Cawtrid

Cawtrid (CR 15)

Neutral Evil - Small - Aberration

Lore:	K. (Dungeoneer)
32		41
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

25

Perception:
35	+25
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

37

Man Def

37

Monster Health
429	214	29
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+12
Refl:	+12
Will:	+17

Strong Against:

• Insanity Invisibility (see below)
• Immune (no effect): Quelled, Prone, Splayed (due to Hover)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Small
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+22

Man Off

+25

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Psychic Proboscis +22 (0/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  as Non-Lethal Damage, plus: Fevered Visions (See below)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Psychic Proboscis +22 (3d10+23/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  as Non-Lethal Damage, plus: Fevered Visions (See below)
• 2x Unguis +22 (3d6+9/x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  as Non-Lethal Damage

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Sensile Intrusion +22 (0/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 25 ft.; Max Range: 100 ft.)
  plus: Fevered Visions

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Sensile Intrusion +22 (3d10+23/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 25 ft.; Max Range: 100 ft.)
  plus: Fevered Visions

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

11

STR

10

DEX

11

CON

36

INT

22

WIS

25

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 25
• Stealth: 33 (Gains +8 bonus (included) against any non-insane target.)
• All other skills: 20 (no ranks)

Languages: Telepathy, Enuncia

Feats:

• Second Chance (EFFECT: Reroll a missed attack or failed combat maneuver)
• Second Chance, Improved (EFFECT: You may reroll up to three misses per encounter.)

Special Abilities

Insanity Invisibility (Ex)

Cawtrids are invisible versus all sane creatures, at all times, granting them +4 to stealth checks (not included above) and total concealment (50% miss chance) against all creatures in their right minds and which rely on visual senses to target in combat. However, this invisibility is pierced by anyone suffering from the Confused status condition. Those rendered insane by Fevered Visions are also able to see Cawtrids. Unlike normal (or even greater) invisibility, a cawtrid's invisibility is not broken when it performs a hostile action. It remains invisible and stealthed regardless of the actions it takes, unless those actions result in someone becoming crazed enough to see them. Note that anyone qualifying as 'insane' doesn't even need to roll Perception to see through the cawtrid's stealth; they just see them.

Fevered Visions (Su)

A creature hit by a Cawtrid's proboscis, or by its Sensile Intrusion ranged attack, or who are knocked Unconscious by a Cawtrid's attacks, find their sanity assaulted with a frenzy of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes, which urge the victim to perform impossible acts, or comprehend things they were not meant to know. Such creatures must make a Will save, DC 26, or suffer 1d4+1 points of Intelligence drain and become Baffled until the end of the encounter. Those who succeed on the Will save are still inundated with a rush of bizarre images, sounds, and confusing sights, causing them to be Muddled until the end of the combat. A creature who is already Baffled who fails another save instead becomes Confused. Note that Confused creatures have reached a state of insanity sufficient that they can ignore a Cawtrid's Insanity Invisibility. If that is any sort of consolation... Any creature who has failed at least one save from Fevered Visions may voluntarily make themselves Confused, giving in to the irrational flood of impossible ideas and urges which flood their mind. This surrender allows them to more effectively fight the Cawtrids, but at a terrible cost. If they give in, the Confused state persists for 1d10 minutes, long after any reasonable combat has ended, and almost certainly causing them to lash out at their allies, and perhaps worse, any innocent bystanders. The Intelligence drain recovers at the rate of 1 point per day, unless restored via magic, such as a Lesser Restoration spell. Gaining access to such aid is VERY warranted, as noted below. Any creature reduced to 1 Intelligence by a Cawtrid's Fevered Visions is rendered permanently insane, which can only be cured via a Greater Restoration spell, even if their Intelligence is restored through other healing. Insane creatures have the Baffled condition at all times, and GM's are encouraged to come up with one or two other traits the character must endure (such as a powerful delusion, or synesthesia, etc.) until they are cured.

