Impending Doom

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Credits

Lead Designer: Jake Hilton

  • Managing Editor: Ryan Rose
  • Content Development: Shiloh Berscheid, Miles Dávila, Rob Gunningham, Jake Hilton, Ryan Rose
  • Editing: Miles Dávila
  • Graphic Design: Brennan Sisson
  • Art Director: Jake Hilton
  • Cover Illustration: Sam Burley
  • Interior Illustration: Adam Paquette, Andrew Mar, Caoi Moneiro, Chippy, David Auden Nash, Denman Rooke, Erica Yang, Grzegorz Rutkowski, Jesper Ejsing, John Avon, Martina Pilcerova, Mathias Kollros, Paul Scott Canavan, Victor Adame Minguez

Disclaimer: This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Open Gaming License. It is not approved/endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Portions of the material used may be property of Wizards of the Coast. Copyright Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Table of Contents

Impending Doom

Adventuring is an endeavor fraught with danger, fear, and inevitable death, filled with blood thirsty monsters that inflict curses and harmful effects upon their victims. Below you can find a new condition that your players might encounter or utilize in their travels: doomed. This condition excels at bringing creatures to an inexorable end, stopping them from healing, and forcing them to succumb to harm more often.

Doomed

  • A doomed creature can't regain hit points, or have temporary hit points.
  • The creature has disadvantage on saving throws against effects that deal damage.

Incorporating Doom

Conditions in 5E come with intrinsic support within most major facets of the game's mechanics: class options, spells, items, monster abilities, etc. To provide similar support for the doomed condition, in the following sections you'll find a number of suggestions and options you can include in your games that incorporate it.

Who Can Be Doomed?

Like many conditions, some creatures are naturally immune to being doomed. You can decide for yourself if you think it makes sense for a creature to be immune, but Undead and Constructs are immune to it as a general rule.

How Do I Cure It?

Typically, effects that inflict doomed come with the ability to end the condition or inflict the condition for a limited duration. For those who want to get rid of it quickly, or are afflicted with a permanent form of it, the greater restoration spell or similar magic can remove doomed.

Doom Approaches

Doom is intended to be a particularly supernatural condition, akin to petrification. It typically accompanies frightful monsters, apocalyptic events, and magic that threatens to tear the world asunder.

When contemplating the inclusion of doom, try to imagine the atmosphere surrounding it. Are the players encountering doom for the first time as a cataclysm looms on the horizon? Is the world itself a dreary and dark place with doom around every corner? You could include it as part of a particular quest or story arc or adopt it as just another possible tool in your GM arsenal.

Class Options

The following class options are available to players, the Primal Path: Path of the Doomcaller, and the Arcane Tradition: Fateweaver.

Path of the Doomcaller

Like oracles, doomcallers are barbarians blessed with the gift of prophecy; a gift limited in scope to themselves and their enemies. Through a supernatural event, the death of a loved one, or divine boon, these warriors can utilize visions of death and destruction to evade their own demise, or ensure the demise of others. At the height of their powers, doomcallers are angels of death on the battlefield. In combat, their gaze is avoided at all costs, lest a creature see its death, and know it is helpless to stop it.

Imminent Destruction

3rd-level Path of the Doomcaller feature

While a creature you can see is within 30 feet of you, you know if it currently intends to do you physical harm in the next minute.

Visions of Violence

3rd-level Path of the Doomcaller feature

Your enemies shall know their doom, and the hand that calls it. When you enter your rage, and as a bonus action on each of your turns while raging, you can lock eyes with a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or become doomed until your rage ends, you can no longer see the creature, or until you use this feature on a different creature.

A creature doomed in this way sees visions of its violent and bloody death at your hands. At the end of each of its turns, the creature must repeat its saving throw against this effect. On a failed save, it takes 1d8 psychic damage, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage increase to 2d8 beginning at 10th level.

Edge of Disaster

6th-level Path of the Doomcaller feature

You can accept your own doom for greater power. When you start your turn while raging and below half your hit point maximum, you can choose to become doomed until your rage ends (no action required). While doomed in this way, you have resistance to all damage, and you are immune to being frightened.

