Bearing a severe widow’s peak and sardonic smile, La Contessa lurks in the shadows, stalking her prey. Due to her blood-shot gaze behind spectacles, raven hair, and pallid disposition the noblewoman is often mistaken for a vampire. In truth, while she is undead her state is due to science instead of the supernatural. Clad in the finest studded leather as dark as night and a cloak of direwolf fur, La Contessa is always eager for battle against her hated foes. Her 'custom-made' sword is actually a vat-grown mimic with taste for undead flesh. Alchemical grenades are secreted across her attire; La Contessa draws her weapons with preternatural speed. Wherever La Contessa treads she leaves a trace of essential salt behind, which she must leech from others to survive and continue the Hunt.
Vampire Hunter. La Contessa's accursed state stems from her hatred of bloodsuckers. Over a century ago, her city was antagonized by a coterie of vampires and their spawn. Blood-ran in the streets as dozens of her subjects died on a weekly basis. First, her family employed heroes to take care of this undead scourge, but they failed. In retaliation, the vampires murdered La Contessa's husband and turned her two sisters into spawn. La Contessa went to war. Always of keen intellect, the noblewoman turned to arcane, black sciences and gained an upper hand.
While she saw great success at first the fight became one of attrition as the vampires went underground, like ticks digging deeper into the skin. The bloodsuckers decided to wait the woman out, after all, they were immortal and she was not. La Contessa foresaw this tactic and through abominable experiments gained the ability to absorb life-extending minerals from others. The vampires soon scattered, but by then her once great city was a shell of its former self. While she pursues what remains of her original foes her hatred has transferred onto all sentient undead.
Alchemical Genius. An extended life coupled with a lack of morality has allowed La Contessa to make incredible strides in artifice. Not only did she discover how to make mindless 'undead' using alchemical means, but she also distilled the essence of a ghoul's paralytic touch and injected a modified version into her eyes. La Contessa carries a collection of bombs unlike anything her peers in the field might create. Her greatest accomplishment was filling her veins with an embalming fluid that can cure the living but poisons the undead. As a pleasant side effect, this eldritch 'blood' rapidly heals whatever wounds she might sustain on the hunt.
Undead Nature. La Contessa does not need to breathe, eat, or sleep.
La Countessa
Medium undead, chaotic neutral
Str 12 Dex 15 Con 22 Int 20 Wis 17 Cha 16
Skills
Arcana +9, History +9, Perception +7, Alchemist lab (expertise), Tinker tools (expertise)
Condition Immunities
charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Damage Immunities
fire, poison
Damage Resistances
blundgeoning, piecing, and slashing from non-magical weapons, necrotic
Senses
darkvision 120ft, passive Perception 17
Innate Spell Casting:
La Contessa is a 12th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). She requires no material components to cast its spells.At will: Animate Dead, Gentle Repose
Paralyzing Gaze:
When a creature that can see the noblewoman's eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of La Contessa, La Contessa can force it to make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw if La Contessa isn't incapacitated and can see the creature. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is instantly paralyzed. Otherwise, a creature that fails the save begins to experience muscle lock-up and is restrained. The restrained creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, becoming paralyzed on a failure or ending the effect on a success. This paralyzed state persists until the creature is freed by the remove curse spell or other magic.Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can't see La Contessa until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at La Contessa in the meantime, it must immediately make the save. Strangely, her paralyzing gaze can affect creatures normally immune to the paralyzed condition, such as some undead.
La Contessa may activate or deactivate this ability as a bonus action.
Legendary Resistance (3/day):
If La Contessa fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Master Alchemist:
La Contessa has Expertise with the Alchemist Lab and Tinker Tools.
Magical Equipment:
La Contessa uses a ring of non-detection and slippers of spider-climb (knee-high boots).
Regeneration:
La Contessa regains 10 hit points at the start of her turn if she has at least 1 hit point and isn't in sunlight. If La Contessa takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn't function at the start of her next turn.
