The cythnigot is a foul fungal parasite that grows and thrives within the corpses of small animals. The fungus transforms the host corpse in hideous ways, adding legs or rearranging features—a rat might gain an extra pair of legs and an insectoid visage, while a cat could lose all its legs and fur and gain a snake-like body. The only thing that all cythnigots have in common is a long stalk of fungal material that extends up from the creature's body, ending in a surprisingly strong set of fanged jaws. A cythnigot without a host body appears as little more than a foul-smelling puffball the size of a human's fist.

Chaotic evil spellcasters of caster level 7th who have the Improved Familiar feat can gain a cythnigot as a familiar—to do so, the spellcaster must already have a Tiny animal as a familiar. Infusing this familiar with the spores results in a cythnigot that is a loyal, if rather disgusting, minion of the spellcaster.

A cythnigot is about 20 inches long and weighs 10 pounds.

Special Abilities

Horrific Appearance (Su) Creatures that succumb to a cythnigot's horrific appearance become sickened for 1 round—a cythnigot's horrific appearance only functions to a range of 10 feet. Once a creature makes a saving throw against a particular cythnigot's horrific appearance, that creature is immune to the horrific appearance of all cythnigots for 24 hours. A spellcaster that has a cythnigot as a familiar is immune to the horrific appearance of all cythnigots, and also gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made against any Qlippoth 's horrific appearance.

Spores (Su) Any creature bitten by a cythnigot must make a DC 11 Fortitude save or become infested by the creature's otherworldly spores. These spores cause twitching spikes and hideous pallid growths of hair-like fibers to erupt from the bite wound and to writhe and wrap around the target's limbs. A creature suffering from these spores is entangled, and can attempt a new DC 11 Fortitude save in later rounds as a standard action to rip the tendrils free and escape the entangled condition. The effects of multiple cythnigot bites on a creature do not stack. Plant Creatures take a 4 penalty on saves against this effect. This is a Disease Effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.