Vrykolakas MasterCreature 10

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Source Pathfinder Bestiary 2
Perception +19 (darkvision)
Languages Common
Skills Acrobatics +19, Athletics +23, Deception +19, Intimidation +21, Stealth +21, Survival +17
Str +7, Dex +5, Con +3, Int -2, Wis +3, Cha +5

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AC 30; Fort +19; Reflex +21; Will +17;
HP 190 (negative healing)
Speed 40 feet (climb 20 feet)
Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep

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Fangs +23 (+18, +13) to hit 2d12+13 Piercing
Claw +23 (+19, +15) to hit (agile) 2d8+13 Slashing

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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.

Children of the Night (divine, enchantment, mental)

The presence of a vrykolakas master inspires savage creatures to crawl forth to do its bidding, including rat swarms, wargs, werewolves, and similar creatures. The vrykolakas master can give telepathic orders to these creatures within 100 feet, but they can't communicate back.

Swift Tracker

The vrykolakas moves at full Speed while Tracking.

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.

Feral Possession (curse, divine, incapacitation, mental, necromancy, possession, animal)

Trigger The vrykolakas is reduced to 0 Hit Points, and an animal is within 100 feet

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Effect Unlike most other undead, a vrykolakas isn't destroyed when it reaches 0 HP. Instead, it attempts to cast its spirit into an animal within 100 feet, which must attempt a Will save (DC 29). On a failure, the animal is possessed. This has the effects of the Possession spell, but it lasts a number of days equal to the vrykolakas's level. This possession can't be counteracted with magic (though remove curse works against it normally).

If the animal succeeds at its save, the vrykolakas can attempt to possess a different animal within 100 feet. If at any point an animal critically succeeds at its save or no animal is within 100 feet, the vrykolakas fails to possess anything and is destroyed.

A vrykolakas possessing an animal seeks out its burial site (see Burial Site Bound below) immediately, burying itself there. While the vrykolakas is in this state of recovery, its animal host is Paralyzed, and beheading it destroys the vrykolakas and kills its host. Removing the curse destroys the vrykolakas and returns the animal to normal.

After 1d4 days, if the vrykolakas hasn't been destroyed, the animal dies and the vrykolakas rises in a new body that's identical to its previous one, formed from the animal's remains.

Pestilential Aura (aura, divine, necromancy)

5 feet, DC 29 fortitude

Creatures beginning their turn in the area while the vrykolakas is in its true form are exposed to bubonic plague.

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Bubonic Plague

This widespread illness can sweep through entire communities, leaving few unaffected. The first indication of the disease is a telltale swelling of glands. In some cases, the disease can move into your lungs (pneumonic plague) or blood (septicemic plague), which is even more fatal.

If you have bubonic plague, you can't remove the Fatigued condition while affected.

Onset 1 day

Stage 1 fatigued (1 day)

Stage 2 Enfeebled 2 and fatigued (1 day)

Stage 3 Enfeebled 3, fatigued, and take 1d6 Persistent Bleed Damage every 1d20 minutes

Vrykolakas Vulnerabilities

Vrykolakas all have the following vulnerabilities.

• Burial Site Bound A vrykolakas is bound to the place of its death or interment. It must return to this location once per week and bury itself in the earth for 24 hours, during which time it is Paralyzed and can be beheaded. If it is unable to return to this site, it is reduced to 0 Hit Points and attempts to use Feral Corruption; if this host animal can't return to the burial site before the possession effect ends, the vrykolakas is destroyed and the animal host returns to normal.
• Vulnerable to Decapitation A vrykolakas that is beheaded can't use its Feral Possession, and a beheaded corpse cannot rise as a vrykolakas.

Change Shape (concentrate, divine, polymorph, transmutation)

A vrykolakas master can transform into a form resembling the body it had in life, with the effects of Humanoid Form but with unlimited duration. It loses its fangs and claw Strikes but gains a +2 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Impersonate in this form.

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The monster changes its shape indefinitely. It can use this action again to return to its natural shape or adopt a new shape. Unless otherwise noted, a monster cannot use Change Shape to appear as a specific individual. Using Change Shape counts as creating a disguise for the Impersonate use of Deception. The monster's transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine whether the creature is a member of the ancestry or creature type into which it transformed, and it gains a +4 status bonus to its Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through its disguise. Change Shape abilities specify what shapes the monster can adopt. The monster doesn't gain any special abilities of the new shape, only its physical form. For example, in each shape, it replaces its normal Speeds and Strikes, and might potentially change its senses or size. Any changes are listed in its stat block.

Create Spawn (divine, downtime, necromancy)

If a creature dies after being reduced to 0 HP by Drink Blood, a vrykolakas master can turn this creature into a vrykolakas spawn by donating some of its own blood to the creature and burying it in earth for 3 nights.

Such vrykolakas spawn are generally friendly to the vrykolakas that created them, but they are not under its control and typically wander off on their own rampage within 1d6 days of their creation.

Dominate Animal (divine, enchantment, incapacitation, mental)

DC 29

The vrykolakas can cast Dominate at will as a divine innate spell that affects only animals. A creature that succeeds is immune to that vrykolakas's Dominate Animal for 24 hours. Destroying the vrykolakas ends the effect, but reducing it to 0 HP does not.

A dominated animal takes a -4 circumstance penalty to saving throws against the vrykolakas's Feral Possession.

Drink Blood (divine, necromancy)

Requirements The vrykolakas' last action was a successful fangs Strike

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Effect The vrykolakas sinks its fangs into that creature to drink its blood. This requires an Athletics check against the creature's Fortitude DC. On a success, the creature becomes Drained 2, and the vrykolakas regains 19 HP, gaining any excess HP as temporary Hit Points.

Drinking Blood from a creature that's already drained doesn't restore any HP to the vampire, but it increases the creature's drained condition value by 1. A vrykolakas can also consume blood that's been emptied into a vessel for sustenance, but it gains no HP from doing so.

The target creature's drained condition value 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.

Rend

Claw

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A Rend entry lists a Strike the monster has.

Requirements The monster hit the same enemy with two consecutive Strikes of the listed type in the same round.

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Effect The monster automatically deals that Strike's damage again to the enemy.

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Divine Innate Spells (DC 29, +19 to hit)

3rd Level: Fear
5th Level: Vampiric Touch

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Vrykolakas masters are sinister shapechangers. They walk undetected among the living and prey upon them like a wolf among sheep, often leaving the corpses to rise as vrykolakas spawn.

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Traits