Herald, Mother’s MawThis skull is as large as an ogre and surrounded by buzzing flies. Its bat wings carry it through the air as easily as those of a vulture.Mother’s Maw CR 15Source Inner Sea Gods pg. 312
XP 51,200
NE Large undead (evil, extraplanar, herald)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent, lifesense; Perception +26
Aura desecrate (20 ft.)DefenseAC 30, touch 16, flat-footed 23 (+7 Dex, +14 natural, –1 size)
hp 189 (18d8+108); fast healing 5 or 20 (see devour soul)
Fort +13, Ref +16, Will +19
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, spell deflection; DR 15/bludgeoning and good; Immune cold, electricity, undead traits; Resist fire 30; SR 26OffenseSpeed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee bite +24 (5d6+17/19–20 plus bleed, disease, drain, and grab)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (60-ft. cone, 15d6 negative energy, Reflex DC 25 for half, usable every 1d4 rounds), channel negative energy 9/day (DC 19, 6d6), devour soul, disease, swallow whole (special, AC 17, 20 hp)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +21)
Constant—desecrate
At will—contagion (DC 20), dimension door, ghoul hunger (DC 18), inflict critical wounds (DC 20), quickened vomit swarmAPG (maggots, use army ant swarm)
1/day—animate dead, create undead, eyebite (DC 22), plane shift (DC 22)StatisticsStr 33, Dex 25, Con —, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 22
Base Atk +13; CMB +25; CMD 42 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Cleave, Command UndeadB, Critical Focus, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning CriticalB
Skills Acrobatics +25, Fly +26, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (planes) +23, Knowledge (religion) +26, Perception +26, Profession (cook) +23, Sense Motive +26, Stealth +24
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal, Necril
SQ deathlessEcologyEnvironment any (Abaddon)
Organization solitary
Treasure noneSpecial AbilitiesDeathless (Su) If destroyed, the herald it returns to unlife 1 hour later at 1 hit point, allowing its fast healing to resume healing it. It can be permanently destroyed by positive energy, being reduced to 0 hit points in the area of a bless or hallow spell, or if 20 vials of holy water are sprinkled on its remains.
Devour Soul (Su) A creature swallowed by the herald must save every round against slay living (DC 25, caster level 15th). The soul of a creature slain by this attack becomes trapped within the herald’s skull, and the mangled corpse is immediately regurgitated. The creature cannot be brought back to life until the herald’s destruction (or a spell deflection—see below) releases its soul. The Maw can hold only one soul at a time. The trapped essence provides the Maw with fast healing 20, lasting 1 round for every Hit Die of the devoured soul. The trapped soul gains 1 permanent negative level for every round it spends within the Maw—these negative levels remain if the creature is brought back to life (but don’t stack with any negative levels imparted by being brought back to life). A soul that is completely consumed may be restored to life only by a miracle or wish spell. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Disease (Su) Mother’s Maw bite attack carries mummy rot (Fortitude DC 25).
Spell Deflection (Su) If any of the following spells is cast at the Maw and overcomes its spell resistance, it instead affects the devoured soul: banishment, chaos hammer, confusion, crushing despair, detect thoughts, dispel evil, dominate person, fear, geas/quest, holy word, hypnotism, imprisonment, magic jar, maze, suggestion, trap the soul, or any form of charm or compulsion. While none of these effects harms the soul, the caster must attempt a DC 25 caster level check when a spell is deflected— success indicates that the trapped soul is released from its prison and the creature whose body it belonged to can now be restored to life as normal. Mother’s Maw can only benefit from this ability while it has a soul devoured.DescriptionThis terror comes to the mortal realm at the command of the Pallid Princess. It’s an unsubtle thing of ravenous hunger, with little purpose but to kill, eat, and animate corpses. Created from the skull of a fallen titan, Mother’s Maw is as brilliant as a lich, but its only interest is satisfying its cravings for life and sensation. Urgathoa’s herald measures nearly 13 feet in height and weighs 3,000 pounds.Creatures in "Herald" CategorySource Inner Sea Gods pg. 274
Heralds are a special class of unique, godly servants. With few exceptions, each of Golarion’s deities has its own herald, a favored minion that serves as a messenger and emissary throughout the planes. Creatures of myth, the heralds’ interventions on the Material Plane mark lives and are events of legend.
Heralds are unique outsiders of approximately CR 15 with 18 or fewer Hit Dice, making them available for summons via greater planar ally. Only a deity’s worshipers can summon its herald; thus, even the most powerful worshiper of Sarenrae can never summon the herald of Iomedae. In addition, only divine spellcasters can summon heralds, preventing arcane casters and spells like planar binding from effectively calling upon such beings. Even if a character proves powerful enough to call out to a herald, a deity has the final say in whether or not its emissary answers a worshiper’s summons, granting its herald’s service only to followers in the most extreme need or whose acts directly further its will.
Herald Subtype: Heralds are unique representatives of their respective gods and sometimes have a specific outsider subtype such as “devil” or “psychopomp” that grants it additional abilities. A herald has the following traits. - Always Armed (Su) Heralds can summon their signature weapon as a standard action. If its herald doesn’t have a signature weapon, it can summon any nonmagical weapon as a standard action (including adamantine, etc.); the weapon disappears if it leaves the herald’s grasp.
- Emissary (Ex) Heralds can always be summoned by the faithful using greater planar ally or gate, regardless of limitations of that spell, even if it’s not an outsider.
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