Will-o'-wisps

Will-o'-wisps

Will-o'-wisp · Will-o'-wisp (Session 19) · motes of light

Character

Status Defeated First seen s19 Last seen s19

The will-o’-wisps are the pack of “motes of light” that ambushed the party alongside Pixie Wonderbringer on the last watch of session 19 ^[13]. They are published will-o’-wisps (Monster Manual / 5e SRD): they hang invisible until they attack, Shock for ~2d8 lightning (the repeated ~12-15 lightning hits, ^[17]/L1385/L1605), are immune to lightning — Caelumn’s Witch Bolt “does nothing” ^[19] — and are broadly resistant to most other damage (every “ineffective”/“resisted” note, ^[21]/L1414). One was DM-voiced “Tarion” ^[4]. The encounter carried one homebrew twist: when Pixie Wonderbringer died, the surviving wisp “split” into two ^[30], muddying the final headcount. They focused Caelumn hard (driving him to ~3 HP, ^[26] but downed no one; by session’s end all were killed or driven off — three chopped/cut apart (Hugo ×2, Terry ×1) and at least one Commanded to flee by Father Thomas ^[29], L1813). Status: defeated.

Overview

The will-o’-wisps of session 19 are the pack of “motes of light” (also “orbs of light”) that ambushed the party’s hilltop camp alongside Pixie Wonderbringer on the last watch ^[13]. The encounter began as a creeping menace on Caelumn’s watch: his Create Bonfire kept dying the instant he relit it — “the edge of the light slowly being pushed towards the center of the bonfire before it extinguishes” ^[14] — before two motes of light and the pixie resolved out of the dark and the fight began ^[15]. One wisp was DM-voiced under the name “Tarion” ^[4].

Note on the alias: the s19 recap links these creatures as Will-o’-wisp (Session 19); that title is carried in the aliases above so the recap link resolves to this page.

Statblock — published Will-o’-wisp (MM / 5e SRD)

The behaviour maps cleanly to the published will-o’-wisp (5e SRD): AC 19, HP 22.

• Invisible until it attacks. Each wisp hangs invisible, “ducks in and out of invisibility”, pops out to Shock, then vanishes again ^[2], L1383-1387). They are not hidden in the RAW sense unless they take the Hide action, so they could still be targeted at disadvantage — a ruling Father Thomas flagged and the DM accepted ^[16], and which let Terry kill one “on sound” (see below).
• Shock — ~2d8 lightning. The repeated ~12-15 lightning hits across the fight ^[17], L1385, L1438, L1605) match the published Shock attack. One hit landed “even with Shield” ^[18].
• Immune to lightning (and poison). This is the decisive trait: Caelumn’s 1st-level Witch Bolt (“red lightning lasso”) hit but “does nothing” because the wisps are lightning-immune ^[19]. Caelumn admitted he “didn’t actually look at the type of damage” ^[20]. It also explains the DM steering him off lightning earlier.
• Broadly resistant to most other damage (acid/cold/fire/necrotic/thunder + nonmagical bludgeoning/piercing/slashing), which accounts for the running “ineffective”/“resisted” notes on Caelumn’s chromatic-orb bounces ^[21], L1414). Force (his 2nd-level Magic Missile) was likewise insufficient ^[22].

A possible homebrew tweak: the DM attributed the wisps “permanent advantage” to attack ^[23], which is most likely shorthand for their invisibility granting attack advantage rather than a literal extra trait.

Homebrew twist — the wisps “split” on the pixie’s death

The one clear departure from the published statblock: when Pixie Wonderbringer was killed, the will-o’-wisp next to Caelumn “split into two” ^[24]. Standard will-o’-wisps do not split or reproduce, and the split even affected a wisp that had not yet acted; the DM declined to explain it (“don’t worry about it”, ^[25]. This makes the exact wisp headcount uncertain — the fight opened with two, the split produced more, and at least four wisp-bodies were resolved across the encounter. Do not assert a precise wisp kill-count. Mark the split as a DM homebrew / unresolved mechanic.

The fight

The wisps concentrated their lightning on Caelumn, who was driven to roughly 3 HP (he self-references “my 3 at the time”, ^[26] but was never actually downed — kept up by his own Quickened Cure Wounds, Father Thomas’s Twilight Sanctuary temp HP, and Terry’s Silvery Barbs turning a wisp’s natural-20 (27 lightning) into a miss ^[6]. No PC was downed and no death saves were rolled.

