Beldam — the Wooden Mother of Shadow
A kind voice behind a borrowed face; a perfect home that grows less real each night.
At a Glance
Beldam Game Statistics — Four Editions
A beldam combines shadow-crafted illusion with a lethal, branch-limbed body. The Pathfinder stat block retains the source creature; all other presentations describe the same predator in their own rules.
Beldam
Large Plant, Chaotic Evil — 2024 compatible
AC 19 (natural armour); Initiative +4 (14)
HP 250 (20d10 + 140)
Speed 40 ft., Climb 30 ft.
24 (+7)
18 (+4)
24 (+7)
20 (+5)
18 (+4)
22 (+6)
Saving Throws Con +12, Wis +9, Cha +11
Skills Deception +11, Insight +9, Perception +14, Stealth +9
Resistances Cold, Necrotic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical attacks
Immunities Poison damage; Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned conditions
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Truesight 60 ft.; Passive Perception 24
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Elvish, Gnomish, Sylvan
CR 16 (15,000 XP); PB +5
Traits
Regeneration. The beldam regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. Fire or Radiant damage prevents this regeneration at the start of its next turn.
Shadow Blend. In Dim Light or Darkness, attack rolls against the beldam have Disadvantage unless the attacker can see through magical darkness. This benefit ends while the beldam is in direct sunlight.
Light Blindness. While in direct sunlight, the beldam has Disadvantage on attack rolls and sight-based Wisdom (Perception) checks.
False Family. A Humanoid killed by the beldam rises after 1d4 rounds as a greater shadow under its control, provided its body and soul remain available. Use the greater shadow’s own statistics; it acts on its own initiative. Killing the beldam frees surviving shadows from its command.
Magic
Spellcasting (Magic action). The beldam casts the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma (spell save DC 19): At will: Detect Thoughts, Major Image; 3/day each: Greater Invisibility, Polymorph; 1/day each: Creation, Mirage Arcane, Plane Shift, Project Image, True Seeing. Concentration is required where specified by each spell. Its illusions do not make physical barriers.
Actions
Multiattack. The beldam makes two Claw attacks and one Bite or Tail attack.
Claw. Melee Attack Roll: +12, reach 10 ft. Hit: 16 (2d8 + 7) Slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) Necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or its Hit Point maximum is reduced by 9 (2d8). This reduction lasts until the target finishes a Long Rest or is restored by Greater Restoration. A creature dies if this effect reduces its Hit Point maximum to 0.
Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +12, reach 10 ft. Hit: 25 (4d8 + 7) Piercing damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it has the Grappled condition (escape DC 20). The beldam can grapple one creature this way.
Tail. Melee Attack Roll: +12, reach 15 ft. Hit: 23 (3d10 + 7) Bludgeoning damage.
Swallow. The beldam swallows one Medium or smaller creature Grappled by its Bite. The creature is no longer Grappled, but is Blinded and Restrained within it, has Total Cover against attacks originating outside, and takes 18 (4d8) Bludgeoning plus 9 (2d8) Necrotic damage at the start of each of the beldam’s turns. The beldam can contain one such creature. If the beldam takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, it must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or disgorge the creature into a space within 10 feet; otherwise it disgorges the creature when it dies.
Bonus Actions
Slip Between Shadows (Recharge 5–6). While in Dim Light or Darkness, the beldam teleports up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see that is also in Dim Light or Darkness.
At CR 16 a beldam is a major solo foe. Greater shadows already present are additional enemies, not included in its CR.
Beldam
Large plant, chaotic evil — 2014 rules
Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 250 (20d10 + 140)
Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
24 (+7)
18 (+4)
24 (+7)
20 (+5)
18 (+4)
22 (+6)
Saving Throws Con +12, Wis +9, Cha +11
Skills Deception +11, Insight +9, Perception +14, Stealth +9
Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 24
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Elvish, Gnomish, Sylvan
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)
Traits
Regeneration. The beldam regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. If it took fire or radiant damage since its last turn, this trait doesn’t function at the start of its next turn.
Shadow Blend. While in dim light or darkness, attack rolls against the beldam have disadvantage unless the attacker can perceive it through magical darkness. It loses this benefit in direct sunlight.
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in direct sunlight, the beldam has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Create Greater Shadow. A humanoid killed by the beldam rises in 1d4 rounds as a greater shadow under its control; it uses its own statistics and initiative. The beldam’s destruction ends control over surviving shadows.
Innate Spellcasting. The beldam’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). It requires no material components. At will: detect thoughts, major image; 3/day each: greater invisibility, polymorph; 1/day each: creation, mirage arcane, plane shift, project image, true seeing. Concentration applies normally.
