Grioth CultistCreature 3
Source Pathfinder Bestiary 3
Perception +10 (greater darkvision, echolocation (precise) 20 feet)
Languages Aklo, Grioth, Telepathy 30 Feet
Skills Acrobatics +8, Occultism +9, Religion +10, Stealth +10
Str +0, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +3, Cha +0
AC 18; Fort +7; Reflex +10; Will +10;
HP 40
Speed 25 feet (fly 30 feet)
Immunities cold
Weaknesses Fire 5
Kukri
+10 (+6, +2) to hit (agile, finesse, trip) 1d6 + 2 SlashingJaws
+10 (+6, +2) to hit (agile, finesse) 1d8 + 2 PiercingGreater Darkvision
A creature with greater 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 creature with greater darkvision, however, can see through even these forms of magical darkness.
Telepathy 30 feet (aura, divination, magical)A monster with telepathy can communicate mentally with any creatures within the listed radius, as long as they share a language. This doesn't give any special access to their thoughts, and communicates no more information than normal speech would.
Echolocation (Precise) 20 feetA grioth can use its hearing as a precise sense at the listed range.
Light BlindnessWhen first exposed to bright light, the monster is Blinded until the end of its next turn. After this exposure, light doesn't blind the monster again until after it spends 1 hour in darkness. However, as long as the monster is in an area of bright light, it's Dazzled.
No BreathA grioth doesn't breathe except to speak and is immune to effects that require breathing (such as an inhaled poison).
Grioth Venom (emotion, fear, mental, poison)Saving Throw DC 20 fortitude
Maximum Duration 6 rounds
Stage 1 Frightened 1 (1 round)
Stage 2 Frightened 2 (1 round)
Stage 3 Frightened 3 (1 round)
Invoke Haunter of the Dark
(divine, enchantment, mental, visual)Frequency once per day
Effect The grioth cultist waves a hand in a complex pattern to invoke dark powers, dealing 3d8 mental damage. Each non-grioth creature within 20 feet must attempt a DC 20 will save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes half damage
Failure The creature takes full damage and becomes Stupefied 1 for 1 round
Critical Failure The creature takes double damage and becomes stupefied 1 for 1 minute.
Shock Mind (enchantment, mental, occult)The grioth cultist makes a Strike with a voidglass weapon.
If the Strike hits, it deals an additional 2d6 mental damage, and the target must succeed at a DC 20 will save (this has the incapacitation trait) or become Confused for 1 round.
Divine Prepared Spells (DC 20, +12 to hit)
Cantrips (2nd Level): Divine Lance, Forbidding Ward, Message, Prestidigitation, Stabilize
1st Level: Fear, Harm, Heal, Ventriloquism
2nd Level: Dispel Magic, Sound Burst
Cantrips (2nd Level): Daze, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Telekinetic Projectile
1st Level: Phantom Pain
Grioth cultists represent the lowest tier of their remorseless cult-worshippers of the Elder Mythos tasked with leading scouting missions into new worlds. Though ranked above scouts in the chain of command, they occupy a lowly place in the overall religious hierarchy. Though whispered rumors describe the legendary rituals needed to wrench worlds from their suns, these cultists don't learn this potent magic. Such secrets are left to grioth high priests, who are always the last to arrive in a colonized world.
Most grioths worship the Outer God Nyarlathotep in one of his many incarnations, although some worship other entities of the Elder Mythos such as Azathoth, Nhimbaloth, or Yog-Sothoth. In the highly rare cases where a grioth is cut off from their society and given the opportunity to explore other religions, they still lean into faiths associated with the stars or the night, such as Desna or Zon-Kuthon. However, these grioths are loathed by others of their own kind, who view them as dangerous heretics.
Planets that drift out of orbit from their stars grow cold and lifeless as they float through the Dark Tapestry. Such dead worlds are coveted by the horrific creatures known as grioths, who endure the awful cold on these wandering worlds and convert them into planetary temples devoted to the dark gods of the Elder Mythos. From these bastions of frozen darkness, grioths seek out warm, living worlds to tear away from their respective suns through forbidden rituals, a process that often takes numerous generations.
A single cultist typically leads a grioth scouting party, and the group seeks out a disused or forgotten location on the fringe of rural settlements as their initial invasion point. Over several generations, a grioth settlement grows powerful and conquers the surrounding cultures, and eventually, powerful grioths descend from the stars to begin the next stage of planetary conquest.
Grioths speak a language composed of trills and clicks. While capable of speaking other languages, they do so in dry, raspy voices. As grioths have wings, wriggling tails, and four-eyed, bat-like visages, many cultures mistakenly associate them with the evil Outer Planes, but they very much belong to this reality.
Traits
This rarity indicates that a rules element is very difficult to find in the game world. A rare feat, spell, item or the like is available to players only if the GM decides to include it in the game, typically through discovery during play. Creatures with this trait are rare. They typically can't be summoned. The DC of Recall Knowledge checks related to these creatures is increased by 5.
HumanoidHumanoid creatures reason and act much like humans. They typically stand upright and have two arms and two legs.