Slaugh

Large undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 149 (23d10 + 23)
Speed 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	13 (+1)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	19 (+4)

Skills Intimidation +7, Religion +5
Damage Resistances necrotic
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Innate Spellcasting. The slaugh’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The slaugh can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
  • 1/day each: animate dead, harm, protection from evil and good
• Undead Nature. The slaugh doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The slaugh makes two scythe attacks and uses Trip.
• Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) slashing damage.
• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d4 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
• Trip.A creature the slaugh can see within 10 feet of it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Tyrant’s Command. The slaugh commands up to four undead creatures of Challenge Rating 2 or lower. The undead must be within 60 feet of slaugh and not hostile to it. Each affected undead creature uses its reaction to move up to its speed or make a melee attack.
• Necromantic Blow (Recharge 5-6). The runes on the slaugh’s body glow white with unholy power as the slaugh channels its constituent souls’ strength into a single powerful blow. The slaugh makes a slam attack. If it hits, the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes an extra 14 (4d6) necrotic damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn. On a success, the target takes half as much damage and isn’t stunned.

ABOUT

Though the methods for creating slaughs are well known to lich kings and vampire overlords alike, few necromancers dare to raise such beings for their necrotic armies because slaughs have an outsized reputation for treachery and betrayal. Perhaps this trait shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the combative nature of the numerous souls that compose a slaugh. At any rate, the fact remains that even the most loyal-seeming slaugh can be trusted for only so long.

Slaughs are towering undead abominations who lead powerful armies of skeletons, ghouls, and other unliving horrors. Clad only in simple rags and wielding a fearsome skull-bedecked scythe, the slaugh strikes an imposing image whether at the forefront of a zombie militia or amid the center of a bloodthirsty vampire mob.

A troop led by a slaugh is a troop to be feared. Although they are not necessarily tactical masterminds, slaughs can push their units to their physical limits using profane powers to inspire and intimidate in equal measure. That said, slaughs are never content to sit on the sidelines while their minions do the fun work of slaughtering enemies. Slaughs wade into the battlefield with glee, setting a prime example for their underlings in the ways of war and brutality.

Slaughs arise not from a single restless soul but from many. In order to create a slaugh, a necromancer must collect a retinue of formidable souls, each from a different army, militia, or war party-only the strongest and most imposing warriors will do. Then, a single hulking corpse is used to bind these souls into one being. Each of the dozens of magical runes etched upon a slaugh’s body represent a separate soul bound to the monster. A slaugh can tap into the power of its constituent souls to either release waves of potent necromantic energy or funnel incredible power into its devastating strikes.