Matrona

Gargantuan fey, lawful evil

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 264 (16d20 + 96)
Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
24 (+7)	18 (+4)	23 (+6)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	22 (+6)

Skills Deception +11, Intimidation +11
Damage Resistances piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Sylvan; telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +5

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Innate Spellcasting. The matrona’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). The matrona can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
  • 1/day each: charm monster, dominate person, glibness, suggestion
• Magic Resistance. The matrona has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Magic Weapons. The matrona’s weapon attacks are magical.
• Mother Suit. The matrona wears a massive suit made of stone, iron, and the souls of trapped fey creatures. As its mother suit is damaged, the matrona becomes smaller and more agile. When it is reduced to 180 hit points or fewer, the matrona becomes Huge. When reduced to 90 hit points or fewer, it becomes Large. For each size category reduced, the reach of its slam attack is reduced by 5 feet and its speed and flying speed increase by 10 feet.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The matrona makes three attacks.
• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
• Soul Beam. Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) force damage.

REACTIONS

• Detach Soul. When the matrona takes at least 30 damage from a single attack or effect, its mother suit is damaged and a fey spirit may break free to attack the matrona’s enemies. The matrona can cast conjure fey with a casting time of one reaction. The spell is otherwise unchanged, and it requires concentration to maintain.

ABOUT

Matronas are small pixie-like fey creatures with squat bodies and twirled ears. One could be forgiven, though, for mistaking matronas for the magical constructs that they typically inhabit: hulking goliaths of iron and stone who can deliver a devastating punch and summon powerful fey to serve them.

Matronas are envious of humans, large animals, and other creatures larger than themselves (which happens to be most of them). To compensate for their diminutive figures, matronas craft artificial bodies around themselves. Initially not much larger than the matrona itself, this mother suit provides a modicum of protection and stature. However, the suit is bolstered as the matrona within deceives and cons other fey creatures into building layer after layer on top of the original suit. Once a creature finishes the construction of a layer, the matrona binds the creature into the new layer using a complex ritual. In this way, a matrona is literally encapsulated by the combined efforts of countless indentured spirits.

A matrona’s mother suit is made of interlocking layers that, when destroyed, release the spirits of the fey creatures trapped within. Disoriented and violent from years of imprisonment, these fey lash out at anything in their way. Once the fight is over, or they are destroyed, the distraught spirit is finally free to return to the fey realm.

Although magic is the predominant force behind many of the world’s most powerful militaries, some nations still favor science, technology, or sheer firepower when it comes to warfare. Black powder and firearms may have been some of the most significant technological innovations of the current era, but the massive war machines called mechanical artillerists promise to be among the last.