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monstersdownthepath · 15 days ago

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Monster Spotlight: Gogiteth

CR 12

Chaotic Evil Large Aberration

Kingmaker Bestiary, pg. 34-35

"Wait a dang second here!" You shout, holding up your copy of 2e's Monster Core and flipping to page 177, "This is a 2nd Edition monster!"

Correct! It was. Shortly after its terrifying debut in 2e, the Gogiteth was one of a treasured handful of monsters to be officially backported to 1e via the updated Kingmaker Bestiary for 1st Edition, a treasure trove which--as of this article's posting--has not been added onto the Archives of Nethys since it was released back in 2022. I've been waiting patiently for the AoN to update, but it looks like we may just not get the gems hidden within the Kingmaker's Bestiary on the official site! So you're going to have to just trust me that I'm not exaggerating anything about these monstrosities.

Straight out of a horror movie where an unseen menace picks off a party of delicious fools one by one, Gogiteth (which I will shorten to Gogi (pronounced goh-jee) from now on) inhabit the lightless tunnels of the Darklands, where their array of spiderlike limbs allows them to easily clamber across any surface and the countless jelly-like eyeballs across their body let them peer in every direction at once in search of prey. They're said to make cracking and popping noises with every jagged, skittering movement of their body, but this is actually for communicative purposes with other Gogis, alongside their strangely human whistling. Once they find a trail to follow (+23 to Survival) or otherwise detect prey, they can stop making any noise at ALL, going from a chorus of bony cracks to dead silent and creeping along with nary a whisper from their chitin rubbing together. All the better to get the drop on prey.

As for what they consider "prey," the list can be conservatively summed up as "everything." Gogi feed readily on anything that enters their sensory radius, ripping apart both flora and fauna with deceptively sharp claws and a bouquet of mouths... mouths which, if you zoom in really close on the picture, you'll note have dental arrangements worryingly close to those of a human. Being eaten alive by one of these things likely feels closer to being torn apart by zombies than anything else, and I want you to keep that in mind for no particular reason other than that if I had to think about it, you should too.

Statistically, Gogis are very plain, and serve a very obvious purpose: kidnapper encounters. They follow more or less the same script every encounter: walk up, bite, Grab, and drag away to finish off. If your party is facing one or more, you can safely bet they'll be doing exactly that pretty much every time. The problem is that they'll likely be doing it from ambush, and they'll be doing it so fast the party may not be able to react before some poor Rogue or Wizard is dragged screaming into the darkness! Gogi move at 40ft a round and can climb at 30ft, and their unique Carry Off Prey ability lets them move at full speed so long as they're not grappling anything bigger than themselves, which can lead to anyone unable to break the grapple being dragged straight up a cavern wall. And we all know what happens after: they get dragged into a crevice, and then a fountain of blood and ambiguous gore starts blasting out.

I mean, the best case scenario is that they break out of the grapple and only take 2d6 or 3d6 damage from the fall!

A Gogi's bite deals 4d6+7 damage and, as mentioned, Grabs anyone it hits. With a +25 to its grapple checks, it's going to take some serious muscle power (or Freedom of Movement) to break the thing's grip before its next round, where it will not only deal an additional 4d6+7 Constrict damage, but use Carry Off Prey to begin its retreat. Despite their wretched appearance, Gogi are actually intelligent ambush predators and behave with potentially frustrating realism once they've got prey in their mouths, fleeing at top speed with their meal rather than staying and fighting multiple foes at once. To this end, they also have Skittering Reposition, an ability that lets them move 10ft in any direction once per round when anything gets too close to them, no doubt thwarting the flurry of lethal attacks the Fighter or Barbarian was about to deliver.

Their bite is their main threat, being their highest damage attack with Grab and Constrict to make it worse, but they CAN slash with their two frontal claws for 1d6+7 damage each if forced to stand and make a Full-Attack, bu their claws are unlikely to come out in any situation but the use of their Skittering Assault. This attack is a standard action they can perform at will, moving up to 80ft in any combination of directions they desire and making a claw attack against up to three different targets. This Assault is most useful when they're fighting alongside their packmates, darting in and out of the enemy formation to deal minor damage but, more importantly, exhaust everyone's Attacks of Opportunity for the round so the Gogi closer to the end of the initiative order can leap in to kidnap and dispatch a few choice victims without fearing reprisal. Again, they're more intelligent than they look, and they even have their own language to help coordinate their assaults, using a series of communicative joint cracks and discordant whistles to keep the swarm fighting at peak efficiency.

