Buy me a coffee“Caliban: The Savage Child of Witches and Wilds”
Caliban — Outcasts whose monstrous strength, bitter cunning, and intimate mastery of hostile terrain make them a living curse upon all who seek to dominate what they call home.
Born of earth, salt, and old wrongs, the Caliban is a brutal yet tragically cunning humanoid—half man, half monster—whose warped form conceals a sharp survival instinct, a deep bond to untamed lands, and a simmering hatred for those who would claim dominion over what was never theirs.
Appearance
Calibans are large, hunched humanoids with thick, corded muscles and rough, mottled skin like stone, bark, or salt-crusted hide; their features are asymmetrical and bestial—broad jaws, heavy brows, and feral eyes—yet unmistakably intelligent, often marked by scars, ritual brands, or crude bindings from past enslavement.
Behaviour
Suspicious, volatile, and fiercely territorial, Calibans oscillate between animal savagery and startling eloquence, capable of patient ambush or bitter, poetic rage; they loathe authority, resent civilization, and react violently to perceived domination or mockery.
Habitat
Calibans dwell in isolated, hostile environments—storm-lashed islands, fetid swamps, volcanic shores, or jungle ruins—claiming territories others find uninhabitable, which they know intimately and defend with relentless cunning.
Modus Operandi
In combat or conflict, a Caliban favors ambush, terrain mastery, and overwhelming physical force, using improvised weapons, traps, and environmental hazards; when forced into parley, they manipulate with half-truths, threats, or grudging bargains born of necessity rather than trust.
Motivation
Driven by survival, vengeance, and a primal claim to land or freedom, Calibans seek to break bonds—literal or symbolic—desiring autonomy above all else, even as their bitterness and isolation often doom them to perpetual conflict.
Caliban 5e 2024
Caliban 5e (Homebrew)
Caliban, Pathfinder
Caliban
Large Humanoid (Caliban), Chaotic Neutral
Lore:
Born of a hag’s malice and dark magic, the Caliban is the twisted male offspring of a hag, cursed with a hulking, bestial form from birth. These outcasts are shunned by mortal society and bound to the lands their mother favors—swamps, cursed forests, fetid coastlines, or ruined keeps. Though monstrous in appearance, Calibans retain inherited cunning and magical aptitude, often using the terrain itself as a weapon. Many serve as guardians, hunters, or instruments of vengeance for their hag progenitor, while others wander alone, bitter and vengeful, shaping the wilderness into a deadly domain.
Armor Class: 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 136 (16d10 + 48)
Speed: 40 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Ability Scores
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 8 (−1) |
Saving Throws: Str +8, Con +6, Wis +5
Skills: Athletics +8, Perception +5, Stealth +5, Survival +5
Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical attacks while in natural terrain
Condition Immunities: Charmed while on its home terrain
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 30 ft. (natural ground only), Passive Perception 15
Languages: Common, Sylvan
Challenge: 8 (3,900 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +3
Traits
Hag-Blooded Legacy. A Caliban inherits minor magical traits from its hag parent. It has innate spellcasting (Wisdom, DC 13, +5 to hit) requiring no components:
- At will: entangle, mold earth
- 3/day each: fog cloud, earth tremor
- 1/day each: spike growth, pass without trace
Hostile Terrain Mastery. While in natural or cursed environments (swamps, ruined forests, volcanic fields, or hag-favored lands), the Caliban ignores difficult terrain, has advantage on Stealth checks, and deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage once per turn when attacking from surprise or higher ground.
Born of Shackles. When reduced below half its hit points, the Caliban gains advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The Caliban makes two attacks with its Greatclub or Crushing Fist.
Crushing Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
- Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
- Target Large or smaller must succeed on DC 16 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
- Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Savage Hurl (Recharge 5–6). The Caliban rips up debris or a creature and throws it.
- Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/60 ft.
- Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
- Target must succeed on DC 16 Dexterity save or be restrained by rubble until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Spiteful Retaliation. When a creature the Caliban can see damages it, it may move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks and make one melee attack against that creature.
Tactics
Hag-born Calibans are primal guardians and ambushers, exploiting terrain to isolate foes before striking. They often open combat with entangle or fog cloud, then attack from concealment, knock enemies prone, and hurl debris to disrupt formations. Calibans are cunning, patient, and vengeful, fighting more aggressively as their health wanes (Born of Shackles), and retreating only to lure enemies into traps or environmental hazards. When defending the domain of their hag parent—or their own claimed territory—they fight with lethal determination, turning the wilderness itself into a weapon.
D&D 5E Epic Monsters: Caliban
D&D 5E – Epic Monsters: Caliban | EN World | Dungeons & Dragons | Tabletop Roleplaying Games
The creature known as Caliban is a half-man half-monster born by Sycorax after she was banished from Algiers and left alone on a remote island. When she passes he begins worshiping her, believing she still has power in the realm of mortals.
