FLUXBEAST

Weird amalgams of animal, vegetable, mineral, and unidentifiable that shouldn’t be alive but somehow are.

To create a flux beast, roll 4d6.

Die 1: Atmospherics: The manifestation of the fluxbeast’s wrongness.
1. A low droning sound that sets your teeth on edge.
2. An acrid smell that stings your nostrils.
3. A precipitous drop in temperature, cold enough to see your breath.
4. An unpleasant metallic taste in your mouth.
5. A crawling sensation all over your body.
6. An inexplicable feeling of dread, like you’re being watched.

Die 2: Locomotion: The fluxbeast has a movement speed equal to a normal, unencumbered human.
1. Scuttles on too many legs – The fluxbeast can move on vertical spaces and ceilings.
2. Levitates in a field of warped space – Ranged attacks against the fluxbeast have disadvantage.
3. Crawls on its belly in a pool of slime – The fluxbeast can’t be knocked prone.
4. Creeps about on all fours – The fluxbeast has Advantage on rolls to balance, climb, hide, jump, and sneak.
5. Staggers erratically on legs that bend the wrong way – As a free action, the fluxbeast can move up to its full speed, ignoring non-magical difficult terrain. After using this ability, there’s a 2-in-6 chance it recharges at the start of the fluxbeast’s next turn.
6. Slithers on a long, muscular tail – The fluxbeast gains a constrict attack. (As it’s action it attempts to grab an adjacent target; each round the afterwards, it deals 1d8 damage to the target. While constricting, the fluxbeast moves at half speed.)

Die 3: Attack: The fluxbeast has +4 bonus to attack rolls.
1. Telekinetically hurls objects at its target. (Range and damage based on size of object – 1d4 damage/30 foot range, 1d6 damage/20 foot range, 1d8 damage/10 foot range)
2. Lashes out with a pair of sinewy tentacles. (Makes two attacks with a 10-foot reach, 1d6 damage and the fluxbeast can make an opposed Strength check to grab the target or knock it prone)
3. Rips and tears with teeth and claws. (Makes four attacks, 1d4 damage and the target loses 1 hit point per successful attack in blood loss each round until the wounds are treated)
4. A blow a mismatched, hypertrophied limb. (Makes one attack with Disadvantage, deals 2d6 damage; if the doubles are rolled for damage, the target must succeed a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone)
5. Strikes with tail stinger dripping venom. (Makes one attack with a 10-foot reach, deals 1d6 damage and the target must succeed a Constitution saving throw or suffer 1d6 damage each round and Disadvantage on all rolls due to excruciating pain; three successful Constitution saves ends the effect)
6. Sweeping slash with a serrated bone blade (Makes one attack with Advantage, deals 1d8+1 damage; on an a critical hit, the attack severs one of the target’s limbs)

Die 4: Defense: The fluxbeast has an Armor Class equivalent to medium/chainmail armor.
1. The fluxbeast can mimic the appearance and basic behavior of any creature it observes, but cannot speak intelligibly. It must revert to its true form to attack.
2. The fluxbeast is covered in venomous spines. A creature making a melee attack against the fluxbeast must succeed a Dexterity saving throw to avoid being stung. A stung creature becomes paralyzes until it succeeds a Constitution saving throw.
3. As its action, the fluxbeast can attempt to telepathically influence another creature it can see and that can see the fluxbeast. If the target fails a Wisdom saving throw, it regards the fluxbeast as an ally to be trusted and defended. This effect lasts until the target is attacked by the fluxbeast, the fluxbeast moves more than 100 feet away, or the fluxbeast dies. A fluxbeast cannot have more than 4 creatures under its influence at a time.
4. As its action, the fluxbeast hurls a mass of sticky, fibrous tendrils at a target is can see within 30 feet. If the target fails a Dexterity saving throw, it becomes entangled in the strands, unable to move more 5 feet per turn and Disadvantaged on all rolls. A successful Strength saving throw removes the tendrils. After using this ability, there’s a 2-in-6 chance it recharges at the start of the fluxbeast’s next turn.
5. As its action, the fluxbeast can surround itself with a cloud of invisible, toxic vapors. Creatures within 10 feet of the fluxbeast must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or succumb to pervasive, realistic hallucinations for one minute or until they succeed three Wisdom saving throws, whichever comes first. After using this ability, there’s a 1-in-6 chance it recharges at the start of the fluxbeast’s next turn.
6. When the the fluxbeast drops below half its total hit points, it transforms into different, highly aggressive physical form. Its armor class increases to heavy, it gains an entirely different mode of locomotion (reroll that trait), and it loses its normal attack. Instead, it can make two melee attacks with Advantage that deal 1d8 damage. The transformation is gruesome to behold; creatures that see it happen must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or be unable to act on their next turn.

