Resembling a black-furred stag that walks like a man, this creature has a pair of immense, branching antlers arching above its coldly gleaming eyes. The fur is sleek over most of its body, but becomes shaggy around its goatlike legs. The creature’s hands are tipped with wicked claws, and its legs are goatlike with cloven hooves.
Assume Mortal Form. Rubezahls are capricious creatures, driven by constantly shifting motivations and mannerisms. They are consummate tricksters who delight in taking the form of innocuous mortals like travelling monks, tinkers, or lost merchants. They love to play the friend with their nearly undetectable lies, slipping into the confidence of unsuspecting mortals before murdering them.
Counting Demons. Rubezahls have a weakness, however. They are known as counting demons, and a savvy mortal who knows its nature can confound one with groups of objects: a handful of coins, a basket of apples, even a bed of flowers. If the objects are clearly pointed out to the rubezahl, the creature becomes distracted until it counts each item in the group. Unfortunately for mortals, rebezahls can count startlingly fast; even a mound of gravel takes no more than a few moments for a rubezahl to assess. Rubezahl loathe being compelled this way, and they are equally driven to annihilate any mortal bold enough to exploit this weakness.
Rubezahl
Medium fiend (demon), chaotic evilArmor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 110 (17d8 + 34)
Speed 50 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 15 (+2) | 14 (+2) | 11 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 18 (+4) |
Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +6, Wis +5
Skills Deception +8, Perception +5, Survival +5
Damage Resistances cold, fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities lightning, thunder, poison
Condition Immunities poisoned, stunned
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Abyssal, Common, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
Counting Compulsion. If a creature uses an action to point out an ordered group of objects to the rubezahl, the demon is compelled to count the entire group. Until the end of its next turn, the rubezahl has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks and it can’t take reactions. Once it has counted a given group of objects, it can’t be compelled to count those objects ever again.
False Tongue. The rubezahl has advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks, and magical attempts to discern lies always report that the rubezahl’s words are true.
Innate Spellcasting. The rubezahl’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: disguise self (humanoid forms only), fog cloud
3/day each: call lightning, gust of wind, lightning bolt
1/day: control weather
Sneak Attack (1/turn). The rubezahl does an extra 10 (3d6) damage if it hits a target with a weapon attack when it had advantage on the attack roll, or if the target is within 5 feet of an ally of the rubezahl that isn’t incapacitated and the rubezahl doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
Actions
Multiattack. The rubezahl makes one gore attack and two claw attacks.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) piercing damage and a target creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Thunderstrike (Recharge 5-6). The rubezahl calls a sizzling bolt of lightning out of the sky, or from the air if underground or indoors, to strike a point the rubezahl can see within 150 feet. All creatures within 20 feet of the target point take 36 (8d8) lightning damage, or half damage with a successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. A creature that fails its saving throw is stunned until the start of the rubezahl’s next turn.