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Forestfolk Small Fey Hit Dice: 4d6+4 (18 hp) Initiative: +7 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., fly 10 ft. (average) Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +2 leather), touch 14, flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple: +2/-4 Attack: Dagger +6 melee (1d3-2/19-20) or dart +6 ranged (1d3-2) Full Attack: Dagger +6 melee (1d3-2/19-20) and bite +1 melee (1d4-2) or dart +6 ranged (1d3-2) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Hunting cry Special Qualities: Gliding, low-light vision, resistance to sonic 5 Saves: Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +3 Abilities: Str 7, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 8 Skills: Climb +6, Escape Artist +8, Hide +14*, Listen +5, Move Silently +10, Spot +5, Survival +6, Use Rope +4 (+6 bindings) Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse [bonus feat] Environment: Temperate forests Organization: Solitary, pair, or clan (5-20) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Usually neutral Advancement: By character class Level Adjustment: +3 The short creature is barely discernable against the browns and greens of its forest surroundings, so closely does its splotchy skin color match its natural habitat. Forestfolk are small, elusive sonic elementals found in only in the deep, dense forests or on fey planes. An adult forestfolk stands about 3 feet tall and weights between 30 and 35 pounds. Mostly humanoid in appearance, their skin is thick and leathery, lending added protection from the elements. Their skin color ranges from ruddy to dark green, most having a mottled appearance that gives them a natural camouflage. Forestfolk are born with a thin, wet membrane attached to their underarms and torso. As they grow from infancy to childhood, this membrane dries and lengthens, eventually allowing them to glide through the air for short periods of time. Reserved and distrustful of outsiders, forestfolk are almost exclusively tree-dwellers. They see the world down below as full of dangerous predators and descend only in groups to hunt for foxes and other smaller animals. Their natural climb abilities and high dexterity allow them to run and glide among the highest treetops, making them difficult to observe or capture. Although of limited intelligence, forestfolk are clever with tools and traps. They dress in furs and pelts equivalent to leather armor. Forestfolk speak their own language, comprising clicks and grunts. Combat Forestfolk usually hunt squirrels, foxes and other small game. They tend to be shy and reclusive, even a bit xenophobic. They avoid strangers, but will fight fiercely if cornered, using their hunting cry to optimal effect. Glide: Forestfolk are not true flyers. A forestfolk always must dive at least 10 feet when using a move action to fly; if the forestfolk makes a double move, she must dive 20 feet (10 feet per move). The forestfolk flying speed doubles when it dives, just like any other flying creature with average maneuverability. Hunting Cry (Su): A forestfolk can emit a high piercing shriek that can damage and paralyze its prey. 30-foot cone, once every 2d4 rounds, damage 2d4 sonic plus paralysis for 1d4+1 rounds, Fortitude save DC 13 halves damage and negates paralysis. This is a sonic mind-affecting effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same forestfolk's hunting cry for 24 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based. Skills: A forestfolk receives a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. *A forestfolk gains a +8 bonus on Hide checks in forests or overgrown areas. Maanvaki This humanoid creature has long, powerful arms and legs. Its feet look like flippers. It has a thick neck and a huge crocodilian snout. Bulbous eyes like a frog's protrude from its face, and it possesses great, winglike ears. Its skin is predominantly green with brown splotches and stripes, and thick scales and armor plating cover its chest and back. Numerous loose folds of skin hang down from the chin and arms. The maanvakis are primitive amphibious humanoids that dwell in the most tangled and overgrown sections of swamps and bogs. Their froglike eyes are each capable of independent movement, which gives them excellent peripheral vision. They have keen hearing as well, thanks to their big ears. Maanvakis speak Draconic when they must, but they prefer to communicate with grunts and roars. Some bands speak Goblin instead of Draconic. Combat A maanvaki's combat tactics are simple and to the point; charge in and stab and bite until the enemy stops moving. They prefer to fight with spears, since these weapons are both effective in underwater and tangled terrain and are particularly effective when fighting other maanvaki, who are all quite resistant to damage from slashing and bludgeoning weaponry. The most complex assault they use is to trigger their entangle ability while in melee, which allows them an easy route of escape if things turn sour. Entangle (Su): Once per day, as a free action, a maanvaki can command the surrounding plantlife to writhe and grasp at anything moving. This duplicates the effects of an entangle spell (caster level 2 + the maanvaki's total class levels, if any; Reflex DC 13). The save DC is Charisma-based. The entangle effect has a radius of 10 feet around the maanvaki and remains stationary if the maanvaki moves out of the area. Improved Woodland Stride (Ex): A maanvaki may move through any sort of undergrowth at his normal speed without taking damage or suffering any other impairment, even if the undergrowth is magically manipulated. Resistant to Critical Hits (Ex): Maanvakis have many redundant internal organs, and no two are put together in exactly the same way. This makes it difficult to score critical hits against these resilient creatures. Any time a maanvaki takes additional damage from a critical hit or sneak attack, there is a 25% chance that the additional damage is ignored. Maanvaki Society Maanvakisare brutal and warlike, and when there aren't any convenient nearby settlements to attack, they generally turn on themselves. Within a small group, infighting is fairly rare, but intertribal combat is common. They tend to be nomadic, always on the move and sleeping in the wild, if only to keep their enemies constantly guessing where the tribe can be located at any one particular time. Some tribes of maanvaki capture and rear giant swamp lizards or snakes as guards. Most maanvaki have little time for worship; they usually defer to a tribal adept for what little religious needs they have. In maanvaki society, strength and power rule over the weak. Most maanvaki are barbarians, and this is their favored class.
