The Splatter Man (Human Ghost Wizard 8)

The Splatter Man CR 6

XP 2,400
Male old ghost wizard 8
CE Medium undead (augmented human, incorporeal)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 deflection, +1 Dex)
hp 62 (8d6+32)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +8
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, rejuvenation; Immune undead traits

OFFENSE

Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee corrupting touch +5 (6d6; Fort DC 17 half )
Special Attacks dream whisper, hand of the apprentice (8/day), metamagic mastery (1/day)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +13)

4thmaximized magic missile (2), empowered summon monster II
3rddispel magic, empowered magic missile (2)
2ndsummon monster II (4)
1stmagic missile (6)
0 (at will)–detect magic, light, mage hand, read magic

TACTICS

During Combat While the Splatter Man was careful to not reveal the true scope of his limited but not insignificant spellcasting when he was a living prisoner, he does not need to abide by those limitations as a ghost. He begins combat by attempting to maintain ranged superiority, moving through the various walls of the cells to force the PCs to constantly be on the move to keep up with him. He starts by casting his empowered summon monster II spell to summon 1d3+1 dire rats to serve as distractions, then follows that up with magic missiles (working down from maximized to empowered to normal versions of the spell)—he’ll generally split up his magic missiles among different targets rather than focusing fire on one foe, in a cruel attempt to prolong and distribute the suffering. Once his summoned rats are gone, he’ll use summon monster II to begin summoning giant spiders or octopi to vex the PCs as appropriate. The Splatter Man’s corrupting touch is one of his most powerful attacks, but he saves it to use against foes who seem to be able to significantly damage him—while he’s a ghost, old habits die hard, and he tends to try to avoid getting into melee confrontations. The Splatter Man is bound to this room—he cannot leave his lair to pursue foes, but he certainly attempts to use his dream whisper ability on the PCs later if they flee a battle against him, for now that he has firsthand knowledge of the PCs, they gain no bonuses to resist that ability.

Morale The Splatter Man fights until destroyed.

STATISTICS

Str –, Dex 13, Con –, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Brew Potion, Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Maximize Spell, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Linguistics), Spell Mastery (comprehend languages, dispel magic, levitate, magic missile, summon monster II)
Skills Bluff +11, Diplomacy +11, Fly +9, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (planes) +16, Linguistics +19, Perception +10, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +12
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Auran, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc, +4 additional
SQ arcane bond (familiar—none currently)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Corrupting Touch (Su)

By passing part of its incorporeal body through a foe’s body as a standard action, The Splatter Man inflicts 6d6 damage. This damage is not negative energy—it manifests in the form of physical wounds and aches from supernatural aging. Creatures immune to magical aging are immune to this damage, but otherwise the damage bypasses all forms of damage reduction. A Fortitude save halves the damage inflicted.

Dream Whisper (Su)

The Splatter Man cannot physically leave his lair, but he can extend his consciousness outside of this area to touch the dreams of sleeping mortals once every 1d4+2 nights. This allows the Splatter Man to send visions and hideous dreams to a single sleeping creature within a mile. The target can resist these dreams with a DC 17 Will save; otherwise, the target is affected by the dreams as if by a nightmare spell (the victim gains the same Will save modifiers as afforded to those who are targeted by an actual nightmare, meaning that once the Splatter Man has firsthand knowledge of a creature after it fails the Will save, he tends to stick to that target on successive nights). The second time a target fails to resist the effects of the Splatter Man’s dream whisper, the Splatter Man can, instead of causing 1d10 points of damage with the nightmare effect, implant a suggestion in the dreaming creature’s mind. If the suggestion is successful, the creature immediately rises in a somnambulistic state to carry out the commands of the suggestion, which must be something the victim can accomplish before sunrise, at which point the sleepwaking victim wakens with no memory of the dream or his actions while under the influence. If the Splatter Man manages to escape Harrowstone, this ability increases in power, becoming a full-fledged ghostly malevolence ability.

Rejuvenation (Su)

In most cases, it’s difficult to destroy a ghost through simple combat: the “destroyed” spirit restores itself in 2d4 days. Even the most powerful spells are usually only temporary solutions. The only way to permanently destroy a ghost is to determine the reason for its existence and set right whatever prevents it from resting in peace.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder 43: Haunting of Harrowstone. Copyright 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC, Author: Michael Kortes

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