Umbral Lurker
Medium Undead (Shadow), Neutral Evil
Armor Class: 16 (Natural Armor, enhanced by Shadows)
Hit Points: 85 (10d10 + 30)
Speed: 30 ft., Shadow Teleportation: Can teleport up to 30 ft. as a bonus action to any shadow it can perceive.
Challenge Rating: 7 (2,900 XP)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 15 | 18 |
Saving Throws: Strength +5, Dexterity +8, Constitution +6, Wisdom +5, Charisma +7
Skills: Stealth +11, Intimidation +7, Perception +5
Damage Vulnerabilities: Radiant Damage
Damage Resistances: Necrotic Damage, Psychic Damage
Damage Immunities: Poison Damage, Being Charmed, Being Frightened
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Truesight 60 ft., Evasion
Languages: Common and Abyssal
Spellcasting
Spellcasting. The Umbral Lurker is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). The Umbral Lurker has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): *Eldritch Blast*, *Minor Illusion*, *Chill Touch*
1st level (4 slots): *Disguise Self*, *Hex*
2nd level (3 slots): *Darkness*, *Mirror Image*
3rd level (3 slots): *Fear*, *Vampiric Touch*
4th level (3 slots): *Phantasmal Killer*, *Greater Invisibility*
5th level (2 slots): *Cloudkill*, *Modify Memory*
**Special notes about the spellcaster’s spellcasting abilities:**
– The Umbral Lurker can use *Darkness* strategically to conceal its movements and bolster its ambush tactics.
– It often casts *Greater Invisibility* on itself before combat to maximize its advantage, ensuring it can strike from the shadows with little chance of reprisal.
– The creature remembers the emotional state of adversaries; it prefers to use spells like *Fear* and *Vampiric Touch* against opponents caught under the effects of its *Whispering Dread* ability, maximizing psychological effects and damage output.
Actions & Abilities
Multiattack: The Umbral Lurker makes two attacks using its **Flickering Blades** or one attack followed by **Whispering Dread** if available.
Flickering Blades: *Melee Weapon Attack:* +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
*Hit:* 2d8 + 4 slashing damage and 1d6 necrotic damage on a successful hit. Additionally, each failed attack against the Umbral Lurker during this turn costs the target an extra 1d4 necrotic health.
Shadowstep (Recharge 5-6): The Umbral Lurker can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space within shadowy terrain. It can make one **Flickering Blades** attack immediately after it emerges, gaining advantage on the roll. Additionally, if it teleports into an area of dim light or darker, it cannot be seen until the start of its next turn.
Whispering Dread (Recharge 5-6): The Lurker unleashes a haunting wave of whispers in a 20-foot radius. All creatures in range must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn. Creatures that fail the save also suffer disadvantage on perception checks while frightened.
Nightmare Cloak (Recharges on initiative count 5): The Umbral Lurker envelops itself in an ethereal darkness. As a bonus action, it gains total concealment while within shadows. When it is attacked while concealed, it may use its reaction to slip out of sight—moving up to its speed away from the attacker.
Shadowy Evasion: When subjected to an attack, the Umbral Lurker can use its reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll if it is within dim light or darkness, causing it to seemingly melt into the shadows.
Revenge of Shadows: If the Umbral Lurker is hit with a melee attack, it can make one **Flickering Blades** attack against the attacker as a reaction.
Lurking Shadows: The Umbral Lurker moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks, slipping into shadows or behind cover.
Taste of Fear: The Lurker targets one creature it can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or suffer from the frightened condition until the end of their next turn.
Appearance
The Umbral Lurker is a striking embodiment of darkness and dread, towering at 6 feet when fully erect but often adopting a crouched, serpentine posture that allows it to slip through shadows with unnerving grace. Its slender, elongated body is crafted for stealth, each movement fluid as if gliding through the air rather than walking.
Cloaked in a deep obsidian hue, the Lurker’s skin seems to absorb surrounding light, creating an aura of palpable darkness. This inky exterior is interspersed with subtle patterns of dark grays—a swirling tapestry that appears alive, shifting with its intentions. The creature’s surface has an otherworldly smoothness, reminiscent of polished basalt, with a velvety texture that further conceals it in the gloom.
Its face is eerily featureless, an unsettling void broken only by two piercing emerald eyes that glow with a haunting luminance. These eyes are windows to a troubled soul, radiating intelligence and calculating malice that captivate and terrify all who dare to meet its gaze. Without a mouth, the creature communicates through the chilling whispers of despair that echo around it, amplifying its menacing presence.
The limbs of the Umbral Lurker are disproportionately long and gaunt, tapering into razor-sharp, scythe-like claws that glimmer ominously. These skeletal appendages, designed for swift strikes, extend menacingly, capable of delivering devastating blows to its prey. Its legs, equally slender yet remarkably powerful, provide astonishing agility, allowing it to leap effortlessly into the air or dart silently in pursuit of unsuspecting victims.
