Redcap

This grizzled, weather-beaten creature looks like a sour old man at first glance, complete with scraggly beard. It carries a great pike and wears heavy boots, shod with iron, and the blood-soaked hat jammed on its head is hard to miss. It grins with massive yellow teeth.

Blood-Soaked Caps. Redcaps are exceedingly dangerous creatures who wear the mark of their cruelty and evil quite literally. The caps from which they take their name define their existence, and they must constantly be revived with fresh blood.

Compelled to Kill. Redcaps aren’t cruel and murderous by choice, but by necessity. A redcap must frequently bathe its cap in fresh, humanoid blood to sustain itself. If it fails to do so every three days, the creature withers and dies quickly. A redcap whose hat is nearly dry is a desperate, violent force of nature that prefers to die in battle rather than waste away to nothing.

Bandits and Mercenaries. Most long-lived redcaps are drawn to serve in marauding armies or make a living through constant banditry.

Redcap

Medium fey, neutral evil
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 105 (14d8 + 42)
Speed 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 10 (+0) 17 (+3) 11 (+0) 13 (+1) 8 (-1)

Saving Throws Con +6
Skills Athletics +8, Intimidation +5
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common, Sylvan, Undercommon
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Clomping Boots. The redcap has disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

Red Cap. The redcap must soak its cap in the blood of a humanoid killed no more than an hour ago at least once every three days. If it goes more than 72 hours without doing so, the blood on its cap dries and the redcap gains one level of exhaustion every 24 hours. While the cap is dry, the redcap can’t remove exhaustion by any means. All levels of exhaustion are removed immediately when the redcap soaks its cap in fresh blood. A redcap that dies as a result of this exhaustion crumbles to dust.

Solid Kick. The redcap can kick a creature within 5 feet as a bonus action. The kicked creature must make a successful DC 15 Strength saving throw or fall prone.

Actions

Multiattack. The redcap makes two pike attacks and one bite attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage and the creature is bleeding profusely. A bleeding creature must make a successful DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the start of its turn or take 10 (3d6) necrotic damage and continue bleeding. On a successful save the creature takes no necrotic damage and the effect ends. A creature takes only 10 necrotic damage per turn from this effect no matter how many times it’s been bitten, and a single successful saving throw ends all bleeding. Spending an action to make a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check or any amount of magical healing also stops the bleeding. Constructs and undead are immune to the bleeding effect.

Pike. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.

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