Necrophage Carrier (Bloated Gnoll Abomination)

Family: Necrophage

Medium monstrosity, neutral evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor and hide armor)
Hit Points 46 (7d8+14)
Speed 20 ft., Climb 10 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 10 (+0) 15 (+2) 1 (-5) 10 (+1) 3 (-4)

Saving Throws Wis +2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Damage Immunities cold, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned, exhaustion
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages none
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • From the Void. As necrophage slasher.
  • Limb Weakness. As necrophage slasher.
  • Release the Swarm. If the necrophage carrier is killed, its rotund stomach bursts open releasing 1d4 necrophage swarms (see page 9). It can also chose to deal damage to itself with both of its scythe claws (dealing scythe claw damage twice without taking the damage resistance into account) to release the necrophage swarms early. If the necrophage carrier survives this release, they are unable to make more swarms until the damage they dealt to themself is healed. Then they must spend 8 hours consuming the remnants of battlefields.

ACTIONS

  • Multiattack. The bloated gnoll abomination can make two attacks with its scythe claw attack.
  • Scythe Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.

ABOUT

The necrophage carrier is a horrifying variant of the necrophage, they follow behind other necrophage creatures and ensure no biological material is wasted. They ‘eat’ the remaining viscera and chunks left behind and not turned to form into a necrophage swarm.

The necrophage is not undead, the necrophage is not a disease. The necrophage is a living organism that infests corpses, reconstitutes the the organic material into new forms that it uses to kill more host creatures to continue to grow and expand. The forms the necrophage-infested bodies take are viceral, twisted horrors of their former selves. It can also form small discreet creatures out of the biological material it has subsumed. The necrophage is controlled and originally created by a insidious, psychic artifact found deep in the void. No one yet has been able to discern where the artifact came from, why it was created, or by whom. Some say, especially the fanatic cults that have grown up around its influence, that it created itself as a manifestation of the universe’ s need to ascend to a higher, singular being. In either case, its goals and and actions involve adding more biological material under its control and creating more unused biological material for it to take.

The artifact itself can infest the minds of living creatures nearby and slowly corrupt their minds and bodies, eventually turning them into a new necrophage creature. The artifact has little control over the exact form the necrophage takes, but it is usually efficient at its particular job.

The artifact is intelligent, it schemes, it corrupts, and it finds the most effective way to safely get more material.

Creating Necrophage Carriers

The necrophage will take over and manipulate the bodies of any corporeal creature. To make other necrophage carriers, remove all skill, weapon, and saving throw proficiencies, special abilities, resistances, weaknesses, immunities and languages. Then add the following:

  • +4 natural armor AC
  • +2d8 Hit Die and Hit Points
  • 10 ft. climb speed, if it does not have a faster climb speed, reduce other speeds by 10 ft.
  • +4 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, -4 Charisma, set Intelligence to 1
  • Wisdom saving throw proficiency and Acrobatics skill proficiency
  • The damage resistances, damage immunities, and condition immunities above
  • Darkvision 60 ft. if the base creature did not have it already
  • From the Void, Limb Weakness and Release the Swarm from above
  • A Scythe Claw attack, 1d8 melee (medium) (Proficient) and a multiattack as above
  • Proficiency Bonus stays the same, Challenge increases by 1 (min 2), change type to monstrosity.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Contact Other Plane: DeadVoid (5e), © 2023, Orphaned Bookworm Productions, LLC, Author: Connor Bates.

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