Friday, February 23, 2018

Frightful Fridays! Osteohulk

Hello and welcome back to another week of Frightful Fridays! I had accidentally scheduled this for today instead of yesterday, so I'm running late because I clicked the wrong day. :)

At any rate, today's monster is a skeleton that requires bones to keep itself going, and it will go after anything and everything with a skeletal structure to fulfill that need. So, you could throw this in a tomb or graveyard, and it will have plenty of fodder beyond the PCs.

I hope you enjoy the osteohulk, and I'll see you next week with another monster!



This skeletal creature approximates a gigantic humanoid skeleton in appearance, but the bones composing it are from a variety of creatures. It has a pair of overlarge wings also fashioned from mismatched bones.
Osteohullk      CR 14
XP 38,400
NE Large undead
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +26
DEFENSE
AC 29, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (+2 Dex, +18 natural, –1 size)
hp 199 (19d8+114)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +15
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, positive energy cage; DR 15/bludgeoning and good; Immune cold, electricity, undead traits; Resist fire 20
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (poor)
Melee bite +24 (2d8+10/19–20 plus bleed), 2 claws +24 (2d6+10/19–20 plus bone extraction), 2 wings +21 (1d8+5)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (2d6), breath weapon (60-ft. cone, 12d10 bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, Reflex DC 25 for half, usable every 1d4 rounds)
STATISTICS
Str 31, Dex 14, Con —, Int 8, Wis 19, Cha 23
Base Atk +14; CMB +25; CMD 37
Feats Dazzling Display, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Critical (bite, claw), Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack, Shatter Defenses, Weapon Focus (bite, claw)
Skills Climb +21, Fly +10, Intimidate +28, Perception +26
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary or troop (2–12 plus 10–100 skeletons)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bone Extraction (Su) When an osteohulk strikes a creature with a skeleton, the target must attempt a DC 25 Fortitude save or lose parts of its skeletal structure. On a failed save, the target takes 1d4 points of Strength damage and 1d4 points of Dexterity damage, and, for each point of damage dealt, the osteohulk heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points for 1 hour (up to a maximum number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit points). If the target rolls a natural 1 on its Fortitude save, the osteohulk heals 40 hit points or gains 40 temporary hit points, and the target loses the entirety of its skeleton and becomes immobile, reducing its Strength and Dexterity to 0; a creature made up only of bones (such as a skeleton) is destroyed. This ability also works on objects comprised of bone. Creatures that have taken damage from this ability cannot have the damage restored until they are the recipient of a regenerate spell or replace their lost bones through some other means. The save DC is Charisma-based.
For every 50 temporary hit points an osteohulk possesses, it gains the giant creature simple template. The template stacks with itself (applying the template twice if the osteohulk has between 100 and 149 temporary hit points, and three times if the osteohulk has 150 or more temporary hit points). It loses an application of the template as its temporary hit points are reduced below each 50-point threshold.
Breath Weapon (Su) When an osteohulk uses its breath weapon, it deals 12 points of damage to itself.
Positive Energy Cage (Su) If an osteohulk succeeds at its Will save against spells or effects that deal positive energy damage, it takes no damage and stores the energy in a cavity within its body. It then takes 1 round to convert the energy to negative energy, after which it can release the energy as if it used channel energy with a cleric level equal to its Hit Dice (typically dealing 10d6 negative energy damage and requiring a DC 25 Will save for half damage).

Osteohulks are the result of profane rituals performed over the site of a horrific battle or mass murder (sometimes carried out by the same creatures responsible for the ritual). The bones from the multivarious corpses knit together to create surprisingly mobile undead monsters which spring into existence craving more bone matter. Since they are less than subtle creatures, they usually act as cannon fodder for powerful undead generals. They act as the centerpiece of undead shock troops, otherwise made up of mindless undead providing a vanguard for the troop and fodder for the osteohulks, which sweep up the remnants into their masses, so they can become more powerful as they reach their enemies. Enterprising commanders place osteohulks with trolls and other regenerating creatures, so the undead hulks can increase their size without causing undue harm to the overall squad.


When a typical osteohulk is encountered, it stands roughly 10 feet tall and weighs 800 pounds. Its size and weight fluctuate as it adds to its mass and loses bones during combat.