Huge Aberration, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 16 Natural armor
Hit Points 210 (20d10 + 100)
Speed 5 ft.
STR
20 (+5)
DEX
10 (+0)
CON
20 (+5)
INT
21 (+5)
WIS
19 (+4)
CHA
24 (+7)
Saving Throws INT +10, WIS +9, CHA +12
Skills Arcana +10, Deception +12, Insight +14, Persuasion +12
Condition Immunities Charmed, Grappled, Incapacitated, Prone, Restrained
Senses Blindsight 120 ft., Tremorsense 120 ft., Passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Deep Speech --
Challenge 14 (11,500 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +5
Traits

Innate Spellcasting. The false hydra's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC18). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: detect thoughts

3/day: dominate person

Legendary Resistance (3/day). If the false hydra fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Multiple Heads. The false hydra gains an additional action per turn equal to the number of heads it has (4). It does not gain additional move and bonus actions. If the false hydra takes 50 points of damage in one turn, it looses a head.

Actions

Multiattack. The false hydra makes one attack per head.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 30 ft., one creature. Hit: 20 (4d8+2) piercing damage. If the target is Huge or smaller it is grappled (escape DC 15) and take 9 (1d8) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of its turns. The false hydra can grapple one creature per head at a time.

Engulf. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, one creature. The false hydra swallows a Huge or smaller creature that it has currently grappled. The swallowed creature is blinded, restrained and unable to breathe and must make a DC25 Constitution saving throw at the start of the false hydras turn or take 10 (1d8+5) bludgeoning damage.

Dreadful Scream (Recharge 5–6). The false hydra let's out a vicious scream. Creatures within 60 feet of the head that screams must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or take 32 (5d10+5) psychic damage and be stunned until the end of the hydra's next turn.

Mindsong. The false hydra sings a harrowing and discordant melody which can be heard by anyone within 5 miles. If a head is singing it cannot make an attack. Creatures that are not hostile to the hydra are unable to perceive it whilst at least one of the heads is singing.  

If a creature is hostile to the hydra, it must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw. On failure, they are unable to perceive the hydra and forget about it. This effect remains until they are attacked by the false hydra, the head stops singing or something prevents them from hearing the song.

Legendary Actions

The false hydra can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. It can take only one legendary action at a time, and only at the end of another creature's turn. The false hydra regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Bite. The false hydra makes a bite attack.

Shriek. The false hydra targets creatures within range of one of its heads and blasts it with a cone of piercing noise. Creatures within a 10 foot cone take 12 (4d6) psychic damage.

Harrowing Scream. (requires 2 actions) All of the false hydras heads unleash a scream of fury, pain and sorrow. All creatures the heads can see within 60 ft. must make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or become frightened and paralyzed until the end of the hydras next turn.

Description

At the adolescent stage, the false hydra is only a torso -- about four times the size of a man's -- buried somewhere in the ground.  The necks grow up, up until the heads emerge from the ground.  Each head is twice the size of a man's head at this point.  It resembles a man's head, too, but white, hairless, and with thick deformities of the brow and lips.  The eyes are wet holes.

But of course, none of this is noticed.  While it sings, it is ignored.  It just creates gaps in your attention and then slips through them.  It is subtler than invisibility, and more reliable.

As the false hydra matures, it grows more heads.  The process accelerates exponentially.  More blood on the cobblestones.  More incongruities festering in heads like gangrenous limbs.

The false hydra gets careless.  With every meal, it becomes more powerful, more able to smother mankind.  It doesn't need to be careful anymore.

The heads stretch up higher.  Their gracile necks sway above the rooftops. Their heads have grown feral.  The skull bulges with masses of bone. The lower jaw juts out, low-slung, like a dagger in a fist.  Soon,  it will finish devouring this city.

But darling, my darling, there isn't enough blood in all the world to slake its thirst.

Lair and Lair Actions

Lair Actions

When fighting inside its lair, a false hydra can use lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), a false hydra can take one lair action to cause one of the following effects; the false hydra can't use the same action two rounds in a row:

  • The false hydra cases dominate monster on all PCs
  • The false hydra targets one dominated creature it can sense within 120 ft. of it. The target has a flash of inspiration and gains advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes before the end of its next turn. If the target doesn't use this benefit in that time, the inspiration is lost.
  • The party can see the lair in all its gore - blood, remains, claustrophobic walls, the darkness becomes almost suffocating. All creatures must make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or become frightened of the false hydra. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turn. If a creature under this effect fails a saving throw against the false hydra's harrowing scream they fall to 0HP and are unconscious.

Regional Effects

The city a false hydra feeds on will experience the following effect:

  • Creatures within 5 miles of the false hydra can hear its mindsong. The mindsong works as an ability. Only one head needs to be singing for its effect to be noticed.

If the false hydra dies, this effect immediately ends. The lost memory is not restored.

Habitat: Urban

Cydonija

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