Umbral Blot (Blackball) (4e Creature)

This is a conversion from 3rd Edition D&D. Some difficulty arises in design philosophy between the editions-- 4th edition does not like permanent effects, while 3rd edition loved them. But some inspiration can be taken from the 4e rust monster, where effects last until the end of the encounter. At epic level, however, players should have access to the Planar Portal ritual, so that will suffice for the equivalent of "End of the Encounter"... anything they lose can be recovered by Planar Travel of some sort.

For this conversion, I used Upper_Krust's 3e to 4e conversion guide, showing that a CR32 creature should be about a level 23 solo.

Umbral Blots, or Blackballs, are intelligent holes in reality that erase the existence of all they touch. The blot is described as "a hovering sphere of absolute void". Often, they are mistaken for Spheres of Annihilation, obeying beings capable of commanding such artifacts until they decide to turn on them.

Umbral Blot (Blackball)

Umbral Blot (Blackball) Level 23 Solo Controller Medium Shadow Animate (Umbral) XP 25500 HP 965; Bloodied 482 Initiative +21 AC 37; Fortitude 28, Reflex 38, Will 38 Perception +21 Speed Fly 12 (Hover) Blindsight 40 Immune necrotic, poison, fear, charm, prone, stunned, dominated, petrification Resist acid, cold, lightning, fire, and thunder 15 Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2 Traits Vortex ♦ Aura 6 The Umbral Blot can enable or disable this aura as a free action. Creatures entering the aura or starting their turn within the aura are subject to a +27 attack vs Reflex, or are pulled 6. If the end of this pull ends adjacent to the Umbral Blot, they are immediately attacked with Disintegration as a no-action. Standard Actions Disintegration ♦ At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +27 vs. Fortitude Hit: 4d6+8 necrotic force damage; on crit add damage equal to target's bloodied hp. Miss: The target must succeed a saving throw or take half damage Effect: Creatures reduced to 0 or fewer hp by this attack must succeed an immediate death saving throw or die and have their bodies destroyed, not even leaving behind ashes. Creatures who die from this attack must succeed an immediate death saving throw or have their soul sucked into the Void; any resurrection abilities will restore their bodies to the Void, and they must Plane Shift to return to their previous location. Planar Travel ♦ At-Will Effect: The Umbral Blot teleports to any location it knows, on any plane it is aware of. Triggered Actions Disintegrating Touch ♦ At-Will Trigger: When hit by a melee attack with the weapon keyword Attack: melee ∞ (attacking creature); +27 vs Fortitude Hit: The weapon it was attacked with is sent to the Void, where it can only be recovered via Plane Shift. Miss: The attacker suffers a -2 penalty to attacks and damage with that weapon until the end of the encounter. This effect is cumulative. If a weapon's attack bonus reaches 0, it is sent to the Void, where it can only be recovered via Plane Shift. Effect: If the triggering creature is adjacent, The Umbral Blot immediately attacks it with Disintegration. Skills Stealth +26, Insight +21, Nature +21, Arcana +19 Str 10 (+11) Dex 30 (+21) Wis 30 (+21) Con -- (+11) Int 14 (+13) Cha 30 (+21) Alignment Unaligned Languages Supernal, Language of the Mind, does not understand any other language (such as common); an Umbral Blot will never speak Equipment N/A

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Lore

DC 0-19 (failure): You don't know what this is.

DC 20-26 (failure): This is a Sphere of Annihilation, an artifact which will instantly destroy anything it touches. It can be controlled by anyone with sufficient willpower, that is to say, a sufficiently high Arcana check.

GM Note: The Umbral Blot can make an Insight Check to see if someone might believe this lie, and act accordingly.

DC 27: This is not a Sphere of Annihilation, but an Umbral Blot, or Blackball. For many, the distinction is academic, as they both destroy anything they touch. However, Umbral Blots are intelligent and malevolent. If you attempt to treat it like a Sphere of Annihilation and control it, it may choose to obey you until your guard is down, at which point it will destroy you utterly.

DC 37: It is said that Umbral Blots were created by the Old Gods- those that ruled prior to the gods of today- to be messengers or even assassins, and are credited with the downfall of their creators, destroying them completely.

Encounters

Umbral Blots often pretend to obey Wizards, Sorcerers, and other Arcane magic users for a time, until they can best betray their former "master". Of course, it was ever only master in name only-- no one commands a Blackball.

Encounter Examples

Level 23 Hard Encounter (XP 43350)

• 1 Aspect of Nerull (Level 23 elite soldier, leader) Tome of Horrors, page 149
• 1 Umbral Blot (Level 23 solo controller)
• 6 Shardstorm Vortex Whirlwind (Level 23 minion skirmisher) MM2, page 109

The aspect of Nerull believes that the Umbral Blot is a Sphere of Annihilation under its command, and orders it to destroy the player's party of 4. A foolish party might attempt to wrest control from the Aspect of Nerull and command the Umbral Blot themselves. It might even obey them if it looks like a good opportunity to betray the Aspect. It will attempt to destroy the party afterwards, of course... or worse, destroy everything the party loves.

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