The creature’s posture often remains hunched, embodying a predatory intent that radiates the essence of a lurking shadow. It moves with exquisite grace, transitioning from an eerie stillness to sudden bursts of speed, showcasing its capability to ambush with deadly precision. The Umbral Lurker’s unique Shadowstep ability enables it to teleport through darkness, making it appear and vanish as if tethered to the shadows themselves.
Around this nightmare figure, an aura of dread flourishes, marked by a sudden drop in temperature and a distortion of surrounding shadows that seem to stretch and ripple. The whispers of tormented souls blend seamlessly with the chill, wrapping the Lurker in a sinister psychological veil that preys upon the fears of all who approach. With its haunting glow, elongated limbs, and predator’s poise, the Umbral Lurker transcends the realm of mere creature—becoming a living embodiment of nightmare itself.
Tactical Information
Umbral Lurker Tactical Information
Behavior in Day-to-Day Life: The Shadow Sentinel
In the sanctum of the cavern where the Umbral Lurker resides, darkness is its ally, and fear is its currency. The Lurker spends most of its existence in a state of vigilance, blending seamlessly into the shadows while draped in the sinister cloak of twilight. The motivations of this tortured creature revolve around dispelling intruders and exacting revenge against those who awaken its long-slumbering ire. At times, it can be seen prowling its territory, a flicker of emerald eyes casting an eerie glow amidst the dark.
The Umbral Lurker does not hunt for sustenance in the traditional sense but feeds on the despair and fear that human hearts emit. Rather than preying on small animals or other monsters, it bides its time, choosing when to strike based on the fluctuating energies of panic and dread that seep into its domain. Should it sense an intruder growing fatigued or terrified, the creature becomes emboldened, its own power swelling like an ever-present tide of darkness.
The Lurker is solitary, reluctant to engage with any beings apart from potential intruders. Should other creatures stumble upon its territory—be they beasts of the shadow or forlorn souls seeking guidance—the creature adopts a menacing and foreboding demeanor, dissuading them with barely whispered threats that reverberate throughout the cavern’s expansive walls. The Umbral Lurker behaves much like a guardian of shadowy wrath, watching and waiting for its moment to exact justice on those who would defile its sacred ground.
Combat Behavior: The Night Stalker’s Dance
When combat erupts, the Umbral Lurker transforms from a passive guardian to a relentless predator. It initiates encounters with a terrifying silence, slipping stealthily from shadow to shadow, taking stock of the adventurers who have dared to intrude into its lair. The very air thickens with anxiety as a palpable tension builds, and the creature seizes the opportunity to strike first, emerging from the darkness with the suddenness of a nightmare materializing in the waking world.
The Lurker’s preferred tactic involves ambush—employing Shadowstep to reposition itself behind the unsuspecting intruders, allowing it to maximize the impact of its Flickering Blades. The creature has a particular knack for isolating spellcasters or groups of weaker, more frightened companions, aiming to demoralize and dismantle their organization from within.
Throughout the battle, the Lurker makes strategic use of its Nightmare Cloak, rendering itself nearly invisible, darting from point to point within the shadows while retaliating violently to any attacks that breach its concealment. When confronted by formidable foes, it might retreat further into the deeper shadows, using the cavern’s environment to aid in its escape while plotting its next ambush.
If badly outnumbered or if the tide of battle turns against it, the Umbral Lurker may unleash its Whispering Dread, enveloping the foes in a wave of terror that hopes to instill a dread vortex—using their fear as a weapon against them. Should the Lurker find itself cornered, it would feign vulnerability, only to lash out with desperate ferocity, using its razor-like claws to inflict critical strikes capable of draining vitality.
Roleplay/Narrative Interactions: The Shadow’s Parley
In narrative interactions, the Umbral Lurker is an enigma wrapped in darkness. Its methods of communication are non-verbal, relying heavily on ambient whispers that echo throughout the chamber, pulsating with malice and dread. Adventurers seeking diplomacy will find the Umbral Lurker wholly unyielding; its twisted essence is reluctant to engage in discussions beyond delivering ominous truths through chilling utterances or the manipulative glimmer of its emerald eyes.
Should intruders attempt to bribe or negotiate, the Umbral Lurker would likely respond with mocking laughter—a haunting cackle mingling with the whispers of the cavern. It does not comprehend or desire material offerings; instead, it seeks recognition of its torment and the fear that serves to nourish it. Any means of diplomacy may indeed be futile, as the Lurker’s bitterness overshadows any potential for amicable interaction.
In circumstances where the players exhibit courage or cunning, the Lurker might toy with them, shifting shadows to play psychological games, creating false avenues of escape only to close them off at the last moment. If cornered or pressed severely, it may resort to shifting its attention toward a weaker opponent or employing its terror-based spells to manipulate the emotions of the group further.
With its tragic backstory echoing throughout its form, the Umbral Lurker is more than just a monstrous entity; it is a tortured soul embittered by betrayal, and in the darkened recesses of its heart lies a flicker of the noble guardian it once was. Thus, adventurers facing this monster are drawn not only into physical conflict but an encounter probing into the themes of fear, loss, and the possibility of redemption through the shadows’ embrace.
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