Turn Immunity:
Due to her unique state of undeath, La Contessa cannot be effected by Turn Undead.
Actions
Multiattack
La Contessa can either attack twice with her mimic blade or once with her mimic blade and once with her Leech action, as one action.Mimic Blade:
Melee Weapon Attack: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus plus 10 (3d8) acid damage.Mimic Blade - Whip Mode:
Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature it adhered to the Mimic Blade and is grappled (escape DC 13.) Ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage. If the mimic blade attacks another target, a grappled creature automatically escapes the grapple.Leech:
Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by La Contessa, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 14 (4d6) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and La Contessa 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 points to 0. The creature rapidly disintegrates into a pile of salt.
Alchemical Concoctions:
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, Range 30/60ft., one target. Hit: La Contessa can choose any of the following concotions:
Phlogis-Tonic: 14 (4d8) fire damage. If the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 1d6 fire damage. The creature may repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, the effect ending on success or after 1 minute has passed.
Blast Cap: 14 (4d8) poison damage. If the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or be poisoned. The creature may repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, the effect ending on success or after 1 minute has passed.
Kneeing Grenade: 14 (4d8) thunder damage. If the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or be deafened. The creature may repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, the effect ending on success or after 1 minute has passed.
Glimmer Bomb: If the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or be blinded. The creature may repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, the effect ending on success or after 1 minute has passed.
Kinetic Charge: 14 (4d8) force damage. If the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or be knocked prone.
Mercy (3/day)
La Contessa touches another creature. The target magically regains 10 (3d8) hit points and loses the blindness and deafness conditions if they have it. However, the creature gains the poisoned condition for the next 1d4 turns. If the creature is undead it takes 10 (3d8) acid damage instead.
Reactions
La Countessa adds +4 to one melee attack made by a creature she can see. If this causes the attack to miss, the attacker must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or have the weapon pulled from their hand and thrown to an adjacent 5ft square.
Legendary Actions
La Contessa can take 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. La Contessa regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Move (1 point): La Contessa makes a move action that does not provoke an opprotunity attack.
Slash(1 point): La Contessa makes a mimic blade attack.
Huck (2 points): La Contessa uses one of her Alchemical Concotions.
Leech (2 points):La Contessa uses her Leech attack if she did not use it on her last Action.
The ends justify the means. One cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Sometimes a greater good can only come through lesser evils. The world is a grey place, get over it. These are all cliché’s La Contessa might deliver to justify her misdeeds, once exposed. An effective way to introduce La Contessa is as a mysterious ally. After all, in most campaigns, the player characters will also want to eradicate the scourge of undead. She can provide logistical support, or even directly aid the heroes if they get in over their heads. However, her aid comes with a price. The noblewoman has prolonged her life by feeding off of others and became a variation on the very thing she hates. However, La Contessa will always be blind to this truth. Foreshadowing of her dark secret can be done by having corpses show up, drained their minerals; but would be easily mistaken for victims of a vampire or wraith. Later on, the heroes might run across a decades-old journal that mentions the Contessa. Perhaps an elderly villager recognizes her on the street, claims to have known La Contessa when they were young. Of course, sometime later that same villager will meet with a nasty ‘accident.’
Any NPC, either beguiled or bought off.
Any Golems
Carrion Crawlers (pheromone controlled)
Gargoyles
Ghasts and Ghouls (alchemically created)
Iron Cobra
Mimics
Phase Spider (pheromone controlled)
Revenant (ally against undead who killed it)
Skeletons (alchemically created)
Swarms of rats or ravens (pheromone controlled)
Zombies (alchemically created)
Using La Contessa–
Conversely, La Contessa could be used as a full-blown lunatic. In her delusional state she may decide the only way to prevent the undead is to extinguish life itself; at least normal life. ‘Purified’ humans such as herself could keep existing as they are incapable of becoming monsters, right? She could create an entire brood of alchemical horrors and agents to command. In such a storyline it might be undead lords who offer to help the player character rather than see their food supply dry up.
Appropriate Minions
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