Necrophage Leaper (CR +2)

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 leaper is an agile hunter that uses its ability to climb on all surfaces and leap long distances to close the distance on their foes. Their hind legs mutate and fuse together forming a scorpion-like tail that it uses to spear its prey.

Creating a Necrophage Leaper

“Necrophage leaper” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature.

A necrophage leaper uses all of the base creature’s statistics except as noted here. A necrophage leaper loses all class levels but retains racial HD.

CR: As base creature +2

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 1 racial HD

Speed: A necrophage leaper keeps all modes of movement from its host creature, if it does not have a climb speed, it gains a climb speed of 30 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 leaper loses all of its natural attacks except bites. Its gains one scorpionlike stinger that deals 1d8 damage (medium) and uses 1-1/2 its Strength modifier.

Special Attacks: The necrophage leaper retains none of the base creature’s special attacks

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

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

Skills: A necrophage leaper gains a +18 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks to jump and may make a standing long jump as if they had a running start.