Analyzing Monsters: The Mummy Lord

A classic Trope in Fantasy

The curse of the mummy, a famous line in many mediums. You awake an Egyptian nightmare, one hellbent on claiming its’ dues. It hunts you down, for you have awoken an ancient entity, and its’ curse will take you yet. A Mummy Lord is a classic trope in many books and movies, though it isn’t called a Mummy Lord, just a Mummy. Its’ typical traits include control of the sands, diseases, and the ability to curse you. Besides these integral traits, D&D has added some of its’ own.

The Monster Manual includes this paragraph in relation to a Mummy Lord: “In the tombs of the ancients, tyrannical monarchs and the high priests of dark gods lie in dreamless rest, waiting for the time when they might reclaim their thrones and reforge their ancient empires. The regalia of their terrible rule still adorns their linen-wrapped bodies, their moldering robes stitched with evil symbols and bronze armor etched with devices of dynasties that fell a thousand years before.”

The Mummy’s statistics are very good for Strength (18), Constitution (17), Wisdom (18), and Charisma (16). Its’ other stats grant no bonuses. It has AC17, HP97, and a speed of 20 feet. Its’ immune to Non-magical weapon damages and Necrotic and Poison damage. While being Vulnerable to Fire. It has the strength of a 10th level cleric, and its’ spell list is very good, its’ most powerful options include Harm, Guardian of Faith, Dispel Magic, Hold Person, Silence, Command, Guiding Bolt, and Shield of Faith. Its’ other spells are more mediocre than great, but they’re still good spells. It has the Magic Resistance trait and it doesn’t stay dead, unless its’ heart is burned for good.

Its’ Rotting Fist attack deals 35 average damage, and can curse the target, preventing it from regaining Hit Points, and reducing the Max Hit Points of a creature daily, and is only removed by a Remove Curse spell. Its’ dreadful glare causes a Frightened effect on a failed save, and Paralyzes the creature if the save fails by 5 or more. The only solace your players have is that once they succeed, they’re immune to the effect for the next 24 hours. However, the true strength lay not in its’ actions, but Legendary Actions, of which it has 5 different options.

These range from attacking a creature with its’ main actions, to causing dust to blind a creature, Blasphemous words that can stun creatures, channeling negative energy to prevent healing, or becoming a whirlwind of sand that moves away. These Legendary Actions are extremely powerful options for making the mummy lord both mobile, unable to be targeted, and dealing with healing options any of the characters may have.

Ancient Emperors or the Emissary of evils unknown. Mummy Lords are vested with purpose, embalmed and created for the purpose of preserving a great mind or vessel of evil. These people are those who would wish not to leave the world, and unable to access the more freer form of Undeath, Lichdom, they seek rituals to embalm themselves to prevent themselves from falling to entropy. But the sleep they go into is both necessary and unpredictable. The Dark Powers that grant the mummy its’ power are the ones’ to deign its’ reawakening, and more often than not, the followers of these dark powers have cultists to serve these Mummy Lords upon their being needed again.

A Mummy Lords’ position in life will determine how it acts for these, a Dark Emperor will request an army of loyal supporters, to reconquer their former lands, usurpers of the true ruler, as it were. Then there are priests of Dark Powers, these are more dangerous in nature, whereas an Emperor will seek to conquer, a Priest will seek to convert. Soon, cults will spring up in its’ wake, people seeking the word of their new savior, and the Cultists will be trained to call upon the power of their new Dark God, which is usually not served by clerics but by Warlocks, not being powerful enough to grant spells in such a manner.

A Dark Emperor will assault the world, destroying its’ usurpers, killing and reclaiming its’ empire. Those who submit will be spared, those who don’t will be killed. These types of foes will try and build a loyal base of supporters, using their might and charisma to convince others to join. Fear will be there method, and violence for insolence will be the norm. The Dark Emperor will usually keep its’ closest advisors around, such as the priests of Dark Powers, and the warriors of old that served it, Mummies, while its’ more living minions are kept away to prevent them from seeing its’ true form. This will usually be revealed when the Dark Emperor has complete control over its’ “Kingdom” again, when nothing can challenge it openly. Then will come the ritual sacrifices in the name of the Dark Powers.

