5E: Fifth Edition Monster Variants Inspired by Fourth Edition Sources

[Casimir Liber]

Damn...this is hard...thinking of buffing spells. Bless, Aid, toll the dead (but a ghostly cackling instead of a bell), War Cry.....

 

[Cleon]

Damn...this is hard...thinking of buffing spells. Bless, Aid, toll the dead (but a ghostly cackling instead of a bell), War Cry.....

I like war cry, but note it won't boost a spectral hyena's Withering Bite as the attack isn't Strength-based, meaning it's only useful if the shaman has other allies such as other Gnolls.

Maybe chill touch for a bit better range? Plus, it's a core rule cantrip rather than being third-party like toll the dead.

 

[Casimir Liber]

I had another idea - Hunters Mark but NOT for the the gnoll shaman but ONLY for its gnoll allies and call it Hunters Aid - reinforces shaman's roll as member of tribe and combines it with a huntey like spell-like power.

 

[Cleon]

I had another idea - Hunters Mark but NOT for the the gnoll shaman but ONLY for its gnoll allies and call it Hunters Aid - reinforces shaman's roll as member of tribe and combines it with a huntey like spell-like power.

Great minds think alike (or fools seldom differ?), since I was musing about an altered version of War Cry that would work on Spectral Hyenas or other allies with DEX-based melee attacks.

This is what I came up with as a first draft:

Hunting Cry. As a bonus action, the gnoll beast shaman can utter a horrible howl, choosing up to two allied creatures within 60 feet [or 30 like the spell?] who can hear or see the shaman to form a hunting pack with. Allied creatures must be conscious to join a hunting pack, and leave the pack if knocked unconscious. This pack targets one creature chosen as prey by the shaman; this may be a creature within 150 feet who the shaman can see or smell, or a creature whose tracks the shaman can see or smell within 10 feet. These tracks may be up to 24 hours old, but at the DM's discretion favorable or unfavorable circumstances can increase or reduce this time limit (e.g. rain or hard and impermeable ground are unfavorable, snowy ground or blundering prey that leave an obvious trail are favorable). The shaman can also choose prey using the scent of objects a creature wore, such as clothes or footwear.​

 Hunting cry is an Innate Spellcasting ability that requires concentration. The beast shaman can use hunting cry when it already has an hunting cry active, using the bonus action to either change the hunting pack's prey creature (restrictions as above) or choose three creatures for the pack, up to a maximum of nine (the shaman plus eight allies).​

 The hunting cry lasts for 1 hour or until the shaman loses concentration. If the prey drops to 0 hit points, the shaman has until the end of its turn to make another hunting cry to choose a replacement prey creature for the pack; failing to do so ends the hunting cry. If a dispel magic spell targets a pack member or the prey creature, the target immediately stops being part of the hunt, this ends the hunting cry if the shaman is the creature dispelled. If the prey is dispelled, the shaman has until the end of its turn to use hunting cry to choose new prey (which may be the same as the old prey).​

 When a creature joins a hunting cry pack (which includes the shaman), they gain one hunting die, which the pack member must spend on the first melee attack it makes against the prey, adding 2 (1d4) to either its attack roll or its damage roll. The hunter rolls to hit first: if the roll to hit fails, it adds the hunting die to try turning the miss into a hit; if the roll to hit succeeds, it adds the hunting die to damage. The hunting die replenishes if the shaman chooses the creature with another hunting cry (it can choose itself). The shaman cannot give a pack member two or more hunting dice, if can only replace a die the hunter has spent.​

 In addition, as long as the hunting cry is active, all pack members gain the following trait:​

 Predatory Senses. The creature has advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check it makes to find the chosen prey.​

 

[Cleon]

The above is a bit clunky. I'm thinking of rewriting it so it can use bonus actions to reassign the prey without having to spend uses of hunting cry, if only to make it easier to parse.

Will probably still have the hunting cry be stackable to increase the pack size and/or replenish spent hunting dice.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Looks good though. Was along the lines of what I was thinking. More flexible than my idea but will be just DM fiddling behind the scenes so not a big deal really.

 

[Cleon]

Looks good though. Was along the lines of what I was thinking. More flexible than my idea but will be just DM fiddling behind the scenes so not a big deal really.

I doubt I'll have time to post a revision of Hunting Cry today, but will get around to it eventually.

Got a few things I need to do that I've been prevarication about like usual, so deadlines are starting to loom.

 

[Casimir Liber]

STOP PRESS.....need to buff/review some fomorians before next weekend....first up, a shaman...(from MM2)

 

[Cleon]

STOP PRESS.....need to buff/review some fomorians before next weekend....first up, a shaman...(from MM2)

Fomorians are faster than base humanoids in 4E (speed 8 vs speed 6), which suggests Speed 40 ft.

