mechanics setting with often alien from for life

Warrior of Mercy

Classes Player’s Handbook

Manipulate Forces of Life and Death Warriors of Mercy manipulate the life force of others. These Monks are wandering physicians, but they bring a swift end to their enemies. They often wear masks, presenting themselves as faceless bringers of life and death.

Oath of the Ancients

Classes Player’s Handbook

Preserve Life and Light in the World The Oath of the Ancients is as old as the first elves. Paladins who swear this oath cherish the light; they love the beautiful and life-giving things of the

world more than any principles of honor, courage, and justice. They often adorn their armor and clothing with images of growing things—leaves, antlers, or flowers—to reflect their commitment

Halfling

Species Player’s Handbook

Cherished and guided by gods who value life, home, and hearth, halflings gravitate toward bucolic havens where family and community help shape their lives. That said, many halflings possess a brave

attribute their unusual gift to one or more of their benevolent gods, including Yondalla, Brandobaris, and Charmalaine. The same gift might contribute to their robust life spans (about 150 years

Death Tyrant

Monsters Monster Manual

all expended uses at the start of each of its turns. Chomp. The death tyrant makes two Bite attacks. Glare. The death tyrant uses Eye Rays.Death Tyrant Lairs Death tyrants often lurk deep in the

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

Warlock

Classes Player’s Handbook

multiverse. They often begin their search for magical power by delving into tomes of forbidden lore, dabbling in invocations meant to attract the power of extraplanar beings, or seeking places of power where

, devils, hags, and alien entities of the Far Realm, Warlocks piece together arcane secrets to bolster their own power. Warlocks view their patrons as resources, as means to the end of achieving magical

Dwarf

Species Player’s Handbook

stone and metal and for living underground. The god also made them resilient like the mountains, with a life span of about 350 years. Squat and often bearded, the original dwarves carved cities and

subterranean horrors. Inspired by those tales, dwarves of any culture often sing of valorous deeds—especially of the little overcoming the mighty. On some worlds in the multiverse, the first settlements

Druid

Classes Player’s Handbook

. Druids are concerned with the delicate ecological balance that sustains plant and animal life and with the need for people to live in harmony with nature. Druids often guard sacred sites or watch over

Cultist of Demogorgon

Monsters Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club

":"Ritual Sickle"} Slashing damage plus 1 Necrotic damage.Doomsayer and Fanatic Cultists use extreme measures to spread radical beliefs. They often follow obscure mystical traditions or obsess over

interpretations of ancient prophecies. They might worship supernatural patrons—deities, otherworldly creatures, manipulative alien minds, or stranger forces. Some cultists devote themselves to

Goblin Warrior (Stranger Things)

Monsters Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club

, the better. Goblin raids are often as much opportunities to enjoy setting fires and tormenting livestock as they are parts of more disruptive plots. Goblin warriors excel at causing mischief, but some devote themselves to nobler pursuits.Nimble Escape. The goblin takes the Disengage or Hide action.

Fiendish Icon

Monsters Astarion's Book of Hungers

":"Fiery Eruption", "rollDamageType":"Fire"} Fire damage.Effigy Animated by Hellish Magic Fiendish icons are grotesque, sapient statues depicting fearsome fiends. These creatures gain life as a result

of sinister rituals. Fiendish icons can explode with hellfire to roast their foes, and they often pretend to be ordinary statues until they leap up to ambush invaders. Roll on or choose a result

Sammaster (Dracolich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Sammaster fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. Life Suppression. Creatures within 60 feet of Sammaster can’t regain Hit Points. Magic

dedicated to transforming living dragons into undead inheritors of a world blasted of life. Sammaster was slain centuries ago but now exists as a lich with his essence tied to a powerful dracolich form

Sammaster (Lich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Sammaster fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. Life Suppression. Creatures within 60 feet of Sammaster can’t regain Hit Points. Magic

transforming living dragons into undead inheritors of a world blasted of life. Sammaster was slain centuries ago but now exists as a lich with his essence tied to a powerful dracolich form. History

Shadowmoor Expert

Backgrounds Lorwyn: First Light

. Regardless of where you tread, you keenly understand that friendship is a rare commodity. You believe that knowing who to trust and who to keep at arm’s length isn’t just practical— it’s often a matter of life or death.

