Rootwraiths are evil spirits that inhabit dying forests and swamps. Few have survived an encounter with a rootwraith, and what little knowledge has been gleaned of the creatures has mostly been forgotten; just tidbits passed on through hushed whispers, encapsulated in a rhyme oft recited by village children:
In the heart of the forest, there’s a spirit that dwells.
A shadowy presence that lurks and swells.
It hides in the trees, with roots writhing and curling;
Amongst the vines that crawl, coiling and swirling.
It drains the life from those it captures,
Growing stronger still from the weakening creatures.
Those who see it, fear it and flee,
Avoiding the deep forests where it’s said to be.
A defeated rootwraith sheds 7 (2d6) rotbark.
Gloomchill Spear. As part of a long rest, if you have proficiency with carpenter’s or woodcarver’s tools, you can use your tools to combine a rootwraith’s remains and 100 gp in additional materials to create a gloomchill spear. A creature struck by the spear is dealt 4 (1d8) cold damage at the end of its turn if it receives healing before the end of its next turn.
Rotbark. This bark can be consumed as part of casting a damage dealing spell that requires material components. For this casting, one of the spell’s damage types is replaced by necrotic damage.
Fel Nature. Rootwraiths are sometimes the manifestation of long-dead druids or rangers who were consumed by their own fel magic. In these cases it would be appropriate to swap some or all of the rootwraith’s spells with selections from the druid or ranger spell lists.
Rootwraith
Huge Undead, Typically Neutral Evil
Armor Class 13 (16 with mage armor)
Hit Points 115 (11d12 + 44)
Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 10 (+0) | 16 (+3) | 13 (+1) |
Skills Perception +6, Stealth +9
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, poisoned, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3
Actions
Multiattack. The rootwraith makes one Feed attack and one Gloomchill attack. It can replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting.
Feed. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) necrotic damage, and the rootwraith regains hit points equal to the amount of damage taken.
Gloomchill. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) cold damage, and it can’t regain hit points until the start of the rootwraith’s next turn.
Spellcasting. The rootwrath casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Wisdom as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14):
At will: levitate, mage armor (self only), mage hand, minor illusion
2/day each: hellish rebuke (cold damage), misty step
1/day each: black tentacles, circle of death, cone of cold, fear
