Elden Ring: Nightreign – Nightlords

Continuing my look back at some of my work from 2025, I had entirely forgotten that I never shared my 5th Edition conversion of the Nightlords from Elden Ring: Nightreign. Eight massive bosses, all of them multi-phase with mythic traits and legendary actions. Plus Heolstor, a three-phase boss with a built-in transformation, for a solid "ten" monsters total.

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Here's the third of my conversions for the avatars of Elemental Evil - which I have turned into a servitor of Ymeri in the Golarion-verse. I've tried to make the Holocaust Disciple into something of a ranged combatant, in order to keep with its role in 3.5; still, there is the fact that a simple protection from elements spell will cripple this creature's offensive - which is why it is usually accompanied by tougher bruisers. Getting a holocaust disciple and a sufficiently aged red dragon with dispel magic to work together would probably make for a really dangerous encounter.

Again, enjoy and feel free to tell me where i can do better.

HOLOCAUST DISCIPLE

Image (c) Wizards of the Coast, from Monster Manual IV, author A. Stokes

Before you stands an imposing humanoid figure whose body seems to be made of pure fire. Its face is contorted in a wrathful grimace, and it wears a plain red robe that somehow is not consumed by the blaze.

HOLOCAUST DISCIPLE       CR 15

XP 51’200

NE Large Outsider (elemental, evil, extraplanar, fire)

Init +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +24

Aura heat (15 ft., DC 26)

DEFENSE

AC 29, touch 18, flat-footed 20 (+8 Dex, +1 dodge, +11 natural, -1 size)

hp 216 (16d10+128); fast healing 5

Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +14;

Damage Reduction 15/good; Immune elemental traits

Weakness vulnerable to cold

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., flying 60 ft. (good)

Melee 2 slams +23 (2d10+6 plus 2d6 fire plus burn)

Ranged flame bolt +24 touch (8d6 fire / 19-20)

Special Attacks burn (2d10, DC 26), flame bolt, flame wave, heat aura

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th, concentration +23)

     At will – fireball (DC 20), fire shield (warm only, DC 21)

     3/day – wall of fire

     1/day – meteor swarm (DC 26)

STATISTICS

Str 23, Dex 27, Con 26, Int 15, Wis 22, Cha 24

Base Atk +16; CMB +23; CMD 41

Feats Combat Casting (B), Dodge, Improved Critical (flame bolt), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Shot On The Run, Weapon Finesse, Wind Stance

Skills Acrobatics +21, Bluff +18, Fly +21, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (planes) +21, Perception +24, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +21, Survival +22

Languages Common, Draconic, Ignan

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Elemental Plane of Fire)

Organization solitary (plus followers)

Treasure standard, no flammable items

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Flame Bolt (Ex): A holocaust disciple can shoot a bolt of flames at a single target as a ranged touch attack. This attack has a maximum range of 200 feet with no range increment.

Flame Wave (Su): A holocaust disciple can generate a wave of flames rollingout from its body. Any creature within 60 feet of the holocaust disciple takes 15d6 points of fire damage and must successfully resist a bull rush maneuver or be knocked prone. A successful Reflex save (DC 26) halves the damage and negates the bull rush maneuver. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Heat Aura (Su): At the end of each of their turns, all creatures within 15 feet of a holocaust disciple must make a Fortitude save (DC 26) or become fatigued from the intense heat that surrounds the disciple. A creature that is already fatigued becomes exhausted instead. A creature must attempt this saving throw each round it is within range, whether or not it has succeeded on an earlier save. The fatigued and exhausted conditions remain until the creature remains within the disciple’s heat aura, and for 1 minute after it has left the aura. A creature that has resistance or immunity to fire is immune to this effect. The save DC is Constitution-based. 

Unnatural beings of malevolent fire, holocaust disciples serve Ymeri the Queen of the Inferno, the ruler of evil fire elementals. They often accompany powerful priests of the Queen or covens of fire giants servitors, but their thirst for destruction causes them to chafe if they remain in stable locations for long. Holocaust disciples are the smartest of the elemental avatars, but they are constantly torn between their responsibilities and their innate destructive urges. Given free rein, a holocaust disciple would like nothing more than burn their mistress’ enemies and turn everything they cherish to ashes, but their position requires them to be patient, cunning and calculating, and to make sound decisions in order to further Ymeri’s will.

An holocaust disciple enjoys combat as a way to vent its perpetual rage. They are cunning combatants, but their impressive intellects are almost exclusively bent towards destruction. Usually, a holocaust disciple hangs back and flies above the battlefield, bathing its master’s enemies in withering flames while minimizing risks to itself. It prefers to work with creatures such as fire giants or red dragons, whose immunity to heat allows them to close in melee while shrugging off the disciple’s fiery bombardment. The very air around a holocaust disciple is overheated, cutting off its enemies’ breath and draining their strength.