Mouth of Oblivion

10th-level Path of the Doomcaller feature

The whispers of doom speak to you. You know the direction and distance to any creature within 1 mile of you that is doomed, or has no more than half of its hit points left, and such a creature gains no benefit against you from being hidden or invisible.

Additionally, as an action you can lock eyes with a creature within 30 feet of you and force it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Visions of Violence DC. On a failed save, hushed voices speak of the creature's greatest fear, audible to any creature within 60 feet of it. A creature that can't be doomed or frightened is unaffected, and a creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to this effect for 24 hours.

Doom's Call

14th-level Path of the Doomcaller feature

Once on each of your turns when you hit a doomed creature that has no more than half of its hit points left with a melee weapon attack, you can have the attack become a critical hit.

Fateweaver

Tied into the fabric of the cosmos, magic permeates and joins the fates of all creatures it touches. It's through this link that fateweavers channel their powers, plucking confidently at the strings of destiny to rethread them to better serve their own ends. Mastery of the tapestry of destiny grants a practitioner many abilities, most notable of which is prophecy, as well as magic able to ensure a creature's destruction.

Threads of Fate

2nd-level Fateweaver feature

When you cast a spell that targets one or more creatures, you can grasp threads of fate from your choice of any of those creatures. Any threads fade from your grasp after you finish a short or long rest, the creature dies, or you become unconscious.

While you grasp a creature's thread and it is on the same plane of existence as you, you know if it is below half of its hit point maximum, any conditions it is under the effects of, and you know if it dies.

Additionally, when a creature whose thread you grasp in this way dies, you can choose to tie the thread of its fate into your own, learning one of the following things of your choice:

  • You learn the creature's true name, and a basic understanding of its personality.
  • You learn what the creature had intended to achieve in the next 24 hours if it had lived.
  • You learn what happened to the
    creature in the last hour of its
    life.

Precognition

2nd-level Fateweaver feature

Your mind is open to the futures of others. You learn the guidance cantrip.

Also, you can see a faint aura around any creature within 30 feet of you. While you can see this aura, you know how close the creature is to dying of old age, natural causes, or any disease it is suffering from. You gain no special knowledge of the cause.

Doomsayer

6th-level Fateweaver feature

Creatures can't gain advantage on saving throws they make against your spells or magical effects.

Also, when a creature you can see fails its saving throw against a spell you cast of 1st level or higher, you can cause the creature to become doomed for 1 minute. The creature can make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. If the creature dies while doomed in this way, you know what happens to its soul in the immediate future.

Once you attempt to doom a creature in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Share Prophecy

10th-level Fateweaver feature

You add the divination spell to your spellbook, and it counts as a wizard spell for you. If it is there already, you can instead add one divination spell of 5th level or lower from the wizard spell list to your spellbook. When you cast a divination spell that allows you to receive an omen, or ask a question of a higher power, you can touch another creature, allowing them to ask any required questions, or receive any omens. Doing so removes any chance for a random reading. A chosen creature can't gain this benefit again for 24 hours.

Cut the Threads

14th-level Fateweaver feature

When a creature automatically fails its saving throw against one of your spells, or makes its saving throw against one of your spells with disadvantage, you can treat the spell as if you had rolled the maximum possible damage for that creature.

Additionally, when a creature whose thread you grasp dies, you can sever its thread permanently (no action
  required). If you do so, the creature can't be brought back
   to life by any means short of a wish spell. A creature
    that can't be doomed is unaffected.

Magic Items

The following magic items utilize the themes of doom, ruin, and inevitability, and can be used as rewards for players, or plot hooks in your games.

Anvil of the Doomsmith

Weapon (maul), legendary (requires attunement by a doomed creature)

Carved and polished from a block of adamantine, and adorned with coins of bad luck and misfortune from numerous cultures, this maul doubles as an anvil thanks to its design and heft.

While attuned to the maul, you are immune to the effects of being doomed, frightened, and poisoned, and you have a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it, as well as to ability checks made to make or repair an object using the maul. An object repaired or created this way is done so twice as fast. In addition, the maul has the following properties:

Smith's Bounty. As an action, you can conjure a set of smith's tools, as well as 100 gp of materials for their use. The tools and materials vanish if they are ever more than 10 feet away from the maul, or after 24 hours. Materials used to create or repair an object don't vanish in this way. Once you use this property of the maul, it can't be used again until the next dawn.

