Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 35 results for 'guard creating life'.
Monsters
Monster Manual
jealously guard their deathtrap-laden sanctums. The most notorious of these is the Tomb of Horrors, lair of the infamous Acererak.
The region containing a demilich’s lair is twisted by its
presence, creating the following effects:
Enervating Domain. Whenever a creature other than the demilich or one of its allies finishes a Long Rest within 1 mile of the lair, the creature must succeed on a
Monsters
Monster Manual
turn.Dracolich Lairs
A dracolich lurks in a corrupted version of the lair it had in life. The region containing a dracolich’s lair is warped by its presence, creating the following effects:
Sapping Mist
Legendary Resistance (3/Day, or 4/Day in Lair). If the dracolich fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Life Suppression. Creatures within 60 feet of the dracolich can’t
Monsters
Monster Manual
Underdark, in the tunnel-mazes they occupied in life or in the lairs of enemy beholders they conquered. These lairs are devoid of life, as death tyrants change their servants into Undead horrors.
The
region containing a death tyrant’s lair is warped by its presence, creating the following effects:
Negative Energy Suffusion. Whenever a creature within 1 mile of the lair regains Hit Points from
Monsters
Monster Manual
create sanctuaries apart from the living, whether hidden in cosmopolitan cities or sequestered in ruins where they dwelled in life.
The region containing a vampire’s lair is warped by its presence
, creating the following effects:
Children of the Night. The vampire exerts influence over the animals in its domain. From dusk until dawn, Medium or smaller Beasts have the Charmed condition while
Magic Items
Dungeon Master’s Guide
ally with its attacks. You and your allies can each summon only one avatar as a consequence of this draw. A creature slain by an avatar can’t be restored to life.
Avatar of Death
Medium Undead
guard the place. While your soul is trapped in this way, your body is inert, ceases aging, and requires no food, air, or water. A Wish spell can’t return your soul to your body, but the spell reveals the location of the object that holds your soul. You draw no more cards.
Monsters
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 2: Dragonlance Creatures
refuse to abandon their undead state until the duty they had in life is fulfilled. For example, a foresworn might be pledged to protect a family’s bloodline from harm or guard a dangerous artifact
Duty-Bound. The foresworn is bound to enacting a singular duty it pledged itself to in life. While this duty is incomplete, whenever the foresworn is destroyed, it re-forms at its previous location
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
master or because it believes it must perform a task to satisfy its honor or sense of duty. For example, a guard who dies defending a wall might return as a phantom warrior and continue guarding the
wall, then disappear forever once a new guard assumes its post or the wall is destroyed. The period between the time it died and the time it rises as a phantom warrior is usually 24 hours.
Faded Memories
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
require air, food, drink, or sleep.Multiattack. The deathlock makes two Life Drain or Grave Bolt attacks.
Life Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4;{"diceNotation":"1d20+4", "rollType":"to hit", "rollAction
":"Life Drain"} to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2);{"diceNotation":"1d8+2", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Life Drain", "rollDamageType":"necrotic"} necrotic damage. The target must
Monsters
Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse
is missing any of its hit points), reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2);{"diceNotation":"1d6+2", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Claw", "rollDamageType":"slashing"} slashing damage.
Life
-Draining Vines (Recharge 6);{"diceNotation":"1d6", "rollType":"recharge", "rollAction":"Life-Draining Vines"}. Snaking vines erupt from the blight. Each creature within 10 feet of it must make a DC 12
Monsters
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
relentless killers began life as innocents, any semblance of who they were is washed away in a tide of gore and rage. These killers’ grisly work swiftly becomes the stuff of legends,striking
fear into innocents across lands and over ages.
Creating a Relentless Killer
Relentless killers come into being and undertake their terrifying sprees for a spectrum of reasons. When creating a
Monsters
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
. Their bargains transform them into vicious butchers that exist only to indulge their endless bloodlust. While some who become relentless killers began life as innocents, any semblance of who they were
is washed away in a tide of gore and rage. These killers’ grisly work swiftly becomes the stuff of legends,striking fear into innocents across lands and over ages.
Creating a Relentless Killer
Monsters
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
the initiative order. If this wight slays a Humanoid with its Life Drain, the wight transforms into a jiangshi 5 days later.
Change Shape. The jiangshi polymorphs into a Beast, a Humanoid, or an Undead
jiangshi’s choice). It reverts to its true form if it dies.When a soul becomes trapped within its corpse, its bitterness can reanimate its body, creating a jiangshi. These vengeful dead stalk
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
deep in the Underworld. Terrifying and cunning, they guard portals between the wards of the Underworld, Erebos’s greatest treasures, and noteworthy souls who might attempt to escape the realm of
life and death. Most cerberi have a boundless hunger for fresh meat, especially the flesh of humanoids. Villains have been known to exploit that hunger by luring cerberi away from the river and setting them loose on mortal settlements.Fire, Necrotic
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
, preferably at the head of a fire giant army.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a scion of Surtur is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Abundant Ore
plant life.
Empowered Fire Giants. Fire giants within 1,000 feet of the scion gain a +8 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
If the scion dies, existing ore remains, but new veins of ore stop forming. The
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
);{"diceNotation":"1d10+3", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Slam", "rollDamageType":"bludgeoning"} bludgeoning damage.
Life Leech. One Large or smaller creature that the slithering tracker can see
addition, the grappled target takes 16 (3d10);{"diceNotation":"3d10", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Life Leech", "rollDamageType":"necrotic"} necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. The
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Abundant Ore. Veins of precious metals and ore are more common within 6 miles of the scion.
Desertification. Precipitation is
almost nonexistent within 6 miles of the scion, parching the land and withering most plant life.
