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HellcrownCreature 1


UncommonLETinyUndead
Source Pathfinder #145: Hellknight Hill
Perception +10 (darkvision)
Languages Common
Skills Intimidation +8, Stealth +7
Str -2, Dex +4, Con +3, Int -1, Wis +1, Cha +1

AC 16; Fort +4; Reflex +6; Will +10;
HP 20 (negative healing)
Speed 0 feet (fly 25 feet)
Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious

Nail One Action +9 (+4, -1) to hit (range increment 20) 1d4+2 Piercing

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.

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.

Bleeding Nail

If the hellcrown hits with a nail Strike, the target must attempt a DC 16 fortitude save. On a failure, the nail is embedded in the creature, making it Enfeebled 1 for 1 minute and giving it 1 Persistent Bleed Damage (Enfeebled 2 and 1d4 Persistent Bleed Damage on a critical failure). Each additional embedded nail increases the enfeebled value by 1 (to a maximum of enfeebled 4) and the bleed damage by 1. A creature can remove a nail with an Interact action to reduce the enfeeblement and amount of bleed damage. Pulling out the last nail removes both conditions.

Terrifying Stare One Action (fear, mental, visual)

All creatures that can see the hellcrown and are suffering from its bleeding nail must attempt a DC 16 will saving throw. A creature that fails is Frightened 1, and on a critical failure becomes Fleeing for as long as it's frightened. Any creature that attempts a save is then temporarily immune for 10 minutes.


The life of a Hellknight is bloody, brutal, and often short. Many who perish in service to a Hellknight order are glad to rest after having served their masters so faithfully, but others seek to continue their work even in death. When a Hellknight is decapitated, the ghostly undead known as a hellcrown is an occasional result. Consumed by the desire to bring about order by inflicting cruelty, hellcrowns haunt battlefields and abandoned castles, slaying all they encounter. A strange fusion of spirit and steel, a hellcrown has no corporeal form by itself, but instead inhabits the helmet it so proudly wore in life. Dangling from the helmet like a shroud is a shadow of the former Hellknight's spine, adding to the creature's terrifyingly gruesome appearance. Hellknights regard hellcrowns with a mixture of disgust and respect, considering the individuals who transform into these floating undead to have been resolute in purpose but weak in body.

A hellcrown usually manifests hours or longer after its body's death, and only when its body is unattended; this might even take days if the Hellknight perished in a major battle. Typically, no recognizable fragment of the Hellknight's former personality survives the grisly transformation into a hellcrown, but in rare and particularly tragic cases a hellcrown might remember its life and hold grudges against those it views as the cause of its death. Regardless of whether they retain memories of their lives or have lost all former sense of self, hellcrowns linger around the site of their death, reminding all they encounter of the merciless principles of their order.


Traits

Uncommon

Something of uncommon rarity requires special training or comes from a particular culture or part of the world. Some character choices give access to uncommon options, and the GM can choose to allow access for anyone. Less is known about uncommon creatures than common creatures. They typically can't be summoned. The DC of Recall Knowledge checks related to these creature is increased by 2.