Monster: Merghul

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Merghul

This partly decayed corpse has a bluish tint to its pale skin, pointed fangs in its wide mouth, and flaps of leather extending from its clawed arms to the sides of its tors. Its legs are fused together forming a sort of tail, with the rotted remnants of its feet doubling as flippers.

CR 7; XP 3,200
NE Medium Undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60-ft., keen scent; Perception +17

Defense
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 90 (12d8+36); aquatic healing
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +10
DR 5/silver; Immune cold, undead traits

Offense
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee 2 claws +13 (1d6+4 plus sinking paralysis), bite +13 (1d6+4 plus sea longing fever), tail slap +13 (1d6+4 plus trip)
Special Attacks aquatic pounce

Statistics
Str 18, Dex 14, Con —, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 17
Base Atk +9; CMB +13 (+17 trip); CMD 25 (can't be tripped)
Feats Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Improved Initiative, Nimble Moves 
Skills Acrobatics +2 (+14 jumping), Climb +14, Escape Artist +14, Intimidate +18, Perception +17, Stealth +17, Swim +14; Racial Modifiers +20 jumping
Language Aquatic, Common

Ecology
Environment aquatic
Organization single, pack (2–10), school (11–40)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Aquatic Healing (Su) A merghul draws lifeforce from surrounding water, gaining fast healing 5 whenever it is immersed in salt water, fast healing 2 when immersed in fresh water, and fast healing 1 in brackish water.

Aquatic Pounce (Ex) A merghul can make a full attack when charging in or out of water. It can leap out of water during a move, double move, or charge actions, even when obstacles or difficult terrain would normally prevent declaring charge.

Sea Longing Fever (Su) Bite—injury; save Fortitude DC 16, onset 1 hour, frequency 1/day, effect 1d3 Cha damage, cure 3 consecutive saves. Sea longing is a magical disease that makes its victims obsess about open sea. After the Charisma damage exceeds half the subjects' Charisma score, the subjects becomes shaken as long as there is no sea or other large body of water within their line of sight. When the Charisma damage equals or exceeds the subjects' Charisma scores, they lose ability to breathe air and will seek to immerse themselves in water as quickly as possible. If a humanoid drowns in water while suffering from sea longing fever, it corpse will reanimate within 1d4 days as a merghul. The saving throw DC is Constitution-based.

Sinking Paralysis (Su) A living creature injured with a merghul's claw has to make a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 16) or becomes paralyzed. It can attempt a new saving throw each round to end the paralysis. Elves are staggered instead of being paralyzed. A creature paralyzed in this way sinks unless it has external means of remaining buoyant, but it requires no oxygen during this time, not counting the rounds spend paralyzed against the maximum limit it can hold its breath.



Merghuls are strain of undead haunting the waters across the world. They can be easily mistaken for undead merfolk, though they usually spawn from humanoids infected by other merghuls. They can be also created with create undead spell cast on a surgically altered corpse anointed with potion of water breathing.

Merghuls are malicious, cunning, and aggressive, hunting humanoids and animals. They find great pleasure in feasting on carcasses of sea beasts, both mundane like whales or giant squids, and monstrous like krakens or sea dragons. They often attack boats and ships sailing through their territory. Many sailors from ships that manage to escape their attacks become infected and jump into the sea in a bout of fever spreading merghul presence further.

Variants:

A merghul that sustains its existence for many years and succeeds to feast on many marine monsters, might grow to become merghul elder (CR 9), gaining advanced template, growing four tentacles that act as secondary natural weapons dealing 1d4 points of damage each, with grab special ability, and an array of spell-like abilities including call lightning storm, control weather, create undead, hydraulic push, putrefy food and water. They can create more merghuls with their create undead spell-like ability, though each subject requires preparations that take at least a month.

Space Monsters: Yrchins and Stargrazers

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There are monsters and there are monsters. Some of them dwell on land, some in the depths of the oceans, some fly across skies, and some soar through the void beyond.

Space monsters are closer in their stats to living starships than regular monsters, though they differ from actual starships in some ways. They are immune to death effects, disease, and poison. They don't have regular ability scores and HD, ignoring effects of ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain. They are not treated as creatures for targeting purpose, but can be affected by effects that specifically affect space creatures. Most of them have either completely alien minds, or lack detectable sentience, making them immune to mind-affecting effects, though some of them respond to communication attempts with various degree of success.

Many space monsters are spread across galaxy without any apparent FTL capabilities, meaning their are either extremely ancient, use some sort of naturally occuring phenomena to travel between the stars, or someone was deliberately spreading them around in the past.

