The Unfinished Troupe

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Medium Construct (collective of marionettes), Chaotic Neutral

Armor Class 16 (lacquered wood and taut strings)

Hit Points 150 (20d8+60)

Speed 30 ft. climb 30 ft.

STR 18 (+4)

DEX 18 (+4)

CON 16 (+3)

INT 13 (+1)

WIS 14 (+2)

CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +8, Wis +6, Cha +7

Skills Stealth +8, Deception +7, Acrobatics +8, Performance +7

Damage Vulnerabilities fire

Damage Resistances bludgeoning; piercing; slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison, psychic

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages Common

Challenge 9 (5,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +4

The Show Must Go On. The Unfinished Troupe does not need to eat, drink, breathe, sleep, or perform verbal components. It has advantage on saving throws against effects that would put it to sleep or knock it unconscious. If the troupe is incapacitated, its marionettes continue moving in rigid, automatic patterns until the condition ends.

Many Bodies, One Applause. The troupe can occupy another creature's space and move through openings as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing, provided its component marionettes can pass through. It can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

The Role Is Changing. The first time the Unfinished Troupe is reduced to 75 hit points or fewer, its puppets tear their own strings free and reveal wet, dark fibers beneath their wooden skin. Until it dies, its speed increases to 40 feet, its melee attacks deal an extra 3 (1d6) psychic damage, and it has advantage on saving throws against being restrained.

Actions

Multiattack. The Unfinished Troupe makes three Marionette Blade attacks. It can replace one attack with Puppeteer's Pull.

Marionette Blade. Melee weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage. The attack can originate from any marionette in the troupe's space or within 10 feet of it.

Puppeteer's Pull. One creature the troupe can see within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Strength or Dexterity saving throw, chosen by the creature, or be pulled up to 20 feet toward the troupe and restrained by invisible strings until the end of the troupe's next turn. A restrained creature can use its action to make a DC 16 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Curtain Call (Recharge 5-6). The troupe jerks every string in the theater at once. Each creature of its choice within 20 feet must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) psychic damage and becoming frightened until the end of its next turn on a failed save, or taking half as much damage without becoming frightened on a successful one. A creature that fails the save is also forced to applaud, clap, or bow as a reaction if it has one available.

Bonus Actions

Take Your Places. The troupe moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks, provided it ends this movement in dim light, darkness, or within 5 feet of a wall, ceiling, curtain, or stage prop.

Reactions

Cut the Wrong String. When a creature the troupe can see within 10 feet hits it with an attack, the troupe causes one of its marionettes to leap in front of the blow. The troupe reduces the damage by 10, and the attacking creature must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or become entangled and unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.

Environment Urban, Forest, Underdark

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"Please remain seated. The ending has not been written yet." — the voice beneath the Gloamglass Theater

Lore & Description

Appearance

The Unfinished Troupe is a knot of twelve marionettes lashed together by black, glistening strings that vanish into the empty air above them. Their bodies are painted in fading jewel tones—crimson coats, pearl-white masks, emerald skirts, and gold-leaf smiles—though the paint is cracked by dampness and something dark pulses beneath the wood. Each puppet has a different role: king, widow, fool, soldier, child, beast, and stranger. They move in perfect choreography until one suddenly turns its head too far, staring directly at an audience member. A little brass theater bell hangs at the center of the tangled troupe, ringing whenever the puppets speak in their dead master's voice.

Behavior & Origins

The troupe once performed under Master Odran Vell, a celebrated puppeteer who wrote a final play called The Door Behind the Painted Moon. During its premiere at the abandoned Gloamglass Theater, Odran suffered a fatal stroke while reaching for the next cue. His hand remained raised, and the marionettes continued performing long after the audience fled. Years later, the troupe is still attempting to complete the play, but its scenes have begun changing without Odran's direction. The marionettes know they are becoming something new and fear the final scene, because they believe it will either free them or give birth to the thing forming inside their strings. They want to find Odran's missing final cue, now rumored to be hidden beneath the theater's stage.

Running The Unfinished Troupe

Tactics

The Unfinished Troupe opens with Curtain Call if it can catch several creatures together, then uses Puppeteer's Pull to drag isolated targets into reach. It attacks from walls, ceilings, and stage scenery, using Take Your Places to avoid retaliation and Cut the Wrong String against the most dangerous melee attacker. Once bloodied, it becomes faster and more frantic, but it flees if the party produces Odran's final cue; otherwise, it fights to the death rather than allow anyone to interrupt the performance.

DM Tips

Telegraph the danger with distant applause, tiny wooden footprints, and a theater bell that rings from empty rooms before the troupe appears.
Give the marionettes overlapping voices: they finish one another's sentences, repeat audience members' names, and occasionally beg the characters not to let the final scene begin.
For a weaker party, reduce hit points to 110 and make Curtain Call deal 14 (4d6) psychic damage; for a stronger party, add two additional marionettes that each grant the troupe 10 temporary hit points when destroyed.
The troupe works best in a vertical battlefield with curtains, balconies, rafters, and hanging scenery that let it appear to attack from impossible angles.

Loot

Odran Vell's Final Cue — A water-stained strip of painted canvas bearing the words 'When the moon opens, cut the red string.' Reading it aloud can calm the troupe or reveal a hidden passage beneath the Gloamglass Theater.
The Brass Theater Bell — A tiny bell engraved with Odran's initials. Once per day, ringing it grants advantage on one Performance check, but every construct or undead creature within 60 feet hears the ring.
Black Stage Thread — A spool of unnaturally strong, warm thread harvested from the troupe's severed strings. It can repair a broken puppet, bind a minor wound, or serve as a story hook for whatever is growing beyond the strings.

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Generation Info

Original prompt:
"CR 9: A troupe of marionettes whose puppeteer died mid-performance, still finishing the show. It is slowly becoming something else, and knows it."

Created: Sep 22, 2026
Modified: Oct 27, 2026

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