Cold Creature (CR +2)[3pp]

Incorporeal cold made manifest; cold creatures come from regions of bitter cold throughout the universe. They are usually found in particularly cold areas of the Elemental Planes of Water and Air. On the Material Plane, they can be found on the highest peaks of mountains, and in the boreal expanses of the poles, they can be found dancing in the frigid wind and blizzards.

A cold creature appears as a squall of sleet and snow in the shape of the base creature.

Creating a Cold Creature

Cold” is an inherited template that can be applied to any creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A cold creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: Same as base creature +2.

Type: The cold creature’s type changes to outsider and gains the cold, elemental, extraplanar, and incorporeal subtypes. If the base creature has the fire subtype, it loses it. Recalculate base attack bonuses, saves, or skill points.

Aura: A cold creature gains the following.

Cold Aura (Su)

A cold creature emits supernatural cold in a 10-foot radius around it. All those within the area of effect take +1d6 cold damage plus an additional +1d6 cold damage for every 5 racial HD the base creature has. A cold creature cannot suppress this ability.

Hit Dice: Change all of the base creature’s racial HD to d10s.

Saving Throws: Fortitude and Reflex are good saves for cold creatures.

Defensive Abilities: A cold creature gains immunity to cold and the incorporeal ability.

Weaknesses: A cold creature gains fire vulnerability.

Attacks: If the base creature does not have a natural attack, it gains a single slam attack. This attack does damage based on the creature’s size, plus cold damage due to its freezing blows ability. Even though it is incorporeal, a cold creature’s blows are made of biting winds and slashing ice. However, a cold creature cannot use manufactured weapons.

Special Attacks: A cold creature gains the following.

Cold Spellcasting (Su)

A cold creature casts all spells and spell-like abilities with the cold descriptor at one caster level higher. A cold creature can add the cold descriptor to any damaging spell. Such spells are not cast at increased caster level and half of the damage dealt is cold damage. A cold creature cannot cast spells or use spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor.

Freezing Blows (Ex)

A cold creature’s attacks deal extra cold damage based on its size as a slam attack of a creature one size category larger. If the creature struck has the water subtype, the damage increases one additional step. This damage stacks with any other cold damage the cold creature does.

Freezing Embrace (Su)

Once per day plus one additional time per day per every 5 racial Hit Dice the base creature has, a cold creature can attempt to freeze opponents solid by moving over them. The area of this effect is equal to the cold creature’s space. Creatures that fail a Fortitude save are turned to solid ice. Creatures that are larger than the cold creature’s space cannot be frozen solid, but take 1d6 cold damage multiplied by the cold creature’s total Hit Dice (minimum 1d6, maximum 20d6). The Fortitude save halves this damage. The ability is otherwise identical the flesh to stone spell. The save DC is Charisma-based. A frozen creature can be returned to normal by a stone to flesh spell or equivalent magic. If a frozen creature dies, it melts.

Freezing Touch (Ex)

If the cold creature touches a body of liquid that is not a water-based creature, such as a water elemental, it freezes the liquid to a depth of 1 inch in a 10-foot radius. Each additional round the cold creature is in contact with the liquid or ice, the ice fill increases its depth by 1 inch and 10 feet in radius. The ice fill’s maximum size is equal to its total racial Hit Dice in inches in depth and in 10 times its total racial HD feet in radius (minimum 1 inch and 10-foot radius). Once the cold creature ceases contact with it, the ice lasts for 1 round per racial Hit Die.

Creatures that are within the depth of the ice become trapped in it (no save). Trapped creatures take cold damage as if the cold creature had hit it (see Freezing Blows). Attempting to break free is a full-round action. A trapped creature must make a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check to do so. The DC increases by 1 for every inch in depth of the ice greater than 1 inch. Against foes with the water subtype, the cold creature’s freezing touch acts like freezing embrace (see above) but with no need for the cold creature to move over the target.

Skills: A cold creature has a +8 racial bonus to Stealth in cold environments. This increases to +12 in blizzards or other such bad weather in cold environments.

Special Qualities: A cold creature gains the following.

Cold Body (Ex)

A cold creature’s body freezes all its touches or that touches it. Anyone striking a cold creature with natural or manufactured melee weapons takes 1d6 cold damage. If the base creature has a similar ability this ability replaces that one but the damage from the two abilities stack.

Cold Walk (Ex)

A cold creature can walk over snow and ice without penalty and does not need to make Acrobatics checks to run or charge on snow or ice. It treats snow and ice as normal terrain.

Environment: Any cold (Planes of Air and Water).

Treasure: incidental

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Advanced Bestiary, Copyright 2014, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Jeff Hersh, Developer Owen K.C. Stephens

scroll to top