Friday, June 27, 2014

Frightful Fridays! Unecrocorn

Hello again! As promised, here is today's second monster, an undead unicorn, courtesy of Gregg Bender. I tried hard not to make this an exact mirror image of the unicorn, but there were some aspects that made sense to keep around (inflict vs. cure spell-like abilities, for example). The unecrocorn has an amazing array of methods to create undead creatures, and, hopefully, GMs will find ways to turn the characters' former allies against them.

I hope the unecrocorn is suitably terrifying. I will be back next week with a new monster. Thanks for reading!

In the gloom this creature looks like a unicorn, but a closer look reveals its half rotted body, leering skull, and blood-tipped horn.
Unecrocorn CR 6
XP 2,400
CE Large undead
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +15
Aura unnatural aura (30 ft.)

Defense
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, –1 size)
hp 76 (9d8+36)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +9
DR 5/good; Immune undead traits; Resist cold 10

Offense
Speed 60 ft.
Melee gore +11 (2d6+6 plus energy drain/19-20), 2 hooves +9 (1d4+3 plus 1d4 Strength drain)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks create spawn, energy drain, powerful charge (gore, 4d6+12)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +13)
3/day—inflict moderate wounds (DC 16)
1/day—animate dead, deeper darkness, inflict serious wounds (DC 17)

Statistics
Str 22, Dex 16, Con —, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 19
Base Atk +6; CMB +13; CMD 27 (31 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Improved Critical (gore)[B], Intimidating Prowess, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Multiattack
Skills Acrobatics +12 (+24 when jumping), Intimidate +22, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Perception +15, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +11
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal

Ecology
Environment any terrestrial
Organization solitary, pair, or dirge (3–6)
Treasure incidental

Special Abilities
Create Spawn (Su) A victim reduced to 0 Strength from a unecrocorn's Strength damage dies and rises as a shadow under the unecrocorn's control in 1d4 rounds. A victim that dies as a result of the unecrocorn's energy drain rises as a wight under the unecrocorn's control in 1d4 rounds.
Energy Drain (Su) If a unecrocorn inflicts a critical hit with its gore attack or gores an opponent during its powerful charge, the attack bestows 2 negative levels (4 if the unecrocorn inflicts a critical hit during a powerful charge) to the opponent. The victim must make a DC 18 Fortitude save to remove each negative level.

When a unicorn succumbs to an undead creature's draining attacks, the purity at the core of the unicorn burns to ashes. If the unicorn in pursuit of a noble goal falls to an undead creature before it can achieve that goal, the bitterness of the defeat corrupts the unicorn into an undead mockery known as a unecrocorn. The newly created monster seeks to snuff out all life. It roams its former forest home seeking to blight everything within and to raise an undead army from the forest's residents. It uses its vague similarity to a living unicorn to draw simple-minded creatures close where it can murder them and use one of its many means to turn the foolish victims into undead followers.

Unicorns gather in blessings to hunt and kill known unecrocorns. They also enlist paladins and other good humanoids to eliminate the blasphemous creatures. For unknown reasons, nightmares also hate unecrocorns and will attack them on sight.

Unecrocorns will take any intelligent undead creature as a rider and frequently partner with vampires, graveknights, and the rare lich that likes to wade into battle. Only the most depraved of living beings can dare to ride a unecrocorn.