Casimir Liber
Adventurer
Yeah sound good. I guess using spike growth or some variant thereof?
5E: Converting Monsters from White Dwarf Magazine for Fifth Edition
Cleon
Legend
Well the original text used "Plants are encouraged to grow in a thick defensive screen about the Chthon for protection" which to me suggests some kind of wall of stone like barrier made out of wood rather than an area of spikey ground that's harmful to walk across.
Hmm… I'll mull it over and see if I can come up with something.
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
like wall of thorns?
Cleon
Legend
Similar, but a undamaging version.
Hmm…
Barrier of Branches. A wall of tangled vegetation springs from the ground within 120 feet of the chthon. The barrier is composed of six panels, each 10 feet tall and either 10 feet long and 4 feet thick or 20 feet long and 2 feet thick. Each panel must be contiguous with at least one one other panel. The barrier remains standing for 1 hour before withering and collapsing into fragments of punk and mold. The barrier blocks line of sight.
If the barrier cuts through a creature's space when it appears, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. If it fails, the branches wrap tightly around the creature's body or limbs and it is restrained. On a success, the target is not restrained and can use its reaction to move up to its speed so that it is no longer in contact with the barrier. A creature restrained by the barrier can escape with a successful DC ## Strength or Dexterity check, by doing at least 10 slashing damage to the barrier at one time, or by destroying the panels they are trapped in.
A creature can move through the barrier, albeit slowly and painfully. For every 2 foot a creature moves through the branches, it must spend 5 feet of movement. Furthermore, the first time a creature enters the wall on a turn or ends its turn there, the creature must make a DC ## Strength or Dexterity saving throw or be momentarily snagged by the branches, becoming restrained for their next turn.
The barrier is an object made of wood that can be damaged and thus breached. Each panel has AC ## and 10 hit points per foot of thickness, with resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage. Reducing a panel to 0 hit points destroys it but does not cause connected panels to collapse.
I'm thinking the other version would be some kind of "thorny attack roots" that trips and maybe does a small amount of piercing or bludgeoning damage if it his.
Cleon
Legend
Incidentally, the barrier blocking line of sight may cause difficulties with the Chthon's control of its minions, since.
My idea was the chthon would normally just order its beasts to "kill the humans" and if they went out of its eyesight then it'd just wait until the screaming stopped. If it needed to change its orders and the creature's already gone it must use its telepathic Call to get them to return and receive new instructions.
However that'd be unworkable if the chthon is surrounded by dense vegetation that blocks its view so I'm know thinking its ability to issue orders should not require line-of-sight. How about modify that to basically match the format of the message spell.
If a controlled beast or plant is within 120 feet of the chthon, it can send telepathic orders the creature follows to the best of its natural ability. These telepathic messages don't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners and through openings, but cannot pass through solid barriers of wood, stone, or metal.
Is that OK by you?
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
Alternative is that vegetation is thick but just obscures (rather than blocks) vision.
On the other hand, I do think the last para is good as undoubtedly after 60 ft the creatures and the chthon can't see each other.
On the other hand, I do think the last para is good as undoubtedly after 60 ft the creatures and the chthon can't see each other.
Cleon
Legend
So maybe under 5 feet of thickness is lightly obscured, and over 5 feet is heavily obscured? So they can see with disadvantage through a regular 10-foot-long-by-4-foot-thick panel or two thicknesses of stretched 20-foot-long-by-2-foot-thick panels, but two thicknesses of regular panels (8 ft. total) or a regular panel plus a stretched panel (6 ft. total) block vision?
Agreed.
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
yep
Cleon
Legend
Right-ho, I'll draft something a bit more formal for the obscurement in my next post in this thread which hopefully will be sometime soon.
It's time to call it a night since I've got things to do tomorrow.
Ciao for now.
Cleon
Legend
Updated the Chthon.
How's this:
The area of the barriers is lightly obscured; but sight through the barrier becomes heavily obscured if the total thickness is 5 feet or more (e.g. two 4 ft. thick panels or one 4 ft. thick panel plus one 2 ft. thick panel).
Finally, I believed I mentioned wanting to limit how often/frequently the Chthon can use this ability. Either a very slow Recharge of 6 or 4-5 or a timed once-per-encounter basis such as Recharge on a Short Rest.
Basically, I don't want the Chthon spamming vegetable walls to trap its opponents while its retinue slowly gnaws them to death.
My current preference is Once per Short Rest for the branches and a Recharge for the other plant protection I'm thinking about.
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