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Ravener Husk
Raveners require a steady diet of souls, and a ravener that's unable to feed for too long eventually cannibalizes their own soul. Should a ravener's soul ward ever be reduced to 0 Hit Points by hunger while the ravener has more than 1 Hit Point (see Soul Ward), they lose all traces of their former identity (losing most of its unique traits, including the one matching its former tradition) and descend into a feral, nearly mindless state. Even if a ravener husk later consumes soul energy, the transformation can be reversed only via Ravenous Repast.Recall Knowledge - Dragon (Arcana): DC 37
Recall Knowledge - Undead (Religion): DC 37
Unspecific Lore: DC 35
Specific Lore: DC 32
Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level
Ravener HuskCreature 14
Rare Gargantuan Dragon Undead UnholySource Monster Core 2 pg. 271
Perception +26; darkvision, soulsense 60 feet
Skills Acrobatics +22, Athletics +28
Str +8, Dex +0, Con +6, Int -5, Wis +4, Cha +4
AC 35; Fort +28, Ref +22, Will +26
HP 325 (void healing); Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep; Weaknesses holy 10
Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 90 feet, DC 31Boneshatter [reaction] Trigger The ravener husk takes any amount of bludgeoning damage Effect The ravener's brittle bones shatter, spraying bone shards everywhere.Every creature within a 10-foot emanation of the ravener husk takes 7d6 piercing damage (DC 31 basic Reflex save).
Speed 60 feet, fly 180 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +29 [+24/+19] (magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 3d8+16 piercing plus 2d6 voidMelee [one-action] claw +29 [+25/+21] (agile, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 3d4+16 slashing plus 2d6 voidRavenous Repast [three-actions] (divine) Frequency once per day; Effect The ravener husk makes a jaws Strike against a deceased creature that has been dead no longer than 1 minute, was holy, and was at least level 15 in life. The ravener attempts a DC 5 flat check; if successful, they transform back into a ravener with 1 Hit Point in their soul ward.Void Breath [two-actions] (divine, void) The ravener husk breathes a torrent of void energy that deals 16d6 void damage in a 40-foot cone (DC 34 basic Reflex save). They can't use Void Breath again for 1d4 rounds.
All Monsters in "Ravener"
| Name | Level |
| Ravener | 21 |
| Ravener Husk | 14 |
Ravener
Source Monster Core 2 pg. 268Though their lifespans can measure in millennia, all dragons must eventually perish. While many do so on the blades or under the spells of dragonslayers, some manage to outlast their enemies and must, in time, face the truth that awaits all living creatures at the end of their natural life span. As with many other creatures, some dragons respond to such looming reminders of their own mortality poorly, and the particularly prideful or wrathful of their kind often lash out in anger when confronted by this grim truth. Peace and acceptance are found by some dragons, but the most stubborn of their ilk (and invariably the most wicked) can pursue a different answer to the problem. These dragons seek out sinister rites that can transform them into undead creatures known as raveners.
A ravener's flesh is stripped away as part of the transformation, leaving only bones. What they lose in flesh, however, the dragon gains in soul-rending power, as their spiritual energy forms a protective barrier around their body, keeping it intact and allowing flight with now-skeletal wings. This existence isn't as easy to maintain as other forms of undeath, however, and the ravener must feed regularly on living souls to power their profane metabolism. Their hunger is much greater than that of a living dragon, so raveners are forced to relocate regularly, traveling to fresh hunting grounds each time they strip their current home of prey.
Creating a Ravener
Any dragon of at least level 13 can become a ravener, although it's exceedingly rare for a dragon younger than an ancient dragon to do so. Typically, the dragon must perform a rare ritual called ravenous reanimation, but this requirement can be waived if the prospective ravener has the aid of a powerful patron. In certain unique conditions, such as the intervention of a vile god of undeath, a dragon can transform into a ravener after death without the use of this rite at all. A ravener is a powerful creature that's likely to have a major impact on your game, so you might want to create each one as a custom monster. If you don't have time, you can also create a ravener via the following steps.Increase the dragon's level by 2 and change their statistics as follows.
- They gain the undead and unholy traits, as well as the Necril language.
- Increase their AC, attack bonuses, DCs, saving throws, and skill modifiers by 2.
- They gain weakness to holy damage and more HP (see below).