A fluxbeast is a Medium-sized aberration with hit points equal to the sum of the dice rolled to generate it and rolls saving throws as a 4th-level magic-user.

NEW MONSTER: GRIEVELING

image by Ariel Perez

The physical manifestations of unresolved grudges, grievelings are psychic vampires that feed on resentment and strife. They can often be found in areas of civil discontent, prolonging conflicts to provide a steady supply of sustenance.

Medium Humanoid
No. Appearing: 2d3
Hit Dice: 5d6 (17 hp); saves as a fighter
Armor Class: equivalent to Medium/Chain
Movement: as a normal human
Attack: 2 unarmed strikes +7 (1d6 damage; if both attacks hit the same target, the grieveling grapples the target) or 1 bite +5 (1d4 damage + 1 point of Wisdom damage); grievelings have Disadvantage on attack rolls against any creature that has not performed an aggressive or violent act in its presence.
Special:

• Gorge: As its action, a grieveling makes two bite attacks against a creature it has grappled and regains an amount of hit points equal to the damage it inflicts on the target.
• Sow Discord: As its action, a grieveling can evoke hostility in an intelligent creature it can see within 30 feet. If the target of this ability fails a Wisdom saving throw, it becomes overwhelmed with feelings of antagonism towards others. An affected creature can attempt a new saving throw at the start of each new turn. The effect also ends when the grieveling is slain.
• Too Mean to Die: When a grieveling is dropped to 0 hp, if it succeeds a saving throw it will return to life on its next turn with half its total hit points. The revived grieveling gains advantage on the next attack it makes against the creature that last inflicted damage to it.

I Search the Body:
Grievelings don’t care about material possessions, but their hearts petrify into solid onyx upon dying (worth 1d6x100 gp if successfully extracted).

VERY GOOD DOGS

Assyrian dog figurines with names carved on them, 650 BC

Canine effigies imbued with wondrous power. Each bestows a passive effect that is always active so long as the figurine is on your person. If you know the name of the dog the figurine represents, you can activate it.

1. “Expeller of evil” (mušēṣu lemnūti) with white pigment and red spots – While in your possession, you gain advantage on rolls to resist fear. Once per day, you can evoke the spirit of this figurine to remove a presence or curse from one person, place, or thing.
2. “Catcher of the enemy” (kāšid ayyāb) with red pigment – While in your possession, your rate of movement increases by 20 percent. Once per day, you can evoke the spirit of this figurine to prevent a creature you can see from moving from their present location for up to one minute.
3. “Don’t think, bite!” (ē tamtallik epuš pāka) with white pigment: While in your possession, you have advantage on the first attack you make in a combat encounter. Once per day, you can evoke the spirit of this figurine to move to the top of the turn order in a combat encounter.
4. “Biter of his foe!” (munaššiku gārîšu) with turquoise pigment – While in your possession, you can reroll damage dice that produce the minimum result, but must take the new number, even if it’s the minimum again. Once per day, you can evoke the spirit of this figurine to make a single melee attack against every target within reach, simultaneously.
5. “Loud is his bark!” (dan rigiššu) with black pigment – While in your possession, you have advantage on rolls to intimidate or goad another creature. Once per day, you can evoke the spirit of this figurine to emit a 40-foot conical blast of sound that deafens and knocks prone every creature within the area of effect and shatters glass and similarly fragile materials.

