Ghast 5e: Stench, Paralysis and Leading the Ghoul Pack

A ghast is a CR 2 Medium Undead (450 XP) with AC 13, 36 hit points and two jobs: its claws paralyze on a failed DC 10 Constitution save, and its Stench poisons anyone who starts a turn next to it. Unlike a ghoul's, a ghast's paralysis works on elves. The paralyze-then-bite combo is the whole fight: a bite against a paralyzed target is an automatic critical hit. The 2024 ghast hits harder with its bite (extra necrotic damage) but its paralysis lasts only until the end of the target's next turn, and it loses the 2014 Turning Defiance trait.

Table of Contents

• •Ghast Stat Block (2014)
• •The Ghast in the 2024 Rules
• •Ghast vs Ghoul
• •How Ghasts Fight
• •Running a Ghast Encounter
• •How Players Beat Ghasts
• •Ghast Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Ghast Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 ghast gets one attack per turn: Bite or Claws, never both. That's the most misread line in the block. The Claws are the better opener (+5 to hit and the paralysis rider). The Bite is weaker on paper (+3 to hit and only against a creature) but deals 12 damage, and against a paralyzed target it has Advantage and crits automatically, which turns it into 4d8 + 3, about 21 damage.

Turning Defiance gives the ghast, and every ghoul within 30 feet of it, Advantage on saves against Turn Undead. A ghast's real job in 2014 is to keep a ghoul pack in the fight when the cleric raises a holy symbol.

The Ghast in the 2024 Rules

Three changes matter at the table. The bite now hits as often as the claw and averages 16 damage instead of 12, so a 2024 ghast that can't land paralysis still has a real attack. Paralysis no longer chains for a minute, so one failed save costs a character one turn rather than a whole fight. And the ghouls lose their Turn Undead shield, though the ghast itself picks up a +2 Wisdom save.

Ghast vs Ghoul

The ghoul is the CR 1 pack member. The ghast is the CR 2 leader. They share the paralyzing claw. The differences that matter are the ghast's Stench, who its claws can't touch, and, in 2024, the fact that the ghoul bites twice a turn while the ghast still makes one attack.

The elf exemption is the one players remember. An elf party member who has walked through a ghoul warren untouched learns the hard way that a ghast doesn't care about elven blood. Stench is the other gap: a ghoul only threatens you when it attacks, while a ghast punishes you for standing next to it at all.

How Ghasts Fight

Claw first, bite later. The ghast opens with Claws. Against a typical level 3 front-liner with AC 16 it needs an 11, so it hits half the time for 10 damage. Then the target makes the DC 10 save. A fighter with Constitution save proficiency (+4 at level 3) fails on a 5 or lower, 25% of the time. A wizard with +1 fails on an 8 or lower, 40%. That's why ghasts go for the caster.

Stench punishes whoever comes to help. Anyone who starts a turn within 5 feet of the ghast makes a DC 10 Constitution save or is poisoned until the start of their next turn: Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. The fighter trying to pull the ghast off the paralyzed wizard swings at Disadvantage. A success makes that creature immune to that ghast's Stench for 24 hours, so the trait bites hardest in round one and fades as the party passes saves.

The combo is different in each edition.

• •2014: paralysis lasts up to a minute, with a new save at the end of each of the target's turns. On its next turn the ghast bites the still-paralyzed target: +3 with Advantage against AC 16 hits about 64% of the time, and every hit is a crit for about 21 damage. Claw (10) plus that bite (21) is 31 damage, enough to drop a level 3 wizard from full hit points.
• •2024: paralysis ends at the end of the target's next turn, so the ghast itself often never gets to bite a paralyzed target. The creatures that benefit are the ones acting between the ghast's turn and the target's turn. Put ghouls right after the ghast in initiative: each attacks with Advantage, and every hit from 5 feet is a critical hit. A ghoul's Bite crit in 2024 is 2d6 + 2 piercing plus 2d6 necrotic, about 16 damage, and it bites twice.

A ghast never gets its own turn while its claw's paralysis is still running, so in 2024 the paralyzed bite belongs to a second ghast that acts before the target does. That crit is 2d8 + 3 piercing plus 4d8 necrotic, about 30 damage. Use the initiative tracker to see the order and play to it.

Fight in tight places. Stench only reaches 5 feet, so ghasts want corridors, crypt alcoves and doorways where the party can't avoid standing next to them. In the open, a party can kite a 30-foot-speed ghast with ranged attacks.