- The ravener's melee strikes deal an additional 2d6 void damage, and their damaging breath abilities deal an additional 4d6 void damage.
| Starting Level | HP Increase | Weakness |
| 13–20 | 50 | 15 |
| 21 or greater | 80 | 20 |
Ravener Abilities
A ravener gains the following abilities. Several of these abilities gain the tradition trait matching the original dragon's tradition trait.Darkvision
Soulsense A ravener senses the spiritual essence of living and undead creatures within the listed range. Creatures whose material bodies are one unit with their souls, like celestials and fiends, appear brighter to this sense.
Void Healing
Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious
Cowering Fear (aura, emotion, fear, mental) A ravener's frightful presence causes creatures to cower in fear as well. As long as a creature is at least frightened 2 or more as a result of the ravener's frightful presence, it's also immobilized from the fear.
Soul Ward An intangible field of necromantic energy protects a ravener from total destruction. A soul ward has 150 maximum Hit Points, or 200 if the ravener is level 21 or higher. Whenever a ravener would be reduced below 1 Hit Point, all damage in excess of what would reduce them to 1 Hit Point is instead dealt to their soul ward. If this damage reduces the soul ward to fewer than 0 Hit Points, the ravener is destroyed. A soul ward's Hit Points can be restored only via specific ravener abilities such as Consume Soul, Void Breath, or vicious criticals. A ravener who goes more than a week without successfully using Consume Soul to feed on a dying creature starves, and their soul ward loses 1d4 Hit Points each day until they feed. If the ravener's soul ward loses all its Hit Points while the ravener still has more than 1 HP, they become a ravener husk.
Consume Soul [free-action] (death) Trigger A living creature within 30 feet of the ravener dies; Effect The ravener tears the creature's soul from its body with their maw and gulps it down. The dying creature must attempt a Fortitude save with the same DC as the ravener's breath ability.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The ravener tears off a small chunk of the creature's soul. If the victim is restored to life, they are drained 1 in addition to any other side effects of returning to life. The ravener adds a number of Hit Points to their soul ward equal to half the creature's level.
Failure As success, but the creature's soul is ravaged. The creature is drained 3 and the ravener adds a number of Hit Points to their soul ward equal to the creature's level.
Critical Failure As failure, but the ravener devours the entire soul. The victim can't be restored to life as long as the ravener exists except via powerful magic such as a wish ritual, and the ravener adds a number of Hit Points to their soul ward equal to twice the creature's level.
Discorporate [free-action] Trigger The ravener takes excess damage to their soul ward but still has at least 51 Hit Points in their soul ward; Effect The ravener draws deeply into their soul ward, discorporating their body into soul energy to escape. They take 50 damage to their soul ward and their physical body vanishes, reappearing 1d4 hours later in a random location within 1 mile from the location where they used Discorporate.
Void Breath A ravener's Void Breath is infused with void energy and strips life essence from the victims. Any creature that fails its save against the ravener's Void Breath is drained 1 (or drained 2 on a critical failure). If at least one creature is drained by the ravener's Void Breath, the ravener's soul ward gains 5 Hit Points.
Vicious Criticals The ravener treats an attack roll as a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, as long as the attack roll was a success. Additionally, whenever the ravener makes a critical hit with one of their Strikes, the target must succeed at a Fortitude save or gain the drained 1 condition. If the target already has a drained value of greater than 0, their drained value instead increases by 1, to a maximum of drained 4. Whenever the ravener applies drain to a creature in this way, their soul ward gains 5 Hit Points.
Ravener Lairs
Cunning and paranoid, raveners prefer to make their lairs in places hostile to mortal life: atop peaks so high that living creatures struggle to breathe the rarefied air, submerged beneath pools of magma in the caldera of an active volcano, and so on. Some raveners even go so far as to deliberately fill their entire lair with lethally poisonous gases, and raveners that are capable of advanced spellcasting often seal their lairs completely, accessing them exclusively via spells such as teleport or vapor form. Of course, raveners must feed on the living to persist, so they never locate their lairs so far from sources of life that they’ll starve.
Ravener Minions
Raveners view most undead creatures with little more respect than they have for living creatures, but they often make use of them as servants. They prefer incorporeal undead such as ghosts and wraiths over such crude and simple minions as skeletons and zombies.While most dragons are too prideful to turn to anyone, even the gods, for help, a few who seek to become raveners are so desperate to stave off death that they might turn to powerful patrons for aid, such as demon lords, unholy deities, or powerful necromancers, offering service in exchange for their transformation.
Ravener Treasure
Because they change lairs more often than living dragons, raveners prefer treasure that’s compact and easily transported. Instead of a sprawling mountains of coins, they tend to prefer precious gems, art objects, and especially magic items, particularly magic items they’re capable of using.
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