Chained Spirit

Its eyes blazing in deathless rage, a phantom floats unfettered by the bonds of the living world. The ghostly horror possesses its own ethereal bonds, though, its semi-transparent, vaguely humanoid figure clenched in the hold of countless crisscrossing chains – writhing and tightening over its vaporous form in unending torture. Several of these chains extend from the ghost’s body, some dangling through the floor or reaching seemingly through the ceiling above, while others pool in spectral lengths upon the ground like solid things.

Originally posted on Archives of Nethys
Source Pathfinder #11: Skeletons of Scarwell pg. 78

A chained spirit is the risen soul of one who was charged, cursed, or honor-bound to guard a certain place or object, only to be slain in the course of such duty. The resurrection of such a dishonored soul appears much as it did in life, except now burdened by the weight of countless constricting chains and inescapable locks, all representative of its bonds of duty. Reaching out with these chains, these tormented undead claim allies, binding other unwilling sentinels to the same charge with which they are eternally cursed.

Chained Spirit CR 14

XP 19,200 Always LE Medium undead (incorporeal) Init +8; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., spectral sight, spiritsense; Listen +24, Spot+24

DEFENSE

AC 30, touch 30, flat-footed 26 (+8 deflection, +4 Dexterity, +8 profane) hp 203 (14d12+112); fast healing 20 Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +14 Defensive Abilities spirit anchor, incorporeal; Immune destruction, turn/rebuke attempts, undead immunities

OFFENSE

Speed Fly 60 ft. (perfect); spectral bindings Melee incorporeal touch +11 (1d4 plus 1d6 Charisma drain) and 4 chains +6 (2d4+7 plus 1d6 Charisma drain) Space 5 ft., Reach 5 ft. (30 ft. with chains) Special Attacks Charisma drain, create spawn, incorporeal chains

STATISTICS

Strength -, Dexterity 19, Constitution -, Intelligence 15, Wisdom 20, Charisma 27 Base Atk +7; Grapple +14 (chains only) Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes Skills Bluff +25, Diplomacy +21, Knowledge (history) +10, Listen +24, Search +19, Sense Motive +22, Spot +24 Languages Common, telepathy 500 ft. SQ unholy fortitude

