Monster Encyclopaedia II: The Dark Bestiary
| Author | J. C. Alvarez |
| Publisher | Mongoose Publishing |
| Publish date | 2005 |
| OGL Section 15 | me2 |
The material below is Open Game Content
Hollow Host
A hollow host is a special form of undead that requires an artificial vessel to contain its essence. Through a secret ritual involving mysterious and dark magic, a metallic body is created to hold the soul of an evil humanoid; this must always be a perfect likeness, but its form is much stronger and tougher than the mortal essence ever was in life. Once this construct body is ready, the soul of the original creature is brought to inhabit it, to walk the world again in the guise of a living suit of armour. A hollow host always looks as a humanoid made of dark metal or stone, clad in iron armour and with glowing red eyes. They usually bear dark weapons of great size and power.
Hollow hosts may speak any language they knew in life.
Sample Hollow Host
This example uses a 10th level human fighter as the base creature.
Hollow Host,
10th Level Human Fighter
Medium Construct (Augmented Humanoid)
Hit Dice: 10d10+20 (75 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
AC: 21 (+1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+17
Attack: +2 dark bastard sword +21 melee (1d10+11/17-20 plus 2d6 magical) or slam +17 melee (1d4+7)
Full Attack: +2 dark bastard sword +21/+16 melee (1d10+11/17- 20 plus 2d6 magical) and slam +12 melee (1d4+3) or 2 slams +17 melee (1d4+7)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. /5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, spell-like abilities, superior grab
Special Qualities: Abjuration vulnerability, construct traits, damage reduction 10/magic and adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., integrated armour, low-light vision, resistance to acid 5, cold 10, electrical 10 and fire 10
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +3
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 12, Con –, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14
Skills: Climb +12, Intimidate +12, Jump +12, Listen +10, Spot +10
Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Improved Critical (bastard sword), Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Specialisation (bastard sword)
Environment: Underground
Organisation: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 13
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Always evil (any)
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +6
Lying on the stone slab is what initially seems to be a suit of full plate armour; then you realise it is actually a lifelike statue of an armoured warrior, completely cast in iron. Without warning, the thing’s eyes are alight with a green glow and moves from its dais…
Combat
This hollow host is armed with a +2 dark bastard sword dealing 2d6 points of magical damage on a successful hit.
Improved Grab (Ex): A hollow host that hits with a slam attack may start a grapple as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Spell-Like Abilities: 5/day–daze (DC 12), detect thoughts (DC 14), feather fall, hold person (DC 15), mage hand; 3/day–crushing despair (DC 16), dominate person (DC 17), telekinesis (DC 17). Caster level 10th. Save DCs are Charisma based.
Superior Grab (Ex): A hollow host needs only one hand to start and maintain a grapple. Therefore, it can make a grapple check as a move action, allowing it to move, or even attack with its other hand, while it maintains a grapple.
Creating a Hollow Host
‘Hollow Host’ is an acquired template that can be added to any evil, normal (non-monstrous) humanoid, heretofore referred to as the ‘base creature’. Contrary to other templates, a hollow host is not the modified base creature, but a physical copy designed to contain its essence. A hollow host has all the special abilities and traits of the base creature, except as follows:
Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to Construct. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves or skills. Size usually remains unchanged, although a hollow host’s construct body may be crafted to a size up to two categories removed from the humanoid’s original size.
Hit Dice: Change all current and future Hit Dice to d10.
Speed: Reduce the base creature’s speed as if it was always wearing heavy armour (speed reduced to ¾; when running the creature moves only triple its base speed, not quadruple). If the base creature had a burrow, fly or swim speed, the hollow host is usually designed to have these as well (also reduced by heavy armour).
Armour Class: Increase the base creature’s natural armour bonus by 10.
Attack: A hollow host gains a slam attack, replacing all natural or weapon attacks the base creature had. Most hollow hosts are given a dark weapon (see below) by their creators, which increases the cost of building a hollow host but allows the creature to make weapon attacks.
Full Attack: A hollow host that uses weapons may make a weapon attack and a slam attack (where the slam attack is the secondary weapon) as a full attack action. A hollow host is always considered proficient with its dark weapon (see below).
Damage: A hollow host that uses weapons deals damage according to the weapon. A hollow host’s slam damage depends on its size:
Hollow Host Slam Damage
| Size | Damage |
|---|---|
| Fine | — |
| Diminutive | 1 |
| Tiny | 1d2 |
| Small | 1d3 |
| Medium | 1d4 |
| Large | 1d6 |
| Huge | 1d8 |
| Gargantuan | 2d6 |
| Colossal | 3d6 |
Special Attacks: A hollow host usually loses any special attacks that depend on the creature’s physical characteristics, such as breath weapons, disease, gaze attacks, improved grab, poison, pounce, powerful charge or rake, unless they are easily duplicated by integrating them while crafting the construct body. Any special attacks depending mostly on the creature’s mind or soul, such as psionics, spells or spelllike abilities, are retained. Furthermore, a hollow host gains the following special attacks:
Dark Weapon: Most hollow hosts are crafted with a magical weapon of the same metal they are built from. This dark weapon may or may not be a copy of a weapon favoured by the base creature, but the hollow host is always considered proficient with it. All dark weapons are made of black metal, and glow dark red when wielded in combat. A dark weapon has a magical enhancement bonus and it deals additional damage with every successful hit. Both a dark weapon’s enhancement bonus and additional damage depend on the base creature’s levels or Hit Dice:
Hollow Host Dark Weapons
| Base Creature’s Levels/Hit Dice | Weapon Enhancement Bonus | Additional Damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | +1 | 1d6 |
| 6-10 | +2 | 2d6 |
| 11-15 | +3 | 3d6 |
| 16+ | +4 | 4d6 |
A dark weapon’s additional damage is considered magical damage.
