The Answering Bell

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Small Construct, Neutral Evil

Armor Class 14 (iron casing)

Hit Points 22 (5d6+5)

Speed 20 ft. climb 20 ft.

STR 8 (-1)

DEX 14 (+2)

CON 12 (+1)

INT 6 (-2)

WIS 12 (+1)

CHA 13 (+1)

Skills Stealth +4, Deception +3

Damage Resistances psychic

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Common

Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2

Pitied Chime. The bell has advantage on attack rolls against a creature that has expressed pity toward it, offered to help it, apologized to it, or willingly touched it after hearing its pleading voice. A creature that pities the bell has disadvantage on saving throws against its Collecting Ring.

Answering the Door. When a creature within 30 feet audibly responds to the bell's ringing, the bell learns the creature's location until the end of the bell's next turn. If the creature says or implies that it will open, help, or answer the bell, the bell can move up to 20 feet toward it as a reaction without provoking opportunity attacks.

False Fixture. While motionless against a wall, gate, or door, the bell is indistinguishable from an ordinary doorbell until it rings, moves, or is examined with a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Actions

Ringing Lure. The bell rings with a lonely, unmistakable chime. Each creature within 30 feet that can hear it must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or be compelled to look toward the bell and have disadvantage on its next attack roll against the bell before the end of its next turn. A creature that fails this save by 5 or more must also use up to 10 feet of its movement on its next turn to move closer to the bell, if able.

Collecting Ring. Melee spell Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) psychic damage. The bell rings directly into the target's thoughts. The target must succeed on a DC 11 Charisma saving throw or be marked by a faint brass outline until the end of its next turn. While marked, the target cannot willingly move farther from the bell, and the bell can pull the target up to 10 feet toward itself when the bell moves.

Latch-Bite. Melee weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage. The bell's mounting screws unfold into snapping jaws. If the target is marked by Collecting Ring, the bell deals an extra 1d4 psychic damage.

Reactions

Not Yet Open. When a creature within 5 feet attempts to leave the bell's reach, the bell rings sharply. The creature must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the end of the current turn.

Environment Urban, Forest, Swamp

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"It rang three times, and I said, 'Poor thing.' Then it started ringing from inside my chest." — Elsin Dorr, last caretaker of Saint Vey

Lore & Description

Appearance

The Answering Bell is a fist-sized bronze doorbell, green with age and furred with black corrosion. Its cracked porcelain button resembles a single milky eye, while its mounting screws flex like little insect legs. No wire connects it to anything. When it rings, the sound is warm and domestic at first, then becomes the remembered chime of every door the listener has ever stood before. A thin brass tongue occasionally slips from beneath its casing to taste the air.

Behavior & Origins

Answering Bells are created when a lonely household dies without anyone answering its final knock. They attach themselves to abandoned homes, roadside shrines, mausoleums, and sometimes the doors of grieving people. The bell begins with harmless ringing and a small, plaintive voice asking to be let in. It becomes dangerous when someone pities it, because sympathy gives the construct a sense of ownership: the responder is no longer a visitor but something to be collected. The bell called Morrow hangs beneath the ruined hospice of Saint Vey, where it has gathered seven wax-sealed names and now wants the town's mayor to answer its midnight summons.

Running The Answering Bell

Tactics

The bell begins concealed as a fixture and uses Ringing Lure to make one creature approach or hesitate. It targets anyone who offers sympathy with Collecting Ring, then uses walls, doorways, and ceilings to keep marked prey close while biting at them. If reduced below half its hit points, it rings continuously and retreats toward a narrow passage or abandoned doorway; it fights to the death if a marked creature is within 5 feet, but flees if no one has pitied it.

DM Tips

Telegraph the danger with repeated ringing from locked doors, fresh brass scratches around old fixtures, and victims who insist they heard someone politely asking for help.
Play the bell's voice as soft, embarrassed, and apologetic; it should never threaten anyone until a character says they feel sorry for it.
Make pity a meaningful choice: characters can avoid its advantage by treating it as a hostile object, but compassion makes the encounter more dangerous.
For a weaker party, reduce the Collecting Ring save DC to 10 and remove the bonus psychic damage from Latch-Bite; for a stronger party, give it two bells hidden nearby that ring in alternating turns.

Loot

Brass Nameplate — A tarnished plate engraved with the name Morrow. It becomes warm when held near a door belonging to someone the bell has collected.
Seven Wax-Sealed Names — Tiny wax seals hidden inside the casing, each bearing a victim's name. Breaking a seal causes that victim to dream of an open doorway for one night.

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Generation Info

Original prompt:
"CR 1/2: A doorbell that rings itself and collects whoever answers. It is most dangerous when pitied."

Created: Oct 27, 2026
Modified: Oct 27, 2026

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