Does he speak in plurals?
D&D 5E I got inspired by this picture. How do I flesh him out as the Big Bad?
- Thread starter Delandel
- Start date
Does he speak in plurals?
Boarstorm
First Post
Gold.
Andor
First Post
The Warlock does seem a good match, but the scales do make me think of the sorcerer.
Perhaps he could be a sorcerer whose powers do not come from dragon blood but something queer and dark. Perhaps he is the unfortunate offspring of a normal person and someone being puppeted by an intellect devourer.
Perhaps he was some wretched figure who was incapable of working magic normally and so sought to borrow power from greater beings and infused stolen ichors into his own veins until he diluted his humanity along with his blood and became something else.
Perhaps he was a victim of some mad experimenter who sought to capture the power of the beholders in some more biddable form, and implanted very eyes of the eye tyrants into his tortured subjects. In the case of your villain he succeeded too well.
In any event the sorcerers spell list should be altered to better capture the thought crawling, dream twisting, future stealing foe that the image depicts.
Perhaps he could be a sorcerer whose powers do not come from dragon blood but something queer and dark. Perhaps he is the unfortunate offspring of a normal person and someone being puppeted by an intellect devourer.
Perhaps he was some wretched figure who was incapable of working magic normally and so sought to borrow power from greater beings and infused stolen ichors into his own veins until he diluted his humanity along with his blood and became something else.
Perhaps he was a victim of some mad experimenter who sought to capture the power of the beholders in some more biddable form, and implanted very eyes of the eye tyrants into his tortured subjects. In the case of your villain he succeeded too well.
In any event the sorcerers spell list should be altered to better capture the thought crawling, dream twisting, future stealing foe that the image depicts.
Delandel
First Post
I'm going to build a couple versions of him and see which I like most.
First up is the doppelganger warlock with the intellect devourer symbioses. Man, I get excited just thinking about that delicious combination. I'm thinking doppelganger warlock 14 so he can make thralls.
Mechanically, wow, what a combo! Doppelgangers can read surface thoughts. Intellect devourer gives them blindsight 60ft and can detect sentience 300ft. Warlocks making the pact with the Great Old One can communicate telepathically with anyone within 30ft. That all adds up very nicely.
On to the nitty gritty warlock bitty's:
Greel the Mind Raker
Medium monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil
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Armor Class
Hit Points (22d8 +)
Speed 30 ft.
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STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
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Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +10
Skills Deception +6, Insight +3, Arcana, Intimidation
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common
Challenge 11
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Special Equipment. Greel has an umbral of hadar.
Spellcasting. Greel is a 14th-level spellcaster who uses charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC. + to hit with spell attacks.) Rath has the following spells prepared from the warlock and wizard spell list*:
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, prestidigitation
5th level (3 slots): arms of hadar, unseen servant, armor of agathys, dissonant whispers*, tasha's hideous laughter*, darkness, suggestion, detect thoughts*, phantasmal force*, fly, hunger of hadar, clairvoyance*, sending*, dimension door, banishment, dominate beast*, evard's black tentacles*, dream, scrying, contact other plane, dominate person*, telekenesis*
Otherworldly Patron: The Great Old One
Pact Boon: Pact of the Chain (Intellect Devourer familiar), though Pact of the Tome could be a sweet option as well
6 Invocations Known - Devil's Sight, Voice of the Chain Master, Beguiling Influence, One With Shadows, ??, ??
12 Spells Known (5th lvl)
Cantrips - Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand, Prestidigation
1st - Arms of Hadar, Unseen Servant, Armor of Agathys, Dissonant Whispers*, Tasha's Hideous Laughter*
2nd - Darkness, Suggestion, Detect Thoughts*, Phantasmal Force*
3rd - Fly, Hunger of Hadar, Clairvoyance*, Sending*
4th - Dimension Door, Banishment, Dominate Beast*, Evard's Black Tentacles*
5th - Dream, Scrying, Contact Other Plane, Dominate Person*, Telekenesis*
Not familiar with the warlock list at all, feel free to suggest better spell choices. * spells are ones given by The Great Old One, praise be His Unknowable Name.
