Buy me a coffeeLamia
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating fiend.
Some accounts say she has a serpent’s tail below the waist.
Born the beautiful daughter of King Belus of Egypt, making her the granddaughter of Poseidon and Lybie. Upon her father’s death she became queen of one of his territories, Libya. However, while visiting Delphi, Lamia had an affair with Zeus and bore him children including Herophile, a noted sibyl.
When Hera, Zeus‘ wife, discovered the affair, she became enraged and forced her to devour her own children. Driven insane with grief, Lamia began devouring other children, and, her face became hideously distorted from her grisly deeds.
Lamia was cursed with the inability to close her eyes so that she would always obsess over the image of her dead children. Zeus then gave her the ability to remove her eyes. This came with the gift of prophecy. Zeus did this to appease her grief over the loss of her children.
Her monstrous (occasionally serpentine) appearance is a result of either Hera‘s wrath, the pain of grief, the madness that drove her to murder.
This creature’s upper torso is that of a comely woman with cat’s eyes and sharp fangs, while her lower body is that of a lion.
Lamia CR 6
XP 2,400
CE Large monstrous humanoid
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +15
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural, –1 size)
hp 67 (9d10+18)
Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +11
OFFENSE
Speed 60 ft.
Melee +1 dagger +13/+8 (1d4+4/19–20), touch +7 (1d4 Wisdom drain), 2 claws +7 (1d4+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Wisdom drain
Spells Known (CL 9th)
At will—disguise self, ventriloquism
3/day—charm monster (DC 15), major image (DC 14), mirror image, suggestion (DC 14)
1/day—deep slumber (DC 14)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 13
Base Atk +9; CMB +14; CMD 28 (32 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Mobility, Spring Attack
Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +6, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +15, Stealth +15, Survival +12; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +4 Stealth
Languages Abyssal, Common
SQ undersized weapons
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Undersized Weapons (Ex)
Although large, its upper torso is the same size as that of a Medium humanoid. As a result, lamias wield weapons as if they were one size category smaller than their actual size (Medium for most lamias).
Wisdom Drain (Su)
A lamia drains 1d4 points of Wisdom each time it hits with its melee touch attack. (Unlike with other kinds of ability drain attacks, a lamia does not heal any damage when it uses its Wisdom drain.) Lamias try to use this power early in an encounter to make foes more susceptible to charm monster and suggestion.
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate deserts
Organization solitary, pair, or cult (3–12)
Treasure double (+1 dagger, other treasure)
The hate-filled inheritors of an ancient curse, appear as lean and attractive women from the waist up, while below they possess the bodies of powerful lions. Even their humanoid features bear distinctly feline traits, their eyes slitted and feral and their teeth like predatory fangs. A typical lamia stands over 6 feet tall, measures more than 8 feet long, and weighs upward of 650 pounds.
They are attracted to the ruined and forsaken parts of the world. Crumbling keeps, abandoned cities, and forgotten monuments all satisfy these deadly hunters’ cruel aesthetic—particularly those in arid or otherwise lifeless environs. Foremost, though, lamias favor decrepit temples. They delight in seeing the shrines of good deities in ruins and go out of their way to bring hardship to thriving holy places.
Lamias look to the eldest female of the group as their leader, mother, and shaman, cleaving to her with fanatical reverence. While lamias shun most religious followings—viewing such as the source of the curse that blighted them with bestial forms—lamia elders claim to hear the whispers of the scouring desert winds and know the cold whims of the stars, drawing upon such mystical sources to lead their people.
The lamias presented here are but the most common and least powerful members of this cursed race, with others bearing serpentine, avian, and even more perverse forms.
LORE
Originally posted by Eric Cagle
Evandar_TAybara of the Wizards Community forums.
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) can learn more about lamias. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
| Knowledge (Arcana) | |
| DC | Result |
| 15 | This centaurlike cross between a human and a lion is a lamia. This reveals all magical beast traits. |
| 20 | Wicked and cruel beings that exist just to cause misery in others. They set up elaborate traps and ambushes to lure in potential victims. |
| 25 | Their drains Wisdom from its victims. They try to use this power early on to make foes more susceptible to mind-affecting effects, such as charm monster and suggestion. |
| 30 | She can employ charm monster, deep slumber, Disguise Self, major image, Mirror Image, suggestion, and ventriloquism as spell-like abilities. |