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Polong

Polong Creature8

Uncommon NE Medium Incorporeal Spirit Undead

Perception +17; darkvision, lifesense 30 feet

Languages any one language known by the polong’s creator

Skills Deception +18, Medicine +15, Occultism +13, Stealth +18

Str -5, Dex +6, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +5, Cha +6

Bottle Bound A polong is bound to the bottle from which they spawned. They can leave the bottle only at the will of their master and must return to it once every 24 hours to feed on their creator’s blood. Otherwise, the polong withers and dies.


AC 24; Fort +12, Ref +18, Will +19

HP 100, negative healing; Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, precision, unconscious; Weaknesses good 5; Resistances all 5 (except force, ghost touch, or positive; double resistance vs. non-magical)

Natural Invisibility A polong is naturally invisible outside of their bottle. They become visible only when forced out of a possessed creature against their will. Shattering the polong’s bottle also forces them to assume a visible form.

Regenerating Bond (necromancy, occult) When a polong possesses a creature, the polong’s master gains temporary Hit Points equal to the victim’s level × the victim’s drained value caused by the possession. These temporary Hit Points last as long as the possession lasts.


Speed fly 35 feet

Melee [one-action] scythe claw (finesse, magical) +20, Damage 2d4+9 slashing plus 1d6 negative

Polong Possession [three-actions] (incapacitation, mental, necromancy, occult, possession) The polong attempts to possess an adjacent corporeal creature. This has the same effect as the possession spell (DC 26 Will), except the duration is 24 hours and, since the polong doesn’t have a physical body, they’re unaffected by that restriction of the spell. If the target has critically failed its save and become fully possessed by this polong before, it gets a save result one degree of success worse than it rolled.

A creature possessed by a polong becomes drained 1 and doomed 1. These conditions don’t reduce naturally unless the polong spends an entire day without possessing the creature. For each consecutive day the polong is able to return and possess the creature, the drained and doomed values each increase by 1, to a maximum of 4. If the polong possesses a different creature, the conditions end for any creature it previously possessed.

Rend [one-action]Requirements The polong hits the same enemy with two consecutive Strikes with its scythe claw in the same round; Effect The polong automatically deals that Strike’s damage again to the enemy.

About

Polongs exist to serve their creators as loyal familiars, spies, and assassins. Their convenience makes them popular among the wicked, as each resides within a glass bottle which normally seems to contain only a small amount of red liquid. When addressed by their owner, a polong appears within their bottle as a tiny, beautiful humanoid drenched in blood. Forcing one to manifest outside the bottle reveals their true shape: a blood-soaked spirit with a hateful visage and sickle-shaped claws.

The ritual to create a polong is generally known only those willing to practice such evil. The ritualist must collect the blood of a murdered humanoid in a small bottle and perform daily incantations, which can take up to 14 days. Once the polong forms, they drink the blood of their creator every day, most often taken from a finger inserted into their bottle. At the master’s order, a polong will travel up to 10 miles away to locate a particular person, possess them, and either slowly whittle them down via possession until they die, or force them to attack anyone nearby until someone slays the victim in self-defense.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Book of the Dead © 2022, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Brian Bauman, Tineke Bolleman. Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Jessica Catalan, John Compton, Chris Eng, Logan Harper, Michelle Jones, Jason Keeley, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Liane Merciel, Patchen Mortimer, Quinn Murphy, Jessica Redekop, Mikhail Rekun, Solomon St. John, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Sen.H.H.S., Kendra Leigh Speedling, Jason Tondro, Andrew White.

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