Dirty golden linen strips swathe this emaciated, once-kingly figure from head to toe. It wears a crown of jewels and its eyes glimmer with an unholy blight.
Pharaoh (CR 12)
XP 19,200
LE Medium Undead
Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +24
Aura Greater Despair (30 ft., paralyzed for 1d4 rounds, then shaken for 1d4 rounds, Will DC 23 negates)
DEFENSE
AC 31, touch 13, flat-footed 29 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +2 dex, +11 natural)
hp 156 (16d8+96)
mp 37
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +15
Defensive Abilities Channel Resistance +6, Rejuvenation; DR 10/-; Immune Ice, Lightning, Undead traits
Weakness Fire
Tactics
During Combat The pharaoh starts the fight with Summon Undead assuming he hasn’t already or Undead Mastery assuming anyone is undead. If no one is undead, he will try to get closer to use Danse Macabre or Zombify if no one is close by on anyone who hasn’t been paralyzed by Greater Despair to use Undead Mastery next turn so he can turn his opponents on their allies. He will also use his allies to prevent himself from taking damage if possible. He will use Drain, Greater Fear, and Sandstorm Wrath when he is below 50% health.
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Slam +22 (2d6+15 plus insidious mummy rot)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Danse Macabre, Sandstorm Wrath (DC 23, 10d8 fire and slashing), Undead Mastery (DC 23)
Spells Known (Necromancer CL 9th, Concentration +14)
1st – Dark (DC 17), Dread (DC 17), Enfeeblement (DC 16), Fear (DC 17), Summon Undead I
2nd – Dark II (DC 18), Death Knell (DC 18), False Life, Summon Undead II
3rd – Abhorrent Blight (DC 18), Dark III (DC 19), Darkra (DC 19), Dispel, Halt Undead (DC 19), Mass Enfeeblement (DC 18), Infect (DC 18), Ray of Exhaustion (DC 19), Summon Undead III, Vampiric Touch (DC 19)
4th – Bestow Curse (DC 19), Contagion (DC 19), Dark Blight (DC 20), Greater False Life, Greater Fear (DC 20), Slay Living (DC 19), Summon Undead IV
5th – Darkga (DC 21), Drain (DC 21), Summon Undead V, Waves of Fatigue (DC 21), Zombify (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 30, Dex 14, Con -, Int 15, Wis 20, Cha 20
Base Atk +12; CMB +22; CMD 34
Feats Ability Focus (greater despair), Combat Casting, Elemental Focus (Dark), Improved Natural Attack, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (Slam)
Skills Intimidate +15, Knowledge (religion) +16, Perception +24, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +17
Language Common, Necril, Undercommon
Gear +1 gold breastplate, headband of inspired wisdom +2, ring of protection +1, gem cover crown worth 1,200 gil, gem-encrusted torque worth 600 gil
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Armored Mage (Ex)
Normally, armor heavier than light armor interferes with a spell-caster gestures, which can cause spells to fail if those spells have a somatic component. A pharaoh’s limited focus and specialized training, however, allows him to avoid spell failure so long as he sticks to medium armor or light armor.
Danse Macabre (Su)
3/day, a pharaoh waves his hands about which spreads a dark purple wave of blight within a 30-ft.-radius. Creatures within the area of effect must make a Fortitude save (DC 22) or be inflicted with Zombie status for 16 rounds. Blue mages may learn this ability as a 7th level spell (Knowledge: Religion DC 29).
Greater Despair (Su)
All creatures within a 30-ft. radius that see a pharaoh must make a (DC 25) Will save or be paralyzed by fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same pharaoh’s greater despair ability for 24 hours. This is a paralysis and a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Insidious Mummy Rot (Su)
Curse and disease – slam; save Fort DC 23; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 2d4 Con and 2d4 Cha; cure -.
Insidious mummy rot is both a curse and disease and can only be cured if the curse is first removed, at which point the disease can be magically removed. Even after the curse element of mummy rot is lifted, a creature suffering from it cannot recover naturally over time. Anyone casting any healing spells on the afflicted creature must succeed on a DC 23 caster level check, or the spell is wasted and the healing has no effect. Anyone who dies from mummy rot turns to dust and cannot be raised without an Arise or greater magic. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Rejuvenation (Su)
One day after a pharaoh is destroyed, the necromantic energies that created the abomination begin to rebuild its body. This process takes 1d10 days. If the body starts anew. After this time, the pharaoh awakens fully healed in its tomb. To permanently destroy a pharaoh, it must be destroyed and then its remains must be targeted by holy, raise, and then dispel, cast in consecutive rounds and in that order.
Sandstorm Wrath (Su)
3/day as a standard action, a pharaoh can exhale a blast of superheated sand in a 40-foot cone. The blast deals 10d8 points of fire and slashing damage and are blinded for 2d4 rounds. A successful Reflex save halves this damage and negates the Blind status.
Undead Mastery (Su)
As a standard action, a pharaoh can attempt to bend any undead creature within 50 feet to its will. The targeted undead must succeed at a Will save or fall under the pharaoh’s control (the save DC is Charisma-based). An undead with an Intelligence score is allowed an additional save every day to break free of the pharaoh’s control; for undead without an Intelligence score, the control is permanent. A creature that succeeds at its Will save cannot be affected again by the same pharaoh’s undead mastery for 24 hours. A pharaoh can control up to 96 Hit Dice of undead creatures. If the pharaoh exceeds this limit, any excess undead from earlier uses of this ability become uncontrolled, as per summon undead. If another creature is currently controlling an undead that fails its save against undead mastery, the pharaoh must roll an opposed Charisma check against the current controller. If the pharaoh succeeds, it wrests away control of the undead. Otherwise, the pharaoh’s undead mastery attempt has no effect.