An evil shape-changing fiend that hungers for the souls of mortals

A Barghest is an evil shape-changing fiend that hungers for the souls of mortals. A barghest may appear as a huge demonic black dog, or in a humanoid form nearly seven feet tall, resembling a wingless gargoyle. A barghest never uses weapons, even in its humanoid form, preferring to feel the blood of its enemies run down its claws. A barghest is tenacious; if a barghest fails a morale check and flees, it will return in 1d6 turns to attack again. A barghest generally speaks Common as well as the languages of infernals, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears, and can communicate with wolves. One can sometimes be found ruling over goblins or hobgoblins, but most commonly a barghest haunts a lonely stretch of road, preying on travelers. In these instances its treasure is usually buried nearby, likely behind a shrine or such.

A barghest is an evil faerie. They are vaguely human in shape, but can alter their size to very small or very large, appearing as if they are looming over any who face them. Upon closer inspection, their ragged, dull-colored flesh is revealed, and a stench pervades them like the smell of rotten fruit.

Despisers of Life. Barghests reside on the outskirts of civilization, lurking in abandoned buildings, alleys and the like. Barghests require the souls of living victims to sustain themselves, growing more powerful with each unfortunate devoured. These foul-minded fey stalk the living in the mortal realms, hoping to gain for themselves power and immortality, and driven by a violent hatred of all living things.

Deadly Tricksters. The Barghest will always attempt to lead a victim astray through the use of spell-like abilities. They will take the shape of someone in distress, to call upon their intended victims and lure them into the dark. They then pounce upon them and devour them, body and soul.

Long ago, the god Maglubiyet—conqueror and then lord of early goblinoids—bargained with the General of Gehenna for aid. The General provided yugoloths, which then died in service to Maglubiyet. Yet when the time came to honor his part of the compact, Maglubiyet reneged on the deal. In vengeance, the General of Gehenna created the soul-devouring barghests to devour goblinoid souls.

The mission of every barghest, implanted in it by the General of Gehenna, is to consume souls. It eats these souls by devouring the bodies of those it kills, preferring goblinoids.

A barghest hungers for the day when it can complete its mission, return to Gehenna, and serve the General directly in his yugoloth legions, but it doesn't kill goblinoids indiscriminately. By devouring the souls of goblinoid leaders and other powerful individuals, a barghest earns elevated status in the afterlife. Barghests typically keep their true nature secret, preying on the occasional lone goblin when the opportunity arises, until they reach adulthood and are capable of seeking out stronger prey. A barghest avoids contact with large, open fires.

Any conflagration larger than its body acts as a gateway to Gehenna and banishes it to that plane, where it is likely to be slain or enslaved by a yugoloth for its failure.

Long ago, Maglubiyet, master of the goblinoid gods, bargained with the General of Gehenna for aid. The General provided yugoloths that died to serve the cause of the goblin god. Yet when the time came to honor his part of the compact, Maglubiyet reneged on the deal. As an act of vengeance, the General of Gehenna created the soul-devouring barghests to devour goblinoid souls and deprive Maglubiyet of troops for his army in the afterlife.

Consumers of Souls

A barghest is born to goblin parents just as normal offspring are. The creature emerges in the form of a goblin, then develops the ability to assume its true form: that of a large, fiendish canine.

The mission of every barghest, implanted in it by the General of Gehenna, is to consume seventeen goblinoid souls by devouring the bodies of those it kills. Souls consumed in this way are prevented from joining Maglubiyet's forces in Acheron. Why seventeen? Because the oaths Maglubiyet broke in his compact with the General totaled seventeen.

A barghest hungers for the day when it can complete its mission, return to Gehenna, and serve the General directly in his yugoloth legions, but it doesn't kill goblinoids indiscriminately. By devouring the souls of goblinoid leaders and other powerful individuals, rather than lowly goblins, a barghest earns elevated status in the afterlife. Barghests typically keep their true nature secret, preying upon a goblin or two when the opportunity arises, until they reach adult age and are old and strong enough to seek out stronger prey. When goblins discover that a barghest is among them, they react with groveling obeisance, each member of the tribe eager to show the barghest that it isn't worthy of being devoured.

Soul Feeding

A barghest can feed on the corpse of a humanoid that it killed that has been dead for less than 10 minutes, devouring both flesh and soul in doing so. This feeding takes at least 1 minute, and it destroys the victim's body. The victim's soul is trapped in the barghest for 24 hours, after which time it is digested. If the barghest dies before the soul is digested, the soul is released.

While a humanoid's soul is trapped in a barghest, any form of revival that could work has only a 50 chance of doing so, freeing the soul from the barghest if it is successful. Once a creature's soul is digested, however, no mortal magic can return that humanoid to life.

Banished by Fire

A barghest avoids contact with large, open fires. Any conflagration larger than its body acts as a gateway to Gehenna and banishes the fiend to that plane, where it is likely to be slain or enslaved by a yugoloth for its failure.

An evil shape-changing fiend that hungers for the souls of mortals

Barghests are native to Gehenna, but send their young to the Prime Material Plane during a larval phase. A typical litter is 2d4 young. These will disperse into pairs or lone barghests. They seem like very large goblins, and may shape change into large dogs at will. In dog form each barghest's movement speed is doubled and it surprises opponents 50% of the time. For each human the barghest eats, it gains 1+1 HD, reduces its AC by 1, adds 5% to its magic resistance and +1 to its damage dice. When it reaches 12+12 hit dice, the barghest may plane shift itself back to Gehenna, a power it will typically use at once.