By Chris Harris, Dan Dillon, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, and Wolfgang Baur Developed by Steve Winter
by Dan Dillon, Chris Harris, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, and Wolfgang Baur Developed by Steven Winter
Credits Design: Dan Dillon, Chris Harris, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, and Wolfgang Baur Additional Design: William Ryan Carden, Christopher Carlson, Michael John Conard, James L. Crawford, Christopher Delvo, Matthew F. Dowd, Timothy Eagon, Matthew Eyman, Robert Fairbanks, David Gibson, Christopher Gilliford, John Henzel, Jeremy Hochhalter, Michael Holland, Ben Iglauer, James Introcaso, Dan Layman-Kennedy, Christopher Lockey, Maximilian Maier, Greg Marks, Dave Olson, Richard Pratt, Marc Radle, Jon Sawatsky, Ryan Shatford, Troy E. Taylor, Andrew Teheran, Jorge A. Torres, Darius Uknuis, Sersa Victory, and Ben Wertz Development: Steven Winter Editing: Peter Hogan, Wade Rockett, and Wolfgang Baur Playtesters: Aaron Meadows, Aaron Sarver, Adam Sirois, Al Church, Alex Barnard, Alex Basso, Alex Cole, Alex Kalman, Alex Lynn, Alexander Warrington, Aliah Katz, Andrew Ammerman, Andrew Goethals, Andrew Haywood, Andrew Matiukas, Andrew Kane, Andrew McIntosh, Andrew Norris, Andrew Timmes, Andrew Wright, Anthony Taylor, Antoine Gagnon, Austin Davis, Barny “Kaerynn”, Barry Fujii, Ben Brower, Ben Ku, Ben McFarland, Ben Parker, Benjamin Kaye, Benjamin T. Cole, Bernard McManus, Bert Shaw, M.D., Beth Bailey, Bill Beers, Blake McStravick, Blake Smith, Brad Davis, Brad Warder, Brady Lucas, Brandon Beauvais, Brandon Heenan, Brandon Ingram, Brendan Wenzl, Brian Barcus, Brian Carpenter, Brian Dees, Brian Dunn, Brian Ganger, Brian Lynn, Brian Stillman, Brian Warder, Bruce Allin, Bruce Liping Smith, Bryan Wire, Burgle Mitenko, Caleb Biers, Cameron Kaye, Carey Newhouse, Carrie Kobelsky, Casey Creech, Cassie Reid, Catherine Prickett, Charles “Carter”, Chip Bullard, Chip Orton, Chris Adiletta, Chris Childs, Chris Stauffer, Chris “Waffles” Wathen, Chris Wilms, Chris Williams, Christian Jones, Christopher Hazell, Christopher Higginbotham, Christopher LaHaise, Christopher M., Christopher Wright, Chrystine Robinson, Chuck Badger, Clayton Roberson, Colleen M. Cole, Cory Stafford, Courtney McGuire, Damien G., Dan Strode, M.D., Dan Vloedman, Dan Vogel, Dane Whicker, Daniel Keyser, Daniel Murphy, Daniel Shay, Daniel Silver, Darren Chambers, Dave Blake, Dave Curtis, Dave Noble, David Carner, David Dowdy, David Freisinger, David Gibson, David Smucker, David Yu, Delaney Hardt, Denny Edwards, Derek Keller, Desi Graham, Desiree Ogilvy, Devon Self, Dina Katz, Dmitry Katz, Dominik Imbrich, Donald Lucas, Doug Dowdy, Dustin Hiatt, Dwayne Murphy, Eddie Gonzalez, Edward McDaniel, Edwin Nagy, Egg Embry, Elisa Gonzales, Emmanuel Guerrero, Eric Chen, Eric Garber, Eric Moore, Eric Ruthman, Eric Vaessen, Erica Bouvier, Erica Hickman, Erik Harder, Eryn S, Estevan Gonzales, Eugene Katz, Ewen Furze, Fabian Hufgard, Francois Martineau, Gary Whicker, Geoff Upton, Gerald Kirby, Ginger McStravick, Graham, Greg King, Greg Lencioni, Gregory Blair, Tome of Beasts Cover Art: Marcel Mercado Art Director: Marc Radle Layout and Graphic Design: Marc Radle Artists: Ivan Lee Dixon, Micah Epstein, Frank Garza, Felipe Gaona, Josh Hass, Ambrose H. Hoilman, Michael Jaecks, Eoghan Kerrigan, Guido Kuip, Shawncee McCoy, Dio Mahesa, Justin Mayhew, Marcel Mercado, Aaron Miller, Johnny Morrow, Jason Rainville, Felipe Gaona Reydet, Kathryn Steele, Florian Stitz, Nakarin Sukontakorn, Ørjan Ruttenborg Svendsen, Byran Syme, Cory Trego-Erdner, Eva Widermann, and Keiran Yanner Logo: Doug Wohlfeil Playtest Coordinator: Ben McFarland Guillaume Berthome, Guy Parisi, Hannah Cochran, Haoyu Chen, Heather Curtis, Heather Lingg, Henrik Gullaksen, Higashi “Drukago”, Hunter Guerrero, J. Ryan Conklin, J.L. Frye III, Jacob Aaboe, Jacob Pasciak, Jacob Weber, Jakob Malchow, James French, James Introcaso, James Jones, Jamie Laura, Janine Hempy, Jannik Brouwer, Jason Boyle, Jason Brooks, Jason Farrell, Jason Hobson, Jason Katz, Jason Mollett, Jason Pasciak, Jason Richter, Jay Bird, Jay Colburn, Jaynee “Isla”, Jeff Kice, Jeff Secord, Jeff Wax, Jeremy Burgomaster, Jeremy Calton, Jeremy Weikel, Jerry Chaney, Jesse Gunness, Jessica Carey, Jim Serkeyn, Joey Lencioni, John Cottingame, John Fischer, John Hazell, John Klas, John McGuire, Jon Sawatsky, Jon Taylor, Jonathan Coughlin, Jordan Kalman, Jordan VanCleef, Jorge Ortiz, Jorge Torres, Jose Luis Martin, Josh Croak, Josh Edwards, Joshua Hoyt, Joshua Moreland, June Riester, Justin Hanssen, Justin McKeown, Kam Altar, Kasper Kristoffersen, Kate Hinton, Katie King, Katie Mulryan, Ken Loupe, Ken Reister, Kristin Matsick, Kyle Murray, Lance Case, Laura O’Brien, Leah Sax, Lee Gilbert, Leland Beauchamp, Levi Covarrubias, Malcomb James, Malcomb Wood, Marc Frechet, Marietta Jones, Mark Garringer, Martin G. Perez, Martina G., Martina S., Marty, Mary Hawkins, Matt Fadrowski, Matt Lampert, Matt Stretz, Max Maier, Meaghan Rodel, Megan B, Megan Blattel, Meshon Cantrill, Michael Baird, Michael Greve, Michael Harrell, Michael Haynes, Michael Hottenstein, Michael Johnston, Michael M., Michael PridalLoPoccolo, Michael Schmidt, Michael Syphrit, Michelle Shea , Mike Albright, Mike Crane, Mike Finch, Mike Romano, Mike Schiller, Mike Shea, Mikkel Weber, Mitch “Navid” Somerville, Nate Petrecz, Nathan Bouvier, Nick Childs, Nick Reymond, Nick Stauffer, Patrick Dennis, Patrick Gonzales, Paxton Grill, Peter Aven, Peter Lowther, Preston Hund, Priscilla Lencioni, Rachael Belardo, Rachel Gluckstern, Raiden Upton, Ralph T , Ramon Celosia, Randy Self, Reagan James, Rich Couvillon, Richard Cameron, Richard Esett III, Richard Esett Jr., Richard Zayas, Rob Bodine, Rob Hageman, Robbi Gibson, Robert Coleman, Robert Plummer, Rod Waibel, Rodney Stanton III,
Rodney Stanton IV, Roe Weeks, Roger Lopez, Rusty Lencioni, Ryan P, Ryker Lowmiller, Sara Beyers, Sarah Anderson, Sarah Haselton, Sarai Guerrero, Dr. Scott Johnson, Scott Leslie, Scott Price, Sean Arnell, Sean Dawson, Sean Flynn, Sean Izaakse, Sean-Michael Galgano, Sebastian Wysoki, Shane Kirby, Shane Kirby, Shannon Hardt, Shaun Cavanagh, Shawn Dry, Shawna Lee, Sherry Hardt, Sriman Kumar, Stacie Weikel, Stefan Grozev, Stephanie C, Stephen W. Bieda III, , Stephen Bulla, Stephen Livingston, Stephen Stauffer, Steven McCormick, Storm Curtis, Sue “Ella” Rogers, Sumit Kumar, Susanne Haar, Tara Cameron, Teri Solow, Terry Cletcher, Theresa Cameron, Tiffany “Piper” Shearn, Tim “Lucious” Holtman, Tim Jennar, Tim Jennar, Tim Jennar, Tobias Zengler , Tom Haselton, Tony Sax, Torsten Kablitz, Tristan Wysoki, Troy Nissen, Troy Nissen, Tyler Brown, Vegas Lancaster, Veronica Keller, Victoria Osborne, Virginia Hamilton, William Beers, Xavier Westmoreland, and Zach Waibel Accountant Shelly Baur Publisher Wolfgang Baur With Additional Thanks to: Kristian Ahonen, Eric Anderson, Joshua Banks, Clinton Boomer, Marina de Santiago Buey, Angelica Burns, Jesse Butler, Jarrod Camiré, Aaron Cheung, Tim Connors, Ryan Costello, Jr., Adam Daigle, Jim Davis, Lee DeBoer, John Doh, Chris Doyle, John Foster, Erik Freund, Frank Gori, Leonard Grand, Richard Green, Jim Groves, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Andrew Harshman, Jacob Haywood, Steven T. Helt, Jeffrey Hersh, Andrew Hind, Brandon Hodge, Sarah Hood, Richard Iversen, Clare Jones, Alex Kanous, Michael Kortes, Henry S. Kurtz, Phillip Larwood, Richard Lawson, Jeff Lee, Brian Liberge, Chris Lockey, James MacKenzie, Rob Manning, Ari Marmell, Jonathan McAnulty, Ben McFarland, Jesse McGatha, Brett A. McLean, Carlos Ovalle, Ed Pereira, Richard Pett, John Pope, Rob Pratt, Chad Middleton, Brian Wiborg Mønster, Matt Morrissette, Robert H. Nichols, Stacy Nichols, Kalervo Oikarinen, Gunnar Ólafsson, Umber Phillips, Steven Robert, Wade Rockett, Jan Rodewald, Richard Rossi, Stephen Rowe, Adam Roy, Wendall Roy, Matt Rupprecht, Allen F. Schell, Burt Smith, Christina Stiles, Brian Suskind, Troy Taylor, James Thomas, John Tolios, James Thomas, Dan Voyce, Mike Welham, James Whittaker, George “Loki” Williams, and Henry Wong Kobold Press, Midgard, and their associated logos are trademarks of Open Design. The 5E logo is used by kind permission of Sasquatch Game Studio. Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, place names, new deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, story elements, locations, characters, artwork, graphics, sidebars, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content are not included in this declaration.) Open Game Content: The Open content in this book includes the monster names, descriptions, monster statistics, and monster abilities. No other portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without permission. With special thanks to all 2,312 backers who made this volume possible, and also with gratitude to the generations of monster designers who have made everyone’s adventures a little more terrifying. www.KoboldPress.com First Printing July 2016 ISBN: 978-1-936781-56-0 Printed in the USA © 2016 Kobold Press. Kobold Press PO Box 2811 Kirkland WA 98083 USA On the Cover Marcel Mercado illustrates an ancient void dragon facing off against a stout fighter and a powerful wizard. The void dragon is a creature of great age and cunning, and its defeat is uncertain.
