New answers tagged monsters
3
Probably.
This question might be a FAQ candidate, but there are threads here and here asking the same question. The consensus is that yes, you lose that extra strength bonus when you gain another natural attack (for any reason).
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Insightful Manipulator
Depending what you want to know, a Mastermind Rogue obtains a feature at level 9 called Insightful Manipulator (XGtE, p. 46):
Starting at 9th level, if you spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with another creature outside combat, you can learn certain information about its capabilities compared to your own. The DM ...
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Aside from a few class features, it is very table-dependent
A Battlemaster Fighter, at level 7, can
spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with another creature outside combat [to] learn certain information about its capabilities compared to your own.
A Mastermind Rogue, at level 9, can
spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with ...
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Know Your Enemy
The "Know Your Enemy" Battle Master Fighter feature (PHB, pp. 73-74) does exactly that:
The DM tells you if the creature is your equal, superior, or inferior in regard
to two of the following characteristics of your choice:
Strength score
Dexterity score
Constitution score
Armor Class
Current hit points
Total class ...
45
The Forgotten Realms wiki page on gelatinous cubes has the information you are looking for in the "Ecology" section:
Gelatinous cubes reproduced asexually by either dividing themselves into two smaller cubes of equal sizes6 or via budding. In the second case, a smaller, rubbery cube was excreted into a side corridor or on a pile of refuse, and left to ...
12
The unarmed strike will deal 3 damage
The bugbear's statblock lists it as having 15 Strength, a +2 modifier, and we know from the section on "Melee Attacks" that:
On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.
Now we need to know the Bugbear's proficiency bonus and ...
35
It keeps Existing
In 5e, things do what they say.
A phylactery is required for a lich's Rejuvenation ability and no other ability, including the Undead type.
If it has a phylactery, a destroyed lich gain a new body in 1d10 days [...].
So by inference, "If it has a phylactery" means that it is possible for the creature to not have a phylactery. Proof ...
3
You're the GM. It's any alignment you want it to be. I've created a Gold Shadow dragon who is LE. The millenia spent in the shadow realm has corrupted his morality. He now sees all life as to chaotic to endure and its his duty to end it all. To that end he is pursuing a path to godhood with the final plan of killing all other gods and laying waste to the ...
-1
Not using its innate Shapechange trait. But you could have the mimic wield a wand of shapechange, although you would need to make it so the mimic is extra intelligent so it is able to use a wand loaded with a 9th-level spell. It would only be able to shapechange into another creature with a CR equal or lower than its level, which I assume would be 2 using ...
10
Possibly a special bonus, but most likely an error.
I have looked through the Monster Manual, and have found nothing to explain why the Night Hag has a +1 to each of those skills, aside from this text
A skill bonus is the sum of a monster's relevant ability modifier and
its proficiency bonus, which is determined by the monster's challenge
rating (as ...
5
There is no rule for immunity, but it is not needed
There are no creatures described in the official books which are explicitly immune to this particular action from this particular stats block. That does not mean there are no such creatures in your game world tho. Quite the contrary, the Monster Manual suggests the DM not to be restricted by it:
...
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The reasons ghosts can be affected is because rules-as-written they aren't immune to the strength drain effect, only the necrotic damage. Based on the various discussion threads I've seen, many DMs house-rule that anything immune to necrotic ignores the strength drain effect as well.
Currently, no creature is immune to the strength drain effect.
13
The rules for monster telepathy specifically cover this case:
A telepathic monster can initiate or terminate a telepathic conversation without using an action, but while the monster is incapacitated, it can't initiate telepathic contact, and any current contact is terminated.
A monster that is paralyzed is also incapacitated, so it can't use its ...
6
There is no established lower bound, so that's up to the GM
The boggle's Dimensional Rift trait (Volo's Guide to Monsters, p. 128) simply says:
As a bonus action, the boggle can create an invisible and immobile rift within an opening or frame it can see within 5 feet of it, provided that the space is no bigger than 10 feet on any side.
...and the ...
3
Roll everybody all at once, determine encounter distance
The party, being inexperienced, says "we walk down the corridor and round the corner". You say: "Okay, roll Spot". Everybody rolls. Alternatively, you roll spot secretly for them. Either way works, depending on your playstyle and how exactly the PCs are advancing. If the characters are sneaking and ...
1
Your answer is in a comment by /u/Callinectes on the linked post:
Fey is a creature type, not a class.
You can take levels in your racial type, if you're a non-humanoid. It's called "Racial HD".
(Note: link added by me for clarity)
So, no you cannot take "levels of" a creature type. However, you can increase your abilities as a creature ...
5
Monsters which advance by HD can also take class levels if they're intelligent.
