5E MONSTER: CERBERUS SPAWN

by Justin Alexander – November 7th, 2021

A cerberus spawn is a large, three-headed dog. They usually have sleek, grey-brown fur, although some
are jet black. One can often seen their veins, which glow like red-hot lava through their skin. Their eyes,
too, glow red above their slavering maws.

Spawn of Hades. Cerberus spawn are said to be the get of Cerberus itself, the great hound who stands
guard upon the gates of Hades. Like their forefather, cerberus spawn are used throughout Hades to keeps
souls from escaping their gaols and masters.

Guard Dogs of the Lower Planes. From Hades, the cerberus spawn have spread throughout the Lower
Planes, where many demons and devils employ them as guardians. Even wild packs are sometimes seen,
roaming the Abyss, feasting upon the damned souls of Avernus, or adding their howls to the
lamentations of Cocytus.

Ghost Hounds. The gifts of cerberus spawn are also renowned on the Material Plane, where their affinity
for souls makes them expert trackers of ghosts and other incorporeal undead.

Packs of cerberus spawn are also often brought to the Material Plane by more powerful fiends. They are
sometimes abandoned by these masters, or left feral after mortal heroes dispose of their keepers. Such
hounds often seek a way home, although some find the easy prey of the mortal world to their liking and
settle down.

Cerberus spawn breed true, but rarely (only going into heat once every thirteen years), so fortunately
these packs rarely become endemic. Druids often seek to eliminate them, however, because they tend to
violently displace native predators. (It’s not unusual, for example, to find dead wolves marking the limits
of a cerberus spawn’s territory.)
CERBERUS SPAWN
Large fiend, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 85 (10d10+30)

Speed 50 ft.

STR 22 (+6), DEX 9 (-1), CON 17 (+3), INT 8 (-1), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 5 (-3)

Skills Perception +5

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 15

Languages Infernal

Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +3

Three Heads: A spawn has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks

and on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened,
frightened, stunned, and knocked unconscious.

Soul Scenter: A cerberus spawn gains advantage on Wisdom (Survival)

checks related to ghosts and similar undead.

Magic Resistance. A spawn has advantage on saving throws against

spells and other magical effects.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The spawn makes three bite attacks.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack. +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6)
piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 17
Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
 5E MONSTER: LIKHO
by Justin Alexander – November 9th, 2021

The likho is a lithe, slight humanoid with slick, purple-gray skin. Its slim limbs are wiry and muscular. Its
face is dominated by a single large eye, beneath which are two thin slits for nostrils and a narrow gash of
a mouth filled with needle-like teeth.

It has a strange, ever-changing gait — sometimes walking on its hands, sometimes on its legs, sometimes
racing on all four — and will often vault and climb and clamber with wild abandon, slipping in and out
of shadowy bowers or leaping out of black waters to surprise those peering into the deeps.

Personification of Misfortune. In the folk tales of the frontier, the likho is seen as the living embodiment
of ill fortune and evil. “He’s had the likho on his back” is a saying that describes those who have suffered
from a series of misfortunes. “Don’t stare the likho in its face” is a proverb suggesting that one should not
tempt fate.

There are many who think this is just a turn of phrase. But, of course, the likho is quite real, and while
most who suffer setbacks are just unlucky, some truly are cursed by the likho.

In some isolated communities that have a long history with the likho, lichy is a slang term that means
something shoddy or unreliable. Some may also refer to likhoy, those who are too daring or foolhardy
(and thus risk bringing ill fortune to both themselves and those around them).

Likho Items. Likho can create special bait items. These are often made to look quite valuable — e.g., a
sword with a hilt of gold — in order to tempt the greed of their victims. Anyone touching a likho item
will find that it is stuck in place and that they are unable to release it. (Wrenching their grasp free requires
a DC 22 Strength check or a remove curse spell.) Furthermore, the likho who made the item is alerted as
per an alarm spell. As the likho draws near, the one attached to a likho item will feel their presence
growing like a darkness in their mind.
Many are the tales of those who have cut off their own hands in order to escape the approaching likho.

Likho’s Bargain. It is said that a likho can sometimes be bargained with. Its own evil can be turned back
upon itself, if one can offer a great temptation or something of great worth related to a deadly sin. (Most
commonly greed, like a blacksmith offering to make it a precious item or a wizard offering to conjure it a
magical feast.)

In truth, however, the likho rarely honors these bargains: it will take what is offered and then betray the
one who made the bargain with it. However, the clever can sometimes trick or cheat the likho.

LIKHO
Small fey, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 58 (13d6+13)

Speed 30 ft.

