Nuckelavee

Large monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points 102 (12d10 + 36)

Speed 40 ft., swim 40 ft.

STR 20 (+5) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 18 (+4) · INT 6 (−2) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 14 (+2)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +4

Skills Athletics +8, Perception +4, Stealth +5

Damage Vulnerabilities weapon attacks made with iron

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t made with iron

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages Abyssal, understands Common and Sylvan but can’t speak

Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Traits

Amphibious. The nuckelavee can breathe air and water.

Aversion to Fresh Water. The nuckelavee takes 10 acid damage if more than 1/2 gallon of fresh water splashes on it or if it starts its turn in fresh water. Its Regeneration trait doesn’t function during that turn, and it can’t cross running fresh water under its own power.

Regeneration. The nuckelavee regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If it takes acid damage from Aversion to Fresh Water or damage from an iron weapon, this trait doesn’t function until the start of its next turn. The nuckelavee dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.

Stinking Brine. The area within 10 feet of the nuckelavee is lightly obscured by foul vapor. A creature that starts its turn in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. Creatures that don’t need to breathe are immune.

Actions

Multiattack. The nuckelavee makes two attacks: one Hoof and one Bite.

Hoof. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d6 + 5 plus 2d6) piercing and necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be unable to regain hit points until the end of its next turn.

Mortachin Breath (Recharge 5–6). The nuckelavee exhales toxic mist in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that fails the save is also poisoned 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.

Paralyzing Gaze. The nuckelavee targets one creature it can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of the nuckelavee’s next turn. A creature that succeeds is immune to this gaze for 24 hours.

Reactions

Fogbound Rush. When a creature the nuckelavee can see hits it with a ranged attack, the nuckelavee can move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. It must end this movement closer to the attacker.

Lore

A skinless man-horse hybrid whose poisonous breath blights everything in its path.

Nuckelavee is portrayed in legend as the “Devil of the Sea,” a water-horse shapeshifter whose appearance has been recorded only rarely, when it hauls itself onto Scotland’s rocky shores. The Nuckelavee resembles a skinless centaur, a single organism in which an equine body merges with a human torso and a swine-like head. Its mouth gapes impossibly wide, and a single, enormous blood-shot eye—roughly three feet across—glowers from the center of its forehead. The creature has no skin whatsoever: raw muscles, pale tendons, and yellow veins lie exposed, coursed through by thick, tar-like blood.

The demon’s primary habitat is the salty water surrounding the Orkney archipelago. It favors fog-bound coastlines, jagged beaches, and sea caves where it can slip back beneath the waves at the first hint of danger. Fresh water is unbearable for it: even a splash inflicts searing pain, and the current of a stream is something it simply cannot cross.

From Vampire Bestiary 5E, p. 74 · Fern Flower Press