Darkweaver (CR 10)
Medium Aberration (Extraplanar)
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Initiative: +4 (Dex); Senses: all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., Listen +10, and Spot +10
Languages: Abyssal, Common, and Infernal
AC: 26 (+4 Dex, +8 natural, +4 deflection), touch 18, flat-footed 22
Hit Dice: 9d8+9 (49 hp); DR: 5/magic
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +9
Speed: 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Space: 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with tentacle)
Base Attack +6; Grapple +9
Attack: Tentacle rake +10 melee
Full Attack: 4 tentacle rakes +10 melee and bite +5 melee
Damage: Tentacle 1d4+3, bite 1d6+3 plus Strength damage
Special Attacks/Actions: Improved grab, shadow strands, spell-like abilities, Strength damage
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 17
Special Qualities: cold resistance 10, fast healing 3, shadow jump, shadowstuff armor, SR 16, sunlight vulnerability, tentacle regeneration
Feats: Alertness; Combat Reflexes; Power Attack; Weapon Finesse
Skills: Climb +18, Concentration +7, Hide +21, Listen +10, Move Silently +11, Search +9, and Spot +10
Advancement: 10-15 HD (Medium-size); 16-27 HD (Large)
Climate/Terrain: Any land (Plane of Shadow)
Organization: Solitary or coven (2-4)
Treasure/Possessions: Standard
Source:
Fiend Folio
Improved Grab (Ex): if a darkweaver hits an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with a tentacle rake attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +9). if it gets a hold, it automatically hits with its bite, dealing 1d6+3 points of damage and 2d4 points of Strength damage. Thereafter, the darkweaver has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its tentacle to grapple the opponent (-20 penalty on grapple check, but the darkweaver is not considered grappled). In either case, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals bite damage.
Shadow Strands (Su): At will, a darkweaver can create an aura of weblike, supernatural, semisolid shadow that emanates outward from it in a 60-foot spread. A darkweaver can see normally through the shadow strands, but other creatures have great difficulty doing so. Each full 5 feet of shadow strands grants one-quarter concealment. Thus, a creature in the shadow strands 10 feet away from another creature would have one-half concealment, and a creature in the shadow strands 20 feet away would have total concealment. A creature in the shadow strands has no concealment from creatures within 5 feet. Creatures with darkvision suffer these effects, and the shadow strands even baffle blindsight, but true seeing allows a creature to see normally through them.
Any creature that enters this area can freely move toward the darkweaver, but any attempt to move in any other direction is resisted by the semi-solid shadow strands. A creature attempting to move in such a fashion must make a Strength check or an Escape Artist check; the creature can move away from the darkweaver feet for each full 5 points by which the check result exceeds 10. If a creature is adjacent to the darkweaver (within 5 feet), it can move freely so long as it remains adjacent to the darkweaver. A creature protected by a freedom of movement spell is immune to the constraining effects of the shadow strands.
The darkweaver can move about as it wishes and bring the area of shadow strands with it. Creatures are not affected by the darkweaver's moving the strands, but the direction toward the darkweaver will likely change.
Creatures within the strands do not need to guess in which direction the darkweaver lies; it becomes immediately obvious when they try to move away and the shadow strands snarl and twist to block all other routes. When a creature without freedom of movement attempts to move against the strands, the darkweaver is immediately aware of its location even if it cannot see the creature due to invisibility.
Darkweavers are immune to other darkweavers' shadow strands and can see through them.
Spell-like Abilities: 3/day - confusion, darkness, suggestion, tongues, web; 1/day - shadow walk. Caster level 13th; save DC 13 + spell level.
Strength Damage (Su): Any creature bitten by a darkweaver takes 2d4 points of Strength damage (or 4d4 points on a critical hit). Darkweavers "eat" by sapping a victim's strength.
All-Around Vision (Ex): A darkweaver can see in all directions at once. Because of this, it has a +4 racial bonus on Search and Spot checks, and it cannot be flanked.
Fast Healing (Ex): As long as it has at least 1 hit point, a darkweaver regains lost hit points at the rate of 3 per round. Fast healing does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation, and it does not allow a darkweaver to regrow or reattach lost body parts.
Shadow Jump (Su): A darkweaver can travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow. The darkweaver can shadow jump up to a total of 320 feet per day; this amount can be split up among many jumps in 10-foot increments. Thus, a darkweaver that shadow jumps 35 feet would use up 40 feet of its shadow jump limit for the day. A darkweaver in its shadow strands always has enough shadow to jump from unless a light source as bright as a daylight spell is brought within 5 feet of it.
Shadowstuff Armor (Su): A darkweaver is shrouded in a semisolid armor of shadowstuff that grants it a +4 deflection bonus to Armor Class and a +10 circumstance bonus on Hide checks (included in the statistics above). The shadowstuff armor does not provide concealment, nor does it provide the requisite shadows to make a shadow jump. This armor disappears in an antimagic field, but it returns as soon as the darkweaver is our of the field.
Sunlight Vulnerability (Ex): When exposed to sunlight or to light equivalent to a daylight spell, a darkweaver takes a -2 morale penalty on all attacks, saves, checks, and damage rolls. In addition, it does not regain hit points from its fast healing ability
A darkweaver's shadow strands provide the creature with total concealment from light that is outside the shadow strands area. Any magical light source within the shadow strands must be within 5 feet of the darkweaver to affect it because of the concealment the shadow strands provide.
Tentacle Regeneration (Ex): Foes can attack a darkweaver's tentacles, but only when those appendages are actually holding an opponent. A tentacle has an AC of 27 (touch 19) and can withstand 20 points of damage. The loss of a tentacle does not harm the creature (that is, the damage does not apply against its hit point total), and it regrows the limb within a day.
Skills: A darkweaver has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.
A darkweaver relies heavily on its ability to shroud the battlefield in a web of shadow. Capable of seeing through the shadows it creates, a darkweaver prefers to bide in the effect and lure prey in with suggestion. If prey refuses to enter the shadow strands, a darkweaver relies on darkness and confusion to make the creature hesitate while it moves the area of shadow strands over it. When a creature is close to the center of the effect, the darkweaver rears up and lashes out with its front four tentacles, hoping to ensnare the foe and sap its strength.
Extraplanar Subtype
A subtype applied to any creature when it is on a plane other than its native plane. A creature that travels the planes can gain or lose this subtype as it goes from plane to plane. This book assumes that encounters with creatures take place on the Material Plane, and every creature whose native plane is not the Material Plane has the extraplanar subtype (but would not have when on its home plane). An extraplanar creatures usually has a home plane mentioned in its description. These home planes are taken from the Great Wheel cosmology of the D&D game (see Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). If your campaign uses a different cosmology, you will need to assign different home planes to extraplanar creatures.
Creatures not labeled as extraplanar are natives of the Material Plane, and they gain the extraplanar subtype if they leave the Material Plane. No creature has the extraplanar subtype when it is on a transitive plane; the transitive planes in the D&D cosmology are the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, and the Plane of Shadow.