Mindhunter
Large • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 20
Hit Points 221 (26d10 + 78)
Speed 40 ft.
Initiative +8 (18)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 17 (+3) | 19 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws Int +9, Wis +8
Skills Investigation +9, Perception +8, Stealth +8
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, stunned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Deep Speech, telepathy 300 ft.
CR 15 (XP 13,000, PB +5)
Creature Sense. The mindhunter is aware of creatures within 5 miles of it that have an Intelligence score of 4 or higher. It knows the distance and direction to each creature, as well as each one's Intelligence score, but can't sense anything else about it. A creature protected by a mind blank spell, a nondetection spell, or similar magic can't be perceived in this manner.
Magic Resistance. The mindhunter has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Revel in Their Emotions. When a creature within 60 feet of the mindhunter becomes frightened or charmed, the mindhunter gains 10 temporary hit points.
Shielded Mind. The mindhunter is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The mindhunter makes four Mindflame or Psychic Blast attacks in any combination. It can replace one of these attacks with a use of Spellcasting.
Mindflame. Melee Weapon Attack: +9, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (3d6) fire damage plus 10 (3d6) psychic damage.
Psychic Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +9, reach 120 ft. Hit: 18 (4d8) psychic damage.
Cerebral Howl (Recharge 5-6). Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 17, each creature in a 30-feet-emanation from the mindhunter. Failure: The target takes 52 (8d12) psychic damage, becomes frightened, and can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage.
Spellcasting. The mindhunter casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):
At will: detect thoughts, fear, invisibility, major image, mirror image, phantasmal killer, suggestion
BONUS ACTIONS
Unravel Mind. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 17, one creature the mindhunter has hit with its Mindflame this turn. Failure: The target becomes stunned until the start of the mindhunter’s next turn. When a creature is reduced to 0 hit points while stunned this way, its Intelligence and Charisma score are reduced 1 and the creature can't cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them. Further, the mindhunter gains all memories of that creature. Effect lasts until cured by greater restoration spell or similar magic but it can’t be cured while the mindhunter is still alive.
REACTIONS
Disrupt Magic (Recharge 5-6). The mindhunter casts counterspell, using the same spellcasting ability as Spellcasting.
Mindhunter
Large • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 19
Hit Points 187 (25d10 + 50)
Speed 40 ft.
Initiative +6 (16)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 17 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 14 (+2) |
Saving Throws Int +7, Wis +6
Skills Investigation +7, Perception +6, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, stunned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Deep Speech, telepathy 300 ft.
CR 12 (XP 8,400, PB +4)
Creature Sense. The mindhunter is aware of creatures within 5 miles of it that have an Intelligence score of 4 or higher. It knows the distance and direction to each creature, as well as each one's Intelligence score, but can't sense anything else about it. A creature protected by a mind blank spell, a nondetection spell, or similar magic can't be perceived in this manner.
Magic Resistance. The mindhunter has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Revel in Their Emotions. When a creature within 60 feet of the mindhunter becomes frightened or charmed, the mindhunter gains 10 temporary hit points.
Shielded Mind. The mindhunter is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The mindhunter makes four Mindflame or Psychic Blast attacks in any combination. It can replace one of these attacks with a use of Spellcasting.
Mindflame. Melee Weapon Attack: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (3d6) fire damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage.
Psychic Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +7, reach 120 ft. Hit: 13 (3d8) psychic damage.
Cerebral Howl (Recharge 5-6). Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 15, each creature in a 20-feet-emanation from the mindhunter. Failure: The target takes 39 (7d12) psychic damage, becomes frightened, and can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage.
Spellcasting. The mindhunter casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15):
At will: detect thoughts, fear, invisibility, major image, mirror image, suggestion
BONUS ACTIONS
Unravel Mind. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 15, one creature the mindhunter has hit with its Mindflame this turn. Failure: The target becomes stunned until the start of the mindhunter’s next turn. When a creature is reduced to 0 hit points while stunned this way, its Intelligence and Charisma score are reduced 1 and the creature can't cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them. Further, the mindhunter gains all memories of that creature. Effect lasts until cured by greater restoration spell or similar magic but it can’t be cured while the mindhunter is still alive.
REACTIONS
Disrupt Magic (Recharge 6). The mindhunter casts counterspell, using the same spellcasting ability as Spellcasting.
