Deep Dive - The Banshee
A Banshee has much more history than just a Dungeons & Dragons monster. A part of Irish folklore, they aren’t necessarily evil fairies, as they are fairy women, but rather a herald of someone to die soon, often someone who is gravely sick. If you hear keening outside your home, it is supposed to be a foreboding sign that someone in your household will pass away soon. Some believe that every family has its own Banshee that wails when one in that family will soon die, or maybe Banshees travel and have no specific family they are tied to.
They are often depicted as short women, anywhere from one to four feet tall, with red, tear-stained eyes as they can’t help but weep. They are often found on fairy mounds, probably so that their wails can be heard for greater distances, overcoming their height disadvantage. While the Irish folklore paints them as rather benign, if a bit spooky, we can’t say the same thing for Dungeons & Dragons. They are angry at the world, shrieking their displeasure and causing those who hear them to die instantly. But maybe there is a spot of hope for these twisted and evil spirits.
Basic D&D - Banshee
Armor Class: -3
Hit Dice: 13****
Move: 60’ (20’)
Attacks: 1 touch/1 gaze
Damage: Age 10-40 years, paralysis
No. Appearing: 1 (1)
Save As: See below (Companion Rules)
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: E, N, O
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 5150
AC9 Creature Catalog, 1986 TSR Inc.
First found in module B4 - The Lost City (1982), the Banshee is found guarding a King's grave. It's a simple description of a seemingly simple creature that gives off a mighty wail that hurts you every round you hear it. It's not considered an undead but a supernatural creature that warns others of impending death or mourns for someone who has already passed. If you try to fight it, you need magic weapons or spells.
Soon after, the Banshee gets the complete treatment in the BECMI Companion Rules (1983). It is now listed as a Haunt, along with the Ghost and Poltergeist. All haunts are undead creatures whose souls remain close to where they die, unable to rest. If you try to destroy them, Haunts can escape into the Ethereal Plane and not return for up to eight days. Luckily, they can only slide back into the Ethereal three times per day but can depart anytime they wish. This gives you a chance to trap them on the Material Plane.
All Haunts are immune to attacks from weapons less than +2 in power and all spells except those that can harm evil. You may think the light would hurt a Haunt, but it only annoys them, regardless if it is natural or magical. A cleric can turn all Haunts, so keep your allies close.
Haunts have three special attacks, along with one unique to the creature. The first is the ectoplasmic net made from the goo that the haunt secretes. After three rounds, a ten-foot radius ecto-net forms around the Haunt. Anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the gooey net is sucked into the Ethereal Plane. The said creature is stuck in the Ethereal Plane until they, or one of their friends, figure out a way to bring them back. This usually means spells, so your barbarian won’t be of much help.
Creature Catalog, 1993 TSR Inc.
The second ability all Haunts have is gaze attack. Used once per round, the gaze can paralyze its victim for up to eight rounds. The good thing about being paralyzed is the Haunt, or in this case, the Banshee, will ignore you and focus on killing your friends. The bad thing is once they are all dead, it will turn its attention to you.
The third attack is a melee attack that sucks your life out. We recommend avoiding their touch since a single blow will drain you for ten to forty years. Depending on your race, you can absorb several years without effect. Elves are the most resistant, ignoring the first two hundred years of attacks. Every ten-year loss equates to the permanent loss of one point of Constitution. Permanent is never permanent when you live in a world with the wish spell, but even then, you'll only regain one point per casting.
The Banshee's special attack is its wail, which it can use three times a day. As you can probably guess, you will want to make your save against the Banshee’s keening. If you fail the save, you die. The Banshee will at least give you a warning wail, using its scream to scare off approaching creatures outside its range. If that doesn't work, their piercing cries will be used when you get close enough for them to kill you. At least you can go to your grave knowing that there is someone with a worse singing voice than you.
Interestingly, we do get a bit of lore that a Banshee is the soul of an evil female elf who must atone for their misdeeds in life. Since it's an elf, and they can live a long time, it may take quite a while for such a spirit to atone for their misdeeds. Weirdly, Banshees are guardians of a sort, often for sprites or pixies, and they help protect specific locations by scaring away trespassers, like adventurers looking to loot and excavate a dungeon.
The Lesser Banshee is introduced in the AC9 Creature Catalog (1986) and later in the Creature Catalog (1993). These creatures guard tombs and graves, taking the form of the deceased. Its armor class hit dice and saves are all nerfed, hence the lesser part of the creature's title. The Lesser Banshee only has its special wail attack, which does only 1-4 points of damage, but it can yell nonstop until you flee, die, or kill the creature.
