Charnel Ghouls

The Eaters of the Dead, a band of ghouls and ghasts, are among the more formidable factions within the Great Dungeon of the North. Their leaders are intelligent, highly civilized ghouls from the Distant West and patterned on the true ghouls of Wolfgang Baur’s classic 2e adventure Kingdom of the Ghouls, which was in turn influenced by the works of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft.

A tribute to Baur’s take on ghouls was incorporated into the Golarion setting of the Pathfinder game. The Darklands, the Underdark of Golarion, contains a dread Ghoul Court which recalls Baur’s White Kingdom. Wizkids produced a couple of pre-painted ghoul miniatures as part of the Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn set: A ghoul cultist and a ghoul champion. These sculpts were reissued in a single blister pack of unpainted Ghouls as part of the Pathfinder Deep Cuts Wave 7 release. I snapped these up thinking they would work pretty well for leaders of the Eaters of the Dead.

I tackled these figures by starting with a zenithal undercoat, then used Reaper Ghoul Flesh and Imperial Purple for the base coats. My Army Painter Regiment and Insane Detail brushes got some pretty good workouts as I finished these miniatures off.

Conceptually, civilized ghouls overlap somewhat with vampires. To distinguish the two, I think of vampires as cursed, wretched creatures clinging to the remnants of their lost humanity, hating their damned condition and fearing to die the true death. Even cultists of Orcus are terrified of death, perhaps because they know all-too-well what torments await them in the Abyss.

Ghouls, in contrast, are eerie post-humanist creatures who actually embrace their undead state: they consider themselves to be transcendent, blessed to have surpassed their mortal flesh. They view humanity with alien detachment and callousness. Ghouls neither fear nor fetishize death: as worshippers of the mysterious Charnel God, true death represents just one more transformation for them into blissful oblivion.

These two miniatures are useful for representing leaders of the Eaters of the Dead faction. Charnel Captains are military commanders of ghoul forces. Charnel Priests are clerics of Mordiggian, philosopher-advisors to ghoul communities. Both captains and priests are usually accompanied by lesser ghouls or ghasts. The sacrificial altar they are posed with was from the “Mythos Expansion” of the Reaper Bones 3 Kickerstarter. This model is another Kevin Williams sculpture.

In the Great Dungeon, areas controlled by the ghouls are filled with the faint scent of musty cinnamon and the muffled ringing of chimes. This curious detail is a shout-out to the Ssú of the Empire of the Petal Throne setting. “The Enemies of Man” are creatures so feared within Tékumel that new PCs quickly learn to flee at first whiff of cinnamon or the sound of bells.

The following text is Open Game Content.

3.5e

These stat blocks use an abbreviated format that omits extraneous or redundant elements. Listen and Spot skills, for example, are detailed on the Senses line and not repeated on the Skills line; Feats that are “always on” like Improved Initiative or Toughness are incorporated into the stat block and not listed on the Feat line.

The Charnel Captain was created by applying the elite ability score array to a standard ghoul and adding 4 levels of fighter.

Charnel Captain CR 5

CE Medium undead

Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +3, Spot +8

Language Common

Defense

AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 16

hp 40 (6 HD)

Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +8

Immune undead traits; Resist turn resistance +2

Offense

Spd 30 ft.; Balance +8, Climb +8, Jump +8

Melee bite +9 (1d6+4 plus paralysis), 2 claws +8 (1d3+4 plus paralysis)

Ranged mwk composite shortbow +9 (1d6+4/x3)

Special Attacks ghoul fever (DC 13)

Statistics

Str 18, Dex 18, Con –, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 15

Base Atk +5; Grp +9

Feats Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack

Skills Hide +8, Intimidate +9, Move Silently +8

Combat Gear oil of greater magic fang (+3), potion of displacement; Other Gear +1 chain shirt, cloak of resistance +1, masterwork composite shortbow (18 Str) with 40 arrows

Special Abilities

Ghoul Fever (Su) Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 13, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex.

Paralysis (Ex) DC 13 Fortitude, paralysis 1d4+1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this paralysis.

The Charnel Priest was created by applying the elite ability score array to a standard ghoul and adding 5 levels of cleric. Clerics of the Charnel God (favored weapon: dagger) have access to the Death, Evil, and Knowledge domains.

Charnel Priest CR 5

CE Medium undead

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5, Spot +10

Language Common

Defense

AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18

hp 41 (7 HD)

Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +12

Immune undead traits; Resist turn resistance +2

Offense

Spd 20 ft.; Balance +4, Climb +4, Jump -2

Melee bite +6 (1d6+2 plus paralysis), 2 claws +4 (1d3+1 plus paralysis)

Special Attacks death touch 1/day (+6 melee touch), ghoul fever (DC 14), rebuke undead 6/day (+3, 2d6+8, 5th)

Spells Prepared (CL 5th, 6th for evil spells)

3rd—animate dead^D, bestow curse (+6 melee touch, DC 18), deeper darkness

2nd—death knell^D (DC 17), hold person (DC 17), shatter (DC 17), silence

1st—bane (DC 16), cause fear^D (DC 16), death watch, divine favor, doom (DC 16), shield of faith

0—detect magic, guidance, read magic, resistance, virtue

^D Domain spell; Domains death, evil

Statistics

Str 15, Dex 14, Con –, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 16

Base Atk +4; Grp +6

Skills Concentration +10 (+14 casting defensively), Hide +6, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Move Silently +6, Spellcraft +9

SQ spontaneous casting (inflict spells)

Combat Gear oil of darkness, scroll of divine power, scroll of mass inflict moderate wounds; Other Gear +1 breastplate, holy symbol (dagger), funeral-purple robes, silver skull-like mask

Special Abilities

Death Touch (Su) Once per day the ghoul priest may use a death touch against a living creature (+6 melee touch). If successful, roll 5d6; if this is greater than the creature’s current hit points, it dies (no save).

Ghoul Fever (Su) Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 14, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex.

Paralysis (Ex) DC 14 Fortitude, paralysis 1d4+1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this paralysis.

5e

Ghoul Captain

Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 15 (studded leather)
Hit Points 78 (12d8 + 24)
Speed 30 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
16 (+3)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	13 (+1)	11 (+0)
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Damage Resistances necrotic
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, poisoned
Actions
Multiattack. The charnel captain makes either three melee attacks—one with its bite and two with its claws—or three ranged attacks with its longbow.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Charnel Priest

Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (breastplate)
Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30)
Speed 30 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
15 (+2)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	12 (+1)
Damage Immunities. necrotic, poison.
Condition Immunities. charmed, exhaustion, poisoned.
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Spellcasting: The ghoul priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has the following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will)—guidance, sacred flame, thaumaturgy 1st level (4 slots)—bane, inflict wounds, shield of faith 2nd level (3 slots)—hold person, silence 3rd level (2 slots)—animate dead, bestow curse
Actions
Multiattack. The charnel priest makes three melee attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success
Channel Negative Energy The charnel priest magically unleashes negative energy. Living creatures within 60 feet of the charnel priest, including ones behind barriers and around corners, can’t regain hit points until the end of the charnel priest’s next turn.

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