Crafty. The wretch can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Fearful. The wretch has disadvantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the wretch has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Surprise Attack. If the wretch surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage from the attack.
Tricksy. While it is grappling a creature, the wretch takes only half the damage dealt to it (rounded down), and that creature takes the other half. Psychic and poison damage ignore this trait and deal full damage to it.
Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Strangle. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14). Until the grapple ends, the wretch can't make attacks, but it can use its action to deal 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage to the target.
Description
Legends tell of poor wretches that, fleeing the scorn of society or chasing a cursed artifact, begin hiding under the bowels of the earth, eventually withering into little more than skin and bones. They survive off of the blind fish they're able to wrangle from underground rivers, losing their memories of the bright surface, friendship, and all other things that once grounded them.
Cave wretches are unpredictable. Their long isolation twists their minds and leaves them paranoid, impulsive, and prone to mood swings. Some of them even develop multiple personalities to cope with their exile. The long time spent underground, crouching in confined spaces and subsisting on whatever they can find, shrinks and withers the wretch's body until they are stooping, frail little creatures that barely resemble their original form.
If you catch the attention of a cave wretch, you might not know for some time. The wretch will likely follow at a distance, staying just out of sight, observing you and your companions from the darkness. If it decides that you have something it wants, or that you would make a good meal, it will strike when individuals are separated from the others, strangling you one by one until none are left. However, it might choose to befriend you. Most of the time, these friendships are mere ploys to trick you out of something, but not always. Even forgotten exiles can become stalwart allies.
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