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Returning 35 results for 'monsters some with only anyone family for life'.
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
child—helps them pass through crowds unnoticed and slip through tight spaces.
Anyone who has spent time around halflings, particularly halfling adventurers, has likely witnessed the storied &ldquo
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
strongholds into mountainsides and under the earth. Their oldest legends tell of conflicts with the monsters of mountaintops and the Underdark, whether those monsters were towering giants or
Magic Items
Dungeon Master’s Guide
of these weapons have faded from the world, their magic lost as family lines have become extinct. Others have vanished with their bearers during great quests. Thus, only a few of these weapons remain
functions like a nonmagical weapon of its kind for anyone other than its chosen bearer.
A Moonblade has one rune on it for each bearer it has willingly served (typically 1d6 + 1). The first rune grants a
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
your choice of History, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion. In addition, you gain rightful ownership of a small keep somewhere in the world. However, the keep is currently home to one or more monsters
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
into his home. I owe him my life, but he isn’t family.”
Flaw. “I would do anything, kill anything, to find my sister.”
parents succumbed to their grief, leaving him an orphan. He became a sociopath. Other children ruthlessly mocked him because of his dead family and his missing arm, but he was a large boy and had no
Monsters
Heroes of the Borderlands
damage.This itinerant explorer knows the caves around the Keep on the Borderlands better than anyone else. Vinx frequently delves these caves in search of treasure.
Recently, Vinx got caught in a bind while pursuing a stolen family heirloom. When she gets loose, those goblins won’t know what hit them!
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
City Guard. In that position, she watches over traffic that passes through the gate — and ensures that her associates in the Black Network can come and go freely.
Born to a well-off family in Calimshan
, Tashlyn has an unfettered sense of superiority. Quick to anger, she hates to back down from a fight. She respects anyone who can best her in melee combat.
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
; homes destroyed. She has no tolerance for monsters or bullies.
Ideal: “We live in a violent world, and sometimes violence is necessary for survival.”
Bond: “My home is my life
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
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
return the courtesy, the duchess commissioned the legendary toymaker Fritz von Weerg to build a clockwork effigy of Pidlwick as a gift for Strahd's family. Although the duchess's heart was in the right
place, the effigy didn't have Pidlwick's abilities, and it failed to entertain anyone. Even though Pidlwick himself had spent months training it, the effigy couldn't speak, and its movements were
Monsters
The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
that the work gave him a sliver of joy. When the old keeper died years later, Naeryx replaced him.
The wealthy family that owned the clock tower didn’t pay Naeryx a lot of money for his work
, but they occasionally had him over for dinner. He owned one fine suit that he wore on such occasions, and though he didn’t care for the family’s matriarch or patriarch, he enjoyed the
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
, but they rarely lair or hunt together. They peacefully ignore bats, faerie dragons, and the like, but they hate stirges and evil flying monsters such as manticores. They also enjoy teasing dogs
eggs.
Tressym mate with others of their kind, but they don’t mate for life. A tressym can also mate with a normal cat, though only one out of every ten of their offspring will be a tressym; the
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
of carrion, and wallowing in mire. A catoblepas might be found with the one mate it chooses for life and, on occasion, with a calf. A catoblepas attacks anyone that moves too close, especially if
, drinking the monsters’ milk and using them as guardians or pets. Other legends say that those of impure heart can tame a catoblepas and whisper of malevolent warlocks and wicked knights who ride them into battle.
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
be wielding a melee weapon.
Roleplaying Information
Othovir is a gifted harness-maker who doesn’t talk about his family or where he came from. He cares about his business, his clients, and his
good name.
Ideal: “Find what you do well, and do it to the best of your ability.”
Bond: “I won’t allow my name to be tarnished.”
Flaw: “I get angry when others pry into my private life.”
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
Ravenloft, has served Strahd's family faithfully for nearly five hundred years. He is Strahd's eternal servant, a longtime comrade-in-arms, and a ruthless warrior who has killed thousands in his lifetime
Rahadin that the king made the dusk elf an honorary member of his family.
Chamberlain. After Barov died, Rahadin continued to fight as one of Strahd's generals. When the wars ended and Strahd turned
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
who died a century ago, after a long and nefarious career. Esvele Rosznar, a brash young noble, has recently adopted the Black Viper's persona to lead a secret life of crime. Like many other nobles
, Esvele gossips about the Black Viper's exploits to lend credence to the villain's mystique.
The Rosznar family was convicted of slave trading — highly illegal in Waterdeep — and banished over a hundred
Monsters
The Book of Many Things
remains in one place for a long time.
Ruin spiders arise when the magic of the deck transforms giant spiders into even more dangerous monsters whose acidic venom disintegrates everything it touches
. A ruin spider is easily recognizable by anyone familiar with the Deck of Many Things because the pattern on the back of the cards is duplicated on the spider’s carapace.Acid
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
been used as nimble scouts, always on alert for danger.
The first anvilwroughts were created by the god of the forge, Purphoros. He gave the secret of breathing life into these metal creatures to his
are guarded by ancient monsters.
