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Remorhaz 5e: Heated Body, the Swallow, and Getting a Friend Back Out
A remorhaz is a CR 11 Huge Monstrosity with AC 17, 195 hit points, immunity to fire and cold, and a burrow speed. Its bite (+11, reach 10 feet) deals 50 damage on average in the 2014 rules and grapples and Restrains the target. On its next turn it swallows the target for another bite's worth of damage, then digests it for 21 acid a round. Touching or hitting it in melee burns. The 2024 remorhaz bites for less (32) but swallows with a bonus action on the same turn, holds up to two creatures inside, and burns everyone next to it with a Heat Aura instead of punishing each hit.
Heated Body.A creature that touches the remorhaz or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 10 (3d6) fire damage.
Actions
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 40 (6d10 + 7) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) fire damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 17). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the remorhaz can't bite another target.
Swallow.The remorhaz makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, that creature takes the bite's damage and is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the remorhaz, and it takes 21 (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the remorhaz's turns. If the remorhaz takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the remorhaz must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the remorhaz. If the remorhaz dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The 2014 remorhaz has no Multiattack, so each turn it either bites or swallows. Three rules carry the fight:
•Bite. 40 (6d10 + 7) piercing plus 10 (3d6) fire. The target is grappled (escape DC 17) and Restrained while grappled, and the remorhaz can't bite anyone else until the grapple ends.
•Swallow. It makes a bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it's grappling. On a hit the target takes the bite damage and is swallowed: Blinded, Restrained, total cover from everything outside, and 21 (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the remorhaz's turns.
•Heated Body. Any creature that touches the remorhaz, or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it, takes 10 (3d6) fire damage. Every hit, every time.
The Remorhaz in the 2024 Rules
SRD 5.2.1 keeps CR 11 (7,200 XP), AC 17, 195 hit points, the bite's +11 and the fire and cold immunity.
Heat Aura.At the end of each of the remorhaz’s turns, each creature in a 5-foot Emanation originating from the remorhaz takes 16 (3d10) Fire damage.
Actions
Bite.Melee Attack Roll: +11, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) Piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) Fire damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it has the Grappled condition (escape DC 17), and it has the Restrained condition until the grapple ends.
Bonus Actions
Swallow.Strength Saving Throw: DC 19, one Large or smaller creature Grappled by the remorhaz (it can have up to two creatures swallowed at a time). Failure: The target is swallowed by the remorhaz, and the Grappled condition ends. A swallowed creature has the Blinded and Restrained conditions, it has Total Cover against attacks and other effects outside the remorhaz, and it takes 10 (3d6) Acid damage plus 10 (3d6) Fire damage at the start of each of the remorhaz’s turns. If the remorhaz takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the remorhaz must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, each of which falls in a space within 5 feet of the remorhaz and has the Prone condition. If the remorhaz dies, any swallowed creature no longer has the Restrained condition and can escape from the corpse by using 15 feet of movement, exiting Prone.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
2014 Remorhaz
2024 Remorhaz
Speed
30 ft., burrow 20 ft.
40 ft., burrow 30 ft.
Heat
Heated Body: 3d6 fire to anyone who touches it or hits it in melee within 5 ft.
Heat Aura: 3d10 (16) fire to every creature within 5 ft. at the end of its turn
Bite damage
40 piercing + 10 fire (50)
18 piercing + 14 fire (32)
Bite grapples
Any creature; can't bite another while grappling
Large or smaller; no "can't bite another" limit
Swallow
Action; a bite attack vs a grappled Medium or smaller creature
Bonus action; DC 19 Strength save, grappled Large or smaller creature, up to two inside
Damage while swallowed
21 (6d6) acid per round
10 acid + 10 fire per round
Regurgitated creatures land
Within 10 ft., prone
Within 5 ft., prone
The 2024 remorhaz can bite and swallow in the same turn. It doesn't need a second attack roll to do it, just a failed Strength save, and the swallowed creature has already been Restrained by the bite. Its heat no longer scales with how many times a fighter hits it, but it hits everyone next to it, every round, with no save.
How the Remorhaz Fights
From below. Tremorsense 60 feet and a burrow speed mean the remorhaz picks the moment. It burrows through snow, ice or earth under the party and surfaces next to the target it wants. In the 2024 rules its Initiative is +5; in 2014 it's a plain +1 Dexterity check.
The 2014 swallow, turn by turn. Against a fighter with AC 18, the bite hits on a 7 or higher (70%).
Turn
What happens
Expected damage to the target
1
Bite: 50 on a hit, grappled and Restrained
35
2
Swallow: a bite attack with Advantage (target is Restrained), about 91% to hit, 50 more and swallowed
about 45
3+
21 acid at the start of each of its turns
21 per round
A level 11 fighter with Constitution 14 to 16 has roughly 90 to 115 hit points. Two turns of bite and swallow take most of that, and the third round of acid finishes the job.
