D&D 5E Epic Monsters: Odin

Alright folks we’re doing it. We’re going there. It’s happening. Epic Monsters is finally tackling a subject you’ve been asking for since the column started. It’s time for old one-eye, the half-blinded god, master of the Norse pantheon and the Allfather: Odin!

Alright folks we’re doing it. We’re going there. It’s happening. Epic Monsters is finally tackling a subject you’ve been asking for since the column started. It’s time for old one-eye, the half-blinded god, master of the Norse pantheon and the Allfather: Odin!

Odin DnD5e BANNER.jpg


Or maybe you call him Woden aka why we have Wednesday! I foolishly thought that Nymue, with her more than two dozen names, would hold the title of Entry With the Most Names but again I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This all powerful bastard’s got more than 9 PAGES of over 170 names. His lore is much the same way but we all know the big stuff: father of Baldr and Thor and Loki (or maybe not as the trickster god’s history is very messy), master of the Norse gods, has only one eye, digs on ravens (Huginn and Muninn sit on his shoulders, flying off at sunrise to travel the world then return to tell him all they see and hear), oversees Valhalla, keeps two wolf buddies but is to be eaten by Fenrir during Ragnarök, rides the flying eight-legged horse Sleipnir (a subject for another day), he’s got the best magic, he has a killer beard, and many different cultures lay claim to him.

Normally I’d get into it but somehow his Wikipedia page is longer than the page with just his names—and we’ve all got things to do so let’s just dive into the good part shall we? I know that there are some proper Norse scholars out there on ENWorld so please by all means drop a reply and hit us with some knowledge about Alföðr, and of course how you think his statblock might be improved. 🧙🧙🧙

Design Notes: Since Morrus had me blow the proverbial regulator cap off with the statblock for Lucifer’s final form I feel confident that this is another entry in the series worthy of the same treatment. He may not have all the power of Hell at his command, but he is a user of magic of the highest order capable of unleashing 4 spells each round, and on top of that with the help of his roc–er, his ravens, he can simultaneously maintain concentration on as many as 3 spells at a time. The only real limitation sitting on his magic is that he’s got only (lol only) 13 spell slots above 5th level. To really emphasize the magic bits—in addition to knowing nearly all the arcane spells—I’ve also loaded him up with Sorcery Points and every Metamagic feature so handling all that arcana won’t get boring. With judicious use of his Legendary Actions (looking at you, Judgment and Punish!) he’s got staying power. Should that not be enough he’s also got all those spell slots to burn through and should be able to do more than just a little obfuscation. Worth noting he can smack somebody around pretty good too if he feels a desire to do so. Given his absurd access to magic, major hit points total, and insane action economy I’m inclined to simply call this one at CR 35.

Odin
Medium humanoid, neutral
Armor Class 22 (natural armor)
Hit Points 375 (30d8+240)
Speed 30 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
23 (+6)​
20 (+5)​
27 (+8)​
30 (+10)​
29 (+9)​
28 (+9)​
Skills Arcana +19, History +19, Insight +18, Nature +19, Perception +18, Performance +19, Persuasion +19, Religion +19, Sleight of Hand +14, Survival +18
Damage Resistances cold, fire, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical weapons
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, stunned
Senses truesight 120 ft.; passive Perception 28
Languages all
Challenge 35 (255,000 XP)

Brute. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when Odin hits with it (included in the attack).

Deific Strikes. Whenever Odin hits a creature with a melee weapon, the creature takes an extra 13 (2d12) force damage (included below).

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Odin fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Odin has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Odin's weapon attacks are magical.

Mimir. Odin can use an action to pull out the head of Mimir and ask it something he does not know. Roll 1d10, and on a result of 2 or higher it tells Odin the knowledge he desires. Mimir cannot answer the same question twice.

Monocular Perception. When attacking a target more than 120 feet away, Odin has disadvantage on his attack roll.

Raven Familiars. Huginn and Muninn are Odin’s familiars (as the find familiar spell but there are two, each are Tiny-sized, have an Intelligence score of 13, and they otherwise use the statistics of rocs). As long as his ravens are on his shoulder or within 100 feet, when Odin casts a spell that requires concentration he can choose to have a raven concentrate on the spell instead. As long as the raven is not already concentrating on a spell, it can do so for the spell’s duration or until it loses concentration.