Doomstrike. When you hit a creature with the maul, you can deal an additional 4d6 necrotic damage to it and force it to make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature gains any of the following conditions you have for the next minute: blinded, deafened, doomed, frightened, or poisoned. This property of the maul can be used twice, and it regains any expended uses daily at dawn.

Curse. This maul is cursed, and attempting to attune to the maul extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the maul, you are doomed, and are compelled to smith with the maul to the best of your ability.

  After you finish a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 5 Wisdom saving throw or spend the next hour crafting a weapon, set of armor, or other object with the maul as best you can. If you succeed on the saving throw, the DC increases by 5. After you fail the saving throw, the DC resets to 5.

A greater restoration spell cast at 9th level or similar magic can break the curse. If you use the maul to create a magic item of legendary rarity, you can also choose to break the curse.

Praetor Helm

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a barbarian, fighter, or paladin)

This tarnished copper helm denies any attempt to be cleaned or polished, and was once worn by a fierce warrior within the Lower Planes. While wearing the helm, you always know if a creature you can see is a fiend, and fiends have disadvantage on saving throws to avoid being frightened while they can see you. It also has the following property:

Demon Slayer. When you attack a fiend that has less than half its maximum hit points remaining, you score a critical hit against it on a roll of 18–20. Critical hits you score in this way cause the creature to be doomed until the end of your next turn.

Ring of Ruin's Bane

Wondrous item (ring), uncommon

While wearing this ring, you always feel a sense of unease as if something horrible looms in your not-too-distant future. You can't be surprised while you are conscious. If this ring ever protects you from being surprised, you gain resistance to all damage for the first round of that combat.

As an action, you can point the ring at a creature and cast the dire omen ID spell targeting it (save DC 15).

Once the ring has been used to cast the spell in this way, it can't be used to do so again until the next dawn.

Spells

The following spells use the doomed condition as a central theme for their mechanics. Consider including some of these spells when running monsters with spellcasting as part of their abilities. A mage of dark intent might very well inflict such spells on your players, introducing them dramatically to the concept of doom.

Countdown

9th-level Necromancy

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 300 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a pair of clock hands carved from the bones of a lich worth 2,500 gp)
  • Duration: Special
  • Classes: Wizard

You conjure the spectral face of a clock centered on a point on a solid surface you can see within range. The clock's face projects a 50-foot radius, 100-foot-high cylinder of inevitable energy, and appears showing as 12 o'clock. At the end of each of your turns, roll a d4. The clock ticks backwards a number of hours equal to the result, and each creature within the area takes 1d12 thunder damage for each hour ticked.

A creature within the spell's area is doomed. If the time on the clock shows as 8 o'clock or earlier, creatures within the spell's area have their speed halved. If the time on the clock shows as 4 o'clock or earlier, creatures within the spell's area can't take reactions, can use either an action or bonus action, not both, and if they attempt to take an action, must roll a d20. On an 11 or higher, the action doesn't take effect until the creature's next turn.

If the clock would tick to 12 o'clock again, each corpse and doomed creature within the spell's area is permanently frozen in time. A target frozen in time this way is immune to all damage, can't be moved, and can't be returned to normal by any means short of a wish spell.

Dire Omen

2nd-level Divination

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 60 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a cracked mirror)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
  • Classes: Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

You attempt to alter the fate of a creature you can see
within range, guiding them to destruction. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be doomed for the duration. At the end of each of its turns, the target can make another Charisma saving throw. On a success, the spell ends on the target.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can
target one additional creature for each slot
level above 2nd. The creatures must be
within 30 feet of each other when you
target them.

Dread Mist

7th-level Necromancy

  • Casting Time: 1 minute
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a vial containing a creature's final breath before it died)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
  • Classes: Warlock, Wizard

You breathe out a 30-foot-radius sphere of thick smog that roils with the horror stricken faces of the damned centered on a point you choose within range. The smog spreads around corners. It lasts for the duration, and is unaffected by wind. Its area is heavily obscured.

