Dirge PiperCreature 3

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Source Pathfinder #181: Zombie Feast
Perception +8 (darkvision)
Languages Common, Necril, (can't Speak Any Language)
Skills Athletics +10, Performance +10
Str +5, Dex -3, Con +4, Int -3, Wis +0, Cha +1

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AC 16; Fort +11; Reflex +4; Will +7;
HP 95 (negative healing)
Speed 25 feet
Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious
Weaknesses Positive 10, Slashing 10

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Gut Lash +12 (+7, +2) to hit (reach 10) 1d10+5 Bludgeoning

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Darkvision

A monster with darkvision can see perfectly well in areas of darkness and dim light, though such vision is in black and white only. Some forms of magical darkness, such as a 4th-level Darkness spell, block normal darkvision. A monster with Greater Darkvision, however, can see through even these forms of magical darkness.

Slow

A zombie is permanently Slowed 1 and can't use reactions.

Negative Healing

A creature with negative healing draws health from negative energy rather than positive energy. It is damaged by positive damage and is not healed by positive healing effects. It does not take negative damage, and it is healed by negative effects that heal undead.

Piping Dirge (auditory, aura, emotion, enchantment, fear, mental, occult)

30-foot emanation Aura

Living creatures that enter the aura or start their turn within it become Frightened 1 and can't reduce their frightened value below 1 while within the aura.

Putrid Blast (evocation, occult, sonic)

The dirge piper expels air and bile in a trumpeting blast from its exposed guts. Each non-zombie creature within a 30-foot emanation takes 4d6 sonic damage (DC 20 basic fortitude). A creature that fails the save is also Sickened 1 (Sickened 2 on a critical failure). The dirge piper can't use Putrid Blast again for 1d4 rounds.

Shambler's Lament (auditory, evocation, occult)

The dirge piper lets out an eerie keening through its rotting orifices that drives nearby zombies to feast more vigorously. Each other zombie within 10 feet of the dirge piper is Quickened for 1 round and can use the extra action to Grab, Stride, or Strike.

Grab

Requirements The monster's last action was a success with a Strike that lists Grab in its damage entry, or it has a creature grabbed using this action.

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Effect The monster automatically Grabs the target until the end of the monster's next turn. The creature is Grabbed by whichever body part the monster attacked with, and that body part can't be used to Strike creatures until the grab is ended. Using Grab extends the duration of the monster's Grab until the end of its next turn for all creatures grabbed by it. A grabbed creature can use the Escape action to get out of the grab, and the Grab ends for a grabbed creatures if the monster moves away from it.

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Under rare circumstances, an attempt to reanimate a skilled musician or performer as a mindless zombie is impeded by lingering occult magic that anchors a piece of the being's artistic soul to its shambling body. The resulting dirge piper retains a fragment of the person's former intellect and personality, but lacks the coordination and acuity to make true music any longer. Instead, they force air through the cavities and organs of their decomposing bodies to produce haunting piping, squelches, and trumpeting.

Most dirge pipers cling to a sense of fashion from their former lives, often obsessing over the condition of their clothes. They are aware enough of their deteriorating bodies that their own decay drives them into deepening despair. The only thing more disturbing to a dirge piper than their corpse is their own music. Despite hating the sounds they make, they cannot help but produce constant noise from their mouths and their wounds.

Although many necromancers consider the noisy dirge pipers a mistake, dirge pipers can be useful as leaders of other groups of zombies because their piping invigorates their fellow walking corpses. Even their putrid, trumpeting blasts resonate in a way that doesn't harm other zombies.

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Traits