ONE LINE WIZARDRY

Thirty spells in thirty sentences. If you use leveled spells, assume all of these are 1st-level.

Hearty thanks to Spwack of Slight Adjustments and Meandering Banter, whose “Random Spell” generator provided the names for all of these.

01 Astral Burn (Evocation): This spell, which can only be cast outdoors at night, calls down shafts of harsh starlight that deal 1d10 damage per caster level that can be divided between any number of visible targets within 30 feet that fail a saving throw.

02 Body Jump (Enchantment): For one minute per caster level, your body lies comatose while your consciousness inhabits another living creature you can see that fails a saving throw.

03 Compel Lie (Enchantment): One creature you can see that fails a saving throw must communicate a false statement of your choosing.

04 Conjure Bag (Conjuration): You create a completely ordinary, empty sack with a capacity of 1 cubic foot/30 pounds.

05 Crystal Carapace (Abjuration): For a number of minutes equal to your caster level, you are encased in a shell of articulated crystal that protects as plate/heavy armor without restricting movement and halves the damage incurred from energy-based sources.

06 Eat Dead (Necromancy): You consume a corpse and gain the answer to a number of questions equal to your caster level based on the deceased’s knowledge and memories.

07 Enhance Alcohol (Transmutation): One alcoholic beverage per caster level you can see has its ABV increased 1% per caster level.

08 Envelop Darkness (Evocation): You gather all shadows within 10 feet per caster level into an undulating, human-head-sized orb of concentrated blackness.

09 Fang Aura (Evocation): As long as you concentrate on this spell, you are surrounded by nearly-invisible eel-like entities that deal 1d4 points of damage per caster level, or half that amount with a successful saving throw, to creatures standing adjacent to you.

10 Flame Shard (Transmutation): You transform one torch–sized flame (or up to 10 candle-sized flames) per caster level into an inert, red-orange crystal that turns back into fire when shattered.

11 Form Mouth (Enchantment): You imbue an inanimate object with the power of speech and an Intelligence score equal to your caster level.

12 Fungal Monolith (Conjuration): You cause a mass of fungus, occupying 1 cubic foot per caster level, to rise up from a point on solid ground you can see.

13 Glutinous Disguise (Conjuration): You produce a quantity of viscous material that can alter the facial features of a number of persons equal to your spellcasting ability modifier for 1 minute per caster level.

14 Grip Absolute (Transmutation): You cause an object you are holding to adhere to another object, as if permanently bonded, for a number of minutes equal to your caster level.

15 Hallucinatory Bandage (Illusion): You create the illusion that an injury has been healed for a number of minutes equal to your caster level.

16 Immoral Pheromones (Transmutation): For a number of minutes equal to your caster level, your presence causes living creatures that fail a saving throw to act in an increasingly outrageous and licentious manner for as long as they can smell you.

17 Know Ship (Divination): For one minute per caster level, you gain all information about one watercraft you can see: its layout, how to operate it, where it’s been, and how many creatures are on board (but not their identities).

18 Knuckle Memories (Divination): By holding hands with someone, you know what that hand has held, touched, or struck within one day per caster level prior to your making contact.

19 Pain Mirror (Abjuration): For one minute per caster level, a magical glyph floating above your head metes out an equivalent amount of damage to any creature that successfully attacks you.

20 Paper Portal (Conjuration): You can create a number of magical documents equal to your caster level that will instantly transport the reader to a location known to you.

21 Plasm Sword (Conjuration): You conjure a one-handed weapon that can be used for a number of attacks equal to your caster level before dematerializing.

22 Prismatic Road (Evocation): You project a 5-foot wide walkway of solid, multi-colored light that extends 10 feet per caster level from a point you can see and lasts as long as you concentrate on it.

