Creature Codex Index Update
The Creature Codex Index is updated as of 2/17/2025, with more than 2000 Pathfinder 1e monsters! Check it out here!
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Creature Codex Index Update
The Creature Codex Index is updated as of 2/17/2025, with more than 2000 Pathfinder 1e monsters! Check it out here!
Bazelgeuse
Image © Capcom
[Sponsored by Prom on the Patreon, who specifically wanted me to bring in the fanon interpretation of the Bazelgeuse as a kleptoparasite. I love kleptoparasitism, and so was happy to oblige. My biggest challenge with this monster was in interpreting the blasting scales in such a way where they worked at the table--if each scale exploded separately like a grenade, that would be a lot of frustrating bookkeeping for a GM.
If you'd like to sponsor monsters like Prom, or just help out an unemployed writer, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here!]
Bazelgeuse CR 17 N Dragon This immense draconic creature has a metallic hide, and its wings are shaped like corrugated sheet metal. It has a short stout neck bristling with oversized overlapping scales like those of a pine cone, and similar appendages hang down from the base of its tail. Its head is dwarfed by the cluster of scales, squared off and with an underslung jaw.
A bazelgeuse, sometimes called an invading tyrant or bombard wyvern, is an enormous animalistic dragon feared by all who live in its territory. With their incredible sense of hearing, a bazelgeuse can detect the sound of combat miles away. Bazelgeuses attack with their blasting scales, explosive weapons that constantly grow along the underside of its body and drop off like bombs. A bazelgeuse prefers to keep some distance, making multiple passes over the battlefield to explode anything that remains, but if its prey fights back will attack with its natural weapons. The jaws of a bazelgeuse are not suited for combat, but it slams foes with its neck and tail. Its most feared attack is to crash into a single target and detonate its attached blasting scales at the same time. Like many dragons, bazelgeuses have a breath weapon, but this is a relatively weak spray of flaming liquid, the same material as is contained within their blasting scales. Bazelgeuses usually use this in order to detonate their blasting scales. An injured bazelgeuse enters a state of metabolic frenzy, making faster strikes and generating even more explosive blasting scales. In this state, the bazelgeuse’s blasting scales and the gaps between its ordinary scales glow orange.
A bazelgeuse will hunt over a remarkable area, and their bombing runs are sometimes mistaken for territorial belligerence. The truth of the matter is that bazelgeuses are as much kleptoparasites as they are hunters, preferring to attack other large predators in order to drive them away from prey so they can steal it. Their jaws are better suited for intimidation than for rending flesh, and they will gladly scavenge if they come across a sizable carcass. Bazelgeuses use their blasting scales to explosively “tenderize” food, which serves as an audible warning for other predators to steer clear. The movement of a bazelgeuse through a habitat may initiate a trophic cascade, as it drives away apex predators, leading to surges in prey population, which then overgraze. As such, areas inhabited by a bazelgeuse are often less vegetated than the surrounding regions. Bazelgeuses are solitary creatures, and only associate with each other on rare occasions in order to mate.
Kasa-obake
“Yokai Monsters: Karakasa-obake” © Richard Svensson, accessed at his dA gallery here
[The kasa-obake is perhaps one of the most recognizable yokai, and one with a surfeit of names. They’re also known as kasabake, karakasa-obake and karakasa kozo. Regardless of the name, they’re delightful little guys, and the inspiration for the Pokemon move Lick. ]
Kasa-obake CR 2 CN Construct (tsukumogami) Hopping forth from the darkness is a comical, yet unnerving, creature—an umbrella given somewhat humanoid form. It lopes along on only a single leg and gazes with only a single eye. Its long tongue hangs from its mouth and probes ahead of it like an obscene feeler.
Kasa-obake are one of the more common and beloved forms of tsukumogami, the creatures spontaneously created from antique objects. Despite their grotesque appearance, kasa-obake are friendly and playful creatures. They love to play pranks, moving small belongings, rearranging furniture and, their favorite, sneaking up behind an unsuspecting victim and planting an oily lick on the back of their neck. The paralytic ooze that drips from their tongue wears off quickly.
