Fantasy Monster: Splinterbone Pile

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Splinterbone Pile

A mass of splintered bones, skulls, and teeth lashing and crawling around.

CR 3; XP 800

NE Tiny Undead (swarm)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0

Defense
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +1 natural, +2 size)
hp 30 (12d8–24)
Fort +2; Ref +6; Will +8

Defensive Qualities half piercing and slashing damage; Immune swarm traits, undead traits

Weakness vulnerable to area effects

Offense
Speed 20 ft.

Melee swarm attack (3d6 plus bleed)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Special Attacks bleed (1d6), distraction (DC 16)

Statistics
Str 1, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 7
Base Atk +9; CMB —; CMD —

Skills Perception +0, Stealth +10

Ecology
Environment cemeteries, ruins
Organization solitary, pair, or boneyard (3–10)
Treasure standard

Experienced adventurers, treasure hunters, and tomb robbers know the dangers presented by skeletons strew across ruins and tombs, and often resort to breaking bones and skull pre-emeptively, hoping to avoid them reanimating. Regretfully, there are occasion when it can make the situation worse—sometimes, the broken bones can be so infused with necromantic energies, or absorb enough after being shattered, that their very splinters reanimate and violently lash against intruders.

Boneshard Clouds (CR 7) are even worse, being made of Fine bone shards and dust, which makes them immune to all weapon damage, with AC 21 (+3 Dex, +8 size, +1 natural), 24 HD, 84 hit points, Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +15, with Dex 16, Wis 13, and Cha 9. Their swarm attack dealing 5d6 points of damage and 2d6 points of bleed. Additionally, creatures within the bonedust cloud are forced to hold breath—anyone who speaks while being within the bonedust cloud (including casting spells), immediately suffers swarm damage. Thankfully, they are rare, typically forming in ancient tombs, out of bones that eroded over centuries or even millennia.

Fantasy Monster: Wereworm

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Wereworm

This entity resembles a massive worm or a caterpillar, ending with a humanoid-sized face and arms.

CR 7; XP 3,200
CN Large Aberration

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see delusions; Perception +23

Defense
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 90 (12d8+36)
Fort +7; Ref +6; Will +12

Immune confusion and insanity

Offense
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 2 claws +13 (1d4+5), bite +13 (1d4+5), tail slap +13 (1d8+5)

Ranged hallucinogenic spit +10 touch (confusion)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. tail slap)

Special Attacks hallucinogenic spit (DC 19)

Statistics
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 19, Cha 15
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 29 (39 vs trip)

Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Improved Initiative,  Nimble Moves

Skills Bluff +14, Climb +13, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +17, Perception +23, Profession (fake philosopher) +16, Sense Motive +20, Stealth +13

Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan

SQ compression, distilled secretions

Ecology
Environment warm forests, underground
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Distilled Secretions (Ex) A wereworm can produce a small dose of concentrated secretions that act as intense hallucinogen when consumed, causing a state of deeply altered consciousness for the next 4d6 hours and inflicting 1d10 points of Wisdom damage. This is a poison effect. It loses potency quickly if not consumed, becoming inert within minutes, preventing its storage or mixing with food.

Hallucinogenic Spit (Ex) A wereworm can spit some of its hallucinogenic secretions aiming at a single target within 30 feet, causing confusion. The victim can attempt a Fortitude saving throw at the beginning of its turn (DC 19), shaking off the effect on a successful save. This is a poison effect. The saving throw DC is Constitution-based.

See Delusions (Su) A wereworm perceives hallucinations and delusions of other creatures—caused by drugs, magic, or mental illness—as translucent images, ghostly sounds, and vestigial smells. They often comment on them, or even discuss with them, potentially influencing the hallucinating creature's responses.

Wereworms are weird and unpredictable creatures that occasionally make enigmatic statements, issue vague predictions, and ask superficially insightful questions, appearing to know much more about deeper secrets of reality, nature of cosmos, and ways to enlightenment.

This is all big humbug, though. They wield no keys to secret knowledge nor true wisdom, simply entertaining themselves by tricking unwitting travelers and seekers of knowledge alike with empty words and hallucinogenic excretions. And if some of those foolish humans burn out their brains, and starve to death while binging on the wereworm's secretions? It would be rude to let all that good meat go to waste, wouldn't it?

Fantasy Monster: Scouring Mist

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Scouring Mist

A shimmering, bluish mist, blurring and eroding some of the things it touches while leaving others pristine.

