TEXT: Villain Spotlight: Jaxi the Blightgunner | EN World EN5idEr
  Jaxi the Blightgunner
  T
  he swamps of Chokewater 
  have always been filled with 
  death and decay. Its fetid waters 
  stink, and a mixture of rot and 
  foul vegetation permeates the air 
  with virulent gases that can induce 
  hallucinations, stifle the lungs, and 
  catch aflame. Worse yet is that deep 
  within its rotting fens there lurks a 
  foul, nebulous intelligence hostile 
  to all outside life. Sixteen years 
  ago the situation deteriorated even 
  further when a fallen mercenary, 
  left for dead after a brutal battle, 
  struck a bargain with the fell power 
  in the swamps and truly turned 
  them into a place of nightmares. 
  Now they are the domain of Jaxi, 
  the Blightgunner of Chokewater, 
  and she is explosive, poisonous 
  death to any who would enter her 
  corrupted and fiercely protected lair. 
   WRITING Peter Martin
   
  ART Herman Lau, Savage Mojo
   
  EDITING Mike Myler
   
  LAYOUT Frank Michienzi
  
  Villain Spotlight: Jaxi the Blightgunner | EN World EN5idEr
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  Background
  Jaxi (“YOK-see”) Marancinax was once a successful 
  mercenary. One of the officers in a company called 
  the Gray Fangs, she led her squad of dragonborn 
  soldiers with efficiency and tactical brilliance. They 
  operated mostly as scouts and infiltrators, pene-
  trating behind enemy lines to gather information 
  or to sow terror and chaos —and they were brutally 
  effective at their job.
  That all changed in the Third Battle of Ranzfel. 
  Jaxi’s unit had a simple mission: to make sure a 
  supply train moving through Chokewater, the 
  site of the Second Battle of Ranzfel, never made it 
  out the other side. Her team accomplished their 
  mission, crippling and trapping the supply column 
  in the swamp, but the combination of the rotting 
  casualties from the previous battle and the new 
  violence awakened something ancient and terrible 
  in the swamps. 
  Eight horrific days of fighting followed as the 
  darkness within the swamp, Jaxi’s forces, and the 
  defenders of the supply column waged a vicious 
  three-way battle. No quarter was asked, and none 
  was given. Nearly everyone on all sides involved 
  in the fighting perished and Jaxi, badly wounded, 
  slipped into unconsciousness. She awoke some time 
  later, surrounded by corpses and the remains of 
  the supply train she and her unit had attacked. As 
  she picked through the wreckage and corpses she 
  became aware of a dark, predatory presence in the 
  swamp, along with an understanding that it would 
  grant her power if she would stay and become the 
  new guardian of its home. 
  With her unit dead and her home on the other 
  side of a hostile army, Jaxi accepted the offer.
  Description 
  Jaxi is a physically-imposing, muscular dragonborn 
  of black dragon heritage. Her face is even more 
  skull-like and fearsome than is normal, and she has 
  a palpable aura of malevolence to her. The left side of 
  her body has several patches of paler scales—burn 
  scars she received in her days as a mercenary —and 
  when she uses her magic, glowing crimson veins 
  appear across her scaly skin. 
  She wears old half-plate armor from her merce-
  nary days, dressing in browns and greens to better 
  blend into her environment. Over time she has 
  modified several pieces of equipment to better suit 
  the environment she inhabits, and thick tendrils of 
  thorny vines cross her armor and body. The dark 
  power she draws from the swamps doesn’t like her 
  use of metal armor and firearms very much, but she 
  has forced the two opposed techniques together by 
  sheer force of will (and at some personal cost) to 
  create a lethal combat style that is uniquely hers.
  Motivations
  Jaxi has two primary motivations: keep her power 
  and find some way to get out of Chokewater. 
  Though she finds swamps comfortable thanks to 
  her black dragon heritage, she has often pondered 
  how much more effective she could be as a merce-
  nary with her newfound magical abilities. The fens, 
  on the other hand, want interlopers slain, and Jaxi 
  excels in the role of murderous guardian even if she 
  doesn’t always do so with gusto. 
  
