Bulette, Common

Family: Bulette

Large monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 94 (9d10 + 45)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 40 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
19 (+4) 11 (+0) 21 (+5) 2 (-4) 10 (+0) 5 (-3)

Skills Perception +6
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Special Traits

  • Standing Leap: The bulette’s long jump is up to 30 feet and its high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.

Actions

  • Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d12 + 4) piercing damage.
  • Deadly Leap: If the bulette jumps at least 15 feet as part of its movement, it can then use this action to land on its feet in a space that contains one or more other creatures. Each of those creatures must succeed on a DC 16 Strength or Dexterity saving throw (target’s choice) or be knocked prone and take 14 (3d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 14 (3d6 + 4) slashing damage. On a successful save, the creature takes only half the damage, isn’t knocked prone, and is pushed 5 feet out of the bulette’s space into an unoccupied space of the creature’s choice. If no unoccupied space is within range, the creature instead falls prone in the bulette’s space.
  • Alternate Critical (Source: Monster Crits for 5e). When the bulette scores a critical hit, it doesn’t deal extra damage. Instead, the target creature must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or become vulnerable to piercing damage until the end of its next turn.

About

This armor-plated creature’s toothy maw gapes wide as a fin-like dorsal plate rises between its shoulders.

The creation of some unknown arcanist in millennia past, the bulette has bred true to become one of the fiercest predators of the hills. Burrowing rapidly through the earth just beneath the surface, sometimes with its armored fin cutting a distinctive wake behind it, the bulette launches itself free of stone and soil to tear into its prey without remorse, giving rise to the common appellation “landshark.”

Bulettes are notoriously foul-tempered, attacking far larger creatures with no regard for personal safety. Solitary beasts except for the occasional mated pair, they spend most of their time patrolling the perimeters of territories that can stretch up to 30 square miles, hunting game and punishing interlopers with a fury that shakes the hillsides.

Bulettes are perfect eating machines, consuming bones, armor, and even magical items with their powerful jaws and churning stomach acid. Lacking other food, the bulette might gnaw on inanimate objects, yet for unknown reasons no bulette voluntarily consumes elf flesh-a peccadillo many point to as evidence that elven wizardry was involved in its creation. Dwarves are also rarely eaten by the beasts, though the bulette still slaughters members of either race on sight. Halflings, on the other hand, are among the beast’s favorite meals, and no halfling with any sense ventures into bulette country casually.

The bulette is a cunning fighter, surprising foes with its impressive agility. One of its favorite tactics is to charge forward and launch itself into the air in order to drop on its prey with all four razor-sharp claws extended. Folklore claims that the flesh behind the beast’s dorsal crest is particularly tender, and that those willing and able to wait until the fin is raised in the excitement of combat or mating can target it for a killing blow-yet most who have faced the landshark agree that the best way to win a fight with a bulette is to avoid it entirely.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Tome of Horrors © 2018, Frog God Games, LLC; Authors: Kevin Baase, Erica Balsley, John “Pexx” Barnhouse, Christopher Bishop, Casey Christofferson, Jim Collura, Andrea Costantini, Jayson ‘Rocky' Gardner, Zach Glazar, Meghan Greene, Scott Greene, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Ian S. Johnston, Bill Kenower, Patrick Lawinger, Rhiannon Louve, Ian McGarty, Edwin Nagy, James Patterson, Nathan Paul, Patrick N. Pilgrim, Clark Peterson, Anthony Pryor, Greg Ragland, Robert Schwalb, G. Scott Swift, Greg A. Vaughan, and Bill Webb

This is not the complete license attribution - see the full license for this page