In what spare time they have, many holocaust disciples enjoy collecting treasures that can withstand great heat, such as gems and magic items. They also love to collect coins to melt them down and reshape them into strange art objects. Collectors who specialize in alien, planar art forms would pay good prices for such finished works.

Any form of life native to the Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo must be capable of great feats of elemental endurance or reliably shaping the chaos to meet its own needs. It is telling, then, that rainbow bamboo is both- extremely durable and capable of chaos-shaping any githzerai anarch would envy, these sentient grasses are far more than they appear.

Although near immobile in the conventional sense, rainbow bamboo are actually highly skilled at manipulating the chaos of Limbo to move about, creating objective gravity and rooting themselves in motes of elemental earth to cover great distances without properly moving. Intellectual capacities as great as theirs require fuel, and rainbow bamboo are consummate wanderers, explorers, and scientists of the elemental arts. Alchemists everywhere would be fortunate to study at the roots of a grove of this astute grass.

Rainbow bamboo is aptly named; each individual stem is often vibrant with colors all over the visual spectrum, and some even undetectable with the typical humanoid eye. They grow at great speed and reproduce by budding; it is my personal belief that most currently-living rainbow bamboos are all descendants of an original stand in the distant past, an impression the bamboos have yet to correct.

The Archvillain Archive is OUT NOW!

This 100 page supplement is brimming with 29 villains for your Dungeons and Dragons games, all the way from challenge rating 15 - 30! 

(I know this one was a bit late but as you can see it was worth it).

The Stormheart Flesh Golem (Sometimes called the Stormheart Golem for the sake of brevity) is a Flesh Golem whom, for whatever reason, has absorbed an overabundance of electricity, having somehow become a living storm. The reasons for the creation of these beings is myriad: Perhaps its creator was experimenting with a new energy source, perhaps a passing Storm God decided to claim the wretch as their own and overloaded it with power, perhaps the golem had parts taken from a storm cleric or storm blooded sorcerer. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: A flesh Golem whose body courses with the power of an unbridled tempest.

Unlike common flesh golems, who are barely sapient, Stormheart Golems are highly intelligent and are not beholden to their creators. They may stick around briefly, but most eventually abandon their creators (which also involves killing them) and then retreat to some remote area where they may contemplate the nature of storms and their own bizarre existence.

Stormheart Golems are not malicious by nature, but at the same time they prefer their solitude. They understand that their existence is unnatural and that the world at large will not accept them. This arrangement suits them fine because they do not seek companionship either, merely to stand out in the open and enjoy the majesty of the storm. Stormheart Golems do have volatile tempers though; if encountered they can be spoken to or reasoned with, but are easily provoked, and those who attack them beware, because a Stormheart Golem commands the power of the storm itself.

Cloud Ray Gargantuan monstrosity, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 312 (16d20 + 144) Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) Str 28 Dex 13 Con 28 Int 2 Wis 11 Cha 11 Saving Throws Wis +5 Skills Stealth +6 Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 10 Languages - Challenge 15 (13000 XP) Levitate. A cloud ray controls its altitude by generating and manipulating lighter than air gasses inside its body. When it moves it can change this gas composition to either ascend up to 20 feet or descend up to 500 feet. It cannot change its altitude in any other way. Protection From Arrows. Ranged weapon attacks made with nonmagical weapons that target the cloud ray are made with disadvantage. Sky Camouflage. The cloud ray has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide while flying above a creature. Actions Multiattack. The ray makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tail. It can't make both attacks against the same target. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d10+9) piercing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the ray. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the ray, and it takes 25 (3d10+9) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the ray's turns. If the ray takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the ray must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the ray. If the ray dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone. Tail Slap. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (4d8+9) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 22 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Cloud rays are among the largest and most majestic of all flying creatures. They can’t truly fly, instead levitating while propelling themselves through the air with their wing flaps. They look like manta rays, except with skin in shades of dark blue and gray, with lighter colours underneath. Averaging over twenty feet long, and with wingspans that can exceed 60 feet at their peak, they are somehow easy to miss when looking up for them in the sky due to their natural camouflage against the sky and clouds. Its triangular abdomen narrows down to a long, agile tail covered with bony spines.

Aside from very old dragons, cloud rays have no natural predators. They hunt and feed on pegasi, manticores, hippogriffs, griffons, and even rocs when the opportunity presents itself. Large, flying creatures are their primary prey, but they will swoop low and feed on large creatures they find on the ground, on rare occasion even devouring entire villages. They do not deliberately seek out humanoid prey however, and most older cloud rays recognize humanoids as potential threats after getting burned by magic or shot with ballista bolts. They have some degree of protection from nonmagical ranged attacks, as the strong wings swirling around them knocks mundane ammunition about and often absorbs the impact.

Creature they swallow are deposited into a long throat filled with grinding teeth, as the rays don’t have a proper stomach. Food crushed into a paste by the teeth is deposited directly into the ray’s intestines, so it chews thoroughly to ensure proper digestion. Of course, escaping after being swallowed by a cloud ray may be just as fatal as remaining inside if the creature has ascended high enough.