Skip to main content

Swarm of Direflies

Harbingers of the Waning Court. Direflies infest locales where the dark fey roam and eventually build hives within trees and mortals alike. These alien insects are slightly larger than a hornet, clad in blood-red chitin with jaundice light seeping from their abdomen. Upon close inspection, the mouths behind prominent mandibles are almost human complete with tiny teeth.


Overwhelming Infestation. Swarms of direflies cannot exist long on prime material planes without a home. They need to carve out hives and produce noxious blood honey for sustenance. First direflies bore honeycombs into dying trees. When a Waning Cult forms in the local populace the strongest swarms find new homes in these madmen. They slice out honeycomb structures in the supplicant’s flesh and bone. Once an area is corrupted enough direflies bore into innocent victims next.


Maddening Whisperer. Instead of the typical buzz insects produce a swarm of direflies emits a chorus of baleful murmurings. The echo of a swarms’ voices lend an eerie , sinister air to the woods they inhabit, and up close the jumble of words begin to make sense to the listeners. When exposed to the whispers for too long a mortal’s sanity begins to fray at the edges.

Swarm of Direflies

Medium swarm of tiny beasts, unaligned

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 22 (5d8)

Speed 5ft

Fly 30ft (hover)

Str 3 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 1 Wis 10 Cha 12

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, lightning, thunder

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned

Senses passive Perception 10

Languages —

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Illumination.

The swarm sheds dim light in a radius of 30 feet.

Swarm

The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a tiny creature. The swarm cannot regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.

Actions

Bite.

Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (4d4) piercing damage or 5(4d4) piercing damage if the swarm is at half hit points or below.

Whispered Maledictions (Recharge 6).

Target creature in the same space the swarm occupies is overwhelmed with murmured curses, profanities, and prophecies. The creature makes a DC 11 Charisma Saving throw, taking 10(3d6) psychic damage and has disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn. On success, the creature takes half damage and does not have disadvantage.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coffer Mimic

Most adventurers have either encountered or heard a story of an encounter with a mimic disguised as a chest. This is so common that everyone assumes a chest might just be a mimic. Hopefully, they never run across this monstrosity. Bred and trained by The Moneylender to protect his ill-gotten fortune, these mimics take the form of high-quality chests and possess greedy souls. They horde treasure and protect it fiercely. The more booty the mimic holds, the tougher it becomes - even more so when it robs the dead. If they get too aggressive, the Moneylender sells them off to other villains to populate their castles and dungeons. Coffer Mimic Medium monstrosity (shapechanger), neutral Armor Class 12(natural armor) Hit Points 52 (7d8 + 21) Speed 15 ft Str 17 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 5 Wis 11 Cha 14 Skills Deception +4, Stealth +5 Damage Resistances poison Damage Immunities acid Condition Immunities p...

Gears

Gears can't remember if he was a dwarven hero or a condemned criminal. Either way, he is more cogwork than flesh now and driven to mete out justice with his metal fists. He was first deployed during an intense goblin invasion of a dwarven stronghold. Initially he served as something between a shocktroop and a living weapon, but this cigar chopping 'cyborg' inspired the dwarven defenders fighting along side of him to the point that he became a mascot, then a leader. More times than one could count, he should have gone down under a barrage of attacks only to plow forward losing more flesh and blood later replaced with mithril and steel. Eventually, Gears lost every last dwarf he fought along side and just kept killing goblins whenever he could until the fortress housed him alone. Now he wanders the world, making things right the best he can one punch at a time. Gears Medium construct (dwarf), chaotic good Armor Class 12 (natural armor) ...

Warlock Patron: The Embalmed

You have made a pact with an ancient mummy that while forever entombed beneath sun-scorched sand or impenetrable jungle, can reach out from its sepulcher to influence the living. Perhaps the undead horror was once a powerful sorcerer-king, high priestess of an extinct civilization, or the last remnant of a lost, terrible race. Its agenda and goals match a forgotten age and the mummy's capricious whims. Often the warlock is tasked with recovering artifacts tied to the sarcophagus-trapped horror or its civilization. Some mummies seek to futilely seek to be released from their prison, while others just want to be remembered as a figure of glory and power. Expanded Spell List The Embalmed lets you choose from an expanded list of Spells when you learn a Warlock spell. The following Spells are added to Warlock spells list for you. 1st - Inflict Wounds, Ray of Sickness 2nd - Animal Messenger, Dust Devil 3rd - Bestow Curse, Vampiric Touch 4th - Giant Insect, Phantasmal Killer ...