The Skills should be Perception +7, Stealth +4 with its DEX, WIS and Proficiency.

The wording of Spirits of Possession is needlessly messy. Why not just have it say failure caused the target to be charmed, and then say what influence the fomorian has over its charmed victim?

It might be easier cribbing some of the text from the 5E dominate monster spell.

Also, the original Ghost Shaman could only spirit-possess a creature that had ongoing necrotic damage (which effectively meant creatures it had just whammied with its Evil Eye attack) and the Spirits could affect anyone within 15 feet of the shaman (as it was a 3 square Close Burst).

That's quite different from your single target within 60 feet version.

The damage of Darksoul Mist seems a bit high. The original didn't do much more than a Death's Touch.

Oh, and did you not like the slow condition the 4E version's eye and mist inflicted? There's no sign of that.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Incorporated all changes suggested except Spirits of Possession - the reason I have adopted this is that having a character charmed in combat is really boring for the player. So this was suggested by slyflourish for one of his monsters (a reworking of vampire). In essence, it means the monster can momentarily possess an opponent to make an attack as an off-turn reaction but the player still controls their character on ntheir turn - a momentary possession.

 

[Cleon]

Incorporated all changes suggested except Spirits of Possession - the reason I have adopted this is that having a character charmed in combat is really boring for the player. So this was suggested by slyflourish for one of his monsters (a reworking of vampire). In essence, it means the monster can momentarily possess an opponent to make an attack as an off-turn reaction but the player still controls their character on ntheir turn - a momentary possession.

My main objection is to the clunky "Creatures who can't be charmed automatically succeed on this saving throw" statements in the description, which seem superfluous.

There's little or no difference between the current Spirits of Possession and what would happen if the target was charmed for a fraction of a round, except it'd be a bit simpler and likely follow standard 5E rules more closely.

It could have something like "On a failed save, the target is charmed. The charmed target must use its reaction, if available, to move up to their speed and then make either a melee attack or fall prone as directed by the ghost shaman. The effect ends once the target uses their reaction or the ghost shaman finishes its turn."

The "boring bit" of being dominated is that a player loses control of their character for a protracted period and is unable to contribute to what's going on. The latter is little different from if a PC were paralyzed or petrified.

 

[Casimir Liber]

ok incorporated rewording

 

[Cleon]

ok incorporated rewording

A quite glance through couldn't find anything wrong with the numbers except passive Perception should be 17.

Oh, I checked the 5E stats of a Fomorian and it appears WotC gave them Speed 30 ft. so feel free to revert the Ghost Shaman back to its original 30 feet.

The standard 5E Fomorian also appears to have double proficiency in Perception: it has WIS 14 (+2) and Perception +8, so it must have added twice its +3 Proficiency Bonus.

If the Ghost Shaman also gets double-good Perception it'd have Perception +11 and passive Perception 21.

 

[Casimir Liber]

I guess a fomorian has 30 ft movement as although large it has deformed limbs - reduced to 30ft, incorporated other changes and published here

 

[Casimir Liber]

Also started working on a fomorian butcher (rough at this point but ballparking):

 

[Cleon]

I guess a fomorian has 30 ft movement as although large it has deformed limbs - reduced to 30ft, incorporated other changes and published here

Will post an Enworld version and check the current draft.

I suspect I'll be able to find something to quibble about!

 

[Cleon]

Fomorian Ghost Shaman
Huge giant, chaotic evil
Armor Class 17 (natural armor and aura of eyes)
Hit Points 189 (18d12 + 72)
Speed 30 ft.

STR​	DEX​	CON​	INT​	WIS​	CHA​
21 (+5)​	10 (+0)​	18 (+4)​	11 (+0)​	17 (+3)​	16 (+3)​

Saving Throws WIS +7, CHA +7
Skills Perception +11, Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 21
Languages Giant, Undercommon
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +4

Aura of Eyes. The ghost shaman adds its charisma bonus to its AC.

Actions

Multiattack. The ghost shaman attacks twice with its death's touch or makes one death's touch attack and uses Evil Eye once.

Death's Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and if the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Charisma save. On a failed save, the creature is slowed: it can't use reactions, its speed is halved, and it can't make more than one attack on its turn. In addition, the creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, but not both. These effects last for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.

Evil Eye. The fomorian magically forces a creature it can see within 60 feet of it to make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. The creature takes 27 (6d8) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Spirits of Possession. The fomorian ghost shaman conjures a cloud of accursed ghosts. The shaman directs these spirits to either target one creature within 120 feet or target every creature within 20 feet of the shaman. If the target is injured by necrotic damage it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target is charmed. The charmed target must use its reaction, if available, to move up to their speed and then make either a melee attack or fall prone as directed by the ghost shaman. The effect ends once the target uses their reaction or the ghost shaman finishes its turn.