When a creature enters the spell's area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is doomed. A creature doomed in this way is also frightened, and while it remains in the smog it takes 10 (3d6) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. When a doomed creature ends its turn outside of the smog, it can repeat its saving throw, ending the effect on a success.

If a humanoid dies while doomed and within the smog, there is a 33 percent chance that a specter rises from its corpse at the start of your next turn. The specter pursues whatever creature is closest to it. Statistics for the specter are in the Monster Manual.

The smog moves 10 feet away from you at the start of each of your turns, rolling along the surface of the ground, after which its radius expands by 5 feet (to a maximum of 150 feet). The vapors, being heavier than air, sink to the lowest level of the land, even pouring down openings.

Gift of the Grave

3rd-level Necromancy

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
  • Classes: Warlock, Wizard

You touch a creature and attempt to inflict it with a death curse. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become cursed for the duration. While cursed, the target is doomed, and it must make a Wisdom saving throw at the start of each of its turns. On a failed save, it takes 3d10 necrotic damage. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and the spell ends.

A creature cursed in this way can use its action to touch one of its allies and force it to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the curse ends for the creature and passes on instead to its ally.

If damage from this spell kills a target, it can't be raised from the dead by any means short of a true resurrection spell or similar magic.

Judgment

5th-level Evocation

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 90 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a set of silver scales and a feather worth 300 gp)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
  • Classes: Cleric, Paladin

You call upon the heavens to decree a creature unworthy of existence. A creature of your choice you can see within range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be doomed for the duration. An Undead loses any immunity to the doomed condition until the spell ends. While doomed in this way, a beam of divine light stretches endlessly above the creature, illuminating its space and the area above it with bright light.

Until the spell ends, a creature under the effects of this spell takes 5d6 radiant damage at the end of each of its turns. The damage increases by 1d6 for each subsequent turn past the first, to a maximum of 10d6.

Protection from Darkness

2nd-level Abjuration

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (a strip of magnesium)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
  • Classes: Cleric, Warlock, Wizard

Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected against darkness of all kinds. The target gains darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, and magical darkness doesn't impede its darkvision. If the creature already had darkvision, its darkvision instead increases by 60 feet.

Additionally, the target is immune to being doomed or frightened, and its hit point maximum can't be reduced.

Zone of Disaster

6th-level Enchantment

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 120 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
  • Classes: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

You generate overwhelmingly bad luck in a 30-foot cube within range. Creatures within the area are doomed, have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and can't gain advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. If a creature would take damage as a result of failing a saving throw in the area, it takes an additional die of damage.

A creature within the area is aware of the spell, although it doesn't have any special knowledge of its dimensions.

Monsters

The following section contains a number of creatures that use doom to the dismay and demise of their enemies, as well as several modular abilities that can be applied to pre-existing creatures to add variety and flavor.

Additional Abilities

The following abilities, presented alphabetically, can be applied to a creature in addition to its normal traits and actions. Keep in mind that some of these abilities can significantly alter the power of a creature, allowing it to perform higher than its CR would normally indicate.

Beast of Ruin

Requires a creature with the beast type

The creature gains the following trait:

Beast of Ruin. The creature is immune to the doomed condition, as well as the effects of blighted land.

Calamitous

The creature gains the following trait:

Calamitous. The creature is immune to the doomed condition and the effects of blighted land, its size increases by one category, and its maximum hit points increase by half.

Carnage

The creature gains the following trait:

Carnage (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When the creature would deal damage, it can take the maximum result instead of rolling.

Damning Devourer

Requires a creature with the ability to swallow a target

The creature gains the following trait:

Damning Devourer. A target swallowed by the creature is doomed until it escapes, and if it dies while doomed in this way its soul is destroyed.

Herald of the End

The creature gains the following trait:

Herald of the End. The creature has immunity to curses, as well as any other spell or effect that would influence its decisions. Additionally, when the creature reduces a target to 10 hit points or fewer, the target dies.

