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Barghest

Large Fiend, Neutral Evil

Deva Movanic Male-turnaround.gif

Description

(from Volo's Guide to Monsters - 2016):


Long ago, the god Maglubiyet—conqueror and then lord of early goblinoids—bargained with the General of Gehenna for aid. The General provided yugoloths, which then died in service to Maglubiyet. Yet when the time came to honor his part of the compact, Maglubiyet reneged on the deal. In vengeance, the General of Gehenna created the soul-devouring barghests to devour goblinoid souls.


The mission of every barghest, implanted in it by the General of Gehenna, is to consume souls. It eats these souls by devouring the bodies of those it kills, preferring goblinoids.


A barghest hungers for the day when it can complete its mission, return to Gehenna, and serve the General directly in his yugoloth legions, but it doesn’t kill goblinoids indiscriminately. By devouring the souls of goblinoid leaders and other powerful individuals, a barghest earns elevated status in the afterlife. Barghests typically keep their true nature secret, preying on the occasional lone goblin when the opportunity arises, until they reach adulthood and are capable of seeking out stronger prey. A barghest avoids contact with large, open fires.


Any conflagration larger than its body acts as a gateway to Gehenna and banishes it to that plane, where it is likely to be slain or enslaved by a yugoloth for its failure.




(from 3.5e Monster Manual - 2003):


A horrifying wolflike monster with blue-tinged fur, long sharp claws, and a fiendish glint of intelligence in its hateful, glowing eyes darts out of the shadows. 


A barghest is a lupine fiend that can take the shape of a wolf or a goblin. In its natural form, it resembles a goblin–wolf hybrid with terrible jaws and sharp claws. Barghests come into the world to feed on blood and souls and thus grow stronger. 


As whelps, barghests are nearly indistinguishable from wolves, except for their size and claws. As they grow larger and stronger, their skin darkens to bluishred and eventually becomes blue altogether. A fullgrown barghest, such as the one described here, is about 6 feet long and weighs 180 pounds. A barghest’s eyes glow orange when the creature becomes excited. 


Barghests speak Goblin, Worg, and Infernal. 


COMBAT: Barghests can claw and bite, no matter what their form, and usually disdain weapons. Though they love killing, they have little stomach for direct combat and attack from ambush whenever possible. Barghests start a combat by using crushing despair and charm monster to keep opponents off balance. They try to stay away from the enemy’s main strength. 


A barghest’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Its natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 


Spell-Like Abilities: At will—blink, levitate, misdirection (DC 14), rage (DC 15); 1/day—charm monster (DC 16), crushing despair (DC 16), dimension door. Caster level equals the barghest’s HD. The save DCs are Charisma-based. 


Feed (Su): When a barghest slays a humanoid opponent, it can feed on the corpse, devouring both flesh and life force, as a full-round action. Feeding destroys the victim’s body and prevents any form of raising or resurrection that requires part of the corpse. 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. 


A barghest advances in Hit Dice by consuming corpses in this fashion. For every three suitable corpses a barghest devours, it gains 1 Hit Die, and its Strength, Constitution, and natural armor increase by +1. Its attack bonus and saves improve as normal for an outsider of its Hit Dice, and it gains skill points, feats, and ability score improvements normally. The barghest only advances by consuming the corpses of creatures whose Hit Dice or levels are equal to or greater than its own current total. A barghest that reaches 9 Hit Dice through feeding immediately becomes a greater barghest upon completion of the act. 


Change Shape (Su): A barghest can assume the shape of a goblin or a wolf as a standard action. In goblin form, a barghest cannot use its natural weapons but can wield weapons and wear armor. In wolf form, a barghest loses its claw attacks but retains its bite attack. 


Pass Without Trace (Ex): A barghest in wolf form can use pass without trace (as the spell) as a free action. 


Skills: *A barghest in wolf form gains a +4 circumstance bonus on Hide checks. 


GREATER BARGHEST: A barghest that reaches 9 Hit Dice through feeding becomes a greater barghest. These creatures can change shape into a goblinlike creature of Large size (about 8 feet tall and 400 pounds) or a dire wolf. In goblin form, a greater barghest cannot use its natural weapons but can wield weapons and wear armor. In dire wolf form, a greater barghest loses its claw attacks but retains its bite attack. 


A greater barghest can reach a maximum of 18 Hit Dice through feeding. 


Spell-Like Abilities: In addition to the spelllike abilities all barghests possess, a greater barghest gains the following abilities. At will—invisibility sphere; 1/day—mass bull’s strength, mass enlarge. Caster level equals the greater barghest’s HD. 


Combat: Occasionally, a greater barghest uses a magic two-handed weapon in combat instead of its claws, giving it multiple attacks (attack bonus +13/+8). It can also make one bite attack (attack bonus +8) each round. The save DC against a greater barghest’s spell-like abilities is 14 + spell level.




(from Planescape: Campaign Monstrous Supplement - 1994):


Of the various monsters that inhabit the rifts of the plane of Gehenna, the barghest is certainly the most common and one of the most fearsome. The barghest’s natural shape is very much the same as that of a large goblin, and when dwelling among goblins, it generally retains that form.