By session’s end every wisp was killed or driven off:

• Hugo flew on his Winged Boots and “chop[ped] a wisp in half” (20 damage, ^[27] — kill.
• Terry killed a wisp while it was invisible, attacking “on sound” at disadvantage (does a 20 hit, follow-up also hits; “quite impressive”, ^[8] — kill.
• Father Thomas cast Command (“Fleet”) on the wisp next to Caelumn; it rolled a 6, failed, was forced to Dash away, then turned invisible and left the fight ^[10] — one wisp fled/driven off.
• Hugo destroyed the last wisp (Reckless Attack, 18 damage); “it dies in a puff of glitter and you are now covered in glitter. […] combat comes to an end and so does the session” ^[11] — kill.

No loot dropped — the wisps dissolve into glitter ^[28], L1813).

Status

Defeated — by session’s end all the s19 wisps were killed (three chopped/cut apart by Hugo ×2 and Terry ×1) or driven off (one Commanded to flee by Father Thomas, ^[29]. Exact final count uncertain due to the split.

See also

• Pixie Wonderbringer — the fey that led the ambush; the wisps “split” on its death
• Caelumn — the wisps’ favourite target (to ~3 HP); his Witch Bolt revealed their lightning immunity
• Hugo — killed two wisps from the air on his Winged Boots
• Terry — killed a wisp while it was invisible
• Father Thomas — Commanded the last wisp to flee
• Will-o’-wisp — 5e SRD — published statblock

References

1. ^ Session 19, line 1202-1215 — Trigger — on Caelumn's watch the bonfire is repeatedly snuffed (pushed inward and extinguished); "two motes of light" + the pixie resolve out of the dark.
2. ^ Session 19, line 1289-1297 — Shock — a wisp pops out of invisibility, hits Caelumn for 15 lightning, then vanishes again.
3. ^ Session 19, line 1383-1438 — Repeated ~12-15 lightning Shock hits across the fight (Hugo, Caelumn) with the invisible-until-attack pattern; one hits "even with Shield".
4. ^ Session 19, line 1564 — One wisp is DM-voiced "Tarion" ("Tarion is going to try and shock you as it comes out of invisibility").
5. ^ Session 19, line 1587-1591 — **Homebrew twist** — on the pixie's death the adjacent wisp "splits into two"; DM waves off the "why?" ("don't worry about it").
6. ^ Session 19, line 1607-1622 — A wisp rolls a natural 20 on Caelumn (27 lightning); Terry's Silvery Barbs forces the re-roll, saving him.
7. ^ Session 19, line 1664-1671 — **KILL** — Hugo flies on his Winged Boots and "chop[s] a wisp in half"; it dies in a sparkly puff.
8. ^ Session 19, line 1728-1735 — **KILL** — Terry kills a wisp while it is invisible by attacking "on sound" (does a 20 hit); pops in a glitter balloon.
9. ^ Session 19, line 1749-1762 — Immune to lightning — Caelumn's Witch Bolt ("red lightning lasso") hits but "does nothing"; he had not checked the damage type.
10. ^ Session 19, line 1764-1787 — Father Thomas casts Command ("Fleet"/flee); the wisp rolls a 6 and fails, must Dash away, then turns invisible and leaves the fight.
11. ^ Session 19, line 1810-1813 — **KILL** — Hugo destroys the last wisp ("18 damage"); "it dies in a puff of glitter [...] combat comes to an end and so does the session".
12. ^ — Published statblock match — AC 19, HP 22, Shock 2d8 lightning, invisible until it attacks, immune to lightning & poison, broadly resistant.
13. ^ Session 19, line 1215 — Inline citation.
14. ^ Session 19, line 1202 — Inline citation.
15. ^ Session 19, line 1215-1217 — Inline citation.
16. ^ Session 19, line 1640-1644 — Inline citation.
17. ^ Session 19, line 1297 — Inline citation.
18. ^ Session 19, line 1438 — Inline citation.
19. ^ Session 19, line 1756 — Inline citation.
20. ^ Session 19, line 1762 — Inline citation.
21. ^ Session 19, line 1279 — Inline citation.
22. ^ Session 19, line 1695-1700 — Inline citation.
23. ^ Session 19, line 1633 — Inline citation.
24. ^ Session 19, line 1587-1588 — Inline citation.
25. ^ Session 19, line 1590-1591 — Inline citation.
26. ^ Session 19, line 1712 — Inline citation.
27. ^ Session 19, line 1671 — Inline citation.
28. ^ Session 19, line 1735 — Inline citation.
29. ^ Session 19, line 1772 — Inline citation.
30. ^ Session 19, line 1587 — Inline citation.