Umibōzu
These towering monsters lurk beneath the ocean's waves, waiting for any opportunity to prey on vulnerable ships. When the umibōzu emerges from the water, it reveals its large shadowy head devoid of all features save two large piercing white eyes. Its head sits atop a lower body that sports two long tendril-like arms and becomes increasingly amorphous the further down one looks. Umibōzu are fickle creatures and seek twisted and ritualistic ways to bring doom upon any ship that crosses their path.
Reborn Souls of the Lost. The origins of the umibōzu are shrouded in mystery. Some legends claim they were once clerics in service of sea gods who managed to displease their deities. The vindictive gods dragged their disgraced subjects to the bottom of the sea and twisted them into the umibōzu as a form of divine punishment. These legends have led to the belief that umibōzu specifically hunt other clerics forsaken by their gods or faltering in their faith.
Others believe umibōzu are amalgams of souls that were lost at sea and are now unable to find peace due to lacking a proper burial. The inability to find peace leads the umibōzu to torment and drown others at sea so they, too, may experience the despair of dying in the waves and never knowing rest.
Terror of the Sea. The arrival of an umibōzu is heralded by a raging storm as it emerges from the ocean's surface. Though it can smash most ships apart with its bare limbs, it will often toy with a crew of victims. The umibōzu will offer to spare the sailors if they offer it an empty barrel. If the barrel is provided, the umibōzu will magically transform it into a container capable of holding massive amounts of water and use it to scoop up the ocean's waves and throw them at the ship's crew, attempting to knock them into the sea and drown them. Once the umibōzu has this container, it will utilize it this way with a compulsive fervor that borders on ritualistic. Umibōzu are so committed to the use of their container that, should they be provided a barrel with its bottom missing, they will still try to use the useless implement, heedless of the water continually falling through it. Wiley sailors can use this ploy to buy them a chance at escaping the befuddled umibōzu.
Challenge Rating in the Water. If the umibōzu is being confronted underwater with no means of getting out of the same body of water it's occupying, its CR should be considered as 2 levels higher.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair, an umibōzu can use lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the umibōzu can take one lair action to cause one of the following effects, even while incapacitated. An umibōzu in its layer CR is 16.
- A wall of water forms in an unoccupied space on top of or in a body of water. The wall can be up to 10 feet long, 30 feet high, and 5 feet thick. Just before the layer action of the next turn is taken, the wall moves up to 30 feet in any direction in or along the surface of the water. Any creature other than the Umibōzu inside the wall or whose space the wall enters when it moves must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or take 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage and be pushed ahead of the wall for the rest of its movement. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not moved. At the end of this movement, the wall disappears
Art Credit
- Umibozu - Made With Midjourney
- Island - Adam Paquette, Wizards of the Coast
- 30-foot radius centered on a point in water within the lair begins to churn. Just before the lair action of the next turn is taken, any creature other than umibōzu in that area must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or take 28 (8d6) bludgeoning damage and be pulled 15 feet toward the area's center. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn't pulled.
Umibōzu Adventures
The following table provides some ways to introduce umibōzu into your games:
Umibōzu Adventure Hooks
| d6 | Adventure Hook |
|---|---|
| 1 | The players are at sea when they encounter an umibōzu who asks each of them their greatest fears. If it believes any aren’t answering truthfully, it attempts to destroy their ship and drown them. |
| 2 | A merchant prince who has secretly stopped paying tribute to his sea god asks for the players’ aid in preventing a shadowy monster from attacking his trade ships. |
| 3 | A powerful queen asks the players to recover sacred relics from a recently sunken ship. Little do they know, the priest who was aboard the ship and charged with watching over the relics was warped into an umibōzu. |
| 4 | While sailing, the players find a sailor clinging to a piece of floating debris from his destroyed ship. When they pull him aboard, he raves about a shadowy monster that sunk his ship and drowned his crew. |
| 5 | The players learn of a sea elf priestess who was snatched away to an underwater layer by a shadowy being seeking to undo all the works of the elf’s sea god. |
| 6 | A fleet engaged in a holy war was sunk in a disastrous battle, with all the zealots aboard drowning. Unable to find rest, their spirits reformed into an umibōzu, determined to carry on their spiritual war. |
Umibōzu
Gargantuan undead, neutral evil
- Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 232 (16d20 + 64)
- Speed 0 ft., swim 60 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 24 (+7) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 18 (+4) 18 (+4)
- Saving Throws Int +5, Wis +9, Cha +9
- Damage Resistances cold, lightning, thunder
- Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical weapons
- Skills Athletics +12, Deception +9 Intimidation +9, Insight +9, Stealth +9
- Senses darkvision. 120 ft., passive Perception 14
- Challenge 15 (13,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +5
Freedom of Movement. The umibōzu ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can't reduce its speed or cause it to be restrained. It can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.
