Salamanders
Salamanders slither across the Sea of Ash on the Elemental Plane of Fire, their sinuous coils and jagged spines smoldering. Intense heat washes off their bodies, while their yellow eyes glow like candles in the deep-set hollows of their hawkish faces.
Jump to: Fire Snake | Salamander | Frost Salamander
Salamanders adore power, and they delight in setting fire to things. Outside their home plane, they play among the burning skeletons of charred trees as forest fires rage around them, or slither down the slopes of erupting volcanoes to linger in fire pits and magma floes.
Fire Snake
Salamanders hatch from eggs that are two-foot-diameter spheres of smoldering obsidian. When a salamander is ready to hatch, it melts its way through the egg's thick shell and emerges as a fire snake. A fire snake matures into a salamander adult within a year.
Enslaved by the Efreet. Long ago, the efreet hired azer to build the fabled City of Brass, but then failed in their attempt to enslave that mystical race when the azers' work was done. Turning instead to strike against salamanders, the efreet conquered and enslaved them, then sent them out to unleash war and destruction across the planes.
Salamanders despise the azers, believing that if the efreet had succeeded in dominating that race of elemental crafters, the salamanders would still be free. The efreet use this enmity to their own advantage, stoking the salamanders' hatred and pitting them against the efreet's former servants.
The efreet suffer salamanders to serve no other master; when efreet encounter salamanders dedicated to the cults of Elemental Evil, they slay them rather than enslaving them.
Domineering Nobles. Although salamanders follow the destructive impulses of their fiery nature, slavery under the efreet has impacted the culture of free salamanders. They rule their own societies according to the efreet model, in which larger and stronger salamanders claim dominion over their lesser kin.
Environment
(FIXME)
Token
Fire Snake
Medium elemental, neutral evil
- Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 22 (5d8)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 14 (+2) 11 (+0) 7 (-2) 10 (+0) 8 (-1)
- Proficiency Bonus +2
- Saving Throws
- Damage Vulnerabilities cold
- Damage Resistances bludgeoning,piercing,and slashing from nonmagical attacks
- Damage Immunities fire
- Condition Immunities
- Skills
- Senses darkvision 60 ft.,passive Perception 10
- Languages understands Ignan but can't speak
- Challenge 1
Heated Body. A creature that touches the snake or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Actions
Multiattack. The snake makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tail.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Salamander
As salamanders age, they increase in size and status, rising to positions of power as cruel nobles among their kind. Nobles rule wandering bands of salamanders, which move across the Elemental Plane of Fire like desert nomads, raiding other communities for treasure.
Living Forges. Salamanders generate intense heat, and when they fight, their weapons glow red and sear the bodies of their enemies on contact. Even approaching a salamander is dangerous, since flesh blisters and burns in its proximity.
This inherent heat is an asset to salamanders' skill as smiths, allowing them to soften and shape iron and steel with their bare hands. Although not as meticulous as azers, salamanders number among the greatest metalsmiths in all the planes. Powerful creatures summon them as warriors, but others enlist the salamanders for their crafting skills, or bind them to forges and ovens to generate limitless heat.
Environment
(FIXME)
Token
Salamander
Large elemental, neutral evil
- Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 90 (12d10 + 24)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 15 (+2) 11 (+0) 10 (+0) 12 (+1)
- Proficiency Bonus +3
- Saving Throws
- Damage Vulnerabilities cold
- Damage Resistances bludgeoning,piercing,and slashing from nonmagical attacks
- Damage Immunities fire
- Condition Immunities
- Skills
- Senses darkvision 60 ft.,passive Perception 10
- Languages Ignan
- Challenge 5
Heated Body. A creature that touches the salamander or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Heated Weapons. Any metal melee weapon the salamander wields deals an extra 3 (1d6) fire damage on a hit (included in the attack).
Actions
Multiattack. The salamander makes two attacks: one with its spear and one with its tail.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20 ft./60 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, or 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack, plus 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, the salamander can automatically hit the target with its tail, and the salamander can't make tail attacks against other targets.
Frost Salamander
Frost salamanders are natives of the Plane of Ice, also called the Frostfell, which rests between the Plane of Air and the Plane of Water. Frost salamanders especially like to hunt warm-blooded creatures. They sometimes travel to frigid climes on the Material Plane by wandering through planar gates.
Frost salamanders' aggressive appetite for any heat source leads them to attack expeditions and settlements that other predators would avoid, as they often mistake the fire of a forge or a campfire for a large, tasty meal. Azers (see the Monster Manual) use this predilection to hunt frost salamanders. Venturing into the Frostfell, they use large fires to lure these creatures into traps, then kill them and collect their hides and fangs for use in crafting weapons and armor.
Although frost salamanders can burrow their way through loose soil, they prefer to dig into ice. They roll around in piles of broken chunks of ice, allowing it to scratch their backs as they grind it down. This habit leads them to create extensive networks of ice caves, which become ever larger as they claw fresh chunks of ice from the walls of their lairs.
A frost salamander that dwells in a lair for a while carves out enough space to allow a small army to camp within. Inexperienced travelers who come across these caves see them as a welcome shelter, though they are anything but. Frost salamanders greedily devour any prey foolhardy enough to try sleeping in their lairs.
On rare occasions, frost giants (see the Monster Manual) capture and tame these creatures, using them to burrow into the ice to help create outposts and fortresses.
Environment
(FIXME)
Token
Frost Salamander
Huge Elemental, Unaligned
- Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 168 (16d12 + 64)
- Speed 60 ft., burrow 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 12 (+1) 18 (+4) 7 (-2) 11 (+0) 7 (-2)
- Proficiency Bonus +4
- Saving Throws Con +8,Wis +4
- Damage Vulnerabilities fire
- Damage Resistances
- Damage Immunities cold
- Condition Immunities
- Skills Perception +4
- Senses darkvision 60 ft.,tremorsense 60 ft.,passive Perception 14
- Languages Primordial
- Challenge 9
Burning Fury. When the salamander takes fire damage, its Freezing Breath automatically recharges.
Actions
Multiattack. The salamander makes one Bite attack and four Claw attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) cold damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage.
Freezing Breath (Recharge 6). The salamander exhales chill wind in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 44 (8d10) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.