Barghest
HD: d8
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Feature |
| 1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Change shape, Goblin blood, Lupine body, Rage, Str +1, Dex +1 |
| 2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Charm, Claws, Feed, Str +1, Wis +1 |
| 3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Aura of despair, Damage reduction, Levitate, Str +1, Int +1 |
| 4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Consume memories, Dimension leap, Ghost step, Str +1, Cha+1 |
Class skills (6+Int): Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Diplomacy, Disguise, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (the planes), Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Tumble.
Proficiencies: A barghest is proficient with simple weapons and light armour, but not with shields.
Features:Lupine body: The barghest loses all other racial bonuses and gains Outsider traits (darkvision 60ft, need not eat or sleep). It is a Medium quadruped with the (evil, lawful, shapechanger) subtypes, Scent, and a natural armor bonus equal to its Con modifier. It has a bite attack as a primary natural weapon, dealing 1d6 damage + its Str modifier.
A barghest who multiclasses as a cleric may treat his barghest (and greater barghest) levels as cleric levels for determining his caster level and domain spell slots, provided one of his domains is Domination, Evil, Hunger, Hunt or Law.
Change Shape (Su): As a standard action a barghest can take the form of a wolf or return to its normal form. In wolf form it gains a bonus on Hide checks equal to half its HD and the benefits of a
pass without trace spell.
Alternatively the barghest can take a humanoid form with goblin-like features - in this form it loses its natural attacks but can wield weapons and wear armour, and gains the benefits of a
misdirection spell (changing the source of the false signal is a move action; you can choose relative targets like "the nearest creature" or "the air around me").
Goblin Blood: A barghest is considered to be a goblin for effects which target goblins, and can use magic items designed for goblins.
Rage (Sp): At 1st level a barghest can use
quickened rage as a spell-like ability 1/day, +1/day for every 5HD. In addition, he may choose to expend multiple uses of this ability at once to improve its power - the bonuses provided by the effect are multiplied by the number of uses he expends.
Ability Score Increase: The barghest's ability scores increase by the shown amount.
Charm (Sp): At 2nd level a barghest can use
charm person as a spell-like ability 1/day per 2HD. At 7HD he may expend two uses of this ability to create a
charm monster effect instead.
Claws: At 2nd level a barghest in its natural form gains two claws as secondary natural attacks, dealing 1d4 damage plus its Str modifier.
Feed (Su): At 2nd level a barghest in its natural form can consume a dead creature as a full-round action. As long as it has been dead for 1 minute or less, the barghest regains hp equal to the HD of the victim (excess hp are gained as temporary hit points for 24 hours) and may gain additional benefits based on the victim's strength relative to his own.
| Victim HD/CR | Effect |
| Barghest HD-5 or less | No benefit. |
| Barghest HD-4 | Regain a use of one of your racial SLAs. |
| Barghest HD-2 | Regain two uses of your racial SLAs, divided in any way you wish. |
| Barghest HD | Recover double the normal hp.
Regain three uses of your racial SLAs, divided in any way you wish. |
| Barghest HD+2 | The barghest surges with power, gaining +2 Str/Con and the Powerful Build special quality for 1 hour.
Recover double the normal hp.
Regain four uses of your racial SLAs, divided in any way you wish. |
| Barghest HD+4 or more | The barghest surges with power, gaining +2 Str/Con and the Powerful Build special quality for 1 hour.
The barghest projects a frightful aura for 1 hour; any enemy who comes within 60ft must make a Will save (DC = 10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier) or become frightened for 1 minute. Any creature who succeeds on their save against this effect is immune to it, but not to the auras of other barghests or auras generated by the barghest in future. The barghest may suppress this aura for 1 round as a free action. This is a supernatural ability.
Recover double the normal hp.
Regain all uses of your racial SLAs, as if 24 hours had passed. |
There is a 50% chance that a wish, miracle, or true resurrection spell can restore a devoured victim to life. Check once for each destroyed creature. If the check fails, the creature cannot be brought back to life by mortal magic.
Aura of Despair (Sp): At 2nd level, any creature ending its turn adjacent to a barghest must make a Will save (DC = 10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier) or take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls for 1 round, as if affected by a
crushing despair spell. In addition, the barghest may use
crushing despair as a spell-like ability 1/day per 6HD (using the same DC).
Damage Reduction (Su): At 3rd level, a barghest gains DR/magic equal to half its HD.
Levitate (Sp): At 3rd level, a barghest can use
levitate as a spell-like ability 1/day per 3HD. He may expend two uses of this ability to replicate
fly, or three uses to replicate
overland flight.
Consume Memories (Su): At 4th level, after consuming a creature with its Feed ability a barghest can question it as if it had cast
speak with dead (save DC = 10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier), except that the duration is 24 hours. In addition, during this time the barghest may use its Change Shape ability to take the form of the consumed creature, as long as it has a roughly humanoid anatomy.
Dimension Leap (Sp): At 4th level, a barghest can teleport short distances 1/day per 4HD. This functions as the
dimension door spell, except that its range is Medium (100ft +10ft/level). He may expend two uses of this ability to increase its range to Long (400ft +40ft/level).
Ghost Step (Sp): At 4th level, 1/day per 4HD a barghest can become ethereal for 1 round as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. He may expend two uses of this ability to use it as an immediate action.
CommentsThe original monster had a few at-will SLAs - here they're more limited in use, so that you have more incentive to consume enemies and recharge them. Rage was made a swift action, for better action economy (because at lv1, what's the point of making your attacks slightly stronger for 1 round if you give up your attacks to do it?).
Feed was broadened to allow consuming any living creature, since while NPC barghests fight mostly humanoids, a PC barghest might never fight them at all.
Consume Memories is based on something I half-remember from a Drizzt novel.
