D&D 5E No Monsters Immune to Stun?

turnip_farmer · Feb 8, 2021

Flamestrike said:
Stunning Fist is central to the Monks Oomph from 5th level onwards. If you make a whole heap of monsters immune to Stun, you're totally nerfing the Monk class.

It would be like making a whole heap of monsters immune to Radiant damage. Your Paladin players will hate you.

I think maybe we're envisaging different things here. I don't make whole heaps of monsters immune to being stunned, just more than the Monster Manual does. Constructs, basically. Unless your campaign is filled with constructs that's not a major problem. You just occasionally come across things your superpower doesn't work on. The whole party finds themselves in similar situations at some point.

dave2008 · Feb 8, 2021

Flamestrike said:
Stunning Fist is central to the Monks Oomph from 5th level onwards. If you make a whole heap of monsters immune to Stun, you're totally nerfing the Monk class.

It would be like making a whole heap of monsters immune to Radiant damage. Your Paladin players will hate you.

Just thought I would point out that, per D&D Beyond, there are 7 monsters immune to radiant damage and 17 with resistance. The total of the two is less than the # of monsters immune to being stunned (even when you remove the swarms).

However, that makes me thing they really should come up with an equivalent to resistance for conditions. I've used advantage on saves as a type of condition resistance before.

dave2008 · Feb 8, 2021

Sorcerers Apprentice said:
Note there's no "instead" in the rules text for Tiamat's multiple heads. Without the condition immunity she would be both Stunned and lose a legendary action if she failed a save vs stun.

Nice catch, I missed that. I think subconsciously always inserted the "instead" in there as she would loose LA if she was stunned and didn't have the trait anyway. So again there is no reason for having both really.

Flamestrike · Feb 8, 2021

dave2008 said:
Just thought I would point out that, per D&D Beyond, there are 7 monsters immune to radiant damage and 17 with resistance.

Primarily celestials and the aasimar, which most Paladins dont really have any reason to fear.

Flamestrike · Feb 8, 2021

turnip_farmer said:
I think maybe we're envisaging different things here. I don't make whole heaps of monsters immune to being stunned, just more than the Monster Manual does. Constructs, basically.

Why would constructs be immune to being stunned?

Have you watched Terminator? They get Stunned (head snaps back, gets knocked over, staggered by the attack) allowing the heroes to escape all the time.

Why cant Frankensteins monster be stunned?

turnip_farmer · Feb 8, 2021

Flamestrike said:
Why would constructs be immune to being stunned?

Have you watched Terminator? They get Stunned (head snaps back, gets knocked over, staggered by the attack) allowing the heroes to escape all the time.

Why cant Frankensteins monster be stunned?

Because it doesn't feel right to me. An animated suit of armour has no life force flowing through it, nor any brain or thought processes that can be interrupted. It's immune to stun for exactly the same reason as the helmed horror.

Frankenstein's monster would not be immune to being stunned. It's not an inanimate object moving by magical influence, it's a reanimated conscious being.

Thankfully my medieval fantasy world is devoid of advanced killer robots with artificial intelligence, so I don't need to consider that one.

Flamestrike · Feb 8, 2021

turnip_farmer said:
Because it doesn't feel right to me. An animated suit of armour has no life force flowing through it,

Neither does the T-1000 but that doesnt stop it from getting Stunned from attacks.

turnip_farmer said:
nor any brain or thought processes that can be interrupted.

Stunning has nothing to do with 'brains'. That's concussion.

Stunning is defined in the OED as being ' so shocked that one is temporarily unable to react; astonished' and it includes being 'Dazed, Staggered, Shocked, Startled or Overwhelmed', and all of those things can happen to a robot or construct, and indeed do happen to them in movies and literature all the time.

turnip_farmer said:
Frankenstein's monster would not be immune to being stunned. It's not an inanimate object moving by magical influence, it's a reanimated conscious being.

Frankenstiens monster is a flesh golem dude.

Bits of other bodies, stitched together, animated by electricity and capable of going berserk.

turnip_farmer · Feb 8, 2021

Flamestrike said:
Neither does the T-1000 but that doesnt stop it from getting Stunned from attacks.

Stunning has nothing to do with 'brains'. That's concussion.

Stunning is defined in the OED as being ' so shocked that one is temporarily unable to react; astonished' and it includes being 'Dazed, Staggered, Shocked, Startled or Overwhelmed', and all of those things can happen to a robot or construct, and indeed do happen to them in movies and literature all the time.

Frankenstiens monster is a flesh golem dude.

Bits of other bodies, stitched together, animated by electricity and capable of going berserk.

Animated suits of armour cannot be dazed, staggered, shocked, startled or overwhelmed, in my opinion. Yours can work how you like. Thinking about T-1000, I have clear imagery of it getting bullets straight to his face and still running on completely unfazed. An immunity to stunned would definitely be required if I was statting up a T-1000. It fits the feel of this relentless, unfeeling thing that just keeps on coming no matter what you throw at it. That's what you're meant to feel when he's running after you in the car.

As for Frankenstein's monster, he was a thinking, feeling being. Looking at the flesh golem as described in the MM; that should be stunnable as well; as it too is described as a thinking being. Note that the MM flesh golem is very different to Frankie, though, as it has only the intelligence of a child; while Frankenstein's monster was intelligent and erudite.