Legendary Resistance (4/Day). If Zarus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Rejuvenation. If he has a phylactery, when Zarus is destroyed he gains a new body in 1d10 days, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery.
Spellcasting. Zarus is an 20th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 20, +15 to hit with spell attacks). Zarus has the following wizard and cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost, fire bolt, toll the dead, chill touch, thaumaturgy, spare the dying
1st level (at will): detect magic, magic missile, shield, thunderwave, chromatic orb (necrotic damage only), identify, ceremony, command, detect evil and good, cure wounds, inflict wounds, protection from evil and good, sanctuary
2nd level (at will): acid arrow, detect thoughts, invisibility, mirror image, crown of madness, darkness, hold person, lesser restoration, silence, zone of truth
3rd level (7 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, fireball, bestow curse, enemies abound, fly, incite greed, life transference, remove curse, speak with dead, summon undead, vampiric touch, create food and water, magic circle, revivify, spirit guardians
4th level (6 slots): blight, dimension door, banishment, charm monster, Evard's black tentacles, locate creature, phantasmal killer, Mordenkainen's faithful hound, Mordenkainen's private sanctum, sickening radiance, death ward, diviniation
5th level (5 slots): cloudkill, scrying, creation, danse macabre, dominate person, geas, hold monster, immolation, legend lore, modify memory, negative energy flood, planar binding, contagion, dispel evil and good, insect plague, raise dead, flame strike
6th level (4 slot): disintegrate, globe of invulnerability, create undead, disintegrate, eyebite, flesh to stone, guards and wards, soul cage, forbiddance, find the path, harm, heal, hero's feast
7th level (3 slot): finger of death, plane shift, Mordenkainen's sword, power word: pain, teleport, etherealness, fire storm, regenerate, resurrection, symbol
8th level (2 slot): dominate monster, power word stun, Abi-Dalzim's horrid wilting, antimagic field, demiplane, feeblemind, illusory dragon, maddening darkness, mighty fortress, antimagic field, control weather, earthquake
9th level (1 slot): power word kill, true resurrection, astral projection, imprisonment, invulnerability, time ravage, weird, gate, mass heal, power word: heal
Turn Immunity. Zarus is immune to any effect that turns undead.
Limited Magic Immunity. Zarus can't be affected or detected by spells of 6th level or lower unless he wishes to be, unless the spell deals radiant damage. He has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.
Master of Necromancy. Zarus can cast animate dead at will without using a spell slot. Any undead that Zarus summons are under his control indefinetly, and there is no limit to how many he can summon. In addition, whenever a humanoid within 60 feet of Zarus dies, their corpse is automatically subject to the animate dead spell. Any undead under Zarus's control cannot be controlled with the Command Undead feature from the School of Necromancy wizard subclass. Zarus is also immune to the Command Undead feature. Zarus automatically gains control over any undead with intelligence score lower than 5 within 120 ft of him. Undead with an intelligence score higher than 5 must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be controlled by Zarus. Undead under Zarus's control are NPCs controlled by the DM that are act as Zarus's allies. Zarus also does not require material components to cast necromancy spells.
Lair Magic. While in his lair, Zarus does not require somatic or verbal components to cast spells, and possesses a spellcasting focus and all material components with prices for his spells.
Magic Weapons. Zarus's weapon attacks are magical.
Magic Armor. Zarus's armor is magical. While wearing his armor, Zarus has a +3 bonus to armor class, and is resistant to all nonmagical damage except radiant.
Aura of Fear. On Zarus's turn, he can force each creature within 120 feet of him to make a DC 20 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the creature is frightened for one minute and they take 1d20 psychic damage. They must also repeat this saving throw on Zarus's next turn. If a creature succeeds on this saving throw, they are immune to this feature for 24 hours.
Release Power. When Zarus's phylactery is destroyed, the necromantic energy stored within it is released. All creatures within 100 ft of the phylactery must succeed on a DC 25 saving throw or take 20d20 necrotic damage.
All-Seer. Zarus can see all events that occur anywhere in his lair. Zarus has darkvision and truesight while perceiving events in this way.
Undead Legion. Zarus summons undead creatures whose combined average hit points don't exceed 1000. These undead rise from the ground or materialize in any unoccupied space. They obey his commands until they are destroyed or he dismisses them.
Paralyzing Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Vorpal Sword (Longsword). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 8) slashing damage, or 10 (1d10 + 8) slashing damage if used with two hands, plus 10 (1d20) necrotic damage. When Zarus attacks a creature that has at least one head with this weapon and rolls a 20 on the attack roll, he cuts off one of the creature's heads. The creature dies if it can't survive without the lost head. A creature is immune to this effect if it is immune to slashing damage, doesn't have or need a head, has legendary actions, or the GM decides that the creature is too big for its head to be cut off with this weapon. Such a creature instead takes an extra 6d8 slashing damage from the hit.
