Monsters

• Pseudodragon
• Pyrolisk
• Blackstorm elemental
• Transformations
• Hag
• Fiendish Maggot
• Vomit Spawn

Pseudodragon

Actions

Pyrolisk

DECEMBER 1, 2018 ~ DM DAVE

Cockatrices are one of those monsters that make awesome a-hole monsters at early levels but aren’t much to fear later on. However, back in second edition, the cockatrice had a firey cousin called the pyrolisk. Which, frankly, was way worse than a cockatrice. Or most other monsters for that matter.

What is a pyrolisk?

Frequently mistaken for its less malignant relative, the pyrolisk is virtually identical to the cockatrice except for the single red feather in its tail and the reddish cast of its wings. Whereas the cockatrice is motivated by instinct alone, the pyrolisk revels in spreading mayhem.

Anyone who locks eyes with a cockatrice catches on fire. And those that are really unlucky burn to a pile of ashes.

The pyrolisk’s mortal enemy is the phoenix, although any creature which the monster encounters is likely to be attacked.

Pyrolisk

Small monstrosity, neutral evil

Armor Class 11

Hit Points 44 (8d6 + 16)

Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft.

Abilities Str 6 (-2), Dex 12 (+1), Con 14 (+2), Int 5 (-3), Wis 13 (+1), Cha 6 (-3)

Damage Immunities fire

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages –

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Immolating Gaze. If a creature starts its turn within 30 feet of the pyrolisk and the two of them can see each other, the pyrolisk can force the creature to make a DC 12 Charisma saving throw if the pyrolisk isn’t incapacitated. On a failed save, the creature magically bursts into flame, taking 5 (1d10) fire damage; until someone takes an action to douse the fire, the creature takes 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. In addition, if the creature is still on fire at the end of its next turn it must repeat the saving throw. On a failure, the creature’s hit points are reduced to 0 and it burns down to a pile of ashes. On a success, the creature continues to burn as normal but does not need to make any additional saving throws.

A creature that isn’t surprised can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If it does so, it can’t see the pyrolisk until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If it looks a the pyrolisk in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.

Actions

Peck. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: +3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.

 

Blackstorm elemental

Actions

Multiattack Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.

Transformations

Hag

Becoming a Hag

Artist: Ona Kristensen

Becoming a hag usually requires that the character is the direct, though often unknowing, offspring of another hag. The spawn of a hag may display personality quirks like a predilection for playing with the dead or torturing animals, but otherwise appears completely normal until their transformation.

Much rarer are those that seek out a hag with the intention of transforming. Most mortals are simply killed, but very occasionally a hag sees potential in the humanoid’s spiteful soul. Or perhaps they have lost a daughter or sister and wish to add a new ally to their coven. In these cases, and only if the hag is powerful enough, the fey might offer to perform a ritual to awaken the change for a price.

Transformation Features

A hag has the following transformation features:

Prerequisites

Ability Scores: Charisma 13 or higher

Roleplay: You must have been unknowingly born a hag, or you must have struck a dark bargain with a hag while exchanging something of dear sentimental value for the ritual to begin your transformation.

Some of your abilities require your target to make a saving throw to resist their effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Transformation Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Level Milestones

The following are examples of possible level milestones for the Hag:

• Consume the flesh of 313 infants
• Join a hag coven and strike a bargain with an elder hag for power
• Perform the ritual to create a gasdra, raise it, and complete the ritual to transform it into a giant gasdra
• Trick 13 mortals into voluntarily accepting curses
• Craft a hag’s eye from one of your own eyes.

Transformation Level 1

Starting at 1st level, you gain the following Transformation Boons and this level’s Transformation Flaw.

Transformation Boon: Crone Form

Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Charisma score increases by 1. An ability score cannot be increased beyond 16 this way. You also become a fey in addition to any other creature types you are. Spells that affect humanoids still affect you. However, you’re immune to effects that only affect fey of a specific CR.

When you gain this ability, you must also choose an affinity with one type of hag, likely the same type as your hag mother or patron. Choose one of the following:

Green Hag: Your fingernails grow hard and sharp giving you two claws that function as natural melee weapons that use your Strength ability modifier. These claws do 1d6 damage.

Red Hag: You learn how to sway others to your will and know the Charm Person spell. You can cast this spell once with this boon and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Sea Hag: You become amphibious and can breathe both air and water. You also gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed.

Transformation Boon: Night’s Daughter

You start to adopt your hag visage, manifesting faint wrinkles, age spots, thinning hair, and pointed ears. You gain Darkvision (60 ft.) if you do not already have it. You add Sylvan to your list of known languages.

Transformation Flaw: Planar Binding

Your body and soul are bound to one of the faerie realms. You have disadvantage on death saving throws as the realm attempts to pull you back to it. If you would be killed, your soul is taken back to a plane of existence of the GM’s choice. This plane is your new home, and you become an NPC under the GM’s control. If you are in the faerie realm responsible for your transformation, this flaw has no effect.

Transformation Level 2

At 2nd level, you can pick one of the following Transformation Boons. In addition, you also gain this level’s Transformation Flaw.

Transformation Boon: Hag Magic

The innate magic of your hag blood begins to manifest, and you gain the ability to cast a small number of spells, requiring no material components.

You know the dancing lights, minor illusion, and vicious mockery cantrips. You can also cast the fog cloud and misty step spells once each and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these innate cantrips and spells.

 

Artist: Xabi Gazte

Transformation Boon: Horrific Appearance

Any humanoid that starts its turn within 30 feet of you and can see your true form must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if you are within line of sight, 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 your Horrific Appearance for the next 24 hours.

