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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 9396041" data-attributes="member: 6915329">Ugh, this heat.We leave the Underland to head to the Dreaming, as our next monster is the vodyanoi, a water-fey. In AD&D, some of you may remember, a vodyanoi was, of all things, an aquatic umber hulk. Kind of a weird choice there, but hey, they started out in the 1e Fiend Folio, so what do you expect? These vodyanoi are the Slavic fey with the Innsmouth look. They’re also called vodnik or, in German, Hastrman. The stories say that they would steal trespassers who failed to appease them, using them as slaves or wives (bleh), and in some stories, would store the souls of the people they drowned inside of teapots. The more soul-teapots a vodyanoi had, the higher in status they were. Which is kind of a cool idea, and gives you an interesting idea for fey economies. The idea that all sorts of things can be bought and sold in the goblin markets, so why not souls? It fits in well with the traditional (Christian) idea that fey don’t have souls of their own—or even the early D&D (Gygaxian?) idea that elves and orcs didn’t have them either, and thus couldn’t be targeted with a raise dead.Anyway, vodyanoi also like to play cards during the time when they weren’t admiring their teapot collection, and it’s nice to see a fey with hobbies, yeah? Wikipedia also stated that there are both good and evil vodyanoi in the folklore, although “good” seems more like “benign,” as in they don’t go around drowning and enslaving people. I found one site that said that they hibernated during the winter, when their lake froze over, and woke up in the spring, hungry and grumpy. Do people still say hangry? They hangry.[ATTACH=full]370931[/ATTACH]VodyanoiRed Sails: Fell and Forlorn Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #290Creature by Paul Leach; art by Richard SardhinaThese grumpy, often cruel fey appear as potbellied old men, fish-tailed and naked except where covered by algae and their long, weedy beards. Their features are distinctly frog-like, save for their eyes, which glow like sullen coals. Vodyanoi are bound to the lakes and rivers they live in in much the same way that dryads are bound to their heart tree—except that vodyanoi are far nastier about how they protect their lake.Overprotective. Whether it’s from a someone who wants to fish in the lake, or someone building a watermill or bridge in their river, vodyanoi demand to be paid for use of their water with an offering of food, alcohol, or tobacco. Those who fail to appease them, who are disrespectful, or who try to dam or disrupt their water incite their anger, and the vodyanoi retaliates by drowning people, flooding banks, and destroying boats and construction. They’ve even been known to kidnap people, bringing them to underwater caves and using them as servants. However, they are unpredictable, and even regular offerings may not stay their wrath.Drowned Souls. Vodyanoi often have workshops in their lairs, as they are fine potters, glaziers, whitesmiths, and tinsmiths—they are somehow able to have working forges and kilns even while underwater. They keep all manner of things within the containers they make, many of which are strange and magical. The worst thing they keep in these jars is the souls of their unfortunate victims.Climate/Terrain: subarctic, temperate; freshwaterLegends and LoreWith an Arcana or Nature check, the characters can learn the following:DC 10. Vodyanoi are fey creatures that are magically bound to a body of fresh waterDC 15. These fey are capable of summoning fish, and often do so to reward people who make frequent offerings to them.DC 20. Often wrathful, vodyanoi will drown people or flood villages who cross them. They steal a part of a drowned person’s soul and keep it in a jar.Vodyanoi EncountersChallenge Rating 3-4 VodyanoiTreasure: 600 sp, navigator’s tools, quick canoe paddleChallenge Rating 5-10 Vodanyoi and 4 sturgeons (use reef shark statistics); vodyanoi and sea hagTreasure: 100 gp, 2 aquamarines (500 gp each), vial of antitoxin, bag of beans, 1-3 jars containing cantrips or first level spells (treat as spell scrolls, except the jar needs to be opened or smashed, after which it becomes non-magical).Signs1. The lake is teaming with fish, but they are rarely caught2. The wreckage of a small boat or watermill3. Ripples in the water4. A pouch of tobacco and well-made clay pipe left on a stone by the lake’s side; an offering for the vodyanoiBehavior1. Relaxing on a floating log2. Determined to keep intruders away from its waters at all cost3. Tearing apart a bridge4. Tending to a school of fish, leading them towards a fisherman’s netNamesArdalion, Boian, Foka, Rehor, VelesVodyanoiMedium fey; Challenge 3 (750 XP)AC 13HP 65 (10d8+20; bloodied 32)Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.STR 13 (+1) DEX 16 (+3) CON 14 (+2)INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 15 (+2)Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 13Skills Deception +4, Intimidation +4, Nature +3, Perception +4, Stealth +5Damage Resistances coldSenses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14Languages Aquatic, SylvanAmphibious. The vodyanoi breathes air and waterInnate Spellcasting. The vodyanoi’s spellcasting trait is Charisma (spell save DC 12). It can cast the following spells, requiring no material components:3/day each: disguise self, control water, water breathingStealthy Swimmers. The vodanyoi has advantage on Stealth checks made underwater.ActionsMultiattack. The vodyanoi makes two attacks.Grab. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13) and restrained while grappled in this way.Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning damage.Summon Fish (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). When in water, the vodyanoi summons a school of fish in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on the vodyanoi. This space is heavily obscured but doesn’t block the vodyanoi’s vision. The fish remain for 1 minute or until the vodyanoi dismisses them as a bonus action.CombatVodyanoi avoid combat, using control water to potentially overwhelm opponents while it flees. When it must fight, it prefers to grab a hold of a target and drag them underwater to drown.Item: Potted SoulWhen a vodyanoi drowns a person, it can perform a 1-minute ritual which allows it to trap a fraction of that person’s soul in a container—they aren’t powerful enough to hold onto an entire soul and the rest of the soul travels to its destination plane as normal (or becomes undead, if it’s inclined to). These containers can be anything—jam-jars, teapots, and empty liquor bottles are common.The vodyanoi can use an action to open a potted soul that is within reach and release the soul. This takes the form of a shadow with the following changes: the potted soul doesn’t have Sunlight Weakness and a creature slain by the potted soul does not turn into an undead. If anyone other than the vodyanoi opens the jar, the soul is freed instead.</blockquote>

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