Many urban monsters, both good and evil, delight in the appearance of a kasa-obake and will adopt them as a mascot. Kasa-obake are naïve creatures and can take after their monstrous cohorts as a child raised badly may turn to wicked deeds themselves.
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Kami, Namahage
Image © Matthew Meyer. Accessed at yokai.com
[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord. I had avoided the namahage for a while, as it’s less a monster than a folk custom, and how to give statistics to it eluded me for a while. @wannabedemonlord‘s concept for it as the Scared Straight Kami was fantastic.]
Kami, Namahage CR 7 CG Outsider (native) This savage-looking humanoid has a colorful tusked face and a pair of short horns growing from its brow. It wears a straw raincoat and carries an enormous knife.
Although they are sometimes mistaken for oni, the fearsome namahage are in fact benevolent guardian spirits. They use their powers and fearsome mien to frighten people, particularly children, away from lives of crime and protecting them from wandering into dangerous locations or into the clutches of urban monsters. Some communities use the namahage as a bogeyman, and the namahage are fine playing this role. These villages celebrate the New Year by having people in namahage costume roam from house to house and threaten children who behave poorly, and occasionally a genuine namahage will join these festivals. Real namahage care less about proper behavior and social norms, however, than they do about saving lives. Some dungeons are guarded by a namahage as their first line of defense, keeping wandering monsters in and adventurous souls who could get in over their heads out—proving to a namahage’s satisfaction that a group of explorers is tough enough to face the dangers within may well be their first challenge.
In combat, a namahage relies on bluster and intimidation to weaken and scatter foes. They rarely fight to deal lethal damage, preferring to knock opponents out and move them to a safer location if they cannot be persuaded or induced to flee. Creatures frightened by a namahage are under a magical protection for as long as the fear lasts, preventing hidden enemies from taking advantage of their distress. If an opponent is knocked out, the namahage will use its mark of justice ability to act as a permanent reminder to avoid that area. Only against an irredeemably evil opponent, such as the undead or an oni, will they fight to kill.
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Kerakera-onna
Image © Matthew Meyer. See more at yokai.com
[My version is definitely a more sympathetic take on them than the original story implies. Maybe because I don’t consider sex work inherently shameful.]
Kerakera-onna CR 12 CG Outsider (native) A towering female giant appears, her face caked in makeup and her teeth stained black. Her face is contorted into a rictus of mirth, adding to her strangely intimidating presence.
The immense kerakera-onna are among the rarest of the kami, devoting their energy to guarding prostitutes and brothels. A kerakera-onna forms from the soul of a prostitute who dies of old age—sadly a rarity in many places—and who devoted her own life towards the betterment of her peers. In her role as guardian of a brothel, she treats wounds and illnesses, fights for fair pay and equal treatment, supports those who wish to leave the trade and acts as avenger against those who would exploit or abuse her charges. A man who merely scorns or insults a kerakera-onna’s chosen prostitutes may only receive the scare of his life. One who abuses or murders a prostitute may be killed or (more likely) driven mad as a warning to others. The scornful laugh of a kerakera-onna can linger in the heads of her victims for the rest of their lives, filling every waking moment with hallucinations and visions.
Most kerakera-onna are rarely-glimpsed figures, only appearing to mete out justice. Some, however, take a more active role in managing their wards by assuming mortal form and serving as a madam. Such madams are beloved both by their stable of employees and by the downtrodden folk of their community at large, as such a kerakera-onna takes an active stance against poverty, oppression and corruption. These communities may never know they host a kerakera-onna until a wicked guard captain or politician ends up afflicted with the curse of cackling wrath.
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Hi, The Creature Codex here. Gigi.
I've been running this blog for over ten years now. Over that time, I've made 1999 monsters for Pathfinder RPG, all available for free on tumblr. Monster 2000 posts very soon. I'm not planning on quitting anytime soon; I've got some new ideas that'll really make 'em scream.
