Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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The Lore

In any edition of D&D it’s easy to get obsessed with its fiend taxonomy, but there are always some creatures that end up slipping through its cracks. Take chaos shards, for example. They form spontaneously at the edges of the terrible maelstrom that exists at the border between the Elemental Chaos and the Abyss, when the energies of those two planes clash in a particular way.

These crystalline entities are sapient, violent, and cruel. Since they don’t have any biological needs to distract them, they’re quite content with roaming around and blasting everything they see with elemental energies. I imagine they give preference to targets that can scream and suffer.

Despite having themes tied to the Abyss, being Chaotic Evil, and even having variable elemental resistance, these things are not demons. They do have some sort of metaphysical connection to the Shard of Pure Evil at the bottom of the Abyss, though. Legend has it that the most powerful chaos shards are splinters of that legendary blight upon the universe.

Some wizards trap chaos shards for use as power sources, which I bet is not at all dangerous or likely to result in death and suffering.

The Numbers

We get a handful of stat blocks for shards covering from the mid-Heroic to the mid-Paragon tiers. All are Medium Elemental Magical Beasts. They have Darkvision, immunities to disease and poison, and a variable elemental resistance similar to that of demons.

They’re all Artillery monsters, and their movement is fairly slow, though they do fly. Most are strongly aspected towards a specific element, and have damaging auras that get a bit stronger if their enemies are suffering from some condition.

Storm Shard

This Level 4 Artillery shard has 44 HP and aspected towards lightning and thunder. Its ground and fly speeds are 3, and it projects a Static Storm aura (2) that deals 3 lightning and thunder damage to those enemies caught inside. This rises to 5 if the enemy is immobilized. They have the standard senses and immunities, and their variable resistance is 5 and can be switched once per encounter.

They fire Shock Bolts (vs. Fortitude) that do some lightning damage and “strongly incentivize” the target to move: if they don’t end their next turn at least 4 squares away from their current position, they take lightning damage roughly equal to triple that of the initial attack.

If forced into melee, the shard attacks with Thunder Strikes (vs. Fortitude) which deal thunder damage and knock the target prone if it’s bloodied.

When killed, storm shards explode! This Storm Shatter (Close Burst 3 vs. Fortitude) attack deals lightning and thunder damage, pushes the targets 3 squares, and deafens them (save ends).

A note on damage types: the expression “lightning and thunder damage” above denotes an attack with a single damage roll that is of both types at once. Targets use the smallest of their relevant elemental resistances against this damage. In this specific example, someone with Lightning Resistance 10 and Thunder Resistance 5 would subtract only 5 from the rolled damage. Someone that resists only one of the component types takes full damage.

Death Shard

Aspected towards necrotic energies, Death Shards are Level 8 Artillery with 71 HP. It has all the standard traits including Variable Resistance 5 (1/encounter), and also Necrotic Resistance 10. Its speed is 3.

This thing projects a Death Shadow aura (2) that deals necrotic damage to enemies caught inside, which increases if the enemies are slowed. It fires Death Bolts (ranged 10 vs. Fortitude) that deal necrotic damage and slow (save ends). In melee, it cuts you with a Razor Shard, a regular basic attack dealing physical damage.

It’s a bit less volatile than the Storm Shard, but still dangerous: when hit by a critical, it reacts with a Critical Fracture (close burst 2 vs. Fortitude), which deals necrotic damage and weakens.

If the death shard resists damage (i.e, if it’s hit with something covered by its resistances), all of its attacks deal extra damage until the end of its next turn. This trait is named Life to Death.

Flame Shard

These Level 12 Artillery monsters have an even 100 HP and are a bit more literal about this whole artillery business than most of their compatriots. Their speed is 4 and their variable resistance 10 (switchable twice per encounter).

The flame shard’s main ranged attack is Flame Burst (area burst 2 within 10 vs. Reflex) which is basically like an at-will fireball, though its damage is rather low. In melee it stabs people with a Burning Shard that does fire damage, and it projects a Heat Wave aura (2) that deals fire damage and inflicts a -2 penalty against ongoing fire damage.

When killed they explode in a final attack that’s much like a Flame Burst centered on themselves, and which also does ongoing fire damage (save ends).

Prismatic Shard

Living proof that “Radiant” doesn’t always mean “Good”… it can also mean “evil disco ball”! These are Level 16 Artillery monsters with 123 HP. To the standard list of shard immunities they add an immunity to radiant damage, making the party’s divine characters very sad. Their variable resistance is 10 and can be switched four times per encounter.

Their aura (2) is named Prismatic Corona. It does radiant damage and inflicts a -2 penalty to all saving throws during made during the affected enemy’s turn.

All of the Prismatic Shard’s attacks do radiant damage. The melee Prism Flare (vs. Reflex) has nothing else going on for it. The Iridescent Bolt (ranged 20 vs. Will) also blinds for a turn. Its Flashing Colors (close burst 3 vs. Will; minor action) do no damage but daze (save ends). And the Prismatic Shatter (close burst 3 vs. Will) attack it uses when it dies also blinds (save ends).

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

As I said before, chaos shards don’t have frail organic bodies to worry about, so they can live solely for the fun of seeing people explode from their elemental blasts. They hang out with creatures who are equally appreciative of this highly refined form of entertainment, including slaads, demons, and certain types of Internet troll.

They can also be summoned and controlled through elemental magic, which makes them popular with certain spellcasters.

The sample encounters are:

  • Level 7: 2 death shards, a bloodseep demon, and 2 evistros.

  • Level 17: 1 prismatic shard, 3 blue slaads, and 1 green slaad.

Chaos shards fulfill the important mechanical niche of providing artillery support for demons and slaads, since these monster types are all about melee and tend to lack ranged firepower. They also further confuse the taxonomy of “things from the Abyss”, something which I’m finding more and more interesting as I progress through these monster books.