Murderoid

Hazard (CR 15)
Colossal Aberration

Murderoids are aggresive, living asteroids that have their own gravity planes and atmospheres. They are perhaps the largest denizens of wildspace, ranging in size from several hundred feet to several hundred miles in size—most are over 100 miles along their longest axis.

Most muderoids range in color from dark brown to dark gray, but they sometimes take on other colors to match the surrounding asteroids. Their sensory organs appear as craters and small hills. They communicate with other murderoids by changing the color of their skin.

These aberrations live to eat. They attack prey—which includes ships, kindori, and radiant dragons—by attracting it with illusions and then creating "mouths" on their rocky surface to bite and chew when the target is within reach. When food is not available, murderoids hybernate and drift slowely at non-spelljamming speeds.

Murderoids can alter their basic body shape and project simple illusions. This is equivalent to them having the following spell-like abilities, cast at a 13th-level: grease, dig, hallucinatory terrain, stone shape, and earthquake. All these abilities are treated as extraordinary instead of spell-like, except for hallucinatory terrain, which is treated as supernatural. Each of these abilities can be used up to three times per day.

Once their prey is immobilized, a murderoid will spawn mouths to consume it. It can spawn up to three mouths in a one square mile area, and up to twelve mouths total over its entire body. Though the murderoid is itself an aberration, the maws are treated as semi-autonamous constructs. Spawning or absorbing a maw is a standard action. The maws can move and attack as creatures (see below for statistics of the murderoid maws). If a maw is "slain", it cannot reform for one month's time.

Murderoid Maw

Huge Construct (earth, wildspace)

Hit Dice: 24d10+40 (172 hp)

Initiative: -1 (Dex)

Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)

Armor Class: 22 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +15 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 22

Base Attack/Grapple: +18 / +37

Attack: Bite +27 melee (2d8+11)

Full Attack: Bite +27 melee (2d8+11)

Space/Reach: 15 ft. / 15 ft.

Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Swallow Whole

Special Qualities: Blindsight, Damage Reduction 10/-, Murderoid Maw Immunities, Murderoid Vulnerabilities, One Mind

Saves: Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +8

Abilities: Str 33, Dex 8, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1

Skills: —

Feats: Cleave^B, Great Cleave^B, Improved Bullrush^B, Improved Sunder^B, Power Attack^B

Environment: Murderoid

Organization: Frenzy (1-3)

Challenge Rating: 12

Treasure: None

Alignment: Usually neutral evil

Advancement: 25-48 HD (Huge); 49-72 HD (Gargantuan)

Level Adjustment: —

The hill moves in your direction, its craterous mouth rotating to face you.

Murderoid maws are construct-like extensions of the murderoid itself. They are nothing more than big "mouths" on rocky extensions that come right out of the ground. Like normal constructs, they get no skills, feats, or Intelligence, scores because they are not individual creatures.

Combat

Murderoid maws attempt to bite and swallow everything in sight.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a murderoid maw must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to swallow the foe the following around.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A murderoid maw can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of a smaller size than itself by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 2d6+11 point of crushing damage plus 2d6 points of acid damage per round from the maw's stomach. A swallowed creature can cut it's way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the stomach (AC 20). (Note that the DR 10/- also applies to it's stomach wall.) The hole closes once the creature exists; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. Since the murderoid's stomach is much bigger than the maw, practically any number of creatures can be swallowed.

Blindsight (Ex): A murderoid maw's blindsight extends to the edge of the murderoid's air envelope.

Murderoid Maw Immunities (Ex): Like constructs, murderoid maws are immune to poison, paralysis, and stunning. They are also immune to all mind-affecting effects because they are only part of a much larger creature. Murderoid maws are not subject to critical hits or flanking.

Murderoid Vulnerabilities (Ex): A move earth or stone to flesh spell cast on a murderoid maw stuns it for 2d6 rounds.

One Mind (Ex): All murderoid maws on a single murderoid are effectively one creature. If the murderoid is aware of a particular danger, all the maws are aware of it too. If the murderoid is not flat-footed, none of the maws are flat-footed.