I am also a trans woman. Who was forced to quit her last job over being bullied by students in the classroom and the administration's insufficient response. I have gotten all of one job interview in the whole time I've been looking for work, and I didn't get that job. Although I have launched a Patreon, and I'm very proud of how active it is... it's only a fraction of my rent. And my savings are dwindling as costs are rising.
If you like the monsters I've written. If you've reblogged my posts. If you've stumbled on this site through a Google search because apparently I'm considered an expert on obscure monsters now. Please, I could use the help. My paypal is here and my Patreon is here.
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Susurrus
Image from Fiend Folio, © TSR Inc.
[The word "susurrus" means a whispering or rustling sound, and is sufficiently obscure that spellcheck doesn't recognize it. So I'm willing to use that as the name of the monster (even if it was misspelled in its initial appearance), but if that sort of thing bugs you I have some alternatives. The susurrus appeared in the 1st through 3rd editions of D&D, and although the mechanics were similar in all three versions, every time what it was was reinvented. The 1e susurrus is said to have an exoskeleton, and between that and its filter feeding in air seems to be some sort of sponge-like creature. The 2e version is made of bamboo. The 3e version is made of glass. I went back to the original, but explicitly made it a glass sponge. And the warnings I got doing lab work with glass sponges back in college inspired me to make it shed sharp little glass shards in addition to just cutting things that touch it.
If you'd like to support my work in uncovering and remastering obscure old monsters, or if you'd like to read some bonus monsters, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here! ]
Susurrus CR 7 N Aberration This ape-like, headless creature appears to be made out of a fine lattice of translucent glass. As it moves, air whistles through the holes in its body, creating a faint, eerie whispering sound.
A susurrus by any name—hushcreeper, whisper beast—would be a sapient glass sponge that feeds on organic matter filtered from the air. They are generally peaceful, perching on mountain crags or canyon walls when the wind is up in order to gather pollen, fungal spores, tiny insects and bacteria. The sound made by the air whistling through their many tubes and hollows is eerie and soothing all at once, and causes drowsiness in creatures that come too close. This is effectively a warning to anything that would attempt to attack it; a susurrus’s body is covered with tiny spicules of razor sharp glass, and its fists hit with the force of a battleaxe. Creatures struck have glass fragments embedded in their bodies, causing excruciating pain until the glass is removed.
Susurruses despise smoke, as it interferes with their filter feeding and tastes terrible besides. Parties carrying torches or lighting bonfires in a susurrus’s territory may find themselves assaulted and driven off. They are also uniformly hostile towards corporeal undead, attacking them in a rage whenever their paths cross. The dronesong of a susurrus can immobilize the undead, making them a powerful ally to undead hunters if an accord can be reached. Necromancers tend to despise susurruses, as a single one crossing the path of their armies can debilitate them effortlessly, and may hire adventurers under false pretenses to exterminate the glass creatures.
A susurrus can live for thousands of years if not slain through violence. They rarely reproduce, and do so through fission, breaking off a chunk of their body and planting it in a windy area to grow to full size. Their own language is difficult to reproduce by organisms without multiple mouths, but they do understand and speak simple phrases in Aklo.
Jakotsubaba
Image by Shigeru Mizuki
[The jakotsubaba is a fairly obscure yokai. Despite the snakes and the lurking in graveyards, the original story is primarily focused on protecting a single grave, so I decided to interpret it as a kami rather than a malevolent undead.]
Kami, Jakotsubaba CR 8 LN Outsider (native) An emaciated old woman stands here, clad in nothing more than rags. Her eyes glint with yellow light. Two immense serpents, one red and one blue, grow from her shoulders and wind around her arms.
Jakotsubabas are kami that guard the dead and protect them from both living marauders and the depredations of the undead. Although they can be found in large cemeteries, they are more frequently found warding a lonesome tomb or a mass grave hidden in the wilderness. Due to their emaciated forms, they are typically mistaken for undead creatures, but jakotsubabas are nothing of the sort and indeed despise the undead above all else.
