The Cleric Beast (BBS)

T
he Cleric Beast is a twisted monstrosity born When its 1st hit point pool is reduced to 0, its leaping slam
from the fears of man and the beastly nature recharges, which it will use to punish the creature who last
within them. Its howls strike fear into the damaged it, assuming it can reach.
hearts of men, and its terrible grip crushes the
life from their blood. When the unending night Strengths and Weaknesses
falls and the hunt begins, the Cleric Beast will The creature's huge size and lack of armor makes it rather
emerge from the darkened hearts of men. easy to hit. More significantly, it's vulnerability to fire and
These wretched creatures were once members of a long- slashing damage makes it surprisingly easy prey. It makes up
forgotten clergy who had discovered the power of an ancient for these weaknesses with its incredible strength, mobility,
blood. They consumed the blood to gain strength and drive and ferocity when weakened.
away their fears, but in doing so drew themselves into the Obviously slashing and fire attacks are the most effective,
temptations of beasthood. It is said that humanity shackles the but abilities that reduce its movement speed will also be
beastly nature, but the stronger the shackle, the greater the helpful, as most of its mobility abilities derive from it.
recoil is when the shackle is finally broken. Thus clerics made It's crushing grip is somewhat difficult to land, as while it
the largest and most twisted beasts. Though the church has has advantage on grapple checks it does not add its
long disappeared into the annals of history, the old blood proficiency bonus to them, but it deals the most damage and
remains in the memories of those who desire power or fear it's the only ability that adds its proficiency bonus to the saving
fear. For as long as mankind persists, the beast is not far throw DC, so squishy targets with low Strength or Dexterity
behind. should beware.
Cleric Beast Tactics The minimum level of a 4 PC party should be 5, but that
comes with a very high risk warning. The defensive CR of this
The Cleric Beast is bestially instinctual in its approach and creature is around 5, and its 1st stage offensive CR is ~7, but
strategy. It crushes those beneath it, fears what hurts it, and its 2nd stage offensive CR is 12! If you want to reduce its
when backed into a corner becomes more ferocious. It used to offensive power, consider changing its 1st hit point pool from
be a human cleric; only a spell of 7th level or higher has any 77 to 102 and its 2nd hit point pool from 77 to 52.
hope of returning it to any semblance of its former self.
The Cleric Beast likes to start by using its leaping slam to
punish as many prey as possible, and then let loose its
frightening roar to rattle them. It then proceeds to alternate
between multiattack and crushing grip on its turns. Sudden
Leap keeps it from being boxed in, and side-swipe punishes
those who stay too near. However, if no one is willing to grab
the beast's attention, then that frees the beast up to target
whoever it wishes, making it more likely for squishier targets
to be targeted. With a 5 Intelligence, the beast's mind has
degraded only to nearly that of a true beast's, so it is still
capable of recognizing when a hostile prey is going
unpunished.
Never forget that the beast's huge size allows it to move
through the spaces of hostile creatures size Medium and
lower. When it uses its leaping slam, it can land atop
creatures before ending its turn in an empty space. When it
multiattacks, have it leave a trail of destruction all the way to
the back line. Having fallen to beasthood, it pays little
attention to its prey's opportunity attacks.
The Cleric Beast is vulnerable to fire and slashing damage.
When it takes damage of these types, it instinctively retreats
using reactive leap. Creatures who deal these types of
damage it will prioritize in crushing.
The Cleric Beast has the Paragon Fortitude and Paragon
Fury features, which means it has multiple pools of hit points,
and when the 1st hit point pool is reduced to 0, it gains an
additional turn in the initiative order.
Art Credit: Bloodborne Official Art

This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used
are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

