof enough? I told you, I told everybody. Man is descended from ape. Your childish prejudices are as nothing before

my serum of regression. Yet you, my ever dimwitted fellow, seem even thicker in the skull for the experience." -Last words of Doctor David Strickland, from The Animality of Man, a novel written and published anonymously in Paridon and declared anathema by the Church of the Divinity of ManLycanthrope,

"It is obvious Colonel. The sound of leather snapped taunt of course. As well as the absence of any evidence that the walls were scaled. -The Case of the Sightless Death From Above, Colonel Oliver Pendleton

Lycanthrope, Lycanthrope, werebadger [Denizens of Dread]

CR 4 "Tell us, Doctor," the guard officer grumbled skeptically, "since you claim such expertise: what could have done this to my men?" Behind his thick muttonchop whiskers, the Baronial sergeant's surly expression lived up to the dour stereotypes oft applied to his people. Van Richten lifted the military-issue ax from the table, fingered the deep gouges in the steel of the blade's edge, then glanced aside at Geddar. The human hunter's normally-jovial friend frowned grimly, nodding in agreement with the doctor's unspoken diagnosis, and spoke: "Vermin". The watchdwarf's eyes widened in disbelief. "Vermin? You're saying rats did this?! Nonsense; rats might gnaw wood or pewter, but their teeth are no match for finest Corvian steel! No fourlegged beast's would be!" "Indeed," the physician replied wearily, laying down the heavy, tooth-marked weapon. "No fourlegged beast's...." -- Private interview in the Obsidian Heart, as documented in Baronial police investigation of the Rooksclaw Tower murders

Lycanthrope, werebear [Monster Manual]

CR 5 They still practice the Rite of the Bear in that place, dressing themselves in bearskins and dancing in the strange shuffling cadence of the Moon Dance; and it is said that Bear himself dances with them, taking now a human form, and now that a great grizzled bear whose eyes are stars and whose breath is the wind of winter itself. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

Lycanthrope, wereboar [Monster Manual]

CR 4 "There is folks," the stranger said, with the careful diction of a drunk, "what thinks that a dog is a noble beast, and a pig a no-good filthy creature which can only be loved as hams. But such folks is mistaken; the pig is braver, and a better fighter. Also smarter. Wise animals, is pigs." I suspected he might have some partiality, as he was rather a piggy looking fellow himself; but his heavy build promised more muscle than fat, and I well recalled our own saying, "that Grandfather Boar is the most dangerous creature of the forest, saving only his wife"; so I held my peace. Diary of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

Lycanthrope, werebat [Monsters of Faern]

Not only is our killer unhindered by darkness, he, she, it can distinguish between vessels identical in every way save for that one is full and the other empty. Pendleton, what clue does this fact cast in a whole new light?" I have not the foggiest idea. Pray tell Vail."

Lycanthrope, werecrocodile [Sandstorm + Monst. of Faerun] Faerun]

"Sobek demands a sacrifice," the wanderer repeated. "Tomorrow. A man is better..." "No!" I answered sharply. "We will give Sobek no such thing." He glanced around the space lit by the fire and continued, "A pack-horse. That will do. Bring it to

the watering hole," here he pointed to the northeast, "tomorrow at dawn, and Sobek will not trouble you." I looked at him again, noting his skin condition--it was layered thick, cracked across his torso, and, I suspect, hard as horn--his short arms and legs, and his strange dead eyes. I believed I knew who the sacrifice would really propitiate, and how a single man could live in the deep desert of Sebua; but the horses would die soon in this climate at any rate. "I accept," I told him. Rudolph van Richten, private journal

or the base of his skull - It was mentioned in the Al Qadim Monstrous Manual Appendix, and from Angolan legends about a shapeshifting hyena monster called a "kishi," that had two heads (a human head, and a second hyena head kept hidden in its hair))

Lycanthrope, werejackal [Denizens of Dread]

CR 3 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane Werejackal Fennel --Again I struggled to ascend the side of the sandpit, and again I was thwarted by the downward drift of each step; it seemed the more I struggled to rise, the more quickly I fell. I therefore ceased my exertions and called out to Geddar to come with a rope; but (as I later learned) he was then engaged with our guide in attempting to collect our camels, which had had their hobbles cut and had wandered into the night. When the silouette of a human-like figure thrust its head over the side of the sand-pit I thought for a moment I was saved; but then I saw the great batears and the outline of the dog-muzzle against the rising moon. Feed us, feed us, Protector of the Poor, it called down, in imitation of the Pharazian beggars call, and laughed horribly. You see now how the Jackal-People provide for themselves! In a day or so we will come for you again; yes, we will help you out of the pit then. Rudolph van Richten, working notes to Van Richtens Guide to Werebeasts

Lycanthrope, werefox (vixen) [Ravenloft Gazetteer I]

I am worried about Dallisar; he took up with a woman of his own race yesterday afternoon, a pert silver-haired vixen named Coraline, and told us that she had invited him to dine with her at the Old Kartakan Inn. Even if he had made an amorous conquest (or perhaps, an amorous surrender--the woman was very forward) I would expect him back by this time, but he has neither returned nor sent word. I will visit the Inn this evening to see if I cannot find out where he might have gone. last letter from adventurer Tolroy Glock to his sister Annabella, 5 May 742

Lycanthrope, werehyena [new]

"The jolly young man who led us out of the jungle insisted that we stay in his hut for the night. As we passed through the threshold, he pulled off the bandana he wore around his neck. It was then I noticed that there was a puckered scar on the back of his neck." ""Tis an interesting wound you have there," I muttered." "Without turning around, he started his shrill tittering again. And it was then I saw the scar unpucker, revealing itself to be the young man's second mouth..." -- from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer (FYI: the telltale sign of a werehyena in human form is the second mouth on the back of his neck,

Lycanthrope, werejaguar [Denizens of Dread]

CR4 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane

Werejaguar ---

Cocoa

Lycanthrope, werelion [new]

In all that land we found only one sign of the work of any human hand; on a great stone we found the following characters engraved...the inscription we found there has since been translated by Dr. Robert Pembroke, who gives it as follows: Behold the king Sundiata! How great his strength like the sun! How terrible his rage like the summer tempest! How generous to his true servants like the winter rains! Truly, truly we may say he is the son of the lion! Truly, truly we may say the spirit of the lion is in his heart! Truly, truely we may say the majesty of the lion beams from his face! Truly, truly the form of the lion marks him as the true king of kings! In the Wildlands, Captain John Smith

[T]here are among them Lodges, or Cabals, brotherhoods sworn to some joint purposes; chief among these is the Cabal of the Tiger, or Jaguar as the natives name it, the great spotted yellow cat who prowls the deep jungle and whom they take for their Totem or spiritual guide. By some deviltry there are those among them who take on the very form of the cat itself and do battle as halfman, half-beast, the violence they wreak being horrible to behold. I have seen one of them tear a man to pieces using only its terrible clawed hands letter from one Hernan Mouriros, origin otherwise unknown; Special Collections, Great Library of Port-a-Lucine

Lycanthrope, wereoctopus [new]

"Aye, I know the ship with the green sails. Flies under the skull and the squid, don't she? That'd be the Hullbreaker, captain'd by Telson Greenbeard. Might just be the fiercest pirate o' the Murky Sea. Telson's been at sea so long, they say, what his beard's gone green from seaweed." "'Course they also say that the ol' Greenbeard made deals with the devils of the deeps - gives them the gold and men he captures - in 'change for more ships to plunder and a chance to become a devil himself." "Aye, Captain Telson Greenbeard ain't human no more. He might look it a'times, but a'times he's a wet, suckin' horror what walks like a man but wi' tentacles or other times a giant octopus, swimmin' down to meet his sea devil masters." - an interview with Old Sharkey of Souragne

Lycanthrope, wereleopard [Denizens of Dread]

CR 4 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane Wereleopard Mercury --We had built the kraal only two meters hight; we did not know that the plainsmen, if they go there at all, build to a height of at least five, and always use the greenest thorn bushes. I was on watch at midnight or thereabouts when it came into the camp, leaping the kraal as an athletic man might leap over a stile. It was a thing like a cat on two legs, with horrible green eyes; it struck left-right, left-right, with its hands (like a man but with claws two inches long). I shot at it, but I do not know if I hit. Seizing Vermijson, it picked him up as a man might pick up a child, threw him over the kraal, and leapt over after him. He did not scream for long. Manuscript found in a bazaar in Sri Raji, script and language previously unidentified; Special Collections, Great Library of Port-a-Lucine

Lycanthrope, wereooze [new]

JWM: The wereooze is an unusual variant, in that the phenotype is a gray ooze. The general concept is that wereoozes generally arise from maledictive origins. Merely being damaged by a wereooze isn't enough to expose a victim to lycanthropy; the victim must be killed. At the moment of death (when the victim is absorbed by the ooze), the

victim gets a Fort save. If it fails, the victim dies and is digested. If it succeeds, it becomes a wereooze; the absorbing wereooze splits in two, its "offspring" being the new wereooze. --"I had second thoughts about hiring the urchin as our guide but we had little choice as our own search for the theaving wererats had gone cold. He smelled of sewage and the pungent odor of chemicals and his skin constantly glissened with grime and sweat but begriudgingly I had to agree that he knew his way around the labyerinth of tunnels under the city. Three days into the strench filled tunnels we came aross thier den but it turned out they had been following us as well. Leaping from every crack and hole three of my guards were dead before they could draw thier weapons. The largest of the swarm jumped at me as I rolled to the side only to be leap upon in turn by the urchin. In mute shock I watched as his flesh melted into a grey mass of ooze and disolving bone engulfing the wererat. Within moments only a puddle of fur and blood remained of the once horiffic creature as the grey ooze solidified back into the form of a child..." Memiors of Sir Jerod Marcus, City watch, Port-alucine

Lycanthrope, wererat, abberant [Ravenloft Gazetteer Vol. 3]

See also: Wererat "Infestation" Kristin J. Johnson Dragon#251(82) D&D2

Lycanthrope, wererat [Monster Manual]

CR 2 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane Wererat Varies --We had amputated the hand, so badly had it been bitten, so fearful were we of the disease. Would we have to take the life? How could we know? Would there be warning? Would there be warning enough? A dull thud, accompanied by a slight shutter, fixed our eyes upon the door. But we were not overly concerned. Not only was it well made. It was thoroughly barred. A sharp squeak reached us from the other side. We all looked at Alain. He looked beyond the portal and shuttered. We could almost see reflected in his eyes the flashing blades, that feral face, his blood dripping from its chin. But our composure did not elude us for long. And then it began, the gnawing at the door. -La mort de linnocence, Chantelle Yvrie

Lycanthrope, werepanther [new]

The tallest and youngest of the guardsman turned and looked at me, and I could see in his cat's-eyes that he knew me; but the change on all those who receive the Mark meant that I did not know him. They dragged Master Arvenson from the post and thrust him into the arms of his son, and there was a little disturbance in the crowd; the tall young guardsman took advantage to stop near me and say, so low only I could hear, "Mother...I'm sorry." I knew the voice, then; it was my son, little Torvald, whom we had thought dead. If only I could have rejoiced in finding him again; but now he had the cat's-eyes, and the Mark, and I knew my little boy had become a monster. Interview of Rejna Haraldsdottir with Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove

Lycanthrope, wereraven [Denizens of Dread]

CR 3 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane Wereraven Unknown --The monstrous ravens circled around us, coming lower and lower, and Alexandra and I prepared to sell our lives dearly--but suddenly, a short, handsome man, wiry and of dark hair and eyes, stepped onto the road. "Fear not, travelers!" he said, in a voice which somehow made me believe his intentions were good. "The Vistani may speak

of an "unkindness" of ravens, but you will see that "kindness" suits us better. We saw your fight against the un-dead in the ravine, and wish to offer you assistance; their master has set his minions on the road to search for you, and we must go by a path they cannot follow." Memoirs of Mortimer Wachter, written 647

Lycanthrope, wereshark wereshark [Monsters of Faern]

"Bad things happen to those who dive for pearls here without permission," the taller of the two young men said, his blank face more menacing than any bully's scowl. "Bad things?" I asked, feigning skepticism (I had already heard stories from others on the island). "Sharks," he replied laconically. "And yet, nothing happens to you," I replied. "Why is that?" He shrugged, fingering the sharktooth necklace at his throat. "My brothers and I, we bite back," he said, and grinned, showing a mouthful of teeth filed to points. Journeys in the Mists, volume 2, Simon Torrens

Lycanthrope, wereray [Denizens of Dread]

CR 3 Errata: The canon-wise suggested chemical banes for the new lycanthropes: Lycanthrope Chemical Bane Wereray Water Lily --They also say of that city, doomed Shay-lot, that there are some who walk among us day by day, yet still visit the Drowned City and go up and down its streets, cloaked in their own wide wings. Catalog of the World Entire

Lycanthrope, weresnake [new]

Suddenly someone screamed, and then the whole ballroom was in an uproar--men shouting and pulling at their dress swords, women screaming and swooning. I turned quickly, but at first I could not locate the source of the confusion. Then someone pointed to the floor, and I saw it--a great venomous snake, of the kind they call "bushmaster", writhing out of the clothing of Senor Garibado. Prompted by some instinct, I looked toward General Maconda, who observed the confusion with a smile fit for a devil; he alone seemed unsurprised by Garibado's ghastly transformation. Journeys in the Mists, volume 2, Simon Torrens

Lycanthrope, weresea cat (sea stalker) [Ravenloft Gazetteer II]

JWM: This was written as a take on sea wolves, which have since been updated for 3.5, so I may scrap this one for being redundant. --Captain Harris laughed his booming, cruel laugh. "So it's to be the plank, is it?" he asked of our captors, grinning. (Never had those strong white teeth, gleaming from that tangle of black beard, seemed fiercer or less human than they did then.) "Well, I suppose Ill just have to take it like a man. I thought to myself that these pirates could hardly have chosen a less effective means of execution; they had not seen (as I had) the captain leap overboard in a high sea after a fallen crewman, to surface with the sailors collar in his teeth, his nails (now claws) digging deep into the ships timbers as he clambered up the side. The Teeth of the Gale, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Lycanthrope, weretiger weretiger [Monster Manual]

CR 5 "In the excitement of the fight, the village boy we were using as a guide lost his footing and plummeted into the swift river below. Yasmine and Michael moved to stop the shaggy, redheaded man, he grabbed Michael by his armored shoulder and hurled him into her as though the knight were but a cord of wood. The redheaded man plunged into the river, too. In less than a minute, a huge

tiger burst out of the white waters with the sodden boy dangling safely from his mighty jaws." "Word quickly spread about our fight with the "Man-Tiger," and the mood of all the villagers soured upon our return. Our guide's mother, in particular, decided to repay our attack upon her son's guardian by launching an arrow into my shoulder." -- from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

M
Maddening flea [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III, Adams Wrath]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about maddening fleas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This barely perceptible insect is a maddening flea, an otherwise normal parasite that spreads a supernatural disease with its bite. This result reveals all vermin traits. 15 A victim that succumbs to the infection spread by a maddening flea begins to feel giddy within moments. Mere moments after that, the victim succumbs to a euphoric fit, either laughing or dancing uncontrollably. Remove disease can cure the maddening infection. 20 Victims who succumb to euphoria also suffer longer-lasting symptoms of the disease, which take the form of strange delusions and encroaching madness. Left unchecked, the delirium can reduce an individual to the state of a lost one. 25 Like normal fleas, maddening fleas usually lay their eggs in the fall, then die out come winter. Sometimes, however, they may be carried inside warm structures, which they can infest throughout the colder months. Maddening fleas are so small that they simply crawl under armor, ignoring its protection. --JWM: Fine Vermin, CR 1/4, neutral. Maddening flea swarm: Fine Vermin (Swarm), CR 3, neutral. Otherwise normal fleas that spread a supernatural disease with their bite, causing madness. --There was once an asylum on the outskirts of Silbervas, as well, but it suffered a strange and grisly fate. It was, of course, a repository for the

Lycanthrope, werewolf [Monster Manual]

CR 3 "We thought they were Vistani. They talked like Vistani, but they were dressed all in black. We made a horrid mistake of letting them tend to Claude's wounds. The old crone of theirs poured a red liquid into the gashes, and they closed up. Yet, for some reason, no one said anything about the black hairs that started sprouting all over his skin. Yasmine said it was a miracle, as did I, and then those damned fake gypsies went on their merry way." "Claude's renewed vigor came to a head at moonrise, I saw him crouching over the torn carcass of my horse." -- from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

Lycanthrope, werewolverine [new]

Of all the wild and fierce spirits which they claim can descend on a man and lend him their own form, none is more feared than that they call "wolverine" (despite its name, it is a creature like a badger, but larger and fiercer still). Even the bearshirts and wolf-shirts (or, in their tongue, berserkr and wulfserkr) will step aside from such a one unless the full battle-fury is on them, for the wolverine-spirit has no thought at all for life or death, nor for the strength of his enemy; for him there is only deadly hunger and deadlier rage. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

mad, but at length it became apparent that all who entered its gates were at risk of insanity, as if some contagion breathed from the very stones. The attendants, the doctors, even the military police sent to maintain order all succumbed. At last the Kingfuhrer ordered the doors barred from without, and the asylum was burned to the ground. In this way the contagion was purged, although the ground where once the madhouse stood is no friendly place, and some claim still to hear the cries of the madmen on the night air. History of the Asylum, Lars Lorenz

by a "black, spidery man", in PC Talboy's memorable locution. PC Talboy raised the alarm and gave chase and the attacker fled; when pursuit grew hot the creature (which those who saw it agreed could not be human) squeezed itself through a sewer drain some 4 inches by 12 and made good its escape. All who witnessed it agreed it was not human, and there was much commentary on its evil face and glowing red eyes. In the face of such continued evidences, who can doubt the existence of these shadow killers among us? Paridon Newsbill, 7 January 758

Mahr [Gaz. 1, Barovia]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Marikith (shadow killer), queen [Denizens of Dread]

CR 11 JWM: The massive, spider-like queen of a marikith hive. (Note, the Hive Queen is an advanced marikith queen; the DoD entry doesnt represent her directly.) --We had gone far, far below any point I had ever heard of being reached by explorers; farther, in fact, than I had believed possible. The depths of ruined Timor contain more, both of the marvelous and the horrible, than can be reckoned. Its chief horror we did not meet, but my guide described it to me, and showed me a place where a rude picture had been daubed on a building wall--a thing like a massive spider, but with the torso and head of a beautiful woman, her face distorted by fangs. If the human portion was of human size, the whole must be larger than a horse. Those few who have heard of her call her only "The Queen Below." Alfred Larner to Malcolm Scott, private correspondence

Malasyn Malasynep lasynep [Frostburn] Frostburn]

Suggested by Chris Nichols for the NS Gaz

Manta Ray see ray Marikith (all) [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Ravenlofts answer to Aliens. These aberrations inhabit the domain of Timor, located beneath the sewers of Paridon. They feed on fear.

Marikith (shadow killer), hunter [Denizens of Dread]

CR 2 JWM: Black, humanoid creatures that attack in swarms. They can squeeze their bodies through impossibly tight spaces. See also FoS Zherisia report : updated to a v3.5 format and Marikith Breeds : Spiderkin, Chitterling, Man O'War, Seeker. --Shocking Incident in Devlin Street! We have learned through reliable sources of a gruesome occurence in Devlin Street which occured between seven and eight P.M. yesterday evening. While on the beat in Devlin Street Police Constable J. Thomas Talboy came upon an altercation involving a working man under assault

Marzanna (winter hag) [Frostburn]

JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Cold), CR 6, chaotic evil. A 5-to-8-ft. hag dressed in white furs. Native to frozen regions, they possess several cold- and weather-based spell-like abilities, can tear foes apart with their claws, and can panic creatures with their gaze. [Frostburn]

JWM: "In Vorostokov, the scheming sisters of Gregor Zolnik were transformed into marzannas after their brother became darklord and slew their treacherous mother. They haunt the wilds to this day, preying upon the populace and plotting against their hated brother and his wolfen kind." Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about marzannas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This crooked, marble-white crone dressed in white furs is a marzanna, also known as a winter hag. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the cold subtype. Marzannas speak Giant and Common. 21 Like all hags, marzannas possess a ravenous appetite for humanoid flesh. Many folk believe that marzannas hold the power of death itself, and that by outwitting a marzanna, one may gain immortality as the prize. If a marzanna grabs hold of a foe with both of her claw-like hands, she can tear the hapless creature limb from limb. The mere presence of a hag warps the natural world around it, which can cause natural processes such as a cow producing milk or even childbirth to go terribly wrong. 26 Marzannas do not hold the power of death itself. Outwitting them can extend your life, but only by convincing them not to eat you. However, they do command many aspects of winters fury, in the form the spell-like abilities alter self, bestow curse, control weather, dancing lights, ghost sound, ice storm, nightmare, numbing sphere, obscuring snow, pass without trace, ray of frost, and wall of ice. A winter hag is resistant to magic. 31 Three times per day, a marzanna can cast the evil eye on a nearby creature just by looking at it. Those who succumb to its dreadful power may feel their blood run cold with fear some may even die of fright, their hair instantly turning white. ---

The Zolniks are all monsters at heart. Gregor is the worst, but his sisters are not much better. They say that his sisters hated him after he killed their mother, and that they went out into the woods, and took the heart of a bear and other things, and offered it to the Old Witch herself; and the Old Witch adopted them. Now they aren't human either. Ogres, that's what they are. Hags. Iron teeth, bone fingernails, breath like winter itself. Dimitri Rossenov, Vos hunter, now residing in Kartakass

Master of the Wild Hunt, the

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Meazel [Monsters of Faern]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about meazels. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This mottled, diseased-looking humanoid is a meazel, a race of vicious killers. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. Meazels speak the local language. 19 Meazels are natural assassinsmost at home in damp environments, such as swamps or sewers. They rely on stealth when tracking their victims, and their surprise attacks are particularly dangerous. 24 Meazels are adept at dodging out of the way of area attacks. Thanks to their webbed toes, they are swift swimmers. 29 Most meazels suffer from a scabrous skin disease. It causes them little discomfort, but is highly infectious and can be lethal to non-meazels. --JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid, CR 4, chaotic evil. Diseased-looking humanoids that act as malevolent killers. They have roguish abilities and spread their skin disease with their claws. ---

I often wonder what happened to Il Aluks bogeyman? Since the infamous destruction of the city, we heard nothing of this infamous sewer denizen afterward. I guess it was destroyed with the rest? Or is still lurking in the black shadows of the under ground? Are his jet-black eyes still watching for preys? Could it be possible that his terrible needle-like teeth are still ready to kill again? Added later: There was a sighting last month. So this thing is still there. More details later after investigate the witness. Hans Gleams notes on Il Aluks sewer killer

30 Along with its crackling bite, a bronze serpent can constrict its foes. It is highly resistant to magic. This result also reveals the process for creating bronze serpents. 35 Electricity repairs a bronze serpent rather than dealing damage. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 25 The first bronze serpents were created in a tropical land to guard the ancient temples of strange serpent gods. --"The scenes caught upon the tain of the mirrors hardly seemed to be of this world. Yet one indisputably was. A strange serpent had infiltrated the throne room and slithered with nigh impossible stealth and speed into reach of the ancient seat, being nowise deterred by the motionless and seemingly oblivious occupant. Its strike was little more than a blur yet a gauntleted hand swept down to catch and hold it in mid-air. The great bulk of the metal thing twisted and clattered about the mailed arm, neck and leg but to no avail. It tried to slip back into the shadows, winning but an instance's reprieve from the iron grasp. Its captor whispered a few words. The shape of the creature grew perfectly distinct and the thing crashed like thunder onto the floor where it lay still. A minute inspection of it followed, with particular attention falling upon its three pairs of retractable teeth and the poisons that they bore. It stirred back to life and no resistance was offered to it as it sought to pierce the blackened and scorched armour and lay the bearer low. After a flurry of strikes, it turned and left as it had come, its bearing somehow conveying dejection, frustration and rage." -Tindal interviewed by Isolde --The deceased (Professor Mortimer) had just completed the following translation, which may be of interest: Here rests Ashar-kon, Dweller in Eternity, Prince of a Thousand Years. All that the earth provides

Mechanical Serpent (all)

JWM: Golem-like constructs modeled on snakes.

Mechanical serpent, bronze serpent [Monster Manual II p40]

JWM: Huge Construct, CR 10, neutral. A massive bronze snake that can constrict and electrify foes. Electricity repairs damage it has taken. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about bronze serpents. Characters who recognize a bronze serpents nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 20 This massive, metal snake is a magical construct called a bronze serpent. This result reveals all construct traits. 25 A bronze serpent is a mindless combatant that follows the commands of its creator. Its fangs flow with powerful arcs of electricity rather than venom. A bronze serpents metal body deflects most attacks, but adamantine weapons can prove effective.

lies here with him, gold and lapis lazuli, corn, meat and beer, weapons of war, the crook and flail, honored servants. Over all these things we have set a guardian, the Bronze Serpent, child of Apep, itself a servant more faithful than death and stronger than the passing years. Turn aside, o faithless one, before you do harm to any thing here present, or take one grain of corn; the Bronze Serpent is witho...

An iron cobras metal body deflects glancing blows, but adamantine weapons can prove effective. 22 An iron cobras internal reservoir can hold only three doses of venom, and must be refilled by its creator. An iron cobra is quite stealthy and is resistant to magic. This result also reveals the process for creating iron cobras. 27 An iron cobra can be commanded to flawlessly track any creature whose name the creator recites, as if using a locate creature spell. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 17 According to legend, the first iron cobras were created ages ago and were nearly indestructible. Fortunately, vital secrets of their construction died with their creator, so the iron cobras that exist today are far less powerful. --As I spoke with the famed swami we looked out over his impeccably groomed estate. I made some remark about the difficulty of keeping the public from using so attractive a space as a public garden, and Master Suriben smiled. "It is not so difficult," he said. "They fear the cobras." I assured him that in their shoes (or lack thereof) I would do the same, but that it must be difficult to find and keep garden workers in that case. "You have not seen my cobras," he said, smiling more broadly now, and raised a whistle to his lips. I heard nothing, but suddenly there was a shining and a twinkling as what seemed to be dozens of smooth steel-colored snakes slipped into the garden paths and made their way toward us. As they came and danced before their master I could see they did not merely appear steely--they were made of steel. Captain John Smith, Expedition to Sri Raji

(The translation ends here; the deceased was apparently translating a stone tablet set on the table before him.) The deceased appears to have been bitten twice by a snake of surprising size--perhaps one of the specimens brought back from his recent expedition to Har'Akir? Constable Sturm Androv, from the official report on the death of Mordentish scholar Prof. Jaspar Mortimer in Kantora

Mechanical serpent, iron cobra [Fiend Folio p103]

JWM: Small Construct, CR 2, neutral. A cobra constructed of iron bands, capable of tracking down targets and delivering a poisonous bite. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about iron cobras. Characters who recognize an iron cobras nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 12 What appears to be an armored serpent is actually a magical construct called an iron cobra. This result reveals all construct traits. 17 An iron cobra is a mindless combatant that follows the commands of its creator. Like a living serpent, an iron cobra injects venom with its fangs.

Mechanical serpent, the Shadow Serpent (iron cobra) [Book of Souls Keepers of the Coil]
JWM: Medium Construct, CR 5, neutral evil. A unique, major artifact version of the iron cobra. Can merge with shadows and deliver shadowbased effects with its poisonous bite. --My beautiful black snake! Where is it? I lost it? I need another one! Blue! Beautiful assassin, so lovely, so deadly! I need meteoric iron, I need it! Snake so deadly! And the snake ink: delightfully distilled shadow asps! More victims for them to bite while they die and become liquid! So interesting to watch them shiver. The beautiful look in their eyes. Their eluding souls! Their beautiful souls! And then my snake is alive! By my genius! Its ready to punish petty offenders! Ready to eliminate those that laugh behind my back! Its crystal coffer will get the hairs of Lady Islena, then the smoke pipe of Walter of Abdok, then this farmer whos egg contained two yolks. All punished! All vanished! Whos laughing now? Then this boy who looked at me yesterday, then Lady Islena again! Bitten! Bitten! Bitten!, followed by mad laughing. Heard in a backalley of Abdok ---

scores, making them smooth-tongued liars and dealmakers. Remember that while players may be fully aware of the medusa's stony gaze, their characters may not. Knowledge (Arcana) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about medusas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This horrific humanoid is a medusa. This reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 21 The gaze of a medusa turns its victims permanently into stone. 26 Medusas have snakes for hair that inflict powerful poison when they successfully bite. 31 Medusas are skilled at lying and keeping their appearance hidden. They use these skills to lure victims into believing the situation is safe before using their abilities. --What form! What classical beauty! Never have I seen a finer figure. Never have I seen a fouler face. A visage of reptilian repugnance and a crown of hissing, spitting, snapping asps! And the eyes, my lord, the eyes, antipodes each of that exotic, seductive voice! Had I been still cut of the weak stuff of mortals, the revulsion that seized me could well have left your worthy servant as mute and dusty as the five score of men, women and children who will furnish till the end of the world those twisted and accursed corridors. -Court Painter Octavian Marcus showing off the latest official portrait to Azalin Rex

Medusa* [Monster Manual]

JWM: Included mainly for the sake of Althea, darklord of Demise. JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid, CR 7, lawful evil. Female, reptilian-looking humanoids with snakes for hair and an appearance so repulsive, their gaze turns living creatures to stone. from WotC know your enemy The insidious medusa often serves as a criminal mastermind or dastardly lieutenant to more powerful creatures. Despite their awful appearance, medusas possess high Charisma

Meenlock* [Monster Manual II]

JWM: These creatures are primarily the result of illithid fleshcrafting, and as such are generally found in Bluetspur. JWM: Tiny Aberration, CR 3, lawful evil. Pitiful, wretched creatures, the product of normal humanoids subjected to torturous illithid fleshcrafting. Covered in spines, and have vaguely insect-like features. They can invade their foes minds, causing fear and paranoia. They can also paralyze with a touch and, given time, transform captured humanoids into more of their kind. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about meenlocks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This tiny, grotesquely misshapen, insectlike creature is a meenlock. It was once a normal humanoid, but was monstrously transformed by forces unknown. This result reveals all aberration traits. 19 Meenlocks communicate using telepathy. They shun bright light, though it does not actually harm them. A meenlock attack with its pincers, which secrete a paralytic toxin. The paralysis only lasts for a minute or so, but meenlocks generally try to bind their captive before it recovers. 24 Meenlocks are created by mind flayers through the obscene arts of fleshcrafting. Meenlocks can forcibly project their thoughts into other creatures minds, sometimes using paranoid imagery to break a victims will. A meenlock can also produce an aura of terror capable of driving victims catatonic with fear. Meenlocks always try to capture foes alive when they can. Live captives are dragged deep into the meenlocks lair. 29 A meenlock can teleport every few moments using an ability similar to dimension door. Meenlocks are capable of transforming normal humanoids into more of their wretched kind. The process requires at least three meenlocks and

several hours, so captives must be bound (and can be rescued) in the meantime. 34 About halfway through the transformation process, mild mutations begin and the victim falls into a mindless coma. At this stage, the victim can be restored to normal with a heal or greater restoration spell. Once the transformation is complete, the victim has no memory of its former life. Only a wish or miracle can restore a meenlock to normal. --We used to get all kinds of horrible things in that part of the country. There were unfortunate creatures--I suppose they might have been human, or something like it, once--who appeared with some regularity. Rather human-looking at a distance, but with claws like a crab and mandibles-hence no conversational ability to speak of. My own taste runs to the human, without elaboration or these "meldings", but the masters of that place apparently disagreed... I'm glad they're gone. Good fences make good neighbors, and the Mists a good fence. Harkon Lukas to Jameld of Hroth, as reported to G. Weathermay-Foxgrove

Megalodon [Monster Manual II]

Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz CR 11

Merfolk [Monster Manual]

CR Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz

Merrshaulki (FoS Souragne report)

In the western part of the swamp, amidst the fetid vines lies the mighty Ziggurat of the Great Crocodile and heart of the Merrshaulki civilization. The remnants of a once great race, Merrshaulki have regressed to a more primitive way of life, yet the still yearn for the greatness they once had.

Midnight cat [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Tiny Magical Beast, CR 3, neutral evil. Black cats, easily mistaken for housecats, which are supposedly descended from Unseelie fey. They feed on life force by stealing the breath of living creatures, and they are the masters of curses, able to deliver or remove them at will. --"How thoughtful . . . a cold, dead rat from the local cesspool . . . . It is with slight difficulty that I imagine those abominable wanderers laying a curse upon you. But of this world we must put down the piddling and the petty. Rest. Sleep. By the dying darkness of the dawn, their shackles shall not trouble you, your soul shall be freed of their grasp." -Midnight Black and The Barovians, calumnious Invidian folktale or "You and I know that this is no trifling curse of those abominable wanderers. There are Mistthreaded maledictions that no claw may shred." -The Black Cat of Beltis receiving Lord Malocchio Aderre

matter what shape it takes, however, a mimic is always hard and rough to the touch. 24 Mimics wait for unwary victims to come near or even touch them before striking. When they attack, they quickly sprout pseduopods and flail at their victims, beating and crushing them to death. They are immune to acid. Mimics are intelligent creatures that speak Common. 29 A mimic secretes a strong adhesive slime. Creature or weapons that strike the mimic are stuck fast. Alcohol dissolves the adhesive slime, and it breaks down naturally within moments of the mimics death. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 19 Mimics are sometimes used as guardians for great treasures. 24 Some folk say mimics were created long ago by a mad wizard, whose name is now lost to time. --JWM: Large Aberration (Shapechanger), CR 4, neutral. An amorphous ambush hunter that takes the form of inanimate objects, such as chests or furniture, waiting for victims to wander up and fall prey to its adhesive touch. --The guards' change-of-shift drew nearer, but Clive would not be rushed in his work. Heavy gloves protected his hands as he probed the brasswork decorating the oaken chest, seeking a hidden catch or keyhole. All too conscious of how soon the sorcerer's goblyn minions would discover their companions' demise, I would have chided him for such overcaution ... until I recalled the story of the Carnivorous Coffer. Glancing up at my expression, Clive chuckled -now, I knew why he'd told me that old thieves' legend -- and then bared his right hand, to better feel the tumblers shifting in the lock he'd found. The rogue's skills proved their worth, yet again; the chest's heavy lid swung open with nary a creak. Inside, the medallion we'd come to liberate lay cushioned upon rich, baled silk, its gleam untarnished by the foulness of the fiend-marked villain who'd hoarded it.

Mimic [Monster Manual]

CR 4 Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about mimics. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC Result 14 This seemingly normal object is actually a mimic, a clever ambush predator. This result reveals all aberration traits and the shapechanger subtype. 19 A mimic is an amorphous creature that can assume the shape and outer appearance of nearly any inanimate object. These creatures usually pose as innocuous objects like chests or furniture. No

"Easy as cloudberry pie," my companion murmured smugly. He reached for the medallion, careful not to let his skin brush against the mystical -- and dangerous -- gem inset within it. Alas, it was the rolled-up silk beneath our prize he should have taken equal pains not to touch.... -- Exerpt from The Sorcerer And The Succubus, adventure-romance novel by Mrs. Felicity Henry

15 This tentacle-faced creature is a mind flayer, also known as an illithid. This reveals all aberration traits. 20 Mind flayers are so named for their ability to produce a powerful mind blast that stuns creatures. They commonly enslave sentient creatures to use as slave labor, chattel, or both. 25 Mind flayers subsist on the brains of sentient beings. Their facial tentacles can grapple with an opponent and extract the brain in mere moments. 30 Mind flayers can use their psionic ability to use the following as spell-like abilities: charm monster, detect thoughts, levitate, plane shift, and suggestion. --Sena gazed upon the blasted place with wide-eyed confusion. Horace had the look of a hunted animal. Which in fact he was, as were we all. I was very much worse for wear, and more than a little concerned that our fate now rested upon the trustworthiness of the Vistani, and, for that matter, of our employer. Lying on the ground between us was a native of the sunless realm, one of the proprietors of the vast butcher shop. The thing, tentacles and all, was bound tight as a drum, or nearly so, and covered with two score of leeches supplied by the doctor. They, or at very least my swift kick to its head, were proving to be effective. Nonetheless, not two feet away from me, the thing's stomach noisily digested Victor's brain. A second kick to its head did my toe little good and less for poor Victor. Repeated kicks to its belly had failed to oblige it to part ways with its breakfast. Minutes seemed to pass as hours. Then a sudden and violent gust of wind threw up a wall of dust. When I could see clearly again, our rescuers and their vardos stood in waiting. We would live to reach the ile of Domina, to deliver the damned thing, to reap our reward. -Brutus Nostrum retelling himself how he came to be confined in Doctor Daclaud Heinforth's Asylum for the Mentally Disturbed

Mind flayer (all)

JWM: Various life stages and subspecies of mind flayers, the fleshcrafting rulers of Bluetspur. Intensely alien creatures.

Mind flayer, illithid* [Monster [Monster Manual]

JWM: Not that it matters much for these blurbs, but just for the sake of trivia, I'm using the psionic versions of these creatures as the default. JWM: Medium Aberration (Psionic), CR 8, lawful evil. Human-shaped horrors with powerful psionic abilities and heads like cuttlefish. They see humanoids as nothing more than chattel. [Monster Manual] from WotC know your enemy The dreaded mind flayer has been a favorite (and hated) enemy of players for decades. Highly intelligent, motivated, and possessing powerful abilities, most players cringe at the thought of facing one in combat. Characters are wise to do the same or at least find out as much as they can about these foul aberrations before rushing into combat. Knowledge (Arcana) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about mind flayers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

See also: Mind Flayer "Ecology of the Mind Flayer, The" Roger Moore Dragon#78(66) D&D1

usually eats its fill and detaches before killing its victim, but the creature is left brain-damaged. 28 A larval flayer has developed a small array of psi-like abilities. It can use burst and psionic levitate three times a day, and psionic dimension door once a day. It uses these powers to get the drop on its prey literally. 33 Mind flayers reproduce through a process called ceremorphosis, in which the mind flayers implant their tadpoles inside a living humanoids brain. However, this larval flayer has grown too large to undergo that process. If allowed to live, it could eventually develop into a massive horror called a neothelid. --At first I thought they was some kind of squid, or octopus; but they warn't. There's only the four tentacles, and the mouth's wrong; so are the eyes. I dunno. Damnedest things I ever did draw up in my net. They didn't look good to eat--I wouldn't eat one--so we just chunked 'em back in the bay. Alistair MacGrim, Mordentish fisherman

Mind flayer, alhoon (illithilich) [Lords of Madness]

JWM: Template Undead. An undead mind illithid or ulitharid that, for whatever strange reasons, chooses to become a lich rather than join the elder brain in death. Has various lich-like powers. See alhoon

Mind flayer, larval flayer* [Complete Psionic]

JWM: Tiny Aberration (Psionic), CR 2, chaotic evil. The larval form of illithids, just after theyre too old to be implanted in a humanoids brain. Resembles a 2-ft.-long, eyeless octopus with four tentacles. Possesses a few psi-like abilities which help it sneak up on prey, and can consume brains. Dimly intelligent. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about larval flayers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This four-tentacled, vaguely squidlike creature is an overgrown example of a mind flayer tadpole. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 18 Larval flayers may be less dangerous than an adult illithid, but they pose a significant threat in their own right. They are only dimly intelligent, but have started to develop their psionic powers and a taste for humanoid gray matter. Larval flayers attack by using their tentacles to latch onto a creatures body, preferably its head. 23 An attached larval flayer gnaws its way through its victims skull and begins devouring the creatures brain and spinal fluid. A larval flayer

Mind flayer, neothelid* [Expanded Psionics Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about neothelids. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This monstrously huge, slimy, squirming worm could be mistaken for a purple worm, but the four tentacles ringing its lamprey-like mouth are reminiscent of even worse horrors. This psionic behemoth is a neothelid, said to be distantly related to mind flayers. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 30 A neothelid can spew a cone of incredibly acidic digestive juices at its foes, literally liquefying them before slurping up the remains. Its rubber hide and slime coating absorb glancing

weapon blows. Neothelids are quite intelligent and understand Undercommon, but their minds are far too insane to communicate with other beings. 35 Neothelids are eyeless and cannot be blinded. They sense their surroundings through a combination of scent, vibration, and telepathy. Neothelids are highly resistant to psionics. Mind flayers never speak of neothelids, and seek to destroy them when they can. 40 Neothelids can seize creatures up to the size of an elephant with their facial tentacles and quickly swallow the victim whole. Neothelids also possess the following array of psi-like abilities: body equilibrium, psionic charm, clairvoyant sense, psionic levitate, mind thrust, read thoughts, psionic suggestion, psychic thrust, telekinetic force, telekinetic maneuver, telekinetic thrust, psionic teleport, trace teleport, and truevenom. Neothelids are the ultimate result when mind flayer tadpoles are allowed to mature to adulthood without undergoing ceremorphosis. Some sages even suggest they may represent the true face of the mind flayer race. --XXVIII. The Tree of the Hydra In a place, deep below the lightning-wracked skies, there is a vast cavern. In the cavern, grows a tree that sings. The tree is crystal, branching, branching. In the branches, in the leaves, dance visions, near and far, was and will be. Beneath the tree, pinned by roots,

sleeps the Hydra. The Hydra, the mad worm, with its head of lashing whips. Crystal roots grow through its hide. The Hydra sleeps and dreams, one day to awaken and rise and consume the world. -from Aark'tluch Thaan, Eleventh of the Thirteen Texts of Thaan --"Tell us another one of your fetching stories, I always love a good spinetingler!" "Your words are kind, Herr Meistersinger. Since you insist, I'll tell you about a dream I once had." "A dream, eh? How many milkmaids were in it?" "None, I'm afraid. I had a dream about a great, red rock beneath a shadowed blue sky without sun or stars, swathed in darkness without night. Beneath this great, red rock, there was a great roaring hunger-" "Was there a great thirst in there, too?" "I'm not sure. There was a darkness: in it, I saw four worms. I think they were a part of that roaring thing." "You said it was "hunger."" "Yes, and deep, deep down inside of that hunger, I could hear something else. A want, a need, it was so sad, like a teardrop falling inside of a wasp's nest." "What strange dreams you have." -Retelling of a feeshka, as witnessed by Harkon Lukas

Mind flayer, ulitharid* [Lords of Madness]

JWM: Large Aberration (Psionic), CR 12, lawful evi. A larger, more powerful variety of illithid with six face tentacles. They are quite rare compared to illithids, and not even the mind flayers themselves can predict which tadpoles will develop into ulitharids. Leaders of the mind flayer race. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about ulitharids. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This mind flayers towering height and two long, extra tentacles mark it as an ulitharid, a rare and superior variety of mind flayer. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 27 Like lesser mind flayers, an ultiharid can produce a powerful mind blast that stuns creatures. Where ulitharids appear, they quickly rise to rule mind flayer societies, where they are treated much like gods. 32 Like illithids, ulitharids subsist on the brains of sentient beings. Their facial tentacles can reach much farther than a human arm to grapple with an opponent and extract the brain in mere moments. Ulitharids see all other mind flayers, including true illithids, as lesser creatures to be used or disposed of at will. 37 Ulitharids are powerful innate psions, specializing as telepaths. Mind flayers reproduce through a process called ceremorphosis, in which the mind flayers implant their tadpoles inside a living humanoids brain. Less than one in a hundred tadpoles develops into an ulitharid. Fortunately, not even the mind flayers themselves understand what forces spur an ultiharid to develop, nor do its physical characteristics develop until ceremorphosis is well underway.

42 Ulitharids are not the ultimate rulers of mind flayer society. Even they answer to the elder brain, a nearly godlike entity of immense psionic power that rules each mind flayer colony. --The darkness at the top of the dias stirred, and then it spoke (if it did speak, for it seemed that the words wormed directly into our minds without passing through the air). "You will be greatly rewarded for loyal service," it said, and there was a feeling--like it was the most wonderful thing in the world we had been promised, and the thing on the dias was our kindest friend. "Come forward and receive my blessing." That was why we went forward, and why we didn't run when the tentacle oozed out of the darkness, from where the thing seemed to speak (as if-Belenus save me!--the tentacle came from its face) and touched each of us on the forehead in turn. "Now," it said, and its pleasure was unmistakeable and unspeakable, "you are mine." Now you understand. It is calling me, and I must go. from a manuscript written by Dereg ApMorte at the time of his disappearance, Hazlan, August 759

Mind flayer, vampiric [Lords of Madness]

JWM: Medium Aberration (Vampire), CR 9, chaotic evil. The product of a failed experiment combining Lyssa von Zarovichs necromancy with the fleshcrafting of an ulitharid, these insane mind flayers extract brains and drain blood. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about vampiric illithids. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This colorless illithid is actually a feral predator called a vampiric mind flayer. They can be distinguished from true mind flayers by their gray

coloration and several physical mutations: long fangs circling their lamprey-like mouths, and the tip of each tentacle ends in a tiny, leech-like sucker. This result reveals all undead traits. 24 Vampiric mind flayers feed on brains, blood, and life energy whatever presents itself. Like living illithids, vampiric mind flayers can generate a cone of psionic energy to stun their foes. A vampiric mind flayer drains blood by attaching its tentacles to a living victim, and its physical attacks drain life energy. 29 A vampiric mind flayers facial tentacles can grapple with an opponent and extract the brain in mere moments. The creatures slimy flesh is unnaturally tough, but magic silver weapons can pierce its defenses. A vampiric mind flayers wounds heal very quickly. 34 Vampiric mind flayers are resistant to cold and electricity. They are strongly resistant to magic. The origin of vampiric mind flayers remains a mystery, as is the question of whether they are capable of reproducing. JWM on the WotC board: I changed the creature's stats for my collection (to better reflect their origins in Ravenloft products): DC Result 19 This colorless, feral illithid is actually a mutation called a vampiric mind flayer. Despite the name, these creatures are not undead. They can be distinguished from true mind flayers by their gray coloration and several physical mutations: long fangs circling their lamprey-like mouths, and the tip of each tentacle ends in a tiny, leech-like sucker. This result reveals all aberration traits. Actually Vampiric Mind Flayers are undead. The entry in Lords of Madness p.g 160 lists the creature as Medium Undead. It also says the following in the description: A vampiric mind flayer is a unique form of undead, more like a wight or a wraith than a vampire. It is not derived from adding the vampire template to a mind flayer. ---

Take a beautiful and rebellious blood sucker, naturally a von Zarovich, who gains in a few moments, by way of a tussle with a ghost and former lover, power that rivals that of the most venerable vampire. Add a daring, would be usurper from a race of cuttlefish-headed, brain eating, telepathic humanoids who are all thralls of omniscient fused grey matter afloat in a vat. Stir blood sucking and brain eating together in an illadvised, indeed unspeakable, abomination, so that Count Strahd and, for want of a better title, Lord Brine, and indeed the sun itself might shake with fear. Toss in a dash of the Apparatus for extra terror. And serve. A recipe that not only beggars belief, but that invites suspicion. What party has put it into my hands, thinking me fool enough to publish it and thereby discredit myself and my work? -Working note, Van Ritchens Guide to Vampires JWM: I'm going to have to veto this one on a trifling matter -- at the time that Van Richten published VRGtVampires (735 BC), it would be another four years before Lyssa von Zarovich and the High Master Illithid created vampiric mind flayers (739 BC). The tableau was of a beautiful young woman, scantily clad, beset by two unclothed, cuttlefishheaded humanoids. The one had torn open her neck and was about to lap with its veined, purple tongue at the blood that flowed freely. The other had wrenched open her skull and with its tentacles was ripping her brain from its seat. This was a death unlike any I had witnessed. And if I dared reach out and touch the orb, I too could savour the experience . Chapter 26 - The Hall of Records, Secrets of the Sith, unpublished work of the Kartakan dirgist Lifes Long Lament

Mind flayer voir aussi MM5 Thoon Mist subtype [VTGttMists] VTGttMists]
Voir VRGttM p 24

Mistlings Mistlings [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Mist claimer [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Mist ferryman [Denizens of Dread]
CR 4 Ferryman, Ferryman what do you charge? One for the small, two for the large Ferryman, Ferryman where do we tread? Across the river and past the dead Ferryman, Ferryman what shall we see? The rolling mists and the hanging tree Ferryman, Ferryman we cannot pay! You shall not see the light of day Darkonian childrens rhyme

off and was ever slow in rousing himself. When he had at last collected his senses, his brain refused to credit the sight before him, bards tale be damned. Apparently no tree in Lamordia ever mired men in water and raked them with choking eldritch forces, or indeed anything of the sort. And so the tide began to turn. -From the last journal entry of Hardian Wordsworth, the work being held in the private collection of Harkon Lukas

--JWM: For sake of trivia, I completely rewrote this template from scratch, essentially ignoring everything Denizens of Dread has to say. Just keep in mind that a mist horror is an animate bank of mist that has no "true form"; using the template system, it reaches into its victims' minds and takes the form of their greatest fear -- partly physically, and partly through illusion. (The two "example mist horrors" I provide are "mist horror, kraken form" and "mist horror, drider form.") The mist horror encounter early in Dance of the Dead is a nice example. Mist Horror Mist horrors lurk within the swirling Mists of Ravenloft. These wrathful entities are drawn to any travelers who linger too long in the Misty Border. In its true form, a mist horror is a vast, shapeless cloud of thin mist. Since they can never leave the Misty Border, mist horrors are nearly undetectable in this form. When they attack, they coalesce into nightmarish forms drawn from the deepest fears of their victims. Thus, if a victim is terrified of snakes, a mist horror might assume the form of a dire snake or monstrous viper. A mist horrors combat forms are featureless shapes seemingly composed of incredibly dense fog, but it conceals itself within phantasmal facades to complete the illusion. Countless theories have been presented to explain the origin of mist horrors. For example, many Vistani strongly believe that anyone who is buried on a foggy day is fated to rise as a mist horror.

Mist horror* [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Outsider (Incorporeal, Mists, Shapechanger). See below; mist horrors are the final form of creatures that failed enough powers checks to become darklords, but didnt interest the Dark Powers enough to earn one. Entry also includes the wandering horror variant. --The skald's frightful words of warning, whether intended for our good or his private amusement, were well founded or nearly so. The swamp that we sought, deep in the south, was as thick with dead trees as any of us had seen and was thicker still with mists. Our every step was laboured, we lost our way repeatedly, sound travelled oddly, the thing that we sought proved to be elusive, and we could not shake the sense of impending doom. Then, as exhaustion set in, the atmosphere seemed to lighten a bit and we paused upon a solid and barren piece of ground. Perhaps we stayed too long. Whatever the case, our surprise was total when the blows of the dead tree, which had not been there when we arrived, crashed down about our heads. The thing was as massive, twisted, withered, monstrous and dreadful as the bard had said. It preceded to rush forth, driving those of us that it did not manage to trample, into the fetid muck, where our disadvantage was complete. It had overlooked Ulrich however, who had dosed

This may not be true, but the Vistanis belief has lent it great credence among many folk. Another theory holds that mist horrors arise from the slain victims of mist golems (see pg. #). If this is true and former comrades can capture the particular horror, the creature may be restored to life by means of a resurrection or true resurrection spell. Others believe that mist horrors represent the fate of evil creatures who enter the Misty Border and refuse to leave, either because they are desperately seeking a way out of the Demiplane of Dread or because they hope to avoid some worse fate back in the material world. In the strangely twisting time of the Mists, creatures can survive far longer in the Mists than they should. Eventually, their bodies fade away, but their spirits live on, becoming mist horrors. The grimmest theory may also be the closest to the truth: That mist horrors represent the final, pathetic fate of evildoers who condemned themselves with their evil deeds but failed to convince the Dark Powers that they deserved their own domains. These damned and discarded souls are exiled to the Mists, each villain imprisoned in its own featureless territory, forever. Long after their bodies die, these wretched spirits live on, slowly merging with the Mists of Ravenloft themselves. Mist horrors are aware that they have been passed over, and their envy of even the most pathetic true darklords drives them to terrorize victims to prove themselves worthy of their own domains. Although mist horrors are technically undead, they have merged so thoroughly with the planar fabric of the Demipane of Dread that little of their undead essence remains. A mist horror in its true, dispersed form fills a space (10 feet Hit Dice) to a side. Its vaporous form is weightless. Mist horrors can communicate telempathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language. This communication takes the form of impressions and feelings rather than concrete words or concepts. They sometimes try to use this ability to persuade creatures to enter the Misty

Border but, due to the range limit, can only do so when the creatures are already on the verge of entering on their own. Combat Mist horrors lurk in the Misty Border in their mist form, eagerly waiting for travelers to wander through their territory. Once a mist horror detects new victims, it uses its empathic probe first to subtly persuade the creatures to stop and rest, then again to draw a monstrous shape from its victims deepest fears. This monstrous shape becomes the base creature used in this template. While its unwitting victims remain in the area, the mist horror uses its alternate form ability to assume the shape of its victims nightmares and attacks. A mist horror remains unseen until it assumes a combat form and attacks, at best visible as an ominous ripple in the omnipresent fog. Once it has assumed a combat form, a mist horror tries to take its victims by surprise, lunging at them from out of the fog. If possible, it may use its empathic probe again to terrify and scatter a group of foes. A mist horror uses its phantasmal faade to try to convince foes that it actually is a creature straight from their nightmares, but usually continues to fight if this faade is shattered. Should the tide of battle turn against a mist horror, it shifts back into its dispersed true form and blends into the Mists of Ravenloft to hide. Sample Mist Horrors Mist Horror, Drider Form: Large Outsider (Incorporeal, Mists, Shapechanger), CR 8, neutral evil. Mist Horror, Kraken Form: Gargantuan Outsider (Incorporeal, Mists, Shapechanger), CR 13, neutral evil. The template in a nutshell: * d8 HD. * Natural AC replaced by deflection bonus, like ghosts. * Tentacle rake attacks * Disruptive aura: spellcasters need to make Concentration checks to cast spells within 30 feet of a mist horror.

* Empathic probe: A mist horror can scan surface thoughts as a standard action. This has two uses: it can improve or worsen a foe's morale, or it can grab a feared mental image and take that form. * Phantasmal Facade: In a combat form, a mist horror gains none of the base creature's special attacks. However, it can wrap itself in phantasms to complete the illusion of being that creature. This also allows it to use phantasmal versions of the base creature's special attacks (which can be disbelieved). A foe who disbelieves one attack sees through the facade and can't be affected by any of the mist horror's other phantasms for 24 hours. * Alternate Form: A mist horror can take any form (noting the above), but takes 4d10 minutes to do so. * Damage reduction 10/magic. * Mistbound: Can never leave a specific "territory" within the Misty Border (usually about a square mile). * Mist Form: The mist horror's true form. Gaseous, hard to detect or damage, but can't make any physical attacks. Mistvision: A new special quality shared by a couple of creatures: It can see twice as far as normal in fog or mist, including obscuring mist. * Spell resistance 20. * Has most of the standard undead immunities, but can't be turned. * Dex +4, Cha +2, if base creature has no Con, then Con equals Cha. * CR: Base creature +1. Basically, mist horrors would have been explicitly written into the revised powers check rules -- the result of someone who fails all the powers checks but isn't worthy of becoming a darklord.

What world worn and weary travellers were we when we reached the village, with a horde of goblins, Marbh-Cathair, and Dargal Pass behind us. But civilization was no salvation. I was tried and, in due course, found innocent, by reason of enchantment, of consorting with fey. And Ellana was spared the torment of being burnt alive. For not a moment was lost by the rabble that had been gathered against us in bending its pitch-forks and blunting its scythes in the task of reducing her lithe form to an unrecognisable pulp. The crime was instigated by a man possessed of a silver tongue, more so than any agent of the Kargat, and a terrible cruelty, for at trial he took up my defence and imposed upon me the sentence of life without her. -Hatred Cannot Be Defeated with Hatreds Weapons, autobiography of Cato August --Shambling Horde (Mob of Zombies): This example uses a human warrior zombie as the base creature. An unbroken line of shambling hordes like this one, two mobs deep, forms along Darkons borders whenever Azalin closes the domains borders. If one such shambling horde is dispersed, its neighbors move over on their next turn to close the gap. --The Great King then said, "This is unacceptable. Call up the Fourth Light Horse, and have Brigadier Jespeth bring his archers to the site of the incursion. There will be no servant of the Hawk left alive in my dominion by nightfall." At the time I privately doubted our monarch could make good on his boast. I did not know--could not know--the sheer magnitude of the Horde's terrifying strength. The dead themselves rose against the invaders, and like the seventh wave they swept all before them. General Amarad Faspain, Memoirs, chapter six, "The First Dead Man's Campaign" ---

Mist Weird [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Mob* [Dungeon Masters Guide II p59]

Riot (Mob of Humans): This example uses a 1stlevel human warrior as the base creature. These mobs often form as the result of social uprisings or entire villages pouring out of their homes with torches and pitchforks to hunt down some despised monster plaguing their community. ---

Stampede (Mob of Horses): This example uses a horse as the base creature. The herds of wilds horses that roam Nova Vaasa are easily spooked, particularly if startled by a creature canny enough to send them trampling through a group of its opponents. --Upon the Thundering Plains there are many reasons to sleep in the saddle: diamondbacks, sidewinders, ironwhips, cobras and, of course, plain cats. But let me tell you another: stampedes. Rdbuge are more likely to run you down than to go around you. And Vindhre, although less likely to trample you as you flee, are far quicker, often catching you where you lie. These earth shaking waves break about you all too often. Hestdrikkers get among the horses or, worse, hestskrere get into them. To say nothing of the stallions with hell-fire for blood. And of course a few of the animals are simply born misanthropic or mad. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, recounting the dangers of his profession

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 8, chaotic evil. The animated corpses of mass murderers. Though nearly skeletal, they have long, prehensile tongues that can paralyze their foes. Slain victims spawn more mohrgs. --Only after consulting the dusty, worm-eaten tome given to me by Mad Mikaal did I grasp the nature of the killings that gripped the city for the last four months. A murder once every five days, done with varying weapons - axe, spear, sword, flail, scythe, dagger, sickle, club. At every murder, three symbols smeared in blood. Every body marked with strange punctures. The book, a ancient history of Bergovista, at first seemed a pointless distraction, written in an archaic form of Vaasi and so deteriorated that its title was lost to mildew. But in the midst of lists of long-dead officals and accounts of criminals hung, I found the clue Mikaal had meant for me to find. The three symbols from the crimes looked back at me from the page. The faded script revealed that the symbols, reading 'Roh An Kaut' described a kind of spiritual belief the details of which were over my head subscribed to by a society or cult called the Circle of Roh An Kaut. The followers of Roh An Kaut plagued the city at some point in the past, killing once a fiveday. Each member of the Circle of Roh An Kaut weilded a specific weapon; an axe, a spear, and a flail were mentioned. According to the record, the entire Circle was eventually trapped in their lair and the entire structure put to the torch. After the fire had done its work, the bodies of the killers were thrown into a deep pit beneath the city and the pit filled with stones. At the end of this tale was a drawing, without caption or explanation. It showed a gape-jawed skull of malevolent aspect with a fat, clawed worm protruding from its jaws. - report by Constable Hardan Harstin of Bergovista

Mohrg [Monster Manual]

CR 8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about mohrgs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 The writhing intestines in this skeletal horror mark it as a mohrg. This result reveals all undead traits. 23 Mohrgs are the animated corpses of unrepentant mass murderers and similar ilk. The touch of a mohrgs long, clawed tongue paralyzes living creatures. 28 These powerful undead llatch onto foes with their bony hands, then continue to attack them while grappling. 33 People killed by mohrgs rise from the grave several days later as mindless zombies under the mohrgs control. ---

See also Dragon #336

he can also restore mongrelfolk to normal, though he has never done so. --Petrovna turned and stared out over us, his eyes bulging. "See now the hand of the Destroyer raised against this heretic!" he shouted, and raved in like manner for something like half an hour. I will not bother to repeat his tirade, most of which was repititious in the extreme, but the climax, when it came, was appallingly swift. Turning back to the young woman chained to the altar, he drews his hand down her face, then across her torso, and spat on her. For a moment she struggled, screaming, against her bonds, and as she did so her limbs twisted out of true and her flesh ran like melting wax. She had gone up a plain girl, ordinary in every way save for her supposed sin; she came down inhumanly wracked and deformed, and fled into the desert as we watched. That ended the spectacle. Larraby Quift, Journeys Through the Mists See also: Mongrelman "Ecology of the Mongrelman, The" Jonathan M. Richards Dragon#242(86) D&D2

Mongrelfolk [Fiend Folio]

JWM: "Mongrelfolk, hideous creatures descended from generations of crossbreeding among the worst examples of many species, exhibit few redeeming qualities. The darklord of GHenna, Yagno Petrovna, possesses the ability to transform those who have failed his god Zhakata into mongrelfolk. Many folk believe, perhaps not wrongly, that these wretched creatures are merely a particularly twisted form of caliban." JWM: Medium Humanoid (Mongrelfolk), CR 1/2 (1st-level warrior), lawful neutral. Hideously deformed humanoids created by generations of interbreeding between disparate humanoid creatures. Yagno Petrovna can transform humanoids into mongrelfolk with a special rite. Considered a form of caliban. Excellent mimics. Mongrelfolk Lore Fiend Folio (Again, this one comes with a little extra Ravenloft content. Just ignore the underlined bits if you aren't playing Ravenloft.) Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about mongrelfolk. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This hideously misshapen humanoid is a mongrelfolk, a twisted hybrid of many different humanoid races. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 15 A mongrelfolk can mimic any sound or voice it has heard. Many people believe mongrelfolk are closely related to calibans. 20 Because their heritage blends so many different racial backgrounds, a mongrelfolk can emulate a specific race for the purpose of using magic items, much like a rogue can emulate a specific alignment to the same end. 25 The high priest of GHenna, Yagno Petrovna, knows a rite that can permanently transform normal humanoids into mongrelfolk. It is believed

Monkey (monster manual) Moonbeast [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about moonbeasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 26 This towering mass of writhing tentacles is an unearthly horror called a moonbeast. Moonbeasts are rarely seen, even by their victims, since they can remain invisible even in combat. This result reveals all aberration traits. 31 Moonbeasts attack by snatching up smaller creatures with their tentacles. They then crush the life from their victims while transferring them to its jawless, fanged mouth to devour them. Moonbeasts are strictly nocturnal.

