D&D 5E Advanced Grimlocks for 5e?

[gfrobbin84]

Hey I am planning an adventure centered around Grimlocks for an upcoming session of my 5e game. The characters are going to be fresh 3rd levels. The thing is there are no stats for Grimlock Chieftains or Shamen or any advancements of the standard Grimlock. So I was wondering if anyone had homebrewed any or had any suggestions of abilities and what not to give them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Hey I am planning an adventure centered around Grimlocks for an upcoming session of my 5e game. The characters are going to be fresh 3rd levels. The thing is there are no stats for Grimlock Chieftains or Shamen or any advancements of the standard Grimlock. So I was wondering if anyone had homebrewed any or had any suggestions of abilities and what not to give them.

Thanks in advance.

Give the chief max hp. For a shaman, ise a spellcaster stat block and add grimlock characteristics.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[5Shilling]

I would suggest using the Orog statblock for the chief and Orc Eye of Gruumsh for the shaman - just replace the 'Agressive' trait with the Grimlock traits (Blindsense, Keen Hearing and Smell, Stone Camouflage).

edit: oh and replace the skills, immunities, senses and language with those of the Grimlock. Looking at the monster stats table in the DMG the proficiency bonus won't change between CR 1/4 and CR 2 so you don't need to worry about adjusting those.

 

[gfrobbin84]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I think for the cheif I'm going to go with increased hit die and multiattack with a mual and the orc war cry ability and I'll just reskin the eye of grumish for the shaman. Just going to have to run them through a CR calculator as I want to keep them around CR 2 or 3.

 

[CapnZapp]

Hey I am planning an adventure centered around Grimlocks for an upcoming session of my 5e game. The characters are going to be fresh 3rd levels. The thing is there are no stats for Grimlock Chieftains or Shamen or any advancements of the standard Grimlock. So I was wondering if anyone had homebrewed any or had any suggestions of abilities and what not to give them.

Thanks in advance.

Here are three variants I whipped up for an encounter - Grimlock "cannibals", "brutes" and "warriors". I'd peg them at CR 2 (or CR 3 if you feel cautious).

Cannibals: 50 hp, Speed: 40 ft, Bone Club +5 for 1d6+3 dmg, Grisly totem (+5 AC single-use); Blood Frenzy: bonus attack against wounded foe
Brutes: 70 hp, Two-handed Spiked Bone Greatclub +6 for 1d8+4 blunt dmg, on ⚃-⚅: nasty gash for 1d8+4 extra slashing dmg; Bloodied Fury: bonus attack when bloodied
Warriors: 60 hp, Two Spiked Bone Clubs: two attacks at +5 for 1d6+3 dmg, on ⚄-⚅: nasty gash for 1d6+3 slashing dmg

Any statistic not mentioned is unchanged from the Grimlock MM entry.

The "cannibal" fights with a single hand weapon, much like the MM Grimlock depiction. To explain why (not using your other hand is sub-optimal, after all) I gave them a single-use totem that acts like a Shield spell. This would be the decapitated head of a fallen foe on a stick, or a bloody spine, or something similar. These guys would be obsessed with the sight smell of blood, and so they get a version of the Sahaguin trait (preferring extra attacks to advantage, which they should be able to benefit from anyways). This guy also gets a bit of extra speed; important to help mitigate kiting tactics.

The "brute" is inspired by the nasty spiked club in the illustration. On a hit, roll a d6: on 4-6 you deal extra damage (automatically, no further to hit roll) to model how the spike tears you up. This guy gets a bonus attack when bloodied (at half hit points) himself, as opposed to the first guy.

A "warrior" has mastered the art of two-weapon fighting, and can inflict bonus damage on each hit in similar manner as the brute.

They all compensate miserable AC by hefty chunks of hit points.

 

[gfrobbin84]

Thanks CapnZapp those are awesome and I will hold onto them for any future encounters they may have with Grimlocks but I think they are a little to nasty for me to use in any real numbers on my guys right now especially since they lack a bard or Cleric for healing. This is what I have came up with for the Chieftain though.

Grimlock Chieftain

Med Humanoid (Grimlock) NE
AC 16 (Scale mail)
HP: 68 (8d8+32)
Speed 30

Str 18 (+4) Dex 14 (+2) Con 18 (+4) Int 10 (0) Wis 10 (0) Cha 8 (-1)
Skills: Athletics +6 Perception +4 Stealth +4
Condition Immunities: Blinded
Senses: Blindsight 30ft or 10ft while Deafened (Blind Beyond this Radius) passive Perception 14
Languages: Undercommon, Common (English)
CR: 3 (700 xp)

Blinded Senses: Grimlocks can't use Blindsight while Deafened and unable to Smell
Keen Hearing: Grimlocks have Advantage on Wis (Perception) checks that rely on Hearing or Smell
Stone Camouflage: Grimlocks have Advantage on Dex (Stealth) checks made to hide in rocky terrain

Actions
Multi-Attack: The Chieftain can make 2 attacks with his Stone Maul
Stone Maul: Melee Attack: +6 to Hit, Reach 5ft, 1 Target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) Bludgeoning Damage
Call to Feast (1/day): Each Grimlock of the Chieftains choice that is within 30 feet of it, can hear it, and not already affected by Call to Feast gains advantage on attack rolls until the start of the Chieftain's next turn. The Chieftain can then make one attack as a bonus action.

 

[77IM]

My go-to transformation for "Elite" creatures is:
- double hit points
- double attacks or double damage dice (or some combination, like go from 2 to 3 attacks and 2 to 3 damage dice)
- Legendary Resistance 1/day
- double XP

I like it because it can all be done on-the-fly pretty easily.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

For the shaman, I would use the NPC druid in the MM, give it grimlock traits, and swap out the spells as follows:

cantrip: druidcraft, magic stone, mold earth
1st level (4 slots): entangle, earth tremor, fog cloud, longstrider
2nd level (3 slots): barkskin, earthbind

For the chieftain, I would go with knight (changing "can see" in leadership to "can hear").

 

[feartheminotaur]

It looks like the fire ate my post, so maybe too late, but here's how I do it:

Normal grimlocks are 1/4 CR. Decide what you want the advanced ones to be, CR-wise. A 'hard' encounter for 4 3rd level PCs would be 900 XP, so a CR1 Chief (200XP) and 5 Grimlocks (250XP) would be a 'Hard Encounter'. I'd suggest CR1 if you have more encounters (so lower nova chance) or CR2 if you have less encounters (where players can pull out all the stops).

Then you can...

Short Version - on the fly for a session or two:

Find an NPC or other MM creature of the same CR (and type, if possible). Replace their racial features, if any, with the Grimlocks.

Example: CR 2 Grimlock Shaman is the Cult Fanatic (MM 345), but with the Blind Sense, Keen Hearing and Smell, and Stone Camouflage features from the standard grimlock (MM 175) in place the Dark Devotion feature, in addition to the condition immunity to blindness and senses as listed in the grimlock stat block. Keep the rest of it the same, and done, one Grimlock Shaman.

Long Version - if I'm making something that I might want to go beyond my table; DM's Guild, whatever:

If you have the DMG, refer to page 274. Then look at the chart. If you go CR1, you know what their numbers will be. These will tell you what the creature's stats will be. If AC is 13, that's a 16 or 17 Dex; lower if they have armor. If their attack is +3 and proficiency is +2, then their attack stat (probably Strength) is 12 or 13. If it's a spellcaster, the DC will tell you their spellcasting stat (DC - 8 - prof = casting stat bonus). Then decide how many HD you want them to have - Xd8, with X being the caster level (so smaller) or X being hit points for a brute (so bigger). Give it a cool ability to distinguish it. Then copy over the special features from the main MM race. Then adjust as you see fit - give a bruiser a bigger to hit or give a leader some extra Charisma. And..done.

Example:

GRIMLOCK BRUTE
Medium Humanoid (grimlock), neutral evil
________________________________________
Armor Class 14 (hide armor, shield)
Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 20)
Speed 30 ft.
________________________________________
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 9 (-1) 12 (+1) 12 (+1)
________________________________________
Skills - Athletics +5, Perception +3, Persuasion +3
Senses - blindsight 30 ft. or 10 ft. while Deafened (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 13
Languages - Undercommon
Challenge - 2 (450 XP)
________________________________________
Blind Senses: The grimlock can’t use its blindsight while Deafened and unable to smell.

Keen Hearing and Smell: The grimlock has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Stone Camouflage: The grimlock has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in rocky terrain

Knockdown. When the grimlock hits a creature with a melee weapon attack it may use its bonus action to make a knockdown. The grimlock adds +2 damage to the attack and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw or fall prone.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The grimlock makes two attacks with its spike bone greatclub.

Spiked Bone Club: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 2 (1d4) piercing damage.

 

[CapnZapp]

Thanks CapnZapp those are awesome and I will hold onto them for any future encounters they may have with Grimlocks but I think they are a little to nasty for me to use in any real numbers on my guys right now

Thanks!

Yeah, my party is five level 9ish PCs, so I can really bring it on without any real worry for their safety. The encounter I'm going to use these for is when the party is climbing (levitating?) down a vertical shaft with lots of small ledges. Suddenly an Umber Hulk smashes through a wall right at the last (topmost) character, with a "small" Fomorian as its rider. Behind them a dozen of these Grimlocks pour out, jumping from ledge to ledge to spread out during the surprise round.

Thus, as the combat starts, the party is mostly below, and intermingled with, a dozen beefy Grimlocks (too beefy to go down in a single Spirit Guardians or Fireball, mind you). And the Fomorian and the Umber Hulk each will mess with their heads, while leaving their Grimlock underlings unaffected...

The party is leaving Mantol-Derith to descend into the Lower Underdark, and this encounter is meant to show them that this place isn't for soft surfacers... heh

Good luck with your game, and hope your heroes will also reach this level of badassery!