Fearful Presence. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the Crate Horror Hatchling and can see it must make a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the Crate Horror Hatchling's Fearful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Psychic Distraction. As a bonus action, the Crate Horror Hatchling can project minor illusions and disturbances into the minds of creatures it can see within 30 feet of it. The targeted creatures must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of their next turn. On a successful save, the creature is not frightened.
Dimensional Distortion (Recharge 5-6). The Crate Horror Hatchling can create a minor dimensional distortion in a 15-foot cone. Creatures in this area must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by the following:
- The affected creatures are disoriented, imposing the disadvantage on their next attack roll or saving throw.
- Affected creatures must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or take 2d6 psychic damage and be frightened until the end of their next turn. A successful save halves the damage and avoids the fright condition.
Swallowing Fear (Recharge 4-6). The Crate Horror Hatchling can target one frightened creature within 5 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be swallowed by the Hatchling. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the Hatchling, and it takes 2d6 psychic damage at the start of each of the Hatchling's turns. If the Hatchling takes 20 or more damage on a single turn from a creature inside it, the Hatchling must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate the swallowed creature, which falls prone in a space within 10 feet of the Hatchling. If the Hatchling dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Multiattack. The Crate Horror Hatchling makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claw.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage.
Description
The creature's face, if it can be called that, is a contorted visage of primal hunger, lined with rows of jagged, yellowed teeth stained with the remnants of countless victims. Its eyes, small and malevolent, gleam with an insatiable appetite for destruction, and they lock onto you with a predatory focus.
Serpentine tendrils, long and sinewy, writhe from its sides, each ending in a cluster of writhing tendrils that lash out with an uncanny swiftness. These appendages snake towards you, eager to ensnare and drag you into the abyssal darkness of the crate from which it emerged.
The air grows thick with an oppressive, suffocating dread, and the room itself seems to warp and distort as the creature advances. The very fabric of reality appears to crumble in its presence, leaving you to question whether this horror has been unleashed from another dimension entirely.
This is the Crate Horror, a nightmarish abomination sealed away for untold ages, now free to unleash its primal terror upon the world once more.
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