Cloaker

Cloaker, shadowcloak elder

A great, menacing shadow hovers in the air, with hateful red eyes and a crooked maw full of needlesharp fangs. Its raylike body ripples in shades of black, gray, and pallid white, and it has a long, lashing whip of a tail.

Deep underground, cloakers build citylike nests of swooping shadows and crawling darkness. The secret rulers of these dark cities lurk behind the perceived leaders⁠—​the shadowcloak elders, cloakers of great size and power, tainted with the substance of shadow and skilled in dark sorcery. Sinister and inscrutable, shadowcloak elders occasionally emerge from secrecy to lead their lesser fellows in raids and patrols of the nearby territory, in search of slaves and food.

An average shadowcloak elder has a wingspan of 12 feet and weighs 400 pounds. Shadowcloak elders speak Undercommon.

A shadowcloak elder is a cloaker advanced to 10 Hit Dice (size Huge), with the shadow creature template and seven sorcerer levels.

Combat

Shadowcloak elders are clever and resourceful opponents with numerous strange abilities. They coordinate the efforts of their cloaker followers, so that some cloakers constantly moan while others attack the weakened and disoriented prey. A shadowcloak elder hovers out of melee range to attack enemy spellcasters with its own spells while its minions do their grisly work, counting on its shadow blend power to stay out of sight.

If confronted by a dangerous spellcaster, a shadowcloak elder might swoop in and engulf the enemy, hoping to smother the offending caster with one bold stroke.

Engulf (Ex): A shadowcloak elder can try to wrap a Large or smaller creature in its body as a standard action. The shadowcloak elder attempts to initiate a grapple that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and makes an immediate bite attack against the engulfed victim with a +4 bonus on its attack roll. It can still use its whiplike tail to strike at other targets.

Attacks that hit an engulfing shadowcloak elder deal half damage to the monster and half to the trapped victim.

Moan (Ex): A shadowcloak elder can emit a dangerous subsonic moan (a sonic, mind-affecting ability) as a standard action. By changing the frequency, a shadowcloak elder can create one of four effects, which are described below. Shadowcloak elders are immune to the moans of other cloakers. Unless otherwise specified, a creature that successfully saves against one of these effects cannot be affected by the same moan effect from the same cloaker for 24 hours. All save DCs for moan effects are Charisma-based.

Unnerve: Anyone within a 60-foot spread automatically takes a −2 penalty on attack and damage rolls. Those forced to hear the moan for more than 6 consecutive rounds must succeed on a DC 21 Will save or enter a trance, unable to attack or defend themselves until the moaning stops.

Fear: Anyone within a 30-foot spread must succeed on a DC 21 Will save or become panicked for 2 rounds.

Nausea: Anyone in a 30-foot cone must succeed on a DC 21 Fortitude save or fall prone and become nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds.

Stupor: A single creature within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 21 Fortitude save or be affected as if by a hold monster spell for 5 rounds. Even after a successful save, the creature must repeat the save if the shadowcloak elder uses this effect again.

Spells: This shadowcloak elder is a 7th-level sorcerer. Different shadowcloak elders might know different spells.

Typical Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/8/5 per day; caster level 7th): 0⁠—​daze (DC 16), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 17), mage hand, ray of frost (+11 ranged touch), read magic, touch of fatigue (+16 melee touch; DC 16); 1st⁠—​color spray (DC 18), mage armor*, magic missile, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement (+11 ranged touch); 2nd⁠—​minor image (DC 19), see invisibility, web (DC 18); 3rd⁠—​haste, lightning bolt (DC 19).

• Already cast.

Plane Shift (Sp): 1/day, caster level 17th. A shadowcloak elder can plane shift only to or from the Plane of Shadow.

Save Bonus (Su): A shadowcloak elder gains a +2 luck bonus on all saving throws due to its shadow creature template. This is already included in the save modifiers given above.

Shadow Blend (Su): In any conditions other than full daylight, a shadowcloak elder can disappear into the shadows, giving it total concealment. Artificial illumination, even a light or continual flame spell, does not negate this ability, but a daylight spell will.

Shadow Shift (Su): A shadowcloak elder can manipulate shadows. This ability is effective only in shadowy areas and has three possible effects.

Obscure Vision: The shadowcloak elder gains concealment (20% miss chance) for 1d4 rounds. Normally, a shadowcloak elder uses this ability only if its shadow blend is negated.

Dancing Images: This effect duplicates a mirror image spell (caster level 10th).

Silent Image: This effect duplicates a silent image spell (DC 17, caster level 10th). The save DC is Charisma-based.

Skills: The shadowcloak elder gains a +6 racial bonus on Move Silently checks.

Source: Lords of Madness, page 142.