Crimson Death (CR 11)

Medium Undead (Incorporeal)
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Initiative: +9 (Dex); Senses: darkvision (60-foot range), Listen +18, and Spot +18


AC: 17 (+5 Dex, +2 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 12
Hit Dice: 13d12 (84 hp)
Fort +4, Ref +11, Will +10
Speed: Fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +6; Grapple -
Attack: Incorporeal touch +11 melee
Full Attack: 2 incorporeal touches +11 melee
Damage: Blood drain
Special Attacks/Actions: Blood drain, seize
Abilities: Str -, Dex 21, Con -, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 14
Special Qualities: Incorporeal subtype, lift, undead traits
Feats: Blind-fight; Combat Expertise; Combat Reflexes; Dodge; Improved Initiative; Lightning Reflexes; Mobility; Spring Attack
Skills: Concentration +18, Hide +21, Knowledge (nature) +19, Knowledge (religion) +19, Listen +18, Search +19, and Spot +18
Advancement: 14-26 HD (Medium-size)
Climate/Terrain: Any marsh
Organization: Solitary
Treasure/Possessions: Standard

Source: Monster Manual II

Blood Drain (Ex): A crimson death drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage immediately upon seizing an opponent with a tendril. Each round thereafter that the opponent remains seized, the creature automatically deal an additional 1d4 points of constitution damage. The crimson death craves blood, so it usually presses its attack until can deal at least 12 points of Constitution damage.

Seize (Ex): When a crimson death makes a successful incorporeal touch attack, one of its tendrils wraps around the opponent. The two creatures are not considered grappled, but the opponent can break free with a successful Escape Artist or grapple check (grapple bonus +11). Upon seizing an opponent, the crimson death begins draining blood (see above).

Lift (Sp): As a free action, a crimson death can telekinetically lift another creature or an object weighing up to 300 pounds. This ability works like the telekinesis spell (sustained force version, caster level 12th) except that it works only on an opponent already seized by a tendril of the crimson death. Against struggling opponent, use of this ability requires a successful grapple check (grapple bonus +11).

Skills: A crimson death's misty form makes it difficult to spot in fog. Before feeding, the creature receives a +8 bonus on Hide checks in smoky or foggy areas. After it has fed, the bonus drops to +4 because of its red coloration.

A crimson death's attack consists of extending a vaporous tendril and wrapping it around its opponent. The creature prefers to attack from ambush, and it avoids physically powerful targets that might easily break free of its grasp.

A crimson death is a vaporous creature that lives in marshes, on moors, or any place that is subject to frequent, thick fogs. To conceal its presence from the general populace, a crimson death usually carries the bodies of its victims back to its lair, which is a charnel-house piled with the corpses and treasure of its victims. A crimson death resembles a knot of fog with a vaguely humanoid shape, including arms and a torso. Its lower body trails off into indistinct vapor. The creature's eyes glow white, but it has no other facial features. After it has fed, the blood of its victims stains its misty body red.

Incorporeal Subtype

Some creatures are incorporeal by nature, while others (such as those that become ghosts) can acquire the incorporeal subtype. An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. It has immunity to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells, including touch spells or magic weapons, it has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Non-damaging spell attacks affect incorporeal creatures normally unless they require corporeal targets to function (such as the spell implosion) or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally ignore (such as a web or wall of stone spell). Although it is not a magical attack, a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal undead creature.

An incorporeal creature's natural weapons affect both in incorporeal and corporeal targets, and pass through (ignore) corporeal natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Attacks made by an incorporeal creature with a nonmagical melee weapon have no effect on corporeal targets, and any melee attack an incorporeal creature makes with a magic weapon against a corporeal target has a 50% miss chance except for attacks it makes with a ghost touch weapon, which are made normally (no miss chance).

Any equipment worn or carried by an incorporeal creature is also incorporeal as long as it remains in the creature's possession. An object that the creature relinquishes loses its incorporeal quality (and the creature loses the ability to manipulate the object). If an incorporeal creature uses a thrown weapon or a ranged weapon, the projectile becomes corporeal as soon as it is fired and can affect a corporeal target normally (no miss chance). Magic items possessed by an incorporeal creature work normally with respect to their effects on the creature or another target. Similarly, spells cast by an incorporeal creature affect corporeal creatures normally.

An incorporeal creature has no natural armor bonus but has a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma bonus (always at least +1, even if the creature's Charisma score does not normally provide a bonus).

An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid object but must remain adjacent to the object's exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see clearly and attack normally, a incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.

Incorporeal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as they do in air. Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage. Incorporeal creature cannot make trip or grapple attacks against corporeal creatures, nor can they be tripped or grappled by such creatures. In fact, they cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate a corporeal being or its equipment, nor are they subject to such actions. Incorporeal creatures have no weight and do not set off traps that are triggered by weight.

An incorporeal creature moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn't wish to be. It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Non-visual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see.