What is a Will-o’-Wisp in D&D 5e? Everything You Need to Know

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How to harness the power of these undead spirits in your campaign
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Are you looking for ways to add an extra “spooky” factor to your next quest or dungeon crawl? Will-o’-wisps might just be your answer! As a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster, will-o’-wisps have been around since the 1st edition of the game—and in 5e, they’re classified as tiny undead balls of light that exist to lure travelers to their doom. Read on for a complete overview of will-o’-wisps and how they work, plus tips on using them as a DM.

Things You Should Know

  • Will-o’-wisps are undead entities that appear as tiny balls of hazy light. They’re often blue, violet, green, or yellow and may be mistaken for lanterns.
  • Will-o’-wisps are “chaotic evil” beings. They lure adventurers into danger to feed off their fear, pain, panic, and eventual deaths.
  • Wisps are incorporeal and can move through solid objects. They also have a Consume Life ability that can kill creatures with 0 hit points.
Section 1 of 3:

What is a Will-o’-Wisp in D&D 5e?

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    Though classified as undead, they appear as balls of hazy light—usually colored white, blue, green, violet, or yellow. They may even look like a lantern, torch, or Dancing Lights spell in low light, although they’re sentient and often have malicious intentions. [1]
    • Hit points: 22 (9d4)
    • Armor class: 19
    • Speed: 0 ft, fly 50 ft (hover)
    • Senses: Darkvision 120 ft, passive Perception 12
    • Damage resistances: Acid, cold, fire, necrotic, thunder, and bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks
    • Damage immunities: Lightning and poison damage
    • Condition immunities: Exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, poisoned, prone, restrained, and unconscious
    • Languages: The languages it knew in life
    • Challenge rating: 2 (450 XP)
    • Ability scores: Strength 1 (-5), Dexterity 28 (+9), Constitution 10 (+0), Intelligence 13 (+1), Wisdom 14 (+2), Charisma 11 (+0)
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    However, will-o’-wisps don’t actually have any organs or vocal cords. In actuality, their glowing forms are transparent yet spongy matter (according to the 5e description). They typically measure about 1 foot (30 cm) wide and weigh about 3 pounds (1.4 kg). [2]
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    In 5e, will-o’-wisps are known for luring travelers off reliable paths and into danger, feeding off their most powerful emotions associated with fear, panic, and death. As such, they’re normally found in dark and remote places—particularly bogs, swamps, fens, and dungeons with lots of traps. [3]
    • For example, they’re known to inhabit the Vast Swamp in Toril (as well as the Shadow Swamp, which is its counterpart in the Plane of Shadow).
    • Wisps can be found individually, in pairs, or in “strings” of 3 or 4 working together to mislead travelers.
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Section 2 of 3:

Will-o’-Wisp Traits & Attacks

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    Will-o’-wisps are capable of moving through solid objects and other creatures as though they’re on difficult terrain (which means their movement is halved, but they can still move). However, a will-o’-wisp will still take 1d10 force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. [4]
    • Will-o’-wisps also have the “Ephemeral” trait, which means they can’t wear or carry anything.
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    Will-o’-wisps shed bright light in a 5 to 20-foot radius, and they can choose a specific radius. Furthermore, they shed dim light for an additional number of feet equal to their chosen radius. [5]
    • In combat, will-o’-wisps can change the radius of their light as a bonus action.
    • In 5e, “bright” light lets most creatures see normally, while dim light creates a lightly obscured area.
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    “Shock” is the only attack available to will-o’-wisps—and they tend to avoid getting involved in battles unless they have no choice, preferring instead to trap and feed off of targets. When a will-o’-wisp uses Shock, it can deal 2d8 lightning damage to a target. [6]
    • Will-o’-wisps have a +4 bonus to their Shock attack rolls and can target one creature per attack.
    • Since it’s classified as a melee attack, will-o’-wisps can only Shock enemies within 5 feet.
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    A will-o’-wisp can will itself (and the light it sheds) to become magically invisible until its next Shock attack or until it uses its Consume Life ability. Alternatively, it may remain invisible until its concentration ends (which works the same as concentrating on a spell). [7]
    • In 5e, concentration means a creature must focus on the spell it casts. Certain spells (like Invisibility) are classified as concentration spells.
    • When a creature takes damage, it must make a Constitution saving throw to determine whether it can maintain its concentration on a spell.
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    As a bonus action, will-o’-wisps can choose to target a single creature within 5 feet that is alive but unconscious with 0 hit points. The wisp’s target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or immediately die—and if it dies, the will-o’-wisp recovers 3d10 hit points. [8]
    • Every creature in 5e has hit points. They determine how much damage a character can take before falling unconscious.
    • DC means “difficulty class” in 5e. A saving throw’s DC determines how difficult it is for characters to succeed.
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Section 3 of 3:

