D&D 5E 5e Updates: Monstrous Compendium

[SkidAce]

WotC have confirmed this is the "full" Tiamat.


Why is that actually? I mean, none of the D&D lore, no matter the edition supports it, and yet you always make Tiamat one of the most powerful - if not the most powerful - of your designs. So just wondering.

(And I've said before - I way prefer her as the Ur-dragon, instead of a goddess.)

Because Tiamat is the Mother of Monsters, the spawner of Primordials, the goddess of the cosmic sea from whence all things come, she is the terrible, the beautiful..

She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creation. She is referred to as a woman,[4] and described as the glistening one.[5] It is suggested that there are two parts to the Tiamat mythos, the first in which Tiamat is a creator goddess, through a sacred marriage between salt and fresh water, peacefully creating the cosmos through successive generations. In the second Chaoskampf Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos.[6] Some sources identify her with images of a sea serpent or dragon.[7]

 

[SkidAce]

In my campaign of course.

She came first, Bahamut is actually her son. (via Yig, a primordial she spawned)

 

[NotAYakk]

For Tiamat; what if each round 1d4-1 breath weapons recharge (1d4 after mythic) Then the "ur breath" requires a round or two of recovery.

A bit of a callback to other dragons breath refresh.

It might also open up budget for an on-turn "bite and breathe", which is a move I cannot believe she doesn't have.

 

[dave2008]

For Tiamat; what if each round 1d4-1 breath weapons recharge (1d4 after mythic) Then the "ur breath" requires a round or two of recovery.

A bit of a callback to other dragons breath refresh.

Personally I like that she doesn't need to recover, she just needs to spend 2 legendary actions. Though it would be more 5e to give her a recharge 5-6 for each breath weapon, which I have done before as well.

It might also open up budget for an on-turn "bite and breathe", which is a move I cannot believe she doesn't have.

best way to do that would be to add a grapple option to the bite attack. I can do that.

 

[dave2008]

It might also open up budget for an on-turn "bite and breathe", which is a move I cannot believe she doesn't have.

OK, I gave Tiamat a grapple option with her bite attack. That allows her to breath on a grappled target and they have disadvantage on their save. I could do more, but I think that is good for now.

What is deadly is that she can bite and breath on the target in the same round.

 

[NotAYakk]

Personally I like that she doesn't need to recover, she just needs to spend 2 legendary actions. Though it would be more 5e to give her a recharge 5-6 for each breath weapon, which I have done before as well.

Sure, I was just aiming for less bookkeeping not more.

The point of legendary actions is to spread tgreat over the round and not clump it up.

The 5 breath, twice in a row, right after mythic breaks that point.

Not only is it mega threat, it is also trivial to focus on one person. Unless the PCs are effectively immune to all of her breath weapons, 1+ PCs die for 2 rounds post-mythic. Even death ward doesn't work well.

A recharge makes that mega blast something with a delay between uses.

 

[dave2008]

Sure, I was just aiming for less bookkeeping not more.

The point of legendary actions is to spread tgreat over the round and not clump it up.

The 5 breath, twice in a row, right after mythic breaks that point.

Not only is it mega threat, it is also trivial to focus on one person. Unless the PCs are effectively immune to all of her breath weapons, 1+ PCs die for 2 rounds post-mythic. Even death ward doesn't work well.

A recharge makes that mega blast something with a delay between uses.

OK, I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about the typical breathweapons. I'm already planning on revising Chromatic Breath to be more deadly, but only usable 1/short rest.

EDIT: Actually I may take an idea from her 4e incarnation

 

[dave2008]

OK, I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about the typical breathweapons. I'm already planning on revising Chromatic Breath to be more deadly, but only usable 1/short rest.

EDIT: Actually I may take an idea from her 4e incarnation

OK @NotAYakk, I revised her Chromatic Breath. Let me know what you think.

 

[dave2008]

I have added the Gigante to the Mythic Updates (under giants). This is a preview of a draft (still need to crunch numbers and edit) of one of the monsters in my upcoming Zine: Ascension, the Codex of Exalted. It is based on the Greek-myth version of the serpent-footed giants released by Gaia to punish the gods.

PS, this is one its outer-planes form, it true form on the Prime is much more powerful

 

[NotAYakk]

OK @NotAYakk, I revised her Chromatic Breath. Let me know what you think.

Nice.

It still reads a bit like a "you must be this tall to ride" damage burst; 360 damage on one initiative count. We must presume resitance (or the players are doomed) so "only" 180.

The budget per legendary action/action is pretty flat, with that being a big exception.

What are you doing for damage budgets, the usual "first 3 rounds" damage output? I guess you assume resistance to everything.