Bodak
CR 8, CE Medium Undead (extraplanar)
Senses: Perception 14, Darkvision 60
Speed: 20 ft. Skills: Stealth 10
Languages: Common
Ability Scores: Str 13, Dex 15 (+6), Con --, Int 6 (+8), Wis 13 (+11), Cha 16 (+13)
INIT: +6 CP: +7 HP: 85 (10d8+40) SA: -- DC: 21
AC: 23 Touch: 13 Flat-footed: 20 [+3 Dodge, +10 Natural]
SR: -- Vulnerable: Cold iron 2, Good 5 Resistant: Acid 10, Fire 10 Bypass: --
Immunity: Electricity, Bleed, Poison, Necrotic, Psychic Effect Immunity: Con Save Effects, Death Effects, Disease, Fatigue, Life Drain, Mental Effects, Paralysis, Ability Damage, Sleep, Stun, Suffocation, Starvation
Mobility (ex) - All attacks of opportunity made against the Bodak are done at disadvantage.
Toughness (ex) - This creature is especially resiliant to harm, gaining extra hit points per level.
Sunlight Vulnerability (ex) - When exposed to sunlight this creature takes 2d6 points of damage each round.
Death Gaze (su, Death, Gaze) - Players who look at the Bodak to target it or move toward it are automatically subject to its death gaze (within 30 feet). They must make a CON save or take 1d4 points of life drain. Humanoids slain by the Bodak's death gaze rise as a Bodak 24 hours later. This save happens each turn before any of the player's other actions. Players can attempt to avoid the gaze by:
- Indirect Action: Players choose to indirectly look toward the Bodak. In doing so, the Bodak gains 1/2 cover and cannot be directly targeted by spells. Even so, there's still a 50% chance each round that the player accidentally catches the Bodak's gaze and must make a save.
- Blind Fighting: players can wear a blindfold, blind themselves, keep their eyes shut, use darkness, or use other means of fighting without vision. The Bodak gains 3/4 cover and essentially functions as if invisible.
Attacks
- Melee (Natural) - 2 x slams +9 (1d8+1). Reach: 5 ft.
Gaze Attack (su) - As a standard action, on its turn, the Bodak may also attempt to actively gaze at a target. Doing so automatically triggers a save against its gaze (see description above). If the target is actively attempting to avoid the creature's gaze (indirect action), the gaze attack is considered to be against 3/4 cover. If the target is blind fighting, the gaze attack automatically fails.
Environment: Extraplanar (any evil-aligned plane)
Organization: None
Treasure: none
The flesh of this emaciated creature appears charred or dried, and its empty eye sockets seep trails of smoke.
When mortal humanoids find themselves exposed to profound, supernatural evil, a horrific, occult transformation can strip them of their souls and damn them to the tortured existence of a bodak. Changed into a twisted, misanthropic husk, a bodak wanders the endless tracts of evil-aligned planes, periodically stumbling into other realms by passing through portals or otherwise being conjured elsewhere. Possessing only fragmented memories of its former existence, the bodak is driven by profound emptiness, sorrowful longing, and vengeful hatred of all life. A bodak's appearance is profoundly disturbing. Its flesh looks dried, taut, and desiccated, though it possesses a strange, otherworldly sheen. Its body is disproportionate and distinctly androgynous. Hairless and with only vague hints of facial structure, the bodak's eyes are deep set in their sockets and constantly weep foul-smelling smoky vapors. A planes-wise traveler who recognizes its shape knows to flee, for most travelers can outrun the relatively slow bodak. Bodaks vehemently despise all living creatures and immediately seek to destroy any they encounter. A bodak retains the ability to speak one language it knew in life (typically Common), but it rarely engages in conversation, instead spitting out an incomprehensible stream of vile accusations, curses, and threats. On occasion, a bodak might wield weapons, but most rely primarily upon the effects of their deadly gaze. Bodaks are rarely encountered outside of the Abyss. As they are slow-witted, powerful evil creatures such as liches and nabasu demons sometimes use bodaks as thralls, assassins, or guardians. Bodaks encountered on the Material Plane exude extreme malevolence when forced to confront the realization of their abhorrent transformations. So great is their desire to inf lict their fate upon others that many attempt to drag off the bodies of their slain victims and guard them until they rise as undead. A 20th-level spellcaster can use create greater undead to create a bodak, but only if the spell is cast while the spellcaster is located on one of the evil outer planes (traditionally the Abyss).
