Athux, the son of Graz'zt

The first time I heard of Athux was in Shackled City. He played a pretty big role in the background story of that adventure path. I know he's popped up here and there since, though I only know of Dragon Magazine #360 for sure. Anyway, on with the stats!

Athux

Medium fiend, chaotic evil

Armor Class 23 (plate)

Hit Points 204 (24d8+96)

Speed 30 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

20 (+5) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 16 (+3) 17 (+3) 20 (+5)

Saving Throws Str +11, Con +10, Int +9, Cha +11

Skills Deception +11, Insight +9, Intimidation +11, Perception +9, Persuasion +11

Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 19

Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal

Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)

Fey Ancestry. Athux has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put him to sleep.

Fiendish Blessing. Athux’s AC includes his Charisma Bonus.

Innate Spellcasting. Athux’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). Athux can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

3/day: alter self, command, detect magic

1/day: plane shift (self only)

Magic Resistance. Athux has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spellcasting. Athux is a 20^th level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19, +11 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following paladin spells prepared:

1^st level (4 slots): command, compelled duel, searing smite

2^nd level (3 slots): hold person, magic weapon

3^rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, elemental weapon, hellish rebuke

4^th level (3 slots): banishment, blight, staggering smite

5^th level (2 slots): banishing smite, destructive wave (necrotic)

Actions

Multiattack. Athux attacks twice with his greatsword.

Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage plus 14 (4d6) acid damage.

Dreadful Aspect (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). As an action, Athux channels his darkest emotions and focuses them into a burst of magical dread and menace. Each creature of Athux’s choice within 30 feet of Athux must make a DC 19 Wisdom save if it can see him. On a failed save, the creature is frightened of Athux for 1 minute. If a creature frightened by this effect ends its turn more than 30 feet away from Athux, it may attempt another Wisdom saving throw to end the effect on it.

Reactions

Parry. Athux adds 5 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit. To do so, Athux must be able to see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.

Athux is the son of Graz’zt and the drow priestess, Eclavdra, though he is unaware of the identity of his mother. Athux commands Graz’zt’s armies, a subtle insult suggesting that the demon lord doesn’t believe his son has the head for the scheming politics of the Abyss. Athux, very much aware of the insult, plots and schemes to overthrow his father, something that fills the demon lord’s dark heart with pride.

Athux is the spitting image of his father, with obsidian skin and six fingers of each hand. Athux aggressively wades into battle, slaying his foes with a wavy-bladed greatsword very similar in appearance to Graz’zt’s own sword, Wave of Sorrow.

Star Wars & Things

I was going to start working on a 5e Star Wars conversion, inspired by Rogue One, but quickly decided it was way too much work. There are already some conversions out there anyway, done by much more devoted people than I.

That said, Rogue One was pretty awesome. I highly recommend it.

I should be getting my second DM's Guild project done pretty soon: another monster book, this time with creatures from various myths & legends that have not gotten the D&D treatment as far as I am aware. It will be a few fey, some monstrosities, & one undead.

That's all for now.

Dwarven Urgrosh

One of my players recently asked if his dwarf fighter could have a Dwarven Urgrosh. Of course, the weapon wasn't made a part of 5e. At least, not yet.

In case you don't know what the Dwarven Urgrosh looks like:

This is what I've ended up homebrewing:

Dwarven Urgrosh  50 gp  1d10 slashing/ 1d6 piercing  9 lbs  Heavy, two-handed

One of the appeals of this weapon is that it is a double weapon. I thought about some different ways to handle it, taking a look at the notoriously unbalanced DnD wiki, and finally decided that the Dwarven Urgrosh can be used with the Polearm Master feat. Instead of the secondary attack doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage, it instead does 1d6 piercing damage. To balance the higher secondary damage, I decided that while this weapon was a polearm, it didn't have the reach property.

We'll see how well this all works out when the new game starts Sunday.

The Annis

In addition to the green hag, night hag and sea hag, there was also the annis. She didn't make the cut for 5e for whatever reason. The annis is the physically largest and most direct of the hags. They also like to hang with ogres and trolls, perhaps a bit more than other hags.

Annis

Medium fey, neutral evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points 90 (12d8+36)

Speed 35 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

19 (+4) 11 (+0) 16 (+3) 11 (+0) 12 (+1) 12 (+1)

Skills Deception +3, Perception +3, Stealth +2

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Common, Giant

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Innate Spellcasting. The hag’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 11). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

3/day: fog cloud

Actions

Multiattack. The hag makes two attacks: one with her bite and one with her claws.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+4) piercing damage.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14).

Illusory Appearance. The hag covers herself and anything she is wearing or carrying with a magical illusion that makes her look like another creature of her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion ends if the hag takes a bonus action to end it or if she dies.

The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, the hag could appear to have smooth skin, but someone touching her would feel her iron-hard flesh. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect the illusion and succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern the hag is disguised.

The annis the largest and most physically imposing of the hags, standing 7 to 8 feet in height, and possessing deep blue skin that feels like iron. Hair, teeth, and nails are glossy black in color. The annis is typically much more direct than other types of hags, delighting in rending the flesh of her victims with her claws.

Joy in Cruelty

The greatest joy an annis can have is to inflict as much cruelty on another creature as possible. To hear the wail of anguish of a loved one while she slaughters a victim is delightful music to her ears.

Covens

An annis that is part of a coven has a challenge rating of 5 (1,800 XP).

Half-ogre PC race.

Half-ogres seem to be all the rage lately, so this is my take on it. I tried to come up with something a little different than the half-orc or goliath, while attempting to keep it competitive. Let me know what you think.

