Claus the Saint
Medium • Celestial • Lawful Good
Armor Class 18
Hit Points 285 (30d8 + 150)
Speed 30 ft.
Initiative +6 (16)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 (+4) | 10 (+0) | 21 (+5) | 16 (+3) | 24 (+7) | 26 (+8) |
Saving Throws Con +11, Int +9, Wis +13, Cha +14
Skills Athletics +10, Animal Handling +13, History +9, Insight +13, Persuasion +14, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances fire, poison
Damage Immunities cold, radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, petrified, poisoned
Senses truesight 30 ft., darkvision 300 ft. (unimpeded by snowy conditions), passive Perception 17
Languages all
CR 20 (XP 25,000 or 33,000 in lair; PB +6)
Divine Awareness. Claus knows if he hears a lie. Claus also knows the name of a Humanoid creature within 10 feet of him. This trait doesn't work on a creature protected by the mind blank spell.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day, or 4/Day in Lair). If Claus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Samaritan. Damage dealt by Claus is non-lethal regardless of the damage type or source.
Sack of Holding. Claus carries a large sack weighing 300 pounds to anyone but himself. The Sack contains a demiplane that can be entered by no other means except a wish spell or Claus's Sack Slam attack. A creature can leave the demiplane only by using magic that enables planar travel, such as the plane shift spell. The demiplane resembles a snowy cave roughly 1,000 feet in diameter, with a ceiling 100 feet high, and with piles of coal and toys lying around. If Claus dies, the demiplane disappears, and everything inside it appears around Claus' corpse. The demiplane is otherwise indestructible.
Temporarily Amorphous. Once per turn, Claus can magically move up to 10 feet through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. He takes 14 (4d6) force damage and is immediately pushed to the nearest unoccupied space if he ends his turn inside a space squeezing this way.
Undying Spirit. If he dies, Claus returns to life in 1d6 days and regains all his hit points. Only a wish spell can prevent this trait from functioning.
Wish Granter. Claus doesn't suffer any negative consequences for casting wish. Any objects he creates spring into existence inside his Sack of Holding, wrapped in colorful paper.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Claus makes two melee attacks. He can replace one of those attacks with a use of Sack 'Em or Spellcasting.
Sack of Holding. Melee Weapon Attack: +10, reach 5 ft. Hit: 23 (3d12 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is knocked prone.
Sack 'Em. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 18, one prone Medium or smaller creature or object within 5 feet of him that he can see. Failure: The target is swooped into his Sack of Holding, along with everything it is wearing and carrying, appearing in an unoccupied space on the floor of the demiplane.
Spellcasting. Claus casts one of the following spells, requiring no material spell components and using Charisma as the spell save DC 22):
At will: wish (only to create Medium or smaller objects)
2/day: cone of cold, fire shield (only cold shield), freezing sphere, plane shift, wall of ice
BONUS ACTIONS
Pull Out. Claus reaches into his Sack of Holding and magically pulls a Medium or smaller creature or object inside of it.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, Claus can expend a use to take one of the following actions. Claus regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Coals to the Bad. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 18, one creature within 60 feet that he can see. Failure: 18 (4d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Gifts to the Good. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 22, one creature within 120 feet that can see Claus. Failure: The target becomes charmed. While charmed, the target must spend its next turn to get to Claus and unwrap the present he is presenting. The charmed condition ends once the target has finished unwrapping the empty box. Once the effect ends, the target becomes immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
HO HO HO! Constitution Saving Throw: DC 22, each creature in a 30-foot emanation originating from Claus. Failure: The target takes 16 (3d10) cold damage. Success: Half damage. Failure or Success: The area becomes heavily obscured by a blizzard until the end of Claus's next turn. Further, Claus can't take this action again until the start of his next turn.
Claus the Saint
Medium • Celestial • Lawful Good
Armor Class 17
Hit Points 229 (27d8 + 108)
Speed 30 ft.
