Caulborn Thoughtkeeper

This humanoid creature has two mouths in its eyeless head, one small and human, the other split into terrifying jaws.

Caulborn Thoughtkeeper CR 9

XP 6,400
N Medium outsider (extraplanar)
Init +9; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., thoughtsense 60 ft.; Perception +20

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 21, flat-footed 17 (+6 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 115 (9d10+44)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +15; +4 vs. psychic spells
Defensive Abilities psychic deflection, psychic resilience; Immune visual effects

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +17 (2d6+5), 2 claws +16 (1d6+5)
Special Attacks consume thoughts (DC 21)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +15)

Constantdetect magic, detect thoughts (DC 18), read magic
3/daycharm monster (DC 19), daze monster (DC 17), hold monster (DC 20), hypnotic pattern (DC 18), vampiric touch
1/weekplane shift (willing targets only)

Psychic Magic (CL 9th; concentration +15)

10 PEburst of insight (1 PE), emotive block (3 PE, DC 19), greater oneiric horror (4 PE, DC 20), mind thrust III (3 PE, DC 19), mindscape door (3 PE, DC 19), mindwipe (4 PE, DC 20), telekinetic maneuver (3 PE)

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 21, Con 18, Int 31, Wis 22, Cha 23
Base Atk +11; CMB +16; CMD 37
Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Acrobatics +15, Appraise +20, Bluff +20, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (all) +20, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Stealth +16, Use Magic Device +14
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, Sylvan, Terran, Undercommon; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ caulborn traits, cooperative scrying, hive mind

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Consume Thoughts (Ex)

A caulborn can consume the thoughts of a willing, helpless, or fascinated creature with a touch attack. If the target fails a DC 18 Will save, the caulborn can alter the victim’s memory as if using modify memory. This process deals 1d4 points of Intelligence and Wisdom damage to the target. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Cooperative Scrying (Sp)

Three or more caulborn joining hands can scry on a place or creature as if using the scrying spell (DC 20), but with no limit to the spell’s duration so long as at least three of the caulborn involved continue to join hands and concentrate. This ability functions at CL 7th (or at the highest CL available to the most powerful caulborn in the group). The save DC is Charisma-based, adjusted by the modifier of the caulborn with the highest Charisma score.

If all caulborn participating in a cooperative scrying are thoughtkeepers, the save DC increases by 2.

Hive Mind (Ex)

As long as there are at least two caulborn within 300 feet of each other, if one caulborn in the group is aware of a particular danger, they all are. No caulborn in a group is considered flanked or flat-footed unless all of them are.

Psychic Deflection (Su)

A caulborn adds its Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to its AC. The caulborn loses this bonus when unconscious.

Thoughtsense (Su)

A caulborn notices and locates living, conscious creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability. Spells such as nondetection or mind blank make an affected creature undetectable by this sense.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or cabal (3–6)
Treasure double

Planar scholars who subsist on the physic energy of other races, the telepathic caulborn wander the planes, storing both sustenance and information in their hives’ massive brain-sacs, which are called chrestomaths. These latter entities act as living libraries, containing within them a communal racial memory spanning eons.

While caulborn’s similar appearance and hive mind lead most other intelligent races to assume all of the caulborn’s humanoid individuals are identical, their race still has a certain degree of specialization. The more powerful variant known to outsiders as caulborn thoughtkeepers are a prime example of this differentiation. With their advanced psychic powers and combat abilities, these elite individuals range farthest from the hive in their search for esoteric knowledge, or directly guard and care for their hive’s chrestomath. Yet while this might seem like a case of the most important jobs going to the most powerful individuals, the truth is in fact the opposite: subsisting on the best psychic energy or remaining in closest proximity to the intense volume of thoughts that constantly passes through a chrestomath empowers individual caulborn, allowing them to grow into full thoughtkeeper status. Physically, thoughtkeepers resemble other caulborn—they bear no special markings or badges of office, and in fact are treated no differently by their peers outside of their utilization, as within the hive mind they’re simply seen as stronger appendages of the same greater being.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Bestiary © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Josh Colon, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Eleanor Ferron, James Jacobs, Joe Homes, Mikko Kallio, Mike Kimmel, Ron Lundeen, Kate Marshall, Kalervo Oikarinen, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and F. Wesley Schneider.

scroll to top