Ghasts are smart. Intelligence 11 means it knows what a cleric's holy symbol does and who's casting healing spells. It retreats into darkness (darkvision 60 feet) when hurt and lets ghouls take the front. It doesn't flee from a fight it's winning; it's an eater, and paralyzed people don't run.

Running a Ghast Encounter

Ghasts belong at levels 3 to 6, almost always with ghouls. The 2024 XP budget per character (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters:

Paralysis makes these fights swingier than the XP suggests. A level 3 party without a cleric or paladin should see one ghast, not two. The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide math (used by our encounter calculator) multiplies 1 ghast + 4 ghouls by 2 for a group of five, giving 2,500 effective XP: Deadly for four level 4 characters (deadly threshold 2,000).

Two practical notes. Ghasts are a strong "the dead are organized" reveal: the party fights ghouls in one session and learns something is directing them. And because paralysis takes players out of the game, give paralyzed characters something to do: let them see something the others can't, or describe what they hear.

How Players Beat Ghasts

• •Kill it at range. 36 hit points and AC 13 is fragile for CR 2. A level 4 party focusing fire with ranged attacks drops a ghast in one or two rounds without ever smelling it.
• •Use the right damage. It resists necrotic and is immune to poison, so Chill Touch and poison weapons are wasted. Radiant and force work normally. Guiding Bolt deals 4d6 radiant and gives the next attack Advantage.
• •Protect the casters. Keep anyone with a weak Constitution save out of 5-foot range. Paralyzed creatures automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saves too, so don't catch your own paralyzed friend in a Burning Hands cone.
• •End the condition. Lesser Restoration ends paralysis in both editions. In 2014, a paralyzed creature still gets a save each turn, so the fastest fix is often to kill or shove the ghast away so no one bites the target meanwhile.
• •Turn Undead works, with caveats. In 2014, Turning Defiance gives the ghast and nearby ghouls Advantage on the save. In 2024, Turn Undead frightens and incapacitates for up to a minute but ends early if the creature takes damage, so turn the ghast and ignore it while you clear the ghouls.
• •Spells that don't work. It's immune to the charmed condition and to exhaustion, and Hold Person can't target Undead.
• •Spells that do. Spirit Guardians halves the ghast's speed and deals radiant damage every turn it stays close. An evil caster's version deals necrotic, which the ghast resists.

Ghast Encounter Ideas

The ossuary keeper. A village sexton has been dead for a year, and nobody noticed because he kept doing his job. He's a ghast now, still burying the dead, then digging them up at night. He leads three ghouls who were once the people he buried. He talks first, politely, in Common, about the church's burial fees.

The sealed ward. A plague hospital was bricked up with the sick inside. A ghast directs ghouls behind the wall and has learned the healers' schedule. The ghouls attack in the corridor right after the ghast (it set the order on purpose). The elf ranger who handled the ghouls on the surface walks in confident.

Banquet hall. A noble's feast hall smells wrong under the perfume. The host is a ghast wearing a long coat and heavy cologne, and Stench rolls start the moment a guest stands close to make a toast. Its ghouls serve the courses.

If you're running a crypt campaign, Loreify can record your sessions and keep track of which ghouls and ghasts the party has already put down.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a ghast in 5e?

A ghast is CR 2 and worth 450 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 13 and 36 hit points.

Are elves immune to ghast paralysis?

No. Only the ghoul's claws exempt elves. A ghast's claws can paralyze any creature that isn't Undead, in both editions.

How does a ghast's Stench work?

Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of a ghast makes a DC 10 Constitution save or is poisoned until the start of its next turn, giving Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. A creature that succeeds is immune to that ghast's Stench for 24 hours.

Does a ghast get two attacks?

No. Neither the 2014 nor the 2024 ghast has Multiattack. It uses Bite or Claw each turn, usually Claw to paralyze and Bite against a paralyzed target.

What's the difference between a ghast and a ghoul?

A ghast is the stronger CR 2 version with 36 hit points, a poisoning Stench, necrotic resistance and paralysis that works on elves. A ghoul is CR 1 with 22 hit points, and elves ignore its paralysis.

Is a ghast immune to Turn Undead?

No. In 2014, Turning Defiance gives the ghast and ghouls within 30 feet Advantage on saves against turning. The 2024 ghast loses that trait but is proficient in Wisdom saves (+2).

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.