Initiative +6 (16)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) | 19 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 22 (+6) | 24 (+7) |
Saving Throws Con +11, Int +9, Wis +13, Cha +13
Skills Athletics +9, Animal Handling +12, History +9, Insight +12, Persuasion +13, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances fire, poison
Damage Immunities cold, radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, petrified, poisoned
Senses truesight 10 ft., darkvision 300 ft. (unimpeded by snowy conditions), passive Perception 16
Languages all
CR 17 (XP 18,000 or 20,000 in lair; PB +6)
Divine Awareness. Claus knows if he hears a lie. Claus also knows the name of a Humanoid creature within 10 feet of him. This trait doesn't work on a creature protected by the mind blank spell.
Legendary Resistance (2/Day, or 3/Day in Lair). If Claus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Samaritan. Damage dealt by Claus is non-lethal regardless of the damage type or source.
Sack of Holding. Claus carries a large sack weighing 300 pounds to anyone but himself. The Sack contains a demiplane that can be entered by no other means except a wish spell or Claus's Sack Slam attack. A creature can leave the demiplane only by using magic that enables planar travel, such as the plane shift spell. The demiplane resembles a snowy cave roughly 1,000 feet in diameter, with a ceiling 100 feet high, and with piles of coal and toys lying around. If Claus dies, the demiplane disappears, and everything inside it appears around Claus' corpse. The demiplane is otherwise indestructible.
Temporarily Amorphous. Once per turn, Claus can magically move up to 10 feet through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. He takes 14 (4d6) force damage and is immediately pushed to the nearest unoccupied space if he ends his turn inside a space squeezing this way.
Undying Spirit. If he dies, Claus returns to life in 1d6 days and regains all his hit points. Only a wish spell can prevent this trait from functioning.
Wish Granter. Claus doesn't suffer any negative consequences for casting wish. Any objects he creates spring into existence inside his Sack of Holding, wrapped in colorful paper.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Claus makes two melee attacks. He can replace one of those attacks with a use of Sack 'Em.
Sack of Holding. Melee Weapon Attack: +9, reach 5 ft. Hit: 22 (3d12 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is knocked prone.
Sack 'Em. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 17, one prone Medium or smaller creature or object within 5 feet of him that he can see. Failure: The target is swooped into his Sack of Holding, along with everything it is wearing and carrying, appearing in an unoccupied space on the floor of the demiplane.
Spellcasting. Claus casts one of the following spells, requiring no material spell components and using Charisma as the spell save DC 21):
At will: wish (only to create Medium or smaller objects)
1/day: cone of cold, fire shield (only cold shield), freezing sphere, plane shift, wall of ice
BONUS ACTIONS
Pull Out. Claus reaches into his Sack of Holding and magically pulls a Medium or smaller creature or object inside of it.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, Claus can expend a use to take one of the following actions. Claus regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Coals to the Bad. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 17, one creature within 60 feet that he can see. Failure: 13 (3d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Gifts to the Good. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 21, one creature within 120 feet that can see Claus. Failure: The target becomes charmed. While charmed, the target must spend its next turn to get to Claus and unwrap the present he is presenting. The charmed condition ends once the target has finished unwrapping the empty box. Once the effect ends, the target becomes immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
HO HO HO! Constitution Saving Throw: DC 21, each creature in a 20-foot emanation originating from Claus. Failure: The target takes 16 (3d10) cold damage. Success: Half damage. Failure or Success: The area becomes heavily obscured by a blizzard until the end of Claus's next turn. Further, Claus can't take this action again until the start of his next turn.
Claus the Saint
Medium • Celestial • Lawful Good
Armor Class 19
Hit Points 322 (28d10 + 168)
Speed 30 ft.
