D&D 5E 5e Updates: Monstrous Compendium

[dave2008]

For the die at 0, its no save. If the bow brings you to 0, you die...no con save, no death saves, just done. You used the mechanic on some of the high level dragon breath weapons as an example.

Your saying eliminate the save at 0, Ok I get it now. That wasn't clear to me in your previous posts. I will think about it, but I am not inclined to change from the MM version just yet.

EDIT: Never mind. I decided to add it. Now it has both traits!

 

[dave2008]

I think you forgot the +6d8 slashing for the solar.

It is 8d6 in Angelic Weapons, is that what you mean?

 

[Stalker0]

Looking at the Seraphim. At CR 26 (even before the Mythic) I imagine this creature as the final boss of a 20th level campaign. Aka this is something that I expect a fully rested party with all of the things PCs could in theory get access to, and yet still be one of the deadliest challenges they have faced. And wow, does this monster show up! Really impressive saves + unstoppable + magic resistance + at-will dispel magic + 3/day counterspell means that fighting this thing is more of a physical affair, and its physical skills are still quite impressive. My notes:

1) There are a few typos in the stat block. You reference dragon and solar at one point. Greatspear section of legendary actions has (tow instead of two). Under Globe of Protection you use spear instead of sphere.

2) So wanted to get your thoughts on how the great spear "restrain" actually works because of its lack of duration. For example, in my head the spear has literally speared through the person and is immobile like some immovable rod. This would mean that if the seraphim teleported, the spear would remain (and therefore you lose the spear attack), and the person would be restrained forever. Or if the player teleports away from the spear, he loses the restrained condition, and the spear just stays there? Or perhaps the spear actually merges with the person (imposing the restrained condition no matter where they go), and can be resummoned to the seraphim at a moment's thought.

This is one of those that maybe its just up to the DM to interpret, but since teleports are likely to be pretty common in such a high level battle, it was something I had to give some real thought to as I imagined how such a fight would go down.

3) Healing "Touch" isn't a touch. It may be a flavor thing but I could easily see a DM forget that its not touch just because of the name. Even players may go "wait you just said healing touch, you can't just look at the guy and do it can you?" ....which of course means they will stop and check the stats. Those names matter.

Also important check, unlike the other celestial healing touches, it does seem that the Seraphim can use this to heal themselves. I think that is completely appropriate for such a high CR, but if that is the intention, its even more important to change the name, to really showcase that the rules on this ability work differently than lesser celestials.

3) I like the decision between greatspear and slam. In some statblocks the first attack is simply better than the second, but the second is used as a bonus action in some way later. Aka its not really meant to be its own true attack. But in this case, its a tough call. The paralization DC is incredible, I would expect it to just work on the majority of targets (barring freedom of movement, which I would expect to have been removed by wheel of fire before I attempt this if the Seraphim considers this an actual fight). And paralysis with this guy is just brutal, both for the legendary action follow up attacks he can take, but also that with advantage he crits a good portion of the time. The great spear does a good bit more damage, but its really that +3 extra attack which gives it the juice, so both attacks are just really good in their own right.

4) Honestly this guy's only real weakness is his hitpoints are quite low for such a high CR. His energy resistances do help, and the high AC is nice, but I would not imagine he will last long against a full 20th level party that actually brings physical pain. I think this would definitely be a scenario where he would teleport or plane shift to a host of lesser angels that would heal him straight up, and then come back as needed (again another reason that spear effect might linger in interesting ways).

 

[dave2008]

Looking at the Seraphim. At CR 26 (even before the Mythic) I imagine this creature as the final boss of a 20th level campaign. Aka this is something that I expect a fully rested party with all of the things PCs could in theory get access to, and yet still be one of the deadliest challenges they have faced. And wow, does this monster show up! Really impressive saves + unstoppable + magic resistance + at-will dispel magic + 3/day counterspell means that fighting this thing is more of a physical affair, and its physical skills are still quite impressive. My notes:

Thanks as always for the comments!

1) There are a few typos in the stat block. You reference dragon and solar at one point. Greatspear section of legendary actions has (tow instead of two). Under Globe of Protection you use spear instead of sphere.

I think I caught most of them - thanks!

