Beastwraith (CR 3)
Small Undead (Incorporeal)
Alignment: Always Neutral Evil
Initiative: +6; Senses: darkvision 60 ft., Listen +4, and Spot +4
Languages: no language, understands Sylvan
AC: 14(+1 size, +2 Dex, +1 deflection), touch 14, flat-footed 12 (50% miss chance - incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 5d12 (35 hp)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +6
Speed: fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +2; Grapple -
Attack: incorporeal touch +4 melee
Damage: Incorporeal touch 1d8 cold plus 1 Str
Special Attacks/Actions: Terrifying howl, incorporeal touch
Abilities: Str -, Dex 14, Con -, Int 6, Wis 15, Cha 13
Special Qualities: Undead immunities, incorporeal traits, create spawn, undead traits, Spell-like Abilities (CL 5th), At will - death knell (DC 13)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Toughness
Skills: Hide +8, Listen +4, Spot +4, and Survival +4
Advancement: 6-9 HD (Small); 10-15 HD (Medium)
Climate/Terrain: Any land
Organization: Solitary or groups
Treasure/Possessions: None
Source:
Dragon #357
Savage Nature (Su): Animals and magical beasts are unnerved by the presence of a beastwraith. Any such creature within 30 feet of a beastwraith must make a DC 13 Will save or become driven by a bloodlust to attack the nearest creature for 1d4 rounds. This bloodlust can cause familiars and animal companions to attack their masters. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be affected again by the same beastwraith's savage nature aura for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Terrifying Howl (Su): A beastwraith can, as a standard action, unleash a terrifying howl. Any living creature within 60 feet who hears this howl becomes shaken for 1d4 minutes. A DC 13 Will save negates this condition. Those creatures who are already shaken become frightened for 1d4 rounds instead. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Create Spawn (Su): Any animal or magical beast slain by a beastwraith's death knell ability immediately rises as a beastwraith. This new undead is not under the control of its creator.
Beastwraiths have ever-shifting forms, often appearing as native, albeit albino, versions of local animals. When they get close enough, they often howl before closing in to attack with their incorporeal touch. If numerous foes were shaken by their first howl, they often howl a second time to attempt to frighten them. Beastwraiths always attempt to howl before approaching within 30 feet of an animal or magical beast so their savage nature aura has a greater chance of success.
When beastwraiths fight in groups for more powerful champions of nature they act as front-line fighters, using their combined howls to scatter enemies to hunt them down and slay them individually.
Beastwraiths usually attack alone, although they often either serve or tag along behind other creatures with reputations for humanoid-slaying - particularly those allied with nature. They are also known to gather in swarms of their own kind in regions devastated enough to produce such numbers, ranging from small groups to massive packs.
Beastwraiths are malevolent spirits that form when a large number of animals are killed and left to rot, such as through years of sport hunting, great forest fires, or magical cataclysms. Each beastwraith is a composite being formed from the spectral remains of many such animals, although its form is incorporeal its shape seems to change between those animals that created it, such as vipers, wolves, and hawks. They long for retribution against the creatures responsible for their deaths (almost always humanoids).
Incorporeal Subtype
Some creatures are incorporeal by nature, while others (such as those that become ghosts) can acquire the incorporeal subtype. An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. It has immunity to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells, including touch spells or magic weapons, it has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Non-damaging spell attacks affect incorporeal creatures normally unless they require corporeal targets to function (such as the spell implosion) or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally ignore (such as a web or wall of stone spell). Although it is not a magical attack, a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal undead creature.
An incorporeal creature's natural weapons affect both in incorporeal and corporeal targets, and pass through (ignore) corporeal natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Attacks made by an incorporeal creature with a nonmagical melee weapon have no effect on corporeal targets, and any melee attack an incorporeal creature makes with a magic weapon against a corporeal target has a 50% miss chance except for attacks it makes with a ghost touch weapon, which are made normally (no miss chance).
Any equipment worn or carried by an incorporeal creature is also incorporeal as long as it remains in the creature's possession. An object that the creature relinquishes loses its incorporeal quality (and the creature loses the ability to manipulate the object). If an incorporeal creature uses a thrown weapon or a ranged weapon, the projectile becomes corporeal as soon as it is fired and can affect a corporeal target normally (no miss chance). Magic items possessed by an incorporeal creature work normally with respect to their effects on the creature or another target. Similarly, spells cast by an incorporeal creature affect corporeal creatures normally.
An incorporeal creature has no natural armor bonus but has a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma bonus (always at least +1, even if the creature's Charisma score does not normally provide a bonus).
An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid object but must remain adjacent to the object's exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see clearly and attack normally, a incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.
Incorporeal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as they do in air. Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage. Incorporeal creature cannot make trip or grapple attacks against corporeal creatures, nor can they be tripped or grappled by such creatures. In fact, they cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate a corporeal being or its equipment, nor are they subject to such actions. Incorporeal creatures have no weight and do not set off traps that are triggered by weight.
An incorporeal creature moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn't wish to be. It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Non-visual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see.