Redcap

A redcap is a homicidal fey creature born of blood lust. Redcaps, although small, have formidable strength, which they use to hunt and kill without hesitation or regret.

Basic Information

Anatomy

This grizzled, weather-beaten creature looks like a sour old man at first glance, complete with scraggly beard. It carries a great pike and wears heavy boots, shod with iron, and the blood-soaked hat jammed on its head is hard to miss. It grins with massive yellow teeth.

Genetics and Reproduction

At first, new redcaps look like tiny bloodstained mushrooms just pushing their caps out of the soil. When moonlight shines on one of these caps, a creature that looks like a wizened and undersized gnome with a hunched back and a sinewy frame springs from the earth. The creature has a pointed leather cap, pants of similar material, heavy iron boots, and a heavy bladed weapon. From the moment it awakens, a redcap desires only murder and carnage, and it sets out to satisfy these cravings.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Redcaps lack subtlety. They live for direct confrontation and the mayhem of mortal combat. Even if a redcap wanted to be stealthy, its iron boots force it to take ponderous, thunderous steps. When a redcap is near to potential prey, though, it can close the distance quickly and get in a vicious swing of its weapon before the target can react.
Blood-Soaked Caps. Redcaps are exceedingly dangerous creatures who wear the mark of their cruelty and evil quite literally. The caps from which they take their name define their existence, and they must constantly be revived with fresh blood.
Compelled to Kill. Redcaps aren’t cruel and murderous by choice, but by necessity. A redcap must frequently bathe its cap in fresh, humanoid blood to sustain itself. If it fails to do so every three days, the creature withers and dies quickly. A redcap whose hat is nearly dry is a desperate, violent force of nature that prefers to die in battle rather than waste away to nothing.

Civilization and Culture

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Bandits and Mercenaries. Most long-lived redcaps are drawn to serve in marauding armies or make a living through constant banditry.
Redcaps don't usually operate in groups, but in some circumstances they might be fond in the employ of hags and dark mages that know methods to call redcaps out of the Feywild and put them to work as grisly servants.
In any case, if a redcap works with another being, the redcap demands to be paid in victims. A patron who tries to stifle a redcap's natural and necessary urge for blood risks becoming the redcap's next target.

Related Ethnicities

• Feywild natives
• Winter Fae

Redcap

Medium fey, any

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 105 14d8+42

Speed 40ft

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STR

20 +5

DEX

10 0

CON

17 +3

INT

11 0

WIS

13 +1

CHA

8 -1

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Saving Throws Con +6

Skills Athletics +8, Intimidation +5

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Sylvan

Challenge 6

Clomping Boots. The redcap has disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Red Cap. The redcap must soak its cap in the blood of a humanoid killed no more than an hour ago at least once every three days. If it goes more than 72 hours without doing so, the blood on its cap dries and the redcap gains one level of Exhaustion every 24 hours. While the cap is dry, the redcap can’t remove exhaustion by any means. All levels of exhaustion are removed immediately when the redcap soaks its cap in fresh blood. A redcap that dies as a result of this exhaustion crumbles to dust.
Solid Kick. The redcap can kick a creature within 5 feet as a bonus action. The kicked creature must make a successful DC 15 Strength saving throw or fall prone.

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Actions

Multiattack. The redcap makes two pike attacks and one bite attack.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage and the creature is bleeding profusely. A bleeding creature must make a successful DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the start of its turn or take 10 (3d6) necrotic damage and continue bleeding. On a successful save the creature takes no necrotic damage and the effect ends. A creature takes only 10 necrotic damage per turn from this effect no matter how many times it’s been bitten, and a single successful saving throw ends all bleeding. Spending an action to make a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check or any amount of magical healing also stops the bleeding. Constructs and undead are immune to the bleeding effect.
Pike. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.