The Monsters of Evolve I n the distant future, in the Far Arm of the galaxy, corporate colonialism has become the dominant form of expansion. It's been hundreds of years since the nations of Earth lived on the same planet. Some powerful nations expanded to colonize their own planet like Russia did with Mars. Since then, companies have begun to colonize planets. These companies will pay to find and prepare planets for human settlement, and in exchange the people on those planets will work and support the companies, through things like mining. Shear was a mining colony, founded for its rich supply of Bohrium. This era saw the creation of many technological wonders, like the Patterson devices. These devices make use of the Patterson equation to design things such as forcefields and FTL travel. Despite these devices having been invented, they aren't fully understood. No one knows why the Patterson equation works, it just does The Monsters' Origin The first onset of the Monsters happened on the planet Factor in the Far Arm. The Monsters were completely unexpected for the colonists, and Nordita tried to evacuate the survivors. Quickly the Monsters overran the planet, and killed almost everyone. Only a single survivor, named Maggie, managed to escape by repairing a damaged ship by herself and flying offworld to Shear. Unfortunately, a few months later Monsters started appearing on Shear, too. Some were the same kinds as on Factor, but many were different. No one can say for certain how they came into being. One leading theory is that the Monsters are drawn to the Patterson fields generated by Patterson devices. Large generators on Shear, that were also on Factor, seem to be a beacon to Monsters. They will appear and destroy the generators for seemingly no reason. Monsters: Apex Predators Monsters are strong, intelligent, and incredibly agile threats. They feed on smaller creatures, and can evolve in real time. This evolution increases their strengths, size, and allows them to adapt new abilities. Sometimes monsters have adapted a variation. The Goliath has a variation called the Meteor Goliath, for example. Monster DNA, too, is far stronger than regular animal DNA. It isn't even really DNA, as Dr. Kala Kapur discovered. It's something called HNA, and it's highly aggressive. When Dr. Kapur injected herself with Monster HNA to study its effects, it quickly overran her immune system, and began changing her into a Monster. And sometimes, another voice speaks through her, unbeknowst to her. Monsters are tracked and killed by a group of Hunters on Shear, led by Cabot, a former Planet Tamer. Planet Tamers would clear out native wildlife to aid colonists, but the Monsters are a different type of threat entirely. They are strong, resourceful, and intelligent. Their rapid adaptation means they are unpredictable. Only a highly prepared party should try to hunt a Monster. Monster Behavior Monsters have three stages, 1, 2, and 3. Stage 1 is weakest, stage 3 is strongest. Monsters are intelligent, and prefer to run away from dangerous fights until they are strong enough to definitely win. You, as a DM, should balance an encounter so that a stage 2 monster would be a fair, but challenging fight, a stage 1 fight should be winnable without much setback, and a stage 3 fight should be a grueling battle. Monsters that lose hit points maintain that hit point loss, even as they evolve, so if a party weakens a monster in stage 1, the stage 3 fight will be easier. Conversion to DND The Monsters are a highly setting-specific foe. If you are a DM, you will probably want to introduce information about the Monsters to your players ahead of time. Monsters have an armor system, which is basically like having temporary hit points. They have a lot of it, and it regenerates over time, or in chunks as they eat. Each Monster has some abilities that are shared across all Monsters. Instead of putting this in the stat block of every monster, it's listed here. Monsters are heavy creatures, and leave large tracks as they walk or traverse. Monsters can take the Hide action. While hiding, they can move at half their speed, and cannot take special traversal actions, but they don't leave tracks. Monsters prefer to move through water, where they can move quickly and not be tracked. A Monster can consume ~200 pounds of raw meat from a corpse as an Action , or 100 if damaged within the past round. A Monster that has consumed enough pounds of meat can spend 3 consecutive Actions to evolve. 2100 lbs. to evolve to stage 2, and 2500 to reach stage 3. After completing the first action, the Monster cannot choose to stop, so it should try to evolve in a safe position. While a monster is in the uncancellable stage of evolution, it has vulnerability to all damage. When they leave their evolution cocoon, they have 35% of their maximum Armor Monsters have abilities, gained through points, that the DM can level up, by spending 1 point to take the ability, and another point to level it up. 4 total points at stage 1, 7 at stage 2, and 9 at stage 3. Since there are 4 abilities, each with 3 levels, a Monster cannot be fully maxed out. The DM should decide what the Monster would intelligently adapt to be able to do. Abilities that can be leveled will have variable statistics denoted with X/Y/Z. Recharging Abilities - It's standard in DnD to use a d6 for recharging. For the Monsters, I thought it was appropriate to use a d10, to add more flexibility, since combat will probably be longer. 