back beings descent corrupted rites

Book of Vile Darkness

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

, foul rites that allow one to transform into a death knight or lich, or long-lost spells crafted by beings so evil their names ought never to be spoken aloud. Vile Speech. While the book is on your

damage unless the creature is a Fiend or an Undead. Destroying the Book. The Book of Vile Darkness allows pages to be torn from it, but any evil lore contained on those pages finds its way back into the

Incarnation of Transience

Monsters Lorwyn: First Light

condition. Success: Half damage only.The incarnations of transience represent all that is fleeting or ephemeral. Despite their apparent bulk, these incarnations are actually ephemeral beings with only a

spectral existence in material reality. Each incarnation resembles a saurian behemoth with an axolotl face, a many-frilled tail, and a hulking back covered in bright-orange pustules. In Lorwyn

Kraul Death Priest

Monsters Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

linger at the margins of the undercity but now increasingly making their buzzing voices heard in the subterranean Golgari guildhall. These six-legged, insectile beings are hard-headed and literal-minded

, with little grasp of metaphor or nuance. The death priests occupy the highest roles in kraul society. They lead the buzzing chants of the kraul rites. Their inscrutable clicks and buzzing can summon

Draconic Bloodline Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

Your innate magic comes from draconic magic that was mingled with your blood or that of your ancestors. Most often, sorcerers with this origin trace their descent back to a mighty sorcerer of ancient

Kolyarut

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

their questions have been satisfied, they report back to their creator, allowing the Kolyarut to impose accurate judgments. Kolyaruts are four-armed beings of magic and machinery. Like maruts, they

judges the needs of planar beings seeking uniquely binding terms and forges ironclad agreements. Those who break these contracts are pursued by marut;maruts (detailed in Mordenkainen Presents

Nafik

Monsters Quests from the Infinite Staircase

tomb according to tradition. There, they performed holy rites and accepted food and offerings from the outside. As time went on, Nafik grew envious of Amun Sa. “Why should the pharaoh get to

starvation loomed over Nafik and his priests. In a desperate measure, Nafik wrought a haphazard ritual on himself and his fellow priests, transforming them and himself into Undead. Heartless and corrupted

Thanoi Hunter

Monsters Monstrous Compendium Vol. 2: Dragonlance Creatures

beings who dwell in the frozen wastelands of Krynn. They sport thick, ivory tusks, which they use both to defend themselves and to poke breathing holes in sea ice as they swim. Often at odds with the

monstrous creatures that live in the frozen wastes, thanoi are adept hunters. In addition to their tusks, they use harpoons on long ropes that they can quickly reel back. Groups of thanoi hunters work

Gnoll Witherling

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

the remains back to a semblance of life in the form of a gnoll witherling. Witherlings travel with their comrades and try to kill anything in their path. They don’t eat and aren’t motivated

by hunger, leaving more flesh for the rest of the war band. Gnolls The first gnolls were hyenas transformed by magic. Many of them were then corrupted by the demon lord Yeenoghu. Whether in

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

veins making it clear that they’ve been touched by death. Other reborn are marvels of magic or science, being stitched together from disparate beings or bearing mysterious minds in manufactured

sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back. Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark

Mercane

Monsters Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

portfolios revolve around fair commerce. Standing 12 feet tall, they are lanky blue beings who dress in elegant robes and have elongated heads and long, spindly fingers. Mercanes conduct most of their

unreliable. Once a mercane has been offended by someone, getting back into their good graces is next to impossible.

