Asura, Aghasura

Family: Asura

Huge fiend, lawful evil

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 202 (15d12+105)
Speed 35 ft., swim 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
26 (+8)	17 (+3)	25 (+7)	11 (+0)	14 (+2)	18 (+4)

Saving Throws Con +12, Str +13
Damage Resistances acid, lightning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Skills Perception +12, Stealth +13
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Innate Spellcasting. The aghasura’s spell casting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
  • At will: teleport
  • 3/day each: darkness
  • 1/day each: cloudkill
• Camouflage. The aghasura has advantage on all Dexterity (Stealth) ability checks.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The aghasura makes one bite attack and two scimitar attacks.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 15ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 9 (2d8) poison damage, or half as much on a successful save.
• Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 15ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage, and the target must succeed a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 9 (2d8) poison damage, or half as much on a successful save.

ABOUT

Tripurasuras, or sly ones, are among the weakest asuras, manifestations not of divine mistakes but instead creations of the most powerful of asuras exhibiting their loathing of the gods by creating blasphemous mockeries of their creations.

A newly created tripurasura most commonly exists for one of two reasons: to give an asurendra sage the raw materials it needs to create more powerful asuras, or to seek out mortals- especially mortal spellcasters-to recruit into the asura cause.

Clever Corruptor. Using its power to assume a pleasing or innocuous form, a tripurasura wanders the world, seeking pious mortals to corrupt. When it encounters a promising spellcaster (typically one who has some sort of link to a church or religion, but not necessarily a divine spellcaster), the tripurasura presents itself as an apprentice, pilgrim, or other type of curious student eager to learn from the spellcaster. The tripurasura keeps its true nature and its powers hidden and seeks opportunities to steer its “master” away from decisions it might have made in good conscience to acts that promote the collapse of religious belief, faith, and society. When, as it inevitably does, the wayward spellcaster runs afoul of justice or is confronted by those seeking revenge, the tripurasura fades away to watch the final stage of the spellcaster’s fall from grace, then seeks a new victim in another city or region.

Aghasuras, or the poison ones, are massive fiends who have perfected the art of ambush and hold to duties of guardianship and butchery. It is said that these frightful ophidian monsters came into being when a deity granted free will to her favorite serpent pets, but when these pets were left to their own devices, they slipped into the deity’s favored temple and slew all her greatest priests. The serpents who survived the deity’s wrath became the first aghasuras. An aghasura is 30 feet long and weighs nearly 7 tons.