Burning Ghat

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
13 (+1) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 14 (+2)

Damage Vulnerabilities cold
Damage Resistances acid, lightning
Damage Immunities fire
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Special Traits

  • Burning Blood. Any creature that hits the burning ghat with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) fire damage.
  • Odor. Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of the burning ghat must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to the burning ghat’s Odor for 24 hours.

Actions

  • Multiattack. The burning ghat makes two claw attacks.
  • Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
  • Fire Burst (1/day). The burning ghat unleashes a burst of flames in a 20-foot sphere centered on itself. Creatures in the area must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 17 (5d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

About

A humanoid figure stands swathed in smoke, its distinct features obliterated by the charred and blackened flesh. Ash perpetually trails from the creature as it moves and small patches of burnt skin flake from its body. Its eyes are small dots of brilliant crimson fire.

The burning ghat is a rare form of undead created in areas of unusually high negative energy when a living creature is put to death by fire for a crime it did not commit. Utterly twisted and maddened by its fate, a burning ghat is a fearsome creature, consumed with a hatred for the living and seeking to end life wherever it finds it. The distinct and pungent stench of burnt flesh is often the harbinger of a burning ghat’s arrival and is easily noticeable within 30 feet of the creature. They can often still be found wearing the clothes they wore as they burned to death, if the garments survived the flames, though a burning ghat of any great age will usually have none.

Burning ghats inhabit remote areas near places where they were put to death.

They are not bound to this area as some undead seem to be, but they seldom wander more than a mile or so away from their death site. Most encounters are with a lone burning ghat, but occasionally when more than one innocent has been put to the flames, a pack of these creatures can be found. Burning ghats are nocturnal pack hunters, feasting on the charred flesh of those they encounter and kill. They are seldom found with other undead, preferring to keep company with their own kind or operating alone. A burning ghat can communicate in the Common tongue and any other language it knew in life.

Its voice crackles and hisses like a freshly stoked fire.

A burning ghat attacks with its claws, seeking to slay any living creature it encounters. A burning ghat’s claws heat the blood of living creatures upon contact, causing great pain as it sizzles and boils away into the air. It favors burning its victims to death but is content to rend them apart if they should prove immune to fire.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Horrors © 2018, Frog God Games, LLC; Authors: Kevin Baase, Erica Balsley, John “Pexx” Barnhouse, Christopher Bishop, Casey Christofferson, Jim Collura, Andrea Costantini, Jayson ‘Rocky’ Gardner, Zach Glazar, Meghan Greene, Scott Greene, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Ian S. Johnston, Bill Kenower, Patrick Lawinger, Rhiannon Louve, Ian McGarty, Edwin Nagy, James Patterson, Nathan Paul, Patrick N. Pilgrim, Clark Peterson, Anthony Pryor, Greg Ragland, Robert Schwalb, G. Scott Swift, Greg A. Vaughan, and Bill Webb