Skip to content
CharGen Icon
CreatePricing

The PutteT Master

At the opening of Barovia two toy makers competed: Blinski the soft-maker and Varatrov the woodworker. When Strahd favored Blinski, Varatrov hanged himself from his workbeam. His grief bound his workshop into a domain of moving toys and his ruined body into a porcelain puppet that seeks revenge and companionship through charm.

Monsters
Medium undead · CR 18 · Unique

The PutteT Master

A porcelain-skinned marionettist animated by grief and magic, who turns people into puppets and commands armies of toys to enact its tragedies.
AC18
HP255/255
CR18
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 18 · HP 255 · CR 18

The PutteT Master

Medium undead (undead), neutral evil
Armor Class18 (studded patchwork armor, natural porcelain plating)
Hit Points255 (30d8 + 120)
Speed
30 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsDexConWis
SkillsDeceptionPerformanceInsight
Damage Resistances
cold 50%,
necrotic 50%
Immunities
poisoned,
charmed,
exhaustion
Weaknesses
Vulnerable to radiant damage 150%,
Severing the Griefstrings imposes disadvantage on Stringbind and reduces spell save DC by 2 while the strings remain cut
Senses
darkvision 60 ft.,
passive Perception 16
Languages
Common,
Sylvan,
Understands but does not speak Infernal
Challenge18
Porcelain Form. The PutteT Master is immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. It cannot be put to sleep by magical sleep effects and is resistant to psychic damage (half).
Puppet Sight. The Master can see through any puppet or animated toy it controls within 120 feet. While doing so, it is blinded and deafened with respect to its own body but otherwise has full awareness of everything the puppet sees and hears.
Shattered Rebirth. When the Master would be reduced to 0 hit points, it can choose to fracture, turning into a scatter of porcelain shards and stuffing. It instead becomes incorporeal and attempts to possess a nearby corpse or puppet within 30 ft., regaining 50 hit points. This trait can be used once and recharges after a long rest.

Spells

Innate Puppetcraft (cantrip, enchantment and illusion). The PutteT Master can cast spells, requiring no material components. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save , to hit with spell attacks). It has the following spells prepared. At will: mage armor, minor illusion, thaumaturgy. 3/day each: hold person, major image, vampiric touch. 2/day each: dominate person, greater invisibility. 1/day: dominate monster, circle of power.

Actions

Porcelain Rapier. The PutteT Master strikes with a porcelain-knuckled rapier that flows like clockwork. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 () piercing damage plus 9 () psychic damage. If the target is a creature charmed or frightened by the PutteT Master, it takes an extra 9 () psychic damage and must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.
Stringbind. The PutteT Master animates up to three puppets or medium corpses within 60 feet. Animated creatures act as the Master's thralls and obey its mental commands. A creature targeted by this ability must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed and compelled to obey for 1 minute. A charmed creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. Objects animated this way have AC 13, 30 hit points, and the following action: Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 () bludgeoning damage. The PutteT Master can use this trait once and regains the use after a short or long rest.
Piercing Dirge. Ranged Spell Attack: to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 28 () necrotic damage and the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or its maximum hit points are reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. If this attack reduces a creature to 0 hit points, the creature rises as a puppet under the Master's control at the end of the Master's next turn (as long as the puppet body is available and not destroyed).
Lullaby of Splinters. The PutteT Master sings a thin lullaby that unmans the battlefield. Each creature of the Master's choice in a 30-foot cone must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 27 () psychic damage and is paralyzed until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and is not paralyzed. Creatures that are immune to charm or are undead automatically succeed on the save.

Reactions

Crackling Reprisal. Crackling Reprisal. When a creature the PutteT Master can see within 30 feet hits it with a melee attack, the attacker takes 9 () psychic damage as splintered memories lash back. If the attacker is charmed or frightened by the Master, it takes an additional 9 () psychic damage.

Legendary Actions

Command Thrall. Command Thrall. The PutteT Master targets one puppet or creature charmed by it. That target moves up to half its speed and makes one Slam attack or can attempt to grapple (escape ).
Tug of Strings (costs 2 actions). Tug of Strings. The Master tugs at invisible strings; one target charmed by it or one puppet within 60 feet must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pulled 30 feet toward the Master and knocked prone.
Shattering Laugh (costs 3 actions). Shattering Laugh. The Master unleashes a thin laugh that rattles minds. Each non-undead creature within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 14 () psychic damage and be frightened until the end of its next turn. Creatures that succeed take half damage and are not frightened.
Role
Elite
Built for
17-19

Gear

  • Griefstrings (Wondrous, Priceless)A skein of black magic strings coiled like a scarf. Severing requires a DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check or a successful attack that deals slashing damage against the strings (AC 15, 15 HP).

Notes for the game master

Challenge 18 assumes the PutteT Master uses its full suite of spells and legendary actions to control the battlefield.
Puppets animated by Stringbind are not true undead but are constructs for game purposes and are destroyed when their HP reaches 0.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    Open by animating nearby corpses or toys and using Lullaby of Splinters to seize initiative. Evaluate enemy resistances and prioritize charmable or isolated targets for Stringbind.

