Grimlock
Medium Aberration · · CR 1/4
- Aberration
- Medium
- Tier 1
Ranges across underground; Grimlock lists at CR 1/4 as a medium aberration (neutral evil). Sourced from Monster Manual (5.5e 2024) and Monster Manual (5e 2014).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1/4
- Type
- Aberration
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Underground
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5.5e 2024), Monster Manual (5e 2014)
Ecology
Grimlocks live in deep cave systems, often in service to mind flayers, drow, or other Underdark powers. They have lost their eyes to generations underground and now navigate by blindsight derived from echolocation and scent. Their diet consists of cave creatures, slaves, and occasional surface raids, though they cannot tolerate sunlight for long. They breed in clan-grottos far from any ally, raising children in total darkness alongside the bones of past meals.
Behaviour
Grimlocks operate in tight clans loyal to a chieftain or to a more powerful master. They communicate through clicks, scrapes, and a guttural language ill-suited to surface throats. Their society values cunning ambush over open warfare; a grimlock who returns wounded from a hunt without prey faces serious consequences. They worship dark powers fervently, often in ritual feasts where the food is whatever the latest raid produced.
Origin
Sages believe grimlocks descended from human stock, kidnapped by mind flayers generations ago and bred for the Underdark. Their loss of vision and gain of blindsight reflects this enslavement: useful tools shaped by their captors. Some grimlock clans remember surface ancestry in oral tradition and harbor a stunted hatred of sighted folk. Others have forgotten entirely and view sighted creatures as alien and inedible-yet-desirable, a contradiction that drives both raids and rituals.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Grimlock
- What is the challenge rating of Grimlock?
- On the bestiary CR scale, Grimlock sits at 1/4. It suits early-tier-1 encounters.
- What type of creature is Grimlock?
- The bestiary type for Grimlock is aberration, medium size.
- Where does Grimlock live?
- The published habitats for Grimlock: Underground.