The unnatural aura of a jakotsubaba is typically sufficient to guard the bodies they protect from mundane predators, but either mortal or undead marauders must be repelled with force. Most jakotsubabas will begin by attempting to frighten away trespassers, but if this fails, they attack with the snakes growing from their bodies and swarms of phantasmal serpents conjured by their magic. Mortal intruders will typically be left unconscious by the jakotsubaba’s venom and dragged to a remote spot to recover or succumb to the elements.
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Kami, Akashita
“Stealing is BAD!” © @nightmaresyrup. Accessed at their tumblr here
[The first monsters I posted on tumblr, before I had a dedicated blog just for the monsters, were yokai. So I’m going back to a well that has served me well in the past. The akashita is a bit odd because it is usually referred to as being evil and dangerous, but it specifically punishes people who steal water. Which got me thinking about how scary isn’t always evil, and was solidified for me by the art above, resulting in the good-aligned akashita below. ]
Kami, Akashita CR 11 LG Outsider (native) A roiling black cloud moves on its own accord, a leering, monstrous face embedded within. It clutches its mighty clawed hands and roars, revealing an immense red tongue.
An akashita is a greatly feared guardian of canals, aqueducts and dams, although they are impartial judges to those who deal with water rights fairly. They despise those that would steal water or cheat others out of their fair share and those that seek to profit from an imbalance of water rights. It is these mortals who receive an akashita’s wrath, although the creature prefers to make its public appearances as dramatic as possible to increase the shame of the criminal and the impact of its punishment. These public punishments typically take place during heavy rainstorms. If one is not naturally available, the akashita will make one magically. Most malefactors are punished with debilitating curses, and an akashita prefers not to use lethal violence unless it is attacked first.
Akashitas are comfortable moving through both air and water with their fluid, cloud-like bodies. If grounded by heavy winds or pursuing a fugitive through tight spaces, they can drag themselves along on their clawed hands, but this is cumbersome and uncomfortable. Akashitas do not covet treasure, but they will accept sacrifices to keep water flowing freely or to break droughts with blessed rain.
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If I could, I would sic one of these on each AI data center and like five on Nestle corporate headquarters.
Kami-kiri
Image from the Hyakki Zukan, by Sawaki Suushi. Accessed via the Yokai Wiki
[I have used the kami-kiri in game, albeit as a plot device and not a combat encounter. One was given as a pet to the PCs, with the intention of revealing that the kitsune in the party was a shapeshifter. Incidentally, when I described it as looking “like a cross between a bird and a crab”, everyone imagined a much cuter version than the one that actually appears in picture scrolls.]
Kami-kiri CR ½ N Aberration This bizarre little creature is roughly humanoid with a carapace like an insect’s. Its head is fringed with hair and bears a thin beak, and its arms end in scissor-like claws.
Kami-kiri are strange pests that feed on hair. Members of a household, their pets and livestock are all subject to humiliating attacks—the creature sneaks up on an unsuspecting victim, slices off their hair as close to the roots as it can get, and then makes off with its prize. Most kami-kiri feed mostly on sleeping prey, but especially audacious ones may attack at any time. Kami-kiri are not particularly violent creatures, and are more likely to run than fight back if their feeding activities are responded to with violence.
Kami-kiri have an unusual hatred for shapeshifters of any kind and go out of their way to thwart the efforts of these parasites on mortal society. Since they are relatively weak and cannot speak, however, such actions are typically limited to cutting things—hair, clothing, tapestries, anything that would get attention. A household that is especially prone to kami-kiri attacks may be one that hosts a guest in mortal guise.
A kami-kiri stands two feet tall and weighs 20 pounds. A kami-kiri can learn languages by spending ranks in the Linguistics skill. A 3rd-level spellcaster with the Improved Familiar feat and at least one neutral component to her alignment can choose a kami-kiri as a familiar.
