Magic Resistance. The mummy lord has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Rejuvenation. A destroyed mummy lord gains a new body in 24 hours if its heart is intact, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the mummy lord's heart.
Spellcasting. The mummy lord is a 10th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). The mummy lord has the following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): command, guiding bolt, shield of faith
2nd level (3 slots): hold person, silence, spiritual weapon
3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, dispel magic
4th level (3 slots): divination, guardian of faith
5th level (2 slots): contagion, insect plague
6th level (1 slot): harm
Multiattack. The mummy can use its Dreadful Glare and makes one attack with its rotting fist.
Rotting Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with mummy rot. The cursed target can't regain hit points, and its hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) for every 24 hours that elapse. If the curse reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and its body turns to dust. The curse lasts until removed by the remove curse spell or other magic.
Dreadful Glare. The mummy lord targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of it. If the target can see the mummy lord, it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or become frightened until the end of the mummy's next turn. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it is also paralyzed for the same duration. A target that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to the Dreadful Glare of all mummies and mummy lords for the next 24 hours.
The mummy lord 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. The mummy lord regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Attack. The mummy lord makes one attack with its rotting fist or uses its Dreadful Glare.
Blinding Dust. Blinding dust and sand swirls magically around the mummy lord. Each creature within 5 feet of the mummy lord must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Blasphemous Word (Costs 2 Actions). The mummy lord utters a blasphemous word. Each non-undead creature within 10 feet of the mummy lord that can hear the magical utterance must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of the mummy lord's next turn.
Channel Negative Energy (Costs 2 Actions). The mummy lord magically unleashes negative energy. Creatures within 60 feet of the mummy lord, including ones behind barriers and around corners, can't regain hit points until the end of the mummy lord's next turn.
Whirlwind of Sand (Costs 2 Actions). The mummy lord magically transforms into a whirlwind of sand, moves up to 60 feet, and reverts to its normal form. While in whirlwind form, the mummy lord is immune to all damage, and it can't be grappled, petrified, knocked prone, restrained, or stunned. Equipment worn or carried by the mummy lord remain in its possession.
A Mummy Lord’s Lair
A mummy lord watches over an ancient temple or tomb that is protected by lesser undead and rigged with traps. Hidden in this temple is the sarcophagus where a mummy lord keeps its greatest treasures.
A mummy lord encountered in its lair has a challenge rating of 16 (15,000 XP).
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the mummy lord takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the mummy lord can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row.
- Each undead creature in the lair can pinpoint the location of each living creature within 120 feet of it until initiative count 20 on the next round.
- Each undead in the lair has advantage on saving throws against effects that turn undead until initiative count 20 on the next round.
- Until initiative count 20 on the next round, any non-undead creature that tries to cast a spell of 4th level or lower in the mummy lord’s lair is wracked with pain. The creature can choose another action, but if it tries to cast the spell, it must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes (1d6) necrotic damage per level of the spell, and the spell has no effect and is wasted.
Regional Effects
A mummy lord’s temple or tomb is warped in any of the following ways by the creature’s dark presence:
- Food instantly molders and water instantly evaporates when brought into the lair. Other nonmagical drinks are spoiled — wine turning to vinegar, for instance.
- Divination spells cast within the lair by creatures other than the mummy lord have a 25 percent chance to provide misleading results, as determined by the DM. If a divination spell already has a chance to fail or become unreliable when cast multiple times, that chance increases by 25 percent.
- A creature that takes treasure from the lair is cursed until the treasure is returned. The cursed target has disadvantage on all saving throws. The curse lasts until removed by a remove curse spell or other magic.
If the mummy lord is destroyed, these regional effects end immediately.
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Posted Aug 22, 2019How tall is it?
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Posted Sep 1, 2019This is really up to you. If it’s a halfling mummy, small... a giant mummy huge. lol
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Posted Oct 25, 2019probably around the same height as it was in life
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Posted Oct 26, 2019How can someone make a playable (balanced) mummy lord or would that have to be entirely up to the DM
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Posted Nov 26, 2019how is one made in universe?
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Posted Jan 4, 2020Prepare the body with the same embalming process as a mummy, but take extra care in calling back the soul and binding it intact to the heart (creating a pseudo-phylactery).
Mechanically, you need to be able to cast create undead at 9th level to create even a normal mummy. The lore also places a heavy emphasis on the assistance of a dark god or other power in the afterlife (presumably to help retrieve the necessary soul). Beyond that, it is basically the realm of DM fiat.
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Posted Jan 4, 2020If you’re a player firmly determined on making a Mummy Lord in your own game, you should start looking for help from your “friends on the other side” with spells like commune or contact other plane, or just old fashioned occult manuscripts. (The [magic-items]Book of Vile Darkness[/magic-items] really comes in handy here.)
If you’re a wizard, you could use spells like Soul cage and magic jar to catch a subject’s soul as they expires. Otherwise, you’ll need to chase it down with plane shift or minions that can cross planes.
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Posted Jul 9, 2020The height it had in life. If it was a elf it’s going to be tall (I don’t care about what the PHB says, elves will always be taller than humans for me), if it’s a gnomic mummy it’s going to be small. Maybe you could look at the height of the real-world ancient Egyptians, 167 centimeters for males and 152 cm for females (5’6 and 5 feet).
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Posted Jul 9, 2020So something I would do as a dm, since very rarely would a party go ahead and cast a random divination ritual within a forbidden temple like communion or other things along those lines, I'd give Guidance a 25 percent chance of subtracting a d4 from the check. It's a divination spell that guides the player just slightly in the direction they should go. If they get guided in the wrong direction, that just might tip the balance for them
It's always good to keep in mind, thematically and mechanically, how every spell works, even the simple ones
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Posted Jul 14, 2020That’s very clever. Integrating narrative with mechanics.
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Posted Jul 14, 2020Wow some great ideas here - thanks guys! :)
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Posted Aug 29, 2020This is the in lore option for clerics to undeadhood, unlike wizards who get to be... liches... feels bad man.
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Posted Sep 23, 2020This monster doesn't show up with the "has lair" filter for me. Just thought I should bring this up.
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Posted Oct 1, 2020holy moly.
If you can capture this with command undead, you basically have won the game
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Posted Oct 1, 2020It can even control 29 skeletons of its own!
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Posted Oct 11, 2020Shouldn't it be an 11th level spellcaster? It has the 6th level slot...
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Posted Oct 19, 2020I noticed this too. It's even in the printed Monster Manual, which also has the Drow Priestess of Lolth -- another 10th-level cleric, and has no 6th-level slot.
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Posted Nov 6, 2020mommy lord
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Posted Nov 15, 2020Lich Lite
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Posted Nov 23, 2020Am I crazy thinking that the voice I hear when clicking the pronunciation assistant next to the name Mummy Lord is Mr. Matt Mercer?