D&D 5E Eldritch (Lovecraftian) Monster - Need CR Check

[Tovrin]

Hi Folks,

It's been a while since I GMed and I want to create a new monster that will both challenge the players and scare the hell out of them. But I need to know is this too powerful for a party of 5 level 2-3 characters.

https://imgur.com/irHgjKj (Apologies for the format. I screenshotted it right out of Fantasy Grounds. I couldn't find a way to export it as such).

As you can see it's very much inspired by the Lovecraft Mythos. I even have a simple Sanity mechanic. but it's not meant to be too taxing. Player lose it at the rate of 1 point per long rest. And it's really only meant for specific types of creatures.

Any chance I could get some feedback. Is it too tough?

Thanks

 

[The Crimson Binome]

If they're level two, then a couple of them might get one-shot from a lucky hit. A critical hit might even kill someone outright. The party will probably prevail, if they can exploit its vulnerabilities.

If they're level three, then they should be fine. It can only make two attacks per round, which means a minimum of five rounds to defeat the entire party, and it doesn't have enough HP to take more than six hits.

 

[Tovrin]

Thanks. I deliberately made its attacks scary for it to be menacing by it's HP and AC low so they would defeat it before it could do too much harm. At the rate they're going, they might just meet this thing at level 4 anyway; they got sidetracked by a shiny new adventure. LOL!

 

[ad_hoc]

This will likely go one of 3 ways:

1) The creature is immediately crushed
2) PC dies
3) All PCs die

AOE Paralysis + 3 attacks which deal 246+4 plus save or 2d4 plus another save for 1d6 is a recipe for a quick PC death.

The ability to consume the PC isn't even needed for the PC to die. The rules about 'saving the creature with an opposed Str check' don't make sense in 5e. The consume ability should read that the creature grapples any creature that is at 0hp within 5ft of it. This way it makes it clear that the creature is holding onto the PC and it requires an action to pull them out. But then, at that point it doesn't really matter b/c the character will be dead the round after regardless.

 

[Istbor]

I don't hate this. I think it should be sufficiently scary/deadly. Though I agree, if the party remains steadfast, it will go down.

I may poach this if that is alright... and maybe give it resistance to non-magical damage due to the extra-planar nature of the thing.

 

[Tovrin]

I don't hate this. I think it should be sufficiently scary/deadly. Though I agree, if the party remains steadfast, it will go down.

I may poach this if that is alright... and maybe give it resistance to non-magical damage due to the extra-planar nature of the thing.

Be my guest. It could be tailored to any difficulty level. I toyed with the idea of resistance to non-magic myself. If the party make it back to that area and are much better equipped, I may still do that.

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[The Crimson Binome]

AOE Paralysis + 3 attacks which deal 246+4 plus save or 2d4 plus another save for 1d6 is a recipe for a quick PC death.

Is it three attacks, or just two? It says two attacks under the Multiattack section, but three tentacles in its Consume.

With two tentacles, it might take someone down in a round. With three tentacles, it probably will take someone down in a round.

 

[jgsugden]

I find that when I want to evoke Lovecraftian horror, I'm best using one of three approaches:

1.) Hordes of weaker beasties that just keep coming... and the PCs have to winder if they have the resources to hold them off.
2.) Mysterious beasts with gorific attacks that freak the PCs out, like turning their skin gelatinous or making them see things from the Far Realm in their true form.
3.) Forces of Nature - threats so big that the PCs can only hope to avoid and flee the beasts. You do no cut these foes down with swords - you need to find the way to seal them off in a dimension or otherwise contain their epic insanity.

You seem to be aiming at a mysterious beast idea, but I think a few tweaks would help this one out.

The beast has a real chance to deal 35 to enemies with 2 attacks and the aura. That is overpowering and deadly to PCs with 15 to 25 hps. Consider downing the damage and upping the horror. Reduce the damage to d6+2 per attack. Then add something horrific to it. The d6+2 damage is acid damage and have anyone that has this damage inflicted on them take damage from healing spells, rather than be healed by them, until they finish 2 long rests. Or have them suffer the effects of phantasmal force - but don't tell them it is phantasmal force... describe a horrific far realm best attacking them. Or dominate them if they fail a save and have them engage in self destructive behavior. Or have their body start turning into something else (slow, reduce max hps, blindness, etc... are all options here).

 

[Tovrin]

Nice ideas. I like the idea of messing with their minds.

One thing about the lead up to this is that bodies were found completely drained and withered. I'm thinking that perhaps it has some kind of withering spit instead of the aura. That will add a sense of dread and creeping doom. The party have access to cure disease/poison which will cure it, but that should impress on them the impact.

I also like the reverse healing idea too. I might play with that a bit. Perhaps negating all healing until the withering is fully cured.

And dropping I'll also drop the damage from the tentacles and making damage necrotic instead .... perhaps upping AC or HP a bit.

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[epithet]

If you're making your own beasties for Fantasy Grounds, I absolutely recommend using NPC Engineer.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?40736-NPC-Engineer-now-with-full-parsing!

You'll wonder how you ever got along without it!