The Last Applause
Armor Class 16 (lacquered wood and wire)
Hit Points 119 (14d8+56)
Speed 30 ft. climb 30 ft.
Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +6
Skills Stealth +7, Deception +6, Performance +9
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
Lair
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the creature can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Rearrange the Set. A wall, staircase, balcony, or section of scenery within 60 feet shifts. The area can become difficult terrain, provide half cover, or open or close a passage. Creatures in a shifting area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be moved up to 15 feet in a direction chosen by the lair.
- The Audience Arrives. Illusory spectators appear in empty seats. Until initiative count 20 on the next round, the first creature each round to willingly move away from the stage must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of its next turn.
- Cue the Scenery. A prop, curtain, or painted backdrop animates in a 10-foot cube within 60 feet. Creatures in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
Regional Effects
The region containing the creature's lair is warped by its magic, creating the following effects:
- Within 1 mile of the theater, roads and corridors seem to bend back toward the abandoned stage.
- At dusk, distant applause and fragments of an unfinished song can be heard from empty rooms.
- Buildings within 300 feet occasionally gain painted doors, false balconies, or curtains that were not there before.
If The Last Applause is destroyed and its puppeteer's final line is spoken, these effects fade over 1d10 days. Otherwise, the theater continues rearranging itself around the scattered marionettes.
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"Stay for the ending. The ending is the only part we know." — scratched into a theater door from the inside
Lore & Description
Appearance
The Last Applause is a frantic cluster of lacquered marionettes suspended from a common web of silver-black strings. Their bodies are painted in faded carnival colors: vermilion sleeves, cracked ivory faces, cobalt coats, and gold leaf flaking from their tiny crowns. One puppet wears the puppeteer's stained waistcoat and clutches a broken control bar, while the others continually change roles—hero, villain, grieving lover, fool, and corpse. Their painted mouths open and close in perfect rhythm, though no breath passes through them.
Behavior & Origins
The troupe belonged to Master Pell Orsin, whose final production was called The Farewell of Kings. Orsin died of a heart attack during the last scene, his hands still raised above the control bar. The marionettes interpreted his unfinished gesture as a command to continue. For years they have repeated the same performance in the abandoned Lantern-Splinter Theater, rearranging its rooms whenever anyone approaches the exit so they never have to witness an audience depart. The troupe wants only one thing: a proper ending to Orsin's play. The final line, written on a page hidden beneath the theater's stage, is 'And now, we may all go home.'
Running The Last Applause
Tactics
The troupe opens with Opening Number, attempting to herd the strongest-looking characters onto the stage while using Marionette Snare to isolate stragglers. It rearranges the battlefield with its lair actions, forcing enemies into crossing wires and narrow sight lines, then uses Stringblade attacks against restrained targets. When reduced below half its hit points, it relies on Rehearsed Disappearance and No Exits; it fights to the death unless someone speaks Orsin's final line or convincingly performs the missing scene.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the encounter with applause from empty seats, fresh footprints that stop at walls, and rooms whose doors lead to different places when reopened.
- Play the troupe as desperate performers rather than mindless killers: it bows after attacks, calls characters by stage roles, and becomes distressed when anyone says goodbye.
- To weaken the encounter, remove Deathless Encore and reduce Opening Number to 3d8 psychic damage; to strengthen it, let the troupe use Rehearsed Disappearance twice per day.
- Let clever characters advance the plot by finding Orsin's script, impersonating the missing lead, or speaking the final line during combat.
Loot
- Orsin's Broken Control Bar — A walnut crossbar wound with silver thread. It can command the theater's doors once, opening a route directly to the stage or sealing one passage for 24 hours.
- The Unfinished Script — A scorched booklet containing every scene except the final line. Its margins name a vanished patron who may have commissioned the play for an unknown ritual.
- The Lead's Painted Mask — An ivory marionette mask that grants advantage on one Performance or Deception check per day, but causes the wearer to hear applause whenever they lie.
