Cardinacs
Cardinacs are a rare species of evil humanoids, which appear at random in the normal population. They are born looking like any other member of their race, and remain that way until their fourteenth birthday. At midnight of that day, the creature goes through excruciating pain as it grows wings, its skin turns grey and a series of black symbols appear on its flesh. Cardinacs have some method of finding others of their kind, and often a small group will go to collect a Cardinac on its fourteenth birthday, to keep it from being killed prematurely. Societies that are in conflict with the Cardinacs often have a ceremony the day before a child’s fourteenth birthday, designed to keep it from turning into one of these monsters. However, this ceremony does not seem to have an effect, as some have transformed even after being subjected to this ceremony, and were promptly killed.
The Cardinacs’ ultimate agenda is largely unknown, but scholars claim that they serve some obscure or dead god, and are scheming to bring their master back to power. If this is true, the Cardinacs are just the beginning of what is to come.
Cardinac is a template that can be applied to any humanoid creature. All aspects of the Cardinac are the same as the base creature, except as follows.
Hit Points: Cardinac gain an additional 4 hit points per a hit die.
Speed: A Cardinac gains a fly speed of 40 with good maneuverability
Special Attacks: Spell-Like Abilities, Ray of Death
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 5/Silver
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +4
Feats: Gains the Fly-By Attack feat
Challenge Rating: As Base Creature, +1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always evil
Advancement: By Character Class
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +3
Spell-Like Abilities: 3/Day Hold Person, Ray of Enfeeblement, Invisibility. All spells are cast as though a 7th level sorcerer.
Ray of Death: Once per an hour, a Cardinac can fire a ray of black energy from its fingertips, requiring a ranged touch attack. The struck creature must make a saving throw (DC10+3+charisma modifies) or die. If the target succeeds, it is dealt 5d6 negative energy damage.