This creature has been haunting my dreams for a very long time.
I wanted a creature that combined aspects of the witch, vampire, hag and lich into one creature. A "first draft" of this creature was known as an Occult Lich, but that did not really capture what I wanted. Here is another attempt. This time for Labyrinth Lord.
Zugarramurdi Brujas
No. Enc.: 1 (3)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 2
Hit Dice: 10+5*** (50 hp)
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite)
Damage: 1d4/1d4/1d6
Special: Wisdom & Charisma drain
Save: W 10
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: XVII
XP: 2,600
The Zugarramurdi Brujas are undead witches that are believed to have come from the village of Zugarramurdi, Spain. Zugarramurdi was the scene of a huge witch trail in the 17th century. It was believed that these witch sold their souls to a devil named
Akerbeltz, he gave them magical powers, silver and a toad familiar. When alive they had power of animals and members of the opposite sex. It was believed that these witches could also spit poison. To maintain their power they had to sacrifice children on the night of the Summer Solstice.
Some of the accused died before they saw trail, but many of the witches were tried and executed. Their remains, which could not be buried in hallowed ground, were tossed into a cave where the witches used to meet;
Cuevas de las Brujas ("Cave of the Witches").
It is said they returned from the dead on the next Summer Solstice.
The term now is used to refer to any witch that comes back from the dead due to improper burial. As an undead creature they are more powerful than they were in life, though most of their spell casting ability is diminished.
They attack with a claw/claw/bite routine as their primary form of attack. On a successful critical hit (natural 20) on any attack they also drain 1 point of Wisdom and 1 point of Charisma from their victims. Any victim reduced to 0 in either ability will become a zombie under control of the Zugarramurdi Bruja who killed it.
They also are surprised only on a 1 in 6.
They also cast the following spells as a 10th level witch:
Bewitch III, Charm, ESP, Eyebite, Greater Command, Shriek, Withering Touch, and
Undead Enslavement.
Zugarramurdi Brujas are vulnerable to silver, magic weapons and holy items. Holy water does 1d8 hp of damage to them. They can be turned by good cleric as if they were vampires. A lawful witch can also turn these creature as if she were a cleric of the same level, such is their abomination of all things the lawful witch holds sacred. Like a vampire these creature cannot enter into a personal dwelling unless they are granted permisson nor can they ever enter hallowed ground, such as a place of lawful worship or a graveyard. Doing so causes 1d8 hp damage per round.
