ZUQ
HEY KID, WANNA ZUCC YOUR PLAYERS
Zuq
“I was human. I am human - still.” One of the original yuan-ti - former humans that used heinous rituals to achieve snakelike form. Unlike most high-ranking yuan-ti, Zuq isn’t very good at keeping up his human disguise; his human form tends to be waxy and off-putting (he has a lot of trouble getting hair and eyebrows right); his body language and movements are unconvincing; and it’s clear that his mimicry of human norms are just pale imitations. To compensate for his lacking disguises, Zuq makes sure to masquerade under Very Ordinary Human Names.
Though Zuq appears awkward and non-threatening compared to his peers, Zuq’s magical prowess is nothing to be trifled with. Experimental twists on deep yuan-ti rituals left Zuq with different innate abilities than the rest of his ilk; coupled with vast knowledge of the arcane, Zuq is a master of stealth, reconnaissance, and subjugation.
Zuq seems obsessed with gathering as much knowledge as possible – especially pertaining to the daily lives, problematic opinions, and personal secrets of humanoids. No one’s sure what Zuq’s endgame is, beyond selling this information to the highest bidder to amass wealth, his wealth-hoarding tendencies only rivaled by ancient dragons.
Zuq will exhaust all escape plans before he resorts to physical combat. He prefers to sow discord with his spells, sic his security detail on attackers, then escape amid the chaos.
Though Zuq likes to tout his 1 gp salary in an attempt to appear human, he’s one of the richest beings in the multiverse through various assets. He has shocking amounts of gold, and his various lairs are riddled with hidden vaults. But Zuq’s most valuable and dangerous treasure is his Book of Faces – a magic tome that serves as a sort of second brain, retaining every piece of information Zuq’s ever learned - every spell, factoid, secret, and thought, no matter how banal or random. The breadth of personal information contained in the Book of Faces rivals most spy networks across the planes.
Zuq
Medium aberration (yuan-ti), neutral evil
Armor Class 16 (mental defense)
Hit Points 99 (18d8 + 18)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 8(-1) DEX 12(+1) CON 13(+1) INT 20(+5) WIS 10(0) CHA 13(+1)
Skills Alien Technology +13, Deception +9, Insight +13, Perception +4, Persuasion +5
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages Abyssal, Common, Deep Speech, Draconic
Challenge 11 (7,200 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +4
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Innate Spellcasting. Zuq’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components.
At will: locate creature, silence
3/day: invisibility
1/day each: greater invisibility, hallucinatory terrain (but everything in the illusion is stiff and off-putting)
Spellcasting. Zuq is a 17th level spellcaster (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). Zuq has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): friends, infestation, light, message, mind sliver
1st level (4 slots): charm person, comprehend languages, distort value, expeditious retreat, silent image
2nd level (3 slots): borrowed knowledge, detect thoughts, mind spike (frequently casts at higher levels in combat), suggestion
3rd level (3 slots): fast friends, incite greed, sending, tongues
4th level (3 slots): confusion, Mordenkainen’s private sanctum, summon construct
5th level (2 slots): contact other plane, dominate person
6th level (1 slot): mass suggestion
7th level (1 slot): project image
8th level (1 slot): feeblemind
9th level (1 slot): psychic scream
Lack of Conscience. Zuq is immune to Charisma checks or abilities that attempt to appeal to or manipulate a sense of morality.
Magic Resistance. Zuq has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Mental Defense. While Zuq is wearing no armor, his AC includes his Intelligence modifier.
Shapechanger. Zuq can use his action to polymorph into a Large snake, into his human form, or into his true form. His statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment Zuq’s wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. Zuq doesn’t change form if he dies.
Actions
Multiattack. Zuq makes three attacks with his mind rapier, or two attacks with his stun gun.
Mind Rapier. Melee Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) psychic damage.
Stun Gun. Ranged Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 26 (4d12) lightning damage. On a hit, the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target’s synapses are scrambled; they are incapacitated until the beginning of their next turn.
