Symbiont, Winter Cyst
"Two down, two to go." Xin said has the first guard was frozen stiff and the other collapsed. Getting into the museum was easily than he thought. The white serpent rewound itself back up his forearm. The thing was cold, but the way it could freeze people in their tracks was well worth it. Now, somewhere in the museum was this golden idol of whatchamacallit or something. All he knew when he woke up this morning is that idol had to be back at the docks by midnight. Xin wasn't sure why he knew this, but it was really important... for... some... reason.
Symbiont, Winter Cyst
CR 1
XP: 400
LE Diminutive Aberration (Symbionts)
Init: +3; Senses: Darkvision 60'; Perception +4
DEFENSE:
AC: 17, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 14 (+4 size, +3 Dex)
HP: 6 hp (1d8+2)
Fort: -1; Ref: +3; Will: +2
OFFENSE:
Speed: 10 ft.
Melee: Eye ray +7 ranged touch (3d6 cold), see text
Space: 2 1/2 ft.; Reach: 0 ft.
STATISTICS:
Str 1, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 10, Wis 10, Chr 14
Base Atk: +0; CMB: -9; CMD: 4
Feats: Toughness
Skills: Escape Artist +7, Perception +4, Stealth +19, Survival +4
Languages: Does not speak, but understands Undercommon and Daelkyr.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
As One (Ex): See Symbionts for details.
Attachment (Ex): Winter cysts deal 1 point of Intelligence damage.
Collective Ego (Ex): Winter cysts have an Ego Score of 4, as per the symbiont sub-type. Unless created otherwise, winter cysts are always lawful evil and are always in the service of the daelkyr lords of Xoriat.
Item Slot (Ex): Winter cysts attach to the wrist slot.
Eye Ray (Su): As a standard action that does not provoke, the winter cyst emits a bolt of cold from its eye as a ranged touch attack with a range of 30' that does 3d6 points of cold damage. When someone is struck by the ray, he also suffers a penalty to Strength equal to 1d6+3 for 3 rounds (Fort save DC 13 to half the penalty). Dexterity can never be lowered below 1 and this penalty to Strength does not stack, even from multiple winter cysts.
Host Benefits:
Eye Ray (Su): While the winter cyst is attached, it allows the host to trigger the same eye ray that the winter cyst has, but using the host's ranged touch attack. This counts as a ray for the purposes of feats.
Telepathy (Su): A winter cyst can communicate telepathically with its host, if the host has a language.
ECOLOGY:
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Treasure: None
Role: None
Source: MoE, pg. 158
Winter cysts are cousins of stormstalks and another offshoot of spellwurms. Using by front line troops of the Daelkyr during their war with the hobgoblins, winter cyst masters were ordered to snipe Dhakaani siege operators at critical times during the reloading process, the sudden loss of strength would in turn cause massive accidents that would hamper the hobgoblin's efforts. However, after the Daelkyr were forced back to Xoriart, these small white snakes headed to the snow covered peaks in the southern edge of the Demon Wastes. The winter cyst is based on a wrist item that has Ray of Enfeeblement and Frigid Touch as at-will abilities, as a 3rd level caster, with an improvement to Charisma to raise the DC.
Construction:
Aura: Moderate Transmutation; CL: 3rd
Slot: Wrist; Rules: Symbionts Price: 24,000 gp
Construction Requirement: Craft Symbiont, Ray of Enfeeblement, Frigid Touch
Construction Cost: 12,000 gp