36 A moonbeasts four rings of eyestalks can see in all directions at once, making it very difficult to catch the creature unawares. A moonbeast is continuously surrounded by a terrifying aura. Despite its bulk, a moonbeasts slightly amorphous physique allows it to squeeze through gaps much smaller than itself. Moonbeasts are often found guarding large, valuable gems called moonstones. 41 A moonstone can call upon several potent spell-like abilities, including cloudkill, disintegrate, dispel magic, Evards black tentacles, fog cloud, and mirror image. It can also blast foes with storms of fire, sleet, and lightning and summon creatures to its aid. The moonbeast itself is highly resistant to spells, however. Moonbeasts actually produce moonstones themselves, much as an oyster produces a pearl. Mortals who gain possession of moonstones often find them enchanting, and are unusually reluctant to part with them. 46 Moonbeasts are mystically linked to their moonstones. A moonbeast will relentlessly track a stolen moonstone, mercilessly destroying any resistance it meets along the way. --JWM: "In sunless Bleutspur, moonbeasts' activity cycles are somewhat reversed; they emerge from their subterranean niches to prowl the shattered plains during the lightless 'day,' retreating into the earth as the first bolts of lightning strike the mountain peaks to mark the coming of 'night.'" On Moonstones: "The illithids of Bluetspur are aware of the connection between moonbeasts and moonstones and sometimes turn it to their advantage, scheming to slip a moonstone into the hands of an elusive rival or dissident. The illithids then sit back and wait, patiently waiting for the roused moonbeast to eliminate the marked foe for them. "A moonbeast cannot sense the location of its moonstone across a planar boundary (including the Misty Border), but it can sense its moonstone anywhere within the same Mist-bound cluster. A moonbeast that cannot sense its moonstone rampages blindly, wandering at random and attacking any creatures it encounters. Such a

rampaging moonbeast may enter the Misty Border, emerging in another domain. " JWM: Huge Aberration, CR 16, chaotic evil. A massive, nocturnal cylinder of flesh covered in writhing tentacles. Its surrounded by a fear aura, can crush foes, and possesses lethal numerous spell-like abilities. They excrete pearl-like moonstones, which they usually ignore, but cannot stand to have in the possession of other creatures. Moonbeasts have a mystical bond with their moonstones and relentlessly hunt down those who carry them. More Bluetpsur fauna. --The old man came in quietly; I do not know how long he had been there when I first saw him. When he saw I had noticed, he came forward, smiling a soft unpleasant smile. "You must be Master Goldwin's daughter," he said. I assured him he was correct and asked if he knew my father. "Yes," he replied. "He and I are...old friends." There was something in his voice and manner which I did not like, but I thought little of it then. He reached into his pocket and brought out a beautiful grey-blue gemstone of a kind I have never seen previously. "I owe your father a gift," he said, still smiling. "Please, give this to him, and tell him with it I intend to heal the rift between us. If only he will accept it, all is forgiven, all is forgotten. Can you do that?" I said I would, but that if he cared to wait he could present it to my father himself. "Ah," he said, "the press of business takes me from here, and I must be far off before he returns. But see that he gets the stone." Turning, he donned hat and jacket and departed. The Moonstone, from Twelve Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Moonrat [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Tiny Magical Beast, CR 1/4, any evil. Otherwise normal rats that gain up to human-level intelligence under the light of the moon, growing stronger and smarter as the moon waxes.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about moonrats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This normal-looking rat is actually a moonrat, a creature mystically linked to the cycles of the moon. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 17 A moonrat has an exceptionally sharp sense of smell, which warn it in time to dodge away from many area attacks. It cannot be flanked. 22 As the moon grows full, a moonrat grows stronger and more intelligent. During the three nights of a full moon, a moonrat is as strong and intelligent as the average human. During these phases, moonrats plot and scheme to fulfill their selfish desires. --We had come prepared for trouble. But there was no sign of the giant rats or their even more terrible kin. Still our advance was shadowed by the plague of their mundane cousins. They twittered among themselves, some in front, some behind, some to the flanks, occasionally growing most excited, as we paused in, or met hurdles to, our advance. After much toil we reached the ruins and attained their pinnacle, free at last of the scurvied company. And there was the circle, inscribed upon a sheet of basalt, its lines glowing faintly in the moon light. It was ours but we were still far from the security of home. One by one we died. A rope broke. A hail of stone swept down the cliff. A horse reared and fell. Our food bore the touch of Death. The flashing tusks of enraged boars were anointed with our blood as saddle straps snapped and stirrups failed. It was my near immolation that proved, the Smiling One be thanked, my salvation. I hurdled myself into la Rivire des Sacrifices and was swept beyond the claws of the doom that stalked us. - Pierre Gauldamon justifying his failed expedition into la Maison des Savants

Moorfolk (Moor Man) [Denizens of Dread] Dread]

JWM: Medium Humanoid (Moorfolk), CR 3, chaotic evil. Pale, hairless human-like creatures with outsized eyes. They hunt in swamps and moors, and decorate their bodies with magic symbols that grant them special abilities. [Denizens of Dread] --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about moorfolk. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This mud-caked, bald, humanlike person is one of the moorfolk. This result reveals all humanoid traits. The moorfolk have their own language, but a few clever members of each clan might also speak a local tongue. 18 Moorfolk are nocturnal hunters. They generally subsist on fish and the other small game found in their damp territories, but they are not above hunting humanoid intruders for food as well. The moorfolks oversized eyes allow them to see exceptionally well in the dark, but they are blinded by bright daylight. 23 Moorfolk decorate their bodies with arcane designs painted on with mixtures of pigment and clay. Each sigil actually holds a small amount of magical power, giving the moorfolk who wears it special talents or bonuses to its existing abilities. --There are, of course, little people who live in the fens, that much is true; but much of what is associated with them by folklore and tittle-tattle has no basis in fact. To mention only a few examples, they do not eat human flesh, they do have shadows, they are not fey, and they cannot turn into moor-hounds (at least, we have found no reliable reports of such). They do practice the strange and powerful art of making living tattoos, and every adult moor-man bears one; but this is an idiosyncracy which confirms, rather than denying, their essential humanity.

Laurie and Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, Survey of Mordent (still unpublished)

following it, though this is rarely the shortest possible route. ---

Moose [Dragon Magazine #327 p 87]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about moose. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This great antlered creature is a moose, a large herbivore. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Moose are physically powerful, and they can prove dangerous when defending themselves or their young.

JWM: Medium Aberration (Aquatic), CR5, chaotic evil. Highly intelligent sea monsters resembling a cross between a deep sea fish and an octopus. Their spell resistance actually reflects spells at their casters, and they construct winding, hypnotic mazes for lair, which they use to lure, trap, and disorient prey. --Down, down, down! Round, round, round! The master of the ocean deep Has bid you dine within his keep. A garden maze he's laid without To keep unwelcome people out, A labyrinth he's laid within To keep his dinner guests with him. He has a beak to nibble with, He has the body of a fish. Down, down, down! Round, round, round! Blaustein children's rhyme

Morkoth [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about morkoths. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This strange cross between a deep-sea fish and an octopus is called a morkoth. This result reveals all aberration traits and the aquatic subtype. 22 Morkoths are highly intelligent predators that construct labyrinthine lairs for themselves out of rocks or coral on the sea bed. When they strike, morkoths snap at prey with a painful bite. 27 Morkoth tunnels have strangely hypnotic effects. Any creature passing near the entrance to a morkoths lair may be entranced to enter the tunnels, swim to the center of the maze, and calmly wait to be devoured. A morkoth can still hypnotize nearby creatures while outside its lair, but its ability is less potent. 32 A morkoth is powerfully resistant to magic. If a morkoth successfully resists a spell, it actually reflects the magic back at its caster. If a morkoth fails to deflect a dispel magic spell, its spell reflection is suppressed for a few seconds. It is always possible to find a way out of a morkoths lair by simply putting a hand to the wall and

Mule [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about mules. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This equine creature is a common mule, a domestic cross between a horse and a donkey. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Mules are commonly used as beasts of burden, and are noted for being particularly surefooted. They have a reputation for being stubborn.

Mummified creature* creature* [Libris Mortis, Mortis, Dragon 300] 300]

(This is based on Eric Cagles Mummy Lore) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures mummified nature. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This withered, monstrous corpse, still wrapped in tattered funereal wrappings, is a mummified creature. This result reveals all undead traits. 23 Mummified creatures are often created to act as guardian for holy sites, such as tombs or temples. They are often marked with symbols of the gods worshipped by their creators. It relentlessly hunts down all intruders. Mummified creatures generally retain all the special attacks and qualities of the base creature. 28 The mere sight of a mummified creature invokes tremendous despair, which can paralyze its victims. Mummies have unnaturally tough flesh that resists glancing weapon blows, but they are highly flammable. 33 The touch of a mummified creature inflicts a horrible disease known as mummy rot. This incredibly fast-acting disease is actually a curse, and is cured only by casting break enchantment or remove curse. This disease is highly resistant, though not immune, to healing spells. Victims killed by mummy rot crumble away to dust. --JWM: These creatures are undead (walking dead), rather than deathless (ancient dead). The rationale is that their origins lie in twisted necromantic attempts to replicate the nature of the ancient dead. JWM: Template Undead. A mummified version of just about any creature. (The sample creature is an ogre.) [Libris Mortis] ---

What fools we were to let hope cloud judgement. Clearly Raouls mind had been unhinged by our time in the Amber Wastes. Our personable, unassuming, ever practical friend had become haughty, domineering, grandiose, and not just a little delusional. After he roast alive a flock of sheep, insisting that they were assassins sent against his august person, we at last broached with him the question of institutionalisation. He seemed saner afterwards, persuading us that he only needed bed rest and accepting that Annabel accompany him home. Two months later the enormity of our error came loping down his laneway. There to greet us was his beloved old wolf hound Luthia or rather an abomination of the loyal old gal. For between those creaking bones and within that drum tight skin there was no life. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer See also Dragon #300

Mummy* [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 5, lawful evil. Desiccated humanoids that are resistant to damage and spread supernatural disease with their touch. An undead version of the ancient dead. Dr#300 - Oct 02 - Ecology of the mummy Interesting read for any Amber Wastes campaign. Useful ideas. from WotC know your enemy Knowledge (Religion) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more mummies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This withered and desiccated corpse, which is wrapped in funerary bandages, is a mummy. This result reveals all undead traits.

23 Mummies are used as guardians for great tombs or temple complexes, hunting down and destroying grave robbers. They never retreat. 28 The mere sight of a mummy invokes tremendous despair, which can paralyze its victims. Mummies have DR 5/--, but they are vulnerable to fire damage. 33 The touch of a mummy inflicts a horrible disease known as mummy rot. This incredibly fast-acting disease is not natural and is cured only by casting break enchantment or remove curse. This disease is highly resistant, though not immune, to healing spells. Sometimes, powerful individuals are preserved as greater mummies, retaining some of their skills and abilities that they had in life. --Foreboding fired by silence brought us to his door. But not one of us had come prepared for the horror of having to hammer to dust the dried and withered shell of his wolf hound, a creature that in life was loved by all. Each of us knew a grimmer task, indeed grimmer tasks, lay within. It would probably not be the life but rather the soul of Annabel that we would have to save, or rather lay to rest. And as for Raoul, in life or in death, he and the secret knowledge he had acquired during our damnable visit to the great tomb of Anhktepot had to be purged from existence. We did not, however, proceed rashly. We had not forgotten the terrible strength of those accursed bones and the rotting touch of that leathery skin. We would confirm the fate of Annabel and, having laboured hard so that all was in readiness, burn the place to the ground. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer
See also Pathfinder classic horror revisited and Dragon

Murk [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 3, chaotic evil. A blot of undead essence with a sliver of sentience. Appears as a humanoid silhouette. Its touch deals Wisdom damage, which upgrades to negative levels once the victim loses all Wisdom. Slain victims spawn more murks. --"Step out into the light!" the farmer told us, and we obliged. As we did so he relaxed visibly, and said, "Come on up, then. Slowly, now!" We did as he asked, and I saw that he took careful note of the footprints we left in the pre-dawn dew on the grass. "Sorry," he said, shaking our hands as we reached him. "I've gotten some visitors recently as have me jumping at every shadow--and I do mean, shadow. The other day my son saw one in the barn--a big black shadow with no man to cast it, and eyes like red embers. I guess our neighbors have gotten restless." He nodded in the direction of the Shallowford cemetary, perhaps a furlong to the south. Mattias Mikkelson to Laurie WeathermayFoxgrove, private correspondence

N
Naga, all
JWM: Serpents with humanoid-like heads. Highly intelligent and possessed of supernatural powers. Generally found in Sri Raji.

Naga, bone [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Large Undead, CR 11, lawful evil. A dark naga in life, transformed into a skeletal monster after death by another dark naga using a magical rite. They're powerful sorcerous spellcasters, and can still deliver a poisonous bite or sting. They serve the master that created them, but are highly intelligent and can choose how to follow those orders. Communicate telepathically.

#300 and 336.

Mummy, bog (Dragon mag compendium)

Proposed par JP

--(I used Eric Cagle's spirit naga lore as a basis for this and the following entry.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about bone nagas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 21 This skeletal serpent is an undead creature called a bone naga. It was a dark naga in life, and could only have been created through the magic of another dark naga. This result reveals all undead traits. 26 Bone nagas are intelligent minions and powerful sorcerous spellcasters. The retain a living dark nagass poisonous bite and tail stinger. A bone nagas negative-energy infused venom is much deadlier than that of its living kin, however.. 31 Because they lack internal organs or other fleshy tissues, bone nagas are unbothered by cold and simply shrug off minor blows from slashing and piercing weapons. 36 A bone naga can read other creatures minds and communicate with them telepathically. However, their own minds cannot be penetrated. --"I am my brother's slave," the bone-naga whispered, and its bones rattled like the castanets of a dancer as it wound its way around the pillars of the temple chamber. "He has commanded me that I shall slay all who enter the antechamber of his abode." "All who enter the antechamber," Suri said. "Then if I came into your brother's house by another way?..." "I guard the antechamber," the bone-naga replied. Then Suri knew what she should do. "Kali bless you, Wise One," she said, "and send you rest." The House of the Naga, Amrit Sri Kefnan See also Dragon #336

Naga, dark [Monster Manual] (under Naga)

JWM: Large Aberration, CR 8, lawful evil. A scheming serpant with a rubbery, purple hide, making it look somewhat like an eel. They have a poisonous bite and a stinger at the end of their tail. They're resistant to mind control and are powerful innate sorercers. Generally live in hilly terrain. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about dark nagas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This slithering eel-like creature with the vaguely human-like face is a scheming creature called a dark naga. This result reveals all aberration traits. 23 A dark naga is a talented innate sorcerous spellcaster. They often form alliances with other foul creatures for their mutual gain. 28 A dark nagas fangs and the stinger in its tail both deliver a debilitating venom that can plunge its victim into a nightmare-wracked coma for several minutes. 33 Most dark nagas speak Infernal and Common, but they can also read thoughts as easily as a wizard reads a book. 38 If a dark naga is slain, other dark nagas using a necromantic rite known only to their kind can reanimate the corpse into a powerful skeletal minion called a bone naga. --Every year there is pilgrimage made to that shrine, the shrine of the death goddess Kali; and they make there offerings intended to placate the monsters over that dark goddess holds sway. In addition, two times in every cycle of the moon her priests stake there a goat-kid for the benefit of the guardian of the shrine, which they say is a great snake, with a scorpion's sting in its tail and (most strange and wonderful still) the head of a man, which converses sensibly with the priests who

serve its mistress, and withal is a most fell watchman. Catalog of the World Entire

"Yes, it is," someone hissed from behind us. Turning, I saw it...the woman's head, blank-eyed and horrible, and the black python body scrawled with red runes. Janna Yarlsdottir, as recounted to Perseyus Lathenna

Naga, spirit [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Aberration, CR 9, chaotic evil. These serpent have black-and-crimson banded bodies and stringy black hair on their humanlike heads. They get their name from their tendency to live in dismal, evil places. They have a posionous bite, a charming gaze, and are powerful sorcerers. A dark naga appears in Web of Illusion. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about spirit nagas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This large serpent with the black-and-crimson bands and the humanlike head is a spirit naga. This result reveals all aberration traits. Most spirit nagas speak Abyssal and Common. 24 Spirit nagas possess significant innate sorcererous ability. Their name comes from their habit of lairing in spiritually unclean areas. 29 A spirit nagas bite carries a deadly poison. 34 A spirit naga can charm people simply by meeting their gaze. 39 Other varieties of naga exist, including the eellike dark naga and the bone naga, an undead horror created from a dark nagas skeleton. --Volek helped me down, and we waited there for several minutes to allow our eyes to adjust to the dark. There was something pale a few meters off-a long, thin veil, seemingly of white leather. After a moment Volek said, "It's a snake skin!" The realization made it an object of horror; I guessed that to cast a skin of that size the snake must have been twenty feet long and as big around as a man at the waist. "We should be careful," I muttered. "It's probably still here."

Necromental [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Template Undead (Augmented Elemental), CR +1, neutral evil. A template for generic undead elementals. Necromentals gain an energy drain attack, and any elementals they drain rise again as more necromentals. (The sample creature is a Large earth elemental.) They have minimal intelligence (though they are not truly mindless). --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about necromentals. The DC for the check is the necromentals CR + 10; the DCs listed below are for a Large earth necromental. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This creature is a necromental, an undead elemental. The transformation robs the elemental of most of its mind. This result reveals all undead traits, as well the the appropriate elemental subtype.. 22 In most cases, elementals simply die if slain, leaving no spirit behind. The creation of a necromental is a rare event, requiring that the elemental be destroyed by massive exposure to negative energy a grim event indeed. Because a necromental is so infused with negative energy, it can drain life energy from living creatures with its touch. 26 A necromental can rapidly heal any damage it has suffered by draining energy from its original native element. To maintain this ability, it must remain with within a pace or two of that element. 32 Elementals slain by a necromentals energy drain rise again as necromentals themselves a few days later ---

The thing that did this was for a century confined within sewers and charged with the gathering of bone. The night that birthed Necropolis undid its chain and its life, bequeathing freedom and undeath upon what had been a corrupted elemental of water. It fled the power that arose to command the slain and made the Musarde and its tributaries, save for the Vulchar to which it does not return, its abode. Its passions are strong currents, rushing waters, and living bone. The ivory of its victims it dons as you or I might a fine cloak. The cloak does not make the man, but the man makes much of the cloak. Listen for a soft chattering. Listen for a rattling roar. And where man, woman and child are flood caught, their screams cut short are its sign. -Count Strahd von Zarovich XI, instructions for the hunt of Old Bones

attacks by trampling foes beneath their massive, spider-like limbs. This result reveals the chaotic and evil subtypes. 34 Necronauts communicate only with constructs and undead, and even then only begrudgingly. A necronaut can pause in battle to snatch up any nearby corpse and assimilate it into its mass. The process takes a few seconds, during which time the body can be pulled free again with a heroic feat of strength. Completing the process strengthens the necromaut, with larger corpses providing greater benefits. 39 If cast directly on a necronaut, spells that normally animate the dead disrupt the necronauts amalgam structure, damaging it. More powerful necromancy harms the necronaut more gravely. --The Third Battle of Nevasham Gorge was the turning point of the battles of that summer. The Third Corps had feinted at the Road of Bones and drawn an army into the hills after them, which they proceeded to destroy from their redoubts and positions of strength; but there position was broken when the Enemy summoned forth a great war-engine, unlike any seen up to that time; like all his engines composed principally of dead men's bones, and capable of binding all who fell before it (whether valiant foe or craven slave of the Enemy) to its own obscene will. Rending the wall of the redoubt in two places, it gapped the defences and forced the Third Corps to retreat, ending all advance into the enemy's territory for that year and much of the year after. From History of Tovag, volume II

Necronaut [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Gargantuan Undead (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar), CR 14, chaotic evil. Created by demons from plains of bones in the Abyss, they are sent to the Material Plane to kill everything in their path, adding the corpses of their victims to their own mass. In Ravenloft, Vecna is rumored to have acquired at least one necronaut, using it like a seige tower; another of the battlefield horrors he sent against the armies of Tovag. Because it's constructed of corpses, spells that create undead deal damage to it. Beyond that, it basically just bashes foes into paste. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about necronauts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 24 This scuttling tower of bones is a necronaut, an undead behemoth created specifically to wipe out all life in its path. This result reveals all undead traits. 29 Necronauts are created by demons in the Abyss, then sent to the Material Plane to wreak havoc. Necronauts speak Abyssal. A necronaut

Necrophidius [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Medium Construct, CR 2, neutral. A mindless but stealthy construct created using a serpent's skeleton attached to a human skull. Easily mistaken for an undead creature (such as a bone naga). its bite can paralyze, and it can daze opponents with a hypnotic, dance-like swaying.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about necrophidia. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This skeletal serpent with the humanoid skull is not undead; rather, it is a type of construct called a necrophidius. This result reveals all construct traits. 17 A necrophidius can paralyze creatures for several minutes with its bite. Necrophidia are created by spellcasters, which they then serve. These creatures are often found in the service of necromancers or undead spellcasters, such as liches. 22 Although it is mindless, a necrophidius is an instinctually stealthy combatant and prefers to attack when its foes drop their defenses. Despite its sinister demeanor, creating a necrophidius does not call upon any particularly malign magical forces. 27 A necrophidius can mesmerize creatures that watch its hypnotic, swaying dance. Those who succumb to the sight are dazed, giving the necrophidius the drop on them. --"Captain Weathermay was to the end, and even beyond, a collector of curios. A crate arrived for him the very morning of our departure. I had little right and no reason to examine it, so had it stowed in the hull and hoped that its sizable trinket might bring his wife and children some solace. Too late I learned that it had excited the avarice of several crewmen. Three nights out of Sri Raji they pried it open and set loose the contents. These I encountered when a loud thump brought me out on deck. There the men had sprouted roots, their eyes held by the swaying, indeed the dancing, of a giant serpent. Only it was indecently clothed in neither skin nor even flesh. The thing was bare bones, a complete skeleton of a great constrictor, save for the substitution of a human skull. Blade wielding men, skeletons of men that is, accompanied it and were making mincemeat of my deckhands. I rang the general alarm and, at length, we prevailed, albeit by the narrowest of margins. At dawn we roused ourselves to wipe down the deck. The

thing's fanged skull was discovered and I examined it. Judging by the broken and poorly healed jaw bone, the man to whom it had belonged had been a brawler or at least had suffered some terrible accident. Then I thought, like Captain Weathermay had long ago, whose body we had just left behind, buried in the soil of that fell land . . . ." -Extract from the testimony of Lieutenant Hawthorne Wescote of the HMS Retriever

Necropolitan cropolitan see Slain Neothelid see mind flayer Nereid [Stormwrack] Stormwrack]
Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz

Night hag - see hag, hag, nighthag Night twist [Monster Manual III]
JWM: Large Plant, CR 12, neutral evil. Ancient night twist: Huge Plant, CR 20, neutral evil. A monstrous, leafless, black tree that lurks in marshes (generally Souragne). It lures in its prey with a sorrowful song. Those who fall under the song's influence, but are physically restrained from seeking out its source slowly waste away. When victims reach the night twist, it batters them to death with its branches and feeds on the carrion. Also possesses useful spell-like abilities and the ability to produce a powerful gust of wind. When killed, a night twist powerfully curses its destroyer, resulting in nightmare-wracked sleep. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about night twists. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This marsh-dwelling, black, leafless tree is a predatory plant called a night twist. This result

reveals all plant traits. Night twists speak Elven, Slyvan, and Common. 30 Every evening, a night twist emits a rueful song that carries on the night air. Everyone who hears this song of sorrow hears a different melody, one speaking directly to the listeners old regrets and personal tragedies. Listeners who succumb to despair feel compelled to seek out the source of their sorrow. When these poor folk reach the night twist, it batters them to death with its branches, then feeds on their rotting corpses. 35 A night twist resists damage, but slashing weapons can hack through its woody trunk quite effectively. Creatures affected by a night twists song who are physically restrained from seeking out its source slowly waste away, consumed by their own sorrow. If the enchantment is not broken, such victims eventually die. 40 A night twist can create a sudden blast of wind, which it does to protect itself or extinguish flames. Only three things are guaranteed to break the enchantment of a night twists song: being attacked by the night twist itself, the death of the night twist, or a limited wish or more powerful magic. A bards song of freedom offers a chance of escape, however. If a night twist is killed, it lays a powerful curse on its killer, incuding nightly nightmares so terrible they cause the victim to slowly waste away. 45 A night twist has several useful spell-like abilities, including blight, deeper darkness, entangle, fear, and phantasmal killer. Night twists grow larger and more powerful as they age. Ancient night twists develop additional spell-like abilities, including circle of death, insanity, and weird. The only way to lift a night twists death curse is to cast limited wish (or a more powerful spell) on the victim while it is suffering from a bout of nightmares. 50 If the victim of a night twists death curse dies before the curse is lifted, a new night twist sapling will sprout from the victims grave one month after burial. --Away down deep in the swamp, deeper than the Green Maiden, deeper than ol' Chicken Bone, deeper even (some say) than the Lord himself, that's where Old Man Willow grows, singing to himself about all the wrong done in the world, and

all the wrong yet to do. It's a sad song, and a cruel song; don't never harken to it, child, because them that do find theyselves always turning a little deeper, always turning a little deeper, until they find theyselves at the foot of an ol' black willow tree without any leaves on him, an ol' black willow tree watered in blood and grown on dead men's bones. And then you may cry, you may scream, you may run, but you'll never come home again, and your bones will lie mouldering between the roots of Old Man Willow. traditional Souragnian

Nightmare, dread [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: CR 6, Fiendish black horses with flaming hooves and breath. They sometimes serve evil riders (such as Lord Soth). Errata: Descriptors correct as presented. The sentence "Though dread nightmares are in some ways more powerful than their infernal kin, the Mists have bound them to earth." is intended to imply that over the course of generations, these creatures have lost their wrinkles. They do not have reality wrinkles from WotC know your enemy Neither demon nor devil, nightmares still fulfill the role of powerful, terrifying outsiders bent on destruction and mayhem. Although difficult enough to fight on their own, nightmares commonly ally themselves with powerful, evil beings to serve as companions or steeds. Knowledge (the Planes) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about nightmares. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This ebon-skinned, flame-covered steed is a nightmare. This result reveals all outsider traits.

20 The powerful hooves of a nightmare are sheathed in flame and a blow from them sets combustible objects alight. 25 Nightmares can fly and often serve as companions and steeds for powerful, evil individuals. Nightmares produce a thick, black smoke when enraged, granting it concealment, as well as blinding and choking opponents. 30 Nightmares, at will, can use astral projection and etherealness, as the spells. --But Uncle Bela, why must we never seek for horses at night? Because, darling Karov, at night the Horses of Hell the Nightmares ride across the planes. They may look like mortal horses at a distance and fine and spirited ones, to be sure but their manes and hooves burn with the fires of damnation, and their coats are blacker than the Devil Strahds heart. Dialogue between Equaar apprentice and master on a trip to Nova Vaasa

nightmare, generally useful for blackguard steeds and the like. --The cost to himself, if not to others, of his crusade could no longer be put out of mind. It loomed over him. It had come in answer to his summons. It was manifest in the stallion. And before that dark mirror, with one last chance to save his soul, he chose to become the monster that he was. -The Black Knight, forbidden Nidalan folktale

Nightshade, nightcrawler [Monster [Monster Manual]

JWM: Gargantuan Undead (Extraplanar), CR 18, chaotic evil. Nightshades are massive, powerful undead composed of cold and darkness, native to the Plane of Shadow. All nightshades emit a desecrating aura and are adverse to sunlight. A nightcrawler is a wormlike nighshade with the size and power of a purple worm. It has a poison stinger, can swallow foes whole, can summon undead minions, and has powerful spell-like abilities. A nightcrawler is trapped by its sheer size in the Temple of Apophis in Sebua; Tiyet believes the fearsome horror to be the god Apophis himself. Desert legends claim the monster guards a great treasure, or perhaps even a portal to another world. (In fact, it guards Sebua's heart, though it does not serve Sebua in any way.) --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about nightcrawlers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 28 This massive, pitch-black worm is a nightcrawler, an entity native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all undead traits. 33 Nightcrawlers are one of several kinds of undead creature called nightshades. Nightshades emit a desecrating aura, giving off unholy power like a shrine of evil. Nightshades recoil from

Nightmare (true) [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar), CR 5, neutral evil. Native to the Gray Waste of Hades, these flame-belching horses can shift into the Astral or Ethereal Planes at will. --You seek a gift for your lord, one worthy of the count, a stallion, black, the fiercest there be. Put away your two score gold pieces. We will not fetch it from the land of the cat for that. Nor for far more. But promise me a favour and I will name the place, the night, the hour of the beasts coming. -Madame Eva receiving Boris von Zarovich, distant relative of the lord of Barovia

Nightmare, lesser [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Large Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar), CR 4, neutral evil. A less powerful variant of the true

natural sunlight; although it does not harm them, it does distract them. A nightcrawler is telepathic and can communicate with any creature with a language. 38 A nightcrawler can swallow smaller creatures whole with its massive maw, and its tail stinger injects a debilitating venom. A nightcrawlers chtinous armor is incredibly resistant to damage, but magic silvered weapons can pierce its defenses. 43 Creatures swallowed by a nightcrawler quickly have their life energy drained away. If pressed, a nightcrawler can summon undead spirits to its side. A nightcrawler is immune to cold. 48 A nightcrawler has a variety of spell-like abilities, including cone of cold, confusion, contagion, deeper darkness, detect magic, finger of death, haste, hold monster, invisibility, plane shift, and unholy blight. However, the nightcrawler itself is highly resistant to magic. --We fled into a narrow valley of red sand and towering cliffs, running the risk of ambush to escape the teeth of the storm. A lone edifice stood among the ruins. By every evidence it was a temple long abandoned. None of us hesitated upon its threshold. But the nerve of the surviving crewmen quickly frayed. Our torches seemed feeble indeed, overawed by the vastness of the place, barely able to hold back its suffocating darkness and its enervating chill. The captain, defiant as ever, sought to fortify his men by declaring that it was the will of the Lawgiver that this place of pagan worship be sacked and that each man would be rewarded in proportion to his effort. No sooner had he finished, than the shadows, which had been playing cruelly upon our imagination, gathered themselves up and swallowed him whole. The nightmare had begun and with it, I believe, Raoul's descent into madness. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer See also Dragon #336

Niksiee [Gaz. 5, Nova Vaasa]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Nilshai [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Medium-size aberration, CR 7. Malevolent alien spellcasters from the Ethereal Plane, similar to ethereal marauders and ethereal slayers. Nilshais trilaterally symmetrical, having a ropy body supported by three stumpy legs, three tentacles ending in blunt three-fingered hands, bulbous heads with three eyestalks, and three membranous wings the fold into their bodies. All nilshais cast spells as 8th-level sorcerers and may gain additional character levels (usually sorcerer) on top of that. They have a natural mind blank, and due to their alien symmetry gain an extra action each round. Nilshais have a burning hatred of elves above all else. In Ravenloft, nilshais are another "if you can see them, they can see you" monster that is trapped in the demiplane's ethereal borders. These ethereal horrors seek out elves to destroy, making them particular menaces in Darkon and Sithicus. --Back in 752, we were trying to find the source of the deadly haunting at Sunnurieth Tower. Whicleth, a wizard in the Sithican tradition, was with us. He had one eye that had been replaced with a orb of black glass and claimed that this allowed him to see spirits. We hoped this would give us an advantage against whatever had killed the Sunnurieth family. It was only once we reached the highest floor of the tower that Whicleth saw something. "There!" he shouted, pointing to a seemingly empty corner of the room. "That three-eyed thing! It-" And at that point Whicleth dropped dead. We never found the thing he had seen and had killed him and the others. No one ever bothered to move back into Sunnurieth Tower, only left it to decay. The tower still stands outside Hroth, but what dwells there now, I do not know. - Jameld of Hroth, private correspondence with Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove

Nocnitsa [Gaz. 1, Barovia]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Nonaris (see (see vampire, gnomish) Nosferatu (daywalker vampire) [Denizens of Dread]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures nosferatu nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This coldly beautiful figure with such aristocratic bearing is a nosferatu, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. Nosferatu are also known as daywalker vampires or moonspawn vampires. This result reveals all undead traits. Nosferatu speak the languages they knew in life. 24 Nosferatu drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, Victims they drain rise from the grave as new nosferatu several days after burial. A nosferatu does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A nosferatu is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. 29 A nosferatu can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider and can dominate the weakminded simply by looking into their eyes. A nosferatu can also exert mental control over those whose blood it has tasted until the nosferatu is slain. Nosferatu are destroyed by immersion in running water. Sunlight does not harm them, but it does rob them of most of their dark power until they rest in their coffin. Moonlight quickly heals a nosferatus wounds, but magic silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Nosferatu cannot stand the presence of garlic, and they cannot approach a mirror or holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a nosferatu, one must hammer a stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all victims slain by a nosferatu rise as new nosferatu; most rise as nosferatu spawn, a

lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. 34 A nosferatu cannot enter a private residence unless it is invited inside, nor can it cross running water under its own power. A nosferatu is resistant to cold and electricity, and can transform into a cloud of fog at will. If slain, a nosferatu automatically assume gaseous form and must return to its grave to recover. A nosferatu can also assume the form of a bat or a wolf, and can command like creatures. Staking a nosferatu does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the nosferatu helpless. Even a nosferatu that has been hacked to pieces can be fully restored if its body parts are reunited and exposed to moonlight. To permanently destroy a nosferatu, one must burn its body to ash. 39 Many different strains of vampirism exist. Destroying a master nosferatu usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --JWM: Template Undead (Augmented Humanoid, Vampire). A vampire variant that lacks an energy drain attack, but possesses a powerful ability to charm its victims and is weakened, but not harmed, by exposure to sunlight. Inspired by the literary tradition of Byronic vampires, including Dracula. Baron Urik von Kharkov is a nosferatu vampire. The sample nosferatu is a human beguiler 5. --I paused for a long moment. The three-quarters moon had attained the zenith. The sun had crept very low in the sky, its rays dancing along the storefronts. The other patrons, chased off by the autumn chill, were safely inside. I returned to my notes, reorganising my questions, devising my plan of attack. And then he appeared as from nothing, startling me, arriving well in advance of the appointed hour. The man was tall, gaunt, pale, his dress every bit that of a Dementlieuse aristocrat, but his curious accent, not quite Balok, marked him as a foreigner. I invited him to sit, poured him a glass of wine, and we exchange the

requisite pleasantries, where after he came straight to the point. His eyes seized hold of mine and he said: "Were you a lost wanderer upon the burning sands of Har'Akir, parched beyond measure, mad with thirst, and you came upon an oasis, would you not drink?" I nodded slowly, thoughtfully. He continued, "Come with me, let me show you." He was irresistible, or nearly so, a second Dominic d'Honaire, but cut of a less urbane, tougher stuff. -Interview with a Vampire --Dr. Heinfroth was quite unlike what I had imagined--a tall and heavy man, with sharp, even lupine features...as he showed me around the asylum I ventured to opine that such spartan surroundings seemed unlikely to be really conducive to the recovery of the many unhappy souls housed there--surely a place of more physical comfort would be more salubrious? "Now then, my good man," Heinfroth replied, smiling. "It has been said that man cannot live by bread alone. All those physical comforts are merely distractions. Personally, I have always found the greatest sustenance in the life of the mind." Mattias Mikkelson to L. Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 15 This stunningly gorgeous woman is a nymph, a spirit that embodies the beauty of nature. This result reveals all fey traits. Nymphs speak Sylvan and Common. 20 Nymphs usually avoid contact with mortals, but they sometimes act as guardians of a natural locale, such as a waterfall or forest grove. A nymph possesses such unearthly beauty that anyone who looks too closely at her may be permanently blinded. A nymph can even stun foes simply by briefly meeting their gaze. 25 Nymphs can be mercurial and dangerous, but they are generally well-disposed to those they sees as the allies of nature, such as elves and druids. Nymphs are themselves innately powerful druidic spellcasters. 30 Nymphs can also call upon the creatures of nature to defend her, and can dimension door away should she need to escape. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 15 Nymphs have been known to take mortal lovers, on the rare occasion when a mans grace and beauty catches her eye. Such mortals are seldom willing to leave the nymphs side. --JWM: Medium Fey, CR 7, chaotic good. An incredibly beautiful, female fey that shares nature's mercurial temperament. So great is their beauty that it can blind mortal onlookers, and they can stun with a glance. Also potent innate druids. Animals are drawn to nymphs, but nymphs turn their fury on those that despoil nature. (Very rare in Ravenloft.) ---

Nosferatu, cerebral vampire [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Undead (Augmented Humanoid, Vampire). A nosferatu variant that drains cerebral fluid (Intelligence) rather than blood. All cerebral vampires are the creation of Daclaud Heinfroth (aka Dr. Dominiani), and as such are generally encounted in Dominia or sailing the Sea of Sorrows. Cerebral vampires are featured in Bleak House.

Nosferatu [Pathfinder [Pathfinder 8] 8] Nymph [Monster Manual]

Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about nymphs.

"We'd being tracking some of the kobolds that had been attacking patrols on the Seelewald road when it happened. I got separated from the group... mistled, right? I wandered in the forest for days."

"It was in the deep woods where no one ever goes that I saw her. Beautiful, beautiful, like an angel. No... more natural, like dawn on a meadow. Like a cool brook... I can't describe it, seeing her. But, I saw her, bathing in a pool in that glade, and she saw me." "For five years, I've searched the Seelewald, trying to find her again. You wouldn't think a blind man could. After all, the army didn't want me any more and punished me for it - a hobbled leg, a crushed hand, and a scarred face. But I learned. Left my wife, left my children. I learned. Five years and I still haven't found her. My love. My life." "But I'll find her, one day, bathing in her pool in the grove. And then... then, I can die happy." - interview with Echer Degault in the Kneeling Mage, Aerie, Falkovnia

color and texture of their skin to blend in with their surroundings.

Octopus tree [Fiend Folio]

Proposed by C Nichols for the NS Gaz, CR 12

Odem [Denizens [Denizens of Dread]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about odems. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This spirit is an odem, a ghostly force that craves nothing but senseless chaos and slaughter. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 20 Odems are naturally invisible. If somehow perceived, they appear only as faint tendrils of mist. An odem can sap the willpower of a living creature with its touch. 25 Odems can possess living creatures, taking total control of the victims body like a puppet master. An odem in a living body ignores the pain its host feels, making the possessed creature immune to most nonlethal attacks. 30 Animals panic in the presence of an odem, regardless of its form. An odem is completely unharmed by damage dealt to a possessed host, but killing the host expels the odem. The hosts mind remains aware of its surroundings, but has no control over its own body. An odem cannot be turned while possessing a living host --JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 5, chaotic evil. Invisible, intangible spirits that possess living hosts, using their bodies to commit terrible deeds for no reason beyond their own deranged enjoyment. ---

O
Octopus [Monster [Monster Manual - animal]
CR 1 (Giant CR 8) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about octopuses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This eight-tentacled cephalopod is an octopus. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: An octopus uses its tentacles to snatch up small fish and invertebrates, transferring them to its parrot-like beak. When threatened, an octopus can release a murky cloud of black ink, then jet away at high speeds. These invertebrates can squeeze through surprisingly tight spaces. DC 21: Although most octopuses are inoffensive to swimming humanoids, some of them can grow to enormous sizes. A giant octopus is a dangerous and clever predator with tentacles up to 20 feet in length. Some varieties of octopus can also alter the

-"Vail, if the violent reaction of animals establishes that the responsible party is not brother Thomas, then some likeness of him, say a

doppelganger which has dispatched the poor fellow, has taken his place and amuses itself?" -"Motive Pendelton, motive! The crimes have been perpetrated in such a way as to be not only as harmful as possible to their victims, but moreover and chiefly to the good brother himself. They are anathema to everything he stands for, the perfect betrayal of all that he built and loves." -"Loved." -"No, loves. You see Pendleton, he assuredly lives. We may yet save not only his reputation, but his life, and perhaps even his mind. The deeds are done in their every gruesome detail with him as their unwilling and helpless witness. They are conceived of as torture, a torture the likes of which few men have ever experienced and that not one has merited." The Case of the Captive Conscience, Oliver Pendleton

clumsy. They are dimwitted and cruel, but can sometimes be bargained with. Some ogres have been specifically bred and trained for war over the course of generations. These are known as skullcrusher ogres and have formed a crude, heavily militarized society. DC 23: Skullcrusher ogres are somewhat more clever and powerful than their common kin. They have also adopted the tactic of hurling rocks from giants. A scaly, aquatic variant of the common ogre lurks in freshwater lakes and rivers; these creatures are called merrow. Merrow can breathe air, but are slower on land than their more common kin. DC 28: Ogres sometimes associate with other monstrous giants, such as trolls, ogre magi, or oni. Ogres can also interbreed with humans, though such offspring are incredibly rare. --Fee, fi, fo, fun Nails of iron, teeth of stone. Fan, tan, ran, ren, With which to crack the skulls of men. High as a cottage, wide as a barn, Hairs as thick as weaver's yarn, Man's flesh is his only meat, Children's flesh his only sweet. Fee, fi, fo, fun, Nails of iron, teeth of stone. Traditional Invidian children's rhyme

Ogre [Monster Manual] Ogre skullcrusher skullcrusher [MM III] III]

JWM: Large Giant, CR 3, chaotic evil. Big, dumb, ugly giants that enjoy eating humanoid flesh. In Ravenloft, ogres are most common in the deep wilderness of the southwestern Core. Ogres generally avoid settled areas, but Malocchio Aderre has managed to recruit quite a few to serve him. OGRE LORE Ogre: Monster Manual Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about ogres. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: This brutish and bestial giant is called an ogre. These creatures are renowned for their love for the taste of humanoid flesh. This result reveals all giant traits. Ogres speak Giant, and exceptionally clever ones may have learned Common as well. DC 18: As one might expect from their build, ogres are physically powerful but somewhat

Ogrekin Ogrekin [Pathfinder 3] 3]

Caliban-like son of ogres and humans

Ogre mage [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Giant, CR 8, lawful evil. Distantly related to ogres, these creatures are actually a type of oni. As such, theyre most commonly encountered in the Scattered Lotus Archipelago. An ogre mage resembles a massive, demonic, horned human. It regenerates damage, can fly, and possesses potent spell-like abilities. ---

Lord Matsuzaka waited a moment before nodding, and now Kentu could see the movement, ever so slight, of the rice curtain that had signalled the nobleman's response. "Your pardon, Lord Matsuzaka," he said boldly. "But our conversation is being overheard by an eavesdropper!" As he spoke he rose and parted the rice curtain with the tip of his katana. There, in the darkened room beyond, he saw the great gross eyes and the terrible tushes and the single great horn; Lord Matsuzaka's "advisor" was none other than the infamous oni Kaketsu himself! Romance of the Water-Steel Blades, Orija Natsusune

Now add to the surging Air the strong Earth, to the shifting Fire the force of Water; from Air Wisdom, from Water Patience, from Fire Wrath, from Earth Fortitude. Thus is formed by the combination of All in All, in equal measure, the strong servant known as Universal Epitome, or Omnimental. from The Book of First Things, standard introductory arcane text

Oni, all [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Monstrous, supernatural giants native to Far Eastern lands, such as the Scattered Lotus Archipelago. Like common ogres, they savor the taste of humanoid flesh. Like ogre mages, oni possess significant spell-like abilities and can regenerate damage.

Omnimental [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Gargantuan Elemental (Air, Earth, Extraplanar, Fire, Water), CR 15, neutral. Originally magical creations intended to act as liaisons between the Elemental Planes, they better serve as warriors. Massive elementals combining traits and powers of all four elements. When killed, an omnimental bursts into one Huge elemental of each element. Not native to Ravenloft. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about omnimentals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 25 This living conflagration of energy is an omnimental, a powerful entity composed of all four elements. This result reveals all elemental traits and the air, earth, fire, and water subtypes. 30 An omnimental is immune to fire and electricity, but vulnerable to cold. 35 An omnimentals powerful slam attacks also carry the threat of fire and lightning. The creature can also detach parts of itself in the form of balls of elemental energy and lob them at foes. 40 When slain, the opposing forces comprising an omnimental are freed, forming four powerful elementals one of each element which continue to battle. ---

Oni, common [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Large Giant (Spirit), CR 7, neutral evil. Big, hairy giants with anywhere from one to three eyes. Once a day, they can spit molten copper at a foe. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about oni. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This hairy, three-eyed giant is the most common variety of oni, a race of supernatural giants. This result reveals all giant traits. Common oni speak Giant, Tengu, Goblin, Sylvan, and Common. 22 Common oni are brutish bullies, but they are capable of fairly sophisticated strategies when working in groups. Bands of oni usually roam as violent brigands and highway bandits. These oni primarily rely on their physical prowess to tear through foes. 27 Once a day, an oni can split a gob of molten copper at a nearby target. If this copper is collected after it cools, it fetches the standard price at market. 32 A common oni possesses several useful spelllike abilities, including cause fear, cloud chariot,

fly, and invisibility. A common oni can also polymorph itself at will. 37 Many different varieties of oni exist, including ogre magi and the more powerful go-zu and me-zu oni. Oni are also distantly related to common ogres. --Then an oni stepped onto the path, twice as tall as a man and three times as broad; his teeth were like boar's teeth, and three gross green eyes blinked in his forehead. He wore a necklace made of human skulls plated in copper, and his club was like a tree. "By decree of the Forest Lord Kaketsu, none shall pass!" the oni growled, and raised its club. Kentu bowed. "While I have no desire to offend the Forest Lord Kaketsu, I am obligated to speak to Lord Matsuzaka, and therefore to traverse this forest. I must therefore command you to stand aside, oni, as my mission demands the utmost speed." Romance of the Water-Steel Blades, Orija Natsusune

24 Go-zu oni serve as soldiers in the spirit armies. They wield massive weapons, favoring o-dachi or polearms. They also regenerate most wounds, but take damage normally from acid and fire. 29 Go-zu oni can see nearby invisible objects and creatures. 34 Go-zu oni possess a variety of spell-like abilities, including cause fear, fly, cloud chariot, fire shuriken, and invisibility. A me-zu oni can also polymorph itself at will. 39 Many different varieties of oni exist, including ogre magi, less powerful common oni, and the more powerful me-zu oni. Oni are also distantly related to common ogres. --It is said of Mt. Hakare, that there is an oni who lives there, Jatsurate by name, who is no enemy (though no great friend) of men; he can be persuaded to give counsel to those who find him if they can show the justice of their cause. He is known by his great bull's head, and can see all spirits and hidden things; the famed samurai Kentu is said to have learned from him many techniques, including Bull's Charge and Flowering Lotus, for which he later became famous. Kenzo Nakamura, The History of the Islands of the Sun

Oni, gogo-zu oni [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Large Giant (Spirit), CR 9, lawful neutral. Go-zu are even larger than common oni, and they have the heads of bulls, so they may be mistaken for minotaurs. Powerful warriors, and they can see the invisible. ---

Oni, meme-zu oni [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: Large Giant (Spirit), CR 10, lawful neutral. The largest oni, they have the heads of shaggy horses. They have continuous true seeing, and they cast spells as wu jen. ---

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about go-zu oni. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This powerful, bull-headed warrior is a go-zu oni, a powerful variety of these supernatural giants. This result reveals all giant traits. Go-zu oni speak Giant, Tengu, Goblin, Sylvan, and a local language.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about me-zu oni. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This horse-headed warrior is a me-zu oni, the most powerful variety of these supernatural giants. This result reveals all giant traits. Oni speak Giant, Tengu, Goblin, Sylvan, and Common.

25 Me-zu oni are powerful warriors and the natural leaders of the spirit armies. They wield massive naginta and whips, and wear only the finest armor. They also regenerate from most wounds, but take damage normally from acid and fire. 30 Me-zu oni are powerful innate wu jen, usually favoring spells that utilize fire. They also possess a continuous true seeing ability. 35 Me-zu oni possess a variety of spell-like abilities, including astral projection, cause fear, cloud chariot, ethereal jaunt, fly, and invisibility. A me-zu oni can also polymorph itself at will. 40 Many different varieties of oni exist, including ogre magi and the less powerful common and gozu oni. Oni are also distantly related to common ogres. --"The fires continued to burn unabated, even as the thunderstorm raged on. Some of those fleeing soon noticed a towering figure walking through the great flames. The giant creature had the head of a shaggy horse, and was bedecked in green armor. It waved the massive spear in its hand, and extinguished the fires in a deafening boom. ""I am Meifushin Sureipuniru," the creature roared. "You, the people of this wretched city, wallow in your sins! The governor and his samurai prey upon the subjects as though they were wild beasts, and the commoners are naught but thieves. The Great Kami have tasked me with bringing Shinbatsu upon this wicked place, and exterminate you all! But before that..." And the governor's palace burst back into flame, once more. "I shall grant you a reprieve so you may repent your sins. Your destruction shall be deferred until this last fire is extinguished: be grateful that I shall give you time to shriek the pleas for your miserable lives and shiver in fear, as you await your miserable deaths!" "With that last act, the horse-headed creature vanished, and the storm ceased." -excerpt from The Demise of Kashiwa-No-Nami

round to finding them easier to find when collected together. Although I'm somewhat on the fence about it, the impersonator is still listed individually. "Common" oozes are basically the MM varieties (black pudding, gelatinous cube, gray ooze, ochre jelly, white pudding). "Exotic" oozes are ones that have special or extraplanar properties (bone ooze, ethereal ooze, flesh jelly, grave ooze, shadow jelly, void ooze). Unlike some of the new monsters Denizens of Darkness added to the setting, I actually do like the grave ooze quite a bit, so I'm not just ignoring it (unlike the scavyt, say -- sorry to whoever was tingling with anticipation to write a blurb for that critter).

Ooze, Common
JWM: Amorphous monsters, mindless and neutral. They generally attack by engulfing and absorbing prey. Think the Blob.

Ooze, common, black pudding [Monster Manual]

JWM: Huge Ooze, CR 7. Big black acidic blobs. Note that circa 735, sages generally considered black puddings to be extinct in the Core but, in fact, there were still a few around (Scholar of Decay: Without pulling out the book to doublecheck, I believe that is the context. While the main character is exploring the catacombs beneath Pont-a-Museau, I think he comes across a slimy trail, or some other sign of a black pudding's recent passage, and finds it remarkable that such a creature still exists down there, despite scholars thinking them extinct. There's no black pudding "encounter" in the book, however.). --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about black puddings. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

Ooze (all)
JWM: All the oozes are collected under two categories: "Ooze, Common" and "Ooze, Exotic." Wasn't always that way, but I eventually came

17 This inky black blob is a black pudding. This result reveals all ooze traits. 22 A black pudding is a mindless predator that attacks creatures by lashing out with its pseudopods, then attemps to crush them to death. 27 A black pudding continuously secretes acid that digests prey even as they struggle to escape the puddings grasp. Black pudding acid dissolves organic materials and metal, but not stone. 32 Any weapon striking a black pudding is immediately subjected to the oozes acid and may be instantly dissolved. In addition, the puddings amorphous mass is utterly unharmed by attempts to hack it to pieces. Instead, slashing or piercing weapons split the pudding in half, creating two smaller but otherwise just as dangerous puddings. --"Leave it be for now. As you Dementlieuse are fond of saying, Bon chat, bon rat. But you will find for me a means of directing its movements." -Jacqueline Renier to her court magician

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about gelatinous cubes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This sliding, nearly transparent wall is a gelatinous cube. This result reveals all ooze traits. 19 A gelatinous cube is a mindless scavenger that feeds by sliding down passageways, absorbing everything it moves over including smaller creatures. A gelatinous cube is immune to electricity. 24 A gelatinous cube continuously secretes an anesthetizing slime that can paralyze any creature that touches it. Paralyzed creatures are soon engulfed. 29 A gelatinous cube continuously secretes acid, which it uses to slowly digest creatures it has absorbed. A cubes acid canot affect metal or stone, however, so precious items (such as coins or jewels) are often left visibly suspended within the cube. ---

"Why should we exterminate them? We can outrun them. We are their equals at climbing. It is us who are the masters of the maze, we wont let ourselves get boxed in. We know not to wield claw, sword or rapier against them. To us they are but a nuisance. To our enemies they are a deadly foe. You do recall that delectable story that grandfather used to tell . . . The Pudding and the Pakas . . . not so much as a furball remaining . . . . You should know better than most that a friend is a foe's foe. But go get your tail singed if you must. I wont stop you. Just don't foolishly expect me to waste good rats on your folly." -Jacqueline Renier chiding her twin sister Louise

Ooze, gelatinous cube [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Ooze, CR 3. 10 semitransparent cubes. Several villains in Ravenloft have had gelatinous cubes trapped at the bottom of 10 square pits, essentially using them to dispose of corpses. ---

"There!" exclaimed my local guide, Dvash. "On the floor of this shaft, there lies the Amulet of Rakh Nagar. Can you see it glint in the firelight?" Indeed, far below was something of a metallic nature. But our poor torches could reveal no more, other than a faint shimmer in the air perhaps ten feet above the object. A mystic field of some kind? Or a very still pool of water? I found it hard to believe the object of our quest lay unguarded at the bottom of a pit, but saw no other way to be sure than rappel down and check. As I neared the depth where I saw the shimmer, suddenly the rope no longer bore my weight and I plummeted, landing thankfully on something soft and yielding. But my thanks were shortlived, as I felt my body go rigid and begin to sink. My eyes were fixed open and high above I saw Dvash, knife in hand, remove his "religious head covering." The light of his torch flickered against the mark of the hawk that it had concealed, as he shouted down to me, "I'm sorry to decieve you, Monsieur Devane, but my orders were explicit. Herr Kramer sends his regards. Goodbye, sir." His mocking smile burned in my eyes as I sunk, and my vengeance upon

"Dvash" and Kramer became my sole motivation to escape from this unfortunate predicament. -- from Lost Artifacts of the Ars Nagari by Dr. Harlon Devane of the University of Port-a-Lucine

Ooze, ochre jelly [Monster Manual (as Ooze)] Ooze)]

JWM: Large Ooze, CR 5. A big, yellow amoeba. It envelops and crushes its prey. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about ochre jellies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This mustard-colored creeping pool of slime is an ochre jelly. This result reveals all ooze traits. 21 An ochre jelly is a mindless predator that attacks prey by lashing out with its pseudopods. An ochre jelly is unharmed by electricity. 26 An ochre jelly continuously secretes acid, which it uses to digest its grappled prey. An ochre jellys acid only dissolves flesh. 31 An ochre jellys amorphous body is utterly unharmed by attempts to hack it to pieces. In fact, attacks using electricity or slashing or piercing weapons cause the ooze to split into two smaller but otherwise just as deadly ochre oozes. --So we had busted into the crypt and were exploring the upper levels, and I'm thinking to myself that this stiff has the worst taste in decor of anyone I'd ever heard of. Everything was painted mustard yellow--walls, ceiling, floors, most of the furniture--it made your teeth vibrate just lookin' at it pretty quick. But we come to find out pretty quick that it wasn't lack of taste--it was camouflage for his pets... Geddar Ironheart

Ooze, gray ooze [Monster Manual (as Ooze)]

JWM: Medium Ooze, CR 4. Transparent oozes that are nearly invisible in water. They dissolve whatever they touch. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about gray oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This seemingly harmless pool of water is actually a gray ooze. This result reveals all ooze traits. 19 A gray ooze is a mindless predator. It attacks like a serpent by lashing out with a pseudopod and attempting to constrict its prey. A gray ooze is immune to cold and fire. 24 A gray ooze continuously secretes acid, which the gray ooze uses to digest its prey. A gray oozes acid dissolves organic matter and metal, but not stone. A gray oozes acid can instantly dissolve metal or wooden armor or weapons that touch it, rendering them useless. 29 A gray ooze is nearly transparent and virtually invisible when submerged in water. --Close shave today. Was exploring with deV. in the Upper Cloaca, about a hundred yards off the Main Line; we were discussing which way to go next when deV. asked if that puddle of water wasn't quite a bit closer than it had been when we started the conversation! She was right, of course; it wasn't any honest puddle. It was biggish as oozes go, too--maybe four meters across. A quick retreat followed by a couple of vials of oil and some alchemist's fire soon put that right, but if we had taken just a few steps down that tunnel neither of us might have come back. Journal of Nathanael Dent, grimetrekker, 12.7.752

Ooze, white pudding [Frostburn]

JWM: Large Ooze, CR 6. White oozes, related to black puddings, but adapted to frozen climes, such as the Frozen Reaches. Most active at night, but like all oozes they never sleep. ---

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about white puddings. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This snowy white blob is a white pudding, a close relative to the black puddng that has adapted to arctic regions. This result reveals all ooze traits. 24 A white pudding is a mindless predator that attacks creatures by lashing out with its pseudopods, then attemps to crush them to death. Due to its coloration, a white pudding is difficult to spot against a snowy background. 29 A white pudding continuously secretes acid that digests prey even as they struggle to escape the puddings grasp. White pudding acid dissolves organic materials and metal, but not stone. A white pudding is resistant to cold. 34 Any weapon striking a white pudding is immediately subjected to the oozes acid and may be instantly dissolved. In addition, the puddings amorphous mass is utterly unharmed by attempts to hack it to pieces. Instead, slashing or piercing weapons split the pudding in half, creating two smaller but otherwise just as dangerous puddings. --I was about to break the ice before putting down my line, baited with a bit of the squirrel our traps had caught, when Mikhail took me by the shoulder. "Not here," he said flatly. "The water is alive." He pointed to something below the clear black ice, but I could not make out what it was he had seen. Seeing my look of blank incomprehension, he said, "Watch." We retreated about thirty feet, and he found a stone of perhaps twenty pounds which he heaved into the center of the pond. There was a booming and cracking as the ice gave way, and then something--in appearance very like an ambulatory snowbank--rose in the black water and tested the edges of the ice with its psuedopoda before sinking again. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

Ooze, Exotic
JWM: Like their more common kin, exotic oozes are mindless, amorphous creatures driven by their relentless appetite. Fortunately for the good folk of Ravenloft, however, they are far more uncommon, perhaps partly due to their strange, seemingly supernatural natures.

