en Unto NinesArT CREDITS ‘Spellweaver by Rae Elderidge @elflucker Mind Flayer copyright Wizards of the Coast Aboleth by Mark Behm Miniature by Rocket Pig Games Photograph/Mini Painted by Oh_Hi_Mark_ Bathannoth by Brynn Metheney Balhannoth by Carl Frank Beholders by Doug Stewart Gazer by Christopher Burdett Spectator by Jim Nelson Mindwitness copyright Wizards ofthe Coast Eye of the Deep by Mitch Cotie Gouger by Sam Wood Beholder by Skip Williams Director copyright Wizards of the Coast oomsphere by Jim Nelson Death Kiss by Cory Trego-Erdner Death Tyrant by Kieran Yanner Overseer by Colin Fix Elder Orb by Wayne England Miniature by Rocket Pig Games PhotographjMini Painted by Oh_Hi_Mark_ Berbalang copyright Wizards of the Coast. lth Tadpole about to perform cerromorphosis by Christopher Burdett Gnome ceremorph by Shawn Wood Mozgriken by Larry Smith ‘Tzakandi by Larry Smith Uchuulon copyright Wizard of the Coast Urophion by Wayne Reynolds ‘Two Chokers by Izzy Medrano ‘Chul by Kate Pieilschiefter Chul by Francis Tsai Cloaker by Ben Wootten Cloaker by Larry Elmore Darkweaver by Kevin MeCann, Derro by Ben Wootten Elder Brain by Nino Is Ephemeral Hangman by Daarken Flumph by Conceptopolis, Gibberers by Pete Ventner Grell copyright Wizards of the Coast Grell Patriarch by Dan Seott Hagunemnon copyright Wizards of the Coast lithidae by Ron Spencer Kythons Copyright Wizards ofthe coast A group of mind flayers by Fred Hooper Ulitharid by Scott Murphy ‘The dwarves of Clan Duergar fall to the power of the elder brain of Oryndoll by Claio Pozas Analhoon by Wayne Reynolds Neogi by Warren Mahy Neogi Raid by Ron Spencer Neogi Master copyright Wizards of the Coast Neogi Great Old Master by Mitch Cotie Neothelid copyright Wizards of the Coast Nothic by Chippy ANothic by Des Hanley Otyugh by Arnie Swekel Phaerimm ritual by Ciruelo Cabral Running phaerimm by Richard Sardinha Quori copyright Wizards of the Coast Taucora Quori by Dave Allsop ‘Teoreva Quori by Cory Trego-Erdner ‘Uvaspena Quori by Erie Desehamps. Dal Quor by Thomas Bourdon Duiulora Quori copyright Wizards of the Coast Hashalag Quori by Cory Trego-Endner Kalaraq Quori by Christopher Burdett ‘Thought Scour by julie Dillon Roper by Andrew Mar Prismatic Roper copyright Wizards of the Coast Slaad Assembly by James Zhang Slaad Tadpole by Mark Behm Red Slaad by Conceptopolis, Blue Slaad by Conceptopolis Green Slaad by Conceptopolis Grey Slaad by Conceptopolis Death Slaad by Conceptopolis White Siaad by Richard Sardhina Black Slaad by Richard Sardhina Silthilar by Michael Philippi Spellweaver by Rae Eldridge ‘Star Spawn copyright Wizards of the Coast Far Realm copyright Wizard of the Coast ‘Tsochari by Chuck Lukacs ‘Uvuudaum by Wayne Reynolds Tue Part WHERE I Suit My PATREON ‘Want to support the ereation of eontent like this? I post new ‘monsters with lore and tactics to my patreon five times a ‘week, joining the more than 1000 already there, indexed in a big PDF along with formats for Foundry and SeTools. ID) Become a patron Aso check out my awebsite and instagram, where my wife and Take handmade dice and dice bags, and where I post free books as get them polished up. 'm trying to get a new free ‘book like this out every other month or so. If you've got any monsters you'd like to see statted up by me, leave me a comment over in the permanent thread in ubttermansters and I'l put something together for you. LLicENSE ‘Terror Unto Madness is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Poliey. Not approvedjendorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.Monsters Aboleths ‘Aboleth Hatchling Aboleth Lasher Aboleth Behemoth Aboleth Overseer [Aboleth Mindtaker Overlord Bathannoth Beholders Gazer Spectators Mindwitness Eye of the Deep Gouger Eye Tyrant Director Doomsphere Death Kiss Death Tyrant Overseer Elder Orb Hive Mother Berbalang ‘Ceremorphs Gnome Ceremorph Mozgriken Teakandi Uchuulon Urophion Chokers Cave Choker Feygrove Choker Chuuls Chuul Chuul Juggernaut Cloakers Cloaker Ambusher Cloaker Lord Shadowcloak Eller Darkweaver Derro Derro Crawler Derro Quarreller erro Savant Elder Brain Ephemera Ephemeral Accretor Ephemeral Hangman, Flumphs Monastic Flumph Flumph Infiltrator Venerable Flumph Gibbering Beasts Gibbering Mouther Gibbering Abomination Gibbering Orb Grell Grell Philosopher Grell Venom Mind Grell Patriarch Hagunemnon Ubithidae Saltor Kigria Embrac Mlithiliches Alhoon Miihitien Intellect Devourers Ustilagor Intellect Devourer Kythons Kython Broodling Kython Juvenile Kython Adult Kython Impaler Mind Flayers Mind layer Hive Tender Mind Flayer Infltrator Mind Flayer Arcanist Ulitharid Neogi ‘Neo Hatching Neogi Hatchling Swarm Neogi Adult Neogi Master Neogi Grand Old Master Neothelid Nothies Nothic Cackler Nothic Mindblight Nothic Eye of Veena, Oryugh Cesspit Otyugh Neo-Otyugh Charnel Oryugh Phaerimm. Quori ‘Tsoreva Quori ‘Tsucora Quori Uvaspena Quori Du‘ulora Quori Hashalag Quori Kalarag Quori Ropers Roper Storoper Prismatic Roper Silthilar Silthilar (Coalesced) Silthilar (Dispersed) Slaadi laad Tadpole Red Slaad Blue Saad, Green Slaad Grey Slaad Death Slaad Chronos Slaad Void Slaad Speliweaver Star Spawn, tar Spawn Grue tar Spawn Mangler ‘Star Spawn Hull tar Spawn Seer ‘Tsochar Parasite Tsochar Noble SPELLS Astral Maelstrom Blood to Vitrol Chaos Flame Crumple Space Dematerialize Eye of Rot Eye of Veiling Fold Space Force Rift Li ing Burst Mental Scourge Music of the Spheres Untether Mind ‘Window to MadnessABOLETHS tis ordinary, perhaps even inevitable, that the intelligent races of the material plane imagine and investigate the circumstances oftheir species’ origin, and the origin of their plane more broadly. Creation myths vary across cultures, but such disagreements are dismissed easily enough by those devoutly ‘convinced of one story or another. The aboleths have ‘no such creation myths. They do not speculate. They remember ‘They remember the arrival of each sapient species that has arisen on the material plane, along with the unremarkable extinction of the overwhelming majority of them. They remember mountains rising and crumbling, seas forming. ‘They remember the creation of the gods themselves. Each of, these isa mere passing curiosity to the aboleths, a dream ‘melting into the ether. Each creation of this world will pass in time, and the aboleths will persist. ‘The aboleths live in memory as much as they do in physical space, and in their memories they find the final repugnant truth of reality; that most creatures of this world are purposeless accidents, and those created with purpose are no better off, slaves to the meaningless whims of their creators. ‘The aboleths have an alternative to offer: Their whims are far from meaningless, ABOLETH LORE Arcana DC 15: As with creatures native to the outer planes, aboleths do not truly die when killed. Instead, they are born into a new aboleth body in the elemental plane of water. ‘Arcana DC 20: Aboleths are powerful telepaths and can learn a creature's deepest desires through even the most casual telepathic communication. Their mind control abilities ‘require concentration in the early phases of enslavement, but they have a way of discharging this need if given time. History DC 15: Aboleths are intelligent amphibious creatures that predate humanoid creatures in the material plane. They are known to have powerful mind control abilities. History DC 25: Aboleths report having no memory of the origin ofthe lithid race, leading some to theorize that the Iithid are time travelers from some far future, perhaps even descenclants of aboleths themselves, or a creation oftheir. Nature DC 15: Aboleths are coated in a slimy mucous that immediately begins to transform the bodies of creatures. ‘exposed to it, making them more suited to aquatic life as enslaved servitors, This disease can be cured only by magical ‘means once it has taken hold Nature DC 20: Larger, more powerful aboleths are able to ‘mintuely control the pigmentation of their skin, making them extremely difficult to spot ata distance, particularly underwater, Nature DC 25: Despite their amphibious nature, an aboleth deprived of water will dry to a leathery texture over the course of 24 hours, entering a state of torpor ealled "The Long Dreaming’, Aboleths in this state can lay dormant for decacies, returning to full vigor when submerged in water. Religion DC 15: Aboleths once ruled the world before the rise of gods, and hope to one day reclaim it. They hold the gods in extreme disdain Religion DC 20: Aholeths have an eidetie memory, and pass down all of theit memories to their offspring. They report recollections of events that predate all known creation myths, ‘though religious scholars typically lend these assertions little credence.ABOLETH HATCHLING TACTICS The hatchling cannot effectively defend itself outside of ts defensive telepathy, so if encountered alone will try to appear cute and nonthreatening, even friendly. When supporting a ‘more mature aboleth, it uses its weaken mind on whichever PC the aboleth is going to target on the following turn, or attempts to dash out of harm's way otherwise ABOLETH LASHER TACTICS Aboleths open engagements first socially attempting to coax creatures into telepathic communication so they can learn and exploit their deepest desires, seeking ether to gain voluntary service, or to lure the creatures into the water ‘where they ean be subdued and controlled. In combat, an aboleth opens with its Dominate ability ‘against the PC with the lowest Wisdom saving throw, or against the one with the greatest faculty at fighting underwater. It will atempt to use its range, mucous and sswim speed to stay out of melee range, taking attacks of opportunity if necessary. Early in the fight, the aboleth will attempt to infect whichever PC itis most interested i acquiring with its tentacles, ensuring that ifthe party retreats they must leave the aboleth’s prize behind ABOLETH BEHEMOTH TACTICS Like the lasher, the behemoth wants to make use of ts range and swim speed to protect it from melee attacks. Unlike the lasher, however, the behemoth the behemoth wants to lure the PCs into bunching up so it can affect as many of them as possible with its Tentacle Whirlwind, so rather than fleeing directly away it may be wiser to circle around, keeping backliners close with the threat of opportunity attacks and aetting the frontiiners to double back, ideally needing to dash toreach the aboleth, When its Reactive Camouflage triggers, the aboleth will usually flee. ABOLETH OVERSEER TACTICS ‘The overseer wants to leave as much of the fighting to its dominated creatures as possible, and whenever it can will alternate between Dominate and Enslave while staying as far way from the fight as it can, Ift feels like it has the fight in hhand and is particularly interested in an acquisition, it may direct a Dominated and infected PC to swim into the deepest, ‘darkest comer of ts lar to prevent the possiblity ofthe party frecing them, particularly ifthe party can not breathe underwater, ABOLETH MINDTAKER TACTICS ‘The mindtaker combines traits and tactics of the behemoth and overseer. It prefers to let its servtors do most of the fighting fori, but will stay close enough that it can dive into combat iit sees « good opportunity to use its tentacle swhirhwind, ENCOUNTER GROUPS Atypical encounter might include an Aboleth Lasher and its coterie of ensnared adventurers; or an Aboleth Overseer, the uotoa that worship it, and a Chuul servitor. CR 11 Encounter 3,350 XP + 1 Aboleth Lasher (CR 6) ‘+ 1 Warlock Initiate (CR 2) ‘+1 Barbarian Initiate (CR 1) 1 Bard Initiate (CR 1) 1 Rogue Initiate (CR 1) CR 19 Encounter 8000 XP ‘+ 1 Aboleth Overseer (CR 10) + 1.Chual (CR 4) + 3 KuoToa Cutters (CR 1) ‘+ 2 KuoToa Drowners (CR 1) ABOLETH HATCHLING Tiny aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 14 Hit Points 7 (1410+ 1) Speed fly 20 ft, swirn 20 ft STR DEX CON INT wis CHA 3 (4) 9(-1) 12 (41) 18 (4) 15 (2) 18 (44) Skills Perception +4 Serses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 14 Largusges Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 lerge 1 (200 XP) ‘Amphibious The aboleth can breathe ait and water. Defensive Telepathy. A creature that attempts to harm the hatchling must succeed on aDC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed by the hatchling for the next minute. A creature Charmed by the hatchling has disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws. Actions Weaken Mind One creature within 30 ft. that the hatchling can see must make a DC 14 Charisma saving throw, On a failure, the target must roll a d4 and subtract it from the total of the next saving throw it makes before the end of the hatchling's next turn,ABOLETH LASHER Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 17 Hit Points 135 (18¢10 + 36) Speed 10 ft, swim 40 f. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 9(-1) 15 (42) 18 (+4) 15 (42) 18 (64) Saving Throws CON +6, INT 45, WIS +6 Skis Perception +10 Senses Darkvsion 120 ft, Passive Perception 20 Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 f Callenge 6 (2,500 XP) ‘Amphibious. The aboleth can breathe air and water. ‘Mucous Cloud. While underwater, the area in a 10 foot radius around the Aboleth counts as difficult terrain for non-aberrations, Ifa creature communicates telepathically with the aboleth, the aboleth learns, in broad terms, the creature's greatest desires. Actions ‘Muttiatack. The aboleth makes three tentacle attacks. It may replace one of these with a use ofits compel Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, each 10 fe, one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the target must make aDC 14 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. A diseased creature can only breathe water and can't regain hit points while outside of water. After 1 minute, a diseased creature's skin begins to turn slimy and translucent. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more gains vulnerability to the next source of bludgeoning damage it takes in the next minute. Compel One creature charmed by the aboleth rakes a weapon attack or casts a cantrip, targeting a creature of the Aboleth's choice. Dominate (Recharge 5-6, concentration) 30 ft range, targets 1 creaiure the aboleth can see. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed and under the aboleth's control. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. ABOLETH BEHEMOTH Huge aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 17 Hit Points 190 (20d10+80) Speed 10 ft, swim 40 ft STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 23 (46) 9(-1) 18 (44) 18 (44) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) Saving Throws CON +9, INT +6, WIS +7 Skils Perception +10, Stealth +7 Serses Darkvision 120 fi, Passive Perception 20 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft lerge 10 (3,500 XP) ‘Amphibious The aboleth can breathe air and water. Probirg Telepathy fa creature cormmaunicates telepathicaly withthe aboleth the aboleth learn, in broad ters, the creature's greatest desires Actions ‘Multisttack The aboleth rakes four tentacle attacks. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 fe, one target. Hit: 16 (346 + 6) bludgeoning damage and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. A diseased creature can only breathe water and can't regain hit points while outside of water. After 1 minute, a diseased creature's skin begins to turn slimy and translucent. