Drude
Level 2Abilities
A monster with telepathy can communicate mentally with any creatures within the listed radius, as long as they share a language. This doesn't give any special access to their thoughts, and communicates no more information than normal speech would.
A constant spell affects the monster without the monster needing to cast it, and its duration is unlimited. If a constant spell gets counteracted, the monster can reactivate it by spending the normal spellcasting actions the spell requires.
When a drude using Change Shape is reduced to fewer than half their Hit Points, they revert to their true form.
90 feet. A creature that sleeps within the drude's aura is tormented with horrific nightmares and must attempt a DC 18 will save. On a failure, it's Enfeebled 1 for 24 hours when it awakens. On a critical failure, it's also Fatigued.
The drude takes on the appearance of a Small animal or inanimate object. This doesn't affect their statistics, but it could change the damage type of their Strikes while in animal form. The monster changes its shape indefinitely. It can use this action again to return to its natural shape or adopt a new shape. Unless otherwise noted, a monster cannot use Change Shape to appear as a specific individual. Using Change Shape counts as creating a disguise for the Impersonate use of Deception. The monster's transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine whether the creature is a member of the ancestry or creature type into which it transformed, and it gains a +4 status bonus to its Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through its disguise. Change Shape abilities specify what shapes the monster can adopt. The monster doesn't gain any special abilities of the new shape, only its physical form. For example, in each shape, it replaces its normal Speeds and Strikes, and might potentially change its senses or size. Any changes are listed in its stat block.
The drude targets a creature they can see within 30 feet and assaults it with illusions of ghosts and nightly terrors. The creature must attempt a DC 18 will save. Critical Success The creature is unaffected and temporarily immune for 24 hours. Success The creature takes 1d6 mental damage. Failure The creature takes 1d6 mental damage and is Frightened 1. Critical Failure The creature takes 2d6 mental damage and is Frightened 2.
Description
A drude is a gorga who embodies the fear of haunted places at night. This shadowy, shapeshifting fey is drawn to places of great tragedy, loss, or conflict, where they prey on their victim's fear of their surroundings. A drude takes perverse pleasure in toying with their quarry, whom they terrorize and exhaust over the course of the night. Malicious but not truly malevolent, a drude typically stops short of causing death since that would put an end to their fun. When faced with a situation they can't win, this fey is more likely to flee than fight.
A drude's true form resembles an emaciated, tailless fox made of darkness and ghostly shadows, though a drude rarely reveals this true self to others. When a drude has set their sights on a target, they prefer to shift into a form better suited to infiltrating the victim's sleeping space, such as a stray dog, a nearby shrub, or an item nestled among the target's gear.
If the drude can't find a suitable location for their fun, they'll make one. They find the most isolated area they can and put on a great show to bring out the fear of any residents. The unfortunate people in the drude's chosen territory are stalked by strange figures, assailed by wailing sounds, and haunted by terrible nightmares—all tricks by the shapeshifting drude to create the perfect environment for themself. Very rarely, a drude might become attached to a particular victim and follow them to other locations, choosing to haunt them instead of a singular location.