Dracaenae, Campe — Primordial Jailer of Tartarus
“Campe does not pursue escapees. The prison moves around them until they discover that they never escaped.”

Campe, also called Kampe, is the primordial jailer who once guarded the Hecatoncheires and the Elder Cyclopes in Tartarus. Cronus entrusted her with captives whose strength could overturn the rule of the Titans, and even the gods feared the creature appointed to keep them bound.
She is neither a goddess nor a mortal monster. Campe is a unique primordial dracaena: a living instrument of confinement whose body combines the most feared forms of earth, sea and underworld. Her immense strength is matched by calculating intelligence, command of planar imprisonment and a refusal to recognise any authority that cannot enforce its claim within her prison.
Zeus destroyed Campe when he entered Tartarus to free the Hecatoncheires and Elder Cyclopes during the Titanomachy. The freed Cyclopes armed the Olympians, while the Hecatoncheires helped defeat the Titans and later became their guards.
Campe nevertheless exists in the campaign present. Tartarus preserved fragments of her primordial essence within its gates, chains and foundations. Across immeasurable ages, those fragments gathered and reconstructed their former jailer.
The restored Campe does not replace the Hecatoncheires as guardian of the defeated Titans. She controls older prisons, abandoned approaches and sealed regions beneath the recognised territories of Carceri, the Tarterian Depths.
Appearance
Campe has the head and upper torso of an enormous scaled woman. Her features possess a terrible majesty rather than mortal beauty. Venomous serpents writhe in place of hair, and sparks of divine fire flicker beneath her eyelids.
From her chest downward, her body becomes a vast serpentine mass covered in overlapping scales resembling those of ancient sea monsters. Innumerable vipers grow from her lower body and serve as feet, grasping limbs and independent weapons. When Campe advances, these serpents drag, carry and propel her colossal weight in a writhing tide.
Around her neck and shoulders rise fifty heads belonging to different beasts. Lions roar beside tusked boars; hounds snap and foam between the faces of wolves, bears and predators no longer found in the mortal world. These heads are parts of Campe rather than separate creatures, and each watches, smells and attacks independently.
Her two human-like arms end in long claws curved like sickles. A pair of immense black-feathered wings unfolds from her back, their movement raising violent winds throughout the caverns of Tartarus.
Campe has one armoured scorpion tail. It rises behind her shoulders, coils above her neck and strikes forward over her head. Its pale sting carries venom cold enough to numb the blood of giants.
Campe is not a conventional dragon, hydra or woman riding a monster. Every visible feature belongs to one composite primordial body.
Behaviour
Campe is an intelligent administrator of imprisonment rather than a mindless destroyer. She remembers every captive placed under her authority, every sentence pronounced and every being that has crossed one of her thresholds.
She classifies those who enter her territory as prisoners, intruders, petitioners, authorities or escapees.
Prisoners
A recognised prisoner is bound, marked and confined according to the danger Campe believes the captive presents. She does not necessarily kill enemies who surrender. Eternal confinement, forced service, sensory isolation and imprisonment within one’s own memories may all seem more useful to her than death.
Intruders
Campe questions intruders only when their intentions interest her. Those unable to justify their presence are treated as escaped prisoners whose original cells have not yet been identified.
Petitioners
Gods, rulers and planar authorities sometimes bargain with Campe for access to sealed captives. She understands ransom, hostage exchange, jurisdiction, divine precedent and the value of information. She keeps the literal terms of an agreement while exploiting every omission.
Authorities
Campe does not acknowledge a title merely because others respect it. A god claiming authority over her prison must demonstrate the ability to impose that authority. Even Olympian messengers enter her domain cautiously.
Escapees
Campe pursues escapees without mercy. She studies their allies, destinations and reasons for fleeing, then turns each source of hope into another restraint. An escapee may discover that a familiar road now returns to the prison, that a trusted portal opens into a cell or that former allies have been marked as replacement hostages.
Habitat
Campe occupies the oldest functioning prisons within Othrys, the first layer of Carceri. These structures predate many of the powers that now claim authority over the plane.
Her territory includes cyclopean gatehouses, inverted fortresses, lightless chasms and chains anchored directly into the substance of the plane. Some doors are large enough to admit Titans. Others are so small that only a name, memory or disembodied soul can pass through them.
