Defiler

Humanoid, Usually Evil. 

AC 16 (with Mage Armor)
HP 130 (20d8+40)
Speed 30ft.    

STR 10 (+1)  DEX 16 (+3)  CON 14 (+2)  INT 20 (+5)  WIS 12 (+1)  CHA 10 (0)

Saving Throws: Constitution +7, Intelligence +11, Wisdom +6
Skills: Arcana +11, History +11, Nature +11
Damage Resistances: Damage from spells; Nonmagical Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing (from Stoneskin); Cold or Fire (with Fire Shield)
Damage Immunities: Necrotic
Senses: Passive Perception 11
Languages: Common plus 5 others. 
CR: 17

ABILITIES

Legendary Resistance (3/day). If the Defiler fails a Saving Throw, it can choose to succeed instead. 

Magic Resistance. The archmage has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

ACTIONS

Multiattack - The Defiler makes two attacks with either its Defiling Bolt or Enervating Staff. The Defiler may replace one of these attacks with its Withering Blast. 

Defiling Bolt - Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit. Range 120. One target. Hit: 22 (3d10+5) Necrotic damage. On a hit, the target must make a DC19 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature cannot regain hit points until the end of it’s next turn. 

Enfeebling Staff - Melee Spell Attack. +11 to hit. Reach 10ft. One target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5). On a hit, the target must make a DC19 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature has Disadvantage on all Melee attack rolls until the end of it’s next turn. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it also falls Prone and is unable to stand until the end of it’s next turn. 

Withering Blast - The Defiler picks a point within 60ft. All creatures in a 15ft radius of that point must make a DC19 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) Necrotic damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful one. The Defiler is then healed for half of the damage dealt.

If a creature is at 0HP when hit by this attack, it automatically gives the creature 2 failed Death Saves rather than 1. 

Spellcasting - The Defiler casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability. (Spell Attack Bonus +10, Spell Save DC19)

• At Will: Detect Magic, Identify, Thunderwave, Unseen Servant, Alter Self, Dust Devil, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, Web, Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Fear, Fly, Slow, Wall of Sand

• 3/Day Each: Blight, Confusion, Fire Shield, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph, Sickening Radiance, Stone Skin, Summon Construct, Wall of Fire, Bigby’s Hand, Cloudkill, Geas, Hold Monster, Negative Energy Flood, Seeming

• 2/Day Each: Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Globe of Invulnerability, Scatter, True Seeing, Delayed Blast Fireball, Mirage Arcane, Teleport

• 1/Day Each: Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting, Dominate Monster, Time-Stop

BONUS ACTIONS

Drain and Defile - As a Bonus Action, the Defiler may drain the life energies of the land around them to empower their spells, granting them one of the following benefits.

• Their next spell attack is made with Advantage.

• The next save against one of their spells is made at Disadvantage

• The next spell they cast deals an addition 2d8+5 damage

All plant life and the soil within 15ft of the Defiler is turned to lifeless ash when they use this ability. If the area around them is already defiled, the defilement extends an additional 15ft.  

Foul Step - As a Bonus Action, the Defiler can teleport up to 30ft. to an unoccupied space it can see. This causes any plant life and the soil in the space the Defiler leaves behind turned to dead lifeless ash. 

REACTIONS 

Corrupting Counter - When a creature within 60 ft. of the Defiler that it can see attempts to cast a spell, the Defiler may use it’s Reaction to force the caster to make a DC19 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the spell dissipates with no effect, and the action, bonus action, or reaction used to cast it is wasted. If the spell was cast with a spell slot, the slot isn’t expended. 

All plant life and the soil within 15ft of the Defiler is turned to lifeless ash when they use this ability. If the area around them is already defiled, the defilement extends an additional 15ft. 

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The Defiler can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Defiler regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Defiling Bolt - The Defiler uses its Defiling Bolt attack.

Enfeebling Staff - The Defiler uses its Enfeebling Staff attack. 

Foul Step - The Defiler uses its Foul Step ability. 

Spellcasting (2 Actions) - The Defiler uses it’s Spellcasting ability.


Monster Notes - The defiler is a wizard who activates tremendous magical energy without regard to its effect on the environment. With the casting of each spell, a defiler destroys a portion of the world's ecosystem, rendering it dead and sterile.

Defilers leech energy from the land, stealing life away with every spell they cast and leaving only dead ash behind. Defilers are mortal enemies of Preservers, standing locked in a never-ending battle -with the survival of Athas at stake.

Reviled and hunted, hated and feared, Defilers live in secrecy, hiding who and what they are from the rest of the world. They are criminals whose crime calls for swift execution. They are outcasts, with no place to call home. They are Wizards, and their crime is the practice of magic...

Beneath the crimson sun, the life of a Wizard is hard and dangerous. Blamed for the conditions of the world, feared for the mysterious power they wield, and hated for crimes both real and imagined, Athasian Wizards walk in the shadows of civilization and in the barren wastes of the wilderness. To reveal their nature is to admit their crime —and risk their very lives.