Traits (water / ice)

Affinity (Ex) A pokemon who has access to a sorcerer bloodline gains access traits it's bloodline as two levels higher for all sorcerer spells and class abilities. Pokemon who have access to a cleric domain can use their domain powers and spells at +1 caster level. At a GM's approval, this evolution can apply to other class-based traits that are selected by the player at level 1 and cannot be changed, like witch patrons or shaman spirits. Traits which are related to aquatic conditions are appropriate for this species.

Air Bell (Ex) As a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the creature can attach to the head of a willing Small or Medium creature. When worn this way, the creature creates a pocket of breathable air around the affected host’s head, allowing the creature to breathe and speak normally while underwater. Attached creatures don’t hinder the hosts's vision or other senses. The air pocket created lasts for 8 hours. After 24 hours, the creature can create a new air pocket.

Amphibious  Creatures with this special quality have the aquatic subtype, but they can survive indefinitely on land.

• Deepsight  Prerequisites: Amphibious racial trait. Benefit: Members of this creature's race are specially adapted to the lightless depths of the oceans, but not to air-filled environments. They can see in the dark up to 120 feet while underwater, but do not gain this benefit out of water.
  

Buoyant (Ex) The icy body of a glaciergeist automatically floats in water, and the creature must succeed a DC 20 Swim check every round in order to stay submerged.

Call Storm (Su) Once per day, a draug can summon inclement weather to harass its opponents. The effects are felt immediately (i.e., there is no gradual shift in the weather). Otherwise, this ability is identical to the control weather spell (caster level 6th).

Capsize (4 EP)    A creature with this special quality can attempt to capsize a boat or a ship by ramming it as a charge attack and making a combat maneuver check. The DC of this check is 25, or the result of the captain’s Profession (sailor) check, whichever is higher. For each size category the ship is larger than the creature attempting to capsize it, the creature attempting to capsize the ship takes a cumulative –10 penalty on its combat maneuver check.

• Smashing Breach (Ex) As a full-round action, a swimming bakekujira can make a special charge attack against a creature on the water’s surface. At the end of its charge, the whale breaches, slamming down with incredible force. Any Huge or smaller creatures in the bakekujira’s space must succeed at a DC 28 Reflex save or take 4d8+24 points of bludgeoning damage and be forced into the nearest empty square adjacent to the bakekujira. Humanoid creatures killed by this ability rise as draugr in 1d6 hours. A bakekujira can use its capsize special attack in conjunction with this ability. The save DC is Charisma-based.
  

Cold (Su) Hoar spirits generate intense cold. It deals an extra 1d3 points of cold damage with each claw attack. Creatures attacking a hoar spirit with unarmed or natural attacks take 1d3 points of cold damage each time they hit.

Deep Dweller (Ex) Litanus are immune to damage from water pressure.

Drown (Ex) If a mulgwishin successfully grapples a creature in knee-deep or higher water, the target becomes prone and is submerged under the water. On subsequent turns, if the mulgwishin continues to succeed on grapple checks, the target remains prone and under the water.

Energy Bite or Energy Claw (Su) The pokemon’s natural attack damage deals 1d6 extra points of cold damage.

Energy Explosion: Once per day as a standard action, the monster can create a 20-foot-radius burst of cold damagewithin 60 feet. This deals an amount of damage equal to 1d6 + the monster’s HD of the chosen type to all creatures in the burst. A successful Reflex save halves the damage.

Energy Infusion: Choose a damage type. Each time the monster uses a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability that deals energy damage, it can choose to change the energy damage type dealt by that ability to the chosen type instead.

Glaciate (Su) A creature hit by a hoar spirit’s claw must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or by paralyzed by bone-numbing cold for 1d4+1 rounds and take 1 point of Dexterity damage. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Ice Glide (Su) A glaciergeist can use its burrow speed to move through ice without penalty, as easily as a fish swims through water. It leaves no tunnel or trace of its passage. It can only use its burrow speed in ice.

Ice Shape (Su) An adult white dragon can shape ice and snow at will. This ability functions as stone shape, but only targeting ice and snow, not stone. The caster level for this effect is equal to its Hit Dice (13).