Improved Grab (Ex): A hollow host that hits with a slam attack may start a grapple as a free action, without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Spell-Like Abilities: All hollow hosts are built in with the following spell-like abilities, usable a number of times per day equal to one half the hollow host’s Hit Dice (round up): daze, detect thoughts, feather fall, hold person, mage hand. In addition, a hollow host with 9 or more Hit Dice may use crushing despair, dominate person and telekinesis, three times per day each. Caster level equals the hollow host’s Hit Dice. Save DCs equal 10 + spell level + the Hollow Host’s Charisma modifier.
Superior Grab (Ex): A hollow host needs only one hand to start and maintain a grapple. Therefore, it can make a grapple check as a move action, allowing it to move, or even attack with its other hand, while it maintains a grapple.
Special Qualities A hollow host usually loses any special qualities that depend on the creature’s physical characteristics, such as blindsense, blindsight, damage reduction, fast healing, most immunities, resistances or scent, unless they are easy to duplicate by integrating them while crafting the construct body. The hollow host retains any special quality depending mostly on the creature’s mind or soul, such as spell resistance or telepathy. Furthermore, a hollow host gains the following special qualities:
Abjuration vulnerability (Ex): If a hollow host is the target of the following spells: banishment, break enchantment, dimensional anchor, dismissal, greater dispel magic, imprisonment or mage’s disjunction, it must succeed at a Will save (DC equal to 10 + caster level) or suffer 1d6 points of magical damage per spell level, as its undead soul is forcibly wrenched from its construct body. The hollow host does not suffer any of the normal effects from these spells.
Construct traits: A hollow host gains darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision, if it did not have them already. In addition, it becomes immune to all mind-affecting effects, as well as to disease, death effects, paralysis, poison, sleep and stunning effects. It becomes mostly immune to Necromancy effects, except for those specifically targeting undead, which affect it normally. A hollow host is not subject to ability damage, ability drain, critical hits, fatigue, energy drain, exhaustion or nonlethal damage. It is immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save, except for harmless effects and those also working in objects.
Damage reduction (Ex and Su): A hollow host gains damage reduction 10/adamantine and magic, as both its construct body and undead soul are highly resistant to mundane attacks.
Integrated armour (Ex): A hollow host’s body counts as a masterwork suit of full plate armour worn at all times, which gives it a permanent armour check penalty of –5, a 35% chance of arcane spell failure, a maximum Dexterity bonus to Armour Class of +1 and the corresponding penalties t o movement speed (see above).
Resistances (Ex): A hollow host gains resistance to acid 5, cold 10, electrical 10 and fire 10. These replace any resistance to energy previously possessed by the base creature.
Saves: Same as base creature. Do not recalculate for the construct type.
Abilities: Adjust from the base creature as follows: Strength +8 Dexterity –2, Charisma +6. Being a construct, a hollow host has no Constitution score.
Skills: Same as base creature. However, a hollow host receives the equivalent skill check penalties of wearing a suit of full plate armour at all times.
Environment: Usually underground.
Organisation: Solitary.
Challenge Rating: As base creature +3.
Treasure: Double standard.
Alignment: Same as base creature (usually evil).
Advancement: Same as base creature (usually by character class).
Level Adjustment: +6.
Hollow Host Construction
A hollow host must be crafted from iron or stone; the materials and procedures required cost a total of 5,000 gold pieces. The materials must be crafted in the likeness of an evil humanoid, which must have died already. Creating the body requires a Craft (armoursmithing), Craft (blacksmithing) or Craft (sculpting) check (DC 20). For the construct to animate, the undead spirit of the creature it represents must be summoned to inhabit it. Once the last spell is cast, the evil creature is reincarnated in its new artificial body, thus animating the construct.
CL 16th; Craft Construct, greater magic weapon, limited wish, magic jar, reincarnate, trap the soul; caster must be at least 16th level; Price 10,000 + (3,500 per base creature’s HD) gp; Cost 10,000 + (1,750 per base creature’s HD) gp + (200 + 140 per base creature’s HD) XP.
Hollow Host Characters
A hollow host’s undead soul gives it the ability to continue advancing in levels. Hollow hosts usually choose to advance as fighters or to take levels in the blackguard prestige class. They seldom choose spellcasting classes; particularly sorcerer or wizards, whose spellcasting abilities are severely crippled by the hollow host’s integrated armour special quality.