  2. Mid-fight

    Keep distance and force the party to face animated thralls. Use Stringbind to swell forces and Lullaby of Splinters to paralyze casters and frontliners, then pick off stragglers with Piercing Dirge.

  3. End of the fight

    Break the party's strongest controllers by focusing Piercing Dirge on spellcasters and the Lullaby to paralyze the front line, then finish wounded foes with Porcelain Rapier. If overwhelmed, the Master sacrifices puppets to stagger the party while attempting to escape and rebind new thralls.

  4. Retreat

    If forced below 25 percent hit points the PutteT Master drops its strings and attempts to flee into dense forest cover while leaving tethered puppets behind to harry pursuers. It will not surrender but can attempt to bargain if it senses the party's compassion toward toys.

How it fights

Start by creating thralls to absorb attacks and force multiple saves from enemies.
Use Lullaby to paralyze a clump of foes and then pick them off with Piercing Dirge.
Keep distance from heavy hitters; use Command Thrall and Tug of Strings to manipulate battlefield position.

Who it attacks first

Spellcasters and characters with low Wisdom
Support characters who can dispel or heal
Loners or isolated party members who can be singled out and bound

Works well with

Works well with swarms or multiple minion-summoners who can obscure its location
Terrains with lots of cover amplify its hit-and-run control tactics

How to beat it

Dispel magic and remove enchantments quickly to break thralls.
High Wisdom saves and magic immunity reduce its Stringbind effectiveness.
Area effects that ignore charm (for example, forced saves or damage that knocks unconscious) can stop puppet creation.
Destroy puppet bodies and sever visible strings to prevent reanimation.

Ways to avoid a fight

The PutteT Master can be bargained with through displays of toy craftsmanship or by returning Blinski's lost creations.
Destroying the central music box or freeing bound thralls may calm it enough for negotiation.
Revealing Strahd's role in its original betrayal may turn its hatred toward Strahd instead.

Ecology

A thin humanoid roughly human-sized, with unblemished porcelain skin veined like aged china. Its face is painted with an eternal, sorrowful child's smile. Joints are visible seams, and where flesh should be are tidy stitched burlap and polished wood. Long, blackened strings coil from its spine into a miniature fan of carved wooden hand puppets that twitch in time with its breathing. It wears a patchwork tailoring of stuffed fabric and silks, stained dark at the cuffs.

Behavior

Coldly theatrical and patient. The PutteT Master treats violence like a performance; it prefers manipulating others to smashing them directly. It remains near piles of playthings and comes alive only when it hears children laugh or when anger at its past is inflamed.

How it lives

The Master prefers the edges of old haunted forests where children's laughter once echoed. It collects discarded toys, stuffing them with stolen memories so they can serve as eyes and ears. Thralls return to inert scraps when the Master sleeps.

Lair

An abandoned toy workshop with hanging puppet racks, a half-collapsed attic of stuffed dolls, and a central music box the Master uses to amplify its Lullaby. Magical strings are anchored to rafters; removing the box weakens the Master's Lullaby and Stringbind abilities.

Habitat
Forest

Signs that it is near

A circle of children-sized shoe prints that end suddenly
Toys arranged in mournful tableaux
A faint lullaby on the wind that makes faces ache

Tags

undead,
controller,
summoner,
gothic

Lore

At the opening of Barovia two toy makers competed: Blinski the soft-maker and Varatrov the woodworker. When Strahd favored Blinski, Varatrov hanged himself from his workbeam. His grief bound his workshop into a domain of moving toys and his ruined body into a porcelain puppet that seeks revenge and companionship through charm.

What drives it

To remake the world into a perfect playroom where no one will choose another toymaker over him again; to bind companions to his sorrow so he will never be alone.

After the fight

Survivors find hundreds of brittle wooden and stuffed toy fragments impaled with porcelain shards. Bodies animated into puppets revert to ruined husks; any who were charmed may suffer nightmares and a permanent -1 penalty to Wisdom until they complete a month of therapy or a Greater Restoration.

“When Strahd favored Blinski, Varatrov hanged himself from his workbeam.”
From its lore

Variants

Weaker PutteT Acolyte: CR 7 humanoid puppet crafted from burlap and wood, serves as a basic minion.
Blinski Resonance: A rare variant obsessed with softness that heals allied puppets instead of animating them.

Hooks

Plot hooks

Children in a nearby village begin disappearing; the only clue is a trail of tiny porcelain feet.
A noble lost a beloved childhood toy suspected to be in the Master's lair; recovering it may placate the spirit.
Townsfolk report that toys returned from the forest whisper names at night.

How to use it

Ambush in moonlit forest clearing littered with toys.
Lair encounter in a ruined toy workshop deep in the woods.
Pursuit encounter where puppets delay the party while the Master flees.

Treasure

A music box that grants advantage on Performance checks while held
A handful of polished porcelain teeth that, if set into a doll, permit limited scrying

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn The PutteT Master into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.