Displacer Beasts
A reliable halmark of those who have lived a life of adventure is the tendancy to always be glancing upward, searching for the teltale shifting blur or flash of green that indicates one is being stalked by a displacer beast. It is a unique and lasting terror, after all, to be tormented by a creature that seems to be everywhere other than where you see it, by a creature to which you are an edible toy.
Displacer Beast Lore
Animal Handling DC 15: While displacer cubs, if trained from an early age, can form amiable bonds with a caretaker, this will not stop them from attacking when bored or irritated, as they often are in the conditions most would-be beastmasters keep them.
Arcana DC 15: The violent and well-documented animosity between displacer beasts and blink dogs seems to be rooted in some innate disruptive effect each creature's magical abilities has on the other.
Arcana DC 20: Though displacer beasts are primarily pack hunters, the fey coeurl from which they descend is an entirely solitary creature. With all the malice of an ordinary displacer beast and an intellect beyond even that of many humanoids, the coeurl is able to rapidly adapt to changing situations, even able to use complex tools and weapons that it scavenges.
Worse still, it will often pretend to be an ordinary displacer beast to lure unsuspecting poachers that think to claim its hide and eyes, both prized for their use in the creation
of enchanted armaments.
History DC 15: Displacer beasts are vicious
to the core, sport hunters that extend the
agony of their prey for as long as possible,
often waiting until safety is in sight to
close for the kill, or even allowing it to
escape and then later tracking it to its home, surprising any creature unaware that their spined tentacle pads can deftly open doors and windows.
Nature DC 10: Displacer beasts slink through the dense canopies in which they lair, their six legs giving them a remarkable ability to climb and balance, while the
irridescent black of their fur and natural mastery of
illusions leads the eye to simply slide past them as they stalk their prey from above.
Nature DC 15: Remarkably intelligent by the standards of wildlife, displacer beasts are able to silently coordinate their attacks through subtle illusory signals, and have been known to use wounded creatures as bait to lure their allies into ambushes.
Diplacer Beast Kitten Tactics
Though mostly defenseless, displacer beast kittens are exceedingly precocious, often sneaking up on and attacking creatures several times their size, then fleeing with their burgeoning displacement abilities. Unable to stop them, disgruntled displacer parents often resign themselves to treating their offspring as bait, stalking from above and ambushing anything that tries to pursue the kittens.
Displacer Beast Shadowcat Tactics
Lone shadowcats prowl the upper reaches of the canopies where they lair, searching for likely prey. Once they have acquired a target, a shadowcat will use its displacement ability to create an illusory signal above the canopy, leading others of its kind to converge on its location as it silently stalks its quarry.
Once combat is joined, the shadowcat first uses its Lithe Pounce each turn to attempt to knock a creature prone, typically attacking with its Hexapod Claws until the target is grappled, then attacking with its Spinal Bite and Tendril Pads and using its Lithe Pounce to drag its target up into the canopy. If its target is knocked unconscious, the displacer beast Dashes and attempts to hide with its Shadow Stealth if possible, jumping further with its Lithe Pounce if not.
Shadowcats normally prioritize targets that are lightly armored or already injured and normally prefer to go after different targets rather than ganging up on a single target, but will ignore all else to gang up on any foe that they see teleport.
Displacer Beast Kitten
Small monstrosity, unaligned
- Armor Class 12 (Natural Armor)
- Hit Points 13 (3d6 + 3)
- Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 4 (-3) 10 (+0) 6 (-2)
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
- Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Canopy Stalker. The kitten has advantage on checks made to hide from creatures whose eyeline it is above.
Teleportation Weakness. The displacer beast is Stunned until the end of it is next turn whenever a creature teleports within 30 feet of it.
Minor Displacement. The kitten magically disrupts the light around it, making it appear slightly blurry.
Checks to determine what the kitten is carrying in its mouth or tentacles are made at disadvantage.
