Warhulk Farmer Willem, CR 1/2

XP 200 Male warhulk symbiote human commoner 3 N Medium humanoid (aquatic, augmented, human, shapechanger) Init +1; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4 Defense AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +5 natural) hp 25 (3d6+15) Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +1 Defensive Abilities can't be flanked; Resist acid 30 Offense Speed 30 ft., climb 10 ft. Melee slam +5 (1d8+6) Statistics Str 19, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10 Base Atk +1; CMB +5 (see special abilities); CMD 16 (see special abilities) Feats Athletic, Skill Focus (Profession [farmer]) (Profession [farmer]), Toughness Skills Climb +18, Handle Animal +6, Perception +4, Profession (farmer) +6, Survival +3, Swim +10 Languages Common SQ amphibious Special Abilities Hypersenses (Ex) The warhulk's entire body is a primitive sensory organ. This gives it blindsense with a range of 30 feet, and it cannot be flanked. Parasitic Symbiot (Ex) Warhulk Farmer Willem must consume 10 times the normal food required to sustain a human or he begins to starve. The stress of his symbiosis deals him 1d2 points of Constitution damage per day. Powerful Build (Ex) Warhulk Farmer Willem is treated as a Medium or Large creature for opposed checks and special abilities (such as swallow whole), whichever is more advantageous to him.

This humanoid creature may once have been a man, but is now covered in aberrant growths of thick muscle and hard carapace. It has extra mouths on its chest and legs, which frequently gnash their teeth. Illustration by Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis (2009).

   Willem hasn't had an easy life. He grew up on a farm, suffered through childhood poverty and famine, and struck out on his own as a teen when bandits burned his family's crops; these things made him stubborn, independent, and determined to survive. He finally got a break when he found a plot of land in the hills with a few healthy apple trees; he built himself a cabin there and started planting an orchard. He found a wife and started a family, making a meager but satisfying living selling apples and cider in the nearby village and lumberjack camps.
   A recent minor earthquake caused a small avalanch near his land, and upon investigating he found the crushed corpse of an armored human, long dead and buried by a rockfall. When Willem check the dead man for coins, the warhulk mimic symbiote bonded to the fallen warrior--which had been laying dormant and trapped under a rock for hundreds of years--awoke, attacked, and merged with the farmer's flesh. The warhulk, mobile and active again, craved nourishment, and steered Willem back to his small orchard, forcing him to kill and eat his own family for sustenance. Horrified by the alien presence in his mind and the shock of murdering and cannibalizing his own loved ones, Willem is now completely insane and the symbiote controls him without any opposition.
   Now the warhulk farmer Willem has been attacking farmsteads and logging camps, seeking news and food so it can find its way back to an aboleth master. The few who have survived these attacks so far report a strange crazed monster, perhaps an ogre, rampaging near Willem's orchards. Rumors are flying that the monster killed Willem, Willem has been possessed, or a necromancer has reanimated his corpse for some foul purpose. Meanwhile, the creature continues to hunt.
   If the PCs take too long to find the warhulk, Willem's body withers and the warhulk abandons him, all but dead, for a newer, vital host (perhaps a lumberjack). Whether Willem's mind can recover in uncertain, though he may back out a few rambling statements about his time as a slave of the "murderous goo."

   This content is produced under version 1.0a and/or draft versions of the Open Game License and the System Reference Document by permission of Wizards of the Coast.
   Designation of Product Identity: The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: The illustration of the warhulk farmer Willem.
   Designation of Open Game Content: Subject to the Designation of Product Identity above, the entirety of "Monster of the Month: warhulk farmer Willem" is Open Game Content. "Darkness Without Form: Warhulk Farmer Willem" Copyright © 2009 Sean K Reynolds.
   This monster is compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

    Open Game License