BisectedBrioche
2007-10-10, 04:06 PM
Someone's stated a xenomorph, I remember a while ago someone stated a metroid so here's another parasitic alien for you to enjoy. The headcrab of Half Life fame;
In front of you lies the corpse of a man (or maybe an elf, its hard to tell), covered in blood with its torso split open and the fingers twisted into claws. Resting next to it is the corpse a small four-legged insect like creature curled into a shape to fit its victim's head. In the distance, a bloated figure stumbles around with a few black versions of this beast on its back. Meanwhile you ready your weapon as you hear a familiar scream and turn around to face another creature, stripped of most of its flesh. You have stumbled into the lair of some headcrabs.
Headcrabs are a species of exo-parasitoids, which come in three varieties: Normal, fast and poison. While they are quite weak they are capable of controlling humanoids by perching themselves on the heads of their hosts and burrowing into their spines, overriding voluntary movement and using their victim as a living puppet. A headcrab has a round, dome shaped body with a mouth on its underside, four legs and two claws at the front. It is covered by brownish, yellow, chitenous armour.
Standard Headcrab
Tiny Aberation
HD 1d8 (4hp)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +1
AC 12; touch 11; flat-footed 11
BAB +0; Grp +0
Attack Claw 1d2 +0
Full-Attack Claw 1d2 +0
Space 2.5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Jump, Headhump
Special Qualities Poison immunity
Saves Fort +2 Ref +1 Will +1
Abilities Str 4, Dex 12, Con 16, Int Ø, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills
Feats Improved Natural Armour
Environment Any
Organization Lone (1), group (3-4, + 0-3 headcrab zombies),
Challenge Rating 1
Treasure None
Alignment Neutral
Jump The headcrab may jump at a target (making a standard jump check) from up to 5 feet away. Alternatively, as a standard action the headcrab may ready itself and then jump at an opponent from any distance at the beginning of the following round with a +10 bonus to its jump check.
Headhump On successfully hitting with a prepared jump attack the headcrab may initiate a grapple attempt against any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature, clamping themselves to their target's head. It may also do this against a helpless or prone target. If they maintain the grapple for two rounds then they override their victim's motor skills by burrowing into their nervous system. Their victim acquires the Headcrab Zombie template.
Poison immunity The headcrab is immune to all poisons, magical or otherwise.
Poison and Fast Templates
One of the following templates may be added to the standard headcrab to create a poison or fast headcrab (you may not add both).
Poison Template
Attack
Replace the claw attack with a Stinger attack (one point of damage plus poison)
Special Attacks
The headcrab gains a poison attack, upon being hit by its sting the victim must make a fortitude save DC 10 or take damage equal to half its maximum health (this attack never drops it below 1hp) which is restored at a rate of 1/10 max hp per round as the body manages to fight the toxin's effect off.
CR
Increase the headcrab's CR by 1
The poison headcrab looks similar to the standard headcrab, however its armour is black in colour and its body and legs are covered in hairs. Large white fangs cover its mouth. It emits a rattle when it senses a potential host that can be instantly recognised by anyone who has heard it before.
Fast Template
Speed
Increases to 30 ft. (6 squares)
Abilities/Saves
Dex is increased by 4
Feats
The Fast headcrab gains the Lightning Reflexes feat
Challenge Rating
Increase CR by 1
The fast headcrab is recognisable by its significantly longer legs. It is otherwise undistinguishable from a standard headcrab.
Headcrab Zombie
This template is applied to all humanoid or monstrous humanoid creatures of small size or larger (henceforth referred to as the Base Creature) who fall victim to the headcrab's Headhump ability. The victim's voluntary movement falls under the headcrabs control however they may take purely mental actions as long as they first succeed on a DC 10 concentration check.
Type
The creatures type changes to monstrous humanoid (if it was not already)
AC
AC is increased by 1 due to the protection the headcrab provides to the head.
