UngeheuerLich
Legend
It can perform the attack against every creature in its path but only one attack per creature.
D&D 5E Let's Read: Volo's Monsters
Charles Rampant
Explorer
There is certainly some uses for them, but they definitely are not likely to make my 'must use low level critters' list any time soon. You and @Sammael both make solid suggestions though.
I didn't want to cover Chapter One, in large part because I had no idea how I'd structure such a thread! The beholder variant options are indeed really cool. I'm also a huge fan of the way that they suggest variant Hag Coven spells, to give different themes. Really nice way to change it up without making things really complex. There's a lot to like about the way that 5e is able to make small and easy changes that feel major in play.
That reminds me: I said under Catoblepas that Hags have not turned up in the adventures, while totally forgetting about Old Bonegrinder in Curse of Strahd, an adventure that I tonight just finished running!
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Chitines are the first "humanoids" we encounter. This alone gives them all sorts of opportunities for customization.
But the 3-D encounters are definitively where this species stands out. Attacking from the ceiling and the walls, or even below the PC's on some kind of narrow bridge, before they are at the level where counters to these tactics are common, force the PC's to improvise their combat tactics leading to very memorable encounters.
Daggers aren't too intimidating at first glance, but do remember they can be thrown from anywhere that can be crawled on. And because they are weapons, they can be swapped out for things like rapiers for a bigger bite in combat or whips for range. They could even potentially tie off the daggers to a web strand, allowing quick retrieval so they can be thrown again. And as always, be ready to drop rocks on heads.
Their armor is made out of webs, that's a really cool mental image. You could potentially give some as a reward to a low level party who is strapped on cash.
Choldriths are priestesses. That means feel free to tinker with their spell list, and ally them with basically anything that would worship Lolth. And don't forget to burn all of their spells in combat.
As for why you are out to get these creatures? Maybe your party are slaves to Drow.
But the 3-D encounters are definitively where this species stands out. Attacking from the ceiling and the walls, or even below the PC's on some kind of narrow bridge, before they are at the level where counters to these tactics are common, force the PC's to improvise their combat tactics leading to very memorable encounters.
Daggers aren't too intimidating at first glance, but do remember they can be thrown from anywhere that can be crawled on. And because they are weapons, they can be swapped out for things like rapiers for a bigger bite in combat or whips for range. They could even potentially tie off the daggers to a web strand, allowing quick retrieval so they can be thrown again. And as always, be ready to drop rocks on heads.
Their armor is made out of webs, that's a really cool mental image. You could potentially give some as a reward to a low level party who is strapped on cash.
Choldriths are priestesses. That means feel free to tinker with their spell list, and ally them with basically anything that would worship Lolth. And don't forget to burn all of their spells in combat.
As for why you are out to get these creatures? Maybe your party are slaves to Drow.
Croesus
Adventurer
That's a valid interpretation (and probably the one intended). The phrase "The first time it enters a creature's space during this move..." can be read as the first time it enters each creature's space, or as only the first space that has a creature. I chose to use the more limited interpretation, but I can easily see your reading as more accurate.
Last edited:
Croesus
Adventurer
I like this idea. One of the PCs in my group is hunted by a drow family. So if she helps free some chitines, they'll give her spiderweb armor roughly comparable to elven chain. Gives her a bit of boost in AC and will definitely tick off the drow who are hunting her.
Charles Rampant
Explorer
I suspect that I am not alone in associating the Cranium Rats with Planescape Torment, that most glorious of games. One of the few monsters in this book that I knew about before I opened it, they seem oddly lacking in flavour here to me. I might have gotten carried away talking about them here, so expect a long post!
A Planescape monster is always a good excuse for DiTerlizzi art. The picture in Volo's really plays up the brain angle, with some impressive digital art used to draw the eye to the glowing organ in question. With a general tone of savagery, I quite like it. Perhaps it might that years of playing Warhammer have trained me to respect pictures of angry evil rats.
These guys are spies and minions for Mind Flayers, who created approximately 15% of all monsters in D&D. Being small they obviously make good spies, but I can't help but feel that the glowing brain is perhaps a giveaway to the careful observer. Otherwise, the rather short flavour text spends most of its time describing how more rats equals more pew pew.
