5E: Monstrous Arthropods for Fifth Edition

[Cleon]

By the way, I gave the larvae blindsight 10 ft. because, if memory serves me right, a nymph can sense the vibrations of prey in the water close to it.

For comparison, the Crab and Giant Crab both have blindsight 30 ft. while the Giant Wolf Spider and Giant Spider all have blindsight 10 ft.

I'm wondering about increasing the range as the larvae get bigger, maybe from 10 ft. up to 30 ft.

Incidentally, are there any OFFICIAL 5E creatures with blindsight 20 ft. or 40 ft.?

I was really tempted to give some of my odonatids that range of blindsight, but a brief trawl of the internet couldn't find any examples o5 5E monsters with those blindsight ranges that weren't Homebrews.

While my giant odonatid larvae are homebrews too, I'd like an actual WotC 5E monster to point to for justification!

EDIT: Also, wouldn't the nymphs blindsight only works through water or work better through water?

The 5E rules don't seem to bother with such details, since the Rules As Written say the aforementioned Crabs plus the Fifth Edition Killer Whale have blindsight that works just as well in air as water, although in the whale's case it has to hear due to its trait "Echolocation. The whale can’t use its blindsight while deafened."

At least that's consistent with the Third Edition Orca which has blindsight 120 foot and "Blindsight (Ex). Whales can "see" by emitting high-frequency sounds, inaudible to most other creatures, that allow them to locate objects and creatures within 120 feet. A silence spell negates this and forces the whale to rely on its vision, which is approximately as good as a human’s."

 

[Cleon]

By the way, I gave the larvae blindsight 10 ft. because, if memory serves me right, a nymph can sense the vibrations of prey in the water close to it.

For comparison, the Crab and Giant Crab both have blindsight 30 ft. while the Giant Wolf Spider and Giant Spider all have blindsight 10 ft.

I'm wondering about increasing the range as the larvae get bigger, maybe from 10 ft. up to 30 ft.

Incidentally, are there any OFFICIAL 5E creatures with blindsight 20 ft. or 40 ft.?

I was really tempted to give some of my odonatids that range of blindsight, but a brief trawl of the internet couldn't find any examples o5 5E monsters with those blindsight ranges that weren't Homebrews.

While my giant odonatid larvae are homebrews too, I'd like an actual WotC 5E monster to point to for justification!

EDIT: Also, wouldn't the nymphs blindsight only works through water or work better through water?

The 5E rules don't seem to bother with such details, since the Rules As Written say the aforementioned Crabs plus the Fifth Edition Killer Whale have blindsight that works just as well in air as water, although in the whale's case it has to hear due to its trait "Echolocation. The whale can’t use its blindsight while deafened."

At least that's consistent with the Third Edition Orca which has blindsight 120 foot and "Blindsight (Ex). Whales can "see" by emitting high-frequency sounds, inaudible to most other creatures, that allow them to locate objects and creatures within 120 feet. A silence spell negates this and forces the whale to rely on its vision, which is approximately as good as a human’s."

Heck, there's nothing in the rules to say I can't give a Giant Odonatid blindsight 20 ft. or 40 ft. if I want to.

My original idea was to give the Nymphs & Naiads the same range of blindsight as the Tenebrous Damselflies plus give the latter darkvision to a longer range, then grant the Underdark variety both blindsight and darkvision to a longer range.

Let's say the following:

Size​	Nymph​	Tenebrous​	Underdark​
Dainty	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 30 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 40 ft.
Diminutive	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 40 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.
Small	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Medium	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Imperial	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Mammoth	blindsight 30 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.
Titanic	blindsight 30 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.

That looks OK to me.

 

[Cleon]

Heck, there's nothing in the rules to say I can't give a Giant Odonatid blindsight 20 ft. or 40 ft. if I want to.

My original idea was to give the Nymphs & Naiads the same range of blindsight as the Tenebrous Damselflies plus give the latter darkvision to a longer range, then grant the Underdark variety both blindsight and darkvision to a longer range.

Let's say the following:

Size​	Nymph​	Tenebrous​	Underdark​
Dainty	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 30 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 40 ft.
Diminutive	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 40 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.
Small	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Medium	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Imperial	blindsight 20 ft.	blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Mammoth	blindsight 30 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.
Titanic	blindsight 30 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.

