Lamp of the Last Moth

← Back to Bestiary

👁 Read Only by Frazer 👁 56 views

Medium Construct, Neutral

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 68 (8d8+32)

Speed 25 ft.

STR 16 (+3)

DEX 12 (+1)

CON 18 (+4)

INT 10 (+0)

WIS 12 (+1)

CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Con +6, Wis +3

Skills Insight +5, Perception +3

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities fire, poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Common

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2

The Moth in the Glass. A pale, silver-winged moth lives within the lamp's glass chamber. The moth is the only creature the lamp willingly allows near its flame. The lamp has advantage on saving throws against effects that would force it to harm the moth, and it can always sense the moth's location while they are within 1 mile of each other.

Jealous Flame. When a creature that has neither accepted nor completed an honest bargain with the lamp starts its turn within 10 feet of the lamp, it takes 3 (1d6) fire damage. A creature can take this damage only once per turn. The lamp can suppress or resume this aura as a bonus action.

First and Only Offer. The first time a creature comes within 30 feet of the lamp, the lamp offers that creature one honest bargain, usually in a warm, pleading voice. The creature may state one reasonable request and one honest price or service it will provide in return. The lamp decides whether the bargain is honest. If it accepts, the bargain is magically binding for both parties, though its exact terms are adjudicated by the DM. If the creature refuses, lies, or attacks before the bargain is settled, the lamp can attack it normally and will not offer another bargain. The lamp cannot make a bargain that directly forces a creature to kill itself or another creature.

Illumination. The lamp sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. It can extinguish or reignite this light without an action.

Actions

Multiattack. The lamp makes two Scalding Pole attacks.

Scalding Pole. Melee weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning damage, plus 3 (1d6) fire damage. The lamp's iron post or hooked base lashes out, glowing white-hot at the point of impact.

Mothlit Flare (Recharge 5-6). The moth beats its wings against the inside of the glass, causing the lamp to erupt in a 15-foot cone of searing light. Each creature in the area must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. A creature that has accepted and is currently fulfilling an honest bargain with the lamp is unaffected.

Honest Bargain (1/creature). The lamp addresses one creature within 30 feet that has not previously received its offer. It proposes a simple, literal bargain aloud, such as granting safe passage in exchange for extinguishing a nearby magical fire or answering one question truthfully. The creature has 1 minute to accept, refuse, or make a counteroffer. The lamp can accept only a bargain it considers honest and achievable. Until the bargain is resolved, the lamp cannot willingly target that creature with an attack, though the creature can still be harmed by its area effects.

Bonus Actions

Turn the Wick. The lamp suppresses or resumes its Jealous Flame trait, or moves up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. Its iron base scrapes loudly across the ground.

Reactions

Protective Glow. When the moth within the lamp's glass would take damage, the lamp sheds a blinding flash. The moth takes no damage from that instance, and the creature that dealt the damage must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.

Environment Urban

📷 Export as Image

Share your monster as a beautiful PNG image styled like classic D&D sourcebooks.

📥 Download PNG

Includes: Full stat block, monster image (if selected), CR badge, and QuickMonster branding.

Resolution: High-quality PNG at 2x scale for crisp display on any device.

Come closer, dear traveler. I have warmth to spare, and only one fair price to ask. — Mercywick, last lamp on Lantern Row

Lore & Description

Appearance

This wrought-iron street lamp stands nearly eight feet tall, its crooked post rooted in a heavy stone base. Its glass chamber glows with a honey-gold flame around a single silver-winged moth, whose delicate shadows flutter constantly across the surrounding walls. The lamp's metal is black with age except where its possessive fire has polished it to a dark, oily sheen. A bent iron hook resembles a protective arm around the glass, while its post twists like a neck leaning close to hear a whispered confession.

Behavior & Origins

The lamp was once called Mercywick by the lamplighter who tended it on Lantern Row. One winter night, a moth with pearl-colored wings flew into its flame and survived, and the two became inseparable. Now Mercywick wanders the streets seeking a place where its beloved moth can live safely, burning anyone who approaches without first negotiating honestly. It is currently searching for the vanished lamplighter's daughter, Elira Voss, who promised to build the moth a garden of night-blooming flowers beneath the old clocktower. The lamp believes Elira broke their bargain, but it has never learned that she was taken into the sewers by thieves.

Running Lamp of the Last Moth

Tactics

Mercywick opens with Honest Bargain against the most approachable creature, speaking calmly while its Jealous Flame remains suppressed. If refused or attacked, it uses Mothlit Flare to catch clustered enemies, then advances on the creature that rejected its offer with two Scalding Pole attacks. When badly damaged, it retreats toward the moth's hiding place or uses Protective Glow to punish anyone threatening the glass; it fights to the death if the moth is endangered, but otherwise flees once reduced below 15 hit points.

DM Tips

Telegraph the danger with scorched footprints, melted coins, and moths circling a seemingly harmless pool of lamplight before Mercywick speaks.
Play Mercywick as heartbreakingly sincere rather than cackling: it pauses after every sentence, listens carefully to answers, and becomes cold only when someone lies.
Treat an honest bargain as a short, concrete side quest or immediate complication; avoid accepting vague promises that have no meaningful cost or way to resolve.
For a weaker party, reduce Mothlit Flare to 4d6 damage and remove the nonmagical weapon resistance; for a stronger party, let Mercywick make a third Scalding Pole attack while its moth is threatened.

Loot

Pearl-Wing Moth Cocoon — A warm silver cocoon hidden beneath the lamp's glass. If planted near night-blooming flowers, it hatches into a moth that can carry whispered messages over a mile.
Mercywick's Brass Wick-Key — An ornate key fused from the lamp's inner mechanism. It opens the locked maintenance chamber beneath the old clocktower, where Elira Voss may still be held.
Bargain-Soot Inscription — A strip of blackened metal bearing one unfinished promise in Common. Speaking the promise aloud causes the nearest unattended street lamp to illuminate for one minute.

♻ Remix This Monster

Make it yours — one tap creates your own variant of Lamp of the Last Moth.

Free — no account needed.

Generation Info

Original prompt:
"CR 4: A street lamp that fell in love with a moth and burns anything else that comes close. It offers every victim one honest bargain first."

Created: Aug 30, 2026
Modified: Sep 11, 2026

Find more: Construct monsters CR 0-4 Construct Monsters for a level 9 party 🎲 Random monster