Huge Aberration, Unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 325 (50d12)
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
STR
10 (+0)
DEX
10 (+0)
CON
10 (+0)
INT
1 (-5)
WIS
1 (-5)
CHA
1 (-5)
Damage Resistances All damage but Force, Radiant, and Psychic
Damage Immunities Necrotic, Psychic
Condition Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses Blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 10
Languages --
Challenge 20 (25,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +6
Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the Harbinger fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. 

Entropic Aura. Within 300 feet of the Harbinger, probabilities break down, becoming warped beyond all recognition. In order for any creature to hit another creature, creatures must roll a number less than or equal to that creatures AC. A roll of 20 on the die is now treated as a roll of 1, and vice versa. In order for a creature to succeed on a saving throw or ability check, it must roll a number less than or equal to the roll’s DC. (Treat the Harbinger’s proficiency bonus as a proficiency minus.)

In addition, the Harbinger’s very presence causes wild fluctuations in the Weave, causing all magic to behave unpredictably. All creatures other than the Harbinger must roll a d20 whenever they cast a spell of 1st level or higher. On a 1, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic Surge table to create a magical effect. (A Wild Magic Sorcerer may roll one additional time and pick whichever result they prefer.)

Extradimensional Walker. The Harbinger is able to traverse dimensions that mortal minds cannot begin to perceive. Functionally, it is always under the effects of the blink spell, though this ability cannot be dispelled by spells such as dispel magic or blocked by an antimagic field

Necrosis Incarnate. The Harbinger is an avatar of death, weakened by effects that would restore others to life. If it is targeted by a spell that would restore hit points, it instead takes radiant damage equal to double the number of hit points the spell restores. 

Actions

Multiattack. The Harbinger uses its Scream, if available. It then makes two chaos bolt attacks, three talon attacks, or two talon attacks and one chaos bolt attack. 

Chaos Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: -6 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (2d8+10d6) damage, as if by a 9th-level chaos bolt spell. (Determine the damage type and possible new targets accordingly.) 

Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: -6 to hit, range 5 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (5d10) slashing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (2d10) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns due to an entropic wound. Each time the Harbinger hits the wounded target with this attack, the damage dealt by the wound increases by 10 (2d10). Any creature can take an action to stanch the wound with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check. The wound also closes if the target receives magical healing. 

Scream (Recharge 5–6). The Harbinger unleashes a terrible screech that threatens to shatter the minds of all who hear it. Each non-aberration creature within 120 feet that can hear the Harbinger must succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or take 55 (10d10) psychic damage and be subject to an effect from the short-term madness table for 1 minute. If that creature fails by 5 or more, it must also roll on the long-term madness table, being subject to the effect for the next 1d10 × 10 hours. A creature affected by a short-term madness effect can repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. A creature that succeeds on its initial saving throw takes half damage and suffers no other effects. Any creature that succeeds on a saving throw against this ability automatically succeeds on all further saving throws against it for the next 24 hours. A creature that cannot hear is immune to this effect. 

Time Warp (3/Day). The Harbinger causes time to fluctuate in a 30 foot radius around it. All creatures within range must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or roll a d6. On a 1-5, the creature gains the effects of the slow spell for the next minute. An affected creature may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. On a 6, the creature instead gains the effects of the haste spell until the end of its next turn. If a creature fails this saving throw by 5 or more, its age also changes by 1d4 × 10 years, growing that many years younger if it rolled a 1-5 on the d6, or that many years older if it rolled a 6. This effect cannot age a creature below 5 years old or over within 30 days of death. 

Plane Shift (1/Day). The Harbinger flees through a rip in spacetime to another plane as if by the plane shift

Bonus Actions

Teleport. The Harbinger teleports up to 30 feet away to an unoccupied space it can see. 

Reactions

Unravel. As a reaction to a creature within 60 feet of it casting a spell that targets it, the Harbinger attempts to absorb that spell’s energy to strengthen itself. That creature makes a DC 13 check with its spellcasting ability. On a failed check, the spell has no effect, and the Harbinger instead regains a number of hit points corresponding to the level of the spell cast: 1d10 for a cantrip (level 0) + 1d10 for each additional level of the spell above 0. On a successful check, the spell takes effect as though nothing happened. The Harbinger cannot use this ability with healing spells. 

Legendary Actions

The Harbinger 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 Harbinger regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. 

Talon Attack. The Harbinger makes one talon attack. (This action is unavailable if the Harbinger is not on the same plane of existence as the target.) 

