The skies of the island of Seram in Indonesia are said to be dotted with these strange bat-men who swoop down to steal away people for food: the dreaded orang-bati!
This longstanding myth has largely been debunked as there’s no proper evidence of soaring orangutans that kill all who make contact with them, but there are some flying fox bats which have a wingspan of almost 5 feet and those can carry henipavirus transmitted via saliva. Sorry folks—you’ll have to keep hitting up Oz for your winged-monkeys (and winged-primates in general).
Design Notes: Today’s build starts with a Pathfinder conversion, this one thanks to now full-time Paizo designer Luis Loza (via the extremely excellent Veranthea Codex: Lost Legends of Urethiel). I’ve added in a bite to reflect the disease element thought to be part of modernity’s explanation for the myth’s lethal nature, but otherwise it’s mostly a 5E update. So without further ado—let’s do the numbers. The DMG ranks the orang-bati at a 3.85 and the Blog of Holding smack dab at 4, but given its ability to spread maladies I’m inclined to make the bump up into “confidently above 4.0” territory.
Orang-Bati
Medium monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 37 (5d8+15)
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
Saving Throws Wis +3
Skills Acrobatics +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7
Condition Immunities frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Orang-Bati
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Flyby. The orang-bati doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach.
Hunting Howl. The orang-bati can use a bonus action to unleash a terrifying howl. Each creature of its choice within 200 feet of orang-bati that is able to both see and hear it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to orang-bati’s Hunting Howl for the next 24 hours.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The orang-bati attacks twice: once with its bite and once with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) piercing damage and the target makes a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contracts a disease (roll 1d6: 1-2—cackle fever, 3-4—sewer plague, 5-6—sight rot).
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) slashing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15).
This longstanding myth has largely been debunked as there’s no proper evidence of soaring orangutans that kill all who make contact with them, but there are some flying fox bats which have a wingspan of almost 5 feet and those can carry henipavirus transmitted via saliva. Sorry folks—you’ll have to keep hitting up Oz for your winged-monkeys (and winged-primates in general).
Design Notes: Today’s build starts with a Pathfinder conversion, this one thanks to now full-time Paizo designer Luis Loza (via the extremely excellent Veranthea Codex: Lost Legends of Urethiel). I’ve added in a bite to reflect the disease element thought to be part of modernity’s explanation for the myth’s lethal nature, but otherwise it’s mostly a 5E update. So without further ado—let’s do the numbers. The DMG ranks the orang-bati at a 3.85 and the Blog of Holding smack dab at 4, but given its ability to spread maladies I’m inclined to make the bump up into “confidently above 4.0” territory.
Orang-Bati
Medium monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 37 (5d8+15)
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
21 (+5) | 17 (+3) | 16 (+3) | 6 (-2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
Skills Acrobatics +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7
Condition Immunities frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Orang-Bati
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Flyby. The orang-bati doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach.
Hunting Howl. The orang-bati can use a bonus action to unleash a terrifying howl. Each creature of its choice within 200 feet of orang-bati that is able to both see and hear it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to orang-bati’s Hunting Howl for the next 24 hours.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The orang-bati attacks twice: once with its bite and once with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) piercing damage and the target makes a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contracts a disease (roll 1d6: 1-2—cackle fever, 3-4—sewer plague, 5-6—sight rot).
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) slashing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15).