AD&D (1e) - Groaning Spirit (Banshee)
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 0
Move: 15”
Hit Dice: 7
% in Lair: 70%
Treasure Type: D
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-8
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: +1 or better weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: 50%
Intelligence: Exceptional
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Size: M
Psionic Ability: Nil
Monster Manual, 1977 TSR Inc.
Found in the Monster Manual (1977), the Banshee is listed as the Groaning Spirit. This creature is the spirit of an evil female elf who has returned to the land of the living. Its sole purpose is to hurt those who cross its path. If you don't want to bump into a Banshee, we advise avoiding remote countryside, bogs, and moors.
The Banshee is an unpleasant and deadly monster. They are immune to magic focused on charming, putting them to sleep, or paralyzing them - even attacks that deal cold or electrical damage are comical to them, dealing no damage. You better have a magical weapon, or else you should just flee, which will probably be what you are doing when you see one. Seeing a Banshee is enough to cause you and your friends to run away in fear unless you can make the saving throw.
If you make the save and don’t decide to run away, then get ready to get hurt. Its touch is cold and painful, but that is the least of your worries. The Banshee's wail is what you need to worry about. On the positive side, it can only use this ability once daily and only while it is dark out. The downside is it will kill you if you are within 30 feet and fail your save.
If you want to kill a Banshee, but don't have powerful enough weapons or spells, bring along a cleric. Exorcism will kill a Banshee, which is a specific 4th-level cleric spell, exorcise. This spell negates the possession of a creature or object by supernatural forces, like a Banshee. Unfortunately for the cleric and everyone trying to help the cleric, it could take a while. The casting time for the spell is 1 to 100+ turns, and each turn in this edition is equal to 10 minutes.
That’s a pretty big difference in how long you can expect an exorcism to last, but that’s because every turn, once per 10 minutes, the player gets to roll d100. The number you want to hit is the number of turns you have been concentrating on the spell for, plus the difference between the cleric and the thing they are trying to exorcise. So if a level 15 cleric wanted to cast exorcise on a Banshee, they’d roll a d100 and hope that they got 9 or lower. Every turn after that, they’d roll again, and the number they need would increase by 1 each time they rolled until they died or the Banshee did.
We aren’t saying you should just stick to stabbing the Banshee, but it certainly seems easier than trying to exorcise it.
2e - Banshee
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Night
Diet: Nil
Intelligence: Exceptional (15-16)
Treasure: D in lair
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 0
Movement: 15
Hit Dice: 7
THAC0: 13
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-8
Special Attacks: Death wail
Special Defenses: +1 or better weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: 50%
Size: M (5’-6’ tall)
Morale: Elite (13)
XP Value: 4,000
Monstrous Manual, 1993 TSR Inc.
The Monstrous Manual (1993) takes the previous edition's Banshee and breathes new and expanded life into the creature. While it might still be an undead creature filled with hate for all living creatures and a wail that can cause you to drop dead, it’s also a misunderstood creature.
A Banshee is a dead female elf who has come back to unlife with anger and hate. That hate is directed toward all living things, especially you in particular. You won’t see these spirits wandering about in the daytime as they hide when there is light and only roam at night. These areas they haunt are desolate and remote, like abandoned ruins, the perfect place for their lairs. You can probably guess where a Banshee is haunting thanks to the fact that the land around their refuge is barren, void of all plants and wildlife. The animals and creatures that did live there became victims and remain as only bones on the ground while plants and vegetation wither and die.
You can find treasure if you are foolish enough to brave a Banshee’s wail. Banshees prefer the shiny things that they once had in life, so if the Banshee loved gold when they were alive, you'd find a lot of gold. If the Banshee loved gems or artwork, you’d find that instead. You’ll also find a Banshee guarding her hoard, but you probably already guessed that.
While most Banshees are hideous creatures, a small percentage retain their beautiful looks from when they were living elven women. No matter their appearance, their hair is as crazed as the look in their eyes, full of rage and fury. It's probably why seeing a Banshee will drive most to run away in terror. Upon first glance, most mere mortals become so frightened they will run away from the spirit for what will seem like the longest minute of their life, leaving behind weapons they brought to wield against her.