Dread Whispers (Costs 2 Actions). One creature of the Harbinger’s choice that it can see within 60 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 21 (6d6) psychic damage as discordant whispers in unknowable tongues assail its mind, wracking it with terrible pain. If it fails by 5 or more, it is also stunned for 1 minute. The stunned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A creature can also spend its action to break the stunned creature out of its stupor. 

Time Warp (Costs 3 Actions). The Harbinger uses its Time Warp ability, if available. 

Description

Some scholars believe these creatures were the product of an arcane experiment gone horribly wrong. Others believe they were sent by the gods to punish the Material Plane for the transgressions of its inhabitants. But an unlucky few know the truth—that these Harbingers of the End, so they have been named, are the physical embodiments of entropy itself. And they have traveled back from the end of time seeking to unravel the Weave and devour magic altogether. 

Desecrations of Reality. Towering over twenty feet tall, a Harbinger’s form is a vague and shadowy imitation of a skeletal vulture. . . if a vulture kept twisting and shifting as it moved through dimensions no mortal mind could perceive. It has only an expanse of blank, blood-red skin where its eyes should be, and galaxies seem to swim within the gaping void of its too-wide mouth. Its scream can drive even the strongest minds to madness, and time itself trembles at its presence. But the worst thing isn’t even the Harbinger itself. . . 

It’s what follows. 

Lair and Lair Actions

Harbingers are attracted to people and places of powerful magic, seeking to devour the energies concentrated there. Its very presence begins to corrupt reality and unravel the Weave, rendering divinations unreliable and all magic unstable. The longer it spends in one place, the more distorted its surroundings become. Portals to other planes and even times can spontaneously form, and plants and animals sprout bizarre and painful mutations the deeper in you go. Damage to the Weave causes wild magic regions, which sometimes decay further into dead magic regions. Those brave (or foolish) enough to traverse the land in a Harbinger’s wake find themselves in a fierce battle to maintain their sanity. . . but entropy always wins in the end. 

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Harbinger takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Harbinger can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

  • The Harbinger opens a gateway to the dark between the stars as if by a hunger of hadar spell (save DC 15), centered around a position of its choosing. The affected region remains until initiative count 20 on the next round. 
  • All creatures within 60 feet of the Harbinger must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be teleported to a random spot not more than 30 feet away from their original positions. If this would place a creature within a space that is already occupied, whether by another creature or an object, that creature is shunted to the nearest available space, taking 1d10 force damage per 5 feet traveled. 
  • The Harbinger forces all creatures within 60 feet of it that are capable of casting spells, even cantrips, to roll a d6. A creature that has spell slots of 6th level or higher rolls twice. On a 1, that creature must roll on the Wild Magic table as raw entropy surges through the Weave, sending it unraveling beyond all control. 

Regional Effects

The region near a Harbinger becomes warped by its entropic presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:

  • Within 5 miles of the Harbinger, divinations become unreliable as conflicting realities compete for actualization. Any spell whose function is to locate or detect a particular target or provide foreknowledge has a 25% chance of providing a random result (determined in secret by the DM). This chance increases to 50% within 1 mile of the Harbinger. 
  • Within 1 mile of the Harbinger, the landscape becomes strange and distorted as the impossible becomes manifest with frightening regularity. Portals to random planes (most often Limbo or the Abyss) or even other times may spontaneously form and vanish, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Creatures from these planes of CR 1 or lower may appear alongside these portals. 
  • Any creature that spends longer than 1 hour within 1 mile of the Harbinger must succeed on a DC 10 Charisma saving throw or roll on the Madness of the Harbinger table. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to this effect for the next 24 hours, but the DC increases by 5 for each day after the first that creature spends within the area. Once a creature has gained a new flaw in this way, it rolls no more subsequent saving throws. 

If the Harbinger dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.

Madness of the Harbinger

d100 Flaw (lasts until cured)
01–20 “I find it difficult to care about anything or anyone around me. It all falls apart eventually, so why bother trying?”
21–40 “I have an obsessive need to keep order around me. The world has gone mad, but I won’t.”
41–60 “I often act recklessly, without care for my own life or others’. We’re all dying anyways. Who cares if we go sooner than most?”
61–80 “I like to sow chaos wherever I go. It’s beautiful, watching things fall apart.” 
81–00 “I am paranoid, plagued by a sense of impending doom. I don’t know when, but something is coming.” 
ImmortalArizona

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