Magic Resistance. The arcanophage has advantage on saving throws against spells and spell attacks against it have disadvantage.
Magic Detection. The arcanophage can innately sense magic as if under the effects of Detect Magic, except with a range of 300 ft. This is a non-magical effect.
Multiattack. The arcanophage makes two claw or bite attacks. It can replace one attack with an Arcane Discharge.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) slashing damage.
Arcane Discharge (Recharge 6). The arcanophage exhales pure magical energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Thirst For Magic. The arcanophage grows stronger when it consumes magic. Whenever it succeeds on a saving throw against a spell or a spell attack against it misses, it can roll a number of hit die equal to the spell level (cantrips count as 1) and gain that many temporary hit points. If a spell is absorbed this way, the arcanophage may roll to recharge its Arcane Discharge.
Description
Caravans traversing the Sarapi Desert know better than to employ Wizards and Sorcerers for protection. Usually, there is no issue, but every merchant in the Desert fears one thing more than any bandit: the Arcanophage. These monstrous creatures were only first documented in the past century, despite millennia of trade in the region.
There are several varieties of Arcanophage, but each bears four legs, powerful mandibles, and an innate sense of magic. Local guides speculate that they track down magic as if by smell, and then consume the flesh of spellcasters to sustain themselves. Rumors abound in desert villages that Arcanophages can even eat a spell mid-cast. The more powerful the magic, the more energized an Arcanophage becomes. Wizards and Clerics seeking safe passage through the Sarapi Desert find themselves out of luck to all but the greediest entrepreneurs.
To combat Arcanophages and bandits alike, merchants compete over the few veterans left in the region to work as hired muscle. Families unlucky enough to have a child born with the gift of sorcery often must sell off all of their possessions to move far away, knowing that their child will never be safe in the desert. As a result, there are unusually high concentrations of spellcasters in Crest and surrounding villages.
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