A Barghest is an evil shape-changing fiend that hungers for the souls of mortals. A barghest may appear as a huge demonic black dog, or in a humanoid form nearly seven feet tall, resembling a wingless gargoyle.

A barghest never uses weapons, even in its humanoid form, preferring to feel the blood of its enemies run down its claws. A barghest is tenacious; if a barghest fails a morale check and flees, it will return in 1d6 turns to attack again.

A barghest generally speaks Common as well as the languages of infernals, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears, and can communicate with wolves. One can sometimes be found ruling over goblins or hobgoblins, but most commonly a barghest haunts a lonely stretch of road, preying on travelers. In these instances its treasure is usually buried nearby, likely behind a shrine or such.

Barghests are native to Gehenna, but send their young to the Prime Material Plane during a larval phase. A typical litter is 2d4 young. These will disperse into pairs or lone barghests.

They seem like very large goblins, and may shape change into large dogs at will. In dog form each barghest’s movement speed is doubled and it surprises opponents 50% of the time. For each human the barghest eats, it gains 1+1 HD, reduces its AC by 1, adds 5% to its magic resistance and +1 to its damage dice. When it reaches 12+12 hit dice, the barghest may plane shift itself back to Gehenna, a power it will typically use at once.