Bestiary‎ > ‎(Bestiary) By Type‎ > ‎Aberrations‎ > ‎

Possessor

The horrible creature, alien in appearance, moves slowly through the air, numerous tentacles flailing beneath it as its body turns left to right, its four white eyes staring without seeing.

Possessor
 CR 5

XP 1,600
LE Medium aberration
Init +7; Senses blindsight 200 ft., detect magic, detect thoughts, hive mind 100 mi.; Perception +10
Aura unnatural aura (20 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed — (+3 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 42 (5d8+20)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +6
Defensive Abilities hive mind; Immune sight-based attacks
Weaknesses vulnerability to sonic

OFFENSE

Speed 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
Melee 4 tentacles +6 (1d4+1) or bite +6 (1d6+1 plus attach)
Special Attacks dominance (attach), psionic blast (30-ft. cone, DC 13)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th)

Constant—detect magic, detect thoughts

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 19, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +4 (+8 vs. grapple); CMD 17 (21 vs. grapple, can't be tripped)
Feats Hover, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Escape Artist +11, Fly +11, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +12, Perception +10, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +11, Survival +10
Languages Alko, Infernal, Terran, Undercommon; telepathy 120 ft.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Attach (Ex)

When not already joined to a host body, a possessor can attempt to swallow the head of a medium or small humanoid. If its bite attack hits, the possessor can attempt to grapple the humanoid as a free action. While attached to an opponent, the possessor can still use its mental assault or tentacles against other foes. The swallowed creature is subject to the creature’s dominance.

Dominance (Ex)

When attached to a possessor, the host creature suffers 1 point of Intelligence and Charisma damage per round. If a creature is reduced to 0 Intelligence or 0 Charisma, the possessor bonds with the creature and assumes control it. The possessor then has access to all the host’s motor functions, class abilities, skills, feats and equipment. If a host creature is able to break free of the possessor’s attachment, it suffers 1 point of Intelligence and Charisma drain. Being a host for a possessor is hard on the physical body. The body is only viable for 1 day per host creature hit dice before the body is “spent” and is discarded as a dead host.

Hive Mind (Ex)

All possessors within a 100-mile range are in constant communication. If one is aware of a particular danger, they all are. If one group is not flat-footed, none of them are. No possessor in a group is considered flanked unless all are flanked.

Psionic Blast (Su)

Possessors may generate a psionic blast in a 30-ft. cone. All creatures within the cone must make a DC 13 Will save or be stunned for 3 rounds. The save is Charisma-based.

Editor's Notes

The lack of flat-footed AC is not a typo.  The possessor's hive mind ability make it nearly impossible to catch the creature flat-footed.  If the situation does arise, it's flat footed AC would be 13.

Although not mentioned in the description, the attach special attack appears to give a +4 bonus to CMB and CMD concerning grappling.






Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about a Possessor. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (dungeoneering)

DC Result
DC 15 Possessors wear humanoids as a host body that they feed upon. They are not octopus-headed humanoids.
DC 20 Though possessors understand many languages they never speak, instead communicating through telepathy.
DC 25 A possessor that swallows a creature’s head soon gains access to its abilities and skills.
DC 30 Possessors see by echolocation; if those senses can be confused by magical sound or sonic spells, the floating aberration will become far less effective.



ECOLOGY

Environment any underground
Organization solitary, team (2-4) or platoon (12-24)
Treasure standard

The possessors are a race older than time itself. It is suggested by sages and scholars who have studied the creatures, that the possessors are the only survivors of a sphere of existence that was destroyed by the ancient gods. If this is true, the possessors must be billions upon billions of years old and the keepers of secrets of the creation of time and all that happened before our history began.

Wizards and planar travelers have reported the existence of possessors on every world that they have visited. Ancient historical texts on many worlds tell of strange meteor showers lasting for months. It is also reported that the possessors arrived on the world during these meteor showers, each creature snuggled inside a “heavenly rock.” The texts, from over two hundred different worlds at last count, each describe this event in the exact same way so it is either a conspiracy on a galactic scale or the truth. If it is the truth, the possessors are truly alien creatures.

There have been no reports of meteor showers bearing possessors for six million years. If this is really how the possessors came to be on every world in the known (and likely unknown) universe, there is a chance that any meteor shower could bring more of these foul beasts to a world. Those who know this story of the possessors say a silent prayer whenever they see a falling star.

There are other stories describing how the possessors came to be. These include a legend telling of how they were once a humanoid race that angered a god. The god then cursed all members of the race to live their lives without a body. The possessors proved trickier than the god and found a way to “grow” new bodies. This legend is not a popular one though there are many bards who use it as a story to frighten their audience on a dark and stormy night.

Though they are an alien race without hands, fingers, or thumbs, the possessors are an intelligent race, fully capable of constructing and using tools. Most of the equipment created by possessors is intended for use by their host bodies though there are some items that are crafted specifically for the possessor’s tentacles (see below).

Brain Box This is a small, metal box about eight inches on all sides. A hinged lid locks in place with a simple mechanical device that requires a DC 10 Dexterity check to open. The DC is increased by 5 if the individual attempting to open the box uses a humanoid hand.

Inside the box is placed a portion of an intelligent creature’s brain. The box, when closed, seals completely and preserves the brain for a period of three weeks. Possessors use brain boxes to carry fresh food for themselves in case they find themselves unable to locate a suitable host.

Larger boxes, capable of storing an entire body, are also constructed by the possessors.

Possessor Drums Made of wood and covered in stretched flesh, these drums are used by possessors in small, intimate settings. Possessors, being a hive race, do not communicate with anything other than telepathy. Still, the creatures enjoy the sound created by these drums and they enjoy sharing their “music” with others of their kind. Possessor “music” resembles that of primitive tribes.

Tentacle Spikes These short, metal spikes are strapped to the shorter tentacles of a possessor with leather bands. Once in place, these spikes enhance the damage of a possessor’s tentacle attack by +2 (to 1d4+3).

Section 15: Copyright Notice - Forgotten Foes

Forgotten Foes © 2010 Tricky Owlbear Publishing, Inc.; Authors Mark Gedak and Stefen Styrsky.