Maddened Slivers

Maddened Slivers (CR 17)

True Chaotic - Small - Vermin (Aberration)

Lore:	Know (Nature)
34		49
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

27

Perception:
38	+28
Passive	Active

Ambush:

6+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: 'Note Dormant ability, below.'

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Low-Light Vision
• Scent 60 ft.
• Tremorsense 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.
• Greater Climb 30 ft.
• Vaulting 30 ft.
• Lesser Swim 30 ft.

Defense

AC

40

Man Def

40

Monster Health
611	305	32
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+14
Refl:	+19
Will:	+14

Strong Against:

• (Mindless) Immune (no effect): all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, fear, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable (1.5x damage): to Interstice (physical, rare) damage

Offense

Size:	Small
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+25

Man Off

+28

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Slivering Slash +25 (4d8+17/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  , plus 'Irritating Scratch' (see below)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Slivering Slash +25 (4d8+17/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  , plus 'Irritating Scratch' (see below)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Ichor Squirt +25 (4d8+17/19-20 x2)
  as acid (energy, common)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Ichor Squirt +25 (4d8+17/19-20 x2)
  as acid (energy, common)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

26

STR

28

DEX

18

CON

—

INT

6

WIS

16

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 28
• All other skills: 23 (no ranks)

Languages: None

Feats:

Special Abilities

Irritating Scratch (Ex) Free Action After successful attack

Once per round per victim struck, upon a successful hit, the Slivering Slash attack can inflict 4d8+17 as slime (physical, common) damage, and the Dazzled condition, on one target the Sliver chooses, the terrible ichor that fills them irritating the eyes and skin. Affected victims are allowed a Reflex save against a DC of 27 to reduce the damage by half and negate the dazzled condition. A victim that is already Dazzled due to this effect that fails a second save (due to two different successful attacks, which may come from one Sliver, or several), has the Dazzled upgraded to the Blind condition.

Dormancy (Ex) Free Action

When dormant, a Maddened Sliver is indistinguishable from a pile of gory offal. It takes a perception check of 49 to notice something is amiss. A Maddened Sliver can activate or deactivate dormancy as a free action, and this ability is frequently used by the mindless things to lay ambushes for the luckless.

Slivering Frenzy (Ex) Full Attack Action

As a full attack action, Maddened Slivers may make two Slivering Slash melee attacks upon every enemy creature, adjacent to their space. As mindless vermin, they will always use this ability if they threaten two or more enemies and have access to a full attack action. If they are suffering from a flank when they use this ability, they gain a circumstance bonus to all Frenzy attack rolls equal to the largest flanking penalty they are suffering from, and all attacks that hit against different enemies are subject to Irritating Scratch, as well.

Grotesquerie (Su) Swift

As a swift action, Maddened Slivers can instinctively rear up and make a horrendous display of their gory forms, typically aimed at foes nearby. When they rear up and show off their awfulness, they may choose a 5x5x5 square space, adjacent to their space (either corner or edge). All enemy creatures in this area who use any visually-based sense suffer 4d6+10 points of rugosic (physical, uncommon) damage, as the gory mass of the Maddened is burned into their field of vision, scarring and wounding through sheer awfulness. Even worse, affected creatures gain the Vexed condition, and if several of the Maddened all use this ability, it can become difficult to attack all of them in time to avoid the vexed effects. There is no saving throw against this terrible power, but enemies who are blind to sight or who avert their gaze (voluntarily granting Total Concealment (missing attacks on a Natural 12 or less) against the Maddened until the end of their next action) are Immune to this effect.

Maddened Slivers

It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality.

However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire.

Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however. A fairly common side effect of this utter destruction is that Madness Minions who have been destroyed have a portion of their remnants trapped in a horrific state of non-quiet, non-dead, non-alive 'existence', the very flesh and fabric of their bodies torn apart into gory pieces and forced into unnatural existence. These grisly chunks of remains are horribly recognizable as body parts, corrupted with fleshy palps and teeth, animated by a simple maddened urge to ruin and despoil, the new form filled with the terrible hungry rage of the Outer Madness.

Far worse, in many cases these 'Maddened Slivers', as they are known, are often recognizable as the beings they once were. A truly awful fate is to go to a friends home for an evening meal, and discovering the entire family has dabbled too deep, and are now horrifically mangled into utterly inimical madness machines, looking to kill and wreck everything they can reach.

Combat Tactics

Maddened Slivers are simple mindless vermin which arise from those fools who were lucky enough to die when they attempted to tap into the Outer Madness for 'power'. After they have arisen spontaneously (rather then being used by their mightier brethren as meaty problem detectors), they will typically search briefly for enemies to destroy, then become dormant until a living creature approaches, using the gore of their 'birth' to hide within.

They will attempt to ambush, activate, and attack. Failing ambush, they scuttle close and attack, trying to pack in close to their enemies and use their Slivering Frenzy ability as often as possible, seeking to use flanks against their foes and land as many Irritating Scratches each round as possible. If they have a swift action that is unused, and an enemy is within five squares, they will use their creepy Grotesquerie power without hesitation, laying Vexes with abandon, uncaring of their own survival. Grotesquerie can make fights with Maddened aided by Slivers into a much more dangerous affair, depending upon the actions of the players, and who gets which Vexed condition activated against them.

If their enemies withdraw and begin to use ranged attacks, they flee out of line of sight, hide, and go dormant to wait.

It is possible that some (many) of these awful things are made things, in which case they will follow the simple instructions given them by their creators. Indeed, Maddened Slivers are often found in the company of more intelligent Maddened, and serve the 'luckier' fiends as pets, guards, and attackers...rather like horrid cannibal zombie dogs made of peoples limbs and organs. Bleah.

Maddened Slivers are mindless, but they have been seen obeying the commands of other Maddened. It is speculated that Slivers are powerful enough that some connection to the Deep Dark allows them to serve as 'cheap muscle' for the Maddened ideology, and Slivers seem to have a surprisingly good ability, mindless as they are, to act in this capacity.

Given their allegiance to Chaos, their mysterious creators or Maddened allies usually set them as guards or send them out to kill or kidnap whoever they encounter. They attack until they or their target is destroyed.

Out of Combat

As mindless vermin, Maddened Slivers simply wait, dormant, until activated by a victim approaching, or they perform the simple duty they were ordered to fulfill by their maker.

Lairs of more intelligent Maddened will often have these horrible things around and about, acting as guards or performing simple patrols. In such cases, they will act as their smarter fellows wish, often with an uncomfortable degree of apparent autonomy.

Rewards

XP: 102,400

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 51,444 gp.

Weight: 170 lbs.     Volume: 6.8 cu. ft.

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)