Monster Monday: Feral Hivemind, Abomination of the Gutter

Today's Monster Monday is the feral hivemind, an insidious urban aberration that uses psychic parasites to turn a city's population of feral animals into an army of mindless thralls. The feral hivemind appears to be made out of scraps of the animals that is dominates, connected by lumps of pulsing brain matter and strange alien flesh. Because few city dwellers take note of the wild animals living in their midst, a feral hivemind infestation often goes unnoticed until it is too late.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This creature is a pulsating mass of brain matter and the mismatched body parts of assorted animals

Feral Hivemind   CR 4

XP 1,200

NE Medium aberration

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +12

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +3 natural, +1 dodge)

hp 39 (6d8+12)

Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +7

Defensive Abilities Living Shield

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee bite +6 (1d8+3 plus implant parasite)

Special Attacks Summon Feral Defender

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 9

Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 19 (23 vs trip)

Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative

Skills Acrobatics +9, Climb +8, Escape Artist +13, Knowledge (local) +13, Perception +12, Stealth +13, Survival +6, Swim +12

Languages aklo; telepathy (1 mile, dominated animals only)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Implant Parasite (Ex)

As part of a bite attack, a feral hivemind can implant a psychic parasite in any creature of the animal type. That creature must make a DC 16 Will save or become mind-controlled by the feral hivemind as if by the spell dominate creature. Once a creature is dominated in this way, it uses the feral hivemind’s Will save to resist any attempts to break that enchantment. This domination is permanent until dispelled or until the feral hivemind is slain. The parasite can also be removed with remove disease and a successful DC 16 caster level check. When the feral hivemind is slain, any Small or larger creature implanted with its parasite has a 1% chance of mutating into a new feral hivemind, a process which takes 1d4+1 days.

   The feral hivemind can control the actions of all of its dominated creatures within one mile; creature’s outside of the one mile radius area of effect cannot receive any further instruction but remain dominated and continue to perform the hivemind’s last command. This is a mind-affecting enchantment effect. The save DC is Intelligence-based.

Living Shield (Su)

As an immediate action, the feral hivemind can direct any dominated animal adjacent to it to interpose itself between the hivemind and any melee or ranged attack that would otherwise hit it. This ability can be activated after the attack roll is made but before damage is determined.

Summon Feral Defender (Su)

Once per round, as a free action, a feral hivemind can psychically call one or more of its mind-controlled feral thralls to its defense. Any animals summoned in this way will fight to the death, headless of danger, to defend the feral hivemind.

   When this ability is used, roll 1d20 and consult the following chart to determine the creature(s) summoned:

1d20	Feral Defenders
1	Nothing comes this round
2-5	Cat
6-7	Skunk or raccoon
8-9	Bat swarm
10-13	Dire rat
14-17	Dog
18-19	Rat swarm
20	Roll twice

   The animal selections in the above chart may vary by GM discretion. This is not a summoning spell like summon nature’s ally, it merely calls dominated animals from nearby.

ECOLOGY

Environment urban

Organization solitary plus at least 2d6 dominated animal thralls

Treasure standard

The feral hivemind is a fearsome creature found in the sewers and forgotten warrens of large cities. Once a feral hivemind takes up residence in its lair, it begins infecting the feral animals of its urban environment with psychic parasites. Soon, it controls a small army of assorted animals to do its bidding in the city. Because its animal slaves are drawn from the local feral population, the hivemind’s presence often goes unnoticed for a long time. Feral hiveminds use their army of feral animals to lure and kill the city-dwellers which are the hivemind’s preferred food.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• As the PCs investigate a series of mysterious disappearances, they are attacked by a series of increasingly hostile and oddly single-minded feral animals.
• The PCs realize that when they slew the feral hivemind at the end of their first adventure, several of its thralls then morphed into new hiveminds and now the city is overrun.
• A feral hivemind enslaves a stable full of prized warhorses and proceeds to wreak havoc on the city.

-your estray d20 despot