Homebrew Barghest Species Details

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.

Barghest Traits

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.

Fire Banishment.

When the barghest starts its turn engulfed in flames that are at least 10 feet high or wide, it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be instantly banished to Gehenna.

Soul Feeding.

The barghest can feed on the corpse of a Fey or Humanoid it killed within the past 10 minutes. This feeding takes at least 1 minute, and it destroys the corpse. The victim’s soul is trapped in the barghest for 24 hours, after which time it is digested, and the person is incapable of being revived. The soul is released if the barghest dies before the soul is digested. While a soul is trapped in the barghest, any magic that tries to restore the soul to life has a 50 percent chance of failing and being wasted.

Innate Spellcasting.

The barghest casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability:

Change Shape

Asa bonus action, the barghest transforms into a Small goblin or back into its true form. Other than its size and speed, its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. The barghest reverts to its true form if it dies.

Multiattack.

The barghest makes one Bite attack and one Claw attack.