Cerberi
Description
The mythical watchdogs of Hell, cerberi bear the bodies of terrible, powerful hounds combined with the essences of fiends. Relied upon by villains and frightful beings as guardians and jailers, these three-headed canine abominations possess far greater cunning than their flensed, bestial appearances would suggest—a terrible intellect they pour largely into malice and enjoyment of their victims' tormented ends.
Cerberi draw upon a legendary pedigree, all reputedly tracing their lineage to a single primordial evil beast said to still guard the foundations of some forsaken, deathly realm. Brethren to hell hounds, cerberi loathe their distant kin, viciously attacking such hellspawn if not kept at heel by a tyrannical master.
In their natural infernal environments, cerberi might be found anywhere powerful fiends have need for guardians. Cerberi's incredible ability to trap victims on planes and track the dead make them highly coveted servants across the multiverse. The hounds' bestial appearances and love of slaughter often cause those who consider themselves cerberi owners to forget the deviousness of their allies, a development that often ends poorly, if not bloodily, for the unwary and the weak.
Outside of the devil-tamed reaches of Hell and other foul extraplanar wildernesses, small groups of cerberi gather in harsh, packlike communities. Typically dominated by the strongest or wiliest member, such packs form swift and deadly throngs, stalking trespassers upon their vast hunting grounds and doggedly pursuing any scent of lost souls. Although cerberi gain no sustenance from attacking the dead, all gain a vicious satisfaction at the feeling of an immortal essence discorporating forever within their deadly jaws, as befits their infernal nature.
A typical cerberi stands a broad 4 feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- 3 bites +11 (1d6+3 plus cerberus's jaws)
- Racial Modifiers
- +4 Survival when tracking undead
Ability Scores
Proficiencies
Weapons: Martial, Simple
Special Attacks
rend (2 bites, 1d6+4 or 3 bites, 1d6+8)
Feats
Special Abilities
Universal Monster Rules
Special Abilities
Feats, Traits & Items
You get a +2 bonus on Perception and Sense Motive skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in one of these skills, the bonus increases to +4 for that skill.
You may make a number of additional attacks of opportunity per round equal to your Dexterity bonus. With this feat, you may also make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.
When a foe provokes an attack of opportunity due to moving through your adjacent squares, you can make a combat maneuver check as your attack of opportunity. If successful, the enemy cannot move for the rest of his turn. An enemy can still take the rest of his action, but cannot move. This feat also applies to any creature that attempts to move from a square that is adjacent to you if such movement provokes an attack of opportunity.
Skills
Acrobatics +13 (+17 when jumping), Perception +15, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +13, Survival +10 (+14 when tracking undead)
- Type
- Outsider
- Alignment
- LE
- Size
- Medium
- Environment
- any (Hell)
- Organization
- solitary, pair, or pack (3-9)
- Treasure
- standard
- Senses
- darkvision, soul scent; Perception +15
- Languages
- Infernal (cannot speak)
- Source
- Bestiary 3