Raze

The creature gains the following action:

Raze. The creature chooses a nonmagical structure or object that isn't being worn or carried that it can see within 60 feet of it and that fits within a 15-foot cube. The target takes an amount of force damage equal to 5 × the creature's CR.

Ruinous Weapons

The creature gains the following trait:

Ruinous Weapons. When the creature hits with a melee weapon attack, the target loses any resistance it has to the attack's damage types until the end of the creature's next turn.

Siege Magic

Requires a creature with the ability to cast a spell

The creature gains the following trait:

Siege Magic. The creature deals double damage to objects and structures with spells it casts.

Tremor Steps

The creature gains the following trait:

Tremor Steps. The creature's movement is unaffected by difficult terrain, and when the creature walks, the ground in the area it moves through becomes difficult terrain.

Doomshade

The fell light of a doomshade casts woe
unto all those who encounter them. A spirit,
jealous of life, that mourns its remains for long
enough often transforms into a doomshade, driven to
malice by the tragedy of its existence. They seek only death, and if they find a victim they pursue it without rest or mercy.

Unliving Lantern. The tell-tale sign of a doomshade is its lantern: alive with the flames of undeath, and housing its skull. The lantern can seem to act independently of the doomshade, casting a baleful light on those unfortunate enough to encounter it. The doomshade itself uses this ability to distract its enemies and evade detection as it slowly wears its victims down.

Merciful End. The only hope for a doomshade is its skull. If a creature casts the gentle repose spell on the doomshade's skull (requiring a successful DC 14 ability check using the caster's spellcasting ability), the doomshade vanishes, its spirit sent off to the afterlife.

Undead Nature. A doomshade doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Doomshade

Medium Undead, Typically Neutral Evil

  • Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
  • Hit Points 78 (12d8 + 24)
  • Speed 0 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
1 (-5) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 16 (+3)
  • Skills Stealth +6
  • Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, radiant, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
  • Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
  • Condition Immunities charmed, doomed, exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious
  • Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  • Languages understands all languages it knew in life
  • Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
    Proficiency Bonus +3

Incorporeal Movement. The doomshade can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Lifebane Lantern. The doomshade's lantern is immune to all damage, and sheds dim light within 15 feet of it. A creature within this light is doomed.

Shade. The doomshade is invisible while it is in darkness.

Actions

Multiattack. The doomshade makes two Chains attacks.

Chains. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 14) if the doomshade isn't already grappling a creature.

Move Lantern. The doomshade moves its lantern to an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet of it. The lantern remains there, hovering, until the doomshade moves more than 30 feet away from it, or until it chooses to return it to its space (no action required).

Siphon (Recharge 5–6). The doomshade forces each creature within the dim light of its lantern to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 28 (8d6) necrotic damage, or half as much damage on a successful one. If this damage reduces a creature to 0 hit points, the doomshade regains 10 (3d6) hit points.

Gremlin

Small and violently mischievous, gremlins revel in chaos. Alone, a single gremlin can cause untold mayhem through its unique ability to hijack magic and generate bad luck, but in groups they can ruin settlements if not immediately dealt with. While physically they pose a small threat, gremlins use stealth, cunning, and magical sabotage to achieve their goals, wilting under more direct confrontation with their victims. Fueled by negative emotions, gremlins are too weak to inspire fear, and so instead sate their appetites on dismay, anger, and frustration. Once sufficiently full, a gremlin hibernates, either hiding within its current feeding ground or moving on to seek new victims.

Magical Possession. Other than their bad luck, one of the most infamous qualities of gremlins is their ability to inhabit magic items. By merging with a magical object, they can remain in wait of a victim for almost forever, and many gremlins carry a magic item around as a means of hiding, or to act as the bait for a trap. Once a victim acquires an item possessed in this way, the gremlin uses its luck magic to slowly cause strife and ruin for it.

It might negate the magical properties of the item at an inopportune moment, cause a creature holding the item to experience its Jinx ability for a time, or activate an item of its own accord to cause discord and extreme bewilderment. A gremlin's magic in this state is limited, however, and it can only enact chaos in bursts. The identify spell can detect a gremlin's presence, and the dispel magic or remove curse spells cast upon the item can remove it. A gremlin removed in this way can't possess the same item again for 24 hours.

