Ghostly Visage (CR 2 o)
Tiny Undead (Incorporeal and Symbiont)
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Initiative: +2 (Dex); Senses: darkvision 60 ft., Listen +5, and Spot +5
Languages: Common and any one additional language.
AC: 17 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +3 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 15
Hit Dice: 1d12 (6 hp)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +3
Speed: Fly 10 ft. (perfect)
Space: 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Base Attack +0; Grapple -
Attack: Incorporeal touch +4 melee
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +4 melee
Damage: Incorporeal touch, meld
Special Attacks/Actions: Gaze of terror, meld, visage
Abilities: Str -, Dex 14, Con -, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 16 (Ego: 10)
Special Qualities: incorporeal subtype, mind shielding, symbiont traits, undead traits
Feats: Alertness (B); Iron Will
Skills: Bluff +7, Hide +10, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Listen +5, Search +5, and Spot +5
Advancement: -
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary (symbiont)
Treasure/Possessions: -
Source:
Fiend Folio
Gaze of Terror (Su): Anyone within 30 feet of a ghostly visage who meets the eyes of its manifested face (see visage below) must make a Will saving throw (DC 13) or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Ghostly visages are immune to their own gaze attacks and to those of others of their kind.
Meld (Su): Once per round, a ghostly visage can merge its body with a corporeal creature. If it makes a successful incorporeal touch attack, the ghostly visage's body disappears into the opponent's body. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save (DC 13). A creature that successfully saves is immune to that ghostly visage's meld for one day.
Visage (Ex): At will, a ghostly visage can manifest a face anywhere on its host's body, including over the host's own face (the host's vision is unaffected). This face looks corporeal and fleshy, but it is actually the visage's incorporeal form. When manifesting a visage, the ghostly visage is susceptible to attacks separate from its host. Attacks that miss the visage because of its incorporeal nature (including attacks from nonmagic weapons as well as attacks that are foiled by the 50% chance to ignore damage) target the host instead. For attacks that require attack rolls, if the attack roll exceeds the AC of the host, the host takes damage instead of the visage.
Mind Shielding (Ex): When attached to a host, a ghostly visage protects the host from mind-affecting spells and effects. This ability is similar to a mind blank spell, but does not protect the creature from divination spells that are not mind-affecting. In essence, the ghostly visage confers its undead immunity to mind-affecting spells upon the host.
Skills: A ghostly visage has a +4 racial bonus on Bluff and Intimidate checks.
Telepathy (Su): A fiendish symbiont can communicate telepathically with its host creature, if the host has a language.
Symbiont Traits: When joined with a host, a symbiont gains a number of benefits. It acts on its host's turn each round, regardless of its own initiative modifier. It is not flat-footed unless its host is, and it is aware of any danger its host is aware of.
If a symbiont is grafted onto a visible part of the host creature's body, opponents can attack the symbiont itself instead of its host creature. This works the same way as attacking an object: The symbiont gains the benefit of the host's Dexterity modifier to AC instead of its own, and gains any deflection bonus to AC the host has as well. Its own size modifier and natural armor bonus, if any, apply. Attacking a symbiont instead of its host provokes an attack of opportunity from the host.
A symbiont never takes damage from attacks directed at the host. Like a worn magic item, a symbiont is usually unaffected by spells that damage the host, but if the host rolls a 1 on its saving throw, the symbiont is one of the "items" that can be affected by the spell. A symbiont uses its host's base saving throw bonuses if they are better than its own.
Share Spells (Su): Any spell the host creature casts on itself automatically also affects the symbiont. Additionally, the host may cast a spell with a target of "Self" on the symbiont instead of on itself. Likewise, a symbiont can choose to have any spell or spell-like ability it uses on itself also affect the host creature, and may cast a spell with a target of "Self" on its host instead of on itself. The host and symbiont can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the host or symbiont's type. Spells targeted on the host by another spellcaster do not affect the symbiont, and vice versa.
Ghostly visages avoid open conflict, instead trying to incorporate themselves into a host through stealth.
Because a ghostly visage is automatically affected by spells its host casts on itself, it rarely chooses to join a character capable of casting healing spells or similar spells that would damage it while benefiting the host.
A minor undead spirit similar to a ghost, a ghostly visage inhabits corporeal bodies. Its name comes from its ability to
manifest a transparent face on its host's body.
When not attached to a host, a ghostly visage looks like little more than a puff of smoke about 1 foot in diameter.
Only by looking carefully can a character discern its eyes, which appear simply as dark spots within the smoke. When attached to a host, the visage normally lurks inside the host's body. It can, however, manifest a face on the host's body, including covering the host's own face. This face has a horrible appearance, contorted in the agony of undeath.
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.