The rules on which monsters can advance appear in the D&D 3.5 Monster Manual p.290, "Chapter 4: Improving Monsters". It's actually somewhat ambiguous and noodly.
Creatures can, in general, advance by HD, class levels, or templates. These are not mutually exclusive, and p....
6
You’re looking at DM-facing content. Those entries aren’t rules. They’re suggestions and guidelines to help the DM. The DM can (and should) advance creatures however they like.
The hound archon hero is just an example of a hound archon advanced in a particular way; it’s not a separate monster. Hound archons usually advance by HD, but they don’t have to. ...
7
Dire Wolf is the better option here (usually)
Compared to the Crag Cat, the Dire Wolf has three more hit points and one higher armor class. This makes it (marginally) more survivable; I'd expect to survive one extra attack.
If I recall correctly, "combat efficacy" is measured in three-round combats, so I'll use that as my metric.
In the likely event that ...
55
Carcer and I can independently verify that all your math checks out.
That said, take a deep breath. I doubt this question was prompted by your lack of faith in your own math and reading skills, but instead by your DM's insistence that this encounter wasn't deadly, and this much bold formatting and all-caps in a question (prior to style edits at least) makes ...
answered Nov 3 at 7:19
40355 says Reinstate Monica
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1
Actually there's already a mythos entity in CoC that encompasses the 'erase them from history' aspect of your 'false hydra' creature: Aforgomon. Not featured in the 7ed Rules, but it is listed in the Malleus Monstrorum (for 6ed and before). Aforgomon is an avatar of Yog Sothoth, with the emphasis of this avatar being placed firmly upon YS's aspect as the ‘...
13
Monsters can upcast spells just as characters can
The Monster Manual's section on "Spellcasting" states (page 10; emphasis mine):
A monster with the Spellcasting class feature has a spellcaster level and spell slots, which it uses to cast its spells of 1st level and higher (as explained in the Player's Handbook). The spellcaster level is also used for ...
5
The only things it could effectively use are magic items
You are correct that Life Drain is the only option in the Specter's statblock but it still has all the options that every creature has, including (but not limited to): unarmed strikes, improvised weapons, magic items, and grapple/shove.
Unfortunately the Specter has a -5 Strength modifier so it will ...
3
In D&D Adventurers League organized play...
...where a consistent experience across tables and venues is a goal, the latest printing of any particular rule is always the authoritative printing. By playing or DMing DDAL, you're voluntarily giving up control of certain game aspects in pursuit of that consistent experience.
In any given DM's private game.....
0
As the DM that is entirely at your discretion. If one instance makes the encounter too weak/hard, then choose the other option that's more viable. Have the answer before the party encounters them however.
We have learned in our campaign to never look up stats of a monster we're facing because our DM adjusts its strength to our level. We are about to fight ...
0
I have a mini from the 2004 (3.5e) era called the "Ophidian". While it has tiny back legs, the Wikipedia article shows some classic stuff where at least some versions (original version in 1983) do not have back legs. Although, they don't look super humanoid, so maybe this isn't what you want.
Quote:
The ophidian first appeared in the original first ...
1
Dragon Magazine #124 states that gelatinous cubes can move around in water "freely", but their acid is diluted. This makes me think that they are allowing some of the water to flow through them... but either way, free movement in water I think means it can go in any direction it wants. Scientifically/logically, I'd wager that it absorbs water from the front ...
0
You might want to look at the Merfolk. Giving them the "strong tail" alternate trait makes them viable on land as well as in the water.
True; these are fish, not snakes, but they are rather close, and describing them as "half sea-snake" would fix most cosmetic problems
-1
Sthein - this is the one you want, offspring of a Royal Naga and an Elf, they leave home once they mature (lion style thrown to the wilds) to learn
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There seem to be multiple points to this question: firstly which Stat Block is the official one for any given campaign, and how this affects the Druid's Wild Shape ability.
The Stat Block Officialness Question
The DM decides which stat block to use.
Additional Info and Suggestions:
If you're currently running Out of the Abyss [or any other module with ...
17
Yes: variant familiars behave as NPCs that serve the caster
A gazer serving as a familiar has the following trait.
Familiar. The gazer can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a
telepathic bond with its willing master, provided that the mater{sic}
is at least a 3rd level spell caster (VGTM: p. 126)
This familiar is not summoned with a ...
5
No, ability score damage isn't in 4e
Checking the final version of the online compendium, there's no glossary entry or text reference to ability score damage or drain, which is a pretty good indicator that it's completely absent. I've not manually checked every monster, but this confirms my personal experience of running 4e for about 10 years, and my ...
3
Per this question, a creature's game statistics includes its type. One useful parallel is the the Druid's Wild Shape ability, which we have seen
really does turn the Druid into a beast; for the same reasons, the intellect devourer that uses Body Thief really does turn into a humanoid.