STR 10 (+0), DEX 16 (+3), CON 12 (+1), INT 12 (+1), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 14
(+2)

Skills Athletics +2, Deception +4, Insight +3, Stealth +5

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 13

Languages Common, Sylvan

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

Adherence: If a creature touches or is touched by the likho, they must

make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the likho adheres to
them and simultaneously vanishes, becoming both invisible and
intangible. Truesight or other abilities that perceive the Ethereal Plane
allow one to see the likho, which clings to the target’s shoulders from the
Border Ethereal.

A character who has been adhered to by a likho feels a weight on their

soul and suffers from bad luck. They suffer disadvantage on all checks and
must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw each day at dusk or suffer
one level of exhaustion. They do not recover from exhaustion after long
rests.

A remove curse spell will break the likho’s adherence, freeing its victim and
forcing it to return to the Material Plane.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The likho makes two claw attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d8)
slashing damage. If the likho hits with a claw attack, the target is subjected
to the Adherence trait.
 5E MONSTER: ASH WRAITH
by Justin Alexander – November 22nd, 2021

Ash wraiths are the undead, burnt remains of corpses. They take the form of a swirling cloud of gray-
black ash, usually vaguely humanoid in shape. Although they cannot properly be said to have corporeal
bodies, their touch retains the passionate heat of their deaths and is scalding to mortal flesh.

Hauntings. Ash wraiths are most often found haunting ruined crematoriums or lingering near the horrors
of execution pyres, but there are also tales of woods being haunted by ash wraith animals for years or
even decades after the devastation of forest fires.

From One, Many. Ash wraiths can be created using the animate dead spell, although it requires special
knowledge to do so.

Necromancers who perfect the rare art of creating ash wraiths are often able to claim two undead
servants from a single corpse. Although the rites which create a skeleton usually consume the flesh of the
corpse (if it has not already rotted away), a necromancer can first flense the corpse. The flesh and fat is
then burned, providing the ashes for the wraith, while the skeleton is animated separately.

Undead Nature. An ash wraith doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Design Note: Ash wraiths are designed to provide an incorporeal form of undead
that can be used in a fashion similar to skeletons and zombies. (In other words,
minor undead that aren’t mind-searingly terrifying.) They were originally
created for the original 1974 edition of D&D, and that stat block can be found
here.
ASH WRAITH
Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 18 (4d8)

Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)

STR 7 (-2), DEX 14 (+2), CON 11 (+0), INT 6 (-2), WIS 8 (-1), CHA 5 (-3)

Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning,

piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities necrotic, poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, poisoned, prone, restrained

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9

Languages understands all languages it knew in life, but can’t speak

Challenge ¼ (50 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

Ashen Movement. The ash wraith can move through other creatures’
spaces as if they were difficult terrain.

Undead Embers. If damage reduces the ash wraith to 0 hit points, it must
make a Constitution saving throw of DC 5 + the damage taken, unless the
damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the ash wraith will
reform in 1d4 hours.

ACTIONS

Fiery Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5
(1d6+2) fire damage.
 5E MONSTER: HONEYTRAP
by Justin Alexander – December 19th, 2021

The honeytrap is a roper-like creature which relies on deceit and camouflage to trap its prey. The upper
half of its body bears the appearance of a beautiful young maiden, but this beauty is wrapped around a
mass of tentacular horror.

Quicksand Hunter. The honeytrap’s favored tactic is to secrete a corrosive

chemical capable of rendering even solid rock into a quicksand-like
liquescence. When its prey draws near, the honeytrap will cry in terror and
plead for their aid. It will wait until they are at their most vulnerable before
striking: Its sternum will part into a ravenous maw, exuding a half dozen
coiled tentacles which will burst forth and wrap themselves lethally around
the honeytrap’s would-be saviors.

Tentacular Chase. The honeytrap prefers to lure its victims into a dangerous
mixture of complacency and chivalry before striking, but those seeking to flee
a ravenous honeytrap may be shocked as it wrenches itself free from its muck-
ridden hunting grounds and pursues them with great speed upon a second
tumultuous mass of tentacles extruding from its “maiden” waist.

HONEYTRAP
Large monstrosity, chaotic evil

Armor Class 18

Hit Points 119 (14d10+42)

Speed 40 ft.

STR 19 (+4), DEX 13 (+2), CON 17 (+3), INT 12 (+1), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 17
(+3)

Skills Athletics +7, Deception +6, Persuasion +6, Stealth +5

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Common, Elven

Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +3

Grasping Tendrils. The honeytrap has six tendrils. Each tendril can be
attacked (AC 18; 20 hit points; immunity to poison and psychic damage).
Destroying a tendril deals no damage to the honeytrap. A tendril can also
be broken if a creature takes an action and succeeds on a DC 16 Strength
check against it.

