5e Homebrew: Monster: Snot

So, I was playing Dungeons 3 on my new XBox One, and man oh man, is it ever fun! So fun, in fact, that it got me thinking about just how much I love building dungeons as a DM!

As a little bit of silly fun, I decided to make up a statblock of the snot. (Snots are the mooks/minions who do all the manual labor in your dungeon in Dungeons 3.)

Snot

Small humanoid (Snot), lawful evil

Armor Class 10
Hit Points 10 (2d10)
Speed 35ft., Burrow 5ft.

STR 10 (+0) (LE 50lb / HE 100lb / EL 150lb / PDL 300lb) (LJ 10ft / HJ 13ft)
DEX 10 (+0)
CON 10 (+0)
INT 10 (+0)
WIS 10 (+0)
CHA 10 (+0)

Skills. Brewer's Supplies, Carpenter's Tools, Mason's Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools
Senses. darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 10
Languages. Deep Speech, Goblin, Undercommon
Challenge. 0 (10xp)

TRAITS

Slave Labor. Snots count as 1 size larger for the purposes of determining carrying capacity.

Heart Bound. Snots always know the current location and condition of the dungeon heart that spawned them.

Soulless. Spells that refer to or manipulate souls have no effect on snots, as they do not have souls.

ACTIONS

Punch. +2 to hit. Hit: 1 bludgeoning damage.

DESCRIPTION

Snots are insane and bizarre monsters born from an evil magic construct called a dungeon heart. Snots are tiny, round-bellied creatures with stumpy limbs and large noses. They have green skin and vaguely resemble a mixture between a goblin and a gnome. Snots are naturally born into slavery, and are perfectly happy that way, believing their only purpose is to sacrifice their lives in abject obedience. That said, snots are abject cowards and will flee at the slightest danger, fighting only as is absolutely necessary to reaCh escape. The only exception to this fear is their love for the dungeon heart that spawned them. If anything attacks or threatens their dungeon heart, the snots know immediately and will converge on the threat. Snots are happiest toiling away at dangerous and exhausting work in the service of whatever evil power brought them into existence. Snot anatomy is unusual, in that they lack a heart to circulate blood.

Kiss And A Slap: Curse of Strahd

TL;DR

This is one of the best adventures for 5th edition D&D. It is a resurrection of a classic and, though a little stiff if you play it straight as written, it only takes a little massaging of the content to make this adventure into a beloved long-term campaign. Worth every penny.

