Monster Of The Week: Displacer Beast

Unseelie Origins

Displacer Beasts roamed the endless twilight of the Feywild for ages, until they were captured, bred, and trained by the Unseelie Court.  The Soldiers Of Winter bred the beasts to reinforce their own ferocious nature, utilizing them to hunt unicorns, pegasi, and other mythical, wondrous creatures.  However, it was only a matter of time before these malevolent prides broke away from their cruel masters.
  Running and breeding freely in the Feywild, the Displacer Beasts soon came to the attention of the Seelie Court.  With Blink Dog companions of their own, the rivalry was palpable, and the Summer Court drove the Displacer Beasts to the edges of the wild.  To this day, Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs attack each other on sight, an ancient violence.

By The Numbers

  The Displacer Beast is a strong and agile adversary.  What it lacks in AC (12-14), it makes up for with multiple attacks, decent speed (40-50), and good pool of hit points (80-130).  Some versions of the monstrosity don't even include its menacing claws, the stat block only exploring its strange spined tentacles.  ...This is a dumb choice; it's a freaking badass panther with six legs - use them.  Some variants include a pouncing mechanic where the Displacer Beast can knock a creature down, and take a rending attack on their prone form for free, opting to slash with their claws or bite into their food.
  What makes the Displacer Beast particularly dangerous are its other key mechanics: 
1. Avoidance - basically Evasion for monsters.  Made the save - no damage.  Failed the save - half damage.  Means that they're hardier than you would expect.
2. Displacement - attacks against the creature have disadvantage until it actually gets hit, and this passive power recharges at end of its turns.  Abilities like Sentinel, where a creature's speed can be made 0, will also interrupt this ability, but you still have to HIT IT first.

Displacer Beasts In Io

Displacer Beasts were once the prized jailers and guards of the nobility that filled the upper ranks of the Unseelie Court.  After the Massacre At Harrowhome, however, their prized position grew scattered, and one too many instances of their allegiance being swayed fell dim upon the Dread Queen Mab.  In the Ruins of the Season, deep in the harrowed halls of the broken citadels of beasts and men, prides of Displacer Beasts roam and hunt.  
  But not all nobility has turned a blind eye to these creatures with a love for the kill.  Excellent trackers, a Displacer Beast may sometimes roam with hunters and assassins of a deadly order.  Creatures contracted to hunt their own, these "Skipjacks" utilize the Displacer Beast as a dangerous ally in their pursuit of their fellow Fey.

Variant: Displacer Alpha

An Alpha is the king of a Displacer Pride, and it got there by vicious rite and ritual combat.
  In the dark wilds of the Feywild, variants of the Displacer Beast have emerged.  Brandishing a living cloak of up to nine tentacles, these larger and stronger mutations are intelligent, calculating, cruel, and linguistic.  This allows cunning tactics and maneuvers for the prides they command.
  In addition to a superior size (Huge) and strength (20-22), an Alpha brandishes layered cords of muscle and bone; armored spurs beneath their shifting fur and ethereal displacement (AC of 16-17).  The multitude of tendrils that they command grant them unique properties - like grappling, poisoning, and restraining their prey.  An Alpha is also a master of its ethereal displacement, able to teleport short distances without sacrificing momentum as part of their Pounce feature.
  If an Alpha is ever usurped by another within the Pride, they are exiled - a Disgraced Alpha.  These lonely mutations wander the dark wastes to either seize another throne or serve some greater being than themselves.  Whatever the circumstance, they are not to be trifled with.

Legend Of The Shift King

GM's Note: Since the first campaign I ran in this custom setting, there have been old tapestries, panoramas, ancient texts, and obscure references that player-characters have stumbled across.  Each lore drop would be a tiny morsel of a much larger picture; an eight-legged displacer beast with boney spurs around the jaw-line, multiple tendrils lifting from its back like a living mantle, and a crown of black and silver spines protruding from its head.  This regal creature was always set upon a high rock surrounded by hundreds of other beasts, each bowing to it as if it were their king.  
  The first time this image was presented, I remember my players vigorously writing it down.  At any point following this, any players to be present during this strange initial reveal would bring it up again if ever they fell into an encounter with a Displacer Pride, but little came of it.  
​  Will we see more?  Only my players can tell you...

Tread safely under the borealis of the Feywild.
-Adamus

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