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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardGrim Reaper

The Grim Reaper is the unflinching personification of death. Silent as the grave and as inevitable as time itself, this legendary being hunts down and finishes creatures that have evaded death for far too long. Sometimes the Grim Reaper comes without warning, while at others it comes to finish the work that other creatures could not. The Grim Reaper serves no god, fiend, or aeon. It is both despised and feared by psychopomps and celestials, but few—if any—dare to stand in its way. Like some eternal plague, it kills those who try to cure the multiverse of its presence. It stands alone and holds only its own council, and the pleading and reasoning of mortals and immortals alike fall on deaf ears once the Grim Reaper closes on its quarry. Its own reasoning is silent to mortal ears and inscrutable to the mortal mind, but no matter the reason, the result is unyielding and final.

While some legends hold that the Grim Reaper appears before everyone as they die, the truth is quite a bit more disturbing. Such vigils in fact lie within the providence of the psychopomps, a race of immortals charged with the protection and guidance of mortal souls through the afterlife. The Grim Reaper has little interest in protecting souls or guiding them. It is instead compelled by sinister agendas arising within the nighted realm of Abaddon, where the Horsemen of the Apocalypse rule. Indeed there are many similarities in shape and form between the Grim Reaper and Charon, the Horseman of Death, but no recorded instance exists of these two powerful entities working together. Instead, the Grim Reaper serves as something of a manifestation of Abaddon itself, and in this regard is believed by some to be an incarnation of the mysterious First Horseman. When the Grim Reaper comes to a world, it does so not as an angel of mercy, but as a relentless harvester of life. Those who fall to the Grim Reaper were not destined to die as much as they were selected, hunted, and murdered.

Perhaps the most frightening legends surrounding the Grim Reaper concern its nature as a singular entity, for some believe that more than one grim reaper exists in the Great Beyond. These whispers tell of a cabal of at least nine of these creatures that stalk reality, culling the living as inexplicable servants of true entropy. According to the teaching of some death cults, the final goal of the Grim Reaper is to end the entire cycle of life and death and serve as a silent lord of an empty universe.

Recall Knowledge - Undead (Religion): DC 52
Unspecific Lore: DC 50
Specific Lore: DC 47

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Changes from being Elite are marked in red below.
NOTE: The +2 damage bonus to non-strike offensive abilities (+4 if the ability is limited, such as spells) is NOT factored in.

Elite Grim ReaperCreature 22

Legacy Content

Unique NE Medium Undead 
Source Bestiary pg. 196
Perception +43; darkvision, see invisibility, status sight, true seeing
Languages Common, Necril
Skills Acrobatics +45, Athletics +40, Deception +42, Intimidation +45, Religion +41, Society +38, Stealth +45
Str +8, Dex +10, Con +8, Int +5, Wis +7, Cha +8
Death’s Grace The grim reaper can choose whether or not it counts as undead for effects that affect undead differently. Even if it does not count as undead, the grim reaper still never counts as a living creature.
Status Sight The grim reaper automatically knows the Hit Points, conditions, afflictions, and emotions of all creatures it can see.
Items scythe
AC 49; Fort +39, Ref +43, Will +40; +1 status to all saves vs. magic
HP 350 (negative healing); Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious; Resistances all damage 15
Aura of Misfortune (aura, divination, divine, misfortune) 20 feet. Living creatures in the aura must roll twice on all d20 rolls and use the lower result. Negative Healing The grim reaper can choose whether or not it takes positive damage. Lurking Death [reaction] (teleportation); Trigger A creature within 100 feet makes a ranged attack or uses an action that has the concentrate, manipulate, or move trait. Effect The grim reaper teleports to a square adjacent to the triggering creature and makes a melee Strike against it. If the Strike hits, the grim reaper disrupts the triggering action.
Speed 50 feet, fly 75 feet
Melee [one-action] keen scythe +42 [+38/+34] (agile, deadly 3d10, magical, reach 10 feet, trip), Damage 4d10+2+23 slashing plus death strike and energy drainDivine Innate Spells DC 49, attack +39 (+4 dmg); 10th finger of death (x4); 7th plane shift; Constant (6th) true seeing; (3rd) haste; (2nd) see invisibility
Death Strike (death) A creature critically hit by any of the grim reaper’s attacks or that critically fails against any of its spells must succeed at a DC 49 Fortitude save or die.Energy Drain When the grim reaper hits and deals damage with its scythe, it regains 20 Hit Points, and the target must succeed at a DC 45 Fortitude save or become doomed 1. If the target is already doomed, the doomed value increases by 1 (to a maximum of doomed 3).Final Death A creature killed by the grim reaper can’t be brought back to life by any means short of divine intervention.Infuse Weapon (divine, evocation) Any scythe gains the agile trait, can’t be disarmed, and becomes a +3 major striking keen scythe while the grim reaper wields it. If the grim reaper Strikes a creature with a weakness to any specific type of damage, the scythe’s damage counts as that type of damage, in addition to slashing.

All Monsters in "Grim Reaper"

NameLevel
Grim Reaper21
Lesser Death16

Grim Reaper

Source Bestiary pg. 196
This entry did not have a separate description for the family.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Dead Man's Hand

Decks of cards are a traditional method used to tell a person’s fortune, but legends hold that certain cards or combinations of unfortunate draws can attract the attention of the grim reaper. Specialized fortune-telling decks, such as the Harrow, might not feature the visage of the grim reaper directly, but to the paranoid, death could lurk in any unfortunate hand of cards.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Dead Man's Hand

Decks of cards are a traditional method used to read a person's fortune, but legends say that certain cards can attract the attention of the Grim Reaper. Specialized fortune-telling decks, such as the harrow, might not feature the visage of the Grim Reaper directly, but to the fearful, death could lurk in any unlucky draw.

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Grim Reaper Treasure

The grim reaper keeps no treasure, but sometimes lesser deaths hang on to strange keepsakes from those whom they have slain—especially in cases where a lesser death has set its unholy sight on an extended family or faction.

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Grim Reaper Treasure

The Grim Reaper keeps no treasure, but sometimes lesser deaths hang on to strange keepsakes from those whom they have slain—especially in cases where a lesser death has set its unholy sight on an extended family or faction.