The Last Lightkeeper
Armor Class 14 (stiffened oilskin)
Hit Points 52 (8d8+16)
Speed 30 ft. climb 30 ft.
Saving Throws Wis +4
Skills Survival +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold; necrotic; bludgeoning from nonmagical attacks; piercing from nonmagical attacks; slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Common
Challenge 3 (700 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
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"Keep to the painted stones. The sea has no patience for wanderers." — Edrin Vale, written in salt on the Gullwatch cliff path
Lore & Description
Appearance
A long yellow lighthouse keeper's coat walks upright along the cliff path, its oilskin shining with rain that never stops falling. Brass buttons glint where a chest should be, and a red wool scarf coils around an invisible neck. One empty sleeve grips a dented lantern whose blue flame burns without fuel; beneath the coat, wet bootprints appear one at a time, though no legs fill them. The collar is turned permanently toward the sea.
Behavior & Origins
The Last Lightkeeper was once Edrin Vale, keeper of Gullwatch Light, who died during a storm while searching for survivors from a ship that had already sunk. The lighthouse collapsed decades ago, and the shipwrecked souls he meant to guide are long gone, but his coat still patrols the path and attacks anyone who approaches the vanished lantern room. The spirit is protecting the memory of a final vessel called the Mercy Bell, whose supposed cargo was never recovered. A concrete hook for the DM: beneath the cliff lies a sealed sea cave containing the Mercy Bell's logbook, which names the person who sabotaged Gullwatch's beacon and caused Edrin's death.
Running The Last Lightkeeper
Tactics
The lightkeeper begins by using Mark the Safe Passage on the most heavily armed intruder, then uses Lantern of the Drowned Watch to frighten and separate the group. It teleports between patches of darkness and rain, pulling creatures toward cliff edges or its blue lantern while using Turn the Lens against attackers relying on bright lights. When reduced below half its hit points, it abandons measured patrols and relentlessly pursues whoever carries the brightest light; it fights to the death unless someone speaks Edrin Vale's name and presents the Mercy Bell's logbook.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the encounter with bootprints appearing in fresh mud, a distant lantern bell, and a coat-shaped silhouette walking into the wind without a body.
- Roleplay the lightkeeper as silent and procedural: it points, gestures, rings its lantern, and repeats fragments such as "Storm signal," "Stand clear," and "The light must remain."
- For a weaker party, remove the cold damage from Salt-Stiffened Sleeve and reduce Lantern of the Drowned Watch to 2d6 damage; for a stronger party, let Keeper's Step teleport 30 feet and increase the lantern save DC to 13.
- The monster can be resolved without killing it if the characters restore a light at the old lighthouse foundation or return the Mercy Bell's logbook.
Loot
- Gullwatch Keeper's Lantern — A dented brass lantern containing a blue flame that never consumes oil. Once per long rest, it can cast fog cloud centered on itself, but the fog smells strongly of seawater and distant bells.
- Mercy Bell Logbook — A salt-stiffened journal hidden in the nearby sea cave, recording the sabotage of Gullwatch Light and naming the guilty harbor official.
- Red Wool Scarf — Edrin's scarf, still warm despite the cold. It bears an embroidered lighthouse surrounded by seven stars and may serve as proof of identity to an old coastal family.
