Starfinder: Ghostly Shade
Ghostly Shades CR 3 XP 800
Chaotic Evil medium undead (incorporeal)
Init +0 ; Senses Darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +2
Defense HP 13
EAC 12; KAC 13
Fort +2; Ref +0 ; Will +3
Defensive Abilities Douse light, incorporeal; immunities Undead Immunities
Weaknesses Light Vulnerability
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Touch, +1, (Life drain)
Ranged Douse light, +1 (special)
Offensive Abilities Douse light, Life drain
Statistics
Str +0; Dex+0 ; Con - ; Int -; Wis +0; Cha +2
Skills None
Languages None
Gear None
Ecology
Environment Any
Organization Single, small groups (1d6), large crowds (4d12)
Special Abilities
Create Spawn (Su) Any Sentient creature that is slain by a Ghostly Shade becomes a Ghostly Shade in 1d6 minutes. They lose all memories and personality as well as any classes, skills or other abilities. They are completely mindless and cannot leave the area in which they were killed.
Douse Light (Sp) These creatures are fully capable of dousing any un-natural sources of light, such as a torch, flashlight. As a full round action, they can turn off light sources (for non-spells this is a simple ranged attack, using the wielder’s EAC. If the attack succeeds, the light source is turned off and will remain off until the creature is destroyed or the target leaves the Ghostly Shades territory. This will not affect a spell or spell-like ability. They can use this ability once per day. Note this ability can be used if the creature is paralyzed by a powerful source of light.
Life Drain (Su) This touch drains 1d3 points of Constitution (DC 14 Fort save to avoid) and if the victim’s Constitution drops to 0, they die. To make matters worse, the organic components of the victim dissipate into what appears to be a cloud of black smoke, leaving any items or non-organic material behind. Those fortunate enough to survive encounters with these creatures will find that any Constitution lost will return at the survivor’s natural healing rate per day.
Light Vulnerability (Su) The creatures are vulnerable to light, and as such any light source or spell which mimics full daylight will paralyze the creatures as long as they are exposed to the source. Once the source has been removed, the creatures are fully capable of acting of their own volition. Furthermore, any light-based weapon (such as a laser), automatically gains the ‘ghost-touch’ trait.
These creatures are the direct result of the detonation of weapons of mass destruction. Any city-killer weapon which releases enough energy is fully capable of opening a temporary portal to the negative energy plane, and the release of the horrific energy from that anti-life realm, when combined with the sudden release of numerous souls, combined to create a new undead terror.
The creatures that inhabit these locations can only travel within the specific area and cannot travel past the zone which was bathed in the unholy energy so they are typically confined to an area of up to 2000 square feet (1000 + 10d100 ft.). Here they can move freely, but once they hit the limit of their ‘territory’, they stop as if they hit a physical wall.
These strange, undead spirits are only visible when light is present. They appear to be men, women and children, mere shadows of what they were in life. One can see right through their bodies and for the most part these creatures remain motionless. For the most part, if no light is present, the creatures are completely invisible, even when Darkvision is used.
During the daytime the creatures are completely visible and are of no threat, but once the light disappears they begin to prowl the territory that they have become trapped in. They are attracted to the life-force of living, sentient creatures and seem to crave it. Strangely enough, these creatures will ignore all other types of life-forms and will only try to touch humanoids or beings which are sentient. They will approach anyone who comes into their territory and attempt to touch them.
Anyone who attempts to attack one of these creatures will quickly discover that they are impervious to nearly all physical attacks. Only energy or magic will affect the creatures. Any other attacks will pass through them entirely. Light from a flashlight, torch or similar source will keep the creatures at bay, as they will not enter the circle of light, but will instead use their douse light ability to try and negate the light source.
The only sure-fire way to get around these monsters is to travel through their territory during the daytime, but often these creatures are found beneath the surface where natural light never penetrates.
There are those who are willing to risk death at the hands of these monsters due to the fact that treasure and technology are often found where these creatures died. This could be in the form of the goods and items that they carried during life, or could be the gear left behind by those who succumbed to their chilling touch. As feared as the creatures are, there are those who know that their lairs can be a treasure-trove.
Although many attempts have been made to communicate with these creatures, it has been discovered that they are essentially mindless – evil, but mindless. They can be resurrected using a Wish or Miracle spell, however. It is the only way to bring the victims back to the world of the living.
