D&D 5E Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.

[MonsterEnvy]

I quite like the Nabassu. Their ability to slowly buff themselves up makes wanting to get rid of them urgent. Those too weak to be worth eating they can instead turn into ghouls allowing them to quickly form an army around themselves.

My one pet peeve is that the art of them does not have the Nabassu's scaled wings they had in earlier editions, so I am actually going to get the artist to make a version with the scaled wings.

 

[Leatherhead]

Nagpa (MToF)​

So the Nagpa have this grand backstory about how they messed with the Raven Queen, and as a result she cursed them to be unable to gain magical power except from the ruins of civilizations. Which honestly isn't doing anyone any favors, because the Nagpa now have an explicit incentive to run around setting up destructive plots.

But let's not kid ourselves, they are basically just an excuse to use Skesis in D&D.


Anyway, Nagpa are immortal wizard creatures with numerous plots and agents. And their ultimate goal is always to topple a civilization and raid the libraries for more power. There are all kinds of plots from the obvious trick a kingdom to go to war via ambushing some VIPs, to some esoterically complex scheme about blighting a rice harvest that unfolds like a butterfly effect to cause economic collapse.

Alternatively, they could be a (malicious) patron to your party. They do have all kinds of lore and wizard spells to trade for goods and services. And despite being immortal, they are not unkillable. Dungeons are Dangerous, and old-school wizards love to trigger traps by throwing wave after wave of hirelings at them.

Should your party manage to get a Nagpa in combat, you will find they are not quite sniveling pushovers. To start off with, they get the new standard multiattack, where they can swap one of their three attacks out for a spell. Feeblemind and Dominate Person in particular are some spells with serious teeth. As a bonus action, they can either toss out an AoE Paralyze (with recharge) or a single-target non-concentration Charm. So their control options are really stacked. And should it look like they are going to lose the fight, they have Etherealness to get away.

In the changeover, the Nagpa lost most of their damaging spells (they kept Fireball for some reason though), and their non-combat spells. They also lost Counterspell, which is a huge blow for them, as they don’t even have Dispel Magic to fall back on. In return they have the new standard multiattack with spellcasting swaps, allowing them significantly more damage for the time they are alive, and a healthy boost to their HP, which will probably let them live one extra round of combat.

I have to say, once again, the loss of Disintegrate is a bigger blow than what might be realized. Not in the DPR department of course, their Deathly Ray attack actually deals more average damage. Rather, Disintegrate has some utility attached to it. It is one of the few spells that can break a Wall of Force, or a Forcecage, and it also provides additional utility by allowing the caster to carve up the battle-map to a more advantageous design. By the end of this book, if not sooner, I think I will be able to fully articulate what I think a "New style spellcaster" should be able to do, as opposed to what they can currently do. Because all throughout this reading, I keep thinking of little tweaks that could have been done to make them more palatable.

 

[Leatherhead]

Narzugon (MToF)​

Narzugons are the Paladins of the Hells. Or more accurately, Paladins who sold their soul to a devil in life, reborn as devils themselves after death has claimed them.

You might notice that their theme has quite a bit of overlap with the Blackguard. This isn’t a bad thing, because it means you get to use the same NPC twice (or more), just with a new statblock. In fact, the Blackguard is CR 8, and the Narzugon is CR 13, which is basically the perfect spread for pulling off such a story beat with a recurring character like that. If you want some extreme longevity, consider bringing the Narzugon back as a Death Knight. It’s a heck of a metaphysical stretch, but your Players will find it memorable for sure.

Narzugons also come pre-packaged with their own mount, a Nightmare, and a magical item (as detailed in this book) to summon them. I know one of my players loved the idea of having her own fiendish foal back when I was running DiA, so it can also make for a great potential reward. And if your players aren’t keen on riding a creature of evil, consider letting them have a quest to change the Nightmare back into its Pegasus form.

