Plaguespreader
Huge undead, neutral evil
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 189(18d12 + 72)
Speed 30ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
21 (+5) 14 (+2) 19 (+4) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 16 (+3)
Saving Throws CON +8, WIS +7
Skills Insight +7, Perception +7
Damage Immunities necrotic
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages none
Challenge 12 (8400 XP)
Legendary Resistance (1/Day). If the plaguespreader fails a
saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Death Gaze. When a creature that can see the plaguespreader’s
eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the plaguespreader, the
plaguespreader can force it to make a DC 16 Constitution
saving throw if the plaguespreader isn’t incapacitated and can
see the creature. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the
creature is reduced to 0 hit points unless it is immune to the
frightened condition. Otherwise, a creature takes 16 (3d10)
psychic damage on a failed save. Unless surprised, a creature
can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its
turn. If the creature does so, it has disadvantage on attack rolls
against the plaguespreader until the start of its next turn. If the
creature looks at the plaguespreader in the meantime, that
creature must immediately make the saving throw.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The plaguespreader takes 1d10 radiant
damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it
has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Aura of Decay. At the start of each of the plaguespreader’s
turns, each creature within 5 feet of it takes 4 (1d8) Necrotic
damage.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair, a plaguespreader can invoke the
ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20
(losing initiative ties), the plaguespreader takes a lair action to
cause one of the following effects. The plaguespreader can’t
repeat an effect until all three have been used, and it can’t use
the same effect on consecutive rounds. A plaguespreader
encountered in its lair has a challenge rating of 13 (10 000 XP).
Fear of Death. The bloodcurdling cries of men and women in
their death throes echo throughout the lair, coalescing around
the plaguespreader. Each enemy of the plaguespreader within
100 feet of it that can hear the cries must succeed on a DC 16
Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until initiative count 20
on the following round.
Terperial’s Plaguespreader
Actions
Multiattack. The plaguespreader makes two fist attacks.
Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit:
8 (1d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 5 (1d10) necrotic
damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 17
Strength saving throw or become grappled by the
plaguespreader.
Withering Gaze. One creature that the plaguespreader can see
within 60 feet of it must make a DC 16 Constitution saving
throw, taking 11 (2d10) necrotic damage on a failed save, or
half as much damage on a successful one.
Bone Tornado (When Hit Points < 50%). When the
plaugespreader drops below half its hit points (94), it can use
its action to activate a 15-foot-radius swirling vortex of bones
and skulls, which extends out from the plaguespreader and
moves with them. The vortex lasts for 1 minute. Until the vortex
ends, the area is difficult terrain for creatures other than the
plaguespreader, and when a creature enters the area for the
first time on a turn or starts its turn in the area, it must make a
DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 7 (2d6) piercing damage
plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much
damage on a successful one. Aura of Decay is inactive while
Bone Tornado is active.
Legendary Actions
The Plaguespreader can take 3 legendary actions, choosing
from the options below. Only one legendary option can be used
at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The
Plaguespreader regains spent legendary actions at the start of
its turn.
Detect. The plaguespreader makes a Wisdom (Perception)
check.
Wither. The plaguespreader makes one withering gaze attack.
Bone Crunch (Costs 2 Actions). The plaguespreader squeezes a
creature it is grappling, fracturing its bones. The grappled
creature takes 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage and has
disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn.
Bone Cage. A creature the plaguespreader can see within 100
feet of it has to succeed a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or
become encased in a 5-by-5 foot cage made of bones. A
creature encased in the bone cage has disadvantage on attack
rolls and Dexterity saving throws, and takes 1d6 piercing
damage plus 1d6 necrotic damage on the start of their turn as
spikes of bones dig into their body. The bone cage has an AC of
15, 36 hit points, immunity to psychic and poison damage, and
weakness to bludgeoning damage.
Siphon. When the plaguespreader deals damage to a creature
with Aura of Decay or Bone Tornado, it heals for half the
damage dealt. This effect lasts until initiative count 20 on the
following round.
Plaguespreader
n the dim recesses of the forgotten realms,
I
plaguespreaders slumbered in clandestine lairs,
until they were awakened by the god of death;
Kelemvor. From the moment their eyes opened,
these creatures wielded a power so insidious that
it rewrote the very fabric of life. The
plaguespreaders rose from their desolation,
emerging as harbingers of pestilence.
