Ice Elemental
The wind sweeps across the plains, carrying masses of ice and snow. With your head down, half-blind in the storm, you trudge along until suddenly, the pillar of ice next to you rises from the snow and looks down at you with a threatening gaze. Before you can react, sharp icicles are already shooting toward you. The battle with the ice elemental is unavoidable.
Body of Ice. Ice elementals are almost indistinguishable from snowdrifts or ice pillars in the blowing snow. Their bodies are made of solid ice, with legs as thick as tree trunks. Long, pointed icicles hang from their hands, and the eyes are nothing more than dark sockets.
Increasing Energy. As they age, the elementals grow larger and more powerful, due to the increasing concentration of elemental energy. Larger elementals have more powerful abilities than small ones and can even influence their environment. Water near them freezes, sharp ice spikes shoot out of the ground, and ice suddenly prevents creatures from moving.
Snow Camouflage. Usually, ice elementals remain motionless in the landscape. Until someone comes near them, at which point they make short work of them and only lie down again when silence has returned around them. To get closer to their enemies, they like to dig through the snow, melding their bodies to the landscape, because they are rather sluggish on foot. But you can find ice elementals in the water too, disguised as floating chunks of ice.
Unpleasant Battle. Battles with these creatures are brutal and unpredictable. Even though the elements are vulnerable to fire and piercing damage, this comes with unsightly side effects. A melted ice elemental will speed up, and damage caused by swords, arrows, and hammers will cause flying ice shards.
Ice Elemental
large elemental
- Armor Class
- 16 (natural armor)
- Hit Points
- 85 (9d10 + 36)
- Speed
- 25 ft., burrow 40 ft. (ice and snow only), swim 40 ft.
- STR
- 20 (+5)
- DEX
- 11 (+0)
- CON
- 19 (+4)
- INT
- 5 (-3)
- WIS
- 10 (+0)
- CHA
- 6 (-2)
- Saving Throws
- Con +7
- Damage Vulnerabilities
- fire, piercing
- Damage Resistances
- acid
- Damage Immunities
- cold, poison
- Condition Immunities
- exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 120 ft., passive Perception 10
- Languages
- Aquan
- Proficiency Bonus
- +3
- Challenge
- 5 (1800 XP)
- Snow Camouflage.
The elemental has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in snowy terrain.
- Melt.
If the elemental takes fire damage, it partially melts until the end of its next turn. While partially melted, its speed increases by 20 feet and when it takes the multiattack action, it can make an additional slam or ice shard attack.
- Splinter.
Whenever a creature deals bludgeoning or piercing damage to the elemental, shards of ice splinter off. All creatures in a 10-foot cone originating from the elemental and focused in the direction of the attacking creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 3 (1d6) piercing damage.
- Cold Absorption.
Whenever the elemental is subjected to cold damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the cold damage dealt.
Actions
- Multiattack.
The elemental makes two attacks using any combination of its slam and ice shard. If the elemental took fire damage since the end of its last turn, it can make an additional slam or ice shard attack.
- Slam.
Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) bludgeoning and 5 (2d4) cold damage.
- Encase.
The elemental extends an appendage towards one creature within 5 feet of itself. The target must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw.
On a failed save, the target takes 10 (3d6) cold damage and has its legs and arms be encased in ice. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and isn't encased.
An encased creature is restrained and takes 2 (1d4) cold damage at the start of each of its turns.
The creature can take an action to make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, freeing itself on a success. The ice encasing the creature can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 10; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage).
- Ice Shards (Recharge 5-6).
The elemental shoots shards of ice in all directions around itself. All creatures within 30 feet of the elemental must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) piercing and 12 (5d4) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
Greater Ice Elemental
huge elemental
- Armor Class
- 18 (natural armor)
- Hit Points
- 149 (13d12 + 65)
- Speed
- 35 ft., burrow 60 ft. (ice and snow only), swim 60 ft.
- STR
- 22 (+6)
- DEX
- 10 (+0)
- CON
- 20 (+5)
- INT
- 8 (-1)
- WIS
- 10 (+0)
- CHA
- 5 (-3)
- Saving Throws
- Str +10, Con +7
- Damage Vulnerabilities
- fire, piercing
- Damage Resistances
- acid
- Damage Immunities
- cold, poison
- Condition Immunities
- exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious
- Senses
- darkvision 120 ft., tremorsense 300 ft., passive Perception 10
- Languages
- Aquan
- Proficiency Bonus
- +4
- Challenge
- 12 (8400 XP)
- Snow Camouflage.
The elemental has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in snowy terrain.
- Melt.