With these spells, Greel can keep tabs on pretty much anyone. He knows the location of anyone nearby, he can read their thoughts, he can speak into their minds, enter their dreams, spy on them with Scrying.. a bunch. Can even ask The Great Old One some questions.
Feats: ???
First up is the doppelganger warlock with the intellect devourer symbioses. Man, I get excited just thinking about that delicious combination. I'm thinking doppelganger warlock 14 so he can make thralls.
Mechanically, wow, what a combo! Doppelgangers can read surface thoughts. Intellect devourer gives them blindsight 60ft and can detect sentience 300ft. Warlocks making the pact with the Great Old One can communicate telepathically with anyone within 30ft. That all adds up very nicely.
On to the nitty gritty warlock bitty's:
Greel the Mind Raker
Medium monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor Class
Hit Points (22d8 +)
Speed 30 ft.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +10
Skills Deception +6, Insight +3, Arcana, Intimidation
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common
Challenge 11
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Equipment. Greel has an umbral of hadar.
Spellcasting. Greel is a 14th-level spellcaster who uses charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC. + to hit with spell attacks.) Rath has the following spells prepared from the warlock and wizard spell list*:
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, prestidigitation
5th level (3 slots): arms of hadar, unseen servant, armor of agathys, dissonant whispers*, tasha's hideous laughter*, darkness, suggestion, detect thoughts*, phantasmal force*, fly, hunger of hadar, clairvoyance*, sending*, dimension door, banishment, dominate beast*, evard's black tentacles*, dream, scrying, contact other plane, dominate person*, telekenesis*
Otherworldly Patron: The Great Old One
Pact Boon: Pact of the Chain (Intellect Devourer familiar), though Pact of the Tome could be a sweet option as well
6 Invocations Known - Devil's Sight, Voice of the Chain Master, Beguiling Influence, One With Shadows, ??, ??
12 Spells Known (5th lvl)
Cantrips - Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand, Prestidigation
1st - Arms of Hadar, Unseen Servant, Armor of Agathys, Dissonant Whispers*, Tasha's Hideous Laughter*
2nd - Darkness, Suggestion, Detect Thoughts*, Phantasmal Force*
3rd - Fly, Hunger of Hadar, Clairvoyance*, Sending*
4th - Dimension Door, Banishment, Dominate Beast*, Evard's Black Tentacles*
5th - Dream, Scrying, Contact Other Plane, Dominate Person*, Telekenesis*
Not familiar with the warlock list at all, feel free to suggest better spell choices. * spells are ones given by The Great Old One, praise be His Unknowable Name.
With these spells, Greel can keep tabs on pretty much anyone. He knows the location of anyone nearby, he can read their thoughts, he can speak into their minds, enter their dreams, spy on them with Scrying.. a bunch. Can even ask The Great Old One some questions.
Feats: ???
Last edited:
grimslade
Krampus ate my d20s
GOO Warlock in a pact with The Dreamless, a sentient entity made entirely of dreams and nightmares in the Deep Ethereal. It grants pacts to spread fear and unease to make stronger nightmares for it to feed on.
I would re-skin the Intellect Devourer to be a construct of tattered remnants of dreams, divorce it completely from the Illithid spawn. It would look like the wispy things behind the Brom illustration's back.
Think of some nasty invocations to continue a dream haunting BBEG. His Eldritch Blasts could be the shrieks of dreamers awakening from vivid nightmares. Give him Feed the Dreamless an invocation Prerequisite 9th level able to cast Phantasmal Killer using a spell slot once per long rest. Maybe he can be a Chain Pact and have the Tattered Dreams construct as a familiar.
I would re-skin the Intellect Devourer to be a construct of tattered remnants of dreams, divorce it completely from the Illithid spawn. It would look like the wispy things behind the Brom illustration's back.
Think of some nasty invocations to continue a dream haunting BBEG. His Eldritch Blasts could be the shrieks of dreamers awakening from vivid nightmares. Give him Feed the Dreamless an invocation Prerequisite 9th level able to cast Phantasmal Killer using a spell slot once per long rest. Maybe he can be a Chain Pact and have the Tattered Dreams construct as a familiar.
Wrathamon
Adventurer
he isnt a player character so give him any actions / abilities you want!