Those who are troublesome will be sacrificed first, turned into Mummies by the priests that serve the Dark Emperor. They will then be used to fuel policing in the new kingdom, and the Mummy Lord will command a great host of Undead in the end. Using both Mummies and typical Undead. If you want a specific change to the stat-block of a Mummy Lord for a Dark Emperor, use the following changes.

Increase its’ AC to 20 (Plate Mail), Its Hit Points become 123 (13d10+52), give it Truesight out to 60 feet, change its’ Strength score to 20 and its’ Constitution Score to 18, and remove its’ Spellcasting Trait. Instead of Rotting Fist and Dreadful Glare, use the following:

Multiattack. The Mummy makes 2 attacks with its’ Runic Blade, and then uses Dreadful Command.

Runic Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 +5) Slashing damage plus 21 (6d6) Necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC17 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with Mummy Rot. The cursed target can’t regain Hit Points, and its’ Hit Point Maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) for every 24 hours that elapse. If the curse reduces the target’s hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and rises as a Zombie under the control of the Mummy Lord. The curse lasts until removed by the Remove Curse spell or other magic. In addition, any creature slain by this weapon can’t be resurrected(this also occurs if the creature was slain by Mummy Rot), as their soul is trapped in the blade.

Dreadful Command. The Mummy Lord shouts a command of dark power. Each undead of the Mummy Lords’ choice besides itself within 60 feet gains 11 (2d10) Temporary Hit Points, and if it is on Fire, it is extinguished. Each living creature within 60 feet must make a DC17 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened until the end of its’ next turn. While Frightened in this way, a target cannot attack the Mummy Lord, or include it as a target of any spell they cast. I.E. it can’t be included in the area of effect of a Fire Ball, or targeted by Fire Bolt. A target that succeeds on the saving throw has advantage on the Dreadful Command of all Mummy lords (Dark Emperor) and has advantage on any future saving throws against the Dreadful Glare of any Mummies.

Soul Imbue. While the Mummy Lord has a Soul in its’ Runic Blade, it can spend 1 minute in a Magic Ritual to animate a corpse with that soul. The Corpse becomes a Mummy under the control of the Mummy Lord. The corpse must be wrapped in cloth and properly embalmed to do so, the corpse doesn’t need to wrapped in cloth if its’ a Zombie under its’ control, as the creature changes its’ form to fit its’ new purpose. The Mummy Lord may only use this ability at night. Any Mummy under control of the Mummy Lord that kills a creature sends its’ soul to the Runic Blade of the Mummy Lord.

Dark Priest of Dark Powers. A Dark priest turned Mummy Lord typically goes about establishing the cult it once had, as its’ previous one is most likely non-existent or very small, as its’ leader has been out of the loop for many years. Perhaps the only servants it has are a family of devout that has served its’ tomb for generations, hoping to one day see their ruler again. The way a Mummy Lord of this caliber goes about recreating its’ cult is by ensnaring people through promises of glory. The typical cult structure will involve extreme amounts of “Love” wherein the priests and the leader will ensnare unsuspecting folk into wanting to be loved by the cult, which includes high praise, abandoning guilt etc. The second phase will be to punish wrongdoers, to tell the world that it is poison, and only they belong to the good faithful, any who can’t be “saved” must be destroyed to prevent further evil. Simply put, the Mummy Lord will establish a base of fanatical worshippers in an attempt to liken itself to a god, one who knows your sins. The typical Cultist stat-block will do, but the Mummy Lord won’t seek to occupy the area it is in with these cultists, it will use them to enact rituals of horrifying purpose. Such as mass sacrificial rites, creating an army of undead, or creating a Necropolis, usually all three in that order.

