SpellgorgerThis ten-foot-diameter floating globe of shuddering violet sludge has a tangle of dripping tendrils and is encircled by strange arcane energies.Spellgorger CR 12Source Pathfinder #107: Scourge of the Godclaw pg. 88
XP 19,200
N Large ooze
Init +8; Senses scent magic; Perception +17
Aura discordant field (30 ft., DC 25, 10 rounds)DefenseAC 26, touch 26, flat-footed 17 (+8 deflection, +8 Dex, +1 dodge, –1 size)
hp 161 (14d8+98)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +9
Defensive Abilities deflective shield, spell healing; Immune fire, force, ooze traitsOffenseSpeed 10 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 slams +17 (2d6+5 plus 2d6 fire and 2d6 force)
Ranged firebolt +17 touch (2d6 fire plus 2d6 force)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks engulf (DC 24), firebolts, parasitic spellcastingStatisticsStr 20, Dex 27, Con 24, Int 19, Wis 16, Cha 26
Base Atk +10; CMB +16; CMD 35
Feats Ability Focus (engulf), Combat Casting, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Mobility, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +22, Fly +31, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Perception +17, Spellcraft +18, Use Magic Device +22
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal
SQ prehensile tendrilsEcologyEnvironment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, or gluttony (3–6)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesDeflective Shield (Su) A spellgorger is surrounded by a magical shield of energy that grants it a deflection bonus to its Armor Class equal to its Charisma modifier (+8 for most spellgorgers).
Discordant Field (Su) Whenever a spellgorger moves more than 5 feet in a round, it becomes surrounded by a disruptive field of magically energized motes that interfere with the spellcasting of any creature within 30 feet. Any attempt to cast a spell within this area while the discordant field is active requires a successful concentration check (DC = 15 + double the level of the spell being cast). If this check fails, the spell is lost and the spellcaster must make a successful DC 24 Fortitude save to avoid being staggered for 1 round by magical feedback generated by the field (this is a mind-affecting effect). Spellgorgers are immune to the effects of this ability. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Engulf (Ex) When a spellgorger engulfs a creature, the ooze can choose to maintain a bubble of air around the engulfed creature’s head so that it need not fear suffocation. An engulfed creature gains the pinned condition as normal, but does not take any additional damage from being engulfed.
Firebolts (Su) As a standard action, a spellgorger can expel up to four bolts of burning magical force. It can direct these firebolts at any target within 60 feet (no range increment) but cannot target a single creature with more than one firebolt. A creature struck by a firebolt takes 2d6 points of fire damage and 2d6 points of force damage.
Immune to Force Effects (Ex) A spellgorger is immune to force damage, and can pass through force effects (such as those created by a forcecage and a wall of force) as if they did not exist. When it attacks a target, it ignores any armor bonuses granted to that foe from force effects (such as those created by bracers of armor, mage armor, and shield).
Parasitic Spellcasting (Su) If a spellgorger has engulfed a creature capable of casting spells, it can cast any one of the creature’s known spells that has a casting time of one full-round action or less (using the spell’s casting time as normal); when it does so, it is treated as the spell’s caster. The spellgorger must supply any components for casting the spell in question—if the spell requires the use of focus or material components, the spellgorger can use any components carried by the engulfed spellcaster as if it had those components. A spell cast in this way is considered expended by the engulfed spellcaster, and all spell effects resolve at the engulfed spellcaster’s caster level (but are not further enhanced by feats or abilities the engulfed spellcaster may have).
Prehensile Tendrils (Ex) A spellgorger’s tendrils are capable of fine manipulation, such as that required for somatic components when casting spells or handling material components. It cannot use these tendrils to effectively wield weapons, but can use them to activate relatively small handheld magical items like wands (though not larger items like staves).
Scent Magic (Ex) A spellgorger has the scent ability, but can smell only creatures with active spell effects or magic items that exude magical auras.
Spell Healing (Su) Whenever a spellgorger uses its parasitic spellcasting ability, it regains a number of hit points equal to double the level of the spell it cast. If the spellgorger is at maximum hit points, it gains temporary hit points equal to this amount instead. These temporary hit points do not stack. A spellgorger gains no sustenance (or healing) from casting 0-level spells in this manner.DescriptionSpellgorgers are among the more terrifying threats that face an adventuring spellcaster—shapeless entities that feed on magic. Rarely encountered in large numbers, spellgorgers are most common in remote reaches of the Darklands, where they often prey upon the numerous spellcasting races that dwell below, such as the drow, duergar, derro, and svirfneblin. A spellgorger prefers the “taste” of arcane magic, but can feed on divine and psychic magic as well.
A spellgorger resembles a floating sphere of violet sludge that exudes a slithery forest of fine tendrils and sparks of magical energy. A typical specimen is 10 feet in diameter and weighs 1,000 pounds, but spellgorgers’ supernatural ability to fly and swift reflexes belie their massive bulk and weight.EcologyThe original spellgorgers, like so many of the stranger magical predators of the world, arose from failed magical experiments. The most pervasive theory of their source is an attempt by drow wizards to solidify raw magic and give it life in a fleshforge—making a magical spell into a free-willed, living creature.
Spellgorgers feed on magic, but the method by which they do so is not only unusual, but also highly disturbing and unsettling to spellcasters. In order to feed, a spellgorger first engulfs a spellcasting creature. It then pulls prepared magical potential from its engulfed victim, effectively stealing spells and casting them to serve its own agenda (often using these stolen spells to defend itself from the engulfed victim’s allies). When a spellgorger casts spells in this parasitic manner, it is able to absorb the magical “runoff” from the spell as sustenance. This act is performed without deliberate malice, despite how humiliating it is for spellcasters who have been parasitized in this way. Indeed, a spellgorger does not benefit from the death of an engulfed spellcaster, and these creatures often go to great lengths to keep their victims alive. Once a spellgorger has expended all of its victim’s spells, it generally expels the spellcaster, likely unharmed save for being entirely drained of magic, and moves on to seek other prey. A spellgorger is capable of using many magical items as well, but curiously, it cannot feed from magic within a scroll, wand, or other device—something about the mixing of organic life and the act of spellcasting combines in just the right way to nourish these curious creatures.
When they grow too large, spellgorgers reproduce through spontaneous fission.Habitat and SocietySpellgorgers are remarkably intelligent and have an uncannily strong sense of self and personality. Scholars suspect that much of this is a side effect of the nature of their feeding—that when spellgorgers consume magic from an engulfed creature, they retain a slight trace of that creature’s intellect and charisma. Then, as the spellgorgers reproduce, this store of mental acuity is handed down through the generations rather than lost upon death. If true, at some point in the future, spellgorgers may count themselves as some of the most intelligent forms of life on the Material Plane.
Yet despite their intellect, most spellgorgers are content to waste their minds in private philosophical debates. While they may engage in long, complicated discussions with their prey, when two spellgorgers meet, they often form strong bonds and eagerly discuss all matters magical. Curiously, spellgorgers directly related by fission do not get along well at all, and are prone to violent arguments; for this reason, when a spellgorger splits, its two “young” generally seek new homes far from one another.
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