Buy me a coffeeLiving Wall, “The Fleshbound Sentinel”
“Discover the horrifying Living Wall—a monstrous barrier of animated corpses that crushes and traps anyone in its path!”
The Living Wall is a grotesque construct forged from the bodies of many creatures, mortared together with liquefied flesh. Its towering, 8- to 10-foot-high form is a mass of tangled limbs, decaying flesh, and shattered bones, often crowned with the skull of a dragon or other large beast, adding to its monstrous appearance. The corpse-filled structure is disturbingly animate, with limbs that twitch and shift as if alive. The creatures used in its construction can range from humanoids to more exotic beasts, creating a chaotic patchwork of body parts. The scent of decay lingers in the air as the wall pulses with faint, sickly energy.
In terms of behavior, the Living Wall moves sluggishly, creeping into position to block corridors, doors, or passageways. Its primary mode of attack involves using its immense size and crushing weight to slam into enemies. When an intruder is within reach, the Living Wall uses its crushing push ability to drive them into solid barriers, attempting to pin them or crush them against walls with brutal force. Its limbs extend with surprising reach, grabbing and holding victims in place, while its linked counterparts coordinate attacks, ensuring the destruction of anything that dares approach.
Living Walls are typically found in the dark, abandoned ruins or the deepest, most secure areas of dungeons and lairs, serving as both a physical and psychological deterrent. They are used by necromancers, evil rulers, or ancient beings to guard forbidden spaces, blocking access to treasure, hidden knowledge, or dangerous relics. Their presence often signals a place of death and corruption, with the remnants of their creators lingering in the walls.
The Living Wall’s motivation is singular: to prevent intruders from accessing the territory it guards. It follows basic commands, often created with malicious intent, but it lacks higher reasoning or goals beyond its programmed function. To defeat it, one must either destroy the wall piece by piece or break the necromantic link that holds it together. Its existence is a testament to the cruelty of those who use death as a tool, creating a truly unstoppable force in the service of darkness.
Living Wall 5e
Living Wall Pathfinder
Living Wall
Large Construct, Unaligned
Armor Class: 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 135 (10d10 + 70)
Speed: 20 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 (+6) | 6 (-2) | 22 (+6) | 2 (-4) | 10 (+0) | 5 (-3) |
Saving Throws: Con +9, Wis +3
Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Blinded, Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages: Understands the languages of its creator but cannot speak
Challenge: 7 (2,900 XP)
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If the Living Wall fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
TRAITS
Amorphous Body. The Living Wall can squeeze through spaces as small as 10 inches in diameter without squeezing. Its twisted, organic form allows it to collapse in on itself or expand as needed.
Undying Strength. The Living Wall can take only half damage from attacks that deal slashing damage, as its parts are woven together with magically infused flesh. Additionally, it regenerates 10 hit points at the start of each of its turns if it has at least 1 hit point.
Fleshy Mass. When a creature makes a melee attack against the Living Wall, the wall can use its reaction to grapple the creature with its limbs. The creature must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or become grappled (escape DC 16). The wall can grapple up to two creatures at once.
Siege Immunity. The Living Wall is immune to effects that deal force or psychic damage, such as disintegrate or banishment.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The Living Wall makes two Slam attacks or one Slam attack and one Crushing Push.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be pushed 5 feet away from the wall.
Crushing Push (Recharge 5–6). The Living Wall slams its body into an adjacent target, pushing it against a wall or other solid surface. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or take 26 (4d10) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. If the target is grappling, it takes an additional 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage.
Push (Recharge 4–6). The Living Wall can attempt to shove a creature it is grappling or adjacent to. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from the wall.
REACTIVE ACTIONS
Tethered Resilience. If the Living Wall takes damage from a creature within 10 feet, it can use its reaction to force the attacker to make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature is stunned until the end of its next turn as the wall pulls its flesh toward it, causing intense pain.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The Living Wall can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Living Wall regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Tremor Strike (Costs 1 Action). The wall slams its body to the ground, sending out a wave of pain. All creatures within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 9 (2d6) thunder damage and be knocked prone.
- Pushback (Costs 2 Actions). The Living Wall moves 5 feet and then slams into the nearest creature. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or take 15 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be pushed 5 feet away from the wall.
TACTICS
The Living Wall is a slow-moving yet relentless monster, designed to block paths, separate intruders, and inflict immense damage in tight spaces. It is often deployed in narrow hallways or chambers where its vast size can disrupt adventurers’ movements.