Sea Link. The umibōzu takes 20 psychic damage when it starts its turn outside a body of salt water.
Siege Monster. The umibōzu deals double damage to objects and structures.
Storm Aura. The umibōzu emanates a stormy magical aura that extends 300 feet from it in every direction, but not through total cover. All unprotected flames in its area that are torch-sized or smaller are extinguished. The attack rolls of ranged weapon attacks have disadvantage if the projectile they fire moves more than 15 feet through the aura. The aura hedges out vapor, gas, and fog that can be dispersed by a strong wind. The area of the aura is difficult terrain for creatures, and any creature other than the umibōzu that ends its turn swimming or flying in this area must succeed on a 20 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The umibōzu can cause this storm to become inactive at any time (no action required.)
Strange Demise. If the umibōzu dies, its body disintegrates into black ink, leaving behind only equipment the umibōzu was wearing or carrying.
Actions
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 62 (10d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
Drowning Grasp. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target touching the same body of water as the umibōzu. Hit: 43 (8d8 + 7) force damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 20) and pulled 30 feet toward the umibōzu. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, blinded, and unable to breathe or speak. The umibōzu has two hands, each of which can grapple only one target. At the start of each of the umibōzu's turns, each target grappled by it takes 43 (8d8 + 7) magical bludgeoning damage.
Scoop. The umibōzu uses its Drowning Implement to scoop up 30 gallons of water and fling it at a point within 100 feet of it. Creatures and objects within 20 feet of that point must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from the point. If a creature fails the save by 10 or more, it is pushed 20 feet away instead. The water then spreads out across the ground in all directions, extinguishing unprotected flames within 30 feet of the chosen point.
Bonus Actions
Drowning Implement. The umibōzu touches a small non-magical container that it has been given by another creature, causing it to become the umibōzu's Drowning Implement. The Drowning Implement is a magical item that acts as a bag of holding, except it can only contain liquids, and all other items placed within it are expelled into its nearest unoccupied space. The umibōzu can only have one Drowning Implement at a time, and if it uses this action while it already has a Drowning Implement, the previous container loses its magic, and its contents spill out. The Drowning Implement has 70 hit points and AC 16.
Legendary Actions
The umibōzu's can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The Umibōzu regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Check. The umibōzu's makes a skill check that would normally require an action.
Scoop. The umibōzu uses its Scoop action.
Tenacious Will. If the umibōzu's is suffering a effect that require it to make a saving throw, it may immediately make a save against the effect with advantage, ending the effect on a success. It can use this action while incapacitated.
Sea Terror. The umibōzus forces a creature that it can see within 100 feet of it to make DC 17 Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails the saving throw, it is frightened of the Umibōzu until the end of the creature's next turn. If the creature is submerged in water while frightened this way, it immediately takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage, and the condition ends.
1.0.0
- Public release
1.1.0
- Change Drowning Grasp to be able to target creatures touching the same body of water as the umibozu
- Change Drowning Grasp damage type from force to magical bludgeoning
- Fix typo in lair actions
1.1.1
- Replace umibozu art