Actions
Hexapod Biscuits. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 10 ft., one prone or willing target. Hit: 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
Tendril Pad Swipe. One creature the kitten can see within 5 feet must succeed on a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or have one object weighing 1 pound or less that it is carrying stolen by the kitten.
Distracting Blink. The kitten affixes its gaze on a creature it can see within 15 feet and slowly blinks.
The creature must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the beginning of its next turn.
Reactions
Strained Displacement. As a reaction when the kitten is hit with an attack of opportunity, it causes the attack to miss then falls unconscious until the beginning of its next turn.
Displacer Beast Shadowcat
Large monstrosity, lawful evil
- Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor)
- Hit Points 68 (8d10 + 24)
- Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 16 (+3) 6 (-2) 12 (+1) 8 (-1)
- Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 13
- Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Canopy Stalker. The displacer beast has advantage on checks made to hide from creatures whose eyeline it is above.
Teleportation Weakness. The displacer beast takes 9 (2d8) psychic damage whenever a creature teleports within 30 feet of it.
Displacement. While the displacer beast is not grappled or incapacitated and it has not been hit with an attack since the end of its last turn, it has the following effects:
- Attacks against it are made at disadvantage.
- When making a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, the displacer beast treats any unmodified roll of a 11-20 as a success, and takes no damage on a successful save.
Actions
Multiattack. The displacer beast makes three attacks, one of which may be with its Spinal Bite.
Spinal Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.
Any hit with this attack against a target that is both prone and grappled becomes a critical.
Hexapod Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage.
A prone target hit with two or more of these attacks in a turn is grappled (escape DC 13).
Tendril Pads. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Shadow Stealth. If the displacer beast is in dim light or darkness, it attempts to Hide.
Lithe Pounce. The displacer beast leaps up to 15 feet, then may force one creature within 5 feet of it to succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Displacer Beast Prideleader
Large monstrosity, lawful evil
- Armor Class 14 (Natural Armor)
- Hit Points 111 (13d10 + 39)
- Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 15 (+2) 16 (+3) 6 (-2) 12 (+1) 8 (-1)
- Skills Perception +4, Stealth +8
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
- Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Canopy Stalker. The displacer beast has advantage on checks made to hide from creatures whose eyeline it is above.
Teleportation Weakness. The displacer beast takes 9 (2d8) psychic damage whenever a creature teleports within 30 feet of it.
Displacement. While the displacer beast is not grappled or incapacitated and it has not been hit with an attack since the end of its last turn, it has the following effects:
- Attacks against it are made at disadvantage.
- When making a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, the displacer beast treats any unmodified roll of a 11-20 as a success, and takes no damage on a successful save.
Actions
Multiattack. The displacer beast makes four attacks, one of which may be with its Spinal Bite.
Spinal Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Any hit with this attack against a target that is both prone and grappled becomes a critical.
Hexapod Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage.
A prone target hit with two or more of these attacks in a turn is grappled (escape DC 13).
Tendril Pads. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Shadow Stealth. If the displacer beast is in dim light or darkness, it attempts to Hide.
Lithe Pounce. The displacer beast leaps up to 15 feet, then may force one creature within 5 feet of it to succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Slinking Retreat. As a reaction to a creature ending its movement within 5 feet of the displacer beast, the displacer beast moves up to half its speed without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Displacer Beast Prideleader Tactics
Prideleaders typically lurk in the shadows for the first turn or two of combat while others of its kind engage. Once one of its pride is slain or injured enough to flee, it leaps into the fray. In combat, it fights much as a shadowcat does, but uses its slinking retreat to disengage whenever two or more foes try to engage it in melee, typically switching to a different target.
Prideleaders never fight to the death, generally fleeing after reduced below half their hit points.
Displacer Beast Coeurl Tactics
Coeurls stalk prey for several hours, observing it and waiting for a moment of distraction or vulnerability. Often, they will pretend friendliness or bestial simplicity to gain access to a settlement, then prowl the rooftops at night, dropping into alleyways and through chimneys to kill creatures in seclusion, then hiding their bodies.
