Blood Fiends

Blood Fiend Lore

Religion DC 15: Blood fiends are a vampiric plague upon the
Abyss, roving whirlwinds of carnage that tear through
demonic hosts with a fury that terrifies even creatures of
terror.
Religion DC 20: Blood fiends are despised by all demons,
but most of all by Orcus, as they and the abyssal thralls they
raise defy his mastery over the forces of undeath, beholden
only to their own ravenous hungers.
Blood Fiend Tactics
Blood fiends never employ stealth or subterfuge, running full-
tilt from battle to battle from the moment of their creation.
They are hostile to all creatures other than their own Abyssal
Thralls, but prefer demonic targets, trying always to get the
finishing blow on one with their Blood Drain so they can
raise it as a thrall.
They typically use their Terror Gaze only if they cannot
reach their next intended meal this turn, or with their
Fiendish Glare reaction, otherwise preferring to deal damage
now. They rarely bother to attack downed non-demon
creatures, instead leaving them to be torn apart by the thralls
the fiend raises.
Blood fiends use their Hurl only on non-demon creatures,
or if they have grown impatient with a particularly resilient
demon and easier prey is within reach.
They typically make no effort to position themselves near
demonic corpses to make use of their Bloodmist Rebirth, but
when activated immediately leap back into the fray if any
demonic foes they can feed on remain, or flee
otherwise.
Abyssal Thrall
Medium or Large fiend/undead (demon), chaotic
evil
Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 30 (4d8 + 12)
Speed The speeds it possessed in life
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 2 (-4) 6 (-2) 6 (-2)
Damage Immunities Poison
Condition Immunities Exhaustion, Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 8
Languages Understands Abyssal but can't speak it
Challenge M16 (1,500 XP)
Minion. If the thrall takes damage from an attack or
as the result of a failed saving throw, its hit points
are reduced to 0. If the thrall takes damage from
another effect, it dies if the damage equals or
exceeds its hit point maximum, otherwise it takes
no damage.
Bound Thrall. Whenever it attempts to attack the
creature that raised it or one of that creature's
allies, the thrall must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving
throw. On a failed save, the thrall is Charmed by its
target for the next hour and must choose a new
target or lose the attack.
Actions
Rip and Tear (Group Attack). Melee Weapon Attack:
+9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 slashing
damage.

Reactions
Blood-Crazed Advance. When a creature within 30
feet takes any piercing or slashing damage, the
thrall can move up to half its speed directly toward
the creature.

Abyssal Thrall Tactics

If not currently Charmed, abyssal thralls always immediately
attack their creator if nearby, though while Charmed through
their Bound Thrall trait become mostly manageable outside
of combat, only rarely attacking their creator's allies.
Once blood is shed, abyssal thralls attack whichever
creature they can reach that was most recently dealt piercing
or slashing damage, and always use their Blood-Crazed
Advance whenever available, even if already engaged with a
different foe.
 Blood Fiend
Large fiend/undead (demon), chaotic evil
Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 272 (32d10 + 96)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
21 (+5) 15 (+2) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 18 (+4)
Saving Throws DEX +7, CON +8, WIS +7, CHA +9
Damage Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning, Necrotic;
Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from
Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened,
Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages Abyssal, Telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)
Bloodmist Rebirth. When it drops to 0 hit points, the
fiend bursts into a 30 foot radius of crimson mist that
heavily obscures the area for 1d4 rounds, after which
the fiend may consume a demonic corpse in the area
to gain a new body with 1 hit point and take on the
corpse's appearance.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the fiend fails a saving
throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. The fiend makes three attacks, one of
which may be with its Blood Drain.
Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5
ft., one grappled, incapacitated, restrained, or willing
creature. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage plus 21
(6d6) necrotic damage and the target must succeed on
a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or lose three
unexpended hit dice, or drop to 0 hit points if it
cannot. The fiend gains 10 hit points for each hit die
lost this way by a demon.
Razor Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit. reach
10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage
and the target is grappled (escape DC 18).
Creating a Blood Fiend
Blood fiends don't create more of their kind intentionally, but
may do so by accident. When a demon of CR 11 or higher
begins its turn in a space affected by the blood fiend's
Bloodmist Rebirth, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution
saving throw or be infected with Blood Madness.
An infected demon becomes hostile to all other creatures,
gains the Bloodmist Rebirth trait, and transforms into a
Blood Fiend if it gains a new body with the trait.
Concussive Slam. The fiend slams up to two creatures
grappled by it into each other or a solid surface.
Each of the creatures must succeed on a DC 18
Constitution saving throw or take 33 (6d10)
bludgeoning damage, or half as much on a success.
A creature that fails this saving throw by 5 or more is
Stunned until the end of the fiend's next turn.
Terror Gaze (Recharge 5-6, Concentration). One creature
within 60 feet that the fiend can see must succeed on
a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be Frightened for the
next minute (Save Ends at end of turn).
While Frightened in this way, any attack that hits the
creature becomes a critical hit.
Bonus Actions
Demonic Shapechanger. The fiend takes on the form of
any Large demon, a Large cloud of crimson mist with a
20 ft. fly speed, or back to its true form. Its statistics
are otherwise the same in each form.
Reactions
Raise Abyssal Thrall (4th Level Spell). When the fiend
reduces a Medium or Large demon of CR 10 or below
to 0 hit points with its Blood Drain, it can immediately
raise the demon as a Abyssal Thrall.
Fiendish Glare (1/Day). When the fiend is reduced
below 137 hit points, it can immediately recharge and
use its Terror Gaze.
Legendary Actions
Bowl Over. The fiend moves up to its speed directly
toward a creature it can see. If it ends this movement
within 5 feet of the creature, the creature must
succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be
knocked prone.
Hurl. The fiend hurls a Medium or smaller creature that
is grappled by it up to 30 feet. The creature must
succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take 21
(6d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone, or
take half as much damage on a success.
Savage (Costs 2 Actions). The fiend makes two Razor
Claw attacks against a creature within 5 feet, or three
Razor Claw attacks if the target is prone.
Encounter Groups
CR 20 Encounter 12,300 XP
1 Ghoul Adept of Orcus (CR 6)
5 Abyssal Thralls (CR M11)
4 Abyssal Ghouls (CR 3)
CR 26 Encounter 30,200 XP
1 Blood Fiend (CR 16)
10 Abyssal Thralls (CR M11)
4 Skullpiercer Stirges (CR 1)
Art Credits You Found the Free Books!
Shadowgrange Archfiend by Oleksandr Kozachenko
Bisk, Goblin King by Rae Elderidge

I've Got a Subreddit! The Part Where I Shill My Patreon

Want more monsters like this? Come check
out r/bettermonsters, where I post all my
work. Don't see something there? Drop a
request and I'll usually get it to you
within a day if I've got something on
hand, and I'll shoot you a
message when it's
ready if not.
Want to support the creation of content like this? I post new
monsters with lore and tactics to my patreon five times a
week, joining the more than 1300 already there, indexed in a
big PDF along with formats for Foundry and
5eTools.