Curse of the Bodak

[Folly]

To expand on that: They're also total push-overs. 58 hp are weak for a CR 8 monster - some comparisons:
Elder Arrowhawk: 112 hp
Behir: 94 hp
Stone Giant: 119 hp
Gray Render: 125 hp
Mohrg: 91 hp
Treant: 66 hp, but has DR 10/Slashing

And his 1d8+1 slam is also pitiful. He's only CR 8, because he can kill instantly. The bodak is basically the equivalent to the "Gotcha! You're dead!"-trap or the quintessential glass cannon.

Cheers, LT.

That would make sense except that Bodak have DR 10/ Cold Iron and resistance 10 to acid and fire.

 

[Darklone]

Bodaks are deadly pushovers.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Last night the party ran into a random encounter with two bodaks. One of the cohorts, a level 8 rogue, failed her saved against the bodaks' death gaze.

Two questions:

1. This is dumb, but here goes: Is the Death Gaze ability a death effect? It doesn't specifically say in the MM entry. If it's a death effect, than the character cannot be raised with Raise Dead. Pretty potent for a CR 8 creature, if you ask me.

2. Is there any spell that will prevent the corpse from rising as a bodak in 24 hours?

Thanks.

1. It probably should be considered a death effect (since it directly causes instant death if the save fails).

2. The only spell I know of that can prevent undead rising from the corpse is called "Spawn Screen" (Clr 2/ Sor/Wiz 2) from Libris Mortis. However, that must be cast before death, and has no effect on someone that's already dead. Other than that, incineration is probably the best bet...

 

[mvincent]

Is the Death Gaze ability a death effect?

d20srd.com links the bodak's ability (twice) to the Death attack description. It's not official, but it seems a reasonable indicator.

 

[moritheil]

In some campaign settings (Dragonlance, I think) clerics can bless corpses and thereby prevent them from rising, but I get the feeling that what you want is not as simple as a consecrate effect. ("Undead cannot be created within or summoned into a consecrated area.")

To expand on that: They're also total push-overs. 58 hp are weak for a CR 8 monster . . .

The bodak is basically the equivalent to the "Gotcha! You're dead!"-trap or the quintessential glass cannon.

The problem is that those can be a pain to calibrate properly to challenge the party without killing them off. There's much less margin of error to work with.

 

[WhatGravitas]

That would make sense except that Bodak have DR 10/ Cold Iron and resistance 10 to acid and fire.

Cold iron is among the more commonly found things, at least IMC (perhaps because it also works against fey and demons). Also, if you compare to the treant, the treat essentially triples its combat power (animating trees). And there's still the issue with the general uselessness of the Bodak besides the death gaze.

Cheers, LT.

 

[moritheil]

Cold iron is among the more commonly found things, at least IMC (perhaps because it also works against fey and demons). Also, if you compare to the treant, the treat essentially triples its combat power (animating trees). And there's still the issue with the general uselessness of the Bodak besides the death gaze.

Cheers, LT.

But with the treant, none of it comes down to a single roll that you die if you botch. The psychological impact of that cannot be overstated.

They really just do not scale well with level - a few levels more and they get annihilated before getting within range. A few levels less and they are prime TPK candidates. Tricks and powergaming may change that statement somewhat, but fundamentally the bodak just does not play to the preconceptions people have about encounters.

 

[Stalker0]

Cold iron is among the more commonly found things, at least IMC (perhaps because it also works against fey and demons). Also, if you compare to the treant, the treat essentially triples its combat power (animating trees). And there's still the issue with the general uselessness of the Bodak besides the death gaze.

Cheers, LT.

In my games its one of the least common. Fighters tend to want adamantine weapons.