Weasel, Albino Death

This massive pale weasel moves with lightning speed. Its white fur is stained red with the crusty remains of its latest meal.

Large beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d10 + 12)
Speed 50 ft., burrow 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 14 (+2) 15 (+2) 4 (-3) 15 (+2) 5 (-3)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Special Traits

  • Keen Hearing and Smell. The weasel has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
  • Pounce. If the weasel moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the weasel can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.

Actions

  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage.
  • Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) slashing damage. The target is also grappled (escape DC 13) if it is a Medium or smaller creature and the albino weasel isn’t already grappling a creature. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the albino death weasel can’t claw another target.
  • Musk Spray (Recharge 5-6). The weasel unleashes a spray of foul musk in a 20-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

About

Albino death weasels are ravenous hunters that spend every waking hour in search of food. Farming communities keep watchful eyes out for the signs of albino death weasel dens, since even large livestock, as well as the farmers themselves, are fair game to the creatures. Humanoids that inhabit forests and badlands, in particular, live in fear of albino death weasels.

Hunting Beasts. Albino death weasels often serve as scenting and hunting beasts for ogres, hill giants, dark folk, vampires, and creatures of the Plane of Shadow. These trained weasels respond to voice commands and often wear a decorative collar or a distinctive earring.

Foiling Invisible Intruders. Their combination of sharp hearing and their ability to detect prey by scent is believed to make them effective in sniffing out invisible intruders. Some wizards and druids rely on the weasels for precisely this reason.

Alternate Traits and Actions

The following changes allow GMs to alter an albino death weasel without modifying its challenge rating.

  • Albino Camouflage. The albino death weasel is naturally camouflaged in areas with white backgrounds, such as snow-covered landscapes or against buildings painted white. While it is camouflaged in this way, it has advantage on Stealth checks and can hide from creatures that can see it clearly. The albino death weasel loses its proficiency bonus on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
  • Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage. The target is also grappled (escape DC 13) if it is a Medium or smaller creature and the albino weasel isn’t already grappling a creature. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, the weasel can’t bite another target, and at the start of each of the weasel’s turns, the target loses 8 (2d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss. The albino death weasel loses its bite and claw attacks.
  • Blood Frenzy. The albino death weasel has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn’t have all its hit points. The albino death weasel only has keen smell and no longer has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.
  • Swimming Death Weasel. The albino death weasel was reared in a more aquatic environment. It gains a swim speed of 30 feet. The albino death weasel loses its burrow speed.
  • Weasel War Dance. The albino death weasel makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claw. If the weasel reduces its walking speed to 40 feet, it has advantage on an attack against a creature if it moves at least 5 feet before attacking it. If it splits its attacks, it must move an additional 5 feet to gain advantage on the second attack. The albino death weasel loses its pounce trait.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Creature Codex. © 2018 Open Design LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Dan Dillon, Richard Green, James Haeck, Chris Harris, Jeremy Hochhalter, James Introcaso, Chris Lockey, Shawn Merwin, and Jon Sawatsky.