Strigoi ProgenitorCreature 13
Source Pathfinder Adventure: Shadows at Sundown
Perception +23 (greater darkvision)
Languages Common, Necril, Shadowtongue, Thassilonian
Skills Acrobatics +25, Arcana +23, Athletics +25, Crafting +23, Deception +26, Religion +22, Stealth +27, Lore +24
Str +8, Dex +8, Con +5, Int +5, Wis +4, Cha +5
AC 34; Fort +24; Reflex +26; Will +22;
HP 180 (coffin restoration, fast healing 10, negative healing)
Speed 25 feet (fly 25 feet)
Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep
Resistances Physical 15
Claw +25 (+21, +17) to hit (agile, magical) 3d8+14 Slashing
Greater 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.
Fast Healing 10A monster with this ability regains the given number of Hit Points each round at the beginning of its turn.
Negative HealingA 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.
Coffin Restoration (divine, necromancy, negative)Unlike other undead, a vampire isn't destroyed at 0 HP. Instead, it falls Unconscious. If its body rests in its coffin for 1 hour, the vampire gains 1 HP, after which its Fast Healing begins to function normally.
Domain of Dusk (conjuration, divine, shadow)With a wave of its hand, the strigoi calls fourth vile ruination from the surrounding shadows, causing coils of darkness and shadowy bats, rats, and wolves to lash out at living targets in a 30-foot emanation. Living creatures in this area take 7d6 negative damage (DC 31 basic fortitude save against the DC of the strigoi's level). A creature that fails this save is also Dazzled for 1 round (or Blinded for 1 round and then dazzled for 1 round)
Shadow EscapeTrigger The strigoi is reduced to 0 HP
Effect The strigoi uses Shadow Form. It can take move actions to move toward its coffin even though it's at 0 HP. While at 0 HP in this form, the strigoi is unaffected by further damage. Once the strigoi reaches its coffin, or if it hasn't done so within 2 hours, it automatically returns to its physical form, Unconscious.
Shadow Form (concentrate, divine, shadow, transmutation)The strigoi reverts to pure shadow and absorbs its body and its gear into the darkness, or it shifts back to its physical form. In shadow form, the strigoi gains a climb Speed equal to its land Speed and can move through any gap that isn't airtight. However, it can only move along solid surfaces that aren't highly reflective, not liquid or mirrored surfaces. If the surface it's on is destroyed, the strigoi returns to physical form and is Stunned 1. The strigoi loses fast healing while in shadow form but can remain in shadow form indefinitely.
A strigoi that is exposed to sunlight while in shadow form becomes Slowed 2 and must attempt a DC 16 flat at the end of each of its turns. If it fails this flat check, it is destroyed, the shadow vanishing with a blood-curdling wail.
Strigoi WeaknessesAll strigoi possess the following weaknesses:
- Revulsion Strigoi are uncomfortable near mirrors or sources of bright light. Only a strigoi's shadow reflects in a mirror, and this often compels them to cover or destroy mirrors in their presence rather than risk their true nature being displayed. A strigoi can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of a brandished mirror or source of bright light. To brandish a mirror or light source, a creature must Interact to do so for 1 round (similar to Raising a Shield). If the strigoi involuntarily comes within 10 feet of a brandished mirror or light source, it gains the Fleeing condition, running from the brandished object until it ends an action beyond 10 feet. After 1 round of being exposed to the subject of its revulsion, a strigoi can attempt a DC 25 will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, it overcomes its revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success). A strigoi can move normally around mirrors or bright light sources that are not brandished, although doing so causes them discomfort that can be noticed with a successful Perception check to Sense Motive.
- Sunlight When exposed to direct sunlight, a strigoi immediately becomes Unconscious and falls to the ground. It appears to be dead: it doesn't breathe, its body temperature matches its surroundings, and it doesn't react to pain or other stimuli. A successful perception check against the strigoi's Reflex DC is enough to note one anomaly: the shadow cast by its "dead" body shifts and moves slightly, its edges twisting and active. Spells like Detect Evil, senses like lifesense, and the "corpse" taking damage from positive energy still function normally, and could reveal the truth without needing a successful Perception check. Viewing the "corpse" in a mirror's reflection can also reveal the truth, for only the body's shadow reflects. While in sunlight and unconscious, the strigoi loses its resistance to physical damage. If the strigoi takes enough damage that it would be reduced to 0 Hit Points, its body quickly decomposes, and the strigoi is destroyed.
- Water Revulsion A strigoi cannot cross a significant source of running water (such as a creek, river, or waves on a seashore). A strigoi capable of flight can cross running water provided it approaches no closer than 10 feet to the liquid's surface. If forced into running water against its will, the strigoi becomes Slowed 2 and gains the fleeing condition as long as it remains in the water. At the end of any turn in which the strigoi remains in running water, it must succeed at a DC 5 flat or be destroyed.
