Bodak

Bodaks were what was left of a humanoid that had been destroyed by the touch of pure evil, such as that of a nightwalker. Undead creatures devoid of personality or souls, bodaks were cruel and relentless hunters, either of their own volition or at the behest of some greater power, such as the nightwalker that created them.

Description
Bodaks resembled their living form to a certain extent, being roughly the same size and shape. However, there were differences which were immediately obvious to the eye. A bodak's skin was a deathly pale white or gray, devoid of any hair at all. More eerie still was its face, which was twisted into an inhuman visage of sheer madness and horror with empty, white eyes.

Abilities
Bodaks possessed a number of unusual abilities granted to them by their undead state. For instance, each bodak had the capacity to gaze into the soul of a nearby creature, gravely injuring or killing them if they were already weakened, an attack often known as a "death gaze". Those killed with this gaze were likely to subsequently become bodaks themselves. Similarly, bodaks projected an aura of death around them, injuring and hindering the actions of any creature within roughly 25 feet (7.6 meters) of them.

Like many undead creatures, bodaks had an inherent weakness against brilliant light, and therefore shunned sunlight whenever they were able to. They were, however, completely invulnerable to disease or poison and had a strong resistance against the effects of necrotic power.

Psychology
Although mostly devoid of any semblance of their past selves, bodaks occasionally experienced flashbacks of their life, an occurrence sometimes triggered within combat. In such cases, a bodak might take pause for a moment, stopping whatever it was doing. If an enemy triggered this flashback, the bodak was less likely to take effective action against the enemy for sometime thereafter.

Significance
Bodaks were favored monsters of the goddess of bad luck, Beshaba.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #94: "Spiral of Manzessine"