2) So wanted to get your thoughts on how the great spear "restrain" actually works because of its lack of duration. For example, in my head the spear has literally speared through the person and is immobile like some immovable rod. This would mean that if the seraphim teleported, the spear would remain (and therefore you lose the spear attack), and the person would be restrained forever. Or if the player teleports away from the spear, he loses the restrained condition, and the spear just stays there? Or perhaps the spear actually merges with the person (imposing the restrained condition no matter where they go), and can be resummoned to the seraphim at a moment's thought.

This is one of those that maybe its just up to the DM to interpret, but since teleports are likely to be pretty common in such a high level battle, it was something I had to give some real thought to as I imagined how such a fight would go down.

I originally wanted to leave it open to DM interpretation, but I think some more clarification is needed. I added a line about needed a str check.

3) Healing "Touch" isn't a touch. It may be a flavor thing but I could easily see a DM forget that its not touch just because of the name. Even players may go "wait you just said healing touch, you can't just look at the guy and do it can you?" ....which of course means they will stop and check the stats. Those names matter.

Also important check, unlike the other celestial healing touches, it does seem that the Seraphim can use this to heal themselves. I think that is completely appropriate for such a high CR, but if that is the intention, its even more important to change the name, to really showcase that the rules on this ability work differently than lesser celestials.

Name changed, I changed it from touch and completely forgot to change the name - thanks!

3) I like the decision between greatspear and slam. In some statblocks the first attack is simply better than the second, but the second is used as a bonus action in some way later. Aka its not really meant to be its own true attack. But in this case, its a tough call. The paralization DC is incredible, I would expect it to just work on the majority of targets (barring freedom of movement, which I would expect to have been removed by wheel of fire before I attempt this if the Seraphim considers this an actual fight). And paralysis with this guy is just brutal, both for the legendary action follow up attacks he can take, but also that with advantage he crits a good portion of the time. The great spear does a good bit more damage, but its really that +3 extra attack which gives it the juice, so both attacks are just really good in their own right.

Yep, I really wanted to make it choice with this one. I was a bit concerned Slam might be to favorable. Should I reduce the damage?

4) Honestly this guy's only real weakness is his hitpoints are quite low for such a high CR. His energy resistances do help, and the high AC is nice, but I would not imagine he will last long against a full 20th level party that actually brings physical pain. I think this would definitely be a scenario where he would teleport or plane shift to a host of lesser angels that would heal him straight up, and then come back as needed (again another reason that spear effect might linger in interesting ways).

Yep, I wondered about that too, but that was how the CR worked out. I may have over compensated for its resistances and immunities with regard to effective hit points and other epic monsters I have done. I will think about changing it.

 

[Stalker0]

Yep, I really wanted to make it choice with this one. I was a bit concerned Slam might be to favorable. Should I reduce the damage?

As it stands right now, I would probably always open up with a slam to get that paralysis, and then immediately change to the sword against the paralyzed target for that juicy crit damage.

What you might do is change multiattack to "Two greatsword attacks or two slam attacks". That way if your choosing slam, you have to commit to it for the whole attack routine (which in many cases means the paralysis is "wasted" on the second attack). That may be enough to round it off.

In terms of the HP, I mean I would playtest it before changing it, but that's my gut feel on the creature. To me at high levels, its all about balance....its not about a creature's strengths its about their weaknesses, because you assume a party of that level has the intelligence and variety of abilities to target any weakness and exploit. For example if was a wizard going into this fight, and actually knew what I was facing....then it would likely be summons to bring extra physical damage, I wouldn't even bother with spells that require saves against such a creature.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

It is 8d6 in Angelic Weapons, is that what you mean?

View attachment 132303

Do'h! Yes. Didn't catch it was only on a critical

 

[tommybahama]

I found this thread while searching for a 3rd party CR 1/2 beast to replace the wolf for Conjure Animals since my DM is butthurt that my eight CR 1/4 wolves are wreaking havoc on his encounters. I believe most people regard the wolf as overpowered but there isn't a decent alternative to it between CR 1/2 to CR 2.

Can you please design a CR 1/2 beast to be somewhat more on par with the wolf for conjuration? I was thinking something like a dire coyote. Since regular coyotes are smaller than regular wolves the dire type coyote should be smaller than a dire wolf but still have better AC and HP than a regular wolf to make up for the loss in numbers.

Alternatively, in Greek myth there are at least a couple two-headed dogs. The first Hercules killed and the other was Perseus I believe. Maybe two bite attacks instead of pack tactics and higher HP than wolves?