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more gains vulnerability to the next source of bludgeoning damage it takes in the next minute. Tentacle Whirlwind (Recharge 5-6). Each creature in ils cetradirarsina saa ec teestecead fon a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 35 (1046) bludgeoning damage and be shoved 20 feet back, or take half as much damage on a success. Reactions ‘Reactive Carmoflauge (1/Day). As a reaction to being reduced below SOhit points, the aboleth becomes invisible to creatures more than 30 feet away from it. This invisibility lasts for 1 hour, or until the aboleth regains any hit points,ABOLETH OVERSEER Huge aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 17 Hit Points 173 (18410 + 74) Speed 10 ft, swim 40 ft STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (45) 9-1) 18 (+4) 18 (44) 15(42) 18 (+4) Saving Throws CON +9, INT-+6, WIS +7 Skills Perception +10 Senses Darkvision 120 f, Passive Perception 20 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft allenge 10 (2,900 XP) ‘Amphibious. The aboleth can breathe air and water Viscous Mucous. While underwater, the area in a 10 foot radius around the Aboleth counts as difficult terrain for non-aberrations. A creature affected by the mucous that attempts to make an attack other than its first on a tu must first make a DC 12 Strength saving throw, On a failure, the attack fails. Probing Telepathy. I a creature communicates telepathically with the aboleth, the aboleth learns, in broad terms, the creature's greatest desires. ‘Miniature Recommendation. Archvllain Games, Mini Monster Mayhem and Rocket Pig Games (pictured here) all have gorgeous sculpts available as STLs. ‘Wizkids has one in their Nolzur's line that is passable, though has the benefit of being more durable than a 3D printed model ‘Aboleth Servitor Te The aboleth servitor template can be apled to any creature without proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. An aboleth servitor has: + Greure Type The creatures type changes to aberration. + Swim Speed The creature gains a swim speed equal to its movement speed. + Water Breathing The creature gains the ability to breathe water and loses the abilty to breathe ‘+ Vulnerability The creature gains Vulnerability to Bludgeoning damage. Actions ‘Multiattack The aboleth makes three tentacle attacks. It may replace one of these with a use of its Compel or its Dominate ability. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft, ‘one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. A diseased creature can ‘only breathe water and can't regain hit points while ‘outside of water. After 1 minute, a diseased creature's skin begins to tur slimy and translucent. Compel h creature charmed by the Aboleth makes @ ‘weapon attack or casts a cantip targeting a creature of the aboleth’s choice Dominate (Concentration). 30 ft. range, targets 1 ‘reature the aboleth can see. The target must succeed ‘ona DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be magically ‘charmed and under the aboleth’s control. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw, ending the eflect on a success. Enslave (Recharge 5-6), One creature charmed by the aboleth must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or take 55 (10d10) psychic damage, or half as, much on a success. If this damage reduces the charmed creature to O HP, it gains 55 (10d10) hit points and the aboleth no longer requires Concentration to Dominate it.ABOLETH MINDTAKER OVERLORD Gargantuan aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Cass 19 HitPoinis 370 (20420 + 160) Speed 10 f, swim 40 fe. STR DEX CON INT WS CHA 24 (47) 961) 26 (+8) 21 (45) 15 (42) 18 (44) Saving Throws CON +10, INT-+11, WIS +8 Skils Perception +14, Stealth +11 Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 24 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 20 (25,000 XP) ‘Amphibious. The aboleth can breathe air and water. Viscous Mucous. While underwater, the area in a 10 foot radius around the Aboleth counts as dificult terrain for non-aberrations. A creature affected by the ‘mucous that attempts to make an attack other than its first on a turn must first make a DC 16 Strength saving, throw. On a failure, the attack fails. Telepathy. a creature communicates ‘telepathically with the aboleth, the aboleth learns, in broad terms, the creature's greatest desires. ‘Mindtaker Resilience (3/Day).1f the aboleth fils a savin SW Ca heaea eee veal hace each creature dorninated by the aboleth may make a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw at advantage, freeing itself on a success. Actions ‘Mutiattack The aboleth makes four tentacle attacks. It ‘may replace up to two of these with its Compel or Dominate abilities. Tentacie. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the target must make a DC 22 Constitution saving ‘throw or become diseased. A diseased creature can only breathe water and can’t regain hit points while outside of water. After 1 minute, a diseased creature's skin begins to tur slimy and translucent. A creature that fils this save by 5 or more gains vulnerability to the next source of bludgeoning darmage it takes in the ext minute, Compe One creature charmed by the Aboleth makes a weapon attack or casts a cantrip, targeting a creature of the aboleth's choice. Dominate tion). 60 ft. range, targets 1 creature the aboleth can see. The target must succeed ‘on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed and under the aboleth's control. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more is additionally stunned until the end of its next turn Enslave (Recharge 5-6), One creature Charmed by the aboleth must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or take 110 (20410) psychic damage, or half as rauich on a success. If this darmage reduces the Charmed creature to O hit points, it gains 110 (20410) hit points and the aboleth no longer requires Concentration to Dominate it Tentacle Whirlwind (Recharge 5-6). Each creature in 215 Acradius must succeed on a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw or take 49 (1446) bludgeoning damage and be shoved 20 feet back, or half damage on 2 success Reactions ‘Reactive Camoflauge (1/Day).As a reaction to being reduced below 100 hit points, the aboleth becomes invisible to creatures more than 30 feet away from This invisibility lasts for 1 hour, or until the aboleth regains any hit points Legendary Actions The aboleth 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 nother creature's turn. The aboleth regains spent legendary actions atthe start of its tum, Dive. The aboleth moves up to half its movement speed without provoking attacks of opportunity. its Reactive Camoflauge is active, it may then atternpt to Hide as part of this action. Compel The aboleth uses its Compel ability ‘Mental Fog (Costs 2 Actions) Ore creature within 120 fect Sole must rake DC 19 nteligence saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 14 (4d6) psychic damage and subtracts 146 from the next saving throw it makes before the end of the aboleth's next turn,BALHANNOTH ops isadealy poison in the shadow inimical the plan ato i Bvewhere Task Sunges realy Spuclithe Gilt ad te recon bt nod Be ati teecuercoee We much asthe balhannoth, an ambush eel rtetaeea aiearet contains precisely whata traveler most desires, ‘whose very presence inexorably infects them with ‘AER hope. ae There is no adequate way to guard agaist such Peseta atone ts cael dangero ila ecg eommom 12 Tongime raveer ofthe shadowell who have been Pare a pe diac Maal a as et refusal to elev hat anything could ever break rece BALHANNOTH LORE Arcana DC 15: Despite its limited understanding of the world the bathannoth’s ability to telepathically eavesdrop ives ita cutting emotional intelligence that it exploits to present its prey with a trap the ereature, deep down, truly wants to believe Arcana DC 20: Though the balhannoth has nearly unbounded powers to warp the local environment, their creations are generally simplistic and unmoving. History DC 20: Many creatures of the underdark have found| that balhannoths make excellent guards, as they are mostly stationary, easly lured with magical items, and generally sufficient Nature DC 15: A powerful mage wandering the shadowfell alone is a walking feast toa balhannoth, as they must regularly consume raw magic to sustain themselves ‘Survival DC 20; In the deep reaches of the shadowfell and ‘underdark lurks a ereature that can befuddle even the most accomplished survivalist, causing them to cast aside their hard-won knowledge and go on gut feeling for navigation; gut, feelings that the balhannoth telepathically puppeteers right into its clutches. BALHANNOTH TACTICS Balhannoths warp the landscape into the image of whatever the pary will ind most plausible and appealing as place to rest within its limitations, Once it has lured them in, it will contrive to separate them if possible, but ifit cannot, it begins combat by trying to grapple as many spellcastersas it can, then teleporting to a location hidden from the rest of the party, perhaps the roof or cellar of a building, From there, it uses its Drain Magic as much as possible until its prey is drained completely dry: The balhannoth never attacks an unconscious creature that still has spell slots. a se PAs @ + Aa ovely cottage wit the door removed from i hinges tn carpentry tools satered around The mesiiled! wheelchairbound woman by the fre assures the party that her aon vil bs hore soon to Bich fixing bot they ae weloome fo stay for diane. + A dry secluded cave with an entrance concealed so well that only the most observant in the party can see it. A firepit within with large sitting stones around it shows that others have eamped here recently. though the stones seem ‘cemented in place, almost. + Adoddering old wizard, meditating in the center of dome of force, who telepathically invites the party to share his shelter for the night. The wizard does not need to recast his tiny hut to permit them entrance. + An inn with sounds of raucus laughter and muse from within. Once inside, the sounds abruptly stop and the party surveys patrons apparently frozen in arictus of ‘merrymaking,BALHANNOTH Large aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 199 (19410 + 95) Speed 25 ft, climb 25 ft. STR DEX 17 3) CON INT WIS CHA BI) 20(+5) 6 (2) 15(42) 8 (1) Saving Throws CON +8 Skils Perception +6, Stealth +7 Condition Immunities Blinded Senses Blindsight 500 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 16 Languages understands Deep Speech, Telepathy 1 mile Challenge 11 (7200 xP) Dead Magic Grip. A creature grappled by the balhannoth that attempts to cast a spell with a casting time of one Action must first roll ad20. On an 11 or higher, the spell doesn't take effect until the creature's next tum, and the creature must use its action on that turn to complete the spell ‘Superior Camouflage. The balhannoth is invisible to Creatures more than 10 feet away from it. It may attempt to hide without cover. False Hope. The landscape in a 500 ft radius around the balhannoth warps to fit ideas of safety and security it gleans from passing creatures through telepathic eavesdropping, ‘The balhannoth cannot create functional or moving objects in this way, and close inspection of objects created in this way reveals them to be facsimiles. Legenday Resistance (2/Day) fhe balhannath falls a saving tif ican choose sueed instead . Actions ‘Multittack The balhannoth makes a bite attack and up to two tentacle attacks, ort makes up to four tentacle attacks Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 25 (4d10 + 3) piercing damage. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft, cone target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) and is moved up to 5 feet toward the balhannoth, Until this grapple tends, the target is restrained, and the balhannoth can’t use this tentacle against other targets. The balhannoth has four tentacles. Legendary Actions The balhannoth can tke 3 legendary actions choosing from the options below. * ” . Drain Magic. Each creature grappled by the balhannoth must succeed on @ DC 15 Constitution saving throw ‘or lose its highest level unexpended spell slot. The balhannoth gains 4 (148) temporary hit points for each spell evel expended this way. Teleport The balhannoth magically teleport, along with ‘each creature it has grappled, up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space. Bite (Costs 2 Actions) The balhannoth makes a bite attack against a creature it has grappled.BEHOLDERS ne factor above al others defines the beholdor: ‘unrelating, all-encompassing paranoia. The mind of a beholder isa vast, multitrack tangle ‘of plots to undermine all ofits rivals, real and imagined, and plots to sabotage their plots, ‘and plots to counter their counter plots, and so ‘on toa level of recursion incomprehensible to creatures adapted to a saner plane of existence. ee What Makes a Good Beholder Fight? The fun of a beholder fight asa player is in gradually working cut what each eye beam does, and in the terror that comes when you get hit with one that you know is one of the bad ones, having brilliantly ‘worked out for yourself how absolutely screwed you are. To that end, | recommend describing the appearance and effect of each ray, only using the ray's name once you're sure the players have figured it out See? BEHOLDER LORE ‘Arcana DC 15: A defining characteristic of beholders isthe ‘magical fields they project from their central eye, which have ‘a number of deleterious effects on those caught in their sight, History DC 15: Beholders are, almost without exception, ‘paranoid to the point of madness. A typical beholder spends hours each day imagining plots against them and developing counter-plots and strategems and wild gambits. History DC 20: While the combat behavior of beholders appears erratic and random, this i only a product ofthe alien nature of their minds and the wheels.within- wheels of nested plots they imagine, explained perfectly by the genius plot they imagined their assailant had thought of Nature DC 15: Beholders are deeply alien creatures that ha from the Far Realm, inasmuch as the terrain ofthat place reducible toa location where events transpire. Nature DC 20: The nervous system of a mature beholder is distributed throughout its body, allowing it to shunt debilitating effects into one of its eye stalks, to limited extent, Nature DC 25: Beholders reproduce by dreaming one another into existence, the specifics of the dream determining the characteristics ofthe beholder's offspring. Religion DC 15: Beholders tepidly revere something they call The Great Mother, the dety that supposedly created them. Religion DC 20: The Outer Entity that spawned the Deholders from its shed flesh is nota god at all and in fact in terms relatable to the material plane is only definable in negation. Any attempt to relate such a creature to mundane experience is doomed to failure.GazER Tiny aberration, neutral evil ‘Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 13 (3d4 + 6) Speed fly 30 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA VO (+0) 14 (42) 16 (+3) 15 (42) 15 (+2) 13 (41) Saving Throws Wisdom +2 Skils Perception +4, Intimidation +3, Stealth +5 Senses Darkvision 60 fe, Passive Perception 14 Languages None, but can poorly mimic any language it has heard, Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) eee eae eater Fert tl rented ona nla spite ee er eee ao Ia gazer made into a familar in this way fils an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw, i regains its original alignment. Bom Fink Each beholder within a5 mile radius hears and sees everything the gazer sees. Actions