While it appears to be a large goblin when it is a whelp, its skin darkens from yellow to a bluish-red as it grows larger and stronger, and eventually its skin turns an even blue at adulthood. The eyes of the monster glow orange when it is excited, but otherwise they are indistinguishable from those of a normal goblin.


A barghest is also able to assume at will the form of a large war dog or a wild dog. Hence, the creature has oftentimes been referred to as a “devil-dog”, but this is a misnomer. The precise form taken can vary from creature to creature, but all forms are those of typical wild or war dogs, and it is almost impossible (95% unlikely) to tell one from its natural counterpart. However, natural dogs instantly recognize, fear, and hate a barghest, and they will attack it at any opportunity.


Combat: Barghests employ a claw/claw attack in battle. (In canine form, they only bite.) They may only be hit by weapons of +1 or better enchantment. They are not particularly vulnerable to any attack form, but in their canine shape they risk the failure of a saving throw vs. spell when subjected to a fireball, flame strike, or meteor swarm spell: If attacked by such a spell while in canine form and a barghest fails its saving throw, it is instantly hurled to Gehenna. Those returned to the Outer Plane are most likely slain or enslaved by their full-grown fellows, but even if they are not so treated they cannot return to the Prime Material Plane without outside assistance.


Barghests are able to perform the following spell-like abilities, once per round, at will: shape change (into either canine or goblinlike form), levitate, misdirection, and project image. They are able to perform the following abilities once per day: charm (person or monster), dimension door, and emotion.


When in canine form, barghests are able to move at double their normal movement rate (maximum of 30), pass without a trace (as the spell), and become 75% unlikely to be noticed when motionless. If undetected, they impose a -2 penalty on opponents’ surprise rolls.


Habitat/Society: These beings are native to Gehenna and tend to live in isolation on that plane. There, each barghest has its own stronghold and force of servitors, over which it rules despotically. Goblins readily recognize and worship barghests (even in their goblinoid form), but other races find them to be virtually indistinguishable from these common prime-material monsters. The goblin hosts fear and serve the barghests, often going to great lengths to bring them suitable gifts and sacrifices, and the barghests respond by slaying powerful enemies of the goblins as well as generally enriching the goblins’ treasure hoards.


Occasionally, a barghest on Gehenna will spawn a litter of six young, which are immediately sent to the Prime Material Plane to feed and grow. Those that survive eventually return to Gehenna, but while they are away, they must feed upon humans and demihumans. Barghest whelps are found either alone or in pairs or the Prime Material Plane, generally living near isolatea communities of humans or with bands of goblins.


When barghest whelps first come to the Prime Material, they are relatively weak, having only 6+6 Hit Dice. However, for every energy (experience) level of human (or demihuman) life that they slay or devour, 1 hit point is added to their overall total. Once they absorb eight levels, they gain another Hit Die, plus an additional hit point per die. (Hence, a 6+6 HD barghest who absorbs eight experience levels becomes a 7+7 HD barghest.) Note that 0-level characters are worth only one-half of an experience level to the barghest, so they are considerably less attractive targets than high-level heroes. In addition, each time a barghest gains a Hit Die, its Armor Class decreases by 1 and its Strength score increases from an initial 18/00 to a maximum of 24. When the barghest finally achieves full growth and power, it discovers the ability to plane shift to Gehenna, where it seeks its own reeking valley rift to lord over.


What treasure barghests gather into their own strongholds in Gehenna is unknown, although it is rumored to be great. However, while they live upon the Prime Material Plane, they accumulate no personal treasure.


Ecology: The barghest passes through different stages in its life. As a whelp it is a hunter and tracker consigned to the Prime Material Plane. There it grows in cunning and wisdom until it is ready to enter into the next stage of its life. At this phase it returns to Gehenna and becomes a leader. It is still a hunter, though now its tactics and attitudes are greater, to match the game — other intelligent beings — that it hunts.


Alternate Versions

Size

Hero Forge: 5'10" (XXL)
Lore: Medium to Large (5-9')
Suggested: Medium to Large

Other Monikers

None

Appearance

Abilities

- Transforms into wolf-like fiend or small goblin
- Eats the souls of victims
- Innate Spellcasting
- Immune to acid, poison
- Resistant to cold, lightning, nonmagical attacks
- Telepathy

A horrifying wolflike monster with blue-tinged fur, long sharp claws, and a fiendish glint of intelligence in its hateful, glowing eyes darts out of the shadows. 

Home Plane

Gehenna, Prime Material Plane

Stat Block

5th Edition:

- Volo's Guide to Monsters (2016)

- DndBeyond

2nd Edition:

- Realmshelps.net

2nd Edition:

- Mojobob's Website

Sources

- Forgotten Realms Wiki

- Volo's Guide to Monsters (2016)

- DndBeyond

- 3.5e Monster Manual (2003)

- Planescape: Campaign Setting Monstrous Supplement (1994)

- Mojobob's Website

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