Ami-kiri Larger cousins of the kami-kiri, ami-kiri appear very similar, except that they possess a snake-like tail instead of lower legs and can soar through the air. Ami-kiri prefer the taste of fabric to that of hair, and are fond of cutting fishing nets and clothing off of drying lines. An ami-kiri is a kami-kiri with the giant simple template and a fly speed of 40 feet (good maneuverability) instead of a climb speed. Ami-kiri gain Flyby Attack as a bonus feat. Ami-kiri have a CR of 1
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Kalidah
Inktober Kalidah! © Sam A. Milazzo, accessed at his deviantArt gallery here
[More Oz stuff. These monstrous beasts appeared in the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but were cut from the movie. In their original appearance, they were not apparently sapient. In later Oz books, they could talk, since everything in Oz could talk by that point. I split the difference by making them sapient, but not very bright.]
Kalidah CR 11 CE Magical Beast This beast is the size of an elephant, combining the most ferocious aspects of a tiger and a bear. Its coat is black and striped with white, and its head is orange.
Kalidahs are powerful and deadly hybrids of bears and tigers, larger and crueler by far than both. They are strict carnivores, and their favorite diet is to prey on carnivorous animals. Kalidahs are bullies and sadists by nature, and enjoy stalking prey over long distances, making brief and bloody attacks but retreating before they make the kill, the better to draw out their quarry’s suffering. A kalidah would rather die than retreat, which means that while they are ferocious combatants, they can be lured into traps by the clever and wary. Because of their outright contempt for other predatory beasts, some druids believe that kalidahs were created as an affront to the natural world. They speak both Common and the language of animals, but rarely say much except for taunts and threats.
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Dakon
"Gorilla Warrior Groom" © Gio Sabadze, accessed at his ArtStation here
[The dakon is yet another monster that appeared in the AD&D Fiend Folio and was then all but forgotten. Maybe it's market saturation; there are so many apes and ape humanoids in D&D that one without a gimmick or any special abilities just doesn't stand out. They did make an appearance in Dragon Magazine 187, getting an "Ecology of the Dakon" article intended to rescue them from the memory hole. It didn't work. But it does have some interesting ideas to emphasize their Lawful Neutral alignment, which I poached here. I did not take the use of titles from the historical Ghana Empire from that article; that strikes me as being too close to unfortunate racial implications. My version incorporates them into Pathfinder by referring to some of that setting's ape monsters, and gives them a howl special attack because apes are loud.
If you'd like to support my writing, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here!]
Dakon CR 2 LN Monstrous Humanoid This creature looks like a gorilla, except that it is clearly comfortable walking on two legs. It wears little clothing except for harnesses for tools and golden jewelry.
Dakons are gorilla-like humanoids with a highly organized society. They are agriculturalists and traders who value gold above other precious stones and metals. All free dakons wear some manner of gold jewelry, typically a ring displaying the name and crest of their monarch. Royal dakons go so far as to wear ceremonial golden armor on special occasions. Dakon villages are built in three dimensions out of wood and fiber, surrounded by wooden palisades for defense; dakons rarely build with stone. A village is led by the strongest warrior, and competitions of strength and intimidation occur every five years to determine who that is. All of the villages in a region pay tribute to a king or queen, who owns the gold mines in the area and taxes all trade. The miners laboring to extract the gold are never free dakons, instead being made up of convicted criminals and the enslaved warriors of their enemies.
Rank-and-file dakons rarely use melee weapons (trusting instead to their powerful fists), although they do carry a brace of javelins when expecting combat. Swords are seen as symbols of rank, and warlords and kings often wield ornate weapons. Every dakon is capable of communicating with other primates and befriending them, and as such monkeys and apes are common domestic animals. Dire apes are frequently used as watchdogs and war hounds. A dakon’s lungs are powerful and they can and do give shouts that can be heard for miles as a warning; creatures too close to a shouting dakon can be temporarily deafened.
Dakons are a proud people and wish to be seen as equals by the humanoids that live nearby them. They staunchly believe in law and order, seeing it as a powerful corrective to the chaotic nature of the demon lord Angazhan, who is seen as the primary architect of evil in their cosmology. The charau-ka are their greatest rivals, and captured charau-ka make up the bulk of their slave force. Dakons do not believe in the death penalty among their own kind; criminals are subject to enslavement or exile, and they are ritually shaved in patches as a sign of humiliation. For the most serious offenses, the shaved patches are burnt or chemically scarred to ensure that the hair never grows back. Dakon religion venerates a wide range of ancestors, nature and elemental spirits; druids and oracles are much more common divine casters than clerics.
