Intelligent alien creatures such as aboleths, as well as the occasional mad wizard or capricious deity, enjoy tinkering with creatures to make them more suited for their environments or just as a thought exercise. Then the PCs have to go out and fight things like owlbears or chimeras.
Doesn’t it make you want to get in on the action? Monster Mix crosses two monsters from the Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault to create new horrors that combine elements from the original creatures beyond just shuffling their component abilities.
Mix up more monsters from previous installments!
This monster mix combines Elementals and Monstrosities. Your players only think they know what’s coming.
Hivenado
The air buzzes and flashes within this vortex. Insectile forms made of elemental air and bits of dirt and grit from the environment swarm within and around it.
Elemental Collectives. Hivenados are collections of smaller air elementals that have taken insect form and bonded inextricably. The gestalt looks like a fully fledged elemental, but it can expel component parts to act as extensions of itself.
Twitchy Forms. A hivenado presents an unnerving visage, as clusters of the component elementals flit about within the whole. Parts of the vortex expand and contract in grotesque fashion, and its insect-like buzzing adds to its unsettling appearance.
HIVENADO CR 5
Large Elemental
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 99
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
Perception 11 Stealth 14
Resistant thunder | charmed, frightened | Elemental Resilience
Immune lightning| blinded | Elemental Resilience
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages understands Auran and Common but can’t speak
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| +2 | +4 | +4 | −2 | +1 | −2 |
Cloud Camouflage. The hivenado’s Stealth is 19 while in clouds or fog.
Collective Mind. The hivenado’s individual Elementals and swarms under its control are connected via a hive mind. It can telepathically communicate with any of its individual Elementals and swarms within 1 mile of it, and it can’t be surprised. It can have up to five swarms of insects under its control at a time.
Elemental Nature. The hivenado doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Elemental Resistance. The hivenado is resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. In addition, it is immune to poison damage, to exhaustion, and to the paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, and unconscious conditions.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The hivenado makes one Bite attack and two Claw attacks, or it makes three Lightning Sting attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) thunder damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) lightning damage.
Lightning Sting. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 4) lightning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 DEX save or have disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn.
Swarming Whirlwind (Recharge 4–6). Each creature in the hivenado’s space must make a DC 15 DEX save, taking 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) lightning damage on a failure, or half as much damage on a success. A swarm of insects appears under the hivenado’s control then forms in one of its spaces. The swarm has a flying speed of 20 feet rather than a climbing speed, is immune to lightning damage, and deals lightning damage instead of piercing damage with its attacks.
REACTIONS
Thunderous Flight. When a creature the hivenado can see deals damage to it, the hivenado can move up to 20 feet to an unoccupied space it can see as it releases a burst of thunder. Each creature within 5 feet of the space the hivenado left must succeed on a DC 15 CON save or take 3 (1d6) thunder damage.
Impostor Liquid
The floor coalesces into an amorphous humanoid shape. Its formless hands become wicked blades.
Multidimensional Shapeshifters. Impostor liquids are water elementals that have learned to take humanoid form and can also blend in with flat surfaces. These mimicked forms may draw suspicion due to the sheen they can’t quite remove.
Implacable Pursuit. Once an impostor liquid has chosen a target, it often fixates on its quarry. Given its ability to mimic trusted allies and flow through the tiniest of openings, its prey finds difficulty shrugging off a hunting liquid. Fortunately, blasts of cold arrest the creature enough to escape it.
IMPOSTOR LIQUID CR 4
Large Elemental (Shapechanger)
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 92
Speed 30 ft., swim 60 ft.
Perception 13 Stealth 16
Resistant frightened | Elemental Resilience
Immune acid | charmed | Elemental Resilience
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages Aquan, Common
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| +0 | +4 | +2 | +0 | +3 | +4 |
Convincing Mimicry (Humanoid Form Only). The impostor liquid can mimic any Humanoid’s body and voice it has seen and heard nearly perfectly. A creature very familiar with the individual Humanoid the liquid is pretending to be can tell the doppelganger is an imitation with a successful DC 20 WIS (Insight check).
Elemental Nature. The impostor liquid doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Elemental Resistance. The impostor liquid is resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. In addition, it is immune to poison damage, to exhaustion, and to the paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, and unconscious conditions.
Freeze. If the impostor liquid takes cold damage, it partially freezes. Its speed is reduced by 20 feet, and it loses the benefit of its Water Form until the end of its next turn.
Liquid Camouflage (Surface Form Only). The impostor liquid’s Stealth is 21 while it adheres to a surface.
Water Form. The impostor liquid can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The impostor liquid makes two Hard Water Pierce attacks or two Hard Water Slash attacks.
Hard Water Pierce. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Hard Water Slash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10 + 4) slashing damage.
Whelm. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: The impostor liquid envelops the target. While enveloped, the target is retrained, unable to breath unless it can breathe water, can’t be hit by the liquid’s melee attacks, and it takes 9 (2d8) piercing damage at the start of each of the liquid’s turns.
When the liquid moves, the enveloped creature moves with it. The liquid can only have one creature enveloped at a time. A creature within 5 feet of the liquid, including the target, can take its action to free the target from the liquid by succeeding on a DC 15 STR check.
BONUS ACTIONS
Change Shape. The impostor liquid transforms into a Medium or Large Humanoid it has seen, a 10-foot square surface to which it adheres, or back into its true form, which is Elemental. Its statistics, other than its size and speed, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.
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