Penanggalan

Level 5
Creature· aberrationMediumRemaster
AC
22
HP
85
Speed
0 ft.
Perception
+11
Fort
+9
Ref
+16
Will
+11
Weaknesses slashing 5
Languages aklo, common
Senses darkvision
Skills deception +14, stealth +14, athletics +12, intimidation +12
Other Speeds fly 40 ft.
Recall Knowledge DC 20 (occultism)

Attacks

Melee Proboscis Tongue +15 (finesse), Damage 2d6+5 piercing
Melee Entrails +13, Damage 2d4+5 bludgeoning

Abilities

Spewing Bile

When the penanggalan takes slashing damage, their wound spews bile on adjacent creatures, dealing 2d10 poison damage (DC 19 fortitude save).

The penanggalan loses their spewing bile and penanggalan bile abilities until the end of their next turn.

Constrict

(2d4+3)[bludgeoning], DC 21 fortitude


Elongate Tongue

The penanggalan's tongue extends, the membrane stretching and becoming translucent. Until the end of the turn, the penanggalan's proboscis tongue Strikes have a 10-foot reach, and any target is Off-Guard against the Strike unless it has a Perception DC of 22 or higher or the ability to precisely sense Invisible things.

Penanggalan Bile

Rest doesn't decrease the drained value from penanggalan bile

Saving Throw DC 19 fortitude


Stage 1 Drained 1 (1 week)

Stage 2 Drained 2 (1 week)

Stage 3 Drained 3 (1 week)

Stage 4 dead

Ride Corpse◆◆◆

The penanggalan inserts their entrails into their humanoid body, allowing them to appear as and move about like a normal human. The body has 10 Hit Points and the same defenses as the penanggalan.

When the body is destroyed, the penanggalan is ejected unharmed. The body becomes a corpse, and if it is neither controlled by the penanggalan nor stored in an alchemical vat, it decays as normal.

Grab

Penanggalans feed on the blood and entrails of the young. When their cannibalistic hunger strikes, penanggalans bathe their bodies in an alchemical substance that smells like vinegar. Once submerged in the concoction, their neck rips from side to side, allowing their head to float upward and pull out their lungs, stomach, and intestines. They leave their bodies in the vinegar bath much like a molting crab leaves its old shell, then fly off to find a victim filled with blood and guts.

As grotesque as these creatures are when hungry, the penanggalan appears young and healthy while wearing their body. Such is the nature of their existence: they consorted with otherworldy beings, gaining a lifetime of youth in exchange for an evil hunger for the young. But they are not immortal. They age and die normally like the people they once were-they just retain their youthfulness throughout this existence.

It can be difficult to spot a penanggalan among the populace. The faint scar ringing their neck at the point of separation can be explained away as a blemish, and it can be hidden under a flashy necklace. Meanwhile the faint, sour scent of a penanggalan's preserved body, while peculiar, is not uncommon in the sweaty tropics they frequent.