Page 123 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

Space/Reach: 5 ft./10 ft. ing—although a tsochar rarely lingers long enough for its
Special Attacks: Constrict, improved grab, poison, take cover to be blown.

spells, wear flesh While inhabiting a humanoid, a tsochar has few options in
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/adamantine, dark- combat. Other than directing its host to fight as it commands,

vision 60 ft., resistance to cold 5, spell resistance 14, telepathy it can take no other physical actions. A tsochar replacing a
100 ft. humanoid might have access to arcane spells previously known
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +8 by its victim, but the creature employs spells sparingly in
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 13 combat, since it cannot recover spells it expends.
Skills: Bluff +5, Climb +12, Hide +12, Knowledge (dungeoneer- A tsochar in its own form can easily rip unarmored humans
ing) +6, Move Silently +8, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6, Use
to shreds with a buzzsaw of tentacle lashes and rakes. However,
CHAPTER 7 THE WEARERS OF FLESH Feats: Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse B the creature is much more inclined to stalk and ambush soli-
Magic Device +9

tary victims than to attack a group. It seeks to grab and wrap
itself around a foe, squeezing and poisoning him or her into
Environment: Cold forests
helplessness with its iron-hard tentacles. Once the victim is
Organization: Solitary, tangle (3–8), or infestation (10–20)

Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Standard immobilized, the tsochar can wear the victim’s flesh.
Constrict (Ex): A tsochar deals 2d4+2 points of damage
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil with a successful grapple check. When a tsochar deals damage
Advancement: 5 HD (Small); 6–12 HD (Medium); or by by means of its constrict attack, it injects its victim with
character class poison.
Level Adjustment: — Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a tsochar must hit
with two tentacle attacks. It can then attempt to start a grapple
Before you, a slithering, tangled mess of ropelike tendrils coils as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If
and pulsates. It is a glistening blue-black in color, with small pink it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can con-
barbs studding its long tentacles. If the creature has a central strict.
body, it’s hidden deep in the nest of writhing tendrils. Tsochari receive a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks, which
is already included in the statistics above.
Fearsome invaders from a distant realm, the tsochari are a race Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 15, initial and secondary
of monstrous imposters, creatures that can steal the bodies of damage 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based. A tsochar’s
their victims and pass unnoticed in humanoid society. They poison is delivered by dealing damage with its constrict
lust after magic, especially arcane magic, and eagerly seek out attack.
humanoid wizards to replace so they can gain access to spells Take Spells (Su): A tsochar that replaces a spellcaster (see
they otherwise could not wield. below) retains any arcane spells prepared by the dead character,
A tsochar resembles a tangled mess of knotted ropes or a and can cast them as if it had prepared the spells itself. The
ball of barbed wire. It has dozens of thin but strong tentacles, tsochar must meet the minimum ability score needed to cast
each studded with small, sharp, sicklelike claws. Its body is the spell based on the type of caster replaced (Intelligence for
little more than a thickening and joining of its multiple limbs. a wizard, for example), or else the spell is unavailable to it. If
The creature’s eyes are small, dark orbs that rest at the end the tsochar replaces a spontaneous caster such as a sorcerer, it
of smaller, thinner tentacles, well hidden in the mass of its retains the available spell slots of the dead spellcaster, and can

other limbs, and its mouth is a round, lampreylike orifice in use any spells the dead host knew. In either case, the tsochar
the middle of its underside. The tsochar is an indigo blue in cannot regain spells or spell slots it expends from the dead
color, with a mottled pattern of lighter blue spots on its upper character’s spellcasting ability.
surface. Wear Flesh (Su): A tsochar can bore its way into a help-
Tsochari speak their own language, but they can use their less living creature’s body, slipping its ropy tendrils into the
telepathy to communicate with other creatures. A typical spaces between organs and muscles and disappearing into
tsochar is about 2 feet in diameter, although some of its longer the victim. The victim must be the same size as the tsochar
tentacles trail as much as 6 to 8 feet from its central mass, and or larger, and the process requires 1 minute. The tsochar can
weighs about 25 pounds. choose to replace or inhabitthe victim (see below). Incorporeal
creatures and constructs, elementals, oozes, plants, and undead
COMBAT are immune to this ability.
A tsochar is not often found in its own body. Typically, it A tsochar can abandon a body it has inhabited or replaced
hides in the body of a humanoid it is inhabiting or replacing with a full-round action that deals 3d6 points of damage to
(see below), keeping its presence a secret. Since the monster the host. A tsochar can be forced to abandon the body by a
does not gain the memories of those it replaces, it is not remove disease or dispel evil spell (the caster must succeed on

difficult to detect its masquerade with some careful question- a DC 20 caster level check to expel the monster, which deals

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