Tsochar (CR 4)

Small Aberration (Shapechanger)
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Initiative: +4 (Dex); Senses: darkvision 60 ft. and Spot +6
Languages: its own language, telepathy 100 ft.

AC: 19 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +4 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 15
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp); DR: 5/adamantine
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +8
Speed: 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Space: 5 ft./10 ft.
Base Attack +3; Grapple +4
Attack: Tentacle +8 melee
Full Attack: 4 tentacles +8 melee
Damage: Tentacle 1d4+1
Special Attacks/Actions: Constrict, improved grab, poison, take spells, wear flesh
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 13
Special Qualities: resistance to cold, SR 14
Feats: Combat Reflexes; Iron Will; Weapon Finesse
Skills: Bluff +5, Climb +12, Hide +12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Move Silently +8, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6, and Use Magic Device +9
Advancement: 5 HD (Small); 6-12 HD (Medium); or by character class
Climate/Terrain: Cold forests
Organization: Solitary, tangle (3-8), or infestation (10-20)
Treasure/Possessions: Standard

Source: Lords of Madness

Constrict (Ex): A tsochar deals 2d4+2 points of damage with a successful grapple check. When a tsochar deals damage by means of its constrict attack, it injects its victim with poison.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a tsochar must hit with two tentacle attacks. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.

Tsochari receive a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks, which is already included in the statistics above.

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 15, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based. A tsochar's poison is delivered by dealing damage with its constrict attack.

Take Spells (Su): A tsochar that replaces a spellcaster (see below) retains any arcane spells prepared by the dead character, and can cast them as if it had prepared the spells itself. The tsochar must meet the minimum ability score needed to cast the spell based on the type of caster replaced (Intelligence for a wizard, for example), or else the spell is unavailable to it. If the tsochar replaces a spontaneous caster such as a sorcerer, it retains the available spell slots of the dead spellcaster, and can use any spells the dead host knew. In either case, the tsochar cannot regain spells or spell slots it expends from the dead character's spellcasting ability.

Wear Flesh (Su): A tsochar can bore its way into a helpless living creature's body, slipping its ropy tendrils into the spaces between organs and muscles and disappearing into the victim. The victim must be the same size as the tsochar or larger, and the process requires 1 minute. The tsochar can choose to replace or inhabit the victim (see below). Incorporeal creatures and constructs, elementals, oozes, plants, and undead are immune to this ability.

A tsochar can abandon a body it has inhabited or replaced with a full-round action that deals 3d6 points of damage to the host. A tsochar can be forced to abandon the body by a remove disease or dispel evil spell (the caster must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check to expel the monster, which deals damage as described above) or a heal or limited wish spell (which automatically succeeds and causes no damage to the host).

Inhabit: The tsochar leaves its victim alive and aware. Any time it cares to, it can inflict indescribable agony on its host as a standard action, dealing 1d6 to 6d6 points of damage and requiring the host to succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be nauseated by the pain for 2d4 rounds. The tsochar chooses how much damage it deals with this attack. The tsochar can take no physical actions while inhabiting a host, but it can use purely mental actions (such as communicating with its host by means of its telepathy power and threatening to injure or kill the host unless the host does as the monster wishes).

When the host takes damage (other than damage the tsochar inflicts on it), the inhabiting tsochar takes half that damage. For example, if the host takes 28 points of cold damage from a cone of cold spell, the tsochar takes 14 points of cold damage. A tsochar inhabiting a humanoid's body feeds on the creature's blood and tissues, dealing 1d3 points of Constitution damage per day. A successful DC 15 Fortitude save reduces this damage by half. Over the course of days, frail humanoids carrying tsochari sicken and die, although tsochari are clever enough to direct their hosts to acquire curative magic to keep themselves alive indefinitely, if the situation calls for it.

Replace: The tsochar bores out the victims nervous system, killing the victim. It then animates the body, effectively acting as the nervous system of the dead host. The body remains alive, hosting the tsochar. This functions like a polymorph spell into the victim's exact form, except that the tsochar can remain in the victim's form for up to a year, and it leaves the victim's corpse behind when it chooses to end the effect. The tsochar uses the victim's physical ability scores in place of its own, as described by polymorph. The tsochar can remain in this form indefinitely, but once it abandons the form, it cannot reanimate the body. Tsochari that have replaced a humanoid slowly devour their new shell from the inside out. A replaced body takes 1d4 points of Constitution drain per month, which does not heal naturally and can be restored only by magical means. A successful DC 15 Fortitude save reduces this damage by half. Naturally, tsochari impostors choose to abandon bodies they have replaced before they become too weak to be serviceable.

Telepathy (Su): A tsochar can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language.

Skills: Tsochari have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks. They can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. Tsochari have a +4 racial bonus on Use Magic Device checks.

Shapechanger Subtype

A shapechanger has the supernatural ability to assume one or more alternate forms. Many magical effects allow some kind of shape shifting, and not every creature that can change shapes has the shapechanger subtype.

Traits: A shapechanger possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).