Buy me a coffee“The Shrouded Specter: Keukegen’s Haunting Presence”
A Keukegen is a shambling mass of filthy, matted fur that lurks in shadows, spreading sickness and misfortune like a living plague.
A keukegen resembles a shambling tangle of filthy, matted hair that conceals dozens of centipede-like legs. From beneath its unkempt fur glint small, fever-bright eyes and a gaping maw filled with jagged teeth. Its body is roughly four feet long, weighing close to eighty pounds, though its formless outline makes it appear like a crawling dustball brought to monstrous life. The stench of mildew and sickness clings to it wherever it moves.
Behaviour
Keukegen are furtive and malicious, scuttling through shadows and lurking in refuse heaps. Though cowardly when confronted directly, they revel in misery and disease, taking perverse delight in watching illness spread through communities. They move with unsettling agility, scuttling up walls and across ceilings, and gather in clusters when threatened by more powerful foes.
Habitat
These creatures thrive in urban decay—abandoned houses, damp sewers, collapsed tenements, and alleys choked with refuse. Rarely seen in the wild, keukegen prefer places thick with rot and neglect, drawn to the accumulated filth of human habitation. They often infest entire neighborhoods, turning once-lively districts into pestilent wastelands.
Modus Operandi
A keukegen prefers ambush, dropping onto isolated prey or crawling from debris to bite and infect victims. Its very presence spreads sickness, its aura of pestilence weakening creatures before it strikes. In battle, it relies on mobility and surprise, retreating to walls and ceilings when pressed, while allowing its diseases to take their toll. When cornered, it releases choking spores to stagger attackers before slipping away into darkness.
Motivation
At its core, the keukegen is driven by instinctive malice and hunger for decay. It seeks not treasure or territory, but the proliferation of filth and disease. Scholars debate whether it feeds on sickness or simply delights in its spread, but all agree that wherever a keukegen nests, pestilence soon follows. They are anathema even to other spirits of poverty and misfortune, who regard them as vermin to be eradicated.
Keukegen 5e
Keukegen. Pathfinder
Keukegen
Small aberration, neutral evil
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 78 (12d6 + 36)
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 6 (−2) | 13 (+1) | 8 (−1) |
Saving Throws Con +6, Dex +7
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities diseased, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages understands Common but can’t speak
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3
Traits
Aura of Pestilence.
Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of the keukegen must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or cough violently, taking 3 (1d6) poison damage and becoming poisoned until the start of its next turn. Creatures immune to disease are unaffected.
Skittering Horror.
The keukegen has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in urban, filthy, or cluttered environments.
Spider Climb.
The keukegen can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Innate Spellcasting (Disease).
The keukegen’s innate spellcasting ability is Constitution (spell save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: infestation, poison spray
- 3/day each: ray of sickness, blindness/deafness
- 1/day: contagion
Actions
Multiattack.
The keukegen makes two Bite attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or contract filth fever (see below).
Filth Fever (Disease).
A creature infected with filth fever is wracked by fever and weakness. After each long rest, the creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion. The disease lasts until the creature completes two consecutive long rests without failing this saving throw.
Reactions
Toxic Spasm.
When the keukegen takes damage from a melee attack, it releases a cloud of noxious spores. The attacker must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Legendary Actions
The keukegen can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The keukegen regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Skitter. The keukegen moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
- Choking Burst (Costs 2 Actions). The keukegen intensifies its Aura of Pestilence. Each creature of its choice within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage and be stunned until the end of its next turn.
Combat Tactics
Keukegen are ambush predators of filth and disease. They open combat by lurking in shadows or clinging to ceilings, then drop onto isolated targets. Their Aura of Pestilence and Bite attacks quickly weaken enemies, while spells like ray of sickness or blindness/deafness disrupt healers and spellcasters. If pressured, they rely on Toxic Spasm to punish melee attackers, retreating along walls and ceilings with uncanny agility.
In groups, keukegen coordinate by encircling enemies in confined, unsanitary spaces—alleys, sewers, or collapsed buildings—spreading sickness until their foes collapse under waves of exhaustion and poison.
Keukegen
Slithering forward is a snake-like creature seemingly composed of matted, greasy hair. Its face is vaguely canine and bears wide, staring eyes.
Taken from Creature Codex
This tangled mass of greasy hair writhes forward on dozens of hidden legs, coughing clouds of sickness into the air.
Keukegen CR 4
XP 1,200
NE Small aberration
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
Aura choking (10 ft., DC 16)
Defense
AC 18, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +2 natural, +1 dodge)
hp 42 (5d8+20)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +5
Immune curses, disease, poison
Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +8 (1d6+3 plus disease and distraction)
Special Attacks distraction (DC 16)
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 19 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Dodge, Stealthy, Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +10, Escape Artist +11, Perception +6, Stealth +16
SQ compression
Ecology
Environment urban
Organization solitary, pair, or tangle (3–6)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Choking Aura (Ex) Creatures within 10 feet must succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or erupt into violent coughing, taking 1d6 nonlethal damage and becoming sickened for 1 round. Each failed save continues the damage and leaves the creature sickened and dazed for 1 round. Creatures that do not breathe are immune. This is a disease effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Disease (Ex) Filth fever: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 16; onset 1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3 Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Description
Despite their almost comical, dustball-like appearance, keukegen are malicious urban monsters that delight in spreading pestilence. Scholars debate their origins: some claim they spontaneously arise from accumulations of lint and refuse, while others argue they reproduce by releasing spores that germinate in filth. Whatever their genesis, keukegen thrive in squalor, turning neglected neighborhoods into breeding grounds for disease. Even a lone keukegen can transform an entire block into a sick ward, its mere presence heralding waves of fever, nausea, and wasting illness.
Keukegen occasionally cross paths with binbōgami, kami of poverty. Surprisingly, these spirits despise keukegen as rivals and often seek to exterminate them. While a binbōgami can easily dispatch a lone keukegen, the creatures defend themselves by gathering into writhing tangles, overwhelming enemies with sheer numbers.
A typical keukegen is 4 feet long, weighs around 80 pounds, and scuttles on more than two dozen centipede-like legs hidden beneath its shaggy, filthy fur.