True Evil Never dies. A Mummy Lord has little to fear in undeath, as finding its’ heart and burning it is very hard to do. But that doesn’t subtract from the paranoia that most of them feel, if you’re dealing with a Dark Emperor, it will establish its’ place of rule far from its’ only weak-point. Perhaps it will have a funerary procession giving it away. For a Dark Priest, this is doubly so, they are duplicitous in nature, bringing in loyal followers who will destroy their enemies unquestioningly. For this reason, their tombs will stand guarded and trapped, to prevent enemies from ever gaining entrance. These traps will usually be curses in nature, using Bestow Curse as a good framework for how to create these traps. But their tombs will also contain mechanical traps lethal to even high level adventurers, poison, crushing blocks, and rooms that fill with water. The Mummy Lord knows how to navigate these traps, and will do so gladly, perhaps it even has a command word or mechanism at the front of the tomb to disable all of the traps. Of course, you could have the Skyrim solution where there’s a secret tunnel bypassing all of the traps.

In both frames of mind, a Mummy Lord will go to extreme lengths to ensure that none can challenge its’ rule, and as paranoid as it is, it will check this place often, to ensure that none have breached its’ defenses. This is one of its’ weaknesses as an intelligent yet paranoid monster, it will seek to ensure that its’ reign never ends, and thus exposes its’ only weak-point. For a Dark Emperor, this means that its’ tomb will be well protected by Mummies, traps, and its’ living followers will be made aware to never go to this location, or a specific region. While a Dark Priest will stage its’ most important rituals in its’ place of power, only with the help of the most devoted of priests, it will usually create a place of power outside of the tomb. It will fill the tomb with undead servants, traps, and pitfalls that will cause creatures to be unable to continue forward or backward.

The Forces of the Mummy Lord. The Mummy Lord will be attended mostly by its’ servants who were embalmed along with it, Mummies. They will be the principle servants of the Mummy Lord, and perhaps they may be more powerful in nature if they’re the Royal Guard or Head Priests of the Mummy Lord. These undead will usually be tasked with either guarding the Mummy Lord or guarding its’ tomb when its’ away, the Mummy Lord is a leader of many, and it will use this fact to its’ advantage more often than not. They will guard their lords’ tomb to the last, and they will continue coming back until the creature is destroyed. Due to the nature of the Mummies’ description, it should be safe to assume that every 24 hours, a Mummy will reform, having the same purpose before it was destroyed.

Besides its’ dedicated servants, a Mummy Lord will often try and rebuild what it once lost. This will entail filling its’ ranks with specialized soldiers, spellcasters, and advisors that it may have once had. It will seek to indoctrinate Cultists into its’ service. Those who prove more intelligent or adept will often be trained in the arts that the Mummy Lord knows. Either variant of Mummy Lord will draw on the oaths taken in its’ name to give skills and knowledge to its’ followers. This will include martial training, magical knowledge to gain the powers of a dark cleric, and perhaps unlocking the powers of ones’ sorcerous bloodline. Those who fail certain tasks will find themselves being embalmed by the mummies that serve the emperor, though the priests that followed it into undeath lost their spellcasting, they can still perform the rituals of old.

Once a Mummy Lord has established a following, its’ servants will usually fight to the death, unable to imagine a world beyond their cult leaders knowledge and might. They will fight to the death, deeply loyal and unshakably faithful. Even if presented with the truth through some means, their Cognitive Dissonance will prevent them from learning from their mistakes, though some may break out of their stupor, but this number will range in only singular digits in comparison to a horde of loyal followers.

Reliquaries of Old. Despite being dead for many hundreds or even thousands of years, these old evils will have libraries of knowledge unheard of and preserved during their sleep. These libraries will contain the information of ages, created by loyal followers during their rule, and maintained by loyal Mummies, forever oathbound to serve their master. In addition, these places will contain spells that make it impossible for the books to simply disintegrate due to old age. They will also contain many of the artifacts of the empire that the Mummy Lord once ruled. Religious Texts, architectural principles, and spellcasting advancements of the time. The information may be outdated in same instances, but the knowledge contained within will be invaluable for creating plot points for your story. Perhaps this empire found a way to harness the power of human life itself to fuel powerful magical rituals.

Combat Strategies. Since I have presented two different types of mummy lords, I will cover the normal one first since its’ the stat-block you have access to.