Quicksand Liquiescence. A honeytrap can turn a 10 ft. radius of earth,

dirt, or stone into quicksand in 1d4 minutes by excreting a powerful, acidic
chemical. If a honeytrap is slain, moves, or stops excreting the chemical,
the ground will re-solidify within 1d4 hours.
A creature entering quicksand sinks 1d4+1 feet and becomes restrained.
At the start of each of its turns, the creature sinks another 1d4 feet.
Creatures in quicksand can attempt a DC 10 + the number of feet it has
sunk Strength check to escape. This check is made with advantage if they
have hold of a rope or similar item attached to something out of the
quicksand.

A creature completely submerged in quicksand cannot breathe and begins

to suffocate. They are also no longer able to escape the quicksand without
assistance.

A creature outside can pull a creature out of quicksand as an action with

a DC 5 + the number of feet the target creature has sunk into the quicksand
Strength check.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The honeytrap makes six attacks with its tendrils, uses Reel,
and makes one attack with its bite.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (6d8+4)
piercing damage.

Tendril. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 30 ft., one creature. The target
is grappled (escape DC 15). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained
and has disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, and
the honeytrap cannot use the same tendril on another target.

Weakness. A honeytrap’s strands sap an opponent’s strength. Anyone

grabbed by a strand must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw
each round or suffer a level of exhaustion.

Reel. The honeytrap pulls each creature grappled by it up to 15 ft. straight

toward it.
 5E MONSTER:
BLOODWIGHT, DESICCATED
by Justin Alexander – January 22nd, 2021

True bloodwights are among the deadliest of the undead banes, capable of achieving power to rival even
the most potent liches. If they become trapped and unable to feed, however, their blood-drenched flesh
dries to desiccated husks; their desperate and unquenched need for living energy driving them first to
madness and then to near-brainlessness.

Shambling Gait. When adventurers first encounter a desiccated bloodwight, they’ll often drawn the
wrong conclusion. The shambling gait and limited actions of a desiccated bloodwight are likely to leave
them thinking that they’re facing common zombies.

Bloodsheen. The first indication that something is wrong will come when they start sweating blood and
their skin becomes coated with a scarlet sheen. As the blood drips from them, it will pool on the floor and
flow towards the desiccated corpses which grow in strength with every passing moment.

Transformation. When a desiccated bloodwight has drained enough energy from the living, it will
transform into a lesser bloodwight. Its dry skin will crack open as the undead horror literally tears itself
out of its own body. The thing which emerges is a glistening mass of raw muscle, pulsing with thick veins
of crimson-black blood. Its fang-like teeth glitter as its mouth parts in a ghastly, hissing smile…

Design Note: Bloodwights originally appeared in my 3E adventure The

Complex of Zombies, which reinvented the typical cannon fodder zombie of
fantasy roleplaying as a terrifying monster of horror commensurate with its
cultural cachet. You can read some behind the scenes commentary here.

BLOODWIGHT, DESICCATED
Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 8

Hit Points 22 (3d8+9)

Speed 20 ft.

STR 12 (+1), DEX 8 (-1), CON 16 (+3), INT 6 (-2), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 16
(+3)

Skills Stealth +1

Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing

from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Any

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

Bloodsheen. A living creature within 30 feet of a desiccated bloodwight

must succeed at a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or begin sweating
blood (covering their skin in a sheen of blood). Characters affected by
bloodsheen suffer 1d4 points of damage, plus 1 point of damage for each
bloodwight within 30 feet. A character is only affected by bloodsheen once
per round, regardless of how many bloodwights are present.

Health Soak. A desiccated bloodwight within 30 feet of a living creature

gains 2 hit points per round. A desiccated bloodwight benefiting from
health soak will gain hit points even after their normal maximum number
of hit points has been reached, up to a maximum of 33 (the maximum
number of hit points possible per Hit Die). If a desiccated bloodwight
reaches the maximum number of hit points possible per Hit Die, they
benefit from a restorative transformation (see below). If a desiccated
bloodwight with more than their normal maximum number of hit points
is no longer within 30 feet of a living creature, they will lose 1 hit point per
minute until they return to their normal maximum number of hit points.

Restorative Transformation. A desiccated bloodwight who reaches the

maximum number of hit points per Hit Die as a result of their health soak
ability is transformed into a lesser bloodwight as a bonus action. From that
point forward, the desiccated bloodwight is treated as a lesser bloodwight
in all respects.

