FitzTheRuke
Legend
Drow really can be pretty high CR, can't they? Seems a bit strange to me from a story perspective.
D&D 5E Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.
Faolyn
(she/her)
I guess that consorts are high level because they've had to survive a lot of attacks by jealous rivals, pet spiders, and random invading adventurers.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
On the one hand, Archmages are only CR 12 and ostensibly have access to higher level spells (maybe, we have to see if they gut that statblock like they did with the Archdruid). On the other hand, CR is still mostly a measure of DPR. Most of these higher CR Mages earn their threat level by linking spellcasting back into part of their multiattack to pull off some action economy tricks that most PCs couldn't even dream of, and then simply raising their HD to match that damage output. Legendary Spellcasters (we are seeing another example of this soon) can cast spells as a Legendary action, so that their real actions can be used to just sling arcane bolts or whatever flavor of damage around without having to worry about them being lethal enough. I can sort of see how a high ranking Drow would indeed be more ferocious in combat than a stuffy old sage. However a wizard's true worth in combat has never been how much damage they can do by themselves.
Ultimately though, it's just nice to have any kind of humanoid in the upper CR ranges for people who need one. Endgame support in 5e is very sparse, and only one adventure goes all the way to level 20 for those who even want to try to play that part of the game.
Ultimately though, it's just nice to have any kind of humanoid in the upper CR ranges for people who need one. Endgame support in 5e is very sparse, and only one adventure goes all the way to level 20 for those who even want to try to play that part of the game.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Drow House Captain (MToF)
The House Capitan is the Drow take on a Warlord. Which means they are the kind of boss that leads people with a whip, and the kind of warrior that fights dirty by using poison. Should you find yourself needing such a ruthless kind of CR 9 leader, it will be easy enough to remove the elf-bits.
In combat, the House Captain has a strange multiattack: they use their Scimitar twice, then follow with a whip or hand crossbow. While this does represent the “Sword+Crossbow” style that was made infamous by the drow, it's a bit of a pain to actually use due to the differing ranges of all the weapons, and the fact you must use the Scimitar. As a bonus action they can let someone make an attack, or doge. And finally they get the Parry Reaction to help block melee attacks. Despite the fact they are a Warlord, they still have access to the Drow Spells, and don’t forget to use Darkness or Faerie Fire when it matters.
In the Changeover, the House Captain was just updated to the new formatting.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Drow Inquisitor (MToF)
As a shock to absolutely nobody, it turns out that fostering a society of treacherous backstabbers isn't conducive to having a long lasting community. Drow Inquisitors are there to root out the worst offenders and those who would otherwise totally undermine Lolth's control over a populace.
Despite being a CR 14 cleric of the Spider Queen, it is incredibly easy to make a god-agnostic (I did not intend to make that pun) Inquisitor to serve any church or organization that you want. The only issue is deciding how many of their previously innate Drow spells you want to keep around for their utility. Personally, I recommend keeping most, if not all, of them. Changing races on stat blocks is a topic I plan on going more in-depth with for our next batch of creatures, the Duergar (due to the fact that their racial magic is extremely customized on a per-monster basis)
The Inquisitor shines in non-combat encounters, the ability to detect lies by just hearing them, True Seeing for piercing illusions, Clairvoyance to remotely spy, and towering social scores to counter just about every plot the PCs can come up with. It would be appropriate to have them show up (plus their entourage) as a dramatic surprise encounter even if the PCs manage to otherwise perfectly execute their plans.
In combat, the Inquisitor will set up with their Spectral Dagger bonus action for some free damage and Silence in order to hamper enemy spellcasters. Death lance is their primary attack, and it can prevent healing. True Seeing is a nice pre-combat buff that can synergize with the Darkness of other Drow. Once again, Dispel magic is the counter magic of choice should that option arise. Unfortunately, for all their bluster, the Inquisitor is only truly strong when directing a group of underlings. Fortunately for them, they are the leaders of a cult with all the resources that implies, and on top of that they have a variant that can summon a Yothlol to aid them in combat. Providing some much needed control and muscle.
The Inquisitor was heavily changed in this book. Only 13 of their 31 spells remain, and most of those are for flavor or out of combat use. Lost are priestly aces such as Cure Wounds, Banishment, and Freedom of Movement (that last one is really handy around spider webs). Spectral Weapon became the Spectral Dagger Bonus action to supplement their damage. Their new stat block is about half the size of their old stat block, it's quite the change to behold.
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Weiley31
Legend
Well since Drow Priesteses/Clerics are high rank/favored among Lolth and her followers, it would make sense that they would get bodyguards that had to deal with a lot of crap within Drow Society. They aren't just for eye candy/banging. There's plenty of other fish in the sea for just that. They need somebody that will somewhat get the job done better than any ol drow.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Drow Matron Mother (MToF)
The Matron Mother is the mortal boss of the Drow, representing the height of political power and divine favor (or what passes for either in their society). They are Legendary CR 20 Clerics, with a full suite of Lair Actions. Despite this, the book goes out of its way to say you really shouldn’t run this creature by themselves. In fact, it specifies that you should use the other Drow in this book, and any other underdark creature you want, to beef up the encounter. The book also reiterates that Lolth is a fickle goddess, and that the power granted to a Matron Mother can be taken away. Allowing you to set up an alternate win condition for the encounter. Here is a possible example: “See that giant Lolth statue in the throne room? Would be a crying shame should anything happen to it, the entire House would lose favor!”
