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.