Gholdako

A single milky eye stares from the forehead of this towering giant wrapped in filthy, rune-covered strips of bloody linen.

Gholdako CR 10

XP 9,600
NE Large undead
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +19

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 9, flat-footed 25 (+16 natural, –1 size)
hp 127 (15d8+60)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +10
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +3; DR 5/good; Immune undead traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +17 (1d8+7), 2 claws +18 (2d8+7/19–20 plus disease)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks blinding breath, disease

STATISTICS

Str 25, Dex 10, Con —, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 19
Base Atk +11; CMB +19 (+21 bull rush); CMD 29 (31 vs. bull rush)
Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Critical Focus, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (claw), Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Intimidate +22, Knowledge (history) +8, Perception +19, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +14
Languages Giant

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Blinding Breath (Su)

Once every 1d4 rounds, a gholdako can exhale its noxious breath in a 20-foot cone, permanently blinding any creatures in the affected area unless they succeed at a DC 21 Fortitude save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Disease (Ex)

Seaside rot: Injury; save Fort DC 21; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Str and 1d4 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Charisma-based.

ECOLOGY

Environment warm coasts
Organization solitary or guard (2–4)
Treasure standard

A gholdako is a dreadful undead cyclops created by the foul priests and necromancers of a fallen cyclops empire thousands of years ago. A gholdako’s single eyeball is sunken and milky, and its body and limbs are wrapped tightly in ragged strips of soiled and moldering linens, much like those of a mummy, but with disturbing and incomprehensible glyphs scribbled on the ancient cloth, written in what appears to be dried blood. Layers of skin continually flake off the hideous monster’s parched flesh wherever it is exposed, falling in papery strips of sickly pale yellow. The average gholdako stands 9 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds.

Gholdakos are nearly always guardians of some special relic or tomb, having been ordered to protect the object or location in life and remaining faithful to their duties even after dying. While they strive to keep their wards safe from depredations, gholdakos are nonetheless short-tempered and easy to lure away from their posts—though being caught by one of these undead giants almost always spells a gruesome and untimely end for most would-be (end of sentence missing from source material).

Variant

Dread Gholdako (+1 CR): Some gholdakos were created to guard the tombs of royalty. Such dread gholdakos possess a bluish-white halo of smoke around their perpetually peeling scalps. A dread gholdako generally possesses additional Hit Dice, and can inflict paralysis (1d4 rounds, DC 10 + 1/2 the dread gholdako’s racial Hit Dice + the dread gholdako’s Constitution modifier) on its foes with its bite attack.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4 © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Ross Byers, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, James Jacobs, Matt James, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Tork Shaw, and Russ Taylor.

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