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Dirge Piper

Creature 3 (rare) — undead, unholy, zombie

Pre-Remaster content. May include legacy alignment.

AnvilWeaverLANDundead

Under rare circumstances, an attempt to reanimate a skilled musician or performer as a mindless zombie is impeded by lingering occult magic that anchors a piece of the being's artistic soul to its shambling body. The resulting dirge piper retains a fragment of the person's former intellect and personality, but lacks the coordination and acuity to make true music any longer. Instead, they force air through the cavities and organs of their decomposing bodies to produce haunting piping, squelches,

Source: blood-lords-bestiary (Pre-Remaster)

Perception +8; darkvision
Languages common, necril; (can't speak any language)
Skills athletics +10, performance +10
Str
+5
Dex
-3
Con
+4
Int
-3
Wis
+0
Cha
+1
AC 16 Fort +11 Ref +4 Will +7
HP 95 (void healing)
Immunities bleed, death-effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious
Weaknesses vitality 10, slashing 10
Speed 25 feet

Offense

Melee Gut Lash (reach-10) +12, Damage 1d10+5 bludgeoning plus Grab

Abilities

Slow — A zombie is permanently Slowed 1 and can't use reactions.
Piping Dirge (auditory, aura, emotion, fear, mental, occult) — 30 feet. Living creatures that enter the aura or start their turn within it become Frightened 1 and can't reduce their frightened value below 1 while within the aura.
Void Healing — A creature with void healing draws health from void energy rather than vitality energy. It is damaged by vitality damage and is not healed by vitality healing effects. It does not take void damage, and it is healed by void effects that heal undead.
Putrid Blast (occult, sonic) — The dirge piper expels air and bile in a trumpeting blast from its exposed guts. Each non-zombie creature within a 30-foot emanation takes 4d6 sonic damage (DC 20 Fortitude). A creature that fails the save is also Sickened 1 (Sickened 2 on a critical failure). The dirge piper can't use Putrid Blast again for 1d4 rounds.
Shambler's Lament (auditory, occult) — The dirge piper lets out an eerie keening through its rotting orifices that drives nearby zombies to feast more vigorously. Each other zombie within 10 feet of the dirge piper is Quickened for 1 round and can use the extra action to Grab, Stride, or Strike.
Grab

WORKS WELL WITH

CrasherLANDA high-damage front-liner capitalizes on the persistent frightened condition this creature imposes, lowering enemy AC and saves for more reliable burst.
FlankerLANDFrightened penalties to AC make flanking strikes more accurate and critical hits more frequent against off-guard targets.
SnareLANDImmobilizing effects trap enemies inside the Piping Dirge aura, forcing repeated saving throws and preventing frightened-value recovery.

PUNISHES

✖ clumping✖ low Will
Works well with · Punishes · Pairing advice Unlock with Tactics

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Stat block data sourced from the Foundry VTT PF2E system under the Apache License 2.0. Source book: Pathfinder #181: Zombie Feast.

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