Huecuva

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 52 (8d8 + 16)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
13 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	4 (-3)	12 (+1)	12 (+1)

Skills Deception +3, Intimidation +3, Perception +3, Stealth +4
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t silvered
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common Challenge 3 (700 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Aura of Faithlessness. The huecuva radiates an unholy aura with a 30-ft. radius. The huecuva and any undead within the aura have advantage on saving throws against effect that turns undead.
• False Humanity. During the day, a huecuva is wreathed in a false appearance that is identical to its living form. The effect is similar to a disguise self spell. Creatures that interact with a huecuva can make a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check to see through the deception. Whether the deception is accepted, huecuvas always exude a stench of decay and grave soil. Any creature with an augmented scent ability makes the Wisdom (Insight) check with advantage. When the sun sets, the illusion is peeled back, and the huecuva’s true form is revealed.

ACTIONS

• Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against disease or become poisoned until the disease is cured. Every 24 hours that elapse, the target must repeat the saving throw, reducing its hit point maximum by 5 (1d10) on a failure. The disease is cured on a success. The target dies if the disease reduces its hit point maximum to 0. This reduction to the target’s hit point maximum lasts until the disease is cured.

ABOUT

Huecuvas are the risen corpses of heretical priests who blasphemed and renounced their deities before meeting death. In unlife, they hate and seek to destroy those pious souls who keep their vows. Most huecuvas remember little of their former lives except for the blasphemies that led them to their cursed fates. They often find themselves drawn to the ruins of old temples, where they rage against or seek hopeless absolution from the deities who so afflicted them. Huecuvas sometimes work in concert with other undead creatures that share the same area

Although easily mistaken for zombies or even skeletons, huecuvas have a spark of intelligence that makes them cunning and deceptive foes. During daylight hours, a huecuva becomes shrouded in an illusion that causes it to appear as it did in life-at these times, a huecuva might seek to infiltrate society to dwell among those it hates. When night falls, it emerges to seek out its prey. Fortunately for the living, the typical huecuva has only fragments of intellect remaining, so it is usually not long before the undead creature makes an error of judgment or simply reveals itself for the monster it is.