Lord Blot

Tiny construct (sentient, psionic sphere of annihilation), neutral with flashes of chaotic evil

Armor Class 18
Hit Points n/a
Speed fly 35 ft., swim 35 ft., burrow 35 ft.

Saving Throws Immune to effects requiring Strength or Constitution saving throws. Dexterity +10, Intelligence +14
Damage Immunities Lord Blot is immune to all types of damage and cannot be affected by any kind of hit point loss.
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion, grappled, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, unconscious
Skills Arcana +20*, History +20*, Insight +9, Intimidation +11, Perception +9, Religion +14 (Lord Blot has expertise in Arcana and History and receives double its proficiency bonus on such checks, included above)
Senses blindsight 60 ft., tremorsense 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages Communicates by telepathy (range 1 mile), but can understand speech in Common, Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, and Primordial.
Challenge 18

Destructive Contact. Any person or object coming into contact with Lord Blot (including weapons) takes 22 (4d10) force damage.

True Name. Lord Blot is an adopted nickname, not the entity’s real name. As such, the name “Lord Blot” cannot be invoked to force Lord Blot through a gate spell. Lord Blot’s true name was given to it during the cosmos-spanning wars at the dawn of time. That true name is Evorsio. However, Lord Blot does not share its real name, nor does it answer to the name if it hears it spoken. Indeed, Lord Blot immediately plans to murder anyone who speaks its true name, however innocently. The entity has devoured every written record bearing that name that it can find, and it has spent thousands of years doing so.

Learning Lord Blot’s true name may require a quest in itself. Such a quest first requires digging through the names of other spheres of annihilation in ancient records transcribed from the primordial songs of angels and fiends. Even this step is a challenge, however, as such documents exist almost exclusively in occupied personal libraries of fiends and celestials on Outer Planes. Should adventurers gain access to these surviving, extraplanar accounts, they will find that many spheres are named throughout them: Nequam, Macula, Exitium, Labecula, Oblitero, Excidium, Litura, Pernicies, Naufragium. In each account, the number of spheres named varies. Some name just three; some name as many as seven. Each list of names overlaps a little with those named in other records. None of the available records, however, name more than seven spheres, though the number of spheres is always given as 10, in all accounts.  Collecting all of the names from available records, PCs will discover only nine. Over uncounted years, Lord Blot has bartered heavily for even extraplanar accounts that name it. Nevertheless, the list of names can prove useful. For instance, all of the names, from the Abyssal tongue, are synonyms for destruction, though each has a slightly different set of other associations. Some names mean destruction, erasure, removal. Others might mean destruction, extermination, death. Still others mean destruction, ruin, blot, blight. In short, the spheres’ names weren’t terribly creative. There was a theme. The set of Abyssal words that can reasonably translated as destruction is only about 20 deep and includes evorsio (Blot’s name). Moreover, even when the records do not name spheres, they sometimes nickname them, and the nicknames often appear to be attempts to translate from Abyssal. One sphere described in two accounts, said to be controlled by the periapt of the void, is nicknamed “The Ruining” in one document and “Obliteration” in the second, but no proper name is recorded. Study of the Abyssal language reveals that the word evorsio means destruction, obliteration, ruining. 

Finally, the periapt of the void has Blot’s true name etched in the Abyssal tongue, in a lost magical script, on the metal beneath the black onyx centerpiece of the device. Although the script resists comprehend languages, it can be sounded out by the spirits of the race that used the language–so the bones of a member of that lost race, sparked to brief unlife by speak with dead, could translate the markings.

Vulnerability to Telepathic Control. Any creature within 60 feet can attempt to control Lord Blot’s movements telepathically by beating the sphere in an Intelligence (Arcana) contest. Success means Lord Blot moves 5 feet for every point of Intelligence bonus the controller possesses. Lord Blot is aware of anyone who attempts such control, and if they fail but came close, it is likely to try to kill them before they make another attempt. Since it only loses control of its movements, not its spells or its mind, Lord Blot has ways to lash out at such controllers. Particularly against those who try to control it, it likes to use eyebite (sicken) to impose disadvantage on their ability checks.

