Audbrey Aldamori, Vampire Aristocrat

Vampire

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Male human vampire fighter 11/aristocrat 2

During Combat: Audbrey first attacks spellcasters using energy drain and then uses dominate on melee targets.

Morale: Audbrey fights until forced into gaseous form.

Blood Drain (Su) Audbrey can suck blood from a grappled opponent; if he establishes or maintains a pin, he drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage. Audbrey heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points for 1 hour (up to a 145 temporary hit points) each round he drains blood.

Change Shape (Su) Audbrey can use change shape to assume the form of a dire bat or wolf, as beast shape II.

Children of the Night (Su) Once per day, Audbrey can call forth 1d6+1 rat swarms, 1d4+1 bat swarms, or 2d6 wolves. These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve him for up to 1 hour.

Create Spawn (Su) Audbrey can create spawn out of humanoids he slays with blood drain or energy drain. The victim rises from death as a vampire in 1d4 days. This vampire is under Audbrey’s command and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. Audbrey may have enslaved spawn totaling no more than 26 Hit Dice; any spawn he creates that would exceed this limit become free-willed undead.

Audbrey may free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or vampire spawn cannot be enslaved again.

Dominate (Su) Audbrey can crush a humanoid opponent’s will as a standard action. Anyone he targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under his influence, as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.

Energy Drain (Su) A creature hit by Audbrey’s slam gains two negative levels. This ability only triggers once per round, regardless of the number of attacks Audbrey makes.

Gaseous Form (Su) As a standard action, Audbrey can assume gaseous form at will (caster level 5th), and can remain gaseous indefinitely, with a fly speed of 20 feet and perfect maneuverability.

Shadowless (Ex) Audbrey casts no shadows and shows no reflection in a mirror.

Spider Climb (Ex) Audbrey can climb sheer surfaces as though under the effects of a spider climb spell.

Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Horrors Revisited “You want to dig a grave good and deep, so’s they don’t have too easy a time climbing back out. And make sure that coffin’s nailed tight before you drop it in. Hardwood’s best, good oak or cedar, but most folks’ll want to save a few coppers and just go with pine. I’d say more than half the walking dead in these parts came out of shoddy coffins and shallow graves, but what can you do? Now if you see one of ’em wandering around, don’t lose your wits. Them zombies’re usually pretty slow, and a good whack or two to the side of the head with a shovel’ll usually put ’em down again. O’ course, if it’s one of the fast ones, there’s naught else to do but run and hope you’re faster than it is. How fast you think you are, boy, eh?”

—Efram Gall, gravedigger, Twisted Tree Necropolis Chapter Nine Walking Dead Walking Dead G rinning skulls of bleached bone. Empty eye sockets aglow with pale, unholy light. Slack masks of rotting flesh, devoid of human emotion and intelligence.

These are the faces of the walking dead, clattering skeletons come to life and corpses risen from the grave, shambling mindlessly forward, hungry for human flesh.

Skeletons and zombies are the most simple, and therefore the most widespread of all the undead. Little more than dead bodies animated through foul necromantic rituals, skeletons and zombies are usually just unthinking automatons, mindlessly following their creators’ commands. Fearsome exceptions do exist, however—skeletons and zombies who have somehow managed to retain the intelligence and cunning to fanatically wage war against the living.

The walking dead normally serve as the simple tools of evil priests and wizards who have animated cadavers through the use of spells such as animate dead. While most skeletons and zombies are the products of such necromantic magics, other methods of creating the walking dead have been recorded. Rare alchemical concoctions can rot the f lesh or melt it from bone, and give the corpse some semblance of life. Certain powerful curses can also cause a person to rise as a zombie upon death, often to take revenge on those still living.

However, skeletons and zombies have also been known to arise spontaneously, usually as a result of another powerful undead creature nearby. Certain areas with a strong necromantic aura or a history of killing—such as battlefields and long-forgotten sacrificial altars—or places where a significant number of people have died violently, as with a mass grave or the sites of massacre, can spontaneously produce the living dead as well. Undead generated by such processes are masterless and follow no commands, though they may display an instinctive ability to work together or with more intelligent undead, at least as far as their simple consciousnesses can comprehend.

Necrology An animated skeleton looks exactly like the skeleton of the creature it was in life, completely stripped of all muscles, organs, and flesh. If a corpse is animated as a skeleton, all of the flesh falls from its frame, leaving just bare bones. In some cases, the skeleton’s empty eye sockets glow with a pale, sickly light. Beyond that, there can be considerable differences in the appearance of skeletons. The bones of newly created skeletons may shine white and smooth, while those of older skeletons are often cracked and yellowed with age. Zombies, on the other hand, keep the flesh on their bones, but it often festers and rots, becoming chunks of putrescence that eventually fall from their bodies.

