The Adventurer's Guide to Abusing Monsters, By Renduaz
Also Known as Orwellze!
I am glad to present to all of you something I've been working on for a while, and what I believe to be the most comprehensive guide of it's kind ever made. This guide will help you with exploiting monsters encountered in your adventures to an extent which can grant you great advantage in your campaigns, ranging from gathering wealth, extracting materials, enhancing abilities and achieving plenty of feats, even to the extent of becoming immortal, controlling entire species, attaining divinity ( No joke. Check out the "Xvart" entry in the full guide ) and holding sway over entire planes. Within will be first given an introduction to the methods you will need in order to derive benefits from monsters, followed by a list of most useful and unique monsters of their kind. This is intended as both a quick reference for whenever you need to know what you can gain out of a creature, or sometimes as an innovative proposal on how to make the most out of certain abilities. This guide will require the Monster Manual and Volo's Guide To Monsters for referencing abilities and information about monsters.
The full guide has been uploaded here. Check it out first if you have any questions.
In this post I will also showcase some of the most profilic entries from the guide. ( The control/trapping/etc.. keywords are all addressed at the beginning of the full guide, with an entire chapter devoted to what it means and how to do it). In the full version, there are hundreds of monster entries.
Aboleth
extraction, control, trapping, transformation, willing ally
If you are ever able to control or transform into an Aboleth, you are in for a world of fun. If you thought controlling or becoming a dragon was good, this might just change your mind.
Mucous Cloud, Legendary Actions, Lair Actions and Regional Effects - Fantastic for aquatic environments if you transform into the Aboleth.
Tentacle - Harvest those from a slain Aboleth and you potentially have a tool which can inflict 6 acid damage to a creature every 10 minutes when it's outside of water or until it's skin is moisturized.
Enslave (3/Day ) - If you control or transform into the Aboleth, you can enslave any 3 creatures you bring forth to it for at least the duration of your control or transformation ( Or more if you renew it. ), and if you transformed into an Aboleth, You could create an unlimited army of infinitely charmed creatures, both underwater and above, being able to send out more of them to bring you new creatures to enslave with ease as your army expands. They would only be allowed to repeat a saving throw once every 24 hours if they go more than 1 mile away from you, assuming you don't come along with them ( Which you can easily do in an aquatic environment, or for land, see "Moving" ), and you can communicate telepathically with them anywhere. Each day you add 3 more creatures to your army. This is one of, if not the most powerful abilities in all of D&D if you can do it right. Sprinkle some weakening spells on lured or trapped high-level creatures by other members of the party or yourself and you'll quickly become a God over all creation, poetically the Aboleth's desire.
Moving as an Aboleth - In case you need to traverse dry land, a large sized wheeled water tank commissioned from your accomplices, worshipers or servants is a popular option.
Eternal Memories, Gods in the Lakes - The Aboleths have eternal memories of all the knowledge passed from generations long before the Gods, and their minds are treasure troves of ancient lore. Furthermore when they consume other creatures, they add their knowledge and experience to theirs. So if you are ever in need of extremely ancient or hidden knowledge, just control or ally the Aboleth. Or if you are the Aboleth, expand your knowledge by consuming any person or creature you want to.
Enemies of the Gods - Tiny little detail. If you transformed into an Aboleth, you're immortal. From anything. Even the deities themselves. When your body dies, a new one will coalesce in the Elemental Plane of Water over days or months for you.
Briefly controlling or allying with the Aboleth can grant you untold advantage. Transforming into one will make you on par with the deities themselves. Since Aboleths are intelligent creatures and often try to appeal to their target's greatest desires when seducing them for their schemes, a temporary alliance with an Aboleth is a very really possibility. If you can somehow trap the Aboleth, bring it out of the water and take it back to a secure water tank or pond or pool in your keep or a civilized area and ward it, you could have leverage over the Aboleth with intimidation, since it's going to fear being trapped even more death, assuming it can't just commit suicide. But you could even prevent that by casting one of the trapping spells designed to stop that.
