Will-o’-Wisp

Small Undead, Chaotic Evil

Armor Class 17 (Incorporeal Form)
Hit Points 45 (10d6 + 10)
Speed 0 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1 (–5)	28 (+9)	12 (+1)	13 (+1)	14 (+2)	17 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +12, Wis +5
Damage Resistances Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities Cold, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages Understands the languages it knew in life
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

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Misty Malevolence

The Will-o’-Wisp is invisible in dim light or darkness unless it chooses to emit light. While in dim light or darkness, it has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

Incorporeal Movement

The Will-o’-Wisp can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Ethereal Lure (1/Turn)

The Will-o’-Wisp targets a creature within 60 feet that can see it. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be compelled to move 10 feet closer to the Wisp on its next turn. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Creatures immune to being charmed are unaffected.

Feast on Fear

While within 10 feet of a frightened, paralyzed, or unconscious creature, the Will-o’-Wisp gains advantage on attack rolls against that creature and deals an additional 7 (2d6) lightning damage on a hit.

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Actions

Shock

Melee Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 18 (4d8) lightning damage. If this attack reduces the target to 0 hit points, the Will-o’-Wisp regains 10 hit points.

Fade and Flare (Recharge 5–6)

The Will-o’-Wisp becomes invisible until the start of its next turn, then reappears in a burst of blinding light.
Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn. Creatures that cannot see the Wisp or are immune to blindness are unaffected.

Devour Essence (1/Day)

The Will-o’-Wisp targets a dying creature (0 hp and not stable) within 5 feet. That creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or die instantly as the Wisp consumes its soul. If the creature dies, the Will-o’-Wisp gains temporary hit points equal to the creature’s hit point maximum and emits bright light in a 30-foot radius for 1 minute. While glowing in this way, it has advantage on all attack rolls.

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Tactics

• Ambush Predator: The Will-o’-Wisp stays invisible and hidden until a target is alone or weakened.
• Hit-and-Fade: It delivers a shock attack, blinds enemies with Fade and Flare, then vanishes.
• Psychological Warfare: It uses Ethereal Lure to separate targets from their group or lead them into environmental hazards.
• Soul Harvesting: It finishes dying creatures quickly to trigger Devour Essence and become more dangerous.

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Lore

“Don’t follow the lights, child. That isn’t salvation—it’s a soul already damned, desperate to drag another down.”
— Elira Thorne, Lantern Priest of the Hollow Marshes

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Will-o’-Wisp

‘Will-o’-the-wisp’ – This faintly glowing ball of light bobs gently in the air, the nebulous image of what might be a skull visible somewhere in its depths.

Will-o’-Wisp (Will-o’-the-wisp) CR 6

XP 2,400
CE Small aberration (air)
Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17

DEFENSE

AC 26, touch 26, flat-footed 16; (+5 deflection, +9 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)
hp 40 (9d8)
Fort +3, Ref +12, Will +9
Defensive Abilities natural invisibility; Immune magic

OFFENSE

Speed fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee shock +16 touch (2d8 electricity)

STATISTICS

Str 1, Dex 29, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +0; CMD 24
Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +21, Bluff +11, Escape Artist +21, Fly +31, Perception +17, Stealth +25
Languages Aklo, Common
SQ feed on fear

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Feed on Fear (Su)

Any time a will-o’-wisp is within 15 feet of a dying creature or creature subject to a fear effect, it gains fast healing 5.

Immunity to Magic (Ex)

Will-o’-wisps are immune to all spells and spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance, except magic missile and maze.

Natural Invisibility (Ex)

Will-o’-wisps have the ability to extinguish their natural glow as a move action, effectively becoming invisible, as per the spell.

ECOLOGY

Environment any swamp
Organization solitary, pair, or string (3–4)
Treasure incidental

Every trapper and bog farmer living near marshes or swamps has his own name for these faintly glowing balls of light—jack o’ the lanterns, corpse candles, walking fires, pine lights, spooklights, rushlights—but all recognize them as dangerous predators and false guides in the darkness.

Evil creatures that feed on the strong psychic emanations of terrified creatures, Will-o’-Wisp (Will-o’-the-wisp)s delight in tempting gullible travelers into dangerous situations. In the wild lands where they’re most common, will-o’-wisps favor simple tactics like positioning themselves over cliffs or quicksand where they can easily be mistaken for lanterns (especially if they can set their traps near actual signal lanterns), allowing them to lure unwary travelers into perilous situations.

On rare occasions, will-o’-wisps seeking easier pickings will move into a city and take up residence near gallows or follow along invisibly behind an army in order to harvest the fear of the dying men; why the vast majority choose to remain in the swamps where victims are scarce remains a mystery. Will-o’-wisps only use their electric shock ability under extreme duress, preferring to let other creatures or hazards claim their victims while they float nearby and feast.

Will-o’-Wisp (Will-o’-the-wisp)s can glow any color they choose, but are most frequently yellow, white, green, or blue. They can even vary their luminosity to create patterns—many will-o’-wisps are fond of creating vague skull-like shapes in their glow to further terrify their victims. Their actual bodies are barely visible globes of translucent spongy material 1 foot across and weighing 3 pounds, capable of emitting light from every surface. A will-o’-wisp’s light is approximately as bright as a torch, and though they do not seem to use sound to communicate with each other, they hear perfectly and can vibrate their bodies rapidly to simulate speech.

While vilified by most other sentient creatures, will-o’-wisps are actually quite intelligent, if utterly alien in their reasoning. Sometimes organized into groups called “strings,” their society and goals remain complete unknowns to outsiders, as do their origins, though they have sometimes been known to strike bargains with those who can offer them vast quantities of appropriately frightened victims. As will-o’-wisps do not age, and are effectively immortal unless killed by violence, particularly ancient will-o’-wisps can serve as fantastic repositories of knowledge from the ancient past, although convincing one of these cruel creatures to cooperate with an interrogation can be a trick in and of itself.

Editor’s Note

Does invisibility purge work on creatures that are naturally invisible?

In general, yes–nothing in the spell description says it only works on spells or other magical sources of invisibility. However, note that the invisible stalker’s natural invisibility specifically says that it is not subject to invisibility purge. Thus, will-o’-wisps and pixies become visible, but invisible stalkers do not.