Ghast

Ghast

Species	undead
No. Appearing	1–6
Behaviour	resentful
Range	ruin, subterranean
Size	4 to 6 ft. tall
Weight	135 lbs.
Intelligence	2
Armour Class	4
Hit Dice	4
Action Points	5
Max. Stride	4
THAC0	18
Hp/Die	d6
Attack Forms	3: two claws; fangs
Damage	claw (1–4); fangs (1–8)
Special Attacks	natural immunities, paralysation, stench

Ghasts resemble ghouls in form, but possess a more advanced and malignant state of decay. Their flesh is drawn tight in places and split in others, as though the body were being pulled apart from within. When viewed through detect malevolence, the creature is marked by a sickly luminescence that leaks along the seams of its ruined flesh, most intensely in the eyes, where the glow burns with a cold and knowing hatred.

The most immediate means of identifying a ghast, however, is its stench. This is not merely the odour of rot, but a penetrating foulness that suggests corruption beyond the physical body, as though the soul itself were decomposing. Any creature approaching within 3 hexes must make a saving throw vs. poison; failure results in violent nausea, causing the victim to retch and stagger, unable to act effectively while the sensation persists.

Origin

Ghasts arise from rare and unfavourable conditions surrounding both the life and burial of the deceased. Individuals of profound cruelty or sustained malevolence often meet death with a will that refuses dissolution. Such souls, aware in some dim fashion of the fate awaiting them in the lower planes, cling desperately to the prime material plane.

The disposition of the body is therefore of great importance. Proper interment within consecrated ground anchors the remains within the order of the living world, permitting the soul to be drawn away as it must. Where this is neglected, or where the corpse is laid in ground that has suffered desecration — whether through neglect, defilement or the influence of unholy practices — the bond between body and spirit is not cleanly severed.

In such circumstances, the soul may recoil from its destined passage and instead reattach itself to the corpse. The result is not a return to life, but a further degradation of both body and spirit. The corpse rises as a ghast, animated by fear, spite and a dim awareness of its own condition, driven to spread corruption and to unmake the living as a reflection of its own ruined state.

Affliction

A ghast is capable of propagating its own kind, for any creature slain by a ghast will, in time, rise again as one. The transformation is not immediate, but the result is certain unless preventative measures are taken. In this way, the affliction may spread beyond its point of origin, threatening to overwhelm isolated settlements or enclosed populations. Unlike the origin of the first ghast, those created through this means are not dependent upon the moral character of the victim. Innocent and virtuous persons are equally subject to the transformation, their former nature wholly subsumed by the condition. The result is an expanding contagion of undeath, indifferent to the worth of those it consumes.

Regions infested by ghasts are notoriously difficult to cleanse. Even when a concerted effort is made to destroy them, it is common for one or more to evade destruction, retreating into hidden places to persist. From such remnants, the presence may re-establish itself, renewing the threat over time.

Advantages

Ghasts attack with claws and fangs. A successful hit with either requires the victim to make a saving throw vs. paralysation; failure causes the character to collapse at once, dropping anything held and becoming rigid and insensible for 2–8 rounds. When the effect ends, a further round is required for the victim to recover sufficient awareness to act; during this interval, the character’s armour class is restored, though no other action may be taken. While paralysed, the victim is treated as a helpless defender.

Ghasts are immune to sleep, charm and curses, and are unaffected by protection from malevolence. This renders them particularly dangerous to the faithful and to paladins, who cannot rely upon such protections when confronting them. Ghasts may be turned as undead by those possessing Dweomercraft; however, their strength is such that clerics lacking this knowledge are unable to turn them effectively.

See Bestiary