Gallowdead (CR +2)

Some tyrants execute criminals, traitors, or those who dare insurrection on the end of hooked and spiked chains. Leaving the criminal to painfully hang and rot sends a message to those who would dare commit the same crimes. Sometimes such savage deaths have a strange and terrible consequence: the victim rises, grabs the instrument of its execution, and becomes a servant of those who condemned it.

CR: A gallowdead’s CR is +2 higher than that of a normal skeleton with the same HD.

Hit Dice: Add 4 racial Hit Dice to the total number of Hit Dice possessed by the base creature, instead of 2.

Defensive Abilities: A gallowdead gains DR 10/bludgeoning and magic instead of DR 5/bludgeoning. Other defensive abilities are unchanged.

Special Attacks: Gallowdead receive the following special attacks. Where applicable, the save DC against these attacks is equal to 10 + 1/2 the gallowdead’s HD + the gallowdead’s Charisma modifier.

Aura of Whispers (Su)

A gallowdead constantly whispers vile secrets and blasphemous chants. Any creature within 30 feet of a gallowdead must succeed at a DC 27 Will save or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. Already shaken creatures that fail this saving throw become nauseated by the secrets revealed. Each round, an affected creature can make a new Will save to recover from the effect—once a creature recovers from a gallowdead’s whispers, it is immune to this ability for 24 hours. Each overlapping whisper aura from additional gallowdead increases the save DC by 2. This is a language-based sonic effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Chains of the Dead (Su)

When a gallowdead uses its spiked chain, the first attack that hits a foe during the gallowdead’s turn deals an extra 12d6 points of negative energy damage (Will DC 27 half). This has no effect on undead creatures. In addition, the gallowdead can make a free combat maneuver check against its target with a +4 racial bonus. If the check succeeds, the target becomes grappled, but the gallowdead doesn’t gain the grappled condition. The gallowdead can make a free combat maneuver check each round to maintain its grip on the victim, but can’t take any special grapple actions against the victim except the move special action. When grappling a victim in this way, the gallowdead can’t attack with its spiked chain. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dungeons of Golarion. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC. Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Matthew Goodall, Brandon Hodge, Anthony Pryor, and Mike Shel.

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