A hovering rug that whispers with voidlight and hungers for space itself. This creature stat card includes lore, a full stat block, and encounter ideas for Maw of the Void—card #001 in the Area of Effect Monster Rug series.
TRAITS
Void Geometry
The rug occupies a fixed location but can hover a few inches above the ground, flexing and twisting like a sentient membrane. It does not provoke opportunity attacks when it moves.
Liminal Pull (Recharge 5–6)
As a bonus action, the rug opens its swirling center and targets one creature within 15 ft. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be drawn into a pocket dimension of non-space (a haunted void between moments). The creature vanishes from the battlefield until the Maw's next turn. When it reappears, the creature is expelled in a random unoccupied space within 30 feet and takes 4d6 force damage.
Planar Echo
When the Maw of the Void is hit with a spell that targets only it, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, the spell echoes across the threads of reality and affects the caster as well.
ACTIONS
Surgewhip Lash
Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 18 (4d8) slashing damage. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or suffer spatial vertigo—their movement speed is halved until the end of their next turn as their perception of space becomes distorted.
Warped Terrain (Recharge 6)
The rug momentarily twists the space beneath it. Each creature within 10 feet must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone and take 10 (3d6) psychic damage as the rules of physics blur and fracture.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The Maw of the Void can take 1 legendary action, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s turn.
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Flicker Step. The rug teleports up to 15 feet.
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Spiral Flare (Costs 2). The center of the rug pulses with void light. One creature within 30 ft. must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turn.
LORE
The first known appearance of the Maw coincided with a mass disappearance at a monastery dedicated to planar study. When rescuers arrived, they found no bodies—only a perfectly flat rug in the center of the main hall, pulsing faintly at the edges. Scholars tried to contain it. Some even claimed to hear echoes of voices from within. All attempts at relocation failed. The rug moves when it chooses.
It does not eat. It unthreads, pulling creatures into a place between moments, a pocket of silence where space forgets itself. Some return shaken. Others don’t return at all.
It’s said the Maw wasn’t made, it was left behind.
ENCOUNTER IDEAS
The Hallway That Swallows
A noble’s estate is quietly unraveling. Servants vanish one by one, always near the east wing. No bodies. No blood. Just silence—and a rug laid out perfectly flat at the end of the corridor. Each morning, it's in a slightly different spot.
The Maw has been hopping rooms each night, teleporting short distances between midnight and dawn. It prefers unwatched, quiet spaces and targets isolated individuals, pulling them into its pocket dimension.
Mechanics & Clues:
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The party can track the Maw’s nightly movements via drag marks, cold air drafts, or subtle wear in the floor beneath it—but only with successful Investigation (DC 15) or Survival (DC 13) checks.
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Casting Detect Magic reveals transmutation and conjuration auras, but only while the Maw is active.
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Victims pulled into its void return the next night, gently dropped into random corners of the house, dazed and unable to speak for several hours.
Twist: Attacking or moving the rug triggers its Flicker Step reaction—it vanishes, reappearing elsewhere in the manor. If cornered, it fights defensively, using Liminal Pull to trap players alone in adjacent rooms or hallways.
Complication: The noble insists the rug was a wedding gift from a powerful patron, and refuses to destroy it. If questioned, they recall no details about who gave it to them.
One-of-a-Kind
A grinning merchant insists the rug is a “rare dimensional heirloom,” and hands it over for free. That night, the rug unrolls itself, undulating faintly beneath the bedrolls. Items stored near it begin to vanish—not stolen, but displaced.
Ongoing Threat: The Maw acts like an unstable extradimensional space. Small objects placed nearby (or even in bags) occasionally get pulled into its pocket realm. Arcana or Insight checks (DC 15–18) reveal that this isn't theft—it's misplacement across probability.
Effects:
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Dream Warping: PCs long-resting within 30 ft. must make a WIS save (DC 15) or experience vivid dreams of places they’ve never been—or haven’t yet been. Upon waking, their maps update with incorrect or premature information.
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Map Distortion: Magical maps become temporally dislocated—showing paths that might exist soon or once did. Non-magical ones subtly shift over time.
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Cognitive Interference: If ignored too long, the Maw begins looping time around players. One PC finds a memory missing or altered—a minor moment at first, like forgetting a spell they prepared or misremembering a conversation.
Unwilling to Leave: If the party discards or destroys the rug, it teleports back into their inventory—often rolled up inside another container, or lying quietly beside their bedroll. If burned, it returns with scorch marks and ash still clinging to it.
SOME DOORS ONLY OPEN ONCE