That looks OK to me.

The current versions are:

Size​	Nymph​	Tenebrous​	Underdark​
Dainty	blindsight 10 ft.	darkvision 30 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft.
Diminutive	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 30 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.
Small	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Medium	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.
Imperial	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.
Mammoth	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.
Titanic	blindsight 10 ft.	blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 90 ft.	blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft.

Hmm…

I prefer the ones in the previous post, so let's update them.

As for the Speed Question above, I'm leaning towards the current "Crab Solution" so won't change that.

Still undecided on whether to Switch To "Giant Odonatid" in the statistics. Will leave it with Nymphs & Naiads for now.

Updating the Dainty Giant Damselfly.
Updating the Dainty Giant Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Diminutive Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Diminutive Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Giant Damselfly.
Updating the Giant Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Imperial Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Imperial Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly.
Updating the Mammoth Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Titanic Tropical Dragonfly.
Updating the Titanic Dragonfly Nymph.

 

[Cleon]

Secondly, I'm still dithering over the Speeds.

I am now increasingly tempted to give the Damselflies' Giant Naiad and Mammoth Naiad the same speeds as a Crocodile and Giant Crocodile and then scaling the others to that, like so:

Size​	Damselfly​	Dragonfly​
Dainty	10 ft., swim 20 ft.	10 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 40 ft.
Diminutive	20 ft., swim 30 ft.	20 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 60 ft.
Small	20 ft., swim 30 ft.	20 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 80 ft.
Medium	20 ft., swim 30 ft.	20 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 80 ft.
Imperial	20 ft., swim 40 ft.	20 ft., swim 20 ft., Jet Dash 100 ft.
Mammoth	30 ft., swim 50 ft.	30 ft., swim 20 ft., Jet Dash 120 ft.
Titanic	30 ft., swim 50 ft.	30 ft., swim 20 ft., Jet Dash 120 ft.

The current version has the Damselfly Naiad speed based on the Crab and Giant Crab, like so:

Size​	Damselfly​	Dragonfly​
Dainty	20 ft., swim 20 ft.	20 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 40 ft.
Diminutive	30 ft., swim 30 ft.	30 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 60 ft.
Small	30 ft., swim 30 ft.	30 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 80 ft.
Medium	30 ft., swim 30 ft.	30 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 80 ft.
Imperial	30 ft., swim 30 ft.	30 ft., swim 10 ft., Jet Dash 100 ft.
Mammoth	40 ft., swim 40 ft.	40 ft., swim 20 ft., Jet Dash 120 ft.
Titanic	40 ft., swim 40 ft.	40 ft., swim 20 ft., Jet Dash 120 ft.

Which do you prefer? I keep on vacillating.

Upon reflection, I don't really like the Huge ones being speed 40 ft.

Would rather they be 30 ft. like the Small and Medium ones.

Will update.

 

[Cleon]

I've done some tweaking to the Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly to polish the wording of the Mammoth Underdark Damselfly variant and add a Tenebrous Helicopter Damselflies subentry, but the main progress is I've done a first draft of the Giant Dragonfly Nymph's Description and added it to the Working Draft, which I'll quote below.

Odonatid, Giant (Giant Dragonfly Nymph)
Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12)
Speed 30 ft., swim 10 ft.

STR​	DEX​	CON​	INT​	WIS​	CHA​
16 (+3)​	15 (+2)​	14 (+2)​	1 (–5)​	12 (+1)​	5 (–2)​

Skills Stealth +6
Senses blindsight 20 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages —
Challenge 1 (200 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2

Ambusher. In the first round of a combat, the giant odonatid has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it surprised.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the giant odonatid can't bite another target.

Death Mask (Recharge 4–6). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, the target is grappled (escape DC 13) and must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the target is knocked prone, and the giant odonatid can drag the target closer and make one bite attack against it as a bonus action. Until this grapple ends, the odonatid cannot use its Death Mask attack again.

Jet Dash (Recharge 5–6). The dragonfly nymph swims up to 80 feet.


