Questions tagged [monster-design]
For questions about designing adversarial monsters and NPCs for use in a game.
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Does a creature with natural attacks need Improved Unarmed Strike to get Improved Grapple?
I am designing an encounter with a Giant Owl druid companion involved. I wanted the owl to get the Improved Grapple feat as part of the advancement for being a druid companion. The owl would in no way ...
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Making Golems out of New materials [closed]
For an upcoming Encounter, I want my group to to fight golems made out of paper.
I've looked at a few Nearly 2d monsters, such as a Palimpsest, or a Rug of Smothering, bit I haven't found quite the ...
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How do you calculate proficiency bonus for monsters?
I'm making monsters on Dnd beyond, and I always get the proficiency bonus wrong. I need to know how to calculate proficiency bonus for a challenge rating 8 monster.
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How does Screaming Skull work for a Skeleton Guard?
One of the optional abilities for monsters in the skeleton family is Screaming Skull, which says:
The skeleton removes its skull and throws it, making a jaws attack with a range of 20 feet.
I'd like ...
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How to mechanically implement enemies with single vulnerable points? [closed]
I am a GM for both DnD 5e and Pathfinder 1e. I was thinking how some creatures in stories only die with a blow to a very specific spot and all hits anywhere else are completely nullified, and how ...
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How would resistance to non magical weapons change a creature's challenge rating?
Suppose we took a normal monster - say, perhaps, a lion (CR 1) - and gave it resistance to non-magical slashing, piercing, and blunt damage. How much would this affect the threat to a party?
I'm ...
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How might I instantiate this NPC concept in a fun way within the systems of DnD 5e? (think Picture of Dorian Gray crossed with Dr Jekyll)
I have this concept for an NPC that I would like to throw into a world I am building for my friends. We are all novices to dungeons and dragons.
The NPC is a Baron in a backwater village that sits in ...
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How can I design a boss that shifts between two dimensions to avoid attacks?
This boss character, Omega, is inspired by
Zhylaw, leader of the Necromongers, in the Riddick film series
Tobi, Akatsuki member from the Naruto anime
This boss, meant for a level 16 boss fight (...
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What are the mechanical effects of uneven ability scores in monster stat blocks?
Whilst homebrewing some variations of existing monsters, I noticed something unusual: Some monsters have odd (i.e. mathematically uneven) ability scores.
Uneven ability scores matter for player ...
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How do you design monsters that ignore armor?
I'm trying to homebrew a nasty hornet swarm with some added attacks to make it more dangerous. One of the ideas that I had was to make the hornets crawl under the armor/clothes when attacking, thus ...
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Does a monster with multiple abilities recharging regain their use on a roll of 5-6?
From the MM, pg. 11
Recharge X-Y. The notation "Recharge X- Y" means
a monster can use a special ability once and that the
ability then has a random chance of recharging during
each ...
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Can a monster cast a higher-level spell using a lower-level spell slot?
Is there a rule for monsters that allows a higher-level spell to be cast using a lower level?
I ask because I came across the "Shadow Fey Enchantress" statblock in the third-party book Tome ...
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How to balance enemies in BESM 4e?
I'm only somewhat experienced in DMing, and decided to run a game of Big Eyes Small Mouth 4th edition. I've started world building around the other characters, and during creation I found that one of ...
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Does Spell Resistance scale when advancing a monster?
I just advanced a Canoloth (MM 3, p. 200) as I wanted to use it against a level 14 party. It is originally CR 5, and I wanted to raise it to CR 8. So I added 4 HD (CR+2) and the elite array (CR+1). ...
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How to make mind flayer mind control better [closed]
I feel like the Mind Flayers ability to control minds (a once per day Dominate Monster) is almost universally thought of as underpowered, especially given the description of Mind Flayers. How could a ...
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What is the earliest example of a variant monster in a published D&D adventure?
In an answer to another question I made the point that using non-standard variants of published monsters has been common practice since the early days of D&D. This was based on my own experience, ...
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Is this monster level appropriate?