Skeletons are surprisingly quick, and some still bear broken armor and weapons. In contrast, most zombies are sluggish and slow, but incredibly tough, and rely on their fists to bludgeon opponents. Both types of walking dead are difficult to hurt—swords do little against the hardened bones of skeletons, while bludgeoning and piercing weapons have little effect on a zombie’s decaying flesh. These undead monstrosities typically ignore wounds that would kill a human, and must literally be dismembered before the negative energy animating them dissipates.

The walking dead have little impact on their environment, unless ordered to scour an area by their creators. Although unintelligent, they do seem to possess an instinctive hatred for the living, and usually attack even if not given the order to do so. As undead, skeletons and zombies have no need of food, but unsettling reports continue to surface of zombies devouring the brains of those they kill, though the reasons behind such disturbing behavior are not clear.

Habitat & Society Zombies and skeletons frequently inhabit the same environments they did in life, although they are most commonly found in crypts, tombs, ruins, graveyards, and necropolises. Cheap and relatively easy to create, the walking dead are often used by evil necromancers to guard their lairs, and are a regular feature of evil temples, particularly those dedicated to gods of death. An overzealous creator may end up with more undead than he can control, resulting in “wild” undead that roam far from where they were created.

As mindless corpses, skeletons and zombies possess no social structure. Everything they do is at their creators’ whims. In the absence of a master, a solitary individual may claim territory of a sort—a single crypt or a short section of dungeon hallway—guarding it and attacking any living thing that trespasses. Zombies often congregate in packs, but this seems to be an instinctive hunting reflex rather than a conscious decision, as even when found together, the walking dead do not coordinate their actions or attacks.

Occasionally, a large mixed group of skeletons or zombies spontaneously arises, usually at the site of a particularly bloody battle or other scene of carnage. These armies of the walking dead, known as legions, are rolling catastrophes that massacre everything in their path. With no living master to direct them, the army’s deceased generals often become skeletal champions, holding fast to their intelligence and leading the legion as they did in life. In some cases, they continue to follow the orders they were given while still alive, but more commonly they set out on a campaign of senseless slaughter and destruction. Living armies frequently prove no match for the relentless, untiring onslaught of an undead legion, which can devastate vast swaths of countryside, depopulating entire villages and adding the slain to their ranks. Fortunately, such spontaneous legions are rare occurrences, and usually disband of their own accord once their mindless fury has been spent, or when they have achieved whatever mysterious goal was the impetus behind their genesis in the first place.

Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Horrors Revisited While the mindless undead themselves worship no gods, those who create them commonly venerate one of three unholy faiths. The Pallid Princess Urgathoa, goddess of disease and undeath, remains the most popular choice among necromancers, and many of her priests regularly create undead, particularly favoring plague zombies. Other necromancers pay homage to Orcus, the Prince of Undeath, demon lord of necromancy and the undead, though his cult is small in comparison with Urgathoa’s. Finally, many necromancers seeking eternal unlife, as well as those few walking dead who have retained their minds, often follow the tenets of the Whispering Way in their quest to achieve the ultimate state of lichdom. Of course, the follower of any evil deity (or tolerant neutral one) may create undead, resulting in Abadaran vault guardians, Gorumite war-skeletons, and so on.

Campaign Role Traditional humanoid skeletons and zombies are most frequently used as low-level minions, disposable enemies that heroic PCs can destroy without remorse or quarter. They offer little threat at higher levels, and are often easily destroyed by the channeled energy of a party’s cleric. Used properly, however, the walking dead can be challenging opponents at all levels of play. Besides using variant skeletons and zombies with new abilities to surprise players, remember that other non-humanoid monsters can become walking dead as well. Skeletal champions mounted on warhorse skeletons, demonic or infernal zombies, skeletal dinosaurs come to life, giant zombie rocs, or even intelligent skeletal dragons might make for interesting undead opponents.

Large numbers of undead can be an additional challenge. A skeleton may have only 4 hit points, but when the PCs are all that stands between a horde of a hundred skeletons and the residents of a hapless village, they may not seem like such easy foes after all. A whole crypt or dungeon full of undead soon exhausts a cleric’s channeled energy, requiring the PCs to come up with more inventive ways of overcoming the infestation of walking dead.

