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The Shackled Behemoth

Legend speaks of a prison so secure that even death was no escape. When the prisoners of Entity 0 died in their cells, the wardens used necromantic chains to prevent their spirits from leaving. Over centuries, these bodies and chains fused into the Shackled Behemoth. It is both a guardian and a prisoner, a walking cell block that never opens.

Monsters
Huge undead · CR 10 · Unique

The Shackled Behemoth

A massive undead amalgam composed of the fused remains of countless prisoners, bound together by the very chains that once held them. It represents the physical embodiment of the Hall of Echoes' despair.
AC17
HP161/161
CR10
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 17 · HP 161 · CR 10

The Shackled Behemoth

Huge undead (amalgam), chaotic neutral
Armor Class17 (Natural Armor/Chains)
Hit Points161 (14d12 + 70)
Speed
20 ft.,
Climb 20 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsConstitutionWisdomCharisma
SkillsAthleticsPerception
Damage Resistances
Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Immunities
Poison,
Exhaustion
Weaknesses
Radiant
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 14
Languages
Understand Common (Cannot Speak)
Challenge10
Proficiency Bonus+4
Soul-Bound Fetter. Any creature that starts its turn grappled by the behemoth takes 9 () psychic damage as the voices of the fused souls invade their mind.
Unusual Nature. The behemoth doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Immovable Mass. The behemoth has advantage on saving throws against being moved or knocked prone.

Actions

Multiattack. The behemoth makes two Chain Slam attacks. It can replace one slam with a Chain Drag action.
Chain Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 19 () bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape ). The behemoth has two chains, each of which can grapple one creature.
Chain Drag. One creature grappled by the behemoth must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 15 feet toward the behemoth and take 10 () bludgeoning damage as it is slammed into the mass of bodies.
Echoing Wail (Recharge 5-6). The behemoth releases a discordant shriek of a thousand voices. Each creature within 30 feet of the behemoth must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 36 () psychic damage and is Stunned until the end of its next turn. On a success, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't Stunned.

Reactions

Rattle the Cage. When a creature within 15 feet of the behemoth hits it with an attack, the behemoth swings its chains in a defensive arc. The attacker must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.

Legendary Actions

Lunge. The behemoth moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Crush (costs 2 actions). The behemoth makes one Chain Slam attack.
Desperate Reach. The behemoth attempts to grapple one creature within 20 feet using a stray length of chain.
Role
Tank and Controller
Built for
8 to 10

Gear

  • Chains of Entity 0 (Artifact Component, 3000 gp)Glow with necrotic light; can be used to craft high-level binding items.

Feats

Sentinel
Tough

Augmentations

None

Notes for the game master

High hit point pool makes it a significant sponge for resources.
Grappling is its primary method of control.
Echoing Wail can turn the tide by stunning multiple PCs.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    The Behemoth uses Echoing Wail immediately to thin the resistance and identifies the largest group of enemies.

  2. Mid-fight

    It focuses on grappling the most mobile targets (rogues/casters) to prevent them from repositioning. It uses Chain Drag to bring them into its Soul-Bound Fetter aura.

  3. End of the fight

    As it nears death, it becomes more erratic, using its movement to bowl over characters while continuously slamming its current grappled victims.

  4. Retreat

    The Behemoth is mindless and literally bound to its area; it will fight until its physical form is completely disintegrated.

How it fights

Prioritize targets within 15 feet to utilize its superior reach.
Use Rattle the Cage to disrupt melee multi-attacks by knocking foes prone.
Chain targets and then use Lunge to pull them away from their allies.

Who it attacks first

Concentrating Spellcasters
High-damage melee fighters
Healers

Works well with

Caster allies who can cast Silence to prevent the Echoing Wail from being heard by themselves while the Behemoth ignores it.
Difficult terrain that makes escape from its 15-foot reach harder.

How to beat it

Spells like Freedom of Movement
Ranged attackers outside of its 15-foot reach
Radiant damage which bypasses its resistances

Ways to avoid a fight

The Behemoth can be temporarily pacified if someone sings a specific lullaby from the prisoners' homeland.
It might be manipulated by someone holding a Master Key from the Hall of Echoes.

Ecology

A towering, lumpy mass of grey, necrotic flesh where hundreds of screaming faces and grasping hands struggle beneath the surface. It is draped in thick, rusted iron chains that glow with a faint, sickly green luminescence. It has no legs, dragging its massive bulk along the ground using two enormous, chain-wrapped arms.

Behavior

It wanders the Hall of Echoes in a state of perpetual torment. It does not speak, only emitting a constant, low-frequency hum that vibrates the teeth of those nearby. It is mindlessly aggressive toward anything that moves, viewing any creature as a potential escape it must block or a soul it must absorb.

How it lives

As an undead construct of the Hall, it does not eat or sleep. It sustains itself on the psychic echoes of suffering and the residual energy of the chains that bind it.

Lair

The Hall of Echoes (Entity 0)

Habitat
Prisons, Undercities, Extraplanar Voids

Signs that it is near

The sound of heavy chains dragging on stone
Puddles of black, viscous ectoplasm
Cold drafts that smell of rusted metal and old bones
Echoes of screams that haven't happened yet

Tags

Titan,
Prison-born,
Construct-like

Lore

Legend speaks of a prison so secure that even death was no escape. When the prisoners of Entity 0 died in their cells, the wardens used necromantic chains to prevent their spirits from leaving. Over centuries, these bodies and chains fused into the Shackled Behemoth. It is both a guardian and a prisoner, a walking cell block that never opens.

What drives it

To find an exit from its eternal confinement and to silence the voices of the souls trapped within its own form.

After the fight

When defeated, the Behemoth collapses into a pile of mundane rusted iron and ash. For several minutes, the air is filled with a thousand whispers of gratitude as the souls are finally released to the afterlife.

“When the prisoners of Entity 0 died in their cells, the wardens used necromantic chains to prevent their spirits from leaving.”
From its lore

Variants

The Scorched Behemoth (Fire damage instead of Psychic, immune to Fire)
The Ethereal Behemoth (Can phase through walls, lower HP)

Hooks

Plot hooks

A beloved NPC has been captured and fused into the Behemoth; the party must find a way to separate them without destroying the soul.
The Behemoth has broken free from its level of the prison and is currently crushing the upper wards.
A wizard seeks the iron chains of the Behemoth to forge a gate that never opens.

How to use it

A boss encounter in a high-security magical dungeon.
A wandering threat in a city of the dead.
A roadblock in the Shadowfell.

Treasure

The Heart of the Prison (a dark sapphire worth 2000gp found inside the creature's chest)
3d6 Shackle Links (can be sold as rare material for 100gp each)

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