Mindhunter
Large • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 21
Hit Points 275 (29d10 + 116)
Speed 40 ft.
Initiative +10 (20)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 (+5) | 18 (+4) | 19 (+4) | 21 (+5) | 19 (+4) | 18 (+4) |
Saving Throws Int +11, Wis +10
Skills Investigation +11, Perception +10, Stealth +10
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, stunned
Senses darkvision 300 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Deep Speech, telepathy 300 ft.
CR 18 (XP 20,000, PB +6)
Creature Sense. The mindhunter is aware of creatures within 5 miles of it that have an Intelligence score of 4 or higher. It knows the distance and direction to each creature, as well as each one's Intelligence score, but can't sense anything else about it. A creature protected by a mind blank spell, a nondetection spell, or similar magic can't be perceived in this manner.
Magic Resistance. The mindhunter has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Revel in Their Emotions. When a creature within 60 feet of the mindhunter becomes frightened or charmed, the mindhunter gains 10 temporary hit points.
Shielded Mind. The mindhunter is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The mindhunter makes four Mindflame or Psychic Blast attacks in any combination. It can replace one of these attacks with a use of Spellcasting.
Mindflame. Melee Weapon Attack: +11, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (4d6) fire damage plus 10 (3d6) psychic damage.
Psychic Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +11, reach 120 ft. Hit: 22 (5d8) psychic damage.
Cerebral Howl (Recharge 5-6). Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 19, each creature in a 30-feet-emanation from the mindhunter. Failure: The target takes 65 (10d12) psychic damage, becomes frightened, and can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage.
Spellcasting. The mindhunter casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 19):
At will: detect thoughts, fear, invisibility, major image, mirror image, phantasmal killer, suggestion
BONUS ACTIONS
Unravel Mind. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 19, one creature the mindhunter has hit with its Mindflame this turn. Failure: The target becomes stunned until the start of the mindhunter’s next turn. When a creature is reduced to 0 hit points while stunned this way, its Intelligence and Charisma score are reduced 1 and the creature can't cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them. Further, the mindhunter gains all memories of that creature. Effect lasts until cured by greater restoration spell or similar magic but it can’t be cured while the mindhunter is still alive.
REACTIONS
Disrupt Magic (Recharge 4-6). The mindhunter casts counterspell, using the same spellcasting ability as Spellcasting.
QUICK REFERENCE
Habitat
- Lurks in the outer planes intercepting intelligent creatures on their travels
- Found hunting in the Astral Sea or Far Realm where mental energy is abundant
- Roams underground lairs or ruins where it can ambush prey but also easily retreat
Behavior
- Moves with eerie purpose, following the “psychic scent” of intelligent minds long before being seen; the more powerful the target or the more interesting memories it has the more the mindhunter wants to ambush it (it rarely attacks creature living just their standard boring life)
- Patient hunter, observes prey from a distance, preparing the attack or exhausting its prey before the confrontation
- Revels in captured memories, psychic residues, or emotional echoes while not actively hunting leaving it distracted for long periods of time
Information (Intelligence Check)
- DC 15 Arcana: Mindhunters feed on memories and can sense intelligent creatures at great distances but can be fooled by mind blank or nondetection effects
- DC 20 Insight: Prefers creature with worthwhile memories while ignores the ones that it can sense that lived a life of normalcy
- DC 25 History: In rare cases someone survived, the often left with amnesia and a crippled mind as if they are just an animal
Combat
- Prefers to amsbush and surpsied through its ivisibility spell and high stealth modifier
- Opens with Cerebral Howl in the middle of the group to frighten and disrupt coordinated tactics
- Uses a single Mindflame attack in combination with Unravel Mind to lock down targets weak to Intelligence saves at the start of the fight, later on when prey gets wounded it focuses all attacks on the target under the effect of Unravel Mind to bring to 0 hit points while stunned
- Often replaces an attack for spell to gain more control over the fight: mirror image, fear, or phantasmal killer are the prefered choices
- Counterspells (Disrupt Magic) often to leave spellcasters unsure how to act
Loot Ideas
- Hide can serve as component to craft armor or shields with powerful psyhic abilities
- Fading memory fragments of long dead people and their highly valuable secrets (for potential plot hooks)
- Crystalized psychic power as psi crystal
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.