Gremlin

Small Monstrosity, Typically Chaotic Neutral

  • Armor Class 13
  • Hit Points 7 (2d6)
  • Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
8 (-1) 17 (+3) 10 (+0) 7 (-2) 16 (+3) 13 (+1)
  • Skills Perception +7, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7
  • Senses blindsight 30 ft., passive Perception 17
  • Languages —
  • Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
    Proficiency Bonus +2

Jinx. Any creature other than a gremlin within 15 feet of the gremlin makes attack rolls and ability checks with disadvantage. Additionally, when a creature other than a gremlin within this area rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, roll 1d4:

  1. All of the below.

  2. The creature is doomed for the next minute.

  3. The creature falls prone.

  4. The creature drops one item it is holding.

Vandal. The gremlin deals double damage to objects, and has advantage on ability checks it makes to destroy, dismantle, or otherwise sabotage them.

Actions

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) slashing damage.

Pervade. The gremlin touches a magical object that isn't being worn or carried, merging itself and the equipment it is wearing or carrying into the item. The gremlin can hear and see normally while melded in this way, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the object, and doesn't need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. The gremlin can use an action to exit the object and teleport to an unoccupied space it can see within 15 feet of it.

Reactions

Hijack Magic. When a creature within 30 feet of the gremlin casts a spell of 3rd level or lower, the gremlin attempts to steal it. The gremlin must make a Wisdom check, with a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level (minimum DC of 11). On a success, the gremlin becomes the caster of the spell, using the creature's spellcasting ability. On a failure, the caster becomes immune to the Hijack Magic ability of all gremlins for 1 minute.

Ruin Dragon

As rare as they are devastating, ruin dragons are always considered a terrible omen. A ruin dragon represents chaos, change, but most of all, destruction. They are heralds of apocalypse, the clarion call of an oncoming calamity. When magical upheaval is imminent, or reality is near to breaking, dragons close to its epicenter may very well find themselves corrupted into servants of its chaos.

Bad News. A ruin dragon is misfortune incarnate, rushing ahead like the first wind of an oncoming storm. Their disposition and tempers depend heavily on the form of armageddon that they answer to. A natural magical disaster might cause a ruin dragon to rampage uncontrollably. An apocalypse directed by an intelligence could alternatively rein in the dragon for a more specific purpose. Regardless of the motives of their progenitor, ruin dragons seek only carnage and misery.

Corrupted by Chaos. When exposed to pure chaos--rathering than being annihilated--the power of a dragon allows it to adapt and overcome the overwhelming energies. Ancient dragons are typically immune to this effect, the height of their power sufficient to resist it. Lesser dragons are instead transformed, twisting into a chaotic mirror of their previous selves.

Spellcasting Variant

Some ruin dragons are capable spellcasters, Sorcerers whose power comes from the chaos that rages within them. A ruin dragon with access to sorcery has the following additional action:

Spellcasting. The dragon casts one of the following spells, requiring no components and using Charisma as its spellcasting modifier (spell save DC 22):

At will: bane, bestow curse, blight, call lightning, cloudkill, confusion, dire omen ID, fear

1/day each: disintegrate, earthquake, fire storm, tsunami, whirlwind, zone of disaster ID

A Ruin Dragon's Lair

Ruin dragons make their lairs almost exclusively in the ruins of a town, city, or fortress. Typically these ruins are the result of its own influence, the ruin dragon directly or indirectly destroying or uprooting entire populations to sate its need to bask in the inevitability of destruction.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

  • A surge of spell breaking magic washes over a creature the dragon can see within 60 feet of it. The creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, each spell affecting the creature of the dragon's choice ends. The creature takes 5 force damage for each spell ended this way.
  • The dragon causes a pillar, section of wall, or a similar portion of a structure that fits within a 10-foot cube to collapse. Each creature within 10 feet of the target must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
  • The dragon unleashes psychic waves of a possible apocalyptic future in 10-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within 120 feet of it. Each creature within that area must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat its saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

Regional Effects

The region containing a ruin dragon's lair is warped by the dragon's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

  • The area within 5 miles of the dragon's lair is blighted land (found on page 12).
  • Nonmagical weapons and ammunition within 5 miles of the lair rust and crumble rapidly. For every hour in the area, such an object takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the object is destroyed.
  • Creatures within 5 miles of the dragon's lair gain 1 additional level of exhaustion each time they would gain any levels of exhaustion.

