[5e] Dark Naga

Bupp

Adventurer
The dark naga was a creature that I was waiting on the Monster Manual before converting from Dragon Magazine #89






Dark Naga
Large monstrosity, lawful evil


Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 75 (10d10+20)
Speed 40 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
18 (+4)
17 (+3)
14 (+2)
16 (+3)
15 (+2)
16 (+3)
Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +5, Wis +5, Cha +6
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Abyssal, common
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Rejuvenation. If it dies, the naga returns to life in 1d6 days and regains all its hit points. Only a wish spell can prevent this trait from functioning.


Detect Thoughts. At will, 60 ft.


Spellcasting. The naga is a 10th level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks), and it needs only verbal components to cast its spells. It has the following wizard spells prepared:


Cantrips (at will): mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost
1st level (4 slots): charm person, magic missile, sleep
2nd level (3 slots): invisibility, scorching ray
3rd level (3 slots): lightning bolt, water breathing
4th level (3 slots): blight, dimension door
5th level (2 slots): dominate person


Actions
Multiattack: The dark naga makes a bite and a sting attack. In place of a bite, the naga can cast a spell.


Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage.


Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 10 (2d6+4) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 hour and the target falls unconscious for the same duration, or until it takes damage or another creature uses an action to shake it awake.


The eyes of a dark naga are bright and intelligent, burning with an almost hypnotic inner light. Dark nagas prefer to fight from an elevated position where they get a good view of the battlefield while also staying out of reach. Nagas favor spells over other forms of combat. Because they are almost always found in the lairs they guard and know well, they can arrange most encounters to suit their wishes. The poison from their tail stinger causes nightmare haunted sleep.


http://5egrognard.blogspot.com/2014/11/creature-catalog-part-9-dark-naga.html
 

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Cleon

Legend
The dark naga was a creature that I was waiting on the Monster Manual before converting from Dragon Magazine #89

Dark Naga
Large monstrosity, lawful evil

Rejuvenation. If it dies, the naga returns to life in 1d6 days and regains all its hit points. Only a wish spell can prevent this trait from functioning.

The original Dark Naga doesn't have Rejuvenation, so I'd cut the ability unless you have a good reason for it.

Also, what happened to the Dark Naga's "spit poison" ability? That would seem to be a useful special attack to add in.

As far as the numbers go, they look OK at first glance except for the Challenge Rating, which seems too high for a monster of this Strength.

EDIT: Come to think of it, doesn't the Fourth Edition version of the Dark Naga have rejuvenation? If it does and you're aiming to convert that version of it instead of the AD&D one (or combining both AD&D & 4E version), I guess it's fine keeping Rejuvenation. It's just you quoted the Dragon #89 version, so I was assuming it was based on that.

EDITED EDIT: Just checked the 4E Monster Manual and the Dark Naga doesn't have rejuvenation in that, so I'm still puzzled where it's coming from. Unless I'm being daft and the 5E Monster Manual gives them that power - I still haven't found time to read that properly.
 
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Bupp

Adventurer
The spirit and guardian nagas in the 5e MM have rejuvination, so that is in line with them.

The guardian naga has the spit poison attack, the dark has the poison in the tail stinger.

As for the CR, I'm not following a specific formula, but I based it off of the CR 8 spirit naga, but it has a few more bells and whistles, but not as much as the CR 10 guardian naga, so I slotted it in the middle. It might fit in as a CR 8 better.

Yes, I did start with Dragon #89, that's the schict of my blog, converting up stuff from old Dragon, but I do reference appearances from other editions. I usually try to find a existing 5e monster and build off of that. In fact I did reference the 3e version of the dark naga, since 3e is usually easier to convert stat wise, and I'll pull flavor text from other sources as well. I usually mention it when I do, just dropped the ball on this one.
 

Cleon

Legend
As for the CR, I'm not following a specific formula, but I based it off of the CR 8 spirit naga, but it has a few more bells and whistles, but not as much as the CR 10 guardian naga, so I slotted it in the middle. It might fit in as a CR 8 better.

I'd have aimed to make the Dark Naga the same CR or 1 lower than the Spirit Naga then, since the original version of the Dark Naga has fewer HD and lacks the 1st-edition Spirit Naga's charm gaze - which can be very effective in play.
 

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