Starving Specter

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 90 (12d8 + 36)
Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	16 (+3)	17 (+3)	11 (+0)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)

Saving Throws Con +6, Wis +5
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +6
Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities acid, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities blinded, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages the languages it knew in life Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Aura of the Forgotten. Beasts and Humanoids within 10 feet of the starving specter have disadvantage on saving throws.
• Ethereal Sight. The starving specter can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane.
• Life Hunger. When a creature the starving specter can see regains hp, the next Bite attack the specter makes deals an extra 7 (2d6) necrotic damage on a hit.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The starving specter makes one Bite attack and one Bladed Arm attack.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage.
• Bladed Arm. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage. This attack can target a creature on the Ethereal or Material Plane. Several faces silently smile, scream, grimace, and twist atop the long, thin neck of the ghostly being. It raises razor-like arms and lunges forward. The starving specter’s eerily long, jagged, and broken neck has multiple heads showing faces of agony, distrust, rage, grief, and torment. Only one head holds the creature’s true mouth, which is filled with thousands of razor-sharp teeth.
• The Forgotten. Starving specters are driven by centuries of feeling forgotten by their loved ones, longing for the day they’ll be remembered. The specter’s disfigured neck and face is said to come from being forgotten, a painful truth for them to swallow. Now they hunger for the vitality of the living. Their blade?like arms reach out from their decrepit and malnourished bodies, fading in and out of existence as they strike.
• Tragic horrors. Starving specters seek to understand why they have been forgotten, and they seek to kill those who have forgotten them. The specters are singleminded in this pursuit and don’t hesitate to destroy anyone or anything in their paths.
• A Taste for Tributes. Some say starving specters can be tamed or put to rest by giving them something to satiate their tormented souls. Some traditional tributes include blessed food offerings, burning money, sacrificing material possessions, and offering prayers from family and loved ones celebrating the specter’s life.

ABOUT

Incorporeal Movement. The starving specter can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Undead Nature. The starving specter doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Unnerving Visage. When a creature that can see the starving specter’s faces starts its turn within 30 feet of the specter, at least one of the specter’s faces shifts to look like one of the creature’s departed loved ones or bitter enemies if the specter isn’t incapacitated and can see the creature. The creature must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 7 (2d6) psychic damage and is frightened of the specter until the start of its next turn. Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can’t see the starving specter until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the specter in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.