If you can stand your ground, you'll start to wonder if those who ran had the right idea. A Banshee has all the same properties as before, including immunity to nonmagical attacks and various spells. Once a Banshee enters the fray, they will wail as their opening salvo. Only done at night, its ear-piercing groan can drop you before you know what happened. Once again, pray to the dice gods and roll well when the Banshee begins keening, or your character will die instantaneously. If that isn’t enough, their touch can rot you and kill you just as easily.
Banshees can sense all living creatures within five miles of them. So every night, they wander through their ruins and kill all living creatures that they can find. For beasts and weaker creatures, they’ll just touch them and kill them with their ghostly touch, leaving behind only bones. For stronger creatures, they will use their wail. If a single wail wasn’t enough to kill you, they don’t always stick around to attack but rather depart, and then if you are still there the next night, they return to wail again. So you either flee their realm, die from hearing their screams, or you kill the Banshee.
Luckily for you, there is a useful spell that can kill a Banshee which is dispel evil. It’s a 5th-level priest spell, so you gotta have some power to kill them, but the flip side is that it is so much easier to use than exorcise. All the priest has to do is get close enough to the Banshee to hit them with a melee attack. On a hit, the Banshee is banished and permanently destroyed. Of course, this requires the priest not to have fled when they first saw the Banshee and to not die when the Banshee gives a keening wail. Easy peasy.
Monstrous Compendium: Dark Sun Appendix, 1992 TSR Inc.
In the Monstrous Compendium: Dark Sun Appendix (1992), we are gifted the Banshee Dwarf because that's what the world needs. It may not have the death wail of its cousin Banshee, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. In the Dark Sun universe, a dwarf who dies before they can complete their epic quest may spend the afterlife stuck where they died as a Banshee, their red eyes flickering as if a fire was trapped inside.
As we said, they don't possess a wail as deadly as the regular Banshee but make up for it with their psionic powers. Yep, you heard us right. The Dwarf Banshee is an undead creature that can melt your brain in many ways, including death field, shadow form, body weaponry, cause decay, chemical simulation, and double pain psionic powers. How these rotted undead dwarves have such deadly brain powers is beyond us, we just wanted to make you aware of it.
The Dwarf Banshee retains all its powers and abilities from when it was alive and gains all the benefits of being undead. Things only get worse because, unlike a normal Banshee, a Dwarf Banshee has a day and a night power.
During the day, the creature's gaze can drive an individual into a berserker rage. This may seem like something that would help against the Dwarf Banshee, but it's really not. When in a berserker rage, the victim gains a bonus to attack and damage rolls but can only attack other party members, ignoring the Banshee for the length of its effect. Also, they can’t flee, only attack. During the night, the Dwarven Banshee can use its version of a wail, also known as a cursed battle cry or malediction. If you succumb to this cry, it's berserker rage time. It seems like no matter what time you attack a Dwarf Banshee, you are just going to attack your party instead.
3e/3.5e - Banshee
Medium-Size Undead (Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 26d12 (169 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: Fly 80 ft. (good).
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 deflection), touch 16, flat-footed 13
Attacks: Incorporeal touch +16 melee
Damage: Incorporeal touch 1d8/19–20 plus 1d4 Charisma drain
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Charisma drain, horrific appearance, wail
Special Qualities: Detect living, incorporeal subtype, SR 28, stunt plants, undead traits
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +11, Will +19
Abilities: Str —, Dex 17, Con —, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 17
Skills: Balance +5, Hide +13, Intuit Direction +7, Jump +2, Listen +24, Scry +13, Search +23, Spot +24, Tumble +16
Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Expertise, Improved Critical (incorporeal touch), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Spring Attack
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or brood (3–4)
Challenge Rating: 17
Treasure: Double standarda
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 27–52 HD (Medium-size)
Monster Manual 2, 2002 WotC
The Banshee, found in Monster Manual 2 (2002), is no longer just a dead female elf, but any narcissistic and ego-driven individual who is extremely angry they are dead. The Banshee changes in seemingly minor ways, and what changes are made aren't very good for your health, especially as they are now a CR 17 creature, as opposed to the roughly CR 3 to CR 6 worth of XP they were in previous editions.
Still hating the world and everything in it, the Banshee kills everything in its path, whether that be a humanoid, animal, or even plant. Being incorporeal has its advantages beyond just being see-through. You'll need a +1 or better weapon to hit a Banshee, but even then, you only have a 50% chance to deliver any damage. Force damage and ghost touch weapons are the only exceptions to this. A Banshee can pass through solid objects, so hiding behind a wall isn't going to do you any good unless it is a wall of force. Force effects are the single thing that a Banshee cannot pass through.
