I would have laughed really hard if they just hadn’t put a drawing on this page. Go all the way and make it completely invisible. Not even the DM can know what it truly looks like!
Lore: Enslaving the Wind
An air elemental transformed by powerful magic, an invisible stalker exists for one purpose: to serve its master. Whether that be through hunting prey or retrieving an item, it will continue to fulfill its given purpose until its bond is broken and its form dispelled. Should a task be given outside of those two, the bond will be broken. Only when a task is given will the invisible stalker leave its master’s side. It will loath every moment of this, and will pervert any order given unless it is very carefully worded.
There are a few more paragraphs, but they just explain what you might already know. Like the fact that it is invisible and it takes magic to see it. I feel like you don’t need lore to explain that.
Still, what lore is given has potential. Maybe the party can turn a disgruntled stalker against its master. Or… uh… yeah, that’s all I could think of. But I’m sure you guys could come up with something.
Design: Silent Death
Does this thing look like a World of Warcraft monster, or am I misremembering what those looked like?
It does look suitably angry. I’ve seen that exact expression on many a worker at my jobs. You can tell that this thing wants to be anywhere but where it is now.
I also love how ethereal the monster looks. Not just because it’s invisible, but also because it’s an air elemental. You can just hear the wind howling as it moves. A mighty beast that shakes the earth with each step, this is not. This monster is silent and deadly.
Yes, I did just compare it to a fart. No, I won’t apologize.
Stats: A Shadowy Breeze
Oh. This is a pretty disappointing monster in terms of combat. Not surprising; invisible enemies are always a pain in the ass.
It’s not just invisible, it’s a freaking tank! Its AC is nothing special, but its HP hangs just over the triple digit mark. Not only that, but it is resistant to all non-magical melee damage and completely immune to both poison and conditions.
Its actions are pretty simple. It can slam into you twice per turn, which can deal decent if not dangerous damage. Not the most interesting move set in the world, especially for an air elemental. Why not give it some wind powers or let it choke its enemies like in the artwork?
The only ability of interest is Faultless Tracker. With this, the stalker knows the locations of its selected prey and its summoner at all times. Basically, this gives it the power of the Terminator. This could make for an interesting scenario; maybe the players need to flee an invisible stalker until they find the necessary spell to reveal it and make it vulnerable.
But the fight itself? Just another boring slugfest. Yawn.
Placement
This is a fairly underwhelming monster. While the concept is cool and its design is neat, the lore and the stats leave something to be desired. It’s far from the worst addition to any campaign, but also far from the best.
With all that in mind, let’s put the Invisible Stalker on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Dragon Turtle
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Sea Hag
- Bronze Dragons
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- Chuul
- Gibbering Mouther
- Intellect Devourer
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Hobgoblins
- Night Hag
- Green Hag
- Ankheg
- Hook Horror
- Storm Giant
- Hill Giant
- Empyrean
- Efreeti
- Grimlock
- Dao
- Cloud Giant
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Hydra
- Marid
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- Half-Dragon
- Cambion
- Fire Giant
- Animated Armor
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- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Ettin
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- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
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- Djinni
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
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- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Frost Giant
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Githyanki
- Planetar
- Imp
- Clay Golem
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Githzerai
- Grick
- Invisible Stalker <———————-
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Flesh Golem
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
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- Homonculus
- Solar
- Deva
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- Hippogriff
- Griffon
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- Ghost
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Iron Golem
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- Galeb Duhr
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- Shrieker
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