1 PART 1 | INTRODUCTION Other DM-Relevant Information Physical Characteristics Monsters are very large creatures, and get larger as they evolve. When planning encounters, you'll want to leave a lot of space to hunt the monster, like a mountainous forest region. On the right is a height chart depicting a Stage 1 Goliath (left) and a Stage 1 Behemoth (right), which are both about 20 feet tall. Stage 2 for both is around 40 feet tall, and Stage 3 is 70 feet tall. Simply put, they're really big. Additionally, monsters have bioluminescent armor. This armor protects them, and regrows naturally, and rapidly when eating or in relative safety. It glows more brightly the more armored they are. Adaptive Nature Reactive Adaptations - The Monsters on Shear adapted from fighting the Hunters. First was Goliath. The original team pitted Markov, who used a modified plasma welder to fight the Goliath. Shortly after, the Kraken emerged, which used electricity of its own. Monsters adapt to their opponents, and can learn from them. If you felt like homebrewing your own Monster, it should adapt something from your party. Challenge Ratings? - Since Monsters adapt dynamically to the challenges they face, assigning a CR to one is downright impossible. You as a DM will decide its abilities, meaning its CR will change as you see fit. Monsters are intelligent, so at the start of an encounter, if you realize your Party might get wiped, you could have the monster leave on its own in hunt of easier prey, or to grow stronger. Using Terrain and Nature - Monsters are excellent climbers, and make good use of terrain. They will try to hide and sneak around inside caves when they are weak, run through rivers to hide their tracks, and climb up large structures to attack from above. Some Monsters prefer hit- and-run strategies to whittle down their prey, and others prefer to fight head-on. A monster that is seriously wounded will always try to flee if it doesn't think it can win. Also, Monsters are typically knowledgeable about other creatures in nature, due to their adaptiveness. When they are being pursued, they will try to lead their Hunters into dangerous flora and fauna, or may double back when out of vision to throw off their pursuers. Senses and Communication Sight Monsters are excellent predators, and have very good sight. They can see for miles, and can see well in dim light. However, they do not really have darkvision, so darkness or magical darkness can still obscure their sight. Hearing Monsters can use sound to accurately track objects. Smell Monsters have an unparalleled sense of smell. They can smell the air up to 200 feet away, and accurately visualize creatures and objects within this area as if they could see them. However, doing so is loud enough to be heard within 60 feet Monster Language Monsters can communicate with other monsters. It's unknown if they possess language, some suspect they are part of a hive mind. It's suspected they can understand complex languages, even if they can't speak it. "We will nucleate a true vacuum! This abnormality will be erased!" - The Voice, speaking through Dr. Kala Kapur Design Philosophy Monster Statistics Monsters in Evolve don't do as much damage as one would expect. Instead, they have a lot of health, and a lot of utility. They excel at separating out teams, and focusing down one enemy. You'll find that the Monsters will have more health than a creature of a similar CR, but will be balanced by having less damage-per-round. This will lead to longer combat encounters, and is mainly why I decided that recharge abilities should use a d10 for the Monsters. Monster Abilities I tried to model abilities closely to how they function in-game. An ability like Rock Throw does AOE damage. This is similar to Dex-Save abilities in DnD, like fireball. Just like in Evolve, upgradable abilities don't do much more damage as they are upgraded, but they often have a shorter cooldown (higher recharge chance) or longer range. Additionally, monsters don't get legendary actions. While the Monsters might have more HP than the Tarrasque at higher stages, they don't have the same immunities & resistances that most high-CR Monsters have. Additionally, they don't do as much damage. As a DM, I would suggest you houserule Monster abilities that apply knockback to knock down flying enemies, especially if your party relies on magical or nonmagical flight. 2 PART 1 | MORE MONSTER INFORMATION 3 Goliath (Stage 1) Huge monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 345 (30d12 + 150) Speed 35 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 24 (+7) 15 (+2) 21 (+5) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 11 (+0) Saving Throws STR +11, CON +9, CHA +4 Skills Athletics +11, Nature +6, Perception +6, Survival +6 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 16 Challenge 9-12 (??? XP) Armor. The Goliath can have up to 160 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows red while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Goliath has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Goliath visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Pounce. When the Goliath has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Strength with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Goliath lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance of damage. The victim takes 14 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 14 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Goliath's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Goliath's it cannot be restrained in this way. Bonus Actions Traversal: Leap (Recharge 8-10) The Goliath leaps 45 ft. away in an arc up to 20 ft. high. When it's taken damage in the past 2 rounds, the recharge is 5-10. The Goliath can have up to 3 charges of this ability. Flame Breath. (Recharge 7-10) Creatures in a 30/45/60 ft. cone must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking (15/16/18) 4d6 + 1/2/4 fire damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Actions Multiattack The Goliath makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 10 (1d4 + 7) slashing damage. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 18 (2d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage. Charge. (Recharge 7-10) The Goliath charges forward in a line 25/35/45 ft. long. Any creatures it runs into take 20/22/25 (5d4/6d4/7d4 + 7) bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be carried the charge's distance by the Goliath Rock Throw (Recharge 6-10) The Goliath picks up and throws a rock at a point within 150 ft. Creatures within 15/15/25 ft. of that point must make a DC 18/19/20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 46/46/53 (6d12/6d12/7d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage on a failed save and being knocked back 20/25/30 ft., taking half that much damage on a successful one. Leap Smash (Recharge 7-10/6-10/5-10). The Goliath leaps to a point up to 45 ft. away. Creatures the Goliath lands on, and up to 10/15/20 ft. away take 18/19/20 (3d6 + 7/8/9) bludgeoning damage and are knocked away from the Goliath by 20 ft. PART 2 | MONSTERS The Goliath The Goliath is thousands of pounds of meat in a lean, muscular body. It's a Monster that prefers to get up close and personal, using its raw strength to batter and displace would- be Hunters. Despite its hulking size, it's surprisingly mobile. It's powerful legs can be used to leap far distances, and easily climb up sheer faces. It can lock down a single target, or spread its mainly-AOE damage around to whittle down an entire team. It is one of the most durable Monsters, second only to the Behemoth. When fighting a Goliath, you should recognize that it is intelligent enough to flee and recover its armor if it feels endangered. High-damage abilities, like action surge or high-level spell slots should be used after you have broken its armor, so you can do permanent damage to its health. Battlefield control abilities that can limit its mobility can keep it trapped in a disadvantageous fight, and help an organized party win handily. 4 Goliath (Stage 2) Gargantuan monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 563 (45d12 + 270) Speed 35 ft., climb 45 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 25 (+7) 15 (+2) 22 (+6) 15 (+2) 15 (+2) 11 (+0) Saving Throws STR +12, CON +11, CHA +5 Skills Athletics +12, Nature +7, Perception +7, Survival +7 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 17 Challenge 13-16 (??? XP) Armor. The Goliath can have up to 200 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows red while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Goliath has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Goliath visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Pounce. When the Goliath has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Strength with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Goliath lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance of damage. The victim takes 14 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 14 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Goliath's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Goliath's it cannot be restrained in this way. Bonus Actions Traversal: Leap (Recharge 8-10) The Goliath leaps 45 ft. away in an arc up to 20 ft. high. When it's taken damage in the past 2 rounds, the recharge is 5-10. The Goliath can have up to 3 charges of this ability. Flame Breath. (Recharge 7-10) Creatures in a 30/45/60 ft. cone must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw, taking (15/16/18) 4d6 + 1/2/4 fire damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Actions Multiattack The Goliath makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 11 (1d6 + 7) slashing damage. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 20 (2d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage. Charge. (Recharge 7-10) The Goliath charges forward in a line 25/35/45 ft. long. Any creatures it runs into take 20/22/25 (5d4/6d4/7d4 + 7) bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be carried the charge's distance by the Goliath Rock Throw (Recharge 6-10) The Goliath picks up and throws a rock at a point within 150 ft. Creatures within 15/15/25 ft. of that point must make a DC 19/20/21 Dexterity saving throw, taking 46/46/53 (6d12/6d12/7d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage on a failed save and being knocked back 20/25/30 ft., taking half that much damage on a successful one. Leap Smash (Recharge 7-10/6-10/5-10). The Goliath leaps to a point up to 45 ft. away. Creatures the Goliath lands on, and up to 10/15/20 ft. away take 18/19/20 (3d6 + 7/8/9) bludgeoning damage and are knocked away from the Goliath by 20 ft. PART 2 | MONSTERS 5 Goliath (Stage 3) Gargantuan monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 838 (67d12 + 402) Speed 35 ft., climb 50 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 26 (+8) 15 (+2) 23 (+6) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) Saving Throws STR +14, CON +12, CHA +7 Skills Athletics +14, Nature +9, Perception +9, Survival +9 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 19 Challenge 17-20 (??? XP) Armor. The Goliath can have up to 240 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows red while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Goliath has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Goliath visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Siege Monster. The Goliath deals double damage to objects and structures. Pounce. When the Goliath has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Strength with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Goliath lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance of damage. The victim takes 16 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 16 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Goliath's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Goliath, it cannot be restrained in this way. Bonus Actions Traversal: Leap (Recharge 8-10) The Goliath leaps 45 ft. away in an arc up to 20 ft. high. When it's taken damage in the past 2 rounds, the recharge is 5-10. The Goliath can have up to 3 charges of this ability. Flame Breath. (Recharge 7-10) Creatures in a 30/45/60 ft. cone must make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw, taking (15/16/18) 4d6 + 1/2/4 fire damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Actions Multiattack The Goliath makes two claw attacks, followed by one slam attack. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit 12 (1d6 + 8) slashing damage. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit 21 (2d12 + 8) bludgeoning damage. Charge. (Recharge 7-10) The Goliath charges forward in a line 25/35/45 ft. long. Any creatures it runs into take 21/23/26 (5d4/6d4/7d4 + 8) bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a DC 22 Strength saving throw or be carried the charge's distance by the Goliath Rock Throw (Recharge 6-10) The Goliath picks up and throws a rock at a point within 150 ft. Creatures within a 15/15/25 ft. of that point must make a DC 20/21/22 Dexterity saving throw, taking 47/47/54 (6d12/6d12/7d12 + 8) bludgeoning damage on a failed save and being knocked back 20/25/30 ft., or half that much damage on a successful one. Leap Smash (Recharge 7-10/6-10/5-10). The Goliath leaps to a point up to 45 ft. away. Creatures the Goliath lands on, and up to 10/15/20 ft. away take 19/20/21 (3d6 + 8/9/10) bludgeoning damage and are knocked away from the Goliath by 20 ft. PART 2 | MONSTERS 6 Kraken (Stage 1) Huge monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 345 (30d12 + 150) Speed 35 ft., climb 35 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 21 (+5) 22 (+6) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 16 (+3) 13 (+1) Saving Throws DEX +10, CON +9, CHA +5 Skills Arcana +8, Nature +8, Perception +7, Survival +7 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 17 Challenge 9-12 (??? XP) Armor. The Kraken can have up to 120 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows cyan while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Kraken has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Kraken visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Pounce. When the Kraken has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Dexterity with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Kraken lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance. The victim takes 12 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 12 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Kraken's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Kraken's it cannot be restrained in this way. Traversal: Air Burst (Recharge 5-10) As a free action the Kraken uses its electricity to hover into the air, gaining a flying speed of 40 ft. until the end of its next turn. It can expend another usage during each of its turns to dash 20 feet in any direction, and maintain its flying speed. It cannot hover higher than 30 ft. off the ground. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability, and the Kraken can only expend one charge on each of its turns. Bonus Actions Banshee Mines. (Recharge 8-10/7-10/5-10) The Kraken expends 1 to 3 charges to send out that many Banshee Mines to a point within 40 ft. The Mines arm themselves at the end of the Kraken's turn. Any creature that moves into the area, or ends its turn in a circle 20 ft. around a Mine is attacked by the mine, which explodes on contact, dealing 15/15/18 (4d4/4d4/5d4 + 5) lightning damage in a circle with radius 5 ft. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability. While armed, they have an AC of 12 and 40 hit points. Destroying them detonates them immediately. They last for 15 rounds, and only 3 can exist at any given time. Actions Multiattack The Kraken makes two tentacle attacks, or two air missile attacks while flying. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 9 (1d4 + 6) bludgeoning damage. Air Missile. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 90/180 ft., one target. Hit 13 (1d12 + 6) lightning damage. Deals half that much damage to any creatures within 5 ft. of the target. Only usable while flying Vortex. (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10) The Kraken launches a blast of concussive force forward in a line 15/25/35 ft. long and 5/10/15 ft. wide. Any creatures it hits take 17/17/20 (3d6/3d6/4d6 + 6) thunder damage + 4 lightning damage and must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be carried the blast's distance. Lightning Strike (Recharge 7-10/6-10/6-10) The Kraken picks a point within 1200 ft. Creatures in a cylinder with radius 15/15/20 ft. and 30 ft. high of that point must make a DC 17/18/19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 43/43/48 (7d10/7d10/8d10 + 4) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Aftershock (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10). The Kraken electrocutes everything in a sphere with radius 30/35/45 ft. around itself. Creatures inside must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw of DC 16, taking 43/43/50 (10d6/10d6/12d6 + 8) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Creatures that fail their save cannot take reactions until the end of the Kraken's next turn. PART 2 | MONSTERS The Kraken While all of the Monsters are fairly intelligent, this Lovecraftian-esque Monster in particular is noted for its intelligence. It's surprisingly strong, too, and only slightly less armored than the Goliath. The Kraken uses its intelligence to place traps, leading Hunters in dangerous areas, and distracting them from the chase. This Monster has adapted to have many ranged abilities, which, combined with flight, allow it to attack from afar without getting into too much danger. It's pattern recognition is strong enough for it to understand complex things, like magic, which allows it to accurately prioritize threats. It can understand which party members are healing and protecting the others, and it will likely focus on taking that one down first. What the Kraken has in intelligence and raw power, it lacks in tactical flexibility. Many of its attacks, while powerful, take a while to charge up and can be evaded. This means it will try to either remain in an advantageous position high above the battlefield, where it can attack without retaliation, or trap a creature inside a cave or structure where it cannot easily escape. 7 Kraken (Stage 2) Gargantuan monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 563 (45d12 + 150) Speed 35 ft., climb 35 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 22 (+6) 23 (+6) 22 (+6) 20 (+5) 17 (+3) 13 (+1) Saving Throws DEX +11, CON +11, CHA +6 Skills Arcana +10, Nature +10, Perception +8, Survival +8 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 18 Challenge 13-16 (??? XP) Armor. The Kraken can have up to 160 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows cyan while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Kraken has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Kraken visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Pounce. When the Kraken has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Dexterity with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Kraken lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance. The victim takes 12 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 12 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Kraken's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Kraken's it cannot be restrained in this way. Traversal: Air Burst (Recharge 5-10) As a free action the Kraken uses its electricity to hover into the air, gaining a flying speed of 40 ft. until the end of its next turn. It can expend another usage during each of its turns to dash 20 feet in any direction, and maintain its flying speed. It cannot hover higher than 30 ft. off the ground. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability, and the Kraken can only expend one charge on each of its turns. Bonus Actions Banshee Mines. (Recharge 8-10/7-10/5-10) The Kraken expends 1 to 3 charges to send out that many Banshee Mines to a point within 40 ft. The Mines arm themselves at the end of the Kraken's turn. Any creature that moves into the area, or ends its turn in a circle 20 ft. around a Mine is attacked by the mine, which explodes on contact, dealing 16/16/19 (4d4/4d4/5d4 + 6) lightning damage in a circle with radius 5 ft. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability. While armed, they have an AC of 12 and 40 hit points. Destroying them detonates them immediately. They last for 15 rounds, and only 3 can exist at any given time. Actions Multiattack The Kraken makes two tentacle attacks, or two air missile attacks while flying. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 9 (1d4 + 6) bludgeoning damage. Air Missile. Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, range 90/180 ft., one target. Hit 13 (1d12 + 6) lightning damage. Deals half that much damage to any creatures within 5 ft. of the target. Only usable while flying Vortex. (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10) The Kraken launches a blast of concussive force forward in a line 15/25/35 ft. long and 5/10/15 ft. wide. Any creatures it hits take 17/17/20 (3d6/3d6/4d6 + 6) thunder damage + 5 lightning damage and must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be carried the blast's distance. Lightning Strike (Recharge 7-10/6-10/6-10) The Kraken picks a point within 1200 ft. Creatures in a cylinder with radius 15/15/20 ft. and 30 ft. high of that point must make a DC 18/19/20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 44/44/49 (7d10/7d10/8d10 + 5) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Aftershock (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10). The Kraken electrocutes everything in a sphere with radius 30/35/45 ft. around itself. Creatures inside must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw of DC 17, taking 45/45/52 (10d6/10d6/12d6 + 10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Creatures that fail their save cannot take reactions until the end of the Kraken's next turn. PART 2 | MONSTERS 8 Kraken (Stage 3) Gargantuan monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 838 (67d12 + 402) Speed 35 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 23 (+6) 24 (+7) 23 (+6) 22 (+6) 18 (+4) 13 (+1) Saving Throws DEX +13, CON +12, CHA +7 Skills Arcana +12, Nature +12, Perception +10, Survival +10 Damage Resistances Lightning Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 20 Challenge 17-20 (??? XP) Armor. The Kraken can have up to 200 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows cyan while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Kraken has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Kraken visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Siege Monster. The Kraken deals double damage to objects and structures. Pounce. When the Kraken has taken the hide action, it can make an attack roll using its Dexterity with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Kraken lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance. The victim takes 14 bludgeoning damage, and an additional 14 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of each of the Kraken's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Kraken's, it cannot be restrained. Traversal: Air Burst (Recharge 5-10) As a free action the Kraken uses its electricity to hover into the air, gaining a flying speed of 40 ft. until the end of its next turn. It can expend another usage during each of its turns to dash 20 feet in any direction, and maintain its flying speed. It cannot hover higher than 30 ft. off the ground. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability, and the Kraken can only expend one charge on each of its turns. Bonus Actions Banshee Mines. (Recharge 8-10/7-10/5-10) The Kraken expends 1 to 3 charges to send out that many Banshee Mines to a point within 40 ft. The Mines arm themselves at the end of the Kraken's turn. Any creature that moves into the area, or ends its turn in a circle 20 ft. around a Mine is attacked by the mine, which explodes on contact, dealing 17/17/20 (4d4/4d4/5d4 + 7) lightning damage in a circle with radius 5 ft. The Kraken can have up to 3 charges of this ability. While armed, they have an AC of 12 and 40 hit points. Destroying them detonates them immediately. They last for 15 rounds, and only 3 can exist at any given time. Actions Multiattack The Kraken makes two tentacle attacks, or two air missile attacks while flying. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit 10 (1d4 + 7) bludgeoning damage. Air Missile. Ranged Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, range 90/180 ft., one target. Hit 14 (1d12 + 7) lightning damage. Deals half that much damage to any creatures within 5 ft. of the target. Only usable while flying Vortex. (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10) The Kraken launches a blast of concussive force forward in a line 15/25/35 ft. long and 5/10/15 ft. wide. Any creatures it hits take 18/18/21 (3d6/3d6/4d6 + 7) thunder damage + 6 lightning damage and must succeed on a DC 22 Strength saving throw or be carried the blast's distance. Lightning Strike (Recharge 7-10/6-10/6-10) The Kraken picks a point within 1200 ft. Creatures in a cylinder with radius 15/15/20 ft. and height 30 ft. centered on that point must make a DC 19/20/21 Dexterity saving throw, taking 45/45/50 (7d10/7d10/8d10 + 6) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Aftershock (Recharge 7-10/7-10/6-10). The Kraken electrocutes everything in a sphere with radius 30/35/45 ft. around itself. Creatures inside must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw of DC 18, taking 47/47/54 (10d6/10d6/12d6 + 12) lightning damage on a failed save, or half that much damage on a successful one. Creatures that fail their save cannot take reactions until the end of the Kraken's next turn. PART 2 | MONSTERS Understanding the Wraith W raiths are very complex creatures to understand. They can manipulate space and time to travel very quickly. They can create phantoms, travel long distances through space, and so on. Bizarrely, their Phantoms are more damaging than they are, although they are frail and do not last long. Unlike other Monsters, the Wraith is much smaller, and less resilient to injury. While a Goliath might be between 20 and 70 feet tall, a Wraith only grows up to 18 feet tall. It's long, slender form, but somewhat smaller form makes it the stealthiest of the Monsters. This, combined with it's potential for high bursts of damage gives it the role of the assassin among the Monsters. It's unique abilities lend to it having high potential of killing a preferred target. It's intelligence is rather high, and it's been observed trying to assassinate creatures it believes are leaders. If a creature seems like it leads its pack or party, it's highly likely the Wraith will