If a creature dies after being reduced to 0 HP by Drink Essence or Domain of Dusk, the vampire can turn this victim into a vampire by donating some of its own blood to the victim and burying the victim in earth for 3 nights.
If the new vampire is lower level than its creator, it is under the creator's control. If a vampire controls too many spawn at once (as determined by the GM), strong-willed spawn can free themselves by succeeding at a will saving throw against the vampire's Will DC.
A victim that is 8th level or higher becomes a strigoi servant, while a lower-level victim instead becomes a moroi vampire
Dominate (divine, enchantment, incapacitation, mental, visual)The vampire can cast Dominate at will as a divine innate spell. Casting it requires staring into the target's eyes, giving the spell the visual trait (DC 33 will). A creature that succeeds is temporarily immune to that vampire's Dominate for 24 hours.
Fully destroying the vampire ends the domination, but merely reducing the vampire to 0 HP is insufficient to break the spell.
Drink Essence (divine, necromancy)Requirements A Grabbed, Paralyzed, Restrained, Unconscious, or willing creature is within the strigoi's reach
Effect The strigoi progenitor sinks their fangs into the targeted creature to drink its blood and draw out its vital essence. This requires an athletics check against the creature's Fortitude DC if the creature is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The creature becomes Drained 2 and Stupefied 2, and the strigoi regains 18 HP, gaining any excess HP as temporary Hit Points. Drinking Essence from a creature that's already drained or stupefied doesn't restore any HP, but increases either the creature's drained condition value or its stupefied condition value by 1 (whichever value is lesser is increased; if both values are equal, then the strigoi chooses which condition to increase the value of).
A victim's drained condition decreases by 1 per week. A blood transfusion, which requires a successful DC 20 medicine check and sufficient blood or a blood donor, reduces the drained value by 1 after 10 minutes.
A victim's stupefied condition decreases by 1 per day after performing daily preparations. If the daily preparations are done in full sunlight, the stupefied condition is removed entirely.
Oracle MysteryGrabRequirements 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.
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.
Divine Spontaneous Spells (DC 33, +25 to hit)
Cantrips (7th Level): Detect Magic, Divine Lance, Message, Read Aura, Shield, Sigil
1st Level (3 slots): Command, Fear, Harm, Heal, Ray of Enfeeblement, Sanctuary
2nd Level (3 slots): Comprehend Language, Dispel Magic, Gentle Repose, See Invisibility, Undetectable Alignment
3rd Level (3 slots): Blindness, Chilling Darkness
4th Level (3 slots): Dimensional Anchor, Divine Wrath, Remove Curse, Talking Corpse
5th Level (3 slots): Flame Strike, Sending, Tongues
6th Level (3 slots): Blade Barrier, Spirit Blast, True Seeing, Vampiric Exsanguination
7th Level (2 slots): Eclipse Burst, Ethereal Jaunt, Finger of Death
1st Level: Brain Drain
2nd Level: Create Undead
6th Level: Planar Binding
The most powerful strigoi are those intentionally summoned into the bodies of willing hosts in times long past. As the rites to do so are lost to time, very few strigoi progenitors exist today. Those who do trace their lives back well over ten thousand years ago to Thassilon, Azlant, or similar ancient empires. A strigoi progenitor may appear to possess the vitality of the living, yet closer inspection reveals sharp fangs, the faintest smell of decay, and the strange and unsettling shifting of their shadow. In life, this example strigoi progenitor was a powerful oracle and advisor in Runelord Sorshen's nation of Eurythnia.
The oldest of all vampires are the strigoi. They predate ancient nosferatus and view moroi as infantile children, yet their own origins are so far lost to the ravages of time that few today have heard of them and fewer still know their true nature. Many of the oldest tales about vampires trace back to the strigoi, and nearly every other vampire carries traits that ultimately have their roots in these powerful, ancient creatures.
Strigoi, in their true form, are bodiless creatures native to the Shadow Plane that are incapable of interacting with the physical world, existing only as pure forces of malevolence. When this malevolence is invited into a physical body by method of ancient rituals, though, a strigoi becomes much more dangerous. This requirement-that a living creature perform a rite of their own free will to draw the strigoi into their soul-may well be the source of a moroi's compulsion not to enter a home without first being invited.
Some myths point to Urgathoa as the source of the ritual that allowed spellcasters to become strigoi, while others suggest the method was spread by the cult of Zura. Whatever the source, this long-lost ritual was no gateway to power, but instead a trap that allowed the strigoi to inhabit the shadows and souls of once-living hosts. In so doing, they found a way to exist in the world of flesh and blood. The presence of a strigoi within the shadow of a living host causes sickness and swift death, after which the strigoi bonds with the host's soul and becomes one with the body. Thus did the first of their kind invade the world of the living, and thus did the first vampires walk the night.
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.
ShadowThis magic involves shadows or the energy of the Shadow Plane.