Camazotz

“Camazotz” – Suddenly a shadow covers everything and you see the hideous spread of a gigantic vampire bat’s black wings dominating the view. The creature has monstrous red eyes and vicious jaws that could chew a whole human being in a single bite. It appears to have a black furred humanoid body.

Monster Encyclopaedia II: The Dark Bestiary
Author J. C. Alvarez
Series Monster Encyclopaedia
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2005

Camazotz are the bat-like monsters associated with night, death, and sacrifice, encountered by the Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque during their trials in the underworld of Xibalba. The twins had to spend the night in the House of Bats where they defend themselves from the circling bats. Hunahpu stuck his head out of his blowgun to see if the sun had risen and Camazotz immediately snatched off his head and carried it to the ballcourt to be hung up as the ball to be used by the gods in their next ballgame.

A camatzotz is an evil bat-spirit of the underworld, unable to come to the mortal plane unless summoned by dark magic; once that happens, though, a camatzotz is a scourge on creation, declaring war on everyone and everything. Camatzotzil appear as Gargantuan bat-apes, with simian bodies covered with coarse black hair and 80-foot wingspans.

Camatzotzil speak Abyssal, Common, Infernal and Sylvan.

Camatzotz
Gargantuan outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice	18d8+129 (210 hp)
Initiative	+9
Speed	40 ft. (8 squares), Fly 120 ft. (poor)
AC	22 (-4 size, +5 Dexterity, +11 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple	+18/+41
Attack	Bite +26 melee (4d6+16/18-20 plus disease)
Full Attack	Bite +26 melee (4d6+16/18-20 plus disease)
Space/Reach	20 ft./20 ft.
Special Attacks	Darkness, deadly bite, disease, fear, swallow whole
Special Qualities	Blindsense 80 ft., damage reduction 15/epic, Darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 8, Spell Resistance 27
Saves	Fort +20, Ref +16, Will +13
Abilities	Strength 33, Dexterity 20, Constitution 24, Intelligence 7, Wisdom 15, Charisma 20
Skills	Hide +22*, Intimidate +24, Listen +30, Move Silently +28, Spot +34, Survival +25
Feats	Alertness, Blind-Fight, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Snatch, Toughness
Environment	Lower planes
Organisation	Solitary
Challenge Rating	16
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Always chaotic evil
Advancement	19-36 HD (Gargantuan), 37-54 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment	–

Combat

A camazotz will repeatedly attempt to maim enemies with its bite attack, seeking to finish them off with its deadly bite ability before they can react. The camazotz takes full advantage of its darkness ability, preferring opponents that cannot see it while it uses its Blindsense ability and Blind- Fight feat to maintain the upper hand.

Darkness (Su): As a free action, a camatzotz can surrounding itself by a cloud of darkness, as the spell at caster level 20th.

Deadly Bite (Ex): A camazotz’ bite attack its unnaturally sharp, giving it a critical threat range of 18-20. Furthermore, if a camatzotz scores a critical hit, it always counts as massive damage, requiring the target to succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or die from shock, regardless of how many points of damage it actually dealt. A creature killed by a camazotz’ bite – and not swallowed whole; see below – is always beheaded or cut in half as the monster bites off the missing body part. This may seriously hinder some attempts at raising or resurrecting the target.

Disease (Su): Supernatural disease –- bite, Fortitude DC 26 (Constitution based), incubation period one hour, damage 1d6 Strength and 1d6 Constitution.

Fear (Su): A camatzotz is constantly surrounded by an aura of fear, requiring living creatures within sight of it to make successful Will saves (DC 24, Charisma based) or become panicked for 2d6 rounds. If a creature succeeds at this save, it cannot be affected by the same camatzotz’ fear aura for the next 24 hours.

Improved Grab (Ex): A camatzotz that successfully hits with a bite attack may start a grapple as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A camatzotz that begins its turn grappling an opponent may attempt to swallow its enemy by succeeding at a special grapple check. If the camatzotz wins this grapple, the target is instantly swallowed by the camatzotz. A swallowed target dies in one round from the deadly environment of the camatzotz’body, unless the camatzotz is slain before one round has passed. A camatzotz body can hold no more than one creature of Large or smaller size.

Blindsense (Ex): A camatzotz can detect opponents within 80 feet, by means of sound waves. Opponents still have 100% concealment if the camatzotz cannot see them.

Skills: A camatzotz gains a +8 racial bonus on all Hide, Listen and Move Silently checks. *In dark environments, the Hide bonus goes up to +12.