Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 12 (+1) | 1 (–5) | 12 (+1) | 5 (–2) |
Saving Throws DEX +6
Skills Perception +3
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Challenge 2 (450 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Evasive Flight. A giant odonatid gains advantage on Dexterity saving throws when flying and attackers have disadvantage on attack rolls against it.
If the giant odonatid is mounted or grappling an opponent, it must make a DC 12 STR check to use Evasive Flight each time it is attacked.
Expert Aerialist. The giant odonatid has advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks when flying.
Flyby. The giant odonatid doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach.
Keen Sight. The giant odonatid has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Motion Camouflage. If the giant odonatid moves at least 20 feet towards a creature and then hits it with an attack on the same turn, that target must make a Wisdom (Perception) check against a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check by the odonatid. On a failure, the target cannot use Dodging Flight, Evasive Flight, or a similar defensive ability to avoid attacks by the giant odonatid until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The giant odonatid makes two attacks against a Small or smaller creature. The first attack is a legs attack. If this succeeds in grappling the target, the odonatid makes a bite attack, otherwise it makes a second legs attack.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Legs. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one Medium or smaller creature. Hit: The creature is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the giant odonatid can't make legs attacks against another target.
Bonus Actions
Dashing Flight. The giant odonatid flies up to 60 feet. It cannot use Burst of Speed if it used Dodging Flight after the start of its previous turn.
Reactions
Dodging Flight. If a creature of at least Small size attempts a melee attack against a giant odonatid, or the odonatid is targeted by a ranged weapon of similar size such as a giant-hurled boulder, the insect can try to dodge out of the way as a reaction. The giant odonatid makes a Dexterity saving throw with advantage (it loses this advantage when mounted or grappling an opponent). If the saving throw beats the attack roll or DC of the attack the giant odonatid takes no damage and flies up to 30 feet.
If a giant odonatid is carrying or grappling a creature that is too heavy for the odonatid to fly with, it must release the creature to use Dodging Flight. If the odonatid is grappling a creature light enough to carry through the air, the grappled creature can make an escape check as a free action. If it fails, the odonatid may fly away with its victim.
Description
A giant dragonfly looks identical to its tiny sized cousins except for being about 7 or 8 feet long and 250 pounds, with a 12 foot wingspan. It has a long tubular abdomen, a short sturdy thorax with four wings and six spindly legs, and an oval head that's mostly two enormous compound eyes with compact slicing mandibles tucked underneath and a pair of short antennae on its brow. The body is brilliantly colored in stripes and spots, most often in metallic greens, blues and golds. Dragonflies have translucent, dark-veined wings with a short strip of color on the leading edge near each wingtip (the pterostigmata). The rest of the wing is generally clear and colorless but it may be pigmented. Most normal dragonflies have clear wings, but almost all giant dragonflies have colored wings; the majority are uniform pale amber but some have stripes or patches of bright color, most commonly russet, scarlet or peacock blue. The most colorful giant dragonfly's wings rival the beauty of a stained glass window.
Giant dragonfly skin can be transformed into gorgeous leather and is prized by some societies for use in apparel, accessories and decorations. The wings are sometimes used as window panes or fans.
Aerial Hunters. A dragonfly is an amazingly fast and agile flier, able to move in any direction–including backwards–and can hover as if it's nailed to the air. Their six legs are not built to move quickly on land, but are used for perching and to form a "basket" for catching prey. Natural dragonflies hunt on the wing, preying upon flying insects smaller than themselves. The dragonfly snatches their prey in its leg basket and bites then either devours them in the air or lands on a perch to feed (most often when its meal is inconveniently heavy). The monstrous giant variety preys on creatures up to its own size, and unlike normal dragonflies it will hunt creatures on the ground as well as in the air. The commonest prey are smaller creatures (e.g. a baboon, giant fire beetle, rat, or an unlucky halfling), and it particularly focuses on flying prey (e.g. a bat, eagle or giant grasshopper).
Like most giant insects, a giant dragonfly operates entirely on instinct. If the prey looks small and light enough to carry through the air, the giant dragonfly instinctively uses the snatch-and-bite tactic. If the target looks too big and heavy for this tactic, a giant dragonfly repeatedly darts in to bite and then flies out of its victim's reach until it prey falls or the insect receives a significant injury. It automatically flees if approached by any creature bigger than itself, being "programmed" to identify such as potential predators. While a natural dragonfly is exclusively a solitary predator, small groups of giant dragonflies will sometimes attack together and share the kill. This behavior mainly occurs among dragonflies that live in areas with abundant Medium prey. The attacking flight of dragonflies numbers up to a half-dozen or so and does use coordinated tactics like a pack of wolves or lions. Their cooperation is limited to not eating each other.