Initiative +7 (17)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 10 (+0) | 23 (+6) | 18 (+4) | 26 (+8) | 28 (+9) |
Saving Throws Con +13, Int +11, Wis +15, Cha +16
Skills Athletics +12, Animal Handling +15, History +11, Insight +15, Persuasion +16, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances fire, poison
Damage Immunities cold, radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, petrified, poisoned
Senses truesight 60 ft., darkvision 300 ft. (unimpeded by snowy conditions), passive Perception 18
Languages all
CR 23 (XP 50,000 or 62,000 in lair; PB +7)
Divine Awareness. Claus knows if he hears a lie. Claus also knows the name of a Humanoid creature within 10 feet of him. This trait doesn't work on a creature protected by the mind blank spell.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day, or 5/Day in Lair). If Claus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Samaritan. Damage dealt by Claus is non-lethal regardless of the damage type or source.
Sack of Holding. Claus carries a large sack weighing 300 pounds to anyone but himself. The Sack contains a demiplane that can be entered by no other means except a wish spell or Claus's Sack Slam attack. A creature can leave the demiplane only by using magic that enables planar travel, such as the plane shift spell. The demiplane resembles a snowy cave roughly 1,000 feet in diameter, with a ceiling 100 feet high, and with piles of coal and toys lying around. If Claus dies, the demiplane disappears, and everything inside it appears around Claus' corpse. The demiplane is otherwise indestructible.
Temporarily Amorphous. Once per turn, Claus can magically move up to 10 feet through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. He takes 14 (4d6) force damage and is immediately pushed to the nearest unoccupied space if he ends his turn inside a space squeezing this way.
Undying Spirit. If he dies, Claus returns to life in 1d6 days and regains all his hit points. Only a wish spell can prevent this trait from functioning.
Wish Granter. Claus doesn't suffer any negative consequences for casting wish. Any objects he creates spring into existence inside his Sack of Holding, wrapped in colorful paper.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Claus makes two melee attacks. He can replace one of those attacks with a use of Sack 'Em or Spellcasting.
Sack of Holding. Melee Weapon Attack: +12, reach 5 ft. Hit: 37 (5d12 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 21 (6d6) cold damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is knocked prone.
Sack 'Em. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 20, one prone Medium or smaller creature or object within 5 feet of him that he can see. Failure: The target is swooped into his Sack of Holding, along with everything it is wearing and carrying, appearing in an unoccupied space on the floor of the demiplane.
Spellcasting. Claus casts one of the following spells, requiring no material spell components and using Charisma as the spell save DC 26):
At will: wish (only to create Medium or smaller objects)
3/day: cone of cold, fire shield (only cold shield), freezing sphere, plane shift, wall of ice
BONUS ACTIONS
Pull Out. Claus reaches into his Sack of Holding and magically pulls a Medium or smaller creature or object inside of it.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, Claus can expend a use to take one of the following actions. Claus regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Coals to the Bad. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 20, one creature within 90 feet that he can see. Failure: 23 (4d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Gifts to the Good. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 26, one creature within 120 feet that can see Claus. Failure: The target becomes charmed. While charmed, the target must spend its next turn to get to Claus and unwrap the present he is presenting. The charmed condition ends once the target has finished unwrapping the empty box. Once the effect ends, the target becomes immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
HO HO HO! Constitution Saving Throw: DC 26, each creature in a 30-foot emanation originating from Claus. Failure: The target takes 16 (3d10) cold damage. Success: Half damage. Failure or Success: The area becomes heavily obscured by a blizzard until the end of Claus's next turn. Further, Claus can't take this action again until the start of his next turn.
QUICK REFERENCE
USING MONSTER VARIANTS
Monster variants allow the GM to adjust encounters to better match the party’s strength, narrative needs, or world-building logic. A weaker variant may represent a juvenile, wounded, or lesser specimen, while a stronger variant can serve as a leader, champion, ancient creature, or apex predator.
Variants can be used to fine-tune difficulty without changing the core identity of the monster, making them ideal for scaling encounters, reinforcing hierarchy within a faction, or creating memorable boss-style enemies. You can even use the same stat block but different variants in the same encounter if you want.
Design Note. Each monster is primarily balanced around its normal version. Weaker and stronger variants are derived adjustments and may not always preserve every tactical nuance or “feel” of the original creature. GMs are encouraged to review variants carefully and adjust abilities or tactics as needed to best suit their table.