Necrophage Carrier (CR +3)

The necrophage is not undead, the necrophage is not a disease. The necrophage is a living organism that infests corpses, reconstitutes the organic material into new forms that it uses to kill more host creatures to continue to grow and expand. The forms the necrophage-infested bodies take are visceral, twisted horrors of their former selves. It can also form small discreet creatures out of the biological material it has subsumed. The necrophage is controlled and originally created by a insidious, psychic artifact found deep in the void. No one yet has been able to discern where the artifact came from, why it was created, or by whom. Some say, especially the fanatic cults that have grown up around its influence, that it created itself as a manifestation of the universe’s need to ascend to a higher, singular being. In either case, its goals and actions involve adding more biological material under its control and creating more unused biological material for it to take.

The artifact itself can infest the minds of living creatures nearby and slowly corrupt their minds and bodies, eventually turning them into a new necrophage creature. The artifact has little control over the exact form the necrophage takes, but it is usually efficient at its particular job.

The artifact is intelligent, it schemes, it corrupts, and it finds the most effective way to safely get more material.

The necrophage carrier is a horrifying variant of the necrophage, they follow behind other necrophage creatures and ensure no biological material is wasted. They ‘eat’ the remaining viscera and chunks left behind and not turned to form into a necrophage swarm.

Creating a Necrophage Carrier

“Necrophage carrier” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature. A necrophage carrier uses all of the base creature’s statistics except as noted here. A necrophage carrier loses all class levels but retains racial HD.

CR: As base creature +3

Alignment: Always Neutral Evil

Type: The creature’s type changes to aberration, recalculate feats, skills, saves and hit points.

Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +4

Hit Dice: Change all racial Hit Dice to d8s and add 2 racial HD

Speed: A necrophage carrier keeps all modes of movement it had in life, though the speeds are all reduced by 10 (minimum 10 ft). If it does not have a climb speed, it gains a climb speed of 10 feet.

Senses: The creature gains darkvision 60 ft.

Weaknesses: limb weakness

Immune: cold, disease, mind-affecting effects, poison

Defensive Abilities: DR 5/-, from the void

Melee: A necrophage carrier retains any natural attacks the base creature had but also gains 2 scythe claws that deal 1d8 damage each (medium) with an x3 critical multiplier.

Special Attacks: The necrophage carrier retains none of the base creature’s special attacks but gains Release the Swarm, see below.

Release the Swarm: If a necrophage is killed, its rotund stomach bursts open releasing 1d4 necrophage swarms (see the new monsters section, page 9). It can also choose to as a full round action deal damage to itself from both of its scythe claws as a full round action (bypassing DR) to release the necrophage swarms prematurely.

Abilities: Increase the base creature as follows: Str +4, Dex -2, Con +4, Cha -4. Necrophage brutes are mindless and have no Int score.

Feats: The necrophage creature gains weapon focus for their natural weapon(s) as a bonus feat.