I am prepping for my next campaign – Out of the Abyss – and the adventure path clearly has a touch of whimsy with more than a passing resemblance to Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland. They even say as much in the preface. So I went back and read the two 1e adventures that are much more directly inspired (actually set in) wonderland – Dungeonland and The Land Behind the Magic Mirror. I picked up some of the encounters in those adventures and decided to convert them for Out of the Abyss. Since Out of the Abyss uses a lot of random tables these should be easy to insert.
This encounter can occur at any area with a mushroom forest. The Smilodon Cat will also be encountered with The Duchess.
VERY LARGE AND ANCIENT MUSHROOM
While all of the mushrooms in this fungal area are quite large and old, this specimen appears to be ancient. It has great limbs jutting out almost parallel to the ground.
This monster appears to be a huge domestic cat, but his long fangs and bobtail might give the observer pause. He is very intelligent, and can speak the Common Tongue fluently. He can become ethereal on any round he desires, although he cannot then attack. In this state, he can use his invisibility to cloak all of himself or any portion of himself (so as to show a tail, head, or mouth only). Of course, the power of invisibility can be used alone, but as with etherealness, it requires a round with no attacking to use. It is possible, however, for the animal to become visible and attack in the same round. The Smilodon Cat can also seem to disappear instantly by use of his dimension door ability—a power that will not work for creatures from outside this special plane.
While in most other ways this creature conforms to the characteristics of a saber-tooth tiger, his behavior is unique.
The beast is hungry, so he will seek to kill and devour a party member if possible. As he is intelligent, however, he will not fight uselessly, but will employ his magical powers to shadow the group, seeking to pick off someone. Meanwhile, he will not lose an opportunity to converse with one or more characters— to learn about their strengths and weaknesses, to find out what they are doing in the area, or simply to lull them into a state where attack will be easier. If it appears that his prey is escaping, the creature will be more bold in attacking, taking considerable damage in order to gain a choice meal. If below 25 hit points it will flee.
Treasure: Although the Smilodon Cat has no normal treasure, his whiskers are magical. If a character holds one whisker, he or she is able to dimension door just as if he or she had cast the spell of the same name; however, this will destroy the whisker. The cat has a total of 20 usable whiskers.
THE SMILODON CAT
Large fey (beast) chaotic neutral
Armour Class 12
Hit Points 84 (7d10 + 14)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON 15 (+2)
INT 20 (+5) WIS 17 (+3) CHA 15 (+2)
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, slashing and piercing from non-magical or cold iron weapons.
Damage Immunities poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing that is nonmagical
Senses Truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages common, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Ethereal Jaunt. As a bonus action, The Smilodon Cat can magically shift from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane, or vice versa.
Keen Smell. The Smilodon Cat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Pounce. If The Smilodon Cat moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the tiger can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Magic Resistance. The Smilodon Cat’s has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The Smilodon Cat’s weapon attacks are magical.
Spider Climb. The Smilodon Cat can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Dimension Door. The Smilodon Cat can teleport itself from its current location to any other spot within range 500 fee as the spell.
Invisibility. The Smilodon Cat magically turns invisible until it attacks or uses Scare, or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment The Smilodon Cat wears or carries is invisible with it.
REACTIONS
Dimension Door (1/day). The Smilodon Cat teleports as a reaction to being hit as the spell.
DESCRIPTION
Appearing has a purple striped orange/gray great cat this ever smiling creature is cunning and untrustworthy.