The Starving Skeleton (D&D 5e Monster)

<div class='cover-header'>The Starving Skeleton</div>

<div class='cover-footer'>A homebrew undead monster for the world's most popular roleplaying game</div>

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# The Starving Skeleton (also called the Gashadokuro) 5e Stat Block

##### A document that brings the Gashadokuro, or "Starving Skeleton" to your tabletop game, written by @rosykobold on Twitter
###### (Cover Art by Calvin Wong, Stat Block art by Boris Groh, if any credit is incorrect, please let me know on Twitter by messaging me there! Thank you!)

> ##### Note from the Writer
> This creature is loosely based on the Gashadokuro, a Japanese yōkai that fed on travelers that held vengeance in their heart. I will try to remain as faithful to the original myth, but I also wish to write this stat block in a way that it feels like it would make sense being in the Forgotten Realms setting. I apologize in advance to any Paladin that may encounter this creature, and I bear no responsibility for the actions of any DM who uses this creature to torment Paladins, especially those who follow the Oath of Vengeance. You'll see why.

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# The Skeleton Appears
##### Okay, now that <i>THAT</i> joke is out of the way...
###### The Starving Skeleton is an undead creature that preys upon the living, like most undead creatures, such as ghouls. However, Starving Skeletons are quite rare, and can only be created by a powerful necromancer, a deity, or other circumstances.

###### They have an interesting diet, consisting of sentient creatures that have a great desire for vengeance in their heart. Recently, the folk of Faerun have noticed a worryingly significant increase in so-called incidents with "skeletal undead that seemed to be roughly 15 times the size of an average humanoid", but no one can say for sure whether the rumors are true, since most claim the undead "attack, and disappear amid the chaos". How can something so large manage to slip away after a direct attack?

###### It was not long until the attacks were getting a bit too common to ignore, especially around popular trade routes. Naturally, sue to the undead nature of the attackers, many paladins were sent to deal with the creatures.

###### Only then would Faerun truly understand how dangerous the Starving Skeletons would be.

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###### The Paladins were met with an undead creature that matched the description of the rumors, to their surprise. A skeletal monstrosity that towered over them, looming at roughly 90 feet tall (around 27 meters, for you lovely folk using the superior metric system). What was more unnerving was the fact it just suddenly appeared in front of them. It immediately attacked, biting off a paladins head. But to the undead creature, it felt...strange. Something about consuming a paladin felt truly blissful and delectable. It had never tasted something so holy, so righteous, so scrumptious...it wanted more. The paladins, quickly getting over the initial shock, immediately gathered their senses and assumed a combat formation. And then, the skeleton suddenly vanished right before their eyes, as quickly as it had appeared. They were prepared for it to reappear again, and once it did, they unleashed their holy might in the form of divine smites. But the skeleton didn't seem harmed at all. It was baffling and horrific. The undead goliath didn't seem to play by the same rules as all other undead. One by one, the paladins were slain, and their blood was consumed by the skeletal giant. Once it had its fill, it disappeared once again, leaving behind withered bodies wearing plate armor.
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###### This caused an uproar, especially amongst temples and religious orders. How could a single undead creature wipe out a party of powerful paladins? They had also gotten reports of the same result occurring on the other trade routes. They concluded that at least 3 were confirmed to exist. And fortunately, a survivor managed to avoid the monsters thirst for blood. With his report, he confirmed that the creature could disappear at will, but not while it was attacking or feeding. Mages identified this ability as some sort of invisibility. The survivor also noted the monster was not affected by any of their divine energy; they tried smiting it, and even attempting to turn it as a last ditch effort, but to no avail. They concluded it had some resistance to the divine as well as to brute force, which only worried everyone more. How were they supposed to kill it? Then the survivor added one more thing. They mentioned the only way he survived was because the creature seemed to have no interest in him. When the creature appeared, it looked agitated. After consuming the others, it seemed almost satiated. Instead of simply going invisible again, it crumbled away. He didn't think much of it, but they realized that the creature can be satiated, and therefore counteracted. They also deemed it dangerous to send any more paladins or clerics to combat the undead, as it only seemed to make their hunger more savage.

###### The scholars of Faerun called these creatures many names, such as "Starving Skeletons" or "Hungering Dead". But a few religious circles called them "Oath Eaters", as they had a very deadly taste for paladins, as well as an edge against them.
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# The Stat Block
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##### Now that we know what this horrible undead monster can do, let's record this monster's stat block! Feel free to edit this creature as you see fit for your one-shot or campaign.

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 ##### Hold on there, you said it was <i>HOW</i> tall!?
 Look, I'm just as surprised as you. Yeah, the yōkai this monster is based off of is approximately 90 feet tall. Documents say it's 15 times the size of a man, and the average height of a man is about 6 feet. 6 feet times 15 is 90 feet, which in D&D 5e terms means the Starving Skeleton's size category is-...

Colossal. Huh.

Wow. Um...that's...taller than the Tarrasque. Have fun explaining that to the Paladin. But in all seriousness, if you feel that's a bit much for your encounter, you can make the skeleton a little smaller. I think having the Starving Skeleton be around 40 feet tall (Huge size category) sounds more reasonable. Unless the party is higher than level 10, in that case I say "THE SKELETON APPROACHES, YOU FOOLS".
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