D&D 5E Let's Read: Volo's Monsters

[Charles Rampant]

I don't agree with that assessment, actually. The archmage is only a level 18 spellcaster and could definitely change its spells to have its damage output increased (thereby raising its CR) even with level 18 spell slots, let alone level 20 slots. Honestly, I think CR 12 for the pinnacle of a classic D&D race is a definitely too far on the low side - it should be around 15 at the lowest, if not somewhat above, to make it a fully intimidating "final boss".

Beyond that, however, I do like the overall presentation of the anathema - it does everything that it should as the leader of an important race. I would just adjust it somewhat upwards when it comes do damage and so on, should I ever have one appear in my campaign...

Probably the best way to handle that would be to say that this Anathema is closer to godhood than other, inferior, versions that the players might have met. Thus you don't invalidate this

The Archmage does suffer from a distinctly subpar spell-list, to be sure; I once swapped out Time Stop for Meteor Swarm, only to realise that it instantly turns the Archmage into a walking TPK. It's a difficult needle to thread, but a re-jig of the spells for a more impressive Archmage is certainly not a bad idea.

 

[Charles Rampant]

The Yuan-Ti: Broodguard is a human changed into a vile guard monster by the Yuan-ti, and it is a simple but very usable minion statblock.

The art in the book goes for an interesting ‘tangle of limbs’ approach, with the Broodguard’s entirely normal set of two arms and two legs all overlapping in such a way that it seems more alien than it should. I’m not as convinced by the pose of the head, however, and this natural focal point seems almost an afterthought.

So the Yuan-ti like their slaves, and they also like tormenting humans, so obviously the best thing to do is use a ritual to turn humans into reptilian slaves. The Broodguard is a nearly mindless and utterly loyal creation, usually used to guard hatching chambers or patrol the outskirts of Yuan-ti settlements. We get a brief description of how the process is achieved, for once - it revolves around forcing the humans to drink a poison that makes them comatose and warps their body and mind over 1d6+6 days. It sounds deeply unpleasant. During the process, it is reasonably easy to stop by PC standards (lesser restoration or restore curse will do the trick), but once it is completed only wish will do. It’s always interesting to see what the game categories as ‘wish only’ territory, since the spell is so underwhelming on first glance. Obviously this time period is perfectly suited to a rescue mission scenario, and would be a great way to introduce the Yuan-ti city to your players in a limited fashion, before they can return several sessions later, at the end of the storyline.

The Broodguard themselves are pretty unremarkable - they’re dumb, don’t like to speak, and follow commands that they are given. The intent here is clearly for them to be a brute minion sort of effort - they are tough and simple to use, making good additions to any Yuan-ti combat as a frontline fighter. It might be fun to let the Broodguard change back into humans on death, which would really evoke the dehumanising horror element of the concept, and also is likely to spark some kind of emotional response in the characters.

So the statblock here is a CR 2 bruiser which looks a lot like a barbarian. With AC 14 and 45 HP, they are pretty sturdy but easy to injure, and with the Reckless ability the players are likely to cut them down relatively quickly. However, that same Reckless ability - granting advantage to attacks both by and against the Broodguard - means that its three attacks will be a consistent threat, and it is likely to pile on the pain relatively quickly. There is not a ‘one big attack’ here, which means you don’t need to worry about the Reckless causing a critical and gibbing a player instantly, instead just a relentless barrage of fairly accurate hits. The only other thing of real interest to note is that the Broodguard is hard to charm and paralyse, which is painfully ironic for the end result of a potion that incapacitates and transforms.

There is a lot to like about the Broodguard. It’s basically a Yuan-ti Ogre equivalent - the low-tier bruiser - and it seems to do that job pretty well. Volo’s really overuses the plot idea of ‘friends have been kidnapped and you have to rescue them before the transformation takes hold’, but the one here is probably among the best in the book. Overall, I suspect that you’ll use these guys a lot more than Purebreeds, if you’re doing a Yuan-ti adventure.

 

[Leatherhead]

The Broodguard is the brute to be sure, but a brute with options. For instance, it can get the Chameleon Skin and Shed Skin abilities, to make it some kind of rogue-barbarian hybrid. They come standard with Mental Resistance, which offers a measure or protection against the common front-line counters. And Poison immunity, which allows you to place some gas clouds around the encounter without the risk of having them backfire on the snakes.

In addition to nursery and patrol duties, you use them as the elite guards of a snake cult in the city. With some of the cultists willingly undergoing the transformation in order to gain higher status.

As Charles said, these things are meat for the grinder, and as such will be put to the blade by your PC's in greater numbers than any other variation of the Yuan-Ti. But that doesn't mean the purebloods don't have a place.

