Gypsosphinx

Family: Sphinxes

Large monstrosity, neutral evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 190 (20d10 + 80)
Speed 40 ft., fly 70 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 18 (+4)

Skills Arcana +9, History +9, Perception +9, Religion +9
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities psychic, poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses truesight 90 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages Abyssal, Common, Darakhul, Sphinx
Challenge 14 (11,500XP)
Proficiency Bonus +5

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • Death Sense. The sphinx can pinpoint, by scent, the location of each creature below half its hp maximum within 60 feet of it, and it can sense the general direction of creatures that don’t have all of their hp within 1 mile of it. In addition, the sphinx can foretell the age and manner of a creature’s death by looking at it. This effect doesn’t take into account possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of powerful spells or the creature making a radical change in its life’s path.
  • Inscrutable. The sphinx is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts, as well as any divination spell that it refuses. Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain the sphinx’s intentions or sincerity have disadvantage.
  • Magic Weapons. The sphinx’s weapon attacks are magical.

ACTIONS

  • Multiattack. The sphinx makes one Beak attack and two Claw attacks. If both Claw attacks hit one creature, the target must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or take 14 (4d6) slashing damage and be forced prone.
  • Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
  • Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) slashing damage.
  • Carrion Breath (Recharge 5–6). The gypsosphinx exhales rotting breath in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 21 (6d6) poison damage and 27 (6d8) necrotic damage and is poisoned for 1 minute. On a success, a creature takes half the damage and isn’t poisoned. While poisoned in this way, a creature has disadvantage on death saving throws. A poisoned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  • Spellcasting. The sphinx casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The sphinx 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 sphinx regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

  • Beak Attack. The sphinx makes one Beak attack.
  • Cast a Spell (Costs 2 Actions). The sphinx uses Spellcasting.
  • Teleport (Costs 2 Actions). The sphinx magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

ABOUT

With black wings and a body pale as alabaster, the vulture-beaked sphinx is a striking figure.

As powerful servants of the gods of death and the desert, the gypsosphinx’s riddles and obsessions all hinge on death and carrion. Their eyes can spot prey miles away, and the distance they climb into the sky hides their enormous size. The pale gypsosphinx shines in the desert sun and stands out in underground tombs and caverns, yet it can conceal itself when it flies in moonlit clouds. Gypsosphinxes are found anywhere bodies are buried or left to rot, and they harvest corpses from battlefields of warring desert tribes.

Gossips and Riddlers. Gypsosphinxes converse with intelligent undead, priests of death gods, and with other sphinxes, but they rarely gather among their own kind. They guard their territory jealously, typically claiming a necropolis as the heart of their region. Like all sphinxes, gypsosphinxes enjoy riddles. They rely on magic to solve challenging riddles they can’t solve on their own.

Night Flyers. Gypsosphinxes are gifted fliers capable of diving steeply from the night sky to snatch carrion or a sleeping camel. The stroke of midnight has a special but unknown significance for them.

Foretell Doom. Occasionally, a paranoid noble seeks out a gypsosphinx and entreats the creature to reveal the time and place of his or her death, hoping to cheat fate. A gypsosphinx demands a high price for such a service, including payment in corpses of humans, unusual creatures, or near-extinct species.

Even if paid, the gypsosphinx rarely honors its side of the bargain; instead, it turns its death magic against the supplicant, bringing about his or her death then and there.

Gypsosphinx Temples And Riddles

Gypsosphinx temples are another matter; there the sphinx is served by an order of priests who understand its hunger, entertain it with discussions of philosophy, butchery, and gossip, and know when to withdraw and leave their patron to silent contemplation. Such temples are often quite rich, as the gypsosphinx at its heart demands its priests live well, the better to reflect its own importance and status.

Riddles

The best riddles are ones you create yourself. However, here are a few easy and a few more difficult ones for a gypsosphinx.

1. It is light as a feather yet no man can hold it for long. What is it?

Breath

2. I live where there is light, but I die if it shines on me. What am I?

A shadow

3. Always smiles or maybe frowns, sinks in water, never drowns. Catches prey on its barbed teeth, hunts all day but never eats. What am I?

A fishhook

4. I have rivers without water, forests without trees, mountains without stones, cities without houses. What am I?

A map

5. Soft as velvet, can’t be touched, Hides the world, but isn’t much. What am I?

Darkness/night

6. I have a tail and a head but no body. What am I?

A coin

7. What should you add to a barrel of ale to make it lighter? What am I?

A hole

8. Round as an apple, deep as a cup, all the king’s horses can’t pull me up. What am I?

A well

9. I am open when I’m closed and closed when I’m open. What am I?

A drawbridge

10. Born of the earth, strengthened in fire, I sit on high, a master of water. What am I?

A roof tile

11. Unwelcome, difficult, precious, and rare. What am I?

The truth

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Beasts 1 ©2023 Open Design LLC; Authors: Daniel Kahn, Jeff Lee, and Mike Welham.

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