Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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Flameskulls! Skulls that are on fire! I don’t know if they existed in previous editions, but the illustration makes me think of old-school demiliches a bit. They’re present only in the MM.

The Lore

Flameskulls are intelligent undead created from the skulls of spellcasters. The book doesn’t specify if they contain the soul and memories of the skull’s original owner or if they’re new individuals. It’s possible multiple versions of the ritual exist and each does something different.

One thing that is certain from the information here is that the “intelligent” part is an understatement - the standard model has Int 22 and the greater one Int 30! Not only do flameskulls speak at least 2 languages, they’re also Unaligned, meaning it’s quite possible one of them would appear as a neutral or allied NPC instead of a simple hostile monster. I think there’s at least one published 4e module or comic that does exactly that.

Flameskulls are usually created to serve as guardians, and the ritual that creates them is apparently older than recorded history, so you can find them in all sorts of forgotten places. “Younger” flameskulls might be found accompanying their creators as servants or bodyguards.

The Numbers

Flameskulls are Natural Animates with the Undead keyword. As undead they’re immune to disease and poison.

Flameskull

The standard model is Level 8 Artillery with 70 HP. It’s size is Tiny, and it flies at speed 10 (hover). It has Resist 10 fire, Resist 5 necrotic, and Vulnerable 5 radiant. It also has Regeneration 5, which means I have to explain how that works now.

Regeneration in 4e is actually similar to 3.5’s Fast Healing. Monsters with regeneration regain the specified amount of HP at the start of their turn as long as their current HP total is above 0. That’s it! Any other associated bells and whistles like those of trolls will be listed as separate traits.

Back to the flameskull: it attacks with a weak Fiery Bite in melee or a much better Flame Ray (Ranged 10 vs. Reflex) at range. Once per encounter it can use a Fireball which works more or less like the PC version: Area Burst 3 Within 20 vs. Reflex. Does fire damage on a hit, half on a miss, and the flameskull can exclude two allies from the effect.

The skull can also manipulate objects using Mage Hand, and it sheds bright light out to 5 squares, though it can reduce that to dim light out to 2 squares if it’s trying to be stealthy.

Great Flameskull

This one is either very old or made using a more powerful version of the ritual. It’s Level 24 Artillery with 174 HP and size Small. Do flameskulls grow with age, or is this something like the skull of an oni?

Stat-wise, it’s pretty much a scaled-up flameskull. Its resistances, vulnerabilities and regeneration are doubled in intensity, and it’s fireball is now a Fire Storm (Area 4 within 20 vs. Reflex) whose flames last for a turn and deal 10 damage to anyone starting their turns there in addition to their initial attack damage.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

There’s one sample encounter: a flameskull, 2 mummy guardians and an oni night haunter who probably created the other monsters.

I like them! I cannot help but remembering Murray from the Monkey Island games when I see the flameskull illustration, which I guess is a factor in this. The fact that flameskulls are unaligned and not necessarily hostile is my favorite thing about them. I’d have to fix their damage before using them, of course.