Eye Rays. The gazer shoots two of the following ‘magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one or two targets it can see within 60 feet of it Dazing Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed until the end of the gazer’s next turn. While Charmed, a creature's speed is halved and it has disadvantage on attack rolls. Fear Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be Frightened until the end of the gazer's next turn. Cold Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (346) cold damage. + Teleknetic Ray. The target must succeed on aDC 12 Strength saving throw or be pushed 30 ft away from the gazer Gazer Lore Arcana DC 15: Gazers are dimunitive, hyper aggressive ‘beholder spawn that lurk in the lairs of greater beholders, babbling incoherently as they cower from their larger kin and bully any creatuer weak enough fo push around with their telekinesis. Arcana DC 20: A gazer subdued and subjected to the Find Familiar ritual may be transformed into a particularly efficacious familiar spirit. Through a similar mechanism, {gazers can act as conduits for the awareness of nearby¢ beholders, Arcana DC 25: Certain beholder surgeons are capable of nom-lethally disintegrating a portion of a creature's skull and brain and implanting a gazer in ‘the cavity granting a number of powerful abilities to the creature in exchange for somewhat diminished motor and. language functions. ‘Nature DC 15: Its thought that gazers are spawned when a ‘beholder dreams of shrinking or being threatened by giants. Gazer Tactics Unlike other beholders, gazers are characterize by agression, rather than paranoia. They'll try to ‘et directly in the PCs face while babbling at fullvolume ike a barking dog, fring thei, eye rays at the nearest creatures, Ifit takes a hit it flees and cowers. SprcTaTor LoRE Arcana DC 10: Spectators are a useful sort of beholderkin distantly related to the better known sorts that can be ‘summoned and compelled to guard locations. They have the ability to reflect weaker spells back at their casters ‘Arcana DC 15: Spectators hail from Mechanus, the plane of ‘order, where their rote in the Great Machine is to hunt malfunctioning modrons and return them for reprogramming. History DC 15: [tis difficult to compel a promise from a ‘spectator but once obtained can be trusted implicitly due to their innately lawful nature. Nature DC 15: When spectators die, each of their eyestalks tear free, grwoing into new adult spectators within a year. Nature DC 20: As spectators approach a thousand years of ‘age, each of their eyestalks sprouts four eyestalks ofits own, From there, they age in reverse, gradualy retracting their budded eyestalks. At two thousand years of age, they are said +0 poof out of existence. Srgcrator TACTICS A spectators highest priority is protecting whatever itis ‘guarding, and it won't he lured away from its charge. It attempts to fight nonlethaly fit can. [Fit seems to be losing, it ‘will lee rather than fight to the death so it can report back,SPECTATOR GUARDIAN Medium aberration, lawful neutral ‘Armor Class 14 (Natural Armor) HitPoints 91 (14d8 + 28) Speed fly 30 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 8 (-1) 14 (42) 14 (42) 13 1) 1462) 11 40) Skills Perception +6 ‘Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 16 Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon, Telepathy Ton Challenge 3 (700 xP) HonorBourd. The spectator speaks only the truth, ‘makes only promises that it intends to keep, and Kill only in elf defense. Buddirg Derrise. When the spectator dies, each of its peripheral eyes tears free and levitates away as a newborn spectator (size Tiny, AC 12, 4 hit points) with only a single eye ray that acts on its parent's initiative Byestaks. When the spectator is deat a critical hit, the spectator must succeed on aDC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the spectator use. Actions Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, each 5 ft one target. Hit: 9 (346 — 1) piercing damage. Bye Rays. The spectator shoots two of the following rmagical eye rays, choosing up to two creatures within 90 fe The target of each ray must succeed on aDC 13 Wisdom saving throw or suffer the ray's effects, The spectator may choose each ray no ‘more than once. + Confusion Ray. The target selects random on its following turn + Paralyzing Ray. The target is Paralyzed until the tend of the spectator’s next turn, rgets at + Fear Ray, The target is Frightened of the spectator until the end of its next turn, + Wounciing Ray. The target takes 22 (4410) psychic damage. Reactions ‘Spel Turing, As a reaction to succeeding on a saving throw against a spel of Sth level or lower that targets only it, the spectator avoids all effects from the spell and instead causes the spell to target the caster, SPECTATOR VENERABLE SacE Medium aberration, lawful neutral ‘Armor Cass 15 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 135 (1848 + 54) Speed fly 30 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WS CHA 9 (1) 16 (+3) 17 (43) 15 (+2) 14 (2) 11 (40) SilsPevception Serses Darvon 120 ft, Passive Perception 16 Larguages Deep Speech, Undercommon, Telepathy Hot chalerge 7 (2,800 xP) HonorBound The spectator speaks only the truth, makes only promises that it intends to Keep, and kils only in self-defense. Budaing Demise. When the spectator dies, each of its peripheral eyes tears free and levitates away as a newborn spectator (size Tiny, AC 12, 4 hit points) with only a single eye ray that acts on its parent's initiative Byestalks. When the spectator is dealt a critical ht, the spectator must succeed on aDC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the spectator use. Actions Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 9 (346 — 1) piercing damage. Bye Rays The spectator shoots four of the following magical eye rays, choosing up to two creatures within 90 ft. The target of each ray must succeed (on aC 13 Wisdom saving throw or suffer the ray's effects. The spectator may choose each ray no ‘more than twice + Confusion Ray. The target selects targets at random on its following turn + Parayzing Ray The target is Paralyzed until the end of the spectator's next turn. + Fear Ray, The target is Frightened of the spectator Until the end of its next turn + Wounding Ray. The target takes 22 (4410) psychic damage. Reactions ‘Spel Turning As a reaction to succeeding on a Saving throw against a spell that targets only it, the spectator avoids all effects from the spell and instead causes the spell to target the caster.MINDWITNESS LORE Arcana DC 15: Mindwitnesses act as psionic hubs, amplifying and projecting any information conveyed to them telepathically for incredible distances. History DC 15: Areas home to a mindwitness are often found barren of other nonilithi life, as most creatures find the psionic presence of the mindwitness intollerable. ‘Nature DC 20: Mindwitnesses are formed when an illithid tadpole infests a beholder's mind, taming its madness i service of an Elder Brain, Nature DC 25: The process of ceromorphosis impedes the beholder's brain function, making it innately subservient. IF separated from its elder brain, the mindwitness seeks out another psionically talented creature to serve, adopting its foals and alignment. Minpwitnzss TACTICS ‘The mindwitness opens with its tentacles, switching to its bite once it manages to grapple a creature. From there, it tries to drag the creature away while using its eye rays to keep the creature's allies at bay. It tries to keep as many enemies in its psychic tether cone as it can, preferrentially targeting spelleasters whose concentration might be broken by it. Unless directed otherwise, the mindwitness flees after claiming a single vietim. MinpwitNEss ENCOUNTER GROUPS ‘A mindwitness is typically found in the company of other expedition of the ilithid enclave that spawned it, or some other telepathic creatures that have adopted it CR 15 Encounter 5,450 XP + 1 Githzerai Zerth (CR 6) + 1 Mindwitness (CR 5) + 3 Githzerai Cenobites (CR 2) psionically empowered creatures, either GR 19 Encounter 7,900 XP 1 Mind Flayer Thrall Master (CR 7) 1 Mindwitness (CR 5) 2 Intellect Devourers (CR 3) 4 Quaggoths (CR 2) EYE OF THE DEEP LorE Arcana DC 20: The eye of the deep can use its eye rays in concert to produce massive and complex illusions, which i¢ ‘uses both for its own entertainment and to lure, tap, and confound prey History DC 15: Deep sea fishermen oceasionall report, recovering from their nets the bloated corpses of chitinous creatures that seem to be a hybrid of beholder and lobster. Nature DC 15: The eye of the deep can strobe bright lights {rom its central eye, blinding or stunning prey and predators that rely on sight in the dark depths ofthe ocean. Nature DC 25: Eyes ofthe deep seem related only distantly, iffat all to their terrestrial beholder kin, as they reproduce through spawning, releasing clusters of eggs that are later fertilized by another eye, rather than through the ordinary method of dreaming other beholders into existence.MINDWITNESS Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 15 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 133 (14¢10 + 56) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 15 (42) 15 (+2) 17 (43) Saving Throws INT +5, WIS +5 Skils Perception +8 Senses Darkvsion 120 ft, Passive Perception 18 Languages Oeep Speech, Telepathy 600 alerge 5 (1.800 3°) Telepathic Hub. When the receives a telepathic message, each other creature within 600 ft. receives the same message. Psychic Tether Cone, The mindwitness' central eye creates an area of psychic intermingling in 2 150-foot cone. Whenever the mindwitness makes an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw against aa magical effect, each creature in the cone must make the same saving throw against the effect. At the start of each ofits turns, the mindwitness decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active Byestaks. When the mindwitness is dealt a critical hit, the mindwitness must succeed on aDC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the rmindwitness use. Actions Muttiattack, The mindwitness makes three attacks, one of which may be with its bite, or uses three of its its eye rays, chosen at random (‘eroll duplicates) (Oral Disk Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 fe, one grappled target. Hit: 16 (446 + 2) piercing damage. Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, each 5 ft, cone creature. Hit: 6 (148 + 2) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). A creature grappled in this way takes 9 (2d8) psychic damage at the start of each ofits turns and has its Intelligence score reduced by the sarne amount until the grapple ends. A creature with an Intelligence of 0 is Stunned ye Rays. The mindwitness shoots one ofits eye rays, choosing a target it can see within 120 fe. + 1. Telekinetic Ray White). The target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be moved up to 30 ft in any direction. An object ‘weighing 300 Ibs orless is moved 30 ft. in any direction. + 2 Apathy Ray Fuzzy Grey). The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity Saving Throw. On a failed save, the target's speed is halved until the end of its next turn. In addition, the creature can't take reactions, and it can take either an action or a bonus action on its turn, not both, + 3. Stunning Rey (Pulsing Maroon). the target roust succeed on aDC 13 Constitution saving throw or be Stunned until the end of its next turn + 4 Peychic Disruption Ray Pale Silver) The target must succeed on a DC 13 Inteligence saving throw or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and lose concentration, iFit was holding i. + 5 Paranoia Rey (Wavy Purple) The target must Succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened of one of is allies until the end ofits next turn, While Frightened in this way, it cannot willingly accept assistance from that all + 6 Aversion Ray (Sickly Yalow) The target must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be Unable to use an object it caries of the rindwitness choice without mental anguish for the next minute. Ifthe mindwitness chooses a weapon or spel focus, whenever the creature uses the object to cast a spel cor make an attack, the creature takes 146 psychic darnage. If the mindwitness chose a shield, ‘whenever an attack misses the creature, the creature takes 146 psychic damage.EYE OF THE DEEP Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 152 (16¢10 + 64) ‘Speed 10 ft, swim 20 fe, fly 20 ft (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 18 (+4) 14 (42) 15 (42) 1442) Saving Throws CON +7, INT #5, WIS +5 Skils Perception +8 Senses Darkvsion 120 f, Passive Perception 18 Languages Auan, Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 f Gralenge 7 (2.500 X°) ‘Stunning Strobe Cone. At the beginning of each ofthe eye's tums, each creature in a 30 ft. cone must succeed on aDC 15 Constitution saving throw or be Blinded until the beginning of the eye's next turn. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more is instead Stunned until the beginning of the eye's next turn. Eyestaks When the eye is dealt a critical hit, the eye must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that ithas seen the eye use. ‘Magic Resistance. The eye has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects Mary Eyes (2/Day).I the eye fails a saving throw against an effect that would blind it, it may choose to succeed instead, The eye takes one fewer legendary actions each turn for each time it has used this ability. ————— Shifting the Balance. Minions can be a ot to manage with a high-complexity monster like the beholder. You can tweak the difficulty of a beholder fight in two key ways without needing to alter the stat block or add more creatures: ‘+ Make its lair more hazardous and generally Unfriendly to people bound by gravity. Give it traps it can fling the PCs into, awkward geometry, high-up hidey-holes to seek cover in. + Have it choose targets after rolling the eye rays Part of the fun of a beholder fight is the anticipation after being targeted but before the ‘ay i rolled, and the gambling element of occasionally getting a save you are good at However, itcan be worth giving that up in exchange for the increased challenge and more rmastermind-y flavor that comes with always targeting saves your players are bad at. —_—_—_—?- Actions ‘Maltiattack The eye rakes two attacks with its claws Caw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 fe, one target. Hit: 16 (2410 ~ 5) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 14) (Gushing Bite. One creature grappled by the eye must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 36 (8d8) bludgeoning damage and suffer disadvantage ‘on attack rolls that use Strength until it completes @ short or long rest Project ilusion The eye creates an illusory image in a 100 cube that laste for 24 hours and ray elude creatures, structures, and terrain. The eye's vision is not obscured by the illusion. The illusion ends early if the eye uses a legendary action or moves more than 120, fi away from it. Legendary Actions The eye can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used ata time and only at the end of another Creature’s turn, The eye regains spent legendary actions at the start ofits tum. Glacial Shard Ray, One creature the eye can see within 60 ft must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be take 9 (248) cold damage and have its speed reduced by 10 until the end of ts next turn, Parayzing Ray, One creature the eye can see within 60 fi must succeed on aC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be Paralyzed until the end of the eye's next turn “Abyssal Mirage (Costs 2 Actions). The eye fills the water around it with an illusory effect of its choice. Until the beginning ofits next tur, attacks against the eye are made at disadvantageGoucER Large aberration, neutral evil ‘Armor Class 14 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 142 (15d10 + 60) Speed 40 ft, climb 40 ft, fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 17 (+3) 18 (+4) 6 (-2) 15 (+2) 11.40) Saving Throws CON +7, WIS +5 Skills Perception +8 Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 18 Languages Common, Undercommon, Deep Speech, but usually just screams incoherently. Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Eye Hunter. The gouger's melee attacks score a critical on an 17-20 against any creature with more than one eye, oron a 15-20 against any creature with more than two eyes. ‘Antimagi Cone The gouges central ee creates an a of antimagic, asin the antimagic field spell in 150-foot cone. At the stat of each of its turns, the gouger decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. Actions ‘Mutiattack The gouger makes two attacks with its, barbed tongue gouge, one of which it may replace with its staggering lash, if availabe. Barbed Tongue Gouge Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft. Hit: 17 (446 + 3) piercing damage. Ona critical hit, the target must succeed on aDC 14 Constitution saving throw or be Blinded until the end of its next turn. A creature that fils this save by 5 or more permanantly loses an eye. ‘Staggering Lash (Recharge 5-6). The gouger whips its tongue in a 15 ft. cone. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (346) slashing damage and fall prone. Goucer LorE ‘Arcana DC 15: Like some other beholders, gougers project ‘an antimagie field from their central eye. Their peripheral yes, however, are nonsmagical in nature. History DC 15: Gougers, though natural predators of other beholder, typically roam the deep places ofthe world scavenging whatever prey they can find Unlike other Deholders ther intligence seems tobe rdimentary at best History DC 20: Gougers are thought to have been created by by an ancient race from the far realm asa cruel novelty, bat reportedly were intermittently deployed to depopulate Ibcholder enclaves by those who knew the secret oftheir creation. Nature DC 15: Gougers are a species of beholderkin adapted to hunt other beholders, though they are relatively indiscriminate in their hunting. Goucer Tactics ‘While roaming the underdark, gouger's typically hover around, but drop to the ground and run on their hands when they are made aware of threats or potential prey. Gougers ‘open with their staggering lash, then prioritize attacking a prone creature while keeping as many foes in its antimagic ‘cone as it ean, When it downs a ereature, it grapples itand attempts to drag it away, using its climb speed to reach places the party will have dficuty following and either dashing or using its staggering lash to slow pursuers on its tum,Eyez Tyrant LoRE Arcana DC 15: A simple counter to the eye tyrants suite of abilities isthe Antimagic Field spell which can negate the effects of most of their eye rays Arcana DC 20; The central eye ofthe eye tyrant projects a field of antimagie which also disrupts its other magical eye rays, The boundaries of an antimagic field can be detected fairly simply through the use of any lightemitting magical object or enchantment. History DC 10: Its considered common wisdom among adventurers to cluster close together when attacking a beholder, as this offers some limited protection from both the eye rays and the central cone. History DC 15: The successful beholder hunting adventuring group known as The Flamewardens are known for applying enchantments of Continual Flame to their cloaks, giving them the appearance of incandescent collumns offlame. History DC 20: The even more successful beholder-hunting adventuring group known as Ruck Tumer’s Beholder and Wasp Disposal had a closely guarded secret said to completely trivialize beholder hunting, though none could get them to share it. Nature DC 15: Eye tyrants, like many of their beholder kin, are extraordinarily hampered by being Blinded through either magical or mundane means. Eye Tyrant TACTICS The eye tyrant retreats continuously from melee threats, centering its antimagic cone on whichever spell caster it believes most capable of Blinding it or allowing melee allies to fly while trying to stay far enough that the cone is too wide toeseape easily It focuses its eye rays on whichever creatures seem most capable of presenting a melee threat, or any spellcaster concentrating on a spell otherwise. When its Telekinesis Ray comes up, ituses itt fing enemies into traps it has prepared, Drrector Lore Arcana DC 15: The director's central eye deflects projectiles, both mundane and magical and its peripheral rays produce primarily evocation adjacent effects. History DC 15: Unusually for beholderkin, directors are ‘usually found in communities of other beholderkin, even ‘when not forced to. They are typically found riding fell beasts of the underdark, though how they control them is somewhat of a mystery. Nature DC 20: The barbed tentacles of a neural spikes that short-circuit a grappled creature's nervous system, allowing it to meld minds with less willful "mounts" Drrector Tactics ‘The director ordinarily relies heavily on its mount’ attack capabilities, often riding in on bulettes, giant centipedes, purple worms or any other Large or larger denizens of the ‘underdark with low Wisdom modifiers. As much as possible, it tries to direct agression away from itself and toward its ‘mount, then when its mount dies attempts to take control of the PC that presents the greatest melee threat. IFitis ever ‘without a mount and without a good prospect to acquire a new one, the director forgoes its multiatack in exchange for selecting its translocation ray to ad in escaping combat.Eye TyrANT Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 180 (19¢10 + 76) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 17 (#3) 15 (+2) 17 (43) Saving ThrowsINT +6, WIS +5 Skils Perception +8 Senses Darkvsion 120 f, Passive Perception 18 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft. Challenge & (3,900 XP) ‘Antimagic Cone. The eye tyrant's central eye creates an area of antimagic, as in the antirmagic field spell, in a 150-foot cone. At the start of each of its turns, the eye tyrant decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. The area works against the eye tyrant's own eye rays. Eyestaks When the eye tyrant is dealt a critical hit, the eye tyrant must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the eye tyrant use. Magic Resistance. The eye tyrant has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects Mary Eyes (3/Day). I the eye tyrant fails a saving throw agatan Sheet at wold bed ict ray cheese succeed instead, The eye tyrant takes one fewer legendary actions each turn for each time it has used this ability Actions Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) piercing damage. Bye Rays. The eye tyrant shoots three ofthe following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 ft of it: + I. Charm Ray, The target must succeed on aDC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the eye tyrant for 1 hour, or until the eye tyrant harms the creature, 2, Paralyzing Ray, The target must succeed on aDC 14 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of ts turns, ending the effect on itself + 3.FearRay. The target must succeed on aDC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute, The target can repeat the saving throw at he end of each ofits turns, ending the effect on itself on a + 4 Slowirg Ray. The target rust make 20C 14 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target's speed is halved for T minute, In addition, the creature can't take reactions, and it can take either an action ofa bonus action on its tum, not both. The Creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each ofits turns, ending the effect on itself on a + 5. Bnervation Rey. The target must make aDC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic. darmage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one, + 6 Telekinetic Ray. The target must succeed on aDC 14 Strength saving throw or be rmoved up to 30 ft ina direction of the eye tyrant’s choice. Itis restrained by the ray's telekinetic grip until the start of the eye tyrant's next turn or until the eye tyrant is incapacitated + 7.Sleep Ray. The target must succeed on aDC 14 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep and remain unconscious for 1 minute. The target awakens ifit takes damage or another creature takes an action to wake it. This ray has no effect on constructs and undead. + & Petrification Rey. The target must make aDC 14 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature begins to turn to stone and is restrained. It must repeat the saving throw at the end ofits next turn. Ona success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified until freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic. + 9. Disintegration Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 27 (648) force darnage. If this damage reduces the creature to O hit points, its body becomes a pile of fine gray dust. If the target is a Large or smaller nonenagical object or creation of magical force, its disintegrated without a saving throw. If the target is a Huge or larger object or creation of magical force, this ray disintegrates a 10-foot cube of it + 10 Death Ray. The target must succeed on 8DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 27 (5d10) necrotic damage. The target cies ifthe ray reduces it t0 0 hit points Legendary Actions ‘The eye tyrant can take 3 legendary actions, choosing. from the options below. Eye Ray. The eye tyrant uses one random eye ray.Drrecror Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 178 (21410 + 63) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 15 (+2) 17 (43) 14 (42) 15(42) 19 (64) Saving Throws WIS +5, CHA +4 Skils Athletics +7, Perception +8 Senses Darkvision 120 fe, Passive Perception 18 Languages Cornnon, Undercommon, Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 f. Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Deflection Cone. The director's central eye creates an area of telekinetic deflection. A creature that makes a ranged attack that passes through the cone subtracts 1d4 from its attack roll. Byestaks. When the director is dealt a critical hit, the rector must succeed on @ DC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray ofthe attacker's choice that it has seen the director use Vermin Master. While attached to a creature, the director moves with the attached creature, and acts on the attached creature's initiative, instead of its own, Actions ‘Mutiattack The director makes two melee attacks, one of which may be with its bite, or uses two ofits its eye rays, chosen at random (reroll duplicates). Vicious Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 18 (406 + 4) piercing damage Verminbond Barbs. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft, one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 ~ 4) bludgeoning damage and the director attaches itsel to the target (escape DC 15). The director may attach itselfto only a single creature a a time At the beginning of each of ts turns, a creature the directors attached to must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature acts under the director's control until the beginning of its next turn Bye Rays The director shoots one of its eye rays, choosing a target it can see within 120 ft. + 1. Searing Rey. The target must succeed on aDC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (6d6) fre damage. + 2, Rotting Ray, The target must succeed on aDC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 22 (4410) necrotic darnage, plus an additional 11 (2410) necrotic damage iit has fewer than half its hit points + 3. Freezing Rey. the target must succeed on aDC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 18 (448) cold damage and have its speed reduced by 5 ft. until the end of its next turn. + 4 Shocking Ray. the target and each other creature within 5 ft of it must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 19 (3412) lightning damage. + 5. Dimensional Lock Ray The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 16 (3410) force damage. Whenever the creature teleports before the end of the director's next turn, it takes an additional 16 (3410) force damage. + 6 Translocation Rey, The target must succeed on a C15 Charisma saving throw or be teleported up to 30 ft to an unoccupied space the director can see Reactions Bleed for Your Master As a reaction to being targeted with an attack, the director forces its mount to succeed on aDC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become the new target of the atack.DOomsPHERE LORE Arcana DC 15: Unlike quasi-undead beholders such as death tyrants, doomspheres are true undead, created when the cruelty, ambition, and avarice of a beholder lash its spirit inextricably to the material world. History DC 20: The most feared ability of the doomsphere is its capacity to possess for a short time nearly any creature: that falls under its gaze, though beating the tar out of the possessed creature is usually sufficient to knock the doomsphere loose, Nature DC 15: The central eye of the doomsphere causes the spirits of living creatures t levitate off the ground, carrying the creatures with them. Religion DC 15: The usual methods of encouraging spirits to pass om to their final reward, such as resolving unfinished business, are typically ineffective on the ghosts of beholdes. Fortunately their spirits can be forcibly discorporated through the simple application of blessed or magical weaponry, DoomspHErE TACTICS ‘The doomsphere retreats continuously during combat, fring every ray itcan at any Clerics or Paladins, while keeping ‘melee threats at bay with its Levitation cone. Whenever use its Drifting Apparition, it does, retreating into the ground fr another solid surface regardless of the force damage. If Blinded, it sinks into the ground until the effect passes, unless doing so would destroy it, Deatu Kiss Lore Arcana DC 20: The blood of a death kiss, if transfused into a creature in sufficient quantity. allows the death kiss to control the creature through a sort of hemokinesis. History DC 15: Death kisses are known to leave entire villages in the Underdark exsanguinated, some victims apparenily having bled out entirely rom apparently minor wounds. History DC 20: The brain of death kiss, upon the creature's death, erystalizes into a valuable red gemstone known as: "bloodeye" that luminesces in the presence of strong Nature DC 20: Death kisses generate powerful electrical charges in their bodies which are discharged in a small radius when their blood is shed. Deatx Kiss TACTICS ‘The death kiss grabs the weariestlooking party member, or the one furthest from the rest ofits allies, and attacks with its feeding tendrils, then drags the creature slowiy up, swinging itjust out of reach of the ground-bound party members as it uses its Thin Blood until the ereature is fully drained If the death kiss feels confident, it tries to ensnare two more of the party simultaneously, ths time leaving them on the ground as itdrains them, Ifthe death kiss feels threatened, however, it uses its Corrupted Blood Infusion on the first creature drained before proceeding to the rest.DOOMSPHERE DOOMSPHERE Large aberration/undead, neutral evil ‘Armor Class 12 (Natural Armor) HitPoints 173 (2110+ 63) Speed fly 20 f. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 24) 14(42) 17 (43) 18 (+4) 14(42) 18 (44) ‘Saving Throws INT +8, WIS +6 Skills Perception +10 Darrage Resistances Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder Damage Immunities Cold, Necrotic, Poison; Bludgeoning, ietcng and Siashing from agical Attacks Conation femurs Charred, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Resirained ‘Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 20 Languages The languages threw in if, Telepathy 120 lenge 9 (3,000 x) ————— Spirit Levitation Cone, The doornsphere's central eye Ceates an atea of spirit levitation in a 150-foot cone. A Creature that starts its turn inthe area is wreathed in luminous vapors, and must sueceed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be levitated 5 ft. off the ground. At the start of each of its turns, the doorsphere decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. Ethereal Sight: The doornsphere can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when itis on the Material Pane. Movement, Tre doomsphere can rove through other creatures and objects as i they were difficult terrain It takes 5 (1410) force damage fit ends its turn inside an object. ‘Spectral Weapons. The doomsphere's attacks treat al creatures as unarmored (an urarmored creature's AC is usually 10 plus its Dexterity modifier) Tum Resistance the doornsphere has advantage on Saving throws against any effet that tums undead. Actions Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, each 5 ft, one target. Hit: 24 (4410 + 2) psychic damage and the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving. throw or age a numberof years equal othe damage taken, Eye Rays The doomsphere shoots two of the following magical eye rays at random, choosing one target it can see within 120 ft. oft: + T.Etherealness Rey (Concentration), The target must succeed on a DC 17 Charisma saving throw or be shunted into the Ethereal plane. An unwilling creature repeats this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, returning to the space it left, or the nearest unoccupied space, on a success. + 2.Grave Chill ay. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 27 (6d8) cold damage and be unaffected by magical healing until the end of the doomsphere's next turn. ‘+ 3.Necrotic Suffsion Ray, The target must succeed fon aDC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 33 (6d10) necrotic damage and lose one unexpended hit die, ifit can. A corpse targeted with this ray rises as a Wight at the beginning of the doorsphere's next turn, + killing Thought Ray. The target must succeed on 2 DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the target is Frightened for the next rinute. A Frightened creature repeats this saving throw at the beginning of each ofits turns, ending the effect on a success, or using its reaction to make a melee attack against itself ona failure. + 5.Boneshatter Ray. The target must succeed on aDC 15 Constitution saving throw or have one of its bones break. Until the target completes a long rest, it takes 10 (246) slashing damage whenever it moves more than half ofits speed in a turn, and whenever it makes more than a single attack in a turn * 6 Posession Ray. The target rust make aDC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the target is. posessed by the doomsphere for the next minute. ‘The doomsphere disappears into the creature and controls it for the duration. A possessed creature repeats this save whenever it takes damage, ending the effect on a success Reactions Drftig Apparition As a reaction to being missed with a melee attack, the doornsphere moves up to half its speed. teal Malice (1/Day). As a reaction to being reduced below 87 hit points, the doomsphere uses its Posession Ray.Deatu Kiss Large aberration, neutral evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 224 (24¢10 + 92) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 10 (40) ‘Saving Throws CON 8, WIS +5 Skills Perception +5 Damage lrrmunities Lightning Condition Irerunities Prone Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 15 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) —— ‘Hemmoraging Cone. The death kiss's eye creates afield that draws out a creature's blood through its wounds, ina 150-foot cone. At the start of each of its turns, the death kiss decides which way the cone faces. Each creature that does not have allof its hit points that starts its turnin the area loses 5 (2d4) hit points and rakes death saving throws at disadvantage. Lightning Blood Whenever the death kiss takes piercing or slashing damage, each other creature within 5 ft takes 5 (1410) lightning damage. A creature that that takes this damage while wearing metal armor can't take reactions until the start ofits next turn, Tendhils When the death kiss is dealt a critical hit, the death kiss must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or make one fewer attack with its rmultiattack until it completes a long rest. Magic Resistance, The death kiss has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects Actions ‘Maltiattack Th Death Kiss rakes six attacks with its feeding tendrils f more than one of them target a single creatute, attacks beyond the first are made at advantage. Feeding Tendril Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 20 ft, one target. Hit: 11 (246 + 4) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). The death kiss has ten tendrils, ach of which may grapple a single creature. A creature grappled by two or more tendrils i restrained Thin Blood. Each creature grappled by the deathkiss must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or tone lose one unexpended hit die for each tendril grappling it, or half as many on a success, and the death kiss gains 10 temporary hit points for each hit die expended inthis way. A creature that cannot instead drops to O hit points Comupted Blood Infusion One creature with zero unexpended hit die grappled by the death kiss must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, On a failed save, the creature gains 55 (10d10) temporary hit points, While i has these temporary hit points, a Creature has immunity to lightning damage, remains conscious even if at O hit points, and acts under the death kiss! control A creature that succeeds on this save instead takes 27 (5410) lightning darnage Reactions ‘Blood Rejection As a reaction to being forced to make a saving throw against a spel or magical effect, the death kiss changes the effect’ target to a creature itis grappling. IFit does, the death kiss releases the Creature from each tendril grappling it, and the creature gains 11 (2410) temporary hit points.OVERSEER LORE ‘Arcana DC 15: Overseers are reknowned for their ability to disrupt and even destroy magical items, For this reason above all else, most archmages try to avoid any sort of direct conflict with beholder hives. History DC 20: Overseers are rarely found in isolation, typically serving as envoys and enforcers of a hive mother. Like a ive mother, they seem to have a way of reconciling the differences between beholders, a feat once considered blessedly impossible. ‘Nature DC 20: Overseers are covered in a fascinating symbiotic fungus that appears to feed off the transdimensional radiation overseers absorb while in the Far Realm, granting them a great deal of resilience, though the fungus contracts and retreat when exposed to fire. OverszER TACTICS Overseers typically open by teleporting into range of as many enemies as possible, then trying lash as many of them as it can close enough (o trigger attacks of opportunity from its bite, the goal being to keep them clustered for Epidemic of Despair or Arc Lightning, From there, it uses random eye rays, preferentially targeting any creature that demonstrates an ability to do fire damage. DeratH Tyrant LorE ‘Arcana DC 10: The central eye of a death tyrant neutralizes any healing received by those under its gaze, and imbues ‘those that die in its sight with undeath. Areana DC 15: \ beholder dreaming of death may awake to find its lesh sloughing of, leaving only its naked skll behind. ‘Arcana DC 20: Alternately, a beholder may dream of another beholder it has killed returning to life to torment it, in which cease the death tyrant springs into existence fully formed, with ‘whatever memories and intentions its ereator imagined it having, Some elder orbs reportedly can provoke such nightmares in themselves intentionally, thus ereating death tyrant thralls. History DC 15: Death tyrants are known to marshall vast armies of undead, far beyond the few hundred that the greatest humanoid necromancers can keep enthralled. Nature DC 15: One of the death tyrant’ eyes binds a target, in chains of shadow, which greatly weaken when exposed {0 bright light. DratH Tyrant TACTICS ‘The death tyrant tries to keep its most injured foes centered in ts negative energy cone. After being reduced below half HE, it switches from using random rays with its legendary actions to targeting its most injured enemy with its Death Ray each tur, provided it hast lost any legendary actions to its Many Eyes abilityDEATH TYRANT Large aberration/undead, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 19 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 253 (22410 + 132) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 22 (+6) 19 (+4) 15 (+2) 19 (44) Saving Throws STR +5, INT +9, WIS +7, CHA +9 Skils Perception +12 Darrage Immunities Poison Condition Imerunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone Senses Darkvsion 120 ft, Passive Perception 22 Lang Deep Speech, Undercommon, Telepathy ton . Challenge 14 (11,500 xP) ‘Negative Energy Cone. The death tyrant's central eye ernits an invisible, magical 150-foot cone of negative energy. At the start of each ofits turns, the tyrant decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active, ‘Any creature in that area can't regain hit points. Any humanoid that dies there becomes a zombie under the tyrant’s command. The dead hurmanoid retains its place in the initiative order and animates at the start of its next turn, provided that its body hasn't been completely destroyed, ‘Magic Resistance, The death tyrant has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects Many Eyes (3/Day). i the death tyrant fails a savin Dice craic Eee batons it it may choose to succeed instead. The death tyrant takes one fewer legendary action each turn for each time it has used this ability Actions Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 14 (446) piercing damage. Bye Rays. The death tyrant shoots three of the following ‘magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 ft of it 1, Decay Ray (Luminescent Green} The target must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or have its maximum hit points reduced to its eutrent hit points Until ft completes along rest. 2. Compulsion Ray (Wispy Re). The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take 33 (6410) psychic damage and be unable to voluntarily leave the death tyrant's eye cone until the end of its next turn 3. Terror Ray (Wavy Purpla) The target must succeed on 2 DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened for the next minute. The creature repeats this save at end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success or taking 22 (4410) psychic damage on a failure 4 Dispel Ray (Pale Silver, The deat spell affecting the target. 5. Seizure Ray (Mottled Green). The target must succeed ‘on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be Poisoned for the next minute. While Poisoned inthis way, whereever the creature casts a spell it s Stunned until the beginning of its next turn. A Poisoned creature repeats this saving throw at the end of each ofits tums, ending the effect on a success. 6 Blood Ray (Skidgy Crimson), The target must succeed ‘on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or become succeptible to bleeding for the next minute. Whenever the affcted character takes damage, it begins bleeding, losing 10 hit points at the star: of each ofits turns, The creature stops bleeding when magically healed, of with a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Medicine) check, but retains its susceptibility. This can be applied to the same creature rmltipl times, with its effects applied cumulatively 7. Etherealness Ray (Diaphanous White). The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity savin throw. On a fale save the targets shunted partially into the ethereal plane, gaining a 30 ft. ly speed and dealing half as much damage with attacks that use Strength for the next minute, or until the death tyrant uses this ability again. & Enchaining Ray (Gleaming Blue-Grey) The targeted Creature must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be restrained (escape OC 16) as chains of seething shadow envelop its body. A creature in bright light may atternpt to escape as a bonus action, 9. Doom Ray (Shivering Maroon} The target must succeed on aC 17 Charisma saving throw or be cursed. While cursed, the creature acquires Doom counter each time it takes necrotic damage. Ifthe creature drops to 0 hit points while cursed, it immediately fails one Death Save for each Doom counter it has 10 Death Ray (Streaky Black). The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 44 (8d10) necrotic damage. The target dies ifthe ray reduces it to 0 hit points Legendary Actions The death tyrant can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. fant ends one Eye Ray. The death tyrant uses one randomn eye ray. Death Ray (Costs 3 actions), The death tyrant uses its Death Ray.OVERSEER OVERSEER Huge aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 19 (Furgal Armor) Hit Points 180 (19410 + 76) Speed 20 ft STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 14 (+2) 19 (+4) 22 (+6) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) ‘Saving Throws STR +10, CON +9, INT+11, WIS +8. Skill Perception +13 Darrage Resistarces Bludgeoning, Slashing Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 23 Languages Common, Undercommon, Deep Speech, Telepathy 1 mile (Challenge 15 (13,000 xP) i Fungal Armor. f the overseer takes any fire damage, it loses its damage resistances and has its AC reduced to 16 until the beginning of its next turn. Magic Resistance. The overseer has advantage on savin throws against spells and other magical eects. Beholderkin Dominator A beholderkin of CR & or lower that stars its turn within 1 mile ofthe overseer must succeed on aC 19 Wisdom saving throw or be tnagically Charmed by the overseer and placed under its control, The overseer hears and sees anything that a beholderkin under its control does. Actions ‘Muttiattack. The overseer rakes three relee attacks and chooses one of its eye rays, or uses two of its eye rays, chosen at random (reroll duplicates) Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5'fe, one target. Hit: 22 (5d6 + 5) piercing damage. Tentacie Lash, Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 fit, one target. Hit: 18 (348 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the creature rust succeed on aDC 18 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 f. toward the overseer and knocked prone. Eye Rays The overser chooses ane ofthe following erection rea teMmecton ech cersec ttn Ton oft + 1. Disjunction Ray, The target must succeed on aDC 19 Dexterity saving throw or have each spell affecting it end, and have each of its non-artifact magical iterns become nonmagical and inert for the next minute. + 2.Arc Lightning Ray. The target must make aDC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 45 (10d8) lightning damage and the overseer uses this ability again, targeting a new creature within 10 ft ofthe previous one. The overseer may not target a single creature more than once in a turn with this ability + 3 Polar Frost Ry. The target must succeed on DC 19 Constitution saving throw or take 52 (8d12) cold darmage and have its movernent speed reduced by hale + 4 Epidemic of Despair Ray The target must succeed on aC 19 Charisma saving throw or be afflicted with crushing despair. For the next minute the target and each of its allies within 20 ft of t subtract 1d4 from the result rolled for attacks and saving throws. + 5. Teleportation Ray The target teleports up to 60 f. to a location the oversees can see. An unwilling target makes aDC 19 Charisma saving throw, resisting the effect on a success + 6 Temporal Stasis Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Charisma saving throw or be frozen in time. Until the end of the overseer's next turn, the creature is incapacitated and immune to all damage and conditions. + Z.Death Ray. The target rust succeed on aDC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 44 (8d10) necrotic damage. The target dies ifthe ray reduces it to O hit points + & Disintegration Rey. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 36 (8d8) force damage. If this damage reduces a creature to O hit points, its body becomes a pile of fine gray dustELDER OrB LorE ‘Arcana DC 15: Elder orbs are known to be capable of creating and controlling Death Tyrants and other lesser undead. Arcana DC 20: The elder orb has the power to create shadowy duplicates ofits foes, which retain all ofthe creature's intellect and abilities, but are dispatched relatively easily. This ability is incredibly dangerous if eft unchecked. History DC 15: Elder orbs, despite the name, are not universally older than other beholders, Rather, they are just a subset of beholder that do not appear to suffer the effects of aging, and are thus capable of living extremely long lives. Nature DC 15: The central eye cone of the elder orb is known to distort space, allowing the beholder to redirect attacks that pass through it Nature DC 20: Elder orbs are capable of using their distortion cone as.a prism, scattering the rest of their cye rays inall directions. This often reveals the contours of distorting effec, allowing an observer to account for it, t least until the cone shifts, ELpER Ors Tactics Elder orbs use their ray burst each turn unless its enemies are making a great many ranged attacks. It keeps its spacial distortion cone centered on whichever enemies are making the greatest effort to maintain distance from it, circling, ‘enemies with its movement to get them in each other's way: It preferentially targets melee threats with its eye rays, but directs all of it focus on destroying a single PC if that PC ‘demonstrates the ability to cast Blindness Hive MoTHer Lore Arcana DC 15: The central eye ofa hive mother extends the distorted reality of the hive mother's dreams into the material plane, increasing the power ofits abilities to afrighte degree Arcana DC 20: The hive mother can induce magical ‘mutations in those it abducts into its dreams, able to make ‘them thralls in her service given time. This process can be disrupted by simply cutting or burning away the affected tissues, History DC 15: Hive mothers are enormous beholders, able to keep hundreds or thousands of lesser beholders under their sway. Nature DC 15: Despite the name, “hive mothers’ ike all beholders, are genderless and asexual, and have no particular tendency to reproduce more frequently than other beholders. Hive Mortuer Tactics. ‘The hive mother tries o keep as many minions as it can between it and any enemies, using its telekinetic shove or taking attacks of opportunity to do so if neccessary. Ituses its bite only on an unconscious creature or weak-looking spelleaster, otherwise preferring to use as many eye rays as possibleELDER ORB Huge aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 345 (30¢10 + 180) Speed fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (+2) 13 (+1) 22 (+6) 21 (45) 15(42) 17 (63) ‘Saving Throws DEX +7, INT =11, WIS +8, CHA +9 Skill Perception +14 Condition Immunities Poisoned Senses Darkvsion 120 f, Passive Perception 24 Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft Clallerge 19 (22.000 XP) ‘Spacial Distortion Cone. The elder orb's central eye creates an area of spacial distortion in a 150 ft. cone. A creature atternpting a ranged attack that passes through the cone must succeed on aDC 19 Wisdom saving throw or have its attack immediately redirected to another target of the elder orb's choice that shifts its trajectory no more than 90 degrees. Melee attacks rade from within the cone have disadvantage. Byestaks, When the elder orb is deat a critica hit, the elder orb must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the elder orb use Magic Resistance. The elder orb has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects Many Eyes (4/day) Ifthe elder orb fails a saving throw against an effect that would Blind or incapacitate it, it rmay choose to succeed instead. The elder orb takes. cone fewer legendary actions each turn for each time it has used this ability. Actions Bye Rays. The elder orb shoots three of the following ‘magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to thee targets it can see within 120 ft of it 1. Gravity Shift Ray (Opalescent White) The target must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or fall 100 ft in a direction of the elder orb's choice as gravity shifts for it until the end of the elder orb's next turn, 2. Psychic Blast Ray (Swirling Rec). The target must Succeed on a DC 19 Intelligence saving throw or take 33 (610) psychic damage and have its Intelligence score reduced by 146 until it completes a Short or Long Rest, or take half as much damage on a success. A creature is Stunned if reduced to 0 Intelligence until it regains atleast one point of intelligence. 3. Mind Killer Ray (Wavy Purple) The target must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened for the next rinute, or until the elder orb uses this ability again. The creature repeats this save at end of each of ts turns, ending the effect on a success or taking 27 (5d10) psychic damage on a failure 4 Dispel Ray Pale iver). The elder orb ends one spell affecting the target. 5. Melt Flesh Ray (Mottled Green). The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or have its current and maximum hit points reduced by 22 (410) and its flesh begin to melt, giving it disadvantage on Charisra-based skill checks until cured by a Greater Restoration or similar magic. 6 Blood Ray (Skidgy Crimson). The target must succeed ‘on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or become succeptible to bleeding for the next minute. Whenever, the afflicted character takes damage, they begin bleeding, losing 10 hit points atthe start of each of. their turns. The creature stops bleeding when magically healed, or with a successful DC 19 Wisdom (Medicine) check, but retain their susceptibility This ean be applied to the same creature multiple times, with its effects applied cumulatively 7. Slowing Ray (Sicky Yellow). The target must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, On afalled save, the target's speed is halved for 1 minute, n addition, the creature can't take reactions, and it can take either an action or a bonus action on its turn, not both. The ‘creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each ofits tus, ending the effect on itself on a success & Entomb Ray (Jagged Blue). The target must succeed ‘on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be restrained as the floor beneath it begins to churn and grasping stony hands reach out to drag it down. A creature that fils this saving throw repeats it at the end of its next tur, freeing itself and ending the effect on a success. On a second failure, the creature is buried alive. A buried creature is freed when it or another creature succeeds ‘on a DC 19 Strength (Athletics) check to drag it out as an action. 9, Betrayal Ray (Blotchy Gray). The target must make a DC 19 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, a shadowy simulacra ofthe target is created in an unoccupied space adjacent to it. The simulacra acts on the target's initiative directly after it and has the same statistics and abilities as the target, except that it has, 15 maximum hit points. Ifa character's shadow simulacra reduces it to zero hit points with a melee attack, it gains control of the creature's body. 10, Death Ray (Streaky Black. The target must succeed on aDC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 55 (10410) necrotic damage. The target dies ifthe ray reduces it to O hit points. Legendary Actions The elder orb can take 4 legendary actions, choosing, from the options below. Bye Ray. The elder orb uses one random eye ray. Ray Burst (Costs 3 actions). The elder orb focuses all of its eye rays into its distortion cone, scattering them all at random, Each other creature within 120 ft is targeted with a random eye ray (rerolling duplicates), but with the save DC reduced to 14. Until the beginning of the elder orb's next turn, creatures have advantage on the Wisdom saving throw imposed by the beholder's distortion cone.Hive MOTHER Huge aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 20 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 525 (30020 + 210) Speed fly 30 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 23 (+6) 11 (+0) 25 (47) 22 (+6) 19 (+4) 21 (45) Saving Throws DEX +7, INT +13, WIS +11, CHA +12 Skils Perception +18 Condition Imerunities Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 28 Languages Common, Deep Speech, Undercommon, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 23 (50,000 xP) Waking Dream Cone. The hive mother's central eye creates an area of dreamlike unreality in a 150 ft. cone. ‘A creature that stats its tur in the cone gains a20 ft fly speed and subtracts 1d4 from Dexterity and Wisdor saving throws it makes before the beginning ofits next turn. Byestakks. When the hive mother is deatt a critical hit, the hive mother must succeed on aDC 10 Constitution saving throw or lose the use of an eye ray of the attacker's choice that it has seen the hive mother use. Beholderkin Sowreign. A beholderkin of CR 20 or lower that starts its turn within 5 miles of the hive mother ‘must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or be ‘magically Charmed by the hive mother and placed under its control. The hive mother hears and sees, anything that @ Beholderkin under its control does. ‘At the beginning of each of ts turns, each creature Under the hive mother's control loses any legendary actions it has, and the hive mother gains an equal number of legendary actions. ‘Magic Resistance, The hive mother has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical elec Distributed Nervous System (4/dy). Ifthe hive mother fails a saving throw, it may choose to succeed instead. Tne hive mother takes one fewer legendary actions each turn for each time it has used this ability. Actions Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 39 (6410 + 6) piercing damage. the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on aDC 21 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed and restrained (escape DC 21) inside the hive mother. A swallowed creature takes 21 (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the hive mother’s turns, and its attacks bypass the hive mother's damage resistances. Bye Rays. The hive mother shoots one of the following ragical eye rays, choosing one target it can see within 126 ft of it: + Disjunction Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 211 Dexterity saving throw or have each spell affecting it end, and have each of its non-artifact ‘magical items become nonmagical and inert for the next minute +2 Sprouting Gift Rey. The target must succeed on 2 C21 Charisma saving throw or sprout an eyestalk from an exposed point on its body. While a creature has an eyestalk on its body, it has disadvantage on attacks against the hive mother, and the hive mother can see everything it sees. The eyestalk can be destroyed (AC 20, 10 HP), but any damage dealt to the eyestalk is also deat to the creature itis growing, from. + 3 Searing Slice Ray The target rust succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 88 (16410) tadiant damage. A ereature that falls this save by 5 or rmore loses a limb (target's choice). + 4 Death Ray. The target must succeed on aDC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 66 (12410) necrotic damage. The target dies if the ray reduces it to O hit, points + 5. Disintegration Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 54 (1248) force damage. If this damage reduces a creature to 0 hit points its body becomes a pile of fine gray dust. + 6 Far Sojum Ray (Concentration) The target must succeed on a DC 21 Charisma saving throw or be banished to the far realm for the next minute. While there, a creature is incapacitated and repeats this saving throw at the end ofeach ofits turns, ending the effect on a success or taking 26 (4412) slashing plus 26 (4412) psychic damage on a failure. A Creature that dies inthe far realm returns with its body horiffcally warped and distorted Legendary Actions The hive mother can take 4 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Eichtch Influence, One creature affected by the hive mother's sprouting gift ray must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw of act under the hive mother’s control until the end of its following turn, or until the eye is destroyed. Telekinetic Shove, One creature the hive mother can see within 60 ft. must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 30 ft ina direction of the hive mother's choice. je ay (Costs 2 Actions} Te hive mother uses one random eye ray. Regenerate (Costs 3 Actions), The hive mother regains 100 hit points. IFit is missing one or more ofits eyestalks, it regrows one of its choice.BERBALANG BERBALANG ‘Medium aberration, neutral evil ‘Armor Class 14 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 84 (24d8 - 24) Speed 30 ft, fly 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 9(-1) 16 (3) 9(-1) 17(43) 1140) 10 (40) Saving Throws DEX +5, INT +5 Skills Arcana +5, History +5, Insight +2, Perception +2, Religion +5 Senses Truesight 120 ft, Passive Perception 12 Languages All, but rarely speaks Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Read Bones. By carefully examining the bones of a creature, the berbalang can extract any secrets it kenew in lite Dream Travel While the berbalang sleeps, its spirit leaves its body. In spirit form, the berbalang has the same statistics, except that its attacks deal psychic darnage instead of any other type and it can teleport to another plane as an action. If the berbalang dies in spirit form, its body dies. Weak Fier. While grappling a creature larger than size Small, the berbalang cannot fly unless the creature is also grappled by one of its duplicates. Actions