Turlang

Monsters Storm King's Thunder

takes a bonus action to turn it back into an inanimate tree. The tree then takes root if possible. Spellcasting. Turlang casts one of the following spells, requiring no material spell components and

, pass without trace, speak with animals 1/day each: commune with nature (cast as 1 action), conjure woodland beings, hallucinatory terrain (cast as 1 action)A xenophobic, moss-covered treant named Turlang.Bludgeoning, PiercingFire

Jiangshi

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

that is Medium or Small 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 is absorbed or borne by the new form (the

their descendants and the communities they knew in life, sowing terror and taking retribution for the slights or neglected burial rites that led to their cursed resurrections. Rigor mortis notoriously

Equinal Guardinal

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

powerful, hocked legs carry them over great distances. These good-natured, boisterous Celestials boast their might in contests of strength and rarely back down from a challenge. Tough and courageous

supernatural virtue puts them at odds with the evil beings of the Lower Planes. Guardinals abhor wickedness and strike out against injustice and villainy without hesitation, determined to eradicate forces that threaten beauty and peace.Radiant

Hederan

races

Hederans are living embodiments of alpine trees, sentient beings of bark and leaf whose bodies host moss, holly and fungi. Their outer skin is made of thick bark that toughens with age, and beneath

its body release pollen and a single silver seed forms upon its back. The seed must be planted within a week, or it will wither away, but from it a new hederan sapling will grow. Once planted by their

Yuan-ti

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Yuan-ti were originally humans who transformed themselves into serpent folk through ancient rituals. Most yuan-ti were corrupted into monsters by those rites, but some yuan-ti instead became a new

The Abbot

Monsters Curse of Strahd

than its own, or back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the Abbot's choice). In a new form, the

corrupted. Angel in Disguise. The Abbot is a deva that has lived for millennia. He typically assumes the form of a strikingly handsome human priest in his late twenties or early thirties. More than a

Returned Sentry

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

work well together, sharing the unified goals of overcoming their foes and getting back to the task at hand. Returned have escaped the Underworld and dwell among the living once more, but their

, which manifest as separate beings known as eidolons. The experience of escaping the Underworld also causes them to lose their faces, which become expressionless surfaces with empty eye sockets and gaping

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth

flowing through their veins manifests differently in each genasi, often as magical power. Seen in silhouette, a genasi can usually pass for human. Those of earth or water descent tend to be heavier

Sorcerer Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

Golden eyes flashing, a human stretches out her hand and unleashes the dragonfire that burns in her veins. As an inferno rages around her foes, leathery wings spread from her back and she takes to

the air. Long hair whipped by a conjured wind, a half-elf spreads his arms wide and throws his head back. Lifting him momentarily off the ground, a wave of magic surges up in him, through him, and out

Young Sapphire Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

their rivals. The sonic pulse of their breath weapon sows weakness, leaving the victims unable to fight back. Luminous Blue Sapphire dragons’ scales and wing membranes show varied shades of

advantageous approach to dealing with them. Sapphire dragons watch for signs of Aberrations and other creatures corrupted by the Far Realm. They frequently ally with emerald dragons, drawing on their kin

Sapphire Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

their lairs fiercely, ambushing intruders and plotting assaults against their rivals. The sonic pulse of their breath weapon sows weakness, leaving the victims unable to fight back. Luminous Blue

, preferring to assess intruders first in order to devise the most advantageous approach to dealing with them. Sapphire dragons watch for signs of Aberrations and other creatures corrupted by the Far Realm

Verdan

Species Acquisitions Incorporated

. Reality is a descent into chaos punctuated by brief flashes of order, whence we arose and so imagine it to be the norm rather than a distant outlier. That-Which-Endures held entropy back for a mere instant

spontaneous alterations over their lifetime, from the typical range of point and peak seen among the elves, to huge ears that sweep back from the head like wings, and which are often pierced behind

Kasimir Velikov

Monsters Curse of Strahd

guilt and regret have dispelled all evil thoughts from her mind and cleansed her tortured soul. But Kasimir remains unconvinced by her assertions, because he knows that Strahd has corrupted Patrina and

more important, he believes that the Amber Temple holds the secret to bringing the ancient dead back to life. With the characters' help, Kasimir thinks he might be able to find out how to restore

