Phantom Angler
Huge • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 16
Hit Points 199 (19d12 + 76)
Speed 0 ft., swim 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
Initiative +5 (15)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 (+5) | 12 (+1) | 18 (+4) | 5 (-3) | 16 (+3) | 14 (+2) |
Saving Throws Wis +7, Cha +6
Skills Stealth +5
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages –
CR 11 (XP 7,200 or 8,400 in lair; PB +4)
Alien-Mind. The angler is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 15, any creature trying to scry the angler or read its mind. Failure: 18 (4d8) psychic damage. Success: Half damage.
Amphibious. The angler can breathe air and water.
Bloodied - Hasteful. While bloodied, the angler's fly and swim speed increases by 20 feet.
Magic Resistance. The angler has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Regurgitating Resistance (1/Day, or 2/Day in Lair). If the angler fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. To do so, it must regurgitate a swallowed creature.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The angler makes one Bite attack and uses its Beam Light once.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9, reach 10 ft. Hit: 24 (3d12 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 17). While grappled in this way, it is also restrained.
Beam Light. Ranged Spell Attack: +7, range 60 ft. Hit: 11 (2d10) radiant damage.
Phase Shift (1/Day). The angler becomes translucent for 1 minute or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). At the end of the angler’s next turn, it phases into the fold between the borders of the planes or back to a normal plane of existence. Creatures it is grappling or has swallowed are transported with it. If the angler's concentration is interrupted before the duration ends, it and all creatures transported with it, reappear in the spaces they left or in the nearest unoccupied spaces if these spaces are occupied. Otherwise, they don't return.
BONUS ACTIONS
Shining Lure. The angler constantly projects a glowing lure 10 feet ahead of itself to lure targets in. While the lure sheds light, the angler is invisible to any creature with a passive Perception score of 17 or lower that is farther away than 5 feet from it. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 15, any creature within 60 feet that sees the light. A creature is unaffected by this spell if it is blinded or has blindsight or truesight. Failure: The target becomes charmed until it can't see the light or takes damage. While charmed this way, the target must move on its turn toward the lure by the most direct route. Success or Effect Ends: The target becomes immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Swallow. Strength Saving Throw: DC 17, one Medium or smaller creature grappled by the angler (it can have up to two creatures swallowed at a time). Failure: The target is swallowed by the angler, and the grapple ends. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the angler, and takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the angler’s turns.
If the angler takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the angler must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, each of which falls in a space within 5 feet of the angler and is prone. If the angler dies, any swallowed creature is no longer restrained and can escape from the corpse using 10 feet of movement, exiting prone.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, the angler can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The angler regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Beam. The angler uses its Beam Light.
Beckon. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 15, one creature the angler can see. Failure: The target must use its reaction to move up to its speed towards the angler.
Phasing. The angler moves up to half its swim speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Phantom Angler
Huge • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 142 (15d12 + 45)
Speed 0 ft., swim 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
Initiative +3 (13)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 (+4) | 10 (+0) | 16 (+3) | 5 (-3) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) |
Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +4
Skills Deception +6, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages –
CR 8 (XP 3,900 or 5,000 in lair; PB +3)
Alien-Mind. The angler is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 13, any creature trying to scry the angler or read its mind. Failure: 13 (3d8) psychic damage. Success: Half damage.
Amphibious. The angler can breathe air and water.
Bloodied - Hasteful. While bloodied, the angler's fly and swim speed increases by 20 feet.
Magic Resistance. The angler has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Regurgitating Resistance (1/Day, or 2/Day in Lair). If the angler fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. To do so, it must regurgitate a swallowed creature.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The angler makes one Bite attack and uses its Beam Light once.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7, reach 10 ft. Hit: 17 (2d12 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 15). While grappled in this way, it is also restrained.
Beam Light. Ranged Spell Attack: +5, range 60 ft. Hit: 5 (1d10) radiant damage.
Phase Shift (1/Day). The angler becomes translucent for 1 minute or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). At the end of the angler’s next turn, it phases into the fold between the borders of the planes or back to a normal plane of existence. Creatures it is grappling or has swallowed are transported with it. If the angler's concentration is interrupted before the duration ends, it and all creatures transported with it, reappear in the spaces they left or in the nearest unoccupied spaces if these spaces are occupied. Otherwise, they don't return.
