Tiny fiend, chaotic evil

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 13 (3d4 + 6)
Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft.

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +2 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
6 (-2)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)	4 (-3)	7 (-2)	2 (-4)

Saving Throws (suggested) Dex +4
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Spell Vulnerabilities (suggested) Light-based spells blind the Vargouille
Senses darkvision 60 ft. (suggested 120 ft.), passive Perception 8
Languages understands Abyssal, Infernal, and any languages it knew before becoming a vargouille but can’t speak
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the vargouille has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

ACTIONS

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.
• Bite (suggested). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage. The target must make a successful DC 12 Constitution saving throw or the bite damage becomes permanent and prevents natural healing, unless specific spells are used to heal the wounds: a heal spells restore 1d8 hit points; a regenerate spell restores 4d8 hit points at a rate of 1 hit point per round. A wish spell restores all hit points and the ability to recover hit points with short or long rests.
• Kiss. The vargouille kisses one incapacitated humanoid within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or become cursed. The cursed target loses 1 point of Charisma after each hour, as its head takes on fiendish aspects. The curse doesn’t advance while the target is in sunlight or the area of a daylight spell; don’t count that time. When the cursed target’s Charisma becomes 2, it dies, and its head tears from its body and becomes a new vargouille. Casting remove curse, greater restoration, or a similar spell on the target before the transformation is complete can end the curse. Doing so undoes the changes made to the target by the curse.
• Stunning Shriek. The vargouille shrieks. Each humanoid and beast within 30 feet of the vargouille and able to hear it must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the vargouille’s next turn. While frightened in this way, a target is stunned. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the Stunning Shriek of all vargouilles for 1 hour.

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Vargouille: A Flying Fiendish Head

Vargouilles are terrifying creatures that resemble severed human heads with bat-like wings and tentacles. They are native to the Abyss, but they can also be found in other evil planes such as Carceri and the Outlands. Vargouilles are driven by a hunger for flesh and a desire to spread their curse to other living beings.

Description

A vargouille is about 18 inches high and weighs 10 pounds. It has leathery wings that sprout from its ears, allowing it to fly with ease. Its mouth is full of jagged teeth, and its eyes glow with a green flame. Its head is covered with writhing tendrils that act as sensory organs and weapons. A vargouille can speak Abyssal and Infernal, as well as any languages it knew before becoming a vargouille, but it cannot speak coherently or intelligently. It only utters shrieks, hisses, and curses.

A vargouille is not a natural creature, but a product of a horrific transformation. A vargouille was once a humanoid or a beast that was infected by another vargouille’s bite or kiss. The infection takes effect at night, causing the victim’s head to detach from its body and grow wings and tentacles. The victim’s body dies, while the head becomes a new vargouille. The process can be prevented by removing the head before the transformation is complete, or by using powerful magic such as remove curse or heal.

Vargouilles usually remain below ground or inside buildings, but they sometimes fly at night in search of prey. In ruins, they appear at dusk and disappear by dawn. They have no interest in wealth or art, but they sometimes keep items that remind them of their former lives.

Vargouilles are rumored to be the creations of a powerful wizard named Rozvankee the Strategist. Her particular genius lay in the creation of terror weapons of the worst sort. During a prolonged siege against a neighboring duchy, she created the first nine of the creatures and had them released behind enemy lines. The resulting panic led to morale problems, and her shock troops overwhelmed the enemy. In the fullness of time, Rozvankee grew tired of terrestrial affairs, and upon achieving lichdom she retired to one of the watery layers of the Abyss. There she practices piracy in a three-masted ship made from the bones of her enemies.

Combat

Vargouilles are cowardly and cunning predators. They prefer to ambush their prey in dark and isolated places, where they can use their shriek to paralyze them with fear. A vargouille’s shriek can affect any humanoid or beast within 30 feet that can hear it, unless they have the willpower to resist it. The effect lasts until the end of the vargouille’s next turn.

A vargouille can also bite or kiss its prey, depending on its mood and hunger. A bite inflicts physical damage and injects a venom that prevents magical healing. The venom can only be cured by neutralize poison or heal spells, or by powerful magic such as regenerate or wish. A kiss does not harm the target, but infects it with the vargouille’s curse, which will turn the target into a new vargouille at night. The curse can only be lifted by remove curse or heal spells, or by powerful magic such as wish.

Vargouilles are resistant to cold, fire, and lightning damage, and immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. They have darkvision up to 60 feet, and can sense their surroundings with their tentacles. They are vulnerable to light sources, which they avoid or try to extinguish. They are also susceptible to holy water, silver weapons, and spells that affect evil creatures.

Habitat / Society

Vargouilles are solitary hunters, but they sometimes form flocks of up to a dozen members. They communicate with each other through shrieks and gestures, but they have no loyalty or hierarchy among them. They often fight over food or territory, and sometimes cannibalize each other.

Vargouilles inhabit dark and dismal places, such as caves, dungeons, ruins, graveyards, swamps, or forests. They make their lairs in hidden crevices or hollows, where they hoard the treasures and corpses of their victims.

Vargouilles have no culture beyond their pack mentality; only the strong survive, and the strongest rules. Like some other beasts, they fall upon weak or wounded members of their own pack to finish them off.

Vargouilles have spread from the Lower Planes by infecting travelers and adventurers with their race-perpetuating disease, and they are now found even in thriving cities. There they usually stay underground, waiting for explorers, rather than risk discovery by flying in view of so many people.

Vargouilles have no culture or religion of their own, but they sometimes serve more powerful fiends as spies, scouts, messengers, or guards. They are especially loyal to demons and devils that can grant them more prey or protection from their enemies.

Ecology

Vargouilles are carnivorous creatures that feed on any living flesh they can find. They prefer humanoids and beasts over other fiends or undead, as they can also infect them with their curse. Vargouilles do not need to eat often, but they enjoy the thrill of hunting and killing.

Vargouilles reproduce by infecting other creatures with their curse. They do not have any preference for gender or race of their victims, as long as they are living humanoids or beasts. Vargouilles do not care for their offspring, and often abandon them or treat them as rivals.

Vargouilles have few natural predators, as they are feared and hated by most creatures. However, they are hunted by adventurers, clerics, paladins, rangers, and other enemies of evil. Vargouilles also have a rivalry with gargoyles, which they consider impostors of their kind.

Vargouilles are vicious predators with few natural enemies, though good creatures would like to see them become extinct. They are also sometimes hunted by the friends of victims who transformed into the thing. Vargouilles prefer living prey, but they also eat carrion and weak pack members as well.

How Vargouilles Spread Their Evil Kiss and Bite?

Vargouilles can infect any living humanoid or beast of size Large or smaller with their curse. The size of the vargouille may change to Small if the size of the target of the curse was Large. For example, if a vargouille kisses a Large humanoid, such as an ogre or a minotaur, the resulting vargouille will be Small instead of Medium. Similarly, if a vargouille kisses a Large beast, such as a lion or a bear, the resulting vargouille will be Small instead of Large.

The damage of the bite depends on the size and category of the target. A Large humanoid vargouille can inflict 1d6 or 1d8 bite damage, depending on its original race. A Large beast vargouille can inflict the same damage as its original bite, which may vary from 1d4 to 2d10, depending on the type of beast. A Medium or Small humanoid or beast vargouille can inflict 1d4 bite damage, regardless of its original race or type.