Lacunal Collector

Lacunal Collector CR 11

XP 12,800
LE Medium undead (android)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +20

DEFENSE

HP 155
EAC 23; KAC 24
Fort +10; Ref +10; Will +16
Defensive Abilities regeneration 10 (see text), spontaneous reincarnation; Immunities undead immunities
Weaknesses collection dependency

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft.
Melee buzzblade spear +17 (3d6+15 P)
Ranged sepulcher-class bone pistol +19 (2d8+11 C)
Offensive Abilities memory extraction (DC 20)
Spells Known (CL 11th)

• 4th (3/day)—fear (DC 22), mind thrust (DC 22)
• 3rd (6/day)—deep slumber (DC 21), psychokinetic strangulation (DC 21)
• 2nd (at will)—daze monster (DC 20), hold person (DC 20)

STATISTICS

Str +3; Dex +3; Con –; Int +5; Wis +8; Cha +3
Skills Engineering +25, Intimidate +20, Mysticism +25
Languages Common
Other Abilities constructed, flat affect, unliving
Gear white carbon skin, buzzblade spear with 2 high-capacity batteries (40 charges each), sepulcher-class bone pistol with 2 batteries (20 charges each); Augmentations standard speed suspension

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Augmented Scavenger (Ex)

A lacunal can harvest a biotech or cybernetic augmentation already installed into a willing or unconscious creature and integrate it into their own body. This process takes 10 minutes per level of the augmentation; the lacunal can have one such augmentation at a time.

Collection Dependency (Su)

Each time a lacunal transfers their consciousness into a new body, their previous head sloughs off and is replaced by a new one. They keep their decaying heads and often wear them as ornamentation. A lacunal collector has 1d6+1 additional heads. A creature can target one of these grisly trophies with a melee or ranged attack (with the same AC as the lacunal collector); if the attack hits, that head is destroyed. Destroying all of a lacunal collector’s heads ends the creature’s regeneration ability.

Memory Extraction (Su)

As a standard action, a lacunal can extract memories from an adjacent creature, causing the target to become fatigued unless it succeeds at a Will saving throw. Whether or not the creature succeeds at this saving throw, it can’t be affected by this ability again for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting gaze attack.

Spontaneous Reincarnation (Su)

A lacunal carries a reminder of their prior incarnation in the form of a severed head. When a lacunal initiate is reduced to 0 Hit Points, instead of being destroyed, their consciousness is immediately transferred into this head. After 1d8 hours, the lacunal’s body and former head awaken and can reunite to become a fully functional creature again. If all of their heads are destroyed, the lacunal initiate is also destroyed.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or enclave (1–2 plus 4–6 lacunal initiates)

The Lacunal disciples’ macabre practices are shocking to outsiders, leading many who hear of the order to believe its original tenets may have been perverted by a malevolent deity. Members of the order, however, see themselves as caretakers of knowledge dedicated to an incorruptible cause. Despite Lacunal devotees’ apparent indifference towards the suffering of living beings, most creatures who encounter them survive. Travelers awaken from a stupor missing cybernetic augmentations, having only a vague memory of obsessively building a constructed body at a faceless being’s request. Lacunal disciples don’t actively proselytize, though a prophet always welcomes android converts to join her order’s ranks.

Upon initiation, a Lacunal pledge willingly partakes in a ritual to become undead. Before the initiate abandons their mortality, they construct a new body from scavenged organic and technological parts. The crowning glory of this second form is a secondary head that serves as a receptacle for their consciousness. Once the ritual is complete, their old head shrivels and dies as their soul transfers to the new form.

Lacunal disciples carry their old heads as sacred reminders of their previous incarnations, often wearing the heads as intricate garlands around their necks. A few Lacunal apostates prioritize their own personal existence above their order’s cause and conceal one or more of their heads in remote locations to avoid true destruction.

Lacunal disciples are undead androids who typically inhabit a humanoid body shape with visible circuits, and like their living counterparts, the creatures’ individual appearances vary drastically to reflect subtle differences in design, personality, and modification. The number of heads displayed by a Lacunal disciple typically reflects the number of times they’ve thwarted destruction and continued their grim mission.