Darkmantle, The Lurker of Lightless Depths
“This ceiling isn’t just falling—it’s hunting you: meet the deadly Darkmantle!”

The Darkmantle is a sinister, otherworldly predator resembling a cross between a squid and a stalactite. Its leathery, mottled skin shifts in hues of gray and brown, perfectly mimicking the rocky ceilings of its subterranean habitat. At the tip of its cone-shaped body are clusters of glowing, lidless eyes that flicker dimly, like dying embers, peering into the darkness. Long, sinewy tentacles extend from its base, each lined with barbed suction pads capable of grasping and suffocating prey. When motionless, its rigid stance and jagged edges allow it to pass effortlessly as a natural rock formation.
Behavior
Darkmantles are solitary hunters, highly patient and deliberate in their actions. They are nocturnal and thrive in darkness, relying on their ability to emit magical darkness to disorient and overwhelm prey. Despite their monstrous appearance, they are cautious creatures, avoiding fights they are unlikely to win. Their ambush tactics make them opportunistic predators, often targeting smaller or isolated creatures.
Habitat
These creatures inhabit the deepest, most shadowed corners of the world—underground caves, forgotten ruins, and the yawning corridors of ancient dungeons. Darkmantles prefer high ceilings where they can perch unnoticed, blending seamlessly with stalactites or rocky protrusions. They thrive in environments rich with smaller subterranean life, such as bats, insects, and wandering adventurers.
Modus Operandi
The Darkmantle’s primary hunting tactic is ambush. It clings to a ceiling, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to wander below. Once the prey is within range, the Darkmantle emits a sphere of magical darkness, plunging the area into pitch blackness. Then, it drops silently onto the target, using its tentacles to envelop and constrict its victim. The Darkmantle aims to suffocate its prey quickly, dragging it back into the darkness to devour it at leisure. If the attack fails, the creature often retreats into the safety of the shadows.
Motivation
Driven purely by survival, Darkmantles are motivated by an unending hunger and an instinct to protect their territory. They are fiercely territorial and will attack intruders they perceive as a threat or a potential meal. While not intelligent in the traditional sense, their cunning ambush strategies suggest a primal but effective understanding of their environment and prey.
Darkmantle 5e
Darkmantle Pathfinder
Darkmantle

Medium monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class: 11
Hit Points: 22 (4d8 + 4)
Speed: 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 (+1) | 12 (+1) | 13 (+1) | 2 (-4) | 10 (+0) | 5 (-3) |
Skills: Stealth +3, Perception +2
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 12
Languages: —
Challenge: 1 (200 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +2
Traits
Echolocation.
The Darkmantle can’t use its blindsight while deafened.
False Appearance.
While the Darkmantle remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a stalactite or similar rock formation.
Darkness Aura (Recharge 5–6).
As a bonus action, the Darkmantle can emit magical darkness in a 15-foot radius centered on itself. This darkness lasts for 10 minutes or until the Darkmantle loses concentration (as if concentrating on a spell). Nonmagical light can’t illuminate this darkness, and creatures without darkvision or blindsight are effectively blinded.
Actions
Tentacle Crush. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
- Hit: 6 (1d8 + 1) bludgeoning damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the Darkmantle can’t use its Tentacle Crush on another target.
Suffocating Embrace.
While grappling a creature, the Darkmantle can use its action to constrict its tentacles tighter. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage and begin suffocating. A creature suffocating in this way must hold its breath or fall unconscious at the start of its next turn.
Dive Attack.
If the Darkmantle is flying and dives at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with Tentacle Crush, the attack deals an extra 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.
Tactics
- Ambush Predator: The Darkmantle clings to cavern ceilings, using its False Appearance to blend in until prey wanders below. It targets isolated creatures or groups in narrow passages.
- Darkness Control: It activates its Darkness Aura to disorient prey and gain the upper hand, often diving straight into the chaos to grapple its chosen target.
- Divide and Conquer: If outnumbered, it uses its Darkness Aura to obscure vision and retreat to a safe perch, waiting to reengage from an advantageous position.
- Focused Grappler: The Darkmantle prioritizes smaller or weaker targets, grappling and suffocating them to eliminate threats efficiently.
Legendary Variant (Optional for Higher Levels)
For a more powerful encounter, the Darkmantle can be upgraded to a Legendary version:
Legendary Actions (3/Day):
- Shadow Shift. The Darkmantle moves up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
- Pulse of Darkness. The radius of its Darkness Aura temporarily expands to 30 feet until the start of its next turn.
- Crushing Descent (Costs 2 Actions). The Darkmantle drops from the ceiling onto a creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
Darkmantle