How they go about killing you is a three-step process. When you first come across the Banshee, the very sight of the creature requires you to stand firm against its Horrific Appearance. If you don't, be prepared to permanently lose between one and four points of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. We're not saying they are ugly, but the possibility of losing twelve points between those three stats is saying something, that's for sure.
Next up is the Banshee’s tried-and-true Wail ability. The creature can only use this ability at night, and it's still a 30-foot radius, so those in the nose-bleed seats are happy and safe, though the screaming spirit can also decide to scream in a 60-foot cone instead. Those in the nose-bleed seats might not be as safe as they thought. Luckily for you, there is a counter to the wail beyond just making your saving throw. The wail can only kill up to eighteen of your closest friends if they are within the area of effect, so if you are number nineteen you are safe as houses. If it doesn't succeed, it only has to wait for a maximum of four rounds before letting loose another bone-rattling screech. We hope you have another set of eighteen friends who you don’t mind dying. If you somehow survive, the Banshee hopes the third time is a charm since it can only use this ability three times per day.
The coup de grace is the Banshee’s Charisma Drain attack. When a Banshee hits you, you get to make yet another save, with failure resulting in permanently losing up to four points of Charisma and up to eight points on a crit. When it drains you, the Banshee is revitalized, healing itself for five points of damage. If the Banshee hasn't been hurt yet, it still gets those healing benefits in the form of temporary hit points.
If you are hoping there is a single spell that can just straight-up kill a Banshee, we are sorry to tell you that you are out of luck. The dispel evil spell only works on evil outsiders from different planes, which undead are not, but it will at least give you a +4 bonus to your AC from the Banshee’s touch… not like it’ll do you much good when it screams at you. Though an antimagic spell can cause incorporeal undead to blink out while within the field, they return once the field ends, so you still have a very angry ghost waiting for you.
4e - Wailing Ghost (Banshee)
Level 12 Controller
Medium shadow humanoid (undead) / XP 700
Initiative +8
Senses Perception +13; darkvision
HP 91; Bloodied 45
AC 23; Fortitude 23, Reflex 23, Will 24
Immune disease, poison; Resist insubstantial
Speed fly 6 (hover); phasing
Spirit Touch (standard; at-will) Necrotic +15 vs. Reflex; 1d10 + 2 necrotic damage.
Death’s Visage (standard; at-will) Fear, Psychic Ranged 5; +15 vs. Will; 2d6 + 3 psychic damage, and the target takes a –2 penalty to all defenses (save ends).
Terrifying Shriek (standard; recharge ⚄⚅) Fear, Psychic Close burst 5; targets enemies; +15 vs. Will; 2d8 + 3 psychic damage, the target is pushed 5 squares and is immobilized (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned / Languages Common
Skills Stealth +13
Str 14 (+8) Dex 15 (+8) Wis 14 (+8) Con 13 (+7) Int 10 (+6) Cha 17 (+9)
Monster Manual, 2008 WotC
This Banshee is found in the Monster Manual (2008) and is listed as the Wailing Ghost. All Ghosts have died a horrible death and are bound to where they died, so the Banshee is no longer unique in that fashion. The Banshee is unique because it still uses its ear-shattering scream to rain down pain upon its victims. There's a twist, though, as it is no longer the Banshee's Terrifying Shriek used to kill its target. Instead, the Banshee uses its two other abilities, Spirit Touch and Death Visage, to have you join them in death.
The Terrifying Shriek now deals a bit of psychic damage, pushes you five squares away, about 25 feet, and then causes you to be immobilized. Luckily for you, none of the Banshee’s abilities will kill you if you happen to fail a single die roll, though we aren’t sure if getting hit over and over until you die is better than just giving up and dying immediately.
Sadly, we aren’t given any other lore on the Wailing Ghost, but it does appear in a variety of adventures. In the adventure Demon Queen's Enclave (2008), two Banshees emerge from a pool of blood, intent on killing any intruders. In Pyramid of Shadows (2008), two Banshees are located in the aptly named Maze of Lost Souls. They are meant to delay any adventurers so the howling souls in the maze can suck their life out. Three Banshees even appear in the epic Tomb of Horrors (2010), although you might avoid them if you don't dally too long in one place... Or one of the innumerous traps kills you before you find them.