Attack
The base creature gains a claw attack appropriate to its size;
{table=head]Size|Damage
Small|1d3
Medium|1d4
Large|1d6
Huge|1d8
Gargantuan|2d6
Colossal|2d8[/table]
Reach
The base creature's arms become longer, doubling its reach
Special Qualities
The base creature inherits the headcrab's Poison immunity
Should the zombie be subject to a critical hit or 5 or more points of blunt damage the headcrab must make a strength check vs. the attacker or be knocked off the zombie. A zombie that has had its headcrab knocked off dies immediately and may not be revived (however they may be resurrected as their former self with a resurrection spell or better).
Saves/Abilities
The base creature retains its Fortitude and reflex saves however the previous increases by 1 and the later takes a -1 penalty. Con and strength gain a bonus of +1, dexterity remains unchanged. Will saves, wisdom, charisma and intelligence are the same as the headcrabs.
Skills The HCZ gains no skills
Feats The zombie retains all the feats that the headcrab had
Environment Any
Organization Lone (1), Group (3-4 headcrabs, + 0-3 headcrab zombies),
Challenge Rating Increase the base creatures CR by 1 (2 if the headcrab had a poison or fast template).
Treasure None
Alignment Neutral
A headcrab zombie looks the same as the base creature. However it is usually covered in blood, mutated to have huge, twisted claws and its face (if the headcrab is removed) is pale and its mouth open, set in a horrific scream.
Poison and Fast Zombie Templates
Poison
Size
The poison zombie's size category rises to the next one up as it becomes bloated with poison.
Special Attacks
The zombie becomes bloated and hunched over. Up to 5 (*3 per size category) poison headcrabs may ride on it. The zombie can throw one of these at a target as a standard action (treat as a jump attack with no preparation needed).
A poison headcrab zombie turns purple and bloated due to the toxins present inside it. Its hunched bloated figure can carry several poison headcrabs, which control it via their toxins rather than directly interfacing with its nervous system.
Fast
Speed Increase by 50%
Saves/Abilities
Dexterity is increased by 1
Skills +10 racial bonus on jump and climb checks, may take 10 on either at any time
Fast zombies have lost most of their body mass and internal organs, leaving only muscles and bone. This makes them much faster and more agile than other zombies.
In front of you lies the corpse of a man (or maybe an elf, its hard to tell), covered in blood with its torso split open and the fingers twisted into claws. Resting next to it is the corpse a small four-legged insect like creature curled into a shape to fit its victim's head. In the distance, a bloated figure stumbles around with a few black versions of this beast on its back. Meanwhile you ready your weapon as you hear a familiar scream and turn around to face another creature, stripped of most of its flesh. You have stumbled into the lair of some headcrabs.
Headcrabs are a species of exo-parasitoids, which come in three varieties: Normal, fast and poison. While they are quite weak they are capable of controlling humanoids by perching themselves on the heads of their hosts and burrowing into their spines, overriding voluntary movement and using their victim as a living puppet. A headcrab has a round, dome shaped body with a mouth on its underside, four legs and two claws at the front. It is covered by brownish, yellow, chitenous armour.
Standard Headcrab
Tiny Aberation
HD 1d8 (4hp)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +1
AC 12; touch 11; flat-footed 11
BAB +0; Grp +0
Attack Claw 1d2 +0
Full-Attack Claw 1d2 +0
Space 2.5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Jump, Headhump
Special Qualities Poison immunity
Saves Fort +2 Ref +1 Will +1
Abilities Str 4, Dex 12, Con 16, Int Ø, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills
Feats Improved Natural Armour
Environment Any
Organization Lone (1), group (3-4, + 0-3 headcrab zombies),
Challenge Rating 1
Treasure None
Alignment Neutral
Jump The headcrab may jump at a target (making a standard jump check) from up to 5 feet away. Alternatively, as a standard action the headcrab may ready itself and then jump at an opponent from any distance at the beginning of the following round with a +10 bonus to its jump check.
Headhump On successfully hitting with a prepared jump attack the headcrab may initiate a grapple attempt against any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature, clamping themselves to their target's head. It may also do this against a helpless or prone target. If they maintain the grapple for two rounds then they override their victim's motor skills by burrowing into their nervous system. Their victim acquires the Headcrab Zombie template.