Faces of Death The simple, tottering skeleton and mindless, shambling zombie are the stereotypical image of the walking dead, but these undead horrors come in highly variable forms. Bloody skeletons, burning skeletons, fast zombies, plague zombies, and deadly intelligent skeletal champions are the best-known variants, but the walking dead are a diverse lot, and many more varieties might stalk moonlit graveyards and haunted crypts, each possessing its own strange and unique abilities. Although some common forms are listed below, in many cases these variant abilities may be applied to either skeletons or zombies, unless common sense dictates otherwise (such as a gasburst skeleton). Likewise, except as noted, the following variations can be stacked with one another—it’s possible to have an exploding acid skeleton, for example.

Acid Skeleton: The bones of an acid skeleton constantly ooze caustic acid. An acid skeleton’s melee attacks deal an additional 1d6 points of acid damage, and anyone striking an acid skeleton with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of acid damage. Acid skeletons lose their immunity to cold but gain immunity to acid. An acid skeleton’s Charisma is 12. Other energy types, such as electric skeletons or frost skeletons, can be applied in a similar fashion. (CR +1) Alchemical Zombie: This zombie has been created through alchemical processes rather than necromantic magic. As such, positive energy has less effect on it, giving it channel resistance +2. Its alchemically treated flesh is also more resistant to damage, granting it an additional +2 bonus to its natural Armor Class above that which it gains based on its size. (CR +1) The Nature of Evil “Skeletons and zombies are evil, even though they are mindless. This is because undeath itself is a naturally evil force, just as fire is naturally hot. While life and death exist in a cycle, neither is inherently good or evil, for creatures must die to feed others and make room for new life, which in turn must die to make room for even newer life. Undeath, by contrast, is a perversion of the natural order; an endless state that is neither life nor death, and a power that only corrupts and consumes. Vampires and brain-hungry zombies cannot create new life or sustain other life, they can only destroy life and propagate their kind until the world is filled with undying predators and no prey. Even things built with the power of undeath are merely perversions and mockeries of life, whether an animate corpse or an intelligent palace made of bones.

“This is not to say that all necromancers are evil or the school of necromantic magic is inherently evil. Necromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force—the magic of death and the magic of undeath are two different things. A circle of death spell uses the power of death to snuff out life, but it is no more evil than stabbing a creature with a sword. Some argue that magic is just a tool, and how a tool is used determines whether the act is good or evil, but a counterargument holds that some tools are specifically designed to be used for evil, like implements of torture. Worse, some tools are inherently evil, and want to be used for evil. If fire always burned the innocent and spared the guilty, fire would be evil. Undeath is an inherently evil source of power, designed to corrupt and destroy life for no purpose other than hatred and because it can. There are exceptional, intelligent undead that are not evil, just as there are extremely rare demons and devils who become good, but evil is the norm because their essence is evil.”

—Dhauken Tor, First Speaker of the Wise Council of the Arcanamirium, Absalom Walking Dead Brain-eating Zombie: These terrifying zombie variants feed on humanoid brains. They gain a bite attack that deals damage based on the zombie’s size, and the grab special attack, usable against opponents of the zombie’s own size or smaller. When an opponent dies, the zombie uses its next turn to feast upon its victim’s brain, making spells that require a complete corpse (such as raise dead) useless. Anyone killed after being bitten by a brain-eating zombie rises as a brain-eating zombie in 2d6 hours unless the corpse is blessed or similar preventative measures are taken. (CR +0) Cursed Zombie: Created as the result of a powerful curse rather than through necromantic spells, cursed zombies can bestow a curse upon their victims.

A cursed zombie gains the curse special attack, delivered with its slam attack. Zombie curse (Su) slam; save Will DC = 10 + 1/2 the zombie’s Hit Dice + the zombie’s Cha modifier; frequency —; effect as bestow curse; cure —. (CR +1) Exploding Skeleton: Also called “bone bombs,” an exploding skeleton detonates in a burst of razor-sharp bone fragments when it dies. Anyone within 10 feet of the skeleton when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of damage per hit die of the skeleton (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 the skeleton’s Hit Dice + the skeleton’s Cha modifier) halves this damage.

