Lunar Witness

Small aberration, chaotic evil

Armor Class 16 (psionic shield)
Hit Points 58 (13d6 + 13)
Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	14 (+2)	12 (+1)	18 (+4)	13 (+1)	17 (+3)

Skills Deception +5, Insight +3
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 11
Languages Celestial, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Feast on Emotions. A creature charmed by the lunar witness has disadvantage on all saving throws against the lunar witness’ spells and effects.
• Psionic Shield. While the lunar witness is wearing no armor and wielding shield, its AC includes its Intelligence modifier.
• Spider Climb. The lunar witness can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The lunar witness makes two Pincer attacks.
• Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.
• Psionic Blast (Recharge 5-6). The lunar witness targets a creature it can see within 60 feet of it. The target must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) psychic damage and becoming stunned until the start of the lunar witness’s next turn on a failed save. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn’t stunned.
• Spellcasting (Psionics). The lunar witness casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14):
• At will: minor illusion, prestidigitation
• 1/day each: disguise self, fear, hallucinatory terrain (as an action), invisibility (self only), major image, plane shift (self only)

BONUS ACTIONS

• Cataclysm (Recharge 5-6). The lunar witness targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the lunar witness until the lunar witness dies or is on another plane. For the duration, the charmed creature is under the effect of the suggestion spell, believing a natural disaster is occurring and seeks shelter. The charmed creature can repeat the saving throw when it takes damage, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Fight for Life. The lunar witness targets one creature charmed by it that it can see within 60 feet of itself. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or use its reaction to attack the closest creature within its movement range. and are also known for hunting on other Inner Planes, like the Fey Realm.

TACTICS

Lunar witnesses do not plan. Rather, they pick a Humanoid settlement or traveling group at random. The Aberrations can appear anywhere on the Material Plane.

ABOUT

A lunar witness never hunts alone. They swarm areas surrounding their targets and often form close groups.

Known as a circle, the group boosts its members’ psionic capabilities. Lunar witnesses that work together are more likely to have truly fruitful hunts.

Folk tales speak about peculiar creatures that live on the moon’s surface. Half-crustacean and half-bat, they are believed to descend from the night sky, heralding natural disasters upon the land. Once people spot them, whole communities start gathering supplies and preparing for the worst to come. Called lunar witnesses, these Aberrations are the only true calamity that awaits these fearful people.

Thanks to their psionic powers, lunar witnesses can cause entire towns to believe a natural disaster is imminent.

People affected by the lunar witnesses’ powers gather together and hide in cellars to avoid imaginary tornadoes, or they crowd in elevated keeps to stay safe from a nonexistent deluge. Then, Lunar witnesses begin to psionically harvest their trapped prey. With nowhere to run, people turn violent against each other, believing friends and family to be cultists of evil gods or elemental lords that caused the disaster.

The few survivors who emerge from the bloodshed walk out of their shelters, lured by lunar witnesses. They imagine arriving rescue parties only to be picked off by the monsters circling above them. With no resistance remaining, the creatures proceed to devour the remaining bodies.