#action oriented monster

[thelibraryofthacey]

[There is basically no info on these things in the game. They're... from the stars? Usually found in a crater? One's in a mine. And they drop smithing stones that upgrade your weapons. So, I came up with my own theory.]

Fallingstar Beast (CR 14)

Huge Aberration, neutral

Space 15 ft. Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with tail)

Initiative +3

HP 189 (18d10 +90 Con)

AC 19 (natural armor)

Proficiency Bonus +5

Str 25 (+7) Dex 16 (+3) Con 20 (+5) Int 18 (+4) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 21 (+5)

Saves Dex +8, Con +10, Int +9, Wis +8

Skills Athletics +12, Perception +8

Condition Immunities blind, paralyzed, petrified, stunned

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from weapons that aren’t magic or adamantine; poison, radiant

Damage Immunities cold

Senses blindsight 120 ft.; Passive Perception 18

Languages Deep Speech; telepathy 1000 ft.

Speed 60 ft., fly 60 ft.

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Cosmic Flight: The fallingstar beast’s flying speed only functions in areas of low or no gravity. In normal gravity, it is too massive to fly without using Stellar Wanderer.

Stellar Wanderer: The fallingstar beast requires neither food, water, nor air. Over the course of one minute, it can charge enough gravitational power to launch itself through space. Any creature or structure within 100 ft. of the beast when it takes off or lands takes 55 (10d10) bludgeoning damage, with a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw for half damage.

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Actions

Multiattack: The fallingstar beast makes one bite attack and one tail attack. These attacks cannot target the same creature.

Bite +12 melee weapon attack, reach 10 ft., 38 (7d8+7) slashing damage

Tail +12 melee weapon attack, reach 15 ft., 34 (5d10+7) bludgeoning damage

Earth Sling (Recharge 5-6): The fallingstar beast jams its mandibles into the ground and flings earth and stone in a 40 ft. cone. Creatures that are adjacent to the fallingstar beast are unaffected by this action. Other creatures in the area of effect must make DC 18 Dexterity saves or take 49 (9d10) bludgeoning damage. Creatures that succeed take half damage. Three continuous squares within 5 ft. of the fallingstar beast become difficult terrain.

Gravity Beam: The fallingstar beast emits a beam of gravitational force from between its mandibles. Each creature in a 10 feet wide, 90 feet long wide line originating from the fallingstar beast must make DC 18 Strength saving throws or take 27 (5d10) force damage and be pulled 30 ft. closer to the fallingstar beast. Creatures that succeed take half damage and are not pulled.

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Villain Actions

The fallingstar beast has three villain actions. It can take each action once during an encounter after an enemy creature’s turn. It takes villain action 1 during the first round of combat, villain action 2 during the second round, and villain action 3 during the third round.

    Villain Action 1: Upheaval: The fallingstar beast briefly reverses gravity at the locations of three creatures it can see. Those creatures must make DC 18 Dexterity saving throws. A flying creature makes this saving throw with advantage. On a success, a creature manages to grab onto something or maintain their position in the air. On a failure, it is flung up to 100 ft. in the air. If some solid object (such as a ceiling) is encountered in this fall, falling creatures strike it just as they would during a normal downward fall. Creatures then fall if they cannot fly, landing prone in their space.

    Villain Action 2: Rampage: The fallingstar beast roars and charges. It moves up to its speed in a straight line, minimum 20 ft., without provoking attacks of opportunity, then makes a bite attack at the end of this movement. It may then charge and attack twice more. After the final charge, it can use Gravity Beam instead of making a bite attack.

Villain Action 3: Gravity Slam: The fallingstar beast intensifies gravity in the area 100 ft. around it. All creatures must make DC 18 Strength saving throws. On a failure, a creature takes 44 (8d10) force damage and is pinned to the ground, falling prone and becoming restrained. On a success, it takes half damage. Additionally, until the end of the fallingstar beast’s next turn, flying creatures within 100 ft. of the fallingstar beast automatically fall and cannot fly, and creatures attempting to move within that area must spend twice as much movement to do so.

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Tactics

If you’re gonna have this fight indoors, recommend the ceiling be 50 ft. up so as not to change the damage from the Upheaval villain action. Or you could adjust it if you like. It does 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage outdoors, 7 (2d6) damage per 10 ft. from floor to ceiling indoors, with a max of 70 (20d6) bludgeoning damage with 100 ft. ceiling. Higher than that, and the damage is the same as outdoors.