Ruin Dragon

Huge Dragon, Typically Chaotic Evil

  • Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
  • Hit Points 319 (22d12 + 176)
  • Speed 30 ft., fly 120 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
25 (+7) 13 (+1) 27 (+8) 13 (+1) 13 (+1) 25 (+7)
  • Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +15, Wis +8, Cha +14
  • Skills Perception +15
  • Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks
  • Damage Immunities force, necrotic
  • Condition Immunities charmed, doomed, frightened
  • Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 25
  • Languages All, telepathy 120 ft.
  • Challenge 23 (50,000 XP)
    Proficiency Bonus +7

Aura of Ruin. Objects and structures within 120 feet of the dragon take twice as much damage, and lose any damage thresholds. If a creature in this area other than the dragon would make an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw with disadvantage, it must roll an additional d20 and take the lowest result.

Chaos Weapons. The dragon's attacks are magical.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Actions

Multiattack. The dragon makes three attacks: one with its Bite, one with its Claws, and one with its Tail.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (3d10 + 7) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) force damage.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6 + 7) slashing damage plus 5 (1d10) force damage.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage plus 5 (1d10) force damage.

Ruin Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales ruinous energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 23 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 36 (8d8) necrotic damage and 36 (8d8) force damage and is doomed. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn't doomed. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  A structure or nonmagical object that isn't being worn or carried also takes this damage.

Reaction

Ruin's Reprisal. When a creature the dragon can see within 15 feet of it succeeds on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it made with advan-tage, the dragon makes one attack against it.

Legendary Actions

The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choo- sing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Claws. The dragon makes a claws attack.

Erupting Chaos (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon
 creates a rift of raw chaos in the form of a
 15-foot-radius sphere centered on a point it can
 see within 30 feet of it. Each creature in the area
 must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving
 throw or take 28 (8d6) force damage. A doomed
 creature takes an additional 14 (4d6) force
 damage.

Herald of Ruin (Costs 3 Actions). The dragon gains
 30 temporary hit points, plus an additional 10
 temporary hit points for each doomed creature
 within 60 feet of it (to a maximum of 60
 temporary hit points). While it has any of these
 temporary hit points, attacks made against the
 dragon have disadvantage, and it has advantage
 on attack rolls it makes. The temporary hit points
 fade at the end of the dragon's next turn.

Environmental Doom

The following options present GMs with means by which players can interact with the doomed condition as a natural extension of adventuring.

Blighted Land

While most effects of doom are reserved for creatures, doom can also act as a symptom with a much larger scope. One such instance of this is blighted land, a corrupted area of the world riven from the balance of order and chaos by dark magic, or a horrific event.

Blighted land is a dark mirror of the environment that preceded it. A forest dead and rotting. A lake turned to swamp and poison. A city devoid of life and crumbling. Blighted land decays all it touches, slowly destroying it as a force of untempered chaos.

Causes

When adding blighted land to your world, it's a good idea to consider just why it exists. What created this terrible ruination of the natural order of things? Below you can find a table of possible causes, which you can roll for randomly, choose for yourself, or ignore entirely and construct your own origin for your take on blighted land.

d8 Cause
1 The death of a powerful spirit or demigod.
2 A dark ritual with foul consequences.
3 A failed spell that corrupted the area.
4 A portal to one of the Lower Planes.
5 The presence of a powerful Undead.
6 A curse placed upon a location.
7 The aftermath of a violent battle.
8 The influence of a magical object.

Effects

Blighted land can have a variety of different effects upon the environment it is found in, but they universally have the following trait:

Encroaching Doom. A creature that spends at least 4 hours in an area of blighted land must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be doomed until it spends 24 hours outside of blighted land. A creature that isn't doomed and remains in the area must repeat this saving throw once a day for each day it spends there. If a doomed creature remains in the area for longer than 7 days, the effect can't be removed except by the greater restoration spell or similar magic.

