New answers tagged monsters
3
A ghost is a ghost; it is not the body/host being possessed
The description for the ghost's Possession action states, in part:
The ghost now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The ghost can't be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that turn undead, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, ...
6
It isn't totally clear, so it's up to the DM
The language of the ghost trait Possession really doesn't give us enough information as to who would actually be attuning to an item if a creature is Possessed.
Because of the lack of clarity, this becomes a bit of a thought exercise for the DM. I'm having a hard time coming up with a scenario in which a Ghost ...
4
Not through a knowledge check.
The rules for the knowledge skill states:
You can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities.
The maximum possible number of hit points a monster has is neither a special power (e.g., breath weapon, spell casting, shape shift) nor is it a vulnerability (e.g., susceptible to sunlight, extra ...
2
The calculation looks correct
I do not see any problems, neither logical nor mathematical nor from misusing the table.
The damage calculation is explained under the step Damage
It seems your confusion about how the DPR is calculated comes from the fact that you just read STEP 4: FINAL CHALLENGE RATING (DMG p. 274-275) which explains how to translate a damage ...
3
There are 2 others: Sperm Whale & Huge Giant Crab
It's easy to find the answer to this by filtering D&D Beyond's monster listing to beasts of CR 8. There are 3 results in all:
Tyrannosaurus Rex (a dinosaur, as you mentioned)
Sperm Whale
Huge Giant Crab
Sperm whales are common
The brief 2-line description of the sperm whale under its entry in the ...
5
Sperm Whale and Huge Giant Crab.
This DNDBEYOND search shows that there are two more beasts that fit your criterion. The Sperm Whale from Rime of the Frostmaiden and the Huge Giant Crab from Tales from the Yawning Portal.
0
Legendary Resistances are available to you while Shape Changed
The appropriate part of the spell description says:
Your game Statistics are replaced by the Statistics of the chosen creature, though you retain your Alignment and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores You also retain all of your skill and saving throw Proficiencies, in addition to gaining ...
-2
It specifically states the ghost doesn't gain Class Features; so no, no Feats gained from a class (such as a Rogue's Sneak Attack or a Barbarian's Brutal Critical).
That said, races give feats as well (such as a Tiefling's Hellish Rebuke or a Half-Orc's Savage Attack).
The text doesn't imply those won't be taken and it only makes sense to me, since they are ...
10
They do not. Feats are class features.
From the rules for feats:
At certain levels, your class gives you the Ability Score Improvement feature. Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking that feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Since feats are granted through gaining class levels, they are considered class features, so the ghost does ...
5
There’s probably some bludgeoning damage here.
After looking at all the stat blocks, I think Wizards really messed up here. The basic gray ooze statblock reads:
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage, and if the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor, its armor is ...
-1
The Elder Oblex suffers the effect once
All AoE spells AFAIK have a phrase similar to “Each creature in ...” (from Fireball). The EO is a creature in the AoE.
3
No.
As you have observed, the Sulfurous Impersonation feature says:
For all practical purposes, the simulacrum is the oblex, meaning the oblex occupies its space and the simulacrum’s space simultaneously.
Since a spell like fireball only damage creatures once, and we treat the Oblex and its simulacrum as one creature, it is only damaged once. Blade barrier ...
1
RAW, not usually.
A spell with a casting time of 1 Reaction can only be cast in response to its trigger:
Some spells can be cast as reactions. These spells take a fraction of a second to bring about and are cast in response to some event. If a spell can be cast as a reaction, the spell description tells you exactly when you can do so.
RAW, you can only ...
18
So in conclusion, Storm Giants must be about the weakest creatures in the Multi-verse on a pound for pound basis :P
If you apply real-world physics of scaling as you attempted, this claim is generally right. That has to do with the square-cube law, which is summarized in the Science World article "What If Humans Were Giants?" as follows:
The ...
2
If you can’t speak, you can’t perform verbal components.
The rules for verbal components say:
Most spells require the chanting of mystic words. The words themselves aren't the source of the spell's power; rather, the particular combination of sounds, with specific pitch and resonance, sets the threads of magic in motion. Thus, a character who is gagged or ...
44
Storm Giants are Huge creatures, not Medium.
The encumbrance rules neglect the size of a creature when calculating if it is encumbered or heavily encumbered. While this is true, the maximum capacity of a Storm Giant is not the same that a human would have given it a Strength score of 29.
Quoting the rules on lifting and carrying (Player's Handbook, page 176):...
3
There isn't a specific mechanic for this
As you've noticed, there isn't anything specific that details a mechanic on players 'learning' what to do.
This becomes a DM decision and you've got lots of ways to approach this. Depending on the condition/action I've done everything from a skill check to know to simply telling them. It very much depends on the ...
27
Lore from previous editions:
According to "The Ecology of the Flumph" (Dragon Magazine #246, p.78), flumphs also preyed on "frogs, lizards, and small rodents", which they partially liquified with acid, then sucked up through their tentacles (as the flumph's mouth was just for air intake).
Although this article is from a previous edition ...
7
Loss of an action is already a significant cost.
The utility of such abilities that require the target to burn an action to end a detrimental effect is to get an advantage in action economy. It forces the target to decide between continuing to take damage or to lose their action on that turn. Losing an action is already an incredibly punishing effect.
There ...
17
I would like a side Slaad with my meal please.
Summon Aberration says:
You call forth an aberrant spirit. It manifests in an unoccupied space that you can see within range. This corporeal form uses the Aberrant Spirit stat block. When you cast the spell, choose Beholderkin, Slaad, or Star Spawn. The creature resembles an aberration of that kind, which ...
27
A flumph is an intelligent creature. It should know a way.
This creature is perfectly capable of understanding that it will need an energy source. If it is following the party, then it must be aware of a solution.
