Possessed Creature, Tsucora Monk
A bald man with a curious band of cloth wrapped over his eyes motions toward you. Suddenly a javelin appears at your feet. In one graceful, fluid motion, he challenges you, letting his eye covering fall to the ground and you see that his eyes are glowing an intense dark purple. And you get the distinct impression that his eyes aren't the only ones staring at you.
Possessed Creature, Tsucora Monk
CR 9
XP: 6,400
LE Medium Human
Init: +5; Senses: Perception +17
DEFENSE:
AC: 17, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 15 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 monk, +3 Wis)
HP: 31 (5d8+5)
Fort: +5; Ref: +7; Will: +9
Immune: disease; SR: 17
Special Defenses: Evasion
OFFENSE:
Speed: 40'
Melee: Unarmed Strike +9 (1d8+3) or flurry of blows +9 / +9 (1d8+3)
Space: 5 ft.; Reach: 5 ft.
Psi-Like Abilities: (ML 6th, concentration +9)
3/day - Body Equilibrium, Far Hand, Inertial Armor, Psionic Scent
1/day - Body Adjustment, Empathic Connection (DC 14), Id Insinulation (DC 15), Mindlink, Recall Agony (DC 15)
STATISTICS:
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 18, Chr 17
Base Atk: +6; CMB: +9; CMD: 20
Feats: Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Lightning Reflexes
Skills: Acrobatics +8 (+13 to jump), Bluff +12, Climb +10, Diplomacy +12, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (planes) +12, Knowledge (psionics) +12, Perception +17, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers: +4 Perception
Languages: Common, Quori, Reidran
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Aligned Natural Weapons (Su): The natural attacks of a tsucora are considered evil-aligned and law-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
High Jump (Ex): The Tsucora monk adds his monk level to Acrobatics checks for jumping.
Purity of Body (Ex): The Tsucora monk is immune to all diseases
Slow Fall (Ex): The Tsucora monk ignores the first 20' of falling damage, so long as he is within arm's reach of a vertical surface.
Possessed Creature / Easily Possessed (Su): Unlike normal possession, the tsucora can maintain this possession over the Empty Vessel monk indefinitely. In addition, any damage done to the Tsucora Monk is first done to the host body. Should the host body be killed, the Tsucora Quori can choose to remain in the deceased body to attempt to possess the next creature to touch it (Will DC 19) or release its hold, fly away at 250' (perfect) and take a full round action to manifest back into its normal form.
SPECIAL DISADVANTAGES:
Possessed Creature / Resist Exorcism (Su): This is an example of an Empty Vessel monk that is possessed by a tsucora quori. Thus, any effects that are affected by either humans and quori affect this possessed creature appropriately. Also, the Tsucora monk is vulnerable to having the invading quori forced from the host's body without the host being damaged in the process. A Dispel Evil or appropriately similar spell can drive out an invading quori with a successful caster check with a DC equal to 19. Likewise, Banishment and Dismissal also drive out an invader that fails its saving throw. However, in both cases, the willingness of the Empty Vessel means that any checks and saving throws are rolled twice, with the result most favorable to the quori taken.
Should the Tsucora quori be driven from the host, this Possessed Creature is separated into a Cruel Devotee 5th level monk (See NPC Codex) and a Tsucora Monk. See the Possession rules for details.
ECOLOGY:
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, pair or team (3-5)
Treasure: Standard
Role: None
Source: ECB, pg. 290
This is an example of the Possessed Creature creature template, taking the Cruel Devotee monk example from the NPC Codex and the Tsucora Quori. While almost all of the special abilities of the tsucora were able to be kept, his deadly stinger tail was not one of them, as it relied on its own body, not that of the monk. Likewise, not all of the monk's special abilities were able to be kept, most notably being his Power Attack, Scorpion Style and Stunning Fist feats. While it should be clear to any that have fought those particular kinds of monks before that this one is clearly different.
It is important to remember that the purpose of this physical shell is not meant to be the end-all-be-all of martial prowess. In fact, tsucora often choose this form specifically for the fact that they present a decent but not overwhelming challenge for foes. The intent to maintain the guise of a intense, crazed martial arts master, making the party work just hard enough that when the monk is defeated, they feel the effort was justified. It is at that point that the tsucora will attempt to possess the first person to examine the corpse, at which point he will turn the party's resources back on itself. The fact that it provides a useful cover for surveillance is merely a nice afterthought.
The experience for this creature is only fully given once both host and invading quori are defeated. Should the quori not be discovered during the course of the fight and take time to flee, award half the normal experience points.