Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
Are you thinking like Elminster and Szass Tam are supposed to be for the 3e Forgotten Realms?
D&D General d&d arcane monsters
- Thread starter Mind of tempest
- Start date
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
no, it is more about setting function.
these things are meant to have descended from the sky one day and tore down the world as everyone knew it.
before arcane magic was unheard of after it was the great power in the world.
they brought an age of progress and arcane tech.
they built the great planetary ring the sits in the sky.
arcane levels are not what they used so they are packing up and leaving
now they are few in number and returning to elsewhere sort of like Lotr elves but they are way less moral.
they leave behind a servitor race to guard things for a possible return.
arcane magic comes to them as breathing comes to us.
also big and powerful in stature ideally.
jmartkdr2
Hero
For that, I'd use either dragons or make up something new. Myself, I would probably use the Mursaat form Guild Wars, because they're close to what you want but aren't a DnD thing. If you have other ideas for dragons and want to do less work, you could use genies, giants, or oni, but any which way you'd need to add a lot of spellcasting to creature stat blacks that don't typically have it.
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
well, you at least gave me something to look at for ideas.
I had no ideas for dragons, had considered not having them at all as no one's done that yet.
but dragons are at least world dependent.
the setting vibe I am going for is sort of like a mix of earth myths with I side order of really wired stuff mixed together till it looks suitably alien.
I had no ideas for dragons, had considered not having them at all as no one's done that yet.
but dragons are at least world dependent.
the setting vibe I am going for is sort of like a mix of earth myths with I side order of really wired stuff mixed together till it looks suitably alien.
dave2008
Legend
@Mind of tempest From the sounds of it, Niv-Mizzet and or Ispereia would be good ideas to start with. Just use them as templates if needed. You could also give them the innate spellcasting trait to really hammer home that pervasive magic feel. If you can give me more direction (CR, name and any must haves), I would be happy to make a "standard" stat block for them.
Niv-Mizzet is a CR 26 dragon with 20th level spell casting:
Isperia is a CR 21 sphinx with 15th level spell casting:
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dave2008
Legend
But that is easy, just add the Archmage spellcasting trait - done.
dave2008
Legend
@Mind of tempest Have you thought about the Spell Weavers? The 2e description: Spell weavers are nonhuman spellcasters of great power, originating from an alternate Prime Material Plane. Only vaguely humanoid in appearance, they have a combination of mammalian, reptilian, and insectoid features.
I did a 5e conversion here, but I could modify it if you want them to be stronger. Or maybe the Spell Weavers are the servitor race and there is a more powerful version that fills the role you want.
I did a 5e conversion here, but I could modify it if you want them to be stronger. Or maybe the Spell Weavers are the servitor race and there is a more powerful version that fills the role you want.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
What about an alien type of dragons? As in, the normal types are there, but there are new breeds that are different from your typical chromatic and metallic dragons.
These are for Pathfinder 1E, but LPJ Design's Monsters of NeoExodus: Dragons of the Mind has dragons with powerful psionic abilities and other dragons with psychic spellcasting abilities. For ones with power over more traditional spellcasting, there's Rogue Genius Games' Monster Menagerie: Draconis Arcanus.
Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.
dave2008
Legend
I love dragons, but I think something based on the Spell Weaver is the most logical. They fit the bill of: "arcane magic comes to them as breathing comes to us" and are also alien / weird from another place.
