Thursday, February 4, 2016

Dreamlands Pathfinder Bestiary: Minion of Karakal

This creature has a small black body shot through with flashes of red. It floats in the air, seeming to move by making crawling motions with legs composed of red and black lightning. It has no visible head or sense organs.

MINION OF KARAKAL (CR 2)
XP 600
N Small outsider (elemental, fire)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
Defense
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +1 size)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1
Defensive Abilities electric aura; DR 10/magic; Immune electricity, elemental traits, fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
Offense
Speed fly 30 ft. (good)
Melee leg strike +6 (2d6 electricity plus seizure) 
Statistics
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +0; CMD 13 (cannot be tripped)
Feats Improved Initiative[B], Weapon Finesse
Skills Fly +14, Perception +6
Languages Ignan (cannot speak)
Ecology
Environment volcanic regions and the Plane of Shadow
Organization solitary or gang (2-4)
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Electric Aura (Ex) Any creature that strikes a minion of Karakal with a natural attack or metal melee weapon suffers 2d6 electricity damage and must make a save against the seizure ability (as if it had been hit by the minion's leg strike).
Seizure (Ex) If a minion of Karakal successfully inflicts damage with a leg strike, the target must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 12) or be paralyzed. (If the damage is fully negated by resistance or immunity, then no save is necessary.) The save DC is Constitution-based.

These creatures are made of elemental lightning bound into a corporeal body, and are named for their master, Karakal, the Dreamlands' god of fire. They are native to the Dark Dimension (Plane of Shadow), but can also be found in the Plane of Fire and, rarely, the Plane of Air.  They normally only appear in the Dreamlands when summoned by mortal spellcasters. The cannot speak, but understand Ignan.

Design Notes

This creature has been converted from The Complete Dreamlands, a supplement for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. As written in that book, the minion of Karakal's attack has a chance to instantly kill the target by inflicting a heart attack. This kind of instant-death attack seemed far too overpowered for such a low-level monster, so I've changed the special effect to paralysis instead.

For a much nastier challenge, advance the minion of Karakal by adding several more HD, give it a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier (and raise that score), and add energy drain (1 level) to the effects of its leg strike.


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