Bil’djool Aquamancer

Medium aberration, lawful evil

Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor)
Hit Points 143 (26d8 + 26)
Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	16 (+2)	12 (+1)	20 (+5)	15 (+2)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Int +10, Wis +7
Skills Arcana +14, History +14, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities acid (from caustic contamination)
Damage Resistances cold; nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing attacks (from stoneskin)
Damage Vulnerabilities poison
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Bil›djooli, Ultari
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Bil’djooli Traits: The bil’djooli aquamancer has the Hold Breath, Interstellar, Jet, Underwater Camouflage, and Vulnerability to Toxins traits of a standard bil’djooli.
• Bil’djooli Warmage Training. A bil’djooli aquamancer gains the following benefits:
  • A bil’djooli rod deals one extra die of energy damage when the bil’djooli aquamancer hits with it.
  • The bil’djool aquamancer has advantage on Constitution checks to maintain concentration spells.
  • The bil’djool aquamancer may add their Intelligence bonus to any their attack and damage rolls made with a bil’djooli rod.
  • Creatures taking cold damage from the aquamancer’s spells must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be restrained for a number of rounds equal to the spell’s level. They can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each of their turns to end this effect.
• Caustic Contamination. A bil’djooli aquamancer, like other bil’djooli, secretes toxins. Instead of easily washing away the bil’djooli aquamancer has enhanced this effect to create an acidic shield that seeps from it in a 5-foot sphere. This grants the aquamancer immunity to acid damage. In addition, whenever a creature within 5 feet of it hits the bil’djooli aquamancer with a melee attack, the shield surges with vitriolic force. The attacker takes 9 (2d8) acid damage.
• Spellcasting. The bil’djooli aquamancer is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). The bil’djooli aquamancer can cast disguise self and invisibility at will and has the following wizard spells prepared:
  • Cantrips (at will): dancing lights, ray of frost, mage hand, prestidigitation, shocking grasp
  • 1st level (4 slots): detect magic, mage armor,* magic missile (does cold and force damage), shield
  • 2nd level (3 slots): mirror image, protection from poison*, see invisibility
  • 3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, lightning bolt, vampiric touch
  • 4th level (3 slots): ice storm, fire shield (cold flames)*, stoneskin*
  • 5th level (1 slots): cone of cold

*The bil’djooli aquamancer casts these spells on itself before combat.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The bil’djooli aquamancer uses one of the following attack options: bil’djooli rod and 2 tentacle slams, or 4 tentacle slams.
• Bil’djooli Rod. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. and range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage and 7 (2d6) energy damage (acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic or thunder), or 22 (5d6+5) energy damage (acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic or thunder) if used to make a range attack.
• Bil’djooli Rod Blast (Recharges 5 or 6). The bil’djooli aquamancer fires a single focused ray that deals 29 (7d6 +5) points of energy damage, or half as much on a successful DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, to each creature it hits in a 60-foot line. The energy type can be chosen as part of the attack – acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic or thunder – but it consumes the bil’djooli aquamancer bonus action if it differs from the energy type of a previous attack made with the rod.
• Tentacle Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour.

REACTIONS

• Side Shot. Any time an attack hits or misses a bil’djooli aquamancer it may use its reaction to make a bil’djooli rod range attack. To do so, the bil’djooli aquamancer must be wielding a bil’djooli rod.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

A bil’djooli aquamancer can take 2 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. A bil’djooli aquamancer regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Arcane Strike. The bil’djooli aquamancer expends a spell slot and makes melee weapon attack. This attack magically deals an extra 10 (3d6) cold damage to a target on a hit. This benefit lasts until the end of the turn. If the bil’djooli aquamancer expends a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each level above 1st.
• Drowning Lung. The bil’djooli aquamancer makes a bil’djooli rod attack against an enemy within range. This attack has the additional effect of causing the target to only breath water and not air for 1 minute if it fails a DC 18 saving throw.
• Frigid Force. The bil’djooli aquamancer makes a bil’djooli rod attack against an enemy within range. This attack does an additional 14 (4d6) cold damage if it hits.

ABOUT

Bil’djooli are an aggressive race of interplanetary travelers who raid worlds for their own gain and routinely scavenge alien technology. Once sorely pressed, the bil’djooli now range across disparate systems to find the fresh water essential for the continuation of their race. Bil’djooli physiology requires a significant amount of clean, fresh water in order to breathe and metabolize food properly. Their immune systems are strong, but delicate, and they produce toxins offensive to most living creatures very quickly. Without protective gear, bil’djooli poison is actually more dangerous for the bil’djooli than it is for most creatures they encounter. As aquatic creatures, they wear protective helmets full of fresh water they can breathe through a series of gills in their throat, lest they poison themselves and their fellow soldiers.

The bil’djooli teach a peculiar martial art that makes use of their long tentacles and superior reach. They take what they desire from enemy combatants, striking them with powerful tentacles and using agile suction to disarm their opponents or lift other equipment. In mass combat they fire their magical rods, using the most appropriate energy type and then firing into melee amid a flurry of slam attacks.

A single bil’djool has incredibly competitive instincts and a large measure of pride, but the culture rewards cooperation and team work in order to secure the race’s survival. Advancement in their militarized society requires competence and loyalty, though some level of corruption allows the truly ambitious to exploit others to their benefit. Regardless of rank or station, all bil’djooli receive intensive martial training, learning to fight with mass-produced technomagical rods that can crunch bones in melee or fire rays of magical energy.

The bil’djooli spread filth across the galaxy, polluting entire planets with a naturally occurring byproduct of their toxic skin. Hailing from a dozen different home worlds, their kind has sought a means to inhabit aquatic worlds for generations without having to leave them behind.

Bil’djooli family life is harsh from the beginning. Families are governed by ordered pair which lays hundreds of eggs over a lifetime. Though bil’djooli have distinctive male and female internal anatomies, their breeding produces a thick slime full of eggs that is then carried by both parents. The slime is spread across a flat surface when the eggs near maturity, and a dozen bil’djooli might hatch from a single clutch. Bil’djooli young learn quickly and train for survival and combat almost from birth, competing with one another for food and favor. While individual families do not always encourage violence among siblings, there are few penalties in the military meritocracy for murdering a sibling with cause.

A single bil’djooli is 7 feet long from head to tentacle. They have somewhat translucent blue or purple skin with a white or pale blue underside to their tentacles. A mature bil’djooli weighs 300 pounds. A being resembling a humanoid octopus with translucent blue skin bears an unusual metal rod with glowing arcane signals. Its leather vest is connected to a round glass helmet filled with clear fluid.

Bil’djooli aquamancers are arrogant villains who regard themselves as the ultimate warriors. Though they aren’t better melee fighters than their champion co-captains, they trust in their knowledge of magic and technology to make up any difference and assume the mantle of leadership with a sneer.