Otherworldly Presence. If a creature starts its turn within 30 feet of the spawn and can see it, the spawn can force the creature to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw if the spawn isn't incapacitated. On a failed save, the creature acquires a short-term madness randomly determined which lasts for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the madness on a success. A creature which already has a short-term madness, is immune to psychic damage, or has succeeded on a saving throw to this spawn's Otherworldly Presence in the last 24 hours is immune.
Warp Form. The warp spawn is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Whenever the spawn starts its turn with 50 hit points or fewer, roll a d6. On a roll of 5 or 6, the spawn is incapacitated for one round as it thrashes between nightmarish forms.
Magic Resistance. The warp spawn has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack. The warp spawn uses its Mutated Beyond Reason and makes three melee attacks; one with its bite, one with its claws and one with its tentacles.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.
Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) psychic damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 15).
Mutated Beyond Reason. The warp spawn mutates and selects one of the options below.
- Deadly Mutation. The spawn moves from its speed and makes a tentacle attack.
- Eldritch Burst. Great bolts of eldritch energy are arcing out of the warp spawn. A line 60 feet long and 5 feet wide blasts out from it in a direction it chooses. Each creature in the line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 10 (3d6) lightning damage and 10 (3d6) force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
- Regeneration. The warp spawn regains 10 hit points.
Mask of Insanity. When a creature the spawn can see starts its turn within 30 feet of the aberration, the spawn can wrap its mind in psychic terror. If the creature can see the spawn, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of its turn.
Description
Warp Spawn
"We saw its approach through the darkened eaves, now crawling in the dirt, now flapping upwards, as if it could not decide if it was a snake or a sparrow. Then it came into the moonlight and we saw it true. Did we fight? I cannot say. All I recall is clotted fur and an embracing drool. The stench of cadavers and burning honey. My eyes screamed, my tongue shook, my knees spewed. It ate my friends and drank my soul. It took my mind I know not where, for it is no longer here with me"— Interview with the sole survivor of Reikwald forest patrol, incarcerated in Frederheim Sanitorium
Warped by Corruption. A warp spawn is a term to describe a whole spectrum of mutated creatures warped into being by the corrupting influence of warpstone. Some manage to stave off this doom for a time, but, for most, the fate of becoming a warp spawn lies at the end of their dark and horrible road. Warp spawn lose what little remained of their original forms, becoming a shifting mass of tentacles and eyes. A rare few retain just enough of their original forms to become truly horrific. Upon the moment of devolution, the subject is wracked with agonizing pangs as his body ripples and undulates. The pain is so great it destroys the mind, erasing nearly every memory, all emotion, and the capability of forming a coherent thought.
Miserable Existence. When a warp spawn comes shambling from its lair, it will behave in a largely unpredictable manner. The spawn will move towards the enemy and crashes flailing into them; teeth, claws, and tentacles tearing men limb from limb in a shower of blood and ruination. A warp spawn is a formidable opponent on its own, capable of slaughtering an entire group of adventurers, but the threat it poses does not reside solely on the brutal strength and flurry of attack of the creature, but in the corrupting touch that it spreads. The fate of a spawn is to die, either on the field of battle by axe or sword, torn apart in the wilds by even more savage creatures, or literally ripped asunder by the energies that continue to course through its twisted body. Mindless and utterly beyond reason, warp spawn relentlessly attack anything in their way, the blows of their enemies merely a strange relief to the endless insanity that is their miserable existence.
Herald of Change. Warp spawns are sometimes called “Herald of Change” in occult societies or cults that worship the alien entities lurking in the dimension of the Far Realm. Some eldritch rituals, involving the direct ingestion of warpstone or inhaling incent made of it, allow demented cultists to purposely turn into one of the wretched things, each mutation bringing the cultist closer to the “enlightenment” sought after. The creature carries the stench of the Far Realm wherever it goes, revolting reality by its very existence. If a warp spawn is killed, the cult fashions weapons out of its bone, carrying the essence of the being. These dreadful weapons are carried by cult leaders or cultists of high ranks and are able to transmit the warp touch disease, spreading the influence of their dark gods.
Optional: Sickening Glow
Some aberrations radiate from the sickening glow of the warpstone. Thankfully these creatures are pretty easy to identify, manifesting the same light-absorbing quality as the warpstone itself. A creature with that option has the additional trait:
- Sickening Glow. Any creature other than an aberration, a construct or an undead that starts its turn within 20 feet of the aberration or enters the affected area for the first time on a turn must succeed a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or contract the Warp Touch disease. If a creature's saving throw is successful, it is immune to the aberration's Sickening Glow for the next 24 hours.
Warp Blade
Weapon (any sword), very rare, cursed
- You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
- You can use an action to cause the blade to radiate eldritch energy, absorbing light and warping reality around it until an attack using this weapon hits a creature. That creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or contract the Warp Touch disease. The sword can't be used this way again until the next dawn.
- Curse. If the sword isn't used to infect a creature with the Warp Touch within 1 minute of being drawn from its scabbard, its wielder must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a successful save, the wielder takes 3d6 psychic damage. On a failed save, the wielder is dominated by the sword, as if by the dominate monster spell, and the sword demands that it is used to spread the Warp Touch. The spell effect ends when the sword's demand is met.
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