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[Gorbash Kazdar]

H.7
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ARCANOMUTANT
Arcanomutant is an acquired or inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). An arcanomutant uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to aberration.

Attack
An arcanomutant with a stinger can make one stinger attack in addition to any other attacks the base creature could normally make. This attack is always a secondary natural attack and takes a -5 penalty to the attack roll and adds ½ Strength bonus on damage rolls. Arcanomutants with stingers and fighting without weapons typically use a preferred natural weapon to attack instead of the stinger, unless it does not have any other natural attacks. Arcanomutants that fight with weapons use the weapon attack instead.

An arcanomutant with tentacles can make two tentacle attacks in addition to any other attacks the base creature could normally make. An arcanomutant with tentacles and fighting without weapons use a tentacle when making an attack action, unless it has another natural attack it prefers. Arcanomutants that fight with weapons use the weapon attack instead.

Full Attack
An arcanomutant with a stinger uses it when making a full attack, in addition to any other natural or weapon attacks the base creature has.

An arcanomutant with tentacles and fighting without weapons uses both tentacles in a full attack action, plus any other natural attacks the base creature has. If armed with a weapon, it uses its weapon as its primary attack and its tentacles as secondary natural attacks (-5 penalty to the attack rolls, adds ½ Strength bonus on damage rolls).

Damage
An arcanomutant with a stinger or tentacles (see below) deals damage as shown in the table below; damage is piercing for a stinger and bludgeoning for a tentacle. An arcanomutant with a stinger also adds its poison (see below).

{table=head]Size |Stinger/Tentacle Damage |Reach
Fine |1 |0 ft.
Diminutive |1 |0 ft.
Tiny |1d2 |0 ft.
Small |1d3 |5 ft.
Medium |1d4 |5 ft.
Large |1d6 |10 ft.
Huge |1d8 |15 ft.
Gargantuan |2d6 |20 ft.
Colossal |3d6 |30 ft.[/table]
Special qualities

• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• +2 to saves against poisons and diseases. This stacks with any other bonuses to these saves the base creature already has.
• Additionally, an arcanomutant gains one of the following traits (roll 1d6 to determine randomly). All of these abilities are considered Extraordinary.
  
  • Amorphous anatomy: The creature’s body becomes somewhat amorphous, with the functions of some internal organs being spread out through the body, making it harder for them to be severely damaged. The creature has a 10% chance to be immune to a critical hit, sneak attack, or similar ability based on precision damage.
  • Antennae: Two, or sometimes four, antennae grow from above the creature’s eyes, granting it additional senses. The appearance of the antennae usually resembles those of a moth, but other styles are common as well. The creature gains blindsight out to 5ft.
  • Chitinous skin: The creature grows a partial exoskeleton, usually of insect-like chitin, grainting a +2 bonus to natural armor.
  • Compound eyes: The creature’s eyes become like those of an insect. This grants a +2 bonus to Search and Spot checks and low-light vision. Additionally, the creature gains a +2 bonus to saves against gaze attacks.
  • Extra eyes: The creature grows additional eyes, usually on its head, but occasionally on other body parts as well. Attackers that flank the creature do not gain any bonus to their attack rolls against it, thought it is still considered flanked for other purposes. Additionally, the creature gains a +2 bonus to Spot checks, but takes a -2 penalty to saves against gaze attacks.
  • Stinger: The creature grows a tail that ends in a poisonous stinger. The stinger usually resembles that of a scorpion, but this varies greatly from creature to creature. The stinger can be used to make piercing attacks (see above), and to deliver a paralyzing poison. It deals initial and secondary damage of paralysis. The DC is 11 plus the creatures Constitution modifier. An arcanomutant produces enough poison to deliver one poisonous sting per day.
  • Tentacles: The creature grows two long, flexible tentacles. The location of these tentacles varies from arcanomutant to arcanomutant, as does color and general appearance, though most are squid-like. These tentacles can be used to pick up or hold objects, but not to wield weapons or hold the creature up (and thus do not aid in climbing, grappling, or similar actions). They can also be used to make bludgeoning attacks (see above).

Challenge Rating
3HD or less, as base creature +1; greater than 3HD, as base creature.

Level Adjustment
+1

[hr]
For PCs, or even to advance monsters, maybe including some feats to increase the power of the above abilities. For example, extra uses of the poison for the stinger, strong tentacles that grant a bonus to climb or grapple or similar checks, improved antennae that have a wider radius of blindsight, and so forth.

You might also want to try the half-farspawn and psuedonatural creature templates from Lords of Madness for more "advanced" mutants. The half-farspawn template in particular adds two tentacle attacks to the base creature, and both templates allows it to turn into a writing mass of tentacles 1/day. Psuedonatural creatures of 3HD or less have no CR adjustment, and from 4-11HD add +1 CR. It's not suitable for PCs, though. The half-farspawn template adds a number of other special abilities as well, so it adds a lot of LA (+4), but the CR increase is only +1 for 4HD or less, and +2 for 5-10HD. The template I have above started with the half-farspawn template for concept.