Gumiho
Level 17Attacks
Abilities
Any creature that converses with a gumiho must attempt a DC 35 will save. The creature then becomes temporarily immune for 24 hours. Critical Success The target is unaffected but knows the gumiho tried to charm it. Success The target is unaffected. Failure The target is affected by the failure effects of 4th-rank Charm. Critical Failure The target is affected by the failure effects of Dominate.
The gumiho changes into humanoid or fox shape. Their humanoid shape has a specific, persistent appearance but their true form is their fox shape. In humanoid shape, the gumiho uses their original size, loses their jaws strike but retains their claws strike, and their Speed is reduced to 25 feet. A gumiho is never able to completely conceal one of their nine tails through this transformation. The monster changes its shape indefinitely. It can use this action again to return to its natural shape or adopt a new shape. Unless otherwise noted, a monster cannot use Change Shape to appear as a specific individual. Using Change Shape counts as creating a disguise for the Impersonate use of Deception. The monster's transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine whether the creature is a member of the ancestry or creature type into which it transformed, and it gains a +4 status bonus to its Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through its disguise. Change Shape abilities specify what shapes the monster can adopt. The monster doesn't gain any special abilities of the new shape, only its physical form. For example, in each shape, it replaces its normal Speeds and Strikes, and might potentially change its senses or size. Any changes are listed in its stat block.
Trigger The gumiho critically hits with a claw or jaws Strike Effect The gumiho uses its fox marble to channel the life force lost by the target and heal for half the amount of damage dealt.
Description
Gumihos are legendary nine-tailed fox creatures who, when disguised in humanoid form, use charm and guile to lure prey deep into the forest before revealing their true form and striking. The green-eyed canids use brutally sharp fangs to tear out their victim's throat and feast on their liver. Those few who survive a gumiho's trap recall the canid's eerie green eyes as well as a strange marble amulet warn around the monster's neck.
Old stories claim that a fox transforms into a gumiho once it has lived for a thousand years, quadrupling in size, growing eight additional tails, and gaining the power to change shape. Terrifyingly, it also gains an insatiable hunger for the livers of people. This hunger is so closely connected to a gumiho's power that if it abstains from eating liver for one thousand days, the gumiho loses its magic and permanently takes on its humanoid guise-also losing its evil nature in the process.