Dread Bodak (CR +2)[3pp]

Bodaks are extraplanar undead created when living beings are touched by great evil. Dread bodaks resemble their extraplanar counterparts,but they pose an even greater threat.

A dread bodak is sometimes created when an intelligent creature turns traitor and kills an ally or murders a friend. In particular, using death effects on a friend seems most likely to create a dread bodak. A dread bodak is consumed with the desire for revenge on everyone it knew in life and anyone who gets in its way. Worse still, it can create more of its vile kind. Its gaze brings foes to the brink of death, and its voice then snuffs out their life force and turns them into dread bodaks.

A dread bodak’s body is lithe and muscular, covered in dead skin or scales that often appear gray. Its head is elongated both above and below the brow. Its eyes and nose are sunken to the point of vanishing, and glowing pinpricks of evil light glow from deep within its eye sockets.

Creating a Dread Bodak

Dread Bodak” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature) that was killed by a dread bodak or murdered by an ally via a death effect. A dread bodak uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: Same as base creature +3.

Type: The creature’s type changes to undead and all racial subtypes. Do not recalculate base attack bonuses, saves, or skill points.

Alignment: Any evil.

Armor Class: Natural armor class improves by +8.

Hit Dice: Change all of the base creature’s racial HD to d8s.

Defensive Abilities: A dread bodak retains all of the defensive abilities of the base creature and gains DR 10/magic and cold iron, immunity to electricity, fire and acid resistance 20, channel resistance +4, and all of the immunities of the undead type.

Weaknesses: A dread bodak gains the following weakness.

Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex)

Dread bodaks loathe sunlight, for its merest touch burns their impure flesh. Each round of exposure to direct sunlight deals 2d6 points of damage to a dread bodak.

Attacks: The dread bodak gains one slam attack for every arm it has if it has no natural attacks. The damage for the slam attack depends on the base creature’s size, as if the base creature was two size categories larger.

Special Attacks: The dread bodak retains all the base creature’s special attacks and gains those described here.

Command Bodaks (Su)

As a free action, a dread bodak can automatically command all normal bodaks within 30 feet (as the command undead spell). Normal bodaks never attack a dread bodak unless compelled.

Create Spawn (Su)

Any creature killed by a dread bodak’s death wail ability rises as a dread bodak in 1d6 rounds. A dread bodak created in this manner is under the command of its creator (as the dominate monster spell) and remains so until either it or the creator is destroyed.

Death Wail (Su)

A dread bodak can make a terrible keening sound that draws the souls of the dying to the afterlife. A dying creature within 100 feet of a dread bodak using its death wail dies instantly. The creature need not be able to hear the keening to be affected; a silence spell blocks the effect. For each creature slain in this manner, the dread bodak gains 1d8 temporary hit points, a +2 bonus to Strength, and a +1 increase in effective caster level for all spells it can cast and all spell-like abilities it can use. These benefits last for 10 minutes. This is a sonic death effect.

Killing Gaze (Su)

Reduced to -1 hp, 30 feet; Fort negates. The save DC is Charisma-based. This is a death and gaze effect.

Abilities: Str +2, Dex +4, Int -4 (minimum 1), Wis +2, Cha +6. As an undead creature, a dread bodak has no Constitution score.

Environment: any land

Organization: solitary, pair, or gang (3-4)

Treasure: none

Section 15: Copyright Notice

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

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