As this creature falls from the cavern roof, it opens like a hideous octopus, its thin, hook-lined tentacles connected by a fleshy web.
This content is from the Paizo Core Rules.
A darkmantle’s tentacle-span measures just under 5 feet – when attached to a cave roof and disguised as a stalactite, its length varies from 2 to 3 feet. A typical darkmantle weighs 40 pounds. The creatures’ heads and bodies are usually the color of basalt or dark granite, but their webbed tentacles can change color to match their surroundings.
The darkmantle isn’t a particularly good Climber, but it can cling to a cave roof like a bat, hanging by the hooks at the ends of its tentacles so that its dangling body looks nearly indistinguishable from a stalactite. In this hidden position, the darkmantle waits for prey to pass beneath, at which point it drops and swoops down to attack its victim, slamming its body against the foe and attempting to wrap its webbed tentacles around the target.
If the darkmantle misses its prey, it swoops back up and drops again until its prey is vanquished or the darkmantle is grievously injured (in which case the creature flutters back up to the roof to hide and hope its “prey” leaves it alone). The darkmantle’s inborn ability to cloak the area around it in magical darkness gives it an additional advantage over foes that rely upon light to see.
Darkmantles prefer to dwell and hunt in the caves and passageways that are closest to the surface, as these tend to possess more traffic for the monsters to feed upon. Yet they do not confine themselves to these dark caverns, and can sometimes be found dwelling in ruined fortresses or even in the sewers of bustling cities. Anywhere food is plentiful and there’s a ceiling to cling to is a possible den for a darkmantle.
A darkmantle’s life cycle is swift – young grow to maturity in a matter of months, and most die of old age after only a few years. As a result, generations of darkmantles quickly accrue, and over the years the evolution of these creatures is similarly swift. In this manner, a cavern’s ecosystem can have a significant effect on a group of darkmantles’ appearance, abilities, and tactics.
Aquatic caverns might develop darkmantles that can swim, while those beset with volcanism might generate darkmantles with a resistance to fire. Other darkmantle variants might develop much stonier hides, and instead of swooping down to crush prey might simply drop and pierce them through with their stalactite-like lengths. The deepest, darkest caverns are rumored to host darkmantles of incredible size, capable of smothering multiple human-sized foes at once in their leathery folds.
Darkmantle CR 1 |
XP 400 N Small magical beast Init +6; Senses Blindsight 90 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., Low-Light Vision; Perception +4 |
DEFENSE |
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dexterity, +2 natural, +1 size) hp 15 (2d10+4) Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +0 |
OFFENSE |
Speed 20 ft., Fly 30 ft. (poor) Melee slam +3 (1d4 plus grab) Special Attacks constrict (1d4+4), grab (any size) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th) 1/daydarkness |
STATISTICS |
Strength 11, Dexterity 15, Constitution 14, Intelligence 2, Wisdom 11, Charisma 10 Base Atk +2; CMB +1 (+5 grapple); CMD 13 (can’t be tripped) Feats Improved Initiative Skills Fly +5, Perception +4, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Stealth |
ECOLOGY |
Environment any underground Organization solitary, pair, or clutch (312) Treasure none |
Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (dungeoneering) can learn more about darkmantles. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
Knowledge(arcana) or Knowledge (dungeoneering)
DC | Result |
11 | This squid-like dark-skinned creature is a darkmantle, a subterranian predator that attacks by dropping onto its prey. This result reveals all magical beast traits. |
16 | Though small creatures, darkmantles are strong for their size, and make natural grapplers due to their tentacles and cloak-like skin. Typically attacking by dropping from above, a darkmantle that misses will usually fly back up to the roof of its chamber and try again. |
21 | As well as having a natural camouflage that allows them to hide easily in underground caverns, darkmantles can also cause darkness once per day. Darkmantles see easily through this magical darkness through the use of bat-like sonar, though this can be disrupted by the use of the silence spell. |
Monster Lore from WOTC Community Forums – Monsters and Races – Monster Lore Compendium. Copyright 2007-2008, Author: Evandar_TAybara