CR 9; XP 6,400
N Fine Construct (swarm)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +27

Defense
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +8 size)
hp 115 (21d10)
Fort +9; Ref +11; Will +9

Defensive Abilities swarm traits; Immune construct traits, weapon damage

Offense
Speed fly 20 ft. (perfect)

Melee swarm attack (10d6 plus disassemble)

Special Attacks devour, distraction (DC 20)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Statistics
Str 1, Dex 14, Con —, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +21; CMB —; CMD —

Feats Great Fortitude, Hover, Improved Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Run, Skill Focus (Craft [sculpture]), Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Craft (sculpture) +27, Fly +18, Perception +27, Stealth +18

Ecology
Environment ruins, urban, underground
Organization solitary, pair, or gallery (3–10)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Disassemble (Su) Any physical creature or object reduced to 0 hit points by scouring mist swarm attack is torn apart and destroyed, leaving only a fine powder, as per disintegrate. The scouring mist memorizes the shape and structure of disassembled beings. A scouring mist can selectively destroy parts of larger immobile objects leaving tangle of delicate threads and wires forming intricate sculptures of objects and creatures previously disassembled by that particular mist.

Scouring mists look like clouds of polish dust, and they behavior would not be out of place in a sculptor's workshop, either, as they scour exposed stone and other substances into sublime, if disturbing sculptures.

Their origins are not well known—though they seem to be most prevalent in ancient ruins, abandoned quarries, and deep caverns, suggesting they might be the creation of a long gone civilization. Other suppositions propose they are remnants of a forgotten sculptor-deity, magical tools that eons of erosion turned into dust, or leftovers from early stone-golem creating processes.

Whatever their source might be, scouring mists seem to act with intelligence, and deliberation, though they do not communicate in a recognizable manner. They don't seem to recognize other beings as sapient or intelligent—it is not uncommon for them to turn people and animals into dust, only to create their semblance somewhere along their way. They don't seem to be able to gain new patterns for their sculptures any other way, which is a shame and the reason to be wary of them.

Fantasy NPC: Sir Genserik, The Queen's Guard

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Sir Genserik, The Queen's Guard

A middle-aged man in the attire of a royal guardsman, his moustache slowly greying on his tired and somewhat absent face.

CR 10; 9,600 XP

LN Medium Undead (incorporeal)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +13

Defense
AC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 21 (+8 armor, +3 deflection, +3 Dex)

hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +10

Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, rejuvenation; Immune undead

Offense
Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)

Melee spectral halberd +17 (10d6 plus push, pull, or reposition, 5 ft, Fort DC 21 for half damage and no forced movement)

Special Attacks whirling halberd

Statistics
Str —, Dex 16, Con —, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 17

Base Atk +12; CMB +15; CMD 28
Feats Ability Focus (Whirling Halberd), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lunge, Toughness

Skills Fly +26, Knowledge (nobility) +12, Perception +13

Language Common, Duc

SQ spectral armament, telekinetic manipulation

Notable Gear +2 halberd, +2 breastplate, cape of resistance +3 (the real items that were the template for their spectral copies are sunk in the moat together with sir Genserik's long-dead body)

Spectral Armament (Su) While all the elements of sir Genserik's gear are really merely an extension of his ghostly body, on any superficial observation and even a passing contact they seem and feel to be normal, if high-quality, well-maintained, and likely moderately magical pieces of equipment. Only those who carefully observe sir Genserik and have a reason to be suspicious, or engage in deliberate physical contact extending beyond accidentally bumping into him may attempt a Will saving throw (DC 24) to see past the illusory mundanity hiding his current state. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based and includes +5 racial bonus.

Telekinetic Manipulation (Su) Despite being immaterial ghost, sir Genserik can unconsciously manipulate his surroundings to a limited degree, opening and closing doors, chests and windows, lighting and extinguishing candles, and carrying small objects (though never more than one or a handful of small trinkets that could be held with a single hand) when asked to.

Whirling Halberd (Su) Sir Genserik can make an incorporeal touch attack with his spectral halberd against single opponent as a standard action or an attack of opportunity. Alternatively, as a full-round action, he can make an attack against each opponent in his reach as if using Whirlwind Attack feat. Anyone struck by sir Genserik's spectral halberd can halve the damage with a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 19). Sir Genserik can choose to push away, pull, or reposition anyone who failed that saving throw, forcing each of them to move 5 feet in direction of his choice. The saving throw DC of this psychokinetic ability is Charisma-based.