Half-Ogre

A half-ogre is a crossbreed between a human and an ogre, distinct from an ogrillon, which is the result of a union between an orc and an ogre. This interbreeding is almost never, if ever, a happy thing. A half-ogre raised by a human community will typically find himself mistrusted, possibly pitied, and sometimes outright hated by his neighbors. A half-ogre raised by his ogre kin will be looked down on until he has proven himself in battle.

As one might expect, a half-ogre is typically very large and very strong. They are bigger and somewhat more bestial in appearance than a half-orc, with skin tones ranging from pale yellow to dull brown, or even occasionally grey. Warts are common, and a half-ogre’s hair is usually dark-colored. Eyes are usually human-like, though some half-ogres are born with the black eyes of their ogre lineage.

Runts of the Tribe

Ogres look upon these half-breeds as small and weak compared to a full-fledged ogre. Until a half-ogre has a chance to prove himself in battle, he will be pushed around by his full-blooded kin. Once he manages to show the rest of the tribe his fury in combat, he will gradually gain respect. It’s not unusual for a half-ogre to be smarter than his tribemates, and it’s not entirely unheard of for a half-ogre to work his way into a position of leadership. Ogres led by a half-ogre will tend to fight with a surprising amount of strategy and tactics, rather than behave like an unruly, chaotic mob which is how ogres usually fight.

Mistrusted Outcasts

A half-ogre raised in a human community will find it extremely difficult to find acceptance amongst his human kin. Many will fear and mistrust him, due to both his size and bestial appearance. Others will outright hate him, if for no other reason than that the half-ogre is a constant reminder of a tragic chapter in the community’s past. The half-ogre learns to be a solitary survivor, untrusting of those around him.

People generally view a half-ogre as big, strong and stupid, with impulse and anger control issues. Some half-ogres can be surprisingly intelligent, though, and are commonly underestimated. The one group that a half-ogre can expect to find acceptance from is the half-orcs, who experience some of the same issues in human society. And the one line of work a half-ogre is always welcome is one that involves inflicting violence.

Half-Ogre Names

A half-ogre raised by ogres will have an ogre type of name, usually something short, simple, and harsh sounding. A half-ogre raised by humans will have a name typical for that community.

Half-Ogre Traits

Boosted Ability Score. Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age. Half-ogres have lifespans comparable to humans. They reach adulthood in their mid teens and don’t usually live longer than a century.

Alignment. Regardless of where they are brought up, half-ogres tend more towards chaotic than not. A half-ogre raised among ogres will almost certainly be evil, while one raised by humans will not usually be terribly inclined towards good.

Size. Half-ogres are between 7 and 8 feet tall, and weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Your ogre blood gives you superior vision in dark and dim lighting conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Large and Threatening. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Ogre Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Languages. You speak, read, and write Common and Giant. Half-ogres raised by an ogre tribe are rarely literate and may not know Common.

Based on feedback, I've dropped the speed to 30 ft and added the note about literacy if the half-ogre is raised in an ogre tribe.

The daughters of Graz'zt

Graz'zt apparently has a fairly large number of children, shocking I know. Many of you know about Iuz, the demigod and apple of his daddy's eye. I posted Rule-of-Three, another son, not that long ago. Today, I'm going to cover two of his daughters: Thraxxia, his personal assassin, and Belyara, a really obscure daughter who is currently having some daddy issues.

I'll be covering Athux, Graz'zt's son and general of his armies, soon.

Thraxxia

Medium fiend, chaotic evil

Armor Class 20

Hit Points 168 (16d8+96)

Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

21 (+5) 18 (+4) 22 (+6) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 22 (+6)

Saves Con +10, Int +7, Wis +7, Cha +10

Skills Arcana +7, Deception +10, Intimidation +10, Perception +7, Stealth +8

Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal

Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)

Fiendish Blessing. Thraxxia’s AC includes her Charisma Bonus.

Innate Spellcasting. Thraxxia’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18). Thraxxia can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

3/day: alter self, command, detect magic

1/day: plane shift (self only)

Magic Resistance. Thraxxia has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spellcasting. Thraxxia is an 11th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). Thraxxia knows the following sorcerer spells:

Cantrips (at-will): dancing lights, fire bolt, mage hand, prestidigitation, shocking grasp. truestrike

1^st level (4 slots): false life, shield, sleep

2^nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, mirror image

3^rd level (3 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, haste

4^th level (3 slots): dimension door. greater invisibility

5^th level (2 slots): dominate person

6^th level (1 slot): disintegrate

Surprise Attack. If Thraxxia surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 10 (3d6) damage from the attack.

Actions

Multiattack. Thraxxia makes two melee attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.

Horror Nimbus (Recharge 5-6). Thraxxia magically emits scintillating, multicolored light. Each creature within 15 feet of her that can see the light must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If the creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Thraxxia’s Horror Nimbus for the next 24 hours.

Teleport. Thraxxia magically teleports, along with any equipment she is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space she can see.

Thraxxia is one of Graz’zt’s many daughters, her mother a long-dead mortal human. Thraxxia serves as Graz’zt’s personal assassin, and to date she has yet to fail in a mission given to her. To prove her worth to her father, she murdered three of her half-sisters. Thraxxia is vindictive and spiteful, traits that Graz’zt has nurtured in his beautiful daughter.

Thraxxia appears as a beautiful young woman, with long, dark hair and a cruel mien. A pair of small horns grows from her forehead, while a pair of somewhat smallish leathery wings sprouts from her back. Her gaze is sharp and predatory, and when she smiles or snarls, sharp teeth are revealed. Thraxxia’s small, shapely form is deceptively strong, containing the strength and power of