THE CLERIC BEAST | BY /u/LEUKU

The Cleric Beast (BBS)
Huge Monstrosity, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 77/77 (14d12 + 56)
Speed 40 feet
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20(+5) 17(+3) 18(+4) 5(-3) 13(+1) 14(+2)
Saving Throws Strength +8, Dexterity +6
Skills Intimidation +5
Damage Vulnerabilities Fire, Slashing
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Force, Lightning,
Necrotic, Poison, Psychic, Radiant
Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages ---
Challenge 8-9ish
Paragon Fortitude. The creature has multiple pools of hit
points, each of which is tracked separately. All damage
and healing must be completely applied to only one
pool. When a pool is reduced to zero, all ongoing
conditions and effects affecting the creature end. Once
a pool is reduced to zero, that pool cannot receive any
healing until after a long rest. If all hit of the point pools
are reduced to zero, the creature is killed.
Paragon Fury. The Cleric Beast may take one additional
turn in each round of combat for each of its hit point
pools that have been reduced to zero. The creature
determines initiative normally for its first turn, though it
gains advantage on the roll. Each subsequent turn the
creature gains is inserted immediately after any one PC’s
turn in the initiative order.
Keen Senses. The Cleric Beast has advantage on Wisdom
(Perception) checks that rely on smell and sound.
Monstrous Grip. The Cleric Beast has advantage on
Strength (Athletics) checks to grapple and escape
grapples.
Monstrous Leap. The Cleric Beast can make running
jumps standing, has a long jump max distance of 40
feet and a high jump max distance of 20 feet.
Actions
Bite the Bullet. The Cleric Beast takes 5 damage and ends
any one condition or effect afflicting it. This damage
cannot be reduced in any way. If the condition or effect
comes from a spell cast at 3rd level or higher, it must
take 10 damage instead. If it is unable to take an action
on its turn, it can instead use this ability at the end of its
turn, no action required.
This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used
are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
THE CLERIC BEAST | BY /u/LEUKU
Leaping Slam. The Cleric Beast jumps to a space within
30 feet and strikes the ground with its fists. Creatures
within 5 feet of the space in which the Cleric Beast
lands must make a DC13 Dexterity saving throw, taking
17 (3d10) bludgeoning damage and falling prone on a
failed save, or half as much damage on a success. Once
it uses this ability, it cannot use it again until the end of
its next short or long rest.
Recharge Fortitude: When one Hit Point pool is
reduced to 0, greater leap recharges and can be used
immediately as a reaction.
Multiattack. The Cleric Beast makes 1 swipe and 1 slam
attack.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one
target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the
target must succeed on a DC13 Strength saving throw
or fall prone.
Swipe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one
target. Hit: 11 (3d4 + 3) slashing damage.
Crushing Grip. The Cleric Beast makes a grapple attempt
against a creature within 10 feet of it. On a success, the
creature is pulled to a space adjacent to the Cleric Beast,
becomes incapacitated for as long as it is grappled, and
must make a DC16 Strength saving throw, taking 19
(3d8+5) bludgeoning damage on failed save or half as
much on a success. The creature then falls prone and
the grapple ends.
Legendary Actions (3 actions)
Sudden Leap. The Cleric Beast jumps up to half its speed
without triggering opportunity attacks.
Legendary Reactions
Reactive Leap. When the Cleric Beast takes damage with
a damage type it is vulnerable to, it jumps up to half its
speed away from the source of the damage without
triggering opportunity attacks.
Side-swipe. When a creature ends its turn adjacent to the
Cleric Beast, it makes a swipe attack against that
creature.
Bonus Actions
Frightening Roar. The Cleric Beast unleashes a terrorizing
screech, forcing creatures within 60 ft. of it to succeed
on a DC13 Wisdom saving throw or else become
frightened until the end of the Cleric Beast's next turn.
Once it uses this ability, it cannot do so again until the
end of its next short rest.
Reactions
Opportunity Attack. When the Cleric Beast makes an
opportunity attack, it must use its swipe attack.
Foundation
The basis for this Big Boss Solo monster is from my essay on
Designing the Mechanics of the Big Bad and the subsequent
Big Boss Solo Inserts essay.
My last Big Boss Solo was Scaramouche the Merciless.
I've also written essays on:
Guide to Balancing (and Judging the Balance of) Homebrew
Classes
Challenging Encounter Philosophy: Deconstructing the 6-8
Encounter Adventuring Day
Goal Oriented Encounters: How do I challenge my PCs
without having to make monsters stronger?
Non-Resource Related Consequences: How do I get my
players to care about my NPCs?
And if you've got a dollar to spare, or are already part of EN
World's En5ider Patreon, please check out my character-
count limited but artfully decorated Tinkerer class, Basic
(Base class and 1 subclass) and Advanced (2 subclasses and
more Power Appliances)! Also my free Guide to Designing
Power Appliances.
Also maybe check out this Monarchsfactory youtube video
because she references a feature from my Big Boss Solo
Inserts essay at some point.

This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used
are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

THE CLERIC BEAST | BY /u/LEUKU

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