Stal (species)
Throughout the Light World, stal or stal-creatures include animated skeletons of numerous once-living creatures, with the common term "stalfos" referring specifically to humanoid skeletons. More often than not, these bones are animated by nonspecific forces which permeate the land when it is threatened by great evil. The mere presence of Ganon miles away has been known to cause graveyards and prairies alike to suddenly give rise to dozens of stal every night. Aside from this, necromancers or cruel researchers may intentionally animate these beings to serve as their underlings or mercenaries. Regardless of how or why stalfos are born into undeath, and whatever form they take, they all share several unique qualities.
Sunlight Weakness. Most stal-creatures detest sunlight or that which resembles it, and are greatly weakened when touched directly by it. In extreme cases a stal-creature becomes prone and paralyzed in sunlight, only to resume animated undeath when the light once again fades.
Language of Stal. All intelligent stal-creatures are able to understand and speak at least a little bit of a primal, mysterious language that itself has come to be known as Stal.
Lightweight. A stal-creature is of much less weight than it was while alive, but retains strength nearly equal to its former self. Consequently its body is extremely lightweight for its body strength. Many stalfos have been known to effortlessly jump dozens of feet or more, and stalchildren have been known to be sent flying by solid but otherwise unremarkable blows.
Ignorance of Undeath. Few stal-creatures truly realize they are dead and what this means for them, as if unable to see that their hands are only of bone instead of flesh. Even though fire barely harms them, for example, they often still retain a fear of it. Stalfos who have been animated may even live among other stalfos and continue to attempt to live the normal lives of living creatures, even going so far as to eat despite having no need to do so, or "sleep" while the sun is up. The relatively few stalfos who come to realize their state can use it to their advantage; with no physiological need to feel pain, they can even rip off their own arms to use them as weapons, or will their bodies to keep moving even after they have been decapitated.
Hatred of Life. Most stal-creatures, particularly intelligent ones, have a seething and indescribable detestation for beings who yet live—especially living humanoids. Stalchildren who were spending time idly among themselves will, upon sight of a hylian, all lash out in sudden and vicious violence. Often stal-creatures will wildly attack living beings even when they have no logical chance of winning a battle; so utterly are they dominated by this hatred.
Stal creatures
| Creature | Challenge | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| %PAGE% | 0.125 | A lumbering skeletal humanoid with unusually long arms for its small size. It attacks from the ground with clumsy claw swipes. |
| %PAGE% | 0.5 | |
| %PAGE% | 0.25 | This undead, skeletal horse arises at night. They say only monsters ride such fell steeds. |
| %PAGE% | 0.5 | This undead, skeletal hound arises at night. In small packs, they strike unwary travelers without reason. |
Creature modification
The statblock for a stal creature can be created from any base creature that is neither a construct nor undead. Use the following modifications as a guideline.
Ability scores. The stal's Constitution score becomes 15. Its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are all reduced to 6 if they would otherwise be higher.
Senses. A stal gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet, unless the base creature had superior senses. A stalbeast may gain proficiency in Perception to compensate for a lowered Wisdom score. Almost every stal has eyes of red or yellow that dimly glow.
Immunities. A stal is immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. Unlike D&D skeletons, they are not immune to the exhaustion condition.
Resistances. A stal resists cold, fire, and lightning damage. These resistances are primarily based on apparent resilience in Breath of the Wild. Some powerful stal creatures may also resist necrotic damage.
Vulnerability. Unless it is heavily armored, a stal is vulnerable to thunder damage. The bones of stal tend to be blown apart by bombs quite easily. Some stal creatures may even be knocked prone if they take thunder damage.
Alignment. If the base creature is unaligned, it remains unaligned as a stal. Most stal are animated by dark magic, so those with enough Intelligence to have alignment often become evil. Unlike D&D skeletons, stal creatures often retain some fragment of their former self in undeath, particularly so in Termina.
Undead Nature. A stal creature does not require air, food, water, or sleep.
Other details. A stal loses any of the base creature's abilities that rely on fleshy internal organs or mental abilities that have been lost. If the base creature has manufactured armor, the stal usually only retains scraps of that armor, represented with partial armor. All these changes will likely alter the creature's Challenge rating.Character details
If your DM allows it, you can choose stal as a subrace when creating your character if you are from a common or uncommon race, replacing your normal subrace. If a player-character is or becomes a stal, perhaps through a curse, apply the following changes. Generally a character that is a construct or already undead cannot become a stal.
Although a stal character may sometimes be more physically capable than a living character, the sheer disdain held for stalfos usually make seeking this transformation a fool's errand. Sages may deliberately hunt down stalfos, while adventurers and warriors are likely to sling bombs on sight.
Type. Your creature type becomes undead, replacing your normal creature type(s). You are unaffected by any game effect which only affects humanoids.
Alignment. If you were good, you likely become neutral. If you were neutral, you likely become evil.
Age. Stal creatures are created in adulthood. Their bones are not immune to decay. Unless fossilized or preserved, a stalfos may die for good of "old age" after about 1,000 years after it became undead. There are no overt signs of aging.
Undead Nature. You do not require air, food, water, or sleep. You must still rest to gain the benefits of resting.
Character traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, to a maximum of 20. Your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores each decrease by 2.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Standing Leap. If you are unencumbered and your speed isn't reduced, you can jump a length or height of up to 20 feet, with or without a running start. These jumps can avoid most forms of difficult terrain.
Skeletal Defenses. You have resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage. You can endure extreme cold, extreme heat, and high altitudes without saving throws. You are immune to poison damage and cannot be poisoned.
Blasted Bones. You are vulnerable to thunder damage.
Sunlight Weakness. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. Instead of gaining a feat when you would be able to do so, you can instead choose to remove this weakness permanently.
Languages. Most stal creatures do not retain the languages they knew in life, but a player-character is an exception.
The material on this page is based on content found throughout the Legend of Zelda series, which is copyright Nintendo Co., Ltd.
