BANSHEE – 5e stats

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 12
Armor Class (suggested) 16
Hit Points 58 (13d8)
Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +6 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1 (-5)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	11 (+0)	17 (+3)

Saving Throws Wis +2, Cha +5
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Detect Life. The banshee can magically sense the presence of creatures up to 5 miles away that aren’t undead or constructs. She knows the general direction they’re in but not their exact locations.

Incorporeal Movement. The banshee can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object.

ACTIONS

• Corrupting Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (3d6 + 2) necrotic damage.
• Horrifying Visage. Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the banshee that can see her must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the banshee is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the banshee’s Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours.
• Wail (1/Day). The banshee releases a mournful wail, provided that she isn’t in sunlight. This wail has no effect on constructs and undead. All other creatures within 30 feet of her that can hear her must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature drops to 0 hit points. On a success, a creature takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage.

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Description

A banshee or groaning spirit, is the spirit of an evil female elf — a very rare thing indeed. A banshee is a female undead phantom, usually the spirit of an evil-aligned elven woman who died in a state of anguish or regret. A banshee retains a faint resemblance to her former self, but her features are twisted and distorted by her negative emotions. Her hair is a wild tangle, and her body is clad in tattered rags that flutter around her. She has no legs, and floats above the ground with a ghostly wail. Her eyes glow with a malevolent light, and her face is frozen in a perpetual scream. A banshee is a creature of darkness and despair, who hates all living things and seeks to harm whomever they meet.

Combat

A banshee is a formidable opponent in combat, as she can use her incorporeal nature to move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She can also sense the presence and direction of living creatures within 5 miles, making it hard to surprise or evade her. A banshee’s main weapon is her horrifying visage, which can cause fear and panic in those who see her. She can also unleash a devastating wail, which can instantly kill or severely injure anyone who hears it. A banshee’s touch is cold and corrupting, draining the life force of her victims. A banshee is immune to many forms of damage and conditions, such as cold, necrotic, poison, charm, exhaustion, and paralysis. She is also resistant to acid, fire, lightning, thunder, and nonmagical weapons. A banshee’s weaknesses are sunlight, which prevents her from using her wail, and radiant damage, which can harm her incorporeal form.

Habitat / Society

A banshee is a solitary creature, who shuns the company of other undead or living beings. She usually haunts the places where she died or where she had strong emotional ties in life, such as ancient ruins, desolate moors, or forsaken forests. A banshee rarely leaves her territory, unless she is driven away by powerful enemies or drawn by a strong source of life energy. A banshee does not have any goals or ambitions beyond spreading misery and death to those who encounter her. She does not care for treasure or material possessions, but she does seek to ally with or serve any other creature. A banshee speaks and understands the languages she knew in life, usually Common and Elvish, but rarely communicates with anyone except to curse or threaten them.

Ecology

A banshee is an unnatural blight on the natural world, as she draws energy from the living and the environment to sustain her existence. Her presence causes plants to wither, animals to flee, and weather to turn gloomy. A banshee does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, but she does require a constant supply of life force to feed her hunger. She usually obtains this by killing living creatures with her wail or touch, but she can also drain it from the ambient life energy of an area over time. A banshee does not reproduce or create spawn, but she can be created by powerful curses, dark rituals, or extreme emotional trauma that prevent an elven woman’s soul from passing on to the afterlife. A banshee can be destroyed by reducing her hit points to zero with radiant damage or other means that bypass her resistances and immunities. Alternatively, a banshee can be laid to rest by resolving the source of her anguish or regret, such as fulfilling an unfulfilled promise, avenging a wrong done to her, or reconciling with a loved one.

It is nearly impossible to distinguish the cry of a banshee from that of a human or elf woman in pain. Many a knight gallant has mistaken the two sounds, and then paid for the mistake with his life. Banshees are exceptionally intelligent and speak numerous languages, including common, elvish, and other demihuman languages.

Banshees occasionally use their destructive powers to seek revenge against their former adversaries in life. Banshees are a blight wherever they settle. They kill without discretion, and their only pleasure is the misfortune and misery of others. In addition to slaying both man and beast, a groaning spirit’s keen has a powerful effect upon vegetation. Flowers and delicate plants wither and die and trees grow twisted and sickly, while hardier plants, thistles and the like, flourish. After a few years all that remains within five miles of a groaning spirit’s lair is a desolate wilderness of warped trees and thorns mixed with the bones of those creatures that dared to cross into the groaning spirit’s domain.