4 A Aboleth, Nihileth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 What is Void Speech?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Abominable Beauty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Accursed Defiler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Ala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Algorith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Alseid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Amphiptere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Andrenjinyi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Angatra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Angel, Chained. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Angel, Fidele. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Angler Worm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ant, Giant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Anubian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Arboreal Grappler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Aridni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Asanbosam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Azza Gremlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 B Baba Yaga’s Horsem*n. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bagiennik. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Bastet Temple Cat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 What is Nurian?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Bearfolk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Behtu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Beli. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bereginyas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Blemmyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Boloti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Bone Collective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Bone Crab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Bone Swarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Boreas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Bouda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Broodiken. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Bucca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Bukavac. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Buraq. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Burrowling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 C Cactid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Cambium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Carrion Beetle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Cavelight Moss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Chelicerae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Chernomoi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Child of the Briar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Chronalmental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Cikavak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Clockwork Abomination. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Clockwork Beetle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Clockwork Beetle Swarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Clockwork Hound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Clockwork Huntsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Clockwork Myrmidon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Clockwork Watchman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Clockwork Weaving Spider. . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Cobbleswarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Corpse Mound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 D Dau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Death Butterfly Swarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Deathwisp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Deep Ones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Demons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Demon Lords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Derro Fetal Savant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Derro Shadow Antipaladin. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Arch-Devils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Devils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Dinosaur, Mbielu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Dinosaur, Ngobou. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Dinosaur, Spinosaurus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Dipsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Dissimortuum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Dogmole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Dogmole Juggernaut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Domovoi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Doppelrat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Dorreq. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Dragons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Dragon Eel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Dragonleaf Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Drakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 What is Umbral?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Drakon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Dream Eater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Drowned Maiden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Dryad, Duskthorn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Dullahan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Dune Mimic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 E Eala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Eater of Dust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Edimmu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Eel Hound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Einherjar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Eleinomae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Elemental Locus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Elves, Shadow Fey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Emerald Eye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Empty Cloak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Eonic Drifter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Erina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 F Far Darrig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Fate Eater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Fear Smith (Fiarsídhe). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Fellforged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Fext. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Fey Lords and Ladies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Feyward Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Firebird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Firegeist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Flutterflesh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Folk of Leng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Forest Marauder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Fraughashar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Frostveil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 G Garroter Crab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Gbahali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Gearforged Templar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Genie, Al-Aeshma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Gerridae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Ghouls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Giants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Glass Gator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Gnarljak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Gnoll, Havoc Runner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Goat-Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Goblin, Dust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Golem, Eye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Golem, Hoard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Golem, Salt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Golem, Smaragdine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Golem, Steam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Gray Thirster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Gremlin, Rum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Grim Jester. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Gug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 H Hag, Blood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Hag, Mirror. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Hag, Red. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Hag, Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Harpy, Owl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Haugbui. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Herald of Blood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Herald of Darkness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Horakh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Hound of the Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Hulking Whelp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Hundun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 I Ice Maiden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Idolic Deity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Contents
5 Imy-ut Ushabti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Isonade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 J Jaculus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 K Kalke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Kikimora. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260 Kobolds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Kongamato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Koschei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Kot Bayun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Krake Spawn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 L Lantern Dragonette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Lemurfolk (Kaguani). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Leshy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Library Automaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Lich Hound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Likho. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Lindwurm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Liosalfar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Living Wick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Lorelei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Loxoda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 M Mahoru. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Mallqui. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Malphas (Storm Crow). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Mamura. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Mask Wight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Mavka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Mi-Go. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Millitaur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Mimic, Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Mindrot Thrall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Mirager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Miremal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Mngwa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Monolith Champion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Monolith Footman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Mordant Snare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Morphoi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Moss Lurker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Mummy, Venomous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Myconid, Deathcap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Myling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 N Naina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Nichny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Nightgarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Nkosi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Noctiny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 O Oculo Swarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Oozasis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Ooze, Corrupting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Ostinato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 P & Q Pombero. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Possessed Pillar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Putrid Haunt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Qwyllion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 R Ramag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Rat King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Ratatosk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Ratfolk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Ravenala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Ravenfolk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Redcap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Rift Swine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Rime Worm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 Risen Reaver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 Roachling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Rotting Wind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 Rusalka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 S Sand Silhouette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Sandman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Sandwyrm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Sap Demon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Sarcophagus Slime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Sathaq Worm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Savager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 Scheznyki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Scorpion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Selang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Serpopard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Shabti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Shadhavar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 Shadow Beast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Shellycoat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Shoggoth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Shroud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Skein Witch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Skeleton, Sharkjaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Skeleton, Vine Troll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Skitterhaunt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 Slow Storm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 Snakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 Son of Fenris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Soul Eater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 Spark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Spectral Guardian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Sphinx, Gypsosphinx. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Spiders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 Spider of Leng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Spider Thief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Spire Walker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 Star-Spawn of Cthulhu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 Stryx. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Stuhac. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 Subek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 Suturefly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 Swarm, Fire Dancers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 Swarm, Manabane Scarabs. . . . . . . . . . 374 Swarm, Prismatic Beetles. . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Swarm, Sluagh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 Swarm, Wolf Spirits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 T Temple Dog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 Theullai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Titan, Ancient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Titan, Degenerate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 Titanoboa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382 Tophet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Tosculi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 Treacle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 Treant, Weeping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388 Troll, Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 Trollkin Reaver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Tusked Skyfish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 U Uraeus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Urochar (Strangling Watcher). . . . . . . . 393 Ushabti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 V Vættir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 Valkyrie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Vampire, Umbral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 Vapor Lynx. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 Vesiculosa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Vila. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Vile Barber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 Vine Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402 Voidling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 W Wampus Cat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 Water Leaper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406 Wharfling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 White Ape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Witchlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Wormhearted Suffragan. . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 X & Y Xanka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 Xhkarsh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Ychen Bannog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Z Zaratan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 Zimwi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 Zmey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 Appendices Appendix A: Villain Codex. . . . . . . . . . . 418 Appendix B: NPC Features. . . . . . . . . . . 427 Appendix C: Monsters by Challenge Rating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 Open Game License Version 1.0a. . . . . 430
7 Introduction hat’s the best part of a fantasy roleplaying game? For my money, it’s the monsters—especially when we’re talking about the world’s first roleplaying game. The best stories from the table are about that suspenseful first encounter with an acid-breathing dragon, a massive horde of raging orcs, a gear-destroying rust monster, or (true terror) the dread gazebo.* In this volume, you’ll find more than 400 new “first encounters” for your players: monsters they’ve never seen before but will talk about for years, from elemental dragons to wintery spirits, ancient demon lords, and the aristocracy of the fey world. They stand ready to crush heroes’ hopes, strike down the good and the brave, and establish their own greedy, cruel, and lawless reign. These monsters have a mission—and that mission is to kill player characters. Monsters are best when they instill true dread in those who hear their tales, whether it’s the saga of Beowulf, the Tyranny of Dragons campaign, or a story you spin yourself. The monster designs presented here accomplish this with powers that play on common fears: the slow horror of poison, destruction of the weapons the PCs rely on to survive, loss of eyesight, magic-induced panic or exhaustion, even sinking into darkness. These monsters will put great champions through the wringer; and sometimes, the monsters might win. But only sometimes! Some smart monsters will retreat by speaking a magical word, step onto a dark shadow road, or take to the skies with a demonic howl, carrying off the party’s favorite mule. Ultimately, most monsters are meant to be defeated, and to look good while doing it. I always encourage DMs to give monsters their moment in the spotlight. Gleefully describe their ripping claws, their corrosive breath, their wicked magic and their cunning plots! Revel in their power! Their arrogance and might! Let them strut and gloat and mock the heroes, making it so much more satisfying when they’re finally struck down by the true steel sword of ancient forging, or incinerated by a well-placed fireball. Because your players aren’t familiar with these monsters, you have the ancient fear of the unknown on your side. Work that thrill, and you can give your players the same shiver that haunted our ancestors around the campfire or in medieval huts as they listened to tales of fey spirits, maneating beasts, and corrupt humans who bargain with evil and return with inhuman abilities. These creatures have power, and a bit of that power is just their sheer strangeness and eerie, twisted shapes. You hold a tome of new horrors in your hands. Let some slip into your game by stealth, while others arrive in an arcane flash or descend on powerful wings, roaring their challenges. Give them all the glory that comes from their strength and horrors—the sweeter to make the triumph of those heroes who survive. Monsters are the best part of any fantasy RPG because they reach into our own minds and present us with our own demons, with the very worst that could happen. They have power because each of them represents a very human fear, a nightmare given thought and flesh and form—and then defeated. Happy gaming! Wolfgang Baur Kirkland, WA May, 2016 *The dread gazebo is not included in this volume. W
8 Saving Throws Con +6, Int +8, Wis +6 Skills History +12, Perception +10 Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder (only when in ethereal form); bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons (only when in ethereal form) Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20 Languages Void Speech, telepathy 120 ft. Challenge 12 (8,400 XP) Aboleth Traits. Unless noted otherwise or where contradicted below, a nihileth has the same traits as a living aboleth. This includes legendary actions and lair actions. Undead Nature. A nihileth does not require air, food, drink, or sleep. Undead Fortitude. If non-radiant damage reduces a nihileth to 0 hit points, it makes a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5+ the damage taken. If it succeeds, the nihileth drops to 1 hit point instead. Dual State. A nihileth exists upon the Material Plane in one of two forms and can switch between them at will. In its material form, it has resistance to damage from nonmagical weapons. In its ethereal form, it is immune to damage from nonmagical Aboleth, Nihileth A • TOME OF BEASTS Eons ago, a group of aboleth left the Material Plane to wander through distant planes—seeing them through magical scrying was not enough, so these aboleth used astral magic and bodily travel to see far beyond normal realms. A Forgotten Tribe. As ages passed, memories of those who departed slowly faded from the minds of those aboleth who remained behind. Those few aboleth who did remember that long ago some of their kin had gone plane-wandering assumed that the wanderers must have died in distant hells or paradises. Changed by Planar Wandering. The plane-wanderers hadn’t died. Instead, their eons-long exposure to alien realms and to the space between changed them, restructuring their life force and making them into something even more nightmarish—but better able to withstand both strange hells and golden realms of eldritch delight. Servants of the Void. They returned even more corrupt and powerful than they had left, and these wandering nihileths returned to the mortal world intent on spreading the influence of the Void and the utter evil they found in the vast darkness between worlds. NIHILITH Large undead, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 135 (18d10 + 36) Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (ethereal only) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 9 (‒1) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 15 (+2) 18 (+4)
9 weapons. The creature’s ethereal form appears as a dark purple outline of its material form, with a blackish-purple haze within. A nihileth in ethereal form can move through air as though it were water, with a fly speed of 40 feet. Void Aura. A nihileth doesn’t secrete the mucous cloud of an aboleth. Instead, the undead nihileth is surrounded by a chilling cloud. A living creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of a nihileth must make a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be slowed until the start of its next turn. In addition, any creature that has been diseased by a nihileth or a nihilethic zombie takes 7 (2d6) cold damage every time it starts its turn within the aura. Infecting Telepathy. If a creature communicates telepathically with the nihileth, or uses a psychic attack against it, the nihileth can spread its disease to the creature. The creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom save or become infected with the same disease caused by the nihileth’s tentacle attack. This ability replaces an aboleth’s Probing Telepathy ability. ACTIONS Multiattack: The nihileth makes three tentacle attacks or three withering touches, depending on what form it is in. Tentacle (Material Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target creature is hit, it must make a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. The disease has no effect for 1 minute; during that time, it can be removed by lesser restoration or comparable magic. After 1 minute, the diseased creature’s skin becomes translucent and slimy. The creature cannot regain hit points unless it is entirely underwater, and the disease can only be removed by heal or comparable magic. Unless the creature is fully submerged or frequently doused with water, it takes 6 (1d12) acid damage every 10 minutes. If a creature dies while diseased, it rises in 1d6 rounds as a nihilethic zombie. This zombie is permanently dominated by the nihileth. Withering Touch (Ethereal Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 14 (3d6+4) necrotic damage. Form Swap: As a bonus action, the nihileth can alter between its material and ethereal forms at will. Void Body: As a reaction, the nihileth can reduce the damage it takes from a single source to 0. Divine damage can only be reduced by half. Tail (Material Form Only): As per the aboleth action. Enslave (3/day): As per the aboleth action. LEGENDARY ACTIONS A nihileth may 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. The nihileth regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Detect. As per the aboleth action. Tail Swipe: As per the aboleth action. Psychic Drain (Costs 2 Actions): As per the aboleth action. A Nihileth ’ s Lair While aboleths create their lairs underwater, spending most of their time submerged, a nihileth lair can be encountered out of the water, often in a cave or a ruined, abandoned city. LAIR ACTIONS On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the nihileth can take a lair action to create one of the magical effects as per an aboleth, or the void absorbance action listed below. The nihileth cannot use the same effect two rounds in a row. • Void absorbance. A nihileth can pull the life force from those it has converted to nihilethic zombies to replenish its own life. This takes 18 (6d6) hit points from zombies within 30 feet of the nihileth, spread evenly between the zombies, and healing the nihileth. If a zombie reaches 0 hit points from this action, it perishes with no Undead Fortitude saving throw. REGIONAL EFFECTS The regional effects of a nihileth’s lair are the same as that of an aboleth, except as following. • Water sources within 1 mile of a nihileth’s lair are not only supernaturally fouled but can spread the disease of the nihileth. A creature who drinks from such water must make a successful DC 14 Constitution check or become infected. Nihilethic Zombie Created by the diseased will of nihileths, these zombies do their creator’s bidding without fear or hesitation. While their appearance differs from typical zombies, they too move with the same jerky motions and uneven gait as their undead brethren. The skin and flesh of nihileth zombies is translucent and slimy. They are adept swimmers, and they have no difficulty functioning on dry land, always in service to their masters. NIHILETHIC ZOMBIE Medium undead, neutral evil Armor Class 9 (natural armor) Hit Points 22 (3d8 + 9) Speed 20 ft., swim 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 13 (+1) 6 (‒2) 16 (+3) 3 (‒4) 6 (‒2) 5 (‒3) Saving Throws Wis +0 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons TOME OF BEASTS • A Void Speech is the language of creatures of the Outer Darkness in the Midgard Campaign Setting, spoken by vile things that are malevolent towards humans and their allies, and that seek to bring about ruinous apocalypse of dark gods. Substitute any ancient language with an evil reputation if you are using another setting. WHAT IS VOID SPEECH?
10 A • TOME OF BEASTS the creature is either fully submerged or frequently doused with water, it takes 6 (1d12) acid damage every 10 minutes. If a creature dies while diseased, it rises in 2d6 rounds as a nihilethic zombie. This zombie is permanently dominated by the nihileth that commands the attacking zombie. Withering Touch (Ethereal Form): Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) necrotic damage. Form Swap: As a bonus action, the nihilethic zombie can alter between its material and ethereal forms at will. Void Body: As a reaction, the nihilethic zombie can reduce the damage it takes from a single source by 1d12 points. This reduction cannot be applied to divine damage. Sacrifice Life. A nihilethic zombie can sacrifice itself to heal a nihileth within 30 feet of it. All of its remaining hit points transfer to the nihileth in the form of healing. The nihilethic zombie is reduced to 0 hit points and it doesn’t make an Undead Fortitude saving throw. A nihileth cannot be healed above its maximum hit points in this manner. Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons (only when in ethereal form) Condition Immunities poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8 Languages understand Void Speech and the languages it knew in life but can’t speak Challenge 1 (200 XP) Dual State: Like its nihileth creator, a nihilethic zombie can assume either a material or ethereal form. When in its material form, it has resistance to nonmagical weapons. In its ethereal form, it is immune to nonmagical weapons. Its ethereal form appears as a dark purple outline of its material form, with a blackish-purple haze within. Zombie Nature: Unless noted otherwise, a nihilethic zombie has the same traits as a zombie, including their Undead Fortitude. ACTIONS Slam (Material Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage and the target must make a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. The disease has little effect for 1 minute; during that time, it can be removed by bless, lesser restoration, or comparable magic. After 1 minute, the diseased creature’s skin becomes translucent and slimy. The creature cannot regain hit points unless it is at least partially underwater, and the disease can only be removed by heal or comparable magic. Unless
11 Abominable Beauty TOME OF BEASTS • A Deafening Voice (Recharge 5–6). An abominable beauty’s voice is lovely, but any creature within 90 feet and able to hear her when she makes her Deafening Voice attack must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be permanently deafened. An otherworldly humanoid of such indescribable beauty, it pains anyone’s eyes to gaze upon her. Beauty that Destroys. An abominable beauty is so perfect that her gaze blinds, her voice is so melodious that no ears can withstand it, and her touch is so tantalizing that it burns like fire. In adolescence, this fey creature adopts features that meet the superficial ideals of the nearest humanoid population: long-legged elegance near elves, a stout figure with lustrous hair near dwarves, unscarred or emerald skin near goblins. Jealous and Cruel. Abominable beauties are so consumed with being the most beautiful creature in the region that they almost invariably grow jealous and paranoid about potential rivals. Because such an abominable beauty cannot abide competition, she seeks to kill anyone whose beauty is compared to her own. Male of the Species. Male abominable beauties are rare but even more jealous in their rages. ABOMINABLE BEAUTY Medium fey, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 187 (22d8 + 88) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 (+3) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 26 (+8) Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +8, Cha +12 Skills Deception +12, Perception +7, Performance +12, Persuasion +12 Damage Immunities fire Senses passive Perception 17 Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan Challenge 11 (7,200 XP) ACTIONS Multiattack. The abominable beauty makes two slam attacks. Slam. +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) damage plus 28 (8d6) fire damage. Blinding Gaze (Recharge 5–6). A creature within 30 feet of the abominable beauty who is targeted by this attack and who meets the abominable beauty’s gaze must succeed on a DC 17 Charisma saving throw or be blinded. If the saving throw succeeds, the target creature is permanently immune to this abominable beauty’s Blinding Gaze. Burning Touch. The abominable beauty’s slam attacks do 28 (8d6) fire damage. A creature who touches her also takes 28 (8d6) fire damage.