Icewalking (Su) An icegaunt’s movement is not impeded by ice or snow of any kind.

Ink Cloud (Ex) Once per minute as a swift action, this creature can emit a cloud of jet-black ink that fills a 10-foot cube. The cloud provides total concealment, which the creature normally uses to escape. All vision within the cloud is obscured.

Immure (Su) As a full-round action, a glaciergeist can make a combat maneuver check against an opponent it already has grappled to drag them into the ice five feet below. It can then let go and attack other creatures, or continue to attack the same creature—a glaciergeist cannot drag creatures more than five feet into the ice. A creature that is dragged into the ice is immobilized and begins to suffocate. An immured creature can only take mental actions or attempt to escape by making a combat maneuver check against the glaciergeist’s CMD. If it succeeds, it loosens the ice around itself sufficiently to take physical actions (as if swallowed whole). Ice has a hardness of 0, 3 hit points per inch of thickness and vulnerability to fire for the purposes of tunneling out of the ice.

• Breath Weapon (Su) This pokemon breathes a stream of energy which does 1d6 cold damage for every 2 levels (minimum 1). This breath weapon has a range of either 60 ft or a 10ft cone, and requires a reflex save to halve the damage. The pokemon can use this ability twice per day (although it must wait 1d4 rounds between uses). Breath weapon does not replace lesser breath weapon.

Mist Child (Ex)  Whenever a member of this creature's race has concealment or total concealment, the miss chance of attacks against her increases by 5%.

Mistsight The monster can see through fog, mist, and murky water as if they were perfectly clear, ignoring the miss chance for these obstructions, up to its normal range of vision.

Snow Sight (Su) An icegaunt’s vision is not impeded by natural or magical snow, rain or other weather.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) Upon taking this trait, the creature gains access to a number of spell-like abilities according to it's hit die bracket. It gains access to one spell from the following list according to its hit die bracket, which become usable once per day. If the creature has more than 4 hit die and knows at least one spell from the HD bracket one step lower, those spells will be usable three times per day. If it is higher than 9 hit die, the spells that it knows from the the HD bracket two steps below its own become usable at will. This ability can be taken multiple times to learn new spell abilities from any hit die bracket it has access to.

Swim  The creature gains webbed hands, webbed feet, or powerful flippers, giving it a swim speed equal to its base speed. This evolution does not give the creature the ability to breathe underwater. This evolution can be selected more than once. Each additional time it is selected, increase the creature’s swim speed by 20 feet.

• Jet The creature can swim backward as a full-round action at the listed speed. It must move in a straight line while jetting, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it does so.
  
• Powerful Swimmer  Members of this creature's race receive a +10 foot bonus to their swim speed. Special: This trait can be taken twice. Its effects stack.
  

Trackless Step (Ex) A boreal creature does not leave a trail in snow and cannot be tracked. It can choose to leave a trail, if it so desires. This special quality does not apply to aquatic boreal creatures.

Transparent (Ex) The creature’s body is transparent when underwater, granting the creature concealment and a constant 20% miss chance.

Water Breathing A creature with this special ability can breathe underwater indefinitely. It can freely use any breath weapon, spells, or other abilities while submerged. This does not give them the ability to breath air.

Water Dependency (Ex) This creature can survive out of the water for 1 hour per point of Constitution. Beyond this limit, the creature runs the risk of suffocation, as if it were drowning.

• Improved Water Dependency (Ex) These creatures can survive out of the water for 1 hour per 2 points of Constitution. After that, they begin to suffocate.
  

Water Healing (Ex) The creature regains 1 hit point for each full round that it remains in contact with water. When struck by a magical water effect that deals cold damage, the creature heals 1 point of damage per 10 points of damage that the effect would otherwise deal.

Water Sense Members of this creature's race can sense vibrations in water, granting them blindsense 30 feet against creatures that are touching the same body of water.

Water Walking (Ex) This creature can walk on the surface of water as most creatures can walk on land. They can even use the surface of water as solid ground from which to leap.

