Riftspawn

Riftspawn are mortals—and at times other creatures—remade by the Rift into relentless, alien ruiners. Neither undead nor fiends, they are living bodies whose minds have been bent toward unmaking, the “other end” of Corruption’s path. Typical examples range from low-grade pack hunters to terrifying Alphas that command whole hordes. They are most commonly encountered where the veil is thin: along Underdark arteries, near Breach-sick sites, and on the night roads that skirt Rift Stone seams.

Creation

A creature that reaches Corruption 6 undergoes the Riftspawn Transformation (see Rift Corruption). For a brief, lurching span the victim may still act—snatches of self clinging to the body—before the Rift’s will closes over them; during this grace period, control flickers in and out at the cadence described in that section. When the last thread snaps, the new Riftspawn asserts and the person is gone.   Death does not spare the corrupted. A creature that dies while bearing any level of Corruption rises 24 hours later unless protected as detailed under Rift Corruption—Death and Dying while Corrupted. Remains with five or fewer Hit Dice return as a Riftspawn Zombie or Riftspawn Skeleton (as the state of the body allows). A creature with six or more Hit Dice rises as a Riftspawn Wight.   Newly made Riftspawn feel the Call of the Horde. If they survive their first hours, they travel toward the nearest Riftspawn horde in the Underdark, drawn as if by a taut line, and submit to the Alpha when found. This compulsion endures until thwarted by destruction or containment; it is the first order written into their new shape.

Appearance & Morphology

A Riftspawn’s silhouette usually echoes the creature it once was, but the posture hunches, the gait grows angular, and limbs or canines extend by unsettling degrees. Muscles cord into high-tension bands, joints flex at slightly wrong angles without tearing, and ornamental traits of sex or species dull or vanish. Skin or scales take on an ashen cast veined with green-black marbling; gums darken, nails thicken to talons, and subdermal strands sometimes glimmer like necrotic bioluminescence. Teeth file themselves wedge-sharp, spines harden along stress lines, and crystalline Riftsand nodules may bud at brow or sternum. Irises marble, pupils knife to slits, breath steams even in warm air, and when angered the mouth opens just a fraction too wide.

Psysiology

Riftspawn are endothermic and ageless; they do not die of old age, yet still eat, drink, and sleep as their former kind did. Bone densifies, tendons draw tight, and micro-fractures knit with Riftsand deposits, optimizing the frame for explosive bursts rather than endurance. They develop no universal new organ, but black ichor is common when wounded. Darkvision extends to at least sixty feet—often to one hundred twenty—and elder forms can see through magical darkness to that range. Locomotion follows the origin species, though climbing and short sprints tend to improve. They possess no true regeneration, but show resistance to toxins and despair effects, and tolerate foul air, decay, and low light with ease. Reproductively they are sterile; transformation replaces breeding entirely.

Psychology

Under an Alpha’s will, Riftspawn think and move as a single organism. The Alpha’s presence imposes a harsh order: challenges are brief and decisive, squabbles stop mid-snap when the Alpha looks their way, and packs pivot in eerie unison toward whatever the Alpha marks—sound, scent, or motion. Outside that pressure the veneer cracks. Rank-and-file Riftspawn become irritable and opportunistic, testing one another with shoulder-checks, tool-snatches, and low barks; a missing Alpha invites a chain of quick, ugly duels until a new dominance takes hold or the pack splinters.   Their cognition is narrow and ruthless. A Riftspawn will solve problems only insofar as the solution leads to blood or ruin: doors are studied to be broken, bridges to be collapsed, cisterns to be fouled. Fragments of former life remain like tools in a cruel kit—lockpicking used to unhouse, carpentry to barricade exits from the outside, herding calls twisted to drive civilians into ambush lanes. They show patience for procedures (repeating a sequence until it yields) but little curiosity beyond immediate utility; once a tactic works, they reuse it until the ground changes under their feet.   Riftspawn communicate in harsh Black Speech—barks, clicks, and knife-short syllables that carry well in tunnels—and with bursts of short-range telepathy that feel like shoved intentions: left flank now, break the light, take the bell. The spoken elements handle distance and deception (decoys, echoes, false retreats), while the mind-bursts handle timing. To outsiders the effect reads as uncanny coordination: two shapes slipping different ways around the same pillar and striking the same torchbearer in the same breath. Packs mix both channels constantly; when one fails—wind or stone swallowing sound, wards muddying thought—the other surges to compensate.   They cannot be domesticated. The compulsion to destroy overrides training, kindness, and fear. Even when contained or constrained, a Riftspawn tends toward sabotage: loosening knots one night at a time, misaligning a patrol’s schedule by heartbeats until the gap is wide enough to slide through, feigning submission to draw a hand within reach. Attempts to “rehabilitate” them usually end in tragedy; at best, a caretaker buys time for a transfer or a rite, at worst, they become the first meal in the next raid.   Under an Alpha, packs move with steady, predatory economy—no wasted steps, no chatter. Without an Alpha, eyes flick to every edge, hands pick at nails and rope and door-latches, voices click and overlap until a blow resets the room. Their ethos often trend chaotic evil, but their chaos is not whimsy; it is a bone-deep bias for unmaking, expressed with whatever skills their former lives left behind.

