Spellcasting. Captain Van Reise is a 20th-level spellcaster. Their spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19, +11 to hit with spell attacks). The Captain has following Warlock spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, infestation, toll the dead
5th level (4 slots): arms of hadar, cause fear, contact other plane, control water, counterspell, create or destroy water, danse macabre, dimension door, far step, flock of familiars, hold monster, hold person, negative energy flood, scrying, vampiric touch
Plundered Arcanum. The Captain can cast each of the following spells once before needing to regain them after a long rest. mass suggestion, etherealness, dominate monster, foresight
Eldritch Plunder. In death, Captain Van Reise retains her abilities. Armor of Shadows, Devil's Sight, Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade, Undying Servitude, Trickster's Escape, Relentless Hex. This allows the Captain to cast animate dead and freedom of movement once per long rest. Furthermore she may cast mage armor at will.
at will: mage armor
1 a day each: animate dead, freedom of movement, hex, misty step
Grasping Tentacles. Captain Van Reise can cast evard's black tentacles once without using a spell slot. Upon casting this, the Captain gains 20 temporary hit points. They may use this ability only once per day. They can recast this spell using pact slots but do not gain temporary hit points when cast in this way.
Eldritch Master. By conducting an abominable ritual to an unknown patron for 1 minute, Captain Van Reise regains all expended uses of their spell slots from her pact magic.
Admiral's Armory. Among the armory the Captain has acquired, she has extensive experience with firearms. Her pact weapon can change shape as an action into any weapon she is proficient with and supplies its own magical ammunition and can ignore the reload property. If her weapon should misfire it instead just misses its target and no other affects occure. Furthermore being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on their ranged attack rolls.
Fathomless Plunge. The Captain can magically open temporary conduits to watery destinations. As an action, they teleport themselves and up to five other willing creatures that they can see within 30 feet of them. Amid a whirl of tentacles, they all vanish and then reappear up to 1 mile away in a body of water she's seen (pond size or larger) or within 30 feet of it, each of them appearing in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the others. Once you use this feature, she can’t use it again until she finishes a short or long rest.
Multiattack. The Captain makes two melee attacks with her anchor and/or chain. Alternatively they make two ranged weapon attacks or may use their action to cast a spell or use a Tentacle of the Deep.
Anchor Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Chain Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage.
Blunderbuss. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 15/60 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage.
Hand Mortar. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 2) force damage. On a hit every creature within 5 ft of the target must make a DC 16 dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 points of force damage. If the weapon misses, the ammunition fails to detonate, or bounces away harmlessly before doing so.
Pepperbox. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 80/320ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage.
Chill Touch. Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit, range 120ft., one target. Hit: 16 (4d8) necrotic damage and it can't regain hit points until the start of your next turn. Until then, the hand clings to the target. If the Captain hits an undead target, it also has disadvantage on attack rolls against her until the end of her next turn.
Eldritch Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +11 to hit, range 120ft., four targets. Hit: 4 (1d10) force damage to each target.
Toll the Dead. Range 60ft., one target must make a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or take 16 (4d8) necrotic damage. If the target is below their hit point maximum the target instead takes 24 (4d12) necrotic damage.
Fathomless Hex. Provided that the Captain has already cast Hex on a target and, the Captain may choose to teleport within 5 feet of them as a bonus action for as long as the spell continues. The captain must have line of sight on the hexed target and must be within thirty feet of them to use this feature.
(6 uses per day) Tentacle of the Deep. The Captain creates a 10-foot-long tentacle at a point they see within 60 ft. of them. The tentacle lasts for 1 minute or until they use this feature to create another tentacle. When the Captain creates the tentacle, they can make a melee spell attack against one creature within 10 ft. of it. Melee Spell Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+5) cold damage. On a hit, the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of the Captain's next turn.
Counterspell. At 5th level Captain Van Reise uses her reaction to cast Counterspell.
