In all my years gaming there has been one antagonist I’ve enjoyed running over any other and that’s the petty, prestidigitating, poltergeist Furkas Xoud.

Appearing as the ‘villain of the week’ for Iron Gods part 3: The Choking Tower, Furkas has almost everything working against him. He’s one dimensional, he appears in a dungeon almost completely unrelated to the main quest, and his name just sounds like a random generator spat it out.

But what he gets right is the MOST important thing for any villain. He interacts perfectly with his dungeon. Every part of his dungeon reinforces the themes of who he is and what he’s doing. By the time my players found the room marked “gaseous ooze research” they noped right out of there. This isn’t just background stuff either. The only way he can be defeated is if his connection to the tower is broken which can be done by messing with his stuff.

Not only does the dungeon reinforce his story, but it also interacts really well with his abilities. Since Xoud is a ghost he can travel through objects, so his dungeon is a multi-level tower filled with sealed doors and resetable traps. So every now and then Xoud just pops in, says a few lines, attacks the PCs, then disappears when he’s bored. Even if he’s destroyed in combat he’ll come back 2d4 days.

Finally, Xoud is given a pair of very fun abilities that will keep PCs on their toes.
First is his ring of force fang. In pathfinder, only force damage or ghost touch weapons deal full damage to ghosts, but with this ring Furkas is able to not only negate force damage against him but convert it into magic missiles. So the most commond stratergy for dealing with ghosts is out the window.
Second, he has the ability to create a ghostly miasma which acts like a fog cloud and damages the living while healing him. This damage isn’t much but seeing such a great area control spell on a monster is pretty rare.

But in the end I just love Furkas. He’s a simple yet very effective villain for both those that are running the game and those playing in it.

For those interested in using him I’ve translated his stats to D&D 5e down below.

Furkas Xoud

Medium Undead, Neutral Evil
Armour Class 16 (19 with mage armour)
Hit Points 139 (18d8 + 58)
Speed 0 ft., fly 40ft. (hover
STR 7 (-2) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 20 (+5) WIS 11 (+0) CHA 18 (+4)
Saving Throws INT +9, CHA +8
Skills Arcana +13, History +13, Perception +4
Damage Resistances Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities Cold, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
Languages Androffan, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Orc, Primordial
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +4

Ethereal Sight. Furkas can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when he is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.
Incorporeal Movement. Furkas can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. He takes 5 (1d10) force damage if he ends his turn inside an object.
Magic Resistance. Furkas has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Rejuvenation. Furkas will reform himself at his body 2d4 days after he is destroyed. He reforms as if he had completed a long rest, but requires one hour of studying his spellbook to regain any used spell slots.
Smoke Armour. The coils of smoke that surround Furkas are partially solid. He can cast mage armour on himself at will and has 40 bonus hit points.
Spellcasting. Furkas is an 11th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). He can cast mage armour, misty step, and telekinesis at will and has the following wizard spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): chill touch, fire bolt, light, mage hand, prestidigitation
1st level (4 slots): identify, magic missile, shield, technomancy*
2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, fog cloud, mirror image, see invisibility, web
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fireball, irradiate*, stinking cloud
4th level (3 slots): dimension door, black tentacles, phantasmal killer, shout
5th level (2 slots): cloudkill, wall of force
6th level (1 slot): disintegrate
*This is a new spell described below.

Actions
Multiattack. Furkas makes one withering touch attack and casts one spell.
Withering Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage.
Etherealness. Furkas enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. He is visible on the Material Plane while he is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet he can’t affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.

Bonus Actions
Spectral Miasma. As a bonus action, Furkas can summon a life-sapping mist that functions as the spell fog cloud, except for the following adjustments. The spell doesn’t require concentration, its duration is reduced to 1 minute, and Xoud can see through this fog normally. In addition, any creature that enters or starts their turn within the spectral miasma takes 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and Furkas regains hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage dealt. Undead and constructs do not take damage from the spectral miasma. This ability can be used once every short rest.
Gripping Smoke. As a bonus action, Furkas can cause the vapour around him to become particularly cloying. Any areas of fog, mist, smoke, or similar vapour within 60 feet of Furkas become difficult terrain for 1 minute or until the vapour is dispersed.

Reactions
Ring of Forcefang. As a reaction, when Furkas is targeted by a spell or ability that deals force damage, he can negate the effect and cast a magic missile spell at a level equal to the level of the negated spell or one, whichever is higher. He does not expend any spell slots to do this.

Legendary Actions
Furkas can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Furkas regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Arcane Battery. Furkas uses his magical energy to create a clockwork horror*.
Grasping Fog. Furkas creates fog around a creature he can see within 60 feet. which becomes as solid as mud. The creature must make a DC 17 Strength saving throw, on a failed save they are grappled until the end of their next turn.
Withering Touch. Furkas makes a withering touch attack.

*Found in: Monstrous Compendium Volume One: Spelljammer Creatures. If unavailable use two animated armour instead.

Technomancy

1st level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Target: Self
Components: V, S, M*
Duration: Concentration, Up to 10 minutes
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard
This spell functions as detect magic, except that it detects the presence of advanced technology instead of magic. The spell also grants you the ability to make Intelligence (history) checks to identify the properties of technological items.
*A palm sized piece of glass.

Irradiate

3rd level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 150 ft.
Area: 10 ft. radius sphere
Components: V, S, M*
Duration: Instantaneous
Save: Constitution
Classes: Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

This spell floods a 10-foot-radius sphere with dangerous radiation. Each creatures within the area must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a target reduces their Strength score by 1d4. A creature dies if this reduces its Strength score to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the creature is subject to a lesser restoration spell or similar effect. Creatures are exposed to radiation only once and the raditiation does not liner in the area.
*A slice of bannana.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the area of effect increases by 10 feet and the strength reduction increases by 1d4 for every 3 slot levels above 3rd.