Vashta Nerada

[Azreal]

I'm running a Pathfinder game, and anyone who's a fan of Doctor Who if you could help me stat them, because I wanna play mind games with them as they pass through a section of Forest.

[Segev]

Honestly, these are practically a plot-level event "creature." They operate more like a trap or environmental condition most of the time. The eventual "space suit" thing they did was creature-like, though. So you'd probably need to determine what behaviors you want to emulate and how before you can even begin to stat them up.

Disintegration traps would be a good place to start, though, I think.

[Azreal]

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Vashta_Nerada

For those of you who aren't familiar with them.

[Ionbound]

Well, the obvious thing would be a brew swarm creature of some kind. Maybe a Fort or Ref save or die if you're standing in it?

[Azreal]

Honestly, these are practically a plot-level event "creature." They operate more like a trap or environmental condition most of the time. The eventual "space suit" thing they did was creature-like, though. So you'd probably need to determine what behaviors you want to emulate and how before you can even begin to stat them up.

Disintegration traps would be a good place to start, though, I think.

I was thinking more they'd possess a body and eat it from inside out, with the two shadows being a by product. So the spacesuit option factoring they'd basically be operating a skin shell.

But I guess they would have to hit the traps in the first place to start that chain.

[Fax Celestis]

Bloodmote Swarm, maybe?

[Phelix-Mu]

Homebrew a mashup of agony beetle swarm and vivacious creature template (Planar Handbook?). Refluff for them to look like shadows and have some Intelligence and so forth to fit the specifics from the show. Vivacious creature is mainly to render them incorporeal, so toss the rest of it if it doesn't fit (also, swarms probably aren't valid creatures for that template...so ignore that).

Agony Beetles, courtesy of Athas.org (I believe):
Agony Beetle Swarm: CR 13; Medium vermin
(swarm); HD 16d8+64; hp 136; Init +3; Spd 5 ft., fly
20 ft. (good); AC 21, touch 21, flat-footed 18; Base
Atk +12; Grp -9; Atk Swarm (4d6 plus agony); Full
Atk Swarm (4d6 plus agony); SA agony, distraction;
SQ darkvision 60 ft., immune to weapon damage,
vermin traits; AL N; SV Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +5;
Str 1, Dex 17, Con 19, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1.
Skills: Move Silently +8.
Feats: —.
Agony (Su): Agony beetles attach painful
tendrils to their victims. A creature that takes
damage from an agony beetle swarm also suffers
indescribable pain, causing 2d6 points of temporary
Constitution damage.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins
its turn with an agony beetle swarm in its space
must succeed on a DC 22 Fortitude save or be
nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution based.

[Azreal]

Should I use the regular creature's stats when they infest a body and control it, or should there be penalties/advantages to them controlling and eating it inside out?

[Phelix-Mu]

Should I use the regular creature's stats when they infest a body and control it, or should there be penalties/advantages to them controlling and eating it inside out?

It struck me that their behavior with the bodies in the space suits was not their normal hunting technique, or even particularly useful (as their being scary is a side-effect of their existence, not something they really exploit while hunting). Of course, it is a great mechanic from dramatic perspective. You might look into assigning the creature some of the class abilities from a Fiend of Possession, in one of the appendices to Fiend Folio. Those allow creatures with those class levels to possess people and objects, from what I recall. I would go with they only possess corpses of people that they have killed (which count as an object) or perhaps other objects (like an empty suit of armour). Otherwise, they start behaving more like demons.

[Tanuki Tales]

I don't think a high CR swarm is necessary. There's nothing really special about the Vashta Nerada, except that they're invisible in shadows, can eat you and can possess corpses. And they're intelligent past a fashion.

The reason they were a threat is because there was an entire planet's worth of them.

[Keneth]

I'm pretty sure hungry darkness (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/h/hungry-darkness) combined with animate dead is the right place to start. Maybe make it a living spell.

[Azreal]

I'm pretty sure hungry darkness (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/h/hungry-darkness) combined with animate dead is the right place to start. Maybe make it a living spell.

I'm not sure about how to go about making something a living spell.

That sounds really good though.

[Tanuki Tales]

I'm not sure about how to go about making something a living spell.

That sounds really good though.

There's a template in MMIII.