Purebloods are the basic Yuan-Ti unit. They drive the plot, do the talking, and will be the focus of lower level adventures. But they are not the unit meant for getting beat up. Yuan-Ti are the evil snake men that run the government, and as such, they are intended to be courtly schmoozers. They get poison immunity (good for poisoning every glass of wine in the dinner hall and making it out alive), suggestion, a decent Deception skill, and a smattering of stealth. Realistically everything you need to make something intended to talk to instead of fight, but they can put up a decent fight too. With Poison Spray, Magic Resistance, decent hit points, and a poisoned shortbow, they can put up way more of a fight than the standard noble.

Also, they are intelligent humanoids, with a PC stat block no less. If you wanted, you could make a campaign where the focus is taking over the world with serpentine subterfuge, leading in with the lore of snake cultists being changed into Purebloods, with the option to become more powerful Malisons, Abominations, or eventually maybe an Anathema.

For options, they can sport any NPC template you want (warlocks are popular, but necromancers are good for potential creature type coverage), which is in contrast to the rest of their tribe who are monstrosities or perhaps too dumb to do so. Also they can a few unique options from chapter 2, the ability to shapeshift into a snake for combat or escape, or an optional bite attack.

 

[Charles Rampant]

The Yuan-Ti: Mind Whisperer is a devotee of Sseth, the Sibilant Death, and even other Yuan-ti think that they are sneaky and cowardly.

I couldn’t find a good picture of Sseth, so enjoy a random one of Yuan-ti, I guess. The art in the book is quite atmospheric, with the Mind Whisperer having a slimy, repellant texture to it. The artist has done a really good job of combining snake skin with a humanoid shape.

So the Mind Whisperer - like the other two Yuan-ti that we’ll cover - is a type of Malison, which are the combination versions that normally come in at CR 3. The Mind Whisperer is a warlock of Sseth, the god who stole many of Merrshaulk’s followers, and like Sseth they focus on communication and ‘offering another option’. They’re not an infiltrator, interestingly; instead, they get a lot of control spells, which suggests that you should use this as the leader of the Yuan-ti drug den in the sewers, the guy who is directly pulling the strings, even if he is far from the top of the chain. They cannot pretend to be human - that’s a Purebreed’s job, after all - but can really spread chaos and confusion with their spells, and also use them to take control of an interrogation or meeting that they are in. It would be very interesting for the players to meet one of these while undercover - you know, while they are scouting out the drug den or whatever, prior to reporting back and preparing to take it down - since it is the kind of Yuan-ti that might benefit from a roleplaying scene with them.

The statblock for this guy is quite immense, and combines the standard Yuan-ti things - stealth score, poison immunity, speaking with snakes, turning into a snake, that sort of thing. They also seem to be a type of melee warlock, with some fun Spells - Crown of Madness, Charm Person, Hypnotic Pattern on top of two melee attacks to which they can add a Paladin-style smite for 3d10. It’s quite an odd mix, really, and it looks like it’ll be a confusing and versatile opponent for the party. I do quite like that, especially since the Yuan-ti are a race that I think should keep the players off balance.

The Yuan-ti are one of the cooler things in D&D, and this is no exception. The Mind Whisperer is an odd creature, and it will be easy for it to sort of not do much, since it doesn’t focus on any one thing in particular, but it is still a striking and distinctive addition to the roster that should help you create an atmosphere of wrongness and unclear thinking.

 

[UnknownDyson]

It's worth noting that the deity Sseth is also known as Set the Mulhorandi deity and Zehir. He or it was the one that caused the classic Yuan Ti deity Merrshaulk to fall into his long slumber so he could gain Yuan Ti and assassins as worshipers.

 

[Charles Rampant]

I understand that the Yuan-ti in Volo's Guide are somewhat retconning earlier Faerun Yuan-ti lore. All that I know about that previous lore is that Yuan-ti - like Bullywugs and, uh, Aarakocra? - were among the first sentient races to exist, and had big empires back in the day.

 

[flametitan]

I understand that the Yuan-ti in Volo's Guide are somewhat retconning earlier Faerun Yuan-ti lore. All that I know about that previous lore is that Yuan-ti - like Bullywugs and, uh, Aarakocra? - were among the first sentient races to exist, and had big empires back in the day.

My understanding of it is that this is a case where the "generic" D&D lore and Realms specific lore diverge. Volo's, being a generic book with only a smattering of Realms lore, went with the generic D&D version of Yuan-ti, presumably because it's more portable than the Realms lore.

 

[UnknownDyson]

Zehir is listed as an alias for Set in the Dungeon Master's Guide. That along with the fact that they are still going with the Merrshaulk is asleep and his followers are being stolen story would suggest that some of the previous lore is still in use.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Well Merrshaulk's gimmick was always that he was asleep.

In earlier editions. The Yuan Ti believed that in order to wake him they needed to preform acts of evil. However the acts don't count towards waking him if they benefit from it. (Other then the pleasure of doing it.) Meaning the Yuan Ti were pretty much the puppy kickers of D&D who would do horribly cruel things just for the sake of it.

 

[UnknownDyson]

Right, but wasn't the whole usurper plot started in 3rd edition. That is almost exclusively tied to Set under the alias Sseth and later Zehir in 4e.