Upon taking this trait, the creature gains access to a number of spell-like abilities according to it's hit die bracket. It gains access to one spell from the following list according to its hit die bracket, which become usable once per day. If the creature has more than 4 hit die and knows at least one spell from the HD bracket one step lower, those spells will be usable three times per day. If it is higher than 9 hit die, the spells that it knows from the the HD bracket two steps below its own become usable at will. This ability can be taken multiple times to learn new spell abilities from any hit die bracket it has access to.

Aqueous creatures are native denizens of the Elemental Planes of Water, and they move with a unique grace underwater. This template can be applied only to a nonoutsider that has none of the following subtypes: air, cold, earth, fire, or water. An aqueous creature’s CR increases by 1 only if the base creature has 5 or more HD.

Rebuild Rules: Type gains the water subtype; Senses gains darkvision 60 ft.; Defensive Abilities gains DR and resistance to cold as noted on the table below; Speed gains a swim speed equal to its highest speed + 10 ft.; Attacks gains bonus cold damage as noted on the table below on attacks with natural weapons and metal weapons.

• Hit Dice DR Resist Cold Cold Damage
• 1–4 — 10 1 point
• 5–10 3/— 15 1d6
• 11+ 5/— 20 2d6
  

Since Baba Yaga’s invasion, many creatures native to the northernmost climates have died out, unable to adapt to a land now dominated by ceaseless supernatural winter. However, despite this dramatic change in climate, a few particularly strong and hardy specimens managed to survive, and over the centuries the magical forces holding this realm in its grip have aided the evolution of species better suited to this harsh environment. This section provides examples of three such creatures and the inherited template for creating other boreal creatures.

Though boreal creatures mostly resemble their temperate kin, the effects of sorcerous winter have bolstered them, making them stronger and much more dangerous. In basic shape and form they appear similar to their ancestors, but other characteristics reveal the creatures’ altered nature. Their fur and skin are much paler, often shades of blue, gray, or simply white, and it is not uncommon for parts of these creatures to be cloaked in frost, especially their jagged claws and shaggy hair.

“Boreal” is an inherited template that can be added to any Huge or smaller corporeal creature. This template cannot be applied to a creature with the fire subtype.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1.

Type: The creature gains the cold subtype. If applied to a creature with the animal or vermin type, the creature’s type changes to magical beast. Do not recalculate its Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saves, or skill points.

Attacks: A boreal creature’s natural attacks deal an additional 1d6 points of cold damage.

Abilities: Str +2, Con +2.

Skills: The creature receives a +4 bonus on Stealth and Survival checks in snow. An aquatic boreal creature receives a +4 racial bonus on Stealth and Survival checks at all times in frigid waters (its natural habit), instead of in snow. Environment: The creature’s natural environment changes to a cold climate.

Special Qualities: A boreal creature gains the following special quality.

• Trackless Step (Ex) A boreal creature does not leave a trail in snow and cannot be tracked. It can choose to leave a trail, if i
  

When snowmelt floods it causes flash floods. Those who drown in the turbulent waters often rise as floodslain and spread the misery and death that created them. Collectively known as “the after-storm” by natives, floodslain are victims of flash floods that have risen as undead. They’re creatures of panic and despair, driven by anger, fear, and a yearning to drag others into the waters. Long after the floodwaters recede, floodslain continue spreading the miserable death that claimed them.

Floodslain are similar in appearance to their original living forms, and are recognizable even in their water-logged state. Many were gruesomely damaged by the floods that took their lives, though, their bodies battered and broken by rushing water and debris. The one feature common among all floodslain is wild, panicked eyes—a telltale sign of a death mired in shock and fear. Floodslain tend to drift toward lower ground, as if seeking the very water that transformed them. While this habitual migration makes them a contained threat in some areas, flat floodplains offer little resistance to the wandering undead. They can be found floating in major rivers, trapped in ravines and valleys, and staggering across flatlands, sometimes in large numbers. Floodslain that come close to living creatures try to drown them, and relentlessly follow those who flee. Targets who escape often draw the attention of yet more floodslain, eventually leading the undead to their homes. In great numbers, floodslain can slaughter small settlements.