In order to get the most out of your Narzugon in combat, you are going to have to brush up on the mounted combat rules, and the rules for Nightmares. You are going to have to make the choice: Do you want the Nightmare to act as an independent mount or as a controlled mount? Having it act as a controlled mount is simpler, and doesn’t technically mess with the CR of the encounter. On the other hand, the Nightmare’s Ethereal Stride is an incredible mobility tool that can add an aspect of dread to any encounter that features a rider abusing it. Popping in and out of existence to get better positioning while avoiding reprisal is a massive tactical tool, giving the controlled mount option much bigger teeth than their DPR would otherwise imply. In either case, the Nightmare provides a massive 90’ of flight speed, which can be easily exploited by the Narzugon.

As for its own combat prowess, the Narzugon is going to multiattack with their Hellfire lance. You would be forgiven for thinking that this magical weapon (which has stats in BG: DiA, if you are interested in turning it into a reward) is another flamethrower, like the ones that the Duergar Xarrorns use. Unfortunately, this weapon is merely a lance that is actually made out of hellfire. Disappointing I know. On the bright side, anyone killed by this lance becomes a lemure in 1d4 hours, which provides yet another possible plot hook to this creature's ever-growing list of them. The lance also has 10’ of reach, allowing pseudo-flyby attacks while mounted, even if the mount isn’t disengaging. But the Narzugon’s multiattack doesn’t stop there. They have two AoE powers that can be tacked on to any round, an AoE buff that removes charm and fear effects from their allies, or an AoE fear to inflict on their foes.

The Narzugon also has the ability to heal up to 100hp with a single action, essentially doubling the length of any fight with them. This can be done when their Nightmare brings them into the Ethereal plane, making it almost impossible to counter. Furthermore, this healing can target any other creature, should it be prudent to do so.

In the changeover the Narzugon lost their Diabolical Sense power, in favor of an always active perception buff.

 

[Leatherhead]

Neogi (VGtM)​

Neogi are spider-eel slavers from space. They cruise about the multiverse in spider-ships and have managed to enslave Umber Hulks, despite the hulks being significantly stronger than their Neogi masters.

Neogi Hatchling

Neogi have a rather violent lifecycle. After they reach old age, they are used as food for the next freshly hatched generation in a grotesque fashion. They are poisoned into passivity and fattened up, then the younger Neogi lay their eggs on the elder. Once the eggs hatch, they eat the elder (and their weaker clutchmates) alive.

In combat the Hatchling is, well, a newborn. While they do a reasonable amount of damage for their CR, and have a poisonous bite, but don’t have that many hps, and are rather slow despite their climb speed. This means they will have to ambush their prey. Presumably, you could do this by having the Party climb aboard a spider-ship, enter a cabin, and stumble upon the bloated body of an elder, while the eggs hatch. Alternatively, a simple drop from above could work. And their tiny size allows them to fit into tunnels where even halflings would have trouble moving.

The Hatchling had no significant changes for this reprinting.

Neogi (Adult)

Traditionally, Neogi are considered adults when they manage to exert control over another mind, typically an Umber Hulks. Adult Neogi also control Neogi Hatchlings after they leave the brood, as well as anything else they can capture. Despite being a CR 3 melee controller, they are meant to hide behind a wall of minions, or at least one really beefy minion.

In combat, they upped their DPR game by supplementing their bite attack with some claw attacks. Their speed also increases to a standard 30’, meaning they are now in the better mobility category thanks to their Spider Climb. More importantly, they gain a bonus action mind control power, one that lasts for up to 24 hours, and does not provide an automatic saving throw each round or require concentration on the Neogi’s behalf. Quite the doozie of a power, especially if they target a PC heavy hitter like the Barbarian.

In the changeover, the Adults gained an extra claw attack for their multiattack.

Neogi Master

The Neogi Master is the warlock of the Neogi, ones that typically form a pact with a Star (Hi to you 4e fans), or perhaps a Great Old One. They even have the Class Tag! And despite the name, they are not the Grand Old Master of past editions, 5e doesn’t actually have stats for those, despite talking about them in the reproductive cycle of the hatchlings.