Azer
control, trapping, willing ally
Heated Body - Order your Azers to grapple an enemy, Telekinesis an Azer to your enemy, move it into tight quarters, or anything else you can think of to put an enemy of yours within 5 feet of the Azer. Every time it touches an enemy, he suffers 1d10 fire damage, as well as every time it hits the Azer.
Masters of Metal and Gems - These guys are considered the best smiths in the entire planes. They built the City of Brass. When called by magic to the Prime Material, it's usually to forge an elaborate magic item or work of art. If you ever need any blacksmithing done, control an Azer.
Cambion
control, transformation
Fiendish Blessing - The Cambion adds it's Charisma bonus ( +3 ) to it's AC and it's AC is shown as "19 ( scale mail )". Assuming that bonus has already been added somehow, if you gave your Cambion full plate armor, it would have an AC increase of +4 from scale, raising it's AC to 23. Giving it a shield will make it 25. That's a permanent AC of 25 just from regular items, and with a simple spell like "Shield of Faith" it can be 27 for a round. You can effectively have an almost indestructible tank. And if you have Plate+3 or Shield+3 or Ring and Cloak and Ioun Stone of protection, a Staff of Power, and Charisma increasing magical items or potions, it's going to be a literally indestructible tank.
Resistance to nonmagical weapons - Even more utility for your ultimate tank.
Fiendish Charm - And being able to also control an unlimited number of humanoids for 1 day is not too bad either.
Gas Spore
control, trapping
This low CR creature is actually overwhelmingly potent. Either control or much more commonly, trap it, then release it into the midst of your enemies from at least 30 feet away, even weakening them prior to that if you can. On a failed DC 15 constitution saving throw, every creature within 20 feet will become poisoned, infected with the spore, and die within a single day if it can't cure the disease, with 2d4 tiny gas spores sprouting from it which grow to full size within 7 days after it does. If trapped, then placed or thrown stealthily into any enemy colony or settlement, and then you withdraw, this creature could devastate multiple creatures or even their entire abodes should they return and the infestation spreads.
Sphinxes
control, transformation
This is one of the most uniquely powerful monsters you could control or transform into.
Magical Tests - If a Sphinx is guarding something under divine protection, it’s possibly that controlling it would not allow you to reach what it’s guarding by asking it where it is.
Lair Actions - Willingly fail your saving throw to reduce your years as much as you want through a controlled or transformed Sphinx. You could time travel. If you make you Sphinx take Short or Long Rest, you could literally travel thousands or millions or infinite years into the past or future by using it multiple times, and you’ll never age because you have an ability to forestall that too. Change the course of history to remake everything in your Prime Material or the universe itself. Learn the secrets of the Netherese Empire. Go to the Time of Troubles and become a God. Travel into the future and back with highly advanced spells or technology.
Succubus/Incubus
control, transformation, willing ally
This is yet another monster with utterly unbridled powers when it’s full potential is unlocked.
Beautiful Corrupter - Send your controlled Succubus or Incubus to tempt and corrupt a target.
Fiendish Offspring - Force a controlled Succubus and Incubus to breed to expand your control over their offspring, or make them breed with a humanoid to spawn a Cambion.
Telepathic Bond - You can use this ability to break the extraplanar restriction on almost every other ability of it’s kind, at least for 1 day, by making your Succubus or Incubus charm the monster or character you want to communicate with between planes, and repeat the process after a day has passed. Of course, you can also communicate with the Succubus or Incubus itself in this manner. Alternatively, and much more preferably, in order not to break a longer charm you have on a creature, you can designate a willing character or creature, or an unwilling and particularly weak one to be charmed by the Succubus or Incubus for a day, And have the monster subjected to your own charm spell go along with it or carry it, and transmit telepathic commands between yourself, to the succubus or incubus, and from them to the creature, and from it to your own charmed creature, and vice versa.
Charm - Free charm on a humanoid for a whole day, pretty good.
Etherealness - And your Succubus or Incubus can switch to the Ethereal Plane too at will.
