Bloodlance (CR 5)

Large Magical Beast
Alignment: Always Chaotic evil
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex); Senses: Listen +6 and Spot +6

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AC: 18 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 15
Hit Dice: 4d10 (50 hp)
Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +1

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Speed: 60 ft.
Space: 10 ft./10 ft.
Base Attack +4; Grapple +15
Attack: horn +11 melee and 2 hooves +5 melee
Damage: Horn 1d8+8 plus wounding and disease, hooves 1d4 +3
Special Attacks: summon demons

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Abilities: Str 24, Dex 17, Con 25, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 24
Special Qualities: Fiendish presence, Aura: magic circle against good, Immune to electricity, poison, charm, compulsion, Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th) 3/day-inflict light wounds (DC 16)
Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus (Survival)
Skills: Jump +23, Listen +6, Move Silently +9, Spot +6, and Survival +3
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Large)

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Climate/Terrain: Any land
Organization: Solitary (never communicates)
Treasure/Possessions: None

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Source: Dragon #357

This horselike creature appears demon-possessed: eyes glowing a hellish red, muscles unnaturally swollen with such power that they threaten to tear its skin, hooves ripping up the ground as it rampages. A twisted, crimson lance of cartilage and scar tissue grows from the stump of its horn, a grizzly parody of the pearly lance carried by a normal unicorn. Thin lines of blood run down its face and into its mane. The creature seems to be emitting one constant scream of insanity, interrupted by the occasional gasping breath.

Because of their unique magical properties, unicorn horns are a coveted commodity among evil alchemists and spellcasters, most of whom are not above hunting down a living unicorn to get one. While most at least have the decency to kill the noble creature before taking its horn, the most twisted among them are sadistic enough to simply saw off the horn of a living unicorn, leaving the creature in unending, unspeakable pain. The evilest rituals even require the unicorn remain among the living (see the violated horn, Book of Vile Darkness, 41). While many of these poor creatures spend the rest of their short lives in crippling misery, some are fated to worse: they first go mad, then fall under demonic influence, becoming hellish perversions of their kind.

Bloodlances are creatures similar to the unicorns they once were, although they benefit from greatly enhanced physical abilities and a number of traits usually associated with tanar'ri demons. A bloodlance's entire existence is an insane, mindless rage, and it is capable of nothing but destruction.

Magic Circle Against Good (Su): This ability continuously duplicates the effect of the spell. A bloodlance cannot suppress this ability.

Wounding Horn (Su): A bloodlance's false horn functions as a +1 wounding weapon. Each hit deals 1 point of Constitution damage from blood loss in addition to the listed damage.

Creatures immune to critical hits (such as plants and constructs) are immune to the Constitution damage dealt by a bloodlance's horn. If removed from the bloodlance, this horn crumbles, only to regenerate (assuming the bloodlance still lives) over the next hour.

Disease (Su): Demon fever-horn, Fortitude DC 19, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d6 Con. Each day after the first, on a failed save, an afflicted creature must immediately succeed on another DC 19 Fortitude save or take 1 point of Constitution drain. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Summon Demons (Sp): With a soul-splitting shriek (free action), a bloodlance can automatically summon one dretch, imp, or other chaotic evil outsider with a CR of 2 or less. The bloodlance can use this ability once per hour. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.

Fiendish Presence (Ex): A bloodlance is forever plagued by disembodied chaotic evil outsiders. They cannot control it directly (bloodlances are immune to such effects), but they can and gleefully do influence it and use it as a vessel for destruction on the Material Plane.

Protection from evil and protection from chaos hedges out these forces. For the duration of the spell, the blood lance loses its subtypes as well as its magic circle against good and summon demons abilities. A bloodlance so affected acts naturally: it does not regain its sanity or attempt to communicate, but it does try to flee the fight and only attacks to defend itself. Dispel evil or dispel chaos affects a bloodlance in this way for 24 hours, and a bloodlance who enters a magic circle against evil or magic circle against chaos is affected for as long as it stays within the spell's area. Bloodlances attempt Will saving throws against these spells, where allowed.

Combat

A bloodlance that comes under attack or spots an armed party charges headlong, unleashing all of its abilities in quick succession. It employs few tactics but usually positions itself so it can strike weak targets with its less accurate hoof attacks while lashing out at tougher foes with its horn.

Bloodlances rampage constantly, attempting to kill anyone and destroy anything they see. They are usually alone, for they have no use for servants and no force can tame or command them - not even with magic. Bloodlances ignore the presence of evil outsiders, however, and so demons and other fiends might gather behind them for short periods to join in the joy of slaughter.

Ecology

A bloodlance doesn't contribute to an ecology so much as it damages it: it kills, breaks, and spreads disease without reason in its rampage. No natural scavenger touches a bloodlance's remains should it fall. It usually wanders too far and too quickly to deal serious damage to any one glade or forest, tirelessly cutting an endless swath of destruction. Bloodlances do not need to sleep and rarely take time to eat, most often feasting on still-warm meat.

Environment : While unicorns are usually found is forests, the demons speaking in a bloodlance's head tend to guide it with some intelligence toward places when it can do the most harm. Bloodlances might be found in any wild or civilized place, but they most often attack settlements near woodlands where they can make a hasty retreat if necessary.

Typical Physical Characteristics: A bloodlance resembles a unicorn, with the obvious exceptions of muscles swollen with abyssal strength and a ghoulish "horn" made of gore and cartilage. A typical bloodlance is 8 feet in length and 5 feet high at the shoulder but weighs up to 1,600 pounds. The fur of elder bloodlances is more red than white, coated in several layers of bloodstains.

Alignment: Bloodlances are always chaotic neutral Although it is completely insane and tormented by fiendish whispers, a bloodlance is by most definitions not evil. Many good folk would rather see a bloodlance captured and cured than killed, but the creature's great strength, destructive nature, and immunity to most enchantments make capturing one a risky prospect.

Treasure: Bloodlances do not carry treasure, and their wanderings are too random and far-flung for the treasures of those they slay to commonly be found anywhere near them. They sometime bear magic items typically worn unicorns, such as horseshoes of speed.

Bloodlance Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learn more about bloodlances. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including information for lower DCs. A Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (the planes) check can also be used to learn more about the bloodlance's nature and the means of curing it.

Knowledge (arcana)
DC	Result
15	This creature is a bloodlance, a vile creature created from a normal unicorn. This result reveals all magical beast traits.
20	A bloodlance can summon minor demons, and its pseudo-horn causes severe bleeding and disease.
25	A bloodlance is surrounded by a constant protection against good effect. It is resistant to most energies, and like unicorns proves immune to charm and compulsion spells.
10	Spells which dispel or ward against chaos or evil, when used on a bloodlance, negate some of its abilities and render it much less violent for a short time.
Knowledge (nature or the planes)
DC	Result
15	This creature is a bloodlance, a unicorn that went insane when its horn was cut off. Bloodlances aren't evil in alignment but are haunted by a demonic presence that drives them to violence.
20	If the bloodlance can be captured, it can be cured. The process of curing a bloodlance requires its original horn.
25	Spells which dispel or ward against chaos or evil, when used on a bloodlance, negate some of its abilities and render it much less violent for a short time.
30	This result reveals the exact nature of the ritual needed to cure a bloodlance, including all of the information given in the Exorcising a Bloodlance sidebar.