Ooze, exotic, bone ooze [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Gargantuan Ooze, CR 21. An undulating mass of goo the color of bleached bone. They feed on the calcium in bones, and can literally suck the bones right out of engulfed prey. Because of the semi-digested shards of bone suspended in their bodies, they can slash creatures apart even as they crush them. These creatures are thankfully rare in the Land of Mists, simply due to their immense dietary needs. On at least one occasion, however, a bone ooze was sighted emerging from a cavern in the Burning Peaks to scavenge from the battlefields between Cavtitius and Tovag. This creature may have survived the clusters destruction, to emerge from the Mists at some unknown time and place. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about bone oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 31 This towering mass of ivory-hued jelly is a bone ooze, also known as a rolling graveyard. This result reveals all ooze traits. 36 A bone ooze is a mindless predator that attacks by simply rolling over smaller creatures and absorbing them into its mass. 41 Bone oozes feed on the minerals in creatures bones. The mere touch of a bone ooze dissolves bone matter, seriously debilitating its victim. If a victim is totally engulfed, the bone ooze can literally tear the skeleton right out of its trapped victim. 46 Razor sharp, semi-digested shards of bone are peppered throughout a bone oozes mass and poke out through its outer membrane. These bone shards slice through a victims flesh, causing

serious blood loss unless the bleeding is staunched. --Our nearly hysterical biologist had not overstated in the least the unnaturalness of the sight. In the span of a handful of hours sea lions, dolphins, sharks, small whales and even a pair of immense ones, the likes of which we had never seen, swam listlessly into the shallow bay and threw themselves upon the mass of undulating goo that blanketed the beach. The bleached stuff would seize upon the unfortunate creatures and set to ripping their very bones from them, the searing pain rousing the prey too late from the stupor that was its undoing. Perhaps worse still, waist deep in water, witnessing the spectacle or presiding over it, were fishmen, some coming, some going, some spell bound, others chanting, if you could call it that, as though at High Mass. At last Ensign Campbell pondered aloud whether a rifle shot might be in order. Saving the bullets seemed the wiser course. We crept back from the hill crest, then ran for our lives, desperate for the imaginary safety of our ship. -From Bristol to Mordentshire: an outsider's tale, the autobiography of James Duegon

27 An ethereal ooze is a mindless predator that attacks simply by mowing down creatures on the Ethereal Plane and absorbing them into its mass. 32 An ethereal ooze continuously secretes acid. Ethereal engulfed victims are crushed and rapidly digested. An ethereal oozes acid can dissolve only organic materials, however. 37 The Ethereal Plane is an ethereal oozes true home. To attack creatures on the Material Plane, the ooze must manifest, partly entering the Material Plane. When it manifests, it becomes visible but remains incorporeal to Material creatures. It then slides over its material prey. 42 If an ethereal ooze moves its incorporeal mass over Material creatures, it can attempt to forcibly shift them onto the Ethereal Plane, where they are instantly engulfed within the ooze and quickly digested. An ethereal ooze has nether the inclination nor the ability to return trapped creatures to the Material Plane. --"Mere vaults of stone should not hold it. But this place is painted thickly with a grim history of fear that its predations have only darkened. And that is the stuff of which ethereal resonance is made. The thing is as imprisoned in the ethereal as it is here, with the difference that there its chains are partly of its own making. Were it to go for a decade or two without claiming a terrified soul those chains might well fade to nothing. That is to say that the better we brick it in the more certain it is to escape. We must find a way to kill it instead." -Rudolph van Richten, investigating the 'haunted' cellar maze of Gauldamon Manor

Ooze, exotic, ethereal ooze [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Huge Ooze (Extraplanar, Incorporeal), CR 10. Oozes native to the Ethereal Plane. Its appearance is somewhat similar to a gelatinous cube, but in the zero-gravity of its native plane, it grows into strange, almost crystalline shapes. Similar combat tactics as a gelatinous cube, except that it can materialize on the Material Plane, engulf a victim, and then slip back into the Near Ethereal, taking its engulfed victims with it. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about ethereal oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This strangely crystaline mass is an ethereal ooze. This result reveals all ooze traits.

Ooze, exotic, flesh jelly jelly [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Gargantuan Ooze, CR 19. A nauseating mass of boneless, reeking flesh, usually found in tropical regions. Along with the usual threats of massive oozes, its touch spreads disease and it can sicken victims with the sheer wretchedness of its stench. A few occult scholars believe that flesh jellies arise when a mass grave occupies a sinkhole of evil. However, even they do not know whether the macabre taint of the sinkhole affects the corpses directly, or whether the flesh jelly was

originally a grave ooze drawn to the rotting flesh and then mutated by the evil energies embued in its meal. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about flesh jellies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 29 This nauseating mound of rancid, gelatinous flesh is a flesh jelly. This result reveals all ooze traits. 34 A flesh jelly is a mindless predator that attacks smaller creatures simply by rolling over them and absorbing them into its mass. Once it absorbs one victim, it usually defends itself by lashing out at remaining foes with its pseudopods. 39 Unlike most oozes, a flesh jelly does not secrete acid. Instead, it directly absorbs the flesh of engulfed victims into its own mass. Fleshless creatures, such as skeletons, cannot be absorbed and are quickly expelled. 44 Any creature that comes into contact with the jellys rancid flesh runs the risk of contracting filth fever, a dangerous disease. A flesh jellys rancid, disease-wracked mass continuously emits a nauseating stench. --"And your flesh shall not return to the earth, neither as ash, nor as dust. It will mass and merge together into the bringer of festering doom that shall be the death of all. Such will be the hour of darkness unparalleled." -Ravings of a madman in the streets of Tvashti

fills coffins as it feeds on their occupants, presenting a possible surprise for grave robbers. Along with its reek, it is both acidic and poisonous. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about grave oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This rancid mass of pustulent slime and semidigested carrion is a grave ooze. This result reveals all ooze traits. 21 A grave ooze is a mindless predator that primarily feeds on decaying flesh. However, it just as readily attacks any living creatures that disturb it. A grave ooze attacks by flailing at creatures with its pseudopods. 26 A grave ooze continuously secretes chemicals which help it digest its prey. These chemicals are both acidic and poisonous to the touch. Grave ooze poison is not lethal by itself, but leaves a victim weak and helpless. 31 A grave ooze gives off a sickening stench so powerful its sometimes noticeable even through six feet of earth. If a grave ooze latches onto a victim, it attempts to flow over the creatures body and crush it to death. 36 A grave ooze takes no notice of piercing weapons, and is so attuned to the energies of death that is is immune to necromantic magic as well. ---"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is as disgusting as grave ooze.", snarled Hare. -"Not Ezrighties?", asked Burke. -"They don't eat us out of house and home.", Hare answered sagely. -"Mornin'lordies then?", Burke persisted. -"We only know one and he is dead, buried and eaten long ago.", snapped Hare. -"Dwarf entrails!", Burke answered brightly. -"Not if you shake them out well like I have shown you a dozen times.", Hare shot back. -"Ok, ok, nuffin' as digusting as the ooze," Burke conceded with a shrug, "but what we goin' a do about it?"

Ooze, exotic, graveyard graveyard Sludge [MM5] MM5] Ooze, exotic, grave ooze [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Large Ooze, CR 6. An amorphous mass of putrid flesh that can smell rotting flesh through the earth for miles around. It burrows through soil and

-"Well for starters, you are not going to throw our tools at it like last time.", replied Hare with the profoundest irritation. William Hare & William Burke back in the heydays of Il-Aluk when they were in the undead minority

Ooze, exotic, shadow jelly [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Large Ooze (Extraplanar), CR 6. Undulating pools of darkness native to the Plane of Shadow. It lurks in the shadows and drains Strength with its touch. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow jellies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This pool of undulating darkness is a shadow jelly, a creature native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all ooze traits. 21 A shadow jelly is a mindless predator that lurks in the darkest of places. It attacks by lashing out with a pseudopod, then attempts to latch onto its prey. 26 A shadow jelly does not absorb its prey. Instead, it feeds on warmth and life energy. The touch of a shadow jelly drains the strength from living creatures. --The thing oozed across the floor, black as the void and liquid as mercury, flowing first this way, then that, just as I had seen amoebas do under the microscope; but this was an "amoeba" large enough to devour a man! I was still and silent, hoping that both for the return of my host and that his pet--if pet it was--would not notice me in the meantime. And then a pause to its undulations! And it began to roll with evil purpose toward me. Precisely at this moment of alarm Master Shadowcloak entered

and saw the thing; taking something from his coatsleeve, he put it to his mouth, and a soundless shrill of music seemed to pass through the air. The creature immediately retreated, passing through a small dark portal in a corner of the laboratory which I had not noticed until that moment. Stepping after it, Shadowcloak closed the door behind it. "Your pardon, Master Whitesides," he said coolly. "It was careless of me to leave that door ajar." In the House of Fallen Leaves, Mortimer Jacques Whitesides

Ooze, exotic, toxic ooze [Dragon [Dragon 350] 350]

Proposed par JP

Ooze, exotic, void ooze [Planar Handbook]

JWM: Large Ooze (Extraplanar), CR 8. Imbued with negative energy, void oozes often cohabitate with undead the creatures tend to ignore each others presence. Its touch drains energy, and it is always surrounded by a mass of flitting shadows. It is essentially weightless, and floats through the air toward its prey. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about void oozes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This floating cloud of flitting shadows is a void ooze, a creature native to regions saturated with negative energy. This result reveals all ooze traits. 25 A void ooze is a mindless predator that attacks living creatures with its pseudopods. The oozes touch drains life energy. Void oozes tend to ignore the undead, and vice versa. 30 A void ooze can flow over smaller creatures, totally engulfing them and devouring their life energy. If a void ooze absorbs enough life energy, it splits into two void oozes. 35 A void ooze is continuously shrouded by an aura of shadow and negative energy. Any living

creature that enters close combat with a void ooze is subjected to the oozes otherworldly chill. 40 A void ooze is immune to all negative energy effects, including energy drain, death spells, and magical death effects. --Characteristics: -mobile & free floating -silent -odourless -needless but insatiable -mindless -waste free -undead friendly -may afford concealment -may afford limited protection against light -highly resistant to turning -kills bacteria on contact -reliably dispatches vermin -a significant threat to life generally -not a cause of unplanned undeath Recommendations: -worthy guardian for the undead, in particular those preferring a sterile environment -appropriate for the living only with sound binding or containment -a means in a pinch of slowing the decomposition of corpses and tissue matter -of mild interest to the torturer who has everything -research its applicability to the construction of egoless, enervating weapons Something From Nothing With Void Ooze, The Red Wizards Almanac 1358 DR, private library of Hazlik or "The Mists are not in nothing,", the phrase recurred throughout his notes, it was scribbled into the margins of most of the books and scrolls, it was carved crudely into the wood of his desk, it was chiseled brazenly upon the wall. We had a vague inkling of its meaning, although we did not appreciate at the time that it also appeared in the so called 'portal passage' of the Third Book of Ezra. You see the rest of us had come to accept

that our lives beyond the Mists were forever lost to us. But not Morgan. He had sworn upon the dead, the living, even the gods to escape this place which he had never ceased to describe as a 'prison.' And in the decade since we parted he had been busy. We sought to grasp the guiding thread of his research. But madness and that cursed phrase, staring back at us from the wall opposite his desk, alone seemed to make some slight sense of the vast resources that he had marshaled. At last overcome by frustration, I hurled an especially esoteric tome at those taunting words. But the flutter of the pages became dull, indistinct. As did the chiselled letters and the stone that bore them. Time grew heavy, ponderously so, as though expiring. All the distinctions of sound, of colour, of moment gave way to . . . well . . . nothing . . . or very nearly so. For something, slowly, ever so slowly at first, oozed into existence. The book had escaped the bonds of this world, had gone out of existence, but in return, in some unspeakable accounting, a terrible danger to us all had come into existence. It was precisely nothing, nothing at all, nothing to be feared, void itself incarnate. -Guest speaker addressing the Department of Philosophy at the University of Dementlieu --The Mists are not in nothing, Flee who must into the the void, But in return seeps something, Absence that we pray avoid. -From the much debated 'portal passage' in the Third Book of Ezra

Orglash [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Orglashes are air elementals with the cold subtype native to frigid climes. They appear as standard air elementals filled with swirling snow and two dark spots for eyes. These elementals deal cold damage in addition to their standard attack damage, and can cast a cone of cold thrice daily. Orglashes have fast healing when in cold areas, and are native to the Material Plane (or Ravenloft).

In Ravenloft, orglashes are found in the Frozen Reaches cluster or the high mountains of the Core. A hot weather variant of the orglash is native to Hazlan, where certain Rashemi witches summon them. --"Urdursh va thasku! Come freezing wind! Han yetsha mir obansk! Rise icy air! Dur mitank akalushk! Appear Orglash! I command you! I command you!" - invocation spoken by a Vos witch

the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This wide-eyed bird of prey is an owl, a nocturnal huter. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Owls can see extremely well in the dark. They spot their preyusually tiny mammals such as mice or volesfrom the air, then silently swoop down to strike with their sharp talons. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 20: Some cultures view owls as symbols of wisdom. Some mages adopt them for use as familiars. Such mages tend to have particularly keen vision in shadowy conditions.

Owl, giant [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Magical Beast, CR 3, neutral good. An owl as intelligent as a human and significantly larger besides. A power for good, despite being nocturnal predators. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about giant owls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This massive night hunter is a giant owl, a noble creature as intelligent as a human. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 18 A giant owl can see extremely well by moonlight. They speak Sylvan and Common. 23 Giant owl young can be trained to accept a rider. Giant owl eggs thus demand exorbitant prices on the open market. --Hulbig ducked, but not in time--the great dark shadow had seized him by the arms and carried him up, up, up into the night sky! It would have been wonderful to rush through the dark at that speed if he had not been so afraid of what would happen when he landed; the thing that

Otter [Otter: Stormwrack, Sea Sea Otter: Frostburn; - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about otters. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This sleek, playful creature is an otter, a mammal that spends most of its time in the water. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Otters primarily feed on small fish, shellfish, and insects. They are inoffensive creatures, and fight only if cornered. River otters are about a yard long, while sea otters can reach twice that size. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 20: Some aquatic mages adopt otters for use as familiars.

Owl [Monster Manual - animal]

CR Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about foxes. When a character makes a successful skill check,

held him was very large and strong, and he could feel its claws prickle him through his nightshirt. At last they came to a great old tree in the heart of the forest, and he was set down gently on a branch as broad as his own kitchen floor. As he caught his breath and his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw all around him...owls. Dozens of owls, each much larger than a person, perched all over the tree! "Hulbig Hairfoot," one of them said. "Welcome to the Parliament of Owls." The Parliament of Owls, traditional halfling

revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This catlike humanoid is a paka, a distant relation of catfolk. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 18 When they wish, pakas can assume an entirely human appearance. This result reveals the shapechanger subtype. 23 Pakas are extremely nimble and have an empathic bond with all kinds of cats, but strongly dislike dogs, wolves, and related creatures. 28 Pakas live in a matriarchal society, and are an extremely vengeful people. Paka maintain that at some point in history, their entire race was betrayed by humanity, and they still seek revenge. --The people of the ape honoured and worshipped the people of the cat who taught them the cunning cruelty of the hunt. But the ape man was ambitious, taking what he wanted, betraying the cat people, allying himself with their most bitter foe, the people of the dog, who offered their loyalty eternal. And for this treachery, the catkin swore that man would be layed low, sliced open, devoured alive. Excerpt from the Madrigorian --"We are both predators. We lust for the hunt. We are connoisseurs of its cruelty. We always decline the first opportunity to deliver the coup de grace. We are the antithesis of mercy. We prolong the agony of our prey. We torture and torment it, until it would gladly take its own life, but we strive to deny it even that luxury. I with my claws and you with your laws are the enemies of hope. Perhaps we are kindred spirits, but we are not of kindred races. We are the agile, I among the agile and you among the clumsy. But it is not for that reason alone that you Hector Vail and your human kind must die. You betrayed us. And never shall we forgive the crime that you have forgotten. Excerpt from The Theft of the Cats Eye, Colonel Oliver Pendleton

P
Paka (catkin) [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger), CR 5, chaotic evil. Feline humanoids with a limited shapechanging ability to assume human form. Can control feline minions, but canines don't like them. Harbor an ancestral grudge against humanity. They worship the Cat Lord. JWM: in my personal 3.5 retweaking of the paka, it has the Change Shape special quality. Quote: Change Shape (Su): At will, as a standard action, a paka can subtly alter its appearance to appear fully human. In human form, the paka loses its natural attacks. A paka can remain in human form until it chooses to change to its true form. A change in form cannot be dispelled, but a paka reverts to its true form when killed. A true seeing spell or ability reveals its natural form. The transformation is not major enough to affect a pakas clothing or armor. I also tweaked the rest of its abilities a bit and upped its LA to +3. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about pakas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is

Pale Rider [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Pennaggolan [Oriental Adventures] Adventures]

JWM: Template undead, CR +2, lawful evil. A kind of vampire that seems human by day, but at night its head and internal organs pull themselves free to fly along and drain victims' blood. Generally found in the Scattered Lotus Archipelago. (Explicitly classifying pennaggolans as an exotic variety of vampire is technically a Ravenloftspecific thing, but I doubt anyone will see it as a stretch.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures pennaggolan nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This grotesque floating head trailing a mass of bloody internal organs is a pennaggolan, a vampiric undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. This result reveals all undead traits. Pennaggolans speak the languages they knew in life. 22 Pennaggolans attack by wrapping their glistening entrails around a victims throat. The pennaggolan drains blood with its bite as it strangles its victim. Victims who die from a pennaggolans blood drain and are allowed to remain unburied for three days rise as new pennaggolans themselves. 27 A pennaggolan can dominate the weak-minded simply by looking into their eyes. Pennaggolans are tough and quickly recover from most wounds, but magic weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. A pennaggolan can pose as the mortal it was in life by stuffing its entrails back into its body. While so disguised, a pennaggolan cannot be turned and its malignant spirit is hidden from magical scrying.

32 A pennaggolan is resistant to cold, electricity, and turning. Pennaggolans typically pose as mortals by day, but when the sun sets, their heads and entrails tear free to feed upon the living. The creatures entrails bloat once exposed to the open air, so a pennaggolan must soak its entrails in vinegar to fit them back into its body. While a bodiless pennaggolan roams free, its hollow, unattended body lies helpless. Unlike other vampires, a pennaggolan is mystically bound to its body rather than to a grave. If a pennaggolans body is destroyed while its head roams, the pennaggolan wastes away and is permanently destroyed within a few days. 37 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply one of the most hideous. --January 4th, 749; He visited me again last night, the weary traveller. Oh, what joy I find in his embrace! The teachings of Hala have become hollow indeed. January 8th, 749; The Lonley Traveller, as I call him, he showed me such wonders last night, I thought the joy would never stop. He promised me that in the end he would make all my troubles slip away. January 12th, 749; My Gentleman called again last night. He promised to take me away and live with him forever, all I had to do was worship him. Oh, how I love him. He is my god. January 15th, 749; Lies! Betrayal! My Gentleman is a fraud! I saw him with Sister Bernadette, supping from her as he once supped from me! He whispered his sweet poison to her and she took it from him willingly! I will show him that only I am worthy of his love! Here there is blood smeared across the paper and the handwriting is the same, yet different, wilder, somehow more passionate. I did it! He took me into him and showed me beauty! Oh, how I screamed as he administered his sweet tortures, how I cried as he brought exquisite pain.

I felt it all slip away, a weight lifted from my shoulders. I felt my head rise high, yet my body lie down. I know not what he has done, yet understand he has granted me freedom. We took our revenge on the whores of Hala, but he left me. Left me with the knowledge that now that I am pure. -Diary found in the room of Sister Marla, in the Hospice of the Sisters of Grace See also:Penanggalan "Undead Again" Steven Brown Dragon#234(31) Requiem Penanggalan "Necrology of the Penanggalan, The" Paul F. Culotta Dragon#222(16) D&D2

35 Phantasmal slayers are resistant to magic and completely immune to fear. A slayers touch strikes directly at the victims spirit, bypassing all forms of damage reduction other than those that require a special material, such as silver or cold iron. Phantasmal slayers often focus their attacks on spellcasters and paladins. 40 These powerful fiends possess the spell-like abilities of scare, crushing despair, fear, feeblemind, ray of exhaustion, and waves of fatigue, which they use to shred their victims mental resolve. Knowledge (arcana) or Bardic Knowledge DC Result 30 Rumor has it that the mage who first created the phantasmal killer spell was inspired by tales of these dreadful entities. --This Lorelei X was a patient with a terrible case of self-inflicted delusions. She adventured in the deep Falkovnian forest and was found in delirium on the road and brought to me. Other than screaming from fear, she didnt talk much but sometimes whispered that her worst nightmare was after her. But I didnt have time to really put her to the psychometric tests, as she died less than 24 hours before being admitted in the clinic. Her heart stopped beating suddenly, after she had screamed louder than usual. Its amazing the powers self-delusion can have on someone. -- last entry in the personal notes of Dr Ernst Gnter

Phantasmal slayer [Heroes of Horror] Horror]

JWM: Medium Outsider (Evil, Incorporeal, Native), CR 15, chaotic evil. Fear incarnate, these horrors exist to terrify creatures to death. It has numerous spell-like abilities and the ability to cloak itself in illusion. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about phantasmal slayers. Characters who recognize a phantasmal slayers nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) or Bardic Knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 25 This living nightmare is a phantasmal slayer, a fiendish manifestation of fear itself. This result reveals all outsider and incorporeal traits. Phantasmal slayers can communicate telepathically. 30 Phantasmal slayers have no true form. Instead, they cloak themselves in illusory images drawn from onlookers deepest, most intense fears. Foes canny enough to pierce the slayers illusions still perceive the slayer as a shadowy image of their greatest fear. Opponents who lack the wits to realize what they face may be literally terrorized to death. Phantasmal slayers speak Abyssal, Draconic, Elven, Gnome, Infernal, and Common.

Phantom hound [Denizens of Dread] Phase spider [Monster Manual] Manual]

JWM: Large Magical Beast, CR 5, neutral. A spider that can jump back and forth between the Material and Ethereal planes. "Like many other ethereal predators, they sometimes enter Ravenloft inadvertently and stalk the Near Ethereal." --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about phase spiders. When a character

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 Judging by its markings, this monstrous arachnid is a phase spider. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 20 A phase spider is fairly intelligent and its bite delivers a deadly venom. 25 A phase spider can shift into or out of the Ethereal Plane without warning. Its usual tactic is to suddenly appear on the Material Plane, bite a victim, and then immediately retreat to the Ethereal Plane, where it waits for the creature to die before returning to feed. --...what I find far more troubling, if true, are the accounts of monstrously large ghost-spiders in the vicinity; they have been blamed for the death of several household pets and even livestock, although there are no reports of human fatalities. Three witnesses claim that the spider or spiders in question materialized from nothing, attacked the unfortunate animal, and retreated to the Other Side, prey in tow. The idea of mere vermin, however large, having enough psychic energy to produce a ghost boggles the mind; but if we reject that hypothesis how does we explain the phantasmal character these creatures supposedly have? Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove to Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

DC Result 13 This creatures psionic abilities betray its phrenic nature. This result reveals the psionic subtype. 18 Phrenic creatures are naturally psionic and are themselves resistant to psionics. 23 Phrenic creatures manifest increasingly potent psi-like abilities as they grow in size and power. Lesser phrenic creatures can use abilities such as defensive precognition and force screen. More powerful individuals add a increasing variety of abilities, including body adjustment, psionic dominate, tower of iron will, and even ultrablast. --JWM: A simple template that makes creatures psionic. "Although they can arise naturally, in the Demiplane of Dread such creatures are typically the product of illithid fleshcrafting." --The goblin-wolf at the base of the tree growled, and I became aware of an itching sensation at the base of my skull--a sensation which increased in intensity until it was all I could do not to scream aloud. Suddenly I felt myself opening my hands; by exerting all my willpower I was able to keep them clasped around the branch, but only a constant effort of will kept me from loosing my grasp and falling. It occurred to me that the wolf was willing me out of the tree; however irrational the thought, the fact that my hands were effectively doing their best to kill me showed that the situation was not really rational to begin with. Giles ApMorte, An Adventure in Kartakass

Phooka [CoD] Phrenic creature [Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about a creatures phrenic nature. Characters may need to make a different Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Pickled punk [Carnival]

JWM: Tiny Aberration, CR 1, neutral evil. Professor Pacali's repressed desires made flesh. Monstrously deformed fetuses that can unleash viewers' hidden desires with their gaze. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about pickled punks. When a character

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. The DC is unusually high due to the extreme rarity of these creatures. DC Result 16 This monstrously malformed fetus is commonly labeled as a pickled punk. This result reveals all aberration traits. 21 A pickled punk doesnt present much of a physical threat. In addition, it is saturated with alcohol, and is highly flammable. 26 A pickled punk can latch on to larger foes with its surprisingly powerful bite. 31 By staring into a humanoids soul, a pickled punk can unleash the targets repressed desires. This effect is similar to charm person, but the target acts out its own darkest impulses rather than obeying the punk itself. 36 Pickled punks sprout directly from the body of Professor Pacali, who exercises a small degree of control over them. --"Come on, dear Prof, having these out in the sunlight will entice more Georges to partake in the Hall of Horrors." "Tindal, you insipid buffoon, my 'punks' as you derisively, are a medical marvel. They are a unique creation that my contact outside the Carnival supplies for me. They are not, not simply there for the slack jawed inbreds that you and your fellow troupers entertain to stand and gawk at." -Overheard conversation at Carnival.

gloating rat shaman and his abominations stood in waiting. It was the rotting touch of these latter that had devoured Lucien alive in seconds. And their unspeakable stench robbed Jean-Jacques of his strength, sending him spiralling down into the abyss. Interview with a Ghost --"Deep in the bowels of this place is a room that is less than the arms span of a man to a side. A row of iron bars cuts it in two. The one half is occupied by a gentleman, if I can call him that, who has been there for as long as I can remember. The other hosts, from time to time, individuals such as yourself who are not as forthcoming as they might and should be. Now what is precious is that the mere touch of the confined fellow will rot an unfortunate alive in less than an hour. Keeping out of his reach is possible . . . for a time. But he is as driven and as untiring as they come. Undead is, I believe, the technical term. My grandfather claimed a woman once put off her gruesome end for a week. But all I have seen have been reduced to mouldering bone within four days. Perhaps that spry daughter of yours will surprise us. We could go take a look if you would like. I warn you though that the stench is overpowering. Or was there, after all, something that you wished to tell me?" -Jacqueline Renier soliciting information concerning her lost love

Piranha [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about piranhas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This toothy fish is a piranha, a predator found in some tropical rivers. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 15: Piranha fly into a frenzy when they taste blood in the water. A single piranha has a nasty bite, but ultimately poses little true threat.

Plague blight [Libris Mortis] Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead (Evil, CR 6, any evil. Animated corpses of those killed by plague. Swollen and putrescent. They carry a sickening stench and their touch causes gangrene. --And there we were, discarding our weapons to stay afloat, doomed if we let ourselves be carried deeper into the spinning cauldron of sewage and twice doomed if we strove for its edge where the

However, these fish usually congregate in large schools which can strip the flesh from a creatures bones in a matter of moments.

Plague Moth
See also: Plague Moth "Dragon's Bestiary: Spawn of the Sewers, The" John Baichtal Dragon#238(70) D&D2

burst through a false door. As the walls collapsed around it, we could see that it was the still-moving corpse of a tremendous dog. At least I thought it was a dog: it wore a fanged, conical mask. The mouth of the mask dropped open, and it let loose a bone-rattling roar. Then its jaw fell off, and a torrent of slimy rats leapt from its loathsome maw." - from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

Plague spewer [Monster Manual III] III]

JWM: Huge Undead, CR 10, neutral evil. A massive undead creature that exists only to destroy life. Its body is infested with swarms of plagueridden rats, which it can spew at foes. --PLAGUE SPEWER LORE Monster Manual III Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about plague spewers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 20: This massive shambling corpse is a mindless undead horror called a plague spewer. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 25: Plague spewers spread a lethal supernatural plague with their touch. Plague spewers ignore most lesser attacks, but slashing weapons are particularly effective against them. DC 30: A plague spewers skin ripples from the movements of the countless rats infesting its flesh. Several times a day, a plague spewer can spit a swarm of rats at a nearby foe. DC 35: Any truly massive creature, such as a giant, slain by a plague spewers plague rises as a new plague spewer a few days later. --"As we travelled deeper through the bowels of that infernal tomb, the rotting talons of a gigantic beast

Plants, carnivorous plants

See also: Plants, carnivorous "Ecology of Carnivorous Plants, The" Gregg Chamberlain Dragon#137(26) D&D1

Poltergeist voir geist Poludnitsa [Gaz. 1, Barovia]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Pony [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about ponies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This small, stocky equine is a common pony. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Ponies are quite sturdy, often used as mounts or as beasts of burden. Some small humanoids train ponies to carry them fearlessly into battle.

Porcelain lady (alabaster bride) [VRG to the Walking Dead]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 5, neutral evil. A undead woman who appears to have cracked porcelain for skin and blank faces. They can create enthralling, supernatural music and can weep tears of blood which befuddles the minds of any creature touching it. It can also drain blood with its gaze. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about porcelain ladies. When a

character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 The hard, white, cracked skin and frozen, emotionless face of this woman mark her as a porcelain lady, also known as an alabaster bride. These undead horrors are reputed to rise from the graves of women who bathed in the blood of others to preserve their youth and beauty. This result reveals all undead traits. Porcelain ladies understand the languages they knew in life, but cannot do more than murmur or whimper. 20 If a living creature meets the eyeless gaze of an alabaster bride, the bride draws a fine spray of the creatures blood into her empty, bloody eye sockets. 25 A porcelain lady sometimes breaks off her attack to stand in place and weep a torrent of bloody tears. These tears stream down her body to form a pool around her feet, eventually spreading 10 paces in every direction. Living creatures that touch these toxic tears have their minds filled with nightmarish, confusing imagery. 30 Once per day, a porcelain lady can create haunting, spectral music to play from an invisible source up to 40 paces away. This music can enthrall living creatures, luring them toward its source even if that means walking into obvious danger. --I think that bard was pulling our leg, no? Or he had too many of these Invidian liqueurs, Id say. A baroness had been walled up in her own plantation since a century, and now she is back as a figure of porcelain? What do you fellows think? I wouldnt question other kinds of undead, but that this baroness whatever would be back as a doll-like creature doesnt make sense. Somehow. That she is back from the dead has been seen before, but not as a doll! Or perhaps its one of these construct? Can a spirit come back and animate a doll made of porcelain? There has to be something else involved, perhaps a wizard, or someone obsessed with this baroness What we have to

do, and how we have to work this case isnt clear to me -- heard at the Two-Hares Inn, Souragne

Porpoise [Monster Manual]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about porpoises. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This playful, streamlined sea mammal is a porpoise, known for its intelligent and helpful manner. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Porpoises feed on fish, using echolocation to sense their surroundings with great accuracy. A porpoise that cannot hear must rely on vision alone. DC 20: A porpoise cannot breathe underwater, but it can hold its breath for extended periodsnearly 8 minutes in general.

Pseudonatural creature [Complete Arcane, Lords of Madness, etc.]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures pseudonatural nature. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This creatures hideous mutations reveal its pseduonatural origins. Pseudonatural creatures originate in a little known, alien cosmos. This result reveals all outsider traits. 17 Pseudonatural creatures are native to the Far Realm, a place of madness and chaos. These alien entities are resistant to acid and electricity. More powerful individuals can instantly heal most minor wounds, but magic weapons can pierce their eldritch defenses.

22 At will, a pseudonatural creature can revert to its true form: a grotesque, tentacled mass. These entities are resistant to magic. 27 Despite its unsettling appearance, a pseudonatural creatures abilities are unchanged while in its true form. Once a day, a pseudonatural creature can channel its energies to virtually ensure that one of its attacks strikes home. --JWM: Template Outsider. A creature from the Far Realm, an utterly alien alternate reality. Has some odd little abilities. --"Wake not the Sleeper in this Tomb "Disturb not the Dreamer in this Darkness "Behold the coming of the Serpent's Head "Behold Rahu, Eater of the Sun "Woe upon us all" -translated inscription from a sealed urn found in Sri Raji

The Taverners had found shelter after Jasper convinced Willow to allow them to pass the day there. Utterly exhausted, most of the Taverners collapsed into bunks and fell into fitful sleep. Before doing so, however, the group was introduced by the psionicist to Brace, a large sapphire imbued with sentience and functioned as a sort of psionic familiar to Brom. Unfortunately, Brace later proved himself a raving coward, always terrified that he would be dropped, smashed, eaten, sold to gemcutters, or another dozen other horrible things. -- from the Galen story

Psilich [Ravenloft Dungeon Masters Guide]

JWM: Template undead, CR +2, any evil. A psionic version of the lich. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about a creatures psilich nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (psionics) DC Result 23 This withered, nearly skeletal psion is a psionic horror known as a psilich, a master of the higher dimensions who used psychic power to defy death. This result reveals all undead traits and the psionic subtype. 28 A psilich is every bit as potent a psionic manifester as it was in life, and has centuries to hone their psionic talents. A psilichs body is unusually tough, but psionic bludgeoning weapons can pierce its defenses. A psilichs touch flows with necromantic energy. It also drains energy from psionic minds, bolstering the psilichs own psionic reserves. This result also reveals the process for becoming a psilich. 33 A psilich is surrounded by a invisible aura of psionic disruption, usually experienced in the form of a cacophony of mental screams. Living

Psicrystal [Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]

JWM: Diminutive Construct, CR NA, alignment varies. The psionic version of a familiar; a crystal charged with an aspect of its psionic master's psyche. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about psicrystals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This glowing crystal is a psicrystal, which contains a sliver of its psionic owners consciousness. This result reveals all construct traits. 15 A psicrystal grants its psionic master several special abilities, just as a familiar does for an arcane spellcaster. 20 A psicrystal grows more powerful along with its master, as does the fragment of its masters mind that it contains. ---

creatures exposed to this aura may be terrified by its unnatural energies. A psilich is resistant to turning, and is immune to cold, electricity, and mind-influencing effects. A psilich cannot be polymorphed unless it wants to be. 38 A psilich stores its life force in a psionic container called a phylactery. This item is usually easily portable, and often takes the form of a smooth, elaborately decorated stone called a linga. If a psilich is destroyed, its life force is drawn back into its phylactery. After recuperating for a few days, the spirit re-emerges to occupy a nearby corpse, restoring the psilich at full strength. You cannot permanently destroy a psilich without also destroying its phylactery, so psiliches usually hide their phylacteries well. --"What just happened? I really don't get it... he didn't even have spell components how could it have casted all of these spells without any components?" "Whatever those powers were, we have to get Lucian back. That lich made him go mad. What is it, was your head wounded?" "I hear the lich... it's in my head... I can't get it out." "You have to... oh no... it's now in mine too!" Adventures upon discovering the real nature of the lich they hunted

independent creature and may very well attack its progenitor." Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about phthisics. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This distorted creature is a phthisic, a suppressed form of fear or madness ripped from a dreamers mind and given physical form. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 21 A phthisic possesses many powerful psi-like abilities, including brain lock, dimension slide, ego whip, and mind thrust. 26 A phthisic feeds on the thoughts of its victims, which it rips from their minds with its bite. This attack drains Intelligence. 31 A phthisic regenerates most forms of damage, but is vulnerable to fire and acid --Its my son! Hes in my head! Milady, with all respect, it cant be. Your son drowned two years ago. We all went to his funerals. Touching funerals, in Summer, you remember? I know! But hes in my head now! My lovely son! He wants to come out! He tells me he will be with us in this room soon! -- over heard conversation reported by the maid, during the Wilson family massacre enquiry

Pthisic [Expanded Psionics Handbook]

JWM: Large Monstrous Humanoid (Psionic), CR 6, chaotic evil. A repressed neurosis ripped from someone's subconconscious mind to become flesh. It feeds on Intelligence with its bite and has numerous psi-like abilities. "A phthisic is initially drawn from a troubled psyche by means of an unknown psionic power, possibly a twisted version of psychic chirurgery. In some cases, an insane astral construct of 6th level or higher may spontenously transform into a phthisic if its manifester is killed. Once free, a phthisic is an

Puppeteer [Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]

JWM: Fine Magical Beast (Psionic), CR 1, lawful evil. Psionic parasite that attaches itself to a creature's brain stem and controls it like a puppet. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about puppeteers. When a character

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This grotesque leech is a puppeteer, a sinister psionic parasite. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 16 Puppetteers try to touch more powerful creatures, such as humanoids. Once a puppeteer makes physical contact, it can take control of the creatures mind, working its body like a puppet. Puppeteers can psionically manipulate their own eggs to create even more monstrous mutations called flesh harrowers or dire puppeteers. 21 Once a puppeteer takes control of a host, it attaches itself to the hosts nervous system usually somewhere out of sight and forms a parasitic rapport, using its host to shield it from area attacks. Puppeteers often infiltrate humanoid groups, using them to produce a supply of bodies. Flesh harrowers are much more physically powerful than puppeteers, and attack with their fang-filled maws. They lack the ability to control hosts, however. 26 A puppeteer can manifest several psi-like abilities, including detect psionics, mental barrier, and psionic charm. Despite its powerful psionic gifts, a puppeteer can completely conceal its psionic potential from all scrying attempts. Flesh harrowers have their own psionic powers, including concealing amorpha, hustle, mental barrier, and vigor. --Dear journal, My fianc has changed. Since his return from the Darkon mines expedition, he isnt totally the same. He still loves me and often says so, but his behaviour is sometimes changed. Hes often trying to convince me to leave my tanning work and come with him - and his strange new friends back to these Darkonese mines. He wants to show me something there, he says, but do not want to say what he has in mind. What shall I do?

Puppeteer, Puppeteer, flesh harrower [Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]

JWM: Small Magical Beast (Psionic), CR 2, neutral. A mutant puppeteer that has a few psi-like powers, but mainly relies on its massive maw of fangs. For when violence is called for. --Dear journal, I fear for my fiancs safety. Im writing this from the Ezran church, shivering despite the warm fireplace. Father Bouliane has been of great comfort, and we spoke for hours. Now Im starting to doubt what Ive seen is real: one of my fiancs new aloof friend came to my fathers house while my fianc was there and wanted to talk to my lover, in private. But I spied on them and saw this thing! It crawled on his back, hidden in a cloak! A large slug, but with an immense toothy maw! To my horror, my fianc embraced it! I screamed and ran. Father Bouliane said he will meet them to prove me what I saw is my imagination.

Q
Quell [Libris Mortis] Mortis]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about quells. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This shrouded, vaguely humanoid spirit is a quell, easily distinguished by the dark symbols floating in the air around it. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. Quells speak Infernal and Common. 18 Quells are malevolent spirits that despise all life and the gods that grant it. Fortunately, however, they are not very powerful individually.

They flee from daylight, which renders them powerless. 23 A quell can exert its unholy power to temporarily sever the spiritual ties between a divine spellcaster and his or her divine patron. Affected divine spellcasters lose their spellcasting abilities for a full day. Because of this, quells are often recruited to serve more powerful undead masters. 28 An affected character can regain his or her divine spells more quickly by receiving an atonement spell or by being attacked by the quell. Multiple quells can pool their powers, severing the spiritual ties of more powerful clerics and their ilk. --JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 3, lawful evil. Quells despise themselves, all life, and the gods who grant it. Not very powerful in combat; however, they possess the ability to cut off divine spellcasters from their deities, the source of their power. Multiple quells can cooperate to tackle more powerful clerics and the like. Appears somewhat like a ghostly, robed humanoid, with dark magical symbols floating around its head. Sometimes sought out as minions by more powerful undead masters. --There being nothing so tiresome as a meddling priest, I have been at some pains to procure the services of several new hirelings to deal with any such god-touched nuisances. They are of the best sort--not so powerful as to give any worry of their eventual insurrection, but with powerful abilities precisely tailored to meet a pressing need--in this case, to keep clerics far away from me. From a notebook found in the library of the lich known as Phantom's Bane

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about Quevari. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This person belongs to a reclusive folk called the Quevari. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 16 The Quevari are a peaceful, almost meek people who abhor violence. They are also known as being a clever and hearty folk. 21 As a people, the Quevari suffer from an inescapable curse called the Bloodmoon. When the full moon rises, they become deranged, sadistic killers. They do not attack each other only newcomers. --"We stayed at the village for three days before the full moon. They where the lovliest of people, kind and caring. Lissia Viran took us in and we enjoyed her families company, her husband and her two young girls. "It was the day that the first full moon rose that we noticed things where getting odd. Lissia's husband started to get angry at Neville the halfling for little things, not putting his cup on the table straight, sitting too close to the fire. "After midday, the girls started to get violent, hitting Mah-Loa, our Rokuma mage and pulling her hair. We tried to get them to stop and asked Lissia to keep them under control, but she shouted at us not to tell her how to raise her children. "Then night fell and the moon rose. As soon as the moonlight poured through the window Lissia's husband changed. He grabbed the poker from near the fire and caved Mah-Loa's skull in. Then the children held Neville down as Lissia throttled him. "I ran, ran as far as I could. That night I slept in the woods. Never been back to that village, never will again." -Thron Vaillgarn, Falkovian warrior.

Quevari [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Humanoid (Quevari), CR 1/2 or CR 1, lawful good or chaotic evil. A race of normally peaceful folk, otherwise identical to humans, who're cursed to become homicidal maniacs whenever the moon grows full. ---

Quickwood (spy tree) [Denizens of Dread]

(under Plant, Quickwood) JWM: Huge Plant, CR 10, neutral. Intelligent, carnivorous oak tree that attacks with its buried root tendrils, dragging creatures toward its maw like a roper. Can emit a deep thrumming sound through the soil, acting as an alarm system of sorts. Can also animate oak trees and see through their senses. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about quickwoods. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This plant resembled an oak tree at first glance, but is in fact a monstrous plant called a quickwood, also known as a spy tree. This result reveals all plant traits. Quickwoods speak Sylvan, and may know other languages as well. 25 A quickwood uses its long, rootlike tendrils both to haul its massive bulk along the ground and to attack its foes. A quickwood tries to lash its tendrils around foes, then drag the creatures into its maw. A grappled victim can be rescued by severing the tendril, but most of their length remains underground, which grants them cover. 30 A quickwood has potent defenses. It channels electricity into the ground beneath it, and secretes sap to extinguish fire, making it resistant to both energy types. If targeted by magic, it reflexively attempts to channel the magical energy into a brief, fear-inducing aura. 35 A quickwood can animate nearby oak trees, and can scry through their senses, making them natural sentries. Quickwoods are often recruited by powerful masters to act as border guards. --"Our trek to the cottage of Moag the Apocathery was short, yet arduous. Roots and rocks jutted out from the path as though they purposely sought to trip us. Perhaps they were. When we came to his cottage, that pale bastard was waiting for us with his happy little rictus grin stretched across his clown white face."

""You know why we've come, alchemist!" Yasmine hollered." ""Indeed I do... It's about your lovely little friend's condition, isn't it? But why should I go through the trouble of ruining my comrades' handiwork? That's not very polite, you realize."" "Michael leveled his crossbow at Moag." ""You can break his curse: break it, and we'll let you live."" "The alchemist closed his awful mouth, tapping his lips as he strutted before us." ""My goodness, what a generous offer... But let me make a counter offer... My sources tell me that you nice people had a certain Spear of Dagon come into your grubby little hands: get it for me, and we have a deal."" "Michael fired his crossbow at the smiling wretch. After all those lives the Spear had cost us, no hell clown should be allowed to mock us." "As the crossbolt flew toward him, Moag's ugly, toothy grin turned into a disappointed pout. Then it stopped about a foot before his left eye: a long wooden tendril had emerged from the ground to seize the crossbolt. " ""How sad." And with that statement, the oak to Moag's side opened its toothy maw, and scowled. "Eat them," and with that, the oak smiled a toothy smile." -from the journal of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish explorer

R
Radiant spirit [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 10, lawful evil. The corrupted spirit of a paladin who died while unsuccessfully trying to complete a holy quest. Has several light- and sunlight-based attack forms. --"What we seek is a life lived in pursuit of virtue, a noble death, and calm repose in the embrace of the earth. But not all of us find it. For some, what they

have left undone they cannot let pass to other hands. They endure even beyond death to achieve some great purpose, and in so doing they pervert their purpose, and themselves, and end a force of darkness clothed in light. Beware pride, Eia; it can work evil even with the brightest spirits. Now do you understand what happened to Swordmaster Caroll?" I nodded; the elder's words had made clear the origin of that fierce bright spirit with which I had crossed swords earlier, that wore the face of my former friend. How bitter a realization! How stark a warning! Reflections of Eia Pax, compiled by Roderick Darkspear

ground and kicking up a blinding cloud of dust. A ragewind can see invisible creatures, and is highly resistant to magic. --JWM: The embodied wrath of dead warriors, ragewinds appear as a whirlwind of swirling weapons. Its true form is a cloudy humanoid silhouette. It attacks with multiple weapons, and can expand itself for extra reach. It can also transform itself into a whirlwind, dealing extra damage and kicking up dust. A ragewind is invisible when it suppresses its whirling winds. --Here entereth the Devilish Dancer, the Swordwind. See the blades that were his arms spin in the moving air! Morning to morning he dances, Nightfall to nightfall is his shedding of blood. Those who for the battle live, for the battle endure, Until the ending of all war. Song of the Sword-Wraith, traditional Pharazian, trans. Malcolm Hopper

Ragewind (sword spirit) [Monster Manual II]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about ragewinds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 29 This whirlind of clashing weapons is an undead spirit called a ragewind or a sword spirit. This result reveals all undead traits. Ragewinds can usually speak Common in a voice like a howling wind, but they seldom bother. 34 Ragewinds are the sprits of soldiers whose lives were thrown away in useless battles. They now vent their violent rage on the living. A ragewind attacks foes with the weapons constantly swirling in its otherworldly winds. If it wishes, a ragewind can suppress its whirlwind to render itself invisible. 39 Three times a day, a ragewind can briefly expand its winds, filling a wide area with a furious storm of swirling weapons that attack all foes within range. Once a ragewind uses its blade fury, it must rest for a few moments before it can do so again. A ragewinds immaterial form is difficult to damage, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 44 A ragewind can also transform itself into a 20foot-tall whirlwind capable of lifting foes off the

Raiment [Libris Mortis]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about raiments. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 These floating rags are not being worn by an invisible creature. Rather, they comprise a pathetic undead spirit called a raiment. This result reveals all undead traits. 16 Raiments arise when the restless souls of murder victims merge with the clothes they were wearing when they died. Driven mad in undeath, they are driven by the mindless desire to spread as much suffering as they felt as they took their final breaths. A raiments fluttering clothes simply absorb most glancing blows, but magic weapons can prove effective.

21 Raiments attack by battering foes with their sleeves. If a raiment strikes a victim, it tries to wrap itself around its victims throat and choke the life out of it. --JWM: Small Undead, CR 1, chaotic evil. The spirit of a crime victim that has merged with the clothing it was wearing at the time of its death. The clothes can wrap themselves around foes to choke them. Raiments exist to mindlessly avenge themselves on the living. ---"The witness claims that the proprietor, a Charlie Windsor, of the used clothing store, Second Chance on Finch Street near the slum, strangled himself with his own scarf." -"This is it?" -"Yes sir." -"A rather hansom piece you must admit. The man had an eye for clothes." -"Yes sir." -"Might the witness have killed him?" -"She is a little old lady and we are very sure of that." -"No time to waste. Rule it a suicide. And keep the scarf if you like." Conversation overheard at the Paridon Police Headquarters

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about rakshasas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. (Note: I'm actually writing these up for my Ravenloft notes, which is what Sri Raji refers to down below. Since most folks aren't playing Ravenloft, just replace "complex religion of Sri Raji" with "Hindu pantheon" or ignore the table altogether.) Knowledge (the planes) DC Result 20 This malevolent tiger-headed humanoid is actually a fiend called a rakshasa. This result reveals all outsider traits. 25 Rakshasas are masters of deceit and illusion. They are also highly resistant to physical harm, though good-aligned piercing weapons can penetrate their supernatural defenses. 30 A rakshasa can read minds and is a talented innate sorcerous spellcaster. 35 Not only are rakshasas strong, intelligent, and charming, they can transform themselves to assume any humanoid form. True seeing can still reveal the fiends true appearance. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 20 The complex religion of Sri Raji teaches that rakshasas are demons specifically, fallen, malevolent spirits that wage an eternal war against those who seek enlightenment, be they man or god. They may have been extremely wicked humans in previous incarnations. 25 The king of the rakshasas is Ravana, a mountainous demon lord with ten heads. Ravana is more powerful than he is clever, and considers himself the enemy of the god Vishnu. 30 Rakshasas feed on human flesh. Fortunately, a blessed crossbow bolt, fired into a rakshasas heart, will slay the fiend instantly, forcing it back into the cycle of reincarnation. --The last of the monks advanced upon me, kukri raised, and I prepared myself for death; but a

Rajput Rajput Ambari [Pathfinder 9] 9]

Sort of undead elephant as mount or war elephant (Sri Raji?)

Rakshasa [Monster Manual]

JWM: These fiends appear as humanoid tigers. They are masters of illusion, and in the Sri Rajian religion, the enemies of mankind. They are powerful sorcerers, can read minds, and can take any humanoid form. Arijani is the only documented rakshasa in Ravenloft. Dr#326 Dec 04 - ecology of the Rakshasa - To update your next Web of Illusion game? Rakshasa "Ecology of the Rakshasa, The" Eric Cagle Dragon#326(66) D&D3 ---

crossbow bolt humming like a great bee struck him full in the chest, and he fell, the poisoned blade in his hand cutting the jungle mould not a finger's width from where my foot lay. Standing with difficulty, I looked for my benefactor, and saw him at last; a small slender man with crossbow in hand and scimitar at his waist. I noted immediately the palms of his hands, turned out from the body, and fell again to my knees. "Have you come for my soul, Lord of Darkness?" I asked it, eyes averted. "Nay, child of war. I spare you, for we have a common enemy. Look on me!" It was in its true form; I looked into the tiger eyes as long as I could, and it was not long. "The thing you seek, Ravana's Bane, is real. Bring it to me, and you shall hold this world in the palm of your hand." "I hear, Lord," I said. When I raised my head again it was gone. Unattributed manuscript, found in Special Collections of the library of the University of Tvashtri

KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt rats for use as familiars. Such mages tend to be particularly hearty.

Raven [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1/6 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about ravens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This raspy black bird is a raven, a scavenger that often feeds on carrion. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Ravens are fairly clever and are attracted to shiny objects, which they steal to adorn their nests. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt ravens for use as familiars. Such mages tend to have a particularly talented eye for appraising valuables. Raven familiars can speak.

Rakshasa Maharajha [Pathfinder 9] 9] Rat [Monster Manual - animal]

CR 1/8 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about rats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This rodent is a rat, a ubiquitous urban scavenger. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Rats sometimes contract diseases like filth fever in the sewers they infest and spread these diseases with their bite.

Raven Corvus Regis (Kings Raven) & Zweifalk see Zweifalk Raven, giant [Frostburn]
JWM: Large Magical Beast, CR 2, neutral. An intelligent raven the size of a horse. Typically fight only to defend themselves or their nests. Can be trained as aerial mounts. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about giant ravens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This massive bird is a giant raven. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 17 Although still a wild creature, giant ravens are at least as intelligent as humans.

22 Giant ravens are nimble fliers, and are talented at dodging away from area attacks. 27 A giant raven can be trained to accept a rider, but the process requires several weeks. For this reason, giant raven eggs fetch exceptionally high prices on the open market. --"How is it that the ravens grow so big in this part of the world, friend?" I asked him. He smiled bitterly and said, "On what do ravens feed, sir?" "Carrion, in the main."

friends and should be fed, and their advice heeded. When I was a lad I thought them frightful and ugly, because they eat dead things; but when I threw a stone at one, my mother saw it and whipped me--almost the only whipping she ever gave me. "Never harm a raven," she told me. "Even an ugly frame may hide a wise heart." When I grew up I remembered that often, and it was a comfort to me, as I am not beautiful! Attributed to Karoly Firemarked, Equaar Vistani, working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani ---

Gesturing to the north and the Darkonese border, he answered, "Where there is much food, men grow fat. Why should ravens not do the same?" Impressions of Falkovnia, Reginald St. Jacques

Ravenkin [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Small Monstrous Humanoid, CR 2, neutral good. Intelligent ravens with prehensile hands. Very long-lived, and a force of good in Ravenloft. Mainly found in Barovia. Minor innate sorcerous powers, and they have an empathic link with ravens and dire ravens. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about ravenkin. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This ebon bird is a noble creature known as a ravenkin. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 17 Ravenkin are exceptionally intelligent and wise, and possess moderate sorcerous talents. 22 Ravenkin try to blind their foes when attacked, but they are widely considered a shining beacon of good in the Lands of Mist. --The wise-ravens (they are no ordinary birds) follow our encampments at times; they are good

The Old Kartakan Inn loomed up before us, wrapped in an ever-shifting shroud of mist, glowing faintly under the gibbous moon. Our best hope, and a desperate one at that, was to seize this Lukas fellow and trade him for Maria. And as we steeled ourselves for the attempt, a great and ghastly raven alighted before us and spoke. It offered to rescue her. In return it asked only that we show its brethren, large and small, kindness and swear never to reveal its involvement. We agreed. The bird borrowed a rope and slipped from sight at the west end of the structure. A few minutes later the mist thickened there and soon Maria emerged, looking very much worse for wear. She had been awoken from a tortured sleep by the smell and the hiss of acid, which were gradually overwhelmed by the taste of fresh air and the roaring of water. Then she had heard a great fluttering, a light had burst into existence, and she had found herself staring into the eye of a raven that announced itself to be her savior. It had freed her of her bonds with acid and had covered her descent to the ground with fog, both arcanely summoned. We made haste to quit the vicinity and soon came upon our rope neatly coiled. -Extract from the private journal of William Lamont, held in the library of Strahd von Zarovich

Ravenous (Dragon mag compendium) voir ghoul Ravyanatha [VRG [VRG tt Walking Dead]
JWM: Medium Undead, CR 13, neutral evil. A powerful obedient dead, originally from Sri Raji. Created through a magical ritual, it appears as a four-faced humanoid with only hints of decay. Its basically a powerful berserker. They can see in all directions and can penetrate most magical barriers. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about ravyanathas. If a character recognizes a ravyanathas nature, a Knowledge (arcana) check can reveal more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 23 This four-faced, blue-tinted warrior is a ravyanatha, a powerful undead minion found in Rajian mythology. This result reveals all undead traits. 28 A ravyanatha smashes foes with its incredibly powerful fists. Its four faces can see in all directions at once, so it cannot be flanked. Animals balk at the presence of a ravyanatha. They grow noticeably uneasy within a mile of a ravyanatha and flee if they come within twenty paces of one. A ravyanathas body is unnaturally tough, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 33 Ravyanathas deal massive damage to inanimate objects or structures and can quickly reduce a barrier to rubble. If a ravyanatha strikes a foe with both fists, it tears the creatures flesh. The presence of a ravyanatha is often accompanied by lightning storms, but the creature has no direct control over this phenomenon. 38 Ravyanathas possess the supernatural ability to destroy magical barriers placed before them. Twice a day, a ravyanatha can fly into a berserker rage while in combat, similar to a barbarian. Knowledge (arcana)

DC Result 28 This result reveals the method for creating a ravynatha. --"Rise, slave," said the fakir to the four-faced man, and it rose. "I have brought you back through the Gates of Death to perform a service to me, and you shall not be reborn and take your place again in the Wheel until you complete it. You must find the prince Malmud, who has stolen from me a certain gold ring set with emeralds; you must kill him, and bring me the ring and his heart. Let neither stone nor wood, neither gods nor demons, no enchantment, no glamer, no false seeming detain you. To you all walls are doors, and those doors are open. Go!" And the four-faced man turned and went. The Fakir's Ring, traditional Rajian

Ray [Manta Ray: Monster Manual, Stingray: Stormwrack; - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about rays. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This strange, kite-shaped cartilaginous fish is called a ray or a skate. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 16: Rays are generally inoffensive, and come in many different varieties. Manta rays can reach a 20-foot wingspan, but feed by filtering plankton with their gaping, toothless maws. Stingrays are bottom feeders; they are must smaller, but can defend themselves with a poisonous barb in their tail. Stingray venom is nonlethal but nauseatingly painful. DC 21: Stingrays sometimes burrow just beneath the sandy surface of the sea bed, either to rest or to ambush their usual prey. Creatures who unwittingly step on a stingray are sure to be stung.

