Minister Of Tumult
Level 14Attacks
Abilities
A jiang-shi can't perceive living creatures beyond 5 feet except with their breathsense. A living creature within the listed range who holds its breath is Invisible to the jiang-shi for as long as it holds its breath. To hold its breath in this way, a creature must have one hand free to fully plug its nose or cover its mouth.
All jiang-shi possess the following vulnerabilities.
- •Revulsion A jiang-shi can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of a brandished mirror or the sound of ringing handbells. A creature can Interact with a mirror or handbell to brandish or ring the item for 1 round (similar to Raising a Shield). If the jiang-shi involuntarily comes within 10 feet of an object of their revulsion, they gain the Fleeing condition, running from the object of their revulsion until they are 10 feet or farther from t
Unlike other undead, a jiang-shi isn't destroyed at 0 HP. Instead, they fall Unconscious and awaken in 1 minute with 1 Hit Point. Scattering at least 1 Bulk of glutinous rice or hen eggs on an unconscious jiang-shi destroys them permanently. If the jiang-shi was reduced to 0 HP by an attack from a weapon made of duskwood, they're destroyed immediately.
The jiang-shi has corrupted the fulu attached to their brow. The jiang-shi is immune to spells cast from a magic item without expending a spell slot, such as from a scroll or wand. A creature can Steal the fulu to remove it, rolling against the jiangshi's Perception DC. This immediately ends the jiang-shi's immunity to these effects. If a creature then destroys the removed fulu with an Interact action, the jiang-shi also loses their fast healing ability. A jiang-shi can create a replacement fulu
Requirements A Grabbed, Paralyzed, Restrained, Unconscious, or willing creature is within the jiang-shi's reach
Effect The jiang-shi drains the victim's life energy, or qi, through their breath. This requires an athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is Drained 1 and the jiang-shi regains 19[healing] HP, gaining any excess as temporary Hit Points. Draining qi from a creature that's already dra
Trigger The minister rolls initiative or their turn begins
Effect The minister is attuned to coming violence. The minister uses Stance of Death.
The jiang-shi ignores difficult terrain and effects that would render them Prone. A jiang-shi can't take the Drop Prone action. When they Leap they don't trigger reactions that are normally triggered by move actions, such as Attacks of Opportunity.
The minister's qi-engorged form allows perfect body control at all times. They assume one of the following stances.
- •Bone Corpse When the minister successfully Drains Qi while in this stance, for 1 round each time the drained creature Strides it must succeed at a DC 5 flat or waste the action and fall Prone.
- •Cloudless Void The jiang-shi gains a +1 circumstance bonus to AC and their claw Strikes gain the reach trait.
- •Sundered Veins Creatures struck by the jiang-shi's claw Strikes take
Jiang-shi are terrifying hopping vampires from Tian Xia. Though similar to other vampires—they are undead, drain vital energy from the living, and can be slain only in specific ways—jiang-shi feast upon the breath of the living, also known as qi or ki, instead of blood. While they possess unique powers, including their magic-deflecting paper fulus, extraordinary jumping ability, and immunity to sunlight, jiang-shi also possess unique vulnerabilities, such as the inability to see living creatures save through breathsense, a revulsion to bells and mirrors, and near-stupefying melancholia. Thankfully, most jiang-shi can't create vampiric spawn.
Ministers of tumult are grandmasters of killing, having cultivated their prowess to supernatural levels through the qi reaved from countless mortals. Many such jiang-shi ministers rule over settlements or even entire city-states, cowing their subjects into unerring obedience.
A settlement or city-state under the control of a minister of tumult typically seems, on the outside, like everything is running smoothly and with clockwork precision. Guard patrols, street cleanings, carriages, and more always arrive precisely at the designated time, neither early nor late. To a visitor who doesn't pay any heed to the unease behind the smiles on the inhabitants' faces, the minister of tumult's fiefdom might appear to be a marvelous place to live. But the truth is much more dire. Ministers of tumult keep control and engorge themselves with qi by draining qi from criminals. If the minister of tumult is hungry and there haven't been any serious crimes, they simply dole out this punishment for petty crimes, minor infractions, or simple failures to perform adequately. This keeps the people in check, as there always seems to be a way to avoid the penalty by acting perfectly.