10 Flaws With Curse of Strahd

1. Where do the Barovians get their food? Aside from 1 winery, there are no farms. The vast majority of the land is untame wilderness and ruins claimed by monsters. Additionally, the rivers do not connect, so there is no trade between towns via water trade, and the major bodies of water are either too dangerous for fishing or too far away from a settlement to be a viable fishing site. Hunting is blatant suicide. Does everyone just own a dozen goats? Where do they keep these animals?
2. Why are there still forests standing at all? There are very finite forests in the boundaries of Barovia. Barovia experiences a winter season. Structures in the towns are maintained and rebuilt on occasion. With a theoretically inifnite population with a higher reproductive rate and lumber demand than the forests could ever match... Over a hundred years running in a  vacuum...
3. Where is the iron mine, and how do the miners get there without getting eaten by wolves? Iron rusts. Most tools are made of iron ores. Most tools are ruined by use long before they rust. Nails and screws are disposable iron tools. All of these things are necessary to have any kind of civilization at all. You need iron to have armed guards. You need iron to have wooden houses. You need iron to have anything more advanced than stone age primitivism. 
4. Why do the Vistani stay or keep coming back? Leaving town boundaries is essentially suicide in Barovia. The roads are dense with salivating monstrous threats. The Vistani are disliked by the locals out of jealousy and superstition. The Vistani can leave at any time. Why stay?
5. Why are there so many hags in the shadowfell? It has since of late been decided that the Domains of Dread, Ravenloft among them, are locations in the Shadowfell. Hags are fey creatures, which means they are natives to the feywild. While it is possible to walk from the material plane to either of these other planes, you can't really walk directly between the two. I can see maybe one hag making the trip, but...
6. The horror is hokey. Ok. Now we're down to real complaints. The problem with running horror in D&D is that of power dynamics. Horror stories depend on the subject of the narrative being disempowered. They lack crucial knowledge, equipment, skills, and time to deal with the threats and challenges they are facing. This feeling of disempowered weakness IS fear. In D&D the player characters are granted great powers and resources by their class features as they gain levels. D&D player characters are walking, talking murder machines. The players, thus, are enabled and empowered to achieve great things, even against overwhelming threats. (Keep in mind, this is a game where people have slain ancient dragons at 1st level) This shift in power dynamic makes all of the threats in the setting seem less like threats and more like arbitrary barriers where the numbers are just too big to deal with for now. It isn't scary being attacked by 20 wolves when you can kill 10 on your own, it's just annoying. It isn't a threat, it's extra work. Add on top of this the fact that the players are well removed from the diegetic action, and the fact that the horror themes in this adventure are hopelessly anachronistic, and you'll have a hard time selling the scares as a DM. The few things in the book that lean towards the more mature elements of horror actually wind up coming across as hopelessly depressing, rather than actually scary. (A desperate man trying to sacrifice an ethnic minority to a river god for food is not horror. It's just really sad.)
7. It's the most railroaded sandbox in existence. The book explicitly endorses iron curtain, DM fiat based tactics to force the players to walk the straight and narrow. Any time they wander off the beaten paths, they run into invisible walls of monsters or choking fog. Overwhelming force keeps the players restricted to the adventure scenarios, and prevents them from interacting with the apparent sandbox too much. Why? Because the sandbox is mostly empty! In actuality, the setting is little more than a thin facade meant as a backdrop for a series of small adventures. Here's some examples: * In the town of Vallaki, if the players decide to do anything outside of the narrative adventure set in that location, they will find themselves talking to droll soulless NPCs, attacked by rat swarms, or thrown in jail. * If the players don't see the adventure hook for death house, fog closes in around them and literally forces them in through the door. * The off-road encounter chart is MURDER. Few players are dumb enough to fall for this kind of illusionism, and almost everyone will see it for what it is: The setting is too thin for off-track adventuring, so deadly barriers are erected to prevent players from accidentally walking off the stage. What the developers failed to consider is what these invisible walls imply for the local population of the setting. Under such inhospitable conditions, how does anyone get anything done at all? How do these people survive here?
8. Count Strahd is a dick head. Now, every DM will play this character a little differently, but if you play him as described in the adventure, he's kind of just an obstinate jerk with too much power. There is no reason to truly fear him, so much as there is reason to be wary of him as a hazard. He lacks the manipulative finesse it takes to fill the shoes he's meant to fill. He lacks the charm and finesse of the romantic vampire trope. And furthermore, he lacks the sensibilities of a ruler. Here's some insight: being in charge of a large region with multiple settlements full of people, even if you don't really care for their well being, is a lot of damn work. Most leaders find ways to make that work easier for themselves. The easiest way to make your job easier, is to make sure the people you're in charge of like you. The easiest way to maintain a position of power, is to make sure your enemies like you enough that they don't want you removed. Count Strahd is just a giant zit the players need to pop to escape his realm. I don't know about you, but my Von Zarovich is going to do everything in his power to be the most lovable zit in the multiverse. The original vampire was not an in-your-face blood-drinking monstrosity; it was a creeping, manipulative sort of evil. The vampire symbolizes spousal abuse in its most destructive form. The vampire is a seducer and abuser, a charismatic sociopath, a being that willingly drains the life from everyone who gets too close just to sustain its own sorry existence beyond its time. Strahd should be cold and calculating, and at the same time warm and relatable. He needs to be the kind of person who makes himself necessary to others, then takes advantage of that relationship to its most extreme extent possible. Strahd von Zarovich the military conqueror is not that kind of monster.
9. The maps poster is a useless wall-hanger. Let's not beat around the bush here, the poster is a decorative freebie with the barest hints of being a game piece. These maps are not clear enough to be used for battle grids or for hex crawling. It's a lovely addition, and a nice thing for some teenager to hang in their bedroom, but otherwise rather superfluous, especially if you're an adult with a house who entertains friends and family in a non-D&D related setting.
10. The fog makes no sense. What about my horse? What about the birds that live in the region? Do they migrate? How? With a closed gene pool, how are the stock wildlife subsisting in an inhospitable environment arbitrary overpopulated by predators?

