Here’s a 3.5 update of a monster from a sourcebook on necromancy, revised from an earlier attempt. The following text is Open Game Content:
This creature has the shape and gait of a man, but its horrible red face is nothing but exposed flesh and muscle, as if all its skin had been ripped or torn away.
In Death as in Life. Flayed men are created from the body of a dead spellcaster who in life was devoted to death and necromancy. The process for creating a flayed man requires that the body first be skinned, revealing the musculature underneath, and then treated to prevent quick decay.
Grisly to Behold. The bones and muscles of a flayed man are all visible. It can still speak in its former voice and gesture as fluidly as a living creature. As a consequence of its creation process, the flayed man’s touch and footprints are not bloody; a flayed man does not bleed.
Controlled by Forces of Darkness. A flayed man retains much of its former intelligence but seeks to destroy all living things. A flayed man is an even more powerful conduit for energies from the Negative Energy Plane as an undead creature than it was as a living spellcaster; it suffers none of the limitations of the flesh.
Flayed Man CR 7
Often NE Medium undead
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +3, Spot +3
Languages Common, Elven, Dwarven
Aura grisly face (30-ft. radius, DC 19)
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 68 (10 HD)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +8
Immune undead traits
Spd 40 ft.
Melee slam +10 (1d6+7)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Typical Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
Special Attacks black touch 4/day (+6 ranged touch, 5d6), rebuke undead 7/day (+6, 2d6+14 HD, 10th)
During Combat A flayed man uses its link to the Negative Energy Plane both intelligently and ruthlessly to destroy the living, especially other spellcasters. It initially fights from the rear with its spell-like abilities behind a wall of lesser undead, then engages in melee when its spells run out.
Morale A flayed man fights until destroyed.
Str 20, Dex 12, Con –, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 19
Base Atk +5; Grp +10
Feats Alertness, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (ray of enfeeblement), Toughness
Skills Concentration +17, Hide +14, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (religion) +15, Spellcraft +15, Use Magic Device +17 (+19 using scrolls)
SQ dying energies (DC 19, 1d8+10)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary
Treasure Standard
Advancement 11–20 HD (Medium)
Black Touch (Sp) A flayed man can fire a ray 4 times per day as a ranged touch attack with a range of 50 ft. A successful hit does 5d6 points of negative energy damage. Since undead are powered by negative energy, this effect heals any undead struck of as much damage as it would deal.
Dying Energies (Su) When a flayed man is reduced to 0 hit points or less it releases a burst of negative energy in all directions with itself as the center point. The circular effect has a 20 ft. radius and inflicts 1d8+10 damage; DC 19 Will save for half. The save DC is Charisma-based. Since undead are powered by negative energy, this effect heals any undead within the area of effect of as much damage as it would deal.
Grisly Face (Su) A flayed man’s horrific appearance and seemingly normal voice and demeanor are extremely unnerving. Creatures within 30 feet that view a flayed man are affected as if by a fear spell from a 10th-level caster (Will DC 19 partial). Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected again by the same flayed man’s grisly face ability for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting, fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Spell-Like Abilities A flayed man is created with the ability to use eight different spells as spell-like abilities (two each of levels 0 through 4th), each one once per day. These spells can vary and are either arcane spells from the necromancy school or divine spells from the Death domain. The save DCs are Charisma-based. The caster level is equal to the flayed man’s HD.
Rebuke Undead (Su) A flayed man rebukes undead as a cleric of level equal to its HD.
Flayed Man Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about flayed men When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 17 | Flayed men are undead spellcasters that retain the ability to use necromantic spell-like abilities. |
| 23 | The mere appearance of a flayed man is enough to induce terror in onlookers. |
| 27 | Flayed men have strong ties to the Negative Energy Plane and are able to cast rays of pure negative energy. |
| 32 | Destroying a flayed man results in a dangerous blast of negative energy. |
Advanced Flayed Men
As flayed men advance in Hit Dice, they gain additional spell-like abilities, as detailed in the following table:
| HD | CR | Additional Spell-Like Abilities |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 7 | – |
| 12–13 | 8 | 2 5th-level spells |
| 14–15 | 9 | 2 6th-level spells |
| 16–17 | 11 | 2 7th-level spells |
| 18–19 | 12 | 2 8th-level spells |
| 20 | 13 | 2 9th-level spells |
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
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