Guecubu (CR 4)
Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar, Incorporeal, and Loumara)
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Initiative: +2 (Dex); Senses: darkvision 60 ft., Listen +10, and Spot +10
Languages: Abyssal, Common; telepathy 100 ft.
AC: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 13
Hit Dice: 4d8 (26 hp); DR: DR 5/cold iron or lawful
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +7
Speed: Fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +4; Grapple -
Attack: touch +6 melee, thrown object +7 ranged
Full Attack: touch +6 melee, thrown object +7 ranged
Damage: Touch (sleep), Thrown object 2d6
Special Attacks: Possession, telekinesis
Abilities: Str -, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 17
Special Qualities: Haunting aura (120 ft. radius, Will DC 15), immune to acid, electricity, fire, resist cold 10, incorporeal traits, loumara traits, natural invisibility
Feats: Ability Focus (sleeping touch); Persuasive
Skills: Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Disguise +10 (+12 acting in character), Forgery +7, Intimidate +14, Listen +10, Sleight of Hand +11, and Spot +10
Advancement: 5-20 HD (Medium)
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary
Treasure/Possessions: See text
Source:
Fiendish Codex I
The coppery scent of fresh blood wells up strangely in the air, despite the lack of any obvious source. At the same time, you can't shake the unsettling feeling of a forgotten nightmare - a nightmare whose meaning might save a life, if only its portent could be recalled.
Using possession, the formless guecubu takes over the bodies of living creatures to advance strange patterns of murder.
Haunting Aura (Su): Outside of a host body, a guecubu's presence is unnerving and distracting. Any living creature within 60 feet of a guecubu in its natural form must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be shaken for as long as it remains in this area. An affected creature that attempts to rest within a guecubus haunting aura can do so but gains no benefits from sleeping and awakens fatigued, as if it had not slept at all. Once a creature makes this saving throw, it is immune to that particular guecubu's haunting aura for 24 hours.
Natural Invisibility (Su): This ability is constant, allowing a guecubu to remain invisible even when attacking. This ability is inherent and not subject to the invisibility purge spell.
Possession (Su): A guecubu can possess any sleeping animal or humanoid. It must enter a square occupied by the sleeping creature to possess it. The victim is entitled to a DC 17 Will save to resist possession; however, a successful save does not cause the victim to awaken, nor is the victim aware of the possession attempt even after waking (although the victim can dimly recall some strange, otherworldly dream). The save DC is Charisma-based.
A guecubu can take on any of the following roles while possessing a creature: ally, controller, enemy, mutterer, or rider. See Demonic Possession, page 21 of Fiendish Codex 1, for more information.
Sleep Touch (Su): A creature touched by a guecubu in its natural form must make a successful DC 15 Will save or immediately fall into a deep sleep for 1 hour. A sleeping creature is helpless. Slapping or wounding the sleeping creature awakens it, but normal noise does not. Waking a creature is a standard action. This is a mind-affecting sleep effect. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes the +2 bonus granted by the guecubu's Ability Focus feat.
Telekinesis (Su): A guecubu can use telekinesis as a standard action (caster level equals the guecubu's Hit Dice, maximum 20th). A guecubu can use this ability even while possessing a creature without that creature realizing it is technically the source of the effect.
If a guecubu elects to hurl something such as a boulder or other dense object, it deals 2d6 points of damage on a hit. Weapons hurled in this manner deal damage appropriate for the weapons in question. A guecubu does not apply any Strength modifier to damage dealt by telekinetically hurled objects. Its chance to hit is equal to its base attack bonus + its Charisma modifier.
Strategy And Tactics
The incorporeal guecubu has limited options in combat when not possessing a living creature. Its touch causes sleep, and its natural invisibility allows it to flit through combat without fear to reach those whose bodies it covets. Its only other mode of attack is to rely on telekinesis to hurl objects weighing up to 50 pounds through the air.
While possessing a living creature, a guecubu uses the best tactics available to that particular creature. See Demonic Possession, page 21 of Fiendish Codex 1, for options.
Sample Encounter
Guecubus are always encountered alone, since each of these evil demonic spirits thinks of itself as the single true manifestation of the Abyss's will. A guecubu isn't particular about who or what it possesses.
The Haunted Soldier (El 4): The PCs come across a muttering, glassy-eyed soldier staggering down the side of the road. The man's name is Kolten. Attempts to communicate with him meet with failure - all he does is mutter about the ghosts that killed his family. Kolten is possessed by a guecubu that killed his entire family over the course last week. The guecubu made sure to use telekinesis to make the deaths look like accidents, and has taken great glee in watching the man go insane. Now, however, the guecubu realizes that the soldier has outlived his usefulness.
A few moments after the PCs begin speaking to Kolten, the guecubu starts using telekinesis to attack the soldier's body, attempting to kill him. Whether or not it's successful, the guecubu moves on to follow the PCs. It attempts to possess one of them at the first likely opportunity without being noticed, so it can start its cycle of destruction anew.
Ecology
Most of the time, a guecubu acts like a parasite. Once it has claimed a host, it generally assumes the role of rider, allowing its host to continue to exist as it will. Many victims of guecubu possession don't even realize they're possessed. At some point, a guecubu might strike out of boredom or crave a new host. In either case, it begins asserting itself, driving the host to commit murders and other heinous crimes until it can no longer do so.
Environment: A guecubu prefers to dwell in rural areas, where it is less likely that spellcasters capable of exorcising it from a host can interfere with its plans. On the Abyss, guecubus can be found anywhere; they are particularly numerous in the Dreaming Gulf (layer 230), where the roving dreams of dead gods drift on alien currents and sometimes open portals to the Material Plane.
Typical Physical Characteristics: A guecubu has no physical body. It is naturally invisible and incorporeal as a result. True seeing or see invisibility reveals a guecubu as little more than a twitching gray mass of vapor about 5 feet in diameter.
Society
Guecubus are created spontaneously in the Dreaming Gulf (layer 230), gaining life of their own as they become infused with the raw stuff of the surrounding Abyssal chaos. A newly formed guecubu might recall portions of its source dream as distant memories, but generally they are defined more by their current host than by any real personality of their own.
A guecubu's driving need is to commit murder. Guecubus believe that murders form a pattern, and that when this pattern is complete, the mystery of existence might be revealed. This belief might or might not have actual merit, but certainly guecubus believe it. The great pleasure they take in forcing their possessed hosts to kill friends and family is a testament to their cruelty.
Typical Treasure
As a bodiless creature, a guecubu without a host has little need for treasure. When a guecubu possesses a victim, that victim typically possesses gear as appropriate for his class - although after the guecubu has been in command for a length of time, the creature's possessions takes a turn for the macabre as it starts to collect trophies from its murdered victims.
Guecubu Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can learn more about guecubus. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
| DC | Result |
| 14 | Demonic spirits such as guecubus exist only to murder the living. They have no real desire to gather treasure, gain power, or rule nations |
| 19 | A guecubu possesses no physical body. Its presence is easily dismissed as a bad dream, symptom of fatigue, or minor hallucination. |
| 24 | Guecubus are telekinetic. Their touch can put a creature into a deep sleep. |
| 29 | A guecubu's presence can go undetected for months, even by its host. |