Devourer (CR 11)
Large Undead (Extraplanar)
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Initiative: +4 (Improved Initiative); Senses: darkvision 60 ft., Listen +18, and Spot +18
AC: 24 (-1 size, +15 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 24
Hit Dice: 12d12 (78 hp)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +11
Speed: 30 ft.
Space: 10 ft./10 ft.
Base Attack +6; Grapple +19
Attack: Claw +15 melee
Full Attack: 2 claws +11 melee
Damage: Claw 1d6+9
Special Attacks/Actions: Energy drain, trap essence, spell-like abilities
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 10, Con -, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 17
Special Qualities: spell deflection, SR 21, undead traits
Feats: Blind-fight; Combat Casting; Combat Expertise; Improved Initiative; Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills: Climb +24, Concentration +18, Diplomacy +5, Jump +24, Listen +18, Move Silently +15, Spot +18, and Survival +3 (+5 following tracks)
Advancement: 13 HD (Large); 14-27 HD (Huge)
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary
Treasure/Possessions: None
Source:
Monster Manual
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a devourer's claw attack or spectral hand ability receive one negative level. The Fortitude save to remove the negative level has a DC of 19.
Trap Essence (Su): The devourer is named for its ability to consume an enemy's life essence. To do so, it must forgo its normal melee attacks and make a trap essence attack. This requires a normal attack roll to hit but deals no damage. The affected creature must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 19) or die instantly.
The slain creature's essence is trapped within the devourer's ribs, and the diminutive figure takes on that victim's features. The trapped essence cannot be raised or resurrected, but a limited wish, miracle, or wish spell frees it, as does destroying the devourer. A devourer can hold only one essence at a time.
The trapped essence provides the devourer with enough power to use five spell-like abilities per HD or level of the trapped creature. As this energy is expended, the twisted soul fades away until it evaporates completely. The trapped essence receives one negative level for every five spell-like uses. When the number of negative levels equals the creature's total HD or level, the essence is destroyed. If an essence is freed, the restored creature must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 17) for each negative level or lose that level permanently.
Spell-Like Abilities: At the start of any encounter, the trapped essence within a devourer is assumed to have 3d4+3 levels (enough fuel for 30 to 75 uses). Once per round, the devourer can use one of following as the spell cast by an 18th-level sorcerer (save DC 13 + spell level): confusion, control undead, ghoul touch, lesser planar ally, ray of enfeeblement spectral hand, suggestion, and true seeing.
Spell Deflection (Su): The trapped essence provides a measure of magical protection. If any of the following spells are cast at the devourer and overcome its spell resistance, they affect the imprisoned essence instead: banishment, chaos hammer, confusion, detect thoughts, dispel evil, dominate person, emotion, fear, geas/quest, holy word, hypnosis, imprisonment, magic jar, maze, suggestion, trap the soul, or any form of charm or compulsion. In many cases, this effectively neutralizes the spell (charming a trapped essence, for example, is useless). Some of them (banishment, for example), might eliminate the trapped essence, robbing the devourer of its magical powers until it can consume another.
Even if it had no special abilities, the devourer would be a terrible opponent, for its bony claws can flay enemies alive.
Devourers are massive creatures every bit as evil as they look. They lurk in the Ethereal and Astral Planes, stalking both natives and travelers with equal sadistic glee.
The devourer appears as a tall, skeletal figure with strands of mummified flesh hanging from its bones. Imprisoned within the creature's rib cage is a tiny figure, clearly in agony. This pitiful being is the trapped essence of a slain opponent, which is consumed like firewood to sustain the monster's unnatural life.
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.