Starfinder: Deadly Spectral Remnant

Deadly Spectral Remnant CR 4 XP 1,200

Chaotic Evil Medium undead

Init +6; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1 (+5 for sensing life)

Defense                                                             HP 17

EAC 11; KAC 12

Fort +1; Ref +4; Will +4

Defensive Abilities Invisible, life sense, reform; immunities All physical-based attacks except for iron, undead immunities

Weaknesses Compound blindness, iron vulnerability, physical body vulnerability, staggered

Offense

Speed 35 ft.

Melee Punch, +7, (1d4+3 and 3d6 cold damage, Crit 1d4 temporary Dexterity damage)

Offensive Abilities Bypass armor, touch from beyond

Statistics

Str +3; Dex +2; Con -; Int -4; Wis +1; Cha +0

Skills Acrobatics +6, athletics +7

Feats Fleet, improved initiative

Languages None

Gear None

Ecology

Environment Any

Organization Solitary, small packs (1d4), medium groups (2d6), or hoards (10d10)

Special Abilities

Bypass armor (Ex) Due to the nature of these creatures, they are capable of ignoring worn armor. When they attack a target, any bonus to its KAC from worn armor is ignored.

Compound blindness (Su) Anyone wearing iron or ceramic-based armor is effectively invisible to the creature, granting it total cover.

Iron vulnerability (Ex) The creatures are incapable of passing through iron. A simple barrier, made of iron filings, would be enough to prevent the creature from moving through. Of course it can choose to bypass the barrier, but typically it will not think to do this for 2d6 rounds. The creature will also take an additional 50% damage from iron-based weapons when attacked.

Invisible (Su) The creature is invisible to all except ultraviolet and infrared senses. A detect invisibility spell or spell-like ability will reveal it.

Life Sense (Ex) The creature gains a +4 to perception when trying to locate living beings. This has a radius of 250 ft.

Physical body vulnerability (Ex) The physical body of the creature is vulnerable to attack. It is always stored in a coffin-like structure, filled with strange necromantic fluids. The body can be harmed by any and all weapons and has the same hit points as the monster itself. If reduced to zero hit points, the body is destroyed and the creature lets out a scream as it dissolves into nothing – some believe it to be of pain, others of ecstasy due to being released from its torment.

Reform (Su) When the creature is destroyed in combat, it will automatically reform in 2d6 minutes. The only way to prevent this from happening is to destroy its physical body.

Staggered (Ex) Despite their speed, these creatures can only perform only a single move action or a standard action per round.

Touch from beyond (Su) Coming into physical contact with these horrors will inflict 1d3 temporary negative energy levels unless a Fort (DC 13) is made. The victim will still suffer 3d6 points of cold damage from such contact, even if the saving throw succeeds.

One of the less ‘moral’ governments decided they needed a soldier which was effectively invisible, and could be unleashed upon the enemy, wreaking havoc and killing anyone who got in the way. They did not wish to create a biological plague, such as a zombie plague, as it could too easily get out of control and cause as much damage to their own side as to the enemy.

As many others had discovered, they turned to the ancient art of Necromancy and combined it with science in order to create the creature they were looking for.  The end result was perfected by taking the body of a living being, encasing it in a nutrient-rich liquid, and destroying the physical body, leaving behind only the brain and nervous system.

This process drove the ‘volunteer’ insane, stripping her of all reasoning and intellect, leaving behind a creature which existed for only one purpose – to kill.

The being is completely invisible to the visual spectrum, and can only be detected through the use of infrared or thermal sensors and / or other similar senses.

Created by infusing the ‘soul’ of the ‘volunteer’ with negative energy, when it can be seen, it appears as a cloud of humanoid-shaped white vapor, with a face which is typically one of either rage or a rictus of agony. The creature is so intensely cold, just a mere touch is enough to kill anyone encountering it, and to make matters worse, the being infects any living creature it encounters with the negative energy it has been created with.

A single being, set loose against ill-prepared opponents, can wipe out an entire platoon with little or no effort.

Although mainly insubstantial, the being cannot pass through solid matter. It cannot walk through walls and as such physical barriers can be an impediment to its movements, although for some reason it can easily pass through living organisms, inflicting the negative energy on them. It has been discovered cold iron and ceramic-based materials will stop the creatures in their tracks, and can actually inflict damage on them.

If destroyed in combat, the beings will reform over a short period of time. The only way for these creatures to be permanently destroyed is to find the remains of their physical forms and destroy those.

Once unleashed, they can only be controlled through the manipulation of their physical bodies, and if something should happen to the necromancers or technicians responsible for the control, the creatures, if left unchecked, will kill anyone they encounter – friend or foe.