Bhut (CR 9)
Medium Undead (Incorporeal and Spirit)
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Initiative: +4 (Dex); Senses: darkvision (60-foot range), Listen +10, and Spot +10
AC: 19 (+4 Dex, +5 deflection), touch 19, flat-footed 15
Hit Dice: 8d12 (52 hp)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +5
Speed: Fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +4; Grapple -
Attack: Incorporeal bite +8 melee
Full Attack: Incorporeal bite +8 melee
Damage: Incorporeal bite 1d12/19-20/x3
Special Attacks/Actions: Augmented critical, dreadful appearance, poison
Abilities: Str -, Dex 19, Con -, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 20
Special Qualities: Corpsetheft, earth vulnerability, incorporeal subtype, undead traits
Feats: Dodge; Mobility; Spring Attack; Track (B)
Skills: Bluff +6, Diplomacy +7, Disguise +16 (+18 acting), Intimidate +18, Listen +10, Spot +10, and Survival +10
Advancement: 9-24 HD (Medium-size)
Climate/Terrain: Any land
Organization: Solitary, covey (2-5), or colony (6-24)
Treasure/Possessions: Standard
Source:
Fiend Folio
Augmented Critical (Ex): An bhut's bite attack threatens a critical hit on a natural attack roll of 19-20. On a successful critical hit with a bite, the bhut deals triple damage.
Dreadful Appearance (Su): Anyone within 30 feet of a bhut must snake a Fortitude save (DC 19) or take 1d6 points of Strength damage. A victim can be affected only once by a specific bhut's dreadful appearance, but the effects of failing to save against multiple bhuts are cumulative.
Poison (Su): A bhut delivers its poison (Fort DC 14 negates, with each successful bite attack. Initial and secondary damage are the same (2d6 Wis). Anyone reduced to 0 Wisdom by bhut poison lapses into a coma and dies in 1d4 hours unless the poison is neutralized. A humanoid creature slain in this manner rises as a bhut with the next sunset.
Corpsetheft (Su): As a full-round action, a bhut can possess a dead humanoid body of any size. The body animates immediately and is under the bhut's full control; treat it as a zombie of the appropriate size with several exceptions: First of all, the animated body retains the bhut's Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, as well as the bhut's alignment, base attack bonus, hit points, base saving throws, and level and class If any). Additionally, the animated body is not limited to single actions. Also, the animated body's bite attack can deliver the bhut's poison, but the bite is not itself a natural attack (-4 penalty on attack rolls). It deals only 1d3 points of damage, and it provokes an attack of opportunity. As long as the bhut inhabits the body, it is not affected by its earth vulnerability, nor does it gain the benefits of its augmented critical or dreadful appearance abilities. Bhuts make excellent use of their Bluff and Disguise skills in this state to make the animated body appear to be alive. If the animated body is reduced to 0 hit points, the bhut must exit the body and return to its incorporeal form; any damage done to the animated body is not transferred to the bhut's incorporeal form.
Earth Vulnerability (Su): A bhut cannot abide contact with earth or stone when in its incorporeal state, and it cannot pass through such matter without taking 3d6 points of damage per round. Stone and earth weapons deal an additional 1d6 points of damage when they strike an incorporeal bhut, and they do not have a miss chance.
A bhut avoids combat if it does not have a body, and when it has a body it prefers to slay its enemies through subterfuge and surprise. Nevertheless, a bhut is a terrible and accomplished menace in combat.
The bhut is a foul undead creature that lurks in remote areas and masquerades as the living in a most unusual manner. A bhut spends much of its time possessing a humanoid corpse. When forced from its host, the ghostly bhut is a terrifying sight that consists of a humanoid head with red feral eyes, a mouth full of dagger-like teeth, and a roiling, half-formed body of sickening black smoke and dank red mist.
A bhut comes into being when a humanoid dies a sudden, violent death in a remote region. Bhuts harbor a festering hatred of the living and they wander the wilderness preying on travelers and pilgrims.
Incorporeal Subtype
Some creatures are incorporeal by nature, while others (such as those that become ghosts) can acquire the incorporeal subtype. An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. It has immunity to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells, including touch spells or magic weapons, it has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects such as magic missile, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Non-damaging spell attacks affect incorporeal creatures normally unless they require corporeal targets to function (such as the spell implosion) or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally ignore (such as a web or wall of stone spell). Although it is not a magical attack, a hit with holy water has a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal undead creature.
An incorporeal creature's natural weapons affect both in incorporeal and corporeal targets, and pass through (ignore) corporeal natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Attacks made by an incorporeal creature with a nonmagical melee weapon have no effect on corporeal targets, and any melee attack an incorporeal creature makes with a magic weapon against a corporeal target has a 50% miss chance except for attacks it makes with a ghost touch weapon, which are made normally (no miss chance).
Any equipment worn or carried by an incorporeal creature is also incorporeal as long as it remains in the creature's possession. An object that the creature relinquishes loses its incorporeal quality (and the creature loses the ability to manipulate the object). If an incorporeal creature uses a thrown weapon or a ranged weapon, the projectile becomes corporeal as soon as it is fired and can affect a corporeal target normally (no miss chance). Magic items possessed by an incorporeal creature work normally with respect to their effects on the creature or another target. Similarly, spells cast by an incorporeal creature affect corporeal creatures normally.
An incorporeal creature has no natural armor bonus but has a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma bonus (always at least +1, even if the creature's Charisma score does not normally provide a bonus).
An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid object but must remain adjacent to the object's exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see clearly and attack normally, a incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.
Incorporeal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as they do in air. Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage. Incorporeal creature cannot make trip or grapple attacks against corporeal creatures, nor can they be tripped or grappled by such creatures. In fact, they cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate a corporeal being or its equipment, nor are they subject to such actions. Incorporeal creatures have no weight and do not set off traps that are triggered by weight.
An incorporeal creature moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn't wish to be. It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to both its melee attacks and its ranged attacks. Non-visual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see.
Spirit Subtype
Spirit creatures include some fey and elementals (nature spirits), outsiders (celestial spirits), undead (ghosts and ancestors), and even dragons. Spirit creatures are nor necessarily incorporeal, despite their name - in the worlds of Oriental Adventures, some spirits are as much flesh and bone as humans are. The only game effect of the spirit type modifier is that spirit creatures are all affected by spells such as commune with greater spirit, invisibility to spirits, and protection from spirits.