Sir Genserik was a trusted and loyal guardian of the late Queen, and it is an open secret that her untimely death had struck him deeply—turning him morose and far more more silent and distant than he was before. Some courtiers even noted in private that he seems to vanish without trace whenever he is not fulfilling his duties. The fact that the mournful Prince-Consort seems to hate his guts—never speaking to him directly to the point of avoiding contact whenever remotely possible, certainly does him no favors. While everyone knows it is unfair to blame the faithful warrior for not preventing the Queen's accidental death—it was not on his watch when she fell out of her own chamber's window, after all—few are willing to speak in his defense, afraid to join him in unjustified disgrace.

The truth is, that sir Genserik could not prevent his beloved Queen's death because he was already dead when her husband pushed her out of her tower—killed by the Prince-Consort an hour or so earlier, when he adamantly refused to reveal the identity of the Queen's lover, ignoring threats, pleas, and bargains the wronged husband offered—while his steadfast denial was dictated by his undying loyalty to the Queen, he really didn't know, or didn't care. His murdered threw his corpse into moat afterwards, where the remains of his skeleton and his attire remain hidden to this day.

He doesn't know that he is dead—he remember nothing of that night, which brings him even more pain and regret, feeling that he slept soundly through the death of the one person he was sworn to protect, his Queen. He mistook the look of terror that appeared on the Prince-Consort's face when he saw him on the next day for condemnation for not being there to save her—a feeling that gnaws at his cold heart since then. He feels shame for his self-perceived failure, his mind stuck at reimaging whatever he could do, fantasizing how he might save her, if he only was there. He has no inkling that she was murdered, though, the last moments of his own life that would made blatantly clear what followed are forever hidden from him.

The Prince-Consort doesn't really understand what happened either—he does recall  his futile attempts to get the answers from sir Genserik, killing him, and dumping his body into moat, but when he saw him the next morning he started to question his own senses, not sure if that murder was something that actually happened, a wrathful fantasy of a frenzied mind, a bout of madness, or a cruel joke of some dark power... He keeps avoiding sir Genserik because he doesn't want to think of what happened, nor does want to face what he thinks might be a sign of going mad.

Fantasy NPC: The Ghost of The Singing Nanny

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The Ghost of The Singing Nanny

A little old halfling lady, wrapped in mismatched pieces of clothing adequate for a servant, with a few pieces adapted from courtly attires.

CR pitiful non-combatant, though rather hard to find and catch

CG Small Undead Humanoid (halfling)

Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +32

Defense
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)

hp 50 (20d8–40)
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +16

Offense
Speed 20 ft.

Melee cane +12 (1d4–4)

Ranged sling +18 (1d3–4)

Statistics
Str 2, Dex 14, Con 6, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18

Base Atk +15; CMB +10; CMD 27
Feats Alertness, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Run, Skill Focus (Perform [sign]), Skill Focus (Profession [midwife]), Skill Focus (Profession [nanny]), Skill Focus (Stealth)

Skills Climb +21, Knowledge (history) +26, Knowledge (local) +26, Knowledge (nobility) +26, Perception +32, Perform (sing) +7, Profession (midwife) +32, Profession (nanny) +32, Sense Motive +30, Stealth +35

Language Common, Duc, Elven, Halfling, Sylvan

Notable Gear ring of invisibility

While only a few servants in The Queen's Wing of the castle claim catching a glimpse of The Ghost of The Singing Nanny before she vanishes into thin air, many more heard her singing—inhabitants of the castle remain divided whatever that is a good or a bad omen... After all, the good old Nanny died of grief after the Queen fell to her death leaving behind her three young  children and the heartbroken Prince-Consort, and the castle wasn't the same afterwards...

Despite what everyone thought, though, the old Nanny didn't die at that time, or at all—nor was the Queen's death a mere accident. She was pushed out of the tower's window by her husband after he learned of her affair, and that at least one of the children was sired by someone else. The Prince-Consort never learned which, though, which remained thorn in his heart from then on.

The Nanny, being the witness for both the affair, and the murder, appropriated the ring of invisibility that the Queen had been using to sneak away for her trysts, and vanished before she could have been questioned. She had nowhere to go outside of the royal castle that was her home for more than a century, so she decided to stay in its shadows, sleeping in hidden passages, taking food, clothing, and whatever else she needed–which she considers a pension earned by decades of faithful service to the royal family.

With age, her memories and caution slowly deteriorate, and occasionally, servants, or more rarely courtiers might notice her here and there, or hear her singing nursery rhymes to herself, echoing through the corridors.

Her senile head does hold the secrets that would shake the very foundations of the royal family, and could trigger a dynastic crisis if revealed—and who knows who is aware of the skeletons in the closet, who would be willing to seek them, and who would try to reveal them, and what others could do to keep them hidden forever, or at least until the opportune moment.