Also Known as Orwellze!
I am glad to present to all of you something I've been working on for a while, and what I believe to be the most comprehensive guide of it's kind ever made. This guide will help you with exploiting monsters encountered in your adventures to an extent which can grant you great advantage in your campaigns, ranging from gathering wealth, extracting materials, enhancing abilities and achieving plenty of feats, even to the extent of becoming immortal, controlling entire species, attaining divinity ( No joke. Check out the "Xvart" entry in the full guide ) and holding sway over entire planes. Within will be first given an introduction to the methods you will need in order to derive benefits from monsters, followed by a list of most useful and unique monsters of their kind. This is intended as both a quick reference for whenever you need to know what you can gain out of a creature, or sometimes as an innovative proposal on how to make the most out of certain abilities. This guide will require the Monster Manual and Volo's Guide To Monsters for referencing abilities and information about monsters.
The full guide has been uploaded here. Check it out first if you have any questions.
In this post I will also showcase some of the most profilic entries from the guide. ( The control/trapping/etc.. keywords are all addressed at the beginning of the full guide, with an entire chapter devoted to what it means and how to do it). In the full version, there are hundreds of monster entries.
Aboleth
extraction, control, trapping, transformation, willing ally
If you are ever able to control or transform into an Aboleth, you are in for a world of fun. If you thought controlling or becoming a dragon was good, this might just change your mind.
Mucous Cloud, Legendary Actions, Lair Actions and Regional Effects - Fantastic for aquatic environments if you transform into the Aboleth.
Tentacle - Harvest those from a slain Aboleth and you potentially have a tool which can inflict 6 acid damage to a creature every 10 minutes when it's outside of water or until it's skin is moisturized.
Enslave (3/Day ) - If you control or transform into the Aboleth, you can enslave any 3 creatures you bring forth to it for at least the duration of your control or transformation ( Or more if you renew it. ), and if you transformed into an Aboleth, You could create an unlimited army of infinitely charmed creatures, both underwater and above, being able to send out more of them to bring you new creatures to enslave with ease as your army expands. They would only be allowed to repeat a saving throw once every 24 hours if they go more than 1 mile away from you, assuming you don't come along with them ( Which you can easily do in an aquatic environment, or for land, see "Moving" ), and you can communicate telepathically with them anywhere. Each day you add 3 more creatures to your army. This is one of, if not the most powerful abilities in all of D&D if you can do it right. Sprinkle some weakening spells on lured or trapped high-level creatures by other members of the party or yourself and you'll quickly become a God over all creation, poetically the Aboleth's desire.
Moving as an Aboleth - In case you need to traverse dry land, a large sized wheeled water tank commissioned from your accomplices, worshipers or servants is a popular option.
Eternal Memories, Gods in the Lakes - The Aboleths have eternal memories of all the knowledge passed from generations long before the Gods, and their minds are treasure troves of ancient lore. Furthermore when they consume other creatures, they add their knowledge and experience to theirs. So if you are ever in need of extremely ancient or hidden knowledge, just control or ally the Aboleth. Or if you are the Aboleth, expand your knowledge by consuming any person or creature you want to.
Enemies of the Gods - Tiny little detail. If you transformed into an Aboleth, you're immortal. From anything. Even the deities themselves. When your body dies, a new one will coalesce in the Elemental Plane of Water over days or months for you.
Briefly controlling or allying with the Aboleth can grant you untold advantage. Transforming into one will make you on par with the deities themselves. Since Aboleths are intelligent creatures and often try to appeal to their target's greatest desires when seducing them for their schemes, a temporary alliance with an Aboleth is a very really possibility. If you can somehow trap the Aboleth, bring it out of the water and take it back to a secure water tank or pond or pool in your keep or a civilized area and ward it, you could have leverage over the Aboleth with intimidation, since it's going to fear being trapped even more death, assuming it can't just commit suicide. But you could even prevent that by casting one of the trapping spells designed to stop that.