Monstrous
Toebiter The creature looks like leaf-shaped monstrous insect at least twice as long as a human is tall. Growths cover and mottle its back. Four of the creature's six legs end in paddle-like feet, but the front two end in huge chitinous hooks. The face is particularly loathsome and is dominated by two huge black eyes and a long, thin, pointed proboscis the size of a rapier. Despite its somewhat comical name, the monstrous toebiter, also known as the monstrous water bug, is a terrifying predator indeed. Smaller versions of this aquatic bug are notorious for latching onto the feet and toes of unwary waders. The monstrous toebiter might pose such a threat to a giant, but against Medium prey, it poses a much more dangerous threat. When floating in swampy water, the bug looks remarkably like a partially submerged moss-covered log. When it attacks, the toebiter's long, thin legs extend out in all directions. Monstrous toebiters are at home in the water, but they do not breathe water. Nevertheless, they can remain underwater indefinitely by extending a long, thin breathing tube from their abdomen up above the surface. Often, this innocuous-looking tube is the only sign above water of a monstrous toebiter's presence Combat Monstrous toebiters are ambush hunters. They lurk on the edges of large open pools in swamplands and wait for their next meal to move out into the pool before they dart out to attack. Despite their size, they are skilled at hiding in undergrowth, and their coloration makes them especially adept at hiding in swamplands. Once a monstrous toebiter selects its prey, it focuses all of its attacks on that creature and tries to gorge itself with blood as quickly as possible before retreating to its underwater lair to digest its meal. Blood Drain (Ex): A monstrous toebiter drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of temporary Constitution damage in any round when it begins its turn attached to a living victim. Once it has dealt 16 points of temporary Constitution damage, it lets its prey go and swims off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the monstrous toebiter's appetite has been sated, the vermin drops the body and seeks a new target. Improved Grab (Ex): If a monstrous toebiter hits an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with both claw attacks, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it gets a hold, it automatically hits with its bite, dealing automatic bite damage. Thereafter, the monstrous toebiter has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its claws to hold the opponent (-20 penalty on grapple check, but the monstrous toebiter is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals bite damage plus poison. Poison (Ex): A monstrous toebiter delivers its poison (Fortitude save DC 20) with each successful bite attack. The initial and secondary damage is the same (1d6 points of temporary Strength damage). Vermin Traits: A monstrous toebiter is immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects). It also has darkvision (60-foot range). Skills: A monstrous toebiter has a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks. In a swamp or marsh, the monstrous toebiter's coloration and the shape of its body looks just like a small lump of peat moss or mud protruding from the water, and its Hide bonus improves to +20.
