Displacer Beast 5e

Large Monstrosity, Lawful Evil

Displacer Beasts are evil monstrous creatures. They’re similar to panthers with bluish-black fur but have six legs and twin tentacles protruding from their shoulder blades. 

They typically are from the Fey Wilds or the Plane of Shadows but have been known to wander into forests and other inhabited areas. 

These evil creatures have been known to hunt not only for food but for the sheer joy of killing as well, and have taken down many an unprepared adventurer. 

What is a Displacer Beast in 5e?

Displacer Beasts are one of the iconic DnD monsters. They were first introduced in the original versions of DnD and have since become fan favorites right next to monsters like Beholders. 

At first glance, they resemble large panthers … that is if a panther had six legs and twin-tailed whips coming out of its shoulders. 

Displacer Beasts are 6-legged creatures that have twin whips/tails coming out of their shoulder blades. At the end of each whip is a flat pad filled with sharp teeth like spikes.

Finally, due to their origins, they have the ability to shimmer and appear as if they are a few feet away from where they are actually standing. 

Displacer Beast Origins

Displacer Beasts were originally creatures of the Feywild. They were raised by the various inhabitants as hunting beasts. Eventually, they were bred to be smarter, stronger, and far more deadly.

As you might have guessed, they inevitably escaped their masters and found their way into the Material Plane where they started to hunt and attack unwary travelers. 

They can still be tamed by those that have the will for it, but Displacer Beasts will only stay and answer the call of those that they respect. Some gang bosses who managed to find one and keep them as elite pets have found themselves on the wrong end of the creatures when they’ve decided that they were no longer worth listening to. 

Displacer Beast Habitat & Society

After escaping the Feywilds, displacer beasts found their way into the material plane. They can be found in excluded forests and mountainous regions where they live in small packs. 

Their societal structure is similar to that of wolves in that they keep together and will attack and kill those that threaten the pack. 

Sometimes Displacer Beasts will live apart from their packs and they can even be found as exotic pets. They are not docile, but will occasionally allow themselves to be used as guards or hunters by those that have the money to purchase one. 

Displacer Beast 5e Stats

• Armor Class: 13
• Hit Points: 85 (10d10+30)
• Speed: 40 ft.
• Challenge Rating: 3

Base Stats

Strength	18 (+4)
Dexterity	15 (+2)
Constitution	16 (+3)
Intelligence	6 (- 2)
Wisdom	12 (+1)
Charisma	8 (- 1)

• Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive perception 11
• Languages: None

Abilities

The Displacer Beast has 2 major abilities Avoidance and Displacement. These both help the creature avoid damage making it difficult to hit and harder to kill. 

Traits 

Avoidance. If the displacer beast is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if it fails.

Displacement. The displacer beast projects a magical illusion that makes it appear to be standing near its actual location, causing attack rolls against it to have disadvantage. If it is hit by an attack, this trait is disrupted until the end of its next turn. This trait is also disrupted while the displacer beast is incapacitated or has a speed of 0.

Mulitattack. The displacer beast makes two attacks with its tentacles.
Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) piercing damage.

Avoidance

If the Displacer Beast has to make a saving throw for half damage, then they take no damage if they succeed on the save, and take only half damage if they fail. 

This makes them hard to kill and guaranteed attacks no longer have a 100% damage guarantee any longer. 

Displacement

This basically means all attacks against the Displacer Beast have Disadvantage. The Displacer Beast creates a shimmering image of itself and makes it difficult to discern where the creature actually is. Once it’s hit, the Displacement effect goes away until the end of the Displacer Beast’s next turn. 

When the Displacement is disrupted it’s important to hit it with as many attacks as you can before it can renew its displacement field. 

Actions

The Displacer Beast is a brute creature. Its main actions and attacks are all geared toward beating up and dealing damage to the party. 

Multiattack

The Displacer Beast can make 2 attacks using its tentacles. 

Tentacle

The Tentacle attack is actually pretty powerful. 

They receive + 6 to hit, have a 10ft range, and do two different types of damage. 

The first set of damage is bludgeoning (1d6+4) and the second is piercing (1d6).

Displacer Beast Setting

A DM can find quite a few different ways to introduce their party to a Displacer Beast. They’re not uncommon in the wilds and if the setting involves the Fey or Fey Wilds at all, there can easily be a random encounter. 

These creatures are also prized as pets and bodyguards. Powerful crime lords or unsavory individuals can easily spend a pile of gold to purchase a tamed Displacer Beast. 

Displacer Beast Tactics 5e

The Displacer Beast is a Challenge rating 3 creature that’s simple and straightforward. Its attacks are designed for hit-and-run. As a DM you should have the creature jump in and deal as much damage with its multi-attack ability and then if its Displacement is disrupted, jump out of combat and wait for it to come back. 

They only have an AC of 13, so it should be hard to hit it, but its specialized abilities should be able to keep it alive throughout the fight. 

Tips for Encountering a Displacer Beast

Displacer Beasts are fairly intelligent creatures. They’re not going to win a spelling bee, but they’re going to be able to effectively work in a pack or with allies to ambush and herd their prey with tactics. 

When encountering a Displacer Beast, multiple attacks will be your friend. You need to hit it at least once, and then once its Displacement ability is disrupted, pour as much damage as you possibly can into it before its next turn. 

Its Displacement ability recharges at the end of its turn, so if you can manage to hit it with something right after the creature’s turn, then the rest of the members of your party can hack away at it quickly. 

Displacer Beasts only have an AC of 13 which is relatively low, but all attacks against them have Disadvantage until Displacement is nullified with a hit. 

You can’t even guarantee a hit with AOE spells or spells that deal 1/2 damage because of their Avoidance ability.

An easy way to deal with this is the Magic Missile spell. If you have someone that can cast it, it offers a guaranteed hit to the Displacer Beast which will disrupt the Displacement ability. 

Another fun trick is to incapacitate them by taking advantage of their low intelligence modifier. If you have spells at your hand that require an Intelligence save the chances are good they’ll fail.

Spells like Tasha’s Hideous Laughter require an intelligence save and on a failed save incapacitates the target. One of the conditions that break their Displacement ability is incapacitating them.  

Displacer Beast 5e FAQs