The Better Bagman
Spiciness: 4/5
While unlikely to TPK, the Bagman is designed to get players alone, and that can be dangerous. A kill is not unlikely.
Feeds about 3-5 players, level 3-5
Scales for: Number of Players, Player Level
Ingredients
- The Bagman
Scaling for Party Size: If the party size is greater than 4, let him cast Fear or Move as a legendary action.
Scaling for Level: For every level above 3, add 10 to the Bagman's HP and +1 to his Save DCs.
Preparation
The Bagman hunts alone, which means we'll need a way to cut down on player's side of the action economy if we're to make him scary. Crawl stealthily out of the bag of holding and go for sleeping prey. Since sleeping creatures are "unaware of their surroundings", they are automatically surprised. Roll a DC 14 Perception check for each awake member to see if they notice him creeping... Then roll initiative!
Things To Know
- Frightened. A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is within line of sight. The creature can't willingly move closer to the source of its fear.
- Grappled. A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.
- Unconscious. An unconscious creature is incapacitated, can't move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings. The creature drops whatever it's holding and falls prone. The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage. Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature.
Cooking the Bagman
Round 1. Someone is going to be surprised-- and thus, Frightened. Grapple them as a bonus action, and make 2 claw attacks with advantage & extra damage. Then, use any remaining movement to drag them off towards the bag.
Round 2. Take your grappled buddy and Blink him to the Ethereal Plane. Now you have some quality alone time. Continue clawing & dragging him towards the bag (just in case you blink back into the material plane).
Round 3. By now, you should have this encounter in the bag. Just stow your grappled creature in the Bag Of Holding, and finish your kill. Let the rest live to tell the horrors of what happened here.
The Bagman
Large Aberration, chaotic evil
- Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 84 (8d10 + 40)
- Speed 30 ft. (Spider climb)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 13 (+1) 20 (+5) 7 (-2) 9 (-1) 14 (+2)
- Skills Perception +2, Stealth +4, Athletics +7
- Condition Immunities Frightened
- Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
- Languages Deep Speech
- Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Jump Scare. Any creature surprised by the Bagman is frightened. They may make a DC 13 Wisdom Save at the end of their turn to end this effect.
Harvest the Fear. The Bagman has advantage on attacks against frightened creatures, and may grapple them as a bonus action.
Weird Predator. The Bagman can cast Fear At Will, requiring no components to do so. Additionally, it is always under the effect of Blink. Creatures grappled by it are transported with it when it Blinks.
Astral Anatomy. Space itself bends to the Bagman's will. It can fit into a space as small as 1 inch without squeezing, and can walk on walls and ceilings. It can carry grappled creatures in this way.
Actions
Multiattack. The Bagman makes two Claw attacks.
Astral Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage. If the target is frightened, the Bagman deals an additional (4) 1d6 Necrotic Damage.
Thank you!
I just wanted to say thank you for checking out my latest release.
While I write the lore & stat blocks for these, I'm not an artist. As such, I use book sales to commission artwork from others to help bring these Encounters to life.
If you like my work & want to help, consider buying my book below (click the image). It contains every encounter I've written, plus all artwork and every monster stat block. That's over 115 pages of content!
Alternatively, you can send Pip a Tip via Ko-Fi, 100% of which is also used for art commissions.
Click here to view more
$9.99