Ridden By Madness (Su)

If a creature becomes Confused by a Cawtrid, they succumb to the fiend's most awful effect, becoming Ridden by Madness. If any creature ends a combat while Confused by a Cawtrid, they must make a Will save against a DC of 26. If they fail this save, then all appears well until the next time they are in a combat. The first time they have a turn in any combat after ending a combat while Confused by a Cawtrid, they are Dominated, no save allowed. They are always compelled to attack their weakest (as they perceive it) ally with their strongest (as they perceive it) attack. After this attack, they shake off the Domination if they succeed in damaging their ally. If they do not, the Ridden By Madness effect persists until they succeed. It is recommended that GM's take over play of any afflicted character to demonstrate that they are no longer in their right mind until such time as they are able to discharge their Madness. It is further suggested that GM's roll these attacks instead of the players, and carefully roleplay the odd behavior of those afflicted by Ridden By Madness. Note that there is no cure for Ridden By Madness, beyond allowing the afflicted to fulfill their insane compulsion! No spell, no blessing, not even Deific intervention can intervene against the madness that grips the afflicted. Parties that have become aware of their ally's affliction would be well-served to position their next encounter such that their maddened friend can expend their Domination upon someone who can endure such a treacherous, albeit unwilling, attack.

Cawtrid

Cawtrids are madness monsters. Only the insane believe they really exist...but there's a lot of insane people in asylums and back alleys that agree on the terrible details. Are Cawtrids myth? Or something so awful, so 'out of left field' that they...are real? Nobody really knows, and that's sort of scary.

If they really exist, Cawtrids are some sort of a horrible aberration, that the fringe lunatics speculate inundate the small extra-dimensional gaps between the Prime Material and other planes. That is a terrible idea, because they could exist, if they're real...they could be ANYWHERE.

Those few who claim to have seen them, and are not utter lunatics, those that can possibly be believed about it, have always claimed that they were everywhere and innumerable. This implies that Cawtrids exist because all races with the Spark...BELIEVE they exist. This is the sort of thing that's truly horrifying, because how do you stop something that's just...belief? Or maybe fear? Every childs night terrors...only...somehow...real? This is the sort of thing that leads to belief in the Real Darkness, the ever-consuming Void behind all things....

Sobering stuff, eh?

If they are real, they are..awful.

If they are real, it is not known what causes Cawtrids to take an interest in beings on the Prime Material, but the simple fact is, if you look hard enough, there are attacks that DO happen with no explanation. These attacks DO happen, no matter the scornful denials, the mocking, the disbelief. When they happen, they are the worst possible, typically leaving the victims raving with incurable madness. Whether this is caused by the psychic damage inflicted by these "Cawtrids", or by the glimpses of the tattered holes in our reality leading to the Outer Madness...

Nobody knows.

Combat Tactics

Cawtrids are inscrutable monsters that live in multiple planes of existence at once. They do not eat, sleep, or breathe as we would define such things, and they don't have any apparent needs that anyone has been able to determine. However, occasionally, a hapless group of people will suddenly provoke a group of Cawtrids into violence, although it is certainly a terrible, treacherous violence. Such attacks are probably rare. However, since many of the victims of these attacks are rendered insane, it is possible they are more common than most experts believe. Certainly, these ravening madmen claim that Cawtrids are everywhere, all the time, which, if true, suggests they are usually non-violent.

Once provoked, they set upon the offenders with fierce efficiency. They are highly intelligent and will fight from range if possible. If an opponent somehow closes to melee with them, they will use full attacks to defend themselves.

Cawtrids don't experience fear as we would define it, and won't typically run from a fight that they can't win. However, in some cases, they have been known to disengage as if signaled by something no one could perceive (this has occurred even when their victory was certain).

Cawtrids never kill their victims. Even though their attacks deal damage, it is all non-lethal. Instead, Cawtrids will linger over an unconscious victim long enough to fully drain its Intelligence and ensure it becomes permanently insane. It is speculated that the fevered imaginings of the insane victims helps the Cawtrids in some way, or perhaps placates their violent tendencies for a time.

Out of Combat

Nobody knows. It is possible that nobody CAN know.

Rewards

XP: 51,200

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 32,125 gp.

Weight: 150 lbs.     Volume: 6 cu. ft.

• Cawtrids that have been 'defeated' leave behind some sort of...mental...slime...stuff. People who realize what it is will pay a LOT for it.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)