mordenkainens tome of foes

nought has two gnarled limbs that end in razor-sharp

pincer claws. Constellations appear to swirl in the

depths of its single eye, and its serpentine, armored tail

trails off into the silvery void.

An astral dreadnought lives a solitary existence. On

the rare occasion when two dreadnoughts meet, they

typically fight until one tires of the conflict and departs.

Some mighty villains have enslaved astral dreadnoughts

and used them to terrifying effect.

Ant/magic Eye. Astral sailors claim that insanity

awaits anyone who gazes into the eye of an astral dread-

nought. What one sees reflected in that starry void is

the sudden, terrifying realization of one's own mortal-

ity. Spellcasters have cause to fear the eye more than

others, since it emits a continuous antimagic field. The

dreadnought can shut off the effect by simply closing its

eye, though it seldom has reason to do so.

Astral Predator. A remorseless, indiscriminate

hunter, an astral dreadnought employs terrifying, if un-

imaginative, tactics. It uses its teeth and claws to tear

apart its prey. Instinctively aware of how dangerous

spellcasters can be, it maneuvers to keep as many oppo-

nents as possible within its antimagic gaze.

An astral dreadnought doesn't have a gullet or a di-

gestive system. Anything it swallows is deposited in a

unique demiplane-an enclosed space that contains

eons worth of detritus, as well as the remains of dead

planar travelers. The place has gravity and breathable

air, and organic matter decays there. Although escape

from the demiplane is possible with the aid of magic,

most creatures arrive here only after they have died.

When the dreadnought dies, its demiplane vanishes,

and its contents are released into the Astral Plane.

An astral dreadnought doesn't communicate. It simply

consumes any prey it finds, then continues its silent pa-

trol. It can't leave the Astral Plane, nor would it want to.

Titans of the Chained God. Tharizdun, the Chained

God, created astral dreadnoughts to devour planar trav-

elers who were seeking portals that lead from the Astral

Plane to the Outer Planes- portals they might use to

gaze upon their gods or realize some dream of godhood.

Astral dreadnoughts don't procreate, so their popula-

tion can't grow. Even though githyanki and other astral

voyagers hunt the creatures, they rarely see any success,

and the dreadnoughts aren't in danger of becoming ex-

tinct anytime soon.

Titanic Nature. Although it eats and sleeps if it so

desires, an astral dreadnought doesn't require air, food,

drink, or sleep.

CHAPTER 6 I BESTIARY

BALHANNOTH

Native to the Shadowfell, the vicious, predatory balhan-

noth alters reality in its lair to make the place appear in-

viting to travelers. Once they step inside, the balhannoth

springs its trap.

False Hope. Thanks to a limited form of telepathy,

a balhannoth can sense the desires of other creatures

and identify images of places where they expect those

desires to be met. The balhannoth then warps reality

around it, remaking its environment so that it matches

the appearance of the place the creature seeks. The bal-

hannoth never quite gets all the details right, and plenty

of incongruities might give away the deception, but the

imitation is good enough to fool desperate creatures into

stumbling into the monster's clutches.

Malevolent Entities. A balhannoth thrives on fear and

despair, taking pleasure in the horror its victims expe-

rience. It terrorizes its prey by using its reality-warping

powers to mask its presence until it can snatch the tar-

get. Then it teleports away to feed on its victims.

Useful Slaves. Drow hunting parties and other deni-

zens of the Underdark sometimes venture into the Shad-

owfell to capture balhannoths. They install the crea-

tures as guardians, protecting passages from enemy

intruders and cutting off avenues of retreat or watching

over slaves.

A BALHANNOTH'S LAIR

In the Shadowfell, balhannoths make their lairs near

places inhabited by creatures they hunt. They typically

haunt well-traveled roads and paths, snatching people

who come along. A balhannoth that has been captured

and exploited by drow might lair in caves near Un-

derdark passages and guard the ways in and out of a

drow enclave.

LAIR ACTIONS

When fighting inside its lair, a balhannoth can use lair

actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), a

balhannoth can take one lair action to cause one of the

following effects; the balhannoth can't use the same lair

action two rounds in a row:

• The balhannoth warps reality around it in an area up

to 500 feet square. After 10 minutes, the terrain in the

area reshapes to assume the appearance of a location

sought by one inte lligent creature whose mind the

balhannoth has read (see Regional Effects below). The

transformation affects nonliving material only and

can't create anything with moving parts or magical

properties. Any object created in this area is, upon

close inspection, revealed as a fake. Books are filled

with empty pages, golden items are obvious counter-

feits, and so on. The transformation lasts until the bal-

hannoth dies or uses this lair action again.

• The balhannoth targets one creature within 500 feet

of it. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom sav-

ing throw or the target, along with whatever it is wear-

ing and carrying, teleports to an unoccupied space of

the balhannoth's choice within 60 feet of it.

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