Detect Life. The banshee can magically sense the presence of creatures up to 5 miles away that aren’t undead or constructs. She knows the general direction they’re in but not their exact locations.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the banshee fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Incorporeal Movement. The banshee can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object.
Multiattack. The banshee uses Horrifying Visage. It then makes one Corrupting Touch attack.
Corrupting Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage and the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the banshee's next turn. While frightened in this way, the target is paralyzed.
Horrifying Visage. Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the banshee that can see her must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the banshee is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the banshee’s Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours.
Wail (Recharge 6). The banshee releases a mournful wail, provided that she isn’t in sunlight. This wail has no effect on constructs and undead. All other creatures within 30 feet of her that can hear her must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature drops to 0 hit points. On a success, a creature takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage.
Spellcasting. The banshee casts one of the following spells using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks):
At will: Chill Touch (3d10), Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Ray of Frost (3d8)
2/day each: Arcane Lock, Charm Person, Hold Person, Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Thunderwave
1/day each: Banishment, Bestow Curse, Cloudkill, Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt, Ice Storm, Telekinesis
The banshee 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 banshee regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Corrupt. The banshee uses Corrupting Touch.
Kiss of Death (Costs 2 Actions). Melee Spell Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one frightened or incapacitated humanoid creature. Hit: The target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On failed save, the target’s hit points is reduced to 0. On a success, the creature takes 20 (5d6 + 3) necrotic damage, and its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Casts a Spell (Costs 2 Actions). The banshee uses Spellcasting.
Keening (Costs 3 Actions). The banshee uses Wail. If it isn't available, she recharges Wail.
Description
Ancient banshees were once powerful mages and often held important responsibilities or positions, such as a queen, royal advisor, or guild wizard. But their greed, jealousy, and narcissism led to their untimely demise. Vengeful and malevolent, they seek to destroy the descendants of those who wronged them.
Agatha
"The twisted visage of a long-dead elven maiden, her skin withered and stretched along her hollow face and eyes bereft of color or any spark of life."
- R. A. Salvatore, The Hafling's GemAgatha was a powerful elven wizard, often descrbed by those few who saw her and returned alive as a graceful elven figure wearing a rich gown and flowing white hair. However, her skin has shriveled and her eyes are but empty sockets.
Agathy lives in the Dessarin river region, in a grove that can be found at the end of a trail in the northwest part of the Conyberry area in Neverwinter Wood and southwest of Longsaddle.
Unlike most banshees, Agatha does not appear to be inherently evil. She avoids contact whenever possible, and has taken up the task as protector of the town of Conyberry, sometimes providing the townsfolk with food during the harsh winters and defening against humanoid raiders.
It is not impossible to seek her out for her knowledge or trading for magical items, but she has become very wary and more isolated ever since a magical item of hers, a mask that enabled the wearer to appear as a different race, was stolen by the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions. Still, Agatha is known to be a collector of spellbooks and artifacts, and may not resist a tempting offer from resourceful adventurers.
When night falls, unlucky travelers hear the faint cries of the forlorn dead. This woeful spirit is a banshee, a spiteful creature formed from the spirit of a female elf.
Banshees appear as luminous, wispy forms that vaguely recall their mortal features. A banshee’s face is wreathed in a wild tangle of hair, its body clad in wispy rags that flutter and stream around it.
Divine Wrath. Banshees are the undead remnants of elves who, blessed with great beauty, failed to use their gift to bring joy to the world. Instead, they used their beauty to corrupt and control others. Elves afflicted by the banshee’s curse experience no gladness, feeling only distress in the presence of the living. As the curse takes its toll, their minds and bodies decay until death completes their transformation into undead monsters.
Sorrow Bound. A banshee becomes forever bound to the place of its demise, unable to venture more than five miles from there. It is forced to relive every moment of its life with perfect recall, yet always refuses to accept responsibility for its doom.
Beauty Hoarders. The vanity that inspired the banshee’s cursed creation persists in undeath. These creatures covet beautiful objects: fine jewelry, paintings, statues, and other objects of art. At the same time, a banshee abhors any mirrored surface, for it can’t bear to see the horror of its own existence. A single glimpse of itself is enough to send a banshee into a rage.
Undead Nature. A banshee doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Lair and Lair Actions
An ancient banshee haunts the areaa of its death, which is usually a place that was once majestic or important, such as a castle, keep, temple, or tower, and is unable to venture more than five miles from there. She keeps all the doors in her main lair Arcane Locked.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the banshee takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the banshee can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Dreadful Presence. The banshee targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of her. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened until the end of its next turn. While Frightened in this way, it must take the Dash action and move away from the banshee by the safest available route, unless there is nowhere to move, in which case it needn't take the Dash action.
- Touch of Death. The banshee casts Chill Touch or Ray of Frost.
- Undead Servants. The banshee causes up to three corpses within the lair to rise as Skeletons, Zombies, or Specters. These Undead obey its commands.
Regional Effects
The region containing a banshee's lair is warped by the banshee's foul magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- The land within 6 miles of the lair takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since the plants grow thick and mud covers the ground.
- The distant sound of a woman's unearthly voice singing a lament can be occasionally heard within 6 miles of the lair.
- Fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of the lair.
If the banshee dies, the vegetation remains as it has grown, but the other effects fade over 1d10 days.
Comments