Lurker Above — Ceiling-Gliding Smotherer
The adult male lurking ray: a nearly mindless ceiling predator that glides silently onto prey and seals around it until breathing and speech stop.
The Lurker Above is the adult male of the Lurking Ray family. At rest it clings flat against a ceiling and changes colour and texture until it resembles stone. When prey passes below, the creature releases its grip, spreads into a broad manta-like shape and glides through the darkness with almost no sound.
At a Glance
Run It Tonight
Place the lurker somewhere the party has reason to look down: a chasm edge, unstable bridge, suspicious floor or visible treasure. Give attentive characters a clue—disturbed ceiling dust, missing bats, a broad patch of “stone” with no mineral drip beneath it—then let the creature glide from a position farther away than expected.
Rules by Edition
Lurker Above
Huge Aberration, Unaligned
AC 17; Initiative +5 (15)
HP 126 (12d12 + 48)
Speed 10 ft., Climb 10 ft., Fly 40 ft.
23 (+6)
14 (+2)
19 (+4)
2 (−4)
15 (+2)
7 (−2)
Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +5
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +8
Resistances Bludgeoning, Cold, Fire
Immunities Prone
Senses Blindsight 10 ft., Darkvision 60 ft.; Passive Perception 15
Languages None
CR 7 (2,900 XP); PB +3
Traits
Amorphous Body. The lurker can move through a space as narrow as 1 foot without squeezing.
Ceiling Camouflage. While motionless and attached to stone, the lurker is indistinguishable from an ordinary ceiling formation unless examined successfully with a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check.
Light Sensitivity. In Bright Light, the lurker has Disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Silent Glide. If it begins its turn attached to a ceiling, the lurker can fly up to 100 feet in a straight line that descends at least 5 feet and never ascends. This glide is nearly silent.
Smothering Grip. A creature Grappled by the lurker is also Restrained, cannot speak or provide Verbal spell components, and begins suffocating if it needs to breathe.
Actions
Multiattack. The lurker makes two Slam attacks. It can replace one with Constrict if it has a creature Grappled.
Slam. Melee Attack Roll: +9, reach 15 ft. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) Bludgeoning damage. A Large or smaller target is Grappled (escape DC 17) if the lurker is not already Grappling another creature.
Constrict. One creature Grappled by the lurker takes 23 (3d10 + 6) Bludgeoning damage.
This is an original 2024 compatibility adaptation of the open Pathfinder creature, not an official SRD 5.2.1 monster.
Lurker Above
Huge aberration, unaligned
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 126 (12d12 + 48)
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft., fly 40 ft.
23 (+6)
14 (+2)
19 (+4)
2 (−4)
15 (+2)
7 (−2)
Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +5
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +8
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, cold, fire
Condition Immunities prone
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages —
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Traits
Amorphous. The lurker can move through openings as narrow as 1 foot without squeezing.
False Appearance. While motionless against a rocky ceiling, the lurker is indistinguishable from a natural stone formation.
Light Sensitivity. In bright light, the lurker has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.
Smother. A creature Grappled by the lurker is restrained, cannot speak or cast spells with verbal components, and must hold its breath.
Actions
Multiattack. The lurker makes two Slam attacks, or one Slam and one Constrict against a creature it has Grappled.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage, and a Large or smaller target is grappled (escape DC 17).
Constrict. One creature Grappled by the lurker takes 23 (3d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
This is a 2014 fifth-edition compatibility adaptation rather than an official SRD 5.1 stat block.
Lurker Above CR 7
XP 3,200
N Huge aberration
Init +5; Senses blindsense 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +5
Defense
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 18 (+1 Dex, +10 natural, −2 size)
hp 85 (10d8+40)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +9
Defensive Abilities amorphous; DR 10/piercing or slashing; Resist cold 10, fire 10
Weaknesses light sensitivity
Offense
Speed 10 ft., climb 5 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor)
Melee slam +15 (3d6+15 plus grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (3d6+15), smother
Statistics
Str 30, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 9
Base Atk +7; CMB +19 (+23 grapple); CMD 30 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Climb +18, Fly +1, Perception +5, Stealth +8 (+16 in rocky areas)
Special Abilities
Smother (Ex). When the lurker grapples a target, it forms an airtight seal. The victim cannot speak or cast spells with verbal components and must hold its breath.
