Faceless Hulk (Ugoroth)

This hairless, leathery giant has no discernible features aside from unsettling whorls across its skin and grotesque, slurping tongues where its face should be.

Faceless Hulk (Ugoroth) CR 9

XP 6,400
CE Large aberration (shapechanger)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 9, flat-footed 18 (+9 natural, –1 size)
hp 119 (14d8+56)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +11
Defensive Abilities rock catching; DR 10/piercing or slashing; Resist cold 5, fire 5

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee mwk greataxe +18/+13 (3d6+12/×3) or 2 slams +17 (1d6+12 plus grab)
Ranged rock +10 (1d8+8)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks blood drain (1d2 Constitution), explosive expansion, rock throwing (120 ft.)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +11)

Constanttongues

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 11, Cha 16
Base Atk +10; CMB +19 (+21 bull rush); CMD 29 (31 vs. bull rush)
Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Deceitful, Improved Bull Rush, Iron Will, Power Attack, Throw Anything
Skills Acrobatics +3, Bluff +21, Climb +25, Disguise +25, Escape Artist +17, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (local) +7, Perception +17, Stealth +11, Survival +8, Swim +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Disguise, +8 Escape Artist
Languages Aquan, Common
SQ change shape (Large humanoid, alter self), compression, faceless

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Change Shape (Su)

A faceless hulk can assume the form of a Large humanoid at will but requires 10 uninterrupted minutes to alter its body. Performing this transformation is somewhat painful, but the faceless hulk can maintain its new shape indefinitely once it has achieved that form. It can change back to its true form as a swift action, and it gains a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, and saving throws for 1 round after it does so. A faceless hulk retains its own innate abilities when it assumes its new form and does not gain any of the abilities of the creature it mimics. A faceless hulk gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks when using this ability.

Explosive Expansion (Su)

In its natural form, a faceless hulk can expand rapidly as a full-round action. It grows one size category larger, pushing back any creature or object in its new space. The faceless hulk can choose which direction (or directions) it expands from its original space, and it can attempt a free bull rush combat maneuver check against any creatures in these squares of sizes Large or smaller. The faceless hulk uses its increased size (usually Huge) to determine its Combat Maneuver Bonus for these checks. At the end of its turn, it immediately returns to its original size, though it can choose which squares it occupies when it does so. This ability does not change the faceless hulk’s weight.

Faceless (Su)

In its natural form, a faceless hulk has no discernible facial features. It gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made to resist attacks or effects that target the senses. This includes gaze attacks, odor-based attacks, sonic attacks, and similar attacks. This bonus does not apply to illusions.

ECOLOGY

Environment any hills or mountains
Organization solitary, pair, or tribe (3–12)
Treasure standard (masterwork greataxe, other treasure)

Ugoroths are monstrous, sadistic beings created by aboleths in their long war against the surface world. Alongside their smaller cousins, the faceless stalkers, they work to destabilize surface-dwelling civilizations from within. During the war, the destruction of a key aboleth city left them leaderless and without direction. Though they have long forgotten the beings that created them, faceless hulks continue their original mission, driven only by a hatred for humanity that was molded into their very bodies. Some believe that ugoroths still serve their veiled masters, even without their own knowledge.

Faceless hulks range in height from 10 to 14 feet and weigh anywhere from 1,200 to 1,700 pounds.

Ugoroths have flexible, boneless bodies that resist various forms of attack. While they prefer to forgo armor whenever possible, they typically use whatever weapons and equipment are most common among the race they are disguised as. Though they lack many of the special abilities that make each giant race unique, they have managed to adapt facsimiles of several, enough to pass the scrutiny of all but the most discerning of observers. Some older ugoroths acquire magical items and artifacts to bolster themselves with abilities they would normally lack.

They cannot digest solid food even when they assume the forms of creatures with mouths. Instead, they subsist on liquids, especially blood. In their natural forms, they have three hollow tongues, which they use to penetrate and lap blood from smaller humanoids.

Habitat and Society

Faceless hulks were originally created to sow discord and animosity between giants and other surface-dwelling races, to further weaken both during the war with the aboleths. Toward that end, ugoroths disguised themselves among the various giant races to attack and spread mayhem in humanoid society. A lone faceless hulk may take the form of a fire or frost giant before attacking a humanoid settlement. Others infiltrate giant tribes and raiding parties, living among them for months or years and manipulating them into causing great violence whenever possible. Greater faceless hulks, which prefer to take the shapes of cloud or storm giants, spend decades in disguise, sparking conflicts that can span generations.

Unlike typical giants, faceless hulks leave very few casualties in the wake of their attacks. Instead, they favor mass destruction, taking special care to level centers of commerce and locations of political import. These attacks also give them the opportunity to take prisoners they may later feed on in private. Faceless hulks have been known to work together with faceless stalkers to great success. Their smaller kin ensure that humanoid settlements are unprepared for giant attacks, and they later whip the survivors into a frenzy, driving them to retaliate against the giants. By working together this way, the two races can transform minor conflicts into explosive wars.

Some ugoroths believe they are the divine creations of the aboleths. A few have taken to worshiping chaotic evil giant deities. Strangely, many faceless hulks consider themselves kin to evil giants, favoring them over their own kind. In some rare cases, they willingly choose to spend their entire lives among giants, pretending to be hermits or wandering sages. This is a particularly dangerous lifestyle for an ugoroth—after generations of slavery, many giants are naturally distrustful of those they don’t know. If they discover an ugoroth hiding among them, giants hunt it down without mercy.

Greater Faceless Hulks

Known as ugoloroths among their own kind, the largest and most ancient faceless hulks serve as spies and infiltrators within the societies of the largest races of giantkind, including cloud giants, storm giants, and taiga giants. An ugoloroth is a faceless hulk with the advanced and giant creature simple templates. It gains Combat Reflexes and Greater Bull Rush as bonus feats. It casts spell-like abilities as a 12th-level caster, and gains levitate and undetectable alignment as at-will spell-like abilities. When using its change shape ability, an ugoloroth can take the shape of any Huge humanoid. More so than their ugoroth kin, ugoloroths often take levels in classes such as barbarian, fighter, ranger, sorcerer, and witch to more easily pass as members of various giant races.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #110: The Thrushmoor Terror © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Tito Leati, with James Jacobs, Michelle Jones, and Christopher Rowe.

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