Hiisi

Huge monstrosity, chaotic evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 276 (24d12+120)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
23 (+6)	11 (+0)	20 (+5)	6 (-2)	12 (+1)	13 (+1)

Saving Throws Str +11, Con +10, Wis +6
Damage Resistances poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Skills Perception +6, Stealth +5
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception
Languages Giant
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Magic Resistance. The hiisi has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Traps (3/Day). Hiisi possess an innate talent for building deadly mechanical traps. Hiisi traps consist mostly of landmines, triggered avalanches, and hurling projectiles. Foul creatures, they frequently smear their traps with fecal matter, dead organisms, and natural toxins to make them more deadly. These consist of simple and readily available materials such as scrap metal, wood, cord, sinew, and bone. Once the hiisi has collected what he needs, it takes him a relatively short amount of time to construct a trap. Setting a trap requires an action. A trap fills a 10-foot square area, and cannot be placed in the same area as another trap or a magical trap such as a glyph of warding, or a creature who would trigger it. However, a hiisi can increase the area of a trap by building a second trap adjacent to the initial trap. sThe DCs for Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice the trap and checks to disable it is 14. The DC for saving throws to avoid it is 8 + the hiisi’s proficiency bonus + its Wisdom modifier. Each trap lasts 24 hours or until it is triggered, whichever comes first. Hiisi traps trigger when a creature enters the trap’s area. Alchemist’s Fire Geyser: A foul mix of chemicals spews, covering its victims in sticky, burning goo. Anyone in the area must succeed at a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 55 (10d10) fire damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much on a success. If a victim fails the initial saving throw, at the end of their next turn they must make a second saving throw or take the damage again. Avalanche Trap: The hiisi rigs a pile of snow and some wood or stone structures to collapse. Anyone in the area must succeed at a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much on a success. If the victim fails the initial saving throw, they are knocked prone, and also begin to suffocate. At the end of each of the victim’s turns, they must succeed at a DC 14 Strength saving throw to stop suffocating and cease being prone. If an ally helps dig the victim out, they may make a DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check to give the victim advantage; if the victim has ceased struggling, such as due to unconsciousness, the ally can attempt to dig the victim out, with disadvantage on the ability check. The area of an avalanche counts as difficult terrain due to snow. Dead Magic Collapsing Pit Trap: The hiisi conceals a pit with a collapsing cover, and uses its dead magic blood to make the trap more dangerous. A victim who fails to notice the trap and steps on it, taking falling damage, 17 (5d6) bludgeoning for a 50 ft. pit. The bottom of the pit is an antimagic zone caused by the hiisi’s blood (see below). Creating the trap requires the hiisi to let blood as usual. Flying Dung Boulders Trap: The hiisi rigs a pile of boulders to explode, hurling heavy stone and contamination. Anyone in the area must succeed at a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 55 (10d10) bludgeoning damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much on a success. Anyone in the area is also exposed to sewer plague.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The hiisi makes three attacks with its fork.
• Fork. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) piercing damage, and the victim must succeed at a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, range 30/120 ft. one target. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) bludgeoning damage. Dead Magic Blood. A hiisi can bleed himself for 10 (3d6) points of slashing damage to create a dead magic zone. A dead magic zone has the properties of an antimagic field in a 20-ft-radius surrounding the spilled blood. The antimagic field effect has a duration of 5+1d10 minutes. They often spill blood on their traps or on boulders before throwing them at spell-wielding opponents. On a hit with a boulder, the dead magic zone is centered on the target’s location. On a miss, the boulder continues in a fairly straight line to the limit of its range or until it reaches a wall or other large structure. Once spilled, the properties of the blood quickly dissipate and it cannot be effectively stored for later use.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The hiisi 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. The hiisi regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Blood Stone. The hiisi uses dead magic blood to smear its blood on a rock.
• Fork Attack. The hiisi attacks one time with its fork.
• Trap Springer (Costs two Actions). The hiisi triggers one of its own traps that is within 30 ft.

ABOUT

Towering above its surroundings, this monstrously hideous giant staggers forth, leaning on crudely formed polearm with two tines. His bent body is covered with scraggly hair and tiny horns protrude from his fleshy forehead. Drool spills from its pink, fleshy lips and its cracked teeth grind like ravenous millstones. These deformed, hirsute giants inhabit the cold wildlands that border the realms of what appears to be their favorite prey, man. Monstrously hideous, those who have survived hiisi encounters describe them as a crossbreed of ogres, hill giants, devils, and yeti. Still, hiisis stand larger than all these creatures and despite their hunched posture, adults tower nearly 16-feet-tall. Long, thin, scraggly hair covers their hulking and muscular forms, providing both camouflage and protection from the harsh, frigid climates where they settle. A hiisi’s hair thins out almost completely on its head, lower legs, feet, forearms, and hands while its blotchy skin is a ruddy color. The two stumpy horn-like protrusions along the hiisi’s boney brow-ridge suggest infernal influence, or perhaps even the influence of oni. Curiously, they also have short, stubby tails.

While below average in intelligence, hiisis posses a sort of primal cunning that has aided their species through centuries of survival. Perhaps to compensate for their limited intelligence, they hoard ancient secrets, passing them down through generations despite never understanding their meaning.

Hiisis thrive upon violence, and their culture is based entirely on brutality and dominance. Semi-nomadic cave dwellers, they live in small clans and migrate with the seasons. A typical clan consists of a single adult male, four to six females, the same number of adolescents, and twice as many children. Clans fight over common hunting grounds, caves, and mates. Hiisi clan leaders treat their women and children as commodities and think nothing of killing rival clan leaders and stealing their families to increase their own wealth. They do not afford much sympathy to outsiders and have no use for thralls or slaves of other races. For the most part, they avoid outsiders though they have few qualms about slaying them and eating them when supplies of humans run short. Humans are of course their preferred quarries, and hiisis become crazed with excitement whenever they encounter them. They believe eating humans increases their intelligence and virility. For this reason, clan leaders compulsively collect the skulls of their human victims. Within their caves, they make great piles and elaborate displays of human skulls in order to show off their power. Nearly all hiisi settlements have at least one great iron cooking pot that they keep stewing with meat.

Hiisis wear few clothes, with males wearing hides for armor or loincloths. To proclaim status, they decorate themselves with crude jewelry made from bones, rocks, tusks, and similar materials, all painted with primitive cryptographs. Dominant males also file their teeth into sharpened points.

Despite their primitiveness, hiisis possess a minimal knowledge of metallurgy. While their skills remain crude, they are proficient enough to craft basic tools and weapons from iron. They make their own weapons, huge polearms with flat bladed tines that they are adept at using to impale victims as well as ensnare and snap their opponent’s weapons. They also excel at making large and deadly traps using foraged materials. They surround their territories with their traps, checking them infrequently for humans and other prey. While they delight in catching things, the dimwitted creatures become disappointed, if not openly enraged, when they discover their traps sprung or disabled and placate themselves by smashing the nearest available target.