Level Up (A5E) Monster preview thread!

I think it's the first of those, based on the first paragraph. But beyond that... it would be kind of neat if the adult form gained a power or some knowledge based on the abilities of its host as a larva, if the host was aligned. As it is... they're kinda just monsters? They could definitely benefit from a few more paragraphs of text on their society.

Ah ok, so the foot long wasp (signs table) is a Khalkos spawn. It kills and eats and in a few days quickly grows to adult humanoid form?

So I understand that a single adult will start infecting victims, the larvae incubate inside heads and then hatch, hunt & grow. Swarms of adult Khalkoi are god killers?

yeah a bit more culture and alignment/clerical powers would be cool
 

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Well, it's cool to see that there are a few not-MM monsters to be seen- although it makes sense that they'd be replacements for those critters that can't be included.

I am sad to see that jackalweres kept silver as a means to penetrate their DR; in the Olde Days, they were (I believe) the first creature to require cold iron instead. I was hoping you would return to that. But, I get it; can of worms etc etc.
 

So the Khalkos is a cool monster concept, and does seem clearly to act in a similar design space to the Mind Flayer, a hive mindish alien entity that subverts and takes over a local culture....but in a nicely distinctive way.

It has a lofty resume, basically a world eater, in which one Khalkos is normally deemed sufficient to take over an entire world, and "very few worlds have managed to stop them". Does the creature hold up to that?

So its a CR9, that can create 2-3 more CR9s every 13 days or so (about 10 days to spawn, a few days to grow to adulthood). So yeah left in the right conditions, I could see a swarm of these guys being out there, and a hundreds of CR9 style creatures would be a very scary threat.

But....how would that actual happen? The first issue, the supply of aligned creatures. Most worlds don't have all that many aligned people, even paladins and heralds aren't aligned by default. So while I could see these guys spreading on maybe the planes of hell, I don't see how one of them could ever grow that big on a standard mortal world. Now they can infect non-aligned people to do their bidding, but with a variable time limit before the person dies..... that's a major drawback in your insurgency plans. Bodies create investigations, while mind flayers can keep key personnel constantly dominated to throw off such scents, Khalkos are constantly churning through their insurgents....that is hard to do and keep things secret.

The next big weakness, this is a DISEASE effect. Diseases are easy to take care of for mortal communities let alone celestial ones. Detect Disease is a level1 ritual (though maybe levelup has changed it), and I would expect any religious community worth a Khalkos' time would have that ritual and use it to ensure good help for its members, which would be instantly flagged. Most celestial communities have access to greater restoration. And gods can be infected?.... I can't imagine that any god wouldn't be immune from disease, or at least could easily cure it with a wave of their hand. Ultimately this seems way too weak as a disease to do the kind of damage described in the flavor. If nothing else, it should probably have a clause that normal disease immunity doesn't work against these things (else the gods would just send an army of paladins to take these guys out). Also, if the disease can't be detected by standard means of detecting disease, that would add another great irony.... the communities that rely on detect disease magic would likely not use "medicine" and such....and so their arrogance in their power would play right into the Khalkos' hands.

So funny enough, what the mechanics tell me.... is that these guys are actually the scourge of devils and demons. With no natural resistance, detection, or curing of disease, and with plenty of aligned fodder (aka lemures and the like) to use as breeding ground, I could absolutely see Khalkos as Asmodeus' greatest nightmare. And that would be kind of a fun twist, should we protect the evil demons from getting consumed by the swarm because something worse will emerge? Have a blood war fight, only to see the landscape shift as demons are being replace with Khalkos spawn... that would be cool. But I don't think I could see these kinds of the "destroyer of worlds" flavor like a mind flayer, they are too "picky" for that to work.
 
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So flavor aside, my one mechanical issue with Khalkos (and one I gave on a few other monster concepts) is the notion that saving on Chaos Pheromones' makes you immune to ALL Chaos Pheromones for 24 hrs.

That doesn't work for me with a swarm type creature which these are supposed to be. The reason groups of these guys are scary (similar to why 2-3 mind flayers are so much more terrifying than one) is the ability to spam hit you multiple times. One mind blast sucks, 3 mind blasts are outright terrifying. but without that, a group of Khalkos aren't all that much stronger than a single one, and the lower level ones can't really contribute in mid to high level fights. Normally a DC 12 int save isn't that hard for a mid level character, but if I have to make that against 5 khalkos spawn....than its scary. But if one save makes me immune to the rest of them.... then you have taken a lot of "sting" out of swarm.
 

