Blood Fiend

Blood Fiend Blood Fiend Lore Religion DC 15: Blood fiends are a vampiric plague upon the Abyss, roving whirlwinds of carnage that tear through demonic hosts with a fury that terrifies even creatures of terror. Religion DC 20: Blood fiends are despised by all demons, but most of all by Orcus, as they and the abyssal thralls they raise defy his mastery over the forces of undeath, beholden only to their own ravenous hungers. Blood Fiend Tactics Blood fiends never employ stealth or subterfuge, running fulltilt from battle to battle from the moment of their creation. They are hostile to all creatures other than their own Abyssal Thralls, but prefer demonic targets, trying always to get the finishing blow on one with their Blood drain so they can raise it as a thrall. They typically use their Terror Gaze only if they cannot reach their next intended meal this turn, or with their Fiendish Glare reaction, otherwise preferring deal damage now. They rarely bother to attacked downed non-demon creatures, instead leaving them to be torn apart by the thralls the fiend raises. Blood fiends use their Hurl only on non-demon creatures, if they have grown impatient with a particularly resilient demon and easier prey is within reach. They typically make no effort to position themselves near demonic corpses to make use of their Bloodmist Rebirth, but when activated immediately leap back into the fray if any demonic foes they can feed on remain, or flee otherwise. Abyssal Thrall Tactics If not currently Charmed, abyssal thralls always immediately attack their creator if nearby, though while Charmed through their Bound Thrall trait become mostly manageable outside of combat, only rarely attacking their creator's allies. Once blood is shed, abyssal thralls attack whichever creature they can reach that was most recently dealt piercing or slashing damage, and always use their Blood-Crazed Advance whenever available, even if already engaged with a different foe. Abyssal Thrall Medium or Large fiend/undead (demon), chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 30 (4d8 + 12) Speed The speeds it possessed in life STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 2 (-4) 6 (-2) 6 (-2) Damage Immunities Poison Condition Immunities Exhaustion, Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 8 Languages Understands Abyssal but can't speak it Challenge M11 (1,440 XP) Minion. If the creature takes damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw, its hit points are reduced to 0. If the creature takes damage from another effect, it dies if the damage equals or exceeds its hit point maximum, otherwise it takes no damage. Bound Thrall. Whenever it attempts to attack the creature that raised it or one of that creature's allies, the thrall must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the thrall is Charmed by its target for the next hour and must choose a new target or lose the attack. Actions Rip and Tear (Group Attack). Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 12 slashing damage. Reactions Blood-Crazed Advance. As a reaction when a creature within 30 feet takes piercing or slashing damage, the thrall moves up to half its speed directly toward the creature.

