Wraithbound Stalker
Medium Undead (Wraith), Chaotic Neutral
Armor Class: 14 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points: 45 (6d8 + 18)
Speed: 0 ft. (can move through walls and obstacles in dim light or darkness), 40 ft. (fly, but does not require wing beats)
Challenge Rating: 1/2 (100 XP)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 16 |
Saving Throws: Strength +1, Dexterity +5, Constitution +5, Wisdom +4
Skills: Stealth +7, Insight +4, Perception +4
Damage Vulnerabilities: Radiant Damage
Damage Resistances: Necrotic Damage, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities: Poison Damage, Psychic Damage
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Blindsight 10 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 14
Languages: Understands Common and the languages spoken by its former cultists but can only read the thoughts of creatures within its aura.
Spellcasting
Spellcasting. The Wraithbound Stalker is a 3rd-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). The Wraithbound Stalker has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): *Eldritch Blast*, *Minor Illusion*
1st level (2 slots): *Hex*, *Shield*
2nd level (2 slots): *Misty Step*, *Mirror Image*
**Special notes about the spellcaster’s spellcasting abilities:**
– The Wraithbound Stalker often casts *Hex* at the beginning of combat to hinder its primary target, adding additional damage to its melee attacks.
– After utilizing *Misty Step*, it can reposition itself strategically in the environment, enhancing its ambush tactics and allowing it to slip back into shadow.
– The *Eldritch Blast* cantrip is used to engage targets from a distance, allowing the Stalker to strike without revealing its position if it is hidden in the shadows.
Actions & Abilities
Spectral Claw: – **Melee Weapon Attack:** +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
– **Hit:** 1d4 + 2 necrotic damage.
– **Description:** The Wraithbound Stalker extends an elongated claw, shimmering with spectral energy, to slash at its target.
Haunting Wail: – **Action:** Each creature within a 10-foot radius must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw, taking 1d6 psychic damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.
– **Description:** The Stalker emits a terrifying sound, echoing with the desperation of lost ambitions. The psychic backlash resonates with the fear in the hearts of its prey.
Ethereal Movement: – **Action:** The Wraithbound Stalker can move through shadows as a bonus action, allowing it to shift 10 feet to a location within dim light or darkness, effectively gaining the ability to reposition itself swiftly without provoking opportunity attacks.
– **Description:** The creature glides through the shadows, its form nearly dissolving into the darkness, reemerging elsewhere to confuse and terrify.
Engulfing Shadows: – **Action:** The Wraithbound Stalker can choose to disable itself as an action, becoming Invisible in dim light or darkness until it attacks or is in bright light.
– **Description:** The Stalker momentarily melds with the surrounding shadows, making it nearly impossible to detect until it strikes. This ability allows it to remain unnoticed and ambush its foes effectively.
Dodge (Defensive Action): – **Action:** The Wraithbound Stalker can take the Dodge action on its turn. Until the start of its next turn, any attacks against it have disadvantage.
– **Description:** The Stalker bends and sways in an ethereal dance, using its ghostly form to evade attacks and become a harder target to hit.
Appearance
The Wraithbound Stalker looms tall at six feet, its elongated, skeletal figure casting a haunting silhouette against a stark white background. This spectral being embodies an unsettling grace, moving with an ethereal fluidity that defies its emaciated frame. Its posture remains upright yet predatory, enhancing its aura of silent menace.
Glowing with a ghostly pallor, the creature’s translucent skin shimmers in sickly green and violet hues, reminiscent of smoke swirling in the air. These colors shift mesmerizingly, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow that captivates and unnerves the gaze. Tattered remnants of dark gray prison garb cling to its form, fusing with the surrounding darkness and making it appear as though it is part of the very shadows that engulf it.
The surface of the Wraithbound Stalker offers a unique texture, smooth and glass-like over most of its body, though tight stretches reveal glimpses of its bony structure beneath. The edges shimmer and fade into the darkness, interrupting the observer’s focus and evoking an unsettling sense of disorientation.
Its face, a haunting mask of bone, is framed by wisps of ethereal “hair” that float elegantly as if caught in an otherworldly breeze. The eye sockets pulse with a spectral light, alternating between haunting green and an intense violet that pierces through the gloom. The mouth forms a thin, jagged line, hinting at a gaping maw that harbors despair, although it emits no sound, intensifying the eerie atmosphere.
The Stalker’s arms are long and spindly, stretching down to claw-like fingers that taper into sharp, ethereal points. These limbs unfurl with disquieting speed, adept at grasping and piercing as needed. Its thin legs afford it an unsettling grace, gliding through the air rather than walking, allowing it to navigate the shadows with spectral stealth.
A flickering halo of ghostly energy crowns its head, pulsating ominously like the last flicker of a dying star. This halo emits a low, haunting whisper, echoing with the unfulfilled ambitions it embodies. As the creature moves, shadows cling to its form, creating ever-shifting patterns that dance with each silent motion, enhancing its spectral visage.
