Breathless One – Starjammer SRD

Breathless One CR 12

This ash-gray figure has an oversized mouth and a concave chest. It clenches its fists and gasps for air as black tendrils composed of necrotized lung tissue erupt from its chest.

XP 19,200
CE Medium undead
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +22

DEFENSE HP 190

EAC 26; KAC 28
Fort +14, Ref +14, Will +13; DR 10/magic and slashing; Immunities cold, undead immunities

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee tentacle +25 (6d4+20 B and grab; critical sickened [DC 19])
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (15 ft. with tentacles)
Offensive Abilities kiss of death, pull, steal air

STATISTICS

Str +8, Dex +5, Con —, Int –1, Wis +0, Cha +4
Skills Athletics +22, Intimidate +22, Stealth +27
Languages Common
Other Abilities create spawn, unliving

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Create Spawn (Ex)

A humanoid creature killed by a breathless one’s kiss of death or steal air becomes a breathless one under the control of its killer. A creature killed by kiss of death returns 1d4 minutes later, while a creature killed by steal air returns 24 hours later.

Kiss of Death (Ex)

If a breathless one succeeds at a grapple combat maneuver against an adjacent opponent, it clamps its mouth over the opponent’s nose and mouth to suffocate it.

Each round the breathless one succeeds at a combat maneuver to maintain a grapple and its target fails a DC 19 Fortitude save, the target’s condition worsens: it becomes staggered for 1 round, it falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it immediately loses 1 Resolve Point.

Pull (Ex)

If a breathless succeeds at a grapple combat maneuver against an opponent, it can pull that opponent closer to it by 5 feet. This only works on creatures of a size equal to or smaller than the breathless one. The pulled creature stops if it would move into a solid object or creature as a result of the pull.

Steal Air (Ex)

When a breathless one hits an opponent, the target must succeed at a DC 19 Fortitude save or take 1d2 Constitution and 1d2 Strength damage. If the target failed its save, the breathless one heals 1d8 Hit Points. Hit Points healed in excess of its maximum are gained as temporary Hit Points to a maximum amount equal to its CR. These temporary Hit Points last for 1 minute. Alternatively, the breathless one can attempt to dispel a spell or effect (as per dispel magic) that provides the target with breathable air. The breathless one uses its CR as its caster level when making the dispel attempt.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or vacuum (3–6)

When humanoid creatures suffocate, the horror of slowly dying from lack of air drives them mad and they sometimes return as breathless ones. These vengeful undead seek to inflict the same horror on the living while filling their lungs with air as a brief respite from their eternal torment. Breathless ones weigh the same as they did in life, even though their caved-in chests give them the appearance of weighing less.

Since the most common place for death by suffocation is locations with thin or no atmosphere, such as the void of space, breathless ones most commonly appear there. They hide among asteroids or constructed places they can tether themselves, since they have no ability to fly through space. They prefer to attack from hiding, but they also enjoy the terror their visages induce in their victims.

Breathless ones use their necrotic lung fibers to puncture their victims’ lungs, latch onto them, and reel them in for their deadly embrace. They do this rather than attack from up close to soften up their victims, bolster themselves, and enjoy witnessing their victims’ terror at the inexorable fate. They reserve the kill for their kiss of death, since that gives them the rush of air to alleviate their suffering, if only temporarily.

Groups of breathless ones on an inhabited asteroid sabotage or steal equipment necessary to provide air to the inhabitants. They are not subtle about it, however, so it is easy to see smashed helmets or air bladders. They often purposely make enough noise to rouse defenders and escape into an airless environment with their gains in full view of their victims, enticing their victims to chase them to recover vital equipment. With the speed at which breathless ones spawn, a handful can wipe out even a well-fortified installation.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Alien Bestiary (Starfinder) © 2018, Legendary Games; Lead Designer: Jason Nelson. Authors: Anthony Adam, Kate Baker, John Bennet, Eytan Bernstein, Robert Brookes, Russ Brown, Duan Byrd, Jeff Dahl, Robyn Fields, Joel Flank, Matt Goodall, Robert J. Grady, Jim Groves, Steven T. Helt, Thurston Hillman, Tim Hitchcock, Nick Hite, Daniel Hunt, Mike Kimmel Marshall, Isabelle Lee, Jeff Lee, Lyz Liddell, Jason Nelson, Richard Pett, Tom Phillips, Alistair J. Rigg, Alex Riggs, Wendall Roy, Mike Shel, Neil Spicer, Todd Stewart, Russ Taylor, Rachel Ventura, Mike Welham, George Loki Williams, Scott Young.