Buy me a coffeeDiv, Aghash – The Curse in the Sand
“The Aghash: a spiteful desert horror whose cursed gaze preys on beauty, leaving only ruin in its wake.”
A hunched, emaciated figure cloaked in rotting rags, the Aghash moves with a disjointed, staggering gait, its goatlike legs bending unnaturally with each jerky step. Its skin is pallid and cracked like sunbaked earth, and where a face should be, there is only a vast, singular eye rimmed with tiny, gnashing fangs. The air around it shimmers with a faint, heatless mirage, and its eye pulses with malevolent, hypnotic light.
Behaviour
The Aghash is a slow, deliberate predator of emotion and pride. It delights in the unraveling of its victims, particularly those blessed with beauty, charm, or magical talent. Aghashes are voyeurs of misery, often observing their chosen targets for days or even weeks, slowly eroding their sanity and allure with whispered curses, illusions, and misfortunes. They are not quick to kill; they prefer their prey broken, humiliated, and stripped of everything that once made them enviable.
Habitat
Though native to Abaddon, Aghashes wander the deserts of the Material Plane, drawn to isolated settlements, cursed ruins, and places where beauty has decayed. They often lair near forgotten oases, desecrated temples, or beneath dunes where ancient curses linger. Their presence is heralded by sandstorms, disfigured statuary, and unexplained blights upon the land.
Modus Operandi
It selects targets based on appearance, grace, or vanity. It uses its spectral hand to deliver debilitating curses from afar, often making victims believe they’ve been hexed by fate or gods. At the same time, it manipulates the environment—using illusions, sandstorms, and suggestion—to isolate and torment. When cornered, it lashes out with clawed hands and its devastating cursed gaze, sowing confusion, fear, and magical affliction in seconds.
Motivation
Fueled by a bottomless well of envy and spite, the Aghash sees beauty as a crime and joy as a weakness to be punished. Its hatred for mortals—especially those gifted with natural charm or magical prowess—is pathological. It seeks to drag the radiant down into squalor, to watch pride decay into despair, and to prove that even the most adored can become wretched.
Aghash 5e
Aghash, Pathfinder
Aghash
Medium Fiend (Div), Neutral Evil
Armor Class: 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 93 (11d8 + 44)
Speed: 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 14 (+2) | 14 (+2) | 20 (+5) |
Saving Throws: Wis +6, Cha +9
Skills: Deception +9, Insight +6, Perception +6, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances: Acid, Cold, Lightning
Damage Immunities: Fire, Poison
Condition Immunities: Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge: 7 (2,900 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +3
Traits
Cursed Gaze (Recharge 5–6). As a bonus action, the Aghash targets one creature it can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Charisma saving throw or suffer one of the following curses chosen by the Aghash:
- Confusion: The target acts erratically as if affected by the confusion spell until the end of its next turn.
- Shaken: The target has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn.
- Stunned: The target is stunned until the end of its next turn.
- Withering Gaze: The target takes 2d6 necrotic damage, and its Charisma score is reduced by 1d4 for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end this effect.
Creatures protected by protection from evil and good are immune to this ability.
Spectral Curse. When the Aghash casts a spell that targets only one creature, it can cause the spell to originate from any point within 30 feet it can see, as if cast through a ghostly, floating hand. The hand can pass through barriers and obscuring effects.
Magic Resistance. It has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Spellcasting
The Aghash is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). It requires no material components.
- At Will: Bestow Curse, Detect Magic, Minor Illusion, Disguise Self, Mage Hand (as Spectral Hand), Dimension Door
- 3/day Each: Suggestion, Mirror Image, Blindness/Deafness
- 1/day Each: Phantasmal Killer, Summon Aberration (flavored as summoning a “doru” – use aberrant spirit statistics)
Actions
Multiattack. The Aghash makes two claw attacks.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage plus 5 (1d10) necrotic damage. If the target has a Charisma score of 16 or higher, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have disadvantage on Charisma-based checks until the end of its next turn.
Sandstorm (1/day). The Aghash conjures a whirling sandstorm in a 30-foot radius centered on itself. The area becomes heavily obscured, and creatures inside treat it as difficult terrain. The storm lasts for 1 minute or until the Aghash is incapacitated.