Can I just say, it is Refreshing to see a race of Simian-folk that aren't the tired old Trope of " """Primitive""" Evil Ape-men" And instead are a structured society, with a distinct Early Agricultural Age-esque Kingdoms. (A style of kingdom That's rarely seen in Fantasy).
No apologies necessary! These plot hooks are golden.
Kalamite
Image © Martin McKenna
[The kalamite appears first in the Fighting Fantasy book Daggers of Darkness. The telescoping limbs appear in the original, but Beyond the Pit isn’t specific about how far they telescope. So I had to use a value judgement. This art gives me Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark vibes.]
Kalamite CR 8 N Plant This creature appears to be a tall, thin humanoid made of wood. It has no neck, but a leering face, and its limbs bear multiple joints like a stalk of bamboo.
Kalamites are plant creatures that protect wetland environments. They seek to keep marshes from being drained for their rich soil, as wetlands are sources of water purification and hubs of biodiversity that affect all of the ecosystems around them. Kalamites can be found in both saltwater and freshwater marshes, and in all climates. They are similar to treants, but less goodly in nature and more likely to attack first and ask questions later. Sometimes the ranges of kalamites and treants even overlap, in places like swamps and mangrove forests; the two species are loosely cooperative, but rarely social. Kalamites tolerate evil humanoids, such as goblins and boggards, in their marshes as long as they make no effort to alter the environment on a large scale.
A kalamite’s primary weapons are its oversized claws. Their arms and legs are telescoping, which they use to gain height to survey their domains and to grab enemies from afar. Creatures so grabbed are squeezed to death, or possibly forced facedown into the water until they stop struggling. If enemies keep their distance beyond a kalamite’s long stride, the plant will scoop up wads of mud and throw them—they have an uncanny ability to aim for the eyes.
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Con Rit
Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here
[The con rit is a Vietmanese sea serpent reported on by Bernard Heuvelmans in his foundational and deeply flawed In the Wake of the Sea Serpents. I was delighted to find it as a Pathfinder monster as of the 2e Remastered Monster Core 1. As a CR 7 monster that looks like a weirdo centipede found in a hazardous environment, I suspect that the con rit is intended as a "replacement" for the remorhaz, which as an OGL creature was left behind in the Remaster. This is a pretty straightforward conversion, which means that I maintained its ability to deal hit point damage with poison (although, like a lot of PF2e monsters, it deals damage and imposes a penalty to certain rolls). I announced that I'd be using poison as a damage type a few years ago to a bit of uproar, but haven't actually applied it very frequently. If you're dramatically opposed to poison dealing hit point damage, just increase the amount of Dex damage dealt by con rit venom.
Edit: Both @glarnboudin and @abominationimperatrix asked why I didn't make it a remipede. And the answer is, I was doing the monster pretty quickly because I was tired and wanted to write something low-effort. I literally didn't think of it. But it's an excellent suggestion, and I am making it so.
If you'd like to support what I do, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here!]
Con Rit CR 7 N Vermin This undulating creature appears to be some manner of aquatic centipede. Instead of scuttling legs, each of its segments bears a pair of broad fins. Its mandibles and antennae sit at the front of an elongated head.
A con rit is a giant remipede with a strong territorial instinct and a strange life cycle. Unlike their smaller kin, con rits have fully functional eyes, and hunt via sight. Their bodies move with smooth undulations, and are counter-shaded so as to be harder to spot from above or below in the water column. As they swim, the plates of their exoskeleton rub together, creating an metallic ringing sound feared by sailors. Con rits are often mistaken for sea serpents or even aquatic dragons due to their serpentine movements and their ability to spray water and venom in a jet from their mouths. Con rits use this ability to pick low-flying birds out of the air, and to knock sailors overboard so they can be consumed.