5e - Banshee
Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 58 (13d8)
Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
Str 1 (-5) Dex 14 (+2) Con 10 (+0) Int 12 (+1) Wis 11 (+0) Cha 17 (+3)
Saving Throws Wis +2, Cha +5
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Detect Life. The banshee can magically sense the presence of creatures up to 5 miles away that aren’t undead or constructs. She knows the general direction they’re in but not their exact locations.
Incorporeal Movement. The banshee can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object.
Corrupting Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (3d6 + 2) necrotic damage.
Horrifying Visage. Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the banshee that can see her must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the banshee is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the banshee’s Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours.
Wail (1/Day). The banshee releases a mournful wail, provided that she isn’t in sunlight. This wail has no effect on constructs and undead. All other creatures within 30 feet of her that can hear her must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature drops to 0 hit points. On a success, a creature takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage.
Monster Manual, 2014 WotC
Appearing in the Monster Manual (2014), the Banshee is now back to being the spirit of a female elf. She has been struck with an eternity of grief and pain as a ghastly spirit because she once was a beautiful elf, but didn’t use her beauty to bring joy to the world. Instead, she used her beauty to corrupt and control others, which sounds just a bit misogynistic. Everyone uses their looks to get things, just ask bards trying to seduce every creature they come across.
Who decides what using beauty to bring ‘joy to the world’ even means when it comes to being beautiful? Showing it off to everyone? Wearing slinky dresses? Being happy? Also, how beautiful do you have to be to become a Banshee - only 10/10s? We know we have a lot of questions here, but this seems like a very subjective curse for only female elves, especially since not everyone’s beauty standards are the same.
Regardless, all Banshees were once very vain female elves who were selfish and greedy. There isn’t any information about how you become a Banshee, just that when the elf dies, she then haunts the place where she died, unable to leave the five-mile radius centered on that spot. We guess this means, as an elf, you could’ve been alive for a solid 700 years and use your beauty to get all sorts of things, like fancy chocolates, and then when you died from old age, you get to come back as a Banshee. It doesn’t have to be a violent death, you just have to have died after living a life of selfishness.
If you stumble upon a Banshee, they appear like a fleeting image of the person they once were. Of course, their face remains twisted and angry, and the now trademarked crazy hairstyle all Banshees have indicates you aren't tangling with an everyday ghost. You'd forget about personal hygiene, too, if you could remember every moment of your life yet could not admit to yourself that your downfall was self-inflicted.
They never stray far from home, as the Banshee is bound to the location of their death and can not travel more than five miles beyond that point. It is here the Banshee will keep their treasures. Even in death, the Banshee loves pretty things and hoards objects of incredible beauty and style. One might find great works of art, including paintings and statues in their lairs, a fleeting remembrance of the beauty of life. You'll never find a mirror, for their reflected image instantly reminds them of what they have become and all they have lost.
If you are forced to fight a Banshee, probably because you intruded upon their lair and they can sense all living creatures five miles away from them, then you are in for a treat. For an opening salvo, the Banshee can take on a horrific visage that causes all creatures to save against being frightened of her. If that isn’t enough to scare off any victims, once a day she can give a terrible wail that doesn’t kill you on a failure, but rather only reduces you to 0 hit points. So you might be dying, but you aren't immediately dead. Your allies have a few rounds to come and save you
After that, she can then start touching her enemies, dealing necrotic damage that slowly rots their living bodies, and we should mention that it will probably be what kills you if you failed the save against her wail. She isn’t going to just let you lay on the ground all night until you recover some hit points. That’s not how you get bones to decorate your lair.
If you wish to fight her, you better have a bit of magic on your side. While she isn’t completely immune to nonmagical attacks, she will only take half damage to that physical damage, as well as only half damage to acid, fire, lightning, and thunder. If you were hoping to use cold, necrotic, or poison to kill her, too bad, she is straight-up immune. Luckily, that still leaves you with magical weapons, force, psychic, and radiant damage. Not a lot, but still better than nothing.
The Banshee is a creature cursed with an afterlife of pain and suffering. Perhaps it was a beautiful elf who didn’t use her beauty ‘correctly’ or maybe it is just a creature that died before it could complete its life goals. Regardless, regret holds their heart into unlife, cursing them to wail and keen for a life they once lived. If you hear sobbing in the middle of a dark forest, we suggest you do yourself a favor and not investigate the noise.