12 A • TOME OF BEASTS Accursed Defiler A gaunt figure in a tattered black mantle shrouded in a cloud of whirling sand. Thin cracks run across its papyrus-dry skin and around its hollow, black eyes. Cursed to Wander and Thirst. Accursed defilers are the remnants of an ancient tribe that desecrated a sacred oasis. For their crime, the wrathful spirits cursed the tribe to forever wander the wastes attempting to quench an insatiable thirst. Each defiler carries a parched sandstorm within its lungs and in the flowing sand in its veins. Wherever they roam, they leave only the desiccated husks of their victims littering the sand. Unceasing Hatred. The desperate or foolish sometimes try to speak with these ill-fated creatures in their archaic native tongue, to learn their secrets or to bargain for their services, but a defiler’s heart is blackened with hate and despair, leaving room for naught but woe. Servants to Great Evil. On very rare occasions, accursed defilers serve evil high priests, fext, or soulsworn warlocks as bodyguards and zealous destroyers, eager to spread the withering desert’s hand to new lands. ACCURSED DEFILER Medium undead, neutral evil Armor Class 12 Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 14 (+2) 17 (+3) 6 (–2) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4 Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages understands ancient language, but can’t speak Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Cursed Existence. When it drops to 0 hit points in desert terrain, the accursed defiler’s body disintegrates into sand and a sudden parched breeze. However, unless it was killed in a hallowed location, with radiant damage, or by a blessed creature, the accursed defiler reforms at the next sundown 1d100 miles away in a random direction. Sand Shroud. A miniature sandstorm constantly whirls around the accursed defiler in a 10-foot radius. This area is lightly obscured to creatures other than an accursed defiler. Wisdom (Survival) checks made to follow tracks left by an accursed defiler or other creatures that were traveling in its sand shroud are made with disadvantage. ACTIONS Multiattack. The accursed defiler makes two slam attacks. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If a creature is hit by this attack twice in the same round (from the same or different accursed defilers), the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. Sandslash (Recharge 5–6). As an action, the accursed defiler intensifies the vortex of sand that surrounds it. All creatures within a 10-foot radius of the accursed defiler take 21 (6d6) slashing damage, or half damage with a successful DC 14 Dexterity saving throw.
13 TOME OF BEASTS • A Ala Alas are born from galls that grow on treant trunks. Within this parasitic pocket, an ala sickens the treant and consumes its life force. When the treant dies, the ala is born in a black whirlwind. Daughters of the Whirlwind. Alas have windblown hair and wear smoky black rags, but their true form is that of a whirlwind, which can always be seen by šestaci, those men and women with six digits on each hand. In flight or in battle, an ala takes on a form with the upper body of a hag and a whirling vortex of air in place of hips and legs. When an ala enters a house in human form, the whole building groans in protest, as if it had been struck by a powerful stormwind. Alas live in the hollows of trees that were struck by lightning. They are most active when thunder rocks the forest, and when they travel hail or thunderstorms spawn around them. Enormous Appetites. The huge-mouthed alas have voracious appetites. In the wild, they devour wolves, bears, and badgers. They prefer to hunt in settled areas, however, because they favor the taste of innocents above all else. Unsavory tribes of savage humanoids may beg an ala’s favor (or divert its wrath) with gifts of bound captives. Energized by Storms. In battle, an ala is constantly on the move, weaving between foes like the wind. It tears at its foes with claws and a poisonous bite, or throws wicked lightning bolts and hailstorms from afar. Woe betides the hero who confronts an ala while a storm rages overhead, because such storms energize the ala and make its lightning stronger. Because alas wield lightning with such mastery, some sages associate them with the god of lightning. ALA Medium fey, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 127 (15d8 + 60) Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 8 (–1) Skills Athletics +8, Perception +9, Stealth +6 Damage Immunities lightning, poison, thunder Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 19 Languages Common, Draconic Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Flyby. The ala doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach. Poison Flesh. The ala’s poison infuses its flesh. A creature that makes a successful bite attack against an ala must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw; if it fails, the creature takes 10 (3d6) poison damage. Storm’s Strength. If an electrical storm is raging around an ala and its target, the saving throw against Lightning’s Kiss is made with disadvantage. ACTIONS Multiattack. The ala makes two claw attacks or one claw and one bite attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage. Lightning’s Kiss (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 50 feet, one target. Hit: 28 (8d6) lightning damage, or half damage with a successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. Jagged bolts of lightning flash through and around the ala’s whirlwind. It can hurl this lightning with a sudden whipping motion of its tail.
14 Algorith A • TOME OF BEASTS ACTIONS Multiattack. The algorith makes two logic razor attacks. Logic Razor. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d12 + 5) force damage. Cone of Negation (Recharge 5–6). An algorith can project a cone of null energy. Targets inside the 30 foot cone take 42 (12d6) force damage and suffer the effect of a dispel magic spell. A successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw reduces the damage to half and negates the dispel magic effect on that target. Reality Bomb (5/Day). The algorith can summon forth a tiny rune of law and throw it as a weapon. Any creature within 30 feet of the square where the reality bomb lands takes 21 (6d6) force damage and is stunned until the start of the algorith’s next turn. A target that makes a successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw takes half damage and isn’t stunned. Sometimes called folding angels, algoriths are lawful beings made from sheer force, pure math, and universal physical laws. Creatures of Pure Reason. They are the border guards of the Conceptual Realms, warding subjective beings from the Realms of the Absolute. Eternal, remorseless, and unceasingly vigilant, they guard against the monstrosities that lurk in the multiverse’s most obscure dimensions, and seek out and eliminate chaos even from the abodes of the gods. Foes of Chaos. They visit mortal realms when chaos threatens to unravel a location, or when the skeins of fate are tangled. On some occasions, an algorith will serve a god of Law or answer the summons of a skein witch. Algoriths fight with conjured blades of force, and they can also summon universal energy that deconstructs randomness, weakening enemies or reducing them to finely ordered crystalline dust. Social but Mysterious. In groups, they move and fight in silent coordination. Only tiny variations in the formulas etched into their skins identify one algorith from another. Five is a number of extreme importance to all algoriths, but few are willing (or able) to explain why to anyone who isn’t an algorith. Algoriths may have castes, ranks, or commanders, but no mortal has decoded the mathematical blazons adorning their flesh. The algoriths themselves refuse to discuss these formulas with those who do not comprehend them. ALGORITH Medium construct, lawful neutral Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 136 (16d8 + 64) Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 14 (+2) 19 (+4) 13 (+1) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +8, Wis +7, Cha +8 Skills Athletics +9, Insight +7, Investigation +5, Perception +7 Damage Resistances acid, cold, lightning Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17 Languages Common, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) Immutable Form. The algorith is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Innate Spellcasting. The algorith’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: aid, blur, detect magic, dimension door 5/day: dispel magic 1/day: commune (5 questions), wall of force
15 Alseid Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Woodfriend. When in a forest, alseid leave no tracks and automatically discern true north. ACTIONS Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage, or 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack. Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage. Alseids are the graceful woodland cousins to centaurs, with the slender upper body of an elf and the lower body of a deer. Because they are rarely seen far from the wooded glades they call home, they are sometimes called “grove nymphs,” despite being more closely related to elves than nymphs. Forest Guardians. Alseids see the forest as an individual and a friend. They are suspicious of outsiders who do not share this view. Lost travelers who demonstrate deep respect for the forest may spot a distant alseid’s white tail; if they chase after it as it bounds away, the sympathetic alseid may lead it toward a road or trail that can carry them out of the forest. Disrespectful strangers may follow the same tail to their doom. Alseids have no compunction about slaughtering trespassers who burn or cut down their forest. Antlers Show Status. Male alseids have antlers growing from their foreheads. These antlers grow very slowly, branching every 10 years for the first century of life. Further points only develop with the blessing of the forest. No fourteen-point imperial alseids are known to exist, but many tribes are governed by princes with thirteen points. Because antlers signify status, alseids never use them in combat. Cutting an alseid’s antlers entirely off or just removing points is a humiliating and grave punishment. White-Tailed Wanderers. Alseids have a deep connection with forest magic of all kinds, and their leaders favor the druid and ranger classes. ALSEID Medium monstrosity, chaotic neutral Armor Class 14 (leather armor) Hit Points 49 (9d8 + 9) Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 13 (+1) 17 (+3) 12 (+1) 8 (–1) 16 (+3) 8 (–1) Skills Nature +3, Perception +5, Stealth +5, Survival +5 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages Common, Elvish, Sylvan TOME OF BEASTS • A An alseid grovekeeper has a challenge rating of 3 (700 XP). Grovekeepers carry the wrath of their primordial home against those who threaten it. The grovekeeper speaks Druidic and have the following changes: Hit Points 71 (13d8 + 13) Armor Class 15 (studded leather Armor) Spellcasting. The grovekeeper is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following druid spells prepared: VARIANT: ALSEID GROVEKEEPER Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, guidance, produce flame, shillelagh 1st (4 slots): animal friendship, cure wounds, faerie fire 2nd (3 slots): animal messenger, heat metal, lesser restoration 3rd (2 slots): call lightning, dispel magic Replace the Alseid’s spear action option with the following: Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit (+5 with shillelagh), reach 5 ft., one creature.Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage or 5 (1d8 + 1) bludgeoning damage if used in two hands, or 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
16 Amphiptere Flyby. The amphiptere doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach. Swarming. Up to two amphipteres can share the same space at the same time. The amphiptere has advantage on melee attack rolls if it is sharing its space with another amphiptere that isn’t incapacitated. ACTIONS Multiattack. The amphiptere makes one bite attack and one stinger attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage. Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage, and the target must make a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. The amphiptere is most commonly found as a flight of gold-crested, bat-winged serpents bursting from the foliage. Tiny Wyverns. An amphiptere has batlike wings and a stinger similar to a wyvern’s at the end of its tail. Their reptilian bodies are scaly, but their wings sprout greenish-yellow feathers. Swooping and Swift. They are surprisingly maneuverable in spite of their size, able to change direction suddenly and make deadly hit-and-run strikes. They swoop in and out of combat, snapping at targets with their needlelike teeth and striking with their envenomed stingers. Once a foe is poisoned and injured, they hover closer in a tightly packed, flapping mass of fangs, battering wings, and jabbing stingers. Strength in Flocks. Despite their fighting ability, amphipteres are not particularly brave. Most often, they tend to lurk in small flocks in dense foliage, where they can burst forth in a flurry of wings when prey comes within view. They display surprising cunning and tenacity in large groups; they may harass foes for minutes or hours before closing in for the kill. AMPHIPTERE Medium beast, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 60 (8d8 + 24) Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 60 ft., swim 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 11 (+0) 18 (+4) 17 (+3) 2 (−4) 16 (+3) 6 (−2) Skills Perception +5 Senses blindsight 10 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages — Challenge 3 (700 XP) A • TOME OF BEASTS
17 TOME OF BEASTS • A Andrenjinyi A gigantic, black-headed snake is over 60 feet long and sheathed in brilliant scales, each andrenjinyi is splashed with vibrant patterns of every imaginable color. The air around these serpents is heavy, redolent of the quenched red desert after a torrential thunderstorm. Andrenjinyi are the descendants of the Rainbow Serpent, the first and greatest spirit of the world’s beginning. The Rainbow Serpent’s children are dichotomous nature spirits of land and sky, sun and rain, male and female, and birth and destruction. Last of their Kind. The Rainbow Serpent shed andrenjinyi like cast-off scales during her primordial wanderings, but she has created no more since she ascended to the stars. While andrenjinyi are ageless fertility spirits, they cannot themselves reproduce; each one is an irreplaceable link to primeval creation. Hunt and Transform. Andrenjinyi are naturally aquatic, preferring to live in deep, fresh, lifegiving rivers and lakes. The serpents usually attack intruders unless they approach with the correct rites or offerings, which require a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Religion) check. Andrenjinyi hunt as other animals do, but they transform devoured prey into unique species with their Transmuting Gullet ability, creating mixed gender pairs. An andrenjinyi’s sacred pool and surroundings often shelters a menagerie of strange and beautiful animals.