Razorback [Denizens of Dread] Reaver [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Aquatic), CR 4, chaotic evil. Think the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Evil, reptilian/fishfolk covered in razor-sharp scales. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about reavers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This scaly humanoid fish is a reaver, a bloodthirsty sea creature that prefers to feed on prey that walks on land. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the aquatic subtype. 19 Reavers are brutal predators. They typically grapple their foes, continuing to bite and claw while raking the victim across the razor-sharp scales covering their bodies. Reaver skin should be touched only with great caution. 24 Although reavers often come ashore to hunt, they can only survive in air for little more than half a day before drowning. 29 Reavers can survive in both salt and fresh water. Lone reavers which are outcast from their kind often swim far inland, turning some lake or pond into its new hunting grounds --They had swarmed up from the deep, taking us by surprise, as we sat becalmed. Well placed bullets could fell them but frightened them not in the least. Rather it was us who were panicked, organising ourselves not at all, mistaking every glimmer in the night for their fish eyes and tiger claws. They might have carried us - seperated and cowering - off to the last. But never was the ransacking of a ship less carefully orchestrated. From Bristol to Mordentshire: an outsider's tale, the autobiography of James Duegon

Red widow (spider queen) [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger), CR 6, neutral evil. Female trickster beast spiders that can assume a beautiful, red-haired humanoid form, which they use to lure humanoid mates they use to feed and breed. Short lifespan. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about red widows. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This monstrous spider is a red widow, a trickster beast capable of taking humanoid form. It is closely related to araneas. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the shapechanger subtype. 21 Like other monstrous spiders, a red widow injects deadly venom with its bite and can spin thick webs to trap its prey. Red widows and araneas are not actually related. 26 Red widows are always female. In humanoid form, they are distinguished by their great beauty and bright red hair. 31 Red widows generally feed by draining the fluids of their trapped lovers, but occasionally they are compelled to breed. On these occasions, a red widow keeps her victim alive in a web cocoon, but lays eggs in his abdomen. The newborn spiders slowly consume their helpless father after they hatch. --November 16th, Port--Lucine I just accepted the case of a lady named Jeanne d'Anjou. She claims that her newly wed husband recently vanished. She gave a description in the hopes that I find him before his family starts worrying. I will take the case of course. But I must admit I wouldn't find it a shame if I discovered that this red haired beauty just became widow. She's really to die for.

Personnal journal of a now-vanished gendarme of Port--Lucine

Redcap [Monster Manual III, III, Pathfinder 4]

Unrelated but similar. (A more accurate nickname for powries would be "shadow redcap.") These redcaps aren't shadow fey. ETA: To clarifiy further: Powrie aren't actually redcaps, just like none of the other shadow fey types are "really" the kinds of fey they're sometimes known as. Powrie just share a few traits in common with actual redcaps -- enough to trick someone who isn't an expert on the fey (such as the typical Tepestani) into mistaking the former for the latter. --(Ravenloft-specific info is underlined.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about redcaps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This psychotic creature is a fey spirit called a redcap. These creatures take their name from their sadistic habit of murdering mortals simply so they can keep their caps dyed with fresh blood. This result reveals all fey traits. Redcaps speak Sylvan and Common. 17 Despite its small size, a redcap is deceptively powerful and can wield weapons that would normally be far too large for it to handle, such as a scythe. Redcaps simply ignore most minor attacks, but weapons forged of cold iron can disrupt their otherworldly defenses. Redcaps are drawn to ruined keeps and towers usually the sites of ancient atrocities. Redcaps are incredibly superstitious. For example, they distrust even numbers, so they always travel in odd-numbered groups. 22 Redcaps imbue the stones they fire from their slings with eldritch power. These stones cause unusually painful wounds and act as magic weapons. When a redcap dips its cap in the blood of a mortal it has just slain, it absorbs part of the

victims life force and permanently grows more powerful. Redcap superstition holds that running water hides spirit that may steal their souls, so they bathe only in stagnant water. 27 When a redcap is slain, its body vanishes, leaving only a pool of rapidly drying blood and a single tooth. Fey in general and redcaps in particularly are more respectful to the bearer of a redcap tooth. Redcaps fight and slaughter each other all the time, but they never dip their caps in each others blood. Doing so would prevent the feys immortal spirit from reforming, forcing it into true death. --JWM: Youngling redcap: Small Fey, CR 2, chaotic evil. Elder redcap: Small Fey, CR 7, chaotic evil. Particularly malicious, scythewielding fey that like to dye their caps by regularly dipping them in fresh blood. Although redcaps are as immortal as all fey, the recap incarnation is inherently unstable and destructive, made even more so by the steady absorption of mortal life essence. A fey can maintain a redcap incarnation for up to 150 years, although they typically destroy themselves after a much shorter period of time. They are asexual creatures that propagate by budding. A redcap buds once or twice over the course of its incarnation, carrying each bud on its back like a hump for six months before it falls off and sprouts a head and limbs. A newborn redcap may be an entirely new fey, or it may be the new incarnation of a maniacally devious fey that was previously discorporated. It must fend for itself immediately and quickly develops a ravenous and foul demeanor. It grows to full size within a year after its birth. --Young Donal stepped forward and said, "Me and mine have long had good dealings with the Fair Folk, and you are trespassing..." But as he spoke the mannikin threw back its head and laughed. "So yer the young laird, is't? Well, me lad, whatever bargain ye may have struck with the Shadies is nothin' to me, for we're not of their kind, nor bound by their laws. But I'll be glad to

see the bluid of a laird on me scythe, for it would be a fine thing to be known as Bluecap!" It whirled the scythe it held about it as it spoke, and at the last word it charged, quick as a dragonfly and agile as a cat. Ian MacTeague to Donovan MacTeague, private correspondence See also Pathfinder 4

nowhere to be seen, departed I dare say in search of other sport. -Youthful adventure of Jules Weathermay

Revenant, dread [Van Richtens Guide to the Walking Walking Dead, Dead, Pathfinder 2] 2]
JWM: Template Undead, CR +1, neutral. A walking corpse that exists solely to avenge its own death. Its gaze can paralyze those the revenant considers responsible for its death. It strangles foes to death and deals extra damage to those it considers guilty of its murder. It has numerous immunities and always knows where its killer is. The template Im using is a combination of the revenant templates found in VRGttWD and Monsters of Faern. (I don't remember exactly, but I believe this version of the revenant may incorporate a few traits found in the version of the revenant presented in Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about revenants. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge (local) check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 The fury in the eyes of this walking corpse marks it as a revenant, a murder victim driven to avenge its own death. This result reveals all undead traits. 20 Revenants retain all the skills they possessed in life, but they often choose attack with their powerful fists. If a revenant gets both of its hands on a foe, it wraps them around the foes throat and tries to strangle it to death. 25 A revenants physical attacks are particularly lethal to those responsible for its death. Even worse, a revenant can paralyze those it simply believes to be its murderers with fear merely by looking into their eyes.

Remnant [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Small Undead (Incorporeal, elemental subtype), CR 3, chaotic neutral. Previously limited to the aquatic remnant, Ive expanded this to include the airy remnant, the earthen remnant, and the fiery remnant. Minor spirits of people whose bodies were simply discarded, rather than being given a proper burial. The type of remnant created depends on how the body was abandoned. Bodies left dangling in the air (as from a noose or a gibbet) become airy remnants. Bodies simply tossed into bodies of water become aquatic remnants. Bodies unceremoniously buried or tossed in a ditch become earthen remnants. Bodies simply tossed in a fire become fiery remnants. All remnants appear as ghostly hands and faces emerging from the element from which theyve merged. A remnant can only manifest in its bonded element, and can partially draw corporeal creatures they touch into the Ethereal Plane, offering limited protection from that element (airy: feather fall; aquatic & earthen: the ability to breathe; fiery: fire reduction 5. Remnants can be persuaded to help the foes of whoever threw away their lives. If attacking, they drain Dexterity. --My flight ended with a misplaced step that sent me crashing into the water. Drowning would have been a cleaner death than that snapping at my heels, but heedless instinct forced me to surface. Only I was stopped short. A woman, beautiful, tragic, with eyeless sockets, took my head in her hands and set her mouth upon mine in a long, passionate kiss that slowly faded away. When I breached the surface my expected doom was

30 A revenants taut flesh deflects glancing blows, but magic weapons can prove effective. A revenants wounds quickly seal shut, but fiery burns take much longer to heal. A revenant is always aware of the general direction and distance of its murderer, making it a relentless tracker. 35 A revenant is so intent on vengeance that it cannot be turned or rebuked. Revenants are also immune to acid, cold, electricity, and they cannot be polymorphed. --"Thirty-five years ago to this day a man died. He was a thief. Not the best in Il Aluk, but good, and on the rise. He had his share of enemies. But he took the necessary precautions. And despite them, someone slid a blade through his heart as he slept. If any mistake at all was made in the commission of the crime, it was in affording the victim a blurred and fleeting glimpse of a yellow fabric, perhaps a scarf. The murderer still lives or, at very least, still exists. As does the murdered. The latters name is my own, Ubel Ratik. Find my killer. Afford me peace. And all that is mine is yours." -Alanik Ray offered the case of his life

lowers its head and charges its foes, lethally goring them with its horn.

RokuroRokuro-kubi [Oriental Adventures]

JWM: A creature found in Far Eastern lands like the Scattered Lotus Archipelago or Sri Raji. Distantly related to yuan-ti, rokuro-kubi are also the result of racial mixing between humanoids and serpents. However, a rokuro-kubis only serpentine feature is its long, retractable neck, which it can use to constrict foes. Otherwise passes for human. Rokuro-Kubi Lore Oriental Adventures Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about rokuro-kubi. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This strange person with the serpentine neck is a rokuro-kubi. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 17 A rokuro-kubi usually looks human, but possesses serpentine traits, and may be distantly related to nagas, yuan-ti, or hebi-no-onna. 22 A rokuro-kubis only serpentine feature is its long neck, with which it can constrict its victims. When not attacking, a rokuro-kubi can retract its flexible neck, concealing it. --And so, Tetsuro awoke the next morning, his body numb and his heart intoxicated from the passionate embrace of his newly found lover. He looked around the bedchamber of her mistress, so he could again witness the sapphire eyes that made him fall in love with her. As he found her body, he caressed her bare shoulders... But he watched in horror as her neck stretched, her auburn hair moving like waves on the sea... Tetsuro's eyes were fixed in the deep blue of the girl's iris, going up, up, until her neck was long as her slim legs. "I had yet to find a such energic person" the girl said, her head towering on him "For to love me is

RhareRhare-ceann's fhuilfhuil-cnaimh [Gaz. 1, Forlorn]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Rhinoceros [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about rhinoceroses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: The single horn on this hulking beasts nose marks it as a rhinoceros. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 19: Rhinoceroses are herbivores, but are known for their bad temper. An aggressive rhino

to embrace death" she paused and gave him a kiss "Today you will live, my love, for I am satisfied. Tomorrow, I will find another, I think" This said, she vanished in the dawning light, leaving Tetsuro to mourn the love of the monster he thought was a woman. Popular kawaidan (ghost story) from Rokushima Tayioo Blurb author note: I tried to merge the "classical" rokurokubi with the OA one. Hope you like it. JWM: So I take it the OA rokuro-kubi has been somewhat bowdlerized? I did actually get the impression that there was probably a little more to that creature in folklore. (As a fun note, some rokuro-kubi show up in the animated Hellboy movie that aired recently.) Blurb author note: Essentially, a rokurokubi is something more of a "sexual vampire", in a manner of speaking. For instance, the rokurokubi is often created from a curse, when the spirit of a dead person cannot leave its body. During the night, and during night only, his (or more commonly, her) head floats from the body, absorbing life energy from the sleepers (both human and animal. In the first case, a man she stunned with sex) and (not joking) licking dry the oli from lamps. That said... They're not evil in tradition, but more... Well, let's say amoral. And unlucky in love. Always. Like yuki-onna: sooner or later, the husband will find out their true nature.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about rusalkas. A character who recognizes a rusalkas nature can make a Bardic Knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 11 The lovely, pale damsel bathing herself in this icy lake is a rusalka. Some folk believe rusalkas are the ghosts of drowned maidens, but in fact they are spirits of nature. This result reveals all fey traits. 16 Rusalkas are lonely spirits who use their eerie songs to beguile mortals into joining them beneath the water. Rusalkas dislike physical violence, but like many nature spirits, they are capable of both kindness and cruelty. Rusalkas longing for companionship makes interacting with even the most benevolent of their kind a risky proposition for mortals who catch their eye. Rusalkas speak Aquan, Sylvan, and Common. 21 A rusalka is mystically bound to the body of water in which she resides, much as a dryad is bound to her tree. A rusalka drowns if she ventures farther than 100 paces from her body of water. 26 Rusalkas can grant mortals the ability to breathe underwater with the gift of a kiss. They may use this ability to sustain their enamored mortals, or they can refuse the gift to drown foes or victims. Some sages believe rusalkas are closely related to the enchanting spirits known as glaistigs. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 16 A rusalkas beguiling song is a sonic effect which can be countered with bardic music. --You might think that a man would be wiser than to follow a naked girl he met in the woods; but Clever Ivan was cold, and tired, and the girl was very beautiful, with hair like sunlight on the snow and eyes like a clear sky. And perhaps he was a little bewitched, for such maidens have a power

Rusalka [Frostburn]
JWM: Medium Fey (Aquatic), CR 1, chaotic neutral. Female spirits that lurk in lakes and ponds in cold regions. They are lonely and seek to beguile men into staying with them as lovers. They have a beguiling song, and can give their lovers the ability to breathe underwater. A rusalka is mystically linked to her pool and cannot leave it (like a dryad and her tree).

the minds of men, and so he followed her down to a little pool, a pool of liquid water, for it had not frozen over. Clever Ivan and the Rusalka, traditional Vos

lives nearby, about one in a hundred is born as a malenti: a sahuagin that outwardly looks just like an aquatic elf. --Should have understood something was a bit off that summer. All season, more and more fish; bigger too. Swordfish, rays, sharks; you name it, we caught it: and we caught tons of it. Then nothin. All at once, one mornin' it was like we got all it could give. Then folk started dissappearin'. First out by then reef, manless boats an that kinda' thing. Then closer. We thought maybe a rogue shark or some loon from up the coast was doing the gettin'; you know how they get up there. But i tell ya, we found out soon how wrong we was. They came in with the tide. Right up an under our noses. Musta' waited under the docks till the moon was big n' yella'. Then they slithered on out. Those scaly, green, shark-mouthed bastards! Stinking like rotten clams they came out of the sea; those devils! Us poor boys down by the docks never knew what hit us'. Thankfully i was half-loaded; sittin in a crate this time. Watchin em'cut my mates up really bad an draggin em' screamin back out to sea; back out to the depths beyond the reef made me sober up good n'quick though. And damn what a mess, lil' bit o' James here, some Curt or maybe Ed over there, never really could pick em'out. I tell ya, thankfully a downpour washed most o'the blood up that morn. Yeah i tell ya though, what you take from the sea; the sea comes right back up n'takes from you. -Ol'Salteye, mordentish drunken sailor

Rushlight [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Small Undead (Fire, Incorporeal), CR 8, chaotic evil. Naturally invisible, a ball of fire, representing the spirit of someone burned alive. Burns to the touch. --It is one of the laws of nature that one can never foresee all the consequences of one's actions. I have in mind the haunting of Kilbarrow, that village in Tepest where the Inquisition had so notable a "success", and burned seven reputed witches to death in one afternoon. The burning did not end there; after the Inquisitors had gone on their way the good people of Kilbarrow found their pets, their livestock, and finally their children burned to death, one by one, by the vengeful spirits of the murdered, until all were forced to flee. Such was the purification the Inquisition brought to Kilbarrow. private journal of Magda Lammaster, cleric of Hala

S
Sahuagin [Monster Manual]
JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Aquatic), CR 2, LE. Also known as sea devils, these scaly shark-men are a major menace beneath the waves. Beyond Ravenloft, theyre the natural enemy of aquatic elves, but the latter arent really present in the Demiplane of Dread. Their race is also known for its mutations: about one in two hundred has four arms, and if a community of aquatic elves

Salt mummy [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 8, chaotic evil. The walking corpse of a humanoid whose body was inadvertently desiccated by salt deposits after burial. Its desiccated body is encrusted with salt crystals. Its touch desiccates living creatures, but all water burns it like holy water. ---

According to Rachid, whom we met in Hazlan to be our guide in the Amber Wastes, Azmail is a very rare type of restless dead. This creature haunting the tomb of the Pharaohs son is rumoured to be created from brine, instead of oils and other body perfumes usually used. It is said it made the creature extremely resilient and powerful, and its touch devastating for anything living and water based. Well try to get more information when we get there, and Rachid also said we should remember to bring a lot of water to drink while looking for our prey. Jameld of Hroths monster hunting notes

Scarab, hoard (voir aussi aussi swarm) [Draconomicon]

JWM: Fine Vermin, CR 1/2, neutral. Eyeless golden beetles that often infest vast hordes of treasure. They can be easily mistaken for coins by the unwary. They burrow into the flesh of their victims. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about hoard scarabs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This glittering, gold coin is actually a hoard scarab, a ravenous beetle. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 15: When a hoard scarab bites a living creature, it burrow into the victims flesh, devouring it from the inside out. Hoard scarabs cannot burrow into creatures with particularly tough hides, such as dragons. These beetles are a often found swarming in large hoards of treasure. DC 20: Hoard scarabs are eyeless and cannot be blinded. They sense the vibrations of nearby movement. --"Achmed was a fool. He was always lead astray, whether it was the twinkle of a woman's eye, or the glitter of gold." "The glitter of gold, by the way, was what lead to his demise, in fact, ever since he stole a handful of coins from a dead beggar's alms bowl. Every merchant he gave one of those strange little coins to was found dead and coinless, each with gaping holes in their bodies. The townsfolk gossipped on how Achmed was turning to thievery and murder, and eventually lynched the fool." -from "The Tale of the Hungry Coins"

Salt shadow [Ravenloft Gazetteer IV]

JWM: Medium Undead (Cold), CR 7, chaotic evil. Living pools of semi-liquid salt and darkness, which originate from a pool in the Veidrava mines beneath Sithicus. Their touch can corrode flesh or sap Strength. They can also possess the living indefinitely, and can spawn new salt shadows. Due to Inzas role as darklord, salt shadows in Sithicus cannot possess Innocent folk. --"Do you know what they take from this mine, elf?" the giant asked me, its voice low and weary. "It is a salt mine," I answered. "All know it." "Do you know what they leave here?" For that I had no answer. "Cruelty breeds cruelty, death makes death, darkness cleaves to darkness, salt seasons salt," he said, making a sort of song of it. "They leave their lives and their shadows here." Flinging the stone in his hands into the cavern, he and I listened to it skip across the floor and rattle down a shaft. "Do not enter unless you wish to do likewise." Jameld of Hroth to Laurie and Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

Scarab, monstrous [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Tiny to Colossal Vermin, CR 1/4 to 11, neutral. Giant, flesh-eating scarab beetles with ravenous appetites. Generally found only in the Amber Wastes.

--"For our crime of trespass, the nomads' chieftain said we would be made pure by their god, "Khepri," whatever it was. Once judgement had been made, we were tied to a pair of stone pillars at the bottom of a boulder-filled gorge, then doused with a ceremonial... potion made from rotten fruit. Having done this, the nomads immediately fled the gorge. "A minute had passed when we noticed a carriagesized boulder started moving. Three pairs of spearlike legs unfolded from underneath the boulder. The spear-legged boulder wheeled around, revealing a shovel-shaped head. "Khepri had awoken in time for dinner." - from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

He climbed doon fra' tha' there pole and wen' and made tha rats and mice and other wee beasties go to Fincher's farm. Fincher was penniless and wen' tae Jack's pole an' cried an' cried an' cried aboot hae he was sorry faire beatin' Jack bloody. They say Jack climbed doon fra his pole again an' accept'd Fincher's apology. Then ol' Jack snapped the bastard's neck like it t'were a twig and climbed back ontae his pole. Raggedy Jack's stayed there ever since, watchin' th' farmers of the area, makin' sure they're all bein' fair. Good on him I say. -Notes from Gennifer Foxgrove-Weathermay's expedition to Tepest, collecting notes on the Fae.

Scarab swarm, death death voir Swarm Scarecrow, dread [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: CR 3 Medium Construct, neutral evil. Like grisgols, dread scarecrows are constructs animated by an undead, rather than elemental, spirit. Not terribly tough, they usually attack with farmers weapons, such as scythes. Vulnerable to fire. Their attacks curse the victim, drawing swarms of vermin to attack them. Created when a farmers spirit is trapped within a common scarecrow, by lashing a living victim inside a scarecrows frame and leaving them to die of exposure in the fields. They can be created on purpose or self animated. --Ever hear of Raggedy Jack? No? Well, lassie, he's no' a man ta mess wit'. Folks say tha' Jack MacGreggor was the best farmer tae ever live. Aye, only tha' Fincher Blackstock was his equal. An' ol' Fincher dinnae like this at a'. Folks say that Fincher beat Jack black an' blue an' tied him intae his own scarecrow. Aye, left Jack fair daied, he did. But folks say Jack clung ontae life faire fower more days before th' Reaper came for his soul. They whisper tha' Jack made a deal with th' Reaper an' got tae stay in his new body.

Scavyt [Denizens of Darkness] Darkness] Scorpion, monstrous [Monster Manual p 287]

JWM: Tiny to Colossal Vermin, CR 1/4 to 11, neutral. Giant scorpions. Generally found only in the Amber Wastes. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about monstrous scorpions. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This clawed arachnid is a monstrously oversized scorpion. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 15: Monstrous scorpions feed on creatures smaller than themselves, but they will attack anything that approaches them. They usually charge their prey. DC 20: A monstrous scorpion attacks by clutching its prey with its pincers, then quickly jabs the creature with the stinger at the end of its arching

tail. A scorpions venom can be deadly in larger doses. DC 25: Monstrous scorpions can reach truly enormous sizes. Larger scorpions have more potent venom. --The sand exploded upward, forcing us to protect our eyes, even as we struggled to draw our weapons. The scorpion, easily the size of a horse, had caught a sailor between its claws and, with a flick of its tail, drove its poisoned stinger clean through the poor fellow. As the thing wheeled in search of its next victim, Raoul called a swarm of bats down upon it. I doubt that they harmed it much, but they surely caused it near infinite irritation, its claws and stinger striking futilely at its tormentors. To escape the besieging plague, as well as the rain of our missiles, the thing raced off into the desert, at such speed that it broke free of the pursuing bats. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

the best way they know how, to sustain the kingdom of life in the desert of Death. Of course their efforts are imperfect. But that is why my place is at their side, to buttress them that there might still be a world for our children. -Unwald Rottennail, demented sentinel of the Eternal Order

Scyllan [Stormwrack] [Stormwrack]

Proposed par C Nichols pour le NS Gaz CR13

SeaSea-claimed template (or ShayShay-marked) (FoS NS Gaz) Sea cat [Monster Manual]
JWM: Large Magical Beast, CR 4, neutral. A vicious predator of the seas. Basically a sea lion with a head and webbed paws resembling those of a great cat. They hunt in shallow coastal waters. They go out of their way to attack selkies and sharks, but otherwise basically act like aquatic lions. ---

Scourged [Ravenloft Gazetteer V]

Scourged: Template Undead (modifies zombies), CR +1, neutral evil. Sand-scoured victims of the Scourge of Arak, the sandstorm that wiped out all surface life in 588 BC. Basically the same as a zombie, but once a day a scourged can breathe a flensing cone of sand. People killed by a scourgeds breath weapon rises as a new scourged. --I have often wondered whether the MarbhCathairians are just going through the motions. While my admonition that the Hour of Ascension is nigh commands their earnest attention, it fails to strike terror into their hearts. Even the blind would recognise in them a passionless lot, cut from a drab cloth, sadly afflicted with withering breath. You will see that they are surely too lost in their petty concerns to ever recover a visceral fear of the Gray Realm. But join me on the walls tomorrow at dawn and discover their hidden face. They are a good people. They do what they can,

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about sea cats. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This creature is a sea cat, a vicious aquatic predator that combines the body of a sea lion with the head and forepaws of a great cat. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 21 A sea cat cannot breathe underwater, but it can hold its breath for more than ten minutes. 26 A sea cat tries to strike its victim with both claws, then rends the creatures flesh. --No sir, I have seen big seals before, even the large ones from the frigid coasts. What attacked Humfred was something very similar, but also different. Seals are harmless. Listen, after it had dragged Humfred in the water, it looked at me in a

strange way, like when my cat is purring after it got a mouse. There was something horribly playful in its attitude, the way it jabbed on the net floaters with its fin. It circled my boats a few times then disappeared in the depths I really had the feeling it played with us, but in a deadly way. For the last time, I didnt kill Humfred - as told by Maynard, darlonese net fisherman

Sea spawn, master [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Large Aberration (Aquatic), CR 5, lawful evil. Master sea spawn are aquatic reptilian monsters that hunt by sending their eel-like, amphibious larva (sea spawn minions) onto land. The minions slip inside humanoids, taking control of them. After infiltrating society, the hive-mind spawn return to the sea, often dragging noninfected neighbors along with them, where the master waits to feed. The scenarios a little bit like an aquatic version of the movie Slither, come to think of it. --"The autopsy is proving...unusual," Dr. Rathburn said, his usually cheerful face grim. "Please follow me. I apologize, by the way; it is more than commonly grisly." I followed him into the morgue, where the victim's corpse had been laid on the metal dissection table. "Cause of death--the shovel blow from Donahue, of course. But I found this." Even someone so inexpert in anatomy as I could see immediately that the long gray eel-thing which had entwined itself around the base of the skull and the spinal column was no human organ. "Then Donahue...?" I muttered, still unbelieving. "Probably correct about everything," the doctor replied, covering the corpse again. "Veck's actions were quite possibly controlled by this parasite." "And the 'Master in the Sea' he spoke of?" I asked. "Could it have possibly really use that--thing--to control a human body?" "At this point we can assume nothing," Rathbone replied. "We had better get Donahue out of the cell...and find a way to learn who is already at the 'Master's' beck and call." Between the Tides, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean Lafolie

Sea Lion [Stormwrack [Stormwrack - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about sea lions. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This large, blubbery, seal-like creature is a sea lion, a clever sea mammal that feeds on fish. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Sea lions generally arent dangerous, but they are highly territorial and will bite those who intrude on the beaches they claim for themselves. A sea lion is protected from the cold by a layer of blubber, and can hold its breath for more than 7 minutes.

Seal [Frostburn & Stormwrack Stormwrack - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about seals. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This streamlined creature is a seal, a clever sea mammal that feeds on small fish. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Seals generally arent dangerous, but they are highly territorial and may dissuade intruders with a nasty bite. A seal is protected from the cold by a layer of blubber, and can hold its breath for at least 8 minutes. DC 20: Seals can sense the presence of shapeshifting monsters called sea stalkers, and attack them on sight.

Sea spawn, minion [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Diminutive Aberration (Aquatic, Symbiont), CR 1, lawful evil.

Sea Stalker [Gaz II] II]

JWM: For the record, if Stormwrack had been published when I started working on Gazetteer II, I wouldn't have created the sea stalker.

moon, the victim is doomed to transform into a seawolf. Unlike lycanthropy, this transformation is profound, leaving the victim permanently changed in body and spirit. In human form, seawolves tend to have dense, sleek hair and small, low-set ears. 28 If the new moon has not yet arrived, an afflicted victim can be freed from the curse with a break enchantment or remove curse spell. If the victim has already transformed into a seawolf, the seawolf that afflicted the victim must first be slain; otherwise the curative magic cannot succeed. --They capsized our longboat and tore Merwyck in pieces in the first moment. I believe they were confused by my small stature, or possibly they thought me no threat, as they did not attack me at first; I killed one, I think, with my knife, but the main work was done by Jollyn and the others with their harpoons. When we got one up onto the ice I saw it was not a shark, nor a whale, as I had first supposed, but a sort of seal-wolf, with flippers rather than feet but improbably canine in its head and upper torso. Could it have been produced by biomancy? They say the Winter Wizard rules these waters. Wanderers of the Waves, Nasran Waterwick, halfing whaler (as told to Larraby Quift, author)

Seawolf [Stormwrack]
JWM: Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger), CR 3, chaotic evil. A lycanthrope-like trickster beast. Its true form is a wolf-headed seal. Like lycanthropes, their bite spreads a dire curse that permanently transforms humans into seawolves like themselves. They usually live as pirates and scavengers. In Ravenloft, the largest seawolf community is a shantytown called Baytown, located on the northeastern coast of the Isle of Agony in Lamordia. Their rough-and-tumble shacks are constructed from driftwood and supplies stolen from wrecked or raided ships. When the Baytown raiders create a new seawolf, they imprison the unfortunate victim in an unused shack while they await the new moon. --(Ravenloft-specific info is underlined.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about seawolves. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This savage sea creature is a seawolf, a dangerous and cunning shapechanger. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the shapechanger subtype. 18 A seawolfs true form is that of a wolf-headed seal. It can also assume a human form and a hybrid form that resembles a manwolf with particularly dense, matted hair. In any form, a seawolf can hold its breath for longer than eight minutes. 23 Seawolves were once human. Their bite carries a terrible curse, not unlike lycanthropy. As the first new moon following the attack nears, an afflicted victim will feel increasingly feverish and emotionally volatile. On the night of the new

Secret Watcher [Book of Exalted Deeds]

JWM: I don't actually have the Sacred Watcher in my collection (since it's just a deathless ghost), but I'll save your blurb and include it in the compilation. "Will you serve?" "I will serve" "Will you obey?" "I will obey" "Will you uphold the will of Ezra?" "The will of Ezra is mine" "Shall Ezra, then, bless you" In the secret catacombs under Ste-Mere-desLarmes, Warden Armand Pineau looked intently at the holy warrior crouching at his feet. He whispered an incantation, and felt the Holy Ghost of Ezra descend upon the man. He reached for a

knife, and silently slit the man's throat. Blood spilled upon the holy icon at his feet. The eyes of the man were filled with happiness and wholeness. Then Pineau watched dispassionately as the spirit of the man, a skeletal ghost clad in chainmail, lifted from the corpse. "Shall your life forever be in service of Our Lady in the Mists" said the Anchorite. The ghost was immediately joined by three others, who greeted him with camaraderie and joy, and disappeared in the walls of the cave complex. Closing the trap door in the St-Mere's floor, the Warden smiled, covering his head with a cowl. The secrets of Ezra had now a new protector.

Selkie, dread [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Medium Humanoid (Aquatic, Shapechanger), CR 1, N. These shapechangers are seals at sea, humans on land. They change shape by removing their sealskin, and can only change shape in between the land and the sea namely, in the surf. Theyre curious about the land and its people, but ultimately tied to the sea. Many coastal folk (such as the Mordentish) tell tales of fishermen who espied beautiful selkies and stole their sealskins, forcing them into marriage. If a selkie ever finds its sealskin, it immediately returns to the sea, abandoning any life it may have had on land. The children of humans and selkies are entirely human, though they two have a deep longing for the sea and often become noted seafarers. Selkies often bear mithril weapons, but where they get them is a mystery. Selkies are often mistaken for similar monsters such as seawolves or were-sea cats. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about selkies. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result 13 This peculiar seal is actually a selkie, a reclusive shapechanger that sheds its skin to take human form. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the aquatic and shapechanger subtypes. 18 A selkie is a seal at sea, and a human on land. It has the power to change shape only at the border between them, such as a sandy beach. 23 Selkies often carry mithril weapons to defend themselves. No landlubber knows where the selkies get these precious items. Selkies are not warlike or violent by nature, but face dangerous foes in their home waters. This includes sea cats, which all selkies despise. 28 A selkie is curious about land dwellers, but ultimately drawn to the sea. A selkie must have its sealskin to assume seal form, and it cannot replace its sealskin once lost. If a human finds a selkies sealskin and hides it well enough, that person may be able to force the selkie to do his or her bidding for as long as he has it even in the form of marriage. Such forced marriages often come to tragic ends, however. 33 The child of a human and a selkie is entirely human, but usually inherits its selkie parents deep longing for the sea. Such folk often become talented fishermen or sailors. --He hid that seal's hide, and the selkie became his bride and then the mother of his children; brighteyed, smooth-skinned, dark-haired, and they could swim like fish--or seals, or their own fair mother. But she never smiled. Came one day when he returned home from the sea, his little skiff full of fish, and found his home burned to ashes, his wife gone, and his children hewn in pieces. Ah, how he beat his breast and cried for woe! But when he searched among the ruins, he saw the mantle-stone lifted, and the selkie's skin gone. Then he knew that she had born her slavery in silence for many a long year, 'til her seal-skin had once again come into her hands; then she had taken her vengeance, and returned to the sea. The Selkie, traditional Mordentish

Seryulin [Monster Manual III]

Proposed par C Nichols pour le NS Gaz; for Sahuagins; CR 7

Serpentir [MM5 [MM5] M5] Serval see cat, serval Shadow [Monster Manual]
JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 3, chaotic evil. Undead spirits spawned by the Plane of Shadow. Their touch drains Strength and spawns more shadows. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about shadows. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This mobile shadow is an undead spirit strongly tied to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 18 Shadows despise light and life. They lurk in dark places, waiting for victims to wander by. A shadow is easily spotted in brightly lit areas, but effortlessly blends into the shadows in their dimly lit lairs. 23 A shadows touch carries the numbing chill of nonexistence, sapping the strength from living creatures. The souls of victims slain by a shadows touch rise as new shadows themselves just a few moments later, with no memory of their former existence. 28 Although common undead shadows are dangerous enough, far more powerful varieties have also been encountered. --In my youth, in times of boredom or nervousness, I developed a minor habit or tick of counting things. I cannot say I find it soothing exactly, but try as I might to quiet the numbers in my head, they come unbidden. I never imagined this compulsion would save my life. As the single light

source of my glowing orb cast our shadows in sharp detail on the floor of the ancient tomb, my eyes flicked across the group. One... two... three... four of us. One... two... three... four... five shadows. That was how I took the thing by surprise, casting flame upon it before the rest of you knew it was there. Knowing what we now do of these creatures, and remembering the sorry state we were in, if it had surprised us instead, I daresay we'd have joined its ranks that day. - Unused interview of Antayla the mage for Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts See also Dragon #336

Shadow asp [Fiend Folio/Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Tiny Magical Beast (Extraplanar), CR 1, neutral. Serpents from the Plane of Shadow, sometimes summoned to act as guardians for ancient tombs in the Amber Wastes. They are destroyed by daylight, but their venom transforms living victims into undead shadows. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow asps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This ebon cobra is a shadow asp. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 18 Shadow asps are native to the Plane of Shadow, but are often summoned to the material world to act as guardians. This result reveals the extraplanar subtype. 23 A shadow asp can partially merge with the shadows. This result reveals the incorporeal subtype. However, it can be instantly slain by exposure to any light as bright as daylight. 28 A shadow asps venom saps a victims strength and slowly converts its flesh into shadowstuff, transforming the victim into an undead shadow. ---

Thirst. Avarice. Lust for power. They were the whip that our impromptu guide wielded dexterously in driving us to a destination of his choosing. We reached the Tomb of Ankhtepot at sunset and the disturbing baying which had punctuated our approach fell silent, pleasing greatly the fellow, as though confirming some secret calculation. Awe alone - inspired by the magnificent structure and its soaring statues slowed our passage from the world above to that below. A great temple emerged from the darkness, then a greater one still, dominated by a colossal statue, that of the deceased pharaoh himself. Avarice overcame thirst and good sense, for rather than pausing there, to seek out the rumored well, we rushed onward, our company scrambling up a wide, steep staircase. Whereupon the first of six horrors befell us. Countless cobras, hooded and black as night, materialized in our midst, seemingly from the very shadows. Four crewmen and our guide did not quit that staircase, at least not alive, they being poisoned and trampled to death. And the second horror was already upon us. As we stumbled back to safety, our skin, beginning at the point or points where we had been bitten, was turning the inky black of the snakes. The surviving crewmen wailed that it was the mark of death and indeed we all thought as much, but it was not so, for a majority of us lived and for the rest it was worse. Some collapsed utterly, their bodies dissipating into mere shadow. Others, and this was the third horror, joined their fallen brothers from the staircase as living, or rather unliving, shadows bent upon our perdition. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow mastiffs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This ebon hound is a shadow mastiff, a creature native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals all outsider traits. 20 Shadow hounds snap at foes with their powerful jaws. When they bite an opponent, they try to twist the creature to the ground. 25 Shadow mastiffs possess an eerie cunning, and they can slip into the shadows, disappearing from view. Bright lights, such as daylight, can reveal the mastiffs presence. 30 A shadow mastiffs howl is positively terrifying to most creatures other than most fiends --Your bastard son has acquired a trio of mastiffs as black as night. Their baying suffices, in the absence of a steeling bard, to break our human ranks. In a fight they attack from the shadows and have each others back. If they could be cornered, we Narrulve would rip them to shreds. But they are not mere dogs. They are preternaturally intelligent, masters of our own guerrilla tactics, and disappear into the slightest shadow. And we alone labour under the burden of discretion. -Matton Blanchard reporting to Gabriel Aderre

Shadow spider [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Huge Magical Beast (Extraplanar), CR 12, neutral. A massive, shadowy spider native to the Plane of Shadow. It has a paralytic venomous bite, and its black silk is extremely slippery. It can shadow walk at will. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about shadow spiders. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Shadow Fiend [voir Demon, Shadow] Shadow mastiff [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Outsider (Extraplanar), CR 5, neutral evil. Black hounds native to the Plane of Shadow. They can panic creatures with their baying howls and blend with shadows. Semiintelligent. ---

DC Result 17 This huge, shadowy arachnid is a shadow spider. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 22 Shadow spiders are native to the Plane of Shadow. This result reveals the extraplanar subtype. 27 A shadow spiders venom paralyzes its prey, and its black webbing is as slick as a grease spell. 32 A shadow spider can shift back and forth between the material world and the Plane of Shadow at will.

time later, after the wreckage was noticed by a passing traveler." - Notes by Constable Sturm Androv on a coach robbery outside Kantora

Shambling mound, dread (mandragora) [Monster Manual]

JWM: Shambling Mound, Dread (Mandragora): Large Plant, CR 6, neutral. A hulking, vaguely humanoid mass of vegetation. Unharmed by electricity; in fact, it strengthens them. They crush their foes. In the Boglands of Darkon, the twisted skein of life has produced spuma vita, a form of pond scum overwhelmingly flooded with positive energy. A creature that consumes spuma vita gains fast healing 1 for 24 hours, but if it dies while the scum is still active in its system, the algae merges with the residue of the creatures life force. Over the course of weeks or months, the pond scum absorbs the corpse, growing into its rough shape. When the process is complete, the now-digested corpse rises as a shambling mound of the same or similar size category as the dead creature. To determine a mandragoras Intelligence score, reduce the dead creatures Intelligence by 2d4 points. If this results in a score below 1, the shambler has no () Intelligence score. The creature also loses a percentage of its living memories equal to the above dice result 10%. A shambler retains none of the special abilities of the original creature. Mandragorae resemble the creatures they absorbed in only the vaguest of terms. A shambler arising from a humanoids corpse has a generally humanoid form, with a barrel-shaped body, ropy arms, stumpy legs, and at most a spongy lump where its head should be. A shamblers brain and sensory organs are located in its upper body. A shambler is almost totally silent and invisible in its natural surroundings, often catching opponents flat-footed. It may lie partially submerged in a shallow bog, waiting patiently for some creature to walk onto it. Shamblers move easily through water as well, and they have been known to sneak into the camps of unsuspecting

ShadowShadow-walker [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Template, CR +1. Shadow-walkers are people who have performed a rite or entered a pact that exchanges some of their life force for shadowstuff. From this bond, they gain powers related to shadow and darkness that grow with the shadow-walker's character level, though they can not use these powers in bright light. Shadowwalkers gain darkvision, but are blinded for a round by bright light. A shadow-walker's shadow always stands out crisp and dark, no matter how dim the lighting. In the Forgotten Realms, shadow-walkers are given their powers by the god Mask, but in Ravenloft the powers of shadow-walkers are granted through pacts with evil spirits and dark forces, possibly even the Dark Powers themselves. Most shadow-walkers are rogues, and are often members of criminal syndicates and thieves guilds, such as the Buried Circle or the criminals employed by Malken. --"According to the coachman, who was thrown clear of the wreck, the robber's face was obscured by a cloud of darkness. He threw blobs of shadows at the horses, forcing the coach off the road, and then unnatural darkness descended. The coachman heard the screams of the passengers as the bandit struck them down, but could not aid them as his leg had been broken in the fall. Shortly thereafter, the robber strode out of the darkness, walked into the shadows behind a nearby boulder, and did not return. The coachman was not found until some

travelers at night. In a few rare and infamous cases, shamblers have been reported that retained enough scraps of their living memory to act on them, often crudely attempting to complete unfinished tasks important to the digested creature at the time of its death such as seeking vengeance. --from WotC know your enemy These mobile, voracious compost heaps can be found in the deepest forests and tagging along with druids, rangers, and other outdoorsy types. Knowledge (Nature) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about shambling mounds. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This animated mound of vegetation is a shambling mound. This result reveals all plant traits. 23 Shambling mounds are immune to electricity and resistant to fire. They are virtually silent and invisible in their natural environment. 28 Shambling mounds become incredibly active during powerful thunderstorms and can survive direct strikes from lightning. ---Your highness, the lost cast of the Ballet National du Dementlieu, its fate, learned I have, I think, stammered my new Master of Ceremonies. -"By the Vulchar, how delicious, do tell," I answered with feigned indifference. -The elf continued with little more composure, After its command performance, that is to say its commanded performance, I mean its shambles of a command, commanded performance, it some how took a horribly wrong turn and got itself into the Bog Lands, where - I cant say or imagine how the members have become, well, mounds of plant matter in want of firm roots."

-Dryly I remarked, "How unfortunate," then asked sternly, "Are you certain?" -He screwed up his scant courage and dared look me in the eye socket as he replied: "It is them lord, for the things, or at least the most lucid of them, were performing, albeit silently, Vacheqs Raven Field with the same improvisations that had so utterly incensed, that had so rightly, utterly incensed, your august person. -Whereupon I permitted myself the thought of the thinnest of smiles and said flatly: "Inform the ambassador of their location but not of their condition." Lord of Necropolis, a forged and calumnious autobiographical parody of the life of Azalin Rex

Shattered brethren (psionic Bluetspur broken ones) Shark [Monster Manual - animal]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about sharks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This large, sleek fish is a shark, a dangerous predator with a mouth full of razorsharp teeth. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Sharks have exceptionally acute senses underwater. They are drawn to vibrations, and can be drawn to the scent of blood from up to a mile away. DC 21: Smaller sharks generally arent dangerous to most creatures, but some species can grow up to 20 feet in length and are prone to make unprovoked attacks against anything that disturbs them.

Sheet Phantom (dragon 276)

Submitted by JP

Shipbane Shipbane (FoS Nocturnal Sea report) Silver fox (elven fox) [Ravenloft Gazetteer I p 126] 126]
JWM: Small Magical Beast, CR 1/2, neutral. A swift, clever, silver-furred fox native to elven forests, such as eastern Darkon and Sithicus. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about silver foxes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This vulpine animal is a silver fox, a creature commonly associated with elven woodlands. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 15 Silver foxes are extremely fleet of foot and exceptionally difficult to track. 20 Silver fox pelts can attract high prices in some markets, though elves wont buy them. 25 Elf mages sometimes seek out silver foxes for use as familiars --The elf-fox, or silver fox (Vulpus argentine) is not widely hunted, although its pelt is gorgeously ornamental; the more primitive among the elves of Sithicus are said to believe they are ancestral spirits, while the woodsmen of Kartakass and Valachan (though they agree on little else) both say that a hunter taking such a skin often simply disappears into the Mists. Because of this belief, and their coloring, the Valachani also sometimes refer to them as mist-foxes. Harralds Bestiary, published in Il Aluk, 693

useful spell-like abilities. Primarily included for the Lady of the Lake. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about sirines. A character who recnoginizes a sirines nature can make a bardic knowledge check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 15 This lovely, green-tinged woman is a sirine, a gregarious fey spirit that spends most of her time beneath the waves. This result reveals all fey traits and the aquatic subtype. 20 Sirines enjoy entertaining outgoing strangers with songs and dance, but they do not seek longterm companionship with mortals. Sirines sometimes offer small parting gifts to mortals they consider particularly charming. Sirines are not powerful combatants, but are talented at distracting or escaping foes. A sirine can charm mortals with her songs, and she can dull the wits of any mortal who offends her with just a tap of her finger. A sirine ignores glancing blows, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce her defenses. 25 A sirine is surrounded by a magical, invisible aura that helps deflect attacks. With another touch, a sirine can restore the wits of any mortal whose mind she or any other sirine sapped. 30 Once per day, a sirine can use fog cloud and improved invisibility as spell-like abilities. She can also polymorph herself once a day, A sirine can commune with natural animals, just like the wild empathy of a druid. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 20 A sirines charming song is a sonic effect which can be countered with bardic music. ---

Sirine [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Medium Fey (Aquatic), CR 5, chaotic neutral. Playful female fey that live beneath the waves. They sometimes enjoy companionship, for a time. Not terribly fearsome in a fight, but they can charm people with their song, sap (or restore) Intelligence with their touch, and they have a few

We came at last to the standing stone, engraved with strange inscriptions, where Doneth had arranged to meet us; the morning mist hung over the water, and the waters of the lake were dark and chill in the autumn dawn. As we stood we heard a snatch of song echoing over the water, seeming to come from the broken castle on its island, only just visible through the fog. It was heartbreakingly beautiful, and yet I seemed to hear the clash of swords, the screams of dying men, and the sobbing of a widow bereft in each note. How she must hate us, Harespex muttered. Bertram Mac Laren, Sixty Nights in Tepest

DC 19: A skeletal warbeast often charges foes, dealing horrendous damage with its horns when it does so. Glancing blows skitter off a warbeasts skeletal frame; the best way to destroy it is to smash it to pieces with bludgeoning weapons. Unlike mere skeletons, these warbeasts possess much of the cunning and prowess they had in life. DC 24: Because it lacks soft tissues, a skeletal warbeast is immune to cold. Through the unearthly forces empowering it, a skeletal warbeast leaves no tracks of any kind. Knowledge (arcana) DC 14: A spellcaster of at least 12th level can create a skeletal warbeast with create undead, the skeleton of a warhorse, the skull of an oryx, and a black onyx gem worth at least 400 gp. --"And lo! A great horse with a rider came bursting through the woods!" "Well, it looked like a horse: it had these big swords stuck to its head." "They were horns, but they cut like swords! And the beast had a saddle and jewels and gold all over it, matched the rider's armor." "After it tore up the marketplace and set the chapel on fire, the fiends leapt into the forest." "What did the rider look like?" "Hard to say... He was dressed up in old dusty armor." "And neither of'em had any flesh... When they leapt into the forest, the rider turned his head around-" "Like an owl!" "And he screamed "Help me!" at us." -From the notes of Rudolph Van Richten, concerning the "Horned Fiend of Rivalis"

Skarphove [Gaz. 5, Nova Vaasa]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Skeletal Dread Companion (CoD) Skeletal Guardian (VRGttWD WE) Skeletal warbeast [Heroes of Battle p 156] 156]
JWM: Large Undead, CR 4, neutral evil. Created by necromancers, these war steeds have the skeletal bodies of warhorses attached to an oryx (a type of antelope) skull. In Ravenloft, skeletal warbeasts first appeared in the Burning Peaks, created to serve the cavalry in the undead armies of Cavitius. The secrets of their creation may have since spread along with Vecnas surviving cultists. They have a powerful charge and can pass without trace. --(Note that the Knowledge [arcana] info is just my interpretation, rather than canon.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about skeletal warbeasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC 14: This fleshless, horned steed is a skeletal warbeast, created by necromancers to serve as mounts in their undead armies. This result reveals all undead traits.

Skeleton [Monster Manual]

JWM: Template Undead, CR varies, neutral evil. Standard, mindless walkin bones. Includes several variants. ---

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures skeletal nature. They may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. Characters who recognize a skeletons nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 10 These walking bones are nothing more than the undead skeleton of a once-living creature, given independent life through foul magic. This result reveals all undead traits. 15 Skeletons are mindless undead that retain almost none of the knowledge or abilities they possessed in life. 20 Because a skeleton lacks soft tissues, it ignores exposure to cold, and most minor weapon strikes simply clatter off its dry bones. The most effective means of destroying skeletons is to simply smash them to pieces with bludgeoning weapons. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 13 Skeletons can be created with a basic animate dead spell. They are often found in the service of necromancers or other masters of the undead. --Have you seen the ghost of John? Snow white bones and rest all gone... Oooh! Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on? Traditional

See also: Animal Skeleton "New Monsters For Low Levels" Len Lakofka Dragon#66(57) D&D1 See Pathfinder Classic Horror revisited

Skeleton, archer (VRGttWD WE) Skeleton, Skeleton, pyroskeleton [Denizens of Dread] Skeleton, warlock (VRGttWD WE) Skin kite [Libris Mortis]
JWM: Small Undead, CR 3, neutral evil. A flying flap of tattered skin that melds with living creatures, then feeds on their skin, spawning more skin kites. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about skin kites. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: This ragged, writhing flap of skin is a skin kite, a necromantic creation driven by its hunger for living skin. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 18: Skin kites attack living creatures by wrapping its tattered flaps around the victims body and melding itself to their skin. An attached skin kite can be removed, but not without effort. DC 23: While attached to a living creature, a skin kite gradually absorbs the creatures skin. Fortunately, skin kites usually sate their hunger and detach before killing its victim, but these creatures suffer terrible scarring. DC 28: Whenever a skin kite absorbs enough skin, it rerreats to a hidden lair, where it takes a few moments to spawn a new skin kite. ---

" They tore free of the bodies! The bloody bones...leering skulls all around us! No sound, no scream, no laughter! They came after us...ever after us...ever after us...knowing we would rest and they wouldn't...hunting, hunting, their bones clicking...clicking...clicking...until we would be like them! Forever bearing the death-grin..." -Ramblings of a veteran of the Dead Man's Campaign

The great spinning pin wheel of beautiful young women, breathtakingly dressed, and of richly endowed men, decadently clad, flew apart as shrieks shattered the ballrooms decorum. No, not yet another case of thankless and spiteful Borcan servants poisoning the punch. A fetching beauty, well attired in our latest fashion, but of entirely suspect nobility, her nouveau riche family owning a scrap of land outside of Ilvin, was making a perfect spectacle of herself, her arms flapping about hysterically, somehow reminiscent of a wounded duck. Granted, not without reason. For the most hideous hunk of skin you could ever imagine, which would have looked out of place even on a Vistani crone or a caliban, hung between her neck and her bosom like half sheered wool. Ivana would not have invited her to Misericordia, let alone let her in, looking like that, so evidently something unspeakable had just befallen the poor thing. The devilishly handsome, if somewhat unimaginatively clothed, Peter Mournesworth of Mordent, who is beginning to carve out for himself quite a reputation as an incorruptible force for truth and justice on both sides of the Musarde, stepped boldly forth, offered a brief, dignified apology to the strickened whelp for what he was about to do, then seized most shockingly and most violently that piece of flesh and tore it free. As with one arm he caught the swooning, bloodied girl, who he passed foolishly into the ever lecherous hands of Ivan Dilisnya, with the other he fought to hold and to fend off a thing that struggled with all the savagery of a landlocked sea devil, at last pinning it under his boot and cutting it to ribbons with his very long sword. -Extract from the society pages of Port-a-Lucine

makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 The shaggy hide and wicked claws revealed beneath this strangers shredded skin reveals its true nature as a skin thief, a debased shapechanger. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the shapechanger subtype. 17 Skin thieves have eight gnarled fingers on each hand, each one ending in a long, razor-sharp talon. A skin thief can use its claws to quickly skin a helpless victim. It then slips inside and alters its shape to fill the skin perfectly, allowing the monster to pose as its victim. 22 A skin thief gains none of the knowledge or abilities of the victims whose skin it wears. Creatures with sharp senses can identify a given skin thief by scent, regardless of its current disguise. A skin thiefs bite injects a mildly paralytic poison. 27 Unlike doppelgangers and similar shapechangers, skin thieves seldom attempt to assume the roles of specific individuals or infiltrate society. Instead, they keep to their own barbaric clans, using their human appearance to lure new victims into their clutches. Skin thieves often wear shiny trinkets and trophies made from past victims, further betraying their true identities. ---I asked with a shiver: What sort of man skins another alive? -Vail replied: A torturer, a mad man of science, or no man at all. -Uneasily, I asked: A Fey? -Vail, as he reexamined the half-eaten remains, answered absently: Something highly dexterous and reasonably intelligent, that can tie knots. There are stories of certain Fey fraying men alive, but none to my knowledge of the victims being eaten alive too. The same is generally true of sadists and crazed doctors. Also there is the fact that the killer, to string up the victim like this, must have above average strength.

Skin thief [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger), CR 2, chaotic evil. Vicious, shaggy, vaguely ursine humanoids with clawed, eight-fingered hands. They can flay their dead victims, then wear their skin, disguising themselves as normal Medium humanoids. Think Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Hills Have Eyes. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about skin thieves. When a character

-Vail drew my attention to the raw meat of the neck and I whispered: Teeth marks. -He added: Not at all human, indeed almost ursine, and perhaps bearing poison, notice the slight discolouration. Further, the half dozen black hairs clinging to the raw flesh are not human either. -I summarised: We are looking for a man-eating beast, black haired, strong, dexterous, preternaturally intelligent. -Vail responded: While that is true, I doubt very much that a single witness will have seen the creature that you describe. What is missing from our crime scene? I observed perplexedly: His clothes. What would a beast want with his clothes? Triumphantly, Vail cried: Not just his clothes! His skin, Colonel his skin! And why would a bestial thief take a mans clothes and his skin? The Skin Thief, Colonel Oliver Pendleton

necrotic cyst is slightly resistant to turning. Necrotic cysts still understand the languages they knew in life. DC 24: Once a necrotic cyst lashes itself to a living creature, it drains blood. Fortunately, these cysts usually sate their hunger and retreat before the victim dies from blood loss. A necrotic cysts oozing body is slightly resistant to fire. DC 29: Before a necrotic cyst detaches itself from its prey, it uses its necrotic cyst spell-like ability on the victim. It can only do this once a day, but it can use darkness several times a day to aid its stealth tactics. Knowledge (arcana) DC 12: Necrotic cysts are created as a result of the necrotic cyst spell. --Fortunately, a ship was leaving port and its captain was greedy for our gold. Soon the accursed town of Nevuchar Springs was but a speck on the horizon. We had survived the trials of the last month. We had escaped, with our minds and bodies intact, the anarchy of my decapitated homeland. Gregor, our indomitable cleric, was not, however, looking so well, indeed was an unhealthy shade of green, and retired to our cabin. A few minutes later a sailor screamed for the captain. We were led below deck. Our friend was lying on his back. His head, which rested at a distance of a few feet, appeared to have been torn from his body. I unbuckled his armour. Where his neck, rib cage, heart and lungs, stomach and intestines should have been a hole gaped. Eleanor drew our attention to the floor. A trail, traced in blood and gore, led from the body, passed the head, and down the passageway. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

Skogsra [Gaz. 4, Valachan]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Skulking Skulking cyst [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Small Undead, CR 4, chaotic evil. A roiling mass of internal organs and tumors, created by the necrotic cyst spell. It attaches itself to living victims and drains their blood. Can also create magical darkness and create new necrotic cysts. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about skulking cysts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC 14: This repulsive, heaving sac of viscera and organs is a necrotic cyst, the creation of foul necromantic magic. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 19: A necrotic cyst is surprisingly intelligent and stealthy. It attacks with its intestines whipping, often lashing itself to its victim. A

Skull beetle [Tower of Doom, Book of Sacrifices]

JWM: Fine Vermin, CR 1, neutral. A stupidly aggressive beetle with an incredibly toxic bite. In

the worst case scenario, its venom dissolves all flesh in the victim, leaving nothing but the eyes. Can also spray acid. --"She had the most beautiful eyes. I could stare into their blue depths for hours. And so I did. For that was all that remained of her after that damn bug." -Distraught resident of Nartok

supernatural disease called pale wasting with its bite. 22 A slaymate emits an invisible aura to a range of a few paces. Within this aura, spellcasters find it easier to prepare or use necromantic magic. For this reason, slaymates are almost always encountered in the presence of necromancers, who may even wear the little horrors on their backs. ---

Skull Skull Ripper [Pathfinder 3] 3]

Sort of scorpion-like construct, that collects skulls

Skum [Monster Manual]

Proposed par C Nichols pour le NS Gaz; created by Aboleth

-Trina nearly squealed: Count von Zarovich, lord of Barovia, ancient as the land itself, the very devil incarnate, has a rag doll! And she dared continue, Do you take her to your bed, to keep you warm, to hold at bay the terrors of the day? -Strahd turned, fixed upon her a withering gaze, and replied levelly, even as the walls shook with the first retort of a thunderstorm, Dog, you have no idea. Journal of Jander Sunstar

Slain (Gaz II) Ghoul, Shadow, skeleton, wight, zombie Slaymate [Libris Mortis]
JWM: Small Undead, CR 2, lawful evil. The animated corpse of a child who died due to the malice or neglect of a parent or guardian. They have a diseased bite, but they arent very fierce in combat. However, their invisible aura empowers necromantic spells, so necromancers sometimes wear one of these creatures for the power boost. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about slaymates. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This discomfortingly pale child is an undead creature known to some as a slaymate. This result reveals all undead traits. They speak the language they knew when alive, usually Common. 17 Slaymates are created when children die due to the malice or neglect of their guardian. A slaymates rot-infested mouth delivers a deadly,

Smoke Haunt [Pathfinder Pathfinder 3] 3]

Fire spirit

Snake [Monster Manual - animal]

Constrictor : 2 (Giant : 5) Viper : 1/3, , 1, 2, 3 Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about snakes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This slithering, scaly serpent is one of many varieties of dangerous snakes. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Dangerous snakes are divided into two general categories. Vipers kill their prey with their venomous fangs. Constrictors are nonpoisonous; they strike with their jaws to seize their prey, then wrap their coils around its torso, slowly suffocating it. Once snakes make a kill, they swallow their prey whole. Although rare, some species of both constrictors and vipers can grow to enormous sizes. Some snakes have adapted to

aquatic environments, and can hold their breath for minutes at a time. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt vipers for use as familiars. Such mages tend to be particularly sly.

subtype. 24 Soul krakens often attack during sudden storms. They can reach onboard a ship to snatch up sailors with their long tentacles, pulling them down into the water to drown or be devoured. Soul krakens devour both the flesh and the spirits of their victims. They sink ships to use as their lairs. 29 If a soul kraken gets its clutches on a helpless sailor, it can rip the hapless victims head off with one violent motion. A soul kraken may retreat if its foes manage to sever several of its tentacles. A retreating soul kraken can propel itself through the water at high speeds and mask its escape with a cloud of black ink. 34 Soul krakens are highly intelligent and can see, hear, and even speak through the rotting heads mounted on the tips of their tentacles. Beware a soul kraken with skulls on the end of its tentacles the beast will want fresher replacements. 39 Its no coincidence that soul krakens attack during storms. They can control the winds and waves, often driving ships onto rocky shoals just before launching a sudden attack. (Fun fact: In 2E, the soul kraken turns out to be one of many, many Ravenloft monsters -- such as pyre elementals and evil treants -- that are mechanically identical to the common MM versions, once you actually compare stats. My 3E update is a CR 9 Huge magical beast, based on the MM kraken, with a few new abilities.) --Unfathomed depths the dark sea holds, Wandered far by mariners bold; Unknown creatures there abide, Things which never see the light... The sea-witch cast her awful spell To bring a servant up from Hell, Its ten arms raised to do her will, Its snapping beak those men to kill. It seized upon that doughty ship Its hull to maim, its rigging strip, And every tar aboard did know The sea-witch aimed to bring them low, Down beneath the ocean wave, Their blood to slake her kraken slave!

