Deathshrieker

The statistics block below contains details for more than one build of deathshrieker. Use the horizontal scrollbar below it to display the desired one or select from the links below that.

Deathshrieker • Advanced Deathshrieker

The deathshrieker is an undead spirit that embodies the horrible cries and shrieks of the dying as they utter their last gasps of life. It roams lonely and forgotten battlefields, charnel houses, or sites of terrible plagues, filling the air with its mournful and soul-sapping screams. It relives the final moments of those who have died from slow, agonizing deaths due to violence, disease, or some other tragedy. Typically, the larger the death and despair of an area, the larger the deathshrieker, although relatively small areas that hosted truly despicable acts of violence can bring one into being as well.

Most deathshriekers haunt a single location, although some wander aimlessly on lonely and desolate roads or other forbidding terrain. They are angry, vengeful spirits that endlessly babble the final words of those who have died. They seek to kill living beings just to hear their final scream. The haunt of a deathshrieker is noted for odd, disturbing noises and the occasional whisper of the dead crying out in pain. These noises can persist for years even if the death shrieker is destroyed.

A deathshrieker is 5 to 6 feet tall and weightless.

Deathshriekers speak Common and one other language, often the racial language of those who died in the most numbers within the area. They rarely speak with intent but instead replay the last words of a hundred souls that have perished, which blur together in a terrifying din.

A deathshrieker charges headlong into combat, using its despair ability to root creatures in place before striking with their incorporeal touch. A deathshrieker will wait until it can catch as many creatures as possible in the area of its scream of the dying ability. If it is close to being destroyed, a deathshrieker will stay in the thick of combat, using its death rattle ability to cause a retributive strike against the living.

Charisma Drain (Su): An individual struck by a death shrieker must make a DC 24 Fortitude save or permanently lose 1d4 points of Charisma (2d4 points on a critical hit). The deathshrieker heals 5 points of damage (10 on a critical hit) whenever it drains Charisma, gaining any excess as temporary hit points. The save DC is Charisma-based and is listed after this ability in the creature’s Special Attacks entry.

Death Rattle (Su): When a deathshrieker is reduced to 0 hit points, it releases a final, devastating shriek. All living creatures within a 300-foot spread must succeed on a DC 24 Will save or gain 1d4 negative levels. Creatures that cannot hear or are under the effect of a silence spell gain a +4 bonus on the save to resist this effect. The save DC is Charisma-based and is listed after this ability in the creature’s Special Attacks entry.

Despair (Su): At the mere sight of a deathshrieker, the viewer must succeed on a Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same deathshrieker’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based and is listed after this ability in the creature’s Special Attacks entry.

Scream of the Dying (Su): Once per day, as a full-round action, a deathshrieker can release a soul-numbing scream that lasts for up to 3 rounds. After this first round, a deathshrieker can use a standard action to sustain the scream. This attack affects all living creatures within a 30-foot spread centered on the deathshrieker, or within a 60-foot cone extending from the deathshrieker, at the creature’s option. Once the deathshrieker chooses the shape of this effect, it must maintain that effect for all three rounds. In the case of a cone, it can aim in a single direction during its turn. Creatures caught in this area must make a Will save or suffer the effects described below. The save DC is Charisma-based and is listed after this ability in the creature’s Special Attacks entry. Creatures that cannot hear or are under the effect of a silence spell gain a +4 bonus on their Will saves. The effects are cumulative and concurrent:

Round 1: The creature is deafened for 1d4 rounds.

Round 2: The creature is stunned for 1d3 rounds.

Round 3: The creature suffers the effects of insanity, as the spell cast by an 18th-level sorcerer.

This effect is so loud that normal conversation is impossible. Spellcasters who attempt to cast spells with a verbal component must make a Concentration check (DC listed in the creature’s Special Attacks statistics block entry) or the spell is negated.

Death’s Grace (Ex): A deathshrieker gains a +1 profane bonus to AC for every 3 Hit Dice it possesses.

Silence Vulnerability (Ex): Deathshriekers cannot abide silence and are harmed by it. To even enter into the radius of a silence spell, a deathshrieker must make a Will save (DC 12 + caster level). Each round that a deathshrieker remains within the area of a silence spell, it takes 1d10 points of damage (Will save for half).

Advanced Deathshrieker