Bonegnaw Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 8 (1410 + 3) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or reveal one of its secrets to the berbalang, Grasping Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach $f, one target. Hit: 8 (244 4 3) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). ‘Absorb Duplicate. The berbalang absorbs one of its duplicates, destroying it and gaining 20 Temporary hit points. Detonate Duplicate. The berbalang detonates one of its duplicates. Each creature within 15 ft. of the duplicate must succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or take 11 (2410) psychic damage Bonus Actions Duplicate Self (Original On). ifthe berbalang has at least 20 hit points, the berbalang creates a duplicate of itself, reducing its current hit points by 1/4. The duplicate has hit points equal to those lost in its creation, and acts on the berbalang's initiative. BERBALANG LORE ‘Arcana DC 15: A sage's secrets rest in their bones, stories say. While certain necromantic rituals ean evoke shadows of these lost secrets, the astral denizens known as berbalangs ccan extract them directly, sustaining themselves on the secrets ofthe dead and living, Arcana DC 20: Berbalang’s can project their spirit across the ‘multiverse, aking apparent corporeal form without incurring the full risks thereof and allowing them to venture into realms of extreme danger in their quest for hidden knowledge, History DC 15: Unbound by material constraints, berbalangs are able to duplicate themselves with tersifying, speed one rapidly turning to several These duplicates are fragile, but just as dangerous, and if countermeasures are not taken can grow rapidly out of control. BERBALANG TACTICS Berbalangs use their duplicate self ability each turn if available; early inthe fight they look for opportunities to use their bonegnaw bite, but once they have a few duplicates active prioritize defensive actions like their Absorb Duplicate and the Dodge action ‘Whenever a duplicate is reduced below 10 hit points, the berbalang uses its Absorb Duplicate, or DetonatesitiFitcan hit atleast three enemies with the exploCEREMORPHS Y he Mlithid reproduce by implanting a larvae through the eye, nose or ear ofa suitable where it burrows into the brain over the course ofa few hours, attaching itself to the host's brainstem and gaining control ofits ‘motor functions, From there, the second phase of transformation begins, reshaping the host's and tissues into a new and aberrant form. Not all ho: uitable, however. Most often, the result 0 an illthid tadpole being implanted in an improper host is a slow and painful death for both of them, but occasionally through fuck, re procedures, a wisted and novel offspring is produced; called precise magical and scient ahalfilithid or ceremorph, These ereatus and denigrated within ilithid society, but nevertheless found for them in the Mlithid drive to reclaim their lost empire, CEREMORPH LORE History DC 10: Ilithid tadpoles are usually not selec implantation forthe first ten years of their life, and after implantation usually stay within cloistered iithid en years more, These adolescent mind flayers. midable than their mature kin, thous still possessed of powerful psionic abilitie Medicine DC 15: Within the first few hours after ‘implantation, anilithid tadpole can be killed with any magic that cures disease, though the corpse must stil be removed surgically or it will decay within the host's merged fully with the host, however, the creature is lost beyond the reach of magic or met Nature DC 15: During the week-long process of ceremorphosis, burgeoning ilthids and ceremorphs are -oordinated to the point of helplessness.GNOME CEREMORPH ‘Small aberration gronme), neutral good ‘Armor Class 16 (Breastplate) Hit Points 99 (1848 + 18) Speed 25 ft, fly 5 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 6 (-2) 14 (42) 12 (41) 19 (44) 17 (43) 17 (43) Saving Throws INT +7, WIS +6, CHA +6 Skills Arcana +7, Deception +6, Insight +6, Perception +6, Persuasion +6, Stealth +5 Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 16 Languages Common, Deep Speech, Gnomish, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Misfit Host The ceremorph retains its previous selfs alignment and dim fragments of its memories. These memories clarify for the next hour fit fail an Intelligence or Wisdom saving throw. Frantic Cranker.\f the ceremorph uses its Action to recharge its laser pistol, it may Dodge as a Bonus Action this ture Magic Resistance. The ceremorph has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Actions ‘Mutiattack The ceremorph makes two attacks with its laser pistol. Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 fe one creature, Hit 15 (2410 + 4) psychic lamage. Laser Pistol (2 Shots/Charge). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 40/120 ft, one creature, Hit: 16 (446 + 2) radiant damage and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence saving throw or be Stunned until the end of the ceremorph's next turn, Ona roll of 1, the pistol explodes, dealing 7 (246) radiant damage to the ceremorph. Extract Brain, Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the ceremorph. Hit: The target takes 55 (10410) piercing damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the mind flayer begins to extract and devour the target's brain. At the beginning of the ceremorph's next turn, the target dies and the ceremorph gains 40 temporary hit points Recharge. The ceremorph furiously rotates a hand cranked charger, recharging its laser pistol. GNoME CEREMORPH LORE Arcana DC 15: Perhaps due to the natural resistance to ‘magic that gnomes possess, ceremorphosis inevitably fails to take full effect, leaving vestiges ofthe gnome’s original personality and memories intact. Arcana DC 20: Certain mind.affecting magies have been known to clarify and restore the memories of gnome cceremorphs, though only temporarily. History DC 15: Gnome ceremorphs are often ‘unceremoniously abandoned by mind flayer cabals, apparently unworthy or unsuitable for exple resorption into the Elder Brain, Nature DC 10: Due to the incomplete dissolution of their ‘oral cavity, gnome ceremorphis retain the ability o speak aloud, though they do so with what has been described as a "gooey" affect. Nature DC 15: Gnome ceremorphs occasionally are known to die from malnutrition, too ethically conflicted to effectively hhunt the humanoid prey they need to survive. ee ‘My man looks like his gun shoots mustard, eS _—_MozcGRIKEN ‘Medium aberration (svirfheblin), true neutral ‘Armor Class 12 Hit Points 78 (1248 + 24) Speed 20 ft STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (42) 14 (42) 14 (42) 12 (41) 1040) 9-1) Skils Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +4 Senses Darkvision 120 ft (penetrates magical darkness), Passive Perception 10 Languages Gromish, Undercommon, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 1 (200 XP) ‘Shapechanger. As a bonus action, the mozgriken an polymorph into any Small beast or transform one ofits limbs into a natural weapon. Ifit does, the mozgriken takes 5 (1410) necrotic damage. This altered form lasts for one minute, or until the mozgriken dies Psychic Eavesdropper. The mozgriken can hear the surface thoughts of creatures within 30 ft. of it, and is aware of what they see. ‘Shadow Stealth Wile in Dim Light or Darkness, the rmozgriken can take the Hide action as a Bonus Aetion. Magic Resistance. The mozgriken has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, Actions ‘Natural Weapon (Only when Shapechanged). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 6 (18 + 2) bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (mozgriken's choice) plus 5 (1410) psychic damage. Brain Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one unconscious target. Hit: The target's intelligence score is reduced by 1 until it completes a Short or Long Rest, to a minimum of 6.A sleeping target then makes aDC 14 Perception check at disadvantage, waking on a Reactions ‘Cower. When the mozgriken is targeted with a melee attack, it can force the attacker to succeed on aDC 12 Wisdom saving throw or deal half as much damage with attacks made against the ‘mozgriken this tur. Mozeriken LorE Arcana DC 15: The three tentacles of the mozgriken are ‘composed partially of seething shadow magic, keeping them. ina state of ambiguous corporeality that allows them to reach into complex mechanisms and through armor. Arcana DC 20: The shadow magie infused in the moggriken's creation allows ita limited form of shapeshifting, though doing so seems to be distressing or painful for them, Nature DC 10: Lacking a mouth, mozgriken seem incapable ‘of devouring brains as an ordinary ceremorph would. It has been speculated that they subsist on brains liquefied for them by their ilithid masters, o on small amounts of cerebrospinal fluid harvested from ilithid captives Nature DC 15: Ordinarily the implantation of an ilithid tadpole ina svirfneblin gnome results in the death of both the host and the tadpole, but some illithid hives seem to have found a method to channel raw Shadowsfell energy into the process to procluce the mozgriken, though such creations are ‘tll widely considered a failed result.—— TZAKANDI Medium aberration (lizardfolk), neutral ‘Armor Class 15 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 97 (1348 + 39) Speed 30 ft, swim 30 fe STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (42) 13 (41) 17 (43) 14 (42) 16 (43) 15 (42) Saving Throws INT-+4, WIS+5, CHA +4 Skills Perception +3, Stealth «4, Survival +5 Senses Passive Perception 13 Languages Common, Draconic, Telepathy 60 ft Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) old Blooded if the tzakandi takes cold damage, it cannot make more than one attack on its next turn. ‘Magic Resistance. The tzakandi has advantage on Saving throws against sels and other magia Actions ‘Multiattack The tzakandi makes three attacks, one of which may be with its tentacles. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 9 (246 + 2) piercing damage Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 fe, one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) psychic damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 14), Hooked Pike Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target. Hit: 7 (1410 + 2) slashing. damage. Ifthe target is mounted, it must succeed on aDC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be dragged from its mount and take an additional 3 (146) bludgeoning damage. Extract Brain, Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the trakandi. Hit: The target takes 33 (6410) piercing damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the tzakandi begins to extract and devour the target's brain. At the beginning of the tzakandi's next tur, the target dies and the tzakandi gains 20 temporary hit points. Haywire Spit (Recharge 5-6) The tzakandi spits 2 globule of psychoactive acid. One creature within 30 ft. must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 14 (446) acid damage and be Stunned until the end of the tzakandi's next turn. Reactions Telekinetic Outburst When the tzakandi is reduced below 49 hit points, it can lashe out telekinetically, forcing each creature within 20 feet to succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone, —— ‘TZAKANDI LORE History DC 15: Trakandi, lacking the telepathic capacity of their illthid counterparts, cannot easily maintain a constant connection to an Elder Brain to ensure their loyalty. Rathes, they imprint on the first Ilithid they see, developing a bond of ‘unshakeable loyalty and following the commands that ilithid relays from the Elder Brain, History DC 20 When a tzakandi's bonded illthid dies, the tzakandi often soon follows it. Teakandi that do not are known to attach themselves to other ilithids, or even non illthid creatures in a similar fashion. Nature DC 10: Tzakandi are formed from lizarafolk. ‘subjected to ceremorphosis, leading some to believe that the ilthid insistence that the process is only possible with mammals to aesthetic preference, rather than anything biological Nature DC 15: Tzakandi display a wide range of outcomes, from the ceremorphosis process, some growing two long tendrils from the back oftheir heads, athers displaying the ‘more traditional ilithid arrangement of four tendrils spilling ‘out from where the mouth would once have been, Nature DC 20: Tzakandi are formed from tadpoles that display unusual aggression or attachment, traits usually considered unbecoming of an illithid that would ordinarily relegate those tadpoles to be resorbed by the elder brain. Religion DC 15: Unlike most illithid-kin, tzakandi are prone 10 bouts of religious fervor. Mind flayers periodically find the need to stamp out tzakandi cults on general principle, despite the fact that their object of worship is the elder brain, more often than not.UcxuuLon LorE Arcana DC 15: Uchuulon, lke their chuul relatives, have ‘weak latent psionic powers. When distressed, they release an ‘uncontrolled burst of psychic energy that is particularly ‘unpleasant for psychically sensitive creatures, History DC 15: Uchwulons can innately sense magie. Those attempting to avoid their notice are advised to leave their ‘magic items behind or otherwise mask their presence, History DC 20: Uchwulons are the result of incomplete ceremorphosis, tadpoles implanted in mature chu! and lulled by its natural defenses before the process is comple ‘Nature DC 10: Uchuulon produce a thick mucus that cove their shells, imbued with a powerful paralytic that helps the slower chuuls subdue prey ‘Nature DC 15: The translucent shells of chuulon are much, softer and more flexible than that of the common chuul Ifa bright light is held up to them, the individual ganglia that form up the uchuulon's nervous system can be seen spreading beneath the surface. UcHUULON Large aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 97 (13410 + 26) Speed 20 ft, swim 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 (#3) 10 (40) 15 (+2) 961) 1140) 5(3) Skils Athletics +5, Perception +4 Damage Immunities Poison Condition immunities Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 14 Languages Deep Speech Challenge 3 (700 XP) ‘Amphibious. The uchuulon can breathe air and water Sense Magic. The uchuulon senses magic within 120 feet of it. It can't be surprised by creatures carrying magic items, Translucent Shell. While the uchuulon is illuminated in bright light, attacks made against the uchuulon score a critical hit on an 18-20. Paralytic Mucous. A creature that hits the uchuulon with a melee attack must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or have its movement speed reduced by 10 ft for the next minute A creature that has its movement speed reduced to O in this way is Paralyzed for the next minute, Actions Muttiatack The chuul makes two melee attacks, one of which it may replace with a use of its Tentacles. Seizer Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 fe, one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape OC 13) and dragged up to 5 feet towards the uchuulon, The uchuulon can grapple only a single target at atime. Crusher Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach TO ft, one target. Hit: 13 (346 + 3) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on attack rolls that use Strength until it completes a short or long rest. Tentacles. One creature grappled by the chuul must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. While Poisoned inthis way, the target has its