Common features of Campe’s domain include:
- chains that tighten when a prisoner considers escape;
- passages that return travellers to their starting point;
- dead portals whose destinations Campe can temporarily restore;
- records naming captives erased from mortal and divine history;
- cells built for beings without ordinary bodies;
- gravity that changes direction according to the needs of the prison;
- guardian creatures shaped from venom, darkness and imprisoned rage;
- doors that open only when another prison closes;
- wards designed to contain gods, Titans, primordial monsters and living catastrophes.
Campe can leave Carceri, but her control over teleportation, planar travel and prison architecture is strongest within her own territory.
Mechanics
Campe D&D 5E 2024
Campe Pathfinder 1E / D&D 3.5E
Campe 3.0
Campe, Primordial Jailer of Tartarus
Gargantuan Monstrosity (Dracaena, Primordial), Neutral Evil
Armor Class 27
Hit Points 882 (36d20 + 504)
Speed 60 ft., burrow 40 ft., fly 80 ft., swim 60 ft.
Initiative +14 (24)
| Ability | Score | Modifier | Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 40 | +15 | +25 |
| Dexterity | 18 | +4 | +14 |
| Constitution | 38 | +14 | +24 |
| Intelligence | 24 | +7 | +17 |
| Wisdom | 28 | +9 | +19 |
| Charisma | 34 | +12 | +22 |
Skills Arcana +17, History +17, Insight +19, Intimidation +22, Perception +29, Religion +17
Damage Resistances lightning
Damage Immunities acid, cold, fire, poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone
Senses truesight 180 ft., passive Perception 39
Languages Ancient Greek, Primordial; telepathy 1 mile
Challenge 35 (275,000 XP; 550,000 XP when Warden Unbound activates)
Proficiency Bonus +10
CR 35 and its XP award are part of the SpiralWorlds epic progression. Official D&D challenge ratings end at CR 30.
Traits
Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Campe fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Campe has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Many-Headed Awareness. Campe can’t be surprised. She can’t gain the Blinded or Deafened condition while at least one of her beast heads remains able to see or hear. She has Advantage on saving throws made to avoid or end the Incapacitated and Stunned conditions.
Primordial Regeneration. Campe regains 30 Hit Points at the start of each of her turns if she has at least 1 Hit Point.
The regeneration doesn’t function if Campe has taken Force damage or qualifying divine Lightning damage since the end of her previous turn.
Thunderbolt Scar. Campe normally has Resistance to Lightning damage. Lightning damage ignores that Resistance if it is caused by:
- a deity or divine manifestation;
- a divine artefact;
- a spell cast using a level 8 or level 9 spell slot;
- a weapon or ritual specifically empowered to reproduce the lightning that destroyed her first body.
After Campe takes qualifying divine Lightning damage, her Primordial Regeneration doesn’t function until the end of her next turn.
Tartarean Seal. Within 1 mile of Campe, another creature that attempts to teleport or travel between planes must make a DC 30 Charisma saving throw.
On a failed save, the attempt fails, any spell slot, charge or limited use is expended, and the creature takes 27 (6d8) Force damage. On a successful save, the travel functions normally.
Campe can exempt any number of creatures she can perceive.
Warden Unbound — Mythic Trait (1/Day). When Campe is first reduced to 0 Hit Points, she doesn’t die or gain the Unconscious condition. She instead:
- ends every condition affecting her;
- regains 441 Hit Points;
- recharges Fiftyfold Terror and Viper-Foot Tide;
- immediately uses Viper-Foot Tide without requiring an action;
- gains access to her Mythic Actions.
After this trait activates, supernatural vipers fill the ground within 30 feet of Campe. An enemy that enters that area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there takes 22 (4d10) Piercing damage plus 22 (4d10) Poison damage. The creature can’t regain Hit Points until the start of its next turn.
Warden Unbound can’t activate if all three of Campe’s Prison Anchors have been destroyed.
Actions
Multiattack. Campe makes five attacks: two Bestial Maw attacks, two Sickle Claw attacks and one Scorpion Sting attack.
Bestial Maw. Melee Attack Roll: +25, reach 20 ft. Hit: 41 (4d12 + 15) Piercing damage.
Each Bestial Maw attack can emerge from a different head, allowing Campe to target creatures on different sides of her space.
Sickle Claw. Melee Attack Roll: +25, reach 20 ft. Hit: 37 (4d10 + 15) Slashing damage.
If the target is Huge or smaller, it has the Grappled condition with an escape DC of 33. Until the grapple ends, the target also has the Restrained condition. Campe has two claws and can restrain one creature with each.
Scorpion Sting. Melee Attack Roll: +25, reach 30 ft. Hit: 41 (4d12 + 15) Piercing damage plus 33 (6d10) Poison damage.