Steal Idea (1/Day). Zuq targets a sapient creature’s feature, skill proficiency, or spell that he wants to steal. The target makes a DC 16 save. The default saving throw is Intelligence, but any spellcasters that use Wisdom or Charisma make the save with their respective spellcasting ability instead. On a failure, Zuq gains the targeted ability. Until Zuq uses this stolen ability, it’s locked for the target. Once Zuq uses the stolen ability, he loses the ability as the character regains it.
Zuq can use Steal Idea on any ability, regardless if a character’s used up their charges for the time being. All abilities return recharged. For example: A fighter uses their Second Wind. Zuq succeeds in stealing Second Wind. As soon as Zuq uses Second Wind, the fighter regains full use of Second Wind, and they can use it again.
Zuq can keep trying Steal Idea until it succeeds.
Bonus Actions
The Book of Faces. A magic text of Zuq’s creation – supposedly. The Book of Faces contains everything Zuq knows about everybody.
Due to Zuq’s protective enchantments, the Book of Faces literally can’t be pried from his body while he’s alive.
As a bonus action, Zuq can try to learn something new, plucking facts out of the aether. Anything Zuq learns is magically transcribed in the appropriate section of the Book of Faces.
If over 1,000 living (or undead) sapient creatures know what Zuq’s trying to learn, he does not need to make a check; he automatically learns this fact.
If 100 to 999 creatures know this fact, Zuq must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence check.
If 10 to 99 creatures know this fact, Zuq must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence check.
If 2 to 9 creatures know this fact, Zuq must succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence check.
If only 1 living creature knows this fact, Zuq must succeed on a DC 25 Intelligence check to learn it.
If Zuq fails any of these checks by 10 or more, he can’t attempt to learn this fact again with the Book of Faces for 1 year.
Anti-scrying spells such as encode thoughts and nondetection protect against the Book of Faces’ prying eyes/ears/eldritch sensory organs.
Legendary Actions
Zuq can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Zuq regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Ban(ishment) (Costs 2 Actions). Each successive ban lasts longer, culminating in a permaban. Make sure you or your players keep track of their ban stacks – not just for one encounter, but as long as Zuq is alive. The progression for Zuq’s banishing magic:
1st Ban: 1 round
2nd Ban: 1 minute
3rd Ban: 1 hour
4th Ban: 1 day
5th Ban: 1 week
6th Ban: 1 month
7th Ban: 1 year
8th Ban: permanent. You can no longer return to the plane where Zuq casts this instance of banishment. Plane shift and similar spells automatically fail if you’re trying to access the perma-banned plane.
The stain of Zuq’s magical banishment can only be removed by castings of greater restoration, nondetection, or remove curse cast at a level equal to the number of bans. For example, a permanent ban can only be removed by the aforementioned spells cast at 8th level.
The Book of Faces. Zuq attempts to glean information with the Book of Faces.
Cast a Spell (Costs 2 Actions). Zuq casts one of the spells in his repertoire.
Regional Effects
The region surrounding Zuq’s lair is altered by Zuq’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects:
Collect Data. All of Zuq’s experiences are magically recorded in the Book of Faces.
Disseminate Brain Poison. Anyone targeted by a spell cast from the Book of Faces (NOT one of Zuq’s innate spells) must succeed on a DC 10 Intelligence saving throw or suffer 1d4 Intelligence or Wisdom damage – DM’s choice. Greater restoration cures all accrued ability damage at once. A short rest spent reading academic texts by accredited/verified sources will restore 1 point of ability damage of the player’s choice. 1 long rest of this activity heals all ability damage.
Eyes and Ears Everywhere. Zuq can hear the voices of dissent as little annoying whispers.
If Zuq dies, these effects vanish immediately.
~
DESIGN NOTES
I know yuan-ti are traditionally Monstrosity-type (in 5e at least), but by dint of their origins + the creature type definitions set forth by WotC, I think of them as aberrations. Fight me.
I admit the flavor text might be a little lacking, but I spent so long on everything else, I just wanted to get Zuq out there.
