Hollow Gazers
Accursed Oracles of Forbidden Truths
A Hollow Gazer hunches in the darkness, its twisted frame barely recognizable as once-human. The creature's eyeless face is forever staring simultaneously at what was, what is, and what might be. These wretched aberrations were once seers and chronomancers who dared pierce the veil of time itself – reaching back to attempt and change the immutable past or peering forward to glimpse the branching infinities of tomorrow. The timestream shattered their mortal minds and warped their flesh, leaving them as gibbering husks obsessed with temporal secrets they can no longer fully comprehend. They lurk in ruined observatories and collapsed wizard towers where time flows strangely, muttering prophecies that echo backward and forward through causality. The air grows cold and heavy when a Hollow Gazer is near, as if reality itself holds its breath. Those who meet that baleful gaze feel their flesh begin to rot across multiple timelines at once, while the creature rifles through their memories - past, present, and those yet to form.
Hollow Gazer Lore
- Shattered by Time's Secrets – Once mortal seers and chronomancers who dared peer past the veil that shrouds tomorrow or reach back to rewrite yesterday, Hollow Gazers were broken by what they witnessed in the timestream – their minds unable to comprehend the infinite branching paths of fate, their bodies warped by temporal paradox itself.
- Eyeless Gaze of Doom – The creature's eyeless sockets are forever locked open, cursed to see through the veils of past, present, and future simultaneously; its eyeless gaze inflicts a rotting curse that withers living flesh in moments while the creature psychically rifles through victims' memories, stealing both what was and what might have been.
- Prophetic Madness – Each Hollow Gazer endlessly mutters fragments of futures that may never come to pass, their shattered perception of causality warping probability itself; when they speak a prophecy aloud, fate itself bends to make it real, but witnessing these temporal ripples drives them ever deeper into insanity.
- Collectors of Forbidden Futures – Obsessed with mastering the timestream that destroyed them, Hollow Gazers hoard any knowledge related to prophecy, divination, or temporal magic: star charts mapping destiny, journals chronicling futures that never were, and the stolen precognitive visions extracted from dying seers.
Hollow Gazer Abilities
Hollow Gazers possess a twisted arsenal of reality-warping powers drawn from their shattered perception of time and causality. All Hollow Gazers wield Pitying Gaze as their signature attack, see through all deception with Truesight (120 ft), and grow stronger through Warping Madness - accumulating Madness levels that boost their damage but risk spawning a Gibbering Mouther if they die with 3+ levels.
Beyond these core abilities, individual Hollow Gazers manifest additional powers depending on how deeply madness has consumed them:
- Prophetic Manipulation - Reality bends to their twisted foresight through powers like Twisted Prophecy (choosing a d20 number that harms anyone who rolls it), Shattered Omens (forcing rerolls on marginal successes/failures), Mind-Shattering Prediction (pronouncing prophecies that deal psychic damage if unfulfilled), and Alter Fate (forcing successful rolls to be rerolled).
- Psychic Assault - Their gazes and whispers shatter minds through abilities like Gaze of the Far Realm (inflicting fear, confusion, or psychic burning), Maddening Whispers (an aura that reduces nearby creatures to confused automatons), Eyebite (innate mastery of the spell), and Disfiguring Curse (warping bodies with exhaustion that resists rest).
- Aberrant Supremacy - The most powerful Gazers command reality itself through Spell Eater (consuming and nullifying magic) and Eldritch Beacon (summoning aberrant allies through chaotic energy emissions)
Hollow Gazer Statblocks
Hollow Gazer
A newly-cursed scholar still clinging to fragments of sanity, this lesser variant haunts small ruins and forgotten studies.
Hollow Gazer
Summoned with Foe FoundryMedium Aberration (Hollow Gazer)
AC 15 (Unholy Armor) Initiative +1 (11)
HP 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed 30 ft.
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Str | 8 | -1 | -1 |
| Dex | 12 | +1 | +1 |
| Con | 14 | +2 | +2 |
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Int | 16 | +3 | +3 |
| Wis | 13 | +1 | +1 |
| Cha | 7 | -2 | -2 |
Skills Stealth +3, Arcana +7, Insight +5, Perception +5
Resistances Psychic
Immunities Charmed
Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 15
Languages Almost Comprehensible Gibberish
CR 2 (450 XP; PB +2)
Traits
Warping Madness. If the hollow gazer dies with 3 or more levels of Madness, a Gibbering Mouther immediately spawns and joins the combat, acting next in initiative.
Focused Delirium (3/day). When the hollow gazer misses with an attack roll, it can choose to take 2 psychic damage, gain a level of Madness, and re-roll the attack roll.
Actions
Multiattack. The hollow gazer makes two Pitying Gaze attacks.
Pitying Gaze. Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, range 30ft., one target. Hit 10 (2d6 + 3) psychic damage. The attack deals an additional 3 (1d6) psychic damage for each level of Madness.