It has also been established that, when something under the effect of a ...
7
The most numerous Favoured Enemy is Humanoids, and the most numerous Greater Enemy is Constructs in DOTMM
Using the link you provided for the population per level, I made a table of how often each unique creature appears on each level with the DOTMM. I did not include the number of each creature as I thought this may tilt the count towards types with more ...
6
Yes this is possible, following the precedent on opportunity attacks from the Sage Advice Compendium
First I will point out the similarity to the wording of the "Opportunity Attacks" section:
To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature.
Compare this with the Whirlwind Attack feature:
...
13
Yes
There is a big difference between the Attack action and attack in dnd-5e (see What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean?). The Roll20 version you quote from capitalizes attack in "it can't make more than one attack on its turn"; the Monster Manual (p.170) does not - it is referring to an attack, not the Attack action. Roll20 ...
15
TL;DR
Yes, a monster is considered a member of that class, having that number of levels in that class, but no, that monster does not have any feature from that class not found in its stat block. Caster level number is used for cantrips, and for each and every game rule that calls for level of the caster, however infrequent such rules may be.
From the basic ...
7
The MM p10 states:
A monster with the Spellcasting special trait has a spellcaster level and spell slots, ...
The spellcaster level is also used for any cantrips included in the feature.
The spellcaster level is intended to be used as an equivalent to the character class level when interpreting the damage caused by a cantrip.
For example: The Mage (MM ...
1
There is a third party 3.5 E adventure called the Cistern of Lady Luck that features a dragon made of coins.
5
RAW - no, and definitely not at +16
First, quibbling about the attack bonus if Sound Strike were a natural attack. The full wording of the natural attacks section of the Polymorph rules states (emphasis mine):
In addition to these benefits, you gain any of the natural attacks of
the base creature, including proficiency on those attacks. These
...
2
RAW, you should get all 5 Sonic attacks
The Muse doesn't get iterative attacks with Sonic Strike
As noted by The Dark Wanderer in their comment, the Muse doesn't get iterative attacks with sound strikes. Instead, the creature only gets an arbitrary number of attacks (5), all at the same bonus (+16).
But she would do so if those attacks were normal weapon ...
5
Not knowing the creature or the source adventure you are referencing:
It is cthulhu, so as soon as you think "is this possible?" you are mistaken the basic idea of lovecraftian horror. Most of the entities he described were merely a perception of an otherwise nonmaterialistic otherworldly beings, that cannot be perceived by normal mortal senses in their ...
1
Arguably, it could go either way.
Sound Strikes isn't a listed Natural Attack; granted it specifies that the list is only "some of the most common types of natural attacks". However, it is listed as a ranged attack that isn't a weapon so it can be considered a Natural Attack per the transmutation [polymorph] rules.
However, there also existed a hard ...
6
No, not necessarily...
There are particular examples of evil celestials in the other answers. I will try to give an answer from a more general perspective. Monster Manual (page 15) describes fallen angels in two paragraphs (one of which also makes a mention of Zariel):
Fallen angels retain their power but lose their connection to the deities from which ...
17
Not necessarily
Zariel
There are some cases of celestials turning into fiends upon becoming evil, such as the archdevil Zariel:
Zariel was once an angel, but her impetuous nature and love of battle led to her fall. In her previous life, she was charged with observing the battles on Avernus and tracking their progress. From this exposure, she grew ...
12
Celestials that are corrupted and become evil don't necessarily turn into fiends
There is an example of such a case in a published adventure (spoilers):
3
The only rule we have enforcing an order of attacks is from the full attack rules:
If you get multiple attacks because your base attack bonus is high enough, you must make the attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest. If you are using two weapons, you can strike with either weapon first. If you are using a double weapon, you can strike with either ...
3
Yes, you can
First off, harpooning already comes with a free bite attack, so you would not even need to make a full attack. But by the rules as written, a full attack would give you a second bite attack (possibly against a lower AC from the poison of the first bite).
The question comes down two two things. Whether or not you can change the order of your ...
3
Specific trumps general. Dead troll.
The Disintegrate rule says:
A disintegrated creature and everything it is wearing and carrying, except magic items, are reduced to a pile of fine gray dust. The creature can be restored to life only by means of a true resurrection or a wish spell.
It's reasonable to infer from "can be restored to life only by" that ...
5
"Elite" isn't a template the way that Lycanthrope and Half-Fiend are. Rather, "elite" is a descriptor, to indicate that the described creature is somehow a cut above the rest of their kind. In my experience, they're typically used as mini-bosses, squad leaders, etc..
There are two major ways I've found recently that a creature can become elite: the addition ...
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