Guardian Coil. The Captain's Tentacle of the Deeps can defend them and others, interposing itself between them and harm. When they or a creature Captain Reise can see takes damage while within 10 feet of the tentacle, the Captain can use her reaction to choose one of those creatures and reduce the damage to that creature by 2d8.
Captain Van Reise has 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Captain Van Reise regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Move. The Captain moves up to their speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Anchor/Chain Strike. The Captain makes one Anchor or Chain attack.
Tentacle of the Deep (Costs 2 Actions). The Captain summons, moves and/or makes an attack with her Tentacle of the Deep.
If Captain Van Reise's Mythic trait is active she may use the the options below as legendary actions.
Part of the Ship, Part of the Crew. Captain Van Reise touches a corpse or pile of bones and reanimates it into a skeleton or strahd zombie.
All Hands on Deck (3 Actions). Captain Van Reise causes all corpses and bones on and in contact with the Relentless to animate into skeletons or zombies. The zombies use strahd zombie statistics.
Description
The murderous pirate Pietra van Riese, captain of the Relentless, had an unsavory reputation for attaching her captives to ropes and dragging them through the water until they drowned. She never removed the detritus of her victims, even though some returned to life as zombies. The Relentless was ultimately sunk by rival captains, but death couldn’t keep Pietra. She awoke in the Sea of Sorrows, water in her lungs and sea creatures making their homes in her flesh. Her crew stirred with her, now fish-eaten corpses. When Pietra sought to speak with them, her voice emerged from their mouths.
The Relentless sails a domain that can overlap any body of water in any other domain. Some domains border the Sea of Sorrows, while others have their own names for these mysterious waters. Those who venture into the Mists by boat might find themselves amid an endless, debris- and sargassum-choked expanse of eerie beasts and shifting islands.
Captain Van Reise as a Mythic Encounter
Captain Petra Van Reise is a terrible foe in her own right but while at the helm of her ship the Relentless and plying the Domains of Dread she is in her element. As a Darklord of her own domain she can never completely leave her vessel of torment or the waters it travels. She has more freedom than most Darklords, save perhaps the Darklord of the Carnival. But always Captain Van Reise returns to her ship in the dark eternal Sea of Sorrows. There she can call upon the vast hordes of undead who have been dragged by the Relentless or press ganged into her crew until and then beyond their death.
Adventurers may encounter the Captain in any body of dark with enough shade for a shadow crossing. Usually water as deep as three hundred feet is dark enough for Petra to emerge at the helm of the Relentless. She is bound to the Shadowfell and inside it, the Domain of Dread, the Sea of Sorrows. It is from this that she has great power but beyond it, she is weakened.
While the Relentless can travel to other locations, Captain Van Reise has never been seen leaving the ship itself. The Relentless is said to sometimes bring with it the mists that the Domains of Dread are known for. These may trap unlucky witnesses but more often the ship travels to a body of water for its undead crew to pirate and pillage. Always at night, the raids are terrifying as undead move on the shore, unrestrained by the curse that plagues their master and commander.
If she manages to remain in or on a body of water, Captain Petra Van Reise can travel anywhere, even if it is by stepping from puddle to puddle. However she will be far beyond her lair (the Relentless) and at a disadvantage the further she travels. She is unlikely to be able to draw strength to a mythical degree beyond the Sea of Sorrows. It is both a source of her power and a binding chain that she loathes to rely on.
Lair and Lair Actions
While on the Relentless, Captain Van Reise can take lair actions while not incapacitated.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Captain takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Captain can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Until initiative count 20 of the next round, Captain Van Reise can pass through solid walls, decks, doors, masts, ceilings, and floors as if they weren’t there.
- Captain Van Reise targets any number of doors and windows that she can see, causing each one to either open or close as she wishes. Closed doors can be magically locked (needing a successful DC 20 Strength check to force open) until Van Reise chooses to end the effect, or until she uses this lair action again.
- Captain Van Reise summons the angry spirit of one who has died on her ship. The apparition appears next to a hostile creature that she can see, makes an attack against that creature, and then disappears. The apparition has the statistics of a specter.
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