18 A • TOME OF BEASTS Magic Resistance. The andrenjinyi has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Magic Weapons. The andrenjinyi’s weapon attacks are magical. ACTIONS Multiattack. The andrenjinyi makes two attacks, one with its bite and one with its constriction. If both attacks hit the same target, then the target is Swallowed Whole. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 36 (4d12 + 10) piercing damage. Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 36 (4d12 + 10) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 20). Until this grapple ends the target is restrained, and the andrenjinyi can’t constrict another target. Rainbow Arch. The andrenjinyi can instantaneously teleport between sources of fresh water within 1 mile as an action. It can’t move normally or take any other action on the turn when it uses this power. When this power is activated, a rainbow manifests between the origin and destination, lasting for 1 minute. Swallow Whole. If the bite and constrict attacks hit the same target in one turn, the creature is swallowed whole. The target is blinded and restrained, and has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the andrenjinyi. The target takes no damage inside the andrenjinyi. The andrenjinyi can have three Medium-sized creatures or four Small-sized creatures swallowed at a time. If the andrenjinyi takes 20 damage or more in a single turn from a swallowed creature, the andrenjinyi must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 5 feet of the andrenjinyi. If the andrenjinyi is slain, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the andrenjinyi by using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone. The andrenjinyi can regurgitate swallowed creatures as a free action. Transmuting Gullet. When a creature is swallowed by an andrenjinyi, it must make a successful DC 19 Wisdom saving throw each round at the end of its turn or be affected by true polymorph into a new form chosen by the andrenjinyi. The effect is permanent until dispelled or ended with a wish or comparable magic. Demand Obedience and Ritual. When offered rituals and obedience, andrenjinyi sometimes protect nearby communities with drought-breaking rains, cures for afflictions, or the destruction of rivals. Revered andrenjinyi take offense when their petitioners break fertility and familial edicts, such as prohibitions on incest, rape, and matricide, but also obscure obligations including soothing crying infants and the ritual sacrifice of menstrual blood. Punishments are malevolently disproportionate, often inflicted on the whole community and including baking drought, flooding rains, petrification, pestilence, and animalistic violence. Thus, tying a community’s well-being to an andrenjinyi is a double-edged sword. ANDRENJINYI Gargantuan celestial, neutral Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 228 (13d20 + 91) Speed 60 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 30 (+10) 17 (+3) 25 (+7) 10 (+0) 18 (+4) 23 (+6) Saving Throws Con +12, Wis +9, Cha +11 Skills Arcana +5, Perception +9, Religion +5 Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning Damage Immunities psychic Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 120 ft., passive Perception 19 Languages Common, Celestial, Giant, Sylvan Challenge 15 (13,000 XP) Amphibious. The andrenjinyi can breathe air and water. Innate Spellcasting. The andrenjinyi’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19, +11 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components: At will: create water, speak with animals, stoneshape 3/day each: control weather, dispel magic, reincarnate 1/day each: blight, commune with nature, contagion, flesh to stone, plant growth When the flat, featureless earth slept untouched by plants, animals, or gods, the Rainbow Serpent awoke and shaped the world with her mountainous body—rivers her winding tracks, lakes the hollows where she slept, and hills the remnants of her burrowing. When she tired of wandering, she gave birth to all of the land’s animals. The Rainbow Serpent then made laws for all to obey and turned lawbreakers into mountains and hills, never to walk the world again. Those who kept the laws were given humanoid forms and sentience. Her work completed, the Rainbow Serpent now sleeps in the stars, leaving her spirit-children, the andrenjinyi, watching over creation. Clerics who follow the Rainbow Serpent must choose the Life domain. THE RAINBOW SERPENT
19 TOME OF BEASTS • A surprised, a creature can avoid the saving throw by averting its eyes at the start of its turn. A creature that averts its eyes can’t see the angatra for one full round, when it chooses anew whether to avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the angatra in the meantime, it must immediately make the save. Ancestral Wrath. The angatra immediately recognizes any individual that is descended from its tribe. It has advantage on attack rolls against such creatures, and those creatures have disadvantage on saving throws against the angatra’s traits and attacks. ACTIONS Multiattack: The angatra makes two attacks with its claws. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (2d4 + 5) piercing damage, and the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed by pain until the end of its next turn. Angatra This withered creature wrapped in gore-stained rags. They can pull back a tattered hood to reveal glowing eyes hungry with bloodlust. In certain tribes, the breaking of local taboos invites terrible retribution from ancestral spirits, especially if the transgressor was a tribal leader or elder. The transgressor is cursed and cast out from the tribe, and then hunted and executed. Bound Remains Entombed. The body is wrapped head to toe in lamba cloth to soothe the spirit and to bind it within the mortal husk, then sealed in a tomb far from traditional burial grounds so none may disturb it and its unclean spirit does not taint the blessed dead. Slow Ritual Cleansing. Each such body is visited every ten years as the tribe performs the famadihana ritual, replacing the lamba bindings and soothing the suffering of the ancestors. Over generations, this ritual expiates their guilt, until at last the once-accursed ancestor is admitted through the gates of the afterlife. If a spirit’s descendants abandon their task, or if the sealed tomb is violated, the accursed soul becomes an angatra. Angry Spirit. The creature’s form becomes animated by a powerful and malicious ancestor spirit and undergoes a horrible metamorphosis within its decaying cocoon. Its fingernails grow into scabrous claws, its skin becomes hard and leathery, and its withered form is imbued with unnatural speed and agility. Within days, the angatra gathers strength and tears its bindings into rags. It seeks out its descendants to to share the torment and wrath it endured while its spirit lingered. ANGATRA Medium undead, neutral evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 85 (10d8 + 40) Speed 50 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 8 (–1) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) Skills Perception +4, Stealth +8 Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages all languages it knew in life Challenge 6 (2,300 XP) Agonizing Gaze. When a creature that can see the angatra’s eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the angatra, it must make a DC 13 Charisma saving throw if the angatra isn’t incapacitated and can see the creature. On a failed saving throw, the creature has its pain threshold lowered, so that it becomes vulnerable to all damage types until the end of its next turn. Unless it’s
20 Angel, Chained Fallen Glory (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Spell Attack. All creatures within 50 feet of the chained angel and in its line of sight take 19 (3d12) radiant damage and are knocked prone, or take half damage and aren’t knocked prone with a successful DC 15 Strength saving throw. REACTION Fiendish Cunning. A chained angel can counter and destroy the ongoing effect of one divine spell each round. This functions as a counterspell with +7 spellcasting ability. Their wings are still feathered, but their soulless eyes betray a great rage and thirst for blood. They invariably wear chains, shackles, barbed flesh hooks, or manacles to show their captive state. Some have heavy chain leashes held by arch-devils or major demons. All chained angels have halos of pure black, and many have been flayed of their skin along one or more limbs. Broken and Chained. These angels have been captured by fiends, tortured, and turned to serve darkness. A pack of chained angels is considered a status symbol among the servants of evil. A chained angel fights for the forces of evil as long as they remain chained, and this amuses demons and devils greatly. Chance at Redemption. However, while their souls are tainted with the blood of innocents, in their hearts chained angels still hope to be redeemed, or at least to be given the solace of extinction. Any creature that kills a chained angel is given a gift of gratitude for the release of death, in the form of all the effects of a heroes' feast spell. If it cannot be redeemed, a chained angel is a storm of destruction. ANGEL, CHAINED Medium celestial, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 88 (16d8 + 16) Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 18 (+4) 20 (+5) Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis+7, Cha +8 Skills Perception +7 Senses darkvision 200 ft., passive Perception 17 Damage Resistances piercing Damage Immunities fire, radiant Languages Common, Celestial, Infernal Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Dark Halo. A chained angel is immune to direct damage spells from divine casters. Redemption. Any caster brave enough to cast a knock spell on a chained angel can remove the creature’s shackles—but this always exposes the caster to an immediate fiery greatsword attack as a reaction. If the caster survives that attack, the angel makes an immediate DC 20 Wisdom saving throw; if it succeeds, the angel’s chains fall away and it is restored to its senses and to a Good alignment. If the saving throw fails, any further attempts to cast knock on the angel’s chains fail automatically for one week. ACTIONS Multiattack. The chained angel makes two fiery greatsword attacks. Fiery Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage plus 16 (3d10) fire damage. A • TOME OF BEASTS
21 1/day: bless, daylight, detect evil and good, enhance ability, hallow, protection from evil and good Magic Resistance. The angel has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Magic Weapons. The angel’s weapon attacks are magical while it is in eagle form. To My Lover’s Side. If separated from its mate, each fidele angel can use both plane shift and teleport 1/day to reunite. Unshakeable Fidelity. Fidele angels are never voluntarily without their partners. No magical effect or power can cause a fidele angel to act against its mate, and no charm or domination effect can cause them to leave their side or to change their feelings of love and loyalty toward each other. ACTIONS Multiattack. The angel makes two longsword attacks or two longbow attacks; in eagle form, it instead makes two talon attacks and one beak attack. +1 Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) slashing damage or 11 (1d10+ 6) slashing damage if used with two hands. +1 Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage. Beak (Eagle Form). Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage. Talons (Eagle Form). Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage. Angel, Fidele TOME OF BEASTS • A What appears to be a mated pair of animals changes shape into two celestials. Their humanoid forms still bear some marks of their animal selves. They move in perfect harmony. Fidele angels form from souls so devoted to each other that their love transcends death. Friends to Lovers. Fideles are charged with exhorting mortals to respect the bonds of partnership. They assist lovers facing obstacles and punish the enemies of love. Where there is a conflict between two cultures’ laws in love, they prefer the result that keeps the beloved together. Quiet Diplomats. They prefer diplomacy to force and, despite the urgency of love, they’ve been known to live secretly among mortals for years or decades while waging quiet campaigns against social mores and cultural norms that keep love from achieving its full potential. Rage of Passion. When love is denied, or when kept apart, fidele angels can enter towering rages and an anger born of passionate righteousness. FIDELE ANGEL Medium celestial, lawful good Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 104 (16d8 + 32) Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (angelic form), or 10 ft., fly 80 ft. (eagle form) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +5, Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +7 Skills Insight +6, Perception +6 Damage Resistances fire, lightning, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities acid, cold Condition Immunities charmed, petrified, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16 Languages Common, Celestial, Infernal Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Shapechange. The angel can change between winged celestial form, its original mortal form, and that of a Medium-sized eagle. Its statistics are the same in each form, with the exception of its attacks in eagle form. Ever Touching. Fidele angels maintain awareness of their mate’s disposition and health. Damage taken by one is split evenly between both, with the original target of the attack taking the extra point when damage doesn’t divide evenly. Any other baneful effect, such as ability damage, affects both equally. Innate Spellcasting. The angel’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: guidance, light, purify food and drink, spare the dying 3/day: cure wounds, scorching ray (5 rays)
22 Angler Worm A • TOME OF BEASTS As patient as a fisherman, the angler worm lights a beacon in the darkness and waits for its next meal. Silk Snares. The angler worm burrows into the ceilings of caves and tunnels, where it creates snares from strong silk threads coated with sticky mucus. It then lures prey into its snares while remaining safely hidden itself, emerging only to feed. With dozens of snares, food always comes to the angler worm eventually. ANGLER WORM Huge monstrosity, unaligned Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 133 (14d12 + 42) Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 5 (-3) 16 (+3) 3 (-4) 14 (+2) 1 (-5) Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, poisoned, prone Senses tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 12 Languages — Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Spider Climb. The worm can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings and along its snare lines, without needing an ability check. The angler worm is never restrained by its own or other angler worms’ snare lines. Keen Touch. The angler worm has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on vibrations. Transparent Trap. A successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check must be made to spot angler worm snare lines, and the check is always made with disadvantage unless the searcher has some means of overcoming the snares’ invisibility. A creature that enters a space containing angler worm snare lines must make a successful DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained by the sticky snares (escape DC 14). This saving throw is made with disadvantage if the creature was unaware of the snare lines’ presence. ACTIONS Multiattack. An angler worm makes one bite attack. It also makes one coils attack against every enemy creature restrained by its threads and within reach of its coils—once it has coiled around one creature it stops coil attacks against others. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage. Coils. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (3d8) acid damage, and the target creature must make a successful DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be pulled adjacent to the angler worm (if it wasn’t already) and grappled in the angler worm’s coils (escape DC 12). While grappled this way, the creature is restrained by the angler worm (but not by its snare lines), it can’t breathe, and it takes 22 (5d8) acid damage at the start of each of the angler worm’s turns. A creature that escapes from the angler worm’s coils may need to make an immediate DC 12 Dexterity saving throw to avoid being restrained again, if it escapes into a space occupied by more snare lines. Ethereal Lure (Recharge 4-6). The angler worm selects a spot within 20 feet of itself; that spot glows with a faint, blue light until the start of the worm’s next turn. All other creatures that can see the light at the start of their turn must make a successful DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the start of their next turn. A creature charmed this way must Dash toward the light by the most direct route, automatically fails saving throws against being restrained by snare lines, and treats the angler worm as invisible.
23 TOME OF BEASTS • A Ant, Giant Several pony-sized ants swarm around an ant the size of a draft horse, clacking their serrated mandibles and threatening with their stingers. Giant ants look much like a normal ant with six legs, a waspish segmented body, and large antenna. Their hides are covered in thick chitin, and they have large, serrated mandibles flanking their mouths and stingers on their tails. These stingers are the size of a shortsword, and they’re capable of stabbing and poisoning a human to death. Colony Defenders. Giant ants form colonies under the control of a queen much like their normal-sized cousins. Sterile females form castes with the workers building the nest and caring for larvae. Queens and male drones rarely leave the colony. Soldiers defend the colony and forage for food. Carry Prey Home. Giant ants are both predators and scavengers, working in organized groups to bring down large prey and carry it back to the nest. Giant ants tend to ignore animals away from the colony when not foraging for food, but they quickly move to overwhelm prey when hungry or threatened. A giant ant stands nearly four feet tall and weighs 400 pounds, while a giant ant queen is over five feet tall and weighs 900 pounds. Giant ants communicate with each other primarily with pheromones but also use sound and touch. GIANT ANT Large beast, unaligned Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 52 (7d10 + 14) Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (+2) 13 (+1) 15 (+2) 1 (–5) 9 (-1) 2 (–4) Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 9 Languages — Challenge 2 (450 XP) Keen Smell. The giant ant has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. ACTIONS Multiattack. The giant ant makes one bite attack and one sting attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the giant ant can’t bite a different target. Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 22 (4d10) poison damage, or half as much poison damage with a successful DC 12 Constitution saving throw. GIANT ANT QUEEN Large beast, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 85 (10d10 + 30) Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 (+3) 13 (+1) 16 (+3) 2 (–4) 11 (+0) 4 (–3) Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 10 Languages — Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Keen Smell. The giant ant queen has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. Queen’s Scent. Giant ants defending a queen gain advantage on all attack rolls. ACTIONS Multiattack. The giant ant queen makes two bite attacks and one sting attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the giant ant can’t bite a different target. Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 22 (4d10) poison damage, or half as much poison damage with a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw.