10 Great Features of Curse of Strahd

1. Better titled "Ravenloft's Greatest Hits". This book is a retelling of the classic Ravenloft adventure, but heavily expanded, including the best elements from other publications related to the setting, and also including additional details to expand the setting and update it for a modern audience. It is everything that has ever been good about Ravenloft as an adventure and as a setting, all lumped together into one product, with special features as a bonus. There are few D&D products that match this level of high quality synthesis.
2. The tarokka deck actually matters. In this game, the players have their fortune read via a mysterious pack of cards eerily resembling the tarot in its most occult of interpretations. This card reading actually has major impact on how the adventure will play out, where the players will go, who their friends and enemies will be, and more. While the actual changes are very specific, the way these changes impact play creates a cascading effect through the players, that transforms the experience. As a consequence, no two playthroughs will ever be the same, even if you have nearly identical party composition. Even better, this is a gaming prop that you can actually buy and use as a pack of cards! I have even gone so far as to make a game that you and your players can play using it! I'm a sucker for good game pieces.
3. The adventurers league expeditions match up. In the preceding adventure seasons, the adventurers league adventures were all sited very far away from the matching published adventure. As a consequence, it was a rather broad leap of the imagination to jump from the hardback to the AL and vice-versa. However, with Curse of Strahd, all of the adventures take place in the same contained setting. As a result, it is possible to use the AL expeditions modules as expansion packs for this adventure, making the setting richer and more detailed. Additionally, you can incorporate some of the houserules the AL made for things like madness and the like to bring a finer edge to the idea of horror in your presentation of the game.
4. It's a whole campaign in a book. This thing has content enough to keep players busy from 1st to 10th level. That is months worth of adventuring- and even then, that's only if the players are super keen to level up and kill Strahd ASAP. There's easily enough material here to keep players busy for a year or two, and there are some campaigns that are still going to this day since the adventure's publication date! And even if you did run out of content, there's always AL expeditions you can add, or you can homebrew your own material into the setiing, because...
5. ...There's room to breathe! While I've already complained that the setting is rather thin on details, there is one huge benefit to a sketchy adventure location: it takes very little effort to expand the setting yourself. And this is a lesson I believe they have taken from the development of Lost Mines of Phandelver. Often, with heavily detailed settings like The Forgotten Realms, it can be both overwhelming and stifling to try and fit anything new into the already over-stuffed mix. This place, though, is almost a blank slate! There's excess road that leads to empty space, unnamed hillocks and rivers, the only-mentioned and not represented mad catacombs beneath castle ravenloft, and plenty of empty wilderness. There's room enough to make whole cities full of adventure.
6. It comes bundled with new character options! In one of the appendices, the book lists two new types of material for characters starting out at level 1 for this adventure. First is a new background for a character who is haunted by something from their past, and the second is a whole d100 table of gothic trinkets! Now, even though these are the most minor elements the developers could design for the game, they still had to go to the trouble of playtesting this material before publishing it, and that is a lot of work on top of designing and testing a whole campaign book and its constituent adventures. Also, giving PCs an element that ties their characters directly to an adventure is an amazing way to get player buy-in for that adventure. Even better, this material is generic enough that you can use it in pretty much any campaign you like.
7. The Castle Ravenloft board game is almost entirely compatible with this adventure! If you remove the combat rules for the board game, and replace them with the combat rules for 5e, then use the monster cards to decide the tactics of the matching monster statblocks in the monster manual, you can essentially take any group of players into the eternally shifting catacombs under castle Ravenloft! This adds a whole bunch more content to the game, including all 10 of the catacombs-related adventures that board game was packaged with, the ability to easily construct new adventures in that framework, and the potential for generic dungeon crawling of the catacombs even during Strahd's (temporary) death!
8. The level 1-3 adventure, Death House, which comes in this book as an appendix, is completely modular. (And an instant classic) There's nothing that ties it to the setting of Barovia, and you could just as easily locate the death house in any medievalist setting. You could even handwave the choking fog as a creation of the death house used to entrap people! Personally, I used this as my way of getting the players into the setting. They went into the death house, did the adventure within, and came out in Barovia.
9. The book as art object is phenomenal. I mean, at this point it should just be a given that the production values in these books are unlike anything we've seen before 5th edition. For all their cynical corporate bullshit, the sheer power of the WotC publishing engine is impressive to say the least. Nothing in the garage hobby community could ever hope to compete with the kind of quality products they have been producing. Now, there's always something to be said for minimalism and elegance of design, but it's never quite as flashy as 256 full page bleed prints on gloss finish in hardback.
10. It managed to change my mind. I never liked Ravenloft. I always ignored it as a hokey children's setting for dopes who think count chocula is scary. To me it was like D&D in the Hilarious House of Count Frightenstein. Then I read this hardback just to see if there was any material worth absorbing into my home games, and my mind was blown.

Encounter XP Budget Test Plan

The following is my standardized encounter building playtest gauntlet. The test consists of running 3 encounters at each difficulty level at the end of each tier and at 1st level. The party consists of a variant human fighter (champion) soldier, a lightfoot halfling rogue (thief) criminal, a hill dwarf cleric (life domain) acolyte, and a high elf wizard (evocation school) sage. The battles will take place in a 100ftx100ftx100ft stone room filled with bright magical light, with no exits, furniture, or distinguishing features. The standard party of 4. I will record how many rounds the battle took, how much damage the party absorbed, how many PCs dropped to 0 and who and when, and whether a PC died in a combat.

