Seven Spooky Skeletons - Jack of Flame

Seven Spooky Skeletons is a short series running until Halloween, showcasing a different unique skeletal villain each night.

Tonight's Spooky Skeleton is Jack of Flame, a skeletal sorcerer of fire who can teleport by throwing his explosive jack-o-lantern head.

The following text is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2017 Jonah Bomgaars.

This skeleton, bearing a scythe, has a devilishly carved jack-o-lantern in place of a skull. Tongues of fire trail from the mouth and eye-holes as he moves forward to attack.

Jack of Flame       CR 6

XP 2,400

Human skeletal champion sorcerer 9

NE Size undead (fire)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11

Special special

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +1 dodge, +4 mage armor)

hp 95 (9d6+2d8+55)

Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +11; +4 channel resistance

DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, fire, undead traits

Vulnerability vulnerability

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 scythe +7/+2 (2d4+1 plus 1d6 fire/x4)

Ranged mwk dart +10/+5 (1d4 plus 1d6 fire) 20ft.

Special Attacks elemental blast (1/day, 9d6 fire, 20 ft. radius, DC 19 Reflex halves), elemental ray (8/day, 1d6+4 fire, 30 ft. ray), fiery teleportation (1/hour, 5d6 fire; see text)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11^th)

   1/day – vomit centipede swarm

Spells Prepared (CL 9^th)

2   4^th (5/day; DC 19) – bestow curse, dragon’s breath, elemental body I^B,

3   3^rd (7/day; DC 18) – fireball, flame arrow, fly, protection from energy^B,

4   2^nd (7/day; DC 17) – burning gaze, fire breath, flaming sphere, pyrotechnics, scorching ray^B,

5   1^st (8/day; DC 16) – burning disarm, burning hands^B, cause fear, enlarge person, grease, mage armor

8   cantrips (at will; DC 15) – acid splash, bleed, dancing lights, daze, ghost sound, mage hand, mending, spark

Bloodline elemental (fire)

BASE STATISTICS

Without mage armor, Jack of Flame’s armor class is: AC 16, flat-footed 12

STATISTICS

Str 11, Dex 16, Con --, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 20

Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 19

Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Dodge, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials^B, Improved Initiative^B, Lightning Reflexes^B, Martial Weapon Proficiency (scythe), Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (ray)

Skills Bluff +13, Fly +8, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcane) +7, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +11, Profession (farmer) +16, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +10, Use Magic Device +10

Languages Common, Ignan

SQ bloodline arcana (spontaneously change spell’s energy damage type to fire), soul of fire

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Soul of Fire (Su)

Jack of Flame is immune to fire, and all weapons wielded by him deal an additional 1d6 points of fire damage.

Fiery Teleportation (Su)

Once per hour, as a standard action, Jack of Flame can teleport by throwing his jack-o-lantern head. He makes a ranged touch attack against a square of his choosing with a range increment of 20 feet. If the attack fails, the jack-o-lantern lands in a different square 5 ft./range increment away (roll 1d8 to determine the direction). Upon landing, the jack-o-lantern explodes in a blast of fire, dealing 5d6 points of fire damage to all creatures in the target square and in each adjacent square. Creatures succeeding on a DC 20 Reflex save take only half damage.

   Jack of Flame then appears in the target square, his jack-o-lantern head restored to his rejuvenated skeletal body. His old headless body crumples to dust. Teleporting in this way ends any ongoing effects affecting Jack of Flame (except those caused by spells that Jack of Flame cast) and restores any ability score damage or lost limbs, though his HP remains the same. The save DC for this effect is Charisma-based.

Vomit Centipede Swarm (Sp)

Jack of Flame can vomit a swarm of centipedes from his jack-o-lantern mouth as a standard action once per day. This spell functions as the spell vomit swarm, but it produces a centipede swarm instead of a spider swarm, and the centipede swarm is immune to fire.

ECOLOGY

Treasure NPC gear (+1 scythe, 6x mwk darts, 4x flasks of alchemist’s fire, potion of inflict moderate wounds (CL 5^th), wand of entangle (CL 3^rd; 22 uses remaining), other treasure)

This otherwise unassuming skeleton is missing its skull. In its place is a jack-o-lantern carved with a wicked grin and full of unending fire. In life, this man was a lonely farmer, shunned as a firebug and arsonist by his community. He never learned how to control his sorcerous powers, but he was encouraged by mischievous fire spirits. Some stories say his fires saved his village during a particularly harsh winter, but they went back to shunning him as soon as Spring came. Other stories tell of a lost love and a hunger for vengeance. Whatever the case, all agree that Jack’s rampage began at his village’s harvest festival. His flames engulfed the entire town, burning all within. One brave farmer, his name lost to the ages, used his dying strength to behead Jack with a scythe – the very scythe which Jack now carries, permanently marked by the nick left by Jack’s neck bones. From the ashes of that deadly fire rose Jack of Flame, the pumpkin-headed firebrand, a spirit of vengeance and cruelty. He knows little of subtlety – what a little fire won’t solve, a lot of fire just might. 

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-your fifth spooky d20 despot