The Beast

“I saw a Beast with ten horns and seven heads,
and on its heads were blasphemous names.”
-Revelation 13:1

The Antichrist may be evil in human form, but “person” known as Jeremiah Resh is only a mask worn by one of the oldest and most horrific creatures in the cosmos. The Beast is a dark perversion of the Messiah. Where Jesus is the ultimate incarnation of God’s love and symbol of salvation, The Beast is an incarnation of pure evil, and the first servant of Satan. However, The Beast is not a true fiend as are the other members of Satan’s army. The Beast is sin personified - an enigma of cosmic proportions.

Wounded but Never Killed. The Beast has seven heads, each horrific in its own way, and each marked with a glowing infernal glyph on the forehead. Each glyph is symbolic of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and it is the magic of these sins that The Beast wields in combat, to devastating effect. It’s central head, marked with the symbol of “pride” is its most powerful, but it is also appears fatally wounded. Although it is clearly a mortal wound, The Beast continues to live on, given life and strength by the magic of sin and the power given to it by The Dragon.

A Mortal Wound?

The origin of this “mortal wound” is left up to interpretation in Revelation, and has been left deliberately ambiguous in this story. Perhaps this wound was received when it was killed in its human form as the Antichrist; perhaps this wound has relevance to an early part of the adventure (See “Story Tie-ins” below); or, perhaps this wound has significance to a particular character’s backstory. The interpretation of this wound is up to the GM.

Servant of the Dragon. The Beast is the servant of The Dragon, and owes a good deal of its magical power to its infernal patron. Once The Beast has achieved its goals on the Material Plane, it will discard its mortal mask and assume its true form in the Spiritual Realm. According to the Prophets of old, when The Beast assumes its true form, it will be the beginning of the end. The walls of Jerusalem will fall to the forces of evil, and all of creation will crumble in the last clash of spiritual warfare: the Battle of Armageddon.

“I saw The Beast and the kings of the earth and
their armies gathered together to wage war”
-Revelation 19:19

Story Tie-Ins

The Beast is an incarnation of pure sin. If you are playing Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse as a continuation of the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, then the player characters will have already met (and defeated) the archdemons of the “Fellowship of the Beast.” Lilith, Abaddon, Naamah, and the rest of the archdemons were each associated with one of the Seven Deadly Sins. If the party has already confronted and defeated these seven demons in (AGttB), then perhaps they have a mystical connection to The Beast that is only revealed in combat. For instance, maybe each of The Beast’s seven heads bears a striking resemblance to one of the defeated archdemons of sin. Or, perhaps The Beast is innately aware of any knowledge that was known to the archdemons while they were tethered to the Material Plane. Or, maybe the mortal wound to The Beast’s central head resembles the killing blow that struck down Lilith.

If you have chosen to use Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse as a sequel to the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, then the combat encounter with The Beast should feel like a continuation and culmination of the party’s ongoing struggle with evil.

The Beast

Large Enigma, Neutral Evil

Armor Class: 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 375 (30d12 + 180)

Speed: 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	17 (+3)	23 (+6)	22 (+6)	16 (+3)	20 (+5)

Saving Throws: Con +15, Int +15, Cha +14

Skills: Deception +19, Insight +17, Perception +12, Religion +24

Damage Resistances: fire, lightning, poison

Damage Immunities: necrotic, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned.

Senses: Truesight 120 ft., passive perception 22

Languages: All languages.

Challenge: 27 (75,000 XP) Proficiency: +9

Features

Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the Antichrist fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Limited Magical Immunity: Unless it wishes to be affected, The Beast is immune to spells of 3rd level or lower. It has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.

Multiple Heads: The Beast has 7 heads. If The Beast fails a saving throw against an effect that would render it incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, stunned, unconscious, or put it to sleep, only one of its heads is affected by this condition. The Beast has a number of Legendary Actions equal to its number of active heads.

Innate Spellcasting: The Beast can innately cast one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as its spellcasting ability (save DC 22, +14 to hit).

3/day each: dimension door, dispel magic, levitate, telekinesis

Actions

Multiattack: The Beast uses its Frightful Presence and then makes two Claw attacks or casts a spell.

Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 13 (2d12) Necrotic damage.

Frightful Presence: Each creature of The Beast’s choice within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw of become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to The Beast’s Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.

Legendary Actions

The Beast can take a number of Legendary actions equal to its number of active heads (maximum of 7), choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Beast regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Gluttony’s Visage: The Beast reveals an oozing, bloated face to all creatures within 30 feet. Each creature in this area that can see the face must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or feel its intestines begin to hemorrhage, taking 11 (2d10) poison damage.

Greed’s Visage: The Beast causes all Rare or rarer magic items to be pulled 20 feet straight toward itself. Any creature wearing or carrying such an item that does not voluntarily drop the item must succeed on a DC 22 Strength throw or be pulled the same distance. A creature that succeeds on the saving throw maintains possession of the item and is not pulled.

Sloth’s Visage (costs 2 actions): The Beast reveals a face with distorted glowing eyes that exude dim light in a 60-foot-cone. Each creature in this area that can see the face must succeed on a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw or its speed becomes 0 until the end of its next turn.

Envy’s Visage (costs 2 actions): The Beast lifts its veil to reveal a gaunt and smirking smile. Each creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 22 Intelligence saving throw or become unable to cast spells that have beneficial effects (including restoring hit points) until the end of its next turn.

Wrath’s Visage (costs 3 actions): The Beast lifts its veil to reveal a hideous face that resembles that of a twisted and savage leopard. A wave of rage and violence washes out from The Beast, causing each creature within 30 feet to make a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature regards all creatures it can see as enemies until the end of its next turn. Until then, each time the affected creature makes an attack against a target, it must roll a d6. On a roll of 5 or 6, the attack targets its desired enemy; on a roll of 4 or lower the attack targets another creature that it can see within range, determined randomly. If no other targets are within its normal range on a roll of 4 or lower, the attack is lost.

Lust’s Visage (Costs 4 Actions): The Beast lifts its veil to reveal a strikingly beautiful human face. One creature of The Beast’s choice within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 22 Charisma saving throw or be charmed by The Beast (as though by the dominate person spell) until the end of its next turn.

Pride’s Visage (Costs 4 Actions): The Beast lifts its veil to reveal a monstrous head that oozes blood from a mortal wound. Each creature in a 60-foot-cone that can see the visage is stunned (no saving throw), until the end of its next turn. Once a creature has been stunned in this way, it is immune to Pride’s Visage for 24 hours.

Azrael's Guide to the Apocalypse, printed pages 188, 189.