Ghoul, Ice

Family: Ghouls

Medium undead, chaotic evil

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	13 (+1)	18 (+4)	8 (-1)	12 (+1)	6 (-2)

Armor Class 13 (hide armor)
Hit Points 17 (2d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft.
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +3, Survival +3
Damage Resistances cold, psychic
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages a primitive dialect of Titan Speech
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Special Traits

• Famished. An ice ghoul that reduces a target to 0 hit points must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the ghoul throws itself prone and will spend the next minute making bite attacks against the creature as it feeds.
• Inhuman Rage. The ice ghoul can use a bonus action to gain advantage on attack rolls, and resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the start of its next turn. Attacks against a raging ghoul have advantage.

Actions

• Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
• Hand Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Tactics

Ice ghouls attack in larger groups, preferring to outnumber their prey by at least two-to-one. They will use their javelins if they can, but their endless hunger prevents them from having much patience and they will close quickly with foes. A group that has not fought ice ghouls before might be surprised by them beginning to feed on a downed character, this can be both a moment of revulsion but also a strategic opportunity as the feeding ghouls ignore everything else.

Description

The human-like creature hunches down in the snow. Its skin is whitish-blue and covered with patches of frost. Dark lanky hair hangs over its tattered and dirty hide clothing. Its eyes gleam with an unnatural light as the frigid wind blows and it gathers itself for an attack.

The Power of Flesh. Sages say that ice ghouls were once humans that became cannibals. They are ceaselessly hungry, but able to survive for long periods of time without eating and are able to endure biting cold without harm. Their exact nature is a favorite subject of debate in certain circles: they are not truly alive for they need to feed only once or twice a year but they are not true undead since they are not risen corpses but shambling half-dead things instead.

Clanfolk. Ice ghouls organize themselves in family clans, usually on the outskirts of human territories. They sometimes war with each other, but do not crave the flesh of their own kind, eating it only when absolutely necessary. They scavenge from the homesteads they ravage and will attack with any weapon they find.