target it first. Most of the Wraith's abilities helps it separate out parties. Creatures may choose to chase the Wraith's Phantom if they see it from far away. While they're distracted, the Wraith can Abduct another creature for a clean kill. Warp Blast can deal large amounts of damage to a party that's bundled close together, and encourage them to spread out in later engagements. Supernova doesn't help with this, but it does help the Wraith assassinate isolated targets. Keep in mind that the Wraith is intelligent, and tries to learn from its experiences. It may Abduct a creature and Warp Blast away, just to see what those creatures do. This will allow it to figure out which creatures are the highest value targets: the leaders, the healers, the frail. Parties tend to reliably hide their most important allies behind other party members, which makes it obvious to the Wraith that they're a target worth killing. When facing down or controlling a Wraith, you must always remember that it has no ranged abilities. Even its long distance abilities, Warp Blast and Abduction, require it to enter melee range. Abduction allows the Wraith to grab a flying enemy, and attack it a few times if successful. In the original source material, Wraith's Warp Blast knocks enemies back, it doesn't disorient them. When adapting the game to DnD, I made a judgement call to change the functionality for one major reason: jetpacks in Evolve have a limited duration. The Hunters will always have to land eventually, which makes the Wraith's melee-only style not be as damaging. It's similar enough that I don't think it's inaccurate, and I think it will go a long way to prevent flight abuse, especially for nonmagical flight from races like Aarakocra. The Wraith also has the most humanoid-like design of all the Monsters. If you're introducing it to a world that hasn't seen them before, it's not outside the realm of possibility that NPCs in your world might misidentify it as some sort of demonic creature. Depending on your campaign, that might be a cool way to introduce them. Finally, let's talk about the Wraith's ability to traverse space. In the Evolve source material, this is not instantaneous. In effect, the Wraith is warping space so it can move faster, it isn't exactly teleporting. However , in the game's lore, it's the Wraith's abilities that allows human scientists to create instantaneous teleportation, so the two flavors of space travel aren't unrelated . Depending on how sciency your campaign is, for example a sci-fi setting using DnD's Modern Magic UA, this could be a way to let your party discover instantaneous teleportation by researching a slain (or captured) Wraith. Totally up to you. 9 PART 2 | MONSTERS 10 Wraith (Stage 1) Huge monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 285 (30d10 + 120) Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 24 (+7) 18 (+4) 19 (+4) 16 (+3) 11 (+1) Saving Throws DEX +11, CON +8, CHA +5 Skills Nature +8, Perception +7, Stealth +11, Survival +7 Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed Senses passive Perception 17 Challenge 9-12 (??? XP) Armor. The Wraith can have up to 120 temporary hit points that last indefinitely. It regains 20 temporary hit points after one round, as long as it has been undamaged for 2 rounds, or after consuming 100 lbs. of raw meat. The Monster glows pink while it has armor, and is brightest when it has maximum armor. Superior Smell. The Wraith has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. This sense of smell lets the Wraith visualize creatures and structures within 200 ft. Pounce. When the Wraith has taken the hide action, it can make a melee attack roll using its Dexterity with a reach of 15 ft. against a grounded creature. If the attack lands, both creatures are restrained, and that creature is incapacitated until the Kraken lets go, or takes more than 10 damage from a single instance. The victim takes 14 slashing damage, and an additional 14 slashing damage at the beginning of each of the Wraith's turns. If a creature has a Strength score equal to or greater than the Wraith's it cannot be restrained in this way. Isolator. The first melee weapon attack scored by the Wraith against a creature with no allies within 60 ft. of it each turn is a critical hit. Bonus Actions Traversal: Warp (Recharge 4-10) The Wraith warps through space, dashing 15 ft. in any direction. The Wraith can have up to 3 charges of this ability. Additionally, when the Wraith must make a Dexterity saving throw to avoid or reduce damage, the Wraith can use its reaction and expend a charge to give itself advantage on the saving throw. Supernova. (Recharge 6-10/5-10/5-10) The Wraith creates a visible sphere of warped space-time with radius 45/60/75 ft. that lasts until the beginning/beginning/end of the Wraith's next turn. While the Wraith or its Phantom are inside the sphere, they have 2 additional Actions, which must be used on light slash, or multiattack. Actions Multiattack The Wraith makes two light slash attacks. Light Slash. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 11 (1d6 + 7) slashing damage. Heavy Slash. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 18 (2d10 + 7) slashing damage. Abduction. (Recharge 5-10/5-10/4-10) Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, normal range 70/80/90 ft., long range 210/240/270 ft., one target. The Wraith blinks forward in space to grab a creature. On a hit, the Wraith