Devour Spell. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target that can cast a spell. Hit 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage and 13 (3d8) force damage. On a hit, the target loses its highest level spell slot. If the target has no spell slots remaining, it is Stunned until the end of its next turn.
Hollow Gazer of Ruin
An ancient aberration consumed by centuries of accumulated madness, this powerful variant has witnessed empires rise and fall.
Hollow Gazer of Ruin
Summoned with Foe FoundryMedium Aberration (Hollow Gazer)
AC 16 (Unholy Armor) Initiative +1 (11)
HP 110 (17d8 + 34)
Speed 30 ft.
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Str | 10 | +0 | +0 |
| Dex | 13 | +1 | +1 |
| Con | 14 | +2 | +5 |
| Mod | Save | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Int | 18 | +4 | +4 |
| Wis | 14 | +2 | +5 |
| Cha | 17 | +3 | +3 |
Skills Stealth +4, Arcana +10, Insight +8, Perception +8
Resistances Psychic
Immunities Charmed
Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 18
Languages Almost Comprehensible Gibberish
CR 6 (2,300 XP; PB +3)
Traits
Warping Madness. If the hollow gazer dies with 3 or more levels of Madness, a Gibbering Mouther immediately spawns and joins the combat, acting next in initiative.
Focused Delirium (3/day). When the hollow gazer misses with an attack roll, it can choose to take 7 psychic damage, gain a level of Madness, and re-roll the attack roll.
Actions
Multiattack. The hollow gazer makes three Pitying Gaze attacks. It may replace two attacks with a use of its Disfiguring Curse or Eldritch Beacon.
Pitying Gaze. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 30ft., one target. Hit 14 (3d6 + 4) psychic damage. The attack deals an additional 3 (1d6) psychic damage for each level of Madness.
Disfiguring Curse (1/day). The hollow gazer attempts to magically spread its curse to a target that it can see within 60 feet. The target must make a DC 13 Charisma save. On a failure, the target takes 17 (5d6) psychic damage and is cursed with horrible deformities. While deformed, the target gains a level of Exhaustion that does not go away when taking a long rest. The cursed creature can repeat the saving throw whenever it finishes a long rest, ending the effect on a success.
Eldritch Beacon (1/day). The hollow gazer magically creates a Medium Eldritch Beacon Token (AC/DC 12, 3 Charges) at an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet. Each turn that the beacon is active, on initiative count 0, 12 (5d4) Cultist arrive to aid the summoner and join combat at initiative count 0. On their first turn, the Cultist use their movement and action to arrive on the battlefield in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of the summoner. They then act normally on subsequent turns.
Hollow Gazer Encounter Ideas
These 5E aberrations make excellent controllers and information brokers in forgotten places where secrets accumulate. A Hollow Gazer encounter should feel tense and unsettling, with whispered prophecies building dread before violence erupts.
- Acrid smoke drifts from a toppled brazier as the party enters the ruined archive. A wet, rasping voice whispers from the darkness as the Hollow Gazer speaks: "I see your secret... the one you buried deep."
- The Hollow Gazer blocks the bridge or passage ahead, demanding "Knowledge for passage. Tell me something true - something forbidden - and I will let you pass."
- A crazed Hollow Gazer fortune-teller on the road makes twisted but disturbingly accurate predictions of future challenges the party will encounter. It demands payment in secrets, not coin.
- The party camps in ruins and one PC awakens to find a Hollow Gazer sitting across from them, staring. "You dreamed of your failure tonight. I can show you how to prevent it... if you trust me."
Hollow Gazer Adventure Ideas
Hollow Gazers work brilliantly as recurring villains or tragic figures in longer 5E campaigns, their prophetic abilities creating narrative tension across multiple sessions.
- The head librarian (Mage) of an arcane institute has hired the PCs to investigate the lower levels of the library where students have reported strange sights and sounds. A formerly expelled student has become a Hollow Gazer and haunts the library, demanding forbidden secrets from any who enter. The creature knows embarrassing truths about each PC and will trade knowledge for knowledge.
- A wealthy merchant's daughter has been visiting a mysterious fortune-teller (Hollow Gazer) who makes disturbingly accurate predictions. Now she refuses to leave the creature's side, claiming it has shown her "the only path to survival." Her desperate father hires the PCs to rescue her.
- A Hollow Gazer of Ruin has been stealing memories from villagers in a remote settlement, leaving them confused and missing days of their lives. The creature is searching for a specific memory - a horrifying secret buried deep in someone's past.
- A Hollow Gazer of Ruin has founded a new doomsday cult in a nearby town. The cultists cut out an eye in exchange for magical secrets and accurate prophecies of the future. The cult is amassing weapons and seems to be preparing for some prophesied catastrophe.
FAQ: Hollow Gazers in 5E
What's the CR range for Hollow Gazer monsters?