Yrchin

Tier 2

Small spaceship vermin

Speed 10; Maneuverability perfect (turn 0)

AC 18; TL 18

HP 60; DT 2; CT 15

Attack (turret) crystalline shards (3d4), crystalline spine (3d8)

Actions

Gunner gunnery +8; fire at will, shoot
Helm Piloting +14; fly, maneuver, stunt (all)

Special

Actions yrchin can take one gunner and one helm action each round, and gains +5 bonus to Piloting checks made to perform stunts.
Critical Hits each critical hit suffered gives yrchin a cumulative –1 penalty to Speed, AC, TL, and checks, and adds +1 to number of hexes it needs to move before turning.
Senses yrchins have short-range sensory apparatus
Weapons crystaline shards are direct-fire weapons with short range and array special property; crystalline spike is a tracking weapon with short range, speed 15, and limited fire 5 special property.


Yrchins have spherical bodies of stone and crystal covered in long spines. They move by projecting electromagnetic fields from some of those spines, and fight by firing shards of their shells. They live among asteroid fields, and stellar debris, feeding on minerals, and absorbing radiation along wide range of frequencies. They are sometimes living in small clusters and tend protect their territory aggressively, though they don't pursue fleeing intruders outside of their territory. 

Stargrazer

Tier 6

Gargantuan spaceship aberration

Speed 4; Maneuverability average (turn 2)

AC 18; TL 18

HP 300; DT 10; CT 75
Shields cilia (port 75, starboard 75, aft 100)

Attack (port) cilia (6d6)
Attack (starboard) cilia (6d6)

Attack (aft) cilia (6d6), cilia (6d6)

Actions

Engineer regrow cilia
Gunner gunnery +13; fire at will, shoot
Helm Piloting +13; fly, maneuver, stunt (back off, evade, flyby, slide, turn in place), full power (no Resolve cost)

Special

Actions stargrazer can take one engineer, one gunner or one helm action each round, plus either glide or snapshot minor actions. A stargrazer gains +10 bonus to Piloting checks made to perform stunts.
Critical Hits each critical hit suffered gives stargrazer a cumulative –1 penalty to Speed, AC, TL, and checks, and adds +1 to number of hexes it needs to move before turning.
Senses stargrazer have long range-range sensory apparatus
Weapons cilia are direct-fire long range weapons with array and point blank special properties.

Regrow Cilia (Engineering Action) A stragrazer can use its engineering action to regain 25 shield points in each of its available arcs (port, starboard, aft), up to the listed maximum.


Stargrazers are peaceful giants gathering in the inner parts of solar systems, absorbing solar winds and space dust. They resemble enormous T-shaped mouthless manta-rays, with millions of cilia made of super-strong polymer chains that have microscopic thickness but length of thousands of miles. The cilia are their main feeding apparatus and defense mechanism, though they also double as sensory organs and possibly as means of communications between each other. They are usually assembled into a small pods of a few individuals but occasionally a lone stargrazer can be met. They are not aggressive but they will defend themselves when threatened by turning back to the attackers and lashing with their molecular-sharp cilia.

While stargrazers don't present a threat to space shipping, they are occasionally targeted by unscrupulous scientists, engineers, and salvagers who are interested in researching and harvesting their ultra-strong cilia.

Monster: Shrewdhead

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Shrewdhead

This enormous troll body has a little gnome growing where its head should be.

CR 12; XP 19,200
NE Huge Monstrous Humanoid
Init +7; Senses darkvision 120-ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +27

Defense
AC 27, touch 11, flat-footed 24 (+3 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size)
hp 157 (15d10+75); regeneration 15 (acid, cold iron, fire)
Fort +12, Ref +14, Will +14
Defensive Abilities rock catching; DR 10/cold iron

Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +24 (3d6+10/19–20)
Ranged thrown rock +16 (2d8+15)
Special Attacks rock throwing (100 ft.), wicked tricks

Statistics
Str 30, Dex 16, Con 20, Int 21, Wis 21, Cha 21
Base Atk +15; CMB +27; CMD 40
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Appraise +20, Bluff +20, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (nature) +20, Perception +27, Profession (gourmet) +20, Sense Motive +24, Survival +23
Language Common, Giant, Gnome, Sylvan

Ecology
Environment temperate forests and mountains
Organization single
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Wicked Tricks (Sp) A shrewdhead's gnome part wields fey magics that it can use as a swift action three times per day, producing one of the following effects: baleful polymorph, blindness/deafness, confusion (single target), greater dispel magic, or telekinesis. All the effects are heightened to 6th level and have saving throw DC of 21.