While many find the possibility of undead born from purely natural disasters to be disturbing in and of itself, theories from druids and scholars hold even more chilling implications.

Creating a Floodslain Creature

“Floodslain” is an acquired template that can be added to any non-aquatic living creature. A floodslain uses the base creature’s stats and abilities except as noted here.

CR: Same as base creature +1.

Alignment: Chaotic evil.

Type: The creature’s type changes to undead (augmented). Do not recalculate class BAB or saves.

Armor Class: Natural armor increases by 2.

Hit Dice: Change all racial Hit Dice to d8s. Class Hit Dice are unaffected. As undead, floodslain creatures use their Charisma modifiers to determine bonus hit points (instead of their Constitution modifiers).

Defensive Abilities: A floodslain creature gains channel resistance +2, DR 5/magic, and cold resistance 10 in addition to other defensive abilities granted by the undead type.

Speed: A floodslain creature gains a swim speed of 30 feet unless it already possesses a swim speed.

Melee: A floodslain creature gains a slam attack based on its size, if the base creature doesn’t have one. Its slam attack also delivers the drowning touch effect (see below). Its natural attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Special Attacks: Floodslain creatures gain several special attacks. The save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 the base creature’s HD + its Charisma modifier unless otherwise noted.

• Crashing Waters (Su) Once per day, a floodslain creature can instinctively summon a spectral echo of the rushing waters that created it. This mass of phantom water slams the floodslain creature from behind, carrying it forward at up to three times its normal speed and enabling it to charge a single target. These waters also impact all creatures near the end of the floodslain creature’s movement, pushing them back. This acts as a bull rush; the floodslain creature attempts a single combat maneuver check against the CMD of each creature within 10 feet of the end of its charge. This bull rush attempt doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
• Create Spawn (Su) Any creature killed by a floodslain creature rises as a floodslain creature if it’s left immersed in water for 24 hours. These spawn aren’t under the control of their creators.
• Drowning Touch (Su) The slam attack of a floodslain creature partially fills a living victim’s lungs with water. The victim must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw in order to cough up this water or become fatigued for 1d4 rounds. A fatigued creature that fails this save becomes exhausted instead. An exhausted creature that fails this save is staggered and falls to 0 hp. A creature at 0 hp that fails this save drops to –1 hp and begins dying. A creature killed in this fashion appears to have drowned.
• Panic (Su) The dead eyes of a floodslain creature are frozen with shock and fear. The floodslain creature can induce fear in a living victim as a standard action. Targets must succeed at a Will saving throw or become shaken for 1d6 rounds. A creature can be affected by the same floodslain creature’s panic attack only once every 24 hours.

Special Qualities: A floodslain creature gains the following special quality.

• Flash Flood (Su) A floodslain creature is constantly surrounded by an echo of the disaster that originally took its life. Water streams from the floodslain creature’s body, forming a 30-foot-radius pool that renders the ground in that area slick and muddy and increases the DCs of Acrobatics checks made in the area by 5.

Ability Scores: Str +2, Dex –2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +2 (minimum 14). Waterlogged and ruined, floodslain creatures are driven to cling to life by maddened fear and confusion. As undead, floodslain creatures have no Constitution scores.

Feats: Floodslain creatures gain Toughness as a bonus feat.

Animating a Frostfallen Creature

A spellcaster can create any form of frostfallen creature by casting animate dead upon the corpse to be animated and providing an amount of ice of equal weight, plus two blue topazes or turquoises worth at least 100 gp each. The creator can only create a number of Hit Dice of frostfallen creatures equal to the amount allowed by animate dead. Frostfallen creatures count against the number of Hit Dice of skeletons and zombies that can be created using animate dead.

Creating a Frostfallen Creature

“Frostfallen creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead), referred to hereafter as the base creature. A frostfallen creature uses the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

CR: As base creature +1.

Alignment: Always neutral evil.

Type: The creature’s type changes to undead and it gains the cold subtype. It retains any subtypes except for alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as giant). It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Armor Class: The natural armor bonus improves by +4.