L = Level

EE = Easy Encounter
ME = Medium Encounter
HE = Hard Encounter
DE = Deadly Encounter

A = First encounter in difficulty
B = Second encounter in difficulty
C = Third encounter in difficulty

L1

EE

A:

Frog *1
Monodrone *1
Slaad Tadpole *1

B:

Cat *2
Lemure *1
Mule *1

C:

Crawling Claw *8

ME

A:

Kobold *1
Mastiff *2
Swarm of Bats *1

B:

Grimlock *1
Kobold *1
Noble *1

C:

Cultist *1
Tribal Warrior *1
Violet Fungus *1

HE

A:

Flying Sword *1
Pseudodragon *1
Skeleton *1

B:

Kenku *2
Mastiff *2

C:

Bandit *2
Rust Monster *1

DE

A:

Giant Bat *1
Rust Monster *1
Twig Blight *2

B:

Sea Hag *1

C:

Ochre Jelly *1

L4

EE

A:

Boar *2
Dust Mephit *1
Lizardfolk *1

B:

Goblin *4
Wolf *2

C:

Monodrone *8

ME

A:

Dryad *2
Hobgoblin *2

B:

Cockatrice *2
Thre-Kreen *2

C:

Giant Eagle *1
Hippogriff *1
Swarm of Quippers *1

HE

A:

Ghoul *2
Griffon *1

B:

Xorn *1

C:

Animated Armor *2
Quadrone *1
Warhorse Skeleton *3

DE

A:

Faerie Dragon (Blue) *1
Giant Toad *1
Orog *1

B:

Mammoth *1

C:

Green Dragon Wyrmling *1
Magmin *3
Swarm of Quippers *2

L10

EE

A:

Giant Hyena *2
Specter *1

B:

Dire Wolf *3
Poltergeist *1
Thri-Kreen *2

C:

Giant Wasp *4
Polar Bear *2

ME

A:

Killer Whale *2
Wight *2

B:

Gray Slaad *1

C:

Elephant *1
Giant Scorpion *2

HE

A:

Gnoll Fang oif Yeenoghu *1
Hill Giant *1
Lamia *1

B:

Archmage *1

C:

Rhinoceros *8

DE

A:

Adult Bronze Dragon

B:

Vampire Warrior

C:

Winter Wolf *8

L16

EE

A:

Githzerai Monk *5
Mezzoloth *1

B:

Blue Dragon Wyrmling
Ogre *4

C:

Bone Naga *1
Ettin *1
Succubus/Incubus *1

ME

A:

Earth Elemental *2
Hill Giant *2

B:

Knight *4
Otyugh *2

C:

Githyanki Warrior *8

HE

A:

Sea Hag (Coven) *8

B:

Cloud Giant *1
Mind Flayer *2

C:

Githzerai Zerth *2
Yuan-Ti Abomination *2

DE

A:

Chain Devil *2
Erinyes *1

B:

Triceratops *8

C:

Archmage *1
Cambion *5

L20

EE

A:

Air Elemental *2
Giant Ape *1

B:

Beholder Zombie *1
Cyclops *1
Shadow Demon *2

C:

Mammoth *1
Otyugh *1
Wyvern *1

ME

A:

Drow Priestess of Lolth *1
Mammoth *2
Succubus/Incubus *3

B:

Blue Slaad *2
Young Copper Dragon *2

C:

Giant Ape *2
Young Red Dragon *1

HE

A:

Medusa *3
Stone Golem *1
Young Copper Dragon *2

B:

Rakshasa *1
Wraith *5

C:

Lich (In Lair) *1

DE

A:

Young Black Dragon *8

B:

Death Tyrant (In Lair) *1
Stone Giant *5

C:

Arcanaloth *1
Vampire *2

D&D 5e: Homebrew Feats: Legendary Player Characters

So, I was tinkering around with the game one day and I got to thinking; why are only some things able to be legendary? Why is there no clear-cut distinction of what causes this aberrant members of extant groups? Why aren't there any legendary humanoids? Why can the player characters not transcend to this status of demi-epic?

I decided to, for the sake of extreme simulationism, create a framework in which a player character could become a legendary being in a very literal sense. I decided the easiest way to gate the ascension to legendary, is to break up the mechanical powers of the legendary group and then turn each of those chunks into feats. To get the full suite, you needed to take all of the feats, thus justifying how only high level/CR creatures can have the full set of powers and thus qualify as "legendary".