It has an intelligence of 14, and is familiar with its own physiology, so it should be able to advise the party on where to find an energy source.
...
0
The weapons entry states that the weapon's damage is (2d6+STR) in the same way that a longbow's damage is (1d8). RaW the bow has no traits that would indicate it uses str to make attack rolls (as is explicit in the thrown property) so the attack roll uses dex. Total damage of the attack is a distinct element from a weapons damage rating.
A+B+C=D
A=(weapons ...
9
Every creature has a proficiency bonus
Every creature is required to have a proficiency bonus for a wide variety of reasons. In the specific case of the Fey Spirit, none of the usual reasons apply, but there are still rare instances where it is important to know the proficiency bonus, even for creatures who don't have any traditional uses of it.
One example ...
9
Sure, you can, but the elemental isn’t making new air to breathe.
Sure, you can put an air elemental into a Bag of Holding, and then have someone climb into the Bag and breathe its air. However, this wouldn’t cause the bag to contain any more air than it normally would, or clean up the carbon dioxide and replace it with breathable oxygen.
As a result, a ...
1
Scientifically speaking, air is not oxygen
Oxygen is what most creatures need to breathe, but saying "air" does not imply having oxygen, nitrogen, and other necessary elements. And even if you have all the right elements, it does not guarantee the proper mixture.
So and "Air" Elemental can have too few, or too much, not any of the ...
17
As written, No. It's up to the DM.
As written, there is nothing about the air elemental that tells us it creates breathable air in a way that could sustain breathing creatures inside a bag of holding. So we conclude that RAW, this phrase in the bag of holding would still apply:
Breathing creatures inside the bag can survive up to a number of minutes equal ...
15
The elemental doesn’t stop you from breathing but you aren’t breathing elemental
Things only do what they say they do. So:
if you can breathe without the elemental, you can breathe with the elemental, and
if you can’t breathe without the elemental, you still can’t breathe with the elemental
8
The intellect devourer consumes its host's mind in a two step process
First it uses "Devour Intellect"
The intellect devourer targets one creature it can see within 10 feet of it that has a brain. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence saving throw against this magic or take 11 (2d10) psychic damage. Also on a failure, roll 3d6: If the ...
21
Yes, the host dies
The second paragraph of the Body Thief ability describes all the ways in which the intellect devourer can leave the host body, then says that the host dies. It doesn't matter whether the intellect devourer left the body due to protection from evil and good or voluntarily - the brain is gone, so the body will die.
Used in this manner, ...
6
There is no direct relation between the Far Realm and the demons. Far Realm is indeed far, it is not part of the Great Wheel, and can be considered to be outside of the regular cosmology. The entities of the Far Realm are foreign, while the denizens of the Abyss are still the embodiments of the chaos and evil within the beings that inhabit the regular ...
17
The troglodyte has 2 possible sets of attacks; each time it makes a full attack, it chooses 1 set.
The most important word in the melee section of that stat line is "or". When it full attacks a troglodyte chooses 1 of these 2 sets of attacks to make:
club +2 (1d6+1), claw -3 (1d4), bite -3 (1d4)
claw +2 (1d4+1), claw +2 (1d4+1), bite +2 (1d4+1)
...
19
This doesn't work. The range is not extended
You can have physics or strict rules as written, not both. Trying to selectively combine elements of both gets you nonsense like the peasant railgun.
The rules say that a creature must be within 30 feet of the medusa and able to see her eyes to be affected. The rules add that the medusa is also affected by seeing ...
14
The only time a medusa's Petrifying Gaze applies beyond 30 feet is when applied to itself
As you mentioned, specific beats general. The general rule here is in the Petrifying Gaze's standard application:
When a creature that can see the medusa's eyes starts its turn within 30 ft. of the medusa, the medusa can force it to make a DC 14 Constitution saving ...
8
It isn't totally clear
As with many things we ask about on this site, this answer isn't perfectly clear. We can look to other abilities to help guide us to answer, but we can also bring our expertise to the table as to what would be more fun and thematic based on the descriptions we have.
Similar mechanics
Find Familiar offers a specific set of wording that ...
3
1st Question: it's up to the DM but likely no.
I see some links between this Eye Thief ability the Find Familiar spell (PHB, page 240), since they share a similar wording (emphasis mine):
Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses ...
2
DM's discretion.
The text here is really ambiguous. Two key statements stand out:
Contra Truesight:
Belashyrra can see through the eyes of all creatures within 120 feet of it.
This implies, that Belashyrra uses the senses of the creatures, so it only has those available - if they don't have truesight, Belashyrra doesn't.
Pro Truesight:
It can use its ...
8
In the absence of a clear statement within the ability description itself as to whether Eye Thief uses her own senses or the target's, we should interpret the ability in the most straightforward way.
Since it's specific that Belashyrra sees through the other creatures' eyes, I would think the most straightforward reading of that is that she sees exactly what ...
0
I can't find a specific rule stating either way, but in my experience, it makes the most sense both mechanically (game logic) and lore-wise to have summoned creatures take the gear that they brought with them / were summoned with back home when they're banished or slain, but things they've picked up on the Prime Material since should be left behind.
In total,...
11
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes suggests that they don't keep their equipment.
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes discusses at great length the lore of the war between devils and demons, known as the Blood War. It speaks of the potential for a devilish incursion beyond Avernus, and mentions an issue this can cause for their equipment, in the section Cosmic Battlefield (...
6
It's incorrect
This is, indeed, an error. As the question points out, the megaraptor (Monster Manual 60–1) should have a Fortutide saving throw bonus of +11. This error remains uncorrected by the premium edition Monster Manual (2012) that incorporates the errata that makes the megaraptor instead size Large. Cooper's Compendium A–D agrees that the megaraptor'...
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