Ghast

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Ghast (CR 6)

Ghasts share the appearance of ghouls, and aside from their terrible smell, are largely indistinguishable from ghouls. However, ghasts are completely unlike ghouls, except that they have adapted a ghoul-like appearance as a form of camouflage. They are undead creatures, but are not driven by relentless hunger. In fact, most ghasts never eat anything. Instead, they delight in tearing living things to pieces, taking pleasure in the fear and terror they evoke when doing so.

Ghasts tend to travel in packs, or sometimes hide themselves singly among a group of ghouls. While ghouls provide them perfect opportunities to surprise opponents, ghouls often eat the ghast's victims before the ghast can really play with them to their satisfaction. As a result, they prefer the company of other ghasts when possible.

Ghasts are created by vampires when the vampire sire's blood is too weak to create a full vampire. This can happen if the vampire is a particularly weak specimen, when it hasn't fed recently, or it has some other affliction. Ghasts are weaker than vampiric thralls, but unlike thralls retain free will. Vampires who sire ghasts rarely keep them around, as they are too unpredictable and bloodthirsty to remain in civilized society.

GENERAL

CR 6 Hit Dice 9

XP 2,400

CE Medium Undead

Init +3; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Lifesense 30 ft., Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 24, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+4 armor, +4 dex, +5 natural, +1 deflection)

hp 82

Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +5

Aura: Putrescent Effluvium 10 ft.

SR: -

Special Defenses: healed by negative energy

Immunities:

• all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• disease, poison, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain
• death effects, necromancy effects, sleep effects
• nonlethal damage
• paralysis, stunning, fatigue, exhaustion
• any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weaknesses:

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Bite +10 (1d8+3/x2) plus Festering

Full Melee Bite +10 (1d8+3/x2) plus Festering, 2x Claws +10 (1d6+1/x2) plus Festering

Ranged Ghastly Spittle +10 (1d8+2/x2), range increment 15 feet, maximum range 30 feet, plus Festering

Special Attacks Festering, Ghastly Spittle, Putrescent Effluvium

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 14, Con -, Int 18, Wis 15, Cha 14

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 20

Feats -

Skills Bluff +9, Sense Motive +9

Languages Common, Onundur, Thanic, Necril

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Putrescent Effluvium

Upon ending a move action, or just prior to making a full attack action, the ghast may trigger its Putrescent Effluvium aura, affecting all living creatures within 10 feet. As with all auras, it is a free action to trigger the aura. Affected creatures must make a Fortitude save, DC of 16, or else take 1d6+1 points of acid damage and become Unsteady as they succumb to the sickly smell of death radiating from the ghast. Those succeeding on the Fort save take only half damage and are not made Unsteady. The Unsteady condition lasts until the start of the ghast's next turn.

If multiple ghasts are present, no creature may be subjected to the Unsteady effect of the Putrescent Effluvium aura more than once per round, though they must still save multiple times against the damaging effects caused by neighboring ghasts.

Ghastly Spittle

As a standard action, the ghast may spit at an enemy. This spit has a range increment of 15 feet, and a maximum range of 30 feet. Any creature struck by the ghastly spittle takes damage as normal (+10 to-hit, 1d8+3/x2), and is subject to the Festering effect below.

Festering

Any creature struck by a ghast's claws, bite or spit must make a Fortitude save, DC 16, or they become Unsteady for 1 round. If the creature is already Unsteady when they fail this save, they are instead Disoriented for 1 round. If the creature is already Disoriented when they fail this save, they are instead Dazed for 1 round.

Dazed ==> Disoriented ==> Unsteady

Immortality

Ghasts do not age, and they don't strictly require sleep, food or even air to breathe in order to continue existing (although not breathing is distinctly uncomfortable for ghasts). Furthermore, injuries sustained, even mortal injuries reducing them below 0 hit points, will not kill a ghast permanently. Given enough time, typically measured in months, the ghast will regenerate its injuries, including lost limbs. Furthermore, the consumption of fresh blood speeds this recovery considerably, assuming the ghast has enough motor functions to feed itself (or be fed). Permanently killing a ghast is a fairly simple matter, however -- just cut off its head. Resurrection spells will also kill a ghast, though they will not restore the humanoid soul back to its corpse. That soul was consumed during the creation of the ghast by its vampiric sire. (Knowledge Religion, DC 20, reveals this information)

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 1,875 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Ghasts delight in inspiring fear and pain in their victims, and when they encounter prey which is significantly weaker than themselves (which is the kind they prefer), they will use their Festering ability to keep the victim dazed for minutes or even hours as they slowly carve them to pieces.

Ghasts will move towards clusters of potential victims and trigger their Putrescent Effluvium aura to try to inflict as many Unsteady conditions as they can. They will then use as many attacks as they can to worsen that condition as quickly as possible.

Ghasts will sometimes use teamwork to gang up on single targets to take them down quickly, but often they become so overcome with bloodlust that they will seek out their own victim, rather than sharing.

Between the bloodlust and a general sense of superiority, ghasts rarely run from fights, as they're pretty sure that they can disable their victims before the ghast is in any REAL danger.