The target must succeed on a DC 32 Constitution saving throw or gain the Poisoned condition for 1 minute. While Poisoned in this way:
- the target can’t regain Hit Points;
- its Hit Point maximum is reduced by the Poison damage dealt by the sting;
- its Speed is halved.
The target repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the condition on a success. The reduction to its Hit Point maximum lasts until removed by Greater Restoration or comparable magic.
Viper-Foot Tide — Recharge 5–6. Campe sends a mass of biting and poison-spitting serpents through a 120-foot cone.
Each creature in the area must make a DC 32 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 63 (14d8) Piercing damage plus 63 (14d8) Poison damage and has the Restrained condition beneath the serpents. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn’t Restrained.
A Restrained creature can use its action to make a DC 33 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, ending the condition on a success.
Fiftyfold Terror — Recharge 6. Campe unleashes the voices of the fifty beasts growing from her body.
Each enemy within 120 feet that can see or hear her must make a DC 30 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 66 (12d10) Psychic damage and has the Frightened condition for 1 minute. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it also has the Stunned condition until the end of its next turn.
On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and suffers no condition.
A Frightened creature repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the condition on a success. A creature that succeeds on the initial save or ends the condition is immune to Campe’s Fiftyfold Terror for 24 hours.
Wrath of Tartarus — 1/Day. Campe hurls a sphere of crushing force and chthonic darkness at a point she can see within 300 feet. The sphere explodes in a 30-foot-radius area.
Each creature in the area must make a DC 30 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 90 (20d8) Force damage plus 90 (20d8) Necrotic damage and has the Restrained condition as black iron chains erupt around it. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn’t Restrained.
A Restrained creature can use its action to make a DC 33 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, breaking free on a success.
Tartarean Magic. Campe casts one of the following spells without Material components, using Charisma as the spellcasting ability. Her spell save DC is 30, and she has a +22 bonus to spell attacks.
- At will: Detect Magic, Dimension Door, Dispel Magic
- 3/day each: Earthquake, Reverse Gravity, Wall of Force
- 1/day each: Imprisonment, Maze
Bonus Actions
Serpentine Surge. Campe moves up to half her Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. During this movement, she can move through the spaces of Huge or smaller creatures.
A creature whose space she enters must succeed on a DC 33 Strength saving throw or take 22 (4d10) Bludgeoning damage, be pushed to the nearest unoccupied space and gain the Prone condition.
Reactions
Jailer’s Reprisal. Immediately after a creature within 30 feet damages Campe, she makes one Bestial Maw, Sickle Claw or Scorpion Sting attack against that creature.
Legendary Actions
Campe has four Legendary Action uses, or five while within her lair. Immediately after another creature’s turn, Campe can expend one or more uses to take one of the following actions. Campe regains all expended uses at the start of each of her turns.
Bestial Maw — 1 Use. Campe makes one Bestial Maw attack.
Crooked Motion — 1 Use. Campe moves up to half her Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
Scorpion Strike — 2 Uses. Campe makes one Scorpion Sting attack.
Wingstorm — 2 Uses. Campe beats her black wings. Each other creature within 30 feet must make a DC 33 Strength saving throw.
On a failed save, a creature takes 22 (4d10) Bludgeoning damage plus 22 (4d10) Thunder damage, is pushed 30 feet and gains the Prone condition. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and is neither pushed nor knocked Prone.
Seal in Iron — 2 Uses. One creature Campe can see within 120 feet must make a DC 33 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 44 (8d10) Force damage and has the Restrained condition until the end of its next turn.
Mythic Actions
After Warden Unbound activates, Campe can spend Legendary Action uses on the following options.
Heads Unleashed — 2 Uses. Campe makes three Bestial Maw attacks. Each attack can target a different creature.
Scorpion’s Arc — 3 Uses. Campe sweeps her tail through a line 120 feet long and 15 feet wide.
Each creature in the line must make a DC 32 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 55 (10d10) Piercing damage plus 55 (10d10) Poison damage and has the Poisoned condition until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn’t Poisoned.
Black-Wing Cataclysm — 4 Uses. Each enemy within 60 feet of Campe must make a DC 33 Dexterity saving throw.
On a failed save, a creature takes 55 (10d10) Slashing damage plus 55 (10d10) Thunder damage, is pushed 40 feet and gains the Prone condition. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and suffers no additional effect.
