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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardSkaveling

Hideous necromantic rituals give rise to skavelings, or ghoul bats, monstrosities that are not true ghouls but instead are specifically crafted undead creatures. Their creators are the bloodsucking urdefhans of the Darklands, who create skavelings from giant bats specially raised on diets of toxic fungus and the flesh of ghouls—especially brains harvested from these undead. Upon reaching maturity, these giant bats are ritually slain via the use of cytillesh oil. While this poison simply rots away the flesh of most creatures, one of these specially prepared bats will immediately rise from death as a skaveling after succumbing to its effects.

Despite its tattered wings and sagging skin, a skaveling is more than capable of flight, even when carrying a creature mounted on its back—urdefhans often use skavelings as mounts in this way. Their intelligence is more advanced than that of the typical giant bat, and in combat they function more as allies than as mere mounts, capable of making their own tactical decisions. Yet even though they can reason and think, skavelings remain loyal to the urdefhans who created them, and they never take actions in a fight that would knowingly put their masters in harm's way.

Recall Knowledge - Undead (Religion): DC 20
Unspecific Lore: DC 18
Specific Lore: DC 15

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

SkavelingCreature 5

Legacy Content

CE Large Undead 
Source Bestiary 2 pg. 241 2.0
Perception +10; darkvision, echolocation 40 feet
Skills Acrobatics +8, Athletics +8, Intimidation +6
Str +6, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +6, Cha +2
Echolocation A skaveling can use its hearing as a precise sense at the listed range
AC 17; Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +10
HP 80; Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious
Speed 15 feet, fly 30 feet
Melee [one-action] fangs +10 [+5/+0], Damage 2d8+8 plus ghoul fever and paralysisMelee [one-action] wing +10 [+6/+2] (agile), Damage 2d4+8 plus paralysisBone-Chilling Screech [two-actions] (auditory, emotion, fear, mental, necromancy, occult) The skaveling unleashes a horrifying screech that chills the very bones of those close enough to feel it. The screech can be heard for miles, but each creature in a 20-foot emanation must also attempt a DC 17 Will save. The skaveling can't use Bone-Chilling Screech again for 1d4 rounds.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected and is temporarily immune to Bone- Chilling Screech for 24 hours.
Success The creature is frightened 1.
Failure The creature is frightened 2.
Critical Failure The creature is frightened 2 and stunned 1 by fear.Ghoul Fever (disease) Saving Throw DC 17 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 2d6 negative damage and regains half as many Hit Points from all healing (1 day); Stage 3 as stage 2 (1 day); Stage 4 2d6 negative damage and gains no benefit from healing (1 day); Stage 5 as stage 4 (1 day); Stage 6 dead, and rises as a ghoul the next midnightParalysis (incapacitation, occult, necromancy) Any creature hit by the skaveling's Strikes must attempt a DC 17 Fortitude save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is slowed 1.
Failure The creature is paralyzed. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns, and the DC cumulatively decreases by 1 on each save.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Skaveling Intellect

As a curious side effect of its creation, a skaveling absorbs many of the memories and thoughts of the ghoul brains it was fed. While it was merely an oversized animal in life, in undeath these memories coalesce into a strange form of intelligence that affords the skaveling the ability to speak and reason, all the better to serve its urdefhan masters.