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!
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.
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).
Cantrips: all wizard cantrips
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.
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) |
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.
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.
