Icewalker. The Balestrider can move across and climb icy surfaces without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, difficult terrain composed of ice or snow does not cost it extra movement.
Frost Aura. A frigid aura surrounds the Balestrider. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the Balestrider takes 10 (3d6) cold damage.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the Balestrider fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance: The Balestrider has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack: The Balestrider makes two Stomp attacks, or it uses its Chill Gaze and makes one Stomp attack.
Stomp: Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage.
Chill Gaze: The Balestrider targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of it. If the target can see the Balestrider, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. While frightened in this way, the creature is paralyzed. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the Balestrider is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Frozen Slam (Recharge 5–6): The Balestrider slams the ground with its massive limbs, causing a shockwave of jagged ice shards to erupt in a 30-foot radius. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The Balestrider can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below.
Detect: The Balestrider makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Move: The Balestrider moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Ice Shard (Costs 2 Actions): The Balestrider releases a barrage of ice shards from its body at one or two creatures it can see within 60 feet of it. The target must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Description
Balestriders, or Wanderers as they're known in the legends of Freljord, are immense and mysterious beings, akin to the ancient colossi of the far north. These gargantuan creatures possess a resemblance to giraffes in their stature, but their sheer size and arcane characteristics place them on the cusp between this realm and legend. With gleaming horns of True Ice and an eerie, blue cycloptic eye that burns with a supernatural light, they tread silently through the frozen wastelands of Freljord.
The humanoid arms adorning their bodies serve as a haunting reminder of the Balestriders' tragic past — once magnificent creatures that have been contorted and taken far beyond their natural form. These appendages, while appearing almost fur-like from a distance, are actually bristling swirling limbs, capable of considerable destruction.
According to the tales whispered in the Howling Abyss, the Balestriders were not always the silent sentinels of the tundra. They once roared across the icy plains with majesty until a dark pact with the Watchers saw them twisted into the behemoths that now move as if puppets to the whims of the Three Sisters, beings of immense power in Freljordian lore. Bound to an ancient and grim prophecy, the Balestriders roam, their eerie presence foretelling omens of dark times ahead for those who gaze upon the etchings on the bridges of the Howling Abyss.
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