Flesh Puppet

School necromancy [evil]; Level antipaladin 2, cleric 3, occultist 3, shaman 3, sorcerer/wizard 4, spiritualist 3, witch 4

CASTING

Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (an onyx worth 25 gp and a silken string)

EFFECT

Range touch
Target one corpse touched
Duration permanent (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

DESCRIPTION

You animate one corpse that has been dead no more than 48 hours. It rises as a zombie that is magically tethered to you and obeys your commands. As noted in animate dead, you can’t control more than 4 HD per caster level worth of undead in total, nor can a single casting create more than 2 HD per caster level.

This spell disguises the zombie’s appearance and allows you to control it. The zombie’s outward appearance, movement, and voice appear the same as if it were still alive. The zombie’s normal staggered condition doesn’t apply (though it can still be staggered by other means). Successfully detecting the flesh puppet as a zombie without magic requires an opposed Perception check against your Disguise check, and you add your caster level as a bonus on this Disguise check.

An ephemeral string connects you to the zombie. Through this string, you have a mental link to the zombie and can command it as a swift action. The zombie uses its own actions to complete your commands. The zombie can speak up to 25 words in 1 round, but you must mentally impart what you intend it to say as a swift action. It is incapable of articulating speech on its own. The zombie can be ordered to perform very simple tasks it knew in life but can’t make attacks, cast spells, or perform complex or difficult tasks requiring constant concentration.

The string connecting you and the zombie is nearly invisible.

A DC 30 Perception check is required to detect it. It has hardness 0 and 1 hp. The length of string you can create is 100 feet + 10 feet per caster level you have. The string snaps if you and the zombie move farther apart than this length, though the zombie won’t move out of range unless forced to do so or unless you command it to do so. If the string to the zombie is severed, the spell immediately ends. The ephemeral string can pass through physical barriers, but not barriers of magical force, and it can be damaged as though it were a physical object.

When this spell ends, the zombie immediately reverts back to a normal corpse. The spell ends automatically if you cast flesh puppet or flesh puppet horde on a new corpse.

Flesh Puppet Horde

School necromancy [evil]; Level antipaladin 3, cleric 4, occultist 4, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 5, spiritualist 4, witch 5

CASTING

Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, M (an onyx worth 50 gp for each zombie and a silken string)

EFFECT

Range touch
Target one or more corpses touched

DESCRIPTION

This spell functions as flesh puppet, but can animate multiple zombies. As noted in animate dead, you can’t control more than 4 HD per caster level worth of undead in total, nor can a single casting create more than 2 HD per caster level. A separate string attaches to each zombie in your horde. Severing a zombie’s string reverts that zombie to a corpse, but doesn’t end the spell for other zombies.

Because commanding a flesh puppet requires a swift action, you can issue commands to only one zombie per round, though zombies you previously commanded continue to follow their orders.

Likewise, you can command only one zombie to speak per round.

Unlike with flesh puppet, you can command a zombie to attack.

If you do, all your zombies immediately gain the staggered quality and no longer appear to be alive.

This spell ends automatically if you cast flesh puppet or flesh puppet horde on a new corpse.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Horror Adventures © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: John Bennett, Clinton J. Boomer, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Jim Groves, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Brandon Hodge, Mikko Kallio, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, F. Wesley Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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