Campe’s Prison Anchors
Three colossal anchors connect Campe’s reconstructed body to the foundations of Tartarus. They may appear as pillars driven through the cavern floor, chains descending into bottomless darkness or black iron mechanisms built into the walls.
The anchors are encounter objectives rather than ordinary treasure.
Prison Anchor
Armor Class 23
Hit Points 100
Damage Threshold 20
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities all conditions
Each destroyed anchor causes the following cumulative effects:
- Campe’s Primordial Regeneration is reduced by 10 Hit Points.
- Campe loses one Legendary Action use, to a minimum of three.
- The save DC of Tartarean Seal is reduced by 1.
If all three anchors are destroyed before Campe is reduced to 0 Hit Points, Warden Unbound can’t activate.
Campe knows when an anchor is damaged. She prioritises creatures attacking the anchors and may use Seal in Iron, Wrath of Tartarus or her movement abilities to separate them from their objective.
Lair Actions
When Campe fights within her Tartarean prison, she can invoke the prison on Initiative count 20, losing initiative ties. She can’t use the same lair action on two consecutive rounds.
Chains of Conviction. Up to three creatures Campe can see within 120 feet must succeed on a DC 33 Strength saving throw or have the Restrained condition until Initiative count 20 of the following round.
Inverted Descent. Campe changes the direction of gravity within a 60-foot-radius area centred on a point she can see within 180 feet.
Each enemy in that area must make a DC 32 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature falls up to 60 feet toward a surface chosen by Campe, takes falling damage normally and gains the Prone condition.
The Prison Remembers. One creature Campe can see within 120 feet must make a DC 30 Wisdom saving throw.
On a failed save, the creature takes 44 (8d10) Psychic damage and has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn as it experiences the memories of countless prisoners.
Sealed Passage. Until Initiative count 20 of the following round, teleportation and planar travel automatically fail throughout the lair. Campe can designate creatures unaffected by this restriction.
Corridor Without End. Until Initiative count 20 of the following round, the distance between two surfaces or landmarks Campe can see is magically extended.
A creature attempting to cross the affected space must spend 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot moved. Campe and creatures she designates are unaffected.
Regional Effects
The region within 6 miles of Campe’s lair is altered by her presence.
- Unattended chains slowly turn toward the nearest living creature.
- Doors occasionally open onto prison cells rather than their intended destinations.
- Teleportation magic produces a momentary vision of black iron gates.
- Sleeping creatures dream of crimes they committed, intended or merely imagined.
- A creature held captive always knows that something within the prison is aware of it.
- Written names sometimes appear beside empty cells.
- A creature that breaks an oath hears the distant movement of immense chains.
- Footprints leading away from the prison may reverse direction when no one is watching.
These effects fade over 1d10 days if Campe is permanently destroyed or her connection to Tartarus is severed.
Running Campe in Combat
Campe is a controller-brute designed to challenge epic characters through movement restrictions, divided objectives and overwhelming action economy.
Before Combat
If Campe knows enemies are approaching, she casts Wall of Force to divide the battlefield and positions herself where the party must pass near at least one Prison Anchor.
She does not normally cast Earthquake inside a structure she wishes to preserve. She uses it freely when defending ruins, open caverns or expendable sections of the prison.
Opening Round
Campe normally begins with Fiftyfold Terror. She then uses Serpentine Surge to enter the party’s formation and separates dangerous opponents with her claws.
If the characters arrive in a tight formation or begin attacking an anchor immediately, she may instead open with Wrath of Tartarus.
Target Priorities
Campe prioritises:
- creatures attacking the Prison Anchors;
- characters capable of planar travel or teleportation;
- healers and creatures able to remove poison;
- wielders of divine lightning or known artefacts;
- creatures attempting to free one of her prisoners.
Mid-Battle
Campe uses her claws to restrain frontline combatants while directing her Scorpion Sting against healers and mobile characters. Bestial Maw attacks maintain damage against several opponents.
Wingstorm is used to force enemies away from the anchors or into areas affected by inverted gravity, supernatural vipers or sealed corridors.
Mythic Phase
After Warden Unbound activates, Campe stops protecting the physical prison and fights as the full manifestation of Tartarus’s rage.
She uses Heads Unleashed when several enemies are within reach, Scorpion’s Arc against characters aligned behind an anchor and Black-Wing Cataclysm when surrounded.
Retreat and Surrender
Campe rarely retreats from her lair. If all three Prison Anchors are destroyed, she may attempt to preserve herself through Maze, Dimension Door or a hidden route that bypasses ordinary planar travel.