It's been a while, but I decided to take one of my Pathfinder 1e Dungeons and transfer it into Pathfinder 2e. That being said, I could not find a Kyrana anywhere in the Pathfinder 2e Bestiary, so I ...
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Is this "Siren" creature balanced?
I just finished playing a 6th level 4 players session and the GM used this creature in a fight with us:
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Siren_(5e_Creature)
Specifically it used the ability:
Sing (5/day)...
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How to interpret "round up or down" in monster CR calculation
In the "Creating Quick Monster Stats" section of the DMG (p.274) we are given the procedure for determining the CR of a new DM-designed monster. Step 4 of that procedure (pp.274-275) tells ...
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Does adding multiple skills when combining creatures cause balance issues?
I'm creating a Svirfneblin Evil Mage by combining the stat blocks for each Evil Mage and Svirfneblin.
A Svirfneblin has the skills Investigation +3, Perception +2, Stealth +4.
An Evil Mage has the ...
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Is a creature's Innate Spellcasting save DC affected by changing ability scores or adding Spellcasting features from another creature?
I'm creating a Svirfneblin Evil Mage by combining the stat blocks for each Evil Mage and Svirfneblin.
A Svirfneblin's Innate Spellcasting Save DC is 11 and its INT is +1.
An Evil Mage's Spellcasting ...
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Does the effectiveness of a harpy's song fluctuate based on its Charisma score?
In D&D 5e, the harpy has the Luring Song action option:
Luring Song. The harpy sings a magical melody. Every humanoid and giant within 300 feet of the harpy that can hear the song must succeed on ...
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How dangerous is this modified exhaustion compared to other harmful conditions?
In this question, I asked about the ramifications of monsters causing exhaustion:
How dangerous is exhaustion?
The answers concluded, that this would generally be very risky and dangerous.
I therefore ...
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What is the AC equivalent of mirror image?
It is suggested (by the DMG) to account for defensive options by assuming increased AC, e.g. +2 AC for magic resistance.
I would like to give some of my monsters the spell mirror image as part of a ...
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How dangerous is exhaustion?
I'm interested in adding exhaustion effects to monsters. I might homebrew changes to the exhaustion mechanic, but for now, I'm interested in assessing how dangerous it is if monsters can cause RAW ...
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What is the impact of banishment on CR?
Disclaimer: I know that monster balance is never exact and I don't expect it to be, I'm looking for rough guidelines like they are given in the DMG for many traits.
I like to flavor up my monsters ...
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help in adapting a monster from a short story to 5E [closed]
This is the 'Big Bad' of the short story Undefiled, written by James M. Ward for the collection Tales of Ravenloft. From what I've inquired the creature was created by Ward specifically for the story.
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Does adding the Damage Absorption trait to a not-immune creature change its CR?
The DMG has a "Monster Features" table (p. 280), containing traits that can be added onto monsters for customization purposes. One of the traits with no effect on CR listed is Damage Absorption (it ...
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How do save-or-die effects modify CR in 5e? [duplicate]
I have a homebrew monster with an ability that can drop a target to 0 hp if they fail a saving throw. How should this alter its CR?
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How do crossbred dragons inherit movement, MR, and special defenses?
1990's Draconomicon has some guidelines for crossbred dragons that seem useful for 3.5/5e. From what I can tell, though, rules for land/flight/(swim) speeds, magic resistance, and elemental immunity (...
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How would Undead Fortitude and Regeneration work in tandem?
I've created a custom undead for a campaign I'm running called a dread zombie. The idea is for it to have a bit of a "you've got to be kidding me" factor with how resilient the seemingly weak enemy is....
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Pentex African Killer Bees!
Welcome to Pentex Labs! We have everything to destroy nature: Banes, Vampires, Reality Warpers!
Now, my boss wants to weaponize Bees. He wants them to be super deadly, he wants them to destroy cacao -...
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What are the best templates to give oozes a better to-hit?
