Asura, Tripurasura

Tiny fiend (shapechanger), lawful evil

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 52 (15d20 +15)
Speed 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (-1)	14 (+2)	12 (+1)	13 (+1)	15 (+2)	14 (+2)

Saving Throws Cha +4, Dex +4
Skills Deception +6, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances acid, lightning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Infernal
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Innate Spellcasting. The tripurasura’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: detect magic, feather fall 3/day each: levitate, spider climb, suggestion 1/week each: commune Corruptor. The tripurasura can only cast its suggestion spell while in humanoid form and only to a creature unaware of its true nature.
• False Appearance. While the tripurasura remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an statuette (though magical divinations can detect that it is both magical and evil).

ACTIONS

• Poison Sting (Tripurasura Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, 5 ft. reach, one target. Hit: The target must succeed a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 21 (6d6) poison damage, or half as much on a successful save.
• Shapechanger. The tripurasura can take the form of any Small humanoid or morph back into its natural idol form.

ABOUT

Tripurasuras, or sly ones, are among the weakest asuras, appearing as tiny idols, statuettes, or fetishes, though they are always capable of movement.

They are 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 oflink 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.