Greater Animator

A greater animator possesses something large or larger, typically an entire building or a great ship, and torments everyone inside with bizarre manifestations and a battery of potent spell-like powers. Nobody sees the spirit itself; its victims see only the haunted structure come alive around them.

Once a day it can make itself understood, always in some lurid way, such as bloody letters seeping from a wall. A message can run to as many words as the spirit has Hit Dice and is never a real attempt at conversation, only threats and outbursts of the dark feelings it feeds on. Magical or psionic contact with its mind fails, demands a madness check, and also forces a save vs. spell to avoid being dominated as if by a domination spell.

It can work every moving part of its host with Strength 19, equal to a hill giant's. Doors slam on people with crushing force, and a possessed ship can wrench the wheel around to steer wherever it likes, however hard the helmsman fights it. A direct blow generally deals 1d12, and circumstances can raise that or add a save: a lookout in the crow's-nest clipped by a swinging spar may need a save or an ability check to keep from falling to the deck.

As a 12th-level caster it can use each of these twice a day: cantrip, summon insects, summon swarm, control winds, control temperature 10' radius, weather summoning, animate object and animate dead. Animate object works only on things that belong to its domain, such as the furniture and utensils of a house, never gear the adventurers brought in. Animate dead raises skeletons and corpses buried under it or anyone who dies within it.

Like all animators it shrugs off any spell or attack aimed at the mind or body, including charm, hold and poison. Its other weaknesses depend on what its host is made of.

Greater animators are as temperamental as their smaller kin but less sly about their cruelty, preferring to smash and overwhelm enemies with raw strength and spells.

It lives on strong emotions like every animator, but its hunger is greater, so it often goes to elaborate lengths to terrify its victims before killing them.