Lord Blot is immune to the effects of all talismans of the sphere except for one — the periapt of the void. Anyone with the periapt of the void doubles his or her proficiency bonus on the check to control Lord Blot, and may, additionally, at the start of any turn with control over Lord Blot, levitate it 10 feet plus another 10 feet per point of Intelligence bonus. The periapt can only be destroyed by being fed to Lord Blot — and getting within the periapt’s range is a risky proposition for the sphere. It hopes one day to have the periapt left for it, unattended, so that it can destroy the device with little danger.

Vulnerability to Planar Destruction. Lord Blot can be destroyed if it is forced through planar gates, portals, or other high-level openings that enable subjects to cross from one plane to another. Note that lower-level spells that simply change which plane Lord Blot is on, without creating a portal to pass through, do not create the same paradoxical forces that gate and its ilk do and do not have the above effect. (Examples of spells that pose Blot no threat include banishment and plane shift.) For the effect to rip Lord Blot apart, the sphere must be physically or psychically forced over a threshold between planes.

Lord Blot can be compelled to enter a gate or portal by means of telepathic control (see above) or else clever attackers might hurl portable holes or the like at it.

Mere contact with a gate is not enough to destroy Blot, however. A normal sphere has no will of its own and cannot fight for a particular result. But Lord Blot is sentient and has invested a lot of effort into developing its self control and Arcana skills. Hence, the usual, random percentage roll for a sphere in a gate does not apply in Lord Blot’s case. Instead, the moment Lord Blot is conjured with gate by true name or pushed into contact with a gate, its contingency effect is triggered (see spells, below). Moreover, even if the contingency doesn’t save Blot, a contest occurs: Blot attempts to separate itself from the gate, and someone must try to compel it to stay with an Intelligence (Arcana) check. This check may be aided with the Help action by one other character. Spells like enhance ability and guidance can also improve a character’s chances of victory.

To destroy Lord Blot, the party must record three successful control checks before they fail three such checks.

As the challenge rages, Lord Blot shimmers and screams psychically. It begins consuming the air in front of it, generating a vacuum effect to keep it from going through the gate or hole. The air ripples with turbulence, and light bends around the scene as space warps. Everything near the sphere appears to be distorted as though viewed through a fun-house mirror. Time warps, too, with characters closer to the sphere feeling as though time is moving much more slowly.

The longer the contest goes, the more violent the final result is, regardless of whether Lord Blot escapes or dies. The exact result of the contest depends upon which side succeeds — and how many checks it failed along the way.

• If Lord Blot wins the struggle with no successful PC control checks, Lord Blot passes through the portal to a destination of its choosing — and, as it passes through, it rips the gate or hole into a yawning, sucking rift. Each other creature or object within 180 feet of the rift must make a Strength saving throw (DC 22) or be sucked into the rift and sent to a random plane of existence. 
• If Lord Blot wins the struggle with only 1 successful PC control check, the sphere escapes through the portal to the other side, unharmed — and then the rift slams shut with a deafening clap.
• If Lord Blot wins the struggle after 2 successful PC control checks, it resists being pulled into the portal, which slams shut with a deafening clap. Due to the trauma of its recent struggle, Lord Blot has disadvantage on attacks, ability checks, and saving throws until its next short rest and, accordingly, attempts to flee.
• If Lord Blot loses the struggle after 2 failed PC control checks, the sphere is destroyed but the forces at work tear a hole in space. Each other creature or object within 180 feet of the rift must make a Strength saving throw (DC 22) or be sucked into the rift and sent to a random plane of existence.
• If Lord Blot loses the struggle after 1 failed PC control check, the sphere is destroyed and a 30-foot radius blast deals 22 (4d10) force damage to all creatures and structures that fail a Constitution saving throw (DC 22).
• If Lord Blot loses the struggle with no failed PC control checks, it is pulled into the portal, stretched, ripped, and destroyed, with no collateral damage.