Coeurls subsist on fear rather than conventional food, typically attacking nonlethally with attacks other than their Devour Id, and are exceptionally patient creatures, attempting to flee as soon as they take any significant damage and using any serious attempts to hunt them down as opportunities to circle back and attack unprotected allies, or attempting to snatch stragglers off from the hunting party one at a time and kill them in seclusion.
Displacer Beast Coeurl
Large fey/monstrosity, chaotic evil
- Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor)
- Hit Points 195 (23d10 + 69)
- Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 16 (+3) 17 (+3) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 11 (+0)
- Saving Throws CON +8, INT +7, WIS +6
- Skills Arcana +7, Perception +6, Stealth +13
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 16
- Damage Resistances Thunder
- Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened
- Languages Sylvan
- Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)
Canopy Stalker. The coeurl has advantage on checks made to hide from creatures whose eyeline it is above.
Teleportation Weakness. The coeurl takes 9 (2d8) psychic damage whenever a creature teleports within 30 feet of it
Feline Fluidity. The coeurl can squeeze through any space larger than its skull.
Displacement. While the coeurl is not grappled or incapacitated and it has not been hit with an attack since the end of its last turn, it has the following effects:
- Attacks against it are made at disadvantage.
- When making a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, the coeurl treats any unmodified roll of a 11-20 as a success, and takes no damage on a successful save.
Legendary Resistances (2/Day). If the coeurl fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. The coeurl makes four attacks, one of which may be with its Spinal Bite.
Spinal Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Any hit with this attack against a target that is both prone and grappled becomes a critical.
Hexapod Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
A target hit with two or more of these attacks in a turn is grappled (escape DC 17).
Tendril Pads. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or have one melee weapon it is wielding wrenched from its grasp.
If the coeurl is wielding weapons in both its tentacles, it can't use this attack.
Displacement Expansion (1/Day, Concentration). The coeurl's eyes flash with green light as it warps the light around it, creating several shifting, warped duplicates of each creature and object in the area.
For the next minute, creatures within 30 feet of the coeurl that rely on sight have disadvantage on checks and saving throws that use Wisdom.
A creature that attempts to move into or through the area for the first time on a turn must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Bonus Actions
Stolen Weapon. The coeurl makes an attack with a stolen weapon wielded in its tentacles, using the weapon's statistics (+9 to hit, +4 to damage).
Terrorize. The coeurl reveals itself to any number of creatures it can see within 30 feet that it is hidden from.
Each of those creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be Frightened until the end of the coeurl's next turn.
Devour Id. One Frightened or Unconscious creature within 5 feet of the coeurl must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and gain immunity to the Frightened condition for the next minute.
Reactions
Slinking Retreat. As a reaction to a creature ending its movement within 5 feet of the coeurl, the coeurl moves up to half its speed without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Legendary Actions
The coeurl can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below.
Lithe Pounce. The coeurl leaps up to 20 feet, then may force one creature within 5 feet of it to succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Shadowy Vault. The coeurl leaps up to 20 feet. If it ends this movement in dim light or darkness, it may immediately attempt to hide, and may do so without obscurement.
False Retreat. The coeurl magically produces an illusion of it leaping up to 20, then makes an attack with its Hexapod Claws against a creature in range, or two attacks if the target attempted to make an attack of opportunity against the illusion.
Art Credits
- Displacer Beast by Michael Komarck
- Displacer Kitten by Campbell White
- Displacer Beast by Conceptopolis
- Bisk, Goblin King by Rae Elderidge
I've Got a Subreddit!
Want more monsters like this? Come check
out r/bettermonsters, where I post all my
work. Don't see something there? Drop a
request and I'll usually get it to you
within a day if I've got something on
hand, and I'll shoot you a
message when it's
ready if not.
You Found the Free Books!
The Part Where I Shill My Patreon
Want to support the creation of content like this? I post new monsters with lore and tactics to my patreon five times a week, joining the more than 1300 already there, indexed in a big PDF along with formats for Foundry and 5eTools.