24 Anubian An anubian’s swirling sand comes together to form a snarling, canine-faced humanoid whose eyes shine with an eerie, blue glow. Anubians are elementals summoned to guard tombs or protect treasures. Piles of Dust. An anubian at rest resembles a pile of sand or dust, often strewn about an already dusty location. When active, it rises up to form a muscular humanoid with the head of a jackal. A destroyed anubian collapses into an inert pile of sand. Death to the Unarmored. In combat, anubians prefer to fight unarmored foes rather than creatures wearing armor. They associate unarmored creatures with spellcasters, and their latent resentment over centuries of being summoned as servants drives them to attack such figures when they aren’t shackled by magical bondage. Sandstorm Tag Teams. Anubians fight effectively as teams, using their haboob attacks to corner and isolate the most vulnerable targets. ANUBIAN Medium elemental, chaotic evil Armor Class 13 Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) Skills Stealth +5 (+7 in sand terrain) Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Primordial Challenge 2 (450 XP) Sand Step. Instead of moving, the anubian’s humanoid form collapses into loose sand and immediately reforms at another unoccupied space within 10 feet. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. After using this trait in sand terrain, the anubian can take a Hide action even if under direct observation. Anubians can sand step under doors or through similar obstacles, provided there’s a gap large enough for sand to sift through. Vulnerability to Water. For every 5 feet the anubian moves while touching water or for every gallon of water splashed on it, it takes 2 (1d4) cold damage. An anubian completely immersed in water takes 10 (4d4) cold damage at the start of its turn. ACTIONS Multiattack. The anubian makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage. Haboob (1/Day). The anubian creates a sandstorm that fills a 5-foot-radius, 30-foot-tall cylinder centered on itself. The area is heavily obscured, and each creature other than an anubian that enters the sandstorm or ends its turn there must make a successful DC 13 Strength saving throw or be restrained by it. Also, each creature other than an anubian that ends its turn inside the sandstorm takes 3 (1d6) slashing damage. The anubian can maintain the haboob for up to 10 minutes as if concentrating on a spell. While maintaining the haboob, the anubian’s speed is reduced to 5 feet and it can’t sand step. Creatures restrained by the sandstorm move with the anubian. A creature can free itself or an adjacent creature from the sandstorm by using its action and making a DC 13 Strength check. A successful check ends the restraint on the target creature. A • TOME OF BEASTS
25 Arboreal Grappler Long, simian arms snake through the trees like furred serpents, dangling from a shaggy, striped ape in the leafy canopy above and trying to snare those below. An arboreal grappler is a malformed creation of the gods, a primate whose legs warped into long, muscular tentacles covered in shaggy, red fur. Carry Prey to the Heights. Arboreal grapplers use their long limbs to snatch prey and drag it behind them as they use their powerful forelimbs to ascend to the highest canopy. Their victims are constricted until their struggles cease and then are devoured. Their flexible tentacles are ill-suited for terrestrial movement; they must drag themselves clumsily across open ground too wide to swing across. Clans in the Canopy. Arboreal grappler tribes build family nests decorated with bones and prized relics of past hunts. These nests are built high in the jungle canopy, typically 80 feet or more above the ground. Clans of 40 or more spread across crude villages atop the trees; in such large settlements, a third of the population are juveniles. These nests are difficult to spot from the ground; a DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check is required. A creature observing an arboreal grappler as it climbs into or out of a nest has advantage on the check. Carnivorous Elf Hunters. Grapplers are carnivorous and prefer humanoid flesh, elves in particular. Some suggest this arises from hatred as much as from hunger, a cruel combination of fascination and revulsion for the walking limbs of humanoid creatures. ARBOREAL GRAPPLER Medium aberration, neutral evil Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 90 (12d8 + 36) Speed 10 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 6 (−2) 10 (+0) 6 (−2) Skills Acrobatics +5, Stealth +5 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 Languages — Challenge 3 (700 XP) Spider Climb. The arboreal grappler can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Boscage Brachiation. The arboreal grappler doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks when it moves out of an enemy’s reach by climbing. ACTIONS Multiattack. The arboreal grappler makes one bite attack and two tentacle attacks. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the tentacle can’t be used to attack a different target. The arboreal grappler has two tentacles, each of which can grapple one target. When the arboreal grappler moves, it can drag a Medium or smaller target it is grappling at full speed. TOME OF BEASTS • A
26 A • TOME OF BEASTS When the elves abandoned the mortal world and returned to the elflands, not all of their fey servants went with them. Some stayed by choice; some were abandoned as tainted, feral broods; and some have remained to become servants of local gods or human mages. Most of them are angry at humans for their corruption of, and rebellions against, the elven ARIDNI IN MIDGARD courts and empires in Midgard. They seek to regain some of their fallen fey wealth and glory from humans and dwarves by stealing from, corrupting, and killing their ancient enemies. Among these abandoned fey are the aridni (“slaver pixies”), evil pixies suborned by the Slavers of Reth-Saal. Aridni Both more rugged and more ruthless than normal pixies, the aridni are an especially greedy breed of fey bandits and kidnappers. Pale Archers. These ashen-faced fey with gray moth wings fire green-glowing arrows with a sneer and a curse. Aridni prefer ranged combat whenever possible, and they are quite difficult to lure into melee. They sometimes accept a personal challenge o respond to accusations of cowardice. Caravan Raiders. They’ve developed different magical abilities that aid them well when they raid caravans for captives to enslave and sell; charming foes into slavery is a favorite tactic. Wealth for Status. They delight in taking plunder from humans and dwarves, not so much for its own sake but as a sign of their power over mortals, and their contempt for those who lack fey blood. ARIDNI Small fey, neutral evil Armor Class 15 Hit Points 82 (15d6 + 30) Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 9 (–1) 21 (+5) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 11 (+0) 16 (+3) Saving Throws Dex +8 Skills Acrobatics +11, Perception +3, Stealth +11 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common, Gnoll, Sylvan, Void Speech Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Flyby. The aridni doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach. Magic Resistance. The aridni has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Innate Spellcasting. The aridni’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells: At will: dancing lights, detect magic, invisibility 3/day: charm person, faerie fire, mage armor 1/day: spike growth ACTIONS Short Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage. Pixie Bow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 40/160 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) piercing damage. Slaver Arrows. An aridni can add a magical effect in addition to the normal damage done by its arrows. If so, the aridni chooses from the following effects: • Confusion. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become confused (as the spell) for 2d4-1 rounds. • Fear. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 2d4 rounds. • Hideous Laughter. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become incapacitated for 2d4 rounds. While incapacitated, the target is prone and laughing uncontrollably. • Sleep. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep for 2d4 minutes.
27 TOME OF BEASTS • A Asanbosam An asasonbosam is a hirsute hulk with bulging, bloodshot eyes, often perched high in a tree and ready to seize unwary passersby with talons like rusty hooks. Iron Hooks and Fangs. They resemble hairy ogres from the waist up, but with muscular and flexible legs much longer than those of an ogre. These odd appendages end in feet with hooklike talons, and both the creature’s hooks and its fangs are composed of iron rather than bone or other organic material. These iron fangs and claws mark an asanbosam’s age, not just by their size but also by their color. The youngest specimens have shiny gray hooks and fangs, while older ones have discolored and rusty ones. Iron Eaters. The asanbosam diet includes iron in red meat, poultry, fish, and leaf vegetables, and—in times of desperation— grinding iron filings off their own hooks to slake their cravings. The asanbosams’ taste for fresh blood and humanoid flesh led to the folklore that they are vampiric (not true). Tree Lairs. Asanbosams spend most of their lives in trees, where they build nestlike houses or platforms of rope and rough planks. They don’t fear magic; most tribes count at least one spellcaster among its members. ASANBOSAM Large aberration, chaotic evil Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 102 (12d10 + 36) Speed 40 ft., climb 15 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 13 (+1) 17 (+3) 11 (+0) 10 (+0) 5 (−3) Skills Acrobatics +4, Perception +3, Stealth +4 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Giant Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Spider Climb. The asanbosam can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Arboreal. While up in trees, the asanbosam can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns. ACTIONS Multiattack. The asanbosam makes one bite attack and one claws attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw against disease. If the saving throw fails, the target takes 11 (2d10) poison damage immediately and becomes poisoned until the disease is cured. Every 24 hours that elapse, the creature must repeat the saving throw and reduce its hit point maximum by 5 (1d10) on a failure. This reduction lasts until the disease is cured. The creature dies if the disease reduces its hit point maximum to 0. Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10 + 4) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the asanbosam can’t claw a different target. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw against disease or contract the disease described in the bite attack.
28 A • TOME OF BEASTS Azza Gremlin These tiny, hairless, rail-thin creatures crackle with static electricity. Arcs of lightning snap between their long ears. Lightning Lovers. Azza gremlins live among storm clouds, lightning-based machinery, and other places with an abundance of lightning. Magnetic Flight. Although wingless, their light bodies are perfectly attuned to electromagnetic fields, giving them buoyancy and flight. They love playing in thunderstorms and riding lightning bolts between the clouds or between clouds and the ground. They feed off lightning and love to see its effects on other creatures. Work with Spellcasters. Although they aren’t much more than hazardous pests by themselves, more malicious creatures and spellcasters that use lightning as a weapon work with azza gremlins to amplify their own destructiveness. Azza gremlins stand 12 to 18 inches tall and weigh approximately 8 lb. AZZA GREMLIN Small fey, neutral Armor Class 14 Hit Points 7 (2d6) Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 5 (–3) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 10 (+0) Damage Immunities lightning, thunder Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Primordial Challenge 1/4 (50 XP) Contagious Lightning. A creature that touches the azza gremlin or hits it with a melee attack using a metal weapon receives a discharge of lightning. The creature must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or attract lightning for 1 minute. For the duration, attacks that cause lightning damage have advantage against this creature, the creature has disadvantage on saving throws against lightning damage and lightning effects, and if the creature takes lightning damage, it is paralyzed until the end of its next turn. An affected creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. ACTIONS Lightning Jolt. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30 ft., one creature. Hit: 3 (1d6) lightning damage, and the target is affected by Contagious Lightning. REACTIONS Ride the Bolt. The azza gremlin can travel instantly along any bolt of lightning. When it is within 5 feet of a lightning effect, the azza can teleport to any unoccupied space inside or within 5 feet of that lightning effect.
29 TOME OF BEASTS • B The great witch Baba Yaga is a power to be reckoned with in Midgard, always plotting with her daughters, the vila, and seeking to gobble up the vile gnomes whose souls she claims are rightfully hers. Baba Yaga rules over great ley line magic, and commands the elements and enchantments with ease, but she cannot be everywhere at once. Three of her most faithful servants are the White Horseman, the Red Horseman and the Black Horseman— BABA YAGA’S HORsem*n IN MIDGARD embodied forms of the times of day, and a symbol of Baba Yaga’s mastery of time itself. She uses nicknames for them, calling them “My Bright Dawn, my Red Sun, and my Dark Midnight” because they are bound by time (and some believe, because they control dawn, noon, and sunset). She has many other servants as well, but the horsem*n, her dancing hut, and the sorcerer Koshchei the Deathless are three of the greatest. Baba Yaga ’ s Horsem*n These mounted knight wields great swords as swift as dawn, as bright as the blazing sun, and as cold as the grave. The white horseman is a young rider full of promise, the red rider a man in his prime, and the black rider a scarred and bearded fellow, his eyes dark and his mouth set in a grim frown. They ride with purpose on powerful steeds. Baba Yaga’s three horsem*n are legends in their own right. Bright Day, Red Sun, and Black Night (also known as the White, Red, and Black horsem*n) are her faithful emissaries, scouts, and warriors abroad. The three horsem*n change over time, but they are typically male, human warriors. Their appearance is distinctive: each dresses in colors and lacquered armor and trappings to suit their name, with their magical horses colored to match. Their roles appear to coincide with their appointed offices, although their precise relationship to Baba Yaga is the source of much speculation. Varied Origin. They may be serving Grandmother Winter for a time in exchange for a favor or bargain, or they may be cursed to replace a previous horseman they slew. In either case, Baba Yaga is the source of their power. The horsem*n are innately connected to the domain of time; each represents part of the day, as measured by the sun. Bright Day is bound to and governs dawn to mid-day, Red Sun from mid-day to sundown, and Black Night rules until daybreak. While Baba Yaga herself is wily and capricious, her three horsem*n are bound to cosmological forces that are uniform and constant, which is reflected in their alignment and demeanor. One Rises, Two Set. The horsem*n never co-exist with one another except within the confines of their mistresses’ Dancing Hut and the fenced yard around it. Each one must yield his presence on the Material Plane to his successor in rotation (this varies on other planes, depending on intervals of day and
30 B • TOME OF BEASTS Each horseman has unique senses, defenses, and special abilities. Add the appropriate traits to the base horseman traits for each of the horsem*n as follows. Bright Day. The horseman gains darkvision 60 ft., resistance to cold and fire, and the following innate spells: At will: sacred flame 2/day: daylight Red Sun. The horseman gains immunity to being blinded, charmed, and frightened, immunity to fire, and the following innate spells: 2/day each: continual flame, scorching ray Black Night. The horseman can see perfectly in normal and magical darkness, gains immunity to cold, and the following innate spells: At will: ray of frost 2/day: darkness THE THREE HORsem*n night). Forcing two horsem*n to co-exist on the Material Plane places a perilous strain on reality. Bringing all three together could trigger a primal magical event or chronal catastrophe. Timeless Nature. The horsem*n don’t age and don’t require food, drink, or sleep. BABA YAGA’S HORsem*n, BASE Medium fey, lawful neutral Armor Class 20 (plate and shield) Hit Points 171 (18d8 + 90) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 22 (+6) 11 (+0) 21 (+5) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) Saving Throws Dex +4, Wis +8 Skills Arcana +7, Athletics +10, History +7, Perception +8 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities lightning, poison Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, poisoned Senses passive Perception 18 Languages Celestial, Common, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft. Challenge 11 (7,200 XP) Innate Spellcasting. The horseman is a 12th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: 1/day each: dimension door, fire shield, haste, slow 3/day each: ethereal jaunt, phantom steed (appears as a horse colored appropriately to the horseman), plane shift (self and steed only) Magic Resistance. The horseman has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Peerless Rider. Any attacks directed at the horseman’s mount targets the horseman instead. Its mount gains the benefit of the rider’s damage and condition immunities, and if the horseman passes a saving throw against an area effect, the mount takes no damage. Quick Draw. The horseman can switch between wielding its lance and longsword as a bonus action. ACTIONS Multiattack. The horseman makes three attacks with its lance or longsword. It can use Temporal Strike with one of these attacks when it is available. Lance. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft. (disadvantage within 5 ft.), one target. Hit: 12 (1d12 + 6) piercing damage. Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) slashing damage. Temporal Strike (recharge 5-6). When the horseman strikes a target with a melee attack, in addition to taking normal damage, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or instantly age 3d10 years. A creature that ages this way has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws based on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution until the aging is reversed. A creature that ages beyond its lifespan dies immediately. The aging reverses automatically after 24 hours, or it can be reversed magically by greater restoration or comparable magic. A creature that succeeds on the save is immune to the temporal strike effect for 24 hours. The horsem*n make good foes for the long term; their power is great enough that they can ignore even great dangers when serving their mistress. Here are some possible encounters involving them: • Red Sun burns down a village while the PCs are sleeping at the inn. If questioned or challenged, he says nothing, but provides a scroll from Baba Yaga ordering the village’s destruction. Red Sun rides off into the dawn. • Black Night bears a similar scroll, asking an elvish character to provide Baba Yaga with a pint of blood; if the request is granted, Black Night leaves without incident, but if it is ENCOUNTERS WITH BABA YAGA’S HORsem*n denied, a young human boy is found outside the party’s sleeping chambers, drained of all blood. • At noon, Bright Day leads a parade of strange creatures, everything from shadow fey duelists and enchantresses to a glowing will o’wisp and a bright malakbel demon, burning so bright it set fire to crops and thatched huts near it. The fey mention Bright Day is going to pay Baba Yaga’s respects to the River King. If the party chooses to join the procession, they cannot leave it until sunset—and may find their company is not entirely welcome.
