Kralosa Demodand

Demodand, Kralosa

Charles W. Plemons III and John D. Osborne

Kralosa Demodand
Large Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 18d8+90 (171 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 60 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 27 (-1 size, +5 Dex, +13 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 22
Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+28
Attack: +1 Large feyhart leather vile bladed whip +24 melee (1d8+7 plus 1 vile) or claw +23 melee (1d6+6)
Full Attack: +1 Large feyhart leather vile bladed whip +24/+19/+14/+9 melee (1d8+7 plus 1 vile) 1 and claw +18 melee (1d6+3) and bite +18 melee (2d6+3) or 2 claws +23 melee (1d6+6) and bite +18 melee (2d6+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. (30 ft. with whip)
Special Attacks: Fling weapon, spell-like abilities, summon demodand, whip crack
Special Qualities: Acid immunity, cold immunity, damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., fire immunity, freedom of movement, outsider traits, poison immunity, scent, SR 30
Saves: Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +12
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 20, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Climb +16 (+18 with ropes), Concentration +20, Escape Artist +20 (+22 rope bonds), Hide +23, Intimitdate +24, Jump +16, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (the planes) +12, Listen +22, Move Silently +23, Search +23, Spot +22, Survival +11, Use Rope +15 (+17 binding)
Feats: Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whip), Fearsome Display^B, Greater Melee Lash, Improved Disarm^B, Improved Melee Lash, Improved Trip^B, Melee Lash, Quick Draw^B, Snagging Trip^B, Whip Strike
Environment: Carceri
Organization: Solitary, team (2-4) or patrol (2-4 plus 2-6 farastus and 1-3 kelubars)
Challenge Rating: 15
Treasure: Standard plus +1 Large feyhart leather vile bladed whip (10,400 gp)
Alignment: Often neutral evil
Advancement: 19-36 HD (Large); 37-54 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

This large, tan-skinned humanoid sports a pair of large bat-like wings, cloven hoof feet, wicked claws, and sharp canine teeth. Glowing red eyes peer out from beneath a dark horned helm. It casually flicks about a long barbed whip.

Kralosa are the personal bodyguards and enforcers of the most powerful shators of Carceri. They are wicked and cruel, delighting in flaying the skin from others using their terrible whips.

Unlike most demodands, kralosa do not drip with a foul slime or fluid; however, this does little to make them more appealing. Their hide is thick and rough and smells of rotten eggs. Kralosa tower at 12 feet in height and weigh around 800 pounds.

Kralosa are feared and despised by other demodands because of their malice. Most shator avoid using kralosa for fear of betrayal by the powerful crea-tures. Only the strongest shator employ kralosa in their schemes, and doing so is a sign of either extreme strength or foolishness. Kralosa are rarely motivated to seek power or control over groups, preferring instead to dominate and tor-ture weaker individuals for their own amusement. It is perhaps this lack of greater ambition that allows the physically weaker shator to control kralosa demodands.

Kralosa speak the language of demodands, as well as Abyssal and Common.

Combat

Kralosa are fearless, but intelligent, opponents. They are never afraid of melee combat but understand the strength of numbers. A kralosa usually begins combat by rendering itself invisible and either summoning reinforcements or animating something to aid it. Kralosa try to take position in the midst of its foes and take advantage of its Combat Reflexes. It will use a combination of disarm attacks (followed by its Fling Weapon ability) and trip attacks (followed by its Snagging Trip feat) to keep opponents flailing about, unarmed and within reach. Kralosa particularly enjoy snatching the material component or focus of spells out of the hands of spellcasters within the massive reach of their whips.

The weapon and natural attacks of a kralosa are evil-aligned.

Fling Weapon (Ex): When a kralosa successfully uses a whip to disarm an opponent, the whip snatches up the weapon. The kralosa may then, as a free action, swing the weapon about and hurl it as a ranged weapon against any opponent within range, including the opponent it just disarmed. The weapon has a ten-foot range beyond the length of the whip (40 ft. for a Large kralosa), and the attack is resolved as if the kralosa had proficiently thrown the weapon. After the attack is resolved, the weapon lands in the square of the target. In lieu of the free attack, the kralosa may throw the weapon toward any square within range (resolve misses as a grenade-like weapon) as a free action.

Scent (Ex): A kralosa can detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden toes, and track by sense of smell.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will—animate rope, detect magic, clairaudience/clairvoyance, fear, invisibility, spider climb, tongues; 3/day—animate object, fog cloud, ray of enfeeblement; 2/day—animate dead, dispel magic. Caster level 18th; save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Demodand (Sp): Once per day, a kralosa can attempt to summon 1d2 kralosa with a 40% chance of success (result of 61-100 on d%) or 1d4 farastu with a 60% chance of success (result of 41-100 on d%).

Whip Crack (Su): Once every 1d4 rounds, a kralosa may use a standard action to snap its whip in the air, pro-ducing a 60-ft. line of sound which deals 9d6 sonic damage to all within its path. A DC 24 Reflex save reduces this damage by half. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Kralosa In the Game

Low Damage: For a creature of its Challenge Rating, the kralosa deals a small amount of damage. Although the additional vile damage poses a challenge for PCs after a battle, the kralosa is not likely to inflict a lot of hit points of damage to the party. If your goal is depletion of party hit points, a kralosa will need additional kralosa for assistance or support from other allies.

Spellcasters: A kralosa presents three particular challenges against spellcasters. With a Spell Resistance of 30, a 15th-level caster without the Spell Penetration feat has only a 30% chance of defeating the kralosa's natural defenses. Add to this the kralosa's numerous immunities, and spellcasters can have a hard time putting damage on these demodands. Finally, the kralosa's 30-ft.-reach and up to six attacks of opportunity per round make it difficult to cast spells near. An unwary caster can easily lose an important component or focus to the kralosa's disarm attack.

Healing: As mentioned above, a kralosa's vile damage is more likely an inconvenience rather than a serious threat during the encounter. However, when fighting a kralosa, abilities like lay on hands and wholeness of body and wands of curative magic are particularly important because they do not provoke an attack of opportunity. Curing spells, scrolls, and potions must be applied beyond the kralosa's reach to avoid disruption or disarming.

Area Hazards: By this level, most PCs are equipped to withstand moderate sundering attacks. The kralosa's ability to throw disarmed weapons makes it particularly effective at eliminating PC equipment. Pools of acid or lava, portals, and other dangerous areas become very useful if a bothersome or unbalancing item needs removal. It can also launch a new story arc if an important item is tossed through a portal, and the PCs need to retrieve it.

Grappling: A reasonable tactic against a creature with a kralosa's reach is to grapple it. Keep in mind it has an on-going supernatural freedom of movement which allows it to automatically succeed on opposed grapple checks. Even if this ability is suppressed, the kralosa still has a moderate grappling ability to avoid this approach.

Copyright Information

This work of fiction contains material not designated as Open Content under the d20 license. This is a fan-based work that may not be distributed for profit. No new material within this document is presented as Open Content, and only the portions, which were already Open Content by way of another source, may be reused in any official d20 release. This document is not intended as a challenge to any copyright holders, and no profit was made from its creation.

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Credit

Kralosa Graphic: Designed using HeroMachine.