While exposing yourself to 5 or 6 AoOs around might not SEEM intelligent, Gogi have the Mobility feat to help alleviate that danger to themselves. They have the tall order of 28 AC (32 against AoOs) despite their size! But thankfully, they have some severe weaknesses: aside from All-Around Vision, they have no defensive abilities or immunities (besides poison, which is more to let them feed without fear than it is to let them fight), falling easily if cornered and Full-Attacked by a buffed martial, shot from afar by a ranged attacker, or simply blown to smithereens by a mage. Just be wary that killing one doesn't mean the end, you need to reduce the pack to at least half its starting size before the rest consider this meal too tough and flee! ... If only to return, hours later, while the party sleeps.

The fact that these creatures, CR 12 on their own, are noted to be pack hunters and that seeing one of them is a sure sign there's a nest of them somewhere nearby makes me sympathize with every Darklands dweller whose first and only stress response is "fight." if you could, at any point, be vertically kidnapped by a spider from an insomniac's sketchbook and chewed to pieces before you even had a chance to realize you were dying, you might be a little punchy too.

You can read their 2e statblock here, because their 1e statblock does not appear to exist online. You can read the Creature Codex's take on them here, though!

#monster spotlight #cr 11 to 15 #body horror #gore #trypophobia #insects #bugs #ask to tag #pathfinder #dungeons and dragons

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thecreaturecodex · 3 years ago

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Gogiteth

[The folks at Paizo were proud enough of the gogiteth for it to be one of the spotlight monsters when they were promoting the release of Pathfinder 2nd Edition, and it was one of the first 2e original monsters to get its own miniature]

Gogiteth CR 12 CE Aberration This skittering horror has eyes clustered around its bony body like warts. Five mouths sit at its apex, each of them slavering and filled with human like teeth. It has long spidery legs, each tipped in a jagged claw, that pop and creak as it moves.

Gogiteths are sometimes called “skittering horrors”, and resemble a parody of a monstrous insect or spider. Their origins are unknown—some believe them to be a fleshwarping experiment gone awry, whereas others think that they are a refugee or pest having fled from the Dominion of the Black. Gogiteths are dangerous enough on their own, but are social creatures that hunt in packs in order to chase down and devour enormous prey.

In combat, a gogiteth is always on the move. They are adept at attacking on the run, and can move remarkably quickly even with a captured prey item (like a humanoid). Although their joints pop and crack as they move, this appears to be something of an affectation, as the gogiteth can suppress the sound by concentration. They make odd, whistling cries when triumphant, and choruses of these horrible songs echo through the lightless depths.

A gogiteth hive is dangerous enough that traditional enemies, like duergar and drow, will call a truce to eradicate it. These hives are littered with the broken scraps of gogiteth kills, and the treasures they once carried are often piled in central locations. It is unclear of whether gogiteths value treasure as such, but they enjoy the noises that coins and gems make sliding along each other, and musical instruments are greatly prized (albeit badly damaged when the monsters are done with them).

Gogiteth CR 12 XP 19,200 CE Large aberration Init +3; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., Perception +10 Defense AC 27, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural) hp 161 (17d8+85) Fort +9, Ref +15, Will +11; evasion Immune poison Defensive Abilities skittering stride Offense Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft. Melee bite +17 (2d10+6 plus grab), 3 claws +17 (2d6+6/19-20) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (5 ft. with bite) Special Attacks constrict (1d10+9), mobile grappler, skittering assault Statistics Str 23, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 10 Base Atk +12; CMB +21 (+25 grapple); CMD 35 (51 vs. trip) Feats Acrobatic Steps, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Critical (claw), Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Spring AttackB, Stealthy, Toughness Skills Acrobatics +12 (+16 when jumping), Climb +21, Escape Artist +14, Perception +10, Stealth +10, Survival +10 Languages Aklo (cannot speak) Ecology Environment underground Organization solitary, pair, pack (3-6) or hive (7-24) Treasure standard Special Abilities Mobile Grappler (Ex) A gogiteth can move its full speed when making a combat maneuver check to move a grappled opponent. Skittering Assault (Ex) A gogiteth gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat. When it uses the Spring Attack feat, it can make up to three claw attacks, but it must move at least five feet between each attack, and all of its attacks must target different creatures. Skittering Stride (Ex) When a gogiteth takes a 5 foot step, it can choose to move 10 feet. This movement still does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

#gogiteth #aberration #gore tw #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder 2e

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