Legend has it that a con rit is effectively immortal, dying and being reborn like a phoenix. This is a magical interpretation of the unusual con rit life cycle. A con rit is parthenogenetic, capable of fertilizing its own eggs. Con rits lay hundreds of eggs in a secluded spot in their territory but never allow them to develop, culling the oldest eggs by eating them. When a con rit dies, the eggs are left alone, and their development is accelerated by pheromones excreted by their dying parent. The juveniles born first eat the remaining eggs, then turn on each other in a feeding frenzy. Only a single con rit is typically left alive to inherit its parent’s territory. On occasion, young con rits will be carried to another location through water currents or the intervention of other species, but otherwise a con rit remains in its home territory for life. This life cycle is so specific and so limiting of con rit populations that some sages have argued that it is artificial, designed by a sapient species to use con rits as guardians, but no direct evidence of this claim exists.
Monster Spotlight: Drainberry Bush
CR 7
Neutral Large Plant
Kingmaker Bestiary, pg. 24 (image from 2e Monster Core 2, pg. 139)
These massive, bloodthirsty bushes are one of a handful of significant monsters backported from 2e to 1e via the updated Kingmaker Bestiary like the Gogiteth I've previously talked about, and unfortunately that means its stats do not exist on the Archives of Nethys or the d20PFSRD despite being around since 2022. And it's a shame, too, because much like @thecreaturecodex says in her own take on the 1e of the Drainberry Bush, these profiteering Plants are one of the most delightful concepts Paizo has created. Side note: the Codex's entry for this critter is almost identical to the official one except for a few very important differences, so it's really up to you which one you prefer to use!
Getting into it, though, Drainberry Bushes are a unique type of encounter with a potentially helpful monster. These patches of bargainer brush are frequently laden with all manner of treasure and valuable art objects that they willingly trade away for anything that catches their fancy, though they have little grasp of actual market value (due to possessing a -1 in Appraise). They'll gladly trade a powerful magic item for an especially impressive song being performed in front of them, or a priceless heirloom in exchange for a statue of one of the Eldest Fey, all depending on their own personal tastes. They have little actual use for any of their gathered treasure except as bargaining pieces to get more, so a DM could very well have one act as a pseudo-merchant with an eclectic collection of market items to sell and trade in areas no sane merchant would travel to for prices no being would ever accept... or a valuable piñata for the party to whack apart, but we'll get to why that's a bad idea in a moment.
Adorably, the Bushes are capable of communicating via telepathy, but do so in short, terse phrases like "deal good," "deal no good," "want that," and even "thank you, customer," letting them set up trades without people needing resort to elaborate pantomime or blowing a spell slot on Speak With Plants. The main trade deal Drainberry Bushes offer in order to amass their wealth in the first place lays in their namesake berries; the Bushes can use their Blood Drain ability on any creature they grapple, hollow thorns burrowing into the body and siphoning 1d2 Con a round, and every single time the Bush uses Blood Drain, it magically grows a cluster of Blood Berries somewhere on its body. These berries glow with a soft light that signals that they contain pure life essence, and any creature that consumes a cluster of the berries regains 2d8+10 HP instantly, making them as potent as a Cure Moderate Wounds potion. These potent and delicious restoratives are unfortunately unstable, turning to rotting mush after only a single day, so Drainberry Bushes have to constantly be on the move in their search for customers to sell them to... and for unwitting prey to create more.
Given that they can turn any creature with blood into a whole bushel of berries, most Drainberry Bushes survive/stock up off regular wildlife, snaring hapless woodland animals with their prodigious reach... if they don't use their Wild Empathy (+11) to simply ask for donations. Yes, they'll even barter with wildlife if they feel it will get them a better deal with less fuss, but most critters have nothing of worth for the brush, so they end up beaten and drained. Each Bush can make two vine attacks a round for 2d6+6 damage each, attempting to automatically Grab (+13 CMB) any victim struck, and they've got a 10ft space and 20ft reach to make their Combat Reflexes feat an absolute terror. While their vines are their only means of offense, it's all they need, because they're tenacious enough to outlast just about anything but an entire group of foes.