Also, he should be a Legendary Monster with his own Terrain where he gets extra abilities. Maybe the dream world where he is most powerful!
ZombieRoboNinja
First Post
There's a sweet dream spell too, so he can invade the party's mind and screw with their dreams in advance...
Delandel
First Post
"Your panicked mind is a sweet nectar and I am very thirsty. I'm going to savor every. Last. Drop."
Greel the Mind Raker
Medium monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil
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Armor Class 14 (19 with Umbral of Hadar)
Hit Points 143 (22d8 + 44)
Speed 30 ft.
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STR 11 (+0) DEX 18 (+4) CON 14 (+2) INT 11 (+1) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 20 (+5)
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Saving Throws Wis +6, Cha +10
Skills Deception +14, Insight +8, Arcana +6, Intimidation +10
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common
Challenge 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Equipment. Greel has the Umbral of Hadar, Eye of the Disbeliever, and scrolls of Banishment, Dimension Door, .
Shapechanger. Greel can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid it has seen, or back into its natural form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Its equipment is not transformed. If slain, Greel reverts to its natural form.
Embrace of The Void. While wearing no armor and wearing the Umbral of Hadar, Greel add its Charisma bonus to its AC (included).
Awakened Mind. Greel can communicate telepathically with any creature it can see within 30 feet. Greel doesn't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand Greel's telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
Thought Shield. Greel's thoughts can't be read by telepathy or other means unless it allows it. Greel also has resistance to psychic damage, and whenever a creature deals psychic damage to it, that creature takes the same amount of damage that Greel does.
Spellcasting. Greel is a 14th-level spellcaster who uses charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks.) Greel has the following spells prepared from the warlock and spell list:
Invocations (at will): agonizing blast, armor of shadows, beguiling influence, devil's sight, mask of many faces, repelling blast
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, prestidigitation
5th level (3 slots): clairvoyance, darkness, dimension door, dominate beast, dominate person, dream, evard's black tentacles, hunger of hadar, fly, phantasmal force, scrying, suggestion, telekenesis, tongues, vampiric touch
Arcanum (1 slot): true seeing
ACTIONS
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Read Thoughts. Greel magically reads the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet of it. The effect can penetrate barriers, but 3 feet of wood or dirt, 2 feet of stone, 2 inches of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks it. While the target is within range, Greel can continue reading its thoughts as long as Greel's concentration isn't broken. While reading the target's mind, Greel has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) checks against the target.
Create Thrall. Greel can use its action to touch an incapacitated humanoid. That creature is then charmed by Greel until a remove curse spells is cast on it, the charmed condition is removed from it, or Greel uses this feature again.
Greel can communicate telepathically with the charmed creature as long as the two of them are on the same plane of existence.
Multiattack. Greel makes three eldritch blast attacks.
Eldritch Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5) force damage. Greel can push the creature up to 10 feet away in a straight line.
REACTIONS
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Entropic Ward (recharges when Greel finishes a short or long rest). When a creature makes an attack roll against Greel, it can impose disadvantage on that roll. If the attack misses Greel, it's next attack roll against the creature has advantage if Greel makes it before the end of its next turn.
Greel is a master manipulator. As a doppelganger, it can easily hide in plain sight by changing its appearance, using Mask of Many Faces to have its clothing match if needed, and Tongues to speak the language of any creature it wants to pass off as. Greel's ability to read thoughts bolsters its already impressive silver tongue, allowing the creature to effortlessly deceive people. All these traits combined, Greel can get practically anyone and everyone to do what it wants, all while keeping itself very safe from potential exposure.
Greel is a master spy and a master of information. Not only is it a master of disguise to spy on people in person, but Greel can also keep tabs on locations with Clairvoyance and people with Scrying.
What are this creature's motives? No one knows for sure.
(Rough draft of the monster stats. Will keep fleshing it out. I'm going to add legendary stuff to it.)
Greel the Mind Raker
Medium monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor Class 14 (19 with Umbral of Hadar)
Hit Points 143 (22d8 + 44)
Speed 30 ft.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STR 11 (+0) DEX 18 (+4) CON 14 (+2) INT 11 (+1) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 20 (+5)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saving Throws Wis +6, Cha +10
Skills Deception +14, Insight +8, Arcana +6, Intimidation +10
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common
Challenge 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Equipment. Greel has the Umbral of Hadar, Eye of the Disbeliever, and scrolls of Banishment, Dimension Door, .
