Traits

Magic Sense. The Disenchanter senses the location of magic items and active spells within 60 feet (it knows the direction, not what it is).

Antimagic Hide. Spell attack rolls against the Disenchanter are made with Disadvantage.

Actions

Multiattack. It makes one Draining Trunk attack and one Hoof attack.

Draining Trunk. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 10 ft. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) Force damage. In addition, if the target is carrying or wearing a magic item (the Disenchanter picks one at random), that item's owner must make a DC 14 Charisma save.

• Failure: The item is dampened: for 1 hour, none of its magical properties function (bonuses, features, and charges included). A dampened item behaves like an ordinary item.
• Success: The item is unaffected and becomes immune to this Disenchanter's Draining Trunk for 24 hours.

Hoof. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) Bludgeoning damage.

Bonus Actions

Feed (1/Day). If the Disenchanter is within 5 feet of a dampened item, it can attempt to consume it entirely. The item's owner makes a DC 14 Charisma save. Failure: The item permanently loses its magic, and the Disenchanter gains 20 (6d6) temporary Hit Points. Success: Nothing happens, and this feature is expended.

How to Use

This creature has been deliberately softened from the original. Don't use it without reading why.

The original problem: the 1e/2e Disenchanter permanently and irreversibly erased a player's earned magic item. At a 5e table, this only generates anger — the player learns nothing, they just lose. That's "punishment" design, not "challenge" design.

My solution — three layers of protection:

1. First hit: the dampening is temporary (1 hour). Annoying but recoverable. A +1 sword becoming an ordinary sword mid-fight is enough tension.
2. Immunity: an item that succeeds on the save is protected for 24 hours. So the same item can't keep being targeted.
3. Permanent loss only via Feed: once per day, only against an item that is already dampened, and with a second save. Two saves must be lost in a row. And a failure expends the feature.

Result: permanent loss is possible but very hard, and the player has a chance to intervene — moving the dampened item away from the Disenchanter's 5-foot range is enough.

Encounter advice: for a 4-person Lv5 party, a single Disenchanter = 1,100 XP, budget (Medium) 750×4 = 3,000. Low difficulty. Use it as support — 2 Disenchanters plus a few humanoid fighters. The Disenchanters snuff out the party's magic while the humanoids deal damage.

Balance Note — what to tell the table

Warn your players before you use this creature: "There's something in this area that attacks magic." A surprise item loss feels far worse than one that's been signaled in advance. Signal it and it becomes a puzzle; don't and it becomes an ambush.