  Villain Spotlight: Jaxi the Blightgunner | EN World EN5idEr
  Resources and Tactics
  As an adversary Jaxi draws upon her tactical talent, 
  military training, and marksmanship, the vast 
  number of corpses and military supplies still left 
  in the swamp after two dreadful battles (including 
  a significant amount of gunpowder), the fens of 
  Chokewater itself, and the twisted druidic magic 
  she draws from the swamps--and much to the 
  dismay of her foes she is adept at combining these 
  resources in unpleasant ways. One of her favorite 
  methods is to send zombies to confront intruders, 
  setting up the encounter so it happens in a cloud 
  of swamp gas that puts living foes at a disadvan-
  tage from the hallucinations and choking effects. 
  If the undead win the confrontation so much the 
  better, but if they are losing she fires a shot at one 
  with a nail bomb stuffed into its torso, detonating 
  the incendiary device to trigger an explosive chain 
  reaction in the swamp gas. She also has camou-
  flaged kegs of gunpowder in various locations 
  where her enemies need to bunch up or travel over 
  some narrow walkway, and can detonate them with 
  shots from hidden positions.
  Jaxi herself isn’t all that nasty in a straight-up 
  fight, especially against a coordinated group, but 
  with some planning and the right circumstances 
  she can pose a real challenge. Any time the PCs 
  are in her swamps, they should be wading through 
  muck (treating the ground as difficult terrain), 
  attacking with disadvantage or holding their 
  breath from the swamp gas, fighting off zombies, 
  alligators of all sizes, and piranhas, dealing 
  with buried explosives, and desperately searching 
  for the sneaky sniper that keeps taking potshots at 
  them and using druidic magic to lock them down 
  in dangerous locations.
  Bomb Zombie
  Jaxi has emptied out the chest cavities of several 
  zombies, stitching them back up with barrels of 
  gunpowder and nails inside. When one of these 
  undead is killed with fire damage or if she hits it 
  with a rifle shot, the zombie detonates, dealing 7 
  (2d6) piercing damage and 10 (3d6) fire damage to 
  any creatures within 10 feet. A creature may halve 
  this damage with a successful DC 15 Dexterity save. 
  About one out of every four zombies in Chokewater 
  is so augmented, and Jaxi has built up about 150 
  zombies in total (spread around the swamps in 
  groups of 5–15).
  Chokewater Gas
  The gas of Chokewater is infamously vile. A crea-
  ture that starts its turn inside the gas or enters into 
  its area must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw 
  and a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. When 
  a creature fails the Wisdom saving throw, it has 
  disadvantage on attack rolls until it escapes from 
  the gas. Failure on the Constitution saving throw 
  causes the creature to starts suffocating until it 
  escapes from the gas. Creatures immune to poison 
  automatically succeed on these saving throws. 
  Additionally, the gas is highly flammable. When 
  any flames are exposed to the area of the gas—
  whether fire damage or open flames —it triggers 
  an explosion that deals 10 (3d6) fire damage to crea-
  tures in a 10-foot radius, removing gas from that 
  area for the next minute. 
  Hooks
  Trying to take anything at all out of Chokewater 
  draws Jaxi’s wrath, but sometimes something is so 
  important that these risks must be taken anyway. 
  Perhaps the swamps contain the cure for a terrible 
  plague or a vault with a powerful artifact that the 
  PCs need to retrieve.
  While she’s never been particularly nice, Jaxi 
  isn’t terribly happy in her situation and isn’t moti-
  vated by sadism or spite, but the will imposed 
  upon her by the dark entity that dwells in Choke-
  water. Of course if adventurers try to help her 
  break away they’ll have to fight the evil of the 
  swamps to do so—should she be freed from its 
  control, over time she will gradually revert to her 
  old lawful neutral alignment.
  
