Bodak

Template:Shadow 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 a soul, 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.

Ecology

Physical characteristics

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

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

Abilities

Bodaks possessed a number of unusual abilities granted to them by their undead state. For instance, each bodak has the capacity to gaze into the soul of a nearby creature, gravely injuring or killing them if they are already weakened, an attack often known as a “death gaze.” Those killed with this gaze are likely to subsequently become bodaks themselves. Similarly, bodaks project an aura of death around them, injuring and hindering the actions of any creature within roughly twenty-five feet of them.

Psychology

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

Appendix

Gallery

The bodak as one would appear in the game editor of Neverwinter Nights.

A Bodak Mage