Kalkek
Level 7Attacks
Abilities
Kalkek can communicate with lupines and gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Intimidation checks against lupines.
The barghest takes on the shape of a goblinoid (a goblin, hobgoblin, or bugbear) or a wolf, or it transforms back into its true form. When the barghest is a goblinoid, it loses its jaws and claw Strikes, it becomes Small if it is a goblin, and its Speed changes to 20 feet. When the barghest is a wolf, its Speed changes to 40 feet and its jaws gain Knockdown. Each individual barghest has only one goblinoid form and one wolf form.
The process of consuming corpses to evolve into a greater barghest results in odd and unpredictable physiological changes. Kalkek has two minor mutations,
Large Grin Gives a powerful, tearing bite.
Wolf Empathy Kalkek has an uncanny empathy with wolves.
Once a barghest has eaten enough to grow into a greater barghest, it typically seeks a method to leave the Material Plane and return to the Abyss, there joining other fiends as yet another of that plane's horrors. As barghests have no innate ability to travel the planes, though, the time it takes for most greater barghests to engineer such a return can usually be measured in years, if not decades. During that time, greater barghests continue to play the roles of gluttons, hunters of humanity, and tyrants of goblinoid tribes. More than a few grow accustomed to such lives on the Material Plane and wholly abandon the end goal of returning to the Abyss, despite the fact that those who do make such a return home often grow even more powerful over time, gaining eerie new abilities and qualities absorbed from the raw chaos of the Abyss itself.
In addition to greater barghests being more powerful than typical barghests, the process of transforming into a greater barghest results in hideous mutations that often grant deadly abilities. Some barghests grow large bat-like wings upon their transformation. Others develop toxic breath or vestigial limbs. The options detailed in the stats below represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg for barghest mutations-feel free to use these as inspiration for coming up with new mutations of your own design.