Misery Mob

Medium-Huge undead (revnant), neutral evil

Armor Class 10
Hit Points 90 (special; see Variable Size)
Speed 25 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 3 (-4) 10 (+0) 8 (-1)

Condition Immunities charmed, exhausted, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, restrained, stunned; Special: While the mob as a whole is immune to these effects, individual members can be charmed, grappled, or restrained; see sidebar. Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands the languages it knew in life but cannot speak
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Special Traits

  • Channel of Woe. The core corpse is a powerful channel for Woe. Any time a creature begins its turn enveloped by the mob, it must make a DC 10 Woe saving throw or suffer one point of spiritual damage.
  • Enveloping Swarm. A misery mob swarms over its victims, overwhelming and enveloping them. The misery mob can move through or occupy squares containing other creatures. This doesn’t draw attacks of opportunity.
  • Variable Size. The core corpse has 5 hit points. Every 5 hit points above that represents an innocent person caught up in the mob. This also affects the size of the mob; for every ten hit points in the mob (round up), it takes up one contiguous square. So when the mob has 30 hit points, it consists of the corpse and five innocents, and it takes up 3 adjacent squares. The mob isn’t limited to a particular formation; whenever it moves, it can shift its shape.

Actions

  • Rampage. All creatures within the misery mob’s space suffer 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage and 1 point of spiritual damage.
  • Consume. Any living humanoid with 5 or fewer hit points currently enveloped by the mob must attempt a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw. Failure means that the mob regains 5 hit points and the creature is consumed and added to its victims, becoming a part of the mob until freed (see sidebar) or slain. The mob cannot exceed 90 hit points in this way, and only consumes enough creatures to reach 90 hit points.

About

When certain very powerful undead or places of Woe fix their power on a mortal, the victim is driven to the depths of despair. Should the victim submit to this misery and take their own life, their corpse becomes a vessel for the power of that Malevolent. Those who stumble upon the corpse are swept up in blinding despair, a horror that overwhelms all reason and transforms innocents into a moaning mob. The victims lose all sense of self and awareness of their surroundings. Driven by the cursed corpse, the mob roams wildly, venting its terror and rage by tearing apart anyone unfortunate enough to cross its path.

Innocents Bound. A misery mob is made up of tormented people, sobbing and howling in rage and pain. They are oblivious to their surroundings and generally lash out at anyone within range. Adventurers dealing with the mob are constantly confronted with the fact that these people aren’t dead; they are victims caught up by dark magic. They might include a mother and child, an old man, perhaps even someone the adventurers know. The misery mob isn’t the most dangerous manifestation of the Dead; what makes it horrifying is that it pits the defenders of Redoubt against innocent people.

The Core Corpse. While the members of the misery mob are alive, the mob is driven by the undead creature at its heart. This core corpse hangs in the center of the mob as if suspended from a hook-body limp, feet a few inches from the ground. While it’s possible to target the corpse directly, it is mystically linked to its victims. Members of the mob throw themselves in front of attacks targeting the core corpse, and even if the blow strikes true, a living member of the mob usually suffers the damage.

Freeing the Innocent Any given victim can be saved by severing the mystic link between that individual and the mob. This can be done in a few ways. A PC may spend an action to attempt a DC 15 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) check to convince a victim to break free of the mob. If the PC knows the victim personally, she gains advantage on this check. The victim, if freed, acts just before the misery mob; if, at the start of the mob’s turn, the victim is still within 15 feet of the mob, he is reabsorbed into the monster. For every five points by which the PC’s Charisma check exceeds the DC, an additional victim breaks free; so, two victims if the check equals 20 or higher, three if it equals 25 or higher, and so forth.

Alternatively, a victim can be forcibly removed from the mob, either through physical force or through spells targeted at that individual rather than at the mob entire. While the mob as a whole is immune to grappling and charm, a PC can grapple a single victim and pull them away, or charm a specific victim and order them away. Again, if the victim is still within 15 feet of the mob at the start of the mob’s turn, he is reabsorbed into the monster.

For each victim successfully freed-that is, more than 15 feet distant at the start of the mob’s turn-the mob itself loses 5 hit points.

Living and Undead. The core corpse is an undead creature and doesn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep. But the people in the mob are still alive. The power that animates the mob will drive them through exhaustion, starvation, and even mystical sleep, but they will eventually drop dead-at which point the mob leaves them behind, assimilating new innocents to replace them. The victims are linked to the core corpse; if the corpse is turned the living victims move with it, and even if it’s targeted with an attack that only affects undead, the mystic link spreads the damage through the mob.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

The Lost Citadel Ropleplaying, Copyright 2020, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Authors Keith Baker, Natania Barron, Jaym Gates, Jesse Heinig, Rhiannon Louve, Ari Marmell, Malcolm Sheppard, and C.A. Suleiman.