Cursed Memory. In the core of their being,
plaguespreaders carry a memory of a world covered in a
miasma of pestilence. This cursed recollection echoes
through their existence, an unyielding reminder of their
origin and purpose. Their minds, like ancient tomes of
suffering, preserve the knowledge of plagues long past
and the anguish they have wrought upon countless
civilizations.
Malevolent Machinations. Plaguespreaders, with
minds honed by eons, plot with a patience that mirrors
the slow decay they instigate. Their intricate
machinations span across ages, weaving a tapestry of
ruin that extends beyond mortal comprehension. Few
can fathom the depth of a plaguespreader’s plan, for
their designs encompass the very unraveling of the
natural order.
The Undying. Plaguespreaders do not yearn to
overthrow the gods. Instead, they revel in the eternal
dance of decay and rebirth. If a plaguespreader’s form is
shattered, its essence disperses, only to coalesce once
more in the hidden recesses of the Underdark. The
undying affliction they bring remains an ever-present
specter haunting the living.
Drawn to Suffering. Though the plaguespreaders find
comfort in the bowels of the earth, an insidious lure
sometimes compels them to ascend to the surface when
the world above is marred by unspeakable atrocities.
Acts of unspeakable horror, such as the flaying of a
newborn child or sites of great civilian casualties, act as
beacons, signaling the entities to ascend from the
depths to partake in the malevolent feast that awaits
them on the surface.
A Plaguespreader’s Lair
In the Underdark, plaguespreaders often make their
lairs near densely inhabited areas, such as a Duergar
encampments or Mind Flayer colonies. They typically
settle in large, hidden caverns near their pray, so that
their presence goes unnoticed. The plaguespreader
moves lairs when there is no more life left to nourish
them, and as such, rarely keeps their lair for longer than
one month.
Regional Effects:
The region surrounding the plaguespreader’s lair is
warped by the creature’s presence, which creates one or
more of the following effects:
Transformative Aura
Enveloped in a transformative aura, the plaguespreader
emanates a miasma that corrupts the air within a one-
mile radius of its lair. The atmosphere becomes
saturated with decay, causing living creatures and plant
life to wither and rot in the presence of the
plaguespreader. Any being within 1 mile of the
plaguespreader’s lair is subjected to the Miasma of
Death feature.
Miasma of Death
Every 24 hours a creature spends within 1 mile of the
plaguespreader, they feel its decaying presence take hold.
Creatures must succeed a DC 16 Constitution saving throw
or gain a -1 modifier to all saving throws, attack rolls and
ability checks. If the roll modifier is reduced to -10, the
creature dies.
If a creature is out of range of the plaguespreader or the
plaguespreader dies, the symptoms fade gradually over the
course of 1d6 days. Alternatively, an Elixir of Health reduces
this to 1d6 hours, and will work even if the plaguespreader
lives. Although if the creature remains within 1 mile of the
plaguespreader, they must continue making Constitution
saving throws as usual as the elixir is only a temporary
solution.
Note: Certain features that give you immunity to disease
such as the paladin’s Divine Health feature, also grant you
immunity to the plaguespreader’s Miasma of Death feature.
Ossuary
The underground surfaces within 1 mile of the
Plaguespreader’s lair are littered with an unsettling
array of bones and skulls from various creatures. These
bones seem to arrange themselves in macabre patterns,
forming grim mosaics and sculptures. The density and
frequency of bones increase the closer one gets to the
plaguespreader’s lair.
Rotting Veins
The natural flow of life energy is disrupted, causing
veins of necrotic energy to weave through the
landscape. Any humanoid creature that dies within the
affected area rises as a ghoul after 1d4 days.
Recognizing this grim reality, it has become a solemn
custom for afflicted villages and settlements to burn
their deceased loved ones as a precautionary measure.
If the plaguespreader dies, this effect fades over the
course of 3d6 days.
Terperial’s Plaguespreader
 Plaguespreader
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plaguespreader monster! If you like the content I
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Art Credits
The artwork for the Plaguespreader monster is
made in the Midjourney AI by u/Terperial.