Nuckelavee

Large fiend, neutral evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 157 (21d10 + 42)
Speed 60 ft., swim 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	20 (+5)

Saving Throws Wis +8
Damage Resistances necrotic
Condition Immunities blinded, exhaustion, petrified
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Abyssal, Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Charge. If the nuckelavee moves at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a bite attack on the same turn, the attack deals an extra 16 (3d10) piercing damage.
• Glimpse Destiny. The nuckelavee can innately cast divination at will while it has stolen a creature’s luck.
• Magic Weapons. The nuckelavee’s weapon attacks are magical.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The nuckelavee makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. If both claws hit the same target, the target must make a DC 17 Strength or Dexterity saving throw or the nuckelavee steals a worn or carried item from the creature other than a magic weapon. If a creature could start a grapple with the nuckelavee, it can choose to retrieve an item instead.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
• Hoof. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage and the target must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Overrun. The nuckelavee moves up to its speed. It can move through the spaces of Medium and smaller creatures during this movement; each time it does, it can make a hoof attack against that creature. If it uses its movement later on the same turn, it can also overrun creatures in this way during that movement. The nuckelavee can’t attack the same creature more than once on the same turn this way.

REACTIONS

• Stolen Destiny. When the nuckelavee is hit by an attack or fails a saving throw, it can end its Steal Luck legendary action on one creature within 120 feet that it can see as a reaction. If it does, instead the attack misses or the nuckelavee succeeds on the saving throw.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

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

• Kick. The nuckelavee makes a hoof attack.
• Slashing Lunge (Costs 2 Actions). The nuckelavee makes two claw attacks on a single target. If both hit, the target must make a DC 17 Strength or Dexterity saving throw or the nuckelavee steals a worn or carried item from the creature other than a magic weapon. If a creature could start a grapple with the nuckelavee, it can choose to retrieve an item instead.
• Steal Luck. The nuckelavee steals the luck of a creature it can see within 120 feet. The creature must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or it is cursed with bad luck. For as long as it remains cursed, attack rolls against the creature are made with advantage and the target has disadvantage on attack rolls to hit the nuckelavee. The curse ends when the nuckelavee ends the effect or dies or when the target receives a remove curse spell.

ABOUT

This giant, vaguely humanoid fiend is draped in tattered, bloody rags that drag along the ground. Its arms split at the elbow into six separate arms, each with a clawed hand. Pauldrons of black feathers adorn its shoulders.

Each nuckelavee is a greedy fiend, eager to collect any magic item or resource it can use to further its eventual ascension into a fiend lord. It is not above stealing the good luck of its allies to fuel its own continued rampage. For this reason, other fiends tend to dislike the nuckelavee, and thus it is usually encountered alone.

Fate Stealer. Although magic items interest a nuckelavee greatly, it is just as intrigued by the fate and destiny of mortal creatures, which it can steal even more easily. When it steals the luck of a creature with an influential destiny, the nuckelavee learns more about the movings of the cosmos and comes one step closer to its apotheosis. It also gets vague glimpses of the great and terrible things that a creature it has stolen from might accomplish, and can use these visions to set into motion complex schemes to get power that its victim would have rightfully earned were it not for the nuckelavee’s interference.

Despoiler of Waters. An incarnation of rot, ruin, despair, and waste, the nuckelavee wallows in the waters of lands its legions have despoiled, tainting them with fiendish diseases, hazards, and poisons (see Ravaged Lands on page 122).

Legions. Nuckelavees typically serve as generals and elite scouts for the Cocytus, Styx, and Tartarus legions.

This towering quadruped has two clawed, gangly arms dangling down below its equine maw. A cloud of wet stink follows it.