Dhampir

Species Astarion's Book of Hungers

Dhampirs are living people who possess vampiric prowess but are cursed with macabre hunger. Most dhampirs thirst for blood, but some gain sustenance from dreams, life energy, or other vital sources

. Dhampirs must choose whether to fight to control their hunger or give in to predatory urges. Dhampirs often arise from encounters with vampires; some are the descendants of a powerful vampire, while

Ligotti

Monsters Acquisitions Incorporated

one.K'thriss Drow'b;K'thriss's familiar, Ligotti, is a semisapient remnant of a tentacle attack, spawned by the warlock's intercessor patron god. Ligotti is entirely alien to the material plane (and often appears in the form of a staff).

Underworld Cerberus

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

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

the dead. Three-headed cerberi commonly serve demons, but if left to their own devices, they often herd wily souls into labyrinthine Underworld wildernesses, then hunt them for sport. Feared by the

Stone Giant Dreamwalker

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

adhered to the giant unless the giant is dead, in which case the magic works normally, freeing the petrified creature as well as ending the petrified condition on it.The surface of the world is an alien

there is permanent, so nothing there is real. What happens on the surface doesn’t matter. Promises and bargains made there needn’t be honored. Life and even art hold less value there

Two-Headed Cerberus

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

both banks of the Tartyx River. These multiheaded hounds of the Underworld breathe gouts of molten rock that sear and imprison those who trespass upon the borders 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

Bandit Legacy

Monsters Basic Rules (2014)

sometimes led by thugs, veterans, or spellcasters. Not all bandits are evil. Oppression, drought, disease, or famine can often drive otherwise honest folk to a life of banditry. Pirates are bandits of the

Froghemoth Elder

Monsters Quests from the Infinite Staircase

reactions per round but only one per turn. Alien Gaze. When a creature the froghemoth can see damages the froghemoth, the froghemoth swivels its eyestalk toward the creature and pierces the creature

’s mind with its otherworldly gaze. That creature must make a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw, taking 7 (2d6);{"diceNotation":"2d6", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Alien Gaze

K'thriss Drow'b

Monsters Acquisitions Incorporated

, Ligotti, is a semisapient remnant of a tentacle attack, spawned by the warlock's intercessor patron god. Though entirely alien to the material plane (and often appearing in the form of a staff), Ligotti

and purpose in the structures of so-called “reality.” Still, all things considered, he is most often polite and affable. Because after a long adventuring career, he understands that he can't afford

Barrowghast

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

the barrowghast a noxious stench. Barrowghasts no longer hunger for physical food and instead crave life energy drained from living creatures. They often target former family members and allies, but

attacks. It can replace one Slam attack with a Life Drain attack. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8;{"diceNotation":"1d20+8", "rollType":"to hit", "rollAction":"Slam"} to hit, reach 10 ft., one target

Megapede

Monsters Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Multiattack. The megapede makes one Bite attack and uses either Life Drain or Psychic Bomb. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10;{"diceNotation":"1d20+10","rollType":"to hit","rollAction":"Bite"} to hit

":"damage","rollAction":"Bite (poison)","rollDamageType":"poison"} poison damage. Life Drain. The megapede magically drains life energy from other creatures nearby. Each creature within 15 feet of

Star Spawn Mangler

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

of existence lie realms alien to mortal life. Some are so hostile that even a moment’s contact is enough to break a mortal’s mind. Yet beings do exist that are native to these realms

attacks.A mangler is a low-slung, creeping horror with multiple gangly arms—it most often has six arms but can have any number from four to eight. Manglers creep along the ground or the walls

