Skeleton, Swordbreaker (Veteran)

Family: Skeletons

Medium undead, lawful evil

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 78 (12d8 + 24)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 6 (-2) 8 (-1) 5 (-3)

Damage Vulnerabilities thunder
Damage Resistances piercing, slashing
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages understands all languages it knew in life but can’t speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • Fossilized Bones. Any nonmagical slashing or piercing weapon made of metal or wood that hits the swordbreaker skeleton cracks. After dealing damage, the weapon takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. Nonmagical ammunition made of metal or wood that hits the swordbreaker skeleton is destroyed after dealing damage.

ACTIONS

  • Multiattack. The veteran swordbreaker skeleton makes two longsword attacks. If it has a shortsword drawn, it can also make a shortsword attack.
  • Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands.
  • Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.
  • Heavy Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) piercing damage.
  • One Hundred Mage Hands. The snake is surrounded by one hundred, magical, spectral hands. The hands can’t be targeted by spells or attacks and are immune to damage. The hands float within 30 feet of the snake and move with their serpent commander. The snake can decide if the hands are visible. Each hand can carry an object weighing up to 10 pounds and no more than three hands can work in tandem to carry one larger object. The snake’s Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks have a range of 30 feet. Whenever the snake makes a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, it can make up to four such checks as part of the same action, but each check must be against a different target. The snake can perform actions normally restricted to creatures with hands, such as opening a door, stirring a bowl of soup, or carrying a lantern. The hands can’t wield weapons or shields or make attacks, except as part of the snake’s Flying Fists action.

ACTIONS

  • Multiattack. The snake with a hundred mage hands makes two bite attacks.
  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. creature. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage.
  • Flying Fists (Recharge 5-6). The snake unleashes a flurry of spectral punches in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. On a success, a creature takes half the damage and isn’t knocked prone.

ABOUT

The small snake slithers forward. As it nears a door, spectral hands appear all around it, opening and pushing the door to allow the snake entry.

Thieves’ guilds with magically inclined members often imbue particularly crafty snakes with keen intelligence, telepathy, and the ability to summon dozens of mage hands to aid the guild. The small, stealthy creatures are capable of carrying out heists that are logistically impractical for humanoids due to their bulk. Predictably, the clever reptiles often escape their creators and carve out small territories for themselves in the more disreputable parts of cities where their true identities won’t easily be discovered.

Snakes with a hundred mage hands are known for their mischievous nature. Many are kleptomaniacs and swindlers, using their talents to deceive humanoids and steal objects they find pleasing.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Beasts 2. © 2020 Open Design LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Celeste Conowitch, Darrin Drader, James Introcaso, Philip Larwood, Jeff Lee, Kelly Pawlik, Brian Suskind, Mike Welham.

This is not the complete license attribution - see the full license for this page