The next paragraph goes on to discuss how to make a Matron Mother who denounced Lolth, which is just deleting their ability to summon demons, and their abilities that boost their allies. Quite frankly, this is an underwhelming option, those powers could have been replaced with the ability to summon anything else, and a more generic ally buffing power. If you aren’t having them summon fiends (and realistically, they still can if they hook up with another evil god). You could have them summon a Deva (From the MM and the Basic Rules) or maybe even the fey Eladrin (later in this book) to represent getting back on the good elf team. Even Slaadi are available to fill in the role of Aberrations. There is, however, a distinct lack of CR 10 undead to summon. Fickle Favor could be replaced with something that just grants advantage without the damage.
Aside from that, it’s relatively easy to refluff the Matron into a different endgame Cleric threat, should you need one. The only other thing you would have to consider is their lair actions.
Speaking of Lair Actions, this book has them for the Matron Mother, which is a nice addition considering they weren’t in MToF. Perceive Interlopers allows them to negate invisibility, and even mundane hiding (which is sure to put a pinch on your high level Rogues). Spectral Web is a basic AoE restrain without any of the limitations or side effects of the Web Spell. Telekinetic Throw is a rare STR save that can toss people around, even up into the air! For maximum damage: smash someone into the ceiling then let them drop back into the ground. Or just use it to reposition the players as you see fit. It’s a fun way to throw a temper tantrum for sure.
For an out of combat fun, the Matron Mother can cast Clairvoyance, allowing for some magical spying in addition to all the normal spying they will be having their underlings doing.
Back to combat, the Matron Mother has a multiattack that can be used to attack up to 4 times if you want to use the Tentacle Rod, and you should really be using the Tentacle Rod. Not only does it have superior range, it has massive control options, limiting the target’s speed, preventing reactions, and even making it so they can’t use both an action and a bonus action in the same turn. Once everyone has been hit with the Rod, you can switch to hitting everyone with the Demon Staff to inflict fear on them, for even more control. You can even use the Staff as a Legendary Action should you have any left over to burn.
The alternative to multiattack is using Divine Flame, and let me tell you, while it is fun to smite your enemies with a 28 damage AoE, you should stick to the Rod and let your minions kill everyone instead.
You don’t even have to pick between multiatack and using a spell, because using a spell is a legendary action, and boy do you have doozies some spells to pick from. Gate is an instant get out of jail free card that can be used to hall in an entire army, not just any kind of army, but an army from a different plane. All the demons you need to bolster the encounter should there be an ambush. Or just one specific high CR threat, depending on your DMing needs. After the Gate is used up, consider using Banishment to get rid of a high-threat enemy, or Blade Barrier to divide up the battlefield. Should the need to escape arise, there is always Plane Shift. And Dispell Magic is always handy against other casters.
Unlike other support units in the book, the Matron Mother has access to the Cure Wounds spell. But can only cast it at level 1 power due to monster spellcasting mechanics. This problem was mentioned upthread when we were discussing bards. Though I do believe it could be mitigated by just having an x/day healing power. But it’s nice to see that healing still exists for monsters.
As if having legendary actions and Muiltiattack wasn’t enough, the Matron Mother also has bonus actions: The ability to summon a Glabrezu or Yoghlol. Of the two, the Glabrezu is generally better for control, and the Yoghlol has more damage along with the ability to ignore webbing that may be all about the room. The Matron also has the Compel Demon legendary Action to get some extra attacks out of their demonic allies.
Lolth’s Fickle Favor is something that hurts and helps an ally at the same time, dealing damage in order to get advantage on an attack roll. It’s flavorful and malicious because it emphasizes the Matron’s total disregard for her servants.
Needless to say at this point, the Matron Mother lost so many spells in the changeover. From 39 down to 18, notably losing Freedom of Movement, Spiritual Weapon, Death Ward, and Guardian of Faith. They also lost the ability to summon a Retriever (despite the fact that the Retriever exists in this book) gaining the ability to summon a Glabrezu in its stead, and the ability to use this summon as a bonus action. The changes to the spellcasting mechanic prevent upcasting, as noted with Cure Wounds above. But in return they can use any spell as a legendary action.
The Matron Mother is the mortal boss of the Drow, representing the height of political power and divine favor (or what passes for either in their society). They are Legendary CR 20 Clerics, with a full suite of Lair Actions. Despite this, the book goes out of its way to say you really shouldn’t run this creature by themselves. In fact, it specifies that you should use the other Drow in this book, and any other underdark creature you want, to beef up the encounter. The book also reiterates that Lolth is a fickle goddess, and that the power granted to a Matron Mother can be taken away. Allowing you to set up an alternate win condition for the encounter. Here is a possible example: “See that giant Lolth statue in the throne room? Would be a crying shame should anything happen to it, the entire House would lose favor!”
