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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 8563512" data-attributes="member: 57383">Seems a bit superfluous. If it's hit by two arms it needs to make two rolls to avoid dragging in the current draft and if either of those fail it's within bite range. Adding disadvantage to the second check just makes it three rolls.I'd rather there be a decent possibility of it taking a few arm hits to drag a screaming* victim into the jaws. More dramatic that way.*Or otherwise exclaiming, according to the victim's individual taste ("Dash it, being devoured by this starfish is a trifle inconvenient!").That said, I now think the DC of the Strength check should match the DC 14 of the escape check.Oh, and I just realized it should be a Shed Arm reaction not Shed Arms as it only loses them one at a time!Thinking it over, I definitely like disadvantage on Strength (Athletics) escape checks and realised there's an easier way to express it than Arm #4.Arm #5a. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 14; with disadvantage on escape checks). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the ophiuroid can't use that arm to attack a different target. If the arm hits a target that is already grappled, the target must succeed at a DC 14 Strength check or be pulled within reach of the ophiuroid's bite attack, or into the nearest empty space if that isn't possible. The giant ophiuroid has five arms (unless it lost some to a Shed Arm reaction), each of which can grapple one target.Does that look OK to you?No that's that happens when a giant sea star drags its victim to its mouth. Giant brittle stars chew them up before digesting!Speaking of which, I was thinking the bite damage would be something like 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning plus 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing.Let's see, the max damage output of the Giant Brittle Star is therefore two arms (2d6 + 4 bludgeoning) plus bite (2d4 + 4 bludgeoning and slashing) for 20 in total.That seems a trifle high. While a Brown Bear does 19.5 damage, it has much weaker defenses (AC 11, HP 34) and doesn't restrain its victims (so no advantage on the attack).I would either lower the arm damage to 1d4 + 2 as well, and/or also limit it to one arm attack per target as in Multiattack #2.Lower arm damage averages to 18 total damage (4d4 + 8), similar to a bear.If it can only use one bite and one arm against a given target, that target takes either 14½ (1d6 + 2d4 + 6) or 13½ (3d4 + 6) damage on average (depending on whether we use d4 or d6 for the arms).Hmm, that's still higher than the 10 (2d6 + 3) of a Giant Octopus Tentacles attack.We could fix that by making it one attack per target rather than just one arm attack, so it can either bite or arm a target but not both. Then the max damage to an individual target is the bite's 2d4 + 4.Multiattack #3. The giant ophiuroid can make up to three attacks against different targets: it can make one attack with its bite against an target it is grappling, the remaining attacks must be arm attacks. If the ophiuroid has fewer than three arms because of its Shed Arm ability, the maximum number of arm attacks it can make equals its current number of arms.Still think we should consider reducing the arm damage to 1d4 + 2 if the beastie is meant to be Challenge 1, although 1d6 + 2 might be doable.What does the "Challenge Calculator" say?</blockquote>

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