beings back diffusing charging retreat

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

Merregon

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

backbone of many devils’ protective retinues. They shrink from no task, no matter how dangerous. Unless ordered to fall back, they never retreat from a fight.Fire, PoisonCold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered

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

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

Ras Nsi

Monsters Tomb of Annihilation

can use his action to polymorph into a Medium snake or back into his yuan-ti form. His statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment he is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. He doesn't change

level (4 slots): expeditious retreat, false life, magic missile, shield 2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, hold person, misty step 3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, counterspell, fireball 4th

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

Yuan-ti Mind Whisperer Legacy

Monsters Volo's Guide to Monsters

Shapechanger. The yuan-ti can use its action to polymorph into a Medium snake or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't

, crown of madness, detect thoughts, expeditious retreat, fly, hypnotic pattern, illusory script Sseth's Blessing. When the yuan-ti reduces an enemy to 0 hit points, the yuan-ti gains 9 temporary hit

Storm Herald

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

: control water, control weather (as an action), sendingAncient and alien beings dwell or slumber in ocean depths, awaiting some cosmic circumstance that signals their time to rise. In their retreat

Nosferatu

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

stables turned into slaughterhouses are typical first signs of a nosferatu’s predation. When the sun interrupts their hunts, nosferatu retreat to favored ruins, sewers, or caves, caring nothing for

capable of considering more than their next meal. In these instants, nosferatu recollect glimpses of what they once were, beings who knew pride, intention, and a world beyond the shadows. They might even

Fathomer

Monsters Princes of the Apocalypse

Shapechanger (2/Day). The fathomer can use its action to polymorph into a Medium serpent composed of water, or back into its true form. Anything the fathomer is wearing or carrying is subsumed into

regains after finishing a short or long rest, and knows the following warlock spells: Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand 1st level: armor of Agathys, expeditious retreat, hex 2nd

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

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

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

Demilich (Variant) Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

assume a wraithlike form. The skull then emits a terrifying howl that can slay the weak-hearted and leave others trembling with fear. Left alone, it sinks back down and returns to the empty peace of

it to retreat into its ancient tomb and forget to feed on souls. The spells it once knew fade from its mind, and it no longer channels the arcane energy it wielded as a lich. However, even as a mere

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

Pidlwick II

Monsters Curse of Strahd

sneak out of the closet in the middle of the night, smother the guest with a pillow, and then retreat back to the closet. The castle staff never considered that the effigy might be responsible

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

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

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

Lhammaruntosz

Monsters Sleeping Dragon’s Wake

, mending 1st level (4 slots): charm person, detect magic, expeditious retreat, sleep 2nd level (3 slots): darkness, invisibility,suggestion 3rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, protection from energy

rating no higher than her own, or back into her true form. She reverts to her true form if she dies. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (Lhammaruntosz's choice

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

Jander Sunstar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

: Jander and Haruman were both part of a host of warriors who joined the angel Zariel in her assault on the Nine Hells. After charging through the portal into Avernus, Jander panicked and fled back to

soul by swearing to hunt down his own kind. Later, he volunteered to join Zariel on her crusade into the Nine Hells. Stirges now swarm back and forth from Jander’s body, preserving his existence by

Jander Sunstar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

: Jander and Haruman were both part of a host of warriors who joined the angel Zariel in her assault on the Nine Hells. After charging through the portal into Avernus, Jander panicked and fled back to

soul by swearing to hunt down his own kind. Later, he volunteered to join Zariel on her crusade into the Nine Hells. Stirges now swarm back and forth from Jander’s body, preserving his existence by

Jander Sunstar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

: Jander and Haruman were both part of a host of warriors who joined the angel Zariel in her assault on the Nine Hells. After charging through the portal into Avernus, Jander panicked and fled back to

soul by swearing to hunt down his own kind. Later, he volunteered to join Zariel on her crusade into the Nine Hells. Stirges now swarm back and forth from Jander’s body, preserving his existence by

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

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

’ serpent gods into their religions. These victories sent a constant influx of food, ore, and slaves back to the home cities. The wealth of the empire allowed the ruling elite plenty of time to

of purebloods and slaves are thrown at opposing forces in the hope of allowing the malisons and abominations time to escape. Survival First Yuan-ti are likely to retreat or flee from conflict if

Mounted Combat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)