This horrible monster resembles a gigantic crimson leech slithering upright on four muscular black tentacles. At the top of its writhing trunk rest several quivering feathered antenna surrounding a great lidless eye that glows with baleful orange light.
One of the most dreaded monsters of the underworld, strangling watchers (also known as urochars) have long plagued the drow, morlocks, and other humanoid races of the deep paths, feasting on the terrifying final moments of those caught in its crushing tentacles or who fall to its spell-like abilities…
Strangling Watcher (Urochar) (CR 17)
XP 102, 400
CE Huge aberration
Init +5; Senses darkvision 120 ft., see invisibility; Perception +28
Aura fear aura (30 ft., DC 27)
DEFENSE
AC 35, touch 15, flat-footed 29 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +21 natural, −2 size)
hp 275 (22d8+176)
Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +16
DR 15/magic and silver; Immune fear, sonic; Resist cold 20, electricity 20; SR 28
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 4 tentacles +25 (1d8+10/19–20 plus grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks constrict (tentacles, 1d8+10), death throes, paralyzing gaze
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th)
Constant—see invisibility
At will—feather fall
3/day—blur, meld into stone, phantasmal killer (DC 20)
1/day—black tentacles (DC 20), eyebite (DC 22), greater invisibility
STATISTICS
Str 30, Dex 21, Con 24, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 22
Base Atk +16; CMB +28 (+32 grapple); CMD 43 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Critical (tentacles), Improved Vital Strike, Mobility, Skill Focus (Stealth), Spring Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (tentacles)
Skills Climb +51, Escape Artist +38, Intimidate +31, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +27, Perception +28, Stealth +28; Racial Modifiers +16 Climb, +8 Escape Artist
Languages Aklo, Undercommon (cannot speak)
SQ drink fear, expert climber, squeeze
ECOLOGY
Environment any underground
Organization solitary
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Death Throes (Ex) When killed, a strangling watcher releases a wave of pure soul-rending terror as all the fear it has consumed in its lifetime is unleashed to overwhelm the senses of those around it. All creatures within 60 ft. of the strangling watcher become panicked for 1d6 rounds (Will DC 27). Those who succeed their save are merely shaken for 1d6 rounds. Additionally, those who fail this first save must make a second Will save (DC 27) or take 2d6 Wisdom drain as their minds are assaulted by hundreds of years of accumulated dread.
Drink Fear (Su) A strangling watcher gains nourishment from the terror experienced by other creatures, drinking in a creature’s fear to power its alien physiology. A strangling watcher can remove fear from any target within 30 ft. as a swift action although it usually only does so once it is about to kill a victim.
Expert Climber (Ex) A strangling watcher’s tentacles are studded with thousands of tiny hooks that allow it to grab hold of virtually any surface. This allows it to move as if under the constant effects of a spider climb spell and grants it a +16 racial bonus on all Climb checks.
Fear Aura (Su) Fear—range 30 feet, save Will DC 27 (Charisma-based), creatures who fail their saving throws are frightened for 1d6 rounds.
Paralyzing Gaze (Su) Paralyzed—2d6 minutes, range 60 ft., Will DC 27 (Charisma-based).
Squeeze (Ex) Despite their size, strangling watchers have slender boneless bodies, enabling them to squeeze through passages up to 3 size categories smaller without affecting their movement or combat capabilities. This grants a strangling watcher a +8 racial bonus on all Escape Artist checks.
Typical Characteristics
Rivalling the terrible neothelids in power, urochars spend much of their time as the ultimate voyeurs of the underworld, watching the life and death struggles of other creatures and drinking in their final moments from the safety of a nearby crevice or overhang. Often, however, this is not enough to satisfy the creature’s evil appetite, and it stalks lone guards or weakened groups of creatures to stare into their dying eyes with its great unblinking stare and feed on their final gasps of horror.
While all creatures that experience fear are potential prey to a strangling watcher, creatures that are immune to fear are attacked with equal relish, the monster seeing them as threats to its mastery over terror. Occasionally, a shoal of aboleths or a cluster of ropers forges a temporary alliance with a strangling watcher, allowing the beast to watch as they hunt down and destroy weaker creatures. Such alliances are temporary at best and usually end in violence between the parties concerned. Scavengers such as oozes and giant vermin often follow a strangling watcher to feast on the relatively intact bodies left in its wake, their lack of intelligence providing them with some safety from the monster’s depredations.
The central trunk of the strangling watcher is some 20 ft. long and ends in a massive unblinking orange eye. The tentacles radiating outwards from the central truck are thinner and over 30 ft. in length, while the feathery antenna around its eye are around 5 ft. long; they weigh in excess of 2 tons. Strangling watchers are effectively immortal, and gargantuan specimens found in the deepest reaches of the underworld are often several millennia old.