They've got a decent 20 AC and all the immunities that come with being a Plant, plus a unique immunity to negative energy effects due to the overwhelming life within their leaves. However, their 85 HP is more of a suggestion than an absolute value, because they can use Consume Berries to nibble on their own supply every single round as a swift action! As long as they continue to grapple and drain people for even 1 Con, they essentially regenerate 2d8+10 HP every single round until people stop hitting it, one way or another. The most surefire way to end a Drainberry Bush's hostilities is with sure fire, as they have a Vulnerability to Fire that means even the lowly Scorching Hands is a serious threat to them.
If one wants to get the better of a Bush, they can also just reach over and steal a berry cluster for their own use. Any creature adjacent to the Bush's 10ft space can reach over to pluck one, which draws an AoO, but they may also attempt a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check which, if successful, swipes the berries and avoids the retaliatory AoO altogether. The problem then becomes swiping them without ending up contributing to them, since being slapped and grabbed just means it'll grow another one next round, and the DM is encouraged to have the Bushes already laden with berries (1d6+3 clusters!) as both products to sell and life insurance for itself.
Given their wide threat range, grapple shenanigans, and Blood Drain leading directly into their own healing, Drainberry Bushes can make surprisingly deadly early-game encounters despite being so goofy. Of course, if they appear too late in a campaign, there's little to stop players from just killing it and taking all its stuff plus the temporary healing items; unlike the Mercane, Drainberry Bushes aren't known to surround themselves with powerful bodyguards, though this isn't to say they don't get bodyguards by accident. Being able to turn even a common deer into 10~12 Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds is a valuable enough talent that the Bush itself may not be the main threat a party needs to worry about!
As their 1e stats don't exist online, here's their 2e stats, and here's TCC's take on them again. The biggest differences between the two is the Paizo version deals Con damage with its blood drain, has 20ft of reach, and deals more damage with its vines, while TCC has lower vine damage but its Drain Blood acts as a pseudo-Constrict, and has less reach but the Great Cleave feat to make its melee threatening in an entirely different way. Use them as you see fit!
Thanks for the shoutout! It is interesting to see how my interpretation differs from the official retro-conversion.
Kaiju, Watang
[Let me explain. The movie titled Mothra vs. Godzilla in its native Japan was called Godzilla vs. the Thing when released in the US by the publicity minded folks at American International Pictures. Advertising art had Godzilla fighting a censored tentacled monster, with the gimmick being you’d have to see the movie to see what The Thing was (spoilers: it’s Mothra). This led to even more elaborate versions of that poster being made for overseas markets, until we get to Italy’s Watang in the Fabulous Kingdom of Monsters, above.]
Kaiju, Watang CR 29 CE Aberration This levitating creature looks something like a colossal octopus, except that it has ten tentacles, each lined with barbs and ending in a clawed hand. Instead of jaws in the center of its mass is a single enormous eye, glowing with barely contained energy.
Watang the Terrible Thing is an immense, cephalopod-like horror that feeds on the fear of mortals. Like many kaiju, Watang spends most of its life in deep slumber. It occasionally stirs to feed by flying over settled areas and delighting in the panic its passing ensues. Watang is content to merely terrify most creatures, but anything that is immune to fear and attempts to fight it provokes its destructive ire. This includes the fearless kaiju—Watang resents other kaiju and is much more likely to fight against them than by their side.
Watang is magically gifted compared to most kaiju. It can ignore walls of force and other magical fortifications, and its claws dispel protective or enhancing magic. Its central eye can expand to release a ruinous torrent of force combined with negative energy. Due to this weapon, some scholars believe that Watang is native to, or connected somehow with, the Negative Energy plane, but despite this Watang has no affinity for the undead. Indeed, their fearlessness merely annoys it, and it destroys those undead who cross its path.
Watang is, like all kaiju, of a preposterous scale. Its tentacles reach about 150 feet in diameter.
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