Fallingstar beasts are quite intelligent, but also very ornery. Diplomacy may avert a fight with one, but once it is enraged, it will fight to the death.

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Lore

The fallingstar beasts are strange, stoney creatures that feed on metals. They typically live in asteroid fields, jumping from rock to rock and feasting on the ores contained within. Rarely, though, they will find their way to an inhabited planet, typically leaving an impressive crater when they land. There, they will typically be found in mines or other locations rich in metals, and can be extremely destructive to Folk activity. As a result of their diets, their bodies are rich in rare metals, and the beast’s corpse is well sufficient treasure for particularly brave adventurers to hunt them down.

[thelibraryofthacey]

[I think the highest level I've ever run any DnD game was 17, and it was for one boss fight. I don't play high levels often (does anyone?) so it's a bit tricky to design stuff for it. But I think Pathfinder's psychopomps are rad as heck so here's the big one for fun! Why did the original absorb lightning? I dunno, 3e and variants loved giving monsters a bunch of random resistances and immunities.]

[Regarding the Primordial type, yes I made that up. It's for extraplanar beings that are neither elementals nor traditionally good or evil. A glaring hole in the cladistics there, WotC.]

[Also featuring villain actions! Villain actions are a mechanic created by Matt Colville to take the thing Legendary Actions were trying to do and make them actually cool (cause let's be honest most legendary actions are boring.) Check out his video on "Action-Oriented Monsters" for the straight dope on that.]

Yamaraj (CR 20)

Huge Primordial (psychopomp), Neutral

Space 15 ft. Reach 10 ft.

Initiative +5

HP 300 (24d10 +168 Con)

AC 21 (natural armor)

Proficiency Bonus +7

Str 19 (+4) Dex 21 (+5) Con 25 (+7) Int 18 (+4) Wis 23 (+6) Cha 25 (+7)

Saves Str +11, Con +14, Int +11, Wis +13

Skills Arcana +11, History +11, Insight +13, Perception +13

Condition Immunities poisoned

Damage Resistances radiant, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from weapons that aren’t magical

Damage Immunities cold, poison

Senses darkvision 120 ft., spiritsense, Detect Thoughts 30 ft.; Passive Perception 23

Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial; telepathy 1 mile

Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft.

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Legendary Resistance (3/day): If the yamaraj fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance: The yamaraj has advantage on all saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spirit Touch: A psychopomp’s weapons are magical, and can target creatures in the Ethereal Plane (such as those under the effects of Blink.)

Spiritsense: A psychopomp can automatically pinpoint the location of any creature with a soul within 60 ft. of them.

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Innate Spellcasting (Spell DC 22, spell attack bonus +14): The yamaraj’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

Constant - Detect Thoughts

At Will - Etherealness, Zone of Truth

3/day - Circle of Death, Counterspell, Reincarnate

1/day - Power Word Kill, Soul Cage, True Resurrection

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Actions

Multiattack: The yamaraj uses its Frightful Presence, then makes one bite attack, two claw attacks, and one tail attack. The tail attack must be made against a creature that it didn’t target with any of its other attacks.

Bite +12 melee weapon attack, reach 10 ft., 14 (2d8+5) piercing damage

Claw +12 melee weapon attack, reach 10 ft., 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage

Tail +12 melee weapon attack, reach 10 ft., 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage

Breath Weapons (Recharge 5-6): The yamaraj uses one of the following breath weapons:

Grave Chill: The yamaraj inhales, tearing at the souls of all creatures in a 60 ft. cone. Affected creatures must make DC 22 Constitution saves or take 28 (8d6) cold and 28 (8d6) necrotic damage, and be affected as by the Slow spell until the end of the yamaraj’s next turn. On a successful saving throw, a creature takes half damage and isn’t slowed.

Carrion Breath: The yamaraj exhales a swarm of carrion beetles in a 60 ft. cone. All creatures in the area must make DC 22 Dexterity saves or take 28 (8d6) piercing damage and be covered in beetles. While covered in beetles, a creature takes 28 (8d6) piercing damage at the start of each of its turns and is poisoned. A creature covered in beetles can use their action to brush off the beetles; if the creature submerges itself in water or takes any fire damage, the beetles fall off as well. On a successful saving throw, the creature takes half damage and is not covered in beetles.