Creating a Blood Fiend A blood fiend never creates one of its kind intentionally, but may do so by accident. When a demon of CR 11 or higher begins its turn in a space affected by the blood fiend's Bloodmist Rebirth, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be infected with Blood Madness. An infected demon gains the Bloodmist Rebirth trait and becomes hostile to all other creatures. If it gains a new body through its Bloodmist Rebirth, the demon becomes a blood fiend. Encounter Groups CR 20 Encounter 12,300 XP 1 Ghoul Adept of Orcus (CR 6) 5 Abyssal Thralls (CR M11) 4 Abyssal Ghouls (CR 3) CR 2 1 10 4 Blood Fiend Large fiend/undead (demon), chaotic evil Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 272 (32d10 + 96) Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 15 (+2) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) Saving Throws DEX +7, CON +8, WIS +7, CHA +9 Damage Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning, Necrotic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks Damage Immunities Poison Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Poisoned Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 12 Languages Abyssal, Telepathy 120 ft. Challenge 16 (15,000 XP) Demonic Shapechanger. As a bonus action, the fiend can polymorph into any Large demon, to a Large cloud of crimson mist with a 20 foot fly speed, or back to its true form. Its statistics are otherwise the same in each form. Bloodmist Rebirth. When it drops to 0 hit points, the fiend bursts into a 30 foot radius of crimson mist that heavily obscures the area for 1d4 rounds, after which the fiend may consume a demon corpse in the area to gain a new body with 1 hit point and take on the corpse's appearance. Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the fiend fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Actions Multiattack. The fiend makes three attacks, one of which may be with its Blood Drain. Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one grappled, incapacitated, restrained, or willing creature. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or lose three unexpended hit dice, or drop to 0 hit points if it cannot. The fiend gains 10 hit points for each hit die lost this way by a demon. Razor Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit. reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 18). Concussive Slam. The fiend slams up to two creatures grapple dby it into each other or a solid surface. Each of the creatures must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 33 (6d10) bludgeoning damage, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails this saving throw by 5 or more is Stunned until the end of the fiend's next turn. Terror Gaze (Recharge 5-6, Concentration). One creature within 60 feet that the fiend can see must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be Frightened for the next minute. While Frightened in this way, any attack that hits the creature becomes a critical, and the creature repeats this saving throw at the end of each of its turns. Reactions Raise Abyssal Thrall (4th Level Spell). As a reaction when the fiend reduces a Medium or Large demon of CR 10 or below to 0 hit points with its Blood Drain, it immediately raises the demon as a Abyssal Thrall. Fiendish Glare (1/Day). As a reaction to being reduced below 137 hit points, the fiend immediately recharges and uses its Terror Gaze. Legendary Actions Bowl Over. The fiend moves up to its speed directly toward a creature it can see. If it ends this movement within 5 feet of the creature, the creature must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. Hurl. The fiend hurls a Medium or smaller creature that is grappled by it up to 30 feet. The creature must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (6d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone, or take half as much damage on a success. Savage (Costs 2 Actions). The fiend makes two Razor Claw attacks against creature within 5 feet, or three Razor Claw attacks if the target is prone.

Art Credits Blood Fiend by Chris Stevens The Part Where I Shill My Patreon Want to support the creation of content like this? I post new monsters with lore and tactics to my patreon five times a week, joining the more than 1000 already there, indexed in a big PDF along with formats for Foundry and 5eTools. Also check out my website and instagram, where my wife and I make handmade dice and dice bags, and where I post free books as I get them polished up. I'm trying to get a new free book like this out every other month or so. If you've got any monsters you'd like to see statted up by me, leave me a comment over in the permanent thread in r/bettermonsters and I'll put something together for you. Supported By Aaron Rosenberg AHorseWithNoName Alex Bogart Alex Gillies Alex O'Donnell Alex O'Hanlon Alisha Herbitter Allis Anders Ivarsson Andrew Cheeseman Benji Morris Bernhard Fritz Blueberryperson Bradley Webb Brandon Malofsky David Jose Delport Breckland Ex Nihilo Flipp Fletcher Herring George Hughes GramPositive Harrison Phillips Helltroll Hoswell Jack O'Keefe Jacob Gist Jake Serna James Hawthorne James McBride Johnathan Chavez Joseph Donley Josh Huston Justin King Kelsii Weber Kyle Cove Lascifrass Lawrence Courtrelle Luke Wheeler Malacandrian Marc Adelman Matt Herbert Matt Pierce Matthew Cullen Matthew S Mauricio Garcia Maximilian Bizjak Mehul Gupta Michael Taylor Mike Nicolan Milo Baraclough Mitch Whitehead Moritz Hackl Nathan Johnson Nathanial Schnebly Niall Nick I Niki S ObsessiveModelmaker Ondřej Kříž Oscar Mangandid Patrick Phoenix Daniels Primarily Daniel Rae Judd Rici Robert Martin Robin Bjälmsjö Robin Roberts Ronan Battistoni Rowan RuggerFoodie Sandy Hogg SardScroll saternoutlaw Saz Shadowfield Shane Sharelle D Larsen Sheila Dietrich Simen Lande Simon Bell simon Jørgensen Simon Weller SirApetus Sylphreni Tanner F Moen The Coffee Bean GM Victor Navone Vince Margaretich Walter Downard William Dixon Zach Kozel