Sorcery Points (30/Long Rest). As a bonus action on his turn, Odin can expend one spell slot and either gain a number of sorcery points equal to the slot’s level, or he can create a spell slot by expending sorcery points (1st-level—2 points, 2nd-level—3 points, 3rd-level—5 points, 4th-level—6 points, 5th-level—7 points, 6th-level—9 points, 7th-level—12 points).
  • Careful Spell (1 Point). When Odin casts a spell that forces other creatures to make a saving throw, he can choose up to 9 creatures. A chosen creature automatically succeeds on its saving throw against the spell.
  • Distant Spell (1 Point). When Odin casts a spell that has a range of 5 feet or greater, he can double the range of the spell. When he casts a spell that has a range of touch, he can make the range of the spell 30 feet.
  • Empowered Spell (1 Point). When Odin rolls damage for a spell, he can reroll up to 9 damage dice. He must use the new rolls. Odin can use Empowered Spell even if he has already used a different Metamagic option during the casting of the spell.
  • Extended Spell (1 Point). When Odin casts a spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, he can double its duration, to a maximum duration of 24 hours.
  • Heightened Spell (3 Points). When Odin casts a spell that forces a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, he can give one target of the spell disadvantage on its first saving throw made against the spell.
  • Quickened Spell (2 Points). When Odin casts a spell that has a casting time of 1 action, he can change the casting time to 1 bonus action for this casting.
  • Subtle Spell (1 Point). When Odin casts a spell, he can cast it without any somatic or verbal components.
  • Twinned Spell (Varies). When Odin casts a spell that targets only one creature and doesn’t have a range of self, he can spend a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level to target a second creature in range with the same spell (1 sorcery point if the spell is a cantrip). To be eligible for Twinned Spell, a spell must be incapable of targeting more than one creature at the spell’s current level.
Spellcasting. Odin is a 30th level spellcaster that uses Intelligence as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 27; +19 to hit with spell attacks). Odin knows all spells from the bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, and wizard spell lists:
Cantrips: all wizard cantrips
1st-level (5 slots)​
2nd-level (5 slots)​
3rd-level (5 slots)​
4th-level (4 slots)​
5th-level (4 slots)​
6th-level (4 slots)​
7th-level (3 slots)​
8th-level (3 slots)​
9th-level (3 slots)​

War Magic. Odin has advantage when he is concentrating on a spell and has to make a Constitution saving throw from taking damage, he can wield weapons or a shield in both hands and still make somatic components for spellcasting, and can use his reaction to cast a spell (maximum casting time: 1 action) at a creature that provokes an opportunity attack from him.

Wolf Companions. Odin is accompanied by two wolves, Geri and Freki. Although they are Medium-sized, have Intelligence scores of 13, and can understand Common, they otherwise use the statistics of guardian wolves.


ACTIONS
Multiattack. Odin attacks five times with Gungnir, casts one spell with a casting time of 1 action and makes two attacks with Gungnir, or casts two spells with a casting time of 1 action.

Gungnir (+4 Spear). Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +19 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 40/120 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d6+10) piercing damage, or 19 (2d8+10) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack. In addition, the target takes 13 (2d12) force damage. Immediately after he hits or misses the target of a ranged attack, Gungnir reappears in Odin’s hand.


LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Odin can take 4 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Odin regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
  • Impossible Power (Costs 2 Actions). Odin casts a spell of 5th-level or lower.
  • Judgment (Costs 2 Actions). Odin redistributes up to 100 hit points among creatures he can see. This cannot reduce a creature below 1 hit point or increase a creature's hit point total beyond its maximum. A creature can make a Charisma saving throw against his spell save DC to resist this effect.
  • Planar Phase (Costs 4 Actions). Odin transports himself and any creatures and objects within 1,000 feet to the plane of his choice (no save). If the plane has no gravity or otherwise cannot support the weight of the creatures and objects transported there, they fall, disperse, or otherwise move accordingly (for instance in the Plane of Water things sink, in the Plane of Air they fall, etc.). This otherwise operates as the plane shift spell.
  • Punish. Odin deals 20 points of damage to up to 9 creatures he can see within 100 feet, and he gains 10 temporary hit points for each creature damaged in this way. A creature can make a Charisma saving throw against his spell save DC to resist this effect.
  • Revenge. Odin chooses one creature that damaged him with an attack or spell since his last turn. The creature makes a Charisma saving throw against his spell save DC or takes an amount of damage equal to the damage it dealt.
 

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Mike Myler

Mike Myler

dave2008

Legend
What I think is a mistake when assigning alignment to a deity in D&D is assuming that their myths are factual accounts of their behavior. I would assume they are still myths, then assign the alignment that feels right, myth be damned.
 
