Ares, Ten Thousand Pierced

Proxy of Wrath. When Ares drops to 0 hit points or dies, the creature who killed him becomes the new proxy of wrath, an immortal being who absorbs the latent sin of wrath in the world.

Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Ares fails a saving throw, He can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Ares has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Ares' weapon attacks are magical.

Mounting Fury. Ares has a pool of 'Wrath Points,' up to a maximum of 20. Whenever Ares takes damage, he gains a wrath point. He also gains an additional wrath point for every 5 damage he takes from a single source.

Ares can spend his wrath points to activate unique abilities. The amount of wrath points each ability consumes will be listed in his stat block.

Additionally, when Ares gains wrath points that would take him above 20, he radiates heat, dealing 1d4 fire damage to each creature within 30 feet of him for each wrath point he would have gained.

Dig Deep (10 Wrath Points). When Ares hits a creature with an attack, he can spend 10 wrath points to turn the attack into a critical hit.

Wrath Unleashed (Mythic Trait; Recharges after a Short or Long Rest).
If Ares is reduced to 0 hit points, he doesn't die or fall unconscious. Instead, he breaks the mask over his eyes, tears the sword embedded in his back free, regains 246 hit points, and creates an enormous blast of force.

Each creature within 30 feet of Ares must make a DC 20 strength saving throw or be pushed 40 feet directly away from him and knocked prone.

Ares' also loses his 80ft of blindsight and gains 120ft of truesight for 24 hours.

Bound to The Earth (Only after Mythic Trait activates). For 24 hours after activating Wrath Unleashed, Writhing black chains cling to the ground around Ares. When a grounded creature other than Ares moves more than 20 feet on their turn within 80 feet of Him, They must succeed a DC18 Dexterity saving throw or be tripped and knocked prone.

Multiattack. Ares can use Inspire Wrath. He then makes three attacks: two with his claws and one with his horns. If Ares has used his mythic feature within the last 24 hours, he can replace Inspire Wrath with Quake, and he can replace one of his three attacks with an attack from his sword, Hubris.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d6 + 9) slashing damage, and Ares can move up to 10 feet.

Horns. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (2d10 + 9) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) fire damage, and the target is branded until the start of Ares' Next turn. A creature who is branded has disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws.

Hubris (Only after Mythic Trait activates). Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (3d10 + 9) slashing damage and the target must make a DC 18 strength saving throw or be restrained. A creature restrained this way is encased in chains, and begins to be slowly pulled into the earth. At the beginning of Ares' turn, each restrained creature is pulled 3 feet into the ground, eventually being pulled completely below ground.

A restrained creature, or a creature within 5 feet of a restrained creature, can use their action on their turn to attempt to break the chains by making a DC18 Athletics check.

Inspire Wrath. Ares chooses a creature he can see and infuses them with blood lust. The creature must make a DC18 Wisdom saving throw or become wrath-cursed. A creature who is wrath-cursed must do the following on its turn:

• Move toward the closest other creature it can see, smell or hear. If it ends its movement and no creature is within 5 feet of it, then it must spend its action to dash toward one.
• If there is a creature within 5 feet of it and it has not used its action, it must make a melee attack against the creature, using its highest average damage weapon or attack.

A wrath-cursed creature repeats the wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

If a creature succeeds on any of these saves, the creature is immune to Ares' Inspire Wrath for the next 24 hours.

Quake (Only after Mythic Trait activates). Ares stomps the ground around him, creating a violent earthquake. Every grounded creature within 60 feet of him must make a DC 20 dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.

Brutal Sweep (5 Wrath Points). As an action, Ares can spend 5 Wrath Points to move up to 10 feet. He then slashes in a 20 foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 24 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage, is pushed 40 feet directly away from Ares. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn't pushed back.

Demon's Wake (10 Wrath Points). As an action, Ares can spend 10 wrath points to create a flaming path of destruction. Ares teleports to one point he can see within 80 feet of him, rushing forward at blinding speeds and forming a 40 foot wide line between the target point and his starting location. Each creature in the line must make a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw. on a failed save, a creature takes 70 (20d6) fire damage and is knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn't knocked prone.

Vent Rage (1-10 Wrath Points). As a bonus action, Ares can spend up to 10 Wrath Points to heal himself for 1d4 hp per wrath point spent.

Demon's Rebuke (5 Wrath Points). As a reaction to being damaged by a creature within 60 feet of him that he can see, Ares may spend 5 wrath points to use Demon's Rebuke. The attacker must make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the attacker takes 5d6 fire damage and all damage they deal until the end of their turn, including the triggering damage, is halved.

Villain Actions

Ares has three villain actions. He can take each action once during an encounter after an enemy’s turn. She can take these actions in any order but can use only one per round.

Action 1: Roiling Smoke. The area within 90 feet of Ares becomes heavily ashen and smoky until the end of his next turn. That area is heavily obscured for creatures other than Ares.

Action 2: Iron Hide. Ares skin hardens into a protective armor of blackened chains, granting him 100 temporary hit points. Until all these temporary hit points are gone, Ares' melee weapon attacks deal an additional (2d6) slashing damage.

Action 3: Ignition. Ares erupts with heat and rage. Each creature within 40 feet of him must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 18 (5d6) fire damage plus 18 (5d6) force damage. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage. Ares gains 3 Wrath Points for each creature who fails the save.