Apologies if this is the wrong thread for requests.

 

[dave2008]

I found this thread while searching for a 3rd party CR 1/2 beast to replace the wolf for Conjure Animals since my DM is butthurt that my eight CR 1/4 wolves are wreaking havoc on his encounters. I believe most people regard the wolf as overpowered but there isn't a decent alternative to it between CR 1/2 to CR 2.

Can you please design a CR 1/2 beast to be somewhat more on par with the wolf for conjuration? I was thinking something like a dire coyote. Since regular coyotes are smaller than regular wolves the dire type coyote should be smaller than a dire wolf but still have better AC and HP than a regular wolf to make up for the loss in numbers.

Alternatively, in Greek myth there are at least a couple two-headed dogs. The first Hercules killed and the other was Perseus I believe. Maybe two bite attacks instead of pack tactics and higher HP than wolves?

Apologies if this is the wrong thread for requests.

No worries, I love request. I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I can try to get to it this weekend

 

[dave2008]

I found this thread while searching for a 3rd party CR 1/2 beast to replace the wolf for Conjure Animals since my DM is butthurt that my eight CR 1/4 wolves are wreaking havoc on his encounters. I believe most people regard the wolf as overpowered but there isn't a decent alternative to it between CR 1/2 to CR 2.

Can you please design a CR 1/2 beast to be somewhat more on par with the wolf for conjuration? I was thinking something like a dire coyote. Since regular coyotes are smaller than regular wolves the dire type coyote should be smaller than a dire wolf but still have better AC and HP than a regular wolf to make up for the loss in numbers.

Alternatively, in Greek myth there are at least a couple two-headed dogs. The first Hercules killed and the other was Perseus I believe. Maybe two bite attacks instead of pack tactics and higher HP than wolves?

Apologies if this is the wrong thread for requests.

PS I am a little confused that a CR 1/4 wolf is too strong, but you want a CR 1/2 variant? A CR 1/2 animal should be stronger than a CR 1/4 one.

 

[tommybahama]

Supposedly it's the eight wolves that makes them overpowered and an annoyance to some due to all the dice rolls. Even if you use mob rules, eight attacks against an AC 14 creature will statistically hit for about 25 to 30 HP per round. No other beast comes close to that under CR 2.

So four CR 1/2 creatures that weren't underpowered compared to the wolves might be a good compromise for DMs and players.

 

[dave2008]

Supposedly it's the eight wolves that makes them overpowered and an annoyance to some due to all the dice rolls. Even if you use mob rules, eight attacks against an AC 14 creature will statistically hit for about 25 to 30 HP per round. No other beast comes close to that under CR 2.

So four CR 1/2 creatures that weren't underpowered compared to the wolves might be a good compromise for DMs and players.

Got it! I will work something up soon.

 

[tommybahama]

Got it! I will work something up soon.

Thank you! I thought the black bear's multi-attack made their AC and HP so low. But recently I saw a thread mentioning CR 1/4 Velociraptors that have multi-attack and pack tactics. So I have no idea how they balance these things.

 

[Stalker0]

PS I am a little confused that a CR 1/4 wolf is too strong, but you want a CR 1/2 variant? A CR 1/2 animal should be stronger than a CR 1/4 one.

This is because of 5e's scaling. Creatures scale much more with number than "level". All the summons work this way, the 8 1/4 CR creatures are always the strongest option for raw damage.

Same with animate objects, always best to get the large number of tiny objects if you can manage it.

 

[dave2008]

This is because of 5e's scaling. Creatures scale much more with number than "level". All the summons work this way, the 8 1/4 CR creatures are always the strongest option for raw damage.

Same with animate objects, always best to get the large number of tiny objects if you can manage it.

Oops! I replied to the wrong comment, this is for @tommybahama

Ok, see if this works for you: Giant Fox

I tend to like to make things more complex, but feel this hits a good balance for a summoned beast. Also, it has slightly less HP and damage compared to the black bear, but better AC and to hit. Let me know what you think, I'm happy to make changes.

EDIT: I added Evasion to give it some protection for AoE spells and it seems to fit the theme I was going for. It is still CR 1/2 with it.