BONUS ACTIONS
Shining Lure. The angler constantly projects a glowing lure 10 feet ahead of itself to lure targets in. While the lure sheds light, the angler is invisible to any creature with a passive Perception score of 15 or lower that is farther away than 5 feet from it. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 13, any creature within 60 feet that sees the light. A creature is unaffected by this spell if it is blinded or has blindsight or truesight. Failure: The target becomes charmed until it can't see the light or takes damage. While charmed this way, the target must move on its turn toward the lure by the most direct route. Success or Effect Ends: The target becomes immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Swallow. Strength Saving Throw: DC 15, one Medium or smaller creature grappled by the angler (it can have up to two creatures swallowed at a time). Failure: The target is swallowed by the angler, and the grapple ends. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the angler, and takes 7 (2d6) acid damage at the start of each of the angler’s turns.
If the angler takes 25 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the angler must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, each of which falls in a space within 5 feet of the angler and is prone. If the angler dies, any swallowed creature is no longer restrained and can escape from the corpse using 10 feet of movement, exiting prone.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, the angler can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The angler regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Beam. The angler uses its Beam Light.
Beckon. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 13, one creature the angler can see. Failure: The target must use its reaction to move up to its speed towards the angler.
Phasing. The angler moves up to half its swim speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Phantom Angler
Huge • Aberration • Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 17
Hit Points 230 (20d12 + 100)
Speed 0 ft., swim 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
Initiative +7 (17)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 (+6) | 14 (+2) | 20 (+5) | 5 (-3) | 18 (+4) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws Wis +9, Cha +8
Skills Stealth +7
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages –
CR 14 (XP 11,500 or 13,000 in lair; PB +5)
Alien-Mind. The angler is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 17, any creature trying to scry the angler or read its mind. Failure: 22 (5d8) psychic damage. Success: Half damage.
Amphibious. The angler can breathe air and water.
Bloodied - Hasteful. While bloodied, the angler's fly and swim speed increases by 20 feet.
Magic Resistance. The angler has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Regurgitating Resistance (2/Day, or 3/Day in Lair). If the angler fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. To do so, it must regurgitate a swallowed creature.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The angler makes one Bite attack and uses its Beam Light once.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11, reach 10 ft. Hit: 24 (3d12 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 19). While grappled in this way, it is also restrained.
Beam Light. Ranged Spell Attack: +9, range 60 ft. Hit: 16 (3d10) radiant damage.
Phase Shift (1/Day). The angler becomes translucent for 1 minute or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). At the end of the angler’s next turn, it phases into the fold between the borders of the planes or back to a normal plane of existence. Creatures it is grappling or has swallowed are transported with it. If the angler's concentration is interrupted before the duration ends, it and all creatures transported with it, reappear in the spaces they left or in the nearest unoccupied spaces if these spaces are occupied. Otherwise, they don't return.
BONUS ACTIONS
Shining Lure. The angler constantly projects a glowing lure 10 feet ahead of itself to lure targets in. While the lure sheds light, the angler is invisible to any creature with a passive Perception score of 19 or lower that is farther away than 5 feet from it. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 17, any creature within 60 feet that sees the light. A creature is unaffected by this spell if it is blinded or has blindsight or truesight. Failure: The target becomes charmed until it can't see the light or takes damage. While charmed this way, the target must move on its turn toward the lure by the most direct route. Success or Effect Ends: The target becomes immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Swallow. Strength Saving Throw: DC 19, one Medium or smaller creature grappled by the angler (it can have up to two creatures swallowed at a time). Failure: The target is swallowed by the angler, and the grapple ends. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the angler, and takes 14 (4d6) acid damage at the start of each of the angler’s turns.
If the angler takes 40 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the angler must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, each of which falls in a space within 5 feet of the angler and is prone. If the angler dies, any swallowed creature is no longer restrained and can escape from the corpse using 10 feet of movement, exiting prone.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, the angler can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The angler regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Beam. The angler uses its Beam Light.
Beckon. Intelligence Saving Throw: DC 17, one creature the angler can see. Failure: The target must use its reaction to move up to its speed towards the angler.
Phasing. The angler moves up to half its swim speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
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.