Sandborne Ravener
Ancient desert cultures called it the Understorm because its approach sounded like distant thunder beneath the dunes. Some scholars believe it was engineered by an extinct aberrant empire to defend buried vaults. Others claim it is a larval fragment of a much larger intelligence sleeping beneath the desert. Every surviving account agrees on one point: the creature learns the shape of a battlefield faster than its victims do.
LargeAberration(Aberrant burrowing predator)·CR Challenge 20, Deadly·Unaligned
Sandborne Ravener
AberrationBossBurrowingDesertSolo MonsterAmbusherAcidArmor CorrosionTerrain ControllerHorror
HP310AC+14SPDLand 50 ft., Burrow 100 ft., The creature can burrow through sand, earth, stone, worked stone, and other solid surfaces without needing to leave a tunnel., It can move through a space as narrow as 5 feet wide without squeezing., It has a Climb Speed of 40 feet.CRChallenge 20, Deadly|AthleticsPerceptionStealthSurvival
STR
28
save
DEX
20
save
CON
26
save
INT
12
WIS
18
save
CHA
16
Perfect Ambush. The creature has Advantage on Initiative rolls. If it is completely burrowed and motionless when combat begins, it has Advantage on its first attack roll against each creature that has not detected it. Any attack it hits against an undetected creature during the first round is a critical hit.
Unseen Beneath the World. The creature can burrow through any surface, including solid stone, without leaving a tunnel. It can sense the location of creatures touching the same connected mass of earth, stone, or other solid material within 300 feet. While burrowed and motionless, it is Invisible and cannot be detected by ordinary senses.
Omniphagic Burrower. The creature can move through nonmagical earth, sand, stone, metal, and manufactured surfaces. It leaves no passage unless it chooses to create one. It can emerge from any solid surface within its reach.
Violent Passage. When the creature moves at least 20 feet through earth, sand, stone, or another solid surface, the first creature whose space it enters or passes beneath must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 13 () bludgeoning damage and fall Prone. A creature that fails this save is also pushed up to 10 feet to an unoccupied space.
Surface-Breaching Hunter. The creature's attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover if the cover is made of earth, sand, stone, metal, or another solid surface. A target behind such cover can still benefit from Total Cover unless the attack originates from the same surface.
Aberrant Resilience. The creature has Advantage on saving throws against being Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, or Stunned. It is immune to effects that would reduce its Burrow Speed unless the effect also affects the surrounding terrain.
Living Trapmaker. At the start of combat, the creature can have up to four concealed traps placed within 300 feet of itself. Each trap occupies a 10-foot-radius area and remains hidden until triggered or detected with a successful Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check. A creature with tremorsense has Advantage on checks to detect the traps.
Horizontal Killing Line. The creature's melee attacks affect every creature in a 5-foot-wide line extending directly in front of it to the attack's reach. Each creature in the line is a valid target, but the creature makes a separate attack roll against each target. This trait applies to Claw and Razor-Line Assault, but not Burrowing Lunge.
Stillness Beneath Stone. The creature cannot be detected by tremorsense, blindsight, or ordinary senses while it is completely burrowed and motionless. A creature that can perceive through solid material, or an effect that reveals its location without relying on ordinary senses, can detect it.
Alien Metabolism. The creature does not need to breathe, eat, or drink, and it can survive indefinitely without sunlight. It is adapted to extreme heat and pressure.
Multiattack. The creature makes two attacks, using either its Claw or Spined Impalement attack in any combination. It can replace one attack with Burrowing Lunge.
Claw. Melee Attack Roll: +14, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 () slashing damage plus 9 () acid damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become blinded until the end of its next turn. On a failed save, nonmagical armor worn by the target takes a cumulative -1 penalty to its Armor Class until the end of the encounter. Magical armor instead loses 1 point of its magical Armor Class bonus on a failed save. If that bonus reaches 0, the armor becomes nonmagical until the end of the encounter.
Spined Impalement. Ranged Attack Roll: +14, range 120/300 ft., one target. Hit: 25 () piercing damage plus 10 () acid damage. The spine then detonates. Each creature within 10 feet of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 () piercing damage plus 18 () acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The spine remains embedded until the end of the target's next turn, and the target's Speed is reduced by 10 feet while it remains embedded.
Burrowing Lunge. The creature launches itself in a straight line up to 20 feet toward a space it can sense. This movement does not provoke Opportunity Attacks. Each creature in a 20-foot-long, 5-foot-wide line originating from the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 31 () piercing damage plus 18 () acid damage and is knocked Prone. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn't knocked Prone. The creature can then make one Claw attack against a creature within 20 feet of its destination.
Collapsing Ground. The creature tears through the ground in a 60-foot-long, 5-foot-wide line. Creatures in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 () bludgeoning damage plus 18 () acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The area becomes difficult terrain. A creature that fails the save is also knocked Prone. Unsecured objects and structures in the line can collapse at the DM's discretion.
Razor-Line Assault. The creature sweeps its mandibles and front appendages through a 5-foot-wide line extending 20 feet directly in front of it. Each creature in the line must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 27 () slashing damage plus 13 () acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On a failed save, the creature is blinded until the end of its next turn and suffers the armor degradation described in the Claw attack.
Buried Detonation. The creature burrows beneath a point it can sense within 120 feet and creates a concealed pressure trap in a 10-foot-radius area. The trap is indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain. When a creature enters the area or moves within 5 feet of it, the trap detonates. The triggering creature and each creature within 10 feet of the trap must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 () piercing damage plus 22 () acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The ground in the area collapses, creating a 20-foot-deep pit with unstable sides. The creature can have up to four traps active at a time.
Earth-Thrown Projectile. The creature targets one creature it can sense within 300 feet that is carrying or wearing a projectile, weapon, or other unsecured object. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or one unattended nonmagical projectile within 5 feet of it is violently torn free, leaps from the ground, and strikes the target. The target takes 18 () piercing damage plus 18 () acid damage. The projectile then explodes, and each creature within 10 feet of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 () piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Razor-Step. The creature moves up to half its Burrow Speed or Land Speed and makes one Claw attack at any point during that movement.
Subterranean Evasion. When the creature is hit by an attack while touching earth or stone, it reduces the damage by 15 and moves up to 20 feet through the ground without provoking Opportunity Attacks. It cannot use this reaction if it is Restrained or has no available space to emerge.
Tunneling Shift. The creature moves up to half its Burrow Speed or Land Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
Razor Attack. The creature makes one Claw attack or uses Razor-Step.
Set the Killing Ground (Costs 2 Actions). The creature uses Buried Detonation, targeting a point within 120 feet. It cannot use this action if it already has four active traps.
Ruinous Sweep (Costs 3 Actions). The creature uses Collapsing Ground or Razor-Line Assault.
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