Flyers of Lakes and Marshes. Like their normal kin, giant dragonflies congregate over freshwater and spend most of their time hunting for food and breeding. Most giant dragonflies prefer water that's still or slow flowing with abundant aquatic vegetation; typically a lake, pond, marsh or sluggish river. They are only active during the day, sleeping on perches at night. A giant dragonfly often has favorite perches that overlook a good hunting and/or breeding area, which they will defend vigorously from rival dragonflies. Males are way more territorial than females. Dragonflies sometimes fly great distances in search of new bodies of water to claim as their own.
Like their normal kin, a giant dragonfly larva is an aquatic creature called a nymph or naiad (see Giant Dragonfly Nymph for details). Each species of giant dragonfly can be extremely fussy about what type of water they breed in. The temperature, chemistry, depth, vegetation and current must match the female's exacting standards. The dragonflies mate in midair, often after ferocious aerial jousts between rival males, then the female finds a suitable section of water to deposit her eggs. A female giant dragonfly lays her eggs in multiple clutches, sometimes as few as a couple of eggs at a time, which she will scatter around as many good breeding spots as she can find. Some giant dragonflies will lay eggs in surprisingly small bodies of water that are barely large enough for a single full-grown nymph. If the food supply and other conditions are right, some giant nymphs can mature in a large barrel of water (e.g. a tun barrel of 210 to 252 gallons) or a pool with similar dimensions.
VARIANT: GIANT TROPICAL DAMSELFLY
While a standard giant damselfly is a Small beast some tropical species grow much bigger (see Giant Damselfly for details). A Medium giant damselfly averages 10 feet in length, with a wingspan of 10 to 14 feet. It has a giant dragonfly's statistics except for being slower (fly 50 ft., Dashing Flight 30 ft., Dodging Flight 30 ft.). Giant tropical damselfly naiads are as big and dangerous as giant dragonfly nymphs.
VARIANT: TENEBROUS & UNDERDARK GIANT HELICOPTER DAMSELFLIES
The majority of monstrous helicopter damselflies can see in the dark far better than any natural damselfly, with tenebrous species that hunt in the gloom of forests and nighttime and even subterranean varieties native to the underdark (see Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly for details). A Medium giant damselfly of these variants uses a giant damselfly's statistics except for having better senses—the tenebrous variety has blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; the underdark variety has blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
ODONATID SIZE VARIATIONS
The giant odonatid entries and their subtypes are presented below, in order of increasing size. The lengths and weights of quoted in the monster entries are averages for each category, and individuals will vary depending on their species and growth history. Particularly elongated and slender specimens could be up to 25% longer for damselflies or 33% for dragonflies while weighing the same, while extraordinarily stocky ones might be as little as 80% the quoted lengths. Wingspan tends to stay the same, although some odonatids have broader, shorter wings than others, especially among dragonflies. In general, male and female dragonflies are roughly the same size, while damselflies show a tendency for males to be somewhat larger than females. The most important period of growth is the aquatic larval stage, as the biggest adults emerge from the biggest naiads or nymphs. Adult odonatids do not molt so have no way to grow bigger, although they can gain weight by eating well, or lose body mass from malnutrition and the stresses of breeding or migration.
Dainty Giant Damselfly (Dragonfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Dainty Giant Damselfly Naiad* (Dragonfly Nymph; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Diminutive Giant Dragonfly (Damselfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Diminutive Giant Dragonfly Nymph (Damselfly Naiad*; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Giant Damselfly (Dragonfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Giant Damselfly Naiad* (Dragonfly Nymph; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Giant Dragonfly (Tropical Damselfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Giant Dragonfly Nymph (Damselfly Naiad*; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Imperial Giant Dragonfly (Tropical Damselfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Imperial Giant Dragonfly Nymph (Damselfly Naiad*; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly (Tropical Damselfly; Dragonfly; Underdark Helicopters)
Mammoth Damselfly Naiad* (Dragonfly Nymph; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
Titanic Tropical Dragonfly (Tropical Damselfly; Tenebrous & Underdark Helicopters)
Titanic Dragonfly Nymph (Damselfly Naiad*; Terrestrial Larva; Tenebrous, Underdark Naiads)
* Note the standard Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly is a Tenebrous Helicopter Damselfly. A Helicopter Damselfly Naiad is usually a Tenebrous Giant Damselfly Naiad rather than a Giant Damselfly Naiad.
(Monster designed by Casimir Liber and Cleon on Enworld.org's General Monster Talk Creature Catalog Forum; based on the giant dragonfly that first appeared in EX2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (1983) by Gary Gygax.)
