Rotripper (CR 7)
Large Undead
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Initiative: -1 (Dex)
AC: 15 (-1 size, -1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 15
Hit Dice: 8d12 (52 hp); DR: 10/silver
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +10
Speed: 30 ft.
Space: 5 ft./10 ft.
Base Attack +4; Grapple +4
Attack: 2 claws +8 melee, additional claws +6 melee
Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee, additional claws +6 melee
Damage: primary claws 1d8+5, secondary claws 1d8+2
Special Attacks/Actions: Grab, remove limb, rend
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 8, Con -, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 13
Special Qualities: Undead, absorb limbs
Feats: Track; Multiattack
Skills: Climb +13, Hide +3, Search +9, and Survival +20
Advancement: 9-16 HD (Large), 17-24 HD (Huge)
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organization: Solitary or gang (3-8)
Treasure/Possessions: Standard
Source:
Dragon Annual 5
Improved Grab (Ex): The rotripper is supernaturally strong and gains the appropriate bonuses to attack rolls and damage with its attacks, despite the musculature of the arm employed. Each time a rotripper makes a successful attack, it can make a free grapple check without provoking an attack of opportunity. It gains a +1 bonus to this grappling check for each arm that is already grappling the victim.
Rend (Ex): If a rotripper hits with at least two claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent's body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d8+7 points of damage. A rotripper that hits a single target with four arms can rend a victim twice. Unlike the rend attacks of other creatures, if a victim is slain (reduced to -10 hit points) by a rend attack, the rotripper has ripped the victim's arms off. The following round, the rotripper uses its absorb limb ability to fuse the victim's arms with its body.
Absorb Limb (Su): Once a rotripper removes a limb, it attaches it to its own torso. It takes a move-equivalent action to absorb one arm; it takes a full-round action for the rotripper to attach two arms. Once the arm is attached, the rotripper heals 1d12 hit points and a set of talons rapidly grow from the arm's hand. The rotripper can attack with a new arm the round after it is attached, though it can still only target a single opponent with a maximum of four arms.
The rotripper is fairly intelligent, but its insatiable greed for new arms often forces it to throw tactics to the wind and simply wade into combat, arms flailing. The two original arms grafted onto its body during its creation are the rotripper's primary attack; any additional arms comprise the monster's secondary attacks. A Large rotripper can possess up to 2d8 arms, while a Huge one can possess up to 4d8 stolen limbs. Fortunately, a single target can be attacked by no more than four arms at once. The rotripper can split its attacks among any targets in melee.
A rotripper (pronounced rot-ripper) appears as a decaying 10-foot-tall ogre corpse with more than two arms; rotrippers possess more than twelve arms in all, each of different sizes and shapes. A rotripper created from a humanoid or giant other than an ogre is exceedingly rare.
The rotripper understands that lairing in heavily populated areas is dangerous and thus prefers to lurk in out-of-the-way locales such as mountain passes or roads through dense forests. Every rotripper is incredibly patient and persistent, and only death stops it from tracking a victim once it decides it wants the victim's arms. This obsession with collecting arms was likely instilled long ago when the Cult of Tharizdun created the first rotrippers as a sort of "bloodhound" to track down victims who had escaped the cult's clutches.
Animals avoid rotripper lairs; birds and insects won't even fly over them.
A rotripper is impossible to control without powerful magic. The necromancers or priests who create these undead beings generally do not want them to serve as guardians or servants as a result. Generally, a rotripper is created only to sow destruction and pain in the world.
Creating a rotripper requires an armless ogre corpse. This corpse must have a pair of living ogre limbs grafted to its body by magical means. Next, the body must be anointed with the blood of a vampire and the spittle of any demon. The creator must then animate the body by means of either a limited wish spell or a specialized version of the raise dead spell. The newly created rotripper might attack its creator in an attempt to steal her arms, so a means of restraining or controlling it is recommended.