Statblock Sunday (Macabre Manses): Madam Sutradhara, the Fleshdoll Masterminder

This aged human woman has frazzled gray and silver hair pulled back, bound by simple silk scarf. She wears colorful attire of mismatched patchwork clothes, yet boasts a persona of elegance and class. Her voice, though marred by age, retains a somewhat melodic tone. Standing merely four-and-a-half feet tall, she progresses with staggered, sometimes painful-looking, movements.

madam sutradharaMadam Sutradhara appears to simply be an elderly woman, friendly and inviting in, remaining soft spoken and assuming an unthreatening demeanor. However, though well disguised, she is quite insane; an evil individual who has been twisted by years of deep depression and bitter hatred. An initial DC 35 Sense Motive check upon first encountering her reveals that something is “not quite right” with her behavior, though just what that is remains indiscernible (a “gut feeling”).

Madam Sutradhara is the antagonist for this week’s Macabre Manses theme, and the creator and master of the accursed fleshdoll stage! [A magic item revealed later this week! -JAM]

Madam Sutradhara, Fleshdoll Masterminder     CR 6
XP 2,400
Female human wizard (necromancer) 7
NE Medium humanoid (human) venerable
Init -1; Perception +8

DEFENSE
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 11 (+2 deflection, -1 Dex)
hp 45 (7d6+21)
Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +8

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., staggered movement
Melee dagger +3 (1d4, Crit 19-20/x2)
Special Attacks channel negative energy (DC 14, 6/day), necrotic puppet mastery (DC 25, at will)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 7th; concentration (CMB 15)
4th—animate dead, resilient sphere
3rd—gentle repose, major image
2nd—command undead, continual flame, ghoul touch, minor image, spectral hand
1st—disguise self, floating disk, silent image, ventriloquism (4)
0th (at will)—bleed, mage hand, touch of fatigue, mending, ghost sounds
Opposition Schools enchantment, conjuration

TACTICS
Before Combat If engaged directly in combat, Madam Sutradhara flees as quickly as possible towards the cellar of the mansion where she keeps her zombies when they are not participating as an audience to one of her shows. However, if she is attacked by any of the spirits possessing her fleshdolls, she becomes agitated and continues to use her necrotic puppet mastery ability to try to force them to halt and obey her commands. If this fails, she resorts to threatening to feed the preserved bodies of the spirits to her zombie servants.
During Combat Once escaping to the cellar, the necromancer lets her 4d6 zombie servants (CR ¼) do the work while she keeps a distance from her attackers. She attempts to cast touch of fatigue upon anyone that passes into her threat range while engaging her undead servants, and if attacked directly in the cellar casts ghoul touch (if available) or draws and attacks with her dagger. Madam Sutradhara uses her channel negative energy ability to attempt to heal her zombie servants as needed during the battle; when her zombie servants are all destroyed, she goes insane, frothing at the mouth, and falls to the ground (becoming prone) as she screams screams obscenities at her attackers.
Morale Once Madam Sutradhara collapses in enraged despair, she can either be killed outright or left there screaming upon the floor. She does not give chase to her attackers if they leave, but does not assist them in any way—choosing to instead spit upon and scream at them if they approach her.

STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 15
Base Atk +3, CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Combat Casting, Command Undead, Craft Wondrous Item, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Scribe Scrolls, Spell Focus (necromancy), Toughness
Skills Appraise +9, Healing +6, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (Arcana) + 13, Knowledge (History) +14, Knowledge (Planes) +13, Knowledge (Religion +7), Linguistics +7, Perception +8, Perform (puppetry) +10, Spellcraft +13
Languages Common, Elf, Halfling
SQ perverse puppeteer’s bond (fleshdoll stage), undetectable alignment (magic amulet)
Combat Gear dagger Other Gear ring of protection +2, amulet of undetectable alignment (CL 8th, moderate abjuration), scrolls of gentle repose (3, CL 3rd), a surgeons toolkit, an iron bone saw, a pouch containing 47 small  onyx marbles 25gp each, a small crystal sphere 15 gp,  130gp of mundane equipment and crafting supplies, a stocked spell component pouch [a vial of ruby dust 100 gp, a small jar of salt, a splintered human metacarpal, strips of raw human flesh (2), a handful of dirt (from a graveyard), a roll of fleece gauze, a thin vial of quicksilver (mercury, 10 gp), and 2 blank pieces of parchment], bedraggled entertainers outfit, 60 gp, 5 sp, 28 cp

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Necrotic Puppet Mastery (Su) A spirit trapped within one of Madam Sutradhara’s fleshdolls is compelled to adhere to her will by a supernatural force. She controls their movements at will, and can control up to 12 fleshdolls simultaneously. This effect can be negated for 1d4 rounds by successfully making a DC 17 Will save.
Perverse Puppeteer’s Bond (Su) An effect caused by the curse of the fleshdoll stage. As long as Madam Sutradhara remains alive, the spirits bound to her fleshdolls cannot escape their puppet prisons nor willingly travel further than 100 ft. from the stage itself. A fleshdoll that attempts to move further than 100 ft. from the fleshdoll stage suffers 1d4 points of Charisma damage per round until they return to within 100 ft. of the stage. If Madam Sutradhara dies, then the stage is destroyed and the spirits trapped inside the fleshdolls return to their bodies (which have been preserved at a nearby location by gentle repose as per the requirements for activation of the fleshdoll stage) in 2d6 minutes.

 

[Graphics and Content by AaWBlog Regular Justin Andrew Mason!]
Note on Artwork: Source image for transformative artwork for Madam Sutradhara is “An Old Woman (Study)” by Girolamo Nerli (c. 1880), oil on canvas. This work is in the public domain. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Girolamo_Nerli_-_An_old_woman_%28study%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)

 

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