The 3e Monster Manual II (2002) was an interesting failure: a hardback released in the middle of short-lived 3e cycle, the MMII included updates of several iconic and not-so-iconic monsters and debuted a slew of high level monsters. The book was never updated for 3.5e and, although Wizards reportedly planned to release the material as Open Game Content, the monsters remain closed content.
The MMII has perhaps too many oddball monsters; many of the new creatures are not particularly memorable and the high Challenge Rating monsters in particular are largely broken, a reflection of the generally poor understanding of high level design at the time.
For me, one of the more interesting of these failures is the Famine Spirit, a corpulent, CR 19 ghoul variant with relatively limited punch for its Challenge Rating. And yet . . . there are some really compelling concepts here, and the Wayne Reynolds art is certainly inspirational. I have therefore taken some of the more interesting ideas and built an open version that I think works better as a 3.5e monster.
The following text is Open Game Content:
Ghoul, Famish
This rotund humanoid, large as an ogre, is swathed in sagging folds of putrid, grey-green flesh. Its slack-jawed mouth is filled with long, razor-like teeth and its tiny black eyes glimmer with an insatiable hunger.
Deathless Gluttons. A maddening hunger drives these corporeal undead to devour anything and everything they can cram into their enormous jaws, which they are able to unhinge like a serpent’s.
A Ceaseless Hunger. All living creatures that approach a famish ghoul are wracked by debilitating pangs of hunger.
Solitary in Misery. Famish ghouls will eat anything save for ghouls or ghasts, which occasionally serve this undead horror.
0e
Famish Ghoul CL 19 (4,100 XP)
Famish ghouls radiate a continuous aura of pain in a 60 feet radius. A creature in the area must succeed at a saving throw or be wracked with agony, imposing a -4 penalty to hit and damage in melee combat. If a famish ghoul scores a natural 20 on its attack roll, it severs one of the opponent’s extremities (roll 1d6: 1–2 arm, 3–4 leg, 5–6 head; severed limbs have a 50% chance of being either right or left). They are immune, like most undead, to charms and sleep spells.
HD 14; AC -1 [20]; Atk 2 claws (1d8), 1 bite (2d6); Save 3; Move 15; Al C; Special aura of pain, vorpal bite, immune to charm and sleep.
3.5e
Famish Ghoul CR 19
Always CE Large undead
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +28, Spot +28
Languages Abyssal, Common
Aura pain (60 ft., DC 27)
AC 30, touch 13, flat-footed 26
(Dex +4, natural +17, size -1)
hp 234 (36d12 HD)
Fort +12, Ref +16, Will +23
Immune undead traits
Spd 40 ft.
Melee bite +28 (2d6+11/19–20), +28 claws (1d8+5)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks vorpal bite
In Combat A famish ghoul is so preoccupied with its insatiable hunger that it fights almost mindlessly. A famish ghoul will ignore opponents to devour food within reach.
Morale A famish ghoul will fight until destroyed as long as it can see something to eat.
Str 32, Dex 18, Con –, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 11
Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Great Cleave, Dodge, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Improved Multiattack, Improved Sunder, Mobility, Multiattack, Power Attack, Spring Attack
Skills Climb +34, Diplomacy +1, Hide +22, Jump +38, Listen +28, Move Silently +27, Search +25, Sense Motive +26, Spot +28, Survival +26 (+28 to follow tracks), Swim +34
Base Atk +18; Grp +33
SQ create spawn, shadow jump
Environment any
Organization solitary or troupe (1 plus 2d6 ghouls and 1d6 ghasts)
Treasure none
Advancement 37–72 HD (Huge)
Aura of Pain (Su) At the end of each of a famish ghoul’s turns, living creatures within 60 feet of the ghoul must make a DC 28 Fortitude save or suffer wracking pains that impose a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks. The save DC is Charisma-based. A creature need save against the aura only once as long as it remains within the area, though if it leaves the area and returns while the famish ghoul is still active, it must save again. These effects last for 1 hour after the creature moves farther than 60 feet from the famish ghoul.
Create Spawn (Su) Any humanoid slain by a famish ghoul and not devoured rises as a ghast in 1d4 rounds. Ghasts are under the command of the famish ghoul that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life, though they do possess general knowledge of the slain creature. This knowledge is used for evil purposes, if possible.
Shadow Jump (Su) As an immediate action, the famish ghoul can travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow. A famish ghoul can jump up to a total of 200 feet each day in this way; this may be a single jump of 200 feet or two jumps of 100 feet each. This amount can be split among many jumps, but each one, no matter how small, counts as a 10-foot increment.
Vorpal Bite (Ex) On a successful critical hit against a creature of up to one size category larger than itself, the famish ghoul’s bite attack severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Though some creatures, such as golems and undead other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads, most creatures die when their heads are cut off.
5e
| Large undead, chaotic evil | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor Class 19 (natural) | |||||
| Hit Points 174 (18d10 + 72) | |||||
| Speed 40 ft. | |||||
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
| 18 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 15 (+2) | 17 (+3) | 11 (+0) |
| Saving Throws Str +10, Con +10, Wis +9 | |||||
| Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks | |||||
| Damage Immunities poison | |||||
| Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, poisoned | |||||
| Senses darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 20 | |||||
| Languages Abyssal, Common | |||||
| Challenge 19 (22,000 XP) | |||||
| Pain Aura. At the start of each of the famish ghoul’s turns, each creature within 20 feet of it must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw and becomes incapacitated with excruciating pain for 1 minute on a failed save. | |||||
| Actions | |||||
| Multiattack. The famish ghoul makes three attacks: 1 with its bite and 2 with its claws. | |||||
| Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (4d6 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 19). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the famish ghoul can’t bite another target. | |||||
| Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage. | |||||
| Swallow. The famish ghoul makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target takes the bite’s damage, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the famish ghoul, and it takes 21 (6d6) necrotic damage at the start of each of the famish ghoul’s turns. If the famish ghoul takes 40 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the famish ghoul must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the famish ghoul. If the famish ghoul dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 30 feet of movement, exiting prone. | |||||
| Legendary Actions | |||||
| The famish ghoul can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The famish ghoul regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. | |||||
| Attack. The famish ghoul makes one claw attack. | |||||
| Move. The famish ghoul moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. | |||||
| Chomp (Costs 2 Actions). The famish ghoul makes one bite attack or uses its Swallow. | |||||
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
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