The 2024 swallow, in one turn. Bite (70% against AC 18, 32 damage), then Swallow as a bonus action. The DC 19 Strength save is brutal for anyone without Strength:
Target (level 11)
Strength save
Chance to be swallowed
Fighter, Str 20, proficient
+9
45%
Cleric, Str 14
+2
80%
Wizard, Str 8
−1
95%
Inside, the target takes 20 a round. With two slots, a 2024 remorhaz can swallow two characters in two turns while its Heat Aura burns everyone who came close to help.
Using the heat. In 2014 the remorhaz doesn't need to do anything; a fighter making three melee hits takes about 31 fire damage that round. In 2024, it should end its turn next to as many characters as possible for 16 each. Neither version wants to run: it's a 195-hit-point predator, and it fights until it's badly hurt, then burrows away.
Running a Remorhaz Encounter
A remorhaz is 7,200 XP. For four characters with the 2024 XP budget (SRD 5.2.1):
Party level
Budget (Low / Moderate / High)
One remorhaz is
8
4,000 / 6,800 / 8,400
High
9
5,200 / 8,000 / 10,400
Moderate
11
7,600 / 11,600 / 16,400
Low
Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), one remorhaz is Hard for four level 9 characters (Hard 6,400, Deadly 9,600) and Medium for level 11.
Those numbers undersell the swallow. A remorhaz that swallows the wizard on round 1 removes a quarter of the party's damage for the rest of the fight. For a Moderate fight at level 11, pair it with a frost giant (3,900 XP): 11,100 XP total, just under the 11,600 budget.
How Players Beat a Remorhaz
•Leave fire and cold at home. It's immune to both. Fireball and Cone of Cold do nothing. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, thunder, force and radiant damage all work.
•Use reach weapons. Heated Body (2014) only burns attackers within 5 feet, and the 2024 Heat Aura is a 5-foot emanation. A glaive, halberd, pike or whip from 10 feet away avoids both. The bite also has 10-foot reach, so this protects you from the heat, not the jaws.
•Target Charisma or Intelligence. Both saves are −3. Banishment (Charisma save) sends it to a harmless demiplane for up to a minute. As a creature native to the Material Plane it comes back to the same space (or the nearest unoccupied one) when the spell ends, but the party gets a minute to heal and set up reach weapons and readied actions around the spot where it will return. Dominate Monster targets its +0 Wisdom.
•Keep the light fighters back. Characters with weak Strength saves are the 2024 remorhaz's preferred targets. In 2014, anyone Medium or smaller can be swallowed once grabbed, so focus on breaking grapples: escape is a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
Cutting a friend out
A swallowed creature is regurgitated if the remorhaz takes 30 or more damage on a single turn from a creature inside it and then fails a DC 15 Constitution save. The remorhaz has Con +5, so it fails on a 9 or lower, 45% of the time.
•From inside, the swallowed character is Blinded and Restrained, so its attack rolls have Disadvantage. Most targeted spells need a creature the caster can see, which a Blinded caster can't. Thirty damage in one turn is realistic for a level 11 fighter with Action Surge, even at Disadvantage, and hard for most casters. In 2014, whether Heated Body burns someone attacking from inside is the DM's call; decide before the fight.
•From outside, the party can't reach the swallowed character (total cover). Killing the remorhaz frees them: they can crawl out of the corpse using 15 feet of movement and exit prone.
Remorhaz Encounter Ideas
The ice road. A sled convoy crosses a frozen lake every winter. This year two sleds broke through the ice, and the holes were round. A remorhaz hunts under the lake, tracking the vibration of runners with tremorsense. The party has to get twelve sleds across a mile of ice.
The giant's furnace. A frost giant keeps a chained remorhaz in its hall as a furnace and a guard. The giant is immune to cold, the beast to fire and cold, and both are angry when the party arrives. Freeing the remorhaz from its chain turns it loose on everyone, giant included.
The warm spring. A mountain village's hot spring has been getting hotter. Something is curled up beneath the pool. The villagers want the heat to stay and the deaths to stop, and those two goals may not be compatible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a remorhaz in 5e?
A remorhaz is CR 11 and worth 7,200 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 17, 195 hit points and immunity to fire and cold damage.
How does a remorhaz swallow work?
In 2014, it uses its action to make a bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it's grappling; a hit deals bite damage and swallows the target, which then takes 21 acid damage per round. In 2024, Swallow is a bonus action: a grappled Large or smaller creature makes a DC 19 Strength save or is swallowed, taking 10 acid and 10 fire per round, and the remorhaz can hold two.
How do you get out of a remorhaz?
Deal 30 or more damage to it from inside in a single turn. It then makes a DC 15 Constitution save at the end of that turn and, on a failure, spits out everyone it swallowed, who land prone nearby. If it dies, swallowed creatures can escape using 15 feet of movement.
How much damage does Heated Body deal?
In the 2014 rules, 10 (3d6) fire damage to any creature that touches the remorhaz or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it. The 2024 Heat Aura instead deals 16 (3d10) fire damage to every creature within 5 feet at the end of each of its turns.
Is a remorhaz immune to fire?
Yes, in both editions it's immune to fire and cold damage. Lightning, thunder, force, radiant and necrotic damage all work. Loreify can record the session and keep track of which party member got swallowed and how they got out: see the D&D note-taking app.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.