Black Pudding split

dpkress2 · Sep 12, 2018

The copy states:

"When a pudding that is Medium or larger is subjected to lightning or slashing damage, it splits into two new puddings if it has at least 10 hit points. Each new pudding has hit points equal to half the original pudding's, rounded down."

Is the highlighted line saying:
Each new pudding has hit points equal to half of the original pudding's at the start of the encounter?
or:
Each new pudding has hit points equal to half of the original pudding's current hp?

Swarmkeeper · Sep 12, 2018

I think here original refers to the pudding being targeted but not their starting HP. Otherwise, you could theoretically be in an endless pudding feedback loop!

So...it's the second option:

dpkress2 said:
Each new pudding has hit points equal to half of the original pudding's current hp?

Reynard · Sep 12, 2018

DM Dave1 said:
I think here original refers to the pudding being targeted but not their starting HP. Otherwise, you could theoretically be in an endless pudding feedback loop!

So...it's the second option:

I disagree. Mostly because it is meaner.

Satyrn · Sep 12, 2018

DM Dave1 said:
I think here original refers to the pudding being targeted but not their starting HP. Otherwise, you could theoretically be in an endless pudding feedback loop!

So...it's the second option:

That's totally how I read it, too . . .

But I'm with [MENTION=467]Reynard[/MENTION]. When I gave my homebrew demon the ability the split in half, I had it so that a Large one split into 2 Mediums, with the chance that those Mediums inherit the ability to split into Smalls. Even if the Large had 1 hit point when it split, each of those Smalls would start with their normal max (somewhere around 10 each).

Mostly because it's meaner.

Reynard · Sep 12, 2018

Satyrn said:
That's totally how I read it, too . . .

But I'm with [MENTION=467]Reynard[/MENTION]. When I gave my homebrew demon the ability the split in half, I had it so that a Large one split into 2 Mediums, with the chance that those Mediums inherit the ability to split into Smalls. Even if the Large had 1 hit point when it split, each of those Smalls would start with their normal max (somewhere around 10 each).

Mostly because it's meaner.

I am running a beer and pretzels 5E game for some lapsed friends of mine this Friday. I think I will use the infinitely* splitting boss monster just to mess with them.

Satyrn · Sep 12, 2018

Reynard said:
I am running a beer and pretzels 5E game for some lapsed friends of mine this Friday. I think I will use the infinitely* splitting boss monster just to mess with them.

Here's the feature as written that I'm using. (Demon fodder are the grunts that appear with great frequency on my random encounter charts, so each of them has a random chance of having a special feature like Splitting, but otherwise they're just an animal stat block with a demon's common resistances, and speak abyssal.)

Splitting. As an action, the fodder splits into two fodder of the same type, but 1 size smaller (Huge->Large->Medium->Small->Tiny). The new fodder have full hit points for their size and type, and inherit this trait. They act on the same initiave count as their "parent" and can act immediately, but only to move (subtracting from their speed whatever movement their parent used this turn before splitting).

Death Splitting. As Splitting, except that it happens when the fodder is reduced to 0 hit points, and the "children" don't automatically inherit this trait. Roll 1d10 for each child: On a 1, the child gains the Splitting trait; on a 10, it gains Death Splitting.

For a boss monster, I'd start it with the Death Splitting feature, with each child inheriting Splitting on a 1-4, and Death Splitting on a 7-10 (and nothing on a 5-6 because I love adding random chance to things.)

iserith · Sep 12, 2018

On the infinite splitting trait, you could also set up some kind of separate challenge to prevent it such as getting at some MacGuffin and using it, disabling a fantastical terrain feature, or hitting the monster with some kind of special weakness (damage type or whatever). Fail to do that and it just... keeps... splitting...

commandercrud · Sep 14, 2018

Obviously the current HP. The other way doesn't make any sense.

Reynard · Sep 14, 2018

commandercrud said:
Obviously the current HP. The other way doesn't make any sense.

It does if the goal is to scare the crap out of your players! In tonight's beer-n-preztles game, I am going to use a splitting monster (a giant animated pile of corpses) that starts off as Huge, and when dropped to 0 HP becomes 2 large, each of which will split into 2 medium, each of which will split into 4 small creatures, and finally each of these to 4 tiny creatures. Every "level" of creature will have half the max hit points of the parent creature. The point won't really be for the PCs to kill them all so much as fight this thing while simultaneously trying to get to and escape with the McGuffin.

aco175 · Sep 15, 2018

I tend to round up when splitting it. Mostly due to the amount of damage PCs do. It it is large and starts with 100hp and is hit with slashing for 20hp I would have 2 medium with 50hp each. If one is hit again I would now have one medium with 50hp and 2 small with 25 each. I would split the small ones again to 2 small with 10each.

Now if a medium one is hit with another damage that does not make it split and has 25hp left before hit with slashing, I would split it to 2 small with 10hp rather than 2 with 25hp. I like making it go from 1 creature to 8.

Black Pudding split

dpkress2

First Post

Swarmkeeper

Hero

Reynard

Legend

Satyrn

First Post

Reynard

Legend

Satyrn

First Post

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

commandercrud

Hero

Reynard

Legend

aco175

Legend

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