23 Rune Light (Evocation): Within a 30-foot radius area centered on yourself, you project a number of candle-bright glowing symbols equal to you caster level that last for 1 minute per caster level.

24 Screech Torrent (Enchantment): Creatures within a 10-feet-per-caster-level radius who fail a saving throw can only vocalize unintelligible gibberish AT MAXIMUM VOLUME for one minute per caster level.

25 Slime Robe (Transmutation): For a number of minutes equal to your caster level, you or a willing subject are coated in a thin layer of slime that grants you the physical properties of an ooze-type monster while retaining your normal shape.

26 Squamous Dissolve (Transmutation): You and your worn and carried gear transform into a swarm of tiny lizards for a number of minutes equal to your caster level.

27 Tool Beard (Transmutation): For one minute per caster level, a beard of your choice can replicate the function of any hand-held tool.

28 Violet Breath (Conjuration): You exhale 5 cubic feet per caster level of purple vapor that blocks line sight, irritates eyes and mucus membranes, stains skin and clothing, and lasts for 1 minute or until dissipated by a strong wind.

29 Vodka Prison (Abjuration): A creature that drinks from this magically altered bottle of liquor and fails its saving throw becomes trapped inside the bottle for one hour per caster level or until the bottle breaks.

30 Vomit Wave (Conjuration): You forcefully expel a number of gallons of seawater equal to your caster level.

HEART DOMAIN (5E)

Domain Spells
1st: charm person, heroism
3rd: detect thoughts, enthrall
5th: beacon of hope, fear
7th: compulsion, locate creature
9th: dream, telepathic bond

EMPATH: At 1st level, whenever you make an Insight skill check to determine a living creature’s true emotional state, you gain a bonus to the roll equal to your character level. You must be able to see the creature’s face or hear the creature speak to use this ability.

HEART OF IRON / HEART OF GOLD: Starting at 1st level, after completing a long rest, choose one of the following abilities:

– Heart of Iron: You gain advantage on saving throws to resist fear-based and charm-based spells and effects. However, you incur disadvantage on all Charisma-based skill and ability checks.
– Heart of Gold: You gain advantage on all Deception, Persuasion, and Insight skill checks. However, you gain disadvantage on saving throws to resist fear-based and charm-based spells and effects.

Once selected, you cannot change abilities until you have completed a long rest.

CHANNEL DIVINITY: EMPATHIC TRANSMISSION: At 2nd level, you can expend a use of your channel divinity to alter the emotional state of others. Living creatures that can see and hear you within 30 must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or experience the emotion of your choice for 1 minute. All affected targets feel the same emotion.

SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS: At 6th level, whenever you fail a Persuasion or Insight skill check, you can re-roll the check with bonus equal to your character level. After using this ability, you must complete a short rest or long rest before you can use it again.

STRUCK THROUGH THE HEART: Beginning at 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 psychic damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

SACRED HEART: At 17th level, while you have Heart of Iron active, you gain resistance to psychic and necrotic damage. While you have Heart of Gold active, allies within 30 feet of you gain advantage on death saving throws.

Random Encounter: Itinerant Berserker

Clad in black, faces painted in stark white, itinerant berserkers resemble the wraiths of long dead warriors. Cultists of the War-Father, they roam across the land following the whims of their brutal patron.

Hit Dice: 3 to 9 (13 to 40 hit points), saves as a fighter. Itinerant berserkers have Advantage on saving throws to resist spells and effects that cause instant death.
Armor: Low (Light armor + average Dexterity)
Movement: As a normal human.
Demeanor: Roll 2d6

Result	Mood
2-3	Raving – Plagued by vivid hallucinations.
4-5	Fractious – Willing to fight over the slightest provocation.
6-8	Smug – Believes their fighting prowess is without equal.
9-10	Grieving – Performing funeral rites for a fallen comrade.
11-12	Pensive – Mulling over a cryptic message from the War-Father.

