New answers tagged monsters
2
No
The basic rule for targeting reads:
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can't see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.
The relevant point here ...
4
You can't cast on something behind cover or out of range, even if you can see it.
Relevant question: Is it possible to attack enemies through a scrying sensor?
You could cast a spell using Hag Eye if the path is obscured visually, such as by Fog Cloud, as long as there is still a clear path and the target is in range. If there isn't a clear, direct path or ...
9
Taking a quick look through the Monster Manual, it doesn't look like there's any functional difference.
The "Languages" heading in the Introduction (p. 9) says only:
The languages that a monster can speak are listed in alphabetical order. Sometimes a monster can understand a language but can't speak it, and this is
noted in its entry. A "-" indicates ...
4
They're essentially identical. We commonly use both phrasings in real life when talking about people. "Sorry, he doesn't speak English" or "Sorry, he can't speak English" are functionally equivalent statements.
If there's any difference at all, it's that creatures that can't speak are incapable of it as a species, while in the examples you gave, one is ...
4
Yes, the attack must hit first
To pull from slightly earlier in the same source:
Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw against being magically Petrified.
Emphasis mine. The saving throw is a secondary effect that comes with the bite hitting.
17
The bite has to hit
From the basic rules on monsters, we can see the following description of the "hit" notation (emphasis mine):
Hit. Any damage dealt or other effects that occur as a result of an attack hitting a target are described after the "Hit" notation.
Since the cockatrice's Bite includes the saving throw to avoid being petrified after the hit ...
1
It's a bit unclear
The case for action
While monsters can take standard actions in addition to their specific action options listed in their stat block, the Blood Drain action does seem to specifically contain the draining once attached.
Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the ...
9
No, the rocks are not part of the creature.
Polymorph can turn you into an ape, but it doesn't turn you into an ape and a pile of rocks. The rocks are carried items.
Like all of the 5e rules, the MM's suggestion that a monster carries "enough ammunition" applies to normal cases, not every possible edge case. A Guard carries a spear, but you can still run ...
1
Mechanically
Neither the Incorporeal subtype nor the Incorporeal (Ex) trait prevent a creature from talking. This doesn't necessarily mean that they can, but some creatures indicate they cannot speak, while some incorporeal creatures do not indicate this.
Story-Wise
Any one GM can decide whether an incorporeal creature has the necessary interaction with ...
6
You’ll need to ask your DM.
Aside from a few, explicitly described cases (such as lizardfolk being able to fashion clubs and shields from bone during a short rest), 5E has no general provisions for collecting parts of dead creatures and assembling them into new equipment; the assumption is that basic equipment is purchased or crafted - both with gp - and ...
6
Making armor from animal/monster parts has a long history in D&D and other fantasy games but I don't think I've seen specific rules for it in 5e. But since the armor you are talking about has special properties that would push into the "magic item" category the DMG does have rules on pages 128 and 129. It is a bit too long for quoting here but you ...
18
The Hydra uses one reaction to run away
The Hydra's "Reactive Heads" feature states that for every head beyond the first, the Hydra gains an extra reaction that can only be used for opportunity attacks. This means that the Hydra has one "normal" reaction, which would be consumed by Dissonant Whispers.
There are two reasons why the Hydra would not be able ...
3
The attacker should roll a Stealth check with advantage.
The burrowing monster is hiding (under the ground) and heavily obscured (because the ground is in the way). Perception checks to detect a heavily obscured creature have disadvantage.. You can either let the burrower roll Stealth with advantage or give the victim -5 on their passive Perception to ...
0
A Barbarian Revenant
It's not a perfect match, but you're looking for a spirit that hops from body to body and is prone to violence. Such a creature or effect does not currently exist, but a revenant comes pretty close. They also keep their abilities from their former life, so a Revenant who was a Barbarian in life would still have their ability to rage:
...
4
You can roll a stealth check against their passive Perception -- but don't have to. You, the DM, decide when a character is surprised:
The DM determines who might be surprised.