Actions
Multiattack. The beldam makes two claw attacks and one bite or tail attack.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8 + 7) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by 9 (2d8). The reduction lasts until the creature finishes a long rest or receives greater restoration. A target dies if its hit point maximum becomes 0.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (4d8 + 7) piercing damage. A Large or smaller target is grappled (escape DC 20). The beldam can hold one target with its bite.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (3d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
Swallow. The beldam swallows a Medium or smaller creature grappled in its bite. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks from outside, and takes 18 (4d8) bludgeoning plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage at the start of each beldam turn. Only one creature can be swallowed. If it takes at least 30 damage on a single turn from inside, it must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or regurgitate the swallowed creature into a space within 10 feet. A dead beldam regurgitates its prey.
Bonus Actions
Shadow Step (Recharge 5–6). In dim light or darkness, the beldam teleports up to 40 feet to another unoccupied space of dim light or darkness it can see.
Beldam — CR 16 (76,800 XP)
CE Large plant (extraplanar); original Creature Codex statistics
Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision; Perception +27
Defense
AC 33, touch 13, flat-footed 29 (–1 size, +4 Dex, +20 natural)
hp 230 (20d8+140); regeneration 10 (fire, positive energy)
Fort +19, Ref +11, Will +11
DR 15/silver and good; SR 27
Defensive Qualities negative energy affinity, plant traits, shadow blend; Weakness light blindness
Offense
Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +23 (2d10+9 plus energy drain), bite +23 (4d6+9 plus grab), tail slap +21 (2d8+14)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with tail)
Special Attacks create spawn, energy drain (1 negative level, DC 27), powerful tail, swallow whole (4d6+14 bludgeoning damage and energy drain; AC 20, 23 hp)
Spell-like Abilities CL 20th; concentration +27 (+31 when casting defensively)
Constant — detect thoughts (DC 19), true seeing
At will — fabricate, major creation, persistent image (DC 22), mirage arcana (DC 22)
3/day — baleful polymorph (DC 22), quickened greater invisibility
1/day — decaying veil (DC 22), plane shift (DC 22), polymorph any object (DC 25), project image (DC 24)
Statistics
Str 29, Dex 19, Con 25, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 24
Base Atk +15; CMB +25 (+29 grapple); CMD 39
Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (greater invisibility), Staggering Critical, Vital Strike
Skills Bluff +30, Climb +40, Diplomacy +30, Disguise +30, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (nature) +28, Perception +27, Sense Motive +27, Stealth +23, Use Magic Device +30
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Elven, Gnome, Sylvan; SQ uncanny mind
Ecology
Environment Plane of Shadow
Organization solitary or family (1 plus 1–8 greater shadows)
Treasure double standard
Special Abilities
Create Spawn (Su). Any creature killed by a beldam rises as a full-powered greater shadow 1d4 rounds after it is slain. A beldam can control any number of greater shadows.
Decaying Veil (Sp). This functions as veil, except that every hour the disguise weakens, giving affected creatures a cumulative –1 penalty on Disguise checks until its remaining disguise bonus reaches +0, whereupon the spell ends. Equivalent to a 5th-level spell.
Powerful Tail (Ex). A beldam applies one and a half times its Strength modifier to tail-slap damage.
Shadow Blend (Su). In all light conditions except direct sunlight, the beldam gains total concealment (50% miss chance).
Uncanny Mind (Ex). A beldam gains skill ranks and class skills as though it were a fey creature.
Pathfinder statistics follow the original 2017 Creature Codex entry. The source does not itemise every modifier used for its CMB, CMD and some saves; its published figures are retained rather than silently altered.
Beldam
Large plant (extraplanar); D&D 3.5e adaptation
Hit Dice: 20d8+140 (230 hp)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 30 ft.
Armor Class: 33 (–1 size, +4 Dex, +20 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 29
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+28
Attack: Claw +23 melee (2d10+9 plus energy drain)
Full Attack: 2 claws +23 melee (2d10+9 plus energy drain) and bite +23 melee (4d6+9 plus improved grab) and tail slap +21 melee (2d8+13)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with tail)
Special Attacks: Create spawn, energy drain, improved grab, swallow whole, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, plant traits, regeneration 10 (fire or positive energy), damage reduction 15/silver and good, spell resistance 27, shadow blend, light blindness, uncanny mind
Saves: Fort +19, Ref +10, Will +10
Abilities: Str 29, Dex 19, Con 25, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 24
Skills: Bluff +30, Climb +40, Diplomacy +30, Disguise +30, Hide +17, Intimidate +27, Listen +27, Sense Motive +27, Spot +27
Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (greater invisibility), Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus (claw), Ability Focus (energy drain)
Environment: Plane of Shadow
Organization: Solitary or family (one beldam plus 1–8 greater shadows)
Challenge Rating: 16
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 21–30 HD (Large); 31–40 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —
Combat
A beldam studies a foe’s desires through illusions and thought-reading before committing to a fight. It isolates a vulnerable creature, uses greater invisibility to reposition, then seizes its victim with a bite. Its shadows move to cut off retreat.