How to Use Will-o’-Wisps as a DM

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    Will-o’-wisps are spooky and cunning—perfect for a horror-themed quest set in a murky swamp or dark dungeon. Insert a few wisps into your campaign and see if you can trick PCs (player characters) with lower Intelligence or Wisdom into following them. [9]
    • For example, you might try leading an unsuspecting party into an area filled with quicksand or a remote pond with a tougher monster living in it.
    • The wisps could even serve as a plot hook , introducing the PCs to some bigger danger in the campaign!
    • Even if the PCs don’t believe your will-o’-wisps are lanterns, you could create a sense of intrigue by having them call out to the PCs with their ghostly voices.
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    They aren’t particularly tough opponents, so use will-o’-wisps strategically. Hold back an attack until they’ve lured the party somewhere dangerous. Then, when a battle begins, the party’s attention will be split between the wisps and whatever other threat you have planned! [10]
    • For example, you could have will-o’-wisps lure the party into a dungeon trap that freezes them in place and incapacitates them.
    • Then, while the party (or at least certain PCs) are frozen, the will-o’-wisps could start attacking.
    • By waiting for an opportune moment, will-o’-wisps can instantly go from benign balls to light to spooky, genuine threats on the battlefield.
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    Although they’re relatively weak, will-o’-wisps have a ton of damage resistance and immunities. They take half damage from most elemental attacks (including acid, cold, and fire), and they’re entirely immune to lightning and poison. That makes them surprisingly durable against low-level PCs! [11]
    • Keep in mind that it’s easy enough for high-level PCs with magical weapons to defeat will-o’-wisps since wisps don’t have any resistance against them.
    • However, low-level PCs with basic spells and weapons are far more likely to have a hard time defeating a group of cunning will-o’-wisps.
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    To solidify will-o’-wisps as a threat to your PCs, don’t be afraid to take advantage of their wicked “Consume Life” ability. Lure the party into a trap, whittle down their hit points with attacks, and when a PC finally falls unconscious, have a will-o’-wisp consume their life force. [12]
    • The death of a party member isn’t something to take lightly; ensure players understand it’s a possibility (and are okay with it) before going ahead.
    • Don’t worry—there’s nothing in the will-o’-wisp’s stat block that says a death caused by Consume Life is permanent.
    • If PCs have access to spells like Revivify or Resurrection, any character killed by a wisp doesn’t have to remain deceased. They can be brought back!
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      References

      1. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      2. ↑ https://youtu.be/HSSxtHYxXrk?t=149
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/HSSxtHYxXrk?t=39
      4. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      5. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      6. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      7. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      8. ↑ https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/will_o_wisp/
      9. ↑ https://blackcitadelrpg.com/will-o-wisp-5e/
      1. ↑ https://blackcitadelrpg.com/will-o-wisp-5e/
      2. ↑ https://blackcitadelrpg.com/will-o-wisp-5e/
      3. ↑ https://blackcitadelrpg.com/will-o-wisp-5e/

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