Description

A giant dragonfly nymph is a sturdy insect colored the dull gray-brown of mud or decayed plants. A dragonfly nymph is shorter and thicker than an adult dragonfly and lives in freshwater (usually—see Terrestrial Larva, below). A fully grown giant dragonfly nymph is typically 4½ to 6 feet long, although particularly stocky species can be 4 feet long or even less, with broad or thick bodies that may be somewhat flattened. The nymph has a globular head with large compound eyes similar to an adult dragonfly, although the eyes aren't quite as big, with a "mask" of smooth chitin covering the lower half of its face. A dragonfly nymph has fairly long legs and prefers to move slowly and deliberately, sometimes hesitating before each step.
 Masked Killer. A giant odonatid larva may be ugly to some but might not look dangerous, as it lacks obvious jaws or claws. This is far from the truth as odonatid larvae are all voracious predators. The "mask" covering the larva's face has a concealed pair of hooked jaws, and is the front of a lip-like organ folded under the insect's head called a labium. This organ can unfold with lightning speed to seize prey, which are then pulled in to be devoured. A giant dragonfly nymph can be particularly pugnacious, attacking prey several times its own weight. Odonatid larvae are ambush predators who wait for prey to blunder into them. If one senses a nearby meal, the larva may stalk it, inching closer until the target is within reach of its labium. A larva always start with a Death Mask attack and, if successful, tries to kill and eat its grappled victim with bite attacks. If they fail to grab their target, the larva will continue to press the attack as long as its opponent stays within range, but a giant nymph naiad or almost never chases prey that flees from its reach.
 Lake Panthers. Most giant dragonfly nymphs live on the bottom of a lake or swamp, hiding under mud or vegetation or lurking in some crevice. Adult giant dragonflies tend to produce far more eggs than a body of water could support. While natural dragonfly nymphs tend to avoid the surface, the giant variety sometimes hunt like crocodiles, hiding near the water's edge to attack land creatures that come to drink.
 While monstrous giant dragonfly adults will sometimes join forces when attacking, giant odonatid larvae are always solitary. A cluster of dragonfly nymphs will avoid each other, with smaller nymphs hiding at the edges of the pond to avoid being eaten by the larger ones. Two nymphs of roughly the same size may threaten each other with displays of their legs, mask or jaws to establish or defend their territory (especially if both are the same species) but fights to the death are not uncommon.
 Even a small pond may contain multiple giant odonatid larvae, possibly of several species. In tight confines, the biggest and strongest eat their smaller rivals. This is often whichever giant odonatid larva hatched first rather than whichever one could grow the biggest. Small giant dragonfly nymphs can (and will) eat Tiny imperial dragonfly nymphs that would be Large and eat them if given time to grow.
 Life in the Water. Like most insects, giant odonatid larvae grow in stages called instars, molting its exoskeleton each time it goes to the next, larger instar. Most odonatid instars look similar apart from their size, but the last few start to develop obvious "wing buds" on the thorax. The speed and number of instars it takes to reach adulthood varies depending on species and growth conditions, with temperature and food supply being the most important.
 Once the giant dragonfly nymph reaches full size, which can take years, the final instar climbs from the water and metamorphoses into an adult in its final molt, then pumps blood into the veins of its new wings to spread them out. This transformation can take several hours, during which the giant dragonfly is completely helpless until its new wings and exoskeleton harden. They are so vulnerable, most giant odonatids try to hide somewhere before metamorphosing, and they might wait for the cover of darkness before emerging from the water. It is mostly only tropical species that emerge at night, since their adult bodies harden more quickly in hot weather and the nights are too cold in temperate climes. The newly formed dragonfly, called a teneral, then flies off. Tenerals are pale or dull, it takes the dragonfly a few days to gain a mature adult's bright colors.

VARIANT: GIANT TROPICAL DAMSELFLY NAIAD
This is the larva of a big variety of giant damselfly, usually a tropical species (see Giant Damselfly for details). A Medium giant damselfly naiad averages 7½ feet in length. The naiad uses a giant dragonfly nymph's statistics except it is faster (30 ft., swim 30 ft.) and loses the nymph's Jet Dash action option.

VARIANT: GIANT TENEBROUS & UNDERDARK DAMSELFLY NAIADS
These are larvae of monstrous damselflies adapted to live in dark environments (see Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly for details, under Tenebrous Helicopter Damselflies and Underdark Helicopter Damselflies). A giant tenebrous damselfly naiad has blindsight 20 ft. and darkvision 60 ft.