To briefly dip into the past, these guys were most noted in Planescape for a strong association with Ilsensine, the Mind Flayer godthing. It was actually a giant brain living inside a cavernous mountain somewhere in the Outlands, as I recall, and gave blinding headaches and eventual thralldom to anyone who approached it; the Cranium Rats were supposed to be directed by it, doubtless part of a scheme to control the multiverse.
In Planescape Torment, the Cranium Rats had a giant controlling mind, Many-As-One, which the player could go and negotate with, without any mention made of Mind Flayers; at least, that is what Google tells me, for I have not played it in a very long time. (I deliberately left it fallow so that I would forget most of it, and could replay it at a future point from complete ignorance.)
Here, the Cranium Rats are just servants of an individual Elder Brain, as the Mind Flayers appear to have had all hints of universal organisation taken away from them, in favour of them being scattered city-states. Probably that was felt to be more useful for the individual DM. Thus we now have Cranium Rats as minions of a Mind Flayer settlement - good for the introductory stages of an adventure, as the players find the Rats spying on them, and for being monsters encountered on the outskirts of the settlement itself. Not a lot to say about that really, except to mention it as a good idea.
You can also use a Cranium Rat swarm as a low level boss-style threat to the players, but I think that there are better options out there. The exception would be for a whodunnit mystery, where you could use the Cranium Rats as a behind-the-scenes mastermind, taking control of people long enough to sow dissent, and then scuttling away into the shadows to keep their presence hidden. That would be pretty interesting actually, and really play to the strengths of the concept, with or without Mind Flayers being involved.
We here get two statblocks for the Cranium Rats: an individual rat (which is basically a rat that you can't read the mind of) and a swarm. There isn't really a lot to say about a rat by itself, so we'll focus on the Swarm, which has a pretty fruity statblock. At CR 5, but with only 36 HP, these guys will die like champions if the players try hard enough, even if they are resistant to piercing/bludgeoning/slashing. They are also resistant to the Stunned condition, which is really rare as far as I can tell, so they're good for victimising your Monk players. They only get one attack, for reasonable but not amazing damage. So far, so dull.
However, the Cranium Rats can cast Dominate Monster, Confusion, and Command. This means that they can cause a party to descend into total carnage if saves are failed, and could just sit back and mock them telepathically as they hit each other and whatnot. So I think that they'll be quite a swingy monster; if the players get the jump on it, or if they pass their saves, it'll be a total cakewalk; but if they fail their saves, then it could have a surprisingly chaotic outcome. Combine a Swarm with a Mind Flayer, and its blasts, as well as an Intellect Devourer trying to eat brains, and I'm sure that nobody will be happy with you.
Overall, a slight disappointment, but there is hope that they'll turn up in a future Volo's Guide to the Planes or Mind Flayer-centric adventure path and get a more interesting depiction there.
A Planescape monster is always a good excuse for DiTerlizzi art. The picture in Volo's really plays up the brain angle, with some impressive digital art used to draw the eye to the glowing organ in question. With a general tone of savagery, I quite like it. Perhaps it might that years of playing Warhammer have trained me to respect pictures of angry evil rats.
These guys are spies and minions for Mind Flayers, who created approximately 15% of all monsters in D&D. Being small they obviously make good spies, but I can't help but feel that the glowing brain is perhaps a giveaway to the careful observer. Otherwise, the rather short flavour text spends most of its time describing how more rats equals more pew pew.
To briefly dip into the past, these guys were most noted in Planescape for a strong association with Ilsensine, the Mind Flayer godthing. It was actually a giant brain living inside a cavernous mountain somewhere in the Outlands, as I recall, and gave blinding headaches and eventual thralldom to anyone who approached it; the Cranium Rats were supposed to be directed by it, doubtless part of a scheme to control the multiverse.
In Planescape Torment, the Cranium Rats had a giant controlling mind, Many-As-One, which the player could go and negotate with, without any mention made of Mind Flayers; at least, that is what Google tells me, for I have not played it in a very long time. (I deliberately left it fallow so that I would forget most of it, and could replay it at a future point from complete ignorance.)
Here, the Cranium Rats are just servants of an individual Elder Brain, as the Mind Flayers appear to have had all hints of universal organisation taken away from them, in favour of them being scattered city-states. Probably that was felt to be more useful for the individual DM. Thus we now have Cranium Rats as minions of a Mind Flayer settlement - good for the introductory stages of an adventure, as the players find the Rats spying on them, and for being monsters encountered on the outskirts of the settlement itself. Not a lot to say about that really, except to mention it as a good idea.
