Its regional effects work the way other regional effects do, out to a distance of 1 mile: the balhannoth can sense the desires of a humanoid wanderer and can implant in that wanderer the sense that the fulfillment of those desires is nearby. And this is where the balhannoth gets truly strange, because its lair actions-which take place on initiative count 20, like all lair actions-seem designed specifically to be used outside the context of a combat encounter, when there is no “initiative count 20” or any other initiative count. It does this by way of its regional effects and lair actions. The raison d’être of the balhannoth, a denizen of the Shadowfell, is to sucker lost wanderers into its lair by making it appear and feel like the answer to their deepest longings. If you knew nothing else about the balhannoth, you’d think it was basically an unusually vicious roper-a brute that snatches foes with its tentacles and holds them in place, restrained, while chomping down on them with advantage.īut then there’s the other half of its kit. (Although the illustration in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes seems to suggest that it floats like a grell, it has no flying speed-just walking and climbing, both 25 feet.) I’ll talk about its third legendary action in a moment.
It can also Teleport up to 60 feet, which is useful for positioning, because the balhannoth is slow. This makes the Tentacle × 4 Multiattack option more appealing, as the balhannoth doesn’t have to forgo biting altogether simply because it wanted to snatch as many foes as possible in its tentacles. If only a couple of enemies are within reach, it can grab and Bite right away.Īs a legendary creature, the balhannoth has three legendary actions, one of which is Bite Attack-a Bite on another creature’s turn. If opponents are rushing the balhannoth, or if they’re clustered too closely together, the latter lets it seize several of them at once. Its Multiattack offers two choices: Tentacle/Tentacle/Bite (or Tentacle/Bite/Tentacle) and Tentacle × 4. A balhannoth can grab up to four targets this way. Additionally, the grappled target “is moved up to 5 feet toward the balhannoth.” “Up to 5” includes zero, and this gives the balhannoth the option of either reeling a target in to Bite them or holding them at a safe distance, out of melee attack reach.
Its Tentacle action does bludgeoning damage (which can be read as “constricting” as well as “whomping”) and also grapples and restrains on a hit. Its Bite action is a basic melee attack that deals a ferocious four dice of piercing damage at close range. Going by its ability scores and its attack actions, the balhannoth is a straightforward brute, with exceptional Strength and Constitution. Not necessarily because it has the most peculiar abilities-although a couple of its abilities are unique and quite interesting-but because it almost seems like two different monsters in one, each with a completely different modus operandi. A couple of readers asked me to look at the balhannoth, and I have to say, this is one of the strangest stat blocks I’ve ever looked at.
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