Energy Drain (Su). A creature struck by a claw, or damaged while swallowed, gains one negative level. The Fortitude save DC to remove a negative level after 24 hours is 27 (Charisma-based).
Improved Grab (Ex). On a successful bite against a creature at least one size category smaller, the beldam can attempt a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. A successful grapple allows swallowing on its next action.
Swallow Whole (Ex). A swallowed opponent takes 4d6+13 bludgeoning damage and one negative level each round. Escape by dealing 23 damage to the gullet (AC 20) with a light slashing or piercing weapon, or win a grapple check. The opening closes after escape. The gullet holds one Medium, two Small or four Tiny creatures.
Create Spawn (Su). Any creature slain by the beldam rises after 1d4 rounds as a greater shadow under its control. This control lasts until the beldam is destroyed.
Shadow Blend (Su). Except in direct sunlight, the beldam has total concealment (50% miss chance). It is dazzled in bright light by light blindness.
Spell-Like Abilities: Caster level 20th. Constant—detect thoughts (DC 19), true seeing; at will—fabricate, major creation, persistent image (DC 22), mirage arcana (DC 22); 3/day—baleful polymorph (DC 22), quickened greater invisibility; 1/day—decaying veil (DC 22), plane shift (DC 22), polymorph any object (DC 25), project image (DC 24).
Decaying Veil (Sp). A custom 5th-level veil-like disguise loses potency every hour and ends when no disguise benefit remains.
Uncanny Mind (Ex). The beldam has a fey-like command of social and deceptive skills despite being a plant.
The Wooden Mother
At a distance, a beldam could be mistaken for a sickly tree that has grown into a woman’s outline. Seen clearly, it stands roughly fifteen feet tall, with glassy eyes, bark-hard skin, hooked fingers, a cruel mouth and a massive wooden tail. Its joints creak like timber under strain. A mature beldam weighs close to eight hundred pounds.
The creature is not a mortal witch and not a true fey. It is a thinking plant of the Shadow Plane. A beldam’s most deadly weapon is the world it promises its prey: a warm household, a parent restored, a feast without hunger, or an end to fear. Every comfort is carefully measured against the victim’s private longings.
As an illusion begins to crack, the beldam demands bargains and imposes petty trials. Those who refuse to play may meet the wooden creature itself. Those who fail disappear into its shadowed family.
Where Beldams Are Found
The true beldam grows in the warped landscape of the Shadow Plane, where derelict manors, mirrored orchards and broken roads echo places in the mortal world. A crossing sometimes opens in an empty nursery, a half-buried grove or a house whose occupants vanished together. Such breaches are rare; the monster does not belong to every ordinary woodland.
Beldams live alone, though a mature one often commands a household of greater shadows and servants who have accepted its bargains. When a beldam plants its seed, the resulting tree grows for fifty years before walking. A parent beldam reproduces only once in roughly a century, and a younger tree can spend decades mistaken for a grim but harmless landmark.
Behaviour
A beldam prefers consent that has been twisted into submission. It observes travellers, reads their fears and ambitions, and offers exactly what each wishes to believe. It may feed guests kindly for days before demanding one small favour. Gifts are deliberately conditional; a promise that cannot be kept becomes an excuse for punishment.
A victim who resists is isolated from companions, then confronted by a familiar face that refuses to remember something vital. A servant who has accepted the false household may fight to protect it. The beldam rarely reveals its true shape while there is still a chance to win by deceit.
The creature defends the place where its seed is rooting with ruthless violence. If outmatched, it retreats to heavy shadow or crosses a planar boundary. It does not sacrifice its own existence merely to punish a stranger, but may bargain for a fallen captive rather than surrender a long-kept victim.
If Violence Starts
First target. The beldam begins with isolated spellcasters and those carrying powerful light sources. It uses illusions and invisibility to separate companions, then closes on a target already distracted or weakened.