According to a legend, the first shrewdhead was created by a bored fey lord by stitching a gnome to a troll, in place of its head. The troll's preternatural vitality sustained the new creation with the gnome's wits taking over the creature, twisted by pain, rage, and madness into a malice toward fey and mortal alike. Other legends say that the first shrewdhead was a gnome who sewed oneself on a troll body to ascend to a minor fey lord but was banished from the Otherworld into the lands of the mortal, retaining wicked intent and some lesser fey magics.

Currently living generation of shrewdheads is a bunch of solitary, selfish, malicious creatures, occasionally taking lead of lesser giants and trolls. While they lack voracity of actual trolls, they are exceptionally cunning and enjoy tormenting mortals and fey, they are not above eating them given the chance, but always carefully prepared into a fancy meal, never raw.

Monster: Baitling

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Baitling

A plain-looking halfling, wearing simple, though brightly-colored clothing, surrounded by a sweet and spice scent.

CR 2; XP 2,400
N Small Construct
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60-ft., low-light vision; Perception +0

Defense
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+1 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 21 (2d10+10)
Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +0
Defensive Abilities bait's curse, indigestible; DR 2/adamantine or cold iron; Immune construct traits
Weakness vulnerable to fire

Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee 2 slams +4 (1d3+1)
Ranged thrown rock +4 (1d3+1)

Statistics
Str 12, Dex 12, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 16
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 13 (23 against attempts to spit it out)
SQ delicious aroma, faux intelligence
Language understand simple commands in Gnome and Halfling

Ecology
Environment rural
Organization single, pair, band (3—20), or a village (20—50)
Treasure incidental

Special Abilities

Bait's Curse (Su) Each time a creature bites a baitling it has to succeed a Will saving throw (DC 15) or fall to a bait's curse. Creatures affected with a bait's curse suffer 1d6 points of damage each time they bite any living or dead creature (including each bite taken while consuming a corpse). A bait's curse lasts for one day for each failed saving throw. Any creature that swallows a baitling whole is automatically affected with a bait's curse without saving throw and it will last as long as the baitling remains swallowed plus its normal duration accumulated from failed saving throws when biting baitlings. A bait's curse is a curse effect that can be removed with break enchantment or remove curse (DC 13). Its damage ignore the cursed creature's damage reduction and its saving throw DC is Charisma-based and includes +2 racial bonus.

Delicious Aroma (Ex) Creatures gain +1 morale bonus to attack roll with their bite attacks, +2 if they also posses swallow whole special attack.

Faux Intelligence (Ex) Despite being non-sentient constructs, baitlings are programmed to behave like scared, mostly defenseless folks when facing monsters by flailing around, screaming incoherently, cowering, and making a lot of noise while not actually running away. While they avoid most attacks, defending normally, they only give a superficial resistance to being grabbed and swallowed and they don't try to escape grapple or being swallowed. Once swallowed they start pummeling on the insides of the creature that swallowed them with their slam attacks while resisting attempt to be spit away. They can be ordered to attack creatures that aren't Small (or smaller) humanoids and will follow simple commands in Gnome or Halfling languages. They will also automatically proceed to attack any creatures attacking gnomes, halflings, wayangs or similar Small or smaller humanoids (including children of other humanoids) in their line of sight.

Indigestible (Ex) A baitling gains fast healing 10 when swallowed whole. Spitting out a swallowed baitling requires a grapple check and the baitling gains +10 bonus to its CMD against it. A baitling can be removed by cutting it out with a successful Heal check (DC 20) that requires 1 minute and inflicts damage equal to 1/10th of the creature's total hit points, successful or not.


The first baitlings were creation of gnome magicians as a devious trap on many Otherworldly creatures that would feast on their kin. Later, the techniques for baitlings' creation spread to halflings, kulit, and wayangs, as well as some wizards of other races making child-like baitlings to hunt various cannibalistic monsters.

Variants:

Superior baitlings (CR 4) have advanced template, 6 HD, 45 hit points, AC 17, Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2, 2 slam attacks or single thrown rock attack with +10 bonus dealing 1d3+3 points of damage. Their curse has saving throw DC of 17 and inflicts 2d6 points of damage per bite, and their indigestible ability grants them fast healing 20 while swallowed whole. They have false thoughts implanted, though they are very rudimentary thinking about meal, work, vague feeling of dread, or outright panic when they pretend to be panicked.

Construction

A baitling is made of finest skin taken from piglets stretched on a wooden frame, filled with mixture of clay, straw, and aromatic herbs.

Baitling
CL 5th; Price 2,200 gp
Requirements Craft Construct, disguise self, prestidigitation, unseen servant; Skill Craft (leather) or Profession (chef); Cost 1,200 gp.