Breaking it into feats also makes it more modular, giving me more options when customizing monsters. If I wanted to create lower-power legendary monsters, I can pick and choose which parts of being legendary they actually have access to. For example, the boss of a goblin tribe might get a lair action- but that's it.

Here are the feats:

Legendary Resistance:

If you fail a saving throw, you can choose to succeed instead. You can do this up to 3 times. Uses of this feat are restored on a long rest.

Legendary Action:

You gain 3 legendary actions. You can use a legendary action at the end of another creature's turn. A legendary action can be spent to either move up to your speed, take an action, or activate a feat, feature, or trait. If an activated feat, feature, or trait requires an action or bonus action, it instead consumes the legendary action. You regain your legendary actions at the start of your turn.

Lair:

You gain 1 lair action. On initiative count 20, if you are within your lair, you may use your lair action to activate 1 lair feature. You may spend 30 days of downtime living in a location to convert it into your lair, giving that lair 1 lair feature. Lair features come in 2 types: Powers and Efects, and you choose which type to give your lair. Your lair can have up to 4 of each of the two types. You can give your lair additional features for spending additional downtime days living there, 180 downtime days for the second feature, 365 downtime days for a third feature, and 730 downtime days for a fourth. (For example, a fully built lair would have 4 powers and 4 effects, taking 7 years and 2 months to accomplish.) Choose features from the lair features lists.

(The entries in the lair features lists are directly extracted from monster entries. They have not been edited because damn that's a lot of work for no benefit.)

LAIR POWERS:

• The aboleth casts phantasmal force (no components required) on any number of creatures it can see within 60 feet of it. While maintaining concentration on this effect, the aboleth can't take other lair actions. If a target succeeds on the saving throw or if the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the aboleth's phantasmal force lair action for the next 24 hours, although such a creature can choose to be affected.
• Pools of water within 90 feet of the aboleth surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone. The aboleth can't use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
• Water in the aboleth's lair magically becomes a conduit for the creature's rage. The aboleth can target any number of creatures it can see in such water within 90 feet of it. A target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage. The aboleth can't use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
• A 50-foot square area of ground within 120 feet of the beholder becomes slimy; that area is difficult terrain until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Walls within 120 feet of the beholder sprout grasping appendages until initiative count 20 on the round after next. Each creature of the beholder's choice that starts its turn within 10 feet of such a wall must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled. Escaping requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
• An eye opens on a solid surface within 60 feet of the beholder. One random eye ray of the beholder shoots from that eye at a target of the beholder's choice that it can see. The eye then closes and disappears.
• An area that is a 50-foot cube within 120 feet of the tyrant is filled with spectral eyes and tentacles. To creatures other than the death tyrant, that area is lightly obscured and difficult terrain until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Walls sprout spectral appendages until initiative count 20 on the round after next. Any creature, including one on the Ethereal Plane, that is hostile to the tyrant and starts its turn within 10 feet of a wall must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled. Escaping requires a successful DC 17 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
• A spectral eye opens in the air at a point within 50 feet of the tyrant. One random eye ray of the tyrant shoots from that eye, which is considered to be an ethereal source, at a target of the tyrant's choice. The eye then closes and disappears.
• The tomb trembles violently for a moment. Each creature on the floor of the tomb must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
• The demilich targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of it. An antimagic field fills the space of the target, moving with it until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• The demilich targets any number of creatures it can see within 30 feet of it. No target can regain hit points until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Pools of water that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone.
• A cloud of swarming insects fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon chooses within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners and remains until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The cloud is lightly obscured. Any creature in the cloud when it appears must make on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the cloud takes 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
• Magical darkness spreads from a point the dragon chooses within 60 feet of it, filling a 15-foot-radius sphere until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagicallight can't illuminate it. If any of the effect's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled.
• Part of the ceiling collapses above one creature that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone and buried. The buried target is restrained and unable to breathe or stand up. A creature can take an action to make a DC 10 Strength check, ending the buried state on a success.
• A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud must succeed on a DC ls''constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the ertd of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Lightning arcs, forming a 5-foot-wide line between two of the lair's solid surfaces that the dragon can see. They must be within 120 feet of the dragon and 120 feet of each other. Each creature in that line must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) lightning damage.
• Grasping roots and vines erupt in a 20-foot radius centered on a point on the ground that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. That area becomes difficult terrain, and each creature there must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be restrained by the roots and vines. A creature can be freed if it or another creature takes an action to make a DC 15 Strength check and succeeds. The roots and vines wilt away when the dragon uses this lair action again or when the dragon dies.
• A wall of tangled brush bristling with thorns springs into existence on a solid surface within 120 feet of the dragon. The wall is up to 60 feet long, 10 feet high, and 5 feet thick, and it blocks line of sight. When the wall appears, each creature in its area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. A creature that fails the save takes 18 (4d8) piercing damage and is pushed 5 feet out of the wall's space, appearing on whichever side of the wall it wants. A creature can move through the wall, albeit slowly and painfully. For every 1 foot a creature travels through the wall, it must spend 4 feet of movement. Furthermore, a creature in the wall's space must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw once each round it's in contact with the wall, taking 18 (4d8) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Each 10-foot section of wall has AC 5, 15 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage, and immunity to psychic damage. The wall sinks back into the ground when the dragon uses this lair action again or when the dragon dies.
• Magical fog billows around one creature the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Magma erupts from a point on the ground the dragon can see within 120 feet of it, creating a 20-foot-high, 5-foot-radius geyser. Each creature in the geyser's area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Volcanic gases form a cloud in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The sphere spreads a round corners, and its area is lightly obscured. It lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round. Each creature that starts its turn in the cloud must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its turn. While poisoned in this way, a creature is incapacitated.