Opening moves. The beldam offers one last bargain and projects its voice through a false family member. If challenged, it changes the room with an illusion, moves through shadows and orders its greater shadows to block retreat rather than rushing into a straight fight.
In reach. Two claws strip away vitality, while its bite seizes a creature for swallowing. The long tail sweeps enemies who try to reach its back. Fire and radiant or positive-energy magic can interrupt its regeneration, and true daylight strips away its deepest protection.
Breaking off. Wounded and exposed to harsh light, the beldam escapes when possible. If the seedling or its hidden captive is threatened, it may fight even when flight would be wiser.
Signs of the Beldam
- A nursery remains tidy despite years without inhabitants.
- One member of a household casts the shadow of a tree.
- Food tastes wonderful but has no flavour after a guest leaves.
- Paths between rooms repeat, although the building’s exterior is small.
- One wooden figure in a family portrait is always newly painted.
- A rooted tree beyond the back door has a face on the sheltered side.
Using a Beldam in Play
The false invitation. Give the party a genuine problem first: a missing traveller, an inheritance dispute or a house whose inhabitants never age. Let the monster’s fabricated comfort solve that problem too neatly. Place at least three independent clues before any forced revelation.
The rigged bargain. The beldam asks each guest to win a private contest. A failed task costs an heirloom, a name or a promise. The rule is never honestly explained; expose the cheating through investigation, competing testimony or physical evidence.
The hidden root. A growing seedling provides a concrete goal beyond reducing hit points. Cutting it from the infected soil closes the household’s easiest connection to the Shadow Plane, though the adult beldam may bargain fiercely to keep it.
Fair counterplay. Ordinary physical tests reveal false furnishings. Good illumination and careful attention defeat aspects of the monster’s concealment. The beldam’s magic should create obstacles and choices, not erase player agency or make every clue meaningless.
Challenge and Encounter Scale
One beldam is a dangerous climactic foe for a seasoned party. Its listed CR assumes the creature itself: a full family of greater shadows must be counted as additional opposition. The illusion-filled house can exhaust resources before combat, so avoid adding eight shadows by default.
For a four-character party, introduce only the number of shadow servants the group can meaningfully fight or outwit. A strong party can confront the beldam’s household directly; a weaker party should be able to destroy the anchor, rescue the captive and escape rather than needing to defeat every enemy in a pitched fight.
Adventure Hooks
- The Seventh Child. The same missing child’s name appears in the records of three otherwise unrelated households; each remembers a different face.
- A Year Without Winter. An orchard bears fruit through snow, yet every orchard worker grows weaker while a single tree grows taller.
- The Widow’s Return. A noblewoman returns from a funeral with the person she buried. Only the household dogs seem alarmed.
- The Perfect Tutor. An isolated academy’s pupils excel at everything but cannot remember how to leave.
After the Encounter
A destroyed beldam leaves hardened heartwood, glasslike eye-orbs and a cavity filled with belongings taken from victims. Its treasury often contains more stolen memories and titles than coin. Greater shadows no longer bound to its will remain dangerous; defeating the mother does not instantly make its former servants harmless.
A surviving seedling is a moral problem as much as a hazard. It will not grow into a walking monster for decades, but those who have lived under the beldam’s spell may insist it is a beloved child.
Mythological and Literary Context
The name beldam is an old term for an old woman or grandmother that later acquired darker associations in English literature. This particular tree-bodied creature is a modern fantasy construction, not a claim that medieval people described a single historical species.
Its closest literary relatives are The New Mother, Lucy Clifford’s unsettling nineteenth-century tale of temptation and replacement, and the counterfeit maternal figure in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. The original Creature Codex monster explicitly draws on those stories. Its rooted body also offers a darker contrast to the alraune and irminsul.
Related Creatures and Places
- Plant creatures — the beldam’s bestiary family.
- Undead and shadows — the greater shadows it creates.
- The Shadow Plane and planar travel — its homeland and crossings.
- Alraune — another intelligent plant with deceptive powers.
- Bean Nighe — a very different crone-shaped death omen.
Sources and Licensing
The Beldam and its Pathfinder 1e statistics were first presented by Creature Codex (28 January 2017), a third-party Pathfinder creator, not an official Paizo bestiary. The original illustration, “The New Mother,” is credited there to Verreauxi Aquilae. The new D&D 5.5e, D&D 5e and 3.5e statistics and encounter material here are independent, unofficial adaptations.
Pathfinder and D&D trademarks belong to their respective owners. The original Creature Codex rules and illustration have not been represented as public-domain or official rules. Any reproduction and distribution must respect the original creator’s rights.
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