So, I have to say this is a really good take on a warlock NPC. The changes to spellcasters really work here. Warlocks were only casting two spells at a fixed caster level and spamming Eldritch Blast in combat anyway. Which is functionally the same as what we got here.

In combat, the Master has Tentacle of Hadar as their blasting option. With a decent range, two attacks, and the ability to prevent the target from taking reactions. I would dare to say it’s actually more interesting than Eldritch Blast. They also have a selection of spells to cast, though no ability to swap an attack for one of them. Not too surprising for a low CR caster. Hunger of Hadar is the main spell you should be focusing on, it creates an area of magical darkness (the Master can see through this darkness thanks to Devil’s Sight), that also damages any creature trapped inside. Dimension Door is also no slouch, and combined with spider climb, can perch the Master in many advantageous positions. This is on top of all the attacks and powers that an Adult has, meaning they can also slip in one of those mind control bonus actions between blasts or after a spell.

In the changeover, the Master lost a bunch of spells, but they were never going to cast most of them anyway, due to the nature of Pact Magic Slots. Instead, all of their big spells are 1 per day casts (That's 50% more spells per day!), though the loss of Counterspell still stings a bit. Their redundant cantrips were likewise removed. While I will always lament the loss of Vicious Mockery, Eldritch Blast (even with the implied spear invocation) won’t be missed thanks to the attack that replaced it.

 

[Leatherhead]

Neothelid (VGtM)​

To say that mind flayers have a strange life cycle would be an understatement. They start out as “tadpoles” in an Elder Brain’s brine pool, where they swim around until they are either eaten by the Elder Brain, or implanted into the brain of another creature. Once implanted, the host creature undergoes ceremorphosis. A horrific mutation, where the host's entire body is transformed into a different creature, while the tadpole eats the host's brain and assumes control of the fleshy remnants. More confusingly, the resulting abomination can be something totally different depending on the host creature. While most humanoids turn into another mindflayer, this is not always the case (as seen with creatures such as the Squidlings) And non-humanoids have even stranger changes.. At any rate, the mind flayers are near the top of this society, second only to an Elder brain. The Mind Flayers are the ones who spawn more tadpoles, and eventually “merge” with the Elder Brain or become part of a new one. Perpetuating the cycle.

But the weirdest part of all that? It might not even be the “Natural” life cycle of a tadpole. Enter the Neothelid. Once tadpoles are free from the influence of an Elder Brain, they spend their days Highlandering their kin, until one emerges from the brine pool. This gargantuan psionic worm hunts for tasty intelligent life forms from subterranean tunnels. Their indiscriminate hunger and lack of a properly developed mind makes them a severe threat to a mind flayer colony. While they lack sufficient smarts to be pinged on an Elder Brain’s mind-raidar, they can most certainly find any mind flayers with theirs. Any way you manage to play such enemies against each other, it will be gross and weird for sure. And who is to say what happens when a Neothelid finds a creature that is big enough to be ceremorphosisied?

In combat the Neothelid is barely more than a beast. It’s likely to start combat off with a quick spray of its digestive juices, then follow up by trying to swallow the tastiest brain it can see. After that point, you have several options. Either disable a spellcaster with Feeblemind, or disable a heavy hitter with Confusion. Should the battle be going in the worms favor, just have them eat more. While they do have Levitate and Telekinesis, the only reason to use them is if the Neothelid is somehow trapped, and do note that they cannot use either on themselves. Meaning no airborne worm attacks.

I have to say, I am a bit disappointed that the Neothelid has only a 30’ movement speed, and no advanced movement options. No burrowing speed, no swimming (despite coming out of a brine pool, how did that happen?), and they can’t even use their spells to help that because they are too big. Technically speaking, they also lack a decent ranged attack, and it’s really strange how they don’t have a multiattack at CR 13. Just tossing a rock with their mind powers would have gone a long way. I don’t care much for slow-ground-bound melee creatures. Which is a total shame because the Neothelid is cool, and it didn’t need to be designed that way at all. Part of me thinks that their at-will Levitation was meant to be a movement option of some kind, but the restrictions were overlooked.

