Yarnflame Dread
Large Construct (Fire), Chaotic Neutral
Armor Class: 17 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points: 180 (20d12 + 40)
Speed: 30 ft., flying 50 ft. (hover)
Challenge Rating: 8 (3,900 XP)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 20 |
Saving Throws: Dexterity +7, Wisdom +5, Charisma +9
Skills: Persuasion +9, Deception +9, Performance +9
Damage Vulnerabilities: none
Damage Resistances: none
Damage Immunities: Fire, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Frightened, Charmed
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages: Understands Common and Ignan but cannot speak
Spellcasting
Spellcasting. The Yarnflame Dread is a 10th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). The Yarnflame Dread has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): **Fire Bolt**, **Dancing Lights**, **Minor Illusion**
1st level (4 slots): **Burning Hands**, **Charm Person**, **Disguise Self**
2nd level (3 slots): **Misty Step**, **Heat Metal**
3rd level (3 slots): **Fear**, **Fireball**
4th level (3 slots): **Greater Invisibility**
5th level (2 slots): **Wall of Fire**, **Dominate Person**
The Yarnflame Dread can cast spells such as **Charm Person** and **Fear** to manipulate and terrify intruders before engaging in combat. It often uses its **Dancing Lights** cantrip to create an unsettling ambiance in its lair, further enhancing its eerie presence. Spells like **Fireball** and **Wall of Fire** serve to unleash its fiery wrath during an encounter, while **Greater Invisibility** allows it to evade attacks, using surprise and deception to its advantage.
Actions & Abilities
Multiattack: The Yarnflame Dread makes two attacks: one with its **Flaming Yarn Appendage** and one **Bolt of Mischief**.
Flaming Yarn Appendage: – **Melee Weapon Attack:** +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target.
– **Hit:** 27 (4d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) fire damage.
– **Additional Effect:** The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of its next turn.
**Description:** With a swift, spiraling motion, the Yarnflame Dread lashes out with its glowing yarn appendage, its vibrant colors flowing like flames. Upon impact, the appendage cuts sharply, and flickers of fiery energy envelop the target, leaving them disoriented and terrified.
Bolt of Mischief (Recharge 5-6): – **Ranged Attack:** The Yarnflame Dread launches a bolt of chaotic, fiery yarn at a target it can see within 120 feet.
– **Saving Throw:** The target must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw.
– **Hit:** 42 (12d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
– **Secondary Effect:** Each creature within 10 ft. of the target also takes half the damage from the redirecting flames.
**Description:** The Yarnflame Dread conjures a vibrant bolt of magical yarn, crisscrossing with flickering embers, and releases it towards the target. The bolt bursts upon impact, sending fiery threads spiraling outward to envelop those nearby in chaotic flames.
Inferno Spectacle (1/Day): – **Area Effect:** The Yarnflame Dread creates an arena of flickering lights and burning threads in a 30-foot radius centered on itself.
– **Saving Throw:** Creatures of its choice within this area must make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw.
– **Failed Save:** The creature becomes charmed for 1 minute and must use its action to attack a target of the Yarnflame Dread’s choice on its turns.
– **Successful Save:** The creature is unaffected.
**Description:** The Yarnflame Dread magically transforms its surroundings into a mesmerizing and dangerous display. Threads of flame dance in the air, captivating and entrancing those caught in their sway. While charmed, victims may recklessly attack their companions, blinded by the delightful chaos.
Cackle of Flames (Legendary Action): – **Effect:** The Yarnflame Dread emits a chilling laughter, unnerving its foes.
– **Saving Throw:** Each enemy within 30 feet must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw.
– **Hit:** 10 (3d6) psychic damage on a failed save, and the target is frightened until the end of their next turn.
**Description:** With a sinister gleeful cackle, the Yarnflame Dread’s laughter resonates through the air, echoing in the minds of its foes. Those who cannot withstand the sound suffer from the mental torment, leaving them shaken and cowed.
Linking Threads (Legendary Action): – **Movement:** The Yarnflame Dread can reposition itself up to 20 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
**Description:** The Yarnflame Dread shifts effortlessly in its environment, its body trailing glowing threads that appear to link the space. This graceful movement allows it to navigate the battle with uncanny fluidity.
Fiery Flare (Costs 2 Actions, Legendary Action): – **Area Effect:** The Yarnflame Dread ignites its body in an explosion of colors and flames, affecting all creatures within a 15-foot radius.
– **Saving Throw:** Each creature must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw.
– **Hit:** 18 (4d8) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
**Description:** In a dazzling display of colorful flames, the Yarnflame Dread unleashes a fiery spectacle, saturating the area with brightness. Creatures engulfed by the flames suffer burns and spasms as the intense heat scorches their skin.
Appearance
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Size and Shape: The Yarnflame Dread stands at an imposing height of 8 feet, with a tall, elongated frame reminiscent of a giant marionette. Its body is slightly tapered, with a more robust upper torso that gradually narrows towards its lower extremities.
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Coloration: The creature’s body is a vibrant tapestry of colors, primarily fiery reds and oranges that gleam like molten lava. Interspersed are playful swirls of cheerful yellow, deep purple, and bright blue, reminiscent of a colorful yarn ball. These colors glow intermittently, pulsing like flames, especially when agitated or in combat.