Ecology

Riftspawn are obligate carnivores but consummate opportunists: they will eat any flesh they can seize—fresh kill, days-old carrion, plague-swollen livestock, even alchemically tainted vermin. Their resistance to poison lets them stomach rot that would cripple most creatures, and they strip a site to the bone: marrow, sinew, hide, and even greased boot-leather if meat runs thin. Cannibalism is routine. They consume enemies and their own fallen alike—part pragmatism, part dominance ritual, and part tactic to deny identification or resurrection. Hordes cache carcasses in cool galleries, render fat for lamps, and drag choice haunches to nursery alcoves; when hunger bites, they “cull the slow,” turning pecking-order brawls into rations.

Power & Tactics

Most Riftspawn resist necrotic and poison damage and possess Riftspawn Resilience, making them difficult to charm, frighten, or poison. Their darkvision and in-kind telepathy lend them a battlefield cohesion that reads as a single intent splitting around obstacles. Importantly, Riftspawn are immune to the effects of Rift Corruption and Shadow Plague—they cannot gain Corruption Levels or suffer plague symptoms—yet they remain vectors: their claws, teeth, ichor, fouled gear, and lairs readily carry and transmit contamination to others.   Packs target isolated sentries first, extinguish light and spoil water, feint retreats to fracture lines, and return under darkness to finish the job. Lairs exploit echoing galleries, kill-chutes, and Rift Stone crusts; the broader region often continues to threaten with residual Shadow Plague exposure. To counter them, break pack cohesion by removing leaders, fight in bright light with masks and gloves to foil contamination, cleanse sites after battle, and rest inside thick-veil settlements whenever possible.

Society and Relations

Riftspawn society is a hive-brutal hierarchy: Alpha, pack-leaders, rank-and-file, with occasional seers or howlers acting as battlefield augurs. Trophies are functional—keys, maps, tools—rather than artistic. Their neighbors regard them as an existential threat; Wardens and Underdark enclaves practice scorched-earth containment. In forbidden markets, Rift ichor and Riftsand nodules tempt alchemists, but trade is illegal in most realms due to the obvious Shadow Plague risks.

Rift Interactions

Riftspawn are not restricted like other Rift creatures that reside within the Rift. They are not bound to the tethers and anchor rules of other Rift creatures to Breachpoints, and dawn reassertion does not recall them. In practice, packs weaponize Rift Corruption and contamination—dragging captives through plague-tainted ground, salting trails with fouled gear, and using the fear of Breachpoints to channel defenders.

Conversion Guidelines

To present a familiar creature as Riftspawn, adjust its entry rather than rebuild it using the below guidelines.   Name. Add “Riftspawn” before or after the original name (GM’s choice).
Type. Beasts & Humanoids → Monstrosity; other types unchanged.
Alignment. Change to Typically Chaotic Evil, until it was already an evil alignment.
Senses. Gain darkvision 60 ft.

• If the creature already had 60 ft. of Darkvision, it is increased to 120 ft.
• If the creature already had 120 ft. Darkvision or greater, its Darkvision becomes Unimpeded by magical darkness.

Languages. Replace languages with the following: Black Speech, Common (understands but does not speak), telepathy 30 ft. (Riftspawn-only)

• The range of the creature’s telepathy range increases by +30 ft. per Proficiency Bonus above +2
• The range of the creature’s telepathy range increases by an additional 30 ft. if the creature has Legendary Actions.

Damage Resistances. Its resistance to Necrotic and Poison damage increases by one step.

• If the creature is Vulnerable, they lose Vulnerability to that damage type.
• If the creature has no damage adjustments, they gain Resistance to that damage type.
• If the creature has Resistance, they gain Immunity to that damage type.

Challenge Rating. The Riftspawn’s Challenge rating increases by 1 step:

• CR 0 → CR 1/8
• CR 1/8 → CR ¼
• CR 1/4 → CR 1/2 → CR 1
• CR 1+ increase by +1

Traits. The creature gains the following traits:

• Corruption Immunity. The Riftspawn is immune to Rift Corruption and Shadow Plague effects.
• Riftspawn Resilience. The Riftspawn has Advantage on saving throws against the Charmed, Frightened, and Poisoned conditions.

Natural Weapons. If the creature had natural weapons attacks it may gain additional effects depending on the attack. These saving throws use the creature’s Constitution to calculate the saving throw DC.

• Bite. On a hit, the target must make a Constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of Corruption and contract Shadow Plague. On a success, the creature is immune to Shadow Plague from the Riftspawn for 24 hours.
• Claw. On a hit, the target must make a Constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of Corruption.