ECOLOGY

Environment any Organization solitary Treasure standard Advancement 15-22 HD (Medium), 23-30 HD (Large)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Spirit Anchor (Su) Through the use of its chain spirit ability (see below), a chained spirit can gain power by binding other powerful creatures to a specific area. There are several facets to this ability, both for the chained spirit and those bound by it. Gaining A Spirit Anchor: Any time a chained spirit creates a spirit anchor using its chain spirit ability, it gains the following benefits: a +2 profane bonus to Armor Class, fast healing 5, an incorporeal chain attack, immunity to being turned, rebuked, or controlled, spectral sight, and spectral bindings (see below).These benefits stack. Therefore, a chained spirit with 4 spirit anchors gains a +8 profane bonus to AC, fast healing 20, four chain attacks, and immunity to being turned, rebuked, or controlled. (The stats presented here represent a chain spirit with 4 spirit anchors and include all the associated benefits.) In addition, for as long as at least one of its spirit anchors exists, a chained spirit cannot be destroyed. If reduced to 0 hit points, the chained spirit reappears with full hit points 1 minute later. A chained spirit can have up to 4 spirit anchors at any time. Losing a Spirit Anchor: If a spirit anchor is destroyed or released, a chained spirit’s benefits are reduced: its AC is reduced by 2, its fast healing is reduced by 5, and it looses one of its chain attacks. If all of a chained spirit’s spirit anchors are destroyed, it gains no profane bonus to AC, has no fast healing, has no chain attacks, and can be permanently destroyed, but is released from the the effects of its spectral bindings. A chained spirit who is reduced from 4 spirit anchors to 3 cannot use its chain spirit ability for 24 hours. After that time, though, it can attempt to establish a new spirit anchor as normal. Losing more spirits does not affect this ability. Spirit Anchor Effects: A creature that becomes an anchor spirit is affected in two ways. First, it instantly regains any Charisma drained from it by the chain spirit ability of the chained spirit it becomes anchored to. Secondly, it is bound to the location it became an anchoring spirit—the exact spot where it was reduced to 0 Charisma by the chain spirit ability. Spirit anchors typically cannot move farther than 100 feet from this anchor spot. In the cases of creatures that require wider mobility to fulfill their physical needs, a chain spirit can relax its grip on creatures, allowing them to range farther afield. However, the chain spirit can employ a compulsion similar to geas/quest at will, forcing the spirit anchor to return to its anchor spot. A spirit anchor that ignores the compulsion take 1d6 points of Charisma damage per day until it returns. The anchor spirit’s own death, or the spells dispel evil, dispel law, freedom, miracle, or wish, can release a spirit anchor. Beyond this restraint, a chained spirit holds no special control over its spirit anchors. Chain Spirit (Su) As a standard action, once per day, a chained spirit can attempt to chain any evil-aligned intelligent corporeal creature it can detect. The targeted evil creature to make a DC 25 Will save or take 1d8 points of Charisma damage. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each successful attack, the chained spirit gains 5 temporary hit points. Any creature targeted by this ability is immediately aware of some malevolence attempting to take control of it. The effects of being drained to 0 Charisma by this ability ‘by one or multiple attacks ‘depends on the target creature’s Hit Dice. If the creature has fewer than half the chained spirit’s number of Hit Dice, being reduced to 0 Charisma kills the target. If the creature has Hit Dice equal to or more than half of the chained spirit’s, upon being reduced to 0 Charisma the target is chained, becoming a spirit anchor. Even though a chained spirit can potentially use this ability once per day, it can only create one spirit anchor per week. In addition, a chained spirit can only use this ability if it currently has three or fewer spirit anchors. Chains (Su) Numerous chains extend from a chained spirit, a number of these—one for every anchoring spirit—are corporeal and can make melee attacks. These corporeal chains are treated as evil, magical weapons and deal damage in addition to Charisma drain ability. They attack and make special attacks as if wielded one-handed by a creature with Strength 25. A sundered chain automatically reforms 1 round later. Charisma Drain (Su) Any creature hit by a chained spirit’s chains or incorporeal touch attack must succeed on a DC 25 Will save or take 1d6 points of Charisma drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each such successful attack, the chained spirit gains 5 temporary hit points.  Create Spawn (Su) Any humanoid slain by a chained spirit becomes a spectre in 1d4 rounds. Spawn are under the command of the chained spirit that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. Spectral Bindings (Su)   A chained spirit is extremely mobile with one major hindrance: no matter how far it moves on its turn, as long as it has at least one anchoring spirit, it automatically returns to its starting place when its turn is ended. This immediate return does not count as an action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity as the spirit simply reappears back in its original position. In essence, the chained spirit is eternally confined to a single square throughout its existence except the distance it can travel in a single round before returning to its starting position. If another creature occupies the space it has left, that creature is shunted to the closest available square. If a solid object occupies it starting square, its incorporeal nature allows it to return regardless. Even a force effect cannot thwart it as it simply reappears within the square, though if it is surrounded by a force effect, the chained spirit is then effectively trapped.   Spectral Sight (Su)   A chain spirit can see and hear through the senses of any of its anchor spirits whenever it wishes, just as if it were using both effects of the spell clairaudience/clairvoyance.   Spiritsense (Su)   A chained spirit can detect both the living and the undead. It can detect living creatures within 100 feet, just as if it had Blindsight. It can also sense the dead, as per the spell detect undead, out to a range of 500 feet.   Unholy Fortitude (Ex) A chain spirit gains bonus hit points equal to its Charisma modifier times its Hit Dice, and a bonus to its Fortitude saves equal to its Charisma modifier.