Sayona
Description
Occasionally called "weeping vampires" for their ability to cry tears of blood, sayonas are powerful and intelligent undead creatures that hunt mortals to steal from them what they envy most: the ability to exist within living flesh. While they aren't true vampires, similarity between these two creatures creates substantial confusion to those unfamiliar with sayonas. While sayonas and vampires sustain themselves off mortal blood, sayonas don't consume the blood, but rather absorb it through their skin (even when using blood drain), using it to transform their twisted forms back into some semblance of the beauty they had—or believe they had—in life.
Above all else, sayonas covet youth. Stories of their origins claim that the first sayona was a vain woman who grew old and whose lover left her for a younger paramour; the woman avenged herself by bathing in the blood of her lover's children, then killed herself. Doomed to undeath, she wanders the world crying tears of blood and preying on beautiful young women—slaying them, stealing their beauty, and transforming them into ghastly undead fiends to forever share her fate.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- bite +18 (2d6+1 plus bleed and paralysis), 2 claws +18 (2d6+1 plus bleed and paralysis)
- Defensive Abilities
- channel resistance +4
Ability Scores
Proficiencies
Weapons: Simple
Special Attacks
Absorb Blood — A sayona adjacent to a bleeding creature automatically accelerates the bleeding, dealing 1 point of Con damage to that creature once per round on its turn and absorbing the blood through its skin.
blood drain (1d4 Con)
fear cone (60 ft., DC 23)
paralysis (1d4 rounds, DC 23)
Staggering Gaze — Staggered for 1d4 rounds, 30 feet, Fortitude DC 23 negates. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Special Qualities
Create Spawn — When a sayona kills a humanoid or fey of Medium or Small size with its absorb blood or blood drain ability, the victim rises 24 hours later as a ghoul with the advanced creature simple template and the blood drain ability. The spawn is the sayona's slave until its master is destroyed.
Living Form — As a standard action, a sayona can transform into a young, beautiful person for 24 hours. It can only use this ability if it has absorbed or drained blood in the past hour. In this form, the sayona has the aura of a living creature instead of an undead (for the purpose of detect undead and similar effects), its fast healing increases to 10, positive energy attacks (such as channel energy) deal half damage to it, and it cannot use its fear cone or gaze attack. Exposure to holy water or positive energy attacks in this form reduces the duration of this transformation by 1d4 hours.
Feats
Dodge, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Spring Attack, Vital Strike, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (claw), Weapon Focus (claw)
Special Abilities
Universal Monster Rules
Special Abilities
Feats, Traits & Items
You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.
You get a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.
Dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most types of bonuses.
As a full-round action, you can move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from the target of your attack. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.
When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
With a light weapon, rapier, whip, or spiked chain made for a creature of your size category, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armor check penalty applies to your attack rolls.
You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.
You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.
Skills
Bluff +14, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +17, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Perception +21, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +16
Spells
- Type
- Undead
- Alignment
- CE
- Size
- Medium
- Environment
- any land or underground
- Organization
- solitary or retinue (1d3 plus 2d6 spawn)
- Treasure
- standard
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., lifesense; Perception +21
- Languages
- Abyssal, Common, Infernal
- Source
- Bestiary 4