Amorphous (Ex). The lurker is immune to critical hits and precision damage and can squeeze through extremely narrow spaces.
Ecology
Environment any underground
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
Lurker Above
Huge Aberration
Hit Dice 10d8+40 (85 hp)
Initiative +5
Speed 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 5 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor)
Armor Class 19 (−2 size, +1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple +7/+25
Attack slam +15 melee (3d6+15 plus improved grab)
Full Attack slam +15 melee (3d6+15 plus improved grab)
Space/Reach 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict 3d6+15, improved grab, smother
Special Qualities amorphous, blindsense 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., scent, DR 10/piercing or slashing, cold resistance 10, fire resistance 10, light sensitivity
Saves Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +9
Abilities Str 30, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 9
Skills Climb +18, Hide +8 (+16 in rocky areas), Listen +5, Spot +5
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Hide), Skill Focus (Spot)
Environment underground
Organization solitary
Challenge Rating 7
Treasure standard
Alignment usually neutral
This 3.5e block is a compatibility conversion of the open Pathfinder lurking-ray chassis rather than an official 3.5 SRD creature.
Behaviour
Lurkers above are simple predators. They choose a productive ceiling, remain motionless and wait. They do not distinguish warriors from spellcasters, understand rank or set elaborate traps. Movement, scent and proximity determine what they attack.
Once a victim is caught, the animal commits to the grapple and smother until badly injured. A lurker reduced to a fraction of its strength releases prey and seeks a dark fissure, high gallery or ceiling route.
Signs Before Initiative
- A broad ceiling formation has a different dust pattern from the surrounding stone.
- Broken helmets and lamps lie below an apparently harmless stalactite field.
- Bats avoid one part of a cavern roof.
- Drag marks are absent because victims were taken upward rather than across the ground.
- A ceiling patch subtly changes colour between torchlight and darkness.
- Old claw or sucker marks remain where a lurker repeatedly attached itself.
If Violence Starts
The lurker glides first, grabs second and constricts thereafter. Its best battlefield is one with vertical distance and limited room for allies to surround the captured character. The monster should not abandon a successful grapple to make clever target changes.
Counterplay
Look up before entering a large underground chamber. Bright light, deliberate inspection and scouting can defeat the creature’s strongest advantage before initiative. In PF1e, piercing or slashing damage bypasses its damage reduction.
If a character is caught, freeing them quickly matters more than chasing damage. Smother prevents normal speech and verbal spellcasting, so allies must act before suffocation becomes the main threat.
Gliding
A lurker above can cross more than 100 horizontal feet while losing only a few feet of height. That makes its resting place difficult to predict: the monster does not need to be directly over the victim it attacks. Powered flight is clumsy by comparison, so good lairs contain high ceilings and multiple elevated resting places.
Ecology and Life Cycle
The lurker above develops from a juvenile Executioner’s Hood. Adult males become the active hunters of the species, while adult females become intelligent Trappers. Males can absorb some mineral nourishment from stone, but they depend on living prey more heavily than females.
Breeding is fatal to the male: the trapper consumes its mate and later shelters the next generation of executioner’s hoods beneath her body.
Using a Lurker Above in an Encounter
The empty mine. Lamps and tools remain where miners vanished, but there is no blood trail on the floor.
The long glide. Travellers check directly overhead and see nothing. The lurker launches from a gallery a hundred feet away.
The maturing hood. A captured Executioner’s Hood is changing shape, revealing that adults must already occupy the surrounding caves.
The ceiling crossing. The safest path through a cavern is a narrow ledge with nowhere to stand once the lurker descends.
Related Creatures
Return to the Lurking Ray family, compare the adult female Trapper, or see the unrelated but similarly shaped Cloaker.
Rules Sources and Licensing
The Pathfinder 1e Lurker Above derives from Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4, © 2013 Paizo Publishing, LLC, using open game material. The 5.5e/2024, 5e/2014 and D&D 3.5e presentations are compatibility adaptations created for this entry and are not official SRD versions.
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