31 TOME OF BEASTS • B Bagiennik With webbed claws, bulbous eyes, and two nostril-slits that ooze an oily black substance, the creature is not quite hideous—but it might be, if most of it wasn’t concealed by a thick coating of muck and mud. Bathing Uglies. When a bagiennik is alone, it spends its time bathing in local springs, rivers, and marshes. The creature sifts through the muck and silt, extracting substances that enhance its oily secretions. If anything disturbs the creature during its languorous bathing sessions, it angrily retaliates. Once a bagiennik has bathed for four hours it seeks a target for mischief or charity. Unpredictable Moods. One never knows what to expect with a bagiennik. The same creature might aid an injured traveler one day, smear that person with corrosive, acidic oil the next day, and then extend tender care to the burned victim of its own psychotic behavior. If the creature feels beneficent, it heals injured animals or even diseased or injured villagers. If a bagiennik visits a settlement, the ill and infirm approach it cautiously while everyone else hides to avoid provoking its wrath. When a bagiennik leaves its bath in an angry mood, it raves and seeks out animals or humanoids to spray its oil onto. If a victim drops to 0 hit points, the foul-tempered bagiennik applies healing oil to stabilize them, grumbling all the while. Acid Oils. Collecting a dead bagiennik’s black oils must be done within an hour of the creature’s death. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check yields one vial of acid, or two vials if the result was 20 or higher. A bagiennik can use these chemicals either to heal or to harm, but no alchemist or healer has figured out how to reproduce the healing effects. Other than their acidic effect, the secretions lose all potency within moments of being removed from a bagiennik. A bagiennik weighs 250 lb., plus a coating of 20 to 50 lb. of mud and muck. BAGIENNIK Medium aberration, chaotic neutral Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30) Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 18 (+4) 16 (+3) 9 (–1) 16 (+3) 11 (+0) Skills Perception +5 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages Common Challenge 3 (700 XP) Healing Oil. A bagiennik can automatically stabilize a dying creature by using an action to smear some of its oily secretion on the dying creature’s flesh. A similar application on an already-stable creature or one with 1 or more hit points acts as a potion of healing, restoring 2d4 + 2 hit points. Alternatively, the bagiennik’s secretion can have the effect of a lesser restoration spell. However, any creature receiving a bagiennik’s Healing Oil must make a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be slowed for 1 minute. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bagiennik makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (4d6 + 4) slashing damage. Acid Spray. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 15 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d10 + 3) acid damage. The target must make a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone in the slick oil, which covers an area 5 feet square. A creature that enters the oily area or ends its turn there must also make the Dexterity saving throw to avoid falling prone. A creature needs to make only one saving throw per 5-foot-square per turn, even if it enters and ends its turn in the area. The slippery effect lasts for 3 rounds.
32 B • TOME OF BEASTS Bastet Temple Cat Nurian is the language of the ancient pyramid-builders and living mages of the Red Portals in the Midgard Campaign Setting. Substitute any ancient language of magic and power if you are using another setting. WHAT IS NURIAN? A slim feline far larger than any house cat slips from the shadows. Its coat glistens like ink as it chirps, and its tail flicks teasingly as its golden eyes observe the doings in its temple. Bred for Magic. Temple cats of Bastet are thought by some to be outsiders, but they are a terrestrial breed, created by the priesthood through generations of enchantment. Lazy Temple Pets. By day, temple cats laze about their shrines and porticos, searching out attention from the faithful and occasionally granting boons when it suits then. Fierce Shrine Guardians. By night, they serve as guardians in their temples, inciting would-be thieves to come close before viciously mauling them. More than one would-be rogue has met his or her fate at the claws and teeth of these slim, black-furred beasts. Bastet temple cats are fierce enemies of temple dogs. BASTET TEMPLE CAT Small beast, chaotic neutral Armor Class 14 Hit Points 40 (9d6 + 9) Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 8 (–1) 19 (+4) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) Skills Perception +5, Stealth +6 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages Common, Nurian, and Sylvan Challenge 1 (200 XP) Keen Smell. The temple cat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. Innate Spellcasting. The temple cat’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The temple cat can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: guidance 3/day each: charm person, cure wounds 1/day: enhance ability (only Cat’s Grace) Priestly Purr. When a cleric or paladin who worships Bastet spends an hour preparing spells while a Bastet temple cat is within 5 feet, that spellcaster can choose two 1st-level spells and one 2nd-level spell that they are able to cast and imbue them into the temple cat. The temple cat can cast these spells 1/day each without a verbal component. These spells are cast as if they were included in the temple cat’s Innate Spellcasting trait. ACTIONS Multiattack. The temple cat makes one bite attack and one claws attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) piercing damage. Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) slashing damage. Fascinating Lure. The temple cat purrs loudly, targeting a humanoid it can see within 30 feet that can hear the temple cat. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed. While charmed by the temple cat, the target must move toward the cat at normal speed and try to pet it or pick it up. A charmed target repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful, the creature is immune to the temple cat’s Fascinating Lure for the next 24 hours. The temple cat has advantage on attack rolls against any creature petting or holding it.
33 TOME OF BEASTS • B Bearfolk Although it has the head of a shaggy bear, this humanoid creature wears armor and carries a battleaxe in one massive, clawed hand and a warhammer in the other. It’s a solid slab of muscle that towers imposingly over most humans. The hulking bearfolk are intimidating creatures. Brutish and powerful, they combine features of humanoid beings and bears. Their heads are ursine with heavy jaws and sharp teeth. Dark fur covers their bodies, which are packed with muscle. Adult bearfolk stand at least 7 feet tall and weigh more than 600 pounds. Sworn to the Bear King. Bearfolk are almost universally the subjects of the Bear King, one of the great fey lords. The bearfolk protect the cities of their northern kingdom and roam the wooded roads of the wilderness. The greatest number of bearfolk are concentrated around the court of the Bear King himself, with ancient bear jarls governing their unruly kin. Only a handful of renegades, exiles, and other rogue bearfolk live permanently outside this society. Passionate and Volatile. Boisterous and jovial, the bearfolk are a people of extremes. They celebrate with great passion and are quick to explosive anger. Settling differences with wrestling matches that leave permanent scars is common, as is seeing two bloodied bearfolk sharing a cask of mead and a raucous song after such a scuffle. BEARFOLK Medium humanoid (bearfolk), chaotic good Armor Class 14 (hide armor) Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18) Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 8 (-1) 12 (+1) 9 (-1) Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Giant Challenge 3 (700 XP) Frenzy (1/rest). As a bonus action, the bearfolk can trigger a berserk frenzy that lasts 1 minute. While in frenzy, it gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons and has advantage on attack rolls. Attack rolls made against a frenzied bearfolk have advantage. Keen Smell. The bearfolk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bearfolk makes attacks once with its battleaxe, once with its warhammer, and once with its bite. Battleaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage if used two-handed. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. Warhammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage if used two-handed.
34 B • TOME OF BEASTS Behtu With the face of a mandrill and the tusks of a great boar, these ferocious half-ape, half-human pygmies have demon blood flowing in their veins. Only the desperate or the suicidal travel to their volcanic temple-islands. Mechuiti (meh-CHOO-ee-tee), the demon lord of apes, cannibalism, and torture, combines the cruelty of a demon with the cunning of a human and the ferocity of an ape. He bred the same qualities into his people, the behtu (BAY-too), who carry his worship from island to island. Temple Builders. The behtus raise shrines to Mechuiti wherever they go. Some are kept and prosper, while others fall into decay and return to the jungle. Ichor Drinkers. In his volcanic temples, Mechuiti’s idols weep his ichorous demon blood, which the behtus use to create infusions that give them inhuman strength and speed. The behtus also use the infusions to etch demonic tattoos that grant them infernal powers and protection. Scaly Mounts. The behtus breed demonic iguanas as war mounts (treat as giant lizards). The most powerful behtu sorcerers and druids have been known to ride large crimson drakes and small flame dragons as personal mounts. BEHTU Small humanoid, chaotic evil Armor Class 14 (hide armor) Hit Points 52 (8d6 + 24) Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 11 (+0) 7 (–2) Saving Throws Dex +5 Skills Athletics +5, Stealth +5 Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 Languages Behtu, Common, Infernal Challenge 2 (450 XP) ACTIONS Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. Shortspear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage. Fire Breath (Recharge 6). The behtu exhales fire in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area takes 21 (5d8) fire damage, or half damage with a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. Ichorous Infusions. Behtu war parties carry 1d6 vials of ichorous infusions. They often ingest an infusion before an ambush. For the next 2d6 rounds, the behtus gain a +4 bonus to their Strength and Constitution scores and quadruple their base speed (including their climb speed). Behtus also take a –4 penalty to their Intelligence and Wisdom scores for the duration of the infusion. A non-behtu character who ingests a behtu infusion becomes poisoned and takes 10 (3d6) poison damage; a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw against poison reduces damage to half and negates the poisoned condition.
35 TOME OF BEASTS • B Beli These small, winter faeries are vicious and deadly. With their pale skin and translucent wings, they blend perfectly into their snowy environment; only their beady black eyes stand out against the snow and ice. These malevolent ice-sprites are a plague upon the people of snowy climates, ambushing unwary prey with icy arrows and freezing spell-like powers. Servants of the North Wind. Known as “patzinaki” in some dialects of Dwarvish, the beli are the servants of winter gods and venerate the north wind as Boreas and other gods of darker aspects. They are frequent allies with the fraughashar. Feast Crashers. Beli especially delight in disrupting feasts and making off with the holiday cakes—the least deadly of their malicious pranks. Fear of Druids. They have an irrational fear of northern druids and their snow bear companions. ACTIONS Ice Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) cold damage. Icy Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) cold damage, and the target must make a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw or gain 2 levels of exhaustion from the arrow’s icy chill. If the save succeeds, the target also becomes immune to further exhaustion from beli arrows for 24 hours (but any levels of exhaustion already gained remain in effect). A character who gains a sixth level of exhaustion doesn’t die automatically but drops to 0 hit points and must make death saving throws as normal. The exhaustion lasts until the target recovers fully from the cold damage. BELI Small fey, neutral evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 45 (10d6 + 10) Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 11 (+0) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 8 (–1) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) Saving Throws Dex +5 Skills Perception +4, Stealth +5 Damage Immunities cold Damage Vulnerabilities fire Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Common, Dwarvish, Giant Challenge 2 (450 XP) Arctic Hunter. Beli have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks and Wisdom (Perception) checks made in icy, natural surroundings. Cold Regeneration. As long as the temperature is below freezing, the beli regains 3 hit points at the start of its turn. If the beli takes fire damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the beli’s next turn. The beli dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and it doesn’t regenerate. Flyby. The beli doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach. Innate Spellcasting. The beli’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: invisibility 3/day: chill touch
36 B • TOME OF BEASTS Bereginyas These small, winged faeries appear to be made out of gray mist, and can conceal themselves completely in the fogbanks and clouds enshrouding their mountainous lairs. Mist Dancers. These evil and cunning faeries (whose name means “mist dancers” in Old Elvish) overcome their victims by seeping into their lungs and choking them on the bereginyas’s foul essence. Mountain Spirits. They are most commonly found in the highest mountain ranges, often above the treeline, but they can be encountered in any foggy or misty mountainous region. Shepherds and goatherds often leave bits of milk or cheese to placate them; these offerings are certainly welcome during the spring lambing season. BEREGINYAS Tiny fey, neutral evil Armor Class 15 Hit Points 70 (20d4 + 20) Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 20 (+5) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 11 (+0) Saving Throws Dex +7 Skills Perception +5, Stealth +9 Damage Immunities bludgeoning Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages Common, Elvish, Sylvan Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) ACTIONS Multiattack. The bereginyas makes two claw attacks. If both attacks hit the same target, the target is grappled (escape DC 12) and the bereginyas immediately uses Smother against it as a bonus action. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing damage. Smother. If the bereginyas grapples an opponent, it extends a semi-solid gaseous tendril down the target’s throat as a bonus action. The target must make a successful DC 14 Strength saving or it is immediately out of breath and begins suffocating. Suffocation ends if the grapple is broken or if the bereginyas is killed.
37 TOME OF BEASTS • B Blemmyes This headless giant has a large mouth in its chest, with eyes bulging out on either side of it. Always Hungry. Blemmyes are brutes that savor humanoid flesh, and they see all humanoids as potential meals. Some even have the patience to tend groups of humans, goblins, or halflings like unruly herds, farming them for food and fattening them up for maximum succulence. Cannibals. So great is their hideous hunger that blemmyes are not above eating their own kind; they cull and consume the weakest specimens of their race when other food is scarce. The most terrible habit of these monsters is that they seldom wait for their food to die, or even for a battle to conclude, before launching into a grisly feast. BLEMMYES Large monstrosity, chaotic evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 168 (16d10 + 80) Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 13 (+1) 20 (+5) 7 (-2) 12 (+1) 5 (–3) Skills Intimidation +3 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Giant Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Carnivorous Compulsion. If it can see an incapacitated creature, the blemmyes must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom save or be compelled to move toward that creature and attack it. ACTIONS Multiattack: The blemmyes makes two slam attacks and one bite attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller incapacitated creature, that creature is swallowed. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects from outside the blemmyes, and it takes 14 (4d6) acid damage at the start of each of the blemmyes’ turns. If the blemmyes takes 20 damage or more during a single turn from a creature inside it, the blemmyes must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate the swallowed creature, which falls prone in a space within 5 feet of the blemmyes. The blemmyes can have only one target swallowed at a time. If the blemmyes dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (4d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of its next turn.
