Lore: Souls of the Malevolent
Haunting battlefields and lonely places, will-o’-wisps are evil balls of light that feed off of fear and despair. They’ll use their glow to lure people astray with the lure of hope only to lead them to a monster’s lair or a deadly trap. All simply because they enjoy listening to the resulting screams.
Will-o’-wisps are born from evil souls who die miserably in lands soaked in magic. They rarely speak, and only ever do so in faint whispers. Their only companions are the monsters they accompany, such as hags or black dragons.
You can make a pretty creepy encounter with this. The players are camping at night, trying to get rest in a deadly area of the world. During their watch, one of the players sees lights dancing in the darkness. The next day, the whole swamp is dark, and the lights are trying to guide the players, tempting them towards a boss fight.
Beyond that? There’s not much you can do. What did you expect? They’re glowing lights of evil and hate!
Thankfully, that means we can skip the design section today. No point in talking about the visual intricacies of a ball of light. Sorry to disappoint you guys.
Stats: Executioners of the Unconscious
For a tiny ball of light, a will-o’-wisp is surprisingly tough! Their HP isn’t that high, but their AC more than makes up for that. On top of that, they’re immune to lighting and poison damage, as well as all conditions. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also resistant to acid, cold, fire, necrotic, thunder, and non-magical melee damage.
Will-o’-wisps heal themselves by harming the helpless. With the Consume Life ability, they target a living creature with 0 HP and suck away a chunk of health, thus killing them. So… watch out whenever your party members drop.
They’re also Ephemeral, meaning they have no physical form. As such, they have Incorporeal Movement, allowing it to move through objects. Should it end its turn within an object, however, it would take some damage.
Oh, and it also glows with Variable Illumination. That’s neat.
Finally, there are its actual actions. With Shock, it can do… shock damage. Shocking, I know. And with Invisibility, it… goes invisible.
As a stand-alone encounter, these guys are really lame. But as a complimentary element to a bigger boss fight, they’re amazing! Imagine the sheer terror of fighting something like a hag or a black dragon with these guys around! If the players go unconscious at all, they’re suddenly vulnerable to instant death!
Placement
This is a pretty weak monster. Both its lore and its stats are at their best when they’re complimenting something else; on their own, they’re really weak. It’s like salt; a great seasoning, but not a good meal.
With that in mind, the Will-O’-Wisp is going to #191 on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Mind Flayer
- Dragon Turtle
- Tarrasque
- Mummy/Mummy Lord
- Nagas (all three of ’em)
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Sea Hag
- Slaadi (all six of ’em)
- Lamia
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Vampire/Vampire Spawn
- Kuo-Toa
- Gibbering Mouther
- Kraken
- Intellect Devourer
- Thri-Kreen
- Shadow
- Chimera
- Sphinxes
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Gelatinous Cube
- Lich
- Treant
- Peryton
- Troglodyte
- Remorhaz
- Unicorn
- Orcs (all four of ’em)
- Magmin
- Shield Guardian
- Kobold
- Kenku
- Hobgoblins
- Night Hag
- Green Hag
- Black Pudding
- Ankheg
- Hook Horror
- Succubus/Incubus
- Oni
- Purple Worm
- Storm Giant
- Hill Giant
- Empyrean
- Efreeti
- Grimlock
- Umber Hulk
- Minotaur
- Dao
- Cloud Giant
- Manticore
- Scarecrow
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Modrons (all five of ’em)
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Gray Ooze
- Ochre Jelly
- Hydra
- Rakshasa
- Marid
- Salamander
- Harpy
- Werejackal
- Otyugh
- Satyr
- Half-Dragon
- Cambion
- Fire Giant
- Nothic
- Pixie
- Animated Armor
- Roper
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Revenant
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Sahuagin (all three)
- Ettin
- Sprite
- Medusa
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Mimic
- Djinni
- Troll
- Merrow
- Nalfeshnee
- Wight
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Water Weird
- Skeletons
- Shadow Dragon
- Myconids (all four of ’em)
- Piercer
- Werebear
- Lizardfolk
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Pseudodragon
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quaggoth
- Frost Giant
- Weretiger
- Werewolf
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Shambling Mound
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Nightmare
- Rust Monster
- Wereboar
- Wererat
- Githyanki
- Owlbear
- Planetar
- Imp
- Ogres/Half-ogres
- Roc
- 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
- Mephits (all six of ’em)
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Homonculus
- Merfolk
- Solar
- Deva
- Gorgon
- Hippogriff
- Griffon
- Will-O’-Wisp <—————–
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Ghost
- Pegasus
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Stirge
- Specter
- Iron Golem
- Stone Golem
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Helmed Horror
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
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