If the elemental takes fire damage, it partially melts until the end of its next turn. While partially melted, its movement speed doubles and when it takes the multiattack action, it can make an additional slam or ice spear attack.
- Splintering Essence.
Whenever the elemental takes piercing damage, a small shard splinters off containing some of the elemental's essence. A minor ice elemental appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the elemental.
- Cold Absorption.
Whenever the elemental is subjected to cold damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the cold damage dealt.
- Frost Aura.
Whenever a creature starts its turn within 30 feet of the elemental, it must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 5 (2d4) cold damage and its speed is halved until the start of its next turn.
Water within 60 feet of the elemental freezes within 1 round.
Actions
- Multiattack.
The elemental makes two attacks using any combination of its slam and ice spear.
If the elemental took fire damage since the end of its last turn, it can make an additional slam or ice spear attack.
It then uses either its icicle storm, wall of ice, or flash-freeze ability, if available.
- Slam.
Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning and 2 (1d4) cold damage.
- Ice Spear.
Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 60/120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) piercing and 5 (2d4) cold damage.
- Icicle Storm.
The elemental shoots icicles in all directions around itself. The elemental can choose to lose 30 hit points to double the number of icicles. All creatures within 60 feet of the elemental must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 25 (8d4 + 5) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. If the elemental doubled the number of icicles, the damage is doubled.
- Wall of Ice.
The elemental causes a wall of ice to erupt from the ground in a line up to 100 feet long and 5 feet wide, originating from itself. All creatures in the line must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 33 (8d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half as much on a success.
The wall remains for 1 minute, or until the elemental dies.
The wall is 20 feet high. Creatures that failed their save are moved on top of the wall. Creatures that succeeded on their save can choose to either be moved on top of the wall, or move to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of them next to the wall.
The area on top of the wall is difficult terrain. Whenever a creature starts its turn on the wall or takes damage while on the wall, it must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or fall off the wall to a random side, landing prone.
Each 10-foot section of the wall can be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 10; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage).
- Flash-Freeze (Recharge 5-6).
Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (7d4 + 5) cold damage and the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw.
On a failed save, the target is paralyzed in ice.
Whenever a creature paralyzed in ice takes fire damage, it stops being paralyzed. The paralyzed condition can also be ended by magical means, such as casting the lesser restoration spell on the paralyzed creature.
A creature that's paralyzed in ice must repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns.
On a failed save, the creature gains one level of hypothermia. If the creature would reach the sixth level of hypothermia, it instead becomes petrified, as it turns into ice.
On a successful save, the creature ends the paralyzed condition on itself.
Lair Actions
- Ice Pillar.
The elemental targets one creature it can see that is within 15 feet of ice, snow, or water. The creature must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 18 (3d8 + 5) piercing damage, as a column of ice erupts from the nearby ice.
- Freezing Ground.
The elemental targets one creature it can see within 60 feet. The creature must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained due to having its lower body be encased in ice.
A restrained creature takes 10 (2d4 + 5) cold damage at the start of each of its turns.
The creature can take an action to make a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check, freeing itself on a success. The ice restraining the creature can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 30; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage).
- Aquaplaning.
The elemental chooses a point within 300 feet of itself. The ground in a 30-foot radius around the point becomes covered in a thin layer of ice. All creatures standing on that ground must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the elemental takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the elemental can't repeat an effect until they have all been used, and it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
Minor Ice Elemental
medium elemental
- Armor Class
- 15 (natural armor)
- Hit Points
- 22 (3d8 + 9)
- Speed
- 30 ft., burrow 30 ft. (ice and snow only), swim 30 ft.
- STR
- 14 (+2)
- DEX
- 12 (+1)
- CON
- 17 (+3)
- INT
- 3 (-4)
- WIS
- 10 (+0)
- CHA
- 7 (-2)
- Damage Vulnerabilities
- fire, piercing
- Damage Resistances
- acid
- Damage Immunities
- cold, poison
- Condition Immunities
- exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 10
- Languages
- Aquan
- Proficiency Bonus
- +2
- Challenge
- 1 (200 XP)
- Snow Camouflage.
The elemental has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in snowy terrain.
- Cold Absorption.
Whenever the elemental is subjected to cold damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the cold damage dealt.
Actions
- Multiattack.
The elemental makes two attacks using any combination of its pierce and ice shard.
- Pierce.
Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing and 2 (1d4) cold damage.
- Ice Shard.
Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing and 2 (1d4) cold damage.
- Freezing Touch (Recharge 3-6).
Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (5d4 + 3) cold damage and the target's speed is halved for 1 minute, it can't take reactions, and it can only take either an action or a bonus action on each of its turns, not both.
The affected target can make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
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