Prolonged Doom

Blighted land can be overwhelming when exposed to for extended lengths of time. For a game where blighted land is intended to be present for a lengthy period of the campaign, consider the following changes:

  • On a successful save against Encroaching Doom, a creature is immune to it for 7 days.
  • Encroaching Doom no longer becomes permanent after being under its effects for 7 days.
  • A creature under the effects of Encroaching Doom can repeat its saving throw at the end of a long rest, ending the effect on a success.

In addition to Encroaching Doom, you can include other effects. Roll on the table below 1d4 times (rerolling duplicates), or select any number of options of your choosing.

d10 Effect
1 Mist reduces visibility outdoors. A creature can see no further than 30 feet away from itself while in the mist.
2 The area is difficult terrain for walking and climbing.
3 Plants and water found in the area are poisonous and provide no nourishment.
4 A creature that casts a spell in the area must roll a d20. On a 1, the spell fails.
5 Animals in the area are automatically hostile.
6 A creature that attempts to sleep in the area must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it can't sleep for 1 hour as terrible visions plague its mind.
7 Unearthly screams and roars echo randomly.
8 Blood rains from the sky periodically.
9 When a humanoid dies in the area there is a 50 percent chance that the creature rises after 1 hour as a zombie.
10 The air itself is corrosive. Objects in the area wear and decay ten times faster than normal, and creatures take 1d4 acid damage at the end of each hour they spend in the area.

Ill-Wishing Well

Appearing in the form of a jaggedly sculpted fountain of black stone and bloody mortar, or even a nondescript hole in the ground that radiates an aura of foreboding and evil intent, an ill-wishing well is the vile sibling of a true wishing well.

An ill-wishing well is used for a simple but malevolent practice, specifically to call upon a dark power for the goal of causing harm or death to a creature you harbor hatred or disdain for. Such an endeavor requires three things: strong intent, a worthy sacrifice, and a target. Once accomplished, whatever hateful entity inhabits or watches the well accepts the sacrifice and delivers a particular curse to its victim.

If you'd like some ideas for a possible source of the magic of an ill-wishing well, look no further! Below you'll find a table of possible creatures or origins behind its power.

d8 Well's Origin
1 A devil is sealed within the well.
2 The well acts as a place of power for a local hag.
3 A genie's lamp lies stuck at the well's bottom.
4 The well draws from an underground lake inhabited by an aboleth.
5 An evil unicorn regularly drinks at the well.
6 The well is an entrance to a powerful mage's lair.
7 The well was once a true wishing well, but was desecrated by dark magic.
8 An unnoticed portal in the well leads to an uncharted layer of the Abyss.

Worthy Sacrifice

A curse does not usually come cheap, and an ill-wishing well always takes its toll. To earn a wish, the wisher must sacrifice something dear to them. Such a sacrifice can be flesh and blood, a possession of great power or value, or even a loved one. If acceptable, the wish is granted.

A Doom Upon Thee

A creature cursed by an ill-wishing well is doomed, but the curse may not stop there. Depending on the weight of the sacrifice, the intent of the wish maker, and the vindictiveness of the entity that delivers it, the curse may be even more fiendish than expected. Such possibilities include but are not limited to disease, a twisted visage, or the slow erosion of their life, drip by drip. They might be cursed with bad luck for the rest of time, or with a curse that passes on to their family upon their death.

While typically a greater restoration or remove curse spell would remove most curses, a curse from an ill-wishing well may even defy such magic. A particularly strong curse might require such a spell to be cast at a higher level, or only be able to be removed via the wish spell.

Art Credits

Cover: Sam Burley
Page 2: Caio Monteiro
Page 3: Chippy
Page 4: Erica Yang, Martina Pilcerova, Victor Adame Minguez
Page 5: Denman Rooke
Page 6: David Auden Nash

Page 7: Grzegorz Rutkowski
Page 8: Andrew Mar
Page 9: Mathias Kollros
Page 10: Adam Paquette
Page 11: Jesper Ejsing
Page 12: Paul Scott Canavan
Page 13: John Avon