A giant underdark damselfly naiad has blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 90 ft., and gains the following additional trait.
 Amphibious. The underdark damselfly naiad can breathe air and water.

VARIANT: GIANT TERRESTRIAL DAMSELFLY & DRAGONFLY LARVAE
### (see below for details, under Terrestrial Giant Odonatid Larvae). A giant terrestrial odonatid larva uses a giant dragonfly's statistics except it moves better on land than water (30 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 10 ft.), loses its Jet Dash action option if it's a dragonfly nymph, and gains the following additional trait.
 Limited Amphibiousness. The terrestrial odonatid larva can breathe air and water, but it needs to be drenched in water at least once every 4 hours to avoid suffocating.


TERRESTRIAL GIANT ODONATID LARVAE
??????????????????????????????.

(Monster designed by Casimir Liber and Cleon on Enworld.org's General Monster Talk Creature Catalog Forum; based on the giant dragonfly nymph that first appeared in EX2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (1983) by Gary Gygax.)

It needs the Terrestrial Odonatid Larvae subentry to to be added on but I'm basically happy with it.

 

[Cleon]

VARIANT: MAMMOTH UNDERDARK DAMSELFLY
This is a Huge underdark helicopter damselfly, called a death phantom in Common and a word meaning web killer in Undercommon. It is one of the rare few who was so successful as a naiad it matured into a full sized adult (see the Underdark Helicopter Damselflies below). Smaller underdark helicopter damselflies, commonly called ghostwings and wraithwings, are little different from the tenebrous giant helicopter damselflies of the surface, but mammoth specimens possess two abilities their lesser kin never develop—they become resistant to magic and their wings can mesmerize opponents. A mammoth underdark damselfly is a mammoth helicopter damselfly with a challenge rating of 6 (2,300 XP) that has blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., and the following additional trait and action option.
 Magic Resistance. The mammoth underdark damselfly has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
 Hypnotic Wings. The mammoth underdark damselfly swirls its wings in a hypnotic pattern. Every creature within 300 feet of the damselfly that can see the wings and is not another underdark damselfly must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the wings' motion ends. If a creature has Fey Ancestry and sees the Hypnotic Wings with darkvision, the trait does not give the creature advantage on saving throws against being charmed by the wings.
 The mammoth underdark damselfly must take a bonus action on its subsequent turns to continue the hypnotic motion. It can stop its hypnotism at any time. The hypnotism ends if the damselfly is incapacitated or flies more than 60 feet on its turn (including any distance it moves with Dashing Flight or Dodging Flight). While charmed by the mammoth underdark damselfly, a creature is incapacitated and does nothing but stare mesmerized at the insect. The hypnosis effect ends if the target takes any damage from the mammoth underdark damselfly. If a charmed creature takes damage from a source other than the damselfly or is about to face another obvious danger, such as an approaching fire, it can repeat the saving throw. A charmed creature can also repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends on it. A creature that successfully saves is able to resist the hypnotism for the next 24 hours. If the creature fails a saving throw during their period of resistance against the mammoth underdark damselfly's Hypnotic Wings, it is only partially charmed and may target the damselfly with harmful abilities or magical effects. Instead of being incapacitated, a partially charmed creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and skill checks, and the mammoth underdark damselfly has advantage on attack rolls against the partially charmed creature.

VARIANT: MAMMOTH TENEBROUS & UNDERDARK DAMSELFLY NAIADS
These are larvae of monstrous damselflies adapted to live in dark environments (see Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly for details, under Tenebrous Helicopter Damselflies and Underdark Helicopter Damselflies). A mammoth tenebrous damselfly naiad has blindsight 30 ft. and darkvision 90 ft.
 
A mammoth underdark damselfly naiad has a challenge rating of 5 (1,800 XP) and gains blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., and the following additional traits and action option.
 Amphibious. The underdark damselfly naiad can breathe air and water.
 Magic Resistance. The mammoth underdark damselfly naiad has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
 Wings of Invisibility. The mammoth underdark damselfly naiad???.

Upon reflection, I'm going to put "death phantom" in these action option descriptions to make it clearer that the actions are only available to the Huge sized underworld helicopter damselfly (aka the Death Phantom) and not the smaller Ghostwing and Wraithwing varieties.