Dark Priest. A Mummy Lord that follows this path will typically play the role a spellcaster would in a party. It will sit and wait for its’ opponents to come within range, letting its’ meat shields take hits’ while it waits in the back to pick off weaker opponents. This of course means that it will have a number of undead under its’ control, zombies, skeletons, and of course the more powerful and rare Mummy. More often than not, a party will fight a Mummy Lord in its’ lair as the final confrontation. During the course of this event, its’ entire force of Mummies will be able to harry the party through a long and trap-filled tomb. This will soften up the party members along the way, even if they know of the weaknesses of fire that mummies have, if the tomb shuts behind them, there will be no more air in the tomb, so make this known to the players that burning things in here may take up their oxygen. Another thing to note is that the Mummy Lord has access to Animate Dead, which will allow it to have Zombies if nothing else during its’ boss fight, and fighting through its’ tomb will surely alert the creature to the parties presence. This is largely subjective to the time it takes the party to get there, but consider that it may be able to create at a minimum (assuming it uses all 3 3rd level spell slots) 3 zombies. But it could definitely create more of them by using higher level spell slots. Not to mention it could have a few spare Mummies within its’ main chambers that will protect it at all costs. During this type of encounter, the Mummy Lord will try and watch the party fight against its’ minions while taking openings where it sees them. Only when it is by itself should you engage the players hand-to-hand, as the Mummy Lord isn’t able to heal, and though its’ Legendary Actions allow easy escape, you shouldn’t forget that the Mummy Lord is weak in hand-to-hand combat, and after 11th level, a fighter has 3 attacks not to mention an additional attack with its’ off-hand. Plus, at this point the party has probably figured out that Mummies don’t like fire. If the Mummy Lord is subjected to an affect that causes it to catch on fire, it will run while using its’ minions as cover, show the fear the Mummy has of this damage type, allow the players to know its’ weakness, because in this situation, its’ do or die and every tool the characters have will be needed.

Dark Emperor. This type of Mummy Lord is a leader and combat tactician above all else. Its’ typical strategy involves marching around with its’ chosen “Royal Guard”, which can consist of quite a number of Mummies or Zombies. A good number is 4 Mummies and 4 Zombies, or if you think your party is up to the challenge, 8 Mummies. This playstyle is more up front than the normal stat-block for a Mummy Lord, and it shows in the damage this type of undead is able to do. Remember that this type of Mummy Lord engages in pack tactics, so a typical strategy may be to send a large group of Mummies at the party from the front, while using its’ Whirlwind of Sand Legendary Action to get behind the party. It also means that they must make the choice of targeting it or the large squad of undead before them. Another good strategy to take is to encircle the party while having the Mummy Lord in the center, only to either stun them or leave them choking on dust with either its Blinding Dust or Whirlwind of Sand Legendary Action. It could also try and use its’ Dreadful Shout ability to make it impossible to target it, forcing the party to fight against its’ lessers until they’re dead.

Salvage. The wraps created to make a Mummy Lord are highly magical in nature, containing magic powerful in binding. You can forge the Mummies wraps into shackles as they’re being made, which requires 3 pounds of Platinum worth 1500 GP and 600 Gp worth of Diamond dust, which is sprinkled throughout the forging process, this creates Dimensional Shackles. The wraps can also be used to create Iron Bands of Bilarro, which requires the wraps to be carefully removed over the course of an hour, they must then go through a magical ritual that takes 7 days and 1500 GP worth of diamond dust and metal shavings(which are worth 5 SP), after which the wraps harden into iron. The wraps can also be woven together with high quality magical fibers worth 1000 GP to create a Mantle of Spell Resistance. After the Mummies heart is burned, its’ ashes can be curated into a Holy Water Flask using a DC17 (Medicine) check during an hour-long process, requiring 50 Gp worth of Holy Water and a 1st level spell slot, if the check succeeds, the Holy Water is enhanced, allowing it have the effects of a Remove Curse spell on a creature that drinks its’ contents. The Mummy Lord(Dark Emperors)’s Runic Blade is a Great Sword worth twice its’ value and nothing else, however, using it in the crafting of a Magic Greatsword requires half the time and gold.