Feral Ashenwight

Monsters Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

creature, it has disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn.Feral ashenwights retain a fragment of the spark they had in life. However, they are devoid of memories

creature sometimes rises as an ashenwight. The skin of these Undead horrors is desiccated, and their eyes often glow with otherworldly power.Necrotic, Poison

Gem Stalker

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

that amount.When a gem dragon kills an aberrant creature from the Far Realm, the dragon sometimes reshapes the alien corpse into a gem stalker—a cunning predator capable of traversing the

Underdark, hunting Aberrations, and guarding its creator’s lair. A gem stalker is imbued with life, sapience, and purpose by the mystical energy of the gem dragon’s breath, and it is dedicated to

Star Spawn Larva Mage

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

planes of existence lie realms alien to mortal life. Some are so hostile that even a moment’s contact is enough to break a mortal’s mind. Yet beings do exist that are native to these

original cultist’s personality survives the transformation; what emerges is wholly alien. Star Spawn The Material Plane represents only one small part of the multiverse. Beyond the best-known

Eye of Fear and Flame

Monsters Infernal Machine Rebuild

remains unknown. Cruel Puppet Masters. An eye of fear and flame often chooses to appear during times of uncertainty, such as after a group's devastating defeat or when an individual contemplates some

momentous decision. The undead seeks to corrupt vulnerable individuals, especially those of lawful or good alignments, by setting tasks that test its targets' moral foundations. A paladin might be ordered

Skeletal Knight

Monsters Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

damage.Skeletal knights are powerful Undead that arise to serve even more wicked beings—often death knight;death knights. Those who become skeletal knights were typically virtuous in life but betrayed

blades deal lingering wounds that sap their victims’ life force and leave blackened scars even after magical healing.Poison

Aurumvorax

Monsters Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

halved.Early in life, aurumvoraxes cooperate with siblings and their den leader parents, digging tunnels in search of metal and other burrowing prey. As they grow to adulthood, aurumvoraxes hunt on their

. Alone or in small groups, aurumvoraxes dig deep in search of precious metals. Such exploration often leads them into conflict with subterranean settlements. As defenders of such communities often

Podling

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Semblance of Life. The podling is a physical copy of a creature digested by a bodytaker plant. The podling has the digested creature’s memories and behaves like that creature, but with

replaced by a podling can often tell something’s amiss. Roll on the Podling Behavior table to see what unusual habits a podling might demonstrate. Podling Behavior d6 Behavior 1

Dragonborn Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

foreign house. The sword at his back was the same, though, the one he had carried since even before he had found the twins left in swaddling at the gates of Arush Vayem. For all her life, Farideh had

calling in life. Proud Dragon Kin Dragonborn look very much like dragons standing erect in humanoid form, though they lack wings or a tail. The first dragonborn had scales of vibrant hues matching the

Star Spawn Grue

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

hopelessness. Star Spawn The Material Plane represents only one small part of the multiverse. Beyond the best-known planes of existence lie realms alien to mortal life. Some are so hostile that even a moment

out. The creatures known as star spawn are the heralds, servants, and soldiers of the Elder Evils, capable of taking on forms that can journey to the Material Plane. They arrive most often in the wake

Tortle Legacy

Species The Tortle Package

I caught a big fish. Now I search for a good friend To share my lunch with. — Tortle haiku What many tortles consider a simple life, others might call a life of adventure. Tortles are

test, and make new acquaintances. Life of a Tortle A tortle hatches from a thick-shelled egg and spends the first few weeks of its life crawling on all fours. Its parents, old and near death, spend

Living Portent

Monsters The Book of Many Things

encounter. Variant: Servants of Living Stars Some stars in the sky are Elder Evils, alien beings of godlike power from the reality-defying Far Realm. A living portent can be a fragment of these beings

Whisperer. A purple star whose guidance and minions seem to help for a time but whose influence inevitably leads to disaster. Hadar, the Dark Hunger. A cinder-red dying star that siphons life from its

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