Poison immunity The headcrab is immune to all poisons, magical or otherwise.
Poison and Fast Templates
One of the following templates may be added to the standard headcrab to create a poison or fast headcrab (you may not add both).
Poison Template
Attack
Replace the claw attack with a Stinger attack (one point of damage plus poison)
Special Attacks
The headcrab gains a poison attack, upon being hit by its sting the victim must make a fortitude save DC 10 or take damage equal to half its maximum health (this attack never drops it below 1hp) which is restored at a rate of 1/10 max hp per round as the body manages to fight the toxin's effect off.
CR
Increase the headcrab's CR by 1
The poison headcrab looks similar to the standard headcrab, however its armour is black in colour and its body and legs are covered in hairs. Large white fangs cover its mouth. It emits a rattle when it senses a potential host that can be instantly recognised by anyone who has heard it before.
Fast Template
Speed
Increases to 30 ft. (6 squares)
Abilities/Saves
Dex is increased by 4
Feats
The Fast headcrab gains the Lightning Reflexes feat
Challenge Rating
Increase CR by 1
The fast headcrab is recognisable by its significantly longer legs. It is otherwise undistinguishable from a standard headcrab.
Headcrab Zombie
This template is applied to all humanoid or monstrous humanoid creatures of small size or larger (henceforth referred to as the Base Creature) who fall victim to the headcrab's Headhump ability. The victim's voluntary movement falls under the headcrabs control however they may take purely mental actions as long as they first succeed on a DC 10 concentration check.
Type
The creatures type changes to monstrous humanoid (if it was not already)
AC
AC is increased by 1 due to the protection the headcrab provides to the head.
Attack
The base creature gains a claw attack appropriate to its size;
{table=head]Size|Damage
Small|1d3
Medium|1d4
Large|1d6
Huge|1d8
Gargantuan|2d6
Colossal|2d8[/table]
Reach
The base creature's arms become longer, doubling its reach
Special Qualities
The base creature inherits the headcrab's Poison immunity
Should the zombie be subject to a critical hit or 5 or more points of blunt damage the headcrab must make a strength check vs. the attacker or be knocked off the zombie. A zombie that has had its headcrab knocked off dies immediately and may not be revived (however they may be resurrected as their former self with a resurrection spell or better).
Saves/Abilities
The base creature retains its Fortitude and reflex saves however the previous increases by 1 and the later takes a -1 penalty. Con and strength gain a bonus of +1, dexterity remains unchanged. Will saves, wisdom, charisma and intelligence are the same as the headcrabs.
Skills The HCZ gains no skills
Feats The zombie retains all the feats that the headcrab had
Environment Any
Organization Lone (1), Group (3-4 headcrabs, + 0-3 headcrab zombies),
Challenge Rating Increase the base creatures CR by 1 (2 if the headcrab had a poison or fast template).
Treasure None
Alignment Neutral
A headcrab zombie looks the same as the base creature. However it is usually covered in blood, mutated to have huge, twisted claws and its face (if the headcrab is removed) is pale and its mouth open, set in a horrific scream.
Poison and Fast Zombie Templates
Poison
Size
The poison zombie's size category rises to the next one up as it becomes bloated with poison.
Special Attacks
The zombie becomes bloated and hunched over. Up to 5 (*3 per size category) poison headcrabs may ride on it. The zombie can throw one of these at a target as a standard action (treat as a jump attack with no preparation needed).
A poison headcrab zombie turns purple and bloated due to the toxins present inside it. Its hunched bloated figure can carry several poison headcrabs, which control it via their toxins rather than directly interfacing with its nervous system.
Fast
Speed Increase by 50%
Saves/Abilities
Dexterity is increased by 1
Skills +10 racial bonus on jump and climb checks, may take 10 on either at any time
Fast zombies have lost most of their body mass and internal organs, leaving only muscles and bone. This makes them much faster and more agile than other zombies.