Mallow's Minions
These thread-controlled minions support Crispin Mallow, intercepting rescuers or protecting him during a confrontation. The following encounter designs and deployment guidance are provisional, not established appearances in play. Challenge ratings are estimates, not playtested ratings; party levels and available resources remain unknown. The control-knot weakness applies to these designs, not universally to Mallow’s needle.
Roster
Section titled “Roster”| Creature | Target CR | AC | HP | Attack | Routine damage | Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Threadbound Snarer | 7 | 17 | 153 | +7, three hooks | 54 | Pull and obstruct |
| Needlehand Skirmisher | 9 | 17 | 190 | +8, three needle fans | 66 | Harass and withdraw |
| Misstitched Bulwark | 10 | 18 | 209 | +9, three mauls | 69 | Protect Mallow |
Routine damage assumes all attacks hit; it is not expected damage against a particular AC. No minion has legendary actions, legendary resistance, regeneration, or a spell list.
Threadbound Snarer
Section titled “Threadbound Snarer”Threadbound Snarer
Exposed Control Knot. The visible knot at the base of the puppet’s neck controls its grafts. A creature within 5 feet can use its action to attempt a DC 16 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) or Wisdom (Medicine) check to disable the knot. On a success, the puppet is incapacitated and its speed is 0 until the end of its next turn. If another such check succeeds while it is incapacitated by this trait, control ends permanently: it stops fighting and needs medical care. Failure deals no damage. A puppet reduced to 0 hit points falls unconscious and is stable unless the damage kills it outright. Ending control does not remove its grafts. These are proposed encounter-specific rules, not general rules for Mallow’s needle.
Actions
Multiattack. The threadbound snarer makes three Tendon Hook attacks.
Tendon Hook. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (4d6 + 4) slashing damage. Once on each of the snarer’s turns, a Large or smaller target hit by this attack must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward the snarer.
Stitch the Crossing (Recharge 5–6). The snarer stretches visible threads across a 20-foot-long, 10-foot-high, 5-foot-thick area within 30 feet. The area is difficult terrain for all creatures for 1 minute or until the snarer uses this action again, is incapacitated, or loses control. A creature entering the area for the first time on a turn must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or its speed becomes 0 until the end of that turn. A creature makes this save at most once per turn. Any 5-foot section has AC 12, 10 hit points, immunity to poison and psychic damage, and can be destroyed independently. The threads do not block sight or attacks.
Its arms unfold into hooks while its shoulders draw thread across a passage. Its job is to cost movement and choices, not remove whole turns. Pulling requires a save, happens only once on its turn, and cannot drag an entire party into a hazard through three successful hits.
Stitch the Crossing costs its entire action: it deals no damage that turn. Describe the threads before anyone enters them. Players can cut a section, go around, fly above, teleport past, or interrupt the snarer. Do not fill every alternative route with another invisible trap.
Needlehand Skirmisher
Section titled “Needlehand Skirmisher”Needlehand Skirmisher
Exposed Control Knot. The visible knot at the base of the puppet’s neck controls its grafts. A creature within 5 feet can use its action to attempt a DC 16 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) or Wisdom (Medicine) check to disable the knot. On a success, the puppet is incapacitated and its speed is 0 until the end of its next turn. If another such check succeeds while it is incapacitated by this trait, control ends permanently: it stops fighting and needs medical care. Failure deals no damage. A puppet reduced to 0 hit points falls unconscious and is stable unless the damage kills it outright. Ending control does not remove its grafts. These are proposed encounter-specific rules, not general rules for Mallow’s needle.
Actions
Multiattack. The needlehand skirmisher makes three Needle Fan attacks.
Needle Fan. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/90 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Pinning Volley (Recharge 5–6). The skirmisher makes two Needle Fan attacks against different creatures. Each target hit must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be tethered to its current space until the end of the skirmisher’s next turn. While tethered, its speed is 0. A tethered creature or a creature within 5 feet of it can use an action to remove the tether without a check. Teleporting ends the tether.
Bonus Actions
Scuttling Withdrawal. The skirmisher moves up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. It cannot use this bonus action while its speed is 0.
Extra finger joints spread into throwing needles; its backward-stepping legs keep its face toward pursuers. It makes a nuisance of itself from ledges or the far side of a crossing. Its withdrawal is movement, not teleportation: grappling it or blocking its route matters.
Pinning Volley trades one attack for two possible short-lived tethers. Tethered characters retain their actions, reactions, and attacks. An ally can free them without a roll. No special penalty to concentration is added: ordinary damage already pressures concentration.