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Texture and Surface Features: The Yarnflame Dread’s outer layer is comprised of tightly woven fibers resembling a mixture of yarn and charred cloth. The surface is both smooth in some sections yet frayed or tangled in others, emitting wisps of warm smoke and the scent of burnt fabric. Patches of the material appear singed, giving it that juxtaposition of what appears whimsical but carries a dark undertone.
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Facial Features: Its head is disproportionately large, accentuated by oversized button eyes that flicker with inner fire, glowing amber like smoldering coals. The stitched mouth forms a malicious grin, revealing no teeth but giving an unsettling impression of malice. The face features bright, needle-like eyebrows crafted from shimmering threads that dance eerily in the air, enhancing its emotional expressiveness.
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Limbs and Appendages: The creature possesses four long, slender arms that can extend outward with an elegant grace or lash out with ferocious power. Each arm ends in elongated hands, where fingers taper off into sharp, yarn-like appendages that curl and twist. Its lower body trails off in flames, creating a visually striking effect, and it has oversized, ethereal wings made of glowing strands, allowing it to hover gracefully.
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Special Features: The Yarnflame Dread boasts the unique ability to produce colorful threads that extend from its head and wrists, glimmering with an intrinsic magic. As it moves or prepares to attack, these threads warp and pulse, visually indicative of its chaotic energy. Its eyes hold an intelligent fire, and wisps of flame occasionally flicker at the tips of its appendages.
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Posture and Movement: Generally, the Yarnflame Dread maintains an upright posture that exudes both menace and whimsy. It moves with an unexpected fluidity, blending grace with unpredictability. The creature can hover in the air momentarily, using its wings to create sudden movements that catch foes off-guard. When agitated or preparing for an attack, it emits a low, infectious laughter, increasing in intensity as it flares with gleaming flames.
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Additional Notable Traits: A faint, magical glow surrounds its entire body, hinting at the elemental fire contained within. The strands of yarn that make up its form shift colors and shimmer like the northern lights, creating an enchanting spectacle that masks the creature’s deadly nature. Additionally, there appears to be a lingering heat wave that distorts the air around it, as if it is perpetually in a state of combustion.
Tactical Information
Combat Behavior and Tactical Information for the Yarnflame Dread
Combat Strategy:
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Positioning and Environment:
- The Yarnflame Dread favors battlegrounds that reflect its chaotic nature, such as a charred theater, overgrown with remnants of past performances. It uses the landscape to its advantage, hiding behind ruins or elevated stages to ambush players.
- It can hover above the ground, using its 50 ft. flying speed to maintain a position where it threatens melee attackers while keeping a safe distance.
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Opening Moves:
- Start the encounter by activating Inferno Spectacle to charm as many players as possible. This ability has the potential to disrupt teamwork, forcing players to turn on each other.
- Follow up with Bolt of Mischief to hit multiple players and establish chaos right from the start. The damage and area effect will encourage players to position themselves strategically to avoid collateral damage.
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Maintaining Control:
- Use Cackle of Flames as a legendary action early in the battle to instill fear and further prevent players from establishing a plan.
- Target isolated players with Flaming Yarn Appendage to force them to make Wisdom saving throws and contribute to spreading fear within the party.
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Hit-and-Run Tactics:
- With the Linking Threads legendary action, the Yarnflame Dread can reposition itself after an attack, making it difficult for the party to pin it down.
- Keep the pressure on the wrested players by taking advantage of Flaming Yarn Appendage to hit quickly and then retreat to a safer location using its high mobility.
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Team Management:
- Smartly identify the most dangerous players—those with higher spellcasting or damage output—and use its Inferno Spectacle to charm or frighten them when it is threatened.
- Prioritize targets that are not charmed to ensure it minimizes the number of threats actively engaging it.
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Defensive Retreat:
- If the Yarnflame Dread takes significant damage, it can use its height and mobility with a combination of evasive maneuvers to escape and regroup, utilizing environmental hazards to deter pursuers.
Narrative Interactions:
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Engagement with Players:
- The Yarnflame Dread is not mindless; it speaks in riddles and taunts, luring players into a false sense of safety. Its dialogue often includes references to the artisan’s heartbreak and creative fury, pulling on the emotional strings of the players.
- At the start of the combat, it might say something like, “You thought love was your strongest thread? Let me show you how brittle it can be.”
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Psychological Warfare:
- As the battle unfolds, the Dread might laugh maniacally, echoing its delight in chaos. Whispering sweet and terrifying words, trying to sow discord among the party and unleash their suspicions and fears.
- It might mock players’ choices or comment on their past failures, targeting their insecurities to enhance the experience of dread.
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Multiple Timelines:
- An intelligent opponent, the Yarnflame Dread might refer to a past event when the players opposed a similar creature, challenging them with “Will your woeful memories be your undoing?”
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Victory Dynamics:
- Upon defeat, the Yarnflame Dread can deliver a final haunting line, hinting at the cycle of love and wrath, like “You think you’ve extinguished the flame, but embers will always smolder in the shadows of your heart.”
- The aftermath of the battle can leave behind a theater transformed, with surviving threads of yarn weaving together to form illusions of the Dread’s past performances, leaving the party with a bittersweet sense of victory.
Summary:
The Yarnflame Dread offers a unique blend of combat challenges and narrative depth, using its abilities to create a chaotic yet emotionally charged atmosphere. Players are encouraged to think tactically not only about their attack choices but also how they interact with the themes of creativity and destruction woven throughout the monster’s essence. Confronting the Yarnflame Dread isn’t only about physical confrontation; it’s a test of resolve, cooperation, and emotional endurance.
