Nasnas

This creature appears to be a human fighter, but half its body is missing. It has only one arm, one leg, and half a face and torso. Its skin has a greenish-gray cast, and its single eye glints with malevolence.

Originally Posted by Shade of the En World forums.

On this Thread

Nasnas are artificial beings created by evil spellcasters to serve as guardians. The twisted magic used in their creation renders them quite insane, although obedient, servants. Their birthing process is quite horrific, drawing the attention and ire of paladins and other champions of goodness.

Should their creator die, nasnas lose their reason for existence. The majority attempt suicide, throwing themselves off the nearest cliff or drowning themselves in the closest ocean, while the remainder wander aimlessly through the wilderness, hunting and scavenging for the remainder of their short, tragic lives.

A nasnas stands 6 feet tall and weighs around 150 pounds. A nasnas’ lifespan is around 30 years, but most find a way to kill themselves far earlier.

Nasnas understand Common, but since they are missing half their vocal cords, they cannot speak. Nasnas are only capable of uttering a strange, high-pitched, hooting noise. The nasnas’s current emotional state can be discerned from the volume and tone of the hooting.

Nasnas
Medium aberration
Hit Dice	2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative	+0
Speed	20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class	14 (+1 natural, +3 studded leather), touch 10, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple	+2/+7
Attack	Scimitar +7 melee (1d6+7/18-20)
Full Attack	Scimitar +7 melee (1d6+7/18-20))
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	Monodextrous, terrifying scream
Special Qualities	Damage reduction 5/cold iron, Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves	Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +2
Abilities	Strength 20, Dexterity 11, Constitution 15, Intelligence 7, Wisdom 10, Charisma 12
Skills	Balance +4, Jump +17, Listen +7, Spot +6
Feats	Endurance (B), Power Attack
Environment	Any land and underground
Organization	Solitary, squad (3-10), or tribe (11-30)
Challenge Rating	2
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Usually lawful evil
Advancement	3-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment	–

COMBAT

Nasnas are aggressive fighters. They rush in close to their foes to use their terrifying scream power, then lay about them with their weapons. Showing no fear of death, they fight with fanatical dedication, only retreating from combat if ordered to by their master.

A nasnas is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with light and medium armor, but not with shields. Due to their bizarre physionomy, armor created for nasnas costs twice the normal price.

Martial Training (Ex): Nasnas possess the base attack bonus of a fighter of their level, and qualify for feats as if they were fighters of a level equal to their Hit Dice.

Monodextrous (Ex): A nasnas may wield two-handed melee weapons in its single hand with no penalty. It applies one and one-half times its Strength bonus as normal for two-handed weapons. When wielding a one-handed melee weapon, a nasnas treats it as if wielded two-handed, allowing it to apply the additional half of its Strength bonus. A nasnas wielding a double weapon always treats the weapon as if it were wielded one-handed.

Terrifying Scream (Su): When a nasnas hoots and screams, all creatures except its creator and other nasnas within a 10-foot spread must succeed on a DC 12 Will save or become panicked for 1d4+1 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting fear effect. Whether or not the save is successful, an affected creature is immune to the same nasnas’s hoot for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Skills: Nasnas have a +4 racial bonus on Balance, Listen, and Spot checks and a +12 racial bonus on Jump checks.

Greater Nasnas

A nasnas of 6 HD paralyzes its victims with fear when it uses its terrifying scream ability, rather than panicking them.

Creating Nasnas

Creating nasnas is a complicated and vile process. A spellcaster must first create a magical fruit, called a nasnas fruit. The fruit must then be cut in equal halves. The spellcaster must then convince a humanoid woman to eat one of the halves (methods range from conventional trickery to magical coercion). The nasnas will gestate for nine months, acting in all manner like a typical pregnancy. The woman will conceive and in nine months give birth to an infant nasnas. The nasnas quickly reach maturity six months thereafter.

One nasna can thus be created from each half of a nasnas fruit. However, a woman can only bear one nasna at a time. Greater nasnas can be created using more powerful spells in the creation (and at greater costs).

• Nasnas Fruit (2 HD nasnas): Faint necromancy; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, fear; Price 4,000 gp.
• Nasnas Fruit (4 HD nasnas): Moderate necromancy; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, fear; Price 8,000 gp.
• Nasnas Fruit (6 HD nasnas): Strong necromancy; CL 12th; Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, fear; Price 12,000 gp.

Originally appeared in Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992).