Snake, Snake, sea [Stormwrack p 170] 170]

Proposed par C Nichols pour le NS Gaz

Soul kraken [Neither Man Nor Beast]

JWM: Huge Magical Beast (Aquatic), CR 9, NE (and the elder soul kraken, Gargantuan Magical Beast, CR 12, NE). A smaller version of the MM kraken. Less physical power, cant charm creatures, and doesnt care about ruling deep-sea kingdoms. Instead, these smaller kin dwell in shallow waters, usually near reefs or shoals. They sink ships to use as lairs, surrounding themselves with sunken treasures. Soul krakens can mount creatures heads on the tips of their tentacles. They can work these heads like puppets even see through their eyes and use them to speak which has fooled many sailors into thinking these creatures devour their victims souls. Soul krakens use their head-mounted tentacles like long serpents to reach inside foundering ships and snatch up hiding crewmen. The elder soul kraken is as powerful as the MM kraken. This creature is inspired by an encounter in Neither Man Nor Beast, although the soul kraken there is actually just a regular AD&D kraken with a fresh coat of paint. --Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about soul krakens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This massive squid-like creature is a soul kraken, a distant relative of the true kraken easily distinguished by the skulls and rotting heads skewered onto the end of its tentacles. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the aquatic

Ballad of the Stormrunner, traditional Darkonese --JWMangrum : Here's the Soul Kraken conversion I wrote up for myself some time back; do with it what you will. As a note, when the soul kraken appeared in Neither Man Nor Beast it was, mechanically, just a normal Monster Manual kraken with a minor cosmetic change. I expressed that cosmetic change in actual game mechanics for the 3E version. Oh -- apologies for the non-standard stat block below. All the needed info is there, however. Soul Kraken Usually NE Huge Magical Beast (Aquatic) Initiative: +4 Speed: Swim 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +19, Spot +19 Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (50 ft. with tentacle, 20 ft. with arm) Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+28 Attack: Tentacle rake +18 melee (2d6+8/1920) Full Attack: 2 tentacle rakes +18 melee (2d6+8/1920) and 6 arm rakes +13 melee (1d4+4) and bite +13 melee (2d8+4) Attack Options: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip Special Attacks: Head snatch, improved grab, constrict 2d6+8 or 1d4+4, soul puppets Hit Dice: 12d10+84 Hit Points: 139 Armor Class: 18, touch 8, flat-footed 18 (2 size, +10 natural) Saves: Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +8 Special Qualities: Ink cloud, jet, spell-like abilities Abilities: Str 26, Dex 10, Con 25, Int 20, Wis 19, Cha 20 Skills: Concentration +16, Hide +0, Search +19, Survival +6 (+8 to follow tracks, avoid getting lost, or avoid hazards), Swim +16, Use Magic Device +14 Knowledge: Geography +14, Nature +13 Social: Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +14, Sense Motive +13

Languages: Aquan, dead mans tales (see text) Outcast Rating: 10 (+4 size, +3 appearance, +2 reputation, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip Environment: Temperate and warm aquatic (Sea of Sorrows) Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: Triple standard Advancement: 1319 HD (Huge); 2032 HD (Gargantuan); 3360 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: Soul krakens are aggressive and cruel behemoths distantly related to the true krakens of other worlds. They are as cruel and cunning as true krakens, but they adapted to existence in the merciless seas of the Demiplane of Dread. Soul krakens are smaller than true krakens, but no less dangerous or malevolent. Soul krakens are most active at dusk and dawn. During the daylight hours, they tend to slumber inside their lairs, waiting for the daylight to fade. While true krakens lurk in the abyssal ocean depths, soul krakens roam relatively shallow waters, often lingering near coral reefs or rocky outcroppings. They make their lairs inside shipwrecksoften those of their own making. Soul krakens often drive ships onto jutting rocks, then devour their crews. Once a soul kraken has destroyed all resistance, it smashes a hole in the ships hull, drags the ship to the seabed, and slips inside to surround itself with its sunken treasures. The hunting grounds of soul krakens often acquire an accursed reputation among the regions seafolk: a place where ships vanish without trace. Fortunately, soul krakens are solitary beasts with no use for others of their own kind or the humanoid slaves favored by their true kraken kin. A soul kraken resembles a massive, monstrous squid. Its clammy flesh is a pale, bluish gray, with a black beak and silvery eyes. Six of the beasts tentacles are shorter arms about 30 feet long; the remaining two are nearly sixty feet long and covered with barbs. Its beaklike mouth is located

where the tentacles meet the lower portion of its body. A soul krakens most disturbing trait is its habit of ripping the heads off humanoid victims and skewering them on the tips of its writhing limbs. A soul kraken can manipulate these heads like puppets and, so long as flesh clings to their skulls, can scry through their senses and even gain limited access to the corpses memories. A soul kraken extends its skull-tipped limbs into crippled ships to track down any victims attempting to hide. Sailors who dare speak of soul krakens claim that they eat not just mens flesh but their very soulsthus the name. Soul krakens understand Aquan, though they cannot communicate by any means humanoids can understand. Through their dead mans tales ability, they can also communicate through their soul puppets, gaining the ability to understand and speak any language known to a fresh severed heads former ownerusually one or more domain tongues of nearby coastal regions. Combat Soul krakens strike their opponents with their barbed tentacles, then grab and crush victims with their arms or drag them into their huge jaws. If opponents take cover, the soul kraken uses the severed heads mounted on the ends of its limbs to seek out or taunt hiding prey. An opponent can make sunder attempts against a soul krakens tentacles or arms as if they were weapons. A soul krakens tentacles have 20 hit points, as its arms have 10 hit points. If a soul kraken is currently grappling a target with one tentacle or arm, it usually uses another limb to make its attack of opportunity against the sunder attempt. Severing a soul krakens tentacle or arm deals damage to the kraken equal to half the limbs full normal hit points. A soul kraken usually withdraws from combat if it loses both tentacles or three of its arms. A soul kraken regrows severed limbs in 1d10+10 days. Head Snatch (Ex): If a soul kraken successfully performs a coup de gras against a helpless defender at least one size category smaller than itself (but no smaller than Tiny), then instead of

the usual coup de gras result, it forcibly tears the creatures head from its body, instantly killing the creature. If the soul kraken has the victim grappled when it performs a head snatch, it can maintain its grapple on both the victims head and body with a single tentacle or arm if it so desires. Creatures that do not need their heads to survive are not instantly slain, suffering the normal coup de gras effects instead. Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the soul kraken must hit a Large or smaller creature with an arm or tentacle 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. The soul kraken has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the improved grab to hold the opponent (an option soul krakens often take while fishing victims out of a crippled ship). If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a 20 penalty on grapple checks (for a total +8 grapple check modifier), but is not considered grappled itself; the soul kraken does not lose its Dexterity bonus to AC, still threatens an area, and can use its remaining attacks against other opponents. Constrict (Ex): A soul kraken deals automatic arm or tentacle damage with a successful grapple check. Soul Puppets (Su and Ex): As a move action, a soul kraken can insert the end of a tentacle or arm into the severed head of any Small or Medium animal, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid. The slender tendrils at the end of a soul krakens arms and tentacles wrap themselves around the facial skeleton and pierce the skull, partially fusing themselves to the creatures brain. An attached head grants the soul kraken several abilities. Dead Mans Eyes (Su): The soul kraken gains the ability to use the heads senses as if scrying through an arcane eye. If the head had any extraordinary sensory qualities (such as low-light vision, darkvision, scent, and so on), then that head retains those qualities.

For example, if a soul kraken attaches a fresh sahuagin head to the end of a tentacle, then it can see and hear through that head. Furthermore, when the soul kraken uses that heads senses, the head retains the sahugains blindsense and darkvision but is also subject to the sahuagins light blindness. Barring other factors, an attached head decays beyond the ability to transmit its senses one week after it is severed. Dead Mans Teeth (Ex): The soul kraken can physically work the head like a puppet. If the creature had a bite attack, then the soul kraken can make a bite attack with that arm or tentacle. A bite attack is always considered a secondary attack (taking a 5 penalty on the attack roll), and does not benefit from any feats that apply specifically to the soul krakens tentacle attacks (such as Improved Critical). Use the original creatures base bite damage, plus half of the soul krakens Strength modifier. When used to make a bite attack, that specific tentacle gains an extra 5 feet of reach, since only the very tip of the tentacle needs to reach its target. The head loses all special attack forms (such as poison). A soul kraken can alternate between making tentacle rake attacks or bite attacks as it chooses, but the same arm/tentacle cannot make both a bite and a rake attack in the same turn. However, a single tentacle can both constrict and bite a previously grappled foe in its clutches. For example, if a soul kraken attaches a sahuagins head to the end of a tentacle, then it can make bite attacks with that tentacle as follows: Tentacle bite +13 melee (1d4+4), reach 55 ft. A soul kraken can continue making bite attacks with its attached heads well after the head has been reduced to an algae-tinted skull, so it tends to keep old skulls attached until it can replace them with fresh heads. Dead Mans Tales (Su): Once it fuses with a brain, a soul kraken contacts the lingering imprint of the slain creatures soul as a free action. This ability is similar to speak with dead (caster level 9th), except that the soul kraken only needs the head

intact. The head gets a Will save to resist, as normal. On a failed save, a typical soul kraken can ask the head up to four questions (as per the spell), which usually pertain to the capabilities and/or hiding places of the corpses allies, and gains the ability to understand any language known by the dead creature for as long as the head remains relatively fresh (about a week). Ink Cloud (Ex): A soul kraken can emit a cloud of jet-black ink in a 60-foot spread once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the soul kraken normally uses to escape a fight that is going badly. Creatures within the cloud are considered to be in darkness. Jet (Ex): A soul kraken can jet backward once per round as a full-round action, at a speed of 280 feet. It must move in a straight line, but does not provoke attacks of opportunity while jetting. Spell-Like Abilities: 1/daycontrol weather, control winds, resist energy. Caster level 9th. The save DC is Charisma-based. Skills: A soul kraken has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action of 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 moves in a straight line. This soul kraken gains a +2 synergy bonus on Survival checks made aboveground (including its aquatic environment), which has already been included in its statistics. Elder Soul Kraken Usually NE Gargantuan Magical Beast (Aquatic) Initiative: +4 Speed: Swim 20 ft. (4 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +30, Spot +30 Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (60 ft. with tentacle, 30 ft. with arm) Base Attack/Grapple: +20/+44 Attack: Tentacle +28 melee (2d8+12/1920) Full Attack: 2 tentacles +28 melee (2d8+12/19 20) and 6 arms +23 melee (1d6+6) and bite +23 melee (4d6+6)

Attack Options: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip Special Attacks: Head snatch, improved grab, constrict 2d8+12 or 1d6+6, soul puppets Hit Dice: 20d10+180 Hit Points: 290 Armor Class: 20, touch 6, flat-footed 20 (4 size, +14 natural) Saves: Fort +21, Ref +12, Will +13 Special Qualities: Ink cloud, jet, spell-like abilities Abilities: Str 34, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 20 Skills: Concentration +21, Hide +0, Search +28, Survival +5 (+7 to follow tracks, avoid getting lost, or avoid hazards), Swim +20, Use Magic Device +16 Knowledge: Geography +17, Nature +16 Social: Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +16, Sense Motive +17 Languages: Aquan, dead mans tales (see text) Outcast Rating: 14 (+8 size, +3 appearance, +2 reputation, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron Will Environment: Temperate and warm aquatic (Sea of Sorrows) Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 12 Treasure: Triple standard Advancement: 2132 HD (Gargantuan); 3360 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: These massive soul krakens are the eldest of their kind. Centuries old, they largely lurk in the deepest, coldest, darkest abysses of Ravenlofts seas, seeking larger prey to feed their terrible hunger. Over the centuries, several ghost ships have been found drifting without their crews. Many superstitious old salts insist that these doomed crews met their strange fate when they were unlucky enough to be present on the rare occasion when an elder soul kraken returned to the surface. Combat This soul kraken has been advanced by 8 HD and has grown by one size category, making several of its attacks more effective.

Head Snatch (Ex): This advanced soul kraken can sever the heads of helpless creatures of up to Huge size. Improved Grab (Ex): If this advanced soul kraken simply uses the part of its body it used in the improved grab to hold an opponent, it has a total +24 grapple modifier. Soul Puppets (Su and Ex): If an elder soul kraken attaches a sahuagins head to the end of a tentacle, it uses the following statistics attacks with that tentacles bite attacks: Tentacle bite +23 melee (1d4+6), reach 65 ft. Ink Cloud (Ex): This advanced soul kraken can emit a cloud of jet-black ink in an 80-foot spread. Tactics Round-by-Round A soul kraken attacks without warning, using its long reach to pull an initial round of sailors to their doom. If the remaining survivors hide out of sight, the soul kraken uses its soul puppets to hunt them down and say them all before turning the wreckage of their ship into a new lair. Prior to Combat: The soul kraken uses control weather and control winds to drive an unlucky ship onto rocks or reefs, crippling it and possibly even punching holes in the hull. One round before it surfaces to attack, the soul kraken uses resist energy on itself, typically choosing to resist fire or electricity unless it sees that the crew is using a different energy type. Round 1: The soul kraken surfaces adjacent to the ship, possibly grappling the ship itself with an arm. It uses its arms and tentacles to reach onto the upper decks and attack any visible crew, grappling as many as possible. Round 2: The soul kraken constricts any creatures it has grappled, plucks them off the deck, and pulls them underwater to drown them. Any arms or tentacles that have not successfully grappled an opponent continue their attacks on deck. The soul kraken begins to bite the ship itself, gnawing through the wooden hull with its beak.

Round 3: The soul kraken continues to constrict opponents while holding them underwater. As soon as a victim reaches 1 hit points or otherwise becomes a helpless defender, the soul kraken uses its head snatch attack. If the remaining crew on board retreat below decks, the soul kraken uses any free arms or tentacles to blindly reach inside the ship and grope around for victims (treating hidden foes as if they were invisible). The soul kraken alternatively uses its bite to attack the ship or devour decapitated corpses, as appropriate. Round 4: The soul kraken attaches freshly severed heads to its arms and tentacles, then immediately extends them into the ship to attack the remaining crew. The soul kraken uses its soul puppets to find and sense foes below decks, negating their total concealment. Round 5: When the soul kraken has slaughtered the crew, replaced its rotted soul puppets with fresh heads, and eaten the headless bodies, it continues its attempts to smash the ships hull and drag it to the bottom. Soul Kraken Lore Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about soul krakens. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 19: This massive squid-like creature is a soul kraken, a distant relative of the true kraken easily distinguished by the skulls and rotting heads skewered onto the end of its tentacles. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the aquatic subtype. DC 24: Soul krakens often attack during sudden storms. They can reach onboard a ship to snatch up sailors with their long tentacles, pulling them down into the water to drown or be devoured. Soul krakens devour both the flesh and the spirits of their victims. They sink ships to use as their lairs. DC 29: If a soul kraken gets its clutches on a helpless sailor, it can rip the hapless victims head off with one violent motion. A soul kraken may retreat if its foes manage to sever several of its tentacles. A retreating soul kraken can propel itself

through the water at high speeds and mask its escape with a cloud of black ink. DC 34: Soul krakens are highly intelligent and can see, hear, and even speak through the rotting heads mounted on the tips of their tentacles. Beware a soul kraken with skulls on the end of its tentacles the beast will want fresher replacements. DC 39: Its no coincidence that soul krakens attack during storms. They can control the winds and waves, often driving ships onto rocky shoals just before launching a sudden attack.

Spawn of Kyuss [Monster Manual II]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 5, chaotic evil. A zombie-like corpse infested with otherworldly worms. When the spawn attacks, it transfers a few worms to its victim. These worms then burrow into the victims flesh, creating a new spawn of Kyuss. These creatures recently received a lot of attention in Dungeon Magazines Age of Worms adventure path. --(This lore is based on the lore presented in Ecology of the Spawn of Kyuss by James Jacobs, Dragon Magazine #336.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about spawn of Kyuss. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (RELIGION) DC 15: This worm-infested zombie is a foul undead horror called a spawn of Kyuss, a legendary death priest in an ancient age. This result reveals all undead traits. DC 20: A spawn of Kyuss is infested with strange green worms, which are actually the source of its power. A spawns wounds close quickly. DC 25: A spawn of Kyuss exudes a supernaturally potent aura of fear. A spawns touch spreads a supernatural disease called Kyuss gift, which manifests the symptoms of necrotic flesh and

dementia. Even worse, one or more worms may transfer from the spawn to infest the living subject. The touch of silver and deft hands might pluck these worms away before they burrow into a victims brain. DC 30: Once a worm burrows into a creatures flesh, the victim has only a few moments to act before the worm reaches its brain and transforms it into a new spawn of Kyuss. A healer with a sharp blade may be able to extract it, and a dispel evil or neutralize poison spell can halt the worms progress for up to an hour. Magic that removes curses or diseases kills all infesting worms, saving the victim. Using such magic on spawn themselves transforming all but the most powerful of their kind into simple zombies. DC 35: Some of Kyuss spawn are much more powerful than the typical spawn and possess strange powers like the ability to exhale clouds of noxious grave wind or the ability to spray the surrounding area with infectious worms. Not all spawn of Kyuss are humanoid in shape and might infest a variety of natural and monstrous forms. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 16: This result reveals the process for creating a spawn of Kyuss. --"Corruption is the way of all the earth," the corpse muttered, twisting against the bonds of force that held it. "You are dying even as we speak, your body failing, slowly but surely. Whereas I...I live. Even in death." I saw then the worms writhing beneath its skin, and could not fully bite back a scream of horror as it continued, "Come closer...and I'll show you what it means to be immortal." Laurent St. Reginald to Gennifer WeathermayFoxgrove, working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead See also Dragon # 336

Spectral creature [Savage Species p129] p129]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures spectral nature. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 17: This transparent, slightly luminous spirit is a spectral creature. This reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. DC 22: Spectral creatures are commonly mistaken for ghosts, but they are much more malevolent. Animals balk at the presence of spectres and flee if they come within ten paces of one. DC 27: The mere touch of a spectral creature drains the targets life energy. A living creature slain by a spectre becomes one itself soon after death. DC 32: Spectral creatures are powerless in sunlight and flee from it. When exposed to sunlight, they cannot attack and can barely move.

Spectral lyrist [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 4, chaotic evil. The spirit of a bard who used its artistic talents to ruin lives in life. They can pose as living, corporeal folk. Their touch drains Charisma, and they retain some of their bardic talents. --Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about spectral lyrists. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 14 This musician is actually a spectral lyrist, the undead spirit of a bard who in life used their artistic talents for evil ends. This result reveals all

undead traits. These spirits often speak several common languages. 19 A spectral lyrist can assume the appearance of any human-sized person, though it cant mimic specific individuals. While disguised, the lyrist is easily mistaken for a corporeal, living creature, but it remains a weightless, incorporeal spirit. This result reveals the incorporeal subtype. Spectral lyrists can enthrall and command the living with their bardic music. 24 The touch of a spectral lyrist drains a living creatures vivacity and outgoing nature, leaving the victim dull and listless. Spectral lyrists feed on these stolen slivers of personality. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 14 Spectral lyrists are the restless spirits of bards who in life used their artistic talents for evil ends. 19 A spectral lyrists music can be countered with bardic music. --The harpist produced a surprisingly large lyre from her dress. As she smiled, her face flushed a deep red, matching the red of her blouse. May I sing you a song? We nodded our approval, and her smile stretched wider, just like the rictus grin of a skull. -Excerpt from "The Greatest Feeshka"

19 Several times per day, a spectral panther can shift into an insubstantial form. This result reveals the incorporeal subtype. 24 A spectral panther can continue to attack material foes, even while incorporeal. 29 A spectral panther is also surrounded by a terrifying aura. --We were about to press forward, swords in hand, when von Kharkov raised a silver whistle to his lips and blew. Immediately four great black panthers sprang, as it seemed, from the walls themselves and ranged themselves before him. "I'm fond of cats," he continued conversationally, "for the most part. And these are among my favorites. Night itself is not more silent, nor more deadly--as you are about to learn." Private journal of Lazarus Jakes, adventurer

Spectre [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 7, lawful evil. These evil ghosts drain life energy with their touch, spawning more specters. Sunlight renders them powerless, and animals panic in their presence. --Originally posted by Eric Cagle Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about spectres. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (Religion) DC Result 17 This incorporeal being is a spectre. This reveals all undead traits. 22 Spectres are commonly mistaken for ghosts, but they are much more malevolent. Animals balk

Spectral panther [Monsters of Faern]

JWM: Large Magical Beast (Incorporeal), CR 4, neutral evil. A black panther that can make itself incorporeal for a limited time while still attacking corporeal foes. Also has a fear aura. Generally found in Valachan. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about spectral panthers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This shadowy feline is a spectral panther. This result reveals all magical beasts traits

at the presence of spectres and flee if they come within 30 feet of one. 27 The mere touch of a spectre drains the target's energy. A humanoid slain by a spectre becomes one itself soon after death. 32 Spectres are powerless in sunlight and flee from it. When exposed to sunlight, they cannot attack and can barely move. --The accounts pointed to one thing and one thing alone. The unknown young woman who had haunted Dobson Manor from time immemorial had a weakness. Never had she been met in a room awash in the light of the sun. So one bright morning, our very presence sufficiently concealed, we hoped, by a spell of Ezra, we went to the manor and covered its greenhouse with a great tarp, carefully stopping up the least ray of light. A month later we returned, under the same concealment, with a wizard added to our company. We emptied the greenhouse of its contents, covered the interior wall and the floor with thin sheets of polished metal, and our cleric consecrated the very ground of the place. Whereupon our hound panicked and our spellcasters barely had time to complete their defensive incantations before the young woman swept through the wall and into the room. She scanned it in vane for the source of the disturbance in the eldritch fabric of her existence and did not hear the very arcane words that sprung our trap. The tarp vanished from sight and we were blinded. She shrieked in fear and confusion, her every possible retreat aflame with the light of the sun. An arcane spell fixed her in place, and although it would be broken by our attack, it gave us the chance to gather ourselves and launch point blank a concentrated assault consisting of holy water and rays of searing light. Her incorporeal form burnt, shrivelled, and faded to nothing, hopefully affording her peace at last. -The private journal of Rudolph van Richten See also Dragon #336

Spellstitched creature [Complete Arcane, Monster Manual II]

JWM: Template Undead, CR +1. Undead creatures that have been enhanced through the use of arcane runes carved into its body. The base creature gains several spell-like abilities, damage reduction, and spell resistance. --SPELLSTITCHED CREATURE LORE Monster Manual II, some others too I think Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about a creatures spellstitched nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge (religion, typically) check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: This undead creature has been spellstitched: arcane runes have been carved into its flesh and bone, granting it enhanced power. DC 18: A spellstitched creature retains all the traits of the base creature, but it is unusually resilient in general and resistant to spells and turning. A spellstitched creatures flesh unnaturally resists lesser wounds, but silver weapons can strike home surely enough. DC 23: A spellstitched creature with a largely intact mind can have magical symbols carved into its body, permanently imbuing it with the ability to use those spells several times a day as spell-like abilities. The stronger the undeads will, a greater number and power of spells can be imbued. An intelligent undead creature that learns this technique can spellstitch itself. --As seasoned troops, the survivors of the first invasion were kept close to the Darkonese border. The unpleasant assignment took an ugly turn after a few weeks. Whenever we would raise our heads up out of the muck to assume the slightest offensive posture, a flock of Drakovs beloved Zweifalk, only no longer living and partially

stripped of their plumage, with eldritch runes inscribed upon their bared flesh, would swoop down, seeking to main and terrorise. Magically and mundanely, with fell enchantments and with claws and beaks, each would seek to steal our sight, their frightful presence often sufficing to put our bravest to ignominious flight. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, describing his posting to the Drogash front

was dead in the instant that I saw that hairy spider scuttling away from him. Whereupon we heard the strange voice of the creature, strong and forceful once more. Before we could act black tentacles burst up from the floor and engulfed us. -The Familiar: instructive cases, library of the Fraternity of Shadows

Spider, monstrous [Monster Manual]

JWM: Tiny to Colossal Vermin, CR 1/4 to 11, neutral. Giant spiders. Most common in the Mountains of Misery. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about monstrous spiders. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) DC Result 10 This eight-legged beast is a monstrous spider, an aggressive cousin of the more common, smaller arachnid. This result reveals all vermin traits. 15 Like some of their smaller kin, monstrous spiders have a nasty poisonous bite. They can also spin webs of surprisingly strong and difficult to spot silk. Generally, the larger the spider the nastier the poison and the stronger its webs. 20 Monstrous spiders come in all shapes and sizes, but most can be grouped into one of two types hunters and web-spinners. Hunters are fast, expert jumpers and have keen eyesight. Web-spinners can launch a web attack to trap their foes and are experts at remaining unnoticed when in their silky lairs. --Seeing my surprise--indeed, my terror--at the entrance to that grim lair, enroped about with threads as thick as cables, Meistersinger Lukas grinned. "What, Swiftsinger? Have you never

Spider, hairy [Monsters of Faern]

JWM: Fine Vermin, CR 1/4, neutral. Hairy, subterranean spiders the size of a human hand. Mildly poisonous bite. Subterranean spellcasters sometimes use them as familiars. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about hairy spiders. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This hairy, black spider is a dangerous subterranean predator. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 15: A hairy spiders bite delivers a numbing venom. Hairy spiders typically hunt in packs, and do not spin webs. --The creature had been badly injured and fell, escaping our line of sight. We crept forward after it, well spread out lest we be caught together by another of its dire spells, exploiting every bit of cover afforded to us by the boulders and the cracks of the cave. I spotted a small spider above us, well out of reach, doing its best to keep out of our light. We passed beneath it warily, without incident, and left it unmarked at our backs. As we drew near the turn in the passage and could hear the near death panting of the creature, there was a terrible clatter at our rear. Tirus had collapsed and I knew that he

heard of Grandfather Boar? Grandfather Tree? Grandfather Wolf?" "Yes, of course," I replied. Lukas kicked a skull--human, by its appearance-out of the way and lifted his torch higher as he set off into the tunnel. "Then why not Grandmother Spider?" his voice wafted to me. "Let us go make our salutations to her." Journal of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

DC 15: This monstrous arachnid is a sword spider, so called for the sharp, chitinous blades on its legs. This result reveals all vermin traits. DC 20: Although a sword spider usually attacks with its sharp legs, its bite delivers a potent venom that saps its victims strength. Sword spiders do not spin webs, but they are gifted jumpers. DC 25: if a sword spider feels threatened, it may leap into the air, attempting to land on its opponent and impale the creature with all eight of its legs at once. --Something large and black hurtled past me and struck Janis full in the back, knocking her to the jungle mould. At first it was simply a nightmare of black limbs, but in a moment I could see it was a spider the size of a large dog. I thrust it through; it was horribly long in dying, but I killed it at last, and I believed I had prevented it from biting Janis at all. I had, but it had been to no avail. The arachnid had pierced her torso in several places with its cruelly sharp forelimbs limbs in its first leap; she must have died at once. Tales of the Outlands, Erik Naswrond

Spider, shroud web [Book of Sacrifices Ilsabets Kiss]

JWM: Fine Vermin, CR 2, neutral. Extremely poisonous spiders found only in the domain of Kislova. See Baroness of Blood for more details. --Baroness Obour smiled her thin cruel smile as Yeflem screamed and clapped his hand to his armored neck, took two more steps toward her, and fell. "Men," she said. "Always so quick to put on your armor and wave your swords. There are better ways to kill." As she spoke, I saw a tiny black-and-blue spider creep from the neck hinge of Yeflem's plate, and remembered the cobwebs we had passed beneath to enter this chamber. She had anticipated our coming, and arranged all to receive us. from Tyranny in Kislova, or, The Baroness of Blood, anonymous memoir

Spirit animal [Frostburn]

JWM: Template Fey, CR +1, neutral. Natural manifestations of the collective will of animals, these spirits are sometime mistaken for ghosts. Usually manifest only when conjured by powerful spellcasters (such as druids and spirit shamans). -"What is he doing?" I asked Mikhail as the shaman bowed himself again before the circle he had prepared. "He speaks to the unseen wolf, the totem," Mikhail muttered in return. "It guides, sometimes. He is a very great shaman to do such a thing." Rising and standing on his feet, the shaman pointed to the east, where the moon was rising

Spider, sword [Monsters of Faern]

JWM: Large Vermin, CR 5, neutral. Big, black, hairy spiders with long, bladelike legs. They have a poisonous bite and can impale foes on their blades. Most common in the Mountains of Misery. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about sword spiders. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

over a low hill; a great white wolf stood there, and for a moment I believed the moon shone through it, rather than merely reflecting from its pelt. It gazed on us for a moment, then trotted off toward the north. "We follow," Mikhail said, suiting deed to word. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer

like a rogue. A splinterwaif ignores glancing blows, but silver weapons can pierce its defenses. 22 A splinterwiaf can move through thorns and overgrown areas without impediment. It can also will a thorny bramble bush to magically sprout from any mundane wooden surface. The splinterwaif can then animate the bush, using it as an ally to harry foes. Splinterwaifs are slightly resistant to magic. 27 Splinterwaifs can spit wooden splinters up to ten paces away. They can also transform any humanoid corpse into a thornbush with a minute of concentration. They often eat bushes created from children, but they find the taste of bushes created from adults to be sour. Some folk believe that splinterwaifs are the twisted spirits of dryads who somehow survived the destruction of their oak trees, but this is far from certain. --Child of summer dawn, Despoiled, hewn down, bereft! How each green leaf weeps. Thornheart they name you. Now, each tears a drop of blood, Every leaf a sword. Thornleaf Songs, trans. Malcolm Hopper

Spirit Waif [Denizens of Dread] Spiritus Anime (Dragon mag compendium)

Submitted by JP

Splinterwaif [Monster Manual III, Dragon # 307]

JWM: Medium Fey, CR 2, neutral evil. These urban fey are gaunt humanoids with hair and skin covered in jagged splinters and spurs. They can sneak attack like rogues, can cause thorn bushes to spring up on command, can spit splinters at foes, and can camouflage themselves at will. They can also transform some corpses into thorn bushes. Rumored to be the twisted spirits of dryads whose trees were destroyed. They are malevolent, and enjoy catching and eating children. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about splinterwaifs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This gaunt, woody, and spine-covered humanoid is a splinterwaif, a sinister fey spirit that prowls urban areas, often lairing in lumberyards. This result reveals all fey traits. Splinterwaifs speak Sylvan. 17 Splinterwaifs hunt the weakest inhabitants of the cities they roam, and take particular delight in murdering children. A splinterwaif is a stealthy combatant. It can change its coloration to camouflage itself, and it can make sneak attacks

Spriggan [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Small Fey, CR 2, neutral evil. A nasty little fey, resembling an ugly gnome. At will, they can sprout up into a Large form with the physical power of an ogre. In their true form, they can sneak attack like rogues and can use produce flame, scare, and shatter as spell-like abilities. They sometime pose as gnomes. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about spriggans. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature)

DC Result 12 This ugly, malicious gnome is actually a fey spirit called a spriggan. This result reveals all fey traits. Spriggans speak Gnome and Sylvan, though a few may also learn Kobold and Common. 17 At will, a spriggan can suddenly enlarge itself, gaining the size and physical power of an ogre. While enlarged, a spriggan relies entirely on its powerful blows to overcome foes. 22 Spriggans are stealthy creatures. Their attacks are particularly dangerous whenever they catch their foes off-guard. 27 A spriggan can call upon several spell-like abilities, including produce flame, scare, and shatter. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 14 You can summon a spriggan with the summon natures ally IV spell. --Tell me a tale of Dancing Tim, Man so short he danced on a pin, Three feet tall and fierce as Hell, Dancing Tim had a story to tell, Along came a warrior into his glade, Seven feet tall and armed with a blade, He saw Tim dancing and began to grin, An attack he launched, to do Tim in, Tim was quick and Tim was clever, Tim jumped away from the tall fella, Up Tim stood and carried on going, The warrior stopped and Tim kept growing, With a mighty fist he broke the man's back With a mighty twist he snapped the man's neck, With sword on ground and blood spilt, Tim carried on dancing, the man's skin as his kilt. Traditional Tepestanii folksong, warning of the terribt fey.

a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This cephalopod is a squid, easily distinguished from an octopus by its semi-rigid body and the two extra-long arms emerging from its cluster of eight tentacles. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: A squid uses its arms and tentacles to snatch up small fish and invertebrates, transferring them to its parrot-like beak. When threatened, a squid can release a murky cloud of black ink, then jet away at high speeds. DC 21: Although most squid are inoffensive to swimming humanoids, some of them can grow to enormous sizes. A giant squid is a dangerous and clever predator with arms up to 30 feet in length.

Stakewood tree [new]

JWM: Huge Plant, CR 8, neutral. See the New Monsters file I put out a while ago. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about stakewood trees. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This bulbous, towering growth is a stakewood tree. This result reveals all plant traits. 23 A stakewood tree takes its name from the woody projectiles it fires from its upper trunk. The tree only attacks nearby warm-blooded creatures at least the size of a halfling. 28 These stakes remain attached to the stakewood tree via vinelike tethers, and immediately take root in the victims flesh. Unless removed, an impaled stake quickly immobilizes, then kills and absorbs its victim. 33 Severing the tether connecting a stake to the tree drastically slows the stakes growth rate. An implanted stake must be removed surgically (with

Squid [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about squids. When a character makes

a Heal check), but spells like diminish plants can significantly aid the procedure. --The day that Captain Weathermay died Yakov Dilisnya was with Nicolae Valentin and myself. Lest some misunderstanding be provoked by one or the other with their talk of gods at dawn and in the Mists, they were being kept away from the populous and nowhere was farther away than my expedition into the jungle. The diversity and the peculiarity of its species was astonishing. Our guide was in the middle of correcting my hopelessly inadequate system of classification when a tethered stake, much like a harpoon, struck the translator square in the chest. Nicolae caught the man as he fell, not realising that he was beyond saving, the stake having pierced his heart. Yakov stepped forward boldly, shielding them even as he conjured about himself a thin film of faintly glowing mist. Our guide stepped behind me, called forth from thin air four rats of extraordinary size, and gestured frantically for me to cut the tether. This proved to be hideously difficult and no sooner had I begun than two more missiles burst forth from high in a tree, each staking a rat which promptly vanished. Our guide conjured more rats and unleashed, strangely, a verbal tirade, laced with the word Kali, against Yakov for having conjured a cloaking mist. Despite the concealment it afforded us two more stakes struck home, the one sending a rat squealing back to whence it came and the other forcing a gasp from Yakovs lungs. Nicolae rose, declared our translator dead, ordered us to withdraw, and turned to the freeing of Yakov. Three more rats were heard to perished before the pair managed to join us at a safe distance where the grisly task could be attempted of extracting the tendrils that were coursing through Yakovs body and threatening to root him to the ground. For you see our assailant was a tree. -Charlie Wescote, Ship's Biologist of the HMS Retriever, giving evidence to the board of inquiry investigating the death of Captain Weathermay, discoverer of Sri Raji ---

This monster is presented by JWM in the netbook: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Library/New RavenloftMonsters_JWM.zip

Stirge [Monster Manual]

Considered a nuisance individually, stirges travel in large flocks that can quickly drain the blood from an adventuring party. A staple monster at low-levels, this tiny beast presents a danger that player characters should not easily dismiss. --Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (Nature) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) can learn more about stirges. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 10 This strange flying creature is a stirge. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 15 Stirges are little threats singly, but they travel in large colonies. The long proboscis of the stirge allows it to attach to its victim, making it extremely difficult to remove. Stirges drain blood from their victims. 20 If a victim dies before a stirge is satiated, it detaches and seeks a new target.

Stitched [Van Richtens Guide to the Walking Dead]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 4 (-ish), chaotic evil. Necromantic creations, stitched are created from two humanoid corpses sewn together. Their claws deal bleeding wounds and spread a disease called stitching rot. This disease slowly paralyzes the victim, stitching its limbs together and its eyes, nose, and lips shut. Unless cured, the victim eventually suffocates.

--TAILOR OF MAYKLE, THE IDENTITY: Never determined. LOCATION: Maykle, Darkon. DATE: October 743. UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES: The victims were found arranged in their place of work, their eyes, mouths, and noses sewn shut. Suppurating wounds were found on their torsos and arms, but suffocation was the apparent cause of death. Most notable, however, was the "inscription" sewn into the chest of Master Gullsby White: "A timely stitch slays six." RELATED CRIMES: Popular rumor related these killings to the burning of the gnomish tailor Master Eber Alloways' shop and home, which caused the death of his daughters Petreka and Alsanea. The victims (at least three of whom were business competitors of Master Alloways) were supposedly the instigators or the actual perpetrators of this crime, but lack of evidence lead to the case being thrown out of court. Master Alloways left Maykle after this sad incident and was resident in Corvia at the time of crime; no evidence was found to connect him to this second murder. The Book of Murderers, Magnus Wolfsbane.

get up again after a few rounds. Im happy to get one blurb for the template, but Ill also accept a blurb each for Strahd zombies (Strahd human warrior zombie), Strahd skeletons (Strahd human warrior skeletons), and Strahds skeletal steeds (Strahd warhorse skeleton).

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about the special traits of Strahd undead. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge (religion) check to learn about the base undead. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 These shambling undead have been animated by Count Strahd von Zarovich, the lord of Barovia. His undead creations are reputed to be unusually powerful. 23 Strahd undead are resistant to turning and to magic. 28 Strahd can command his undead to report back to him telepathically, informing him of whether they have succeeded in their assigned tasks. A Strahd undead must briefly break off its attack to issue these empathic messages. 33 Strahd are exceptionally difficult to slay even when struck down and seemingly destroyed, they may simply rise to their feet again a few moments later and return to the battle. To permanently destroy one of Strahds undead, be sure to mutilate the corpse (a coup de grace) as soon as the creature falls. --Only the maddest of militiamen pursues a smuggler across the border and up the Old Svalich Road. For long ago at the frontier the Devil Strahd had nailed to the trunks of a corpse of trees the still uniformed bodies of a dozen Vistin troops each with the word trespasser, in Balok and Vassi, hung about the neck. A captain come seeking his missing men ordered that they be taken down and buried. A mass grave was dug, but as the last corpse came free, it and the others set upon the

Strahd Undead [RL [RL Gazetteer I]

JWM: Template undead, CR +1, neutral evil. Mindless zombies and skeletons created by Strahd von Zarovich. Theyre slightly more powerful and can prove hard to permanently kill. Although only one blurb is needed, Ill also accept separate blurbs for the Strahd zombie (human warrior + zombie template + Strahd undead template), Strahd skeleton (human warrior + skeleton template + Strahd undead template), and Strahds sksletal steed (warhorse + skeleton template + Strahd undead template). JWM: Template undead, neutral evil. A template added to any mindless undead animated by Strahd von Zarovich. Slightly beefed up versions of standard skeletons and zombies. Their main advantage is that once defeated, foes need to coup de grace them to keep them down otherwise they

living. The captain and his men narrowly prevailed and orders were given for the grave to be much enlarged. Yet hardly had the work begun, than their rotted comrades rose again, routing the living. To this day the putrescent bodies stand there, nail pierced palms seemingly affixed to the trees. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, explaining the rules of the game Strahd skeleton [Denizens of Dread] Strahd skeleton steed [Denizens of Dread]

spell, reasoning vainly that they might afford us useful information about our subterranean surroundings and our tentacled quarry. When we later returned they were being eaten alive by their equally sundered brethren who eyed us with the enthusiasm of children unexpectantly offered dessert. -Brutus Nostrum retelling Doctor Daclaud Heinforth of his adventure in the mythical land of Bluetspur

Swarm, General
Swarms of lesser creatures acting as a single mass. All these varieties are here because they often come up as minions for more powerful creatures.

Subdweller [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Humanoid (Human), CR 1, chaotic evil. Humans who have adapted to and have been driven hopelessly mad by life in the labyrinthine tunnels of Bluetspur. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about subdwellers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This deranged humanoid is a subdweller. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 16 Subdwellers have adapted to life underground. They can see in the dark, but bright light blinds their oversized eyes. 21 Subdwellers have been driven insane by their subterranean existence. If approached, they can fly into mad rages, and it is dangerous to make mental contact with them. ---

Swarm, bat [Monster Manual]

JWM: Diminutive Animal (Swarm), CR 2, neutral. A swarm of bloodthirsty bats. A common sight in the Barovian night sky. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bat swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This screeching cloud of leathery wings is a swarm of bloodsucking bats. This result reveals all animal traits and the swarm subtype. DC 17: Bat swarms use high-pitched screeching and an acute sense of hearing to detect nearby prey. Bat swarms cover their prey with a multitude of tiny bites that bleed freely. DC 22: A bat swarm can be easily dispersed by strong winds. ---

Victor was inclined to believe that they had thrown themselves upon us, without so much as a weapon, that we might release them from their tortured existence. I had seen in their eyes not suicidal fury but rather hunger and madness. Either way it would have been kinder to cut them down. Instead Sena incapacitated the lot with a

The bats tore like a tornado into the angry mass of mosquitoes. Raoul commanded our foe, on pain of being blasted from existence, to remain in its swarm shape. But the mosquitos drew back together and a moment later the bats were blanketing a humanoid form. Seemingly

unbothered by their writhing, ravenous presence, it began an incantation. Raoul, however, was quicker, unleashing a fireball. It singed our eyebrows and reduced the bats to fine dust. This covered and hung about our enemy who, no worse for wear but very much unalive, completed his own dire casting. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

I saw the flare of a oil lamp go up and heard the screeching in her house of what i thought to be the cats; but understood to my growing horror to be the widow Winthrops'. With a sudden burst of light and a shout i believe the lamp was dropped and the fire started. And the last thing i saw before my mind blissfully relieved me of my consciousness was the widow Winthrop slamming up against the window, bloodied arm reaching out of the feline made hole with her face eyeless and slashed to ribbons, screeching at the top of her lungs; amid the rising flames. -Charles J.Omera; Nova Vassan author

Swarm, cat [new]

JWM: Tiny Animal (Swarm), CR 3, neutral. A swarm of feral cats (pakas can call them to service). --How did the fire start? Well it all started with the noise. The noise was aweful. That screeching, yawling, horrible crying. Thats how you knew they were coming. I poked my head up to spy on the abhorent event unfolding. Their shadows raced along fences and down past alley walls; all converging on the sight of their fallen, poisoned and stiff "tabby comrade". It lie at the doorstep of the widow Winthrop, the bowl of poisoned milk spilt at it's side. It hadn't been the first, it was weekly infact. She hated them and blamed their nightly noise for her Edwards' eventual madness and untimely self-annihilation those eleven winters past. And with that thought i returned my head to my pillow and attempted to close my eyes. The cats must have paced for a few minutes near her windows, her doorstep and along the roof top. Screeching the whole time in that aweful mourning tone you sometimes hear on terrible nights. Then the screeching morphed into a low growl used by all. And at the sound of broken glass I finally peared out my window to gander at the horror resulting at widow Winthrops. The cats had somehow found or should i say made a hole in one of her windows and were pouring in. There must have been at least two-dozen maybe more pouring in and crashing about inside.

Swarm, centipede [Monster Manual]

JWM: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm), CR 4, neutral. A swarm of poisonous centipedes. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about centipede swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This scuttling tapestry of segmented insects composes a swarm of centipedes. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype. DC 19: Centipede have a voracious appetite for living matter. When they swarm over living creatures, they deliver countless venomous bites, causing loss of muscle control. --"With a final shudder, the Duke of Skulls crashed through the wall, and slumped to the floor in a silent heap. Yasmine thought it strange for all those bones and skulls to clatter upon the floor and make no noise. We brought a torch to a portion of its carcass, and saw why: the bones landed a seething legion of centipedes. A snake-sized beastie reared up and clicked its fangs in disapproval. We obliged the beastie, and beat a hasty retreat from that chamber."

- from the journals of Jerome Delacroix, Mordentish adventurer

Swarm, death scarab scarab [Sandstorm]

JWM: Diminutive Undead (Swarm), CR 7, neutral. A swarm of black, undead scarab beetles with ravenous appetites. These swarms have hive minds. While swarming over a victim, the beetles try to crawl into the creatures mouth and other orifices, quickly devouring the victim from the inside out and from the outside in. Generally only found in the tombs of the Amber Wastes.

DC 20: When hoard scarabs swarm over a living creature, they burrow into its flesh, devouring it from the inside out. Hoard scarab swarms cannot burrow into creatures with particularly tough hides, such as dragons. DC 25: Hoard scarabs are eyeless and cannot be blinded. They sense the vibrations of nearby movement. --Out of the darkness loomed a ship, wrecked as improbably as our own, a sand dune claiming its stern. With the fiery heat of the day not far off, we were glad of the shelter. It had been stripped, not only of supplies and materials that might have assisted its crew in escaping the blasted wastes, but pretty much of everything of value. We slept in the relative coolness of the cargo hold and were all visited by the same dream, that of a mound of gold with which we might overfill our pockets. The second watch, and Annabel with it, snuck off in search of the captains quarters where the prize supposedly lay. Sand had burst through the portholes and had half filled the cabin. A small skeleton with a twisted neck and perfectly clean bones, in life probably a cabin boy, was the only obvious inhabitant. Just beyond his feet, lying thickly upon the sand, twinkled more gold coins than any of the sailors had ever seen. As in the dream, one threw himself upon the pile. His joy was not long lived. The treasure stirred to life and before the poor fellow could escape it, he was covered by burnished golden beetles that devoured him alive. And between his choked, stifled screams, could be heard the laughter of a child. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

Swarm, fumewood termite [Book of Sacrifices]

JWM: Fine Vermin (Swarm), neutral. A swarm of fumewood termites. Native to Sithicus, they eat flesh as readily as wood. --If he could be ravaged by disease, why couldnt he be devoured alive? The liberation of Sithicus was at hand. A swarm of the Fumewoods termites would put an end to the flagitious dwarf. Luring him to his death was easy. And how he howled on encountering the caltrops and the less mundane means by which we held him fast. But then a terrible rage filled his eyes and a dreadful change came over his body. He tore himself free and we fled for our lives. -A refugee from Sithicus sharing his campfire with Harkon Lukas Stats: see Fumewood termites

Swarm, Hoard Scarab [Draconomicon]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about hoard scarab swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 15: The glittering, gold and silver coins in this rustling pile of treasure are actually a swarm of hoard scarabs. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype.

Swarm, jellyfish [Stormwrack]

JWM: Diminutive Vermin (Aquatic, Swarm), CR 5, neutral. A swarm of normal, toxic jellyfish. --I was preparing for my morning dip when the captain came on deck; seeing me, he shook his

head emphatically and pointed over the side, saying only, "Maleaus." I could not understand what he meant by "bad waters", but Professor Jenkins laughed and pulled my arm, pointing to a vast pale-blue mass a few feet below the surface. "Jellyfish!" he said. "Thousands, I would suppose. They say a cloud like that one can kill sharks. Just as well you didn't go it, Simon." Looking over the side at that vaguely obscene demi-organism undulating in the waves, I could only agree. Simon Torrens, Travels in the Mists

distracted horde the slip, but I did not so easily escape the last of the leeches. Indeed they have never ceased slithering through my dreams. -Melissa of Linde in pleasant dinner conversation with Inquisitor Mannenn

Swarm, locust [Monster Manual]

JWM: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm), CR 3, neutral. A swarm of ravenous locusts. They eat creatures and crops alike. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about locust swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: The deep drone of this dark cloud of insects warn that it is a swarm of locusts. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype. DC 18: Locusts have ravenous appetites and will eat virtually anything. In large enough numbers, locust swarms can pick creatures clean of flesh and wipe out entire crops. --I looked to the horizon, where a low dark line could be seen, quite unlike the usual clouds of the deep plains. "What's that, Master Halvarsson?" I said. "Bad weather coming?" Halvarsson turned and blanched. "Aye, hell's hail," he said fiercely. "Those are locusts, Master Quift. We must spread the word at once." Turning, he ran for the house, shouting in his own tongue as he went; before we had reached his homestead I saw one of the hired men depart on horseback, apparently to spread the word. "Will you be able to save the crops?" I asked, catching up to him. "No," he said. "We will save the men and animals. I hope." Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Swarm, leech [Stormwrack]

JWM: Fine Vermin (Aquatic, Swarm), CR 1, neutral. A swarm of normal leeches. Usually encountered in the bottom of goblin pit traps. --The plan had that madness about it that bespeaks divine inspiration. And besides, surrounded as I was, I could do nothing else. I managed, despite being grazed by a javelin, to afford myself the Sanctuary of Brigantia. But neither would it save me from the entire horde nor was it intended to. Next I had to appear to accidentally stumble and fall, while in fact slipping, into the pit. My performance seemed unconvincing to me, but there was no time to dwell on that. For I was now up to my neck in leeches, which, Brigantia be praised, were ignoring me for the moment, was sinking fast, and was assured of dying in their loathsome midst if I did not complete my second spell. Desperately fighting down revulsion and bile, I summoned a raven just beneath the lip of the pit and pointed towards the surrounding forest, praying both that the goblins would mistake it for myself mystically transformed and that it would lead them on a merry chase before vanishing into the night. Filling my lungs with air, I vanished from sight and started counting. When I surfaced, my worst fear was realised. Not far above me, outlined against the star filled sky, was the shape of my enemy. But miraculously there was only one. Recalling the little of its tongue that I knew, I commanded it to fall which it obligingly did, landing beside me and hastening my climb out of the pit, which it would never leave. I gave the

Swarm, pest [Cityscape]

JWM: Tiny Animal (Swarm), CR 3, neutral. A swarm of stray cats, dogs, birds, and vermin; basically an amalgamation of unwanted urban animals. Usually comes into being due to a spell introduced in Cityscape. --The demon child would die. That we had sworn. Imagine then our delight when he appeared before us, flanked by three ravens. We greeted him with savage smiles. Yet he answered us with a grin at once more bestial and rapturous. Then his pets cried forth and a terrible cawing erupted in answer. We wheeled to find the trees full of ravens. Their eyes are yours my children, purred the fiend spawn, but their souls are mine. And in a heartbeat we were beset with claws and beaks all too apt to their assigned work. -Extract from an interview found in a dossier marked The Chaining of Malocchio Aderre

--It is the common practice of the herdsmen of that place, when they must cross the river, to send one man well upstream with the weakest of the herd; this unfortunate is cut lightly and forced into the water, where the devilfish swarm to devour it. Thus decoyed and sated, the devilfish generally ignore the other herdsmen bringing the rest of the herd across the river downstream of them. Larraby Quift, Adventures of a Wanderer *I was once told IRL of this being common practice for the cattle herders on the Venezuelan plains--it's probably just be an urban legend, because piranha aren't all that agressive, but I thought it was pretty cool. Roti: Definitely there's no biological basis, since piranha only turn psycho when they're trapped and starving in isolated pools when the seasonal floods dry up. (Even then, they're usually too busy eating each other to attack anything as big as a cow.) In a flowing river, there'd be plenty of natural prey and carrion to keep them mellow.

Swarm, piranha [Stormwrack]

JWM: Tiny Animal (Aquatic, Swarm), CR 4, neutral. A danger to look out for in the Verdurous Lands (yes, I know piranhas dont live in India or Africa, but guess what Sri Raj and the Wildlands aint India or Africa). --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about piranha swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This swift school of toothy fish is a swarm of piranha, dangerous tropical predators. This result reveals all animal traits and the aquatic and swarm subtypes. DC 19: Piranha swarms converge whenever provoked by vibrations in the water or the scent of blood. If particularly hungry, a piranha swarm can quickly reduce even a sizeable animal to nothing but ragged bones.

Swarm, rat [Monster Manual]

JWM: Tiny Animal (Swarm), CR 2, neutral. A common sight in the sewers of Richemulot, and many vampires can call them to service. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about rat swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This stinking, scurrying mass is a swarm of common rats. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: Rat swarms often spread filth fever with their numerous bites. ---

You didnt have to be a rat to appreciate the delectable irony. The fellow had summoned us with his irresistible piping to the banks of the Musarde that we might be drowned en masse. And there he was, sinking into the muck, mad with pain, as we gnawed through his face, I myself feasting on an eyeball. -La maldiction de la Raunie: six ans comme un rat, anonymous work banned in Richemulot

Swarm, scarab beetle [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Fine Vermin (Swarm), CR 19, neutral. A swarm of ravenous scarab beetles. They can devour creatures in moments, leaving nothing but inorganic materials. A menace in the caverns of the Amber Wastes. Swarm, Hoard Scarab: Fine Vermin (Swarm), CR 5, neutral. A swarm of hoard scarabs. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about scarab beetle swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 20: This rippling, iridescent carpet is a swarm of scarab beetles. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype. DC 25: Scarab beetle swarms have such a ravenous appetite that they can completely consume a victim in moments, leaving only inedible, inorganic items behind. DC 30: Scarab beetle swarms can subsist for long periods between feeding by falling into a passive state of near-stasis. They become rapidly agitated in the presence of food, however. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about scarab swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

17 This scuttling black mass is a swarm of undead beetles called death scarabs. This result reveals all undead and swarm traits. 22 Death scarabs are usually found in desert tombs, where they can wait decades or even centuries between meals. Death scarabs have ravenous appetites. If a creature panics while these beetles swarm over its body, they try to push their way into its mouth and other orifices, rapidly devouring the victim from both inside and out. Victims abandoned to death scarabs are completely devoured, leaving not a scrap of flesh or bone behind. 27 Casting remove disease or heal on a creature infested with grave scarabs expels the beetles from its body (but does not prevent the scarabs from trying to force their way back in moments later). 32 Death scarab swarms are united by a hive mind, which grants it an uncanny degree of cunning. However, a swarm that has been largely scattered or destroyed loses its mental cohesion, once again acting like mindless beetles. --(or SWARM, SCARAB BEETLES as Ankhtepot can magically sustain them as with the Death Dogs outside the tomb complex) Elaenor, with those sharp eyes of hers, spotted the secret door. We opened it and mounted the staircase beyond with the greatest caution, fearing in equal measure traps and snakes. After many minutes and our terror at finding another sarcophagus, we were overjoyed to again feel upon our flesh the fiery sun. But it was barely mid-morning and as mad as it was to spend another moment in the tomb, it was madder still to brave the coming mid-day heat. A watch was set and we rested as best we could. As the hours crept by, our courage returned, as did the lure of the realm below where treasure, a well and Raoul might still be found. Elaenor and Theben led the way, unwisely taking for granted the steps which we had previously trod. A loud crack announced the sixth and final horror, as the pair plunged from sight. The initial shriek of Elaenor was followed not by a sickening thud but rather a terrible scream choked off quickly. At the bottom of the pit we could distinguish her prone form engulfed by insects. Theben had been luckier, having managed

to catch himself. But the beetles swarmed up the side of the pit and were upon him even as we put a rope into his hands. In the mere seconds that it took for us to haul him up, the ravenous horde had eaten through to bone. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer --To the Most Noble Sef, Ivan Dilisnya: We are devastated beyond measure to report that your request for a functioning colony of grave scarabs can no longer be fulfilled by this May. Unexpected difficulties with transportation and feeding have prevented delivery; Your Grace's erudition will already have supplied the trifling fact that the beetles in question are extremely aggressive and voracious, and the stupidity of an employee allowed the escape of the colony we had previously mentioned. We cheerfully refund the very generous sum you supplied to us, together with an added sum which we hope very much will alleviate any lingering discontent with our dismal failure. Please rest assured that the responsible employee has already been punished, in a way which Your Grace could not fail to find both amusing and apposite; accounts of the surviving caravan members indicate he was literally a mere skeleton a matter of seconds after carelessly opening the container in which they were held. We remain Your Grace's most humble, abject, and apologetic servants, Nissl Van Kant of Van Kant and Son, formerly Van Kant and Sons

DC 15: This crawling, brownish mass is a swarm of scrpions. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype. DC 20: Scorpion swarms crawl all over their target, jabbing it with countless poisonous stings. The scorpions venom causes loss of muscle control. DC 25: If a creature allows itself to lose its composure while being attacked by a scorpion swarm, the agitated scorpions jab at the subject with thousands of tiny pincers, severely lacerating the victims flesh --Alwen disappeared from view, her shout of surprise causing all of us to turn and hurry to where she was. She had stepped on what seemed to be solid stone and plunged through into a cavity or catacomb of some kind, land on her feet but turning her ankle rather badly. That was not the worst of her predicament, though; when I thrust down a torch to illumine her surroundings we saw the whole floor shift and move around her heavy boots, slick with the ichor of the scorpions she had crushed and the venom of those who struck at her. If she had fallen in any other position she would have been killed immediately. Rudolph van Richten, working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead

Swarm, spider [Monster Manual]

JWM: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm), CR 1, neutral. A swarm of spiders. Usually summoned up by monsters or magic, but also an occasional problem in the Mountains of Misery. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about spider swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: The black mass scuttling through this webchoked area is a swarm of spiders, each the size of

Swarm, scorpion [Sandstorm]

JWM: Diminutive Vermin (Swarm), CR 5, neutral. A swarm of scorpions. Another desert menace from the Amber Wastes. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about scorpion swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

a human hand. This result reveals all vermin traits and the swarm subtype. DC 16: When spiders swarm over a creature, they cover it in countless venomous bites, sapping the creatures strength. --"Here I must leave you, gentles and churls," the Baroness continued, stepping back quickly. "I have arranged for your lodging and entertainment; I trust there will be no complaints." As she spoke the floor beneath us collapsed, plunging us into darkness. At first I could not identify the strange gossamer threads which filled the air, nor the prickling which crossed my face and hands; but when Caronas screamed, just as Yeflem had, I knew what had befallen us. These were cobwebs, and spiders by the thousands or tens of thousands surrounded us in the dark. from Tyranny in Kislova, or, The Baroness of Blood, anonymous memoir

--"You are wrong, however," the General replied, his black eyes glittering. "I am not alone; in fact, my most faithful servants surround us now." As he spoke a pretty little serpent, banded with red, gold and black, fell from the mango tree onto the table; picking it up with one hand, the General gestured to the vine-covered walls of the patio, and I saw that they writhed with snakes, both of that kind and of many others--fer-de-lance, boomslang, cottonmouth, copperhead, and other kinds with which I was not familiar. Simon Torrens, Travels in the Mists

Swarm, wasp [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Fine Vermin (Swarm), CR 2, neutral. A swarm of normal, agitated wasps. --"Grandfather Boar," said Grandfather Wolf, "are you sure there is nothing I can do to make up for the grievous embarrassment I have, however inadventantly, inflicted on you, in stripping your fine long furry tail down to a curly little nub?" Grandfather Boar said nothing, but grunted deep in his chest, still circling beneath the tree where Grandfather Wolf had hidden himself. "In that case, let me make you a present," Grandfather Wolf said, and cut the branch holding the hornet's nest, and out rushed the Little People, each liveried in gold and black and with his poisoned sword in hand. Alas, he might have thought better before doing such a thing! For Grandfather Boar (whose skin is thick, and full of fat) suffered but little as he fled; but Grandfather Wolf went home that night a pincushion, for the Little People treated him full sore for his rudeness. How Grandfather Boar Lost His Tail, traditional Kartakan

Swarm, viper [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Diminutive Animal (Swarm), CR 3, neutral. A swarm of poisonous snakes. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about viper swarms. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 13: This slithering carpet is a swarm of poisonous vipers. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 18: The vipers that form swarms often carry venom that can numb or even paralyze the creatures they bite. DC 23: Viper swarms react to their surroundings with one unified mind, making the swarm susceptible to mind-affecting spells and effects.

