Wraith, Sea (CR 5)

Medium Undead (Incorporeal)
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Senses: darkvision 60 ft., Listen +9, and Spot +9


AC: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 deflection), touch 16, flat-footed 13
Hit Dice: 5d12 (32 hp)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +5
Speed: Fly 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
Space: 15 ft./15 ft.
Base Attack +2; Grapple -
Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee
Damage: Incorporeal touch 1d6 cold
Special Attacks/Actions: Create spawn, deep chill, surround
Abilities: Str -, Dex 16, Con -, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 18
Special Qualities: incorporeal traits, sunlight powerlessness, undead traits
Feats: Combat Reflexes; Improved Initiative
Skills: Hide +11 (+19 in aquatic environments), Intimidate +12, Listen +9, and Spot +9
Advancement: 6-9 HD (Medium); 10-15 HD (Large)
Climate/Terrain: Cold aquatic
Organization: Solitary
Treasure/Possessions: None (except for Umberlees Cache)

Source: City of Splendors: Waterdeep

Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid reduced to 0 Strength by a sea wraith dies and becomes a sea wraith in 2d4 rounds unless the body is removed from the water or a protection from evil spell is cast upon the body before the transformation occurs. The new sea wraith possesses no abilities or memories of life, nor is it under any command other than to kill those who would approach or touch the treasures that it guards.

Surround (Ex): As a standard action, a sea wraith can attempt to surround a single opponent of its size or smaller. It does not need to make a touch attack during the round in which it attempts to surround its foe. The sea wraith merely has to move into the opponent's space. Opponents can make attacks of opportunity against the sea wraith, but they are not entitled to a saving throw against being surrounded if they do so. An opponent that does not attempt an attack of opportunity must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex save or be surrounded; on a success, the opponent is moved back or aside one square as the sea wraith moves forward. A sea wraith uses its deep chill attack in the round when it surrounds its foe and at the beginning of its turn on each subsequent round.

A surrounded foe is blinded while it remains in the same square as the creature, as the sea wraith's misty form prevents the foe from seeing out of its own square or squares. Creatures striking at the sea wraith automatically strike the surrounded creature as well, unless their attack does not affect a corporeal target. A surrounded foe can attack the sea wraith with any melee weapon or natural weapon' suitable for use in a grapple (the wraith wraps the victim so closely that larger weapons just can't be brought to bear), but there is no penalty for attacking with such a weapon.

A surrounded foe is not grappled or prevented from moving, but if it moves, the sea wraith automatically moves with it. In order to free itself, a surrounded foe must move into sunlight (in which case the wraith releases it immediately and flees for darkness at the first opportunity) or attempt to escape as a standard action. The victim makes an Escape Artist check, opposed by the sea wraith's touch attack modifier (usually +6).

Deep Chill (Su): A sea wraith that surrounds a victim or that begins its turn surrounding a victim cloaks its opponent in the chill of the abyssal depths, dealing 3d6 Points of cold damage and 1d4 points of Strength damage per round. A successful Fortitude save reduces the cold damage by half and negates the Strength damage.

Incorporeal Traits: A sea wraith is harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. It has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source, except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. It can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore natural armor, armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against it. An incorporeal creature always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn't wish to be.

Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex): A sea wraith is utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flees from it. A sea wraith in natural sunlight immediately releases an engulfed victim.

Skills: A sea wraith is nigh-invisible in its underwater environment and has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks in aquatic environments.

A sea wraith attacks with its chill touch, and it takes full advantage of its dark environment, often attacking from a nonstandard location, such as from directly beneath or above a victim, since many targets are not used to fighting in an aquatic environment. (As an incorporeal creature, a sea wraith can move and fight in water with no penalty.) A sea wraith always seeks to surround a humanoid foe and destroy it with its deep chill ability.

Sea wraiths are cloaklike spirits that guard the treasures of the depths. They are servitors of Umberlee, the Bitch Queen.

In Waterdeep, they serve as guardians of Umberlee's Cache, dwelling in the lightless depths of Deepwater Harbor. They attack anyone who violates the sanctity of the Bitch Queen's tithing-place, but they do not pursue interlopers who flee the Cache and its immediate vicinity. Some say they push or pull their victims deeper into the Cache to make them sacrifices to Umberlee.

A sea wraith cannot speak, although those who escape its grip claim to have heard an infernal moaning that nearly overwhelmed their senses.

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.