Buy me a coffee“The Vengeful Crawling Hand: Relic of Restless Death”
“Unleash the terror of a severed hand that hunts your every move with unstoppable vengeance!”
The Crawling Hand is a grotesque, severed hand animated by dark necromantic forces. Its appearance is unsettling: the hand, small and twisted, moves with an eerie, jerky grace, resembling a spider with its fingers splayed out in an unnatural crawl. The skin, pale and stretched tight over the bones, is mottled with bruises and the occasional dark vein. Its nails, black and brittle, scrape against the ground as it skitters, leaving behind faint traces of blood as if the hand still remembers its former, living owner. The eyes of the hand, though absent, seem to glimmer with an unnatural malice, and when it moves, there is a palpable sense of hunger in its silent pursuit.
In terms of behavior, the Crawling Hand is relentlessly single-minded and terrifyingly efficient. It has no capacity for empathy or hesitation, operating purely on its programmed will to kill. It moves quickly and silently, using its dexterity to climb walls and avoid detection, making it a perfect assassin or guardian. The hand will lie still and dormant when not in use, often hidden away in a velvet-lined box or crypt, waiting for its master’s command. When activated, it becomes a terror—its fingers, sharp and powerful, can swiftly strangle, cut, or subdue its prey. It is an intelligent yet primitive undead, understanding only its assigned task and carrying it out with chilling precision.
The Crawling Hand can be found anywhere, though it often resides in dark places where evil or twisted necromantic rituals have taken place. It may be kept in the lair of a dark wizard, an abandoned crypt, or even a rich collector’s private vault. Some have been buried alongside their original owner, cursed to serve beyond the grave.
Its modus operandi is simple but effective: once it marks its quarry—often by a drop of the quarry’s blood—the Crawling Hand becomes attuned to that individual’s presence and location, moving tirelessly toward them. It tracks its victim with the precision of a bloodhound, using its ability to climb and stealthily navigate obstacles to corner them when the moment is right. When it reaches its target, the hand strikes with a horrifying swiftness, attempting to grab its victim and strangle them or incapacitate them for a more gruesome end. Its relentless pursuit is often accompanied by an unsettling sense of inevitability, as if it can never be outrun or evaded.
The motivation behind the Crawling Hand is simple but terrifying: vengeance or duty. Created by necromancers, dark wizards, or even cursed by vengeful spirits, the Crawling Hand is a tool that serves a singular purpose—hunting down and killing a specific individual or guarding a particular location with deadly precision. It has no need for sustenance, only the completion of its task. Once its quarry is slain, or it is destroyed, the hand will cease its endless pursuit, awaiting its next command—or its final end.
Crawling Hand 5e
Crawling Hand Pathfinder
Crawling Hand
Tiny Undead, Neutral Evil
Armor Class: 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 9 (2d4 + 4)
Speed: 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 (+1) | 11 (+0) | – | 2 (–4) | 11 (+0) | 14 (+2) |
4o mini
Saving Throws: Dexterity +2, Wisdom +2
Skills: Perception +2, Stealth +4
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsense 30 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages: Understands Common but can’t speak
Challenge: 1/2 (200 XP)
TRAITS
Undead Fortitude. If the crawling hand has 0 hit points and it doesn’t take damage from radiant damage or a critical hit, it can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a success, it regains 1 hit point.
Grab. The crawling hand can use its Grab ability to grapple a creature up to Medium size. It uses its Dexterity modifier to make the grapple check.
Mark Quarry (Recharge 5-6). The crawling hand can mark a creature it has damaged within the last minute. When it marks a quarry, the hand gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and ability checks when targeting the marked creature. This mark lasts until the quarry is killed, or the hand is destroyed. The hand knows the quarry’s general direction (like the locate creature spell).
Spider Climb. The crawling hand can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and ceilings without needing to make an ability check.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The crawling hand makes two Claw attacks.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12) if the hand isn’t already grappling a creature.
Strangle (Recharge 5-6). The crawling hand can use its action to initiate a Strangle on a creature it has grappled. The creature must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or begin suffocating. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. While strangled, the target takes 5 (1d10) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points by this ability, it dies, and the hand regains 5 hit points.