Azer
control, trapping, willing ally
Heated Body - Order your Azers to grapple an enemy, Telekinesis an Azer to your enemy, move it into tight quarters, or anything else you can think of to put an enemy of yours within 5 feet of the Azer. Every time it touches an enemy, he suffers 1d10 fire damage, as well as every time it hits the Azer.
Masters of Metal and Gems - These guys are considered the best smiths in the entire planes. They built the City of Brass. When called by magic to the Prime Material, it's usually to forge an elaborate magic item or work of art. If you ever need any blacksmithing done, control an Azer.
Cambion
control, transformation
Fiendish Blessing - The Cambion adds it's Charisma bonus ( +3 ) to it's AC and it's AC is shown as "19 ( scale mail )". Assuming that bonus has already been added somehow, if you gave your Cambion full plate armor, it would have an AC increase of +4 from scale, raising it's AC to 23. Giving it a shield will make it 25. That's a permanent AC of 25 just from regular items, and with a simple spell like "Shield of Faith" it can be 27 for a round. You can effectively have an almost indestructible tank. And if you have Plate+3 or Shield+3 or Ring and Cloak and Ioun Stone of protection, a Staff of Power, and Charisma increasing magical items or potions, it's going to be a literally indestructible tank.
Resistance to nonmagical weapons - Even more utility for your ultimate tank.
Fiendish Charm - And being able to also control an unlimited number of humanoids for 1 day is not too bad either.
Gas Spore
control, trapping
This low CR creature is actually overwhelmingly potent. Either control or much more commonly, trap it, then release it into the midst of your enemies from at least 30 feet away, even weakening them prior to that if you can. On a failed DC 15 constitution saving throw, every creature within 20 feet will become poisoned, infected with the spore, and die within a single day if it can't cure the disease, with 2d4 tiny gas spores sprouting from it which grow to full size within 7 days after it does. If trapped, then placed or thrown stealthily into any enemy colony or settlement, and then you withdraw, this creature could devastate multiple creatures or even their entire abodes should they return and the infestation spreads.
Sphinxes
control, transformation
This is one of the most uniquely powerful monsters you could control or transform into.
Magical Tests - If a Sphinx is guarding something under divine protection, it’s possibly that controlling it would not allow you to reach what it’s guarding by asking it where it is.
Lair Actions - Willingly fail your saving throw to reduce your years as much as you want through a controlled or transformed Sphinx. You could time travel. If you make you Sphinx take Short or Long Rest, you could literally travel thousands or millions or infinite years into the past or future by using it multiple times, and you’ll never age because you have an ability to forestall that too. Change the course of history to remake everything in your Prime Material or the universe itself. Learn the secrets of the Netherese Empire. Go to the Time of Troubles and become a God. Travel into the future and back with highly advanced spells or technology.
Succubus/Incubus
control, transformation, willing ally
This is yet another monster with utterly unbridled powers when it’s full potential is unlocked.
Beautiful Corrupter - Send your controlled Succubus or Incubus to tempt and corrupt a target.
Fiendish Offspring - Force a controlled Succubus and Incubus to breed to expand your control over their offspring, or make them breed with a humanoid to spawn a Cambion.
Telepathic Bond - You can use this ability to break the extraplanar restriction on almost every other ability of it’s kind, at least for 1 day, by making your Succubus or Incubus charm the monster or character you want to communicate with between planes, and repeat the process after a day has passed. Of course, you can also communicate with the Succubus or Incubus itself in this manner. Alternatively, and much more preferably, in order not to break a longer charm you have on a creature, you can designate a willing character or creature, or an unwilling and particularly weak one to be charmed by the Succubus or Incubus for a day, And have the monster subjected to your own charm spell go along with it or carry it, and transmit telepathic commands between yourself, to the succubus or incubus, and from them to the creature, and from it to your own charmed creature, and vice versa.
Charm - Free charm on a humanoid for a whole day, pretty good.
Etherealness - And your Succubus or Incubus can switch to the Ethereal Plane too at will.
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