Attack: Heavy melee weapon (1d10); an itinerant berserker gains an extra melee attack for ever 4 hit dice they possess.
Special:

• Devotee of the War-Father: As a free action, the berserker can enter a state of ecstatic frenzy, gaining the the following benefits: double movement speed, resistance to non-magical damage, and immunity to fear. The frenzy lasts for a number of rounds equal to the berserker’s hit dice. When the duration ends, the berserker is spent physically and emotionally, suffering Disadvantage on all rolls for twice the number of rounds the frenzy lasted.
• Bang Heads: After performing a melee attack (hit or miss), the berserker can use a bonus action to head butt a creature within melee range. On a hit, the strike deals 1d4 damage and the target suffers Disadvantage on all rolls until the start of the berserker’s next turn.
• Battle-Madness: This ability can only be used by a berserker with 5 or more hit dice. As their action, the berserker can induce a state of violent rage in a number of intelligent creatures that they can see equal to their hit dice. A creature that fails a Wisdom saving throw begins frothing at the mouth, incapable of any actions other than melee attacks or moving into melee attack range. This condition lasts for 1 minute or until the berserker who caused it is killed.
• Murder of Crows: This ability is only available to a berserker with 7 or more hit dice. The berserker is accompanied by a flock of carrion crows that alert the berserker to approaching foes, rendering them immune to ambushes (always acts during surprise rounds). In combat, the crows fight as a single creature with half the hit dice of the berserker that deals 1d6 damage in melee.

I Search the Body: Roll 1d10

Roll	Loot
1-5	1d4 silver coins per hit die
6	1d4+1 applications of white and black face-paint
7	Iron and silver icon of the War-Father; a secret compartment holds 1d6 doses of a hallucinogenic drug
8	Leather pouch of divinatory runes
9	Riveted black leather armor (1-in-10 chance of actually being a havoc jack)
10	An exotic weapon (1-in-100 chance of a piece of the Regalia of the War-Father)

NEW SPELL / MONSTER: Servants of the Warsmen

Witch/Wizard (Necromancy)

At some point in history, blood has been spilled at every location. This spell calls out to the vestiges of violence that permeate the landscape and incarnates them as grotesque warriors under the control of the spellcaster.

1d4 turns after the spell is cast, the servants of the warsmen will emerge from the ground anywhere the caster chooses within a 30-foot radius. A spellcaster can summon a number of servants with a total hit dice equal to their caster level, divided into any combination of whole numbers (for example, an 8th-level wizard could summon 8 1-HD servants, 4 2-HD servants, 2 4-HD servants, etc.).

SERVANT OF THE WARSMEN

image by Stepan Alekseev

Medium Undead
Hit Dice: Variable, saves as a fighter
Armor Class: 1-2 HD – equivalent to light/leather, 3-4 HD – equivalent to medium/chain, 5+ HD – equivalent to heavy/plate
Movement: As a normal human
Attack: By weapon (1d8 damage) or unarmed strike (1d4 damage and target must succeed a Constitution saving throw or contract a deadly wasting disease). A servant of the warsmen deals additional damage equal to the number of other servants within 30 feet of it.

Servants of the warsmen will obey the commands of the magic-user who summoned them, but otherwise will not acknowledge anyone else, except as the target or object of a command. Should the controlling spellcaster die, the servants will abandon whatever task they were given and attack the nearest living creature.

Once summoned, a servant of the warsmen will persist until destroyed.

NEW SPELL: Cloaked in Nightwinds

Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard/Witch (Conjuration)

Invoking dark elemental powers, you wreathe your body in umbral force and fade into a wraith-like state.

While the spell is in effect, the caster takes on the appearance of a dim, translucent apparition. They are difficult to see in normal illumination, gaining Advantage on Stealth checks, and practically invisible in dim light. The caster is also intangible, capable of passing through solid matter, and can fly at twice their normal movement rate.