38 B • TOME OF BEASTS Boloti This small, leering water spirit resembles a cross between a gray frog and a damp scarecrow, with small tendrils sprouting from all its extremities. It has water wings seemingly made out of jellyfish flesh, allowing it to jet through the water at high speeds. Swamp Robbers. Known as “uriska” in Draconic, the bolotis are small, swamp-dwelling water spirits which delight in drowning unsuspecting victims in shallow pools and springs, then robbing their corpses of whatever shiny objects they find. Bolotis use their magical vortex to immobilize their victims and drag them to a watery death. They delight in storing up larders of victims under winter ice or under logs. Fond of Allies. Bolotis sometimes team up with vodyanoi, miremals, and will-o’-wisps to create cunning ambushes. They are happy with a single kill at a time. BOLOTI Tiny fey, neutral evil Armor Class 15 Hit Points 63 (14d4 + 28) Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 20 (+5) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 11 (+0) Skills Perception +3, Stealth +7 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common, Primordial, Sylvan Challenge 1 (200 XP) Amphibious. The boloti can breathe air and water. Innate Spellcasting. The boloti’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 11). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: detect magic, water walk 3/day: control water, create or destroy water, fog cloud, invisibility, see invisibility, water breathing 1/day: wall of ice Water Mastery. A boloti has advantage on attack rolls if both it and its opponent are in water. If the opponent and the boloti are both on dry ground, the boloti has disadvantage on attack rolls. ACTIONS Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) piercing damage. Vortex (1/Day). A boloti can transform into a vortex of swirling, churning water for up to 4 minutes. This ability can be used only while the boloti is underwater, and the boloti can’t leave the water while in vortex form. While in vortex form, the boloti can enter another creature’s space and stop there in vortex form. In this liquid form, the boloti still takes normal damage from weapons and magic. A creature in the same space as the boloti at the start of the creature’s turn takes 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage unless it makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. If the creature is Medium or smaller, a failed saving throw also means it is grappled (escape DC 11). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. If the saving throw succeeds, the target is pushed 5 feet so it is out of the boloti’s space.
39 TOME OF BEASTS • B Bone Collective A bone collective is almost a fluid; its thousands of tiny bones coalesce into a humanoid form only to disperse in a clattering swarm the next moment. Their tiny bones rustle when they move, a quiet sound similar to sand sliding down a dune. Spies and Sneaks. Bone collectives are not primarily fighters, although they swarm well enough. They prefer to spy and skulk. When cornered, however, they fight without fear or hesitation, seeking to strip the flesh from their foes. Zombie Mounts. Bone collectives’ long finger bones and hooked claws help them climb onto zombie mounts and control them. Bone collectives almost always wear robes or cloaks, the better to pretend to be humanoid. They understand that most creatures find their nature disturbing. Feed on Society. Bone collectives join the societies around them, whether human, goblin, or ghoul. They prey on the living and the dead, using them to replenish lost bones. Occasionally, they choose to serve necromancers, darakhul, some vampires, and liches, all of whom offers magical attunements and vile joys to the collective. They dislike extreme heat, as it makes their bones brittle. BONE COLLECTIVE Small undead, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 120 (16d6 + 64) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) Saving Throws Dex +8 Skills Arcana +5, Deception +6, Perception +3, Stealth +11 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered Damage Immunities necrotic, poison Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common, Darakhul Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Hive Mind. All elements of a bone collective within 50 miles of their main body constantly communicate with each other. If one is aware of a particular danger, they all are. Any bone collective with at least 30 hit points forms a hive mind, giving it an Intelligence of 14. Below this hp threshold, it becomes mindless (Intelligence 0) and loses its innate spellcasting ability. At 0 hp, a few surviving sets of bones scatter, and must spend months to create a new collective. Innate Spellcasting. The bone collective’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: chill touch 3/day: animate dead (up to 5 skeletons or zombies) Swarm. A bone collective can act as a swarm (composed of smaller elements), or it can grant a single member (called an exarch) control, acting as a singular creature. Changing between forms takes one action. In its singular form, the collective can’t occupy the same space as another creature, but it can perform sneak attacks and cast spells. In swarm form, the bone collective can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and it can move through openings at least 1 foot square. It can’t change to singular form while it occupies the same space as another creature. It uses its skills normally in either form. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bone collective makes two claw attacks, or one claw and one bite attack, or one swarm attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d12 + 5) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution save or suffer the effects of Wyrmblood Venom. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (3d12 + 5) slashing damage. Swarm. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 57 (8d12 + 5) piercing damage, or 31 (4d12 + 5) piercing damage if the bone collective has half its hit points or fewer. If the attack hits, the target must make a successful DC 15 Constitution save or suffer the effects of Wyrmblood Venom. Wyrmblood Venom (Injury). Bone collectives create a reddish liquid, which they smear on their fangs. The freakish red mouths on the tiny skeletons are disturbing, and the toxin is deadly. A bitten creature must succeed on a DC15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned and take 1d6 Charisma damage. A poisoned creature repeats the saving throw every four hours, taking another 1d6 Charisma damage for each failure, until it has made two consecutive successful saves or survived for 24 hours. If the creature survives, the effect ends and the creature can heal normally. Lost Charisma can be regained with a lesser restoration spell or comparable magic.
40 B • TOME OF BEASTS Bone Crab A bone crab’s cracked skull scurries forward on bone-white legs. These tainted crustaceans make discarded craniums their home. Skull Shells. Much like an enormous hermit crab, bone crabs inhabit the remains of large fish, humanoids, and other creatures. A bone crab’s spiny, ivory-white legs blend in perfectly with bones and pale driftwood. When lacking bones, these crabs gnaw cavities into chunks of driftwood or coral to make a shelter, cementing bits of shell and debris to their portable homes. All crabs fight over choice skulls. Scavengers of Memory. Bone crabs are voracious scavengers. They live in seaside crags and coves, where they use their specialized chelae to crack open skulls and feast on the brains. Centuries of such feeding have given bone crabs a collective intelligence. Some crabs retain fragments of memory from those they devour, and these crabs recognize friends or attack the foes of those whose skulls they wear. Bone crabs hunt in packs, preying on seabirds and creatures stranded in tidal pools. They drag aquatic prey above the high tide line and leave it to fester in the hot sun. They pick corpses clean in a few hours, so their hunting grounds are littered with cracked and sun-bleached bones—the perfect hiding place for these littoral predators. White Ghost Shivers. Because they eat carrion, bone crabs carry a dangerous disease—white ghost shivers, which wrack victims with fever and delirium. Sailors and others who eat a bone crab’s unwholesome, diseased flesh rarely survive it. Although bone crabs cannot be domesticated, they can be convinced to nest in particular areas, attacking intruders while ignoring the area’s regulars. BONE CRAB Small beast, neutral Armor Class 13 (natural armor) Hit Points 33 (6d6 + 12) Speed 20 ft., swim 10 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 1 (–5) 12 (+1) 4 (–3) Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4 Damage Resistances bludgeoning Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages — Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Amphibious. The bone crab can breathe air and water. Bone Camouflage. A bone crab has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while it’s among bones. Hive Mind. A bone crab can communicate perfectly with all other bone crabs within 100 feet of it. If one is aware of danger, they all are. Leap. Bone crabs have incredibly powerful legs and can leap up to 10 feet straight ahead or backward as part of its movement; this counts as withdraw action when moving away from a foe. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bone crab makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage. White Ghost Shivers. A living creature that is injured by or makes physical contact with a creature carrying the white ghost shivers must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw at the end of the encounter to avoid becoming infected. This disease manifests after 24 hours, beginning as a mild chill, but increasingly severe after a day, accompanied by a fever. Hallucinations are common, and the fright they induce lends the disease its name. At onset, the infected creature gains two levels of exhaustion that cannot be removed until the disease is cured by lesser restoration, comparable magic, or rest. The infected creature makes another DC 11 Constitution saving throw at the end of each long rest; a successful save removes one level of exhaustion. If the saving throw fails, the disease persists. If both levels of exhaustion are removed by successful saving throws, the victim has recovered naturally.
41 TOME OF BEASTS • B Bone Swarm Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a human skull. The swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bone swarm can attack every hostile creature in its space with swirling bones. Swirling Bones. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 31 (5d8 + 9) bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (includes Strength of Bone special ability). Death’s Embrace (Recharge 5–6). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: the target is grappled (escape DC 16) and enveloped within the swarm’s bones. The swarm can force the creature to move at its normal speed wherever the bone swarm wishes. Any non-area attack against the bone swarm has a 50% chance of hitting a creature grappled in Death’s Embrace instead. Dank winds sweep up skeletons, both humanoid and animal. They blow forward, reaching out for living creatures like a clawed hand of bone. A scattering of bones rolls across the ground, then rises into the air, billowing like a sheet. Swarms of Fallen. On rare occasions, the pugnacious spirits of fallen undead join together, bonded by a common craving: to feel alive again. They gather up their bones from life, as well as any other bones they come across, and form bone swarms. Nomadic Undead. These swarms then ravage the countryside wresting life from living creatures, grabbing livestock, humanoids, and even dragons, digging in their claws in an attempt to cling to life. Bone swarms with one or more sets of jaws wail constantly in their sorrow, interrupting their cries with snippets of rational but scattered speech declaiming their woes and despair. Cliff and Pit Dwellers. Bone swarms gather near cliffs, crevasses, and pits in the hope of forcing a victim or an entire herd of animals to fall to its death, creating more shattered bones to add to their mass. BONE SWARM Large swarm of tiny undead, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 198 (36d10) Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 22 (+6) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 9 (–1) 15 (+2) 20 (+5) Saving Throws Dex +8, Wis +6, Cha +9 Skills Acrobatics +8, Perception +6, Stealth +8 Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning Damage Resistances piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16 Languages Common, Void Speech Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) Strength of Bone. A bone swarm can choose to deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, and adds 1.5× its Strength bonus on swarm damage rolls as bits and pieces of broken skeletons claw, bite, stab, and slam at the victim.
42 B • TOME OF BEASTS All hail the Devourer, for tales and kennings of Boreas are as common as a spring gale or a winter’s blast. Called the Hail Thrower, the Snowy Rager, and the Father of the Snow Mares, Boreas is said to have been one of four brothers who lived far to the south, before a bitter struggle between Boreas and his three younger brothers led to him cursing the others and leaving the to suffer forever in empty quarters of sand and dust, while he took the rich forests and cool northern climes for his own. Stories tell of that Boreas lives in a great tower in the Utmost North, served by frost giants, thuellai, and ice maidens. There he plots Ragnarok with Loki and the giants, but he has LEGENDS OF BOREAS another wish—to woo and win the hand of a worthy wife, and he is bold enough to woo two by turns, Oluffa, the Queen of the Frost Giants and Nicnevin, Fey Queen of Witches. His daughter, the Snow Queen Morrinn of Grokeheim, is not fond of this wild romance, and she strives to keep her father far from the Witch-Queen’s affections and further still from Loki and the giants. To do this, she sometimes employs mortal heroes to steal a treasure from her father’s tower, to rustle away with his finest winter wolves, or to bring sweet spring air into his court, thereby provoking him into a rage, and turning his careful wooing of powerful beauties into an occasion for raw tempers and abject apologies. Boreas Rime encrusts the wild, spiky hair and beard of this gaunt, savage-eyed man. He strides with an arrogant swagger, snapping blue eyes regarding those around him as an eagle regards the mouse. He carries a dragon-shaped horn, a spear of ice, and an enchanted longbow that shoots bolts of pure frozen air. Lord of the North Wind. Known for creating mass destruction and death on a whim, Boreas is a devouring spirit of the north who frequently tampers with the mortal world. His worldly avatar resides in a palace of blue ice and white marble on Thule’s highest peak, and he styles himself lord of all the North. Boreas suffers no disrespect and demands yearly tribute of gold, goods, and horses. He has a deep and abiding hatred of the three other Wind Lords. Easily Angered. When displeased, he bombards his “subjects” with snow, lightning storms, and gale-force winds, or buries them in avalanches by blowing his greater horn of blasting. When particularly displeased, he sends his various servants to descend upon a tribe or settlement without mercy. AVATAR OF BOREAS Medium elemental, chaotic evil Armor Class 20 (natural armor) Hit Points 168 (16d8 + 96) Speed 50 ft., fly 120 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 25 (+7) 22 (+6) 22 (+6) 18 (+4) 19 (+4) 21 (+5) Saving Throws Dex +12, Wis +10, Cha +11 Skills Deception +11, Nature +10, Perception +10, Stealth +12 Damage Resistances acid Damage Immunities cold, lightning, poison, thunder, petrification Condition Immunities poison Senses darkvision 60 ft., truesight, passive Perception 20 Languages Common, Dwarvish, Giant, Infernal Challenge 17 (18,000 XP) Chilling Presence. Boreas freezes everything within 150 feet of him. After 5 rounds, nonmagical fires up to the size of a campfire are quenched. Water freezes within 1 minute. Spells that protect against cold are subjected to an immediate dispel magic (at +10 spellcasting ability) when within 150 feet of Boreas. Wind Form. Boreas can shift between his humanoid body and a body made of wind and mist as an action; he can never be forced to shift forms. In wind form, he can use a whirlwind blast attack and use his spells, but no weapon attack. Truesight reveals both forms at once. Freedom of the Wind. Locks, shackles, ropes, and other bindings cannot hold Boreas. Innate Spellcasting. Boreas’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: create water, detect magic, guidance, invisibility, polymorph, speak with animals, true seeing, wind wall 3/day each: call lightning, control weather, cure wounds, dispel magic, ice storm, lesser restoration 1/day each: chain lightning, earthquake, finger of death, heal, shapechange, wall of ice, word of recall Regeneration. The avatar of Boreas regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If the avatar of Boreas takes fire damage, this trait does not function at the start of its next turn. The avatar of Boreas dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and does not regenerate. ACTIONS Multiattack. Boreas makes 4 spear attacks, or 4 longbow attacks, or 2 whirlwind blasts. Ice Spear (Humanoid Form). Melee Weapon Attack. +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d8 + 7) piercing damage plus 17 (5d6) cold damage. North Wind Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8+6) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) cold damage. Whirlwind Blast (Wind Form Only). Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit, range 50 ft., one target. Hit: 37 (5d12 + 5) slashing damage.