The next paragraph goes on to discuss how to make a Matron Mother who denounced Lolth, which is just deleting their ability to summon demons, and their abilities that boost their allies. Quite frankly, this is an underwhelming option, those powers could have been replaced with the ability to summon anything else, and a more generic ally buffing power. If you aren’t having them summon fiends (and realistically, they still can if they hook up with another evil god). You could have them summon a Deva (From the MM and the Basic Rules) or maybe even the fey Eladrin (later in this book) to represent getting back on the good elf team. Even Slaadi are available to fill in the role of Aberrations. There is, however, a distinct lack of CR 10 undead to summon. Fickle Favor could be replaced with something that just grants advantage without the damage.
Aside from that, it’s relatively easy to refluff the Matron into a different endgame Cleric threat, should you need one. The only other thing you would have to consider is their lair actions.
Speaking of Lair Actions, this book has them for the Matron Mother, which is a nice addition considering they weren’t in MToF. Perceive Interlopers allows them to negate invisibility, and even mundane hiding (which is sure to put a pinch on your high level Rogues). Spectral Web is a basic AoE restrain without any of the limitations or side effects of the Web Spell. Telekinetic Throw is a rare STR save that can toss people around, even up into the air! For maximum damage: smash someone into the ceiling then let them drop back into the ground. Or just use it to reposition the players as you see fit. It’s a fun way to throw a temper tantrum for sure.
For an out of combat fun, the Matron Mother can cast Clairvoyance, allowing for some magical spying in addition to all the normal spying they will be having their underlings doing.
Back to combat, the Matron Mother has a multiattack that can be used to attack up to 4 times if you want to use the Tentacle Rod, and you should really be using the Tentacle Rod. Not only does it have superior range, it has massive control options, limiting the target’s speed, preventing reactions, and even making it so they can’t use both an action and a bonus action in the same turn. Once everyone has been hit with the Rod, you can switch to hitting everyone with the Demon Staff to inflict fear on them, for even more control. You can even use the Staff as a Legendary Action should you have any left over to burn.
The alternative to multiattack is using Divine Flame, and let me tell you, while it is fun to smite your enemies with a 28 damage AoE, you should stick to the Rod and let your minions kill everyone instead.
You don’t even have to pick between multiatack and using a spell, because using a spell is a legendary action, and boy do you have doozies some spells to pick from. Gate is an instant get out of jail free card that can be used to hall in an entire army, not just any kind of army, but an army from a different plane. All the demons you need to bolster the encounter should there be an ambush. Or just one specific high CR threat, depending on your DMing needs. After the Gate is used up, consider using Banishment to get rid of a high-threat enemy, or Blade Barrier to divide up the battlefield. Should the need to escape arise, there is always Plane Shift. And Dispell Magic is always handy against other casters.
Unlike other support units in the book, the Matron Mother has access to the Cure Wounds spell. But can only cast it at level 1 power due to monster spellcasting mechanics. This problem was mentioned upthread when we were discussing bards. Though I do believe it could be mitigated by just having an x/day healing power. But it’s nice to see that healing still exists for monsters.
As if having legendary actions and Muiltiattack wasn’t enough, the Matron Mother also has bonus actions: The ability to summon a Glabrezu or Yoghlol. Of the two, the Glabrezu is generally better for control, and the Yoghlol has more damage along with the ability to ignore webbing that may be all about the room. The Matron also has the Compel Demon legendary Action to get some extra attacks out of their demonic allies.
Lolth’s Fickle Favor is something that hurts and helps an ally at the same time, dealing damage in order to get advantage on an attack roll. It’s flavorful and malicious because it emphasizes the Matron’s total disregard for her servants.
Needless to say at this point, the Matron Mother lost so many spells in the changeover. From 39 down to 18, notably losing Freedom of Movement, Spiritual Weapon, Death Ward, and Guardian of Faith. They also lost the ability to summon a Retriever (despite the fact that the Retriever exists in this book) gaining the ability to summon a Glabrezu in its stead, and the ability to use this summon as a bonus action. The changes to the spellcasting mechanic prevent upcasting, as noted with Cure Wounds above. But in return they can use any spell as a legendary action.
Now this is what I'd like to see more of. Not cutting everything back to a bare minimum lore-wise, but multiple ways to use and modify these races/creatures/NPCs under different culture/setting assumptions.
But this is unfortunate.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Drow where high level foes when they where first introduced back in 1st edition days.
Weiley31
Legend
So a super endgame/campaign ending BBEG version of this would using the Monsters of the Multiverse Matron Mother, giving it spell slots for scaling on its healing(or just have it cast as whatever level) and give it some of the missing spells from the old version like Spiritual Weapon.
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