Trailing behind the Wraithbound Stalker is a faint mist, distorting the air around it—much like heat haze—and drawing in light to cast an ominous dark aura. The whispers that accompany its presence resonate with the fears and regrets of those nearby, reinforcing its role as a harbinger of despair and lost ambition. This captivating combination of colors, textures, and movements collectively creates a vivid, striking presence, ensuring the essence of the Wraithbound Stalker is both palpable and unforgettable.
Tactical Information
The Wraithbound Stalker: Behavior and Combat Tactics
Behavior in Day-to-Day Life
The Wraithbound Stalker is a haunting sentinel of the prison, an ever-present specter within its decaying walls, driven not by hunger in the conventional sense, but by an insatiable hunger for the ambitions of those it encounters. Its existence is a blur between the physical and spectral realms, fluctuating with the emotions and aspirations of intruding souls.
In its day-to-day life, the Stalker drifts through darkened corridors and abandoned cells, often lingering near prisoners’ old quarters where whispered secrets echo. It is fueled by the dreams of power and escape that still ring through the air, remnants of lost souls that once roamed the grounds. Observing its surroundings, the Stalker gleans knowledge of the living’s desires, as it carefully molds its behavior around the ambitions of those it encounters.
While it has no social interactions in the traditional sense, it is acutely aware of the presence of other beings. During the “day” — if one can call it that in the dimensional purgatory of the prison — it may lie dormant, shrouded in shadows, waiting for the hopeful murmurs of new souls. It behaves with an unsettling stillness, a predator in waiting, evaluating intruders’ motives before deciding how to engage with them. Its temperament is unpredictable, oscillating between looming menace and curious observation, as though it grasps at the unfulfilled hopes of its victims as a form of sustenance.
Feeding is less about consuming flesh and more about fracturing aspirations. When the Stalker finds a particularly ambitious individual, it stirs up their desires, amplifying them to insatiable levels, which can lead to madness or irrevocable decisions. Thus, a constant cycle of despair and ambition perpetuates within the prison, and the Stalker thrives in the chaos it creates.
Combat Behavior
In combat, the Wraithbound Stalker exemplifies the essence of an ambush predator, often initiating encounters when its victims are least prepared. It prefers the shadows, utilizing its Ambush Predator ability to gain an advantage over unsuspecting adventurers. When combat ensues, the Stalker calculates the most isolated or vulnerable target, often striking after lurking in dark corners, launching an attack while leveraging the psychological effects of its presence.
The Stalker employs Hit-and-Run Tactics, ensuring it remains a fleeting and elusive opponent. After striking, it seamlessly retreats into the shadows or through walls, confusing its foes and preventing them from retaliating effectively. This erratic movement is designed to frustrate adventurers, forcing them to waste precious resources tracking down a foe that seems to flicker in and out of reality.
Making use of its surroundings, the Wraithbound Stalker might lure its enemies further into the prison, then unleash its Psychic Wail amidst clustered foes, maximizing the terror experienced and ensuring that mental damage accompanies physical confrontation. The ensuing chaos allows it to exploit weaknesses, capitalizing on those frightened by its daunting presence, especially spellcasters who become rattled and vulnerable under the pressure of their own ambitions reflected back at them.
When outnumbered, the Stalker does not hesitate to retreat, allowing it to recalibrate for another strike from the shadows. It will adapt its tactics based on the behaviors and weaknesses of the adventurers, sometimes taunting them with whispers of their ambitions as it slips away. If it seems cornered or pressured into fighting, it might invoke its Ensnaring Shadows ability to momentarily restrain one or more attackers, aiming for a swift tactical retreat once more.
Roleplay/Narrative Interactions
When venturing into non-combat interactions, the Wraithbound Stalker takes on an ethereal presence that embodies whispers of temptation. It communicates not in sounds but through glimmers of psychic connection, blasting the minds of intruders with snippets of their deepest desires or fears. The adventurers may find themselves ensnared in hallways that shift around them, the shadows lengthening or twisting to embody their own ambitions, forcing them to confront their inner demons.
Should intruders attempt diplomacy, the Stalker’s motivations lay bare. It has no interest in negotiation, seeing living beings as mere vessels of ambition rather than entities deserving of conversation. Instead, it may respond to attempts at diplomacy with deceptive visions—showing potential routes to power that lead only to destruction or madness—delighting in watching their faces turn pale at the haunting truth that lies underneath their desires.
If approached cornered, the Wraithbound Stalker may flicker between phases, appearing to offer a desperate warning of failed ambitions through erratic behavior, creating an intense atmosphere of dread. It is unlikely to flee outright; rather, it could ensnare the adventurers in a web of psychic terror, whispering to them about the futility of their pursuits—reflecting their thoughts back at them in a manner that turns their aspirations against them.
Overall, it thrives on fear and ambition alike, making each interaction a reflection of what lies beneath the surface of every adventurer’s heart, an eternal reminder of the dangers that lurk within the shadows of their aspirations. Ultimately, the Wraithbound Stalker serves as a chilling reflection of ambition gone awry, highlighting the consequences that accompany the thirst for power and freedom.
Speak Your Mind