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Is there a ruling or rules text that explains/addresses why creatures with energy drain can sometimes channel their energy drain ability through a melée weapon instead of a slam attack?
Why they can do it? Because the statblock says they can, I would guess.
What kind of creature are you specifically asking about? The only one I can think of is the lamia matriarch.
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Is there a ruling or rules text that explains/addresses why creatures with energy drain can sometimes channel their energy drain ability through a melée weapon instead of a slam attack?Why they can do it? Because the statblock says they can, I would guess.
What kind of creature are you specifically asking about? The only one I can think of is the lamia matriarch.
I've seen certain wights in Pathfinder Society scenarios and Adventure Paths that also have it. I'm not asking about a specific creature so much as the rules concerning Energy Drain itself. It doesn't say that it can be channeled through a melee weapon, but it's definitely being done in certain stat blocks. I just wondered if this was a mistake, a bit of creative liberty, or if there's a rule concerning energy drain that needs to see print in a future bestiary or in the FAQ.
I've seen certain wights in Pathfinder Society scenarios and Adventure Paths that also have it. I'm not asking about a specific creature so much as the rules concerning Energy Drain itself. It doesn't say that it can be channeled through a melee weapon, but it's definitely being done in certain stat blocks. I just wondered if this was a mistake, a bit of creative liberty, or if there's a rule concerning energy drain that needs to see print in a future bestiary or in the FAQ.Is there a ruling or rules text that explains/addresses why creatures with energy drain can sometimes channel their energy drain ability through a melée weapon instead of a slam attack?Why they can do it? Because the statblock says they can, I would guess.
What kind of creature are you specifically asking about? The only one I can think of is the lamia matriarch.
There is variant wight in the bestiary that can channel it through weapons. The other monsters do it because the author said so. I have never seen an ordinary monster do so that should not have been able to do it.
In the actual Bestiary or in one of the support books? The SRD doesn't have a reference for cairn wight, which sounds like what you're talking about and might be the wight I keep seeing in stat blocks.
It is the cairn wight, and it is in the book.
The cairn wight is in the variant monster index and more listed at the bottom of the wight entry. It does not have stats, but it does list the ability to channel the energy drain through weapons.
Brute Wight (CR 5): Giants that are killed by wights become hunchbacked, simple-minded undead. Brute wights are giant advanced wights, but cannot create spawn of their own.Cairn Wight (CR 4): Some societies deliberately create these specialized wights to serve as guardians for barrows or other burial sites. A cairn wight is an advanced wight that fights with a weapon, typically a sword, that channels its energy drain attack and affects creatures damaged by the weapon as if they had been struck by the wight's slam attack.
Frost Wight (CR 4): Wights created in cold environments sometimes become pale undead with blue-white eyes and ice in their hair. Frost wights have the cold subtype and their slam attacks deal 1d6 cold damage in addition to the normal effects. A creature touching a frost wight with natural weapons or unarmed strikes takes 1d6 cold damage.
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In the actual Bestiary or in one of the support books? The SRD doesn't have a reference for cairn wight, which sounds like what you're talking about and might be the wight I keep seeing in stat blocks.It is the cairn wight, and it is in the book.
The cairn wight is in the variant monster index and more listed at the bottom of the wight entry. It does not have stats, but it does list the ability to channel the energy drain through weapons.
Brute Wight (CR 5): Giants that are killed by wights become hunchbacked, simple-minded undead. Brute wights are giant advanced wights, but cannot create spawn of their own.Cairn Wight (CR 4): Some societies deliberately create these specialized wights to serve as guardians for barrows or other burial sites. A cairn wight is an advanced wight that fights with a weapon, typically a sword, that channels its energy drain attack and affects creatures damaged by the weapon as if they had been struck by the wight's slam attack.
Frost Wight (CR 4): Wights created in cold environments sometimes become pale undead with blue-white eyes and ice in their hair. Frost wights have the cold subtype and their slam attacks deal 1d6 cold damage in addition to the normal effects. A creature touching a frost wight with natural weapons or unarmed strikes takes 1d6 cold damage.
Is there a specific reason it would not allow multiple energy drains with a high enough BAB, or is it sort of an unspoken designer rule to keep the power curve normal?
