Baital

Medium undead (shape-bound spirit), neutral evil

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points 85 (10d8 + 40)

Speed 30 ft.

STR 16 (+3) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 18 (+4) · INT 12 (+1) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +6

Skills Arcana +4, Deception +6, Insight +5, Perception +5

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant

Damage Resistances necrotic, psychic

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Infernal, telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Traits

Corpse-Dweller. The baital must inhabit a humanoid corpse. If it ends its turn without a host body, it becomes Incorporeal (AC 12, speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. [hover], can’t take actions except Possess Corpse) until it enters a new corpse.

Possess Corpse. As a bonus action or when it reduces a creature to 0 hit points, the baital can enter the corpse of a humanoid that has died within the last 60 minutes and is within 30 feet. The corpse rises with the baital inside and regains hit points equal to 3d10 + 10. Equipment worn by the corpse is unaffected.

Silver Pin. A silvered piercing weapon driven into the possessed body’s heart and left there prevents the baital from using Possess Corpse and ends its Regeneration trait.

Regeneration. The baital regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and hasn’t taken radiant damage since its last turn. The baital is destroyed only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and can’t regenerate.

Hypnotic Stare (Recharge 5–6). The baital targets one creature it can see within 30 feet that can see its eyes. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed and fully aware but unable to move or speak for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. While a creature is affected, the baital has advantage on attack rolls against it.

Riddle-Keeper. The baital is bound to test mortals. If a creature spends 1 minute conversing with it and succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion, Deception, or Performance) check to answer or pose a riddle, the baital will not attack that creature for 24 hours and may impart hidden lore at the DM’s discretion.

Actions

Multiattack. The baital makes two Corpse Claw attacks.

Corpse Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (1d6 + 3 slashing plus 2d6 necrotic) damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or its hit-point maximum is reduced by the necrotic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit-point maximum to 0.

Vital Drain. The baital siphons life from one paralyzed, unconscious, or willing creature it can touch within 5 feet. The target takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, and the baital regains hit points equal to half the necrotic damage dealt.

Reactions

Incorporeal Escape. When the baital takes radiant damage, it can expend its reaction to become Incorporeal until the start of its next turn. While incorporeal, it has resistance to all damage except radiant.

Lore

A half-human, half-bat vampire with a short thick tail that can possess corpses to infiltrate villages. It usually hangs upside-down from trees.

The Baital belongs to a special class of vampiric entities whose nature is determined not by a biological mutation and not by a post-mortem curse, but by the status of a spirit that has found no peace and become trapped in the borderland between life and death. Its name, in an ancient tongue, literally means “corpse-dweller,” because the spirit settles inside a freshly dead body and from that moment on uses it as a vessel for interacting with the material world.

The spirit itself appears half-human, half-bat. It sports a short, blunt tail, and its height ranges from four to seven feet. In its hands it always carries a skull-cup from which it drinks blood. All of this describes the demon’s astral aspect; the cup is merely part of its image, signaling its vampiric nature and possessing no practical or magical properties of its own.

From Vampire Bestiary 5E, p. 22 · Fern Flower Press