Neh-Thalggu Mind-Master

Neh-Thalggu Mind-Master CR 13

XP 25,600
Neh-thalggu mesmerist 9
NE Large aberration (mythos)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 19, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +7 insight, +2 natural, –1 size)
hp 189 (19d8+104)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +21
DR 10/magic; Immune confusion; SR 19

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +18 (1d8+6), 2 claws +18 (1d6+6)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks bold stares (disorientation, sapped magic), hypnotic stare (–3), manifold tricks (3 tricks), mental potency (+1), mesmerist tricks 9/day (astounding avoidance, fleet in shadows, misdirection, see in darkness, spectral smoke), painful stare (+4 or +3d6), poison, rend (2 claws, 2d6+9)
Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 9th; concentration +21)

• 3rd (4/day)—confusion (DC 18), haunting choir (DC 18), terrible remorse (DC 18), vampiric touch
• 2nd (5/day)—babble (DC 17), burning gaze (DC 17), howling agony (DC 17), touch of idiocy
• 1st (7/day)—comprehend languages, fumbletongue (DC 16), hideous laughter (DC 16), ray of enfeeblement (DC 16), unseen servant
• 0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, detect psychic significance, lullaby (DC 15), prestidigitation, unwitting ally (DC 15)

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +19)

• 3rd (5/day)—displacement, gaseous form
• 2nd (7/day)—blur, eagle’s splendor, mirror image
• 1st (8/day)—grease, magic missile, memory lapse (DC 16), obscuring mist, shocking grasp
• 0 (at will)—bleed (DC 15), jolt, light, mage hand, message, read magic, touch of fatigue (DC 15)

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 16, Con 21, Int 21, Wis 17, Cha 20
Base Atk +13; CMB +20; CMD 40 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Demoralizing Stare, Elongated Cranium, Eschew Materials B, Extend Spell, Great Fortitude, Impaling Critical, Improved Initiative, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +3 (–5 to jump), Appraise +10, Bluff +33, Diplomacy +29, Disguise +7, Fly +15, Heal +2, Intimidate +29, Knowledge (arcana) +33, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +23, Knowledge (planes) +33, Linguistics +9, Perception +24, Sense Motive +24, Spellcraft +26, Stealth +12, Survival +2, Use Magic Device +20
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Protean, Undercommon; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ brain collection, consummate liar +4, touch treatment 8/day (Moderate)

ABOUT

Known also as brain collectors, the alien neh-thalggus hail from distant worlds, traveling the gulfs of space on immense living ships that swiftly decay when they land upon a new world, leaving behind a deadly cargo of hungry monsters. Neh-thalggus are crablike nightmare with lamprey-like mouths, twitching eyes on its legs, and several blisters along its back that hold human brains.

Some speculate that neh-thalggus encountered in this reality may merely be juveniles of their kind, perhaps exiled from their home worlds by greater kin until they can prove their worth on other worlds.

Neh-thalggus are carnivores, but they do not digest humanoid brains they eat—rather, these brains lodge in one of several bulbous blisters on the creature’s back and help to increase its intellect.

Their brain collections may be a morbid form of currency in their home realm, or the thoughts in these brains may merely be fuel for a dark apotheosis into an even more sinister mature form.

Neh-thalggu masters lord it over their lesser kin by applying the drained brainpower of their victims toward mastering psychic magic and mesmerism. They may inhabit elaborate mindscapes as their lairs or may subtly influence the thoughts and senses of creatures they lure into their lair in furtherance of convoluted plots to manipulate the societies around them while they dwell in secret. Some dwell alone or with mind-controlled slaves, while others organize clusters of their own kind to spread their sinister schemes and feed their insatiable alien hunger.