• Freezing fog fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The fog spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. Each creature in the fog when it appears must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the fog takes 10 (3d6) cold damage. A wind of at least 20 miles per hour disperses the fog. The fog otherwise lasts until the dragon uses this lair action again or until the dragon dies.
• Jagged ice shards fall from the ceiling, striking up to three creatures underneath that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The dragon makes one ranged attack roll (+7 to hit) against each target. On a hit, the target takes 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
• The dragon creates an opaque wall of ice on a solid surface it can see within 120 feet of it. The wall can be up to 30 feet long, 30 feet high, and 1 foot thick. When the wall appears, each creature within its area is pushed 5 feet out of the wall's space; appearing on whichever side of the wall it wants. Each 10-foot section of the wall has AC 5, 30 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to acid, cold, necrotic, poison, and psychic damage. The wall disappears when the dragon uses this lair action again or when the dragon dies.
• A strong wind blows around the dragon. Each creature within 60 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away from the dragon and knocked prone. Gases and vapors are dispersed by the wind, and unprotected flames are extinguished. Protected flames; such as lanterns, have a 50 percent chance of being extinguished.
• A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded 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.
• The dragon creates fog as though it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• A thunderclap originates at a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. Each creature within a 20-foot radius centered on that point must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (1d10) thunder damage and be deafened until the end of its next turn.
• The dragon chooses a point on the ground that it can see within 120 feet of it. Stone spikes sprout from the ground in a 20-foot radius centered on that point. The effect is otherwise identical to the spike growth spell and lasts until the dragon uses this lair action again or until the dragon dies.
• The dragon chooses a 10-foot-square area on the ground that it can see within 120 feet of it. The ground in that area turns into 3-foot-deep mud. Each creature on the ground in that area when the mud appears must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or sink into the mud and become restrained. A creature can take an action to attempt a DC 15 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach and ending the restrained condition on a success. Moving 1 foot in the mud costs 2 feet of movement. On initiative count 20 on the next round, the mud hardens, and the Strength DC to work free increases to 20.
• The dragon glimpses the future, so it has advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• One creature the dragon can see within 120 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished to a dream plane, a different plane of existence the dragon has imagined into being. To escape, the creature must use its action to make a Charisma check contested by the dragon's. If the creature wins, il' escapes the dream plane. Otherwise, the effect ends on initiative count 20 on the next round. When the effect ends, the creature reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that one is occupied.
• The dragon creates fog as if it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• A blistering cold wind blows through the lait the dr.a gon•, Jiilach creature within 120 feet ofthe  dragon must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (1dl0) cold damage. Gases and vapors are dispersed by the wind, and unprotected flames are extinguished. Protected flames, such as lanterns, have a 50 percent chance of being extinguished.
• A strong current moves through the kraken's lair. Each creature within 60 feet of the kraken must succeed on a DC 23 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 60 feet away from the kraken. On a success, the creature is pushed 10 feet away from the kraken.
• Creatures in the water within 60 feet of the kraken have vulnerability to lightning damage until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• The water in the kraken's lair becomes electrically charged. All creatures within 120 feet of the kraken must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• The lich rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If it has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
• The lich targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers the lich to the target. Whenever the lich takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the lich takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until the lich or the target is no longer in the lich's lair.
• The lich calls forth the spirits of creatures that died in its lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the lich can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
• Each undead creature in the lair can pinpoint the location of each living creature within 120 feet of it until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Each undead in the lair has advantage on saving throws against effects that turn undead until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• Until initiative count 20 on the next round, any non-undead creature that tries to cast a spell of 4th level or lower in the mummy lord's lair is wracked with pain. The creature can choose another action, but if it tries to cast the spell, it must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes ld6 necrotic damage per level of the spell, and the spell has no effect and is wasted.
• The flow of time is altered such that every creature in the lair must reroll initiative. The sphinx can choose not to reroll.
• The effects of time are altered such that every creature in the lair must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become 1d20 years older or younger (the sphinx's choice), but never any younger than 1 year old. A greater restoration spell can restore a creature's age to normal.
• The flow of time within the lair is altered such that everything within moves up to 10 years forward or backward (sphinx's choice). Only the sphinx is immediately aware of the time change. A wish spell can return the caster and up to seven other creatures designated by the caster to their normal time.
• The sphinx shifts itself and up to seven other creatures it can see within in its lair to another plane of existence. Once outside its lair, the sphinx can't use lair actions, but it can return to its lair as a bonus action on its turn, taking up to seven creatures with it