REACTIONS
Revenge (Recharge 5-6). When a creature within 5 feet of the crawling hand hits it with an attack, the crawling hand can use its reaction to immediately attempt to grapple that creature.
TACTICS
- Silent Pursuer: The crawling hand typically waits until its quarry is isolated or vulnerable. It uses its Mark Quarry to track the creature, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When it attacks, it often tries to catch its quarry off guard, crawling up walls or ceilings with Spider Climb to ambush from above.
- Hit and Run: Once it marks a creature, the crawling hand will strike quickly, using its Claw to initiate a grapple. It may then use Strangle to slowly suffocate its prey, forcing the creature into a desperate struggle. If the hand is interrupted, it will flee to the shadows, only to return when it is safe to continue its hunt.
- Tactical Withdrawal: If the hand is overwhelmed, it uses Revenge to retaliate with a quick grapple, often escaping to find cover or retreat to a more advantageous position.
ENVIRONMENTAL PREFERENCES
The crawling hand thrives in dark, abandoned places like crypts, tombs, and ruined buildings. It is often used as a guardian by necromancers or dark cultists, set in place to protect sacred or forbidden spaces. It is a persistent hunter, always on the lookout for those who disturb its domain.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The Crawling Hand can take 1 legendary action, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Crawling Hand regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Claw: The Crawling Hand makes a Claw attack.
- Move: The Crawling Hand moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
- Mark Quarry: The Crawling Hand can mark a new target within 30 feet as its quarry.
DESCRIPTION
The Crawling Hand is a hideous and unsettling undead creature, often created as a guardian or assassin by powerful necromancers. Though it may appear to be a harmless severed hand at first glance, it is in fact an animated killer with deadly intelligence and an insatiable thirst for vengeance. Its eerie movements are unnerving to anyone who witnesses them, and its silent, relentless pursuit of its marked quarry makes it a truly horrifying enemy.
Crawling Hand
With a jolt, this severed hand springs to life, its fingers propelling it forth at great speed like a deformed spider.
This content is from the Paizo Core Rules.
Some say the origins of the crawling hand lie in the experiments of demented necromancers contracted to construct tiny assassins. Other tales tell of gruesome prosthetics sparked to life by evil magic, which then developed primitive sentience and vengefully strangled their hosts. Regardless, the crawling hand is an efficient killing tool.
When not commanded to kill, the crawling hand remains still and can be handled and transported safely. Typically, owners carry them about in small, velvet-lined boxes. Crawling hands can also be placed as guardians and programmed with contingency commands, such as to hunt down and slay an individual who performs a specific task like violating a shrine, opening a warded door, or breaking the seal of a casket.
| Crawling Hand CR 1/2 |
| XP 200 NE Diminutive undead Init +0; Senses Blindsense 30 ft., Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 size)hp 9 (1d8+5) Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +2 Immune undead traits |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 40 ft., Climb 40 ft. Melee claw +5 (1d1+1 plus grab) Space 1 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Special Attacks mark quarry, strangle |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 13, Dexterity 11, Constitution –, Intelligence 2, Wisdom 11, Charisma 14 Base Atk +0; CMB -4 (+0 grapple); CMD 7 Feats Toughness Skills Climb +9, Perception +4, Stealth +12, Survival +4; Racial Modifiers +4 Survival Languages Common (can’t speak) |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Grab (Ex) A crawling hand can use its grab ability on a creature of up to Medium size. Mark Quarry (Su) A crawling hand is assigned a quarry by anointing the hand with a drop of the intended quarry’s blood. If the hand has no current quarry, it automatically gains the next creature it damages as its quarry. Once attuned to a target, it becomes aware of the target’s location as if under the effect of a continuous locate creature spell. The hand gains a +1 bonus on all attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks made to seek out and destroy the marked quarry. The mark quarry ability lasts until the quarry or the hand is slain. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any land Organization solitary or gang (2-5) Treasure none |
Section 15: Copyright Notice – Bestiary 2
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.