43 TOME OF BEASTS • B LEGENDARY ACTIONS Boreas 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. Boreas regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Ice Spear. Boreas makes an ice spear attack. North Wind’s Glare. Boreas freezes a foe with a look. One creature within 60 feet that the avatar of Boreas can see must make a successful DC 19 Constitution saving throw or be petrified until the start of the avatar’s next turn. Whirlwind Movement (Costs 2 Actions). Boreas erupts into an icy whirlwind. Mundane and magical light sources alike within 20 feet are automatically extinguished. Each creature within 20 feet of the avatar must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 14 (4d6) cold damage. The avatar can then fly up to half its flying speed.
44 B • TOME OF BEASTS Bouda A hulking, hyena-faced humanoid with heavily scarred, oversized muzzle, a bouda looks as if its jaw had once been ripped apart and put back together. Clouds of gnats and fleas roil around its arms. Glowing Eyes and Teeth. Bouda are child-eaters, despoilers of purity and family. Resembling oversized gnolls, a web of scars along their muzzles is evidence of their gluttonous eating habits. Forever leering, their teeth glow as yellow as their eyes. Fly-Bedecked Shapechangers. Bouda lurk on society’s fringes, shapechanging to blend in with mortals. They seek out happy families, consuming the children in the night and leaving gruesome trophies behind. They may mark a victim nights before attacking to terrify the helpless parents. Gluttons. Bouda have a weakness: they are incorrigible gluttons. When presented with a fresh corpse, even in combat, they will attempt to gorge on it or at least defile it for later consumption. Bouda are vindictive, seeking revenge on anything that drives them from a kill. BOUDA Medium fiend, neutral evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 93 (11d8 + 44) Speed 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) Saving Throws Dex+5, Con +7, Wis +4, Cha +5 Skills Athletics +7, Deception +5, Intimidation +5, Perception +4, Stealth +5 Damage Resistances acid, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered Damage Immunities fire, poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, poisoned Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Common, Celestial, Infernal, Nurian; telepathy 100 ft. Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Shapechanger. The bouda can use its action to polymorph into a human, a hyena, or its true form, which is a hyena-humanoid hybrid. Its statistics, other than its Mephitic Claw attack, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if destroyed, before turning to dust. Defiling Smear (1/Day). The bouda can secrete a disgusting whitish-yellow substance with the viscosity of tar to mark food and territory. As a bonus action, the bouda marks a single adjacent 5-foot space, object, or helpless creature. Any living creature within 30 feet of the smear at the start of its turn must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw against poison or be poisoned for 1d6 rounds. A creature that makes a successful saving throw is immune to that particular bouda’s defiling smear for 24 hours. The stench of a smear remains potent for one week. Innate Spellcasting. The bouda’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). It can cast the following spells, requiring no material components: Constant: detect evil and good, detect magic At will: thaumaturgy 3/day: darkness, expeditious retreat 1/day: contagion ACTIONS Multiattack. The bouda makes one bite attack and one mephitic claw attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage. Mephitic Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage, and the target must make a successful DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 round by the visible cloud of vermin swarming around the bouda’s forearms. Ravenous Gorge. The bouda consumes the organs of a corpse in a space it occupies. It gains temporary hit points equal to the dead creature’s HD that last 1 hour. Organs consumed by this ability are gone, and the creature can’t be restored to life through spells and magical effects that require a mostly intact corpse.
45 TOME OF BEASTS • B Broodiken Tiny and built like a caricature of a person, this creature’s enlarged head is filled with pointed teeth. Bodily Children. Broodikens are crude servants created by humanoid spellcasters willing to grow them within their own bodies. They resemble their creators in the most obvious ways, with the same number of limbs and basic features, but all broodikens stand one foot tall with overly large heads and heavily fanged mouths. Those born to monstrous humanoids with wings or horns have ineffective, decorative versions that do not help the creature fly or fight. Emotional Echoes. Broodikens have little personality of their own and respond to their creators’ emotions, growling when their creators feel anger and babbling happily when their creators feel joy. When their creators are more than 100 feet away, they cry loudly with a sound that resembles children of the creator’s own species. If discovered crying by anyone other than their creator, they attack. When their creators focus their anger on specific individuals, the broodikens attack as a group, using Stealth to get close and overwhelm single opponents. Born With Daggers. Broodikens are created by eating the heart of a dead broodiken. Once this “seed” is consumed, 2d4 broodikens grow inside of the “mother” or creator. Nurturing the growing brood requires consuming specific muds, ashes, and plants, which cost 50 gp/day for each incubating broodiken. The incubation period requires one month and takes a toll on the creator’s health. During this time, the creator becomes fatigued after four hours without eight hours’ rest. If the creator is not a spellcaster, a spellcaster who meets the requirements below must supervise the incubation and birth. Most spellcasters birth the broodiken using a dagger before the broodiken tears its way out. A “mother” can only control one brood of broodiken at a time. Incubating a second brood makes the first brood furiously jealous, and it will turn on its own creator. BROODIKEN Tiny construct, neutral Armor Class 13 (natural armor) Hit Points 55 (10d4 + 30) Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 8 (–1) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 2 (–4) 10 (+0) 6 (–2) Skills Perception +4, Stealth +6 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages — Challenge 1 (200 XP) Immutable Form. The broodiken is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Magic Resistance. The broodiken has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Shared Rage. A broodiken cannot speak with its creator telepathically, but it feels strong emotions and recognizes the objects of those emotions. A creator can telepathically order broodiken to hunt for and attack individuals by sending the broodiken an image of the creature and the appropriate emotion. As long as the broodiken is on such a hunt, it can be more than 100 feet away from its master without wailing. ACTIONS Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage. Attach. When a broodiken succeeds on a bite attack, its teeth latch on, grappling the target (escape DC 9). On each of its turns, its bite attack hits automatically as long as it can maintain its grapple.
46 B • TOME OF BEASTS Bucc a These tiny, obsidian-skinned, bat-winged fey always have a hungry look, leering with razor-sharp fangs showing and licking their leathery faces with their forked, purple tongues. Hidden in Crevices. Buccas are tiny, underground faeries who are also known as “snatchers,” because they love to steal from miners and hoard precious minerals and gems in tiny, trap-filled crevices. Their small size makes them easy to overlook. Treasure Finders. Buccas are often enslaved by derro as treasure seekers and can be summoned by some derro shamans. Buccas are the bane of the dwarves of many mountains and hilly cantons, serving as spies and scouts for evil humanoids. Bat Friends. Buccas often train bats as mounts, messengers, and guard animals. On occasion they sell them to goblins and kobolds. BUCCA Tiny fey, neutral evil Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Hit Points 27 (5d4 + 15) Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 17 (+3) 13 (+1) 9 (–1) 16 (+3) Skills Perception +1, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Darakhul, Dwarvish Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Flyby. The bucca doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach. Vulnerability to Sunlight. A bucca takes 1 point of radiant damage for every minute it is exposed to sunlight. Innate Spellcasting. The bucca’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: invisibility 3/day: darkness, ensnaring strike, locate object ACTIONS Dagger. Melee Weapon Damage: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw against poison or take 1d2 Strength damage. The target must repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, and it loses another 1d2 Strength for each failed saving throw. The effect ends when one of the saving throws succeeds or automatically after 4 rounds. All lost Strength returns after a long rest.
47 TOME OF BEASTS • B Bukavac Unleashing a bone-shattering roar, this toad-like monster bears two gnarled horns and wicked claws. It charges from its watery lair on six legs, eager for the kill. Pond Lurkers. The placid surfaces of forest lakes and ponds hide many lethal threats, among them the bukavac. While not amphibious, the creature can hold its breath for minutes at a time as it lurks under the surface in wait for fresh meat. Enormous Roar. A ravenous bukavac lives to hunt and devour prey, preferring intelligent prey to animals, and usually ambushes its victims. Due to its size, the beast must find deep ponds or lakes to hide in, but it can flatten itself comfortably to rest in two feet of water. It leads with its wicked horns before grabbing hold of its target or another nearby foe and hanging on as it claws its victim to death. The creature relishes the feel of its victim’s struggles to escape its embrace and reserves its roar, which sounds like a cross between a toad’s croak and lion’s roar emanating from a creature the size of a dragon, for organized foes or against overwhelming numbers. If a bukavac’s devastating sonic attack routs its foes, it picks off remaining stragglers; otherwise, it retreats to its underwater hiding spot. Clamorous Mating. Solitary hunters by nature, bukavacs pair up briefly in the spring. Male bukavacs travel to a female’s lair and demonstrate their prowess by unleashing their most powerful bellows. Villages ten miles away from the lair often hear these howls for a week and pray that the creatures don’t attack. Once mating has been completed (and groves of trees have been destroyed), the female finds a secluded, shallow lake in which to bury eggs. A bukavac reaches maturity in five years, during which time it and its siblings hunt together. After the bukavacs mature, each finds its own lair. A bukavac is 11 feet long, including its foot-long horns, stands four feet tall, and weighs 4,000 lb. The creature has a natural lifespan of 40 years, but its noise and proclivity to ambush intelligent prey attracts the attention of hunting parties, which considerably shorten its life expectancy. BUKAVAC Large monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 199 (21d10 + 84) Speed 40 ft., swim 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 17 (+3) 18 (+4) 7 (–2) 15 (+2) 12 (+1) Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +8 Skills Perception +10, Stealth +11 Damage Immunities thunder Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 20 Languages Sylvan Challenge 9 (5,000 XP) Hold Breath. The bukavac can hold its breath for up to 20 minutes. Hop. A bukavac can move its enormous bulk with remarkably quick hop of up to 20 feet, leaping over obstacles and foes. It may also use the hop as part of a withdraw action. ACTIONS Multiattack. The bukavac makes four claw attacks, or two claw attacks and one bite attack, or two claw attacks and one gore attack, or one bite and one gore attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d12 + 5) slashing damage and grapples (escape DC 15). A bukavac can grapple up to 2 Medium size foes. Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage. Croaking Blast (Recharge 5-6). A bukavac can emit a howling thunderclap that deafens and damages those nearby. Creatures within 15 feet who fail a DC 17 Constitution saving throw take 36 (8d8) thunder damage and are permanently deafened. Those succeeding on the saving throw take half damage and are not deafened. The deafness can be cured with lesser restoration.
48 B • TOME OF BEASTS Buraq An aura of holiness surrounds this handsome human-headed equine with its short but strong feathered wings. Only the Worthy. A buraq possesses astounding speed, determination, and resilience, among a host of noble qualities, but only pure-hearted humanoids can obtain a service from such a righteous and honorable creature. Angel Marked. Every buraq wears a gilded band around its head or neck. These are said to be angelic seals or wardings, each different. The hide of every buraq is white, though their beards, lashes, manes, and tails vary from silver and dusty tan to deep brown or glossy black. Heavenly Steeds. A buraq is smaller than a mule but bigger than a donkey, though their carrying capacity belies their size and apparent strength. Nevertheless, a buraq is the ultimate courier and a heavenly steed. Paladins and good-aligned clerics are the most likely candidates to ride a buraq, but other virtuous characters have had this privilege. BURAQ Medium celestial, lawful good Armor Class 17 Hit Points 152 (16d8 + 80) Speed 60 ft., fly 90 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 20 (+5) Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +8, Cha +9 Skills History +8, Religion +8 Damage Resistances radiant; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Celestial, Common, Primordial, telepathy 120 ft. Challenge 11 (7,200 XP) Angelic Weapons. The buraq’s attacks are magical. When the buraq hits with its hooves, it deals an extra 4d8 radiant damage (included in the attack). Innate Spellcasting. The buraq’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17). The buraq can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components: At will: comprehend languages, detect evil and good, holy aura, pass without trace 3/day each: haste, longstrider 1/day each: plane shift, wind walk Magic Resistance. The buraq has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Night Journey. When outdoors at night, a buraq’s vision is not limited by nonmagical darkness. Once per month, the buraq can declare it is on a night journey; for the next 24 hours, it can use its Teleport once per round. Its destination must always be in an area of nonmagical darkness within its line of sight. At any point during the night journey, as a bonus action, the buraq can return itself and its rider to the location where it began the night journey. ACTIONS Multiattack. The buraq makes two attacks with its hooves. Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 18 (4d8) radiant damage. Teleport (1/Day). The buraq magically teleports itself and its rider, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, to a location the buraq is familiar with, up to 1 mile away.
49 TOME OF BEASTS • B Burrowling towns are found in the Western Wastes, where their greatest enemies are dust goblins. They seem to thrive in the badlands and magically scant territories of former human settlements. BURROWLINGS IN MIDGARD Burrowling These light brown, furred creatures inquisitively survey their surroundings, each comforted by the presence of the others. Friendly Farmers. Burrowlings work together at every task: digging tunnels, foraging, and rearing their young. They are omnivorous, eating roots, berries, insects, and reptiles—and they consider snakes a particular delicacy. The most advanced burrowling towns set up rudimentary farms, where they grow the fruits and vegetables they usually find in the wild. Safe Warrens. Some towns have domesticated prairie dogs, which burrowlings train to stand watch alongside their masters. Pairs of adults stand watch around the town perimeter and sound a warning when they spot a foe. An alerted town retreats to the safety of its warrens, while the strongest creatures add more tunnels if necessary, and close access from the surface until the threat has passed. In combat, burrowlings stand together in defense of the helpless young and fight with crude slings or their sharp teeth and claws. Die of Loneliness. If separated from its coterie, a burrowling becomes despondent, crying for others of its kind. A lone burrowling usually dies of loneliness within a week, unless it can find its way back to its town or discover another burrowling town. Rarely, a solitary creature makes its way to a non-burrowling settlement where it attempts to assist its new community. This frustrates the creature and those it interacts with as it tries to anticipate what its companions want. It may join an adventuring party in the hope of returning to a settlement. After spending at least six months with a party, the burrowling can use its Burrow Tactics ability with its new allies. Burrowlings live up to 15 years. Twice a year, a burrowling female bears a litter of up to three pups, but in especially dangerous regions, the creatures breed prodigiously to keep their population ahead of massive attrition. In cases like this, a female has a litter of five pups every other month. A burrowling pup reaches adulthood in a year. BURROWLING Small humanoid (burrowling), lawful neutral Armor Class 13 Hit Points 27 (6d6 + 6) Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 9 (–1) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) Skills Perception +3 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Burrow Awareness. A burrowling gets advantage on Perception checks if at least one other burrowling is awake within 10 feet. Pack Tactics. The burrowling has advantage on attack rolls when its target is adjacent to at least one other burrowling that’s capable of attacking. ACTIONS Multiattack. The burrowling makes one bite attack and one claw attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage. Sling. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