She accepts surrender when prisoners are more valuable alive. Surrendered characters are stripped of known teleportation tools, separated and placed in cells designed around their abilities.
Encounter Guidance
| Party | Recommended Encounter | Complication |
|---|---|---|
| Five level-20 characters with legendary items | Campe with all three Prison Anchors; Warden Unbound disabled when the anchors are destroyed | An imprisoned ally reveals how the anchors function |
| Six level-20 characters with Epic Boons | Full CR 35 Campe with Warden Unbound | One anchor is concealed behind a sealed gate |
| Six or more level-20 artefact bearers | Full mythic encounter with lair actions | Destroying an anchor releases another dangerous prisoner |
| Divine or post-level-20 campaign | Full mythic encounter with lair actions and guardian creatures | Campe is protecting a prison whose captive must not be released |
Campe should not be used as an unsupported random encounter. Characters need information, allies, artefacts or a clear method of weakening her. Discovering the Prison Anchors should be part of the adventure rather than an unexplained convenience introduced during combat.
Official 2024 encounter guidance can be found in Creating Combat Encounters Using the New Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual. Campe’s CR exceeds the official scale and therefore requires campaign-level judgement.
Defeating Campe Permanently
Reducing Campe to 0 Hit Points destroys her present body but does not necessarily erase her from Tartarus.
Permanent destruction requires all of the following:
- the destruction of all three Prison Anchors;
- the suppression of her regeneration with Force damage or qualifying divine Lightning damage;
- her reduction to 0 Hit Points while regeneration is suppressed;
- the sealing or destruction of the gate through which Tartarus would begin reconstructing her again.
Destroying Campe permanently may destabilise prisons that depended upon her power. Some captives deserve everything their cells inflict, and killing the jailer can release threats far worse than the party expected.
Campe Pathfinder 1E / D&D 3.5E
Campe
CR 32/MR 10
XP 19,660,800
Neutral Evil Gargantuan outsider (evil, extraplanar, mythic, primordial)
Initiative +12
Senses darkvision 120 ft., true seeing; Perception +56
Aura frightful presence 120 ft. (DC 42), Tartarean seal 300 ft.
Defence
Armor Class 50, touch 20, flat-footed 46 (–4 size, +4 Dexterity, +30 natural, +10 deflection)
Hit Points 880 (40d10 + 560 plus 100 mythic bonus hit points)
Saving Throws Fortitude +40, Reflex +30, Will +35
Defensive Abilities hard to kill, many-headed awareness, mythic immortality, shield of power, unstoppable
Damage Reduction 25/epic and good
Immunities acid, cold, disease, fire, paralysis, petrification, poison
Resistance electricity 30
Spell Resistance 43
Regeneration 30 (epic good-aligned weapons, force effects or divine electricity)
Offence
Speed 60 ft., burrow 40 ft., fly 80 ft. (average), swim 60 ft.
Melee six bites +52 (4d12+15), two claws +50 (4d10+7/19–20 plus grab), sting +50 (4d12+7 plus poison)
Space 20 ft.
Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with sting)
Special Attacks horrific appearance, mythic power 10/day, prison chains, surge +1d12, thousand-viper tide, wrath of Tartarus
Spell-Like Abilities
Caster Level 32nd; concentration +44
- Constant: true seeing
- At will: detect magic, dimension door, greater dispel magic
- 3/day: earthquake, greater teleport, reverse gravity, wall of force
- 1/day: imprisonment, maze
Saving throw DCs are 22 + spell level.
Statistics
Strength 40, Dexterity 18, Constitution 38, Intelligence 24, Wisdom 28, Charisma 34
Base Attack +40
CMB +59 (+63 grapple)
CMD 83; can’t be tripped
Feats Ability Focus (horrific appearance), Ability Focus (wrath of Tartarus), Alertness, Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Flyby Attack, Great Cleave, Greater Vital Strike, Hover, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (claw), Improved Critical (sting), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Natural Attack (claw), Improved Natural Attack (sting), Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +55, Fly +39, Intimidate +55, Knowledge (arcana) +50, Knowledge (history) +50, Knowledge (planes) +50, Knowledge (religion) +50, Perception +56, Sense Motive +52, Spellcraft +50, Swim +58
Languages Ancient Greek, Primordial; telepathy 1 mile
Special Abilities
Horrific Appearance (Su). A creature within 300 feet that sees Campe must succeed on a DC 42 Will save or take 2d8 points of Strength damage and become staggered for 1d4 rounds.