SwarmSwarm-shifter [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Template Undead, CR +1. A creature that can the form of a swarm of tiny creatures, such as flies, rats, or the like. Price Mircea, darklord of

Sanguinia, is a swarm-shifter. As a point of trivia, one of the Seven Scarabs of Sakkaramon (see Jameld of Hroths Dread Possibility in Van Richtens Arsenal) granted the power to become a swarm-shifter (taking the form of a swarm of sand). Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures swarm-shifter nature. Use a separate Knowledge (religion) check to learn about the creatures undead nature. If the base undead is also a template, characters may need to make yet another Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This creatures startling transformation reveals it to be a swarm-shifter, an undead creature capable of assuming the form of a swarm of lesser creatures. This result reveals all undead traits and the shapechanger subtype. 20 A swarm-shifter has a hive mind in swarm form. All of its component creatures resist mental attacks and turning attempts as a single entity, and the swarm is immune to any spell or effect that affects a specific number of targets, unless it affects undead specifically. This result reveals the swarm subtype. 25 Various swarm-shifters have been known to take the form of swarms of undead rats, spiders, bats, and more even animate sand or a pile of body parts. Various forms have their associated special abilities, such as leeches draining blood or rats spreading filth fever. However, a given swarm-shifter generally can assume only one swarm form. --Raoul returned from the windy night shrouded in blue flames, a spell upon his lips. Eldritch bands of force whirled forth. Under my very eyes our gracious host, with whom I had been pleasantly engaged in conversation, came apart. And I found before me, retaining for a heartbeat the shape of a man, a cloud of thousands upon thousands of

mosquitos buzzing furiously and reeking terribly. Annabel and Salvador, with whom Raoul had been in secret communication, sliced through the mass with their blades. Futilely. In the next heartbeat we were engulfed. My flesh crawled, arms, neck, scalp, ears, cheeks, nose, lips, eyelids, all violated repeatedly, unceasingly, my lifeblood pounding out of me. I vomited. And in the moment that I concluded that I had to run for my life, I also realised to my acute terror that I was caught in a perfect darkness that deprived me of the possibility. I actually prayed that Raoul would unleash a cleansing fireball. Instead he dispelled the darkness and called a swarm of ugly white bats to feast upon our foe. And for a brief instant it seemed as if we would escape the Red Oasis only a little less sanguine. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

Swordwraith [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Template Undead, CR +2, lawful evil. Undead remains of mercenaries who lived and died by the sword. They appear as slightly translucent corpses wearing battered gear. Their eyes glow dimly in low light. They haunt the sites of their deaths often battlefields looking to put more soldiers to death. The base creature (always a fighter) gains damage reduction and its weapon attacks also deal Strength damage. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about swordwraiths. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. If characters attempt to parlay with a swordwraith, successful Knowledge (nobility and royalty) checks (to identify the swordwraiths insignia) or Knowledge (history) checks (to idendify the battle in which the swordwraith died) may help them convince the swordwraith that they are worthy of its respect. DCs will vary depending on the obscurity of the battle and/or heraldry in question.

DC Result 17 This battered and slightly transparent warrior is a swordwraith, the restless corpse of a mercerany who lived and died by the sword. This result reveals all undead traits. 22 In life, a swordwraith lived for battle, and it retains its martial training in death. A swordwraiths strangely insubstantial body ignores glancing blows, but magic slashing weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. Swordwriaths still speak the languages they knew in life, and may be willing to parlay with those they consider military equals. 27 Swordwraiths are slightly resistant to turning. In the hands of a swordwraith, any melee weapon can sap the strength of living creatures with each strike. --The wind blew more strongly as we approached the border; here and there we could still see metal (armor? the blades of swords?) mostly hidden in the short grass, and every so often a bone. "The spoils of war," Heron muttered. "Aye, lad, for the lucky ones." The speaker had emerged suddenly from the trees, a tall man, armored and bearing a sword; his eyes burned red beneath his helm, and the flesh had long since fallen from his bones. Heron muttered something in his own tongue, and the swordwraith laughed. "I'm no slave of the Witch-King, boy; we're still in Drakov's lands. Are you ready to die?" "Are you, spirit? Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword," Milka said, her voice shockingly sweet and clear. "I've already done that," it replied, and attacked. Journal of Roger Arrowsmith, adventurer See also Dragon #336

T
Telthor [Unapproachable East]
Chris Nichols: Template, CR +1. Telthor are spirit animals or people that guard the land. In the Forgotten Realms, telthors are tied to Rashemen, while in Ravenloft, they are found in regions of Hazlan populated by the Rashemani. When a person or animal dies defending Rashemani lands, they may rise up as a telthor. They become fey with the incorporeal subtype. Telthor gain a fly speed, have animal empathy with one animal type, and communicate telepathically with other nearby telthors. Telthors are bound to a particular place that they defend and may not travel farther than one mile from it. If they travel more that a mile from the site they are bound to, they take one point of damage every minute. In Ravenloft, telthor are native only to Hazlan and are often found dwelling in or near the strange windmills that dot the Hazlani countryside, though many other places within the domain harbor telthors. Certain Rashemani women know to propitiate these spirits with offerings and gifts, telling them of life in the village. The telthor who are shown this respect are more likely to defend the Rashemani living nearby. Because they are bound to the land, telthor never oppose Hazlan's darklord, Hazlik. --When I was young, maybe five, maybe six, I'd go with my grandmother to the windmill near our village. Grandmother was a wise woman, an elder of the village, and it was her duty to take offerings and tidings to the spirits that watched over the village from the windmill. That day we took a loaf of bread, a roast chicken, a jug of milk, and a jug of beer - a real feast by most standards. Naturally, I wanted some of this food - it smelled wonderful. But naturally, grandmother said 'no,' and carried the chicken and bread herself, leaving the jugs for me to carry.

Eventually, we get to the windmill, an old abandoned place no one used. Instead, grandmother and the other elders would come out here and paint little drawings and stories about life in the village on the walls. Grandmother had taught me about some of the images - the picture for my birth, the old picture of her birth, the time when the Red Wizard visited the village and took five young boys and five young girls from us, never to be seen again. Grandmother pushed open the mill's door and we went in. All the food and drink we set in the center of the dusty room. I drew a circle in the dust around the food and grandmother addressed the empty room, saying that we had brought food and drink for the spirits and asking them to bless and protect the village. She spoke a few minutes further, recounting events from the village since she had last visited the windmill, finishing by repeating that the food was for the spirits and repeating the request that the spirits protect the village. After that, we turned and left, not even bothering with the door. Grandmother had told me on one of our previous trips to never look back when we left the windmill. She said the spirits didn't like it. But that day, I snuck a quick glance back. There were shimmery, transparent figures gathering around the food we'd left. Some were human, but I saw a wolf and a hawk among them. But I only looked for a moment before grandmother grabbed my ear and started scolding me. She never took me with her after that, and steadily grew more and more odd and withdrawn, until one day she walked out into the plains and disappeared. - a tale related by Itran the Badger, a Rashemi ruin delver

Tentacle Rat [Denizens of Dread] Thomil [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Template, CR +2. Thomils are guardian earth elementals that resemble humanoid forms sprouting from the earth beneath it. Thomils can engulf enemies of at least one size category smaller that themselves. Thomils can defend themselves by transforming into boulders, have DR and SR, and cold resistance. They gain +4 Con and have a minimum Int of 10. They are native elementals. In Ravenloft, thomils are found in mountains and other rocky regions, guarding those environments from those who would molest them. In Hazlan, thomils can be found that have fire resistance instead of cold resistance. --Tetin raised his pick, ready to start digging. The site was good - he was sure to strike a vein of ore in this hollow. But just as his pick was about to strike, a booming voice called out. "Ho, little man! What do you think you are doing and who gave you permission to do it?" Tetin looked behind him and saw a massive man of stone standing among the rocks. The big stone man had no legs, but rose in a unbroken column from the stone. "Why, I plan to strike a claim here and dig for ore," said Tetin. "I will take the ore to town and make my fortune. As for permission, I have none, for who would I ask?" The stone man frowned ferociously. "You shall not dig here," it boomed. "You did not ask me or the other spirits of the mountains for permission, but you could have. And now, if you strike your mine here, I will swallow you up and deliver you to a stony grave!" Tetin knew better than to challenge the stone man, so he grabbed his pick and his pack and left the stone man's hollow behind. - from Tetin's Claim in 10 Tales of the Balinoks

Tenebris [Denizens of Dread]

Errata : Descriptors correct as presented. These creatures do have reality wrinkles

Thoqqua [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Elemental (Earth, Extraplanar, Fire), CR 2, neutral. A red-hot, rocky worm native to the Elemental Planes of Earth and Fire. Burns to the touch. When called to the Demiplane of Dread, they typically take the first opportunity to turn on their conjurers, then burrow deep into the earth, where they occasionally pose trouble for spelunkers or miners. It might be helpful to note that hulzurdans (dwarven vampires) can call upon thoqquas as part of their children of the night ability Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about thoqquas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This rocky, red-hot worm is a thoqqua. This result reveals all elemental traits plus the earth and fire subtypes. 17 These creatures are generally summoned from the Elemental Plane of Fire or, more rarely, the Elemental Plane of Earth. A thoqqua is so hot that its mere touch can ignite almost any material. --The Red Wizard summoned and bound into servitude, at the cost of a sacrifice a day, a fiery creature of the deep, a sort of worm, roughly a foot across and five times that in length. It cut out of solid stone the pipes and the sewers of Ramulai, and other channels too with no readily apparent use. All this was done not in a day, propaganda be damned, but with astonishing speed, say at the eminently affordable price of not more than fifty Rashemani. -Mulan defector interviewed by Strahd von Zarovich

revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 14: This striped great cat is a tiger, a cunning jungle predator. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 19: Tigers pounce on their prey, then quickly kill the creature with their powerful jaws and sharp claws.

Toad [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about porpoises. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This warty amphibian is a common toad. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Toads are harmless to any creature other than the insects they eat. Spellcasters sometimes adopt them as familiars. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 10: Some mages adopt toads for use as familiars. Such mages tend to slightly more physically resilient.

Tomb mote [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Tiny Undead, CR 2, chaotic evil. Clumps of tomb litter (dust, stone chips, bone shards, etc.) animated essentially by accident by strong ambient necromantic or tainted energy, such as that found in cursed areas or sinkholes of evil. Very fast and surprisingly intelligent, their bite spreads a disease called corpse bloat. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about tomb motes. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This tiny clump of dirt, stone, bone chips, and teeth is a tomb mote. The ambient negative energy

Tiger [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about tigers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is

animating these scattered bits of funereal debris often indicates the presence of unclean forces. This result reveals all undead traits. 17 Although they mostly come into being by accident, tomb motes are surprisingly cunning and malicious. A tomb motes bite spreads a debilitating disease called corpse bloat. 23 A tomb mote is supernaturally quick, and its unnatural body simply absorbs minor nicks and scrapes. However, magic weapons or those forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. --Trespasser beware! Stone and sky, river and flame alike defend Ankh-Memri. All things stand to protect his resting place, yea, even the very dust between these stones shall arise by the power of his word to strike down the impious, the graverobber, and they shall long for death and not find it for the curse which lies upon them. Inscription found on a Sebuan cartouche

When a topiary guardian isnt moving, its indistinguishable from a normal topiary bush. 25 A topiary guardians flexible branches simply absorb most minor attacks. However, slashing weapons can prune it quite effectively. Topiary guardians are highly flammable. This result also reveals the procedure for creating these creatures. 30 A topiary guardian can sense the vibrations of nearby creatures. These guardians are often used to subdue, rather than kill, their masters foes. --Magister Amward's estate was famous for its carefully tended gardens, and I was pleased to have a moment to look out over them as my host busied himself within. So captivating, even when viewed from the high window at nightfall, was the scene that it was some time before I noticed an odd discord in the scene. The gentle wind swayed the cypresses in time with its rhythms, but in the topiary garden the tree-forms seemed to be stirred by some other force out of step with the gusting wind. When Magister Amward returned I pointed out the anomaly to him and voiced a concern that there might be trespassers in his garden; we had, after all, been told there were gypsies in the vicinity. "Unlikely," he replied briefly, looking out. "I suppose it's time for a trim." With which cryptic remark he led me away. Greenleaf, from Twelve More Tales of the Macabre, Jean LaFolie

Topiary guardian [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Boar: Medium Plant, CR 3, neutral; Lion: Large Plant, CR 7, neutral; Triceratops: Huge Plant, CR 12, neutral. Magically animated plantspractically constructscreated by spellcasters to guard their lands. Mimic the attack forms of the creatures they are sculpted to resemble, plus can deal nonlethal damage instead of lethal without penalty. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about topiary guardians. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This creature is a topiary guardian, a normal bush carefully pruned into an animalistic shape and magically animated. This result reveals all plant traits. 20 A topiary guardian is a mindless creature that attacks as its creator commands. It mimics the attack forms of the animal it is modeled after.

Treant [Monster Manual]

In other worlds, treants protect ancient, verdant forests from evil creatures and fire. Although usually neutral good and relatively uncaring about the plight of other creatures, treants are terrifying opponents when roused from their slumber and they turn the nearby forest into a virtual army to smash interlopers see treant, dread. Knowledge (Nature)

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about treants. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This sentient treelike creature is a treant. This result reveals all plant traits. 22 Treants are capable of animating other trees to fight on their behalf. If a treant sits immobile, it's nearly indistinguishable from a regular tree. Treants are vulnerable to fire and can trample creatures into the dirt. 27 Treants deal massive damage to inanimate objects or structures and can quickly reduce a hut to rubble. If treated with respect, treants can sometimes be convinced to reveal information about their forest. 32 Treants speak Common and Sylvan, along with a few phrases of other humanoid languages, typically to warn creatures away from their forest homes. See also: Treant "Ecology of the Treant, The" Susan Lawson Dragon#79(6) D&D1

Treant, warped [Monster Manual, Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Huge Plant, CR 8, neutral evil. An evil version of the common MM treant. Known in 2E as an evil treant and in Denizens of Dread as a dread treant. See also Dragon mag compendium Blackroot marauder

Treant, wormeaten [Denizens of Dread (under Plant, Undead Treant)]

JWM: Huge Undead (Augmented Plant), CR 11, neutral evil. An undead version of the warped treant. It can drain blood, cast druid spells, and stun foes with its negative-energy-charged blows. Published as undead treant. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about wormeaten treants. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 21 This animated dead tree is actually a wormeaten treant the result of what happens when a warped treant refuses to succumb to its natural death. This result reveals all undead traits. 26 If a wormeaten treant sits immobile, its nearly indistinguishable from a normal dead, rotting tree. Wormeaten treants are vulnerable to fire and can trample creatures into the dirt. Unlike living treants, they cannot animate trees, A wormeaten treant sustains itself by draining the blood of living creatures with special, rootlike tendrils. 31 Wormeaten treants deal massive damage to inanimate objects or structures and can quickly reduce a hut to rubble. Unlike their living kin, wormeaten treants make no pretense toward being guardians of their forests. They exist solely for existences own sake, and often rule a copse of living treants. 36 Wormeaten treants are significant innate druidic spellcasters, but they never use fire-based spells. Wormeaten treants retain the languages they knew in life, along with a few phrases of

Treant, Dread (all)

JWM: Treants combine features of trees and humans. Unlike the cunning predators that make up most intelligent plants, the thoughts and philosophies of treants can be as complex as those of any humanoid. In other worlds, this is a strength, but in the Demiplane of Dread, it is the source of their spiritual weakness. Treants in outlander worlds are peaceful by nature but deadly when angered. They hate evil and the unrestrained use of fire, considering themselves guardians of the trees. In Ravenloft, treants absorb the lurking spiritual taint of the Land of Mists from the very soil, warping them into towering monsters, the embodiment of natures cruelty.

other humanoid languages, though they seldom have anything to say to anyone other than their unnatural minions. --Yes, mama, I had a nightmare yesterday. But when I woke up, in cold sweat, I was under the impression this was something that didnt happen yet. This dream was all nice at the start, but it turned very bad. Mama, when it started, we were near the City of the Dead on Vieil Branch ritual day, the Kaokoun, and we were bringing him a part of the shirt papa often wore. We were to offer it to Vieil Branch to ask the loas to be kind with papa, you know. It was nice and sunny and many other people were tying pieces of clothing to its branches, while singing and praying for their dead family members. Then the earth shook, and Vieil Branch started shaking! It became an awful thing, with a huge mouth where it began throwing and eating people! But its eyes were the worst, mama. They were huge, red and so horrible to look at! So mean! Then it moved through the cemetery wall as if it was a wall made by a child, and started destroying the graves It was awful, mama. I dont want to go next week to the Vieil Branch ritual. As told to an old Souragnien widow by her daughter

before it began but the sudden lack of game to hunt forced them to spread further out along the Balinoks. The dwarves of Darkon have long despised these creatures, which to this day occasionally burst into their mines or raid isolated strongholds in the Mountains of Misery. Dread trolls and goblins sometimes work together to form hunting parties, but only when united under the banner of a more powerful master, such as a hag. Left to their own devices, trolls hunt and devour goblins like any other prey. Because of this, goblins sometimes enslave trolls when they can, but more often simply try to avoid them entirely. All trolls in Ravenloft share the following special quality: Quote: Daylight Petrification (Su): Exposing a dread troll to direct sunlight disorients it: It can take only a single move action or attack action and is petrified (as the spell flesh to stone) in the next round if it cannot escape. A petrified troll assumes a naturalistic shape resembling a rough, mossy boulder; forest trolls are particularly covered with moss and lichens. Since a troll looks like a normal boulder while petrified, it takes a DC 25 Spot check to notice its true nature. Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use one of those skills instead of Spot to notice the troll. Dwarves can use stonecunning to notice it as well. A petrified troll remains in boulder form until it is no longer exposed to direct sunlight, at which time it reverts to normal flesh (as a stone to flesh spell). Dread trolls are not harmed by these transformations, but they dislike them and avoid sunlight when they can. Even the most brutish trolls know to be well hidden far from civilized areas before dawn, lest the local humanoids smash them apart and scatter their pieces. JWM: Common Troll: Large Giant, CR 5, chaotic evil. Other than adding the trait above, this is the standard MM troll. Troll Lore (Ravenloft-specific results)

Troll, dread, common troll [Monster Manual]

JWM: Trolls are monstrous, carnivorous giants with a particular taste for humanoid flesh. They are blessedly rare in Ravenloft even Dr. van Richten spent most of his career dismissing them as the stuff of legend. However, those that do emerge from the wilds are invariably vicious, butchering killers. It is commonly believed that trolls first entered the Land of Mists when the domain of Arak formed in 575 BC. They largely remained there, menacing anything that trespassed on their mountainous hunting grounds, until the Scourge of Arak in 588 BC. Supposedly, most trolls survived the sandstorm having turned to stone just

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about trolls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This gangly, rubbery, greenish humanoid is a troll. This result reveals all giant traits. Trolls speak Giant. 21 A troll is a fearless combatant with a ravenous appetite for raw flesh. Trolls have a strong sense of smell and can see in the dark. 26 A troll quickly regenerates most forms of damage, and can even regrow or reattach severed body parts. However, a troll cannot regenerate fire or acid damage. 31 If a troll is exposed to direct sunlight, it instantly turns to stone, resembling a natural boulder. It remains lifeless stone until the next sunset. Trolls come in many different varieties, which have adapted to many different environments, including the humungous mountain troll and the aquatic scrag. --Going to Kellee eh my boy? Sit down for a second. Thats a long ways from Egertus, and there's more to worry about then cutthroats while riding out there. So, while travelling across the grasslands one might note the occasinal outcroppings of boulders or stones that lie in clusters and groups. I'm sure you know of what i speak, those wretched cats sleep, cry and lie about them during the day. Giant, squat and mossy, strange that they never seem to be in the same place twice eh? Scare off the cats and it seems like a good place to hold up for a night eh? You're dead wrong. You wouldn't believe me if i told you why, but you be better off cutting your own throat. Listen up and listen good. Never trust anything out there, for on the plains of Nova Vasa there is always something sinister lurking just beneath.

Troll, dread, bridge [Denizens of Dread (as Troll, Dread)]

JWM: Large Giant, CR 6, lawful evil. An unusually intelligent troll that lingers near urban areas. During daylight hours it hides out of sight, such as under bridges or in abandoned buildings. Although Large, it can squeeze into tight spaces like a Medium creature. A bridge troll can smell spiritual innocence, and loves the taste of innocent flesh that has just been corrupted by sin. Theyk on children, trying to intimidate them into committing evil acts such as leading other children to their deaths before eating them. Published in Denizens of Dread as the dread troll. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about bridge trolls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This rubbery, brownish-greeni humanoid with metallic-hued hair is a bridge troll, a creature closely related to the common troll. This result reveals all giant traits. Bridge trolls speak Giant, Sylvan, and a local language. 21 A bridge troll is a sadistic predator with a ravenous appetite for raw flesh, particularly that of helpless, innocent people. Bridge trolls have a strong sense of smell and can see in the dark. Unlike other trolls, bridge trolls tend to lair near or even within urban areas. These lairs are usually located in cramped, out-of-the-way areas. A bridge troll is unusually talented at slipping into these cramped areas. 26 A bridge troll quickly regenerates most forms of damage, and can even regrow or reattach severed body parts. However, it cannot regenerate fire or acid damage. A bridge troll can sense the presence of innocent souls. 31 If a bridge troll is exposed to direct sunlight, it instantly turns to stone, resembling a natural boulder. It remains lifeless stone until the next sunset. Trolls come in many different varieties, which have adapted to many different environments, including the common troll and the aquatic scrag. ---

"So, oath-sworn to his Jarl, Eigal tracked the beast that men named Orm Rend-Jaws into the stonefields, and found that great stane as which it slept by day as unto one dead. With Lokar's wit, Eigal bound the great stone to which the tracks had led him in hempen hawsers, and staked the ropes hard into the frost-touched soil. And when Orm RendJaws woke to dusk, and the snows of the day shed from the beast's iron-stubbled pate risen anew from stone, Eigal Wolf-feeder feared not, but hewed the hook-clawed hands from Orm's wrists, that the bairn-eater could not tear free of its bonds. The trow-beast thrashed, like-unto the chained Fenris, and gnawed the great ship's tethers that bound it, but could not wrest free. "Then the Norns' fate-weavings turned cruelly upon Eigal, strong arm of the Hird, for the taloned paws of Orm Rend-Jaws lept, body-reft, to strike as one..." -- From the Edda of Eigal Wolf-feeder, Grabenite skald's saga of the Age of the Sea-Raiders Interesting (possibilities here?) -- Hand-written marginalia from a transcription of Eigal's Edda dated 650 BC, private library of Meredoth the Necromancer

stone for a soul, old fell troll. Big two-head, eats up the dead, size of a knoll, old fell troll. - traditional Darkonese rhyme

Troll, dread, forest [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Medium Giant, CR 4, chaotic evil. Mansized, mossy trolls. Not as physically powerful as other trolls, but far more cunning. They can create a poison from their saliva, which they use to coat their weapons. Has a limited chameleon-like ability to change its coloration. Has fast healing rather than regeneration. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about forest trolls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This man-sized, rubbery green humanoid is a forest troll, a creature closely related to the common troll. This result reveals all giant traits. Forest trolls speak Giant. 20 Forest trolls are hunters compelled by their ravenous hunger for flesh. A forest troll has a strong sense of smell and can see in the dark. 25 Forest trolls recover quickly from wounds, but their healing ability is not as powerful as that of more powerful trolls. Instead, a forest troll relies on its greater cunning and more sophisticated tactics. Forest trolls can even prepare a special poison from their own saliva, which they use to coat their claws and weapons. 30 If a forest troll is exposed to direct sunlight, it instantly turns to stone, resembling a mossy, natural boulder. It remains lifeless stone until the next sunset. Trolls come in many different varieties, which have adapted to many different environments, including the humungous mountain troll and the aquatic scrag. A rare variety of forest troll is the muskwart, which is distinguished by the warty pustules covering its skin. These pustules

Troll, fell [Unapproachable [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR 14. Fell trolls are huge (over 15 feet tall and 5000 lbs) two-headed trolls. These monsters lurk in uninhabited regions and are ever hungry for man-flesh. Like other trolls, these beasts regenerate, can rend foes, and track by scent. Additionally, because fell trolls have two heads, they roll all Will saves twice and use the better result. In Ravenloft, fell trolls lurk in desolate regions such as the Arak region of the Mountains of Misery. --Big as a hill, waits to kill,

emit a blinding musk, though forest trolls are immune. --A mindless brute a troll is not. Indeed there are tales of them hungering after innocence, delighting particularly in the patient and clever corruption of children. But any that I have met were far more interested in my flesh. They pick their fights with some care, strike from ambush when feasible, and often employ poison. Happily, they are susceptible to music. Why fight beasts that are healed as quick as you cut them when a little beguilement with song is far more agreeable? As the dawn draws nigh they typically rouse themselves and run for the darkness of their caves. It is possible sometimes to send them west so that our well loved protectors, the mercenary soldiers of Malocchio Aderre, might do their duty or at least find a noble death in the attempt. -Constantine, an impeccably dressed Invidian woodsman with a faint Kartatan accent, in conversation with S

Troll, dread, mountain [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Huge Giant, CR 10, chaotic evil. Massive and incredibly powerful trolls. Stony, greenishgray in color. Exceptionally stable on their feet, but their blows can knock foes prone. Have a potent fast healing ability rather than regeneration. Most mountain trolls in Ravenloft still roam the former lands of Arak, where they subsist on a diet of monstrous spiders and occasionally clamber down to lower elevations to harass travelers and dwarven settlements. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about mountain trolls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 20 This hulking, rubbery, brownish-green giant is a mountain troll, the largest member of the troll family. This result reveals all giant traits. Mountain trolls speak Giant. 25 Mountain trolls live atop mountain peaks, and emerge from their lairs only to sate their ravenous appetites for flesh. A mountain troll has a strong sense of smell and can see in the dark. 30 Mountain trolls recover quickly from wounds, but their healing ability is not as powerful as that of lesser trolls. Instead, a mountain troll relies on its sheer strength and mass to overcome foes. These trolls are exceptionally sturdy and stable on their feet, and their blows are powerful enough to knock opponents to the ground. 35 If a mountain troll is exposed to direct sunlight, it instantly turns to stone, resembling a huge, natural boulder. It remains lifeless stone until the next sunset. Trolls come in many different varieties, which have adapted to many different environments, including the common troll and the aquatic scrag. --We were at the foot of the Dargal Pass when it all 20 feet of it - burst into our encampment. The carnage was frightful, but we were a well disciplined lot, and lost not a moment in arming ourselves with fire. But it did not fear flames and

Troll, ice [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: CR 4. A breed of troll native to frozen lands, ice trolls are somewhat more intelligent than most of their breed. They are able to forge and craft armor and weapons, favoring great warhammers and oversized swords. Ice trolls spit a freezing, nauseating slime that does cold damage and can extinguish flames such as torches. Ice trolls have the cold subtype and like other trolls can regenerate and track by scent. --High in the icy mountains, where the cold wind sings, surrounded by his captains, frozen sits the mountain king. Fires doused by freezing slime, hammers pound in the night, waiting since the dawn of time, sits the troll king in his might. - Saga of the Mountain King, traditional Vos

was untouched by them. Indeed it broke off its slaughter, snatching up a torch, as well as the arm that bore it and the man connected to that arm, poking the whole at us mockingly. Whereupon Scar emerged behind it, his face a frightful mask of wrath. Our dark leader spat out what I knew to be a curse. This was followed with another fell Vistani enchantment which he had used often. The troll was struck blind and roared with fury. Scar signalled for a horse. This I fetched and received instructions to follow with hammers, chisels, wood and water. A sniping barrage led the thing far out into the scoured plain where the first rays of dawn turned it to stone. We were then set to work, at first hacking, and then shattering, by heating with fire and cooling with water, one end of the great block. A little before sunset we were ordered to return to our camp and to scatter the broken pieces as we went. A couple hours later our leader returned, looking entirely pleased with himself. I dared raise an inquiring eyebrow and he said: I wish to know from it how it had laughed off the flames. And I wished it to know who had taken its legs. -Tales of the Crippled Troll, anonymous Darkonese work

beaks, easily capable of killing a fish or biting off exposed fingers or toes.

U
Uchuulon (slime chuul) [Stormwrack]
JWM: Large Aberration (Aquatic), chaotic evil, CR 6. A fleshcrafted chuul created by illithids to act as a guardian. Theyre actually slightly more feeble than regular chuuls; mind flayers find them more manageable than the standard varieties. The main advantage it has over standard chuuls is a coating of psionically-charged slime that helps protect it from touch attacks and critical hits. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about uchuulons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This slimy, tentacled crustacean is a slime chuul, also known as an uchuulon, the result of a normal chuul that has been implanted with a mind flayer tadpole. This result reveals all aberration traits and the aquatic subtype. 31 An uchuulon moves more slowly on land than a normal chuul, but it can survive out of water indefinitely. Its translucent carapace is also softer, and thus easier to damage. Like normal chuuls, uchullons lash out and crush foes with their pincers. 26 If an uchuulon grabs another creature, it transfers the victim to the paralytic tentacles surrounding its mandibles, then immediately starts devouring the helpless prey. Mind flayers often create uchuulons to act as guardians for their lairs. 41 The thick layer of mucus coating an uchuulon is psionically charged and highly protective. Not only does it help deflect attacks, it offers partial protection to the creatures internal organs against sneak attacks and similar penetrating strikes. ---

Turtle [Tortoise: Just a little something I cooked

up myself. Snapping Turtle: Stormwrack animal]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about turtles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This armored reptile is a common turtle or tortoise. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Turtles feed on plants, insects and, sometimes, small fish. They can hold their breath for more than 10 minutes as they swim in search of food. When a turtle feels threatened, some species retreat inside their hard shells, protecting them from predators. DC 21: Some turtles can grow to the size of a cart wheel. Snapping turtles have sharp, powerful

The crab like creature subdued yesterday by the chill golems is imbued with magical powers, but I wasnt able to identify which type. Its slime is gooey and awfully disgusting to all points of view. From test with unwilling subjects, I found its tentacles to have immobilisation powers, followed by a deadly clutch with its crab claws. The message sent with it was undecipherable, as usual. I wonder why the squid heads sent that to me. Is it a present, a spy, or a warning? I really hate them. Hazlik lab notes, 762

Umbral creature [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Template undead (Incorporeal), chaotic evil, CR +2 or +3. A template version of the standard MM shadow. Umbral creature lore is available over on the WotC boards (follow the link in the Monster Lore thread). Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about umbral creatures. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This umbral spirit is all that remains of a creature slain by the chilling undead of the Plane of Shadows. This result reveals all undead traits and the incorporeal subtype. 19 Umbral creatures are composed of seething darkness. They despise life and light. Their touch saps the strength from living creatures bones. 24 A living creature whose prowess is completely drained away dies, its heart lacking the strength to beat. Such victims soon rise as undead shadows under the control of their killer. --It was impossible to say what the ruins had once been. Only thick walls of stone, much eroded, remained. Then we saw it, a gurgling fountain. We

greeted the sight with incredulity, save for Annabel, apparently lost in her thoughts. Salvador, guarding our rear, yawned loudly and collapsed. A moment later, a clear, feminine voice rang forth: Drink of the water; it will cool you; it will drive off the exhaustion that has layed low your friend. But it was our fallen comrade who commanded our attention. And so we failed to notice that Annabel had obeyed and entered the ruins. No sooner had we aroused Salvador, than we heard her cry. We found her beset by a large shadow, mirrored many times over, that would dart forth from one wall to attack her and vanish into another, only to race out again from a different point. We fared poorly against it, our weapons growing heavier and our judgement cloudier with each numbing touch. But Raoul, grinning like a fiend, turned the tide, shackled it with bands of eldritch force. -The Wreck of the Albatross, Juno Lutuem, Darkonese adventurer

Undead, Strahd see Strahd Undead symbiont: ghostly visage [Fiend Folio p221]
JWM: Ghostly Visage: Tiny Undead (Incorporeal, Symbiont), chaotic evil, CR 2 or host +1. A minor spirit that can merge with a corporeal creature, disappearing into its body (but not taking control of its actions). It can then manifest its own face anywhere on the hosts body, including over the hosts face (thus acting as a sort of disguise). It also protects its host from mind-influencing effects. I think these spirits can be used as improved familiars. --Poor Tanya was very agitated when we met Dr Lour. Seeing her anxiety, we were on alert, but couldnt suspect why, since she was looking at him directly, and not at an empty space in the room as usual when her ghost sight made her saw something supernatural.

When later we were alone with her, and we asked her what she saw exactly, she simply said Dr Lour has two faces, and then refused saying more. I despise the thing that made Tanya loose her marbles and I vow well destroy it soon. Jamelds private journal

Unholy scion [Heroes of Horror]

JWM: Template Outsider (Evil, Native), evil. A particularly evil product of a fiend siring a child with a mortal mother. The scion is fully sentient and capable of using its powers while still in the womb. It can charm its mother, has a number of spell-like abilities. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about a creatures unholy scion origins. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This subtly disturbing creature is an unholy scion (or perhaps its possessed mother), the child of a fiendish father and mortal mother. This result reveals all outsider traits. 18 Most fiend-mortal couplings result in halffiends. Unholy scions are comparatively rare, resulting when the child is conceived in a spiritually unclean area, or when a fiend possesses an unborn child still in the womb. Compared to their mortal parents, unholy scions possess powerful minds and souls of utter malevolence. An unholy scions body pulses with fiendish energy, so its attacks are particularly damaging to good-hearted creatures. 23 An unholy scion is somewhat resistant to magic, acid, cold, electricity, and fire. It heals quickly from its wounds, and its unnatural flesh deflects most minor attacks, though blessed or magic weapons can pierce its unholy defenses. 28 An unholy scion with a particularly strong mind possesses a variety of spell-like abilities, ranging from charm person and desecrate on up to gate and polymorph any object. Unholy scions

develop a wider range of spell-like abilities as they grow in power. 33 Unholy scions are highly dangerous even before they are born. An unholy scion quickly develops its full intellect while still in the womb. It can continuously control its pregnant mother as with a charm person or charm animal spell, and can even channel its spell-like abilities through her. The scion retains this overbearing spiritual bond with its mother after birth as well. --It was near the Harvest in 748. For fear of some black pestilence similar to what was gripping Pont-a-Museau at this time; i was appointed to look into a feverish patient in Chataufaux. What i knew was that she was with child, in her early twenties, and that she came from a lowbrow famiy with little traces of madness and may or may not have been a whore for a while. Upon first finding the woman i noticed greying skin and a very high fever. For what we call speech; she would glibber stupidly for a few moments about "whats to come" and "the suffering" then give us nasty stares and spit a little. note: One men who had been there longer then i stated that the woman had vomited most fouly on him once but i highly doubt this, i believe the mans "advances" were likely spurned earlier and thus he felt the need to exagerate. After studying the sickly woman for some four days i had found my mark. And how dreadful, it was something in the water here. I belived the womans slow decaying mental and physical health to be a sign of the occasinal truth to Chateaufaux's street-corner rumors. Making note of this, I had suggested/issued a water boil for the (noted)higher districts. Not wanting to remain in this filthy, horrid womans dwelling anylonger I then gathered my things, said my goodbyes, wished the dying woman well(though i knew she wouldn't make it though the month) and headed back to Port a'Lucine. Some months later i came back through Chateaufaux on my way to Mordent, and there she was. I stopped dead in my tracks, for she was watching me from a first floor window right next to me, not arms length away. With a tiny newborn

in her arms silently watching me, she spit at the ground. She must still be angry at that whole "leaving her to die thing". Now though, I was glad to she her alive and all however i felt rather chill. Something about the two of them staring with those little smirks made my blood run cold and my neck hairs stand straight. So i decided to tip my hat and put it behind me. Just as i reached for my cap the babes little ashen arm jutted out like a worm; pointing qweerly at me. Its face contorted and twisted into somthing most un-innocent. Eyes blazing yellow it's mouth wide and black with a red little tongue flicking. And i admit i shuddered, not do to its horrid features but to what in clear mordentish i must of heard and swear i heard that aweful child hiss: "There is nothing you can do, nowhere you can go. I am your end and i'll see that you suffer for leaving me as you did. For treating my dear carrier as a whore, you good sir shall rot forever more." -spoken by Dr. Armond "the ever dying" DeGreen in a fit of hysteria on his deathbed.

Unicorn, dread [new? [new?] new?]

JWM: Unicorns native to the Land of Mists. Theyre all descended from the unicorn Addar (mount of Lady Kateri Shadowborn), who was seduced and corrupted by a nightmare (a minion of Ebonbane) following Lady Kateris death. JWM adds: It's something that would have been formally introduced in Ravenloft Gazetteer IX or so, when we would have finally been able to devote some needed attention to cleaning up the Shadowlands. For a hint of what would have been, read the Book of Shadows framing fiction. --Like horses, but with horns? But if there are unicorns here, surely we can call on them for assistance?" I asked. Lochraim shuddered and said, "You must be mad, or you really are an outlander. The devil-horses here do not assist men, except to their graves. They, too, are servants of Faith-hold, or they were. Perhaps they were even too cruel to serve her well." Journal of Akkarath Losander, adventurer

Unicorn, dappled [Monster Manual]

JWM: Large Magical Beast, chaotic good, CR 3. The standard MM unicorn, other than their speckled gray coats. The rare, freak offspring of shadow unicorns, below. Shadow unicorns kill them on sight once detected. --"Quick! To me!" I looked about me, wondering what new horror the night would hold, to see a great horse, dappled silver in the moonlight, with a white horn like a sword in its forehead. "Mount!" it said, "and I'll carry you to the border." Any lingering doubt as to its motives was stilled by the chorus of howls behind me. The thousand heart's-beats allotted me in the Circle had expired, and the Hunt was up. With the horn-horse's assistance I clambered onto its back, and it darted off, carrying me through the night, surer and more swift-footed by moonlight than any true horse could be at noon. Interview with Elliot MacPherson, working notes to "Van Richten's Guide to Lycanthropes"

Unicorn, dread, shadow [Denizens [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Large Magical Beast, chaotic evil, CR 5. Evil, violent, dappled gray unicorns. They can will their horns to burst into flame, and can use their horns to inscribe a magical glyph of doom, which acts as an unhallow spell. They can also merge with shadows. --It leaped out of the shadows so close to us, it seemed like if it was spawned from the dusk itself. But the most awful was its scream, like if it could concentrate all Hells hatred into one ghastly scream. My legs felt like jelly. I screamed when its horn became fiery and it attacked me.

How its face seemed hateful when mine showed pain from the burn! How its glowing red eyes burnt into my head! But my wife took my hand and cracked the tube, sending us away from that dark and sinister forest. During a discussion with Friedrich Kreutzer

urophon can also defend itself with a powerful psionic mind blast. 38 Urophions can use detect thoughts and suggestion at will as psionic abilities. Mind flayers create urophions to serve as guardians and sentinels. Urophions are extremely intelligent, but have no place in mind flayer society. Their only reward is the chance to join the elder brain in death. --The satrap from the west border, I again forgot his name, sent me messengers about something that he felt should get my attention. One of them was among men patrolling the southern border when they were attacked by a monolith of flesh, lashing at them with tentacles and melting their brains to white bchamel sauce. I really wish theyd stop trying to entertain me with their prose when making patrol reports. The creature supposedly destroyed all the patrol, except one man. This survivor said the creature plucked his companions brain like when breaking nut shells for their tasty inside, then it put a piece of paper to this last mans hand, who collapsed into unconsciousness from fear. When he awoke, the thing was gone. I wondered if the patrol consumed too much poppies again, but then the paper he carried was another undecipherable note from the squid heads. What do these creatures want? Cant they be clearer? If I knew they were waiting for my answer at the border, Id fry them without hesitation. I really hate them. Hazlik lab notes, 763

Unseelie Fey (dragon mag compendium)

Submited by JP

Urophion [Lords of Madness]

JWM: Large Aberration (Psionic), lawful evil, CR 13. A fleshcrafted roper. Like uchuulons, illithids create them to act as guardians. Basically a slightly beefed up standard roper, adding the ability to mind blast and extract brains like a mind flayer, plus a few psi-like abilities. Much more intelligent than ropers, they are lonely, brooding creatures. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) or Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about urophons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 23 This tentacled stalagmite could be easily mistaken for a roper, but it is actually a rare psionic variant called an urophon. This result reveals all aberration traits and the psionic subtype. 28 Urophons are the result of mind flayers implanting an illithid tadpole in a ropers brain. Like ropers, urophons are ambush predators. They pose as stone formations, then lash out at nearby prey with their strong, adhesive, tentacle-like strands. Opponents can sever a strand to free a trapped ally. 33 Like a jellyfish, an urophons strands inject toxins that sap a tangled creatures strength. Urophons drag tangled foes toward their maws, then extract their brains, instantly killing them. An

Uthraki [Unapproachable East]

Chris Nichols: Large monstrous humanoid (Shapechanger), CR 3. Uthraki are man-eating shapeshifter that haunt lonely roads and other dark places. They take on human forms, presenting themselves as fellow travellers, lost children and

similar folk, before killing those they encounter when they drop their guard. Uthraki appear to be large apes with gray fur and twisted limbs. Their heads are too small for their frames and are ringed by a dozen solid black eyes that give them allaround vision. At night, uthraki have fast healing. In Ravenloft, uthraki haunt the Vaasan Plateau, menacing travellers on the lonely plains between settlements --We were travelling from Arbora to Sly-Var when a farmer joined us on the road one evening. He travelled with us and talked, proving to be a reasonable companion. When we stopped for the night, he ate with us and when to sleep in the shadow of one of the wagons. Later that night, I was awoken by a high, crazy scream, like what a rabbit in a snare makes. I grabbed my sword and ran out of my tent to see what was going on. I find the farmer who joined us standing in front of Donde's tent with Donde's dagger - she always slept with one under her pillow - sticking out of his shoulder. Donde looks over to me and points to the bruises around her neck - the bastard had tried to strangle her! After that, we were a bit over-zealous in subduing our guest. Which was fine, since whatever it was fought back and nearly clawed the guts out of young Simon. Once we killed it, it didn't look like a farmer anymore. It was a grey-furred ape-thing with twisted limbs and a head that was a size too small for its body. And all around the head, front and back, were these glassy black eyes. We burned the carcass and laid heavy stones over the bones. It will be a long time before we let travellers join us on the road anymore. - Journal of Brego Sandeskov, Arboran merchant

V
Valpurleiche (hanged man) [Denizens [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Medium Undead, CR 9, chaotic evil. A form of revenant, the vengeful undead corpse of someone wrongfully hung for crimes they did not commit. It strangles its victims, can animate rope, and regenerates it can only be harmed by weapons of the same type it was accused of using in the crime for which it was killed. Im strongly considering making this one a template, but that doesnt affect the blurb. ---The man was running down the street screaming about something; his garb and colourful language marked him as a dockworker. "He's back! He's back! The Shoreline strangler has returned!" shouted the rather wide-eyed man. I quickly spepped infront of him. "You there, describe him; what did he look like?"i questioned. "He was tall, dark of skin. His neck...HIS NECK WAS BROKEN! It just lolled to the side with the same noose just dangling off." "And where did you see him?" i asked. "By the shipping yard. Jus' squeezing the life out a' some boy! Thing was, he wasn't using his hands; it was the ropes. They jus' kept snappin' off of crates and wrappin round this boys neck. And the strangler jes kept watching, like the boy deserved it or something-" "and your positive the events played out as you said?" i interupted. He nodded his head, looked around wildly and grabbed me by the sholders.

"He's back! He's back to kill again! The Shoreline Stangler has come back from the dead to kill again!" shouted the crazed man. I placed my gloved hand over his mouth to keep this quiet for now. "Actually, if what you say is true; and if my deductions are correct: the man you saw tonight never killed anyone in life." i stated. "which does spin a rather grim tale that we now have two killers walking the streets. One vile and undead seeking revenge, the other clever and hiding like a viper." -The Murder Mysteries featuring Alanik Ray

Vampire, Barovian [Monster Manual as normal vampire] vampire]

JWM: Template Undead (Vampire), CR +2, any evil. The standard MM vampire. Drains blood and life energy. Strahd and his vampire brides are prime examples. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures vampiric nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This pale figure with blood-stained lips is a vampire, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. This result reveals all undead traits. Vampires speak the languages they knew in life. 22 Vampires drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and they drain life energy with their physical attacks. Victims they drain rise from the grave as new vampires several days after burial. A vampire does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A vampire is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. 27 A vampire can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider and can dominate the weak-minded simply by looking into their eyes. Vampires are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in

running water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Vampires cannot stand the presence of garlic, and they cannot approach a mirror or holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a vampire, one must hammer a stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all victims slain by a vampire rise as new vampires; most rise as vampire spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. 32 A vampire cannot enter a private residence unless it is invited inside, nor can it cross running water under its own power. A vampire is resistant to cold and electricity, and can transform into a cloud of fog at will. If slain, a vampire automatically assumes gaseous form and must return to its grave to recover. A vampire can also assume the form of a bat or a wolf, and can command like creatures. Staking a vampire does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the vampire helpless. To permanently destroy a vampire, one must sever its head and fill its mouth with holy wafers. 37 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply one of the most common. Destroying a master vampire usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --I have survived the nights of seventy-two winters, many of them passed in Barovia, and that is something. I have scattered the ashes of my wife, my children and my childrens children. Long ago and in a far away place a Vistani seer foretold the manner and the hour of my death. Events, I believe, have proven and will prove her true. And so I have invited you here. For a price I will tell you all that I have learned of Count Strahd von Zarovich. But know, as you already should, that you court eternal damnation by not quitting me and this land at once. So you be brave fools then. Good. Swear then by the light and upon your undying souls to carry me a week hence beyond the choking mists that surround this village and that have held me for twenty years, take my body with all haste to Darkon where a priest of the

Eternal Order must grant me final rest, cremate my remains and scatter the ashes. My story begins with my birth in this very room. As a young man I escaped the shadow of Castle Ravenloft to become a force for good and justice. I have fought at the side of Ivan Dragonov, George Weathermay, Gondegal, although he was not yet then the man he would become, and many others who you would not know. And having seen and survived more than any man should, I retired. But I bore with me a copy, a gift from the good doctor himself, of Rudolph van Richtens Guide to Vampires, a work that you will need. A man of my reputation in possession of such a tome attracted the personal attention of the count who entered this place unbidden. Perhaps the old womans prophecy saved me. Perhaps the devil Strahd could read in my eyes that I spoke truth, that I had not returned to hunt him and his ilk. He feasted on my blood, long minutes of the most delirious fright, yet paling in comparison to the horror to come. Laying his hands upon me, he took from me the competences, the abilities, the dearly bought experience of a lifetime that made me a dangerous man to his eye, stopping only a hairs breath from consuming my soul. And I was conscious of the loss, of all that was being ripped from me, in those terrible seconds which bespoke an eternity of vile lusts and merciless enslavement. -Sasha Valentin adventurers conspiring with powerful

serve their creator. Seven variants are presented, but a single blurb for the standard MM (Barovian) vampire spawn will do just fine. (And again, with some extra Ravenloft material included. Simply ignore the underlined bits if you aren't using Ravenloft. The "Barovian vampire" referenced below is the standard MM vampire.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about vampire spawn. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. The information below refers to the infamous Barovian vampire; for other vampiric strains, add 2 to the DC and change the lore provided to reflect the specific traits of each strain. DC Result 14 This pale, hissing creature is a vampire spawn, the minion of a master vampire. Unlike their masters, vampire spawn are pathetic, stagnant creatures that exist only to serve their masters will. This result reveals all undead traits. 19 Like their vampire masters, vampire spawn feed on blood and life energy, Fortunately, however, the victims they slay do not join the ranks of the undead. 24 Vampire spawn share all the weaknesses of the master vampire that created them, and are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. 29 A vampire spawn is resistant to cold and electricity, and can transform into a cloud of fog at will. Unlike its master, however, if slain it does not automatically assume gaseous form and return to its grave. 34 Destroying a master vampire usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. ---Over the distant but insistent caterwauling of the cats, which were attempting to claw their way through the heavily shuttered windows and well

See also RLCS and Dragon #336 See also: Vampire: "Fangs Alot!" TSR staff Dragon#150(28) D&D2 "Bloodlines" Michael J. Montesano Dragon#348(39) D&D3 Vampires A-Z" William W. Connors Dragon#An1(67) D&D2

Vampire spawn [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Medium Undead (Vampire), CR 4, any evil. Lesser vampires created by a vampires secondary draining attack (life energy for Barovian vampires), or because the victim wasnt powerful enough to transform into a true vampire. They are stagnant, disposable creatures that exist solely to

secured doors of our rented abode, Dr. Stubbins cried out: Harm so much as a hair upon my head and my mistress will be your deaths. -Ray drew deeply upon his pipe before replying: To silence us, I have no doubt that she shall try to destroy us. But you do realise that in the event that you escape us, she will snuff you out, like the feeble flame that you are, for having betrayed her existence? -Horror filled the eyes of the halfling as he whispered without believing the words, She wouldnt. She couldnt. -After a long silence Ray stated: All that is left to you is revenge. Tell us all you know of her, withholding nothing, and we will see that your mistress shares the fate to which she has so unkindly damned you. -The Wrethfetins Blood from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Dr. Arthur Sedgewick From Denizens of D : See each strain for details on spawns See also Vampire Companion sidebar under vampire

Vampire, Caliban (FoS Zherisia report)

Already outcasts on the fringes of society some calibans openly embrace undeath as a way to gain revenge on their tormentors. For them, death is a means to compensate for their misshapen birth. Caliban vampires appear as exaggerated mockeries of their normal form with even minor deformities enlarged and made prominent. Oddly, all caliban vampires grow an umbilical cord upon their descent into vampirism.

Vampire, ChiangChiang-shi (oriental vampire) [Denizens of Dread]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures chiang-shi nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC Result 19 This luminous, white-haired figure is a chiangshi, a form of vampire found in Far Eastern lands. This result reveals all undead traits. Chiang-shi speak the languages they knew in life. 24 Chiang-shi drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and they drain life energy with their long, razor-sharp claws, Victims they drain rise from the grave as new chiang-shi several days after burial. A chiang-shi does not cast a shadow, has no reflection in mirrors, and never leaves footprints. A chiang-shi is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. 29 Although corporeal, a chiang-shi is virtually weightless; it can levitate and float through the air. A chiang-shi can paralyze the weak-minded simply by looking into their eyes. Chiang-shi are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic weapons crafted from bamboo can pierce their supernatural defenses. Chiang-shi cannot stand the odor of burning rosemary and myrrh incense, and they cannot approach a garland of rosemary and ivy presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a chiang-shi, one must hammer a bamboo shaft through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all victims slain by a chiang-shi rise as new chiangshi; most rise as chiang-shi spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. 34 A chiang-shi cannot cross running water under its own power. A chiang-shi is resistant to cold and electricity, and can turn itself invisible at will. If slain, a chiang-shi automatically becomes an invisible, incorporeal spirit and must return to its grave to recover. A chiang-shi can assume the form of a tiger, and can command cats and leopards. Staking a chiang-shi does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the chiang-shi helpless. To permanently destroy a chiang-shi, one must place a blessed rosemary blossom in the chiang-shis mouth and sew the creatures lips and eyes shut with a silver needle and golden thread. 39 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply the most common strain in Far Eastern lands. Destroying a master chiang-shi usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other

than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --Well how was I to know? I mean... that new incense that Father Claude had bought was a disgrace to Ezra, and he knew that we don't strew flowers all about the place. We're not into fripperies like that. As far as I saw it, I was tidying up the place. And if he'd only explained that the girl with white hair had something against him. Strange, foreign looking piece, was thinking of turning her away until she looked at me. Oh my, those eyes... couldn't move for thinking about them for minutes... no wonder Father Claude got himself involved with her, I thought... Of course I tried fighting back, once I snapped out of it. Wasn't quite prepared to see my mace melt when it hit her though. And the cats... whoever thought Madame Genevive's old tom could have been so vicious. I mean... I'm not a mind reader... if you get yourself involved with orientals what do you expect... - Transcribed by dictation from Michael Jendalis, medium. The Spirit in question declined further comment.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures hulzardans nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge (local) check to learn about the base dwarf. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 19 This dusty dwarf with skin as hard and cold as marble is a hulzurdan, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. This result reveals all undead traits. Hulzarudans are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to dwarves. Vampires speak the languages they knew in life. 24 Hulzurdans drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and their physical attacks sap the victims strength. Dwarves they drain rise from the grave as new hulzurdans several days after burial. A hulzurdan does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A hulzurdan is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that stone tomb to replenish its unholy powers. 29 A hulzurdan can swim through stone like an earth elemental and can terrify foes simply by looking into their eyes. Sunlight turns hulzurdans to stone, and water drawn from a mineral spring burns them like holy water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic weapons forged of adamantine can pierce their supernatural defenses. Hulzurdans heal even more quickly underground. Hulzurdans cannot approach a mirror or holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a hulzurdan, one must drive a natural stone spike (such as a stalagmite) through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all dwarves slain by a hulzurdan rise as new vampires; most rise as hulzurdan spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. To create a new hulzurdan, the victim must be interred underground, in contact with uncut stone (common among dwarf traditions), and the master hulzurdan must sprinkle the corpse with powdered metals, so these creatures are never created accidentally. 34 A hulzurdan cannot enter a building unless it is at least partially constructed of stone or earth, nor can it cross an unbroken line of metal shavings under its own power. A hulzurdan is resistant to cold, electricity, and magic. If slain, a hulzurdan

Vampire, dwarven (Hulzurdan) (Hulzurdan) [Denizens of Dread]

Errata: Under Slaying a Dwarven Vampire: change the sentence Exposing a Dwarven vampire disorients it to Exposing a dwarven vampire to sunlight disorients it Hulzurdan Lore Denizens of Dread (as Vampire, Dwarven)

automatically enters its stonewalking state and must stonewalk back to its grave to recover; it cannot leave the stone until it enters its grave, and is destroyed if it cannot do so. A hulzurdan can sense the footsteps of nearby creatures, and can command burrowing creatures, such as badgers, wolverines, or thoqquas. Impaling a hulzurdan does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the hulzurdan helpless. To permanently destroy a hulzurdan, one must cut out its heart, soak it in oil for three days, and then burn it to ash in a dwarven forge. 39 Many different strains of vampirism exist this one is simply the most notorious among dwarves. Destroying a master hulzurdan usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --"Blood, blood, granite and blood. He fills the halls with envy. And if you see his grave dust trail give thanks your end comes quickly. His hammer rots, his axe does break his castle will come down one day. His honour fades, his faith forsake His time is now too plenty. Do not under estimate one who has been robbed of what he feels he deserves. Does faith matter? Is there really pearly white gates awaiting us all? Do our acts in life have any effect upon the end? Does the journey matter at all? It certainly didn't for him. Bet he feels like a nitwit." - Improvised Story by Jonathan Midwinter after reading something on Hulzurdans.

ability to its original score (i.e., whatever it would be if not for the vampiric drain) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures albesadow nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base elf. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This ashen, hideously deformed elf is an albesadow, a sinister undead creature that feeds on beauty and the will to live. This result reveals all undead traits. Albesadows are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to those with elven blood. Albesadows speak the languages they knew in life. 22 Albesadows drain the will to live with their physical attacks, and their touch withers living plants. Elven victims they drain rise from the grave as new albesadows several days after burial. An albesadow has no reflection in mirrors. An albesadow is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. 27 An albesadows face is so hideous that those who see it may be frozen in horror. Unlike most vampires, albesadows are not harmed by exposure to sunlight. In fact, they require it if an albesadow leaves its coffin during the hours of night it is quickly destroyed, and it quickly wastes away if it ventures underground. Albesadows quickly recover from most wounds, but magic silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Albesadows cannot approach a holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. An albesadow can be utterly enthralled by the sound of music. Fresh tree sap burns an albesadow like holy water. To destroy an albesadow, one must hammer a charcoal stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all victims slain by a albesadow rise as new albesadows; most rise as albesadow spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. Only elves who commit suicide as a result of an albesadow robbing them of the will to live are doomed to rise as true albesadows.

