D&D 5E (2014) More 'realistic' Carrion Crawler poison

[coolAlias]

BTW, I think it's interesting they drag you away to 'eat later,' I thought I remembered them laying eggs on their victims - making them fantasy parasitoids.

Oh, now I want to make it so:

You wake up, still groggy from the poison, but the carrion crawler is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it has wandered off in search of other prey while you ripen, or perhaps it is still nearby - in either case, you manage to crawl away to safety without attracting further attention.

(days or weeks later)

The strange, burning itch in your leg continues unabated, the large pustules slowly migrating across your aching thigh. As you sullenly prod at one, your skin breaks open and a white, grub-like creature wriggles in mid-air, pieces of your flesh readily visible in its tentacled maw. You gaze in horror as dozens more come bursting forth, swarming up your torso in a feeding frenzy just as you feel yourself slipping into a poison-induced coma... roll a saving throw. <evil DM laughter>

 

[aco175]

From a player's perspective, not being able to act each round sucks. Taking away the save each round makes the player upset or feel helpless. You may want to run this be your players before acting on it. In a game with one player controlling a couple PCs it makes more sense.

 

[coolAlias]

From a player's perspective, not being able to act each round sucks. Taking away the save each round makes the player upset or feel helpless. You may want to run this be your players before acting on it. In a game with one player controlling a couple PCs it makes more sense.

This is a good point and yet another reason I left it as save each round.

I feel that if a character has continually failed the save AND been reduced to 0 by the crawler, being paralyzed for an hour without any further save is okay. The Giant Centipede, for example, already has an effect that does exactly that.

Chances are that if a character was reduced to 0, the party is planning to take a short rest anyway, at the end of which the character will no longer be paralyzed. Having a member down just makes getting to somewhere safe potentially a little more interesting.

 

[Sadras]

From a player's perspective, not being able to act each round sucks. Taking away the save each round makes the player upset or feel helpless.

Am I missing something - isn't the proposal that the character is allowed a saving every round for a minute, so they essentially have 10 rounds before the dreaded hour-wait kicks in, right?

At our table, I play it slightly more hardcore - the DC for ongoing saves such as dragon fear and this carrion crawler poison, increase in difficulty by 1 each round, for the person that is affected, thereby increasing the danger for the character and the dread of the player.

 

[coolAlias]

Am I missing something - isn't the proposal that the character is allowed a saving every round for a minute, so they essentially have 10 rounds before the dreaded hour-wait kicks in, right?

Mostly correct - the hour wait only kicks in if they are dropped to 0 hp while still affected by the poison; if the minute is up and they're still standing, they are no longer poisoned.

At our table, I play it slightly more hardcore - the DC for ongoing saves such as dragon fear and this carrion crawler poison, increase in difficulty by 1 each round, for the person that is affected, thereby increasing the danger for the character and the dread of the player.

I like that. I wouldn't use it in general, but if I had a group of experienced players up for a more challenging game, this would be a good way to add to that.

Do enemies also suffer from the increasing DC, for example vs. a character's Hold Person spell, or is it meant only to increase the challenge for the players?

 

[Sadras]

I like that. I wouldn't use it in general, but if I had a group of experienced players up for a more challenging game, this would be a good way to add to that.

Sure. The way I see it, there are some house rules (at least at my table) that benefit the PCs and others that don't.
Also to note, the DMG has an entire section about customising and creating your own monsters.

Do enemies also suffer from the increasing DC, for example vs. a character's Hold Person spell, or is it meant only to increase the challenge for the players?

So I have not used it for spells (either way), it has only been for poison and monster-like effects that have a duration but stipulate once you make the save you are immune to it for x period of time.
A few years in and I don't seem to have an issue with this adjustment.

EDIT: I suppose it can be utilised for spells, but I'm a little more skeptical about making such a significant change. Spells are common place, monsters with these effects, not so much.

 

[coolAlias]

Sure. The way I see it, there are some house rules (at least at my table) that benefit the PCs and others that don't.
Also to note, the DMG has an entire section about customising and creating your own monsters.

I usually just tweak existing monsters rather than creating them from scratch, simple stuff like giving them some armor, adding some extra HD and bumping the proficiency bonus, or adding a few class levels.

If I feel like the changes I've made warrant a change in CR, I'll use the DMG as a rough guide for calculating the new CR.

So I have not used it for spells (either way), it has only been for poison and monster-like effects that have a duration but stipulate once you make the save you are immune to it for x period of time.
A few years in and I don't seem to have an issue with this adjustment.

EDIT: I suppose it can be utilised for spells, but I'm a little more skeptical about making such a significant change. Spells are common place, monsters with these effects, not so much.

That makes a lot more sense to me now, especially since so many of those effects are fear effects.

However, since PC's non-proficient saving throws don't generally improve, as they encounter higher-level monsters you are basically guaranteeing that some PCs might end up permanently frightened if they fail their first save. Something to consider, perhaps.

 

[Sadras]

I usually just tweak existing monsters rather than creating them from scratch, simple stuff like giving them some armor, adding some extra HD and bumping the proficiency bonus, or adding a few class levels.

If I feel like the changes I've made warrant a change in CR, I'll use the DMG as a rough guide for calculating the new CR.

I do much the same in this regard.

However, since PC's non-proficient saving throws don't generally improve, as they encounter higher-level monsters you are basically guaranteeing that some PCs might end up permanently frightened if they fail their first save. Something to consider, perhaps.

Sure, so far so good - my highest group have just reached level 11.

 

[Sacrosanct]

From a player's perspective, not being able to act each round sucks. Taking away the save each round makes the player upset or feel helpless. You may want to run this be your players before acting on it. In a game with one player controlling a couple PCs it makes more sense.

Adventuring is dangerous, and often sucks. Perhaps PCs who don't want to suffer anything should stay at the tavern and listen to the stories of real adventurers

 

[aco175]

Adventuring is dangerous, and often sucks. Perhaps PCs who don't want to suffer anything should stay at the tavern and listen to the stories of real adventurers

I remember a convention I went to 20-odd years ago and my PC was hit by a spell in the final battle. He was out of the fight with no save after the failing the initial one. All I could do is watch the others play for the last hour of the convention game. A few years later when I ran a game, the same thing happened and let the player back into the fight a couple rounds later. He told me that he had a great time and my fudging allowed him to enjoy the game more.

The PC can die all the time, but the player is generally going to come back only if they are having fun.