Frightful Presence: Each creature of the yamaraj’s choice that is within 120 feet of the yamaraj and aware of it must succeed on a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the yamaraj's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.

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Villain Actions

The yamaraj has three villain actions. It can take each action once during an encounter after an enemy creature’s turn. It takes villain action 1 during the first round of combat, villain action 2 during the second round, and villain action 3 during the third round.

Villain Action 1: Summon the Jury: The yamaraj plucks souls from the Astral Current to aid it in battle. A soul appears in an unoccupied space next to each enemy within 60 feet of the yamaraj that it can see. The souls use the statistics for wraiths, but they lack the Sunlight Sensitivity trait and gain Turn Immunity, making them immune to features that turn undead. These souls act immediately when summoned, then roll initiative at the start of the next round. The souls fight until they’re destroyed, and follow the yamaraj’s commands. The souls disappear if the yamaraj dies.

Villain Action 2: Call the Witnesses: The yamaraj calls forth memories from its foes’ pasts. Each creature of its choice within 120 ft. must make a DC 22 Wisdom save or be entranced by the memory. An entranced creature is forced to relive a moment from its past that exemplifies its personality. While reliving the memory, the creature is incapacitated and cannot move, and it is unaware of its actual surroundings. At the end of each of the creature’s turns, it can attempt a new saving throw to end the effect, and any effect that would cure the charmed condition ends the effect. The yamaraj knows what an entranced creature sees.

Villain Action 3: Pronounce the Verdict: The yamaraj pronounces judgment on one creature it can see. The creature must make a DC 22 Charisma saving throw. On a success, the creature takes force damage equal to half its maximum hit points. On a failure, its soul is torn from its body and it drops to 0 HP and begins dying. The soul appears in the creature’s space, assumes its appearance, and uses the statistics of an Avatar of Death, treating the target as its summoner. The Avatar of Death obeys the yamaraq’s commands and acts on the target’s initiative. While the Avatar of Death is alive, the creature cannot regain hit points or accumulate successes on death saves; if it would succeed on one, it simply does not accumulate a failure.

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Tactics

The yamaraj is a very control oriented boss. It doesn’t output enough damage to threaten a high-level party on its own, so it’s gonna need some backup dancers. The villain actions bring some low-level backup, but it’ll need more than that, wraiths only have +6 to hit so they’re not gonna hit vs. high-level PC’s too often. They don’t need to be too complex, they just need to have damage, let the yamaraj do the weird fun stuff. That said, it can finish weakened characters off.

Regarding Pronounce the Verdict, yes that is the Avatar of Death summoned by the Death card in the Deck of Many Things.

I would consider it poor sportsmanship to have the yamaraj Counterspell a player trying to Counterspell its Power Word Kill. Give them the chance to be cool.

Etherealness can be used to flee if needed. While the psychopomps believe even they are bound to the cycle of death and reincarnation, they do not fault creatures for attempting to preserve their lives, and the death of a yamaraj can be quite inconvenient for them.

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Lore

Appearing as great black dragons with feathers instead of scales, yamaraj are the greatest of the psychopomps, the final judge a soul might face in their journey to the Beyond. The vast majority of souls never see these great wyrms, and are simply sorted by lesser psychopomps like vanths, but occasionally they will bring a yamaraj a soul whose appropriate destination is unclear, or a soul of great importance that the yamaraj might take interest in. For these souls, the yamaraj hold a trial, weighing the defendant’s actions in life to determine its fate in the Beyond.

The psychopomps are a mysterious group of creatures that oversee the machinery of death. While they are infamously reticent about their history, methods, and motives, scholars have uncovered evidence of a time before the Astral Current and reincarnation, and a popular theory states that the psychopomps, or their predecessors, created it. They certainly maintain and safeguard it now, as anyone who has found the Current in the Astral Sea can attest, having likely been driven off by waves of the creatures. Their realm lies somewhere in the Astral Sea, but no one has yet found it and returned to tell of it. A few who have been invited to take a portal there directly report an island made of bone, and buildings made of stone embedded with fossils.