Cradle of the Hill Scion

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

standing stones, a village, or a city on a scion’s back, unaware of the mighty power beneath them. Such settlements can thrive for centuries, as the scion’s magic causes crops to flourish

Myth” in chapter 3 for additional inspiration.) Scions of giants’ gods are enormously powerful beings who infuse the world around them with primeval magic. In many worlds, they slumber

Hulgaz

Monsters The Book of Many Things

long, snakelike tail. In the midst of a conversation with an especially tantalizing victim-to-be, Hulgaz can’t help but whip her tail back and forth with excitement. Selfless heroes and true

martyrs pique Hulgaz’s interest because she loves the challenge of twisting and defiling the souls of such noble beings. She responds to unwavering do-gooders by redoubling her efforts to corrupt

Scion of Grolantor

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

each swallowed creature and regains 10 hit points.A slumbering scion of Grolantor is often mistaken for a hill, and sometimes people erect standing stones, a village, or a city on a scion’s back

giants’ gods are enormously powerful beings who infuse the world around them with primeval magic. In many worlds, they slumber and have become part of the landscape. In this case, each scion is

Star Spawn Seer

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

’s goal is to tap into vast energy sources and perform the dire rites that will extend a bridge between the Material Plane and the squirming chaos of an Elder Evil’s realm. An entity that

even a moment’s contact is enough to break a mortal’s mind. Yet beings do exist that are native to these realms: entities that are ever hungering, searching, warring, and sometimes

Cleric Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

her holy symbol as light pours from it to drive back the zombies crowding in on her companions. Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods. As varied as the

to those chosen to fulfill a high calling. Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric

Young Topaz Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

the necrotic energy of the Negative Plane that suffuses them. Their psionic power manifests the fundamental entropic principle that mortal beings and their creations are ultimately doomed to death and

spines that run in a ridge from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail. These spines hover above a living topaz dragon’s back, dancing and shifting with the dragon’s mood. Embodiment of

Topaz Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

the nature of topaz dragons, thanks to the necrotic energy of the Negative Plane that suffuses them. Their psionic power manifests the fundamental entropic principle that mortal beings and their

visibly in the gem-like spines that run in a ridge from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail. These spines hover above a living topaz dragon’s back, dancing and shifting with the dragon

Yuan-ti

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monsters of the Multiverse

Yuan-ti Yuan-ti were originally humans who transformed themselves into serpent folk through ancient rituals. Most yuan-ti were corrupted into monsters by those rites, but some yuan-ti instead became

Ancient Sapphire Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

breath weapon sows weakness, leaving the victims unable to fight back. Luminous Blue Sapphire dragons’ scales and wing membranes show varied shades of blue, ranging from the light tones of a

. Sapphire dragons watch for signs of Aberrations and other creatures corrupted by the Far Realm. They frequently ally with emerald dragons, drawing on their kin’s knowledge of occult phenomena to

Strahd, Master of Death House

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

. Little happens there without the Darklord’s knowledge, although Strahd rarely pays attention to what he considers the uninteresting dealings of lesser beings. History In life, Strahd von

;s control. Change Shape. Strahd transforms into a new form or back into his true form. Anything he is wearing transforms with him, but nothing he is carrying does. He reverts to his true form if he

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

they were demigods — mighty beings of divine descent. This isn’t a casual sort of worship or lip service; kobolds are awed in the presence of a dragon, as if an actual avatar of a deity

some other convenient way (or, in a cannibalistic tribe, eaten). Kobolds believe that if they die in service to their tribe, Kurtulmak immediately sends each of them back to life as the next egg laid in

Mighty Servant of Leuk-o

Magic Items Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

conjecture than fact, often referring to otherworldly beings, the mysterious Barrier Peaks in Oerth, and the supposedly related device known as the Machine of Lum the Mad. The best details on the device

at a time. If a third creature tries to attune to it, nothing happens. The servant’s controls are accessed by a hatch in its upper back, which is easily opened while there are no creatures

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