Like so:

VARIANT: MAMMOTH UNDERDARK DAMSELFLY
This is a Huge underdark helicopter damselfly, called a death phantom in Common and a word meaning web killer in Undercommon. It is one of the rare few who was so successful as a naiad it matured into a full sized adult (see the Underdark Helicopter Damselflies below). Smaller underdark helicopter damselflies, commonly called ghostwings and wraithwings, are little different from the tenebrous giant helicopter damselflies of the surface, but mammoth specimens possess two abilities their lesser kin never develop—they become resistant to magic and their wings can mesmerize opponents. A mammoth underdark damselfly, dubbed a death phantom, has a challenge rating of 6 (2,300 XP) and uses a mammoth helicopter damselfly statistics, except it has blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., and the following additional trait and action option.
 Magic Resistance. The death phantom damselfly has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
 Hypnotic Wings. The death phantom damselfly swirls its wings in a hypnotic pattern. Every creature within 300 feet of the damselfly that can see the wings and is not another underdark damselfly must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the wings' motion ends. If a creature has Fey Ancestry and sees the Hypnotic Wings with darkvision, the trait does not give the creature advantage on saving throws against being charmed by the wings.
 The death phantom damselfly must take a bonus action on its subsequent turns to continue the hypnotic motion. It can stop its hypnotism at any time. The hypnotism ends if the death phantom is incapacitated or flies more than 60 feet on its turn (including any distance it moves with Dashing Flight or Dodging Flight). While charmed by the death phantom damselfly, a creature is incapacitated and does nothing but stare mesmerized at the insect. The hypnosis effect ends if the target takes any damage from the death phantom damselfly. If a charmed creature takes damage from a source other than the death phantom or is about to face another obvious danger, such as an approaching fire, it can repeat the saving throw. A charmed creature can also repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends on it. A creature that successfully saves is able to resist the hypnotism for the next 24 hours. If the creature fails a saving throw during their period of resistance against the death phantom damselfly's Hypnotic Wings, it is only partially charmed and may target the death phantom with harmful abilities or magical effects. Instead of being incapacitated, a partially charmed creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and skill checks, and the death phantom damselfly has advantage on attack rolls against the partially charmed creature.
​

Working on a "Wings of Invisibility" trait for the Huge Underdark Naiads.

EDIT: And here's what I came up with!

 Shimmer of Imperceptibility. The death phantom naiad vibrates its wing-buds to create a strange shimmering. Any creature that sees it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the wing-buds' vibration ends. If a creature has Fey Ancestry and sees the Shimmer of Imperceptibility with darkvision, the trait does not give the creature advantage on saving throws against being charmed by the shimmer. The death phantom naiad must take a bonus action on its subsequent turns to continue the shimmering. It can stop the shimmering at any time. The shimmering ends if the death phantom naiad is incapacitated or moves more than 10 feet on its turn.
 While charmed by the shimmer, a creature becomes unable to perceive the death phantom naiad with any form of sight apart from truesight, so the naiad becomes invisible to the creature, even to blindsight and the see invisibility spell. Unlike a normal charm, the charmed creature can still attack the death phantom or target the naiad with harmful abilities or magical effects, and the naiad does not gain advantage on social interaction ability checks with the creature.
 The hypnosis effect ends if the target takes any damage from the death phantom naiad. If a charmed creature takes damage from a source other than the death phantom or is about to face another obvious danger, such as an approaching fire, it can repeat the saving throw. A charmed creature can also repeat the saving throw if it takes an action to try to see the death phantom naiad, but if the naiad is trying to hide the creature must first succeed at a Perception check against the naiad's Stealth check to be allowed the attempt. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends on it. A creature that successfully saves is able to resist the shimmer for the next 24 hours. If the creature fails a saving throw during their period of resistance against the death phantom naiad's Shimmer of Imperceptibility, it is only partially charmed and merely has trouble seeing the insect, with the same effect as the blur spell (the partially charmed creature has disadvantage to attack the naiad, the naiad does not gain advantage on its attacks).
​

I like the idea of an invisible giant insect. The mechanism is similar to how psionic invisibility worked in some earlier editions of D&D.

 

[Cleon]

Okay, did some more tweaking of the descriptions and variants.

