Original generation · R21 Media Group
The Purser
Medium undead, lawful neutral
Harbour law records what a port owes. The purser records what the sea is owed, and the sea keeps books too — every drowning in the Reach is an entry, and every entry is collected eventually. The purser walks out of low water in a pressed coat, states each soul's balance politely, and offers terms: passage now, or passage later with the interest. Saltspire's clergy hate it, because it is never wrong, and the muster obeys it, because it signs their release. It has never once taken a soul that was not owed.
Armor Class 16 (grave-ward robes)
Hit Points 199 (19d8 + 114)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
- STR
- 20 (+5)
- DEX
- 14 (+2)
- CON
- 22 (+6)
- INT
- 17 (+3)
- WIS
- 20 (+5)
- CHA
- 18 (+4)
Saving Throws Cha +8, Con +10, Wis +9
Skills Insight +9, Religion +7, Persuasion +8
Damage Resistances necrotic, radiant; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned
Senses truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages all, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 12
Traits
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the purser fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
The Manifest. The purser cannot be permanently destroyed while its manifest — the sea's ledger of souls owed in the Reach — exists anywhere in the world. When reduced to 0 hit points it dissolves into brine and reforms beside the manifest in 1d10 days. The manifest is not carried; finding it, and finding someone able to amend it, is the only way to be rid of the purser for good.
Soul-Sight. The purser knows roughly how close to death each creature it sees is, and how long each has left to live within a season. It is never crude about this. It simply never bargains blind.
Negotiator of Ends. The purser opens every encounter with terms rather than violence. A bargain it strikes functions as a magical obligation: the debtor must deliver the named soul — rarely their own — to the water by an agreed date, and until then the purser treats them as a client, not a meal. Breaking terms hands the debt to the muster.
Actions
Multiattack. The purser makes two reap attacks.
Reap. Melee Attack Roll: +9, reach 5 ft. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) Slashing damage plus 11 (2d10) Necrotic damage. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this attack dies outright if it had 35 hit points or fewer, and its soul stands beside its body awaiting terms.
Name the Passage. The purser addresses one creature it can see within 60 feet, stating the date of its death. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) Psychic damage and being frightened until the end of its next turn on a failed save, or half as much damage and no fright on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
The purser can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The purser regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Reap. The purser makes one reap attack.
Withdraw. The purser moves up to half its fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Step Through Death (Costs 2 Actions). The purser teleports to any dying or dead creature it can see within 300 feet, arriving beside the soul, not the body.
