Sanctum Guardian
CREATURE 12Variant tomb giant
Masters of mausoleums and keepers of crypts, the dread creatures called tomb giants are anathema to all living beings, but especially so to other types of giants. Long ago, so the legends say, tomb giants sold their souls in exchange for unfathomable power over the undead. Tomb giants construct massive gothic settlements in haunted valleys and on forsaken hillsides, far enough away from the societies of smaller people that they remain relatively undisturbed, but close enough that they can raid the graveyards of nearby villages with impunity. Elder tomb giants enjoy the thrill of subduing, slaying, and reanimating their fellow giants. A tomb giant views its mortal life as only one part of its existence. After death, most tomb giants are reanimated as undead, who then continue to practice their necromantic arts.
Spread across the world, giants are as diverse as the isolated places they inhabit. A giant makes a big impression on the local environment, especially on smaller and weaker creatures.
Lifesense allows a monster to sense the vital essence of living and undead creatures within the listed range. The sense can distinguish between the vitality energy animating living creatures and the void energy animating undead creatures, much as sight distinguishes colors.
A creature with void healing draws health from void energy rather than vitality energy. It is damaged by vitality damage and is not healed by vitality healing effects. It does not take void damage, and it is healed by void effects that heal undead.
The tomb giant turns the spiritual tide on a creature that has just died, temporarily transforming it into a volatile vessel powered by the Void. The tomb giant touches a creature that died within the past 24 hours, infusing its flesh and bone with void energy. Once during the next hour, the tomb giant can spend a single action (from any distance) to release this void from the corpse in an explosion that deals 10d8 void damage in a 15-foot burst (DC 32 basic Fortitude save); if not released before the end of the hour, the energy dissipates harmlessly. The tomb giant can't use Font of Death while a previous corpse remains infused.
Critical Success The target suffers no additional effect.
Success The target becomes Sickened 1 and gains weakness to void 5 until the end of its next turn.
Effect: Pallid Curse (Success)
Failure The target becomes Sickened 2 and gains weakness to void 5; this weakness has an unlimited duration. If the target dies while this curse remains in effect, the curse ends, but the target automatically rises as an undead creature (the GM picks one of the same level as the target) that goes on to serve Urgathoa in its unlife. If the target is destroyed in its new undead form, it reverts to its original living form but is Dying 3.
Effect: Pallid Curse (Failure)
Critical Failure As failure, but weakness to void 10.