Cosmic Horror: Victims who witness the scintillating, impossible colors floating in the Chromatic Miasma's unearthly haze are forced to make a DC 15 Charisma Saving Throw or have the Stunned Condition for 1d4 rounds. Once this duration has passed, or if the save is successful, the character is immune to further instances of this ability.
Astral Tunnelling (3 times/ Day) The Chromatic Miasma can use Dimension Door as per the spell
Ephemeral The Chromatic Misama can't wear or carry anything
Incorporeal Movement The Chromatic Miasma can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Astral Tendril. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., 1 target. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 5) Psychic damage plus 11 (3d6) Necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the miasma regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid slain in this way and then buried in the ground rises the following round as a Ghoul
Astral Slide As a Bonus Action, the Chromatic Miasma can use Misty Step and teleport up to 30 feet to any location of which it is aware
Description
The Chromatic Miasma is a strange entity from the Deep Astral Plane, where the accepted understanding of how the Cosmos functions begin to break down. Beyond the Outer Planes, the Miasma drifts along currents of magic.
Occasionally, the Chromatic Miasma will become trapped within a meteor or a comet that carries it into the Material Plane. Upon making landfall, the Chromatic Miasma begins to mutate and corrupt the local flora, insects and smallest animals (rodents, birds, and nonvertibrates) into sickly bloated mockeries of themselves. The longer a Chromatic Miasma remains in the area, the stronger it's corruption becomes, eventually affecting all but the most hearty of creatures. Thinking beings, slowly lose their minds, becoming little more than half-alive shambling near-corpses until their bodies waste and die. Only to rise again as undead within 24 hours.
Chromatic Miasma are seen as a floating multicolored haze with dozens of flashing motes blinking in colors that can't be described. It doesn't seem to follow the physics or geometry of the environment it's in, often drifting against the wind, or slipping between spaces without passing through the area between. Gazing at it too long disturbes one's perceptions of the Material World and risks madness.
This monster was inspired by The Color out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft
Lair and Lair Actions
The Chromatic Miasma will seep into any location that shelters it from the open sky, caves, abandoned buildings, ancient hollowed tree trunks, sinkholes, etc.. Once it has settled, the Chromatic Miasma's corruption will begin to spread among all living things in it's area
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Chromatic Miasma takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Chromatic Miasma can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Fascinate The Chromatic Miasma's form shifts and flashes. Everyone who sees the display within 30 feet of the creature must make a DC15 Wisdom Save or suffer the effect of a Hypnotic Pattern Spell
- Befuddle The Chromatic Miasma can issue a wave of psychic chaos in a 60 foot cone. Characters caught in the effect must make a DC15 Intelligence Save or reduce their Intelligence Score by 1d6 points. Victims can recover the damage following a short or long rest. Characters reduced to an intelligence score of zero raise the next round as zombies
- Drain Willpower The Chromatic Miasma issues a wave of psychic chaos in a 60 foot cone. Characters caught in the effect must make a DC15 Wisdom Save or reduce their Wisdom Score by 1d6 points. Victims can recover the damage following a short or long rest. Characters reduced to a wisdom score of zero raise the next round as zombies
- Cosmic Insignificance The Chromatic Miasma issues a wave of psychic chaos in a 60 foot cone. Characters caught in the effect must make a DC15 Charisma Save or reduce their Charisma Score by 1d6 points. Victims can recover the damage following a short or long rest. Characters reduced to a charisma score of zero raise the next round as zombies.
Regional Effects
The region containing a Chromatic Miasma's lair is mutated and corrupted, which creates the following effects:
- Flora and Fauna take on a sickly hue. Animals become aggressive and attack visitors on sight.
- Insects and arachnids grow to "Giant" size and become aggressive, attacking visitors on sight (use the stat block for Giant Ant, Giant Spider Giant Wasp... etc).
- Food and water collected from the area are unwholesome. Consuming them (without using magic like Purify Food and Drink) will force the character to make a DC15 Constitution Check or become Poisoned for 1d6 days
If the Chromatic Miasma dies, these effects fade over the course of 2d6 days.
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