Mummified Creature

Mummies are undead creatures, embalmed using ancient necromantic lore. Often set as guardians for sacred sites, mummies defend their charges until destroyed. Should a mummy be unable to defend its charge for any reason, it becomes an unreasoning spirit of vengeance, hunting those who desecrated the site it was tasked to defend.

A mummy appears withered and desiccated, its features hidden beneath centuries-old funereal wrappings. It moves with a slow, shambling gait and groans with the weight of the ages. Symbols of the deity it once served often mark these horrid creatures. While other undead stink of carrion, the herbs and powders used to create a mummy give off a sharp, pungent odor, like that of a spice cabinet.

Creating a Mummified Creature

"Mummified creature" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A mummified creature speaks all the languages it spoke in life, and it has all the base creature's characteristics except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature's type changes to undead, and it gains the augmented subtype. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12.

Speed: A mummified creature's land speed decreases by 10 feet (to a minimum of 10 feet). The speeds for other movement modes are unchanged.

AC: A mummified creature's natural armor bonus is +10 or the base creature's natural armor bonus, whichever is higher.

Attack: A mummified creature retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a slam attack if it didn't already have one. If the base creature can use weapons, the mummified creature retains this ability. A mummified creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A mummified creature fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A mummified creature armed with a weapon uses its slam or a weapon, as it desires.

Damage: A mummified creature has a slam attack. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table below according to the creature's size.

SizeDamage
Fine1d2
Diminutive1d3
Tiny1d4
Small1d6
Medium1d8
Large2d6
Huge2d8
Gargantuan2d10
Colossal4d8

A mummified creature can infect a foe with mummy rot (see below) with all of its natural weapons.

Full Attack: A mummified creature fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a slam or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.

Special Attacks: A mummified creature gains the two special attacks described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 mummified creature's HD + mummified creature's Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Despair (Su): At the mere sight of a mummified creature, the viewer must make a successful Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that target cannot be affected again by that mummy's despair ability for 24 hours.

Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease - natural weapon, Fortitude DC as above, incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot persists until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below.

Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with level check, or else the spell has no effect on the afflicted character. To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot away be magically cured as any normal disease. An afflicted creature that dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand that blows away into nothing at the first wind.

Special Qualities: A mummified creature gains the special qualities described below.

Damage Reduction (Ex): A mummified creature's undead body is rough, giving it damage reduction 5/-.

Vulnerability to Fire (Ex): A mummified creature takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from fire attacks.

Abilities: A mummified creature's ability scores are modified as follows: Str +8, Int -4 (minimum 1), Wis +4, Cha +4. As an undead creature, a mummified creature has no Constitution score.

Climate/Terrain: Any.

Organization: Solitary, warden squad (2-4), or guardian detail (6-10).

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +3.

Alignment: Always lawful evil.

Level Adjustment: +4.

Mummified Characters

The process of becoming a mummy is usually involuntary, but expressing the wish to become a mummy to the proper priests (and paying the proper fees) can convince them to bring you back to life as a mummy - especially if some of your friends make sure the priests do what you paid them to do. The mummy retains all class abilities it had in life, provided that its new ability scores still allow it to use them (a wizard loses access to some spell levels, for instance). A loss of Intelligence does not retroactively remove skill points from a mummified creature.

A mummified character has the favored class it had in life, unless it is unable to continue in that class because of a change in ability score or alignment. In such a case, fighter becomes its favored class.

Sample mummified creature: Mummified Ogre.


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