Penanggalen
Description
The hideous penanggalen is one of the most horrific vampiric monstrosities. By day, a penanggalen appears to be a normal humanoid, but at night or when provoked, the creature's head rips free from the rest of her body, coils of viscera and entrails dangling from her throat as she launches into the air, seeking blood to sate her unholy thirst.
Unlike most undead, the penanggalen is more akin to the lich in that she willfully abandons both her mortality and morality to become a hideous undead monster. While penanggalens are traditionally female spellcasters, any creature capable of performing the vile ritual of transformation can become one.
Similar to a lich, a creature works toward becoming a penanggalen. More than one such transformation ritual exists, but all require heinous acts that symbolize the casting aside of kindness, benevolence, and any semblance of feelings other than cruelty. Many of these rituals call for the repeated consumption of blood, bile, tears, and other fluids drawn from captured and tortured innocents.
A penanggalen keeps a vat of vinegar in her lair. When returning from a night of feeding, a penanggalen's organs are swollen with blood. In order to fit back into her body, the penanggalen must soak for 1 hour in this vat of vinegar. Once reduced, a penanggalen slides back into her body. If a penanggalen is slain away from her body, the body rapidly deteriorates into foul-smelling grit.
The penanggalen presented above was a witch in life. The witch class is presented in full in the Advanced Player's Guide.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- bite +6 (1d6+4 plus disease), slam +6 (1d4+4 plus grab and wither)
- DR
- 5/silver and slashing
- Defensive Abilities
- channel resistance +4
- Racial Modifiers
- +8 Bluff, +8 Fly, +8 Knowledge (arcana), +8 Perception, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth
Ability Scores
Proficiencies
Weapons: Simple
Special Attacks
blood drain (1d4 Constitution)
create spawn
disease (filth fever, DC 15)
hexes (cackle, evil eye, misfortune)
Special Qualities
separate
witch's familiar (centipede)
Feats
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 can cast any spell with a material component costing 1 gp or less without needing that component. The casting of the spell still provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. If the spell requires a material component that costs more than 1 gp, you must have the material component on hand to cast the spell, as normal.
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.
You gain +3 hit points. For every Hit Die you possess beyond 3, you gain an additional +1 hit point. If you have more than 3 Hit Dice, you gain +1 hit points whenever you gain a Hit Die (such as when you gain a level).
Skills
Bluff +11, Fly +20, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (nature) +7, Perception +16, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +20, Use Magic Device +11
Spells
- Type
- Undead
- Alignment
- NE
- Size
- Medium
- Environment
- any
- Organization
- solitary
- Treasure
- NPC gear
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16
- Languages
- Common, Draconic, Gnoll, Infernal
- Source
- Bestiary 3