Deathlock
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p. 128
- Size
- Medium
- Type
- undead
- Alignment
- lawful evil
- AC
- 12 (15 with mage armor)
- Hit Points
- 36 (8d8)
- Speed
- walk 30 ft.
- Saving Throws
- Int +4, Cha +5
- Skills
- Arcana +4, History +4
- Resistances
- necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered
- Immunities
- poison
- Condition Immunities
- exhaustion, poisoned
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft.
- Passive Perception
- 11
- Languages
- the languages it knew in life
- Challenge
- 4
- Lineage
- Deathlock
- Environment
- urban
Traits
Turn Resistance
The deathlock has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Innate Spellcasting
The deathlock's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: detect magic, disguise self, mage armor
Spellcasting
The deathlock is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). It regains its expended spell slots when it finishes a short or long rest. It knows the following warlock spells:
- Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand
- 3rd level (2 slots): arms of Hadar, dispel magic, hold person, hunger of Hadar, invisibility, spider climb
Actions
Deathly Claw
Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) necrotic damage.
Variant: Patron-Specific Spells
You can customize a deathlock by replacing some or all of the spells in its Spellcasting trait with spells specific to its patron. Here are examples.
Archfey patron: blink, faerie fire, hunger of Hadar, hypnotic pattern, phantasmal force, sleep Fiend patron: blindness/deafness, burning hands, command, fireball, hellish rebuke, scorching ray Great Old One patron: armor of Agathys, detect thoughts, dissonant whispers, hunger of Hadar, Tasha's hideous laughter, phantasmal force
Spells
detect magic, disguise self, mage armor, chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, arms of Hadar, dispel magic, hold person, hunger of Hadar, invisibility, spider climb
Spell Slots
0,2
Other data
description
The forging of a pact between a warlock and a patron is no minor occasion—at least not for the warlock. The consequences of breaking that pact can be dire and, in some cases, lethal. A warlock who fails to live up to a bargain with an evil patron runs the risk of rising from the dead as a deathlock, a foul undead driven to serve its otherworldly patron from beyond the grave.
An extraordinarily powerful necromancer might also discover the dark methods of creating a deathlock and then bind it to service, acting in this respect as the deathlock's patron.
Obedient and Obsessed: An overpowering urge to serve consumes the mind of a newly awakened deathlock. All goals and ambitions it had in life that don't please its patron fall away as its master's desires become the purpose that drives the deathlock. The creature immediately resumes work on its patron's behalf. Accomplishing a difficult goal might mean the deathlock is forced to serve another powerful creature or might entail in gathering servants of its own.
Whatever the goal, it always reflects the patron's interests, ranging from small-scale concerns to matters of cosmic scope. A deathlock in the thrall of a fiend might work to destroy a specific temple dedicated to a good god, while one that serves a Great Old One could be charged with hunting for the materials needed to call forth a horrifying entity into the world.
Undead Nature: A deathlock doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.