Magic Resistance. The amygdala has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Psionic Veil. The amygdala is invisible to all creatures within 2 miles of it. This effect can't be dispelled, circumvented, or suppressed by any conventional means or magic. Creatures that can't be charmed, are immune to psychic damage, or suffer from a form of madness are immune to this effect.
Spider Climb. The amygdala can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Unknowable. The amygdala can't be targeted by divination magic, perceived through magical scrying sensors, or detected by abilities that sense aberrations.
Multiattack. The amygdala makes three slam attacks. If the amygdala is grappling a creature, the amygdala can also use its tentacles once. It can use Iridescent Ray in place of any melee attack.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 17). The amygdala has six arms, each of which can grapple one creature.
Iridescent Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +9 to hit, range 150 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) radiant damage.
Tentacles. One creature grappled by the amygdala must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 36 (8d8) psychic damage and and acquires a short-term madness randomly determined which lasts for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the madness on itself on a success. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn't mad.
Description
Hidden Madness. Since the dawn of creation, there have been supernatural entities that defy natural order. Things so alien that they violate our comprehension and reason, driving those that seek its truth mad. Eventually that madness becomes part of the collective memory, and seeking the truth, forbidden. Amygdalae are among them, huge aberrations that hide in plain sight, immortal vestiges of an age long past, invisible to all but the mad. Their role and purpose are unknowable, as some seem to merely exist, watching uncaringly millennia pass in absolute stillness, while others poison the mind of those seeking to unveil the eldritch truth. Most lore about the amygdalae is as cryptic and dubious as one can imagine. It consists primarily of accounts of fragmented memories conveyed by insane narrators. These isolated madmen have failed to convince the world about the hidden horrors that only a handful of them can see.
Keepers of the Truth. In the rare texts mentioning them, it is said that amygdalae were spawned by the elder force Bolothamogg to be the keepers of ancient revelations and horrific secrets that should be left well alone. They creep like eldritch spiders over fanes of the Far Realm and alien planes, ensuring that nothing in the multiverse can cross to taint the true reality of the outer dimensions. Those that come too close to the hidden truth become their prey and vanish without a trace soon after, abducted into unfathomable nightmare realms. Their existence instigates primal fear in all beings, an instinctive warning that only death and madness await any further, and so places they haunt have been abandoned for as long as anyone can remember.
Dream Haunters. Amygdalae are sometimes referred as Dream Haunters , or the Twilight Ones as they invade the nightmares of those that have caught their attention. This harrowing experiment is a torrential delirium of psionic violence where the self is shattered and reformed, often resulting in lasting dementia or mental illness. Those that withstand it are offered insight into the hidden truth, but this knowledge is miasmic, a spiraling descent into madness. Few can suffer this ordeal for long and most quickly perish within a few days. The others suffer a fate far worse, as alien thoughts writhes feverishly through their mind, physical change overtakes their form, warping their head into an overgrown bulbous mass, filled by an eye-covered brain. This is the aberrant birth of a lodestar, a cosmic shepherd.
Our eyes are yet to open
Amygdalae hardly ever react to contact attempt, but this has not stopped mortals aware of their presence to worship them. Eldritch cults often take to venerate amygdalae, craving communion and guidance from superior beings. Those able to see them are considered chosen, a sign that one has been initiated on the path to transcendence beyond mortality and into the deeper mysteries. Naturally these cults attract mostly raving lunatics that feed into the collective delusion. Ultimately, humanity is seldomly acknowledged by such creatures and merely gravitate around them like buzzing flies, unable to gain entry to the supernal world and merely attempting to satisfy its fantasy of relevance in the cosmic order.
This absolute nightmare appears in Bloodborne and can be found in the Book of Beautiful Horrors. The art credit goes to Daniel Pilla, so go check them out.
Lair and Lair Actions
An amygdala makes its lair in various places of eldritch significance, places of madness and hidden truth. These lairs are shaped by and for creatures obeying to different laws of physics and will present a challenge on their own.
Regional Effect
The region within 2 miles of an amygdala is altered by the aberration's psionic presence, creating the following effects:
Any creature that finishes a long rest in this region must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. Creatures that don’t sleep, such as elves, automatically succeed on the saving throw. On a failed save, a hidden cosmic presence inspires terrible nightmares that last the duration of the target’s sleep and prevent the target from gaining any benefit from rest. In addition, when the target wakes up, its Wisdom score is reduced by 1d6. The target dies if this reduces its Wisdom to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest.
After a creature encounters an amygdala within the region for the first time, it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. A creature that fails the saving throw remembers nothing from the encounter. On a successful save, the creature's memories remain intact. Any spell that can end a curse can restore the creature's lost memories.
If the amygdala dies, these effects end immediately.
Comments