In the changeover, the Neothelid was gutted. They lost nearly 100 hp. Their tentacles also had a bit of damage shaved off, while their stomach acid was toned down by 1/3rd. I know people are more concerned with the caster changes, but this is the biggest nerf in the book so far.

 

[JEB]

And who is to say what happens when a Neothelid finds a creature that is big enough to be ceremorphosisied?

Huh. Filing that one away.

(Also, what happens if a neothelid consumes an elder brain?)

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Huh. Filing that one away.

(Also, what happens if a neothelid consumes an elder brain?)

The brain dies.

 

[Azuresun]

Nagpa (MToF)​

But let's not kid ourselves, they are basically just an excuse to use Skesis in D&D.

So the writers were brining Skesi back?

 

[Leatherhead]

Nightwalker (MToF)​

Nightwalkers are categorized as undead, but perhaps it would be better to think of them as anti-life elementals from the Plane of Negative Energy. Nightwalkers themselves are basically walking fields of death that only exist to kill everything. It is implied that they share a superficial connection to whomever freed them from the Negative Energy Plane, in so far as they gravitate towards areas that said creature had a connection too. But other than that, they have no true personality or even a culture.

Instead, we are going to talk about D&D metaphysics for a bit, because that’s actually relevant to this creature. As you may or may not know, the Multiverce is the default D&D setting. And the Multiverse consists of a series of planes arranged in a peculiar order. You can see pictures of this order in the DMG. It is implied that the other planes surround the Material Plane, where most adventures and campaign settings reside. It’s complicated, mostly due to the fact that we aren’t talking about 3d space here, it’s more like 6d or 7d space with all the directions you can go. And it is further complicated by the mutable nature of planes. Fortunately for this discussion, we can toss out a lot of it and start summarizing the key bits with this picture here:



Basically, the Positive and Negative Energy Planes have their own axis. If you travel from the Material Plane (which is in the middle of that ring of Outer Planes) to the Positive, you will end up traveling through the Feywild. Likewise to get to the Negative, you will have to go through the Shadowfell.

People can travel to the Negative Plane for various reasons, but mostly it’s just the unscrupulous search of power that draws people in. Once a person gets to the Negative Plane, the Negative spits out a Nightwalker to fill the metaphysical void from their missing presence. Afterwards, the creature that traveled to the Negative is trapped, unless someone can trick the Nightwalker to go back into the Negative, to take their place. Simply destroying the Nightwalker is not an option, as that will imprison the creature forever.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this lore used for a Stranger Things season.

In combat, the Nightwalker has better than average speed, including a flight speed. It attacks by flinging around a lot of negative energy in the form of necrotic damage. Simply standing next to it will damage someone, its melee attacks can prevent healing, and it has an extreme ranged attack (albeit one on a cooldown) where it points at a target to damage, scare, and paralyze them. Finally, any creature killed by them can’t be resurrected, except by a Wish.

I dare say this monster is too complicated for its intended simplicity. Does it truly need to inflict fear and paralysis at the same time? Why the 6 recharge on its only ranged attack? It’s not like a breath weapon or anything, it’s just pointing a finger. And finally, at cr 20, do we really need a CON save to avoid the HP reduction of its melee attack? Just slap on a Greater Restoration clause and have it automatically apply. The real challenge here, of course, is not killing the sack of HP before you can shove it back into the Negative Plane.

In the changeover, the Nightwalker had its HP buffed by a bit. The damage rolls on its aura and Finger of Doom were likewise raised, however it lost the Advantage granted by the Annihilating Aura in the process.

 

[Faolyn]

I never quite liked what they did with neogi reproduct this edition. I prefer the older version, where the elder literally produced the larvae within it, and they eventually consumed the elder alive from the inside out. It makes them far more alien that way.

Huh. Filing that one away.

(Also, what happens if a neothelid consumes an elder brain?)

Basically, it would become a ginormous Cthulhu-esque entity.