Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

SKULL LORD

The
skull lords have claimed vast regions of the Shad-

owfell as their dominion. From these
blighted lands,

they wage war against their rivals,

commanding hordes

of undead in a bid to establish

dominance. Yet skull

lords always prove to be their

own worst enemies; as

a combined being born from

three hateful individuals,

they constantly plot against themselves.

Cr eatures of B etrayal. Infighting and treachery

brought the skull lords into existence. The first of

them

appeared in the aftermath ofVecna's bid to conquer

the world of Greyhawk, after the vampire Kas

betrayed

Vecna and took his eye and hand. In the confusion

resulting from this turn of events, Vecna's

warlords

turned against

each other, and the dark one's plans

were dashed. In a rage, Vecna gathered
up his generals

and captains and bound them in groups

of three, fusing

them into undead abominations

cursed to fight among

themselves for all time. Since

the first skull lords were

exiled into shadow, others
have joined them, typically

after being created from other leaders who betrayed

their masters.

Undead Nature. A skull

lord doesn' t require air, food,

drink, or sleep.

SKULL LORD

Medium undead, lawful evil

Armor Class 18 (plate)

Hit Points 105 (14d8 + 42)

Speed 30 ft.

STR

14

(+2)

DEX

16 (+3)

CON

17 (+3)

INT

16 (+3)

WIS

15 (+2)

CHA

21 (+S)

Skills Athletics +7, History +8,

Perception +12, Stealth +8

Damage Resistances cold,

necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and

s lashing from nonmagical

attacks

Damage Immuni

ties poison

Condition

Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion,

frightened, poisoned, stunned, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive

Perception 22

Languages all the languages

it knew in life

Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)

Legendary Resistance

(3/Day). If the skull lord fails a saving

throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Master of the Grave. While within 30 feet of the skull lord, any

undead ally of the skull lord makes saving throws with advan

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tage, and that ally regains

1 d6 hit points whenever it starts its

turn there.

Evasion. If the skull lord is subjected to an effect that allows it

to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half the damage,

the skull lord instead

takes no damage if it succeeds on the

saving throw, and only half damage if it fails.

Spellcasting. The skull lord is a 13th-level spellcaster. Its

spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC18, +10 to hit

with spell attacks). The skull

lord knows the following sor-

cerer spells:

ClTAl"TER 6 I

BESTIARY

I

Cantrips (at will): chill touch,

fire bolt, mage hand, poison spray,

ray of frost, shocking

grasp

1st level (4 slots):

magic missile, expeditious retreat, thunderwave

2nd level

(3 slots): mirror image, scorching ray

3rd level (3 slots): fear, haste

4th level (3 slots): dimension door,

ice storm

5th level (2 slots): cloudkill,

cone of cold

6th level (1 slot): eyebite

7th level (1 slot): finger of death

ACTIONS

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..

Multiattack. The skull lord makes three bone staff

attacks.

Bone Staff. Melee Weapon Ateack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft .. one

target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3)

bludgeoning damage plus 14 (4d6) ne-

crotic damage.

LEGENDARY

ACTIONS

The skull lord

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

skull lord regains spent legendary actions at the start

of its turn.

Bone Staff

(Costs 2 Actions). The skull lo rd makes a bone

staff attack.

Cantrip. The skull lord casts a cantrip.

Move. The skull lord moves up

to its speed without provoking

opportunity attacks.

Summon Undead

(Costs 3 Actions). Up to five skeletons or

zombies appear in unoccupied spaces within 30

feet of the

skull lord and remain until destroyed. Undead

summoned in

this way roll initiative and act in the

next available turn. The

skull lord can have up to five undead

summoned by this abil-

ity at a time.

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