Hit Dice: A frostfallen creature drops any HD gained from class levels and changes racial HD to d8s. Creatures without racial HD are treated as if they had 1 racial HD. A skeleton uses its Charisma modifier (instead of its Constitution modifier) to determine bonus hit points.

Defensive Abilities: Frostfallen creatures gain DR 5/bludgeoning (or DR 10/bludgeoning if it has 11 HD or more). They are immune to cold.

Weaknesses: Frostfallen creatures gain vulnerability to fire.

Speed: A winged frostfallen creature’s maneuverability drops to clumsy. If the base creature flew magically, its fly speed is unchanged. Retain all other movement types.

Attacks: A frostfallen creature retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. It also gains a slam attack that deals damage based on the frostfallen creature’s size, but as if it were one size category larger than its actual size.

Special Attacks: A frostfallen creature retains all of the base creature’s special attacks and also gains the following.

• Cold (Su) A frostfallen creature’s body generates intense cold, dealing an amount of cold damage with its touch determined by its Hit Dice. Creatures attacking a frostfallen creature with unarmed strikes or natural weapons take this same cold damage each time one of their attacks hits.
  

Hit Dice     Cold Damage
1-5     1d6
6-10     2d6
11-15     3d6
16+     4d6

Abilities: A frostfallen creature’s Strength increases by +2 and its Charisma by +6. A frostfallen creature has no Constitution or Intelligence score, and its Wisdom becomes 10.

BAB: A frostfallen creature’s base attack bonus is equal to 3/4 of its Hit Dice.

Skills: A frostfallen creature loses all skill ranks possessed by the base creature and gains none of its own.

Feats: A frostfallen creature loses all feats possessed by the base creature and gains Toughness as a bonus feat.

Special Qualities: A frostfallen creature loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. It also gains the following special quality.

• Lifesense (Su) The frostfallen creature notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability.
  
  

A landwalker is an aquatic creature that has somehow gained the ability to move about freely on dry land. It is assumed by sages that landwalkers are the creations of some mad god of the sea, sending his creations against the air breathers. Others conjecture that landwalkers are simply prehistoric ancestors of current aquatic life that have until now remained undiscovered.

The most commonly encountered landwalkers are predatory fish and mammals such as sharks and whales. Creatures such as these, with skeletal systems, have elongated and strengthened fins which act as legs to enable them to move over land. Other landwalkers that have been seen surging out of the ocean are giant squids and even monstrous jellyfish. Such boneless landwalkers ooze and flop over land with surprising quickness.

Creating a Landwalker

“Landwalker” is an inherited template that can be added to animal, magical beast, or vermin with the “aquatic” subtype that is confined to the water and has no land speed, or has a land speed of 5 feet or less (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A landwalker retains all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

CR: Same as the base creature +1.

Type: The creature’s type changes to magical beast (if it wasn’t already a magical beast) and it gains the augmented subtype.

Senses: The creature gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet if it did not already have the ability. If the creature already has darkvision, it uses its current range or 60 feet, whichever is greater. The creature also gains low-light vision.

Hit Dice: Change all racial Hit Dice to d10s. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, base saves, or skill points.

Speed: A landwalker has a ground speed equal to one-half the base creature’s swim speed or 20 feet, whichever is greater. Because it has legs and its body has been changed, the base creature’s swim speed is reduced by 10 feet (but not to less than 10 feet).

Abilities: Str +4, Dex –2, Con +2.

Special Qualities: A landwalker retains all the special qualities of the base creature, and gains the amphibious special quality.

Deep creatures have been twisted by the deep ones, whether through interbreeding or foul rituals.

Quick Rules: +8 on Swim checks and can always take 10 on Swim checks; swim speed equal to base land speed; +1 to AC; +1 on rolls based on Con or Wis; +1 hp/HD; two claw attacks that each deal 1d4 points of damage (for Medium creatures); amphibious.

Rebuild Rules: Type gain the aquatic and deep one subtypes; AC natural armor increases by 1; Speed swim speed equal to base land speed; Melee two claw attacks that each deal 1d4 points of damage (for Medium creatures); Special Qualities amphibious; Ability Scores +2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Wis.