Sometime after her death Prospero (magician, former Duke of Milan) and his daughter Miranda are shipwrecked on the island, and using his powerful magic Prospero enslaves Caliban—because the first time they meet the beastman, Caliban tries to rape Miranda and is quite glib about it. Before the end of The Tempest he rejects Prospero and worships another shipwrecked traveler (Stephano) but by the conclusion he realizes the servant is not the magician’s equal, accepting the spellcaster as his master.
Caliban
Medium beast-humanoid, neutral evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d8+18)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| 15 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 16 (+3) | 9 (–1) | 15 (+2) | 8 (–1) |
Saving Throws Str +4, Con +5
Skills Athletics +6, Perception +4, Stealth +6, Survival +6
Senses passive Perception 19
Languages Common
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Doubletyped. For the purposes of features, spells, and traits, Caliban counts as both a beast and humanoid.
Keen Senses. Caliban has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight, smell, and sound.
Nimble Escape. Caliban can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of his turns.
Pounce. If Caliban moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, it must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, Caliban can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Relentless Endurance (1/Long Rest). When Caliban is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, he can drop to 1 hit point instead.
Running Leap. With a 10-foot running start, Caliban can long jump up to 40 feet.
Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of Caliban must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to Caliban’s stench for 24 hours.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Caliban attacks once with his bite and twice with his claws, or twice with thrown rocks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) slashing damage.
Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 20/40 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.
Caliban
Source Tears at Bitter Manor pg. 57
While an individual hag who has coupled with a human can only hope to birth a changeling, hag covens prove far more versatile in spawning monstrous progeny. The hags in such covens occasionally use their combined witchcraft to supernaturally create abominable male children, brutish monsters born of foul sanies and unholy ablutions that are stewed for days and then allowed to ferment into living creatures. These monsters go by many names among the hags who ‘birth’ them, but among civilized races they are known by just one word: caliban.
Calibans are free-willed but invariably inherit much of the vileness of their monstrous parents. Unlike changelings, calibans are usually raised among hags rather than in human settlements, since most societies would find a calibans form too repulsive for any purpose other than obliteration. Thus calibans learn from an early age to trust only their mothers and to revile anyone else. Those calibans who for whatever reason find themselves apart from their hag mothers are the most likely to shed their evil ways and forge a path of their own, but such individuals are few and far between.
Just as changelings are always female, calibans are always male, and since they are the result of hags foul magics it is impossible for them to reproduce. The average caliban is 7 feel tall and weighs about 260 pounds.
| Caliban CR 2 |
| XP 600 CE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Low-Light Vision; Perception +6 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dexterity, +2 natural) hp 22 (4d10) Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +3 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 30 ft., Swim 20 ft. Melee handaxe +5 (1d6+1/×3), claw +0 (1d4) or 2 claws +5 (1d4+1) Special Attacks share deformity, unsettling scream |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 13, Dexterity 15, Constitution 10, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 8, Charisma 11 Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 17 Feats Athletic, Nimble Moves Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +10, Intimidate +5, Perception +6, Survival +4, Swim +11 Languages Common |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Share Deformity (Su) Once per day as a standard action, a caliban can make a melee touch attack against a humanoid creature. If it hits, the opponent must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or have its form warped horribly. An affected creature takes 4 points of ability damage to Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution (caliban’s choice). Until this ability damage is healed, the caliban gains a +4 bonus to that same ability score. This ability damage heals automatically after 24 hours. A creature can’t be affected by more than one instance of this ability at a time. This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma-based. Unsettling Scream (Ex) As a standard action, a caliban can wail horribly. All non-caliban creatures within 60 feet that can hear must succeed at a DC 12 Will save or be deafened for 1 round and shaken for 1 minute. A creature affected by this ability is immune to the unsettling scream of the same caliban for 24 hours, regardless of whether its save is successful. This is a sonic fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma-based. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment temperate and warm forests and marshes Organization solitary or brotherhood (2-6) Treasure standard (handaxe, other treasure) |
Orgin
Caliban son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare‘s play The Tempest.
Caliban is half human, half monster. After his island becomes occupied by Prospero and his daughter Miranda, Caliban is forced into slavery. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise “not honour’d with a human shape” (Prospero, I.2.283). In some traditions, he is depicted as a wild man, or a deformed man, or a beast man, or sometimes a mix of fish and man, a dwarf or even a tortoise.
Banished from Algiers, Sycorax was left on the isle, pregnant with Caliban, and died before Prospero’s arrival. Caliban, despite his inhuman nature, clearly loved and worshipped his mother, referring to Setebos as his mother’s god, and appealing to her powers against Prospero. Prospero explains his harsh treatment of Caliban by claiming that after initially befriending him, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda. Caliban confirms this gleefully, saying that if he had not been stopped, he would have peopled the island with a race of Calibans – “Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else this isle with Calibans” (Act I:ii).
Prospero then entraps Caliban and torments him with harmful magic if Caliban does not obey his orders. Resentful of Prospero, Caliban takes Stephano, one of the shipwrecked servants, as a god and as his new master. Caliban learns that Stephano is neither a god nor Prospero’s equal in the conclusion of the play, however, and Caliban agrees to obey Prospero again.