MENACE MANUAL: Furkas Xoud

To beef him up a bit I used the paragon rules from the AngryDM.  The showdown with Furkas occurred at with the Thought Harvester robot.  The party inadvertently put him to rest meeting the 3 minimum requirements of severing his emotional connection to The Choking Tower.

FURKAS XOUD
Medium paragon undead (ghost), neutral evil

Armour Class 18 (smoke armour, mage armour, warm shield +2d6/3 fire)
Hit Points 139/139 (18d8+18)
Speed 0 ft., fly 40ft.

STR 10 (+0)        DEX 13 (+1)       CON 10 (+0)
INT 13 (+1)         WIS 12 (+1)        CHA 17 (+3)

Saving Throws lnt +9, Wis +6
Skills Arcana +13, History +13, Cybertheurgy +13
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non magical weapons
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Aklo, Gothic, Auran, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Hallit, Ignan, Orc
Challenge Paragon 12 (8,400 XP), 2 creatures

Ethereal Sight. Furkas Xou can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.

Incorporeal Movement. Furkas Xoud can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn in side an object.

Magic Resistance. Furkas Xoud advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Paragon Hit Points. Furkas Xoud has multiple pools of hit points, each of which is tracked separately. All damage and healing must be completely applied only to one pool of hit points. One pool of hit points must be completely reduced to zero hit points before any damage is applied to another pool. When a pool of hit points is reduced to zero, all on-going conditions and effects affecting the creature end immediately. After a pool of hit points has been reduced to zero, it cannot receive any healing until after a long rest. If all pools of hit points have been reduced to zero hit points, the creature is killed.

Paragon Actions. Furkas Xoud acts like normal creature until reduced to half hit-points (“bloodied”) at which point he will grow in size and gain an extra action including being able to cast two spells per round (one per hit point pool) and gains one complete turn in each combat round, including one reaction between each turn, for each pool of hit points it has above zero. When a pool of hit points has been reduced to zero, the creature loses one turn each round thereafter.

Smoke Armour. The coils of smoke that surround Furkas Xoud are partially solid. They grant him a +4 natural armour bonus and 40 bonus hit points.

Spellcasting. Furkas Xoud is a 10th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). Furkas Xoud can cast disguise self and invisibility at will and has the following wizard spells prepared:

• Cantrips (at will): fire bolt (1d10/5), gust, thunderclap, prestidigitation, and shocking grasp (1d8/4, melee)
• 1st level (4 slots): ice knife (1d10 piercing, explodes DEX or 2d6/6), fog cloud (C, 1 zone, obscured), mage armor*, magic missile (3x 1d4+1/6)
• 2nd level (3 slots): warding wind (C, 10-foot ds, difficult terrain, deafened, disadvantage on range), mirror image (d20 6/8/11, AC11), and misty step (bonus, teleport 1 zone), web (C, 1 zone, DEX or restrained, STR to break)
• 3rd level (3 slots): stinking cloud (C, CON or retching), fireball (8d6/24, DEX)
• 4th level (3 slots): storm sphere (C, 1 zone, difficult terrain, STR or take 2d6/6 bludgeoning, range spell with advantage for 4d6/12 lighting in adjacent zones as a bonus), fire shield*, stoneskin*
• 5th level (1 slots): cone of cold (8d8/32, cold, CON, melee/adjacent), cloudkill (C, 1 zone, CON 5d8/20 poison), and wall of force (C, dome or 10 foot wall)

*Furkas Xoud casts these spells on himself before combat

ACTIONS
Withering Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage.

Etherealness. The ghost enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. It is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet it can’t affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.

Horrifying Visage. Each non-undead creature within 60 feet (adjacent) of the ghost that can see it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. If the save fails by 5 or more, the target also ages 1d4 x 10 years. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened condition on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to this ghost’s Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours. The aging effect can be reversed with a greater restoration spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring.

Possession (Recharge 6). One humanoid that the ghost can see within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the ghost; the ghost then disappears, and the target is incapacitated and loses control of its body. The ghost now controls the body but doesn’t deprive the target of awareness. The ghost can’t be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that turn undead, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target’s statistics, but doesn’t gain access to the target’s knowledge, class features, or proficiencies.

The possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points, the ghost ends it as a bonus action, or the ghost is turned or forced out by an effect like the dispel evil spell. When the possession ends, the ghost reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body. The target is immune to this ghost’s Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or after the possession ends.

Spectral Miasma (1 per long rest). As a free action, Furkas can summon a life-sapping mist that functions as fog cloud, except that Furkas can see through this fog normally. Living creatures that enter or start their turns within the spectral miasma take 2d6 points of necrotic damage; Furkas heals for the same amount of damage. Once created, a spectral miasma persists for 1 minute or until dispersed by wind or fire, whichever happens first.

TACTICS
Before Combat Furkas Xoud casts mage armor, see invisibility, and shield before entering combat.

During Combat Furkas’s actions in combat vary depending on where he’s encountered, but when he actually enters combat, he starts the battle by first casting fireball and follows that with his spectral miasma ability. He casts mirror image on the second round, and then follows that up with cloudkill, solid fog, web, and stinking cloud. He uses wall of force to trap victims in these areas, saving his damaging spells to target healers first and combatants last, while using his rod of gripping smoke to interfere with characters who attempt to attack him with weapons.

Morale Furkas’s morale depends on where he’s encountered— see Campaign Role on the next page. If he retreats to area G9, he uses his spectral miasma to heal at the first opportunity.