Updating the Dainty Giant Damselfly.
Updating the Dainty Giant Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Diminutive Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Diminutive Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Giant Damselfly.
Updating the Giant Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Imperial Giant Dragonfly.
Updating the Imperial Giant Dragonfly Nymph.
Updating the Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly.
Updating the Mammoth Damselfly Naiad.
Updating the Titanic Tropical Dragonfly.
Updating the Titanic Dragonfly Nymph.
​

Haven't changed the statistics, it's all just changing or expanding the wording.

I've got a Description to finish for the Giant Damselfly Naiad and I think I'm done with these (touch wood).

 

[Cleon]

I've got a Description to finish for the Giant Damselfly Naiad and I think I'm done with these (touch wood).

Came up with the following.

A typical giant damselfly naiad or nymph is an aquatic insect around 5 feet long, usually green or brown in color. They have wing-nubs on their backs and a "mask" covering the lower face like giant dragonfly larvae, but are far slimmer in build, with flexible streamlined bodies better shaped for swimming (see Giant Dragonfly Nymph for details). A damselfly naiad does not have internal gills like a dragonfly nymph, but breathes with external gills at the tip of its abdomen that usually form a three-lobed trident that also acts as a tail fin.
 A naiad of this size could be the larva of a giant damselfly that is nearly fully grown or in its final instar (see Giant Damselfly), a half-grown juvenile of a man-sized giant (see Giant Dragonfly) or an earlier instar of an even bigger damselfly, likely one of the giant tropical helicopters (see Imperial Giant Dragonfly, Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly, or Titanic Tropical Dragonfly).
 Lurkers in Lake Weed. Damselfly naiads hatch from eggs. Damselflies and dragonflies have a range of egg-laying strategies. Some species lay eggs above the water, and the larvae drop in when they hatch. The majority lay in water, mostly on water plants—some stick their eggs to the plant, others cut a hole with a blade on their abdomen tip and hide the egg inside. In either case, the female odonatid must lower its abdomen in the water, often entirely submerging itself during its egg-laying. The remaining species mostly just hover and dip their abdomen in water to drop their eggs, which allows them to quickly scattering a clutch over a wide area. Some tropical giant odonatids leave eggs in the water-filled hollows of plants, called phytotelmata (see Mammoth Helicopter Damselfly for details).
 While dragonfly nymphs hunt on the bottom, damselflies prefer to live nearer the surface. They tend to hide in underwater vegetation and ambush passing prey. In general, damselfly naiads are reluctant to attack large prey that dragonfly larvae would not hesitate to ambush, and naiads often avoid hunting creatures their own size or larger.
​

Will it do?

It's more information than strictly necessary, but the same applies to the biological digressions and detailed explanations in some of my other Giant Odonatid entries.

Going by the Monster Manual examples, there's no need to give weights for a monster or detail its habits in pseudo-scientific jibber-jabber. I just enjoy writing such.

But then learning is fun!

Hopefully some DM out there will find the info useful and/or interesting.

 

[Casimir Liber]

It annoys me how 5e is vague or leaves out some sizes (e.g. giant heights). I think more info is better than less. Regarding the nymph/larva text issue - the answer/algorithm is the simplest that doesn't introduce amibguity. Happy with blindsight at a greater distance as well.

 

[Cleon]

It annoys me how 5e is vague or leaves out some sizes (e.g. giant heights). I think more info is better than less.

Yes, it's weird how they leave out a lot of basic stuff. Although the 5E Monster Manual does have a decent amount of background fluff on its monsters compared to, say, the first couple of 4E Monster Manuals.

However, giants are one of the few monsters that 5E bothered giving heights for, it's just the Fifth Edition's Monster Manual buried that information at the bottom of page 153 rather than mention it in any of the giant's descriptions!

In case you're curious, 5E gives giants exactly the same heights as 2E AD&D does: 16′ Hill; 18′ Fire & Stone; 21′Frost; 24′ Cloud; 26′ Storm.

Regarding the nymph/larva text issue - the answer/algorithm is the simplest that doesn't introduce amibguity. Happy with blindsight at a greater distance as well.

Okay, so are you fine with the various texts as they are?

Came up with some minor polishing of the Giant Damselfly Naiad's Description, and am thinking about whipping up a Swarm of Giant Damselflies entry, but that shouldn't take long.

Think I'd better put these insects to bed soon before I come up with something more to add to them!

Then we can start on the Mystaran Dragon Flies.