LAIR EFFECTS

• Underground surfaces within 1 mile of the aboleth's lair are slimy and wet and are difficult terrain.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the aboleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes.
• As an action, the aboleth can create an illusory image of itself within 1 mile of the lair. The copy can appear at any location the aboleth has seen before or in any location a creature charmed by the aboleth can currently see. Once created, the image lasts for as long as the aboleth maintains concentration, as if concentrating on a spell. Although the image is intangible, it looks, sounds, and can move like the aboleth. The aboleth can sense, speak, and use telepathy from the image's position as if present at that position. If the image takes any damage, it disappears.
• Creatures within 1 mile of the beholder's lair sometimes feel as if they're being watched when they aren't.
• When the beholder sleeps, minor warps in reality occur within 1 mi1e of its lair and then vanish 24 hours later. Marks on cave walls might change subtly, an eerie trinket might appear where none existed before harmless slime might coat a statue, and so on. These effects apply only to natural surfaces and to nonmagical objects that aren't on anyone's person.
• When a creature hostile to the tyrant and aware of its existence finishes a long rest within 1 mile of the tyrant's lair, roll a d20 for that creature. On a roll of 10 or lower, the creature is subjected to one random eye · ray of the tyrant.
• The first time a non-evil creature enters the tomb's area, the creature takes 16 (3d10) necrotic damage.
• Monsters in the tomb have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and ag!linst features that turn undead.
• The tomb is warded against the magical travel of creatures the demilich hasn't authorized. Such creatures can't teleport into or out of the tomb's area or use planar travel to enter or leave it. Effects that allow teleportation or planar travel work within the tomb as long as they aren't used to leave or enter the tomb's area.
• The land within 6 miles of the lair takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the swamps are thick with reeking mud.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dragon that drink such water regurgitate it within minutes.
• Fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of the lair.
• Thunderstorms rage within 6 miles of the lair.
• Dust devils scour the land within 6 miles of the lair. A dust devil has the statistics of an air elemental, but it can't fly, has a speed of 50 feet, and has an Intelligence and Charisma of 1 (- 5).
• Hidden sinkholes form in and around the dragon's lair. A sinkhole can be spotted from a safe distance with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. Otherwise, the first creature to step on the thin crust covering the sinkhole must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall 1d6 x 10 feet into the sinkhole.
• Thickets form labyrinthine passages within 1 mile of the dragon's lair. The thickets act as 10-foot-high, 10-foot-thick walls that block line of sight. Creatures can move through the thickets, with every 1 foot a creature moves costing it 4 feet of 15 Dexterity saving throw once each round it's in contact with the 'thickets or take 3 (1d6) piercing damage from thorns. Each 10-foot-cube of thickets has AC 5, 30 hit points, resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to psychic and thunder damage.
• Within 1 mile of its lair, the dragon leaves no physical evidence of its passage unless it wishes to. Tracking it there is impossible except by magical means. In addition, it ignores movement impediments and damage from plants in this area that are neither magical nor creatures, including the thickets described above. The plants remove themselves from the dragon's path.
• Rodents and birds within 1 mile of the dragon's lair serve as the dragon's eyes and ears. Deer and other large game are strangely absent, hinting at the presence of an unnaturally hungry predator.
• Small earthquakes are common within 6 miles of the dragon's lair.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally warm and tainted by sulfur.
• Rocky fissures within 1 mile of the dragon's lair form portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire, allowing creatures of elemental fire into the world to dwell nearby.
• Chilly fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of the dragon's lair.
• Freezing precipitation falls within 6 miles of the dragon's lair, sometimes forming blizzard conditions when the dragon is at rest.
• Icy walls block off areas in the dragon's lair. Each wall is 6 inches thick, and a 10-foot section has AC 5, 15 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to acid, cold, necrotic, poison, and psychic damage. If the dragon wishes to move through a wall, it can do so without slowing down. The portion of the wall the dragon moves through is destroyed, however.
• Tracks appear in the sand within 6 miles of the dragon's lair. The tracks lead to safe shelters and hidden water sources, while also leading away from areas that the dragon prefers to remain undisturbed.
• Images of Large or smaller monsters haunt the desert sands within 1 mile of the dragon's lair. These illusions move and appear real, although they can do no harm. A creature that examines an image from a distance can tell it's an illusion with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check. Any physical interaction with an image reveals it to be an illusion, because objects pass through it.
• Whenever a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher comes within 30 feet of a water source within 1 mile of the dragon's lair, the dragon becomes aware of the creature's presence and location.
• Once per day, the dragon can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The dragon doesn't need to be outdoors; otherwise the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
• Underwater plants within 6 miles of the dragon's lair take on dazzlingly brilliant hues.
• Within its lair, the dragon can set illusory sounds, such as soft music and strange echoes, so that they can be heard in various parts of the lair.
• Magic carvings of the dragon's smiling visage can be seen worked into stone terrain and objects within 6 miles of the dragon's lair.
• Tiny beasts such as rodents and birds that are normally unable to speak gain the magical ability to speak and understand Draconic while within 1 mile of the dragon's lair. These creatures speak well of the dragon, but can't divulge its whereabouts.
• Intelligent creatures within 1 mile of the dragon's lair are prone to fits of giggling. Even serious matters suddenly seem amusing.
• Whenever a creature that can understand a language sleeps or enters a state of trance or reverie within 6 miles of the dragon's lair, the dragon can establish telepathic contact with that creature and converse with it in its dreams. The creature remembers its ·~onversation with the dragon upon waking.'
• Banks of beautiful, opalescent mist manifest within 6 miles of the dragon's lair. The mist doesn't ,obscu~e anything. It assumes haunting forms when ev.il cveatures are near the dragon or other non-evil cn~attires in the mist, warning such creatures of the danger.
• Gems and pearls within 1 mile of the dragon's · lair sparkle and gleam, shedding dim light in a 5-foot radius.
• Once per day, the dragon can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The dragon doesn't need to be outdoors; otherwise the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
• Within 1 mile of the lair, winds buoy non-evil creatures that fall due to no act of the dragon's or its allies. Such creatures descend at a rate of 60 feet per round and take no falling damage.
• Given days or longer to work, the dragon can make clouds and fog within its lair as solid as stone, forming structures and other objects as it wishes.
• The kraken can alter the weather at will in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The effect is identical to the control weather spell.
• Water elementals coalesce within 6 miles of the lair. These elementals can't leave the water and have Intelligence and Charisma scores of 1 (- 5).
• Aquatic creatures within 6 miles of the lair that have an Intelligence score of 2 or lower are charmed by the kraken and aggressive toward intruders in the area.
• Food instantly molders and water instantly evaporates when brought into the lair. Other non magical drinks are spoiled- wine turning to vinegar, for instance.
• Divination spells cast within the lair by creatures other than the mummy lord have a 25 percent chance to provide misleading results, as determined by the DM. If a divination spell already has a chance to fail or become unreliable when cast multiple times,·t11at chance increases by 25 percent.
• A creature that takes treasure from the lair is cursed until the treasure is returned. The cursed target has disadvantage on all saving throws. The curse lasts until removed by a remove curse spell or other magi~. ·
• Open flames of a non magical nature are extinguished within the unicorn's domain. Torches and campfires refuse to burn, but closed lanterns are unaffected.
• Creatures native to the unicorn's domain have an easier time hiding; they have advantage on all Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide.
• When a good-aligned creature casts a spell or uses a magical effect that causes another good-aligned creature to regain hit points, the target regains the maximum number of hit points possible for the spell or effect.
• Curses affecting any good-aligned creature are suppressed.
• There's a noticeable increase in the populations of bats, rats, and wolves in the region.
• Plants within 500 feet of the lair wither, and their stems and branches become twisted and thorny.
• Shadows cast within 500 feet of the lair seem abnormally gaunt and sometimes move as though alive.
• A creeping fog clings to the ground within 500 feet of the vampire's la ir. The fog occasionally takes eerie forms, such as grasping claws and writhing serpents.