FurciferTwisting vines and vibrant flowers grow from the back of this
titanic, multicolored reptile. A sickly-sweet scent fills the swirling
air around it.Furcifer CR 13Source Pathfinder #142: Gardens of Gallowspire pg. 90
XP 25,600
CN Huge magical beast
Init +9; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light
vision; Perception +16
Aura deleriant aura (50 ft.)DefenseAC 27, touch 13, flat-footed 22 (+5 Dex, +14 natural, –2 size)
hp 171 (18d10+72)
Fort +15, Ref +16, Will +12
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, displacement, evasion,
uncanny dodge; Immune illusions
Weaknesses vulnerability to coldOffenseSpeed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
Melee bite +22 (2d6+6), 2 claws +22 (1d8+6), tail slap +17
(2d6+3) or
tongue +22
Space 15 ft., Reach 10 ft. (25 ft. with tongue)
Special Attacks pull (tongue, 10 ft.), swallow whole (3d6+6,
AC 17, hp 17), tongueStatisticsStr 22, Dex 21, Con 18, Int 5, Wis 19, Cha 12
Base Atk +18; CMB +26; CMD 41 (45 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Endurance, Improved
Initiative, Iron Will, Run, Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus
(Stealth), Staggering Critical
Skills Climb +23, Perception +16, Stealth +21; Racial
Modifiers Stealth +12
Languages Sylvan (can’t speak)EcologyEnvironment any forest
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure incidentalSpecial AbilitiesDeleriant Aura (Ex) A furcifer’s pollen induces euphoria and
confusion, imposing a –2 penalty on Will saving throws
on any creatures within 50 feet of the furcifer. Creatures
immune to poison are immune to this effect.
Displacement (Su) A furcifer’s illusory pollen constantly
distorts its presence. It gains a 50% miss chance as if it
had total concealment. Unlike actual total concealment,
displacement does not prevent enemies from targeting the
creature normally. True seeing reveals its true location and
negates the miss chance, and creatures immune to illusions
or poison are immune to this effect.
Tongue (Ex) A furcifer can grab a foe with its tongue and
draw the victim to its mouth. This tongue attack has a
reach of 25 feet. The attack deals no damage but allows
the furcifer to grab its target. A furcifer does not gain the
grappled condition while using its tongue in this manner.
Utopia (Sp) A furcifer is blessed with strange powers of
illusion and can warp the world around it at will to seem
idyllic and safe. This functions as a mirage arcana spell,
though the furcifer’s simplistic intellect means it may create
unusual or surreal illusions based on what its victims find
appealing. Creatures in the affected area may recognize
the landscape as unnatural with a successful DC 20 Will
saving throw; otherwise, the furcifer’s powers lull them
into accepting the impossible. Affected creatures cannot
recognize any natural hazards in the area, and the furcifer
itself appears as something harmless within the affected
area, such as a flower-covered hill, quaint home, or friendly
animal, making it effectively invisible; if the furcifer
attacks, it immediately breaks the invisibility effect but
does not end the mirage arcana effect. Creatures immune
to illusions and mind-affecting effects are immune to this
effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.DescriptionStanding as tall as a house and draped in intoxicating
blossoms, the furcifer is a bizarre synthesis of reptile
and plant born from enormous surges of positive
energy. Despite their inviting, vibrant hides, furcifers
are ravenous predators, capable of warping the world
around them into almost any placid scene and concealing
themselves from ordinary senses. These abilities make
them extraordinary ambush predators, and parties of
human-sized travelers are easily picked off one by one
from above thanks to the clever reptilian hunters’ long,
prehensile tongues.
Lazy and patient, these large reptiles sometimes lull
whole caravans into complacency, letting them linger in
false wonderlands for days or weeks as the furcifer picks
off its prey one at a time. Furcifers are cantankerous and
stubborn, and dispense with all subtlety to pursue prey
relentlessly if it escapes their illusory paradise.
Furcifers on average stand over 15 feet tall and 35 feet
long thanks to their long, curled tails. Furcifers weigh up
to 6-1/2 tons.EcologyA primordial creature of incredible size and impressive
innate magic, the furcifer blends reptile and plant
features into the form of a deadly ambush hunter. With
the frame of a massive, hunchbacked lizard, opposable
claws on each limb, a long prehensile tail, and a bony
crest to protect their neck, this vicious beast lacks little in
comparison to other predators. Despite all this, furcifers
are lazy and capricious, preferring to lie in wait and snatch
smaller prey with their long, prehensile tongues. Their
broad-set eyes can rotate independently, allowing them to
look in multiple directions at once and constantly watch
for other dangerous creatures.
Furcifers command impressive innate magic that
allows them to cloak the world around them in a placid
disguise. They have rudimentary psychic abilities and
can read glimpses of whatever their prey finds inviting
and harmless, and then spin those stolen images into a
soft landscape. When confronting intelligent creatures,
the beasts’ limited intellects sometimes result in surreal
illusions—such as fruit
trees heavy with bunnies,
rippling ponds sitting
at angles in hillsides, or
houses made from candy—
but the mind-numbing
euphoria of their magic
often makes such impossible
landscapes feel sensible to
their unsuspecting prey.
The orchidlike plants
growing from the furcifer’s
back help further define their
abilities. Rather than a symbiotic
relationship, the blossoms are
as much a part of the predator’s
anatomy as its eyes or claws, and
they secrete a sweetly scented
narcotic pollen that lulls most warmblooded
animals into a mild euphoria.
The plants provide some sustenance to the
furcifer but also produce a bevy of alchemical
reagents that help power its magical abilities
as well as its consumption. With the aid of
these botanical factories, furcifers can digest
practically anything they can swallow—
from rocks and debris to armor worn by
their prey.Habitat and SocietyFurcifers flourish in warm and temperate
forests, as their cold-blooded nature and
hothouse flower elements make them vulnerable
to the cold. The resilient creatures could survive in
desert and mountain environments if transplanted,
limited only by available water and prey, but they
rarely leave the familiar hunting grounds where
they are born.
As asexual creatures, furcifers rely on
pollinating insects for reproduction.
Once their blossoms are fertilized, they
release their spore-like eggs into the wind, and
those that settle on trees develop into small, carnivorous
flowers that feed on their host trees and passing insects
and birds for several years before maturing into miniature
furcifers that begin hunting. The youngs’ first meals often
consist of other larval furcifers that have yet to mature
into their ambulatory states. On rare occasion, a single
larval bloom will produce twin young, who bond and
share their territory for life.
Infused with positive energy and strange alchemical
reagents, furcifers are useful components for a variety
of projects. Their pollen remains psychoactive for years
after death, and the nectar harvested from a single beast
can provides weeks’ worth of potent hallucinogens. Their
bones are coveted for magic items involving acid, and
their skin can be readily fashioned into cloaks and robes
with illusory properties. The flesh itself is mildly toxic,
and dead furcifers may rot slowly for months rather than
be scavenged by other animals.
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