A creature that succeeds on the save, or recovers from the effect, is immune to Campe’s Horrific Appearance for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Many-Headed Awareness (Ex). Campe can’t be flanked and retains her Dexterity bonus to Armor Class while flat-footed. She gains a +8 racial bonus on Perception checks and saving throws against blindness, deafness and stunning.
Severing individual beast heads does not reduce her number of attacks. The visible heads are manifestations of a larger supernatural mass.
Poison (Ex). Sting—injury; save Fortitude DC 44; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 2d8 Constitution damage, Speed halved and the victim can’t regain hit points; cure two consecutive saves.
The save DC is Constitution-based.
Prison Chains (Su). As a standard action, Campe targets up to three creatures within 120 feet.
Each target must succeed on a DC 42 Reflex save or take 10d6 Force damage and become entangled and anchored in place. Escaping requires a DC 45 Escape Artist check, DC 45 Strength check or destruction of the chains. Each set of chains has hardness 25 and 100 hit points.
A bound creature can’t teleport or use planar travel.
Regeneration (Ex). Epic good-aligned weapons, force effects and qualifying divine electricity deal normal damage to Campe.
Shield of Power (Su). Campe’s primordial authority grants her a +10 deflection bonus to Armor Class.
Tartarean Seal (Su). Teleportation and planar travel within 300 feet of Campe require a successful DC 42 caster-level check.
On a failure, the effect is expended without transporting the creature, and the creature takes 10d6 Force damage. Campe can suppress or restore this ability as a free action.
Thousand-Viper Tide (Su). Once every 1d4 rounds, Campe can release a 120-foot cone of biting and poison-spitting serpents.
Creatures in the area take 20d8 points of Piercing damage and 20d8 points of Poison damage. A successful DC 44 Reflex save halves the damage.
A creature that fails the save is entangled and must succeed on a DC 45 Strength or Escape Artist check to free itself. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Thunderbolt Scar (Ex). Electricity damage caused by a divine artefact, deity, mythic electricity effect or spell of level 8 or higher ignores Campe’s electricity resistance and suppresses her regeneration for 1 round.
Warden Unbound (Su). Once per day, when reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, Campe ends all conditions affecting her, regains 440 hit points and immediately uses Thousand-Viper Tide.
Warden Unbound doesn’t activate if all three of her Prison Anchors have been destroyed.
Wrath of Tartarus (Su). Once per day, Campe launches a sphere at a point within 1,000 feet. It explodes in a 30-foot radius and inflicts 20d8 Force damage and 20d8 profane damage.
A DC 42 Reflex save halves the damage. Creatures that fail are also affected by Prison Chains. The save DC is Charisma-based.
The Pathfinder statistics extend beyond the published CR 30 benchmarks. The official monster-statistics guidance remains useful for comparison and can be found in Archives of Nethys: Evaluating Monster Statistics.
Dracaenae, Campe — Primordial Jailer of Tartarus
Dracaenae, Campe — Primordial Jailer of Tartarus
Originally Posted by Khisanth the Ancient of the En World forums.
Campe is the jaileress of Tartarus, who even gods fear, Sometimes they will be forced to bargain with her, but at least one demigod met his end at her claws. A monstrous Drakainai, Campe was appointed by Cronos to guard the Hecatoncheires and Greater cyclopes trapped in Tartarus. Zeus freed these giants to aide him in his war against the Titans, later putting her in charge of jailing the titans.
She appears to be composed of the worst features of every creature ever feared or hated by humankind. Its body is that of a monstrous dragon, but the tail of a vast scorpion arches over its back. Each of its many feet is a terrible serpent, and it has many huge, fanged heads. The central head and upper torso, most horrible of all, are a hideously scaled mockery of the human form.
Offspring of Gaia and sister to Echidna.
