Neh-Thalggu NEH-THALGGU CR XP 4,800 CE Large aberration Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17 DEFENSE AC 21, touch 19, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +7 insight, –1 size) hp 105 (10d8+60) Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +11 DR 10/magic; Immune confusion effects; SR 19 What You See Blisters of flesh along this creature’s back hold brains of various sizes, and it moves about on spindly legs Crushing pincers move with precision as it pushes flesh into its circular maw OFFENSE Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft (perfect) Melee bite +13 (1d8+7 plus poison), claws +13 (1d6+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach ft Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d6+7) Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +17) 3rd (5/day)—lightning bolt (DC16), hold person (DC 16) 2nd (7/day)—acid arrow, alter self, invisibility 1st (7/day)—grease (DC 14), magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 14), shield, unseen servant (at will)—acid splash, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic S TAT I S T I C S Str 24, Dex 16, Con 23, Int 19, Wis 18, Cha 17 Base Atk +7; CMB +15; CMD 35 (cannot be tripped) Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Reflexes, Extend Spell, Eschew MaterialsB, Improved Initiative, Power Attack Skills Fly +15, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, and planes) +23, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +16 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Draconic, Protean, Undercommon; telepathy (100 feet) SQ brain collection, strange knowledge ECO LO GY Environment any Organization solitary Treasure double SPECIAL ABILITIES Brain Collection (Ex) A neh-thalggu can store up to seven humanoid brains and use them to enhance its knowledge and power Each stored brain grants a neh-thalggu a cumulative +1 insight bonus to AC, concentration checks, and Knowledge checks A nehthalggu can extract a brain from a helpless opponent with a coup de grace attack, or as a standard action from a body that has been dead for no more than minute A neh-thalggu that has fewer than seven brains gains one negative level for each missing brain These negative levels can never become permanent, but they can only be removed by replacing one of its collected brains 468 The stats presented here assume a monster with a full collection Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 21; frequency 1/ round for rounds; effect 1d2 Strength damage and staggered for round; cure consecutive saves The save DC is Constitution-based Spells A neh-thalggu casts spells as a 7th-level sorcerer For each negative level it takes from missing brains, its caster level is reduced by A neh-thalggu with no collected brains cannot cast any of its spells Strange Knowledge (Ex) All Knowledge skills are class skills for neh-thalggus Known also as brain collectors, the alien neh-thalggus hail from distant worlds, traveling the gulfs of space on immense living ships that swiftly decay when they land upon a new world, leaving behind a deadly cargo of hungry monsters Neh-thalggus are carnivores, but they not digest humanoid brains they eat—rather, these brains lodge in one of several bulbous blisters on the creature’s back and help to increase its intellect Some speculate that neh-thalggus encountered in this reality may merely be juveniles of their kind, perhaps exiled from their home worlds by greater kin until they can prove their worth on other worlds Their brain collections may be a morbid form of currency in their home realm, or the thoughts in these brains may merely be fuel for a dark apotheosis into an even more sinister mature form