You can also use a Cranium Rat swarm as a low level boss-style threat to the players, but I think that there are better options out there. The exception would be for a whodunnit mystery, where you could use the Cranium Rats as a behind-the-scenes mastermind, taking control of people long enough to sow dissent, and then scuttling away into the shadows to keep their presence hidden. That would be pretty interesting actually, and really play to the strengths of the concept, with or without Mind Flayers being involved.
We here get two statblocks for the Cranium Rats: an individual rat (which is basically a rat that you can't read the mind of) and a swarm. There isn't really a lot to say about a rat by itself, so we'll focus on the Swarm, which has a pretty fruity statblock. At CR 5, but with only 36 HP, these guys will die like champions if the players try hard enough, even if they are resistant to piercing/bludgeoning/slashing. They are also resistant to the Stunned condition, which is really rare as far as I can tell, so they're good for victimising your Monk players. They only get one attack, for reasonable but not amazing damage. So far, so dull.
However, the Cranium Rats can cast Dominate Monster, Confusion, and Command. This means that they can cause a party to descend into total carnage if saves are failed, and could just sit back and mock them telepathically as they hit each other and whatnot. So I think that they'll be quite a swingy monster; if the players get the jump on it, or if they pass their saves, it'll be a total cakewalk; but if they fail their saves, then it could have a surprisingly chaotic outcome. Combine a Swarm with a Mind Flayer, and its blasts, as well as an Intellect Devourer trying to eat brains, and I'm sure that nobody will be happy with you.
Overall, a slight disappointment, but there is hope that they'll turn up in a future Volo's Guide to the Planes or Mind Flayer-centric adventure path and get a more interesting depiction there.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Back when we were talking about the Gauths, I suggested putting one in charge of a thieves guild masquerading as a Carnival. I have a feeling that a Swarm of Cranium Rats would make for an excellent addition to their Ranks.
Effectively the second in command, the swarm poses as The Flea-Bitten Circus: A novelty act in the side show. Using a mind-controlled humanoid commoner as their "Ringleader" and spokesperson to the public; all of the rats have tiny hats, hoods, or masks on to disguise their true nature. During the Carnival's operational hours, the Ringleader serves as a twisted reflection of the Pied Piper, "commanding" the rats to perform tasks and stunts in much the same manner that an actual circus would do. An act that delights smaller children, and disgusts some of the upper crust. When the Carnival closes, they serve as spies, locating the towns treasures so that the other guild members can go about their thieving ways with as much haste and efficiency as a ragtag crew of wandering thieves can muster. They also act as an early warning system for the Carnival, quickly and quietly detecting any persons who come with the intent to investigate the gang.
In a dire pinch, they have been know to sacrifice their Ringleader and scatter, because nobody would think to track down a bunch of normal rats.
Effectively the second in command, the swarm poses as The Flea-Bitten Circus: A novelty act in the side show. Using a mind-controlled humanoid commoner as their "Ringleader" and spokesperson to the public; all of the rats have tiny hats, hoods, or masks on to disguise their true nature. During the Carnival's operational hours, the Ringleader serves as a twisted reflection of the Pied Piper, "commanding" the rats to perform tasks and stunts in much the same manner that an actual circus would do. An act that delights smaller children, and disgusts some of the upper crust. When the Carnival closes, they serve as spies, locating the towns treasures so that the other guild members can go about their thieving ways with as much haste and efficiency as a ragtag crew of wandering thieves can muster. They also act as an early warning system for the Carnival, quickly and quietly detecting any persons who come with the intent to investigate the gang.
In a dire pinch, they have been know to sacrifice their Ringleader and scatter, because nobody would think to track down a bunch of normal rats.
Charles Rampant
Explorer
I love it! The best part is that the 'ringleader' can just be some poor shmuck that they've kidnapped from somewhere, and you can even have him be an NPC that the players have met before. So they enter this carnival, and find themselves thinking, "What is Sir Percival the Paladin doing here?"
Sammael
Adventurer
What about a twist on the classic "clear the rats from my basement" trope? Party after party of adventurers enter the basement, get charmed/dominated, and then act as their pawns and enforcers. When PCs somehow uncover the truth, they must first deal with hordes of low-level NPCs...