movernent speed reduced by 10 and repeats the saving throw at the end of each ofits turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Reactions ‘Slippery Deflection When the uchuulon is hit with melee attack that deals piercing or slashing damage, it can halve the attack's damage. Psychic Static (1/Day). When the uchuulon is reduced below 49 hit points, it can force each creature within 10 feet of it to succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence saving throw or take 11 (2410) psychic damage. A creature with telepathy makes this saving throw at disadvantage.Uropuion LorE History DC 20: Despite being of near equal intelligence and capability as their true Ilithid kin, urophions are treated as little better than thralls in lithid society relegated to guarding litle-traveled passages. Nature DC 15: The ceremorphosis process converts the stony skin ofthe roper into something thinner, denser, and ‘more flexible, allowing the urophion a greater range of movement. It also appears to act as a mild psychic ddampener, diminishing the urophions innate telepathic abilities while also providing ita layer of protection against psychic assaults. Nature DC 20: Because of their natural psychic resistance, urophions maintain only a tenuous connection to their controlling Elder Brain, often leading to garbled or misunderstood ‘commands UROPHION Large aberration, lawful evil ‘Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 161 (19d10+ 57) Speed 20 ft, climb 20 fe STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 13 (+1) 16 (+3) 17 (43) 16 (+3) 15 (42) Skills Perception +6, Stealth +5 Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 16 Damage Resistances Lightning, Psychic Languages Common, Deep Speech, Undercommon, Telepathy 5 ft Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) False Appearance. While the urophion remains ‘motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal cave formation, such as a stalagmnite ing Tendris. The urophion can have up to six tendrils at a time. Each tendril can be attacked (AC 20; 10 hit points; immunity to poison and psychic damage). Destroying a tendril deals no damage to the Urophion, which can extrude a replacement tendril on its next turn. A tendril can also be broken as an action with a successful DC 15 Strength check Spider Climb. The urophion can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check Voice of Many Mouths. The urophion's mouth is incapable of speech. When it speaks, it does so through the mouths of each creature it has grappled. Actions ‘Mutattack The urophion makes six stupefying tendril attacks, up to one of which it may replace with its Bite, Reel, or Extract Brain. Bite, Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) piercing damage. This attack is made with advantage against a grappled creature. On a ctitical hit, the target is Stunned until the end of the Urophion's next turn, ‘Stupefying Tendril Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 50 fe, one creature. Hit: The target is grappled (escape DC'15). A creature that starts its turn grappled by one or more tendrils has its Intelligence score reduced by 7 (2d6) until the grapple is released. A ‘creature that has its Intelligence reduced to in this ‘way is Stunned until the grapple is released. Reel The urophion pulls each creature grappled by it Up to 25 feet straight toward it. Extract Brain, Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach fe, one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the Urophion. Hit: The target takes 55 (10d10) piercing damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the urophion begins to extract and devour the target's brain, At the beginning of the urophion’s next ‘tum, the target dies and the urophion gains 40 temporary hit points. Haywire Mind Blast (Recharges when the urophion uses its Extract Brain). The urophion magically emits psychic energy in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 14 Intelligence saving throw or take 21 (448 + 3) psychic damage and subtract 146 from attack rolls and saving throws it makes for the next minute. ‘An affected creature repeats this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on aCHOKERS CHOKER LORE History DC 15: The favored tactic of a choker is to grab a creature by the throat with its barbed tentacles and drag it up a cliff face while it strangles, using its long reach to avoid reprisals. ‘Nature DC 10: The flesh of a choker is dotted with chromataphores that it can use to mimic the appearance of stone, earth, or sand, making them devilishly hard to spot ata distance. When not hunting, chokers are known to use these shifting patterns flamboyant mating displays. ‘Nature DC 15: Certain surface-dwelling chokers display a wider range of colors, able o blend in among dense foliage ‘and canopies. ‘Nature DC 20: Despite being commonly referred to as, "tentacles" the limbs of a choker actually cont six cartilaginous joints, allowing a truly unsettling range of ‘Survival DC 15: Choker nests are found in hollows high on cave walls, usually accessable only through narrow fissures. n no less than, in the rock, Such nests often are filled with shiny objects recovered from their victims, as despite their subterranean nature chokers frequently have a fixation with light and objects that produce or reflect it Cave CHOKER TACTICS Cave chokers typically attack only f they outnumber their pres, lying in wait with their camouflage until thei foes get close. Each will try to grapple a different foe and drag them apart from one another, pulling them up walls or stalagmites once separated and relying on their 10 ft. reach to protect them from melee reprisals. If possible, a choker will try to jam most ofits body into a crevasse while strangling its prey ‘gaining half or three quarters cover. Vine CHOKER TACTICS Vine chokers are often solitary creatures, and will drop down, from tree canopies onto scouts or stragglers, attempting to silence them to prevent them from alerting their allies. IF discovered, they will use their Vine Fetters on the nearest foe and try to drag their prey somewhere secluded to finish it off, ideally through a hazard that its allies will fear to follow through, such the territory of a dangerous predator or a treacherous quagmire. ENCOUNTERS OR 6 Encounter 900 XP + 6 Chokers (CR 1/2) * 1 Darkmantle (CR 1/2) * 2Piereers (CR 1/2) CR 13 Encounter 3600 XP + 1 Giant Crocodile (CR 5) + 2 Feygrove Chokers (CR 3) + 4Vine Blights (CR 1/2)CAVERN CHOKER Small aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 15 (Natural Armor) Hit ints 27 (6d6 + 6) Speed 30, climb 20 fe STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (43) 14 (42) 13 (41) 12 (+1) 14 (42) 7 (2) Skills Athletics + 7, Stealth +6 ‘Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 11 Deep Speech Gidlete 12 100%) ‘Aberrant Quickness. The choker may dash 23 a bonus action while thas a creature grappled Boneless. The choker can move through and occupy a space as narrow as 4 inches wide without squeezing. Camaaiage, The choker is invisible to creatures more than 30 feet away from it, Spider Climb, the choker can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Actions ‘Muttiattack The choker makes two barbed tentacle attacks. Barbed Tentacle Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, can't speak or breathe, and the choker can't grapple another target. Tottle. One creature grappled by the choker must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 14 (446) bludgeoning damage, lose its held breath, and begin to suffocate FrEYGROVE CHOKER Medium aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 60 (1148 + 11) Speed 30ft, climb 20 ft STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (44) 15 (42) 13 (+1) 12 (41) 14 (42) 14 (42) Skills Athletics +7, Stealth +6 Serses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 11 Languages Deep Speech Challerge 3 (700 XP) Aberrant Quickness The choker may dash as a bonus action while it has a creature grappled Boneless, The choker can move through and occupy a space as narrow as 4 inches wide without squeezing The choker is invisible to creatures more than 30 feet away from it. ‘Spicer Climb, The choker can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check Actions ‘Multiattack The choker makes two barbed tentacle attacks and uses its vine fetter. Barbed Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target. Hit: 10 (246 + 3) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15}, Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, can't speak or breathe, and the choker can't use this tentacle on another target. The choker has two tentacles, Vine Fetter. One creature within 30 ft. of the choker ‘must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be restrained (escape DC 14) in place as Vines loop around its extremeties Throttle, One creature grappled by the choker must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 21 (6d6) bludgeoning darrage, lose its held breath, and begin to suffocate. Reactions ‘Shield As a reaction to being targeted with an attack while grappling a creature, the choker adds +2 to Its AG Ifthe attack misses, the attacker makes 2 new attack roll targeting the grappled creature instead.CHUULS Cxuut Lore Arcana DC 15: Chuul are posessed of a base sort of psionic ability, which though unfocused increases in power as they age. Creatures with telepathic potential are particularly ‘vulnerable to the bursts of psychie static that a chuul exudes. when distressed. History DC 20: Chuul are often found near the edges of | ‘mind flayer septs, used for disposal of the expended husks of, consumed thralls, ‘Nature DC 10: Chuul are amphibious by nature and often take prey considerable distances from water, their paralytic tentacles rendering most small terrestrial creatures unable to resist as they are vivisected ‘Nature DC 15: Chuul eat every part oftheir prey but the brain, which is incredibly toxic to them. Some chuul have a way of inducing a sort of psychic awakening in their prey allowing them to precisely strip away skull matter while avoiding the poisonous cerebral tissue. CHUUL Large aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor), 13 while reduced Hit Points 93 (11410 + 33) Speed 30 ft, swim 30 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 10 (40) 16 (+3) 5-3) 11 (40) 5 (3) Skils Athletics +6, Perception +4 Damage Immunities Poison Condition Immunities Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 14 Languages Understands Deep Speech but can't speak Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) ‘Sense Magic. The chuul senses magic within 120 feet of it It can't be surprised by creatures carrying magic items. Brittle Shelf the chuul takes 15 or more bludgeoning damage from a single source, its AC is reduced to 13 until it completes a Short or Long Rest Actions ‘Mukiattack The chuul makes two attacks: one with its seizer claw and one with its crusher claw, then uses it tentacles, if available. Seizer Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target. Hit: 11 (246 + 4) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 14) and dragged up to 5 feet towards the chuul. The cchuul can grapple only a single target at atime. Crusher Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 14 (346 + 4) piercing damage and the target must succeed on aDC 14 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on attack rolls that use Strength until it completes 2 short or long rest. Tentacles. One creature grappled by the chuul must ‘make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature is Poisoned and attacks against it score & critical on a 15-20 until the end of the chuul's next turn, Reactions Peychic Static (1/Day) As a reaction to being reduced below 46 hit points, the chuul forces each creature within 10 ft. to succeed on aDC 13 Inteligence saving throw or take 11 (2410) psychic damage. A creature with telepathy makes this saving throw at disadvantage.CHUUL JUGGERNAUT Huge aberration, chaotic evil ‘Armor Class 19 (Natural Armor), 14 while reduced Hit Points 218 (19d12 + 95) Speed 30 ft, swim 30 f STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 23(46) 10(+0) 20(+5) 9(-1) 16 (43) 6(-2) Skills Athletics +6, Perception +4 Damage immunities Poison Condition Immunities Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Passive Perception 14 Languages Understands Deep Speech but can't speak, Telepathy 120 ft Challenge 11 (7,200 XP) ‘Huge Stature. A creature adjacent to the chuul may spend half ofits movement to attempt a DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check. On a success, the creature climbs onto the chuul, While climbing on the chuul, a creature has advantage on melee attacks against the giant, and the chuul has disadvantage on melee attacks against it Sense Magic. The chuul senses magic within 120 feet ofit It can't be surprised by creatures carrying magic items. Brittle Shell Ifthe chuul takes 20 or more bludgeoning damage from a single source, its AC is reduced to 14 Until it completes a Short or Long Rest. Psychic Awakening. A non-telepathic creature wtihin 5 ft of the chuul that takes any psychic damage must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take an additional 22 (4410) psychic damage and gain Telepathy 30 ft Actions ‘Multiattack The chuul makes three attacks: one of which may be with each of its claws, then uses its tentacles, if available. Seizer Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 fe, one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) piercing damage and the target's grappled (escape DC 18) and dragged up to 10 feet towards the chu The chuul can grapple ‘only a single target ata time Crusher Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach TO ft, one target. Hit: 24 (4d8 + 6) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on attack rolls that Use Strength until it completes a short or long res. Psychic Lure. Ranged Spell Atack: +7 to hit, reach 60 fone target Hit: 14 (2410 + 3) pyschic damage and the target is pulled 30 ft. toward the chuul- A creature climbing on the chuul must succeed on aDC 15 Strength saving throw or fal off. Tentacles. One creature grappled by the chuul must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, ‘creature is Poisoned and attacks against it score a critical on a15-20 until the end of the chuul's next tum Reactions Psychic Groan (1/Day) As a reaction to being reduced below 110 hit points, the chuul forces each creature within 20 fit to succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 33 (6410) psychic damage. A creature with telepathy makes this saving throw at disadvantage Cxvuz Tactics ‘The chuul attempts to ambush from the water's edge, Grabbing a creature with its seizer claw and using its crusher claw to try to cripple an ally (ideally one with a bludgeoning weapon) before dragging its prey into the water. Once a creature submits to the chuul's poison, the chuul focuses all ofits attacks on it while continuing to drag it away from its allies. Ifits shell is damaged, it instead tries to dash away into the water with its prey before finishing it of CHUUL JUGGERNAUT TACTICS ‘The chuul jugiernaut uses its psychic lure to pull a creature away from its allies before seizing it, It focuses its claw attacks on its chosen prey, while always trying to use its psychic lure against a creature within 5 ft. that has not yet suffered a psychic awakening. ‘The chuul immediately switches focus to removing any creature climbing on it that can deal bludgeoning daamge.