Bloody, burning, and multiplying skeletons cannot be exploding skeletons. (CR +0) Gasburst Zombie: These bloated zombies are filled with toxic gas. When a gasburst zombie dies, it explodes in a cloud of noxious vapors which fill a 10-foot cube surrounding the zombie. Gasburst zombies are commonly filled with burnt othur fumes or ungol dust, but any poisonous gas may be used. Gas burst zombies have DR 5/ piercing instead of DR 5/slashing. (CR depends on poison used, usually +1) Host Corpse: This skeleton or zombie has been infested with a swarm of vermin or Tiny undead creatures that it releases from its body. Skeletal hosts often hold carrionstorms (see Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #2) or bat swarms in their rib cages, while zombie hosts frequently carry locusts or flesh-eating cockroach swarms (see Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #13) inside their rotting husks. Acid, bloody, and burning skeletons cannot be host corpses. (CR +0, with the swarm’s CR counting as a separate creature) Magus: These variant skeletal champions and zombie lords are minor spellcasters (typically 5th-level or less) that have retained both their intelligence and their spellcasting abilities. Magus skeletons and zombies gain Silent Spell as a bonus feat. (CR +1 plus caster level) Mudra Skeleton: Sometimes known as “whirlwind skeletons,” mudra skeletons are created with four or more arms, each capable of wielding a weapon. A mudra skeleton’s Dexterity increases by +4 (instead of +2), and it gains Multiweapon Fighting and Weapon Finesse as bonus feats. (CR +1) Multiplying Skeleton: This fearsome skeleton variant grows into more skeletons if destroyed. When a multiplying skeleton is destroyed, its bones reform 1d4 rounds later into two smaller multiplying skeletons with half the Hit Dice of the original.

Each resulting multiplying skeleton continues to reform into smaller and smaller sizes. A Colossal multiplying skeleton splits into two Huge skeletons, a Gargantuan skeleton becomes two Large skeletons, a Huge skeleton reforms as two Medium skeletons, and so on, until the skeleton’s Hit Dice can no longer be halved or the resulting skeletons would be Diminutive or smaller, at which point the skeletons are finally destroyed. Bloody, burning, and exploding skeletons cannot be multiplying skeletons. (CR +1) Relentless Zombie: These have all the powers of fast zombies, and also gain a Climb speed equal to half the base creature’s land speed, the scent special ability, a +4 racial bonus to Survival checks to track by smell, and two additional Hit Dice. (CR +1) Skeletal Archer: While not as intelligent or skilled as skeletal champions, skeletal archers are nevertheless a welcome addition to any undead army. Skeletal archers gain Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot as bonus feats. (CR +0) Zombie Lord: Zombie lords are the fleshy counterparts to skeletal champions, rare zombies who have somehow managed to retain their intelligence. Use the normal zombie template for the zombie lord’s Armor Class, base save bonuses, speed, melee attacks, base attack bonus, and damage reduction. Use the skeletal champion template for the zombie lord’s Hit Dice, skills, and ability scores. Zombie lords gain channel resistance +4 and Toughness as a bonus feat. A zombie lord does not gain the staggered special quality. (CR as a zombie of the same Hit Dice +1.) Known Walking Dead The following are some of the more notorious walking dead of Golarion.

The Army of Erlexian Thool: Known as the Sorcerer of Barrow Knoll, this tiefling necromancer claims to be the scion of a powerful Gebbite Blood Lord and the demon lord Zura, the Vampire Queen. Regardless of the veracity of such grandiose assertions, Erlexian is obsessed with all things undead. Driven Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Horrors Revisited from a succession of cities across Avistan for grave robbing and suspected murder, Erlexian now makes his home in a crumbling tower on the outskirts of the River Kingdoms village of Barrow Knoll. Having exhausted the supply of cadavers from the many surrounding tombs that give the village its name, Erlexian turned to the living inhabitants of the town, demanding each household supply him with one fresh body or face retribution. Fearing the powerful wizard within their midst, the terrified villagers had little choice but to comply. Barrow Knoll is now a gloomy, troubled place, almost deserted, as Erlexian’s undead minions patrol the village every night, capturing anyone who strays out of doors in order to fuel their master’s mania. Meanwhile, Erlexian concentrates on his depraved experiments, surrounding himself with zombie footmen and skeletal servants created from the village’s unfortunate populace. The Blazing Cavalier: Though his original name has been lost to history, the burning skeletal champion known as the Blazing Cavalier was once a hero of the Shining Crusade, a member of the famed Knights of Ozem. In one of the Knights’ many battles against the Whispering Tyrant, the warrior was slain by the witch-king, incinerated in eldritch fire until nothing but charred bones remained. So dedicated was he to his cause, however, that not even death could stop the knight’s righteous fury. His skeleton rose from where it had fallen, still burning, and he rejoined the fight. After Tar-Baphon’s eventual defeat, the Blazing Cavalier vanished into the Hungry Mountains, but reports of a flaming, armored knight patrolling the mountains and fighting orcs, undead, and other evil creatures have surfaced again and again over the centuries. Popular tales in Lastwall say that the Blazing Cavalier is waiting for Tar-Baphon’s inevitable return, at which time the knight will face the Whispering Tyrant before the gates of Gallowspire one last time and slay the lich lord once and for all. Only then will the Blazing Cavalier crumble to dust, finally at peace.