| Campe | |
| Gargantuan outsider (Evil, Extraplanar) | |
| Hit Dice | 40d8+403 (583 hp) |
| Initiative | +4 |
| Speed | 50 ft., Fly 60 ft. (poor) |
| Armor Class | 43 (-4 size, +28 natural, +9 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 43 |
| Base Attack/Grapple | +40/+66 |
| Attack | Bite +51 melee (4d8+14) |
| Full Attack | 4 bites +51 melee (4d8+14), 2 claws +46 melee (3d10+7), sting +46 melee (6d6+7 and poison and energy drain) |
| Space/Reach | 20 ft./15 ft. |
| Special Attacks | Horrific appearance, frightful presence, spell-like abilities, poison, energy drain, gate of Tartarus, wrath |
| Special Qualities | DR 35/epic (6/-), cold immunity, fire immunity, acid immunity, shield of power, regeneration 15 |
| Saves | Fort +32, Ref +22, Will +28 |
| Abilities | Strength 39, Dexterity 10, Constitution 31, Intelligence 19, Wisdom 23, Charisma 28 |
| Skills | Appraise +49, Bluff +52, Concentration +53, Diplomacy +43, Knowledge (Arcana, nature, the planes, religion) +48, Listen +51, Spot +51, Survival +49, Swim +57 |
| Feats | Ability Focus (frightful presence, wrath), Alertness, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, Power Attack, Run, Toughness, Weapon Focus (bite, claw, sting) |
| Epic Feat | Damage Reduction |
| Environment | Any land or underground |
| Organization | Unique (1) |
| Challenge Rating | 30 |
| Treasure | Standard |
| Alignment | Always chaotic evil |
| Advancement | — |
| Level Adjustment | — |
Combat

Any non-evil creature approaching Kampe will be attacked viciously. She usually begins combat with blasphemy and Earthquake, then enters melee. If given time to prepare, she casts haste and bull’s strength on herself and summons monsters. If the foes seem a real threat, she may use wrath.
Horrific Appearance (Ex): Any creature within 200 feet seeing Kampe must make a Will save (DC 39) or suffer 2d6 Strenngth damage. Any creature which successfully saves against this ability or is affected by it is immune to Kampe’s horrific appearance for 24 hours.
Frightful Presence (Ex): When Kampe attacks, any creature within 100 feet seeing her must make a Will save (DC 41) or be shaken for 5d6 rounds. Any creature which successfully saves against this ability is immune to Kampe’s frightful presence for 24 hours.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will bane, blight, bull’s strength, chaos hammer, darkness, detect good, detect magic, dimension door, doom, fireball, dispel magic, greater, gust of wind, haste, invisibility purge, mage armor, magic circle against good, magic circle against law, magic missile, nightmare, poison, ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp, unholy blight;
3/day chain lightning, disintegrate, finger of death, summon monster IX (as evil spell only), teleport without error;
1/day blasphemy, creeping doom, earthquake, limited wish. Saving throw DCs are 19 + spell level.
Poison (Ex): Sting, Fortitude DC 42, initial and secondary damage 2d8 Constitution.
Energy Drain (Su): Kampe’s sting attack inflicts a negative level. The Fortitude save to remove the negative level is DC 40.
Gate of Tartarus (Sp): 3/day, Kampe can summon 1-2 Tartarian warhounds and 1-4 Erinyes. This ability is treated as a 9th-level spell.
Wrath (Su): Kampe hurls a ball of Hellfire and blasting force at her foe. This ability allows a Reflex save (DC 41) for half damage, but otherwise it deals 40d6 points of evil (unholy) damage to all in a 20-foot radius. The range is 1,000 feet.
Shield of Power (Su): Due to her immense magical power, Kampe gains a +9 deflection bonus on Armor Class.
Regeneration (Ex): Good-aligned weapons and force effects deal normal damage to Kampe.
Historic and Mythic Context
In the account preserved by Pseudo-Apollodorus, Uranus first imprisoned the Hecatoncheires and the Elder Cyclopes in Tartarus. Cronus briefly released them during the overthrow of Uranus but later bound them again.
During the Titanomachy, Gaia revealed that Zeus could not win without the captives held in Tartarus. Zeus entered the prison, killed its jailer Campe and released the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes.
The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder, lightning and the thunderbolt, while also arming Poseidon and the other Olympian leaders. After the Titans were defeated, the Hecatoncheires were appointed as their guards.
Nonnus provides the fullest surviving description of Campe. He presents her as a woman-shaped, serpent-haired monster with a scaled lower body, fifty heads of wild beasts, innumerable viper feet, sickle claws, black wings, burning eyes and an elevated scorpion sting. Nonnus also says Zeus destroyed her with a thunderbolt.
Reconciling the Ancient Accounts
Pseudo-Apollodorus places the Cyclopes’ gift of the perfected thunderbolt after Campe’s death, while Nonnus describes Zeus killing her with a thunderbolt.
SpiralWorlds resolves the difference as follows:
Zeus destroyed Campe with his innate divine lightning. After their release, the Elder Cyclopes captured, focused and perfected that power within the artefact known as Zeus’s Thunderbolt.
The weapon later wielded by Zeus is therefore not the first lightning he ever commanded. It is the Cyclopes’ supreme refinement of that divine power.