Vulnerability to Antimagic. In the presence of antimagic fields, Lord Blot winks out of existence. It remains in this state until the condition is lifted. When it returns, it can deduce what has happened and that time has passed, but without investigating, it does not know how much time has passed or what was done while it was gone. An antimagic shell is, for the PCs, a lot like a mass time stop. 

Undermine. By burrowing through support structures or underneath the feet of characters, Lord Blot can topple walls, collapse roofs, and create hidden pit traps. It uses blindsight and tremorsense to identify the best places to dig. It can “dig” as quickly as it can move.

Collapsing Roof. The collapsing roof trap can only be used once per roof (obviously), but Lord Blot can create and trigger this trap as a free action during its movement, provided it can reach at least three supports (pillars or walls) during that movement. All characters below the roof must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage per floor above them on a failed save or half damage on a successful saving throw. If Lord Blot cannot reach three supports in one movement and does not use Dash to complete its path, it can hit one or two supports this turn and finish the set on its next turn. If it does this, everyone below the roof sees that it is about to collapse–masonry crumbles, walls rumble, dust rains into the air. 

Topple Wall. The toppling wall can only be used once per wall (obviously), but Lord Blot can create and trigger this trap as a free action during its movement. All characters beside the wall, within a distance equal to the height of the wall, must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d10 (11) bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half damage on a successful saving throw.

Hidden Pit Trap (70 ft. deep). Lord Blot can create a hidden pit trap over the course of 3 turns of movement: one turn is spent diving into the ground; another is spent tunneling laterally to where it wants the bottom of the pit to be; the third is spent racing toward the surface and turning aside just before it reaches the point where the ground would give way above it. Once a trap is in place, PCs must make a DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot something wrong and a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to recognize the hidden trap for what it is. If someone steps onto the trapped ground and fails a DC 20 Dexterity save, the ground crumbles under their weight and they fall, taking 7d6 damage upon hitting the bottom. Given a fourth round, Lord Blot can position itself at the bottom of the pit so that targets land on it, dealing an additional 22 (4d10) force damage to them if they fail a second DC 20 Dexterity save upon landing.

Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). Lord Blot’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 22, spell attack +14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: clairvoyance, detect magic, detect thoughts, mage hand (the hand is invisible)

3/day: dispel magic, major image

1/day each: antipathy/sympathy (only on self), contingency*,  dimensional anchor*, eyebite, invisibility, mirror image, nondetection (self only), plane shift (self only), telekinesis, teleport, wall of force, and summon 1d4+2 motes**

* Every 10 days, or whenever the previous contingency has been triggered, Lord Blot renews contingency and dimensional anchor, targeting itself. If a planar portal (of the kind created by spells like gate) is ever created within 120 feet, or with “Evorsio” named as the portal’s target (again, as might happen with gate), the contingency triggers, dimensionally anchoring Lord Blot and preventing it from being moved from its current plane. Unless it is the same day it has cast contingency, Lord Blot will still have a dimensional anchor spell free to cast.

** Motes are inverse, or black, will-o’-wisps. Instead of shedding light or becoming invisible, motes are normally wispy balls of black, necrotic energy which can shed darkness at will. That darkness lasts until the mote attacks or feeds, at which point the darkness recedes back into the mote’s ball form. Telling the difference between a mote and a sphere of annihilation requires a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check if a full action is spent on the task, or a DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check if the attempt is made on-the-fly.

Actions

Multiattack. Lord Blot makes a single Annihilate attack against every creature whose space it moves through. It may make these attacks while taking the Dash action, or it may move its normal speed, making incidental attacks as it passes through squares, in the same turn that it casts a spell.

Annihilate. Melee Touch Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 22 (4d10) force damage.

Next page: Lord Blot’s Strategies