Possible Hoard Magic Items. Gold, Gems, and pieces of art are all central pieces of a Mummy Lords’ throne, you should choose pieces of art that seem the most thematic in nature for the Mummy Lord you’re presenting, such as Scarabs if you follow the classic tropes of The Mummy. These hoards will also contain powerful weapons, magic items, and implements from the time of the mummy lord, and it will arm its’ most loyal servants with such items.

• Adamantine Armor (DMG)

• Alchemical Compendium (TCoE)

• x20 Ammunition of +3 or lower (DMG)

• Amulet of the Devout +3 or lower (TCoE)

• Armor of Resistance, any(DMG)

• Armor of Vulnerability(DMG)

• Armor, +2 or Lower(DMG)

• Astromancy Drive (TCoE)

• Atlas of Endless Horizons (TCoE)

• Band of Loyalty (XGtE)

• Berserker Axe (DMG)

• Weapons, +3 or Lower (DMG)

• Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals (DMG)

• Brooch of Shielding (DMG)

• Censer of Controlling Air Elementals (DMG)

• Crystal Ball (DMG)

• Crystalline Chronicle (TCoE)

• Daern’s Instant Fortress (TCoE)

• Dancing Sword (DMG)

• Dust of Disappearance (DMG)

• Dust of Sneezing and Choking (DMG)

• Elemental Gem, Any (DMG)

• Figurine of Wondrous Power, Very Rare or lower (DMG)

• Frost Brand (DMG)

• Headband of Intellect (DMG)

• Heart Weaver’s Primer (TCoE)

• Helm of Brilliance (DMG)

• Horn of Valhalla, Brass, Bronze, or Silver (DMG)

• Ioun Stone of Agility, Awareness, Fortitude, Historical Knowledge, Insight, Intellect, Language Knowledge, Leadership, Natural Knowledge, Protection, Religious Knowledge, Reserve, Self-Preservation, Strength, Supreme Intellect, Sustenance, or Vitality (DMG/TCoE)

• Libram of Souls and Flesh (TCoE)

• Mace of Terror (DMG)

• Manual of Golems, Any Variant (DMG)

• Mirror of Life Trapping (DMG)

• Mithral Armor (DMG)

• Protective Verses (TCoE)

• Reveler’s Concertina (TCoE)

• Ring of Mind Shielding(Which may or may not contain an entity) (DMG)

• Ring of Spell Storing (DMG)

• Rod of Absorption (DMG)

• Spell Scroll, 7th level or lower (DMG)

• Staff of Power (DMG)

• Sword of Sharpness (DMG)

• Sword of Vengeance (DMG)

• Sword of Wounding (DMG)

• Vicious Weapon (DMG)

• Wand of Enemy Detection (DMG)

• Wand of Paralysis (DMG)

• Wand of the War Mage (DMG)

You may also consider giving a single Legendary magic item among the hoard, or even an Artifact if you wish to really reward your players, a Scarab of Protection is a good example, or The Hand of Vecna or The Eye of Vecna, possibly both, or The Book of Vile Darkness. But remember that introducing the book is huge can of worms in the story, because the Mummy Lord will most assuredly use it to bring its’ dark dreams to reality.

Any of these items fit what a Mummy Lord would collect thematically, consider the type of Mummy Lord when choosing loot. A Dark Emperor will have more martially minded treasure and more practical loot that would be used by it and its’ forces. While a Sorcerer King and Dark Priest will have more magical loot in nature, and more informational loot to offer. A good thing to consider is when rolling on the treasure table is just to note the rarity of the item rolled and choose from the list presented, otherwise just use the CR11-16 Hoard table to figure out everything else. Do remember that if truly threatened, the Mummy Lord will vest these magic items with its’ most powerful servants in an attempt to win, or even use them itself. Consider rolling the hoard loot before the adventure begins and vesting certain magic items that the party could gain by defeating its’ minions. But be aware, some of these items alter the challenge rating of its’ minions, and it will absolutely not hand out items that could make a minion a threat to its’ existence, such as a Helm of Brilliance unless its’ truly threatened.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope its’ useful in guiding your own sessions towards the story you wish to tell. Its’ your game, and any advice I give here is based on the books, and the books are guidelines for your own game. In any case, I hope you enjoyed.

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