Vampire, Elven (Albesadow) Albesadow) [Denizens of Dread]

Errata: When an elven vampire creates a new vampire or spawn, what is the new vampire or spawn's CHA score? Like the cerebral vampire, the change to undeath should "reset" the drained

32 An albesadow cannot cross an unbroken line of fresh flower petals under its own power. An albesadow is resistant to cold and electricity. An albesadow can tree stride at will between living trees, but this kills its means of transport. If slain, an albesadow attempts to tree stride back to its grave to recover, and is permanently destroyed if it cannot do so. An albesadow can also assume the form of a great eagle. An alebsadow can command the lesser creatures of elven woods, and it can use spell-like abilities like entangle, warp wood, and wall of thorns to command the forest itself. Staking an albesadow does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the albesadow helpless. To permanently destroy an albesadow, one must sever its head, then burn the head for a full day on a pyre fueled with flowering plants. 37 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply one of the most notorious among elves. Destroying a master albesadow usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --Alas! Child of light, No more shalt thou see the stars Wheeling in Heaven. Crooked hands; the rose Withers at thy touch, the tree Turns her face, shudders. From Narthang eolinde, trans. Malcolm Hopper

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures nonaris nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge (local) check to learn about the base gnome. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 18 This stiff, wizened gnome is a nonaris, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. Nonarises are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to gnomes. This result reveals all undead traits. Nonarises understand the languages they knew in life, but cannot speak. 23 Nonarises drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and their physical attacks stiffen muscles and joints. A nonaris does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A nonaris is spiritually bound to the sarcophagus in which it was first buried, and must return to that grave to replenish its unholy powers. Because a nonaris has lost the ability to speak, it must use techniques such as Silent Spell to utilize its magical gifts. 28 A nonaris can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider and can dominate the animals minds simply by looking into their eyes. Nonarises are destroyed by exposure to sunlight. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Weapons forged of other metals even magic weapons simply pass through their bodies, as if they werent there. Nonarises cannot approach a silver-backed mirror or holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. A nonaris can also be enthralled by a strongly presented jewel. To destroy a nonaris, one must hammer a silver stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. To create a new nonaris, a nonaris must place one of its drained gnome victims in its own sarcophagus and lie atop the corpse for several days, so these creatures are never created accidentally. 33 A nonaris cannot enter a private residence unless it first knocks at a door or window and is answered by an occupant. A nonaris is resistant to cold, fire, and electricity, and sees through all illusions. At will, a nonaris can transform into a ball of light, similar to a will-owisp. If slain, a nonaris automatically assumes wisp form and must return to its grave to recover. A nonaris can also

Vampire, Gnomish (Nonaris) [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Undead (Augmented Humanoid, Vampire). The sample nonaris is a gnome Ill5, CR 7. A gnomish vampire strain that drains blood and Dexterity. Its flesh is withered and taut, robbing them of the ability of speech. They can induce insane laughter with their rictus grin and can assume a spectral form. They are immune to illusions and metal weapons pass right through them. [Denizens of Dread]

use disguise self as a spell-like ability at will. Once a minute, it can pull its features into a rectal grin, forcing witnesses into fits of unnatural laughter. Staking a nonaris does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the nonaris helpless. To permanently destroy a nonaris, one must sever its hands and boil them in a volcanic spring for a full day. The body must then be placed in a masterwork coffin (perhaps its own), and its eyes must be cut out and replaced with valuable gems. Only when the coffin is nailed shut and buried is the nonaris finally destroyed. 38 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply the most notorious among gnomes. --There is no want of things to fear in the prisons of Falkovnia. Yet this was a terror unto itself. It hunted both inmate and guard. The grim stones and iron bars held fast not it in the least but rather its ill-fated prey. It would take a lone individual by surprise and leave as its sign a bloodless corpse. It would enthral groups with an inspired pantomime, bringing a brief respite of joy to the bleakest of lives. But the laughter it birthed would spiral beyond measure. The revellers would die of their very merriment as it rubbed its hands, a leering grin painted upon its face. Its stature and appearance was not constant, but more often than not that of a slight human boy dressed as though taking the stage in some garish comedy. Beneath this mask was a small withered form, that of a female gnome, hideous to the eye and restless in her grave. -Working note, Van Ritchens Guide to Vampires

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about goatsuckers. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This particularly grotesque goblinoid with lamprey-like fangs and nearly transparent skin is a goblin vampire, a wretched undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. They are better known among common folk as goatsuckers, since they are known to attack stay livestock. This result reveals all undead traits. Goatsuckers are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to goblinoids. Goatsuckers speak the languages they knew in life. 22 Goatsuckers drain blood from victims they get in their clutches,. They are so ravenous they can gulp down blood even with a moments bite. Goblinoid victims they drain rise from the grave as new goatsuckers several days after burial. A goatsucker does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A goatsucker is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first placed, and must return to that dank pit to replenish its unholy powers. 27 A goatsucker can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider. Animals balk at the presence of goatsuckers and flee if they come within ten paces of one. Goatsuckers are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic weapons forged of cold iron can pierce their supernatural defenses. Goatsuckers cannot stand the presence of garlic, and they cannot approach a holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a goatsucker, one must hammer six iron nails into its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. Few goblinoids slain by a goatsucker rise as new goatsuckers; most lack the power to survive the transition into undeath. 32 A goatsucker cannot enter any building with doors marked with the Goblin rune for the sun, nor can it cross running water under its own power. A goatsucker is resistant to cold and electricity, and

Vampire, Goblin (Goat sucker) [new] new]

This is a new racial vampire subtype, with no real connection to the unique goblin vampire that appeared in Servants of Darkness. In short, it's a pathetic, wretched creature, as befits a goblin, somewhat akin to vrykolakas (but without the emphasis on plague). I'm still pencilling in the details, so just be creative. The name is basically Tepestani folklore/slang and isn't necessarily to be taken literally. ---

can transform into a swarm of flies at will. If slain, a goatsucker automatically assumes swarm form and must return to its grave to recover. A goatsucker can also assume the form of a goblin bat or a goblin wolf, and can command like swarms of common bats, rats, or spiders. Nailing a goatsucker does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the vampire helpless. To permanently destroy a goatsucker, one must cut out its nail-riddled heart and burn it to ash. 37 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply one of the most notorious among goblinoids. Unlike almost all vampires, goatsuckers are so debased that they can subsist on animal blood. They hunt goblins and more civilized humanoids only when the opportunity presents itself. --A more wretched creature can hardly be imagined; to all the crookedness of the goblin it once had been it added the deformities of undeath, its needle teeth thrusting through the skin of its cheeks, its fingers distorted into claws, its body warped out of true like wood left to dry uncured. I pitied it, and pity was almost the end of me. Without warning it leapt at us with frightening speed, slashing with its clawed hands and ripping with its inch-long teeth. Sixty Nights in Tepest, Bertram Mac Laren

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures wrethfetin nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This ashen halfling with blood-stained lips is a wrethfetin, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. Wrethfetins are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to halflings. This result reveals all undead traits. Wrethfetins speak the languages they knew in life. 22 Wrethfetins drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and their physical attacks sap the physical vitality of the living, Victims whose blood they drain rise from the grave as new wrethfetins several days after burial. Wrethfetin habitually collect small trophies from the corpses of their victims. As a former victim themselves, wrethfetins are often missing a small body part, such as an ear or a finger. A wrethfetin is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. A wrethfetin can purify or despoil food and drink by touch. 27 A wrethfetin can effortlessly move in total silence and its mere presence fatigues nearby living creatures. It can create food and drink three times a day as a spell-like quality. Wrethfetins are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water, and rainfall burns them like acid. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Wrethfetins cannot stand the presence of tobacco smoke, and they cannot approach a holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a wrethfetin, one must hammer a stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. In addition, the stake must have just been drawn from a hearth fire, so that its tip is still burning. Not all halflings slain by a wrethfetin rise as new vampires; most rise as wrethfetin spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its masters as a pathetic slave.

Vampire, Halfling (Wrethfetin (Wrethfetin) Wrethfetin) [Denizens of Dread]

JWM : Template Undead (Augmented Humanoid, Vampire), CR +2, chaotic evil. A strain of vampirism that only affects halflings. Lore is available in the Monster Lore thread. gonzoron wrote: Are "bitterkinder" simply Sithican wrethfetin? or is there a difference? (i.e. the difference between kender and halfling) JWM : Basically, yes, perhaps with enough minor tweaks to make it a variant. ---

32 A wrethfetin cannot enter any room that has a fire burning in its hearth, nor can it cross running water under its own power or pass through any door or window adorned with a lucky horseshoe. A wrethfetin is resistant to cold and electricity, and can transform into a cloud of aromatic tobacco smoke at will. If slain, a wrethfetin automatically assumes gaseous form and must return to its grave to recover. A wrethfetin can also assume the form of a boar, dog, or owl, and can command packs of dogs. Staking a wrethfetin does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the wrethfetin helpless. To permanently destroy a wrethfetin, one must sever its head and hands, then burn them in a hearth fire for at least three hours. Unlike other vampires, a wrethfetin can never move the earth from its grave, forever binding it to a single burial spot. 37 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply the most notorious among halflings. Destroying a master wrethfetin usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --It is a prejudice of you the living that the Requiem was a disaster for the living alone. When in truth the suffering of many of the undead was far worse. Once the funeral homes and the surrounding villages had been emptied and after every zombie unworthy of its flesh had been run down and torn apart, the ghoul packs could do nothing but devour themselves. And the situation was bleaker still for the bloodsuckers. The surrounding countryside was soon bled dry. Further afield, a spirited resistance, secretly led by your beloved Kargat, resulted in frightful rates of attrition. Half-starved, the vampire set to eliminating one another. The survivors, many of who had lived in Il Aluk for a century or more, in the end embraced emigration. But this was not an option for the Wrethfetin, who would rise each night and, driven mad by their unsatiated hunger, would attack anything that moved, until they were themselves sent back to their graves, from which they would invariably return, save for when it rained. Mercifully, Death had the damned halflings staked where they lay.

-Vice-Chancellor August Montalva of the University of Il Aluk, in correspondence with Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, Professor of Biology at the University of Il Aluk in Exile at Karg --Ray whispered with unmoving lips: We are surrounded by a dozen halflings who do not smoke. Do you realise how unlikely that is? Ask for some tobacco when the serving wench returns. This I did and was told that smoking was unhealthy and thus was forbidden on the premises. Ray smiled and said to the young halfling: Sadly, my friend here is incorrigible, it would be good if whoever has talked sense into your heads might have a word with him too. She offered enthusiastically, That would be Dr. Stubbins. Ray inquired: A no nonsense military man who cut his teeth tending to the victims of Drakovs two, or was it three, invasions? Perhaps you are better at history than I am. She said: No, a young halfling from out east. Comes in most evenings, though probably not tonight unless the weather clears. And it was four invasions, I witnessed each of the horrors with these very eyes. The moment she left us Ray whispered just above the threshold of my hearing: She is not the only person who looks two decades younger than nature should allow. The same is true of the scarred veterans. The same is true, I would venture, of every halfling in the place. -The Wrethfetins Blood from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Dr. Arthur Sedgewick

Vampire, Nosferatu [Denizens of Dread]

Including Cerebral vampire

Vampire, Nosferatu cerebral vampire [Denizens of Dread] Vampire, vrykolaka (plague vampire) [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Template Undead (Vampire), CR +2, chaotic evil. Debased, plague-ridden vampires that

resemble ghouls with long, barbed tongues (rather than fangs). Price Mircea of Sanguinia and his spawn are the most noteworthy vrykolakas. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Heal can learn more about a creatures vrykolaka nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Heal DC Result 15 You can identify the diseases the vrykolaka carries by its external symptoms. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 19 This ghoulish creature with the long, barbed tongue is a vrykolaka, a repulsive undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. This result reveals all undead traits. These creatures are also known as plague vampire. Vrykolaka remember the languages they knew in life, but are rarely capable of speech. 24 Vrykolakas drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and their attacks also spread the diseases coursing through their systems. Victims they drain rise from the grave as new vrykolakas several days after burial. A vrykolaka does not cast a shadow and has no reflection in mirrors. A vrykolaka is spiritually bound to the grave (or plague pit) in which it was first buried, and must return to that grave to replenish its unholy powers. The transformation into undeath ravages a vrykolakas mind, so it usually acts like a scavenger or feral beast, rather than the careful scheming of greater vampires. 29 A vrykolaka can climb vertical surfaces as easily as a spider and can plunge weak-minded victims into feverish sleep simply by looking into their eyes. Vrykolakas are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic weapons forged of cold iron can pierce their supernatural defenses. Vrykolakas cannot stand the presence of garlic, and they cannot approach a mirror or holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a vampire, one must hammer an iron spike through its skull, but this is

nearly impossible in direct combat. Not all victims slain by a vrykolaka rise as new vrykolaka; most rise as vrykolaka spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its master as a pathetic slave. 34 A vrykolaka cannot enter any room that is scrupulously kept clean, nor can it cross running water under its own power. A vrykolaka is resistant to cold and electricity. A vrykolaka can assume the form of a dire rat, a swarm of rats, or a swarm of flies, and it can command swarms of vermin to do its bidding. If slain, a vrykolaka automatically assumes swarm form and must return to its grave to recover. Impaling a vrykolaka does not permanently destroy it it merely renders the vrykolaka helpless. To permanently destroy a vrykolaka, its body must be burned to ash. Alternatively, remove disease disrupts the unclean energies animating a vrykolaka, and repeated castings can eventually destroy it. A vrykolaka sleeping or impaled in its coffin is particularly vulnerable to this tactic. When a vrykolaka is destroyed, it dissolves into nauseating vapors. 39 Many different strains of vampirism exist this is simply one of the most vile. Destroying a master vrykolaka usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their masters control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn. --Prince Mircea has invited me to the Castle. I am in high hopes that he has chosen me for his bride. His looks are legendary. His features exquisite. I will make him a good wife. My parents are feared for me, however. They suspect that the tales of the misshapen beast at the Castle are true, that the creature with the lancetongue haunts the battlements. The Prince assures me in his letters that such monstrosities do not exist and that he only seeks to meet with me. Vrykolakas do not exist, he writes, and that is enough for me. Oh, sweet prince, only three more days until we meet, I can bare not the wait!

-From the diary of Mildred, daughter of Baron Hurk.

Vanished [VTGttMists] VTGttMists] Vartha Vartha

See also: Vartha "Beyond the Grave" Tom Moldvay Dragon#198(29) D&D2

Vampyre [Den of Dr]

Errata: Vampyre Level Adjustment is too high. LA is added to the Hit Dice to show its equivalent level in the base race and classes. A vampyre, a CR 4 monster, is not equivalent to a level 16 character. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about vampyres. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This sensual person is a vampyre, a living creature with traits similar to those of an undead vampire. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 20 Vampyres are physically powerful, possess animalistic charm, and drink the blood of their victims. 25 Vampyre saliva contains a strange toxin that breaks down a victims will. Victims of a vampyres blood drain become particularly susceptible to the vampyres suggestions. 30 Vampyres are urban predators that operate in packs. They exist alongside humanity, but see the humans in their midst as little more than cattle. --At first, I took them for beautiful and depraved humans, their depravity made all the more loathsome by their beauty. Several long seconds passed before I noticed the salient details the clawlike nails, the feline cast to their features, and the fiery gleam in their eyes. As I staggered back against the door, they stalked towards me, like wolves closing on a cornered hare. Alanik, of course, was already on the move Arthur Sedgewick, The Nest of the Vampyres, The Casebook of Alanik Ray

Vassalich [Ravenloft Gazetteer II]

JWM: Template Undead, CR +1, any evil. Lesser liches created to serve a master lich. These spellcasters lack the power to become true liches, so they trade eternal servitude for eternal life. Basically a scaled-down lich in most respects. They can advance in level only by having their lich master donate XP, but they can theoretically upgrade to full lichdom if they reach 11th level, gain possession of their vassalich phylactery, and create their own lich phylactery. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures vassalich nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. The DCs are unusually high due to the rarity of these creatures. Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) DC Result 25 This nearly skeletal mage could be easily mistaken for a lich, a spellcaster who used foul magic to defy death. However, its relative lack of magical prowess indicates that it is merely a vassalich a lesser undead spellcaster willingly enslaved to a lich master. This result reveals all undead traits. 30 A vassalich sacrifices much of its spellcasting mastery to obtain eternal life, and can restore its power only through the patronage of its lich master. A vassalichs body is tough enough to deflect minor blows, but magic bludgeoning weapons can pierce its supernatural defenses. A vassalichs touch flows with negative energy, slowing living creatures with its unnatural chill. 35 A vassalich is surrounded by a necromantic aura that slightly dims nearby light sources. Living

creatures exposed to this aura may be frightened by its unnatural energies. A vassalich is resistant to turning, and is immune to cold, electricity, and mind-influencing effects. A vassalich cannot be polymorphed unless it wants to be. 40 A vassalich stores its life force in a magic container called a phylactery. This item is usually a small, but extremely valuable gem. If a vassalich is destroyed, its life force is drawn back into its phylactery. After recuperating for a week or two, the spirit re-emerges to occupy a nearby corpse, restoring the vassalich at full strength. You cannot permanently destroy a vassalich without also destroying its phylactery. A vassalichs phylactery is usually kept in the bony clutches of the creatures master.. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 30 This result reveals the process for creating a vassalich. 35 This result reveals the process by which a vassalich can become a true lich. --From the burned down remains of Demnadon's notes: "4th April: The cough is getting worse. I cannot sleep well at night. The priests of the eternal order will not help an aging sick man! As if I'm the common peasant they're use to babysittinh! They fail to see my importance. I will get over that ailment without their help. I have already started getting treatment and medicines until I manage to use my arcane powers to deal with that sickness. 23th April: I'm usually with fever. I need minor spells to keep my head clear and work on my projects and spells. I shouldn't have tried to use my enchantment spells on the cleric to convince him. How could the simpleton so easily shake it off? He told me straight that he suspects me for using spells on him and that if I show my face again there I'll regret it. Morons! I'm one of the protectors of this realm. I'm a brilliant mind.

The basics of the magic formula I'll use to cleanse myself are starting to crystalize in my mind. 16th May: Doctor Wandon doesn't seem very optimistic about me. The painkiller herbs are not as effective as when I started my treatment. He hinted that I should start make preparations on how I will split my fortune. As if I'll let the vultures that surround me lay hands on my hard earned treasure and occult tomes. I manage to keep my mind mostly clear with spells and some treatment from a minor priest that I managed to bribe. I'm tired, but I should go on. On another note... it seems that in order to live on, I should actually steal the years that life owes me. Someone must pay the price. Can I sacrifice someone so young as that child? Perhaps there is another way. 2nd June: I cough up blood, I'm getting physically weaker. I have to stay at bed at least half the day. If I didn't have my magic I would be unable to get up at all. I have to continue, I have to go on. I wish I had the time to do it another way. I have to go on. It was harder than I thought to slice the throat of that child but I needed her blood. She would probably become nothing more than her parents; a muddy, ugly peasant with a horde of kids. 9th June: Am I getting insane? Has the fever finally started addling my mind? I can hear whispers calling me. I can feel as if my mind is "touched" sometimes. The voice calls my name at night when I cough in pain, promises to take away the pain, rains doupts on my plans telling me that my ritual won't work, that I have sacrificed a kid for nothing. 18th June: I passed out yesterday. The Doctor tells me that I have a couple of months, maybe three. He warns me that I'll get even more weak. Fool! I won't lay down and die. I'm almost done. I'll be healed using the stolen blood from that girl, Gods bless her. I'll live on and put to shame the doctors and the priests. I have to go on, I have so many things to accomplish.

The voice is getting more persistent. I won't lose my mind! Never that! He (it seems to be a male voice) keeps on hinting he has the way. 21st June: How was that possible? I failed! I failed! I have murdered a girl and I'll die in my bed in a couple of months! It cannot be! Not me, Gods not me! I have to go on! That damned voice has gone silent. Come to me you thrice damned fiend! Speak to me!" 25th June: The price to pay is steep. But I will live forever. I'll be a servant but to a master of magic so great that it clouds my feverish mind. He has been preparing for me, he knew that I will fail. He hinted that I'll lose some power for a time, but he promised it will be restored in time. What else can I do?"

17 Vasuthants snatch up victims with their inky tendrils, pulling the hapless creature into the core of their being. While trapped, the victim faces both crushing pressure and strength-sapping negative energy. 22 Vasuthants feed on light. They are completely unharmed by any form of light, including magical light, sunlight, and divine spells dedicated to the sun. 27 Vasuthants have a limited ability to warp the forces of time and reality, slightly bending the rules of chance in their favor. These entities continually grow larger and more powerful as they feed on existence. Vausthants that are at least 15 feet across are known as horrific vasuthants. These powerful horrors develop abilities even more dangerous than those of their lesser kin. 32 Horrific vasathants absorb light so ravenously that they throw the area surrounding them into shadow, and any light sources are suppressed. 37 Horrific vasathants are reputed to be capable of redirecting the flow of time several times a day, allowing the creature to relive and retry the last few seconds of its existence. 42 Horrific vasuthants can also call upon levitate, reverse gravity, slow, telekinesis, temporal stasis, time stop, waves of exhaustion, and waves of fatigue as spell-like abilities. --The old priest shivered before he began, recalling memories his ancient mind had struggled to suppress. His vestments were tattered and unkempt, his holy symbol lie caked in dust on the table. "The seal has been broken only once. Once since the beginning of this world. Its cage was forged of the souls of angels, eight slain to save us from ourselves. The lock spun from an innocent's heart. We faltered once, for the blink on an eye, and the cage was split."

Vasuthant [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Small Undead, CR 2, chaotic evil (and Horrific Vasuthant: Huge Undead, CR 17, chaotic evil). A roiling ball of shadowy nothingness. It grows in size and power as it feeds on life. It can pull creatures into its mass, then drain their Strength while it crushes them. Absorbs light, and completely unharmed by light and sunlight (including spells from the Sun cleric domain). Has a limited degree of control over reality, allowing it to reroll a die roll or force a foe to do the same. Horrific vasuthants have a variety of spell-like abilities and stronger influence over time and reality: three times a day, it can take a do over on its last turn. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about vasuthants. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 12 This roiling ball of shadow is a vausthant, an undead blot of nothingness that exists solely to consume light and life. This result reveals all undead traits.

At this point the man seemed to shrivel, to shrink and his eyes to darken as he thought of the creature they set free. "At first it was so dark, we thought it was magical but our prayers did nothing remove it. It wasn't until Eziah screamed that we fully realized what we'd done. The darkness was blacker than the thickest pitch and yet we could still make out something darker moving within it. I am filled with shame to this day, but I scrambled on base instinct to the kitchen. I hid in a cabinet until I could no longer hear the cries of my brothers, may their souls find peace." He turned to face us and his cheeks were streaked with tears, his sunken eyes full of disgrace and horror. "As I fled the temple, I witnessed the remains of my brethren. Their bodies withered and their faces frozen in terror, as if their very souls had been torn from them while they still lived. Our god did nothing to save us, perhaps because it was I who set it free. I set it free..." The old man fell to the floor and began beating his fist against the stone, cursing himself for releasing that horror upon his fellow men.

Vilewight [Book of Vile Darkness]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 8, neutral evil. A particularly nasty wight, created from those who delved too long in the black arts. Its intestines rupture from its gut and act as flailing tendrils. Drains energy and creates spawn like a regular wight, plus it can fire off beams of negative energy. Bites from its intestine maws spread a supernatural disease that prevents carriers from being able to see living creatures.

Vine horror [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Medium Plant (Aquatic), CR 4, neutral evil. Human-shaped algae colonies, often mistaken for rough-featured, green humanoids. The algaes hive mind makes these creatures nearly as intelligent as humans. They can animate vines and squeeze through tight crevices. Malicious, territorial hunters. In Ravenloft, theyre generally found in the Boglands of Darkon, created by the same forces that create shambling mounds (see S is for Sinister) and other mandragorian plants. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about vine horrors. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This coarsely-featured green humanoid is actually a walking colony of algae called a vine horror. This result reveals all plant traits. 19 Vine horrors are malicious and highly territorial. A vine horror can squeeze its semisolid body through gaps so narrow no humanoid its size could ever fit through. Minor stabs and cuts simply sink into a vine horrors mushy body, but bludgeoning weapons can splatter it apart. Vine horrors speak Sylvan. 24 A vine horror can animate nearby normal vines, which then lash out at the vine horrors foes like assassin vines. Vine horrors often lie in shallow, murky water, staying out of sight while using these vines to attack intruders.

Veela [Gaz. 1, Barovia]

Suggested by Chris Nichols

Vehrteig [Dark Tales & Dist. Legends] Legends]

The dark-haired beauty continued to sing, her angelic voice horrifically at odds with the orgy of violence unfolding in the grand hall as men who hours earlier had been comrades-in-arms hacked each other to pieces. A warrior charged at her, blood-encrusted axe upraised, only to fall dead at her feet as his eyes met her calm, dark-eyed gaze. She never stopped singing. Traditional, Ye Lamentable Tradgedie of Ashingtonne Manor (see also Maekon in DT&DL)

Virus, Phagian - all [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM: CR 5. Supernatural diseases created by the late Invidian wizard Phagius the Unclean sometime in the mid- to late-600s (during the reign of Bakholis). Phagian viruses are quasi-living diseases that manifest supernatural (and lethal) symptoms, and possess a dim sort of will to exist and spread, which makes them more difficult to cure. In terms of game mechanics, Phagian viruses are hazards like slimes and molds, not actual creatures. Symptoms manifest in three stages. Generally, the first is cosmetic and brief, the second damaging, and the third fatal. --JW Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: The Land of Mists is home to many terrible diseases. Some of these, such as the infamous crimson death of Darkon or white fever of Valachan, have claimed countless lives over time. But of all the lethal plagues in Ravenloft, only the hideous, quasi-living viruses of Phagius the Unclean are spoken of in the hushed tones of those afraid that their subject will overhearand respond. Phagius the Unclean was a wizard who lived in Invidia under the rule of Bakholis. Early in the seventh century, his wife bore him six children before finally dying in childbirth. Choosing to focus on his arcane research, Phagius paid little attention to his brood, but he did demand from them total obedience, bordering on worship. Over the years, Phagius grew elderly and embittered, turning more petty and tyrannical all the while. Treating his children like slaves, he refused to allow them to marry or apprentice themselves to any mages other than himself. Finally, his desperate offspring concocted a lethal poison and slipped it into his evening meal, hoping to finally be free of their sire. They succeeded in taking their fathers life, but not before he had his revenge. Phagius had spent years secretly developing a number of deadly potions, each one a highly infectious, supernatural disease. With these plaguesand the cures he had simultaneously

developedPhagius hoped to seize control of Invidia, giving its populace the choice of obeying him or dying in agony. But now, with the poison coursing through his veins, Phagius knew he had but moments to live. Cursing his children, he drank each of the infectious potions, then hurled their respective cures into the hearth fire along with all of his research. As the aged wizard collapsed onto his bed, his body transformed. The supernatural diseases mixed inside him, further mingling with the malign power of his dying words. After the sounds of Phagiuss final tantrum died out, his children crept up to his room to witness the result of their betrayal. When one reached out and tentatively touched the body to ensure Phagius was dead, the corpse instantly collapsed into dust, filling the air with an infectious taint. Horrified and choking, Phagiuss six children fled from his house, now bearing his dying gift to the world: Phagian viruses. Each child became the carrier of a quasi-living disease, involuntarily spreading the evil legacy of Phagius the Unclean for the rest of their days. Combat Phagian viruses are magical, mindless, microscopic, quasi-living aberrations, too small to be seen or battled directly. At their core, Phagian viruses are just supernatural diseases and are largely treated as such. However, unlike even the most virulent supernatural disease, a Phagian virus possesses an independent will to survive and spread, and it uses that will to resist attempts at a cure. Like traps, slimes, and molds, Phagian viruses have Challenge Ratings, and characters should earn XP for encountering them. The Phagian viruses presented here use the following format: Infection (Ex): The diseases method of delivery. Phagian viruses are all spread by contact, though the means of contact varies from one virus to the next. Unless noted otherwise, contact diseases can also be inhaled or ingested. A Phagian virus exists in one of two states: dormant or active. Viruses are infectious only in

their dormant state. Once a virus infects a living creature, it switches to its active state and manifests symptoms. An active Phagian virus cannot survive outside of a viable host, so ironically, a living victim currently infected with a Phagian virus cannot infect others. Each virus description below details how the disease can be encountered in its dormant, infectious state. Any creature immune to supernatural diseases cannot be infected by Phagian viruses or become a carrier. Like other diseases, each virus allows Fortitude saving throws to prevent infection when exposed, to prevent each instance of repeated damage once infected, and to recover from the disease. The saving throw DC is based on the Constitution of the creature spreading the virus (in other words, the previous victim or carrier) at the time of infection. Fortitude DC 10 + 1/2 carriers HD + carriers Con modifier. Incubation Period: The time before damage begins. Damage (Su): The effects the virus imposes on its host after incubation and each day afterward. Phagian viruses have more complex symptoms than most diseases, with their effects organized into three phases. Phase One: Phase one begins when the incubation period ends and the victim fails her first saving throw against the disease. The virus sets in by imposing troubling but largely cosmetic symptoms. Phase Two: Phase two begins when the victim fails her second saving throw against the disease. The symptoms grow more severe, often imposing penalties or dealing ability score damage. Phase Three: The effects typically turn fatal. The effects of each phase of each virus are detailed below. Typically, a virus develops from one phase to the next after the victim fails a certain number of daily Fortitude saves; see the individual entries for details.

Recovery: If a victim is cured before the virus kills her, she recovers at the rate detailed here. In general, a cured victim slowly recovers by reversing the effects of one failed save against the virus each day until she returns to normal. CR: 5. As with other hazards, characters earn experience for overcoming a Phagian virus (either by curing it or merely surviving infection). Carriers The first time a living creature is exposed to a given Phagian virus, if it succeeds on its initial Fortitude save to resist infection, it must immediately make a second Fortitude save at the same DC. A subject that fails this second saving throw becomes a carrier. Conversely, if this second saving throw succeeds, the subject does not and can never become a carrier of that kind of virus. A carrier is infected with the virus, but the virus remains in its dormant state. This means that the carrier suffers none of the viruss symptoms, but the virus remains virulent and can spread to others. Once a creature becomes a carrier, it cannot be infected again by that type of virus (effectively becoming immune to it) until the disease has been completely eliminated from its body (see Treatment, below). Creatures immune to disease (such as constructs and undead) cannot become carriers, though in some cases they can physically carry dormant viruses and spread them with their touch. See below for details. Diagnosis Diagnosis of a Phagian virus is usually quite difficult. Regardless of their form or current state, Phagian viruses emit a weak necromantic aura. Detect magic and similar spells can detect this aura on infectious materials and infected creatures, even before symptoms begin to develop. (This may fool observers into believing that the viruss bearers are actually magic items or under the effects of a necromantic spell.) Once symptoms begin to develop, a successful DC 15 Heal check can identify the virus (see Phagian Virus Lore, below). The Vistani have incorporated

Phagian viruses into their cultural healing lore and are reputed to possess several cures, though they rarely share these with giorgios. Those raised within Vistani tasques gain a +2 insight bonus on Heal checks to identify these diseases. Vistaniblooded characters have no special immunity to Phagiuss creations, but they do gain a +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist them. Treatment Mundane forms of treatment are of little help against Phagian viruses. Although successful Heal checks can help an infected creature resist the viruss effects, a Phagian viruslike many supernatural diseasescontinues until it kills its victim or is cured, no matter how many successful Fortitude saving throws the victim makes to fight it off. Magic is the only effective means of countering a Phagian virus. If cast on a dormant virus while it is outside a host (see the infection examples below), spells such as dispel magic, break enchantment, or purify food and drink instantly kill the virus within the spells area, without a saving throw. Heal, remove disease, and similar spells and effects are effective against Phagian viruses, but the virus is entitled to a Fortitude save to resist the cure. A viruss Fortitude save bonus is +2 per failed save the host has made to prevent the viruss damage. For example, if a host infected with a combustion virus has failed three daily saving throws to resist combustion, then the virus uses a +6 bonus when it makes its Fortitude save. If the virus fails its saving throw, it is destroyed. ---

of its own. Without magical assistance, the victim will eventually succumb. 20 Phagian virus infection generally passes through three phases. The first manifests disturbing, but not particularly harmful symptoms. The second phase manifests painful and damaging effects, sometimes with bizarre or even supernatural side effects. The third and final phase is invariably fatal. This result reveals the basic symptoms of each phase. 25 This result reveals the means by which the virus spreads and the specific recovery methods. 30 The Vistani have incorporated cures for Phagian viruses into their healing lore, and may be able to provide infected victims with improved odds of a full recovery.

Virus, Phagian, combustion combustion [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM: A combustion virus causes the cells in the body of its host to continually increase their levels of activity until they grow wildly out of control. Unless cured, the victim begins to literally smolder and, ultimately, dies an agonizing death as she burns from the inside out. Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: A combustion virus causes the cells in the body of its host to continually increase their levels of activity until they grow wildly out of control. Unless cured, the victim begins to literally smolder and, ultimately, dies an agonizing death as she burns from the inside out. Infection (Ex): Contact or inhaled. When an infected victim spontaneously combusts, all that remains is a pile of highly virulent gray ash. Any contact with this ash risks exposure to the virus. This ash is easily scattered by the wind, risking not just physical contact but accidental inhalation as well. Evil spellcasters have been known to sprinkle this ash on their undead minions, making even lowly skeletons deadly to the touch. Incubation Period: 24 hours.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Heal can learn more about Phagian viruses; if using the Heal skill, add +5 to the DC. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This strange ailment is the result of a Phagian virus: a supernatural disease that possesses a will

Combustion (Su): A combustion virus slowly builds the internal temperatures of the hosts body until the victim literally bursts into flame. Phase One: The victim develops a high fever and sore skin. This imposes no penalties, however. Phase Two: When the victim fails her first saving throw to resist the disease, she suffers 1d3 points of Constitution damage and her skin develops painful, bloody lesions. The victim is continuously, uncomfortably hot, but she gains resistance to cold 2 as an extraordinary special quality. If the victim already has resistance to cold, it stacks with the viruss effects. Each additional failed saving throw deals another 1d3 points of Constitution damage and increases the victims resistance to cold by a cumulative +1. When the victims Consitution drops to half or less of its normal score, the victim becomes painfully hot to the touch and gains vulnerability to fire. Phase two continues until the victims Consitution reaches 0. Phase Three: When the victims Constitution reaches 0, she spontaneously combusts, dealing 3d6 points of fire damage to everything within a 10-foot-radius burst and igniting any combustable materials. Reflex DC 15 half. The victim is automatically killed and reduced to fine ash. Recovery: If cured before combusting, the victim regains 1 point of Constitution and loses 2 points of cold resistance per day until all scores return to normal. When her Constitution is again at least half of its normal total, she loses her vulnerability to fire (assuming she doesnt normally have that quality). --Led by her dark dreams she came to the seaside and found the beached whale, its immense and steaming bulk covered with lesions. With a terrible groan and a frightful whoosh the creature exploded into flames. In its ashes she covered herself and set forth to raze from existence all 'intelligent' life.

-"Le culte de la nature", L'encyclopdie des croyances

Virus, Phagian, crystal [Ravenloft [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM: A crystal virus spreads more slowly than other Phagian viruses, but its effects are just as monstrous. Victims of this disease slowly crystallize, suffering through a slow death as their lungs lose the ability to take in air and their blood hardens in their veins. J W Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: A crystal virus spreads more slowly than other Phagian viruses, but its effects are just as monstrous. Victims of this disease slowly crystallize, suffering through a slow death as their lungs lose the ability to take in air and their blood hardens in their veins. Infection (Ex): Contact or ingested. The crystalline remains of a slain host are highly virulent. Curiously, the crystals are safe to handle so long as they remain completely dry. However, exposure to even the smallest drop of waterincluding sweatdissolves the crystals into a highly infectious fluid. (If drenched and then allowed to dry, a crystallized victim is reduced to a sandy heap.) Assassins have been known to slip this water-soluble powder into their victims' drinks. Incubation Period: 48 hours. Crystalization (Su): A crystal virus slowly worms its way though its hosts body, forming complex crystaaline threads that gradually bind the bodys cells together. Phase One: The victim suffers from aching joints, fever, and patches of numb or tingling skin. None of these ailments inflict actual penalties, however. Phase Two: When the victim fails her first saving throw against the disease, her soft tissues begin to crystallize, resulting in sharp pains whenever she moves. For each failed saving throw, the victim suffers 1d4 points of Dexterity damage. However, as her eyes crystallize into intricate lenses, each

failed saving throw also grants a +1 competence bonus on Seach checks and Spot checks. Starting when the victims Dexterity drops to below half of its normal total (round down), her eyes function as lenses of detection and she gains vulnerability to sonic energy. Phase two continues until the victims Dexterity reaches 0. Phase Three: When the victims Dexerity reaches 0, her body completely crystallizes, killing her. Within hours of the victims death, the resulting crystalline structure crumbles into fine red, highly virulent sand. Recovery: After being cured, the victim regains 1 point of Dexterity per day until it returns to normal. When her Dexterity is again at least half of its normal total, her eyes cease acting as lenses of detection and she loses her vulnerability to sonic energy (assuming she does not normally have this quality). The competence bonus to Search checks and Spot checks is reduced by 1 point per day until it fades completely. --Trust me my good doctor, music is what these patients need. And you say that they are crystalizing? The ever righteous Lord Esben turning to glass? Tend to your other wards. Setting bodies arringing, striking the right note, liberating shackled spirits, tis bard's work. -The Shattering, Murders by Music, Baron Evensong J W Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: A petrification virus slowly calcifies its victims into a hard, stonelike material. Disturbingly, survivors of this disease have claimed that they remained conscious for months after their bodies had completely petrified. Casting stone to flesh on a victim infected with a petrification virus removes all of the viruss effects (returning the victims Dexterity, natural armor, and weight to normal), but this is a temporary remedy, not a cure.

Infection (Ex): Contact or inhaled. The statue created from a dead victims body is composed of incredibly virulent stone, which remains infectious even if ground into dust (which is equally infectious if touched or inhaled). At least one madman is known to have used this infectious stone to create a deadly sculpture garden of his enemies. Incubation Period: 1d6 minutes. Petrification (Su): A petrification virus slowly spreads through its hosts body, turning all the tissues it contacts into stone. Phase One: The virus first makes its presence known at the very point of infection. Within minutes of infection, whatever spot of skin touched the dormant viruses becomes noticeably stiff. Within half an hour, that spot (usually about the size of a coin) completely hardens and discolors into a veiny gray similar to marble. Phase Two: When the victim fails her first saving throw to resist the disease, the hardened tissue begins to spread across her body. For each failed saving throw, the victim suffers 1d3 points of Dexterity damage, but her natural armor bonus improves by +1. (If a victim has no natural armor bonus, consider it to be +0.) In addition, the victims increasing density causes her weight to increase by +10% for each failed saving throw. Phase two continues until the victim reaches 0 Dexterity. Phase Three: When the victim reaches 0 Dexterity, she turns to virulent stone as if the subject of a flesh to stone spell. Although completely petrified, she is still alive. She cannot take any actions, sense her surroundings, or even feel pain, but she can still think. While so petrified, the victim takes 1 point of Constitution drain per month (30 days). When the victims Consitution reaches 0, she dies. Recovery: If a victim is cured during phase two, then for every 24 hours that pass, she regains 1 point of Dexterity, her natural armor bonus drops by 1 point, and her weight lowers by 10% until all scores return to normal.

If a victim is cured during phase three, then she regains 1 point of Constitution each day until it returns to normal. Once her Constittion is restored, she reenters phase two and recovers as detailed above. The character can move and take actions again as soon as she has at least 1 point of Dexterity. Casting stone to flesh on a cured victim rids her body of the viruss lingering effects, instantly returning her to normal. --Where the Nightmare Lands had once stood we found a roiling wall of mist and something hardly less strange, a forlorn statue of a man dressed in rotting cloth. The figure was lifelike in its every detail and was akin in appearance to the tattooed men said to wander that accursed realm. Our amazement only grew when a raven tore itself free from the stone and spoke. It said that disease had petrified its companion. It insisted that he still lived, offering disturbing evidence to that effect. And it beseeched us to save him. That, however, proved to be beyond our power. -Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer

Spells such as remove fear and similar morale boosts can offer temporary relief from this virus, but the symptoms return the moment the relief ends. Infection (Ex): Contact. The corpse of any creature that dies while infected with a phobia virus remains highly virulent. Incubation Period: 12 hours. Phobic Psychosis (Su): A phobic virus rewrites its hosts mind, eventually driving the victim mad with fear. Phase One: The victim develops a slight fever and feels generally nervous, but otherwise suffers no ill effect. Phase Two: The first time a victim goes to sleep after failing her first saving throw against this disease, she suffers vague yet unsettling nightmares. These fearful dreams interfere with her rest, so she cannot heal naturally and she suffers a 1 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. After two failed saving throws, the nightmares intensity increases and the victim is fatigued. After three failed saving throws, the character can barely close her eyes and is exhausted. (These fatigue penalties do not stack.) Phase two continues until the victim is exhausted by her nightmares and fails a subsequent saving throw against the virus. Phase Three: When the victim fails her fourth saving throw, her nightmares coalesce into a crippling phobia. She no longer suffers from nightmares, so she can again gain the benefits of rest. However, she now develops a crippling phobia of some common aspect of her surroundingssomething she typically encounters every day. Whenever the victim encounters the subject of her phobia, she must make a Fear save. The DC is 10 +1 per failed saving throw made to resist the virus 1 per successful saving throw made to resist the virus. There is no effective maximum to this DC. Recovery: After being cured, the phobias Fear save DC is reduced by 1 each day. When the DC

Virus, Phagian, phobia [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM: The phobia virus is the only one of Phagius creations that is not necessarily lethal to its host. This disease attacks its hosts mind, causing the victim to develop crippling fears. Although the virus cannot kill by itself, the insane fear it breeds in its host may lead to desperate behaviors that are all too fatal. J W Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: The phobia virus is the only one of Phagius creations that is not necessarily lethal to its host. This disease attacks its hosts mind, causing the victim to develop crippling fears. Although the virus cannot kill by itself, the insane fear it breeds in its host may lead to desperate behaviors that are all too fatal.

reaches 0, the phobia fades away entirely. Any lingering fear, horror, or madness effects caused by failed Fear saves exist independent of the virus and must be cured by the standard means. --Something is very wrong in her dreaming. It is not a presence, not a consciousness, not so much as a pale morph. It is an imperceptible weight, a silent gnawing, nothing so articulate as the hunger of a wolf; rather an unconsciousbetter perhaps, a proto-consciouslust and menace. And what is more, I am beginning to know it well, for it now plagues my dreams. Note of Doctor Gregorian Illhousen

powers) is likewise exposed. For the purpose of exposure, it does not matter whether the infected host is being contacted or is making contact. Incubation Period: 24 hours. Psionic Overload (Su): A psionic virus continually fills its host with psionic energy until, like a bladder filled with too much water, the hosts mind finally bursts. Phase One: The victim begins to feel strangely disoriented, which develops as a buzzing in her ears and a sense of light-headedness. These ailments are not severe enough to impose penalties, however. Phase Two: The victim slowly gains psionic abilities. After the victim fails her first saving throw against the disease, she gains the power points and manifesting ability of a 1st-level psion, including the ability to take psionic feats. If the victim already has levels in psion, they stack with the effects of the disease. For example, after failing one saving throw against the effects of a psionic virus, a 4th-level psion would have the manifesting ability of a 5th-level psion. Each subsequent failed saving throw against the disease increases the victims equivalent manifesting ability by one level. However, whenever the victim fails a saving throw to resist the disease, she also is also struck by a crippling headache that lasts for a number of hours equal to the total number of failed saves. The victim is nauseated while the headache is in effect. When the headache ends, the victim must make a Madness save with a DC of 10 + number of effective psion levels. For example, when a victim fails her third Fortitude saving throw against a psionic virus, she gains (in total) the power points and manifesting ability of a third-level psion. She also suffers from a nauseating headache that lasts three hours, and must make a DC 13 Madness save at the headaches conclusion. Phase two continues until failed Madness saves drive any of the victims mental ability scores to 0. Regardless of how long the disease progresses, this virus can grant only a total number of 20

Virus, Phagian, psionic [Ravenloft MC III]

JWM: A psionic virus continually restructures the synapses of its hosts brain, opening new pathways in the victims mind. In the short term, a psionic virus can be empowering, since it causes the victim to develop psionic gifts, even if she never possessed them before. However, the infection inevitably continues until even the strongest mind can no longer withstand the psionic pressure building within it. J W Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: A psionic virus continually restructures the synapses of its hosts brain, opening new pathways in the victims mind. In the short term, a psionic virus can be empowering, since it causes the victim to develop psionic gifts, even if she never possessed them before. However, the infection inevitably continues until even the strongest mind can no longer withstand the psionic pressure building within it. Infection (Ex): Contact or mental contact. A psionic virus can spread through either of two methods. First, the corpse of any creature infected with the virus remains highly virulent. Any creature that touches the corpse is exposed to the virus. Secondly, any creature that makes mental contact with an infected victim (such as with a detect thoughts spell, an empathic link, dream contact, or similar spells, effects, or psionic

levels of psion, including those that the victim may already possess. Phase Three: When any mental ability score reaches 0 due to the effects of a failed Madness save, the victims brain explodes, instantly killing the creature. If the victim has multiple heads, they all explode. When a victims head explodes, it sprays virulent blood and brain matter in a 10-foot-radius burst. All creatures within this area must make a DC 15 Reflex save or be exposed to the dormant virus. Recovery: After being cured, a victim loses 1 level of psion every 24 hours until all virus-granted psion levels are lost. She continues to suffer a headache each day, but each subsequent headache lasts 1 fewer hour until they stop completely. These headaches still cause nausea, but they no longer provoke Madness saves. Madness effects gained from failed Madness saves exist independent of the virus and must be cured by the standard means. --Swiftsinger afforded us a most dangerous means of improving our chances against his erstwhile master. There was a sickness of fell Invidian creation that would open to us unimagined potentialities of the mind. And so behind our eyes an ever growing power was kindled. It came at the price of blinding headaches, which lengthened like the shadows of the dying day. We faced, thus armed, and undid, by the skin of a worgs fang, the mentalist lich, a old flourish of mine being the difference. Arrangements had been made for us to be cured, but the disease had a lovers hold over me and I had no wish to forsake the strength swelling within my head. And so my mind exploded. An experience, I assure you, not to be repeated. -Harkon Lukas in pleasant before dinner conversation

Virus, Phagian, shadow [Ravenloft Monstrous Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM: Perhaps the strangest of all of Phagius diseases, this virus exists partly in the Umbral Curtain. The infection begins by destroying the hosts shadow, then converts the hosts body into yet more shadowstuff. If the virus is left unchecked, the victim becomes an undead shadow herself. (The Umbral Curtain is to the Plane of Shadow as the Near Ethereal is to the Ethereal Plane.) J W Mangrum, FoS board dec 07: Perhaps the strangest of all of Phagius diseases, this virus exists partly in the Tenebral Curtain. The infection begins by destroying the hosts shadow, then converts the hosts body into yet more shadowstuff. If the virus is left unchecked, the victim becomes an undead shadow herself. Creatures that cannot cast a shadow (such as vampires and entities native to the Plane of Shadow) are immune to this virus. Infection (Ex): Incorporeal contact. Undead shadows created by this virus are highly virulent. Whenever the shadow touches a living creature (such as when using its incorporeal touch attack), that creature is also exposed to the virus. Fortunately, like other incorporeal undead, an infectious shadow that is destroyed leaves nothing behind, eliminating the threat of the virus it carried. Incubation Period: 24 hours. Umbral Rot (Su): A shadow virus dissolves the delicate planar balance inherent to all creatures capable of casting a shadow. The umbral rot first destroys its hosts shadow, then converts the hosts tissue into shadowstuff in an attempt to compensate. Phase One: The victim feels a slight tingling in her scalp, and develops a slight fever. These symptoms are far too mild to cause any real problems, however.

Phase Two: After a victim fails her first Fortitude save to resist the disease, her shadow seems to fray around the edges. After two failed saving throws, the victims shadow appears distinctly faded and tattered. After three failed saving throws, the victims shadow fades away entirely. Phase Three: When a victim fails four saving throws to resist this virus (in other words, one failure after her shadow disappears), she suffers 1d4 points of Strength damage. In addition, her body coloration noticeably darkens, and although she does not visibly seem to grow thinner, her body weight drops by 10%. Each subsequent failed saving throw carries the same effects. When the victims Strength reaches 0, the victim dies and becomes a virulent, undead shadow. This shadow has none of the memories or abilities of the original creature. Recovery: After being cured, a victim regains 10% of her body weight and 1 point of Strength every 24 hours until she returns to normal. --I could not bring myself to share Drakovs enthusiasm. Darkon, even if the Rex was gone, was not a fruit ripe for the picking. As ever, the conflict began well enough but soon took the grimmest of turns. The sun that we fought under was blotted out as a storm gathered at the enemys back. And at its head, reaching far into the sky, floating towards us upon the wind, was a shadowy horror the likes of which none of us had ever seen . . . or even imagined in our most twisted dreams. I learned subsequently from a Lamordian doctor that it was, or at least had the shape of, a sea monster, supposedly of sailors invention, whispered to be able to drag whole ships down to their doom. He named it a kraken. Our ranks did not break before it, though it might have been better that they had. The thing bore down upon me. Its presence drove my charger mad. Then it struck with one of its immense, intangible tentacles. The chill of death pierced my heart and my armour was as chains hung about a drowning man. I crashed to the ground, unable to lift myself, even as the terrible spectacle unfolded above me. My lieutenants were similarly laid low. The storm was then upon us, mercifully banishing the

abomination from sight, but the rain nearly drowning me and the winds sweeping away my army. A lieutenant, himself badly weakened, found me and dragged me away. But he now lies dead beside me, by his own hand, and I will likewise join him. For although our strength returned, we soon realised that our shadows were dissolving. And this was followed implacably by our flesh. -From the last will and testament of General Demietri Kreig

Vistani - all [Denizens of Dread, etc.] etc.]

JWM: Vistani: Medium Humanoid (Human, Vistani). Ravenlofts supernatural gypsies. You know the score. The Vistani below are example NPCs for ease of use. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about the Vistani. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 11 This aloof, colorfully dressed stranger is one of the Vistani, a mysterious, nomadic folk. This result reveals all humanoid traits and the human subtype. 16 The Vistani are infamous for their ability to cast the evil eye or terrible curses on anyone who cross them. They have no respect for the laws of any society but their own. 21 Vistani can navigate the Mists, and can lead others to any destination. Female Vistani possess the Sight, allowing them to see the future. The Vistani are usually willing to provide their services to non-Vistani, for a price. Vistani speak a patchwork language called patterna, but they often know other languages as well. 26 Although Vistani are always on the move, a semi-permanent camp can be found at the foot of the Tser Falls, in the shadow of Castle Ravenloft in Barovia. The Vistani sell an antidote for the poisonous fog that surrounds the Village of Barovia.

31 The Vistani must always stay on the move. If they abandon their nomadic ways, they destroy the strange magic that grants them their powers. Vistani are divided into several tasques, or nations. Members of each tasque specialize in different skills and talents. 36 The Vistani fear a legendary foe called the Dukkar. Any male Vistana with the Sight is fated to become a Dukkar unless quickly put to death. See also RL CS and VRGttM

money, a warrior whose caravan is his to protect. We who are not of their society are, perhaps, overly influenced by the raunie's extraordinary gifts in our depictions of Vistani society and culture; he leadership of the caravan captain is probably of even greater importance in their dayto-day life than the more exotic abilities of the raunie. working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani

Vistani performer [Denizens of Dread, etc.]

JWM: Female Naiat Vistani Bard 3. A Vistani entertainer, skilled at dance and the violin. Her bard spells focus on enchantments and crowd control. ---The old man asked, Stranger, where are you from? Are you not an outlander? -The young man replied, Yes, you could call me that. I am of a land far, far away, beyond the Mists. But how have you guessed this? -The old man said, Look around you, look at these men, look how they gaze upon the dancing Vistana girl, and tell me what you see. -The young man answered, I see longing and loathing. -The old man warned, Take care friend, in your eyes there is but longing. And that could be your death . . . or worse. For her and her people are the devil's own. Conversation overheard in Vallaki

Vistani tradesman [Denizens of Dread, etc.] etc.]

JWM: Male Kamii Vistani Expert 1. A typical Vistani. This particular fellow is a skilled metalsmith. --I told him his price is ridiculous and past ridiculous. I could buy five master-forged swords in the Rue des Armes for that price. I could buy a songforged blade for that price! "True," the Vistani smith replied, turning the long dagger in his fire-scarred hands so that the light played along the silver edge. "But we are not in Port-a-Lucine, nor Kartakass. Best of luck finding another here in Verbrek who will sell you a silvered blade, Master Weathermay." Private journal of George Weathermay

Vistani captain [Denizens of Dread, etc.]

JWM: Male Equaar Vistani Ranger 8. The male leader of a caravan. Tough in a fight, but no magic to speak of beyond his evil eye and ranger spells. ---

Vistani seer [Denizens of Dread, etc.]

JWM: Female Canjar Vistani Sorcerer 6. A sample raunie/fortuneteller. Her spells focus on divinations and enchantments. ---

The Vistani captain is a diplomat who must represent his caravan to the giorgios (and viceversa), a servant who must heed the raunie, a master who must direct the caravan, a businessman who must manage trade and handle

Only a fool curses lightly another. Usually it is a waste of good breath. When it is not, he sets in motion events that he cannot foresee, that are unlikely to spare him, that answer to an all too

alien sense of justice. The curse worth uttering is a passionate demand for a definite future that is the stuff itself of a rigorous, poetic, retributive justice. And that is the curse upon the tip of the raunies tongue, sharpening it, blackening it, making it a thing of terror. -Arturi Radanavich speaking to Rudolf van Ritchen

through it as well. Used to infiltrate and help manage the slave races in the tunnels beneath Bluetspur. A similar, but not identical, concept to that found in The Man Who Lost His Mind. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about a creatures voidmind nature. Characters may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. These DCs are unusually high due to the rarity of these creatures. DC Result 17 The dexterous, slimy tentacle sprouting from this creatures head marks it as a voidmind a creature that has been forcibly transformed into a spy for the mind flayers. The base creatures type traits are unchanged. 22 Mind flayers create voidminds by removing most of the creatures brain and replacing it with a form of psionically charged slime. In the process, a group of three mind flayers bonds to the voidmind, gaining the ability to scry through the creatures senses and control it like a puppet. Despite the loss of its identity, the transformation enhances the creature both physically and mentally. A voidmind can be identified by the four plugged holes in its head, which are usually kept hidden or disguised. A voidmind can strangle foes with its retractable tentacle. The psionic charge that animates a voidmind also allows it to deflect glancing blows, but magic weapons can pierce its defenses. 27 A voidmind creatures three masters can channel their psionic abilities through the voidmind, as if the voidmind were manifesting them itself. A voidmind creature is resistant to psionics and immune to acid, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, and mind-affecting spells and abilities. 32 Once a day, a voidmind can expel the psionic slime from its head in a cone, stunning foes and burning them with acid. Destroying a voidmind creature does not harm its masters, but they are instantly aware of its fate. Slaying a voidminds masters restores its free will, but otherwise leaves

Vistani recluse (fatah) [Denizens of Dread]

JWM: Template Humanoid (Human, Vistani): A Vistana who has turned her back on her Vistani kin, choosing to live in solitude, communing with unseen spirits. They become physically feeble, but they become exceptionally powerful diviners and masters of the evil eye. --The captain asked, "Lord Aderre, why do you send only foreigners to hunt the Witch of the Mantel Woods?" Malocchio replied, "I am not wasteful." The soldier betrayed no sign of understanding his superior so the latter continued, "Adventurers are perfectly expendable and are paid - at least in gold - only for success." The fellow nodded slightly, vaguely, evidently only somewhat less puzzled. The black clad master brought the conversation to an end, "What matters is that if your sword ever fails me, I shall make a point of sending you to match wits with her and you can be sure that you will live out your slight existence as a rotting puddle of slime." -From the journal of Gesmas Malaturno

Voidmind creature [Monster Manual III]

JWM: Template creature, CR +1, lawful evil. A creature that has been forcibly transformed into a semi-autonomous puppet that acts as a spy for the mind flayers. Illithids create it by removing a creatures brain and replacing it with special, psionically-charged slime. A voidmind can extend a long, prehensile tentacle and blast foes with a spray of acidic, stunning slime. A voidminds three masters can scry through its senses, control its actions, and manifest their psychic powers

it unchanged. A properly worded wish or miracle can restore a voidmind creature to normal.

Vorlog [Denizens of Dread]

Errata: The sample Vorlogs Level Adjustment is 1 too high (6+8=14, not 15) Vorlogs Attack column is a reprint of Full Attack JWM: Template Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid (Vampire), CR +1, any evil. (Sample is a human bard 6). The recipient of a vampires failed Dark Kiss, trapped between life and undeath, created when a master vampire is destroyed in the midst of creating a vampiric bride. The bride lives on as a vorlog. Vorlogs appear normal, but are strong and charismatic. They can drive nearby animals into a rage, and drain Wisdom with their attacks. However, they are tormented by the loss of their vampire master, and must create empathic links with living surrogates to combat their lonliness. A vorlogs surrogate slowly wastes away as the vorlog feeds on its spirit. Vorlogs also have some undead immunities. A vorlog is damaged by sunlight and, like a vampire, recoils from holy symbols. A vorlog eventually starves if denied a surrogate. Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about vorlogs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This woeful individual is a vorlog, an accursed creature trapped between life and undeath. This result reveals all undead traits and all humanoid or monstrous humanoid traits, as appropriate. 22 Vorlogs are the result of a vampires failed attempt to give the Dark Gift of vampirism to a favored mortal. For a vorlog to come into existence, the vampire that created it must have been destroyed. They are living creatures, but due to their origins, vorlogs share some traits with vampires. A vorlogs skin burns when touched by sunlight. 27 A vorlog forever yearns for the eternal companionship that was snatched away when its

vampire creator was destroyed. To recreate that bond, vorlogs create spiritual ties to surrogate mortals, upon whose life energy they slowly feed. 32 A vorlogs wounds heal quickly, but silvered magic weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. A vorlog cannot approach a strongly presented holy symbol. 37 If a vorlog is struck down in combat, it dissolves into a puddle of tears. If the liquid vorlog can seep into a dark place to recuperate, it reforms in a few hours. If prevented from reaching darkness for two hours, however, it is truly slain.

Vulture [Sandstorm - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about vultures. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: This black, bald-headed bird is a vulture, a carrion-feeding scavenger. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: Vultures only attack living prey when they are on the verge of starvation. Usually, they simply drift on the desert winds, watching and waiting for dying creatures to perish. DC 20: Due to their carrion diet, vultures develop a strong resistance to mundane disease.

W
Waff (shadow dryad) [VRGttSF] VRGttSF]
CR3

Walking Walking Dead (zombie, (zombie, skeleton, ghoul) see VRGttWD Walrus [Frostburn - animal]
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about walruses. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore

is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This bristly snout and long tusks on this massive, seal-like animal identify it as a walrus. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: Walruses are largely inoffensive creatures, but they can be territorial, goring foes with their dangerous tusks. A walrus cannot breathe underwater, but it can hold its breath for at least 7 minutes.

16 The charred stumps where this savage creatures feet should be mark it as a wendigo: a terrible and ravenous spirit of the winds that haunts the frozen tundra. Some folk believe wendigos are fiends or undead, but they are actually spirits of nature. This result reveals all fey traits and the cold subtype. Wendigos speak Sylvan. 21 A wendigo spends most of its time merged with the wind, howling across the frozen landscape. While a wendigo is wind walking, its victims may glimpse it out of the corner of their eye, but whenever they turn to look directly at the dreadful spirit, it vanishes from view. When a wendigo takes corporeal form, its frozen body deflects glancing blows, but weapons forged of cold iron can pierce its defenses. 26 A wendigos terrible bite tears bloody chunks of flesh from its victims body. Even worse, mortals who survive a wendigos attack may be infected with its hunger. A mortal afflicted with this supernatural disease is faced with an insatiable craving for the flesh of its own kind. If the victim does succumb to cannibalism, it loses all memory of its crime. 31 While in wind form, a wendigo can drive a mortal mad with insane whispers that only the chosen victim can hear. Over the course of days, a wendigos victim may go completely mad. A wendigo regenerates from its wounds, but has no defense against fire. , The most terrible truth about wendigos is that they were all once mortal. If a mortal victim goes mad while afflicted with the wendigos cannibalistic hunger, it dissipates in the wind, only to reform later as one of these monstrous entities. Wendigos retain the abilities they possessed as mortals. ---

Weasel [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about weasels. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: This lithe little animal is a weasel, an aggressive predator that feeds on birds and mammals smaller than itself. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 15: When a weasel bites its prey, it latches on with its jaws and doesnt let go until its victim is dead. KNOWLEDGE (NATURE) DC 10: Some mages adopt weasels for use as familiars. Such mages tend to have particularly quick reflexes.