Creatures other than the Aghash that start their turn in the sandstorm must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their turn.
Tactics
Before combat, the Aghash stalks charismatic or attractive foes, using Disguise Self or Minor Illusion to approach undetected. It opens combat with Sandstorm to disorient enemies, followed by Mirror Image or Bestow Curse through Spectral Curse.
During combat, it focuses its Cursed Gaze on the party’s faces or casters, stacking debilitating effects such as Phantasmal Killer or Blindness. When threatened, it uses Dimension Door to reposition or retreat, preferring psychological warfare and prolonged torment over outright kills.
Role
Elite Controller / Debuffer
The Aghash excels at destabilizing parties through debilitating gaze attacks, battlefield control, and charisma-draining curses. Its enmity towards beauty makes it a compelling villain in morally gray or horror-themed campaigns.
Aghash
[This content was created for the Pathfinder rules by Paizo Publishing LLC and is part of the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
Draped in rags and hunched over on goatlike legs, this creature possesses a featureless face, save for a large eye ringed by fangs.
Aghashes embody the evil eye, a curse granted by merely witnessing these embodiments of ruin and misfortune. Terrifying, haglike beings, aghashes wander deserts of the Material Plane spreading doom with their gazes. These wretched creatures hold nothing sacred, taking particular pleasure in bringing vain and arrogant mortals, particularly spellcasters, to ruin.
Ragged and filthy, an aghash moves with a staggering motion. Its hoofed legs bend like those of a goat, giving its emaciated frame an obscene, jerking gait. All divs exhibit some manner of compulsion, and aghashes’ is to despise beautiful mortals. If given a choice between attacking two different opponents, an aghash always chooses the most physically becoming foe. Such is their loathing ‘or, perhaps, jealousy’ that an aghash might stalk attractive foes, delighting in afflicting them with curses that sap their charisma or otherwise undermines their charm.
With its spectral hand ability an aghash can deliver curses from a distance, leading some victims to believe they’ve been afflicted by a disease or cursed by the gods themselves. All the while, the aghash lingers nearby, delighting in the suffering it has caused. An aghash stands between 5 and 6 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
| Aghash CR 4 |
| XP 1,200 NE Medium outsider (div, evil, extraplanar) Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +11 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dexterity, +6 natural) hp 42 (5d10+15) Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +7 DR 5/cold iron or good; Immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, electricity 10; SR 15 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 claws +8 (1d6+2) Special Attacks cursed gaze, sandstorm Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; Concentration +10) At will – bestow curse (DC 16), detect good, detect magic, dimension door, minor image (DC 15), spectral hand 1/day – suggestion (DC 16), summon (level 3, 1d2 dorus 25%) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 14, Dexterity 15, Constitution 16, Intelligence 13, Wisdom 13, Charisma 18 Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 19 Feats Alertness, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Bluff +10, Disguise +12, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +10 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft. |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Cursed Gaze (Su) Aghash’s choice: confused for 1 round, shaken for 1 round, stunned for 1 round, or deals 1d4 points of damage, 30 feet, Fortitude DC 16 negates. Any creature under the effects of protection from evil is immune to an aghash’s gaze. The save DC is Charisma-based. Sandstorm (Su) Once per day, as a full-round action, an aghash can create a temporary sandstorm. This storm has a radius of 100 feet centered on the aghash and lasts for 1 minute per Hit Die the aghash possesses (typically 5). This functions as a sandstorm. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any (Abaddon) Organization solitary Treasure standard |
TACTICS
In Combat If given a choice between attacking two different opponents, an aghash always chooses the most physically becoming foe. Such is their loathing ‘or, perhaps, jealousy’ that an aghash might stalk attractive foes, delighting in afflicting them with curses that sap their Charisma or otherwise undermines their charm. With its spectral hand ability an aghash can deliver curses from a distance, leading some victims to believe they’ve been afflicted by a disease or cursed by the gods themselves. All the while, the aghash lingers nearby, delighting in the suffering it has caused.
Section 15: Copyright Notice – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Jesse Benner, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, Michael Kenway, Rob McCreary, Patrick Renie, Chris Sims, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.