MEDUSA

Petrifying Gaze. A medusa has a gaze attack with a range of 30-ft. Living creatures that meet the medusa's gaze must make a Dexterity save vs. Petrify or permanently turn to stone (save negates). This gaze attack can extend into the astral or ethereal plane affecting even some incorporeal creatures. A medusa does not have any special resistance to their own gaze—if their gaze somehow reflected back, it must also save or turn to stone. A medusa cannot use it's gaze on a creature it cannot see (even if the creature is sensed).

Poison. A medusa has snakes sprouting from the top of her head. These can bite once per round any opponent in melee range as a natural attack. Creatures bitten must save vs. Poison or fall into a coma and die (save negates).

Medusas are human-like creatures with snakes instead of hair. At distances of 30 feet or more, a medusa can easily pass for a beautiful woman if she wears something to cover her serpentine locks—when wearing clothing that conceals her head and face, she can be mistaken for a human at even closer distances. Medusas use lies and disguises that conceal their faces to get close enough to opponents to use their petrifying gaze, though they like playing with their prey and may fire arrows from a distance to lead enemies into traps. Some enjoy creating intricate decorations out of their victims, using their petrified remains as accents to their lairs, but most medusas take care to hide the evidence of their previous conflicts so that new foes won’t have advance warning of their presence. All known medusas are female.

Environment. Astral (the medusa's perception extends into this plane); Ethereal (the medusa's perception extends into this plane); Underground;

Campaign Note. If able to pull a snake off the head of a living medusa (very painful to the medusa) and apply the resulting blood to a petrified creature within 10 rounds of separation, the blood in the snake will restore the creature to flesh.