Unless the target is surprised or the revelation of your true form is sudden, the target can avert its eyes and avoid making the initial saving throw. Until the start of its next turn, a creature that averts its eyes has disadvantage on attack rolls against you.

Transformation Boon: Illusory Appearance

(Green or Sea Hags only)

You cover yourself and anything you wear or carry with a magical illusion that makes you look like an ugly humanoid of your general size and shape. The effect ends if you take a bonus action to end it or if you die. The illusion does not hold up to physical inspection and touching you reveals the illusion immediately. A close visual inspection sees through the illusion if the creature succeeds on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your transformation save DC.

Transformation Flaw: Hideous Appearance

Your appearance has grotesquely transformed. Non-evil creatures that witness your true form become instantly hostile to you unless the GM decides otherwise. Your appearance has become like that of your hag affinity:

Green Hag: You wither or bloat as your body struggles to deal with the ravages of age. Your hair becomes white and several feet in length. Your skin becomes green and covered in warts and boils.

Red Hag: Your eyes have turned entirely red, and your pupils are narrow like a cat’s. Your skin becomes blood red.

Sea Hag: You have slimy scales and the pallid skin of a dead fish that sags from your emaciated body. Your hair resembles seaweed, and your eyes are glassy.

Transformation Level 3

At 3rd level, you can pick one of the following Transformation Boons or pick a boon from a lower level that you meet the prerequisites for. In addition, you also gain this level’s Transformation Flaw.

Transformation Boon: Drain Vigor

Whenever you deal psychic damage to a creature, the target must succeed a Charisma saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the psychic damage taken. You also regain hit points equal to that amount, gaining any excess as temporary hit points that last 24 hours.

This reduction to a creature’s hit point maximum lasts until the target finishes a long rest. This ability cannot reduce a creature’s hit point maximum to 0, but reduces them to 1 instead if it would do so.

Transformation Boon: Invisible Passage

You magically turn invisible until you attack, cast a spell, or until your concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). While invisible, you leave no physical evidence of your passage. Once you use this ability, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Transformation Boon: Mimicry

You gain mastery over your voice allowing you to cast speak with animals at will. You can also mimic animal sounds and humanoid voices. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against your transformation save DC.

Artist: Anastassia Grigorieva

Transformation Flaw: Purity’s Pain

Unspoiled, pure things cause you physical pain to witness. The hug of a child, a loyal dog laying in its head upon a sick man’s lap, a work of religious art devoted to a seraph, a baby’s laughter; these things make you physically ill.

When you are in the presence of a pure act or object (GM’s discretion) you are wracked with pain and while you can see the cause of your pain, you suffer 1d6 psychic damage at the start of each of your turns and cannot use any of your transformation boons.

In addition, you learn the ritual to create a gasdra (Grim Hollow: The Monster Grimoire). You cannot invoke the ritual again while a gasdra you created still lives.

Transformation Level 4

You can pick one of the following Transformation Boons or pick a boon from a lower level that you meet the prerequisites for. In addition, you also gain this level’s Transformation Flaw.

 

Transformation Boon: Death Glare

Your visage is so horrific, that it may kill a mortal. A creature that you can see within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. If successful, the creature is frightened until the end of its next turn. If the target fails the saving throw, it drops to 0 hit points.

Constructs, oozes, undead, creatures with legendary actions, or any creature immune to fear is unaffected by your death glare. Once you have used this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Transformation Boon: Grandmother’s Curse

You learn one greater curse (Chapter 3, Grim Hollow: The Campaign Guide). You always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.

If you cast the spell while under a new moon, for each good aligned humanoid you sacrifice as part of the casting you may decrease the gp value of the material component required by 200 gp (or 500 gp if the humanoid is a downcast). If the material components you have for the spell are not valuable enough after subtracting the value for each humanoid sacrificed, the spell fails, and you expend the slot.

Transformation Boon: Resilient

You are hard to kill. You gain resistance to cold and necrotic damage. In addition, when you make a saving throw against a spell you can use a reaction to gain advantage on the roll. Once you use this reaction, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Transformation Flaw: Feast of Innocence

The evil in your soul burdens so heavily that you cannot stand pure souls and this drives you to feast upon the innocent. If you go more than 24 hours without consuming a good aligned humanoid, you are greatly weakened and crazed with hunger.

• You cannot think clearly enough to cast spells.
• You are weakened with hunger and have disadvantage on attack rolls.
• If you hear, see, or smell purity, you must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or go into a frenzy. While in a frenzy, you must spend each of your turns attacking the source of the purity until it is destroyed or you succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw made at the end of each of your turns.

Fiendish Maggot

Medium fiend, chaotic evil
Armor Class 13 (natural)
HP 70 (11d8+21)
Speed 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
17 (+3) 10 (+0) 15 (+2) 3 (-4) 5 (-3) 4 (-4)
Damage Resistance cold, fire, lightning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 7
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of
the fiendish maggot must succeed at a DC 12 Constitution
saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn.
On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to the
fiendish maggot’s stench for 24 hours.
Actions
Multiattack. The fiendish maggot makes two attacks: one
with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage.

Vomit Spawn

Large ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 8
HP 45 (6d8+18)
Speed 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
17 (+3) 6 (-2) 16 (+3) 3 (-4) 6 (-2) 3 (-4)
Damage Resistance piercing
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened,
exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive
Perception 8
Languages —
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Amorphous. The vomit spawn can move through space as
narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
False Appearance. While the vomit spawn remains
motionless, it is indistinguishable from an inanimate puddle
of vomit.
Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of
the vomit spawn must succeed at a DC 12 Constitution
saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn.
On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to the
vomit spawn’s stench for 24 hours.
Actions
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) bludgeoning damage plus 7
(2d6) acid damage.