Today’s subject for Epic Monsters is the wrestler of all wrestlers, the man who can’t be beat while he’s still on his feet, the Heracles-grappling, earth-loving, skull-temple building Antaeus!
The son of Gaia and Poseidon, Antaeus was a (small) giant who really liked to wrestle. He wrestled anyone willing to, challenging even Heracles/Hercules. While he remained in contact with the ground however, Antaeus was utterly invincible—so Hercules picked him up and crushed him to death in a bear hug. Before that however the wrestler had bested and killed countless opponents, so many that he built a temple to Poseidon out of their skulls. Nothing says I love you like skulls amirite?
Design Notes: So as far as I can tell Antaeus isn’t actually any bigger than a regular fellow but he’s many times referred to as a giant. It is a relatively small distinction but gives him some neat mechanical immunities (giants aren’t humanoids) that fit with his real trait: he can’t be beat while he’s on the ground. When we go to do the numbers though, the DMG and Blog of Holding rubrics (3.25/2.166 and 3.05/2.75, depending on whether or not you’re factoring in Power Attack) can only guide us so far. This is a special case because you really need to do one specific thing to beat him. So where do we go from here? He’s accurate with his swings, he’s tough and keeps getting back up, and for low level parties (without access to telekinesis or the foresight to have levitate prepared) presents a very enduring challenge. However Antaeus here doesn’t really hit very hard and isn’t that difficult to strike either. Given his lack of lethality I’m inclined to weight his relative invincibility at only a +1 CR increase, bringing him up to CR 4.
Antaeus
Medium giant, neutral
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 57 (6d8+30)
Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws Dex +4
Skills Athletics +7, Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Gaea’s Strength. As long as Antaeus is in contact with the earth, his Strength is increased by 4 (included in his statistics), and he has advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. This feature functions if he stands on earth, stone, sand, or mud; even a wooden or stone floor of a building or street is sufficient as long as that is in contact with the actual ground.
Gaea’s Vitality. If he is knocked unconscious or killed while in contact with the earth, Antaeus regains all of his hit points, ends any conditions other than prone that he is being affected by, and can take actions on his next turn. He can only be permanently killed if it is done while he is not in contact with the earth. To physically lift him up a creature must be grappling Antaeus and succeed on an opposed Strength (Athletics) check to pin, then has disadvantage on a second opposed Strength (Athletics) check to lift him into the air.
Power Attack. When Anteus makes his first melee weapon attack in a turn, he can choose to take a -5 penalty to his melee weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to melee weapon damage. In addition, Anteus can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack after he uses a melee weapon to reduce a creature to 0 hit points or scores a critical hit with it. Anteus can only use this feature on his turn.
ACTION
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) bludgeoning damage.
The son of Gaia and Poseidon, Antaeus was a (small) giant who really liked to wrestle. He wrestled anyone willing to, challenging even Heracles/Hercules. While he remained in contact with the ground however, Antaeus was utterly invincible—so Hercules picked him up and crushed him to death in a bear hug. Before that however the wrestler had bested and killed countless opponents, so many that he built a temple to Poseidon out of their skulls. Nothing says I love you like skulls amirite?
Design Notes: So as far as I can tell Antaeus isn’t actually any bigger than a regular fellow but he’s many times referred to as a giant. It is a relatively small distinction but gives him some neat mechanical immunities (giants aren’t humanoids) that fit with his real trait: he can’t be beat while he’s on the ground. When we go to do the numbers though, the DMG and Blog of Holding rubrics (3.25/2.166 and 3.05/2.75, depending on whether or not you’re factoring in Power Attack) can only guide us so far. This is a special case because you really need to do one specific thing to beat him. So where do we go from here? He’s accurate with his swings, he’s tough and keeps getting back up, and for low level parties (without access to telekinesis or the foresight to have levitate prepared) presents a very enduring challenge. However Antaeus here doesn’t really hit very hard and isn’t that difficult to strike either. Given his lack of lethality I’m inclined to weight his relative invincibility at only a +1 CR increase, bringing him up to CR 4.
Antaeus
Medium giant, neutral
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 57 (6d8+30)
Speed 30 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
20 (+5) | 14 (+2) | 20 (+5) | 10 (+0) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) |
Skills Athletics +7, Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Gaea’s Strength. As long as Antaeus is in contact with the earth, his Strength is increased by 4 (included in his statistics), and he has advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. This feature functions if he stands on earth, stone, sand, or mud; even a wooden or stone floor of a building or street is sufficient as long as that is in contact with the actual ground.
Gaea’s Vitality. If he is knocked unconscious or killed while in contact with the earth, Antaeus regains all of his hit points, ends any conditions other than prone that he is being affected by, and can take actions on his next turn. He can only be permanently killed if it is done while he is not in contact with the earth. To physically lift him up a creature must be grappling Antaeus and succeed on an opposed Strength (Athletics) check to pin, then has disadvantage on a second opposed Strength (Athletics) check to lift him into the air.
Power Attack. When Anteus makes his first melee weapon attack in a turn, he can choose to take a -5 penalty to his melee weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to melee weapon damage. In addition, Anteus can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack after he uses a melee weapon to reduce a creature to 0 hit points or scores a critical hit with it. Anteus can only use this feature on his turn.
ACTION
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) bludgeoning damage.