Constructed Nature. An anvilwrought doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.Fire, Poison
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
spending 5 feet of its movement on its turn. A creature, including the target, can use its action to detach the sorrowsworn.Horrid little monsters, wretched sorrowsworn—or the Wretched&mdash
;gather in packs to scour the Shadowfell for prey. These desperate entities subsist on life force; when they find a creature, they surge forward to sink their fangs into their victims and drink deep
Monsters
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
search of their severed heads or to quench their thirst for revenge.
Wicked knights or commanders in life, dullahans adhere to twisted codes of chivalry or soldiership. These fallen champions consider
campaign against the living. In death, dullahans are often rejoined by those who followed them in life, either in the form of lesser undead, like skeleton;skeletons or wight;wights, or terrifying mounts
Magic Items
Tomb of Annihilation
successful one. When the staff is destroyed, the life force of the Forgotten One is released to the afterlife. Where it goes is anyone’s guess.
Casting the staff into a sphere of annihilation
, remove curse, or similar spell ends the curse on the target.
The Forgotten One. The bodiless life force of a dead archmage empowers the staff and is imprisoned within it. The rune carved into the
Monsters
The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
again until the next dawn), ray of frostLight, formerly known as Urmius Umbrage, belonged to a filthy rich shadar-kai family that haunted a crumbling mansion in Gloomwrought. Although he wanted for
nothing as a child, Urmius found himself surrounded by family members, caretakers, and teachers who were uniformly cold, callous, and mean-spirited. He grew tired of being seen as nothing more than the
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
, Purphoros. He gave the secret of breathing life into these metal creatures to his most devoted followers so they could mimic his works and invent new forms at their own forges.
Some anvilwroughts are
creations are now heirlooms of monarchs; others are lost to the sands of time or are guarded by ancient monsters.
Constructed Nature. An anvilwrought doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.Fire, Poison
Monsters
The Book of Many Things
discovery. She’s as likely to be found climbing trees or poring over arcane texts as she is brandishing her sword in battle. Anyone who engages Asteria in conversation about her interests finds
her an overflowing font of information. But she also retains her stubborn streak and quickly repudiates anyone who tries to order her around.
Asteria hasn’t aged since Istus drew her future from
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
, and van Richten has lived with the horror of his family’s destruction ever since. After destroying Baron Metus in turn, van Richten sought revenge against the Vistani and took up a life of
hunting evil monsters.
The Waiting Game. Van Richten isn’t a young man anymore. He knows his road is coming to an end, but his work isn't done. He has come to Barovia to kill Strahd von Zarovich
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
, their minds filled with tales of how life's splendor continues to develop.
The first anvilwroughts were created by the god of the forge, Purphoros. He gave the secret of breathing life into these
the sands of time or are guarded by ancient monsters.
Constructed Nature. An anvilwrought doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.Fire, Poison
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
a successful one.A bodak is the undying remains of someone who revered Orcus. Devoid of life and soul, it exists only to cause death.
A worshiper of Orcus can take ritual vows while carving the demon
lord’s symbol on their chest over the heart. Orcus’s power flays body, mind, and soul, leaving behind a sentient husk that consumes life energy near it. Most bodaks come into being in
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
the land while carrying or seeking vital information for their masters.The first anvilwroughts were created by the god of the forge, Purphoros. He gave the secret of breathing life into these metal
sands of time or are guarded by ancient monsters.
Constructed Nature. An anvilwrought doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
VARIANT: ANVILWROUGHT RAPTOR FAMILIAR
Some anvilwrought raptors are
Monsters
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
family, based in the town of Longsaddle. Cold and dispassionate, she took to magic only a decade ago in her late forties and is skilled in the arcane tradition of necromancy. She has a lifelong struggle
would not have been admitted into the Arcane Brotherhood without her family connections—a fact that sticks in her craw.
Vellynne brought a family heirloom with her to Icewind Dale: a professor orb
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
Curse of Strahd
or value to anyone.
Baba Lysaga built a hut atop the rotting stump of a giant tree that was felled long ago. It was only after she embedded a magic gemstone in the hut that the whole thing was imbued
with a semblance of life. When she wills it to do so, the hut pulls its gigantic roots free of the earth and shambles around like a spidery behemoth, shaking the ground with every step. The hut
Monsters
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
Morningstar attacks or one Double-Barreled Musket attack.A high-ranking giff who takes up the life of an independent mercenary might amass enough power and influence to become a warlord.
A giff warlord
usually commands a small fleet of spelljamming ships and operates out of a heavily defended stronghold. Anyone who shares the warlord’s ideology—whatever it might be—is eligible to
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
its master.A curious impulse drives the gray render. Despite its hulking form and terrible appetite, it wants most of all to bond with an intelligent creature and, once bonded, to give its life to
reaching maturity, break off to begin life as young gray renders. They feel no obligation to their young and have no inclination to gather with others of their kind. Instead, each has an overpowering need
Monsters
Acquisitions Incorporated
attacker.A product of life on a small-town farm, the rogue known as Viari carries fond memories of those childhood days and his loving family. (Well, except for that thing where his parents insist on
thinking of his older brother as the successful one.) But he can be quick to show self-consciousness when talking of where he came from, and he never speaks of the name he bore in that former life.
After