Yes, your monsters would qualify as unseen attackers if they are hidden (should require a Stealth check), and gain advantage on the first strike.
When a creature can't see you, ...
4
No.
You set a really high bar, and nothing exactly matches what you're looking for. Each of these criteria have things that match them, but nothing has all of them:
spirit or plague - There are both spirits and illnesses in all editions D&D, none that match the rest of the criteria.
Ghost has existed since Monster Manual 1st Edition.
Wraith have ...
-1
You can't have it all
I'm not aware of anything that increases your attack ability or damage or durability, or can spread in an amorphous cloud.
As far as "attacking people near you with bloodlust" (or something similar)...
Confusion or Possession seems your best bet.
There are a few ways to do these with spells and monsters (which can have spells).
...
0
I don't believe that there's anything perfectly RAW that's exactly what you're looking for. In particular, you're not likely to see something that both takes control of you and makes you more durable. There are similar things, however.
First, a disease in 3.0
Festering Anger- Brought upon by long-term, intense fury and hatred, this disease manifests as ...
8
You can find a bit of reference in the article "Villains: Cult of the Black Earth" on the D&D website.
It contains a few images of Marlos Unrayle (a male medusa from the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure), including a full-body one:
2
You could record it with a clockwork bug
A clockwork bug is a wondrous item which allows sound to be magically recorded onto a gemstone, and then reproduced later:
A clockwork bug can record all nearby sounds within a 20-foot-radius spread onto a low-quality gemstone worth 10 gp, which is embedded in its body. The bug can record up to 1 hour of sound, ...
-4
Find and kill the hag, seems to be the only real response. All others seem to require a LOT of trouble or luck.
10
The phantasms cannot attack, but they're still going to confuse you
When a Cloaker takes the Phantasms action, it:
magically creates three illusory duplicates of itself if it isn't in bright light. The duplicates move with it and mimic its actions, shifting position so as to make it impossible to track which cloaker is the real one.
The usefulness of ...
5
The cloaker's phantasms simply mimic actions
The cloaker's phantasms do not change other actions, so a cloaker does not make 4 attacks while its phantasms are up. The phantasms ability simply states:
The duplicates move with it and mimic its actions, shifting position so as to make it impossible to track which cloaker is the real one.
So what matters is ...
5
Mechanically: Because it's a Vermin.
The Giant Spider itself does not have that ability, but rather inherits it from its creature type: Vermin. Vermin have the following trait:
Mindless: No Intelligence score, and immunity to all mind-affecting
effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and
phantasms). Mindless creatures have no feats or ...
2
Because Pathfinder is derived from Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition
Spiders did not have this feature prior to the 3rd edition of D&D. 3rd edition tried to systematize monsters by giving traits to monster types so that similar monsters had similar features.
Spiders were "Vermin" and vermin had the trait "Mindless: No Intelligence score, and immunity ...
4
Likely the Draconic Script
I haven't found anything explicitly indicating what alphabet Grungs use, but (per FRCS 3e p.85) Chultans use Draconic (as does Lantan and Maztica), so there is a good chance a written language used by Grungs would do so too.
17
Yes, Grung has a written form. In the PDF file One Grung Above, which details the stats for playable Grung, it lists the following:
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Grung
Since PC Grung are capable of reading and writing Grung, it must therefore have a written form. What form that written form takes, however, is never stated in any of the ...
6
There's no way to stop the tracking short of destroying the revenants somehow.
Your guess is right; the wording of the Vengeful Tracker and Divine Justice sections in the Revenant's description do preclude any ability to effectively hide from a revenant's tracking, as it's explicitly stated that no magical means can prevent it, and there's obviously no ...
4
No magic can prevent it from working
The revenant's statblock (MM, p. 259) describes the Vengeful Tracker trait as follows:
The revenant knows the distance to and direction of any creature against which it seeks revenge, even if the creature and the revenant are on different planes of existence. If the creature being tracked by the revenant dies, the ...
4
As per the PHB description for shapechange:
You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other
source and can use them, provided that your new form is physically
capable of doing so.