Verminvine A verminvine is a strange tropical plant that uses swarms of poisonous and carnivorous insects to gather nutrients and to defend itself. A typical verminvine consists of a large mass of dark green foliage that grows on the base of a tree trunk or hangs from a tree's lowest limbs like sheets of thick moss. Large round leaves are tangled into this mossy mass, and the whole plant constantly sweats a runny red liquid that smells of fermenting fruit. Growing from the center of the mass is a long, fibrous, brown vine that can whip about like a tentacle when the plant is attacking. Locals quickly learn to avoid places that smell of fermenting fruit in the jungle, for these regions are often the haunt of large patches of verminvine. The fluids the plant constantly weeps attract swarms of insects from the surrounding regions, which swarm all over the plant and drink the fluid. In so doing, the insects become little more than slaves of the verminvine and can be directed by the plant to attack its prey. Verminvines cannot speak, but they understand and recognize simple words in the predominant local language and use knowledge gained in this manner to aid in securing food. Combat A verminvine lashes out at any creature that passes near it with its single vine, attempting to hold a creature motionless while its enslaved swarm of vermin kill it. The dead body is then allowed to drop over the mass of the plant, where the thick round leaves slowly absorb nutrients from the decomposing flesh. If faced with creatures that use reach or ranged attacks, the verminvine retaliates with its insect plague ability and tries to force such enemies within reach of its main attack. Improved Grab (Ex): If a verminvine hits an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with a slam attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +11). If it gets a hold, it also constricts on the same round. Thereafter, the verminvine has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its vine tentacle to hold the opponent (-20 penalty on grapple check, but the verminvine is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals slam damage. Constrict (Ex): With a successful grapple check, a verminvine can crush a grabbed opponent, dealing 1d8+6 points of bludgeoning damage. Insect Plague (Su): As a full round action, the verminvine can direct its attending swarm of vermin to form a horde of creeping, hopping, and flying insects. This horde forms a cloud of vermin that acts differently than the normal attending vineswarm. First of all, it fills four 5-foot squares; the verminvine can shape the cloud into whatever continuous shape it wishes. The cloud can travel at a speed of 10 feet in any direction (not all of the vermin the swarm can fly, even though a fair portion of the cloud may be made of flying insects), to a limit of 60 feet from the originating verminvine. The cloud returns to the originating verminvine at top speed by the shortest possible route once the latter stops controlling it. This cloud blocks vision, and spellcasting within the cloud is impossible. Each creature inside the cloud takes 1 point of damage at the end of each round spent within it from the bites and stings. Invisibility offers no protection against this effect. In addition, every creature within the cloud must make a Will save (DC 12) each round or flee at its fastest possible speed in a random direction from the cloud; this is an extraordinary fear effect. Heavy smoke drives off the insects, as does fire or high wind. A single torch is ineffective against the insect plague, but any magical fire effect or nonmagical fire of at least Medium-size can disperse the cloud. If the plague is dispersed, it retreats to the verminvine. Plant Traits (Ex): A verminvine is immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and polymorphing. It is not subject to critical hits or mind-affecting effects. The creature also has low-light vision. Tremorsense (Ex): A verminvine can automatically sense the location of any creature or object within 60 feet that is in contact with the ground. Verminbond (Ex): The odor exuded by a verminvine causes all creatures of the vermin type to interpret the plant as an ally. Any vermin that comes within 15 feet of the verminvine must make a Will save (DC 12) or become attracted to the plant and remain in the immediate area for 1d3 hours before moving on. Each time a verminvine is encountered, there is a 50% chance that it is attended by 1d4 Medium-size vermin (usually giant ants). These vermin are present in addition to the vineswarm, though they act as individual creatures and should be accounted for as such in the encounter. Vineswarm (Su): The verminvine is constantly surrounded by swarms of biting and stinging insects. Any creature that occupies a square that is threatened by the verminvine is attacked by this swarm, even when the verminvine itself cannot attack or threaten targets. Once a swarm is dispersed, it takes the verminvine 1 hour to attract a new swarm. See the vineswarm below for more information about a sample swarm.
Sample
Vineswarm The vineswarm gathers due to the will of the verminvine (see above). Combat A vineswarm attacks to defend the verminvine or to assist the verminvine in gaining the nutrients it requires. See the verminvine for more about the vineswarm. Swarm Traits:A swarm has no clear front or back and no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking. A swarm composed of Fine creatures is immune to all weapon damage. Reducing a swarm to 0 hit points or fewer causes the swarm to break up, though damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, they cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, and they cannot grapple another. A swarm is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of mind-affecting effects if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes a -10 penalty on saving throws against spells or effects that affect an area, such as many evocation spells or grenadelike weapons. If the area effect attack does not allow a saving throw, the swarm takes double damage instead. Swarms made up of Diminutive or Fine creatures are susceptible to high winds such as that created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of the same size as its constituent creatures. Wind effects deal 1d6 points of subdual damage to the swarm per spell level (or Hit Die of the originating creature, in the case of effects such as an air elemental's whirlwind). A swarm rendered unconscious by means of subdual damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not re-form until its hit points exceed its subdual damage. A creature in the swarm who takes no actions other than fighting the swarm off takes 1 point of damage on its turn. A creature in the swarm who takes any other action, including leaving the swarm, takes 1d4 points of damage (as noted above). Distraction (Ex): Any living creature vulnerable to the swarm's damage that begins its turn with a swarm in its square is nauseated for 1 round; a DC 13 Fortitude save negates the effect. Even with a successful save, spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills requiring patience and concentration requires a Concentration check (DC 20). The save DC is Constitution-based.
Vermin Traits: A vineswarm is immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects). It also has darkvision (60-foot range).
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