The Gillamoor Plague: Following the Goblinblood Wars, many of Isger’s villages fell to fire or the sword. Gillamoor, near the charred eaves of the Chitterwood, was one of the lucky ones to survive that devastation, but recent reports from merchant caravans reaching Elidir bear disquieting news. Something evil has befallen the village of Gillamoor, and the normally fearless caravan guards of Druma’s Mercenary League turn white-faced and trembling as they recount how the village’s residents have apparently transformed from simple peasants into ravenous, undead monsters, fiendishly quick and devilishly hard to kill. Rumor now has it that Gillamoor has been quarantined, and that the Isgeri army is looking for volunteers to enter the village to end the threat. Leylani Marakhoum: Fifty years ago, the young, beautiful, and narcissistic Gebbite aristocrat Leylani Marakhoum was horrified to see her beauty fading with age. A casual follower of the Whispering Way, Leylani decided to preserve her beauty by becoming a lich. Unfortunately, having dropped out of the Mortuarium, Leylani’s magical skills never surpassed those of an apprentice, and her amateur rituals only resulted in transforming her into a magus zombie, a rotten corpse with none of the power or prestige of a lich. No longer the popular socialite of her youth, Leylani now spends her days religiously applying unguent of revivification and other more mundane cosmetics in a vain attempt to stave off the decay of her disintegrating, putrid flesh. Insane with jealousy, Leylani has begun secretly murdering attractive young debutantes and animating them into ghastly, mindless zombies under her control.

The Sleeping Knights of Ras-Jajan: When the self-styled Necromancer-King Ras-Jajan attacked Absalom in 3692 ar, he and his undead army were soundly defeated. Although the would-be conqueror’s body was never found, he left behind his fortress, one of the many siege castles littering the Cairnlands around the city. The sole survivor of an adventuring band that braved the depths of Ras-Jajan’s Refuge reported seeing row upon row of skeletal warriors, archers, and charioteers in a vast chamber beneath the siege castle, armor and weapons in perfect condition, apparently waiting for their master’s command to rise and march upon the city once again. Rightly concerned with the threat this undead legion poses, the Church of Pharasma sent two expeditions into Ras-Jajan’s Refuge. When both of them failed to return, the Chamber of Ecclestials washed their hands of the matter, leaving Absalom’s Grand Council and the Eagle Garrison to deal with the Sleeping Knights and the siege castle’s many wards and guardians. Facets of Fear As plague ravages a town and the bodies of loved ones, friends, and neighbors pile up in the streets, what could be more natural than the fear of those corpses somehow coming to life, rising from the dead to claim you as one of their own? Death is the great unknown, the one thing all people fear, and the concept of returning from such a state turns the hearts of men and women to ice.

In areas devastated by pestilence and disease, the dead can sometimes outnumber the survivors, leading to the fear that the walking dead will overrun the living in a “zombie apocalypse.” And as more people fall victim to the terrifying plague, the number of walking dead continues to increase. Civilization is a fragile thing, and in the face of such an unprecedented, unstoppable threat, can society truly hold itself together? Or is it doomed to fall beneath the claws and teeth of the dearly departed?

The fear of the walking dead is also the fear of becoming one of them—a mindless slave under the control of someone else. A person transformed into a zombie loses his freedom, his individuality, his conscience, and some might say his very soul. And not even death can save you from such a fate, because your final reward—a peaceful death and a heavenly afterlife—is also taken from you. Becoming a member of the walking dead means nothing less than a horrific, unending life without hope of rest. Walking Dead Sample Walking Dead The Isgeri village of Gillamoor has been afflicted with a horrifying plague that is quickly turning the entire populace into mindless, ravenous zombies. Unknowingly carried by an itinerant Ustalavian peddler, the affliction spread quickly through the town, infecting nearly everyone who came into contact with it. The few surviving residents huddle fearfully inside their homes behind makeshift barricades, while the undead corpses of their former neighbors prowl hungrily outside in search of fresh brains to devour.

On the orders of the Steward of Isger, the Drumish merchant caravan who first brought word of the plague was slain to a man to prevent the spread of the contagion. Fortunately, Gillamoor sits well away from the vital trade routes of the Conerica Straits, so the authorities believe the plague is still constrained to the village itself. Already undermanned and underfunded, the Isgeri army has been unable to do anything to address the problem, other than to post notices at crossroads that Gillamoor is under quarantine, and offer a reward of 5,000 gold pieces to anyone who can cleanse the village of infection. Of course, destroying over 500 zombies is no mean feat even for a skilled adventuring group.

Source: Classic Horrors Revisited, p. 52