Rusalka | Monster | Dungeons & Dragons 5e | Statblocks & Sheets | World Anvil

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Homebrew

Rusalka CR: 6

Medium undead, neutral evil
Armor Class: 14
Hit Points: 83 (15d8+15)
Speed: 30 ft , swim: 45 ft

STR

17 +3

DEX

16 +3

CON

12 +1

INT

13 +1

WIS

14 +2

CHA

18 +4

Skills: Athletics +6 1d20+6 Deception +7 1d20+7 Stealth +7 1d20+7
Damage Resistances: Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical, nonsilvered attacks
Damage Immunities: Necrotic
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages: Common, Dwarven
Challenge Rating: 6 ( 2300 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +3

Innate Spellcasting. The rusalka's inate spellcasting ability is Charisma (+7 to hit, spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: fog cloud, hideous laughter, shape water

1/day: conjure elemental (water weird only)


Bound by Water. The rusalka cannot willingly leave the body of water to which it is bound. While not in water, the rusalka has disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. If the rusalka is kept from its body of water for 24 hours, it dies.   Invisible in Water. While fully submersed in water, the rusalka is invisible to creatures not fully submersed in water.   Magic Resistance. The rusalka has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.   Regeneration. The rusalka regains 5 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and isn't outside its body of water. If the rusalka dies by any method other than its Bount by Water trait, then it regenerates in its bound body of water in 10 days.   Undead Nature. The rusalka doesn't require air, food, sleep, or drink.

Actions

Charm. One humanoid the rusalka can see within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed for 1 day. The charmed creature obeys the rusalka's verbal or telepathic commands. If the target suffers any harm it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. Once the effect ends, a creature is immune to the rusalka's Charm for the next 24 hours.   The rusalka cannot have more than one charmed target at a time. If it charms another, the effect on the previous target ends.   Tresses. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d6+3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16) and pulled 10 feet towards the rusalka. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, the rusalka tries to drown it, and the rusalka can't use its tresses on another target.   Tickle. The target grappled by the rusalka must succeed a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be incapacitated with laughter for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the rusalka can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects, but cannot use the same effect two rounds in a row.  

  • The body of water in which the rusalka resides surges outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 10 feet of such a pool must succeed a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled 10 feet into the water and knocked prone.
  • The rusalka shifts the opacity of all water within 100 feet into a thick murk. The affected murky waters are heavily obscured for until the next initiative count 20. The rusalka ignores the obscuring effect of the murk.
  • The rusalka animates 1d2 skeletons of dead victims that were drowned in her lair. The skeletons last for 1 minute or until the rusalka is killed. The skeleton(s) appear in an unoccupied space within the body of water and obey the rusalka's commands.

Bound to their own watery graves, rusalki use the body of water where they died as their lair, whether it be a lake, river, pond, or creek.

Regional Effects

Distorted by the rusalka's unnatural presence, the area within 1 mile of their bound body of water might exhibit one or more of the following effects:  

  • An illusory duplicate of the rusalka appears in random places at random times. An illusory duplicate has no substance, but it looks, sounds, and moves like the enchanted appearance of the rusalka. Shortly after the illusory duplicate is sighted, it will move out of view towards trees or other natural phenomena and vanish as soon as it breaks line of sight. It always moves towards the rusalka's lair.
  • Dead fish might frequently wash up on shorelines, only to be quickly torn apart by wandering wildlife such as wolves, freshwater crayfish, or saltwater crabs (depending on the lair).
  • Water tastes faintly of copper and appears slightly murky, regardless of where of where it is harvested from.

Poor undead souls bound to the material plane, these spirits dwell in the very bodies of water in which they drowned. Also called vodyanitsa ("water maiden"), kupalka ("bather"), or shchekotunya ("she who tickles") in the Dwarven tongue, rusalki were once women whose lives took wicked and tragic turns, resulting in their unholy transformation into bloated cadavers with pustulent, rotted flesh and a face far too distorted to ever be truly recognized.   Spawned by Malice. The miserable outcast, the jealous lover, the unwanted mother. Several things can create a rusalka, but all have one thing in common: the drowning of the victim. Some records tell of a jealous sister who drowned her sibling over a stolen lover. Some bargoers tell tales of a pregnant woman whose husband did not wish for the child and refuted the mother's pleas, killing her for her uncooperation. A few records even tell of a woman whose like was so distraught and polluted with misfortunes that her own suicide created the wretched abomination.   Incomplete Memories. When a rusalk first awakens, it barely remembers any details of her past life. They are shifted into beings of hatred and vengeance, eager to drown anyone foolish enough to approach their lair as penance for their own fate. However, with time, it is said that a rusalka might begin to remember little by little how it came to be, or specific memories of who they were before. An aged rusalka might be reasoned with, or might allure people simply for the company. If the rusalka was a new or soon-to-be mother before she was killed, then she might lure children by her waters, eager ot keep them safe until it was time to return, though some rusalka cannot bear the weight of leaving the child behind and will pull them to a watery grave, ensuring that nothing else can ever hurt them.   Charmed by False Beauty. A rusalka's motives differ greatly depending on what brought them to be as they are. Some remember the faces of their killers and use their newfoud arcane guile to attract their aggressors to their demise and exact an unfulfilling vengeance. Others use their enchantment to simply put a temporary end to their loneliness. A particularly aggressive or hateful rusalka may use its charmed quarry as a means to draw others to her one by one. While a creature is charmed by the rusalka, they might see a sultry young maiden, a mature motherly figure, a kindly elderly woman, or even someone familiar to the target.

Created by

enbyrose.

Statblock Type

Monster

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