ACTIONS

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1)
bludgeoning damage.
 5E MONSTER:
BLOODWIGHT, LESSER
by Justin Alexander – January 23rd, 2021

Lesser bloodwights are either the pupa-like clone-spawn of true bloodwights or the first stage of recovery
for a bloodwight who has been reduced to a desiccated state.

The Crimson Sheen. The signature of the bloodwights is the sheen of blood which they cause to erupt on
the skin of the living. They are so inimical to life, that mortal flesh erupts in a hemorrhagic rejection of
their presence. But the bloodwight itself thirsts for the warmth and energy of life, their limbs growing
sleek and supple in its presence.

The sheen notably does not require line of sight, allowing bloodwights to lurk in sealed up attics or glide
through city sewers. There are tyrants who have been known to wall up lesser bloodwights in oubliettes,
into which can be thrown doomed prisoners.

Blood-Damned Nests. Bloodwights have a strong nesting influence, constructing mounds from whatever
material may be at hand (furniture in mortal dwellings, detritus in ruins, leaves or fallen trees in forests,
and so forth).

There may be a hunting component to this behavior, as the bloodwights can lay hidden within a nest
while nevertheless feasting on any living creatures who pass by. In some cases, those excavating these
nests have found them to be connected to other nests in the same area through shallow tunnels.
BLOODWIGHT, LESSER
Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 45 (6d8+18)

Speed 30 ft.

STR 14 (+2), DEX 12 (+1), CON 16 (+3), INT 11 (+0), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 16
(+3)

Skills Stealth +3, Perception +3

Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing

from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Any

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

Bloodsheen. A living creature within 30 feet of a lesser bloodwight must

succeed at a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or begin sweating blood
(covering their skin in a sheen of blood). Characters affected by
bloodsheen suffer 1d4 points of damage, plus 1 point of damage for each
bloodwight within 30 feet. A character is only affected by bloodsheen once
per round, regardless of how many bloodwights are present.

Health Soak. A lesser bloodwight within 30 feet of a living creature gains

2 hit points per round. A desiccated bloodwight benefiting from health
soak will gain hit points even after their normal maximum number of hit
points has been reached, up to a maximum of 66 (the maximum number
of hit points possible per Hit Die).

ACTIONS

Multiattack. Lesser bloodwights make two claw attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2)
bludgeoning damage.

Blood Welt. When a creature is struck by a lesser bloodwight’s claw

attack, they must succeed at a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or suffer
a blood welt. A blood welt bleeds for 1 point of necrotic damage per
round. The victim can repeat the saving throw at the beginning of each
turn, ending the effect of all current blood welts on a successful save.
Alternatively, the bleeding can be stopped with a DC 14 Wisdom
(Medicine) check.
 5E MONSTER: CORPSEDAMP ZOMBIE
by Justin Alexander – March 4th, 2021

The word dampf, in German, means “vapour.” In England, the term became used to describe a variety of
gases encountered during mining:

• Firedamp refers to a flammable gas, most often methane.

• Whitedamp refers to a smothering, toxic gas (usually carbon monoxide resulting from burning
coal). This is the gas which canaries were famously used to detect.

• Stinkdamp is hydrogen sulfide. Poisonous, corrosive, and very flammable, with the foul odor of
rotten eggs.

• Afterdamp, the toxic mixture of gases left in the aftermath of an explosion. Could be any mixture
of the above.

Corpsedamp is a gas most often extracted by necromancers from rotting corpses. It has a number of
properties favorable to their work, but is particularly notable for allowing the creation of corpsedamp
zombies: Shambling undead literally bloated by the mass of gas which has been used to animate them.
Their rotting skin is drawn taut; the milky white remnants of their eyes often bulge from the face or are
even pushed out to dangle against their cheeks by their internal pressure.
CORPSEDAMP ZOMBIE
Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 8

Hit Points 22 (3d8+9)

Speed 20 ft.

STR 13 (+1), DEX 6 (-2), CON 16 (+3), INT 3 (-4), WIS 6 (-2), CHA 5 (-3)

Saving Throws Wis +0

Damage Immunities Poison

Condition Immunities Poisoned

Vulnerability fire

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8

Languages understands all languages it spoke in life, but cannot speak

Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Explosive Death. If a corpsedamp zombie is reduced to 0 hit points, it

immediately explodes. All creatures within 15 feet must make a DC 13
Dexterity save. A target takes 2d8 fire damage on a failed save or half as
much damage on a successful one. (The fire spreads around corners and
ignites flammable objects in the area that weren’t being worn or carried.)

Fiery Death. A corpsedamp zombie is vulnerable to fire. If they die as a

result of fire damage, however, their Explosive Death ability deals 4d8
damage (or half on a successful save) instead of the normal amount.

ACTIONS

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d6+1)
bludgeoning damage.