GRAY SHIVER______

Eight-Legged Masters of Necromancy

Habitat: Dungeon, Urban; Treasure: Arcana

When a lich is destroyed many careless heroes responsible for felling the vile creature
neglect to ensure the entirety of the lich’s body is destroyed. They become so focused
on handling the lich’s spirit jar that the undead’s skull, more often than not, ends up
forgotten in whatever dungeon the lich was destroyed in. In such cases, a seed of evil
may persist within the bones of the lich, along with the power that animated it.
By chance occurrence, a tiny vermin such as a spider may take up residence in the
skull of the lich whereupon doing so it is bombarded with the liches final thoughts of
domination and destruction as well as the final lingering necromantic magic that still
clings to the skull.
These final remnants of the once mighty lich will transform the creature living within
its skull into something much more villainous and terrible than a mere spider. The
creature is gifted a malignant intellect and powers far beyond even some humanoid
spellcasters. The gray shiver often develops a god complex, thinking themselves
much more powerful than they actually are. They will begin to amass minions who
they dominate with magic and inevitably formulate schemes which extend well
beyond their reach.

GRAY SHIVER HOMES

1d6 The Gray Shiver’s Skull Belonged To…

1 A horned tyrant of infernal lineage. Their skull is crowned

with two massive horns.

2 A powerful aristocrat who commanded legions of undead

with ambition of world domination.

3 A lich of goliath heritage. Their skull is large and adorned

in giant runes which have been carved into the bone itself.

4 A crazed diviner whose skull is embedded with countless

tiny gems.

5 A ruling monarch, their gilded crown fused to their skull

in undeath.

6 A hateful necromancer who maligned all living things.

Their skull appears plain save for the rows of emeralds
replacing their teeth.

LICH SKULLS
The skull of a lich is potentially a very
powerful magic item, coveted by aspiring
necromancers and devoted cultists alike.
If a gray shiver is killed, some magic may
yet linger.

Lich Skull
Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement)

The skull can be used as an Arcane

Focus.

While attuned to the skull you have

resistance to Necrotic Damage, if you
already have resistance to Necrotic
Damage you have Immunity.

A creature attuned to the skull also

knows the Fear spell, and adds it to their
 list of prepared spells. The creature may
cast Fear using the caster’s spellcasting
ability without expending a spell slot,
requiring only the skull as a material
component. The skull regains the ability
to cast Fear in this way every day at
midnight.

Spells you cast using the skull as an

Arcane Focus ignore resistance to
Necrotic Damage, and when you roll
damage for a spell you cast that deals
Necrotic Damage you can treat any 1 on a
damage die as a 2.

Gray Shiver___________
Tiny Monstrosity, Neutral Evil
AC 15 (20 inside skull) ​ Initiative +8 (18)
Hit Points 90 (20d4 + 0)
Speed 20 ft., Climb 20 ft.
MOD SAVE MOD SAVE MOD SAVE

STR 2 -4 +1 DEX 19 +4 +13 CON 14 +2 +7

INT 15 +2 +11 WIS 13 +1 +6 CHA 21 +5 +10

Skills Arcana +6, Perception +5, Stealth +12

Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Resistances Necrotic, Poison
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 30 ft., Truesight 5 ft., Passive Perception 15
Languages Any languages known by the lich whose skull the shiver occupies.
Challenge 9 (XP 5,000; PB +4)

Traits_______________________________
Bone Hermitage. While the shiver is inside its skull, it has three-quarters cover (+5 bonus
to AC and Dexterity saving throws), and is also unaffected by anything that would sense its
emotions or alignment, read its thoughts, or magically detect its location, or observe it
remotely.

Magic Resistance. The shiver has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other
magical effects.

Megalomania. The shiver adds its Charisma bonus to all Saving Throws.
Skull Dependency. If the lich skull the shiver lives in is ever destroyed, the shiver returns
to an ordinary spider in 1 hour. The skull has an AC of 15, 30 hit points, and immunity to
damage from nonmagical weapons. While the spider is in the skull it is treated as a piece of
equipment being worn by the spider.

Spider Climb. The shiver can climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without
needing to make an ability check.

Web Walker. The shiver ignores movement restrictions caused by webs, and the spider
knows the location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Actions______________________________
Poisoned Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +8, reach 5 ft. Hit: 1 Piercing damage plus 14 (4d6)
Poison damage. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 17, a creature bitten by the shiver. Failure: The
target has the Poisoned condition for the next minute. The shiver has a telepathic link with
the Poisoned target while the two creatures are on the same plane of existence. On the
shiver’s turn, it can use this link to issue commands to the target (no action required), such
as "Attack that creature," "Move over there," or "Fetch that object." The creature does its best
to obey on its turn. If it completes an order and doesn't receive further direction from the
shiver, it acts and moves as it likes, focusing on protecting itself. The shiver can command
the creature to take a Reaction, but must use its own Reaction to do so. At the end of the
minute, the target must succeed on a Saving Throw against the shiver’s poison or continue to
be Poisoned for 1 week. Success: The creature is not Poisoned.

Spellcasting. The shiver casts one of the following spells, using Charisma as the
spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attack):
• At will: Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Magic Missile, Ray of
Enfeeblement, Sleep, True Strike
• 2/day each: Fireball, Major Image, Scorching Ray
• 1/day each: Greater Invisibility, Polymorph

Reactions____________________________
Protective Magic (Recharge 5-6). The shiver casts Counterspell or Shield in response to
the spell’s trigger, using the same spellcasting ability as Spellcasting.
Created by: JOSIAH “DUNGEON DAD” AMBROSE
Art by: TAM
Created in compliance with the Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.1