Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

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





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





..

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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