Shapechanger. The slaad can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid, or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.
Innate Spellcasting. The slaad’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16, +9 to hit with spell attacks). The slaad can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: detect magic, detect thoughts, invisibility (self only), mage hand, major image
2/day each: fear, fireball, fly, blight, danse macabre
1/day each: plane shift, finger of death, circle of death
Magic Resistance. The slaad has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The slaad’s weapon attacks are magical.
Regeneration. The slaad regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point.
Multiattack. The slaad makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite (Slaad Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d10 + 6) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.
Claws (Slaad Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d10 + 6) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.
Breath of Pestilence (Recharge 5-6). The slaad spews thick, deadly black gas that pools at the ground in a 20-foot radius circle. The excluding itself, each creature in the area must succeed a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 8d10 necrotic damage, taking half on a successful saving throw.
The black slaad 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 slaad regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The slaad makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Claw Attack. The slaad makes a claw attack.
Croaking Belch (Costs 2 Actions). The black slaad's neck enlarges and makes a noise of a half-croak/half-burp, releasing a toxic gas that surrounds a target creature. The target creature must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 18 (3d8+4) cold damage.
Description
After a century of killing, crossing realms, copulating, and killing some more, white slaadi transform into black slaadi, the most powerful of the common slaadi, excluding the slaad lords themselves. Death slaadi are often referred to as avatars of death, black slaadi are true angels of destruction, and while they are the same color as death slaadi, they are enveloped in shadow and refer to themselves as being of every color.
While white slaad are obsessed with seeding disruption where it will have the maximum effect, black slaad aren't as picky. While death has a natural order to things, the black slaad feeds off of death, and creates chaos from it, therefore looks for things to kill and consume. Lesser slaadi often gather to worship black slaadi, finding things to offer to it as sacrifice, or join in its hunts to "participate" in whatever escapades it finds itself in.
The Spawning Stone. Long ago, Primus, overlord of the modrons, created a gigantic, geometrically complex stone imbued with the power of law. He then cast it adrift in Limbo, believing that the stone would bring order to the chaos of that plane and halt the spread of chaos to other planes. As the stone’s power grew, it became possible for creatures with ordered minds, such as modrons and githzerai, to create enclaves in Limbo. However, Primus’s creation had an unforeseen side effect: the chaotic energy absorbed by the stone spawned the horrors that came to be known as slaadi. Sages refer to Primus’s massive creation as the Spawning Stone for this reason.
The slaadi wiped out every last modron enclave in Limbo. As creatures of utter chaos, slaadi loathe modrons and attack them on sight. Nonetheless, Primus stands by his creation and either doesn’t perceive the slaadi as threats or chooses to ignore them.
Birth and Transformation. Slaadi have horrific cycles of reproduction. Slaadi reproduce either by implanting humanoid hosts with eggs or by infecting them with a transformative disease called chaos phage. Each color of slaad reproduces or transforms in a different way, with red slaadi spawning blue and green slaadi, and blue slaadi spawning red and green. Each green slaad undergoes a lifelong cycle of transformation into the more powerful gray and death slaadi. With each transformation, the slaad retains its memories.
Shapechangers. Some slaadi can transform into the humanoid creatures from which they were originally spawned. These slaadi return to the Material Plane to sow discord in the guise of their former selves.
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