Humanoid Skeleton CR 1/3

XP 135

N Medium undead

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Spot +0

Defense

AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 Dex)

hp 4 (1d8)

Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +2

DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +2 (1d4+2)

Statistics

Str 15, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 10

Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14

Feats Improved Initiative^B

Gear none

Ecology

Environment any

Organization any

Treasure none

Skeletons are the animated bones of the dead, brought to unlife through the agency of a decayed soul invited back from a spiritual plane. A skeleton is mindless, but the decayed soul within allows it to follow simple commands and use weapons and armor. Uncontrolled skeletons tend to mindlessly attack all living creatures.

Creating a Skeleton

The base skeleton described above is but one example — there are many varieties of skeletons. These boney undead can arise spontaneously, especially where death energies are strong. Humanoid skeletons can be created by priests using the animate dead spell. Nonhumanoid skeletons can be created by arcanists using the animate skeleton spell.

“Skeleton” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

Challenge Rating: Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:

HD	CR	XP
1/2	1/6	65
1	1/3	135
2–3	1	400
4–5	2	600
6–7	3	800
8–9	4	1,200
10–11	5	1,600
12–14	6	2,400
15–17	7	3,200
18–20	8	4,800

Alignment: Neutral.

Type: The creature's type changes to undead. It retains any subtype except for alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as giant). It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus changes as follows:

Skeleton Size	Natural Armor Bonus
Tiny or smaller	+0
Small	+1
Medium or Large	+2
Huge	+3
Gargantuan	+6
Colossal	+10

Hit Dice: A skeleton drops any HD gained from class levels and changes racial HD to d8s. Creatures without racial HD are treated as if they have 1 racial HD. If the creature has more than 20 Hit Dice, it can't be made into a skeleton by a spell. A skeleton uses its Cha modifier (instead of its Con modifier) to determine bonus hit points.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.

Defensive Abilities: A skeleton loses the base creature's defensive abilities and gains DR 5/bludgeoning and immunity to cold. It also gains all of the standard immunities and traits possessed by undead creatures.

Speed: A winged skeleton can't use its wings to fly. If the base creature flew magically, so can the skeleton. All other movement types are retained.

Attacks: A skeleton retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature, except for attacks that can't work without flesh. A creature with hands gains one claw attack per hand; the skeleton can strike with each of its claw attacks at its full attack bonus. A claw attack deals damage depending on the skeleton's size (see Natural Attacks). If the base creature already had claw attacks with its hands, use the skeleton claw damage only if it's better.

Special Attacks: A skeleton retains none of the base creature's special attacks.

Abilities: A skeleton's Dexterity increases by +2. It has no Constitution or Intelligence score, and its Wisdom and Charisma scores change to 10.

BAB: A skeleton's base attack bonus is equal to 3/4 of its Hit Dice.

Skills: A skeleton loses all skill ranks possessed by the base creature and gains none of its own.

Feats: A skeleton loses all feats possessed by the base creature and gains Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

Special Qualities: A skeleton loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks.

Environment: Any, usually the same as base creature.

Organization: Any.

Treasure: Generally none, although sometimes a skeleton's creator arms it with magical armor or weapons.

Variant Skeletons

Numerous variant skeletons exist, such as those whose bones burn with an unending fire and those who drip with blood and reassemble themselves over time. Both of these variant skeletons can be created using animate dead, but they count as twice their normal number of Hit Dice per casting. Once controlled, they count normally against the controller's limit.

Each of the following skeleton types modifies the base skeleton in a few key ways. Except as noted, these variations can be stacked with one another—it's possible to have a bloody burning skeletal champion.

Bloody Skeleton

A bloody skeleton is coated in a slick layer of blood infused with negative energy. This allows the skeleton to reform and heal itself. In addition to the changes for the skeleton template, make the following adjustments to the base creature.

Challenge Rating: As a normal skeleton + 1.

Fast Healing: A bloody skeleton has fast healing equal to 1 per 2 Hit Dice it possesses (minimum 1).

Saves: A bloody skeleton gains channel resistance +4.

Abilities: A bloody skeleton's Charisma is 14.

Special Qualities: A bloody skeleton gains the deathless special quality.

Deathless (Su): A bloody skeleton is destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points, but it returns to unlife 1 hour later at 1 hit point, allowing its fast healing thereafter to resume healing it. A bloody skeleton can be permanently destroyed if it is destroyed by positive energy, if it is reduced to 0 hit points in the area of a bless or hallow spell, or if its remains are sprinkled with a vial of holy water.

Burning Skeleton

A burning skeleton is surrounded by an aura of flames that deals fire damage to those it strikes. In addition to the changes for the skeleton template, make the following adjustments to the base creature.

Challenge Rating: As a normal skeleton + 1.

Aura: Burning skeletons possess a fiery aura.

Fiery Aura (Ex): Creatures adjacent to a burning skeleton take 1d6 points of fire damage at the start of their turn. Anyone striking a burning skeleton with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of fire damage.

Defensive Abilities: Burning skeletons lose their immunity to cold but gain immunity to fire. A burning skeleton gains vulnerability to cold damage.

Melee Attacks: A burning skeleton's melee attacks (including both those made with a natural weapon and those made with a manufactured weapon) deal an additional 1d6 points of fire damage.

Abilities: A burning skeleton's Charisma is 12.

Special Qualities: A burning skeleton gains fiery ending.

Fiery Ending (Su): A burning skeleton explodes into a burst of flame when it dies. Anyone adjacent to the skeleton when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 Hit Dice the skeleton possessed (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the skeleton's Hit Dice + the skeleton's Cha bonus) halves this damage.