 

[dave2008]

@tommybahama
In addition to the Giant Fox, I have made the Timber Wolf. It still has pack tactics, but it is CR 1/2 instead of 1/4 so you can't summon as many.

 

[dave2008]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I counted them up and, assuming I didn't make any mistakes, their are 216 monster stat blocks in the ToC and Monster's by CR table. I think that is pretty exciting.

Also, after doing a request for @tommybahama, I just want to remind everyone that if I have the time I love doing request.

 

[dave2008]

OK, more monster numbers. The table below list the number of monsters for each CR. Now, though this thread has changed over time, it started out as a thread about high CR / Epic monsters. I have removed some of those (to be posted over at ASCENSION: Friends & Foes); however, I am a little disappointed at the low numbers above CR15 (143 @ or below CR15 and only 73 above). I will need to change that! Any suggestions?

Monstrous Compendium Total Monsters by CR

Challenge Rating	Number of Monsters
1/4	3
1/2	5
1	4
2	15
3	9
4	6
5	12
6	9
7	5
8	8
9	5
10	18
11	12
12	9
13	6
14	11
15	6
16	8
17	7
18	7
19	7
20	9
21	8
22	4
23	3
24	3
25	2
26	3
27	4
28	2
29	4
30	2

 

[tommybahama]

I tend to like to make things more complex, but feel this hits a good balance for a summoned beast. Also, it has slightly less HP and damage compared to the black bear, but better AC and to hit. Let me know what you think, I'm happy to make changes.

I like them both. I'll run them by the DM to see what he says. The multi attack works well if people use mob rules since the to hit bonuses and damage are the same.

 

[dave2008]

unknown work and artist (at least by me)

Sovereign Elk
Huge Fey, unaligned

Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 216 (16d12 + 112; bloodied 108)
Speed 90 ft., swim 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
22 (+6)	18 (+4)	24 (+7)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	23 (+6)

Saving Throws Dex +9, Wis +9, Cha +11
Skills Athletics +11, Intimidation +9, Perception +9
Damage Resistance cold, poison, psychic, radiant
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, & slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't cold iron
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 19
Languages Common, Celestial, Terran, Sylvan, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +6

Charge. If the sovereign elk moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with an antler attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 18 (4d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 20 feet away and knocked prone.

Forest Guardian. While in a forest, the Sovereign Elk can telepathically communicate with all creatures and plants in the forest, as in the spells Speak with Animals and Speak with Plants, and it cannot be surprised.

Magic Resistance. The sovereign elk has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The sovereign wolf's weapon attacks are magical.

Natural Regeneration. While in the Feywild or natural world, the sovereign elk regains 10 hit points if it starts its turn with at least 1 hit point.

Relentless Stride. The sovereign elk ignores difficult terrain in a natural environment and has advantage on saving throws and checks against an effect that would reduced its speed or force it to move. Additionally, when it takes the Dash action its speed is quadrupled (360 ft.) until it no longer takes the Dash action.

Trampling Charge. If the sovereign elk moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a hoof attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the sovereign elk can make one attack with its hooves against it as a bonus action.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The sovereign elk makes two melee attacks, but only one can be a hooves attack and it can't make both attacks against the same target.

Antlers. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit. 24 (4d8 + 6) piercing damage.

Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit. 34 (8d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage.

Sweeping Antlers (Recharge 4-6). The sovereign elk makes one antlers attack on each target within its reach. On a hit, the target must make a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet.

Innate Spellcasting. The sovereign elk's spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). The sovereign elk can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: calm emotions, charm monster (6 targets), cure wounds, druidcraft, entangle
3/day each: confusion, conjure animals, dispel magic, pass without a trace
1/day each: greater restoration, heal, hallucinatory terrain

BONUS ACTIONS
Fey Jump (Recharge 4 – 6). The sovereign elk can teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

Sovereign's Speed (3/Rest). The sovereign elk takes the Dash action.

REACTIONS
Antler Parry. The sovereign elk adds 6 to its AC against one attack that would hit it. To do so, the sovereign elk must see the attacker.

Vigorous Shake. If a creature ends turn grappling or riding the sovereign elk, the sovereign elk shakes and all creatures riding or grappling the elk must make a DC 19 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a failure, the creature is thrown off the sovereign elk and falls prone in free space adjacent to the sovereign elk.

 

[dave2008]

SOVEREIGN BEASTS (WIP)
more to come