Tamburan

Medium undead (spirit), chaotic evil

Armor Class 14 (shadowy hide)

Hit Points 85 (10d8 + 40)

Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)

STR 6 (−2) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 18 (+4) · INT 11 (+0) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +4, Cha +5

Skills Intimidation +5, Perception +4, Stealth +8

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant (see Sun-doom)

Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, poisoned, prone, restrained

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages understands every language it knew in life but speaks only by telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Traits

Incorporeal Movement. Tamburan can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Droning Terror. A low, unearthly hum precedes Tamburan. Creatures that start their turn within 30 feet of it and can hear the drone must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of their next turn. A creature that succeeds is immune to the drone for 24 hours.

Sun-doom. At the start of each of Tamburan’s turns in direct sunlight, it takes 20 radiant damage. If this damage reduces it to 0 hit points, Tamburan is destroyed with no incorporeal resurgence.

Forced Manifestation. A creature that deals radiant damage to Tamburan, or brandishes a holy symbol or consecrated flame within 10 feet of it (action required), forces Tamburan to become tangible until the end of its next turn. While tangible, it loses Incorporeal Movement and its resistances to non-magical damage.

Wave Form. If Tamburan is touching a body of water, it can use a bonus action to transform into a crashing wave until the end of its next turn. In this form its speed becomes swim 60 ft., it can move through other creatures’ spaces, and its Drain Essence action is replaced by Wave Slam.

Actions

Multiattack. Tamburan makes two Drain Essence attacks.

Drain Essence. Melee Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) necrotic damage, and the target’s hit-point maximum is reduced by the same amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit-point maximum to 0.

Wave Slam (Wave Form Only). Tamburan flows through a 15-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Objects and unattended items in the line take the damage automatically.

Bonus Actions

Mist Shift. Tamburan becomes invisible until the start of its next turn or until it attacks.

Reactions

Flicker. When Tamburan is hit by an attack it can see, it halves the damage of that attack and moves up to 20 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

Lore

A malicious spirit that causes every kind of misfortune but is dangerous only at night.

In Solomon Islands mythology, Tamburan is viewed as an aggressive spirit whose activity is confined to the night. The very name is the same word used for sacred musical instruments and ancestral houses, so many see Tamburan as a distorted echo of a protective forebear. It is a threat that cannot be appeased; if your party ever crosses its path, your only real task is to banish the malevolent force.

In its default state, Tamburan appears as an amorphous mass of shadow—so black it seems darker than the darkest night. When a direct assault is needed, the spirit condenses into a tall humanoid silhouette with arms and legs far too long; the only sharp features are its burning red-or-orange eyes. Some traditions add that it can become a single gigantic wave, racing along the coast and smashing targets with water pressure. Lacking any ornaments or symbolic inlays, Tamburan radiates spiritual emptiness, which explains why a successful hit drains the victim’s mana: charms and wards sputter out, and the target’s motivation and positive thoughts collapse.

From Oceanian Bestiary 5E, p. 84 · Fern Flower Press