Empowered Fire Giants. Fire giants within 1,000 feet of the scion gain a +8 bonus to attack and damage
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
rushes at any foe that dares to challenge it. Emulating sagas of Thrym, the scion can achieve a tremendous feat of strength: creating a glacier in the ground and hurling it skyward, along with any
creatures standing on it.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a scion of Thrym is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Biting Chill. Extreme cold
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
turn.A slumbering scion of Memnor appears as a dense, slowly drifting tower of clouds that never dissipates. Often, this cloud lingers over a remote valley, creating a constantly overcast sky. Sapient
threatened, it wields thunder and wind to demolish its enemies.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a scion of Memnor is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
Thrym, the scion can achieve a tremendous feat of strength: creating a glacier in the ground and hurling it skyward, along with any creatures standing on it.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a
scion of Thrym is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Biting Chill. Extreme cold envelops the land within 6 miles of the scion (see the Dungeon Master
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
throw themselves into creating bloodshed and mayhem with no regard for their own lives.
After killing a person on the Material Plane, some skulks take up a silent imitation of that person’s life
Monsters
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
using harmful magic while on campus.
University officials believe Murgaxor began his illicit experiments with life-draining magic shortly after he enrolled as a student.
In his third year
, Murgaxor was expelled for using life-draining magic when it resulted in another student’s death. Murgaxor fled before he could be handed over to authorities.
For a few years after his expulsion
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
have the deafened condition for 1 minute.A slumbering scion of Memnor appears as a dense, slowly drifting tower of clouds that never dissipates. Often, this cloud lingers over a remote valley, creating
, creating one or more of the following effects:
Compulsory Offering. The first time a sapient creature comes within 6 miles of the scion, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or feel
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
armor, mage hand
1/day each: dispel magic, hunger of Hadar, invisibility, spider climbAn overpowering urge to serve consumes the mind of a newly awakened deathlock. Any goals and ambitions it had in life
, a foul Undead driven to serve its otherworldly patron.
An powerful necromancer might also discover the wicked methods of creating a deathlock and then subjugate it, acting as the deathlock’s patron.PoisonNecrotic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered
Monsters
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
+1","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Dagger","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.In Khorvaire, magic is part of everyday life. A chef might use prestidigitation to heat and season food
form of dragonshards.
Creating a Magewright
The magewright stat block provides the baseline statistics for a magewright. You then add to that baseline by choosing a specialty from the Magewright
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
":"4d4+4", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Club", "rollDamageType":"force"} force damage.A wood woad is a powerful bipedal Plant invested with the soul of someone who gave up life to become an
living. Because they are undying, some wood woads outlive their original purpose. The site a wood woad guards might lose its power or significance over time, or those whom it was assigned to guard
Monsters
Vecna: Eve of Ruin
nefarious magical copies of themselves to fool enemies, to guard treasure, or for other inscrutable reasons.
To create a false lich, a lich binds a shred of its life force to a corpse in a profane
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
);{"diceNotation":"1d4+3","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Spike","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.It takes six months of steady eating for a young kruthik to reach adult size. The natural life
more lethal.
Kruthiks abide the presence of Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, and Undead, and they use such creatures to help guard their hive. They are smart enough to barricade some tunnels and dig new ones that keep their neighbors away from their eggs.
Monsters
Candlekeep Mysteries
ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried. If the lich chooses, plant life in the area is unaffected by the spell.
Spellcasting. The lich casts one of the
feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious until the poisoned condition ends on it.
Sap Life (Costs 2 Actions). The lich targets one creature it can
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
adamantine skeleton, creating a grisly colossal construct. Inside the flesh colossus’s chest is a stone sphere infused with spirits from each elemental plane acting as its core.
To this day, some of
these ancient flesh colossi guard abandoned ruins, sites sacred to giants, and lost treasures—and possibly the procedure to create new examples of their kind.Lightning, Poison, Psychic
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
palm into stone.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a scion of Skoraeus is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Abundant Stone and Minerals. Smooth
empires of giants until Annam retreated into seclusion. On other worlds, the scions guard their birthplaces (which are rich in elemental magic) or hold the substance of the world together. (See
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
churning elements.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding a scion of Stronmaus is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Elemental Portals. Two-way portals
first empires of giants until Annam retreated into seclusion. On other worlds, the scions guard their birthplaces (which are rich in elemental magic) or hold the substance of the world together. (See
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
animates the corpse, transforming it into a spawn of Kyuss, which breeds more worms.
Spawn of Kyuss are expressions of Orcus’s intent to replace all life with undeath. Left to its own devices, a
solitary spawn of Kyuss travels aimlessly. If it stumbles across a living creature, the spawn attacks with the sole intent of creating more spawn. Whether spawn are dispersed or clustered, they reproduce exponentially if nothing stops them.Poison
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
, creating one or more of the following effects:
Abundant Food. Crops and domestic animals grow and reproduce quickly within 6 miles of the scion.
Empowered Hill Giants. Hill giants within 1,000
, the scions guard their birthplaces (which are rich in elemental magic) or hold the substance of the world together. (See “Giants of Myth” in chapter 3 for additional inspiration.)
Scions of
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
of Skoraeus is altered by the giant’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Abundant Stone and Minerals. Smooth stones and gems grow within 6 miles of the scion.
Edible Moss
other worlds, the scions guard their birthplaces (which are rich in elemental magic) or hold the substance of the world together. (See “Giants of Myth” in chapter 3 for additional inspiration
Orcus
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Monsters
Out of the Abyss
Prince of Undeath, known as the Blood Lord. He takes some pleasure in the sufferings of the living, but far prefers the company and service of the undead. His desire is to see all life quenched and the
disappear or until Orcus releases their grasp (no action required).
Regional Effects
The region containing Orcus’s lair is warped by the Orcus’s magic, creating one or more of the following






