Crawling Claw

Every crawling claw is the animated hand or paw of some once-living creature, so no two look alike. One may be fresh and fleshy, another bare bone, or anything between. Mages and priests who know the secret of making them value them as guards.

Its uncanny strength lets a claw spring up to 15 feet onto a target. Against metal armor it hammers for 1d4 points of damage; against an unarmored or leather-clad victim it clamps down in a crushing grip for 1d6. A claw ordered to strangle or gouge eyes may attempt it, with the DM judging any damage from the situation.

Death magic and raise dead do nothing to a claw, but resurrection freezes it for turns equal to the caster's level. It resists charm, sleep and hold spells as undead do, yet cannot be turned, ignores control undead and is unharmed by holy water. Edged weapons inflict half damage, and magical weapons count as unenchanted, though their to-hit bonuses still apply. Cold spells make it brittle, adding 1 point per die to damage against it.

Claws have no culture, but all claws from a single batch share a basic telepathic link: when one finds a victim, its batch-mates nearby rush in. On command they can also cooperate to move heavy objects, about five pounds per claw.

Any mage or priest who knows the method can make claws from severed hands or paws in any state of decay, up to as many at once as the maker's level. At creation the maker decides whether the batch will be programmed or directly controlled, a permanent choice that applies to the whole batch.

Programmed claws carry one brief order, at most 15 words plus one per level of the creator, setting when they attack, for instance an order to slay anyone but the maker who lifts a certain chest's lid.

Direct control works by thought out to a range of 10 feet, plus 5 more for each level of the maker. It is draining: the controller must rest a round after three in a row and can cast no spells or do anything else meanwhile. Injury does not break control unless it causes unconsciousness, and when control lapses the claws follow their last orders.