Shapechanger. Greel can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid it has seen, or back into its natural form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Its equipment is not transformed. If slain, Greel reverts to its natural form.
Embrace of The Void. While wearing no armor and wearing the Umbral of Hadar, Greel add its Charisma bonus to its AC (included).
Awakened Mind. Greel can communicate telepathically with any creature it can see within 30 feet. Greel doesn't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand Greel's telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
Thought Shield. Greel's thoughts can't be read by telepathy or other means unless it allows it. Greel also has resistance to psychic damage, and whenever a creature deals psychic damage to it, that creature takes the same amount of damage that Greel does.
Spellcasting. Greel is a 14th-level spellcaster who uses charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks.) Greel has the following spells prepared from the warlock and spell list:
Invocations (at will): agonizing blast, armor of shadows, beguiling influence, devil's sight, mask of many faces, repelling blast
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, prestidigitation
5th level (3 slots): clairvoyance, darkness, dimension door, dominate beast, dominate person, dream, evard's black tentacles, hunger of hadar, fly, phantasmal force, scrying, suggestion, telekenesis, tongues, vampiric touch
Arcanum (1 slot): true seeing
ACTIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read Thoughts. Greel magically reads the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet of it. The effect can penetrate barriers, but 3 feet of wood or dirt, 2 feet of stone, 2 inches of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks it. While the target is within range, Greel can continue reading its thoughts as long as Greel's concentration isn't broken. While reading the target's mind, Greel has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) checks against the target.
Create Thrall. Greel can use its action to touch an incapacitated humanoid. That creature is then charmed by Greel until a remove curse spells is cast on it, the charmed condition is removed from it, or Greel uses this feature again.
Greel can communicate telepathically with the charmed creature as long as the two of them are on the same plane of existence.
Multiattack. Greel makes three eldritch blast attacks.
Eldritch Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5) force damage. Greel can push the creature up to 10 feet away in a straight line.
REACTIONS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entropic Ward (recharges when Greel finishes a short or long rest). When a creature makes an attack roll against Greel, it can impose disadvantage on that roll. If the attack misses Greel, it's next attack roll against the creature has advantage if Greel makes it before the end of its next turn.
Greel is a master manipulator. As a doppelganger, it can easily hide in plain sight by changing its appearance, using Mask of Many Faces to have its clothing match if needed, and Tongues to speak the language of any creature it wants to pass off as. Greel's ability to read thoughts bolsters its already impressive silver tongue, allowing the creature to effortlessly deceive people. All these traits combined, Greel can get practically anyone and everyone to do what it wants, all while keeping itself very safe from potential exposure.
Greel is a master spy and a master of information. Not only is it a master of disguise to spy on people in person, but Greel can also keep tabs on locations with Clairvoyance and people with Scrying.
What are this creature's motives? No one knows for sure.
(Rough draft of the monster stats. Will keep fleshing it out. I'm going to add legendary stuff to it.)
Last edited:
Andor
First Post
Thiis thread gave me an idea for an item, the Nightmare Engine.
The Nightmare Engine looks like a comfortable bed and bedding carved from alabaster, however a closer look will reveal that the comfortable looking pillows show the suggestions of fangs and the orbs atop the bedposts are really bloodshot eyes. It was created by a wizard to use in his war with a rival, each night the device would cast Dream (nightmare) on his foe to rob him of his rest. However both wizards are long since dead and without control the engine has been randomly inflicting nightmares on anyone that attracts it's mystical attention.
Not sure when or how I'd use it, but ii thought I'd share.
The Nightmare Engine looks like a comfortable bed and bedding carved from alabaster, however a closer look will reveal that the comfortable looking pillows show the suggestions of fangs and the orbs atop the bedposts are really bloodshot eyes. It was created by a wizard to use in his war with a rival, each night the device would cast Dream (nightmare) on his foe to rob him of his rest. However both wizards are long since dead and without control the engine has been randomly inflicting nightmares on anyone that attracts it's mystical attention.
Not sure when or how I'd use it, but ii thought I'd share.
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