  Villain Spotlight: Jaxi the Blightgunner | EN World EN5idEr
  4th level (3 slots): blight, control water
  5th level (2 slots): antilife shell
  Spore Powder. Whenever Jaxi uses a firearm to make 
  one or more ranged weapon attacks on her turn, 
  creatures within 5 feet of her must make a DC 14 
  Constitution save or be poisoned until the start of 
  her next turn. 
  Superb Aim. Jaxi ignores half cover and three-quarters 
  cover when making a ranged weapon attack, and she 
  doesn’t have disadvantage when attacking at long 
  range. When Jaxi makes her first ranged weapon 
  attack in a turn, she can choose to take a –5 penalty to 
  her ranged weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 
  bonus to ranged weapon damage.
  ACTIONS
  Multiattack. Jaxi attacks twice.
  Saber. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 10 (2d6+3) slashing damage. 
  Rifle. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 80/240 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 15 (2d10+4) magical piercing damage.
  Acid Shot (20). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 
  30/90 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10+4) magical piercing 
  damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage.
  Fanged Shot (10). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, 
  range 30/90 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10+4) magical 
  piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage. Jaxi 
  regains hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt.
  Toxic Breath (Recharge 4-6). Jaxi exhales poisonous 
  acid in a 20-foot cone. Each creature in that area must 
  make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 10 
  (3d6) acid damage and 10 (3d6) poison damage, and be 
  poisoned for 1 minute. A creature that succeeds on the 
  saving throw takes half damage and is not poisoned.   
  LAIR ACTIONS
  On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Jaxi takes a 
  lair action to cause one of the following effects:
  * Jaxi casts a spell of up to 2nd level or higher.
  * A popping gas bubble explodes with poisonous 
  acid. This action is identical to her Toxic Breath 
  attack but originates in any square within 30 feet 
  that she can see.
  * Jaxi summons a patch of Chokewater gas that fills 
  a 30-foot radius sphere.
  Out of the algae-covered stagnant water rises a cloaked 
  figure draped in vines and dressed in tarnished half plate 
  with a rotted black cloak hanging from her shoulders. 
  The skull-like visage of a black dragonborn glowers from 
  beneath her hood as she aims a rifle in your direction.
  JAXI, BLIGHTGUNNER OF CHOKEWATER
  MEDIUM HUMANOID (DRAGONBORN), LAWFUL EVIL 
  Armor Class 17 (half plate)
  Hit Points 97 (13d8+39)
  Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
  14 (+2) 
  17 (+3) 
  16 (+3) 
  15 (+2) 
  18 (+4) 
  12 (+1)
  Saving Throws Dex +6, Int +5, Wis +7
  Skills History +5, Perception +7, Stealth +9
  Damage Resistances acid, fire
  Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses passive Perception 22
  Languages Common, Draconic, Druidic
  Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
  Amphibious. Jaxi can breathe air and water.
  Druidic Heretic. Jaxi can wear metal armor and still 
  use her spells.
  Eldritch-Eyed. Jaxi is able to read lips. In addition, her 
  vision is not impaired by murky water, fog, magical 
  darkness, or swamp gas while she is within the 
  swamps of Chokewater.
  Medium Armor Expert. Jaxi does not have disadvantage 
  on Dexterity (Stealth) checks from wearing medium 
  armor, and she adds +3 from Dexterity instead of +2 
  when she is wearing medium armor.
  Spellcasting. Jaxi is a 13th-level spellcaster. Her 
  spellcasting  ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 
  to hit with spell attacks). She has the following spells 
  prepared from the druid’s spell list:
  Cantrips (at will): chill touch, druidcraft, poison spray, 
  produce flame, 
  1st level (4 slots): entangle, fog cloud, longstrider
  2nd level (3 slots): flaming sphere, pass without trace, 
  spike growth
  3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, dispel magic,  
  plant growth
  
  Villain Spotlight: Jaxi the Blightgunner | EN World EN5idEr
  Trait: I don’t much care about looking or smelling nice 
  any more. Living in a swamp for 16 years will do that 
  to you.
  Ideal: Survival—I do what I must so I can keep living. 
  If that means you die, so be it.
  Bond: Better to serve the swamps than die here. 
  Chokewater can hurt me, but it can’t make me give up 
  who I am.
  Flaw: I will do this my way. 
  Magic Items
  After Jaxi is defeated or if the adventurers negotiate 
  a peaceful resolution, they may acquire one or more 
  of the following magic items from Chokewater.
  Acid Bullet Recipe
  Wondrous item, uncommon
  Using this set of notes, you can undertake a 1 hour 
  process that imbues up to 10 pieces of ammunition 
  with corrosive energies that remain for 24 hours. 
  Doing so consumes a source of strong acid (like 
  an acid flask) and 10 gold worth of other materials. 
  Once imbued, on a successful hit the ammunition 
  deals an extra 7 (2d6) acid damage.
  Drypowder
  Weapon (rifle), rare (requires attunement)
  This unremarkable-looking rifle never misfires 
  and keeps its powder dry even when fully 
  submerged. You have a +1 bonus to attack and 
  damage rolls made with this magic weapon. In 
  addition, it never needs to be reloaded.
  Thorncase
  Armor (half plate), rare 
  This tarnished half plate can be worn by a druid—
  but it exacts a price. Whenever you cast a druid spell 
  while wearing this armor, you take necrotic damage 
  equal to the spell’s level as the armor sprouts thorns 
  that dig into your flesh. This damage cannot be 
  prevented, reduced, or redirected in any way unless 
  you are immune to necrotic damage. In addition, 
  while wearing Thorncase you cannot use the Wild 
  Shape feature. e
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 316 - VS Jaxi the Blightgunner.pdf