Foe Foundry Hollow Gazers range from CR 2 Hollow Gazers to CR 6 Hollow Gazers of Ruin. They're designed for mid-tier play when parties can handle dangerous aberrations with reality-warping abilities.
What creature type are Hollow Gazers?
Hollow Gazers are aberrations—twisted beings that defy the natural order. They were once mortal spellcasters who peered too deeply into time's secrets and were warped by temporal paradox into something alien and broken.
What makes Hollow Gazers unique as aberrations?
Unlike most aberrations from the Beyond, Hollow Gazers are tragic figures—former mortals driven mad by forbidden knowledge. They retain fragments of intelligence and obsessively seek temporal secrets, making them excellent information brokers, fortune-tellers, or tragic villains.
What's the basic 5E Hollow Gazer statblock?
The standard Hollow Gazer is a CR 2 aberration with AC 14, HP 45 (7d8+14), and Truesight 120 ft. Their signature Pitying Gaze attack deals necrotic damage and can impose disadvantage, while Warping Madness makes them increasingly dangerous as combat continues.
Are there high-level Hollow Gazer variants?
Yes. The CR 6 Hollow Gazer of Ruin is an ancient aberration with more HP, stronger abilities, and devastating powers like Eyebite, Spell Eater, and Eldritch Beacon. These variants have witnessed centuries of history and accumulated deep reserves of madness.
What role do Hollow Gazers fill in combat?
Hollow Gazers are 5E Controllers—they impose conditions, manipulate fate, and mess with probability. Powers like Twisted Prophecy, Alter Fate, and Shattered Omens let them dictate the flow of battle through prophetic manipulation.
What's Warping Madness and how does it work?
Warping Madness is the Hollow Gazer's signature mechanic. Each time they take damage, they gain a Madness level (max 3), increasing their damage output. But if they die with 3+ Madness levels, their shattered mind spawns a Gibbering Mouther—a nasty surprise for parties that thought the fight was over.
How should I roleplay a Hollow Gazer?
Play up the tragedy and madness. They speak in prophetic riddles, refer to events out of chronological order, and obsessively seek knowledge about time and fate. They're pitiable yet terrifying—broken scholars who can't stop trying to master the timestream that destroyed them.
What powers make Hollow Gazers interesting in combat?
Their prophetic manipulation powers are tactically fascinating: Twisted Prophecy punishes specific d20 rolls, Shattered Omens forces rerolls on close calls, Mind-Shattering Prediction creates prophecies that damage targets who fail to fulfill them, and Alter Fate can turn victory into failure.
Can Hollow Gazers be used as non-combat NPCs?
Absolutely. They make excellent fortune-tellers, information brokers, tragic questgivers, or keepers of forbidden archives. Their prophetic abilities let you foreshadow future events while their obsession with secrets creates interesting negotiation dynamics.
Are Hollow Gazers a replacement for Nothics in 5E?
Hollow Gazers serve the same narrative role as the eyeless, curse-born aberrations found in official sourcebooks. Like those creatures, they're tragic spellcasters transformed by forbidden knowledge—but Hollow Gazers focus specifically on temporal magic and prophecy rather than general arcane secrets. If you're looking for an alternative to the classic "wizard cursed into an eyeless aberration" creature, Hollow Gazers offer the same mechanical and thematic niche with a unique time-manipulation twist. They fill the CR 2-6 range perfectly for mid-level dungeons and ruins.
Are Hollow Gazers intelligent enough to negotiate with?
Yes, though negotiating is risky. Hollow Gazers retain fragmented intelligence and can communicate, but their shattered minds make them unpredictable. They value secrets, prophecies, and temporal knowledge above all else—information is their currency.
What's the best setting for Hollow Gazer encounters?
Ruined observatories, collapsed wizard towers, forgotten libraries, abandoned temples to fate deities, or anywhere time flows strangely. They're drawn to places where the veil between past and future is thin, and where forbidden knowledge accumulates.
Do Hollow Gazers work alone or in groups?
Hollow Gazers typically work alone—their madness makes cooperation difficult. However, they may gather cults of prophets and doom-sayers, or lair alongside other aberrations drawn to temporal anomalies. The most dangerous are patient manipulators who orchestrate events from the shadows.
What happens when a Hollow Gazer dies?
If a Hollow Gazer dies with 3 or more Madness levels, their fractured consciousness spawns a Gibbering Mouther in the same space. This creates a horrifying climax where killing the aberration unleashes a new threat, forcing parties to stay alert even after apparent victory.
When should I use a Hollow Gazer versus other aberrations?
Use Hollow Gazers when you want prophecy, time themes, or tragic fallen scholars. They excel in campaigns involving divination, fate manipulation, or forbidden knowledge. For pure cosmic horror, use mind flayers or beholders. For mad scientists, use nothics or intellect devourers.