Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Nightwalker CR: 20 (25,000 XP)
Huge undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class: 14
Hit Points: 418 (22d12 + 154)
Speed:
40 ft
, fly: 40 ft
Saving Throws: Con +13
Damage Vulnerabilities: radaint
Damage Resistances: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities: necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities: exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses: darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages: ....
Challenge Rating: 20 (25,000 XP)
Annihilating Aura. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the nightwalker must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or take 14 ( 4d6 ) necrotic damage and grant the nightwalker advantage on attack rolls against it until the start of the creature's next turn. Undead are immune to this aura.
Life Eater. A creature reduced to 0 hit points from damage dealt by the nightwalker dies and can't be revived by any means short of a wish spell.
Actions
Multiattack. The nightwalker uses Enervating Focus twice, or it uses Enervating Focus and Finger of Doom, if available.
Enervating Focus. Melee Weapon Attack: 1d20+12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 28 ( 5d8+6 ) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest.
Finger of Doom (Recharge 6). The nightwalker points at one creature it can see within 300 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or take 26 ( 4d12 ) necrotic damage and become frightened until the end of the nightwalker's next turn. While frightened in this way, the creature is also paralyzed. If a target's saving throw is successful, the target is immune to the nightwalker's Finger of Doom for the next 24 hours.
Nightwalkers were the shades of extremely strong-willed and evil mortals whose ancient and unyielding will and malice allowed them to hold their corporeal shape. A nightwalker's body looked as if it was made of shadow-stuff, with a vaguely humanoid form. They were about the size of a house, but were usually no taller than 20 feet (six meters), and their bodies were smooth and hairless.
The Negative Plane is a place of death, anathema to all living things. Yet there are some who would tap into its fell power and use its energy for sinister ends. Most individuals prove unequal to the task. Those not destroyed outright are sometimes drawn inside the plane and replaced by nightwalkers—terrifying Undead creatures that devour all life they encounter.
One can reach the Negative Plane from the Shadowfell in places where the barrier between the planes is thin. Stepping onto the Negative Plane is almost always fatal since the plane sucks the life and soul from creatures, annihilating most at once. The few who survive by sheer luck or by harnessing some rare form of protective magic soon discover that they can’t leave as easily as they arrived.
Worse, for each creature that enters the plane, a nightwalker is released to take its place. In order for a trapped creature to escape, the released nightwalker must be lured back to the Negative Plane by offerings of life for it to devour. If the nightwalker is destroyed, the trapped creature has no hope of escape.
Generally, a nightwalker on the Material Plane is attracted to elements of the world associated with the creature responsible for its creation, which can provide clues as to who the trapped creature is. This attraction doesn’t indicate a willingness to engage with the world, though; nightwalkers exist to make life extinct, and they prioritize anything associated with the trapped creature for destruction.The Negative Plane is a place of death, anathema to all living things. Yet there are some who would tap into its fell power and use its energy for sinister ends. Most individuals prove unequal to the task. Those not destroyed outright are sometimes drawn inside the plane and replaced by nightwalkers—terrifying Undead creatures that devour all life they encounter.
One can reach the Negative Plane from the Shadowfell in places where the barrier between the planes is thin. Stepping onto the Negative Plane is almost always fatal since the plane sucks the life and soul from creatures, annihilating most at once. The few who survive by sheer luck or by harnessing some rare form of protective magic soon discover that they can’t leave as easily as they arrived.
Worse, for each creature that enters the plane, a nightwalker is released to take its place. In order for a trapped creature to escape, the released nightwalker must be lured back to the Negative Plane by offerings of life for it to devour. If the nightwalker is destroyed, the trapped creature has no hope of escape.
Generally, a nightwalker on the Material Plane is attracted to elements of the world associated with the creature responsible for its creation, which can provide clues as to who the trapped creature is. This attraction doesn’t indicate a willingness to engage with the world, though; nightwalkers exist to make life extinct, and they prioritize anything associated with the trapped creature for destruction.
Suggested Environments
Negative Material Plane