Wendigo [Fiend Folio, Pathfinder 6]

JWM: Template Fey (Cold), CR +2, chaotic evil. A spirit of the frozen wastes that transforms mortals into more of its kind by infecting them with a terrible hunger for the flesh of their own kind. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about wendigos. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result

The Lamordian warned, Beware of the wendigo. I cocked a quizical eyebrow and, after a long moment, he added with the poetic obscurity of a drunken Barovian, The whisperer in the wind. I persisted, What is this whisperer in the wind, this wendigo of yours? He shuttered in reply, Best you not find out! Irritated, I brought him along. Initially he carried himself well enough, but hardly

had we begun the ascent of the glacier than he was reduced to a frightened wreck by a howling gust of wind. Having glimpsed something in it, I decided to put up with his terrified, hideously repetitive raving, It whispers to me, it whispers to me! Slowly I extracted from him the supposedly whispered Sylvan words, "Blood, burning blood, burning blood to quench. With a gibbous moon brightening the night, I put him on watch. My sleep was soon disturbed by the mans screams and I found him in great pain, a powerful bite having ripped through his coat and torn from his shoulder a sizeable hunk of flesh. I considered the situation, noting that the only tracks in the snow were our own, and decided to tend the wound as best I could, put him back on watch with a burning torch, and think further on the matter. I was plombing my memories when a sword, which I partially deflected at the last instant, crashed down about my ears. To my surprise, my unhappy companion did not attempt a second blow. Instead he threw himself upon me, sending us tumbling to the ground. Manifestly it was time that I make a meal of him. But the the poor, crazed fellows teeth were quicker as it was he who attempted to devour me! -Matton Blanchard entertaining his fellow Narrulve See also: Wendigo "Dragon's Bestiary, The" Mark DeForest Dragon#119(51) D&D1 "Ungrateful Dead, The" Tom Moldvay Dragon#138(32) D&D1

sperm whales and orcas, are predators, though even they are generally dangerous only to their typical prey, such as fish, squid, or seals, Whales cannot breathe underwater, but can hold their breath for extended periodsnearly 20 minutes for a sperm whale, for example. DC 25: Whales use the echolocation of their whalesong to sense their surroundings with great precision. A whale that cannot hear must rely on vision alone. Among sages, humpback whales and sperm whales are sometimes known as baleen whales and cachalot whales, respectively.

Wheep [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 11, lawful evil. A wizened obedient dead. Its fangs and claws are splattered with the poisonous black tears that continuously stream from its empty eye sockets. Also emits a fearful dirge. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about wheeps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 21 This wizened corpse is a wheep, distinguished by the black ichor leaking from its empty eye sockets. This result reveals all undead traits. 26 Wheeps are usually encountered in the service of more powerful undead. They attack with their sharp claws and fangs. These creatures also nearcontinually wail a supernatural dirge that can leave those who hear it pale with fright. A wheeps tough body deflects glancing blows, but magic piercing weapons can prove effective. 31 The tears oozing from a wheeps eyes are poisonous, and this black bile ends up splattered and smeared all over the wheeps claws and fangs, A wheep leaves an ebon trail of tears wherever they go, but the poison loses its potency after an hour. Wheeps are resistant to turning. 36 Until a wheep is destroyed, its wounds heal with startling speed.

Whale [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about whales. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 15: This massive marine mammal is a whale. Humanoids often hunt these creatures for their blubber. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 20: Many different varieties of whale exist. Some of the largest, called humpback whales, are entirely inoffensive, feeding on nearly microscopic creatures called plankton. Other varieties, such as

--Important though secrecy may be in such matters, Kunduktr, fully investigating such a blasphemous incident remains paramount. Such abominations do not roam at random; the loathesome thing must have had a master. Bind the slain guardsmen's families to silence as you see fit, but do not hesitate to question anyone who may have witnessed its passage or venomous trail. We must know if this attempted violation of the peace of the Lawgiver's Elect arose from the dead-accursed north, the benighted west, or the storm-wracked east! -- Confidential message from the Himmelsk Naeve to the senior overseer of Kantora's royal Mausoleum

--Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about wicker men. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 21 This massive, burning, wooden structure is a magically animated construct called a wicker man. This result reveals all construct traits. 26 A wicker man is a mindless combatant that follows the commands of its creator. The size of a giant, it attacks by crushing foes with its massive, wooden fists. A wicker man is immune to almost all forms of magic, but it suffers damage from entangle spells. This result also reveals the procedure for creating wicker men. The woven timber comprising a wicker mans body deflects most glancing blows, and piercing weapons simply slide between the gaps, leaving the wicker man undamaged. 31 When a wicker man slams foes up to the size of a horse with its fist, it often grabs the foe, then stuffs the creature into the hollow cage in its torso. Trapped victims can try to hack their way free, and a warp wood or wood shape spell briefly forces the cage door open. 36 If a wicker man is exposed to fire, it is unharmed but bursts into flame. The wicker man continues to burn for ten minutes. During this time, any creature struck by the wicker mans attacks, trapped inside its torso cage, or that otherwise comes into physical contact with the wicker man is exposed to its searing flames. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 21 Wicker men are usually constructed, and then ritually burned, by divine spellcasters to commemorate seasonal religious festivals. 26 A wicker mans torso is hollow, and criminals or other undesirables are usually sealed inside during the festival. When the wicker man is set ablaze, these unfortunates become live sacrifices.

WhiteWhite-Fang (FoS Nocturnal Sea Report)

The hiss of scales over snow is nearly silent, but it draws your attention in time to catch a glimpse: a serpentine form, tracing curves in the snowdrift as it glides forward, its frosty pelt as white as the snow itself. Brilliant blue eyes with slit pupils glitter brightly against the whiteness, above a pale, gaping throat and fangs translucent as icicles. The creature is as hypnotically beautiful as it is deadly, and swifter than thought as it strikes.

Wicker man [Fiend Folio]

JWM: Huge Constrict, CR 11, neutral. A huge, hollow wooden structure built by druids for seasonal ceremonies. When animated, it can engulf itself in flame and trap creatures inside its torso. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread. Long ago, the druids of Forlorn would sometimes erect wicker men to mark their spring festivals. Today, that practice has died out, but the goblyns have adopted it in their place, partly to spite the old faith, and partly to honor their own god, Arawn. The goblyns lack the ability to animate a wicker man, but legend has it that when a true Innocent is locked within the wicker mans cage and burned alive, the wicker man may spontaneously animate as a construct of obsession.

31 Druids or similar spellcasters can sometimes animate wicker men through the sacrifice of innocents to hunt down escaped sacrificial victims. --Hildred's screams rose higher and higher as the straw-giant burned; suddenly, they ceased, and I thanked the Dagda that her suffering had ended-and hoped that I might join her sooner rather than later, for the goblyns delight in slow torture. Then (I swear it by all gods, high and low)--the wicker man walked. Tearing itself from the frame which had held it upright, it lashed out with its burning limbs at the goblyns around it and scattering them like rats fleeing a man with a scythe. Whatever dark spirit they had summoned into the burning giant, it cared not a straw for them; all who stood in its path were burnt alive as Hildred had been. journal of Matton ap Herred

- as told by Tobias the blind monk, after his expedition through Keening.

Wight [Monster Manual]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 3, lawful evil. Standard, barrow-lurking undead that drain energy with their attacks. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread. --Wights are fierce and terrifying undead sure to strike fear in the hearts of adventurers. Most players cringe when their PCs face these creatures, knowing that if one of their number falls under the claws of a wight, their former comrade will rise soon after to cause even more mayhem. Knowledge (Religion) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about wights. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This walking corpse with malevolently burning eyes is a wight. This result reveals all undead traits. 20 The mere touch of a wight drains energy from living creatures. A humanoid slain by a wight becomes one themselves soon after, enslaved to the wight that spawned it. Wights are incredibly stealthy and easily can sneak up on most creatures. 25 Although undead, wights are intelligent and can even speak. ---Brother, why do you not rest? -My enemies still live. -Sister, why do you not sleep? -My lover betrayed me.

Widderrbhinn Widderrbhinn [Ravenloft Gaz V]

JWM: Template Undead (Augmented Fey), CR +2, any evil. Undead spirits of fey creatures that somehow died a true death due to terrible violence or foul magic. Basically a fey-specific variant of the ghost template. Tristessas ghostly followers Keening are widderrbhinn. --First, I knew something was coming because my faithful dog piteously yelped from fear and ran away. Then I felt the bodiless thing pass near me, a wave of cold, then it passed trough me, as if it was looking inside me. I was very cold and I began to think I was going to die soon. I thought I had made the wrong decision. But I stood there, praying for inner strength. I heard it rummaging through my back pack, throwing my things around on the floor. Then it passed through me again and I heard it speak: She wants the child, her lost child in a ghostly, but also very beautiful and calm voice. Then it left as quickly as it came to me.

-And you small one, why dont you lie peacefully? -My friends still play. The Barrow, Doctor Tyranim Rienis, Chair of Psychology, the Brautslava Institute See also Dragon #300 and 336 See also: Wight "Ecology of the Wight, The" Graeme Davis Dragon#348(60) D&D3 Wailing Wight "Return To the Tomb of Horrors" Bruce R. Cordell Dragon#249(41) D&D2 Barrier Wight "Dragon's Bestiary: Myth: Foes of Muirthemne" Peter Whitley Dragon#261(77) D&D2 King-Wight "Beyond the Grave" Tom Moldvay Dragon#198(26) D&D2

Wight, slaughter [Libris Mortis]

JWM: Medium Undead, CR 8, chaotic evil. A particularly powerful and vicious wight touched by the power of evil gods or the Dark Powers. --"When the Horsemen came..." I said, my mouth dry. "I came with them," it replied, nodding. "Riding in the stirrup of War itself." It paused to give a long, silent chuckle, rotted shoulders shaking. "Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter, all the sons and daughters, rising moon and falling sun, slaughter 'til the battle's done...I forget the rest. Help me remember." private correspondence, G. Weathermay-Foxgrove to Mattias Mikkelson

Wight, dread [Denizens of Dread] Wight creature [Savage Species]

JWM: Template Undead, CR +3, lawful evil. A simple template that turns non-humanoid creatures into wights. --I had never hunted whales but I certainly knew men who did. They were a brave and superstitious lot, invariably with yarns to spin. An especially grim one concerned a great and venerable sperm whale. Its heavily scarred flesh was a sickly off white. The creature was said to never bleed, to be capable of holding its breath far longer than any of its kind, and to offer every evidence of being misanthropic in the extreme. But it was the fate of the few men who had faced it in close quarters and had survived the encounter that made me shutter with recognition. For far too many of them had returned from the fight as shadows of their former selves, weakened or broken in body and spirit. -From the journal of Rudolf van Richten

Wild Hunt [MM5] [MM5] Wildlands beast [new, briefly touched on in Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide] Guide]
JWM : Template Magical Beast, CR +1, neutral. A simple template that basically applies the awaken spell to the Wildlands animals. All animals that enter the Wildlands gradually become sentient. Their intelligence fades again if they leave the domain. The sample creatures are a Wildlands ape and a Wildlands crocodile. Lore is available in the Monster Lore thread. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about Wildlands beasts. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This animal is what the folk of Sri Raji call a Wildlands beast: a creature native to the untamed wilderness they call the Wildlands This result reveals all magical beast traits.

18 Animals native to the wildlands are so cunning that they often seem to possess an eerie sort of humanlike intelligence. 23 All normal animals that enter the Wildlands soon develop human-level intelligence, but remain wild beasts at heart and are not necessarily well disposed toward humanoids. 28 Wildlands beasts possess a feral language, indistinguishable to humanoid ears from normal howls and roars, which allows them all to communicate with each other. --As Ape: They came into our camp during the second watch of the night, bounding down from the trees, overcoming the watchmen, the great grey apes of the Wildlands--as neat an assault as was ever made by a Zherisian captain of arms, and all over in a trice. Only two of us even fired our muskets before they were among us; we did our best to make play with steel, but to little avail. Their strength is past reckoning. I have said already that the animals of that place speak like men (little though it may be credited). For the first time, seeing them herd us as a dog does sheep, I realized that their reasoning must also be equal to a man's. How gravely we had underestimated the perils of this adventure! And not for the last time... Expedition to the Wildlands, Captain John Smith As crocodile: When I was little, I remember a book. I can't remember where it came from, I just remember reading it in our library. There was a phrase inside it that made me laugh, and I always remembered it; "Never smile at a crocodile." I recall this now, because we are tracking the great beasts on this hunt. Our Rajian guide says they congregate in the great swamps of these 'Wildlands'. As we approached the monsters, I saw in amazement how they allowed small birds to filt in

and out of their mouths, cleaning them. I shifted in position, grinning at this amazing discovery. Zoologists all over the Core would be fascinated by this. One of the birds was startled by the slight noise I made, and flew to the side of the largest of these creature's heads. What happened next was incredible! The beast turned and gazed in my general direction, "Come out," it said with a voice as dark and echoing as a cave, "Come out and give audience before your King." -Collected from the unpublished Notes on the Wildlands by Sir Ranulph Victor Carter, before his disappearence in Sri Raji.

WillWill-oo-Wisp, Dread, all

JWM : Will-o-wisp variants. Lore for all of the Ravenloft variants is available in the Monster Lore thread. See also: Will-o'-Wisp "Ecology of the Will-o'Wisp, The" Nigel D. Findley Dragon#99(18) D&D1 "Ecology of the Will-o'-Wisp, The" Amber E. Scott Dragon#328(54) D&D3

WillWill-oo-wisp, dread, willwill-oo-dawn (Feu Follet) [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM : Tiny Aberration (Air), CR 4, chaotic good. A benevolent will-o-wisp that appears only at dawn. It cant physically harm opponents, but can confuse them. Harmed by magical darkness. Feeds off the emotions of excited, happy, relieved minds. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about will-o-dawns. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. The DC is unusually high due to the rarity of these creatures and their similarity to more common will-o-wisps.

DC Result 21 This floating, glowing orb resembles a creature called a will-o-wisp, but is actually a close cousin called a will-o-dawn. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air subtype. 24 Will-o-dawns appear only at daybreak. They can fly with remarkable agility. They are completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects.. Unlike other will-o-wisps, will-o-dawns are benevolent creatures that try to help lost wanders find their way back to safety. If it must defend itself, a will-o-dawn uses its color spray and hypnotic pattern spell-like abilities to confuse its foes. 29 When startled or frightened, a will-o-dawn can extinguish its glow, effectively turning it invisible. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, they are highly vulnerable to magical darkness. 34 Other varieties of will-o-wisp exist. Although their abilities are similar, these creatures such as the will-o-deep and will-o- sea have adapted to specialized environments. --"For Ezra's sake, why am I out of my cabin at this unholy hour?" I grumbled, glaring at the man who had convinced me to do this. The captain merely brushed me off with an irritated glance, pointing out over the sea towards the pink horizon. "Look," he said. As my eyes focused, I could see them, little warm lights like fireflies that danced upon the waves. The cheerful display lighted the ship, decorating her with colors finer than all the balls and galas I had ever attended. I couldn't help but laugh. For the first time in a long while, I felt at peace. -From the private Journal of Jean Marsanne, Ezran priest

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about will-o-deeps. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This floating, flickering candle flame is actually a creature called a will-o-deep, a variety of will-o-wisp adapted to a wholly subterranean existence. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air subtype. 20 Will-o-deeps can fly with remarkable agility. They are completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects, and they lack the powerful electrical shocks of the more common will-owisp, but the sparks they can generate can knock over small objects are more than capable of igniting flammable materials, such as trapped pockets of natural gas. 25 When startled or frightened, a will-o-deep can extinguish its glow, effectively turning it invisible. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, they are affected by magic electrical attacks. A will-o-deep is resistant to acid, cold, and fire. 30 Other varieties of will-o-wisp exist. Although their abilities are similar, these creatures such as the will-o-mist and will-o- sea have adapted to specialized environments. --We extinguished every flame and followed the Loathsome Consort deeper into the Earth. Our breath became laboured as we were assailed by foul fumes. Then three lights winked into existence and struck at us with crackling fire, causing the very air about us to burst with a deafening roar into seething flames. -Vomited Up From the Bowels of The Earth, unfinished, anonymous manuscript

WillWill-oo-wisp, dread, willwill-oo-deep [Ravenloft Monstrous Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM : Tiny Aberration (Air), CR 3, neutral evil. A subterranean will-o-wisp that leads lost spelunkers and/or dungeon crawlers into cave-ins and similar hazards. ---

WillWill-oo-wisp, dread, willwill-oo-mist [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM : Small Aberration (Air, Mists), CR 5, chaotic neutral. A will-o-wisp that roams the Misty Border. Can navigate the mists, but cannot survive beyond them. ---

"I'm tellin' you, the Mists have eyes! I've seen them myself, late at night when I'm lockin' up the barn. Makes the hair stand up on the back o' my neck when I see them hanging in the air, glowing with that wicked light o' theirs. Whenever I catch sight of one out of the corner of my eyes I just hurry up and head for my front door, and don't look left nor right until I'm safe inside." Farmer Williams of the Gray Heath, from the working notes for Van Richten's Guide to the Mists by Gennifer & Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove

Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (Ravenloft) can learn more about willo-mists. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 22 Will-o-mists and the Vistani never disturb each other when they cross paths. 27 Will-o-mists can find their way through the Misty Border as unerringly as the Vistani. Supposedly, they could be used as guides, if one could somehow gain their aid. Knowledge (Ravenloft) DC Result 17 The diffuse ribbon of light drifting through the blinding fog is actually a creature called a will-omist, an obscure variety of will-o-wisp found only in the Misty Border. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air and Mists subtypes. 22 Will-o-mists can fly with remarkable agility. They are completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects, and they attack by inflicting powerful electrical shocks. However, they prefer to simply lead Mist travelers astray, feeding on their fear and despair as they wander aimlessly. Will-o-mists cannot survive outside the Misty Border. 27 When startled or frightened, a will-o-mist can extinguish its glow, effectively turning it invisible. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, they are affected by energy drain effects. 32 Other varieties of will-o-wisp exist. Although their abilities are similar, these creatures such as the will-o-deep and will-o- sea have adapted to specialized environments. ---

WillWill-oo-wisp, dread, willwill-oo-sea [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]

JWM : Huge Aberration (Air), CR 8, neutral evil. The most powerful will-o-wisp variety, which exists in and around the seas of Ravenloft. Appears as a sheet of electricity or St. Elmos Fire. --Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about will-oseas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Bardic Knowledge DC Result 25 Will-o-seas are malevolent lights that try to lure lost ships onto unseen shoals, then feed on the torment of the drowning sailors. 30 The scaly devils of the deep sea have learned the strange language of the will-o-seas, and join forces with them to send ships down to the briny bottom. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 25 This cascading curtain of color, resembling St. Elmos fire or the northern lights, is actually a creature called a will-o-sea, a powerful variety of will-o-wisp adapted to life at sea. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air subtype. 30 Will-o-seas can fly with remarkable agility and can move just as freely underwater. They are

completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects, and they attack by generating crackling lightning bolts. However, a will-o-sea needs a few moments to recharge its electrical attacks, and it cannot unleash them underwater. 35 A will-o-sea can alter the size and shape of its glow, sometimes mimicking the beacon of a lighthouse or the glint of sunken treasures. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, will-o-seas are affected by magical cold. 40 Other varieties of will-o-wisp exist. Although their abilities are similar, these creatures such as the will-o-deep and will-o- sea have adapted to specialized environments. Revised by JWM, FoS board nov 07: Will-o-Sea Lore Characters with bardic knowledge or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about will-oseas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. KNOWLEDGE (ARCANA) DC 18: This cascading curtain of color, resembling St. Elmos fire or the northern lights, is actually a creature called a will-o-sea, a powerful variety of will-o-wisp adapted to life at sea. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air subtype. DC 23: Will-o-seas can fly with remarkable agility and can move just as freely underwater. They are completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects, and they attack by generating crackling lighning bolts. However, a will-o-sea needs a few moments to recharge its electrictal attacks, and it cannot unleash them underwater. DC 28: A will-o-sea can alter the size and shape of its glow, sometimes mimicking the beacon of a lighthouse or the glint of sunken treasures. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, will-o-seas are affected by magical cold. DC 33: Other varieties of will-o-wisp exist. Although their abilities are similar, these creaturessuch as the will-o-deep and will-oseahave adapted to specialized environments.

BARDIC KNOWLEDGE DC 18: Will-o-seas are malevolent lights that try to lure lost ships onto unseen shoals, then feed on the torment of the drowning sailors. DC 23: The scaly devils of the deep sea have learned the strange language of the will-o-seas, and are in league with them to send ships down to the briny bottom --JMW, FoS board nov 07:
Will-o-Sea
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III Usually NE Huge Aberration (Air) Initiative: +10 Speed: Fly 50 ft. (perfect) (10 squares) Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +11, Spot +11 Space/Reach: 15 ft./5 ft. Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+14 Attack: Shock +15 melee touch (6d6 electricity) Attack Options: Blind-Fight Special Attacks: Shocking burst Hit Dice: 15d8+15 Hit Points: 82 Armor Class: 24 (2 size, +6 Dex, +10 deflection), touch 24, flatfooted 18 Immune: Magic Saves: Fort +6, Ref +13, Will +13 Defense Options: Dodge Special Qualities: Lightning bolt Abilities: Str 1, Dex 22, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 18, Cha 14 Skills: Search +5, Survival +5 (+7 following tracks) Social: Bluff +17, Disguise +10 (+12 acting), Intimidate +3, Sense Motive +4 Languages: Auran Outcast Rating: 11 (+4 size, +3 appearance, +2 reputation, +1 beyond the pale, +1 unnatural powers) Feats: Ability Focus (lightning bolt), Alertness, Blind-Fight, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon FinesseB Environment: Any aquatic (Sea of Sorrows, Nocturnal Sea) Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 8 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 1624 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment:

Will-oseas are a powerful form of will-o-wisp that make their home on and around the seas of Ravenloft. Will-o-seas lure sailors to watery graves, then feed on the horrified, frenzied panic of their drowning victims. Will-o-seas are usually encountered just off common trade routes, appearing most frequently at dusk or in the early evening, particularly during storms. The rest of the time, they retreat beneath the waves, usually lairing in one of the shipwrecks they have created. A will-o-sea generally appears as a shifting

cascade of glowing energy from 12 to 20 feet in length, often indistinguishable from the luxuriant displays of color produced by an arora borealis. Unlike other will-o-wisps, a will-o-sea cannot extinquish its glow, though it can dim itself somewhat. Although these massive will-o-wisps cannot turn invisible, they are adept at altering their size and shape. Will-o-seas often mimic the shape of a ship or lighthouse, using their glow to outline empty shapes. By altering the intensity of their aura, they can appear as gentle St. Elmos fire or a fiery blaze, hoping to attract investigators. Alternatively, a will-o-sea may lurk beneath the surface of seaweed-choked waters, mimicking the silvery shimmer of half-seen sunken treasures. A will-o-seas body is a latticework of spongy globes and interconnecting tendrils, stretching about 10 feet across and weighing about 20 pounds, and its glowing body can shed as much light as a bonfire. Will-o-seas speak Auran. They have no vocal apparatus, instead communicating through a combination of visual cues and a series of electrical snaps, clicks, and hums. A few old salts along the shores of the Sea of Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea claim that the scaly devils of the deep have learned this language and cooperate with will-o-seas to lure seamen to the bottom. Combat Will-o-seas usually position themselves above hidden reefs or shoals, hoping to lure ships to their doom. They delight in the frenzy of drowning men, and so often try to sink ships while leaving as many of the crew alive as possible. They then hover over the survivors, taunting them and thwarting their every attempt to reach safety. Should the crew prove more resilient than expected, a will-o-sea can release lethal bolts of electricity to kill men, shatter masts, and set ships ablaze. Will-o-sea hunting grounds often gain reputations as ships graveyards, with numerous wrecks littering the bottom. These wrecks are often haunted by ghosts, sea zombies, and other restless drowning victims. The will-o-sea typically ignores these undead, using them to guard its lair.

Lightning Bolt (Su): Once every 1d4+1 rounds, as a standard action, a will-o-sea can produce a lightning bolt, dealing 10d6 points of electricity damage (Reflex DC 21 half; caster level 10th). The save DC is Charisma-based. Immunity to Magic (Ex): A will-o-sea is immune to most spells or spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance, except those that deal cold damage. Semiaquatic (Ex): A will-o-sea can move and breathe as freely underwater as it can in the air. However, it cannot use its electrical attacks while submerged. --The installation of brightly coloured buoys along the channel considerably reduced the number of vessels claimed each year by the Maidens Rock. And the addition to the buoys of lamps, effective in all but the thickest mist, spared many more lives. But our good work has come to naught in the last year. Ships, in all but the clearest weather, are again frequently impaling themselves upon that foul black spear. Worse, not so much as a single man has escaped the wrecks and reached the docks alive. When we find the bloated corpses terror is invariably etched upon their faces. And we know to row out in search of bodies the day after hearing thunder in the fog. -Milton Hargrove, Assistant Harbour Master of Paridon

WillWill-oo-wisp, dread, willwill-oo-wisp [Monster Manual]

JWM : Small Aberration (Air), CR 6, chaotic evil. The standard MM will-o-wisp. Dr#328 - Feb 05 - The Ecology of the Will-OWisp - Interesting article, if we forget the cheesy biological explanations (gas nodes that feed on natural gas, allowing it to be lighted and propelling it). ---

Will-o'-wisps are clever and insidious creatures that roam swamps and brackish wetlands. They are commonly mistaken for lanterns or torches in the thick mists. Knowledge (Arcana) DC Result 19 This floating, glowing orb is actually a creature called a will-o'-wisp. This result reveals all aberration traits and the air subtype. 24 Will-o'-wisps can fly with remarkable agility. They are completely immune to most spells or spell-like effects, and they attack by inflicting powerful electrical shocks. 29 When startled or frightened, a will-o'-wisp can extinguish its glow, effectively turning it invisible. Although immune to most spells or spell-like effects, they are affected by magic missile and maze. --When I was a child, mama always said when you're lost, go towards light, it's men looking for you. I always remembered that, because your mama doesn't ever lie. When we got stuck in the bog, I thought, "head for the lights, that's what mama said, and mama never lies." When we saw three torch lights flickering through the trees, I headed right for them, knowing that I was a good boy and doing what mama taught me. The torches turned out to be marsh light, and I wept. The more we wept the stronger they shone, then they started spitting sparks and lightning at us. I learnt an important lesson that day. Mama lied. -Written in a unmarked journal in the backpack of a corpse found in the bogs of Mordent

Winter wolf wolf [Monster Manual]

JWM : Large Magical Beast (Cold), CR 5, neutral evil. Large, white, intelligent wolves with a cold breath weapon. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread. ---

Characters expecting a regular wolf are in for a surprise when they face one of these creatures. Knowledge (Arcana) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about winter wolves. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (nature) can also be used, but all check DCs increase by 5. DC Result 15 This result reveals all magical beast traits and cold subtype. 20 Like regular wolves, winter wolves can make trip attacks after a successful bite attack. They are remarkably intelligent and can speak Common and Giant. 25 Winter wolves are so named because their bite produces freezing cold. They have a breath weapon -- a cone of cold. Winter wolves are immune to cold and vulnerable to fire. --Mikhail knelt to examine the corpse of the moose, and hissed in dismay at what he found. "What is it?" I asked. "Frostbite," he answered, standing and looking around us. Seeing my incomprehension, he said, "Look for yourself." Kneeling as he had done, I saw that the flesh of the great deer beneath its shaggy pelt was blackened and hard; touching it, the flesh crackled beneath my fingers. "Not even the zilinya neshka blows so cold as to burn," Mikhail muttered. "This was

done by the white wolves; they must be very near." Adventures of a Wanderer, Larraby Quift

Witchfire [Pathfinder 5]
Undead hag

Wolf [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about wolves. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 11: This shaggy gray canine is a wolf. Closely related to domesticated dogs, wolves are social predators that hunt in packs. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 16: Wolf packs coordinate their attacks to stalk and take down larger game. When a wolf bites its prey, it tries to wrench the creature to the ground, where the entire pack can quickly finish it off. See also: Wolf: "Collection of Canines, A" Stephen Inniss Dragon#102(21) D&D1 "Howls of Nature's Wrath" Eric Cagle Dragon#293(82) D&D3

19 Wolfweres are talented shapechangers, and can take the form of any humanoid race or sex, even mimicking specific individuals. They change shape by turning their skins inside out, so that while humanoid, their fur grows on the inside. Weapons made of cold iron can pierce a wolfweres supernatural defenses. 24 Wolfweres cannot mimic specific individuals, nor do they turn their skin inside out. A wolfwere can perform a magical song that fatigues its potential victims. 29 More powerful varieties of wolfwere exist. The greater wolfwere can summon wolves to its aid and rapidly heals most forms of damage. --The wolf growled, and then, to our shock and amazement, it stretched, standing upright like a man. Its paws lengthened to cruel, clawed hands. Its limbs popped and shifted, bending in ways that no beasts ought to. Its back arched and curved, so that as it rose on its misshapen legs, it kept its gleaming yellow eyes fixed on us. From the tales of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

Wolverine [Monster Manual - animal]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about wolverines. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 12: This shaggy, badgerlike animal is a wolverine, a predator known for its ferocity. This result reveals all animal traits. DC 17: Injured wolverines often fly into mad rages. A raging wolverine is particularly dangerous and never backs off from a fight.

Wolf, zombie voir Zombie wolf Wolfwere [Den of Dr]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or, in Kartakass, Knowledge (local) can learn more about wolfweres. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This cunning wolf is actually a shapechanging trickster beast called a wolfwere. This result reveals all magical beast traits and the shapechanger subtype.

Wraith [Monster Manual]

JWM : Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 5, lawful evil. Shadowy spirit, resembling a robed humanoid. Animals panic in its presence. It drains Constitution with its touch, but is rendered powerless by daylight. Lore is available in the WotC monster lore thread.

Wraiths, the "cousins" of spectres and other incorporeal undead, inspire the same sort of dread as spectres. Because their victims turn into additional wraiths, adventurers are wise to find ways to combat them ahead of time. Knowledge (Religion) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religions) can learn more about wraiths. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This sinister incorporeal creature is a wraith. This result reveals all undead traits. 20 Animals balk at the presence of a wraith and flee if they come within 30 feet of one. They are highly intelligent and speak both Common and Infernal. 25 The mere touch of a wraith drains the target's Constitution, granting the wraith additional unlife. A humanoid slain by a wraith becomes one itself soon after death. Wraiths are resistant to turning attempts. 30 Wraiths are powerless in sunlight and flee from it. When exposed to sunlight, they cannot attack and can barely move. Larger and far more powerful versions, called dread wraiths, are sometimes seen. --"The wraith of the Grayrock village? Aye, I remember that shady business. It was a difficult fight. The adventuring party I was in was passing through the village and the Mayor informed us about the wraith. He offered a good reward. We were looking for it all day, but it was nowhere. Ferderun, our ranger, noted that it appears only at night to haunt the roads near the village. So we slept and waited for the night. After a couple of fruitless nights, Ferderun spotted a place that animals avoided; a patch in the forest that was devoid of animals. Creepy place that. Dark and silent. Anyway, we approached under

the protection of Ezra provided by that Ancorite fellow Drevin. Then we saw it: a white semi-trasparent, cloaked figure floating out of large, dead oak in eerie silence. Ferderun left an arrow fly from his enchanted bow, I raised my spear to attack and the Ancorite mouthed a prayer. We had a couple of young warriors with us that night. Caravan guards who were looking to make some fame for themselves. They charged in with their axes, even after Drevin shouted to them to stay back... poor fellows. Their weapons were normal, the short you find in a blacksmith, the honest weapons as I call them... not what you find in the hands of a vampire like my spear. They passed through the wraith's body leaving it unharmed. Then it moved its hand and touched one of the warriors, who suddenly grew pale and clutched his heart. We kept on pressing on the fiend some of our own attacks missing, some finding their mark. The wounded man tried to retreat but it just passed through a tree in its way and touched the unlucky fellow again, and with a coarse scream, he dropped dead. His fellow screamed in terror and froze in his place, I'm sure he wetted his pants although I cannot blame him. His friends was dead without a scratch, not a way for a warrior to die. Enraged by the loss of our new companion we pressed the attack and probably wounded the unholy thing much because it retreated to the ground. As we turned to look at our fallen companion, Drevin started to say something, a warning probably about what would follow. Before he mouthed more than a word though, we saw another figure, hazy and semi-transparent rise from the corpse of our lost companion. The features of his face were not clear but we could recognise the similarities to him. Aye, you guessed it right. A few moments after he was killed by the touch he returned as another spawn of evil. The first target of this new threat was his once before friend, frozen in terror. He managed to kill the other lad too, just before I managed to dissolve its unholy essence with my magic spear. Devin this time managed to sprinkle the body with holy water and say some prayer on time, so at least this lad's soul was saved.

It was a full week before we managed to destroy the original wraith of the Grayrock village. And that not before it managed to touch Fedrerun. While Dervin's prayers helped him, Fedrerun's health waned from that encounter; he become somewhat feeble for his age and was the first to catch a cold from our troop from there on. " - From the saying's of a gray-haired man at an Invidian Inn. See also Dragon #300 and 336

was something unnatural about it - not that it was unholy. You said it would not easily be put out of existence - not that it had no life to yield. To which the old rogue replied with a wolfish smile: You came from your land seeking adventure, nest-ce pas? I afforded you a grand one for not so much as a Rat-Tooth. And had you ended Grandfather Boar suffering I would have gladly paid you the bounty. But of course as proof you would have had to bring me his head. -Extract from Recent events in Kartakass compiled by Barovian spies

Wraith, war [Book of Souls]

JWM : Medium Undead (Incorporeal), CR 5, lawful evil. Shadowy warriors that haunt battlefields, draining the last life from the wounded. See the Book of Souls for the full scoop. --Beyond the Shroud there are brothers, whisperers of mortifying secrets, who have thrown off the yolk of Azalin. Would they obey or defy our lord? Are they our avant-garde or that of some even more ineluctable end to all life that readies in the Grey Realm its ascension? -Vice-Chancellor August Montalva of the University of Il Aluk pondering his allegiance in the gathering Time of Unparalleled Darkness

Wrethfetin voir vampire, halfling

X Y
Yellow musk creeper [Fiend Folio]
JWM : Always N Huge Plant, CR 4. A tropical climbing vine with beautiful, orchid-like flowers, found in the Verdurous Lands. It can defend itself by lashing out with its long tendrils, but the real danger lies in its musk. The creeper can release a puff of pollen; creatures that inhale this musk may drop unconscious. The creeper then extends its tendrils into the helpless creatures skulls, consuming their brains and implanting them with a seed. If the creature survives the process, it is transformed into a yellow musk zombie. A yellow musk creeper and its zombies are featured in the adventure Adams Wrath. --Yellow Musk Creeper/Yellow Musk Zombie Lore

Wraith creature [Savage Species]

JWM : Template Undead (Incorporeal), CR +3, lawful evil. A basic template that turns nonhumanoid creatures into wraiths. --In front of the inns patrons the leader of the surviving adventurers dared address Lukas in these terms: You warned us that the underbrush would not slow its charge - not that it could rush headlong through trees. You hinted that it might not be easily pricked by our blades - not that they might pass clean through it. You confessed that there

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about yellow musk creepers. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 The plant producing these beautiful yellow and violet flowers is called a yellow musk creeper. This result reveals all plant traits. 19 These plants are extremely dangerous. If a creature comes too close, the creeper can spray a puff of spores in the victims face. The spores affect the victims mind, compelling it to nustle up to the plant and remain motionless and dazed. 24 Once a victim is at hand, the creeper extends tendrils into the creatures brain, devouring the victims brain. 29 Not all of those whose minds are devoured by a creeper die. Sometimes, the creeper implants seeds in the victims brain, which control the body like a dimly intelligent puppet. These yellow musk zombies are not actually undead, but exist solely to procure more victims for the creeper. If the yellow musk creeper is destroyed, a regenerate or heal effect can restore its zombies to their normal selves --The tale was less wild and all the more frightful after witnessing those tendrils coursing through Yakovs body. If a tree could stake a man and plant in him its seed, was it beyond belief that a creeper could seize a man, feed upon his brain, and reduce him to its slave? The thought was monstrous. Yet no more so than the raja said to keep a specimen in his garden to which he fed his enemies that they might be cheated of the mercy of death and that he might rise each day to the sight of their ceaseless torment. -Journal of Charlie Wescote, Ship's Biologist of the HMS Retriever

sole purpose is to procure more victims for their creeper. If killed, a new yellow musk creeper sprouts from the corpse within an hour. Although easily mistaken for zombies, yellow musk zombies are still alive (and can be cured, if not without difficulty). --"Believe me my dear, I would not, could not, kill a man beloved by you. Rather I took him into my employ. He works in my garden. But come see for yourself the truth of this. He is charged with caring for my most beloved plant, a very fine creeper, and he shall continue caring for it until you renounce your love for him and give your heart to me." -Jawahar Ghee from the play The Raja and the Shudra by Lemot Sediam Juste

YuanYuan-ti, all [Monster Manual]

JWM : The descendants of degenerate humans whose bloodlines were mingled with those of serpents. A debased, psionic race, dedicated to their foul god. They are calculating schemers, probably most active in Sri Raji. All yuan-ti can transform themselves into vipers and psionically detect hostile intent. ---

YuanYuan-ti, pureblood [Monster Manual Manual& ual& Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]
JWM : Usually CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Psionic), CR 3. The least powerful, and most human, yuan-ti. Mostly human in appearance, with some serpentine features which they can usually disguise. They often pose as humans, working against human societies from within. They have several psionic powers. --Lore for individual yuan-ti varieties is given below. However, a character that recognizes a yuan-tis nature can can also make a Knowledge

Yellow musk zombie [Fiend Folio]

JWM : Always N Medium Plant, CR 1/2 (template). Mindless victims under the control of the yellow musk creeper that created them. Their

(religion) check to learn more about yuan-ti in general. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 22 Yuan-ti worship Merrshaulk, the serpentine god of chaos and evil who created their fell race. Positions of power in the priesthood are filled by yuan-ti abominations or anathemas. Yuan-Ti Pureblood Lore Monster Manual & Expanded Psionics Handbook (This lore reflects the psionic version presented in the XPH. If using the MMs arcane version, swap out detect hostile intent for detect poison, swap the listed psi-like abilities for its spell-like abilities, and generally replace any use of psionics with arcane equivalents.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about yuan-ti purebloods. Characters that recognize a yuan-tis nature can make a Knowledge (religion) check to learn more (see above). When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (psionics) DC Result 13 This humanoids subtle, snakelike features reveal that it is actually a yuan-ti pureblood, a degenerate race that arose from the unnatural mingling of humanoid and serpent bloodlines. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the psionic subtype. Yuan-ti speak their own language, and generally know Draconic, Abyssal, and the local language as well. 17 Compared to humans, yuan-ti purebloods are relatively agile, intelligent, and forceful. Like all yuan-ti, purebloods can psionically detect hostile intent and can transform themselves into vipers. 23 Yuan-ti purebloods can see in the dark. They can manifest a variety of psionic powers, including aversion, concealing amorpha, darkness, entangling ectoplasm, psionic charm, and psionic daze. They are resistant to psionic attacks. 27 Of all the true yuan-ti, purebloods possess the least serpentine taint in their blood. They are also the least intelligent and the socially lowest of their kind, but they can easily pass for humans and

often act as spies for their more monstrous lords and masters. --But that is the terrible thing. We were warned, we disregarded the poor fellows words, and we should have known better. For although you or I may say with poetic licence that a man has a forked tongue, a simpleton is not likely to detect the duplicity of others let alone describe them thus. -Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, Professor of Biology at the University of Il Aluk in Exile at Karg, recalling his expedition to Sri Raji

YuanYuan-ti, halfblood [Monster Manual& Manual& Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]

JWM : Usually CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Psionic), CR 5. Still humanoid, but with obvious serpentine features, such as scales or a snakes head or tail. They hold a middling position in yuan-ti society, more esteemed than purebloods but below abominations. They have several psionic powers. They also have a poisonous bite and may be able to constrict, depending on their anatomy. --Yuan-Ti Halfblood Lore - Monster Manual & Expanded Psionics Handbook (This lore reflects the psionic version presented in the XPH. If using the MMs arcane version, swap out detect hostile intent for detect poison, swap the listed psi-like abilities for its spell-like abilities, and generally replace any use of psionics with arcane equivalents.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about yuan-ti halfbloods. Characters that recognize a yuan-tis nature can make a Knowledge (religion) check to learn more (see above). When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (psionics) DC Result 15 This humanoids distinctly serpentine features (such as scaly skin and a snakelike head or tail) reveal it to be a yuan-ti halfblood, a degenerate race that arose from the unnatural mingling of humanoid and serpent bloodlines. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the psionic subtype. Yuan-ti speak their own language, and generally know Draconic, Abyssal, and Common as well. 20 Yuan-ti halfbloods are both physically and mentally more powerful than humans. Like all yuan-ti, halfbloods can psionically detect hostile intent and can transform themselves into vipers. Their venomous bite can be deadly. In combat, they frequently rely on their chameleon and exhaltation of the black dragon psi-like abilities. 25 Yuan-ti halfbloods can see in the dark and have a keen sense of smell. They can manifest a variety of psionic powers in addition to those listed above, including aversion, body purification, concealing amorpha, deeper darkness, entangling ectoplasm, mind thrust, psionic charm, psionic daze, and psionic suggestion. They are resistant to psionic attacks. 30 Yuan-ti halfbloods hold a middling position within the malign yuan-ti society. They are among the most common yuan-ti, but seldom deal with outsiders (unlike purebloods) and rarely hold positions of true power --"The taxidermist, having clarified the matter to my satisfaction, offered to show me a uniquely challenging commission for a rich and famous client whose name he declined to give. Indisputably, the body was monstrous, that of a snake nearly as thick as my leg, but the head was far worse, for it was that of a innocent human girl of no more than five years." -George Weathermay in fireside conversation with Rudolf van Ritchen

YuanYuan-ti, abomination [Monster [Monster Manual & Expanded Psionics Handbook] Handbook]
JWM : Usually CE Large Monstrous Humanoid (Psionic), CR 7. The rulers of yuan-ti society, they appear as massive snakes with burly, humanoid arms. They have poison bites and can constrict. They also have numerous psionic powers. --Yuan-Ti Abomination Lore - Monster Manual & Expanded Psionics Handbook) (Again, this is the psionic version of yuan-ti. Make adjustments as needed for the arcane MM version.) Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about yuan-ti abominations. Characters that recognize a yuan-tis nature can make a Knowledge (religion) check to learn more (see above). When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (psionics) DC Result 17 This monstrous serpent has a pair of humanoid arms and an unnervingly intelligent demeanor. It is a yuan-ti abomination, a powerful member of a degenerate race that arose from the unnatural mingling of humanoid and serpent bloodlines. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits and the psionic subtype. Yuan-ti speak their own language, and generally know Draconic, Abyssal, and the local language as well. 22 Yuan-ti abominations are physically powerful and possess a superhuman intellect. Like all yuanti, abominations can psionically detect hostile intent and can transform themselves into vipers. Their venomous bite can be deadly, and they can crush foes in their serpentine coils. However, abominations prefer to lead from the rear, sending their lesser minions to fight for them. 27 Yuan-ti abominations can see in the dark and have a keen sense of smell. They can manifest a variety of psionic powers in addition to those listed above, including aversion, baleful

polymorph, body purification, chameleon, concealing amorpha, deeper darkness, entangling ectoplasm, exhaltation of the black dragon, mind thrust, psionic charm, psionic daze, and psionic suggestion. They are resistant to psionic attacks. 32 Abominations are the masterminds of yuan-ti society. While their expendible minions enter melee, they analyze the battlefield, using their psionic powers to maximum effect. --As they brought us in I saw that we had not yet plumbed the depths of madness. Seated (if such a word can be used) on the throne at the head of the ruined temple was an enormous serpent, obviously heavier than a man. At first I did not dare to believe my eyes, for it seemed the thing had arms like those of a strong man, but when it spoke I knew it was, like the men who had found us in the jungle, some hideous amalgamation of man and serpent--only here the serpent predominated over the man. So great was the shock of this newest horror that it was several moments before I realized the creature was actually speaking to me. "What is your name, human?" it hissed. "Paul D'Arcenaux," I managed to reply. The Forge of Darkness, by Jean Lafolie (novel)

catching the firelight and shining yellow. "Abase yourself, for you come into the presence of the divine." As he spoke the door was opened and I was thrust forward into the room. For a moment reason refused to countenance it; larger even than the elephant on which we had ridden, it writhed above me like a whole nest of snakes forged somehow into a grotesque and awful whole. The Forge of Darkness, Jean Lafolie (novel)

YuanYuan-ti, servitor [Monsters of Faerun, Savage Species]

JWM : Usually CE Medium Humanoid (Psionic), CR 5 (template). A template that creates two separate servitor races. Yuan-ti cultists create these servitors by force-feeding normal humans a vile concoction. If the process works, the human becomes a tainted one. Tainted ones appear physically human, but develop serpentine mannerisms. They are loyal to the yuan-ti, and are used to infiltrate humanoid societies. If the process fails, the victim becomes a broodguard. Broodguards are near-mindless, reptilian humanoids that attack with tooth and claw. Only need one blurb for this entry. --JWM Yuan-Ti Tainted One Lore

YuanYuan-ti, anathema [Fiend Folio]

JWM : Always CE Huge Aberration (Psionic), CR 18. A massive yuan-ti mutation, revered yet also held at arms length by yuan-ti society as divine incarnations of their vile god. Somewhat resembles a cross between a yuan-ti and a hydra, with six heads and only vague hints of humanity. Poison bites, constrict, powerful psionic abilities, and the ability to create and apply yuan-ti grafts. --"It is the god made visible, the most holy. You are fortunate indeed to have been selected as the offering," my captor said, his weird snake-eyes

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about yuan-ti tainted ones. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 16 This strangers subtly serpentine habits suggest he is a tainted one, a former human transformed by the degenerate serpentfolk known as yuan-ti to serve their race. This result reveals all humanoid traits. 21 Yuan-ti use a foul concoction created from various herbs and their own venom to create

servitors. The same process creates both tainted ones and broodguards. Tainted ones are the result of successful transformations, while the more numerous broodguards are the result of failures. A tainted ones saliva is venomous; while its bite can be deadly, even a kiss may be dangerous. 26 A tainted one gains the psi-like abilities to polymorph itself into serpentine forms and to poison its foes. Tainted ones are immune to all forms of snake venom. 31 Tainted ones are mildly resistant to magic. Yuan-Ti Broodguard Lore Characters with ranks in Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about yuan-ti broodguards. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 15 This emaciated, scaly humanoid is a tainted one, a former human transformed by the degenerate serpentfolk known as yuan-ti to serve their race. This result reveals all monstrous humanoid traits. 20 Yuan-ti use a foul concoction created from various herbs and their own venom to create servitors. The same process creates both broodguards and tainted ones. Tainted ones are the result of successful transformations, while the more numerous broodguards are the result of failures. Broodguards attack with their sharp claws and fangs, but fortunately they are not venomous. 25 Once a day, a broodguard can fly into a berserker rage in the heat of battle. Broodguards are immune to all forms of snake venom. 30 Broodguards enhanced mental defenses render them immune to hold and charm spells and effects. --My blood seemed to throb as the chanting increased to fever pitch, the primal, animalistic sensations it called forth enhanced by the heady senses of the incense.

"Keep your head about you, Doctor," Sir Anthony hissed, grabbing my arm. "These people may be debased madmen, but they are as dangerous as the most cunning villain. Look, there!" I could barely stifle a gasp as the high priest of the serpent cult beckoned, and two of his men pulled a figure forward from the shadows, undulating as they walked in a way that was not entirely human. "Now, we shall see whether our god shall convey his blessing on this daughter of foreign shores, or whether she shall be proof that we must overthrow the devil Arjani before setting our eyes beyond Sri Raji!" I saw, then, the rolling eyes, the sheen of sweat on her limbs, and I realized the truth. "For Ezra's sake, Sir Anthony!" I screamed. "They've already given her their foul poison!" from The Insidious Dr. Yuan, originally posted in serial format in "Chilling Tales," Paridon Press

Yugoloth, arcanoloth [Monster Manual II]

JWM : Always NE Medium Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar), CR 17. Arcanoloths are the record keepers of these fiends. They appear as jackalheaded humanoids and long, taloned fingers. Incredibly intelligent. Can communicate telepathically, but it can also speak and write in any language. Its claws are poisonous and it has several significant spell-like abilities. All arcanoloths are also powerful sorcerers. --Why shouldnt it be in your power to avenge yourself, to share with your enemies the pain that they visit upon you, or indeed to seize their very bones and pay back with interest their each and every transgression? Would that not be just? Do you not deserve justice? Are you not worthy of justice and justice in this life? I would not deny it to you, could not deny it to you. Take back what is yours and yours by right. -Inajira striving to add a soul to his Book of Names

YukiYuki-onon-na [Oriental Adventures, Frostburn]

JWM : Often CN Medium Fey (Cold, Spirit), CR 4. Beautiful female spirits of winter and blizzards. Like winter itself, they can be fickle and unpredictable. They can paralyze foes with a glance. With a touch, they can render a creature completely unable to find its way for several hours, unable to find its way from one room to another, much less blaze a trail across the wilderness. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about yuki-on-nas. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This beautiful woman wearing snowy white robes is a yuki-on-na, a fey spirit embodying the forces of winter. This result reveals all fey traits and the cold subtype. Yuki-on-na speak Sylvan and a local language. 19 Like a blizzard itself, a yuki-on-na is neither inherently good nor evil. Likewise, it can produce both great beauty and numbing death. These spirits are almost always encountered during blizzards. A yuki-on-na can paralyze creatures with a mere glance. 24 A yuki-on-na can cause a creature to become lost completely losing itself ability to find its way across wintry terrain for several hours with but a touch. 29 A yuki-on-na can call upon several spell-like abilities, including disguise self, comprehend languages, and detect thoughts. --YUKI-ON-NA "No, no, he'll walk again, no fear on that account. Many a young fool's lost more toes than this to frost's nibbling, of a winter, and been fit to dance with his lovie by Springfest. It's his head that worries me most, to be truthtelling: rambling on as he did, of chasing wee twirling missies through the

snow, and near to breaking his neck on the steps to the cold cellar what he thought 'twas the privy, poor lad." -- Medical prognosis by Hilda Larsen of Seaheim

Z
Zeugalak [Lords of Madness]
JWM: Usually CN Huge Aberration, CR 12. An observant and patient predator found in Bluetspur. Resembles a reptile; its head consists of three tentacles that open up to reveal a fanged maw. Its body crackles with deadly electricity, which it can project as a breath weapon. Naturally, its also immune to lightning. In Ravenloft, zeugalaks were extremely rare creatures of Thaani legend before the final downfall of humanity. In the decades since Thaan was transformed into lightning-blasted Bluetspur, their numbers have grown. Unwary adventurers or slaves fleeing the illithids may be shocked to discover Bluetspurs barren surface inhabited by extremely dangerous predators. Due to the lethality of the domains frequent lightning storms, a handful of zeugalaks have Bleutspurs surface almost entirely to themselves. Between storms, hunger often drives the zeugalaks into upper caverns in search of prey. Zeugalaks do not differentiate between illithids and other forms of prey. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about zeugalaks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 22 This massive, tentacled beast is a zeugalak, a powerful predator usually found in tropical foothills. This result reveals all aberration traits.

27 Zeugalaks are most active during lightning storms, and often emerge from their lairs to caper and howl with delight as they are struck by lightning. A zeugalaks skin constantly crackles with arcs of electricity. Zeugalaks are unharmed by electrical attacks. Zeugalaks usually begin combat by charging their foes or leaping down on them from extreme heights, using an innate feather fall ability to avoid harm. 32 A zeugalaks tentacled face peels back to reveal a maw filled with sharklike fangs. Several times a minute, it can release a 100-ft.-long lightning bolt as a breath weapon. Not only are zeugalaks unharmed by electricity, it supercharges them, temporarily making them much more agile. 37 If a zeugalak pins an opponent to the ground with a claw, it can channel electricity through the victim, into the ground, frying the creature. The stinger at the end of a zeugalaks long tail injects venom that saps the strength from the victims muscles. --Our joy at reaching the surface was soon tempered, and then withered entirely, by the sight that greeted us. A lightning storm of inconceivable intensity played across the surface; there was no rain, only the fall of bolt after bolt, sometimes as many as ten in a minute. "Well, at least nothing is likely to be up here with us," Kruezerhoff offered. "Unless it likes being struck by lightning." Dorne frowned and pointed. "We should be so lucky. Look over there." It took several minutes, but at last I saw what his elvish eyes had seen almost immediately; something vaguely like a crocodile was "sunning" itself on a high ridge a few hundred yards away. Lightning struck it directly twice as we watched, to no obvious effect. Yaro Kaleks, The Caverns of Madness

Zeuglodon (dire animal) [Frostburn]

Proposed par C Nichols pour le NS Gaz

Zombie [Monster Manual]

JWM: Always NE template undead. A mindless, shambling corpse. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures zombified nature. They may need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. Characters who recognize a zombies nature can make a Knowledge (arcana) check to learn more. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. Knowledge (religion) DC Result 10 This shambling, rotting creature is a zombie, little more than a walking corpse. This result reveals all undead traits. 15 Zombies are mindless undead that retain almost none of the knowledge or abilities they possessed in life. 20 A zombies reflexes are all but destroyed by the rot slowly consuming its body. A zombie has such poor coordinatation that it cannot move and attack at the same time. 25 A zombie doesnt even feel most minor blows to its putrid flesh.The most effective means of destroying zombies is to simply dismember them with slashing weapons. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 13 Zombies can be created with a basic animate dead spell. They are often found in the service of necromancers or other masters of the undead. --When we arrived at the grotto, we detected the rotting meat stench of the zombies, then we heard the noise of carrion flies feeding on the zombie's decaying flesh and fluids.

Then we saw the pack of creatures slowly moving toward us. It was an horrible sight: their pale gray skin had the color of rotting meat, with many blood red holes or bruises seen on their viscous skin. Their eyes were dead and not always focused front. Many had worms crawling on their rotting flesh. A few had missing upper limbs. I think it was Daniel who screamed madly, but the rest kept our place until they were on us... A dwarf defender tale in Darkon See also: Zombie Absorbing "Dragon's Bestiary: The Necromancer's Armory" Rudy Thauberger Dragon#234(57) See also zombie (FoS Souragne report) : general zombie notes and Souragnien Zombie

opened graves began to tremble, and the bodies stirred within the coffins. One by one, they shambled forth, their eyes veiled in fog, called by the siren spell of the fog that lured the living toward slow death and the dead toward a mockery of life. Mist of the Living Dead: A Tale of Horrific Love, fifth sequel to The Dead Travel Fast

Zombie, cannibal, desert, mud, sea, Strahd (Denizens of Darkness, VRGttWD) Zombie, fog & fog cadaver (Denizens of Darkness) Zombie, wolf (Gaz I) I) Zombie lord [Denizens of Dread]
JWM: Usually NE template undead, CR +3. A powerful and intelligent zombie-like creature created when an evil humanoid or monstrous humanoid is killed by undead and then undergoes an unsuccessful attempt to restore it to life. Gives off a necromantic reek that can sicken or kill its victims. Can animate corpses as standard zombies or transform a living creature into a zombie 1/day. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about a creatures zombie lord nature. Characters may need to make separate Knowledge checks to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 14 This animated corpse may appear to be a zombie, but its cruel intellect reveals that it is actually a zombie lord, a powerful master of lesser undead. This result reveals all undead traits. Zombie lords retain the languages they knew in life.

Zombie Fog [Den of Dr]

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about zombie fogs. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 17 This unsettling, pulsing fog is a zombie fog. This result reveals all outsider traits plus the air and native subtypes. 22 Because a zombie fog is entirely vaporous, it is immune to most forms of attack. The shuffling figures half-glimpsed moving through the fog are not zombies, but fog cadavers. They are animated by the zombie fog itself, rather than by negative energy. This result reveals all construct traits. 27 A zombie fog can animate the humanoid corpses within the area it fills, and if the cadavers are slain, it animates them again. To permanently stop fog cadavers, foes must completely destroy their bodies or somehow isolate them from their animating force, the zombie fog itself. 32 A zombie fog feeds on positive energy, and drains away the ebbing life force of dying creatures. Fortunately, a zombie fog is rendered completely powerless by the light of day. The mist blanketed the graveyard, its white tendrils caressing the tombstones. Slowly, the

19 Zombie lords arise only in extremely rare circumstances. First, a villainous person must be killed by the undead. Then, a magical attempt to restore the victim to life must fail. The combination of events pulls the victim back from death as a rotting undead horror. A zombie lord doesnt even feel glancing blows to its rotting flesh, but dismembering the creature with slashing weapons can prove quite effective. 24 Unlike mere zombies, zombie lords are not slow-moving creatures, and retain their full intellect and abilities. Zombie lords are also surrounded by a foul necromantic aura that sickens the living sometimes even killing them outright and immediately animating them as zombies. 29 Once per day, a zombie lord can choose to either animate a horde of zombies or slay a living creature with its touch, instantly animating the corpse as a zombie. A zombie lord exerts total control over nearby mindless undead, and can even scry through their senses. Zombie lords can communicate with any undead creature. --"I tried to help. I wanted to help," the outlander priest gibbered, clutching the sun-medallion at his chest. The smell was becoming more intense-piercingly sweet and heavy with corruption. "I didn't know..." "You try to raise him from the dead," Patte de Poulet said, his voice flat. "The more fool you, m'sieur. Now he come to thank you himself, no? Only the Lord of the Dead can help us now, if he choose to." "I..." The smell had become something physical, a miasma that tore at the nose and mouth like a noxious chemical. I felt the bile rising in my throat, but fought it down; the outlander was not so strong of stomach, and doubled over, clutching at his chest and vomiting. Interview with Marcel Rondeau, from the working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead

Zweifalk [Ravenloft Gazetteer II]

JWM: Zweifalk - Often CE Tiny Magical Beast, CR 3. A vicious, two-headed falcon, of about the same size and intelligence as a dog. Native to Falkovnia. --Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about zweifalks. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC Result 13 This two-headed hawk is a zweifalk. This result reveals all magical beast traits. 18 A zweifalk is a savage and highly territorial predator that often aims for its victims eyes, attempting to permanently blind them 23 Although the process is difficult, zweifalk chicks can be trained, though they often turn on heedless hawkmasters. --A shrill double scream rang out among the peaks, and we saw the commandante's zweifalk stoop on Goras' raven. Goras swore; ducking aside, the raven began to fly toward us. "No!" Schwartzer said, grabbing his arm, her face contorted in anger and fear. "You'll lead it right to us." "It's my familiar," Goras spat back at her. "Falcons aren't dogs; they can't use this thing to track us." "Oh yes, they can," Schwartzer replied. "I've trained them to do it myself, when I served the Kingfuhrer." journal of Antho Stormbound --The three wagons were filled with sullen children orphaned by the Dead Mans Campaigns and general misfortune. We had orders to show them every kindness and that we did. They were

delighted with the attention and even the thunderous arrival of the Kingfuhrer suppressed only a little their gaiety. Drakov entered their midst, smiling broadly, swooping a pair of strong looking boys up onto his shoulders, kneeling down to put pleasantries to others. After a few minutes he cried out that it was time for the games to begin. Each child had to lift a stone, a heavier one for the boys and a lighter one for the girls, and those who succeeded where sent to the first wagon. The boys and girls who remained were then separated and a footrace was set in motion for each sex. The quicker half of the contestants were dispatched to the second wagon. Vlad then personally administered a test of mathematics to each of the remaining children. Those who passed it ended up in the third wagon. The old warrior then announced a game of hide and seek for the 6 boys and 5 girls who were left. They scurried out of sight as the wagons pulled away and we brought forth the first of the zweifalks. Vlad took the raptor upon his arm, removed the two hoods, and threw it into the air with a cry to hunt down and slay the weak. This it did with the greatest proficiency, as did its brothers and sisters in succession, during a scream filled quarter hour that haunts me still. -Gustov Petroff, hawksman and horse smuggler wanted for desertion from the Falkovnian army, relating the event that drove him from his homeland

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