[In the original lore, the kazenbou is a harmless apparition instead of a killer monster, but when has that stopped RPG writers before? It’s also part of my occasional mission to make more, and more interesting, incorporeal undead.]
Kazenbou
CR 10 CE Undead
This disturbing figure resembles a shriveled, blackened humanoid, its body ruined by fire. Flames lick its body and extend around it like a halo.
Legend tells that the first kazenbou were monks who in life believed that they had reached enlightenment. In the belief that they had learned everything they could learn, they committed suicide by fire in order to purify their bodies and join the gods in a righteous afterlife. For their arrogance they were punished and their souls trapped in the material world, destined to spread the fires that consumed their own bodies.
Kazenbou still rise from the mortal remains of solipsists and egomaniacs, but most of them are created by the burning touch of another kazenbou. They haunt the ruins of temples, monuments of grandeur and the tombs of forgotten kings, serving as an eternal reminder of the perils of mortal hubris. They are single-minded in their hatred of the living, and can only be negotiated with using undead controlling magic.
Kazenbou CR 10
XP 9,600
CE Medium undead (fire, incorporeal)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense 60 ft., Perception +17
Aura frightful presence (30 ft., DC 20)
Defense
AC 21, touch 21, flat-footed 13 (+7 Dex, +3 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 105 (14d8+42)
Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +13
Immune fire, incorporeal traits, undead traits
Defensive Abilities blazing shield
Weakness vulnerable to cold
Offense
Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee incorporeal touch +17 (2d6 negative energy plus soul burn)
Ranged burning beam +17 ranged touch (7d6+3 fire)
Special Attacks create spawn, soul burn (3d6 fire plus 1d6 Con drain, DC 20)
Statistics
Str -, Dex 25, Con -, Int 11, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +10; CMB -; CMD 21
Feats Ability Focus (soul burn), Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +17, Fly +24, Knowledge (religion) +13, Perception +17, Stealth +20
Languages Common, Ignan
SQ searing flame
Ecology
Environment any land or underground
Organization solitary or cloister (2-12)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Blazing Shield (Su) A kazenbou is not treated as undead for the purposes of light effects that deal extra damage to the undead, such as searing light or sunbeam.
Burning Beam (Su) As a standard action, a kazenbou can fire a ray of fire as a ranged touch attack with a range of 120 feet and no range increment. A creature struck by this ray takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 HD of the kazenbou plus the kazenbou’s Charisma modifier (7d6+3 for the average specimen).
Create Spawn (Su) A creature reduced to 0 Con by a kazenbou’s soul burn rises as a kazenbou unter the control of its creator in 1d4 rounds. Spawn so created are less powerful than typical kazenbou, and suffer a –2 penalty on all d20 rolls and checks and receive –2 hp per HD. Spawn are under the command of the kazenbou that created them and remain enslaved until its death, at which point they lose their spawn penalties and become full-fledged and free-willed kazenbou. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.
Searing Flame (Su) Fire damage dealt by a kazenbou ignores the first 10 points of fire resistance a creature has.
Soul Burn (Ex) A creature struck by a kazenbou’s melee attack must succeed a DC 20 Reflex save or catch on fire. This functions as the burn special attack, except that every round a creature takes burn damage from a kazenbou, it also takes 1d6 Con drain. The save DC is Charisma based.
