Burning Skeleton

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Burning Skeleton (CR 6)

Skeletons are the animated bones of the dead, brought to unlife through foul magic. While most skeletons are mindless automatons, they still possess an evil cunning imparted to them by their animating force -— a cunning that allows them to wield weapons and wear armor. Skeletons are motivated by an intense hatred and jealously towards living things. They yearn only to crush that spark of life from everything they can reach.

Burning Skeletons are magically imbued with elemental fire during their creation, a process which involves the ritual sacrifice of a fire elemental. While in combat, they are enshrouded in flames, their charred, black bones cracking under the heat, as marrow boils. Their curse of immortality prevents the fire from debilitating them.

GENERAL

CR 6 Hit Dice 9

XP 2,400

NE Medium Undead

Init +3; Senses Low-Light 120 ft., Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 23, touch 14, flat-footed 19 (+4 armor, +4 dex, +5 natural, +0 deflection)

hp 82

Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +5

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: DR 5/bludgeoning, ER 12/fire

Immunities:

• all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• disease, poison, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain
• death effects, necromancy effects, sleep effects
• nonlethal damage
• paralysis, stunning, fatigue, exhaustion
• any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weaknesses: Cannot heal damage on its own, but healed by negative energy.

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Burning Scimitar +9 (1d8+3/19-20x2) plus 1d6+2 fire damage

Full Melee 2x Burning Scimitar +9 (1d8+3/19-20x2) plus 1d6+2 fire damage

Ranged Flaming Orb +10 ranged touch (2d6 fire damage), range increment 50 feet

Full Ranged 2x Flaming Orbs +10 ranged touch (2d6 fire damage), range increment 50 feet

Special Attacks Corpse Explosion, Burning Aura

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 13, Dex 18, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 12

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 20

Feats Quick Draw (EFFECT: If forced into melee, can draw their sword as a swift action.)

Skills -

Languages -

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Flaming Orb (Sp)

• Concentration: None, see text

As a standard action, the Burning Skeleton may pull a ball of burning pitch from their bones and hurl it at its foes. The flaming orb as a range increment of 50 feet, and explodes upon impact with its target, dealing 2d6 points of fire damage to its primary target and all adjacent targets (a 15 foot diameter). Targets in the radius may make a Reflex save (DC 16) for half damage. This is a ranged touch attack, but it must have a target (they cannot target an empty square), and misses do nothing. This is a spell-like ability, but burning skeletons are mindless, so they will never use this ability if they are adjacent to an opponent (they will use melee instead). If they are forced to make a concentration check to combat-cast, the check always fails.

= Burning Aura (Su, Aura)

Melee and touch attacks made against the burning skeleton inflict 4 points of fire damage on the attacker.

Corpse Explosion (Sp)

• Concentration: None, see text

Upon being destroyed, the burning skeleton explodes in a gout of fire. All adjacent creatures take 2d6 points of fire damage, but may make a Reflex save (DC 16) for half this damage. This is a spell-like ability, but it is a free action and never provokes attacks of opportunity (though it may be resisted with spell resistance).

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 1,875 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Burning skeletons can't hide. They give off light as a torch (30 feet of bright, 30 more feet of dim), and they are easily recognizable for what they are (the name says it all). Furthermore, they are mindless and immortal, and will simply wait in whatever location they happen to be in until something living comes along. Then they will hurl flaming orbs at the creature until it dies.

Burning skeletons will always use flaming orbs if they are not in melee, capitalizing on their full attacks when possible. They do not have precise shot, but as mindless undead, they will not adjust their aim to easier targets. Burning skeletons will ignore the presence of non-living creatures, such as other undead, which means they won't target them with attacks but neither will they exclude them from their attacks' areas of effect. Their first choice of targets will be any clump of living creatures adjacent to one another, and failing that, the nearest living creature.

If confronted in melee, they will draw their scimitars and fight in melee. Upon being destroyed, they explode, injuring anything adjacent.

Burning skeletons will never flee from battle, nor will they employ tactics like flanking maneuvers. However, burning skeletons are sometimes used as guards by necromancers and other evil creatures. In such cases, the burning skeletons may have been instructed to stand in an area which grants them a terrain advantage or makes them harder to reach while they rain down flaming orbs on intruders.

OUT OF COMBAT

Immortal

Skeletons cannot be killed by normal means. However, low-level skeletons like these may lie shattered and dormant after being defeated for decades or even centuries before rising again to seek to rid the world of life. A sanctify corpse, consecrate or gentle repose spell will add ten years and a day to the time it takes for a skeleton to re-compose. A resurrection spell will bring the person associated with the skeleton back to life, destroying the necromantic bond on its corpse.