Campe and Echidna
Ancient sources do not securely establish Campe as the biological sister of Echidna. Their shared composite anatomy and connection to chthonic powers nevertheless make a relationship suitable for the campaign.
SpiralWorlds Canon: Campe and Echidna are separate primordial dracaenae descended from the earliest chthonic powers associated with Gaia and the deep places beneath creation. They may be described as primordial sisters, but Campe is not an aspect, title or alternative form of Echidna.
Echidna’s established relationship with Typhon does not make Campe Typhon’s consort, servant or offspring. Campe follows a separate chthonic lineage and possesses an independent office within Tartarus.
Campe’s Return
Zeus destroyed Campe’s original manifested body. He did not erase the primordial law that gave her form.
Campe had served Tartarus for so long that fragments of her identity remained within every gate she had sealed and every chain she had commanded. These fragments slowly gathered around the oldest surviving Prison Anchors. Tartarus rebuilt its jailer as an injured body rebuilds itself around a buried weapon.
The restored Campe remembers her death. She no longer serves Cronus, but she has not forgiven Zeus, the Hecatoncheires or the Elder Cyclopes. Her loyalty now belongs to the prison itself.
Treasure
Campe does not collect wealth for pleasure. Her hoard consists of confiscated property, tribute, prison records and objects too dangerous to leave with their owners.
Possible treasures include:
- a key capable of opening one divine prison;
- a black feather that can summon a storm powerful enough to ground outsiders;
- a vial of scorpion venom that suppresses regeneration;
- a fragment of Tartarean chain that prevents teleportation within a limited area;
- the true name of a forgotten captive;
- a divine weapon confiscated during an ancient war;
- a sealed contract granting authority over one prison gate;
- a record identifying which god ordered an unlawful imprisonment;
- a map showing forgotten entrances into Carceri;
- the original sentence of a Titan, primordial monster or divine traitor.
Some confiscated objects remain bound to their cells. Removing one may open the prison, transfer the sentence to its new bearer or allow Campe to track the item across the planes.
Adventure Hooks
The Unlisted Prisoner
A divine court requires the release of a captive whose prison officially does not exist. Campe will open the cell only if the characters deliver another immortal being to take the prisoner’s place.
The Broken Appointment
A cult of Cronus recovers the original token appointing Campe as jailer. The token can compel her to hear a command but cannot force her to obey it. The cultists discover the difference too late.
The Returning Jailer
Chains throughout several planes begin moving toward ancient portals. Campe is restoring a prison network destroyed during the Titanomachy, and several inhabited settlements now stand over sealed entrances.
The Prisoner Who Must Remain
An apparently innocent captive begs the characters to destroy Campe and open its cell. Evidence suggests the prisoner was unlawfully confined, but the creature’s release may still cause a catastrophe.
The Third Anchor
Two of Campe’s Prison Anchors have been located. The third was stolen from Tartarus centuries ago and now forms the foundation of a mortal fortress whose inhabitants know nothing of its purpose.
The Price of Lightning
A surviving Elder Cyclops can create a weapon capable of reopening Campe’s Thunderbolt Scar. The Cyclops demands the return of a tool currently held in an Olympian treasury.
The Empty Cell
Campe discovers a sealed cell standing open. She cannot identify who escaped because the prisoner’s name has been removed from every record in the multiverse.
Related SpiralWorlds Entries
- Carceri, the Tarterian Depths
- Hecatoncheires — Cottus, Gyges and Briareus/Aegaeon
- Elder Cyclopes — Arges, Brontes and Steropes
- Cronus
- Zeus
- Gaia
- Uranus
- Poseidon
- Echidna
- Typhon
- Elder Titans
- The SpiralWorlds Timeline
Sources and Further Reading
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, Book 1 — Zeus kills Campe and releases the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes.
- Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Book 18 — Campe’s fifty beast heads, serpent hair, viper feet, sickle claws, wings and scorpion tail.
- Theoi Project — Kampe — collected ancient references and translations concerning Campe.
- Theoi Project — Hecatoncheires — ancient references concerning the Hundred-Handers.
- Theoi Project — Elder Cyclopes — ancient references concerning Arges, Brontes and Steropes.
- Dungeons & Dragons — 2024 Encounter-Building Guidance
- Archives of Nethys — Evaluating Monster Statistics
Game Material: The SpiralWorlds interpretation, Campe’s return, Prison Anchors, CR 35 epic extension and all original game mechanics on this page are campaign material created for SpiralWorlds.
Buy me a coffee