Darksoul Mist (Recharge 4-6). The fomorian ghost shaman creates a 20-foot cube of dark mists centered on a point within 60 feet. Any creature within the cube when it appears must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save the creature takes 21 (6d6) necrotic damage and is slowed, on a success the creature takes half as much damage and is not slowed. A slowed creature can't use reactions, its speed is halved, and it can't make more than one attack on its turn. In addition, the creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, but not both. These effects last for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.
 The cube of darkness remains for one minute, obscuring vision.

Curse of the Evil Eye (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). With a stare, the fomorian uses Evil Eye, but on a failed save, the creature is also cursed with magical deformities. While deformed, the creature has its speed halved and has disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws, and attacks based on Strength or Dexterity.
 The transformed creature can repeat the saving throw whenever it finishes a long rest, ending the effect on a success.


Description

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(Inspired by the Fomorian Ghost Shaman in 4th Edition's Monster Manual 2 (2009).)

 

[Cleon]

Okay, let's go through this one!

There's nothing mechanically awry with the everything before Actions.

As for those, Multiattack, Evil Eye and Curse of the Evil Eye look good to go.

The Spirits of Possession looks OK, although I'm not 100% sure of the "that has taken necrotic damage from it during the combat" wording as it's slightly vague as to how long a "combat" is and what happens if the target has been entirely healed of its necrotic damage.

What does the original 4E Ghost Shaman use again?

Here we go "targets creatures that have ongoing necrotic damage" and the Evil Eye does "ongoing 10 necrotic damage".

Hmm… we could change Evil Eye so it does ongoing damage but I'm not in favour of changing the wording from the official 5E Fomorian's Evil Eye unless we really have to.

Also, the original Spirits was AoE within a radius around the Shaman, while this version only affects a single target.

If you do want to make it targeted, I'd give it a range. As written the ghost shaman can throw Possession at a target anywhere. It could send a spirit to possess an enemy that's plane shifted and teleported to the other end of the universe!

Hmm… maybe instead of "The fomorian ghost shaman targets one creature that has taken necrotic damage from it during the combat. The target must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw." you could start it:

Spirits of Possession #2. The fomorian ghost shaman surrounds itself with a cloud of accursed ghosts. Any creature within [15 or 20?] feet of the shaman that is injured by necrotic damage must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw.​

Or, for a targeted version:

Spirits of Possession #3. The fomorian ghost shaman targets one creature within [60 or 120 ?] feet that is injured by necrotic damage. The target must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw.​

Or maybe combine the two?

Spirits of Possession #4. The fomorian ghost shaman conjures a cloud of accursed ghosts. The shaman directs these spirits to either target one creature within [60 or 120 ?] feet or target every creature within [15 or 20?] feet of the shaman. If the target is injured by necrotic damage it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw.​

Do any of those appeal?

 

[Cleon]

The other problem is Death's Touch and Darksoul Mist don't have a duration for the slow effect, which the Mist aggravates by not saying an initial success prevents slowing.

I suggest the usual "1 minute, with saves per round to cancel" formula.

Also, slow isn't a standard condition in 5E, unlike 4E, so it needs some kind of explanation such as a reference to the slow spell or spelling out the effects. The precedent of the Slowing Breath of a Copper Dragon or a beholder's Slowing Ray is to spell it out.

Oh, and the Darksoul Mist has a "diameter" in it despite the mist being cubular. Circles have diameters, not squares!

So I'd suggest changing it to the following:

Death's Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and if the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Charisma save. On a failed save, the creature is slowed: it can't use reactions, its speed is halved, and it can't make more than one attack on its turn. In addition, the creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, but not both. These effects last for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.​

​

Darksoul Mist (Recharge 4-6). The fomorian ghost shaman creates a 20-foot cube of dark mists centered on a point within 60 feet. Any creature within the cube when it appears must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save the creature takes 21 (6d6) necrotic damage and is slowed, on a success the creature takes half as much damage and is not slowed. A slowed creature can't use reactions, its speed is halved, and it can't make more than one attack on its turn. In addition, the creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, but not both. These effects last for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.​

 The cube of darkness remains for one minute, obscuring vision.​

I was also tempted to have it only affect living creatures since it's a necrotic/death effect, but the original monster could affect undead and constructs with those attacks' slow condition so we might as well let this version do so.

Presumably being a Ghost Shaman means the fomorian knows tricks to put the whammy on unliving opponents.

 

[Casimir Liber]

incorporated all preceding. I like

Spirits of Possession #4. The fomorian ghost shaman conjures a cloud of accursed ghosts. The shaman directs these spirits to either target one creature within 120 feet or target every creature within 20 feet of the shaman. If the target is injured by necrotic damage it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw.