Gholdako

A single milky eye stares from the forehead of this towering giant wrapped in filthy, rune-covered strips of bloody linen.

Gholdako (CR 10)

Large Undead
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Initiative: +0
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision; Perception +19

Speed: 30 feet
Space: 10 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 25, touch 9, flat-footed 25 (+16 natural, -1 size)
Hit Points: 127 (15d8+60)
Saving Throws: Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +10
Channel Resistance +3
Damage Reduction: 5/good
Immunity: undead traits
Energy Resistance: cold 10, fire 10

Offense

Melee: bite +17 (1d8+7), 2 claws +18 (2d8+7/19-20 plus disease)
Reach: 10 feet

Special Attacks: blinding breath, disease

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
25 (+7)	10 (+0)	-	10 (+0)	13 (+1)	19 (+4)

Base Attack Bonus: +11
CMB +19 (+21 Bull Rush)
CMD 29 (31 vs. Bull Rush)

Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Critical Focus, Great Cleave, Powerful Maneuvers, Improved Critical (claw), Weapon Focus (claw)

Skills: Intimidate +22, Knowledge (history) +8, Perception +19, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +14

Languages: Giant

Special Abilities

Blinding Breath (Su)

Once every 1d4 rounds, a gholdako can exhale its noxious breath in a 20-foot cone, permanently blinding any creatures in the affected area unless they succeed at a DC 21 Fortitude save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Disease (Ex)

Seaside rot: Injury; save Fort DC 21; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Str and 1d4 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Ecology

Environment: Warm Coastlines
Organization: solitary or guard (2-4)
Treasure: standard


A gholdako is a dreadful undead cyclops created by the foul priests and necromancers of a fallen cyclops empire thousands of years ago. A gholdako's single eyeball is sunken and milky, and its body and limbs are wrapped tightly in ragged strips of soiled and moldering linens, much like those of a mummy, but with disturbing and incomprehensible glyphs scribbled on the ancient cloth, written in what appears to be dried blood.

Layers of skin continually flake off the hideous monster's parched flesh wherever it is exposed, falling in papery strips of sickly pale yellow. The average gholdako stands 9 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds. Gholdakos are nearly always guardians of some special relic or tomb, having been ordered to protect the object or location in life and remaining faithful to their duties even after dying.

While they strive to keep their wards safe from depredations, gholdakos are nonetheless short-tempered and easy to lure away from their posts-though being caught by one of these undead giants almost always spells a gruesome and untimely end for most would-be.

Dread Gholdako (+1 CR): Some gholdakos were created to guard the tombs of royalty. Such dread gholdakos possess a bluish-white halo of smoke around their perpetually peeling scalps. A dread gholdako generally possesses additional Hit Dice, and can inflict paralysis (1d4 rounds, DC 10 + 1/2 the dread gholdako's racial Hit Dice + the dread gholdako's Constitution modifier) on its foes with its bite attack.