Bulette, Black

Family: Bulette

Huge monstrosity, lawful evil

Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 225 (18d12 + 108)
Speed 80 ft., burrow 80 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
22 (+6) 14 (+2) 22 (+6) 6 (-2) 14 (+2) 10 (+0)

Saving Throws Dexterity +7, Wisdom + 7
Skills Perception +7
Damage Immunities fire
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

Special Traits

  • Deal of a Lifetime. If killed, the body of the black bulette shatters into shards of obsidian glass, freeing the devil imprisoned within. The devil may be of any random type (GM’s discretion) save that of a royal rank. The devil will be grateful to whoever is responsible for ending its centuries-long confinement, and will offer the responsible parties one favor in payment before returning to the infernal realms of its home plane. Wise recipients of this offer should bear in mind that the usual caveats of treating with devils remain in full force when striking any bargains.
  • Detect Evil and Good. The bulette knows if there is an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead within 30 feet of it and where the creature is located. The bulette also knows if there is a place or object within 30 feet of it that has been consecrated or desecrated.
  • Dual Planar Connection. The black bulette has a planar tie to the Abyss, where it appears as a chained adamantine cask shaped like an abstracted bulette.
  • Infernal Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 120 feet of the bulette must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. Coming into physical contact with a black bulette results in the creature being imparted with a horrid stench that causes it to have disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks for 12 hours. The stench can be removed sooner with plenty of soap, water, and two full hours of scrubbing.
  • Magic Resistance. The bulette has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Actions

  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 58 (8d12 + 6) piercing damage.
  • Abysmal Breath (Recharge 5-6). The bulette exhales fire in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 42 (12d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

About

The shambling, aggressive black bulette is much more than its bestial countenance might at first indicate – it serves as a prison cell for a fiend of the GMs choosing. As punishment for breaking an infernal law, the imprisoned fiend has been sentenced to serve thousands of years trapped inside the black bulette. Furthermore, the accursed fiend must funnel its supreme cognitive abilities through the bulette’s animalistic brain, forcing the creature to behave as a dim-witted beast, and perpetually frustrating and limiting the powers of the fiend.

While ancient apocrypha may persuade us that the bulette was an arcane creation from the flesh vats of an ancient wizard, little is ever said in the ancient texts about the lengths his one-time apprentice went to in order to outstrip his master. By creating and adding a planar loom to his own vats, this mad apprentice was able to bind fixed threads of extraplanar energies to the already potent essences of snapping turtle, armadillo, and demon ichor. Thus were born the polychromatic bulettes.

At least six rare types are known, and each is unique in its coloring, temperament, and abilities. While technically immortal until killed, they are also thankfully few in number and cannot breed. Each polychromatic bulette is a singular creature issued forth from the chaotic apprentice’s flesh vats and planar looms. As to how long even a mad wizard lives and where his island retreat can be found, none can say. But it is known that examples of his crazed experiments have escaped to the mainland over the course of time.

Each type of polychromatic bulette resembles its lesser cousin species in general shape and form but comes in a surprising array of relative abilities and color markings. Because of their dual-plane origins, polychromatic bulettes are always detectable by divination spells that detect the presence of magic.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

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

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