The following is a 3.5 update of a monster from a sourcebook on necromancy, revised from an earlier attempt. The following text is Open Game Content:
This creature has the shape and gait of a man, but its horrible red face is nothing but exposed flesh and muscle, as if all its skin had been ripped or torn away.
Often NE Medium undead
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +3, Spot +3
Aura grisly face (30-ft. radius, DC 19)
Languages Common, Elven, Dwarven
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 19
(+1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 68 (10 HD)
Immune undead traits
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +8
Spd 40 ft. (8 squares)
Melee slam +10 (1d6+7)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +5; Grp +10
Special Actions black touch 4/day (+6 ranged touch, 5d6), rebuke undead 7/day (+6, 2d6+14 HD, 10th)
Typical Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th) 1/day—animate dead, bestow curse (+10 melee touch, DC 18), chill touch (+10 melee touch, DC 15), death knell (DC 16), disrupt undead (+6 ranged touch, DC 14), enervation (+6 ranged touch), ghoul touch (+10 melee touch, DC 16), quickened ray of enfeeblement (+6 ranged touch), touch of fatigue (+10 melee touch, DC 14), vampiric touch (+10 melee touch)
Abilities Str 20, Dex 12, Con –, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 19
SQ dying energies (DC 19, 1d8+10), spell-like abilities
Feats Alertness, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (ray of enfeeblement), Toughness
Skills Concentration +17, Hide +14, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (religion) +15, Spellcraft +15, Use Magic Device +17 (+19 using scrolls)
Advancement 11–20 HD (Medium)
Black Touch (Sp) A flayed man can fire a ray 4 times per day as a ranged touch attack with a range of 50 ft. A successful hit does 5d6 points of negative energy damage. Since undead are powered by negative energy, this effect heals any undead struck of as much damage as it would deal.
Dying Energies (Su) When a flayed man is reduced to 0 hit points or less it releases a burst of negative energy in all directions with itself as the center point. The circular effect has a 20 ft. radius and inflicts 1d8+10 damage; DC 19 Will save for half. The save DC is Charisma-based. Since undead are powered by negative energy, this effect heals any undead within the area of effect of as much damage as it would deal.
Grisly Face (Su) A flayed man’s horrific appearance and seemingly normal voice and demeanor are extremely unnerving. Creatures within 30 feet that view a flayed man are affected as if by a fear spell from a 10th-level caster (Will DC 19 partial). Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected again by the same flayed man’s grisly face ability for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting, fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Spell-Like Abilities A flayed man is created with the ability to use eight different spells as spell-like abilities (two each of levels 0 through 4th), each one once per day. These spells can vary and are either arcane spells from the necromancy school or divine spells from the Death domain. The save DCs are Charisma-based. The caster level is equal to the flayed man’s HD.
Rebuke Undead (Su) A flayed man rebukes undead as a cleric of level equal to its HD.
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can learn more about flayed men. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 17 | Flayed men are undead spellcasters that retain the ability to use necromantic spell-like abilities. |
| 23 | The mere appearance of a flayed man is enough to induce terror in onlookers. |
| 27 | Flayed men have strong ties to the Negative Energy Plane and are able to cast rays of pure negative energy. |
| 32 | Destroying a flayed man results in a dangerous blast of negative energy. |
Flayed men are among the rarest of undead creatures, created from the body of a dead spellcaster who in life was devoted to death and necromancy.
A flayed man uses its link to the Negative Energy Plane both intelligently and ruthlessly to destroy the living, especially other spellcasters. It initially fights from the rear with its spell-like abilities behind a wall of lesser undead, then engages in melee when its spells run out.
A flayed man is normally encountered alone or with its undead minions.
The Returned Master (EL 7): The long-abandoned residence of an infamous necromancer has recently become the haunt of a flayed man, which uses a network of secret passages to terrorize the new tenants.
The process for creating a flayed man requires that the body first be skinned, revealing the musculature underneath, and then treated to prevent quick decay.
Typical Physical Characteristics: The bones and muscles of a flayed man are all visible; every twitch and smile is grisly to watch. It can still speak in its former voice and gesture as fluidly as a living creature. As a consequence of its creation process, the flayed man’s touch and footprints are not bloody; a flayed man does not bleed.
Environment: A flayed man may be found in any location that might have been the haunt of a living necromancer.
A flayed man retains much of its former intelligence but is controlled by forces of darkness and seeks to destroy all living things. A flayed man is an even more powerful conduit for energies from the Negative Energy Plane as an undead creature than it was as a living spellcaster; it suffers none of the limitations of the flesh.
A flayed man can speak all languages known in life, typically Common, Elven, and Dwarven.
Alignment: A flayed man is always any evil alignment.
A flayed man has standard treasure for its Challenge Rating, about 2,600 gp. A flayed man is drawn to the same sort of items it may have coveted in life.
Standard Treasure: 4,000 sp, 2 black pearls (500 gp each), ivory statuette of a death goddess (500 gp), potion of invisibility, scroll of lightning bolt.
As flayed men advance in Hit Dice, they gain additional spell-like abilities, as detailed in the following table:
| HD | CR | Additional Spell-Like Abilities |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 7 | – |
| 12–13 | 8 | 2 5th-level spells |
| 14–15 | 9 | 2 6th-level spells |
| 16–17 | 11 | 2 7th-level spells |
| 18–19 | 12 | 2 8th-level spells |
| 20 | 13 | 2 9th-level spells |