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Oofta

Legend
Supporter
In my campaign alignment is more of a indicator of alignment tendencies of a god's followers, not necessarily the alignment of the gods themselves. Then again, I don't view alignment as a straight jacket.

Odin is worshipped by all alignments to a certain degree since he is the god of battle, but also strongly related to knowledge and magic. In my mythos, he was at one point a more gentle/good god but he changed when Baldur was killed.
 

Certainly.

There was a god who was banished to the other side of the heavens, since he flipped out and killed someone for creating food from their butt. There were two goddess complaining about secondhand smoke, so they took their complaints to another god. He got annoyed, chopped their heads off, and attached them to their own butts. Oh, and there was a god who rescued his daughter from an imposter husband (it was a bird in disguise), and when the birds came for revenge he threw his daughter off his boat. She clung on for dear life, so he hacked her fingers off one at a time.

Odin is probably not evil by these standards, but I would rank him as "Neutral Arsehole."
I'm sure there are other actions you can examine.
That don't involve... any of that.
 

Iry

Legend
What I think is a mistake when assigning alignment to a deity in D&D is assuming that their myths are factual accounts of their behavior. I would assume they are still myths, then assign the alignment that feels right, myth be damned.
I assume the terrible stories of many gods are just "that one time they flipped out" and that most of the time they go about their business like normal. Apollo is a great example of a god that sometimes gets petty vengeance, but seems to be mellow most of the time. Of course, some gods are probably up to shenanigans on the regular - and Odin is quite a schemer.
 

dave2008

Legend
I assume the terrible stories of many gods are just "that one time they flipped out" and that most of the time they go about their business like normal. Apollo is a great example of a god that sometimes gets petty vengeance, but seems to be mellow most of the time. Of course, some gods are probably up to shenanigans on the regular - and Odin is quite a schemer.
See I assume that those stories are just wrong. It is their worshipers projecting their own mortal shortcomings and pettiness on the gods. I assume the gods act nothing like they do in the myths and tales of mortals.
 


Voadam

Legend
I assume the myths are stories written by different authors for multiple purposes and so you can easily get contradictions.

A lot like Bat Man having lots of stories by different authors across decades for comics, radio, live action TV, multiple animated versions, movies, RPG portrayals, etc.

Norse myths are from multiple sources recorded in writing centuries after an oral tradition. The Bolverker one has elements that are great for a long story on long winter nights ranging from black slaptick humor (using greed to get slaves to kill each other simultaneously) to multi step plot (Aesir-Norse War truce leading to Kvasir, to Kvasir's murder to Kvasir blood theft, to Odin stealing it), to soap opera seduction, to etymology (and that's how people got fantastic poetry) to clever plots and narrow escapes to crude fart jokes. It can be taken literally, it can be taken as a funny story, it can be mined for metaphor or allegory, etc. Stories with Odin as the protagonist are very different from stories of him as the Sky god patron of a mortal hero or driver of a plot involving others. He can be Loki's blood brother, or Loki's dad. Gaiman's Odin in Norse Myths is different from him in Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants is different from him in Gaiman's The Sandman. Similarly Odin in the Havamarl versus a saga or the prose edda or Marvel comic Odin versus Marvel Universe Odin versus Odin in Daulaire's mythology book for children.

Particularly in a D&D context none of these variations are necessarily needed or wrong, take what you like and run with it. Just taking select elements that exist Odin can be a bad guy or a good guy.

If you want Odin to actually be Talos the power hungry one eyed evil storm god head of a group of gods from Forgotten Realms or Gruumsh or Vecna or just use their stats and some of their existing story elements to portray Odin as evil, that works. Similarly if you want to flip it and do the same for Moradin the Lawful good world shaping Dwarven Allfather of a heavily war oriented pantheon to portray a good guy Odin that works really well too.
 


Don't forget all the greater gods were capped at 400 HP in 1e Deities & Demigods. I'm guessing it was twice Demogorgon (who had the highest HP in the 1e Monster Manual), but who knows now?

Stat inflation is amusing, though not monotonic; they seem to have peaked in 3e, though I don't have the 2e or 4e books to hand. Tiamat had 128 HP in 1e, 906 hp in 3e, and down to 615 in 5e. Demogorgon had 200 hp in 1e, 499 hp in 3e, and 496 in 5e.
And let us not forget mighty Cronus, who got stats in Ecology of the Titan (Dragon magazine #357) which put him at the very tippy top of the heap - CR56 with 1578hp and a +15 Colossal Adamantine Glaive and on and on and on......
 


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