I’d lump legendary resistances under such features. However, your statistics are replaced, including presumably the number of times you can use your ...
8
It looks like your lich-dragon-rabbit could use the lich's lair actions still
Shapechange says:
You can't use any legendary actions or lair actions of the new form.
It doesn't say that you lose your currently available lair actions.
In fact, an earlier statement pretty much conclusively allows lair actions to carry over into the new form (as you point ...
11
It's usually assumed that a monster carries ammunition for its ranged attacks.
From the intro to the Monster Manual (p. 11), under "Ammunition":
A monster carries enough ammunition to make its ranged attacks. You can assume that a monster has 2d4 pieces of ammunition for a thrown weapon attack, and 2d10 pieces of ammunition for a projectile weapon such ...
0
As @BBeast pointed out, the Vengeful Tracker feature is not considered magical.
In addition, MM. 259 (outside the statblock) also says: "Divine Justice. No magic can hide a creature pursued by a revenant, which always knows the direction and distance between it and the target of its vengeance." This makes it pretty clear cut, there is no RAW solution, so I'...
2
Size is a game statistic (MM p.6)
It is not a statistic that is specifically called out by the exceptions in the Change Shape ability, however, it could fall into "it gains any statistics and capabilities (except class features, legendary actions, and lair actions) that the new form has but that it lacks" given that a size of Tiny is a statistic "that the ...
17
Yes, its Bite and Claw attacks are magical weapon attacks.
Usually a monster's claws, bites, and other attack actions are listed as weapon attacks. In the stat blocks for Death Slaad and Gray Slaad, these actions are written as:
Bite (Slaad Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack...
Claws (Slaad Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack...
Since the bite and claws ...
0
Not in Adventurer's League. In Adventurer's League, you earn Treasure Checkpoints that can be cashed in for magic items, based on their Rarity and the magic item table that they appear on. Since the Solar's Slaying Longbow is not listed on any magic item tables, and it does not have a Rarity, this means that it is not available for a player to use.
11
Yes, you add 1d6 from Hunter's Mark
The Hunter's Mark spell description states:
You choose a creature you can see within range and mystically mark it as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 damage to the target.
Usually, a creature has one AC and one pool of hit points. The Roper is unusual because of its Grasping Tendrils feature:
...
5
You get the bonus damage
The bonus damage happens when you hit the creature. The tentacles are part of the creature notwithstanding their own hp pool. You get the bonus damage.
10
First, the Slaying Longbow is listed under the Actions section, and there is no equipment listed for the Solar, so it is up to the DM whether the Solar uses persistent weapons, or forms them at the time of attack, meaning there may not be any weapon to loot.
As for the Slaying Longbow attack, there are 3 parts, attack, damage, and special:
Ranged ...
29
It's up to the DM.
D&D 5e Monster Manual p.11, under Equipment, says (emphasis mine):
A stat block rarely refers to equipment, other than weapons used by a monster. A creature that customarily wears clothes, such as a humanoid, is assumed to be dressed appropriately.
You can equip monsters with additional gear and trinkets however you like, ...
27
Nothing, but its stomach acid can digest even the most powerful magic items.
Being swallowed by the tarrasque has no special effect on a wizard's ability to use magic, whether in D&D 5th edition (Monster Manual p.286) or earlier editions.
However, the tarrasque's stomach is canonically capable of digesting magic items, even certain powerful artifacts. ...
11
Tarrasque stomach fluids do not affect a wizard's magic
The Tarrasque has an acidic stomach, but it doesn't strip away magic:
While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the tarrasque, and it takes 56 (16d6) acid damage at the start of each of the tarrasque's turns.
I am unsure if ...
2
Innate Spellcasting
Notice that the guardian portrait specifically has the Innate Spellcasting feature for the spells it can cast. The feature specifically calls out the removal of material components, but the book Xanathar's Guide to Everything provides a potential interpretation for a Dungeon Master. On p. 85 under the subheading "Perceiving a Caster at ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
