Innate Spellcasting. The bruxa's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18). The bruxa can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: detect thoughts, enthrall, haste, misty step, suggestion
2/day each: greater invisibility (self only), modify memory (6th-level version)
Regeneration. The bruxa regains 10 hit points at the start of her turn if she has at least 1 hit point. If the bruxa takes radiant damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the bruxa's next turn .
Shapechanger. If the bruxa isn't in sunlight, she can use her action to polymorph in to a Medium female humanoid or back into her true form. While in humanoid form, her statistics, are the same. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
Vampire Weaknesses. The vampire has the following flaws:
- Blood Addiction. In the presence of the blood of a fey creature the vampire fails automatically blood frenzy saving throws.
- Sunlight Hypersensitivity. While in sunlight, the vampire has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Multiattack. The bruxa uses her Otherworldly Gaze and
makes two melee attacks, only one of which can be a
bite attack.
Claws (Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to
hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing
damage. Instead of dealing damage, the bruxa can
grapple the target (escape DC 15).
Bite (Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to
hit, reach 5 ft., one creature that is grappled by the
bruxa, incapacitated or restrained. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 5)
piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. The
target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount
equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the bruxa
regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction
lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies
if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Otherworldly Gaze. The bruxa targets one creature she
can see within 60 feet of her. If the target can see the
bruxa, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving
throw against this magic or become blinded until the
end of the bruxa's next turn. If the target fails the saving
throw by 5 or more, it is also paralyzed for the same
duration.
Eerie Scream (Recharge 5-6). The bruxa releases a eerie
scream, provided that she isn't in sunlight. This scream
has no effect on construct and undead. All other
creatures within 30 feet of her must make a DC 15
Wisdom saving throw, taking 45(10d8) psychic damage
on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful
one. If a creature fails the saving throw by 5 or more, its
also frightened until the end of the bruxa's next turn.
Description
Bruxa
The eerie bruxae possesses numerous myths of origin, but some of them are more common than most. It is said that bruxae were once the most beautiful and innocent of the fey, nymphs, dryads and other lively creatures. Succumbing to the bite of a higher vampire, their playful nature was twisted and turned them into manipulative killers, eager to drink the blood of their former sisters. Ancient grimoires also speak of a degrading ritual that can turn a witch into a bruxa, similar in principle to the ascension into lichdom. It is unclear if the ritual is used as a punishment for an unwilling subject or a means to achieve immortality.
It is said that at night bruxae haunt attractive young men and drink their blood. This silent and seductively beautiful creature closely resembles a fey. In fact, she is a vampire, and one of the deadliest kind. They approach gracefully and are easy to overlook as a threat. These vampires move quietly in the dark to suddenly emerge near their victims. An eerie cry echoing through corridors indicates an approaching bruxa –at once both beauty and the beast.
Wanton Villain. Bruxae are womanoids and take the form of beautiful women, leading some to mistake them for nymphs, but their long fangs and thirst for blood always betray them. The bruxa is built on contradictions. She appears as a beautiful woman, but when she is hungry or attacking, she is terrifying. Her black pupils and blank face contrast sharply with her pale feminine silhouette. The bruxa is a higher vampire and therefore drinks blood but does not depend on it to survive. She often finds a victim to become her lover and a constant supply of sustenance at the same time.
Fair and Deadly. The bruxa finds the smell of garlic to be socially inconvenient at most, and she considers holy symbols to be interesting examples of handicrafts. She endures the light of the sun well, but she prefers the darkness of the night. If threatened, they attack with their talons and rip the victim apart, pausing only to savor the blood of their dying foe. The greatest threat comes from the bruxa's voice. The creature can scream with the might of a banshee, wrecking the mind of the sternest man, making him easy prey for the vampiress. Blindness is as great a threat as this ghastly scream. The pitch-black gaze of bruxae can deprive their enemies of sight, or even paralyse, them in order for the fiend to play cat and mouse with its prey.
Queen of the Night. This alluring yet frightful fiend is the most manipulative of vampires, to the exception maybe of the elusive nosferatu. Bruxae are experts at hiding in plain sight, blending in perfectly among mortals and throwing off their trail easily vampire hunters. Few can tell what they really are when they are not on the hunt. They can charm equally undead and mortals, surrounding themselves with servants, bodyguards and lovers, with a preference for lower vampires and alps. The most powerful of them can enslave a creature through their bite, binding mystically their victim to their will. They are obediently served by an entire court of suitors and sycophants, tending to their every twisted needs.
Wolves among Sheep. Bruxae are as far as you can possibly be from the classical myth of the vampire inhabiting dark crypts and ancient ruins. If they do so, its by personal taste or because things turned sour and they are now in hiding. Instead they favor places with a lot of traffic and where mortals let their guard down, like brothels, merchant outposts, inns or theaters. Some bruxae even make a business out of their needs, trading favors against blood. Still, bruxae are aware that people will not take kindly to their feeding and they always prepare multiple escape plans.
Optional: Kiss of Darkness
Some of the most talented bruxae learn the ability to enthrall a person with a kiss, much in the same way other vampires use their gaze to do so. A bruxa with the kiss of darkness option has a challenge rating of 10 (5,900 XP). When a humanoid or an undead kisses a bruxa, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed by the vampire until the vampire dies or until it is on a different plane of existence from the target. The charmed target is under the vampire's control and can't take reactions, and the vampire and the target can communicate telepathically with each other over any distance. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends. No more than once every 24 hours, the target can also repeat the saving throw when it is at least 1 mile away from the vampire.
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