AC 12
HP 13 (2d8 + 4; bloodied 6)
Speed 30 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Skills Athletics +4, Engineering +4, Perception +2 (+1d4), Stealth +4
Condition Immunities blinded
Senses blindsight 30 ft., or 10 ft. while deafened (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 14
Languages Undercommon
Camouflage. The grimlock has advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in rocky terrain.
Keen Hearing and Smell. The grimlock has advantage on Perception checks that rely on hearing or smell.
ACTIONS
Spiked Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage plus 2 (1d4) piercing damage.
Throttle. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12) and can’t breathe . Until this grapple ends, the grimlock can’t use any attack other than throttle and only against the grappled target, and it makes this attack with advantage .
Sling. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Combat
Grimlocks stealthily approach a group of foes, throttling and dragging them off one at a time. In a pitched battle, grimlocks are adept at determining which creatures are moving hesitantly ( blinded by darkness or other effects) and attacking those targets. After two rounds of face-to-face combat, grimlocks retreat, tracking their foes from a distance and attacking again when surprise is on their side.
Legends and Lore
With a Culture or History check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10: Grimlocks are blind, but their senses of hearing and smell are extremely keen.
DC 15: Grimlocks build massive underground machines that prevent volcanoes and earthquakes. They are very protective of these machines, and tampering with them can have dire consequences.
DC 20: Grimlocks are actually a subtype of human that have adapted to life in lightless conditions.
Grimlock Gadgets and Traps
1 Rotating wheels that remotely open and close passages
2 Torch sconces enchanted with permanent darkness effects
3 Tubes that emit puffs of air strong enough to extinguish unprotected flame
4 Banks of humming devices that deal 9 (2d8) lightning damage to anyone that touches them
5 Acrid fumes: a creature that starts its turn in the gas makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw , becoming blinded for 1 minute on a failure
6 Basilisks in cages
Grimlocks are the blind, subterranean descendants of ancient humans.
Adapted to the Dark. Long ago, a catastrophic earthquake trapped an engineering expedition deep underground. Isolated for millennia, the descendents of these unfortunate humans adapted and thrived. Over time, they lost their eyes (no longer useful since humans lack darkvision) and their other senses sharpened. By the time they found a route back to the surface, they were more comfortable in the dark than under the sun.
Grimlocks have developed technology to ease the burden of their lightless existence, including equipment used to measure seismic activity, writing and art based on raised shapes, telegraphy for long-distance communications, and firearms, which they have learned to muffle to protect their sensitive ears.
Skilled Machinists. The grimlocks never forgave the earth for swallowing them and have developed vast techno-magical machinery to hold back volcanic eruptions, stabilize fault lines, and prevent the ocean from flooding the underlands. Areas thought to be geologically stable may instead benefit from underground grimlock installations.
Grimlocks are fiercely protective of their machines and take a dim view of outsiders examining them. Wandering into grimlock-controlled territory unannounced is dangerous, especially if curious invaders start pulling levers and pushing buttons, activities nearly certain to draw a violent security response.
1 Hiding in ambush
2 With a blindfolded captive
3 Trailing you by sense of smell
4 Squatting around a human corpse
5 In a workshop, tinkering with some strange mechanical device
6 At the controls of a machine, adjusting dials and levers or listening to rhythmic clacks
1 DC 13 Perception check: bare footprints
2 DC 13 Investigation check: a secret trapdoor
3 A distant rumble, like a stone door being opened
4 A crossbreeze that extinguishes unprotected flames at a crucial time
Grimlocks inhabit the depths of the earth, coming up to the surface only for rare raids.
CR 0–2 1d4 grimlocks ; 1 or 2 grimlocks with cockatrice , darkmantle , or grimlock technical ; revilock
Treasure alchemist’s supplies (50 gp), 2 potions of climbing , potion of healing
CR 3–4 1d4 + 4 grimlocks ; 1d4 + 2 grimlock technicals ; revilock with 1d4 grimlocks ; 2 grimlocks with basilisk or 2 darkmantles
Treasure small idol of purple stone (125 gp), 20 blue quartz gemstones (10 gp each, hum slightly when a certain note is sung), 3 potions of healing
CR 5–10 1d10 + 10 grimlocks ; 1d8 + 8 grimlocks with aboleth thrall , revilock , or 2 grimlock technicals ; 1d6 + 4 grimlocks with roper
Treasure 2 marble busts (250 gp each), 3 rare books written in grimlock letters (100 gp each), collection of electrum wires and gears (125 gp), eversmoking bottle
Humanoids include a number of different intelligent, language-using bipeds of Small or Medium size. Humans and elves are humanoids, and so are orcs and goblins. Humanoids may employ magic but are not fundamentally magical—a characteristic that distinguishes them from bipedal, language-using fey, fiends, and other monsters. Humanoids have no inherent alignment, meaning that no humanoid ancestry is naturally good or evil, lawful or chaotic.