So the Khalkos is a cool monster concept, and does seem clearly to act in a similar design space to the Mind Flayer, a hive mindish alien entity that subverts and takes over a local culture....but in a nicely distinctive way.

It has a lofty resume, basically a world eater, in which one Khalkos is normally deemed sufficient to take over an entire world, and "very few worlds have managed to stop them". Does the creature hold up to that?

So its a CR9, that can create 2-3 more CR9s every 13 days or so (about 10 days to spawn, a few days to grow to adulthood). So yeah left in the right conditions, I could see a swarm of these guys being out there, and a hundreds of CR9 style creatures would be a very scary threat.

But....how would that actual happen? The first issue, the supply of aligned creatures. Most worlds don't have all that many aligned people, even paladins and heralds aren't aligned by default. So while I could see these guys spreading on maybe the planes of hell, I don't see how one of them could ever grow that big on a standard mortal world. Now they can infect non-aligned people to do their bidding, but with a variable time limit before the person dies..... that's a major drawback in your insurgency plans. Bodies create investigations, while mind flayers can keep key personnel constantly dominated to throw off such scents, Khalkos are constantly churning through their insurgents....that is hard to do and keep things secret.

The next big weakness, this is a DISEASE effect. Diseases are easy to take care of for mortal communities let alone celestial ones. Detect Disease is a level1 ritual (though maybe levelup has changed it), and I would expect any religious community worth a Khalkos' time would have that ritual and use it to ensure good help for its members, which would be instantly flagged. Most celestial communities have access to greater restoration. And gods can be infected?.... I can't imagine that any god wouldn't be immune from disease, or at least could easily cure it with a wave of their hand. Ultimately this seems way too weak as a disease to do the kind of damage described in the flavor. If nothing else, it should probably have a clause that normal disease immunity doesn't work against these things (else the gods would just send an army of paladins to take these guys out). Also, if the disease can't be detected by standard means of detecting disease, that would add another great irony.... the communities that rely on detect disease magic would likely not use "medicine" and such....and so their arrogance in their power would play right into the Khalkos' hands.

So funny enough, what the mechanics tell me.... is that these guys are actually the scourge of devils and demons. With no natural resistance, detection, or curing of disease, and with plenty of aligned fodder (aka lemures and the like) to use as breeding ground, I could absolutely see Khalkos as Asmodeus' greatest nightmare. And that would be kind of a fun twist, should we protect the evil demons from getting consumed by the swarm because something worse will emerge? Have a blood war fight, only to see the landscape shift as demons are being replace with Khalkos spawn... that would be cool. But I don't think I could see these kinds of the "destroyer of worlds" flavor like a mind flayer, they are too "picky" for that to work.

good analysis and I do like the idea of making their infection both undetectable and resistant to Cure Disease.
 

So flavor aside, my one mechanical issue with Khalkos (and one I gave on a few other monster concepts) is the notion that saving on Chaos Pheromones' makes you immune to ALL Chaos Pheromones for 24 hrs.

That doesn't work for me with a swarm type creature which these are supposed to be. The reason groups of these guys are scary (similar to why 2-3 mind flayers are so much more terrifying than one) is the ability to spam hit you multiple times. One mind blast sucks, 3 mind blasts are outright terrifying. but without that, a group of Khalkos aren't all that much stronger than a single one, and the lower level ones can't really contribute in mid to high level fights. Normally a DC 12 int save isn't that hard for a mid level character, but if I have to make that against 5 khalkos spawn....than its scary. But if one save makes me immune to the rest of them.... then you have taken a lot of "sting" out of swarm.
I'm going to agree that all of the sav & ignore for 24 hours effects should be replaced in addition to this one. This one even moreso because it's all of them. If confused is to strong an effect use/create some lesser effect like -1d4 om all d20 rolls or something. the old 3.5 trogdolyte stench was great for this since the effect was enough to effectively make lesser monsters beefier rather than needing to actually use beefier monsters & lasted long enough to survive a battle plus make "do we wait or push forward while $buff is still up" a question worthy of at least a moment's consideration. This is just a videogamey "ok we are good now lets go" with the first encounter.

Another option might be to add/subtract a bonus to the save foreach successive save/fail if it should remain an all for 24hours.
 

So the Khalkos is a cool monster concept, and does seem clearly to act in a similar design space to the Mind Flayer, a hive mindish alien entity that subverts and takes over a local culture....but in a nicely distinctive way.
Well that is precisely what they are designed to replace IIRC.
 

L, naturally, is for... Lich!
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I really like that version of the lich, but am sad at the lack of 9th level spells. Overall, though, that's very well done, with flavor and mechanics nicely in synch and designed to build a fun encounter. Well done.
 

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