The old noble was strangely serene even with the recent disappearance of her granddaughter. She kept to her chambers, fretting over her fading beauty even as the heroes her family had hired to track down the missing girl set to work. Most people knew better than to pester the aging matriarch, but when the local seamstress came to call, they begrudgingly let her through. None dared to intrude on the lady as she spoke with the common woman, so none had the chance to see the seamstress open her basket to reveal the peeled flesh of her granddaughter. None saw the smile that the vain but aging noble shared with the seamstress or the sickly green glow that flared in the latter’s eyes.
Sorry for the late post, I had no internet this morning! Also, this monster features art by the amazing Daniel Larios.
There are plenty of monsters that can already disguise themselves as regular people, but I wanted to make a creature that could help others do so - in a slightly more grotesque way than usual. The edrammi does just that, skinning unfortunate victims and then turning their flesh into a wearable suit that magically transforms those that don it. In making this monster, I wanted something towards the earlier levels where heroes can't just murder a suspect and not have to worry about the town guard. This makes the edrammi slightly tougher than the typical doppelganger and barely edging out faceless stalkers, keeping them in that general area but at the top of those similar critters.
While possessing a slightly higher AC than normal, they have a little lower HP though not by much. However, it's attacks are on the lower end of damage for its CR unless it can get off some of its special abilities - such as its sneak attack and its flensing rend, which it can use to start prematurely stripping away the flesh of its victims, leaving gaping wounds and disfiguring scars. Its feats are built around helping it maintain its charade, such as Deceitful and Skill Focus, or helping it get the jump on unsuspecting foes, with Improved Initiative, so it can get off some early sneak attacks. Its final abilities deal with how it interacts with its ability to create skin disguises. If the heroes haven't become wise to the edrammi's disguise, it can use its shred skin to make creatures flat-footed to it, giving it another way to take advantage of its sneak attack. Finally, skin suit is its bread and butter, allowing any creature that dons the suit to effectively disguise itself.
Pathfinder 1e:
There's nothing too different about the 2e edrammi even with the array of most of its stats. The biggest difference is something I try to do for most of my 2e creatures - adding in a fun reaction. As a cruel deceiver, the edrammi can Cower, lulling foes into a false sense and throwing them off-balance.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOK
Skinfright: The heroes are hired to investigate the disappearance of a noble family’s daughter but shortly after they begin their search for clues, she reappears. While most are ecstatic at her return, there are some who hold suspicions about her, noting some odd behavior and ask the heroes to look further into it. They are able to find the location where the woman claims she escaped from when her captors left her binds too loose but there are signs of a struggle that she didn’t mention. Keen investigators can find blood leading towards a grate in the warehouse, barely large enough for a person to fit through. In the sewer system, the heroes can follow a trail of blood and patches of stripped away flesh before coming across a cobbled together labyrinth, which incurs the wrath of its owner – the edrammi who worked with the figure currently impersonating the noble scion. Even if they survive the sadistic skin stealer, the heroes must then find some evidence to prove that the young woman is not who she says she is.
This is an older monster that I designed that art was recently completed for and I'm happy to finally share! Hope you all like him, but for my MH fans, I'm back to some creatures from Rise. If you want to join in on the discussion of those builds or just talk about general homebrew ideas, consider checking out the blog's Discord where I have something a little special planned when we get to 100 people. You can also follow us on Twitter where we try to post teases for upcoming monsters and builds.
Have a Monstrous Monday!
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