Casimir Liber
Adventurer
yes x 2 (I like vulnerabilities)
Dodkong minions
Cleon
Legend
Okay, will leave those in and remove the relevant ?.
Next up for the Cairn Shadowraith Working Draft is Abilities.
It's got WIS 15? while a Cairn Wight has WIS 13.
Do we want the Shadowraith to be wiser than its Wight cousin or for them to both have identical mental ability scores?
It's no big deal if you do.
Also having second thoughts about reducing the DEX. How about returning it to DEX 17 (+3) and making the Umbral Armor 14+DEX bonus for Armor Class 17 (umbral armor), 13 in sunlight. So it has the daylight AC of 13 like a Wraith instead of 12 like a Shadow or Specter.
My previous version had a [?] for Strength because I was concerned its Hit rolls were a bit low, but checking the CR Calculator discovered +8 is the average Attack for Challenge 13 so I'm fine with it STR 16.
Now about Saving Throws. Your rough draft has DEX, CHA as saving throws while the Cairn Wight has DEX, CON, WIS like a living Stone Giant.
Why the difference? I'm curious why you picked Charisma as the save.
A Cairn Shadowraith can't be paralyzed, petrified or poisoned, which are the commonest Constitution saves, so probably probably doesn't need to make many CON saves, but why not keep the WIS save of the Cairn Wight?
That's make the two saves DEX, WIS, or maybe DEX, WIS, CHA if you prefer three saves?
Next up for the Cairn Shadowraith Working Draft is Abilities.
It's got WIS 15? while a Cairn Wight has WIS 13.
Do we want the Shadowraith to be wiser than its Wight cousin or for them to both have identical mental ability scores?
It's no big deal if you do.
Also having second thoughts about reducing the DEX. How about returning it to DEX 17 (+3) and making the Umbral Armor 14+DEX bonus for Armor Class 17 (umbral armor), 13 in sunlight. So it has the daylight AC of 13 like a Wraith instead of 12 like a Shadow or Specter.
My previous version had a [?] for Strength because I was concerned its Hit rolls were a bit low, but checking the CR Calculator discovered +8 is the average Attack for Challenge 13 so I'm fine with it STR 16.
Now about Saving Throws. Your rough draft has DEX, CHA as saving throws while the Cairn Wight has DEX, CON, WIS like a living Stone Giant.
Why the difference? I'm curious why you picked Charisma as the save.
A Cairn Shadowraith can't be paralyzed, petrified or poisoned, which are the commonest Constitution saves, so probably probably doesn't need to make many CON saves, but why not keep the WIS save of the Cairn Wight?
That's make the two saves DEX, WIS, or maybe DEX, WIS, CHA if you prefer three saves?
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
I like the idea of the wraith having a stronger wisdom than the wight (willpower?) - am guessing that was my thinking behind the CHA save too...also as CHA more like insubstantial analogue of CON (corporeal vitality vs incorporeal vitality) - so DEX, WIS, CHA (oversight with leaving off the WIS)
Cleon
Legend
Works for me.
Updated the Cairn Shadowraith Working Draft.
What about the proposal to change DEX back to 17 and make its Umbral Armor 14 + DEX?
Cleon
Legend
Just added a Dodkong Index to the first page of this thread.
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
oh forgot that, yes, sounds good.
Cleon
Legend
Updated the Cairn Shadowraith Working Draft.
Okay, I think that's the first section done so moving on to Actions.
The last D&D Beyond Rough Draft posted here has a Multiattack with "makes two melee or ranged attacks" which I'm not keen on, since that's two Soul Drain or Doomball attacks per round, each of which could inflict two levels on exhaustion.
The more powerful Cairn Wight can only make one exhaustion-inflicting attack per round when multiattacking, and only as a melee attack, as its Multiattack is "The cairn wight makes two skull mace attacks or two rock attacks. It can use its Soul Drain in place of one skull mace attack."
I'd rather it be more like the Wight version. I'm fine it having an exhaustion-inflicting attack that works at range like Doomball but think it should only be able to use it once per round like the Cairn Wight with its Death Grip or Soul Drain.
Maybe make its equivalent of Soul Drain an attack that works in melee and at range?
So something like the following, names to be determined:
Multiattack. The cairn shadowraith makes two [death fist?] attacks or two [phantom boulder?] attacks. It can use its [Doom Strike?] in place of one attack.
Death Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) bludgeoning damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Doom Strike. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft. or range 60/240, one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) psychic damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or suffer 1 level of exhaustion. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 points or more, it suffers an additional level of exhaustion. This exhaustion remains until it is healed magically: a lesser restoration can remove one level of exhaustion from a victim with two or fewer levels, a greater restoration will remove three levels of exhaustion. The target dies if it suffers 6 levels or exhaustion.
Phantom Boulder. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) psychic damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Death Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) bludgeoning damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Doom Strike. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft. or range 60/240, one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) psychic damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or suffer 1 level of exhaustion. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 points or more, it suffers an additional level of exhaustion. This exhaustion remains until it is healed magically: a lesser restoration can remove one level of exhaustion from a victim with two or fewer levels, a greater restoration will remove three levels of exhaustion. The target dies if it suffers 6 levels or exhaustion.
Phantom Boulder. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one creature. Hit: ## (#d# + #) psychic damage plus ## (#d# + #) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC ## Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Finally, it looks very cluttered giving the Shadowraith three different actions that create Spectres, especially when it has an Action whose sole purpose is creating a Spectre.
I'd be inclined to cut out the "A humanoid or giant slain by this attack rises 24 hours later as a specter under the cairn wight's control" and give it Create Specter.
It'd be a lot simpler.
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Casimir Liber
Adventurer
ok, both proposals make sense (PS: happy with names)
Cleon
Legend
While updating the Cairn Shadowraith Working Draft I realized my previous post had a "cairn wraith" in the proposed Multiattack so felt the need to correct that post before updating.
Cleon
Legend
Okay, apart from deciding how much damage its current attacks should do, I'm also tempted to give it an alternative version of the Cairn Wight's Death Grip as a solo attack Action.
Was thinking it would be both a melee and ranged attack like Doom Strike but with a shorter range, more damage or and possibly have it reduce the target's max hit points like Death Fist does.
I imagine the cairn shadowraith immaterially plunges its bony hand into a victim's chest (the melee attack) or stretches an arm towards a creature outside its reach (the ranged attack). In either case, the unfortunate recipient feels an icy clutch of death on their vital organs.
Maybe have the victim is also grappled and restrained as per Death Grip, even if the creature is too far away for the shadowraith to touch!
I suspect we might end up making the cairn shadowraith more powerful than Challenge 13 once we've decided its attack damage and any other special attacks.
That's no big deal though.
Was thinking it would be both a melee and ranged attack like Doom Strike but with a shorter range, more damage or and possibly have it reduce the target's max hit points like Death Fist does.
I imagine the cairn shadowraith immaterially plunges its bony hand into a victim's chest (the melee attack) or stretches an arm towards a creature outside its reach (the ranged attack). In either case, the unfortunate recipient feels an icy clutch of death on their vital organs.
Maybe have the victim is also grappled and restrained as per Death Grip, even if the creature is too far away for the shadowraith to touch!
I suspect we might end up making the cairn shadowraith more powerful than Challenge 13 once we've decided its attack damage and any other special attacks.
That's no big deal though.
