Seastars with high AC - 5e idea?

[Casimir Liber]

ok - so now garganutan with hit point buff. Pondering that it maybe should be a bit stronger given its size...

 

[Cleon]

ok - so now garganutan with hit point buff. Pondering that it maybe should be a bit stronger given its size...

Well basket stars don't need a very strong grip to outmuscle pieces of plankton so I doubt they're very powerful.

Strength 18 is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Let's see…

Armor Class looks fine.

Hit Points feels slightly low but is acceptable. Was expecting mammoth level Hit Points (i.e. 125+) but 106 is close enough. That's more than a Triceratops after all, and if it's good enough for a dinosaur it'll do for now.

Speed… For some reason I was thinking they were sessile like the similar-looking Crinoids, but double checking confirms Gorgonocephalinae like Gorgonocephalus arcticus are mobile creatures. I've no idea whether they're as fast as regular non-branching armed brittle stars though.

Still, if we reduce their speed the poor things will have enormous difficulty catching fleeing adventurers, so I think we can leave it at 20 ft. for now.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Okay - I think i wanna buff their hp a bit - which do you prefer - con increase or hd increase

 

[Cleon]

Okay - I think i wanna buff their hp a bit - which do you prefer - con increase or hd increase

I'd rather go for a little from Column A and a little from Column B.

Maybe HP 145 (10d20+40) with CON 19 (+4)?

 

[Casimir Liber]

Yeah I like that - ok what you want to tackle next

 

[Cleon]

Yeah I like that

Updating the Basket Star.

ok what you want to tackle next

Go through it in the same order as the statblock like we normally do, which'd make it the Abilities next.

As said above, I'm fine with STR 18 for them, but if you want to kick that ability score up (makbe to aim at Challenge 3 or even 4) I'd accept a +5 or +6 Strength bonus.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Well I think a bit like octopuses, sea stars are known to be strong and stubborn, so I reckon a +5 or +6 bonus is highly plausible. So maybe 19 STR, with dex 7 , int/wis/cha - 1/9/3

 

[Cleon]

Well I think a bit like octopuses, sea stars are known to be strong and stubborn, so I reckon a +5 or +6 bonus is highly plausible. So maybe 19 STR, with dex 7 , int/wis/cha - 1/9/3

Huh? STR 19 is +4, the same modifier as the current version.

For a +5 it'd be STR 20 or 21, and +6 requires 22 or 23.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Brain too sleepy...ok Str 22 it is

 

[Cleon]

Brain too sleepy...ok Str 22 it is

Updating the Basket Star with STR 22.

For the rest, as you've already said Intelligence and Wisdom is likely the same as regular Giant Brittle Stars (INT 1, WIS 9).

Dexterity maybe a step lower than the Ophiuroid for DEX 6? I think they're less agile than their serpent star cousins.

Constitution we've currently set to CON 19.

Which leaves Charisma. I'd rather it have three odd-numbered ability scores and three even-numbered ones like most monsters do in later editions of D&D, so favour one of the following:

A: Give them CHA 3 like a Giant Brittlestar as suggested and change the CON to 18, or…​

B: Give them CHA 4 and keep the CON at 19.​

Which do you prefer?