Skeltercat

The tawny coat of this snarling feline resembles that of a mountain lion, though this creature is much more muscular and carries itself with a strange posture.

Skeltercat (CR 4)

Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Initiative: +4
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision, Scent; Perception +5

Speed: 40 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 17, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural)
Hit Points: 37 (5d10+10)
Saving Throws: Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +4
mixed mind

Offense

Melee: bite +9 (1d6+4 plus Grab), 2 claws +9 (1d4+4)
Reach: 5 feet

Special Attacks: musk, scream

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
19 (+4)	18 (+4)	15 (+2)	6 (-2)	13 (+1)	12 (+1)

Base Attack Bonus: +5
CMB +9
CMD 24

Feats: Dodge, Iron Will, Run

Skills: Acrobatics +12 (+16 when jumping), Climb +8, Perception +5, Stealth +12, Survival +2

• Racial Modifiers: +4 Acrobatics (+8 when jumping), +4 Stealth

Languages: Common (can't speak)

Special Qualities: partial transformation

Special Abilities

Mixed Mind (Ex)

A skeltercat's mind is a bizarre combination of animal instinct and human intellect. This disordered consciousness grants the creature immunity to confusion effects. Additionally, any creature that attempts to read a skeltercat's mind or communicate with it telepathically must succeed at a DC 13 Will save or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Musk (Ex)

A skeltercat has glands that produce a noxious musk. Any living creature within 10 feet must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds and sickened for 1 minute afterward. A creature that successfully saves is instead sickened for 1d4 rounds and can't be affected again by the same skeltercat's musk for 24 hours. This is a poison effect, and other skeltercats are immune to this effect. A skeltercat can suppress this effect as a free action. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Partial Transformation (Su)

A skeltercat can alter portions of its body in order to give itself access to certain abilities. As a standard action three times per day, a skeltercat can gain one of the abilities listed below. A partial transformation lasts for 10 minutes. As a swift action, a skeltercat that has already activated a partial transformation can spend an additional use of this ability to switch which benefit it receives. Only one such benefit can be in effect at a time. Climb: The skeltercat's claws extend, granting it a climb speed equal to half its base land speed. Additionally, when falling within arm's reach of a wall, ledge, or something else it could grab on to for stability, it can slow its descent, taking damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter. Hide: The skeltercat's hide bristles like that of an angry cat and grows thicker, increasing its natural armor bonus by 2. Legs: The skeltercat grows an additional pair of legs, bringing its total to six, increasing its base land speed to 60 feet, and granting it the rake special ability. The rake attacks use the same damage and critical threat range as the skeltercat's normal claw attacks. Swim: The skeltercat grows webbing between its toes and whale-like flukes on its tail, granting it a swim speed equal to its base land speed. Additionally, it gains the hold breath universal monster ability. Tail: The skeltercat's tail grows thick and clublike. It gains a tail slap as a primary attack that deals 1d6 points of damage plus trip on a successful hit.

Scream (Su)

A skeltercat can release a terrifying cry that affects all creatures within a 300-foot spread. All creatures in that area must succeed at a DC 13 Will save or become panicked for 1d4 rounds. This is a sonic, mind-affecting fear effect. A creature that successfully saves against this effect can't be affected by the same skeltercat's scream for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Ecology

Environment: Temperate Forests, Hills, or Mountains
Organization: solitary, pair, or clan (3-8)
Treasure: none


For a long time, many experts believed the creature now known as the skeltercat existed only in the folklore of the Shoanti tribes or in the far-fetched tales of a few wild-eyed travelers. Only with the recent reopening of the Bloodsworn Vale have rumors of the skeltercat's existence been taken seriously. As traffic through the vale increases, reports of attacks by strange, shapeshifting cats are growing startlingly commonplace. Such tales are told most frequently in the fortress city of Skelt, a common stopover for merchants traveling through the Bloodsworn Vale. The stories out of Skelt gave these creatures their name.

The skeltercat resembles a heavily muscled cougar or mountain lion, having a tawny coat, powerful paws with retractable claws, and strong hind legs that allow it to jump great distances. It primarily walks about on all fours, adopting an oddly hunched posture that distinguishes it from normal cats. When faced with a threat, a skeltercat rises onto its hind legs, walking upright in a disturbingly human fashion. An adult skeltercat stands just shy of 8 feet tall when fully upright, and weighs up to 300 pounds.

Ecology

Many generations ago, a small band of Shoanti warriors lived high in the Mindspin Mountains near the headwaters of the Yondabakari River. This band, whose name is now long lost, were the first to feel the bite of Chelish steel as the southerners began their push into Varisia. These Shoanti fought back against the invaders as best they could, but they had no shaman in their group, and soon found they were no match for Chelish magic. Though they begged the clans of the lowlands to train them in such arts, they were repeatedly refused. No clan wanted to share its secrets with the notorious raiders of the mountain tribe, and none yet realized the threat the Chelish invasion would soon pose.

As a desperate ploy, members of the mountain tribe stole down into the lowlands to spy on the druids and shamans of the other tribes, hoping to steal the secrets of the magic they had been denied. These spies observed a druid from the lowlands wildshaping herself into a mountain lion, and having listened carefully to the magic incantations she used, they returned to tell the tribe what they had found. Whether by chance or fate, the incantations worked, and soon the whole tribe had become fearsome cougars, just as the druid had. Only too late did they realize their spies had not learned how to reverse the transformation. Try as they might, they were able to become only partly human. Trapped somewhere between human and cat forms, the members of this reclusive mountain tribe were cursed to become the first skeltercats.

Though created by a magical accident, skeltercats breed true, and a skeltercat that mates with a normal cougar invariably produces skeltercat offspring. Much like mountain lions, skeltercats are carnivores, though unlike mundane cats, they display a distinct preference for humanoid prey. Though skeltercats will attack any humanoid, they appear to prefer Chelish flesh to any other, perhaps due to some ancestral memory of the original skeltercats' conflicts with Chelish invaders. Skeltercats live slightly longer than normal cougars, having an average lifespan of 30 to 40 years.

Habitat & Society

Although skeltercats live throughout the Mindspin Mountains, they are especially concentrated in the Bloodsworn Vale. Outside of the vale, skeltercats are most often found in and around hill giant camps. The brutish giants admire the skeltercats' savage ferocity, and often share their food with the cats to encourage them to remain in the area. For their part, the cats keep the area surrounding the giants' camp free from lesser predators and pick off any creatures attempting to escape the giants' clutches. Skeltercats may also serve as guards for the giants as they sleep through the night, and the last thing a group of adventurers may hear when attempting to ambush a band of giants is the yowl of a pouncing skeltercat.

The Shoanti have a complicated relationship with skeltercats. Though many Shoanti tribespeople have lost their lives to the shapeshifters' claws, the Shoanti nonetheless insist that skeltercats act as guardians for their people. An obscure Shoanti myth holds that the first skeltercat was once a Shoanti warrior who wished to defend her tribe from a demon that inflicted terrible madness upon its foes. Seeking a way to protect herself from the demon's insanity-inducing gaze, the warrior donned a magical cougar mask created by the shaman of her tribe. The mask worked, and the warrior was able to drive the demon away. However, she discovered too late that she could not remove the mask, and she was cursed to forever roam the land in the form of a fearsome mountain lion.

Though this myth is just a mangled retelling of the skeltercat's true origins, there may be some truth to it. Skeltercats are inherently immune to madness and confusion effects, and some claim that those who wear the hide of a skeltercat can gain some measure of this immunity for themselves.