Aura of Contagion. At the start of each of the champion’s turns, each flesh-and-blood creature within 120 feet of it must attempt a DC 23 Constitution saving throw. If a creature fails three saving throws against this feature, it contracts a magical disease called the unraveller. These failures need not be consecutive—keep track of a creature’s accumulated failed saving throws. A creature’s number of failed saving throws resets to zero when it finishes a short or long rest. Creatures afflicted with the unraveller take double damage from all sources, deal half damage with weapon and spell attacks, and
automatically fail saving throws and ability checks.
Feast Upon Pestilence. When a flesh-and-blood creature fails a saving throw against one of the champion’s abilities or spells, the champion gains 5 hit points and 20 temporary hit points. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute and do not stack but only override the previous one with a new 20 temporary hit points.
Herald of the Apocalypse. The champion cannot be compelled to act in a manner that prevents it from causing pestilence and disease to living creatures.
Noxious Poisons. When the champion would deal poison damage, it can choose to deal necrotic damage instead.
Spellcasting. The champion is a 20th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 23, +15 to hit with spell attacks). The champion can cast the following spells without the need for verbal or material components:
Cantrips (at will): Infestation (4d6 poison or necrotic damage) , Poison Spray (4d12 poison or necrotic damage), Sapping Sting (4d4 necrotic damage)
4/day each (as a 5th-level spell): Confusion(15 ft. area), Contagion, Dispel Magic, Ray of Sickness (6d8)
3/day each (as a 8th-level spell): Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting(12d8), Cloudkill (8d8), Feeblemind
2/day each (as a 9th-level spell): Blight(13d8), Maddening Darkness.
Multiattack. The champion casts a spell and then casts two cantrips or casts a spell and makes an attack.
Mass Infection (Recharge 5–6). The champion casts a spell that normally targets a single creature. The range of the spell is increased to 300 feet and the champion may target any number of creatures of its choice within range.
Touch of Unraveling. Melee Spell Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: The creature must immediately attempt a DC 23 Constitution saving throw as though affected by the champion’s Aura of Contagion ability. It contracts a magical disease called the unraveller. Creatures afflicted with the unraveller take double damage from all sources, deal half damage with weapon and spell attacks, and automatically fail saving throws and ability checks.
Description
The Champion of Pestilence
Plague incarnate, a motile pox, a wandering virulence, and so much worse. Champions of pestilence inflict an awful sickness called the unraveller. It deadens the arms, weakens the body, and clouds the mind. But it doesn’t kill, not by itself. The champion of pestilence prolongs the suffering of every living being around it, rejoicing in their misery and helplessness. They are cruel and evil and always the herald of something much worse. Their presence precedes invasion, typically by an undead horde, and there is no more efficacious way of breaking a well-entrenched army.
– Talien Vos Karven
Bringer of plague, scourge of life, rotter of flesh. A champion of pestilence, at least by itself, is the least directly destructive of the apocalypse dragoons. Its presence foments and incites diseases to spread and linger, making them almost impossible to cure. In combat, the champion inflicts the unraveller, a magical disease that turns the mightiest warrior into a mewling babe. Appearing as a rotting undead centaur leaking putrid contagion, these foul creatures contaminate everything they come into contact with. A champion of pestilence exists to prove the fragility of living flesh. Rot and infection are its evidence, dismantling mighty dragon and humble commoner alike.
There is no ecology for champions of pestilence—they are an unending fount of toxicity. They do not sleep, eat, or do anything other than search for what is healthy so they can make it foul. These undead are either deluded or insane, seeing their infections as a gift to be shared with all the living. When not under threat, they take on a bedside manner similar to that of a mute healer, but with no intention of curing the afflicted. Instead, the champion languishes in the creature’s slow death, all the while keeping close tabs on its symptoms. Some believe that through this study, champions of pestilence seek to formulate the perfect plague; an incurable scourge that will obliterate all life. How the champions share their findings with each other is unknown, but each new champion appears to inherit the knowledge of diseases and plagues researched by its predecessors.
The champion of pestilence’s primary goal is to keep the maximum number of characters within 120 feet, within range of its Aura of Contagion. Most of its tactical choices are in spell selection, and it’s best to start with the high-level spells first. Start by using Mass Infection to cast [Tooltip Not Found] if the party is clustered together or feeblemind if they are spread out. While the champion is concentrating on a spell, use ray of sickness to deal damage and infestation or poison spray rather than the champion’s Plague Touch ability. Don’t forget to increase the damage from ray of sickness to 6d8 because it’s cast at 5th level and use the 17th-level damage numbers for the cantrips, 4d6 and 4d12 respectively.
Beyond that, use dispel magic if an ongoing spell effect is causing problems, and don’t forget to the give the champion its 20 temporary hit points each time someone fails a saving throw against its spells or abilities. Temporary hit points don’t stack, so this is a refreshing buffer against damage rather than a snowballing stockpile.
Easier Tactics – Don’t use Multiattack; just cast one spell per turn. Use Mass Infection only once. If needed, cast lower-level spells and avoid using blight or cloudkill.
Harder Tactics – Use Mass Infection to cast feeblemind on the first round targeting the whole party. That is almost guaranteed to take a few of them out of commission, then you can focus your attacks on whoever is left. On subsequent turns, cast confusion on someone who resisted feeblemind and then pick the most damaging spell available. Don’t cast cantrips with Multiattack; instead, use Touch of Contagion on the same character repeatedly, prioritizing anyone who can cure diseases—while those characters are afflicted with the unraveller, they can’t succeed on the Wisdom (Medicine) ability check needed to remove the disease from anyone, including themselves.
A character can learn the following information about a champion of pestilence with an Intelligence (Religion) ability check:
(DC 17) A champion of pestilence’s presence alone is enough to render even the most resilient individuals susceptible to disease and plague. It also makes those who become infected tremendously difficult to treat, blocking even magical attempts that would ordinarily remove the problem in a heartbeat.
(DC 23) The greatest danger from a champion of pestilence is the unraveller, a magical disease that spreads to everyone within close proximity. Once someone is infected, removing the disease is a tremendous challenge, and it causes its victims to become vulnerable to attacks, dampens both physical and magical strength, and makes it impossible to resist even the simplest effects. Even a brief encounter with the champion from far away could make people lose their minds.
(DC 28) Like many of the apocalypse dragoons, a champion of pestilence is not particularly agile. It is also reliant on spells for much of its combat effectiveness, and a friendly wizard with counterspell is invaluable. While antimagic field may seem a good choice, the champion is unaffected by non-enchanted weapons and other mundane attacks, and the spell helps the champion more than it hinders it.
Lair and Lair Actions
The area around a champion of pestilence is fraught with a noxious infection, which creates the following effects within 10 miles of the champion.
• Creatures in the area cannot be immune to disease. A creature that is immune to disease instead has advantage on saving throws against diseases.
• When a creature attempts to cure a disease by any means, it must succeed on a DC 23 Wisdom (Medicine) ability check as a part of the attempt (no action required), or the attempt fails.
If the champion dies, these effects end immediately.
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