Coffer Corpse

Undead: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.

They have darkvision.

Undead have immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).

They have immunity to bleed, death effects, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.

Undead are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain.

They are immune to damage to their physical ability scores, as well as to exhaustion and fatigue effects.

Most unintelligent undead cannot heal damage on their own, although they can be healed. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures.

They have immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).

Undead are not at risk of death from massive damage, but are immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points.

They are not affected by raise dead or reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.

Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep.

The coffer corpse is an undead creature formed as the result of an incomplete death ritual. It is often found haunting stranded funeral barges or in other situations where a corpse has not been delivered to its final resting place. The creature hates life and attacks living creatures on sight. A coffer corpse appears much as it did in life. At a distance, a coffer corpse is often mistaken for a zombie.

In combat, a coffer corpse attacks with a slam attack. It attempts to grab an opponent around the throat, and if successful, the creature does not let go until either it is destroyed or the opponent is dead. Small percentages of coffer corpses carry weapons (usually either longswords or clubs) and use those in combat instead of their slam attack. Most however, rely on their natural attack as it allows them to use their death grip ability against an opponent.

A coffer corpse’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

If a coffer corpse hits with its slam, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Grab can only be used against targets of a size equal to or smaller than the coffer corpse. The coffer corpse has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a penalty to make and maintain the grapple, but does not gain the grappled condition itself. Each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals slam damage.

Creatures with the grab special attack receive a bonus on combat maneuver checks made to start and maintain a grapple.

Because the coffer corpse grasps the victim’s throat, a creature in its death grip cannot speak or cast spells with verbal components.

When a coffer corpse is struck for a significant amount of damage (whether the damage bypasses the creature’s damage reduction or not), the creature slumps to the ground, seemingly destroyed. If it has fastened its death grip on a victim, it releases its hold when it falls. Necromancers can better see through the ruse. Then the coffer corpse rises again as if reanimated, triggering its fear ability.

A creature viewing a coffer corpse rise may become panicked. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Only magic and bludgeoning weapons overcome a coffer corpse’s damage reduction.

A coffer corpse is less easily affected by clerics or paladins.