Parry. Zarus adds 5 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, Zarus must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
Zarus can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Zarus regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Cantrip. Zarus casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch (Costs 2 Actions). Zarus uses its Paralyzing Touch.
Disrupt Life (Costs 3 Actions). Each non-undead creature within 20 feet of Zarus must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw against this magic, taking 21(6d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Aura of Fear. Zarus uses his Aura of Fear
Description
In a time long since past, there was a prosperous kingdom. The kingdom was surrounded by their allies, guarded on all sides. Trade was easy and plentiful, and the people were wealthy and comfortable. However, being protected by allies, they had no army of their own, nor experienced warriors, save for the Royal Guard. Fortunately, there was no need for an army when the kingdom's allies protected them fiercely. In the end, however, their allies could not defend them from a threat that came from below. On one terrible night, an army of drow emerged from the Underdark. They laid waste to the kingdom, enslaving the people and burning their homes to the ground. The king and the Royal Guard were just barely able to escape from the palace. They took refuge in an old cave. There, they were trapped, unable to leave without being spotted by drow. They knew that they did not have the numbers to fight their way out of the kingdom, and sneaking past the drow was impossible. The king, desperate to escape and recruit outside help to take back the kingdom and rescue his subjects, turned to necromancy in order to create an army of the skeletons and zombies. However, he could not create enough of the undead to make any difference. The king's desperation turned into an obsession, then a mania. In his mind, he had to create an army to fix what had occurred, and to stop anything like it from happening ever again. After several weeks spent trapped in the cave, an mysterious old man arrived. He claimed that he could grant the king a gift that would help him to amass his army. The king promised the stranger that he would give him all the riches in his possession in exchange for this gift, but the old man merely claimed that no payment was necessary. As it turned out, the man was a powerful archmage, who, along with many other magical secrets, had discovered a ritual that would turn a human necromancer into a lich, and grant them additional necromantic powers in the process. The king agreed immediately, and so the old man taught him how to perform the ritual, with the stipulation that the king was not allowed to teach the ritual to anyone else. When the ritual was complete, the old man departed. One week later, the drow were horrified to witness a massive undead army emerging from a cave, with a lich in the lead. They mounted a desperate resistance, but the tables had turned. The drow were routed, but the king's legion did not stop merely chasing them back to the Underdark. The undead pursued the drow to their city, where they slaughtered every drow they found and freed their slaves. The legion then retreated back to the cave, leaving the confused, scared, and relieved people to rebuild the kingdom. Meanwhile, the king wished to rejoin his people, but he realized that it would not be right to become a king who would never grow old or die. Change is the nature of things after all. He asked his guards to leave and rejoin the living, but not before granting them magic weapons and armor in order to defend their countrymen from future invasions. The king, on the other hand, remained in the cave, hollowing it out into a vast underground fortress, and eventually sealing it off from the outside world so that he could continue his work in solitude. For as he had become a lich, he had seen visions of other realms in the multiverse. The legions of modrons. The mercenary companies of yugoloths. The endless hordes of the Abyss. He swore that his army would someday be the single most powerful military force in the multiverse. As centuries passed, the world he once knew faded, along with his former kingdom. Regardless, he continued to build his army, no longer knowing why, only knowing (or perhaps hoping) that someday, it would be needed.
And so the Necromancer King Zarus was born.
Lair and Lair Actions
Zarus's Lair
Zaru's lair is the ultimate stronghold meant to resist any invasion. While his lair was originally just a cave, he quickly carved it out into a vast underground fortress. However, it quickly became clear that he did not have enough room to shelter his massive army. He made the decision to move his stronghold to a demiplane of his own creation, where the stronghold was further developed. The fortress is only a small part of this demiplane, however, since most of his realm consists of a flat, barren, rocky wasteland, where his troops mill about mindlessly. Any sentient members of his army, such as liches and death knights, reside in the fortress, or in one of the many outposts that dot the desolate landscape. No creature can enter the demiplane without Zarus's permission, and any who are permitted to enter arrive at any point of his choosing. Once a creature has entered his realm, they cannot leave unless he allows them to.
Zaru's fortress is the pinnacle of military architecture, with siege defenses, impenetrable walls, and enough supplies to last for centuries. Countless magic items are stored in the fortress as well, many created by him personally, using knowledge that has long been forgotten. He often arms his minions with these items, meaning that even the lowliest skeleton in his army may possess deadly power.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the lich can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; the lich can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Zarus rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If he has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
- Zarus targets one creature he can see within 30 feet of him. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers Zarus to the target. Whenever Zarus takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, Zarus takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until Zarus or the target is no longer in the Zarus’s lair.
- Zarus calls forth the spirits of creatures that died in his lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that Zarus can see within 60 feet of him. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
- Zarus teleports to a location anywhere within his lair.
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