- Tactical Retreat. If the Living Wall is overwhelmed by many opponents, it will try to retreat by sliding back into a corner or against a solid structure. Using its Amorphous Body, it can squeeze through tight spaces, denying enemies easy access to it.
- Crushing Push Combos. The Living Wall will attempt to use its Crushing Push to push adventurers into walls or other structures, causing massive damage. If an adventurer is knocked prone, the wall will quickly follow up with a Slam attack.
- Fleshy Mass Control. Using its Fleshy Mass trait, the Living Wall will often grapple two or more targets, causing them to lose positioning while slowing them down for other attacks. It will focus on grappling high-priority targets such as spellcasters or ranged attackers to deny their mobility.
ENVIRONMENT
Living Walls are often found guarding the lairs of necromancers, dark warlords, or ancient ruins. Their creators use them to block passages, intimidate invaders, and as a method of deterrence. They are typically placed in tight, enclosed spaces such as hallways, tombs, or crypts, where their grotesque nature adds to the fear and despair of adventurers. The more they are disturbed, the more the wall seems to pulse with life, responding to nearby movement with a terrifying intensity.
This gruesome wall is made stacked corpses mortared together into an unyielding mass of grasping limbs, topped with a dragon skull.
Source Bestiary 4 pg. 182
Originally posted in Archives of Nethys
A living wall is a construct built out of the bodies of many creatures and mortared together with liquefied flesh. Like a gelatinous cube, it fills an entire 10-foot square, allowing it to completely block a hallway. Several living walls placed next to one another can obstruct an entire room. Its normal method of attack is to creep into range to make slam attacks, then push opponents against other walls and crush them to death.
Living walls follow basic orders and are normally used to block access to certain parts of their creator’s lair, to get through the wall, it must be killed and hacked apart to create a space other creatures can pass through. They can be ordered to stack themselves on top of each other to reach higher ceilings, but this requires a ramp to allow one to Climb onto the other.
A living wall rises 8 to 10 feet high and weighs 4,000 pounds. The appearance of each one varies wildly depending on the creatures used to make up its constituent parts.
| Living Wall CR 4 |
| XP 1,200 N Large construct Init -4; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Low-Light Vision; Perception +0 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 12, touch 5, flat-footed 12 (-4 Dexterity, +7 natural, -1 size) hp 46 (3d10+30); fast healing 1 Fort +1, Ref -3, Will +1 DR 5/slashing; Immune construct traits; Resist acid 5, cold 5, fire 5 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 10 ft. Melee 2 slams +6 (1d8+4 plus grab) Space 10 ft., Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks crushing push, push (slam, 5 ft.) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 18, Dexterity 3, Constitution -, Intelligence -, Wisdom 11, Charisma 1 Base Atk +3; CMB +8 (+10 bull rush, +12 grapple); CMD 14 (16 vs. bull rush) Feats Improved Bull RushB SQ fleshy link |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Crushing Push (Ex) A living wall adjacent to a creature that is also adjacent to a barrier (such as a dungeon wall, gate, or another living wall) can spend a standard action to crush that creature against the barrier, dealing 1d8+6 points of damage. If the lwall is grappling the target, as part of this attack it can attempt a free combat maneuver check to pin the target. Fleshy Link (Ex) A living wall that is adjacent to another living wall automatically links with it, forming an impassible solid barrier. Linked walls coordinate their attacks and move as one creature. Any linked wall can unlink itself as a free action. Any damage to one linked living wall is divided evenly among all linked living walls (for example, if three walls are linked and one takes 15 points of damage, each wall instead takes 5 points of damage). Two or three linked walls count as a Huge creature for the purpose of effects affected or limited by size (such as bull rush), four or five count as Gargantuan, and six or more count as Colossal. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any ruins or underground Organization solitary or pack (2-8) Treasure incidental |
Construction
The pieces of a living wall must come from normal humanoid corpses that have not decayed significantly. The wall must also include at least one skull of a Large or larger creature (not necessarily a humanoid). Assembly requires at least 20 different full bodies. Special flesh-dissolving acids worth 500 gp are also required to cement the pieces together. Note that creating a living wall requires casting a spell with the evil descriptor.
Living Wall
CL 12th; Price 18,500 gp
Construction Requirements Craft Construct, animate dead, geas/quest, limited wish, creator must be caster level 8th; Skill Craft (leather) or Heal DC 13; Cost 9,500 gp