Pretty self-explanatory. Try to keep it under CR 5 tough. It is for bottled oozes, as per the alchemist discovery.
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How is the damage required to regurgitate a creature calculated?
As an addition to my previous question "How is CON save DC determined for the Behir?" there is another figure that I'm curious as to how it is determined.
If the behir takes 30 damage or ...
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How is CON save DC determined for the Behir?
I am homebrewing a monster that has incorporates the Swallow mechanic used by the Behir (MM, pg. 25). My monster is not at the same CR and I need to adjust its statistics accordingly, but there is one ...
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How to create a class-level-defined monster
I would like to create some small groups of kobolds for my players to tackle with. The idea is to have some "standard" kobolds copied directly from the Bestiary 1, but to also have some "special" ones ...
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What is the CR of one half of an Ochre Jelly?
Suppose I want my party to fight an ochre jelly, but they're low level, so it would be too hard a fight for them. What I could give them is a smaller ochre jelly: the original jelly got split somehow, ...
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When running animated water as a creature, how can I get stats quickly?
A subquestion of How does animated water work?
When a player conjures a creature formed of animated water, for example a small horse, I find it works best to model that animated water as a CR0 ...
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How does Spell-Eating compare to Energy Drain?
I'd like to replace the standard Energy Drain effect on a few CR3 Wights with the following Spell-Eater effect:
Spell-Eater
On a successful Melee attack, the target must make a Will save against ...
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Designing a stat block for a 5e Hieracosphinx [closed]
The Hieracosphinx is a lesser Sphinx that does not have an official stat block for 5e, as via Christopher Perkins' Twitter. However, I would like to use this monster in a desert setting with Level 6 ...
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Is there a guide on how to create a monster as a solo combat challenge for a PC?
I have read all about how to create an encounter or "boss" monster for a group of PCs to defeat based on challenge rating, but I have not seen any guidance on how to create/modify a monster to make it ...
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Understanding CR calculations of these monsters from the Monster Manual
I've been working on a tool to help me design monsters, specifically doing CR calculations as described in the DMG. In order to test it, I've tried it out on some monsters in the Monster Manual, which ...
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How can I design a witch (or other enemy) that summons/controls lightning birds at sea to attack the party while hidden on a ship?
The PCs (3 of them, at 3rd level) are on a disabled, abandoned pirate ship at sea in a storm. I want them to have hard encounters that become somewhat predictable and that they can put a stop to, so ...
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How could I create a situation in which a PC has to make a saving throw or be forced to pet a dog?
Here is how this question came up to me :
I have a dog (IRL), and it's so cute that I'm pretty crazy about it (I guess like most dog owners). My players, which are also my friends, know that.
I ...
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Do intelligent items have Hit Dice?
I know that Intelligent Items are considered creatures for at least some purposes, but I have heard that they don't possess skills or feats from Hit Dice, on account of having no Hit Dice. Do the ...
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How can a Lich look like a human without magic?
This question is for 5e; I've posted a similar question for Pathfinder here.
I'm designing a character for a campaign whose role is to be a recurring antagonist. When the characters first meet him, ...
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How could a Lich maintain the appearance of being alive without magic?
I'm designing a character for a campaign whose role is to be a recurring antagonist. When the players first meet him, I want him to seem undeniably human. The idea is that the party will "kill" him ...
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Is this Half-dragon Quaggoth boss monster balanced?
This is going to be an early boss for my upcoming campaign. I have 7 5th-level player characters, and this fight is meant to challenge them quite a bit. There will also be a few minions.
The story is ...
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How would I stat a creature to be immune to everything but the Magic Missile spell? (just for fun)
My DM has, for the sake of adding some light-hearted fun to our campaign, introduced a magic chicken that has 1HP but can only die due to the magic missile spell.
My question is, if we were to create ...
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Can the "Create a Monster" table be used to accurately change a creature's CR?
Related: How do I scale up a Monster for a big Party in D&D 5e?
There have been a lot of questions about Mimics, so I'll use that, but this applies to any creature that doesn't match up with the ...
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