Tainted Mutants
When exposed to large amounts of dark magic, the weak of will and body tend to feel some effects: simple unease, followed by slight paranoia, then full-blown insanity. Then, they start to warp and contort, with flesh sloughing off the bone, boils, tumors, and scabs covering what skin remains. They become disgusting, wretched mutants, full of malice and possessing dangerous abilities.
Clawed Ones
The least dangerous of the known varieties of mutants, Clawed Ones are nonetheless dangerous, especially since they tend to gather in large numbers. They are aggressive, and what they lack in strength, they make up for in speed and their deadly claws.
Clawed Ones look like crooked, hunched humanoids with bone spikes protruding from every joint and vertebrae. Their teeth are sharp and their thin arms dangle down to the ground, with their razor-sharp claws digging into the ground, leaving thin grooves behind as they walk.
Medium Aberration
HP: 1d8+1 (5)
Speed: 40 ft
AC: 18 (+4 natural, +4 dex)
Fort/Ref/Will: +1/+4/+2
BAB/Grapple: +0/+1
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40 ft
Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d4-1)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +4 melee (1d4-1)
Special Attacks: Bleeding
Special Qualities: Tainted Aura
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 5
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
CR: ½
Tainted Aura: Any caster attempting to use magic within a 10 foot radius must succeed a DC 11 Fortitude save or take 1 constitution and wisdom damage from physical mutation and insanity. The save DC is Wisdom based.
Bleeding: Wounds caused by a Clawed One’s claw attack do not clot, causing a creature struck to take 1 damage per round per claw wound until stabilized (see the Heal skill) or until magical healing is administered.
Horned Ones
Horned Ones are strong, disgusting creatures. They are more dangerous than Clawed Ones, and they tend to organize into herds, making them even more formidable. They charge any creature that intrudes on their territory.
Horned Ones have a large, bone horn that protrudes from the skull and ends in a barbed point. Their arms have decayed away, leaving bony protrusions where the shoulders should be, and their necks and legs have large, swollen muscles.
Medium Aberration
HP: 2d8 +5 (16)
Speed: 30
AC: 14 (+5 natural, -1 dex)
Fort/Ref/Will: +2/-1/+3
BAB/Grapple: +1/+4
Initiative: -1
Speed: 30 ft
Attack: Gore +4 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Gore +4 melee (1d8+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Powerful Charge
Special Qualities: Tainted Aura, DR 3/magic
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 5
Feats: Toughness
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
CR: 1
Powerful Charge: Horned Ones deal an extra 1d8+3 damage on a successful charge attack.
Tainted Aura: Any spellcaster within a 10 foot radius must succeed a DC 12 Fortitude save when using magic or suffer 1d3 Constitution and Wisdom damage from mutation and insanity. The save DC is Wisdom-based.
Flayed Ones
Flayed Ones are fearsome, two-headed mutants. They are not only dangerous creatures in combat, but they also produce disgusting parasites that they spread around their lairs and through their wicked bite attacks. Thankfully, these mutants tend to be solitary, but that is little consolation for someone who is unfortunate to stumble upon one.
Flayed ones appear as disgusting, misshapen humanoids whose skulls have been split into two separate heads. Thumb-sized maggots crawl out from all over the body, and the holes they make close up as soon as they appear. Whenever struck by a weapon, several of these horrid parasites fly out of the wound.
Medium Aberration
HP: 4d8+11 (29)
AC: 16 (+5 natural, +1 dex)
Speed: 20 ft
Fort/Ref/Will: +3/+2/+6
BAB/Grapple: +3/+5
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+2+parasites)
Full Attack: 2 Bites +5 melee (1d6+2+parasites)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Parasites
Special Qualities: Tainted Aura, Fast Healing 2
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 2
Feats: Track, Toughness
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
CR: 3
Parasites: Any creature hit by a Flayed One’s bite attack must make a DC 16 Fortitude save or take on 1d3 Flayed One Parasites through the wound. A Flayed One has a telepathic link with its parasites and uses the ones spread near its lair to find weakened prey. See below for the parasite’s stats.
Tainted Aura: Any spellcaster within a 10 foot radius must succeed a DC 16 Fortitude save when using magic or suffer 1d4 Constitution and Wisdom damage from mutation and insanity. The save DC is Wisdom-based.
Flayed One Parasite
Fine Aberration
HP: ¼d8 (2)
Speed: 5 ft
AC: 24 (+8 size, +6 dex)
Fort/Ref/Will: +0/+6/+4
BAB/Grapple: +0/-21
Initiative: +6
Speed: 5 ft
Attack: –
Full Attack: –
Space/Reach: -/-
Special Attacks: Flesh-Eating, Host Entry
Special Qualities: Difficult Removal
Abilities: Str 1, Dex 23, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 2
Feats: Alertness
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
CR: 1/4
Flesh-Eating: A parasite inside the host’s body eats the flesh of the victim, causing 1 con damage every hour unless a DC 14 fortitude save is made. This includes a +4 racial bonus and is Constitution based.
Host Entry: To enter a host, a parasite must first enter the target’s space, and then the target must succeed a DC 16 Fortitude save or the parasite enters, causing 1 damage. This save is Dexterity based.
Difficult Removal: A Remove Disease spell does not kill the parasite; instead it expels it painfully from the host’s body. 50% of the time it is expelled through the skin, dealing 2d4 damage. 30% of the time it is expelled through the mouth, causing 1d4 damage and nausea in the target for 1 hour. 18% of the time it is expelled through the muscle, dealing 3d4 damage and 2 Strength damage. The remaining 2% of the time it is expelled through the skull, killing the host. Once expelled from the body, the parasite is Stunned and vulnerable for 2d4 rounds.
Special thanks to Luke Cipolle for writing this article.