Friday, November 25, 2016

Frightful Fridays! (Thanksgiving Week Spectacular) Pyton

Hello and welcome back for the final Thanksgiving week monster! I hope those of you who celebrated had a good holiday and Black Friday is treating you OK, whichever side of the counter you happen to be on. The overstuffed feeling from Thanksgiving is both a pleasant and painful feeling, so today's monster plays on that theme, coinciding with the kytons' MO. The original plan was to have a weird pie-throwing monster that causes its victims to explode after eating the pie. It wandered from goofy to creepy as I continued to work on its design. I hope you like the result.

Thanks for reading all week! I'll have an announcement later today, after you've had time to "digest" this monster. Also, please don't forget to enter a monster for this year's Here Be Monsters contest. We've received some great entries, but we definitely have room for more! http://aswordforhire.blogspot.fi/2016/11/here-be-monsters-3-from-beyond-stars.html



Chains covered in eerily enticing pastries and pies cover the bulk of this corpulent humanoid, but its flesh oozes through the chain links. A pleasant smell, tinged with a hint of rot, wafts from the creature.
Pyton      CR 4
XP 1,200
LE Medium outsider (evil, extraplanar, kyton, lawful)
Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 9, flat-footed 17 (–1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 45 (6d10+12); regeneration 2 (good weapons and spells)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +5
Defensive Abilities sweet flesh; DR 5/good or silver; Immune cold; Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee spiked chain +9/+4 (2d4+4), bite +4 (1d6+4 plus grab)
Special Attacks overfeed, unnerving gaze (30 ft., DC 15)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +14)
   At will—putrefy food and drinkAPG (DC 13)
   3/day—feast of ashesAPG (DC 15)
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 15
Base Atk +6; CMB +9 (+13 grapple); CMD 18
Feats Endurance, Power Attack, Spell Focus (transmutation)
Skills Craft (alchemy) +11, Diplomacy +11, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (planes) +11, Perception +12, Profession (cook) +12, Sense Motive +12, Sleight of Hand +8
Languages Common, Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Plane of Shadow)
Organization solitary, pair, buffet (3–8)
Treasure standard (gourmet food, culinary recipes, etc.)
SPECIAL ABILTIES
Feats of Ashes (Sp) A creature that eats flesh from the pyton staves off the starvation effect from the pyton’s feast of ashes for 1 day.
Overfeed (Ex) A pyton can feed its flesh or food on hand to a helpless creature or one it has pinned. The victim must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or become painfully full. On the first failed save, the victim becomes sickened for 1d4 rounds. On the second failed save, the victim becomes nauseated for 1d6 rounds and then sickened for 1d4 hours. On the third failed save, the victim becomes paralyzed for 1d8 rounds, nauseated for 1d6 minutes, and then sickened for 2d6 hours. On the fourth failed save, the victim dies. If all conditions have expired for the victim, it acts as if it had failed one fewer saving throw; after 24 hours, the number of saves resets completely. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Sweet Flesh (Su) A creature that successfully bites a pyton (or is fed via its overfeed special ability) must succeed at a DC 15 Will save or continue to make bite attacks against the pyton. A creature with bite attacks that count as silver or good does not suppress a pyton’s regeneration. This is a mind-affecting, compulsion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Unnerving Gaze (Ex) A creature that succumbs to a pyton’s unnerving gaze becomes sickened for 1d6 rounds as it imagines itself eating flesh from the pyton and from its companions. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Pytons are gourmands among kytons, sampling flesh from a variety of creatures and spreading the pleasure and pain of gluttony to others. They also enjoy the exquisite pain caused by others feasting on their bodies. Pytons insinuate themselves among their prey, offering delicious meals tainted with their flesh and with judicious use of feast of ashes. They then welcome creatures hungry for more, binding their dinner guests in chains and feeding them until their bodies burst through the chains, killing them. Pytons bring victims to the threshold of death by overfilling their bodies with high-quality food and then allow their stomachs to settle for a couple of hours before repeating the process.