The powers the spell calls upon are fickle – cloaked in nightwinds lasts for a number of rounds equal to the caster’s spellcasting modifier plus 1d6. But, the caster can extend the duration of the spell by passing through living creatures, thereby draining away some of the creature’s life force. The target of this action must make a Constitution saving throw; on a failure, the creature loses one hit die’s worth hit points and the spell’s duration gains a number of additional rounds equal to half the hit points lost. With a successful save, the targeted creature merely feels a slight, sudden chill, like someone just walked over their grave.

SKUNDER & MELDA MAZ

Photo by VelociJACKtor

Skunder is the tall one; they never speak, except in whispers only audible to Melda Maz. In fact, Skunder hardly makes any sound at all, unless they want to, and they can make those sounds (footsteps, the rustle of clothing, breathing) emanate from anywhere within 60 feet of where they actually are. They have an uncanny ability to find and disable traps and open locks. 

Melda Maz is incredibly strong despite their short stature, capable of extraordinary feats of athleticism. They speak with a gravelly voice and an affable, if slightly menacing, aspect. There’s a 50/50 chance Maz is fluent any language they hear. Maz has keen senses and is an expert at identifying and appraising items. They will instantly know if they are being targeted by any sort of telepathic or mind-affecting spell or effect and who is targeting them.

If violence is unavoidable, Maz is a dangerous oppoent with the black-bladed knife they’ll draw from the folds of their cloak. Skunder will somehow pull an ebony-hafted, black-tipped spear out of theirs. If either is disarmed, the weapon will vanish into black smoke and a new one will appear in their hand on their next turn.

Neither Skunder or Melda Maz appear to be affected by extreme heat or cold. They each seem to intuitively know where the other is and what they are planning to do. If you lose sight or take your eyes off either of them, they can vanish and reappear somewhere else you weren’t looking.

SKUNDER medium humanoid | HD: 8, saves as a thief | AC: High (supernatural dexterity) | Movement: twice as fast as a normal human | Attack: spear +3 (1d6 damage and target must succeed a Charisma saving throw or become mute for a number of rounds equal to the damage rolled)

MELDA MAZ small humanoid | HD: 8, saves as a fighter | AC: Medium (above average dexterity + small stature) | Movement: as a normal human | Attack: knife +6 (1d6 damage and target must succeed a Constitution saving throw or one limb becomes numb and useless for a number of rounds equal to the damage rolled)

Who are these weirdos? I dunno, I just saw this photo and got inspired. Maybe they’re after the same MacGuffin your PCs are searching for. Maybe they have a lucrative, if dangerous, job to offer. Maybe they’re just vibing.

BLOOD DOMAIN (5E)

Domain spells:
1st – expeditious retreat, false life
3rd – enhance ability, ray of enfeeblement
5th – vampiric touch, haste
7th – aura of life, death ward
9th – hold monster, raise dead

Matters of Life and Death – At 1st level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons and Medicine. You have Advantage on all ability checks and skill checks related to determining causes of injury or time of death.

Sanguine Vitality: Also at 1st level, you become proficient in Constitution saving throws. You gain 1 additional hit point per character level.

Channel Divinity – Bound by Blood: Starting at 2nd level, you can forge a temporary link between the vital forces of you and your allies. As a standard action, you can brandish your holy symbol before a number of creatures of your choice that you can see equal to your character level. Whenever an affected ally would suffer damage from any source, they take half damage and you take the other half.

This effect lasts until you drop below 0 hit points or 1 minute, whichever comes first. 

Thirsty Blade: Beginning at 6th level, whenever you deal slashing or piercing damage to a living creature, you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus

Crimson Strike: At 8th level, you can imbue your weapons with divine energy to increase the severity of wounds you inflict. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d4 necrotic damage to the target, plus another 1d4 necrotic damage each round until they succeed a Constitution saving throw. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d4.

Undead creatures and creatures without circulatory systems are immune to this effect.

Reign of Blood: At 17th level, you gain Advantage on all Constitution ability checks and saving throws and you become immune to non-magical disease. When you use your Bound by Blood ability, you can telepathically communicate with the allies you affect as long as the effect lasts.