#palace skelm

[thecreaturecodex]

Skelm, Palace

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Talking with me during the development of her red hag, @soylent-crocodile referred to it as "a species of Starscreams". Which is a great description, and also an accurate assessment of the palace skelm. Although it's obvious that Grima Wormtongue is also a major influence on this PF2e monster. The fact that palace skelms and red hags are the same CR and would absolutely hate each other is the icing on the cake for me.]

Palace Skelm CR 8 LE Monstrous Humanoid This humanoid figure is almost human, except for the pair of gleaming antlers growing from his skull. He is dressed in fine noble’s clothing.

Palace skelms are creatures that delight in the corruption of power. They often are found among military officers and politicians, some of whom transformed into skelms in that position. Palace skelms spend their time either jockeying for power or abusing the power that they do have, treating their subordinates with casual cruelty. A palace skelm is an excellent liar, and they can even insert their words into the mouths of others. They encourage competition, jealousy and paranoia in any court they find themselves in, turning functioning governments into a den of vipers to exploit. They are ostentatious by nature, and frequently flaunt their wealth and status with finery.

Most palace skelms prefer to exert power from behind the throne, ingratiating himself to a ruler and warping their perceptions so that they only trust the skelm. Coups and political upheavals are dangerous for palace skelms, as they simultaneously allow for more opportunities to inflict suffering while increasing the risk of the skelm’s true nature being exposed, or of the skelm losing their grasp on what power they have. Palace skelms have a tendency to self-sabotage, as their interlocking schemes can spiral out of their control, and their answer to being caught in the act is usually murder.

Palace Skelm     CR 8 XP 4,800 LE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +4; Senses Perception +16, scent

Defense AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +8 natural) hp 102 (12d10+36) Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +11; -2 vs. emotion effects DR 10/cold iron

Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee gore +18 (1d12+6 plus trip), slam +18 (1d6+6) Special Attacks incite violence Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +13 (+17 casting defensively) Constant—tongues At will—message, paranoia (DC 17) 3/day—clairaudience/clairvoyance, enthrall (DC 17), invisibility, suggestion (DC 18) 1/day—charm monster (DC 19), curse of the outcast (DC 21), private sanctum

Statistics Str 23, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 18, Wis 17, Cha 20 Base Atk +12; CMB +18 (+20 trip); CMD 32 (34 vs. trip) Feats Combat Casting,Combat Expertise, Deceitful, Improved Trip, Improved Vital Strike, Vital Strike Skills Bluff +21, Disguise +21, Diplomacy +14, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (local, nobility) +14, Perception +16, Sense Motive +13, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +16; Racial Modifiers +4 Intimidate Languages Aklo, Common, tongues SQ change shape (Small or Medium humanoid, alter self), corrupt speech, skelm traits

Ecology Environment urban Organization solitary Treasure standard

Special Abilities Corrupt Speech (Su) As an immediate action, a palace skelm can corrupt the speech of a creature within 30 feet. The skelm can say up to twelve words and makes a Bluff check as opposed to the Perception of other creatures that can hear the original speech. If the skelm succeeds, the perceiving creatures hear the palace skelm’s words come out of the speaker’s mouth. If the skelm fails, they hear the original speech. If the Perception check succeeds by more than 5, the perceiving creature hears both phrases, and knows that the skelm spoke the words. If the skelm’s Bluff check against a target succeeds by 5 or more, the skelm can cast suggestion or paranoia on that target as part of the same action. A skelm cannot use a spell-like ability on multiple targets in this way at a time, even if it successfully deceives multiple creatures. Incite Violence (Su) As a standard action once per day, a palace skelm can incite violence in all creatures that can hear it within 30 feet. If a creature fails a DC 21 Will save, it makes a melee attack against an adjacent creature of the skelm’s choosing, choosing its most powerful weapon or natural attack if it has multiple. If a skelm uses this ability and an affected creature has no creatures adjacent to it, the creature is instead stunned for 1 round. This is a mind-influencing, compulsion, sonic effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.  Skelm Traits (Ex) A skelm gains a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate checks and a -2 penalty on saving throws against emotion effects.

[crinosmonsters]

Palace Skelm

Palace Skelms haunt the halls of power, using their position to sow as much pain and discord as they can; the cruel captain of the guards, the wicked viceroy, the hateful magistrate, any of them could be Palace Skelm.

Palace Skelms ingratiate themselves to those in power and create tightly knit webs of followers by stoking fear of losing power and position (especially those gained through illciit means). Palace Skelm destroy their enemies by encouraging competition, jealousy and paranoia with their abilities.

However while Palace Skelm love political upheaval, they also fear it for the damage it might do to their own positions, as a result, Palace Skelm tend to self sabotage more than their other kin.