Misstitched Bulwark
Section titled “Misstitched Bulwark”Misstitched Bulwark
Exposed Control Knot. The visible knot at the base of the puppet’s neck controls its grafts. A creature within 5 feet can use its action to attempt a DC 16 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) or Wisdom (Medicine) check to disable the knot. On a success, the puppet is incapacitated and its speed is 0 until the end of its next turn. If another such check succeeds while it is incapacitated by this trait, control ends permanently: it stops fighting and needs medical care. Failure deals no damage. A puppet reduced to 0 hit points falls unconscious and is stable unless the damage kills it outright. Ending control does not remove its grafts. These are proposed encounter-specific rules, not general rules for Mallow’s needle.
Actions
Multiattack. The misstitched bulwark makes three Seam Maul attacks.
Seam Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (4d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Bonus Actions
Clear the Master’s Space. The bulwark chooses one willing creature within 5 feet. That creature can use its reaction to move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. The bulwark does not move it through occupied spaces or obstacles.
Reactions
Take the Blow. When another creature the bulwark can see within 5 feet takes damage from an attack, the bulwark can reduce that damage by up to 15, taking an equal amount of damage itself. This transferred damage cannot be reduced or prevented. A single attack can be affected by only one Take the Blow reaction.
Broad grafted shoulders and bracing limbs make this a living obstruction. Its protection transfers rather than deletes damage, so attacking Mallow still advances the fight. It must remain close to him and gets only one reaction per round. Forced movement can separate them.
Clear the Master’s Space consumes the beneficiary’s reaction. Mallow must choose between accepting that movement and keeping his reaction available for other uses. It grants neither an attack nor an extra spell. The bulwark should protect Mallow, not chase the party’s most vulnerable member around the map while somehow continuing to intercept attacks at a distance.
Living victims and the knot
Section titled “Living victims and the knot”These drafts assume living altered humanoids, not corpse constructs or willing Reformist agents. Their original identities and graft sources are deliberately unspecified. Confirm that choice before promoting the blocks into canon.
Each has a visibly exposed control knot. An adjacent character can spend an action on a DC 16 Medicine or Sleight of Hand check. The first success interrupts the puppet through the end of its next turn; another success during that window ends control. That rewards coordinated rescuers without requiring a particular spell. Failed checks do not injure the victim. At 0 HP the victim is stable unless killed outright, leaving a second practical rescue route.
Describe a slackening limb or the victim struggling to speak after the first success so players can recognize the opportunity. A disabled victim is not automatically healthy or a combat ally. The control-knot rule belongs to these encounter designs only; it does not establish the magical needle’s universal mechanics. Do not silently substitute the existing replica puppet’s healing vulnerability for these living victims.
Deployment
Section titled “Deployment”Approach: delay with a purpose
Section titled “Approach: delay with a purpose”Start with one snarer at a crossing or narrow approach. Its objective is to hold the party back, not fight to the last hit point. Put a skirmisher in a subsequent interception rather than stacking both immediately. If the party is comfortably overwhelming the encounter, the skirmisher can instead appear as a visible reinforcement with an approach route the party can disrupt.
Give a reason to advance: Mallow is moving captives or preparing his defenses. Do not attach an unannounced automatic failure timer. Successful bypass, rescue, or forced retreat counts as beating the interception; killing every creature is not required.
Boss: one supporting turn, not a second boss
Section titled “Boss: one supporting turn, not a second boss”Begin with one bulwark alongside Mallow. Keep any surviving interceptor offstage initially. Do not assume CR 17 plus a CR 10 support creature is safe merely because each block fits the requested range: party resources, NPC turns, and the two-form boss sequence materially change the difficulty.
A second support creature is an optional escalation, not the default. If used, bring it in visibly and only after assessing the actual fight. Avoid overlapping pinning effects on Angel every round. Spread interference so several players get decisions rather than one player losing mobility all night. Support creatures retain their current damage and conditions across Mallow’s transformation; no automatic healing, replacement waves, or free reactivation of freed victims.
For a faster fight, deploy fewer creatures or let interception survivors withdraw. Do not secretly change hit points mid-fight. Choose any reduced-HP variant before initiative and mark it on the sheet.
Balance checks and limits
Section titled “Balance checks and limits”The snarer favors control over damage and sacrifices its attack routine to create its obstacle. The skirmisher has more sustained damage but loses output when pinning, and has no defensive immunities. The bulwark’s damage transfer accelerates its own defeat while preserving Mallow. Their durability and routine damage broadly target the requested tiers; mobility, interruption of control, terrain, and party rescue tactics can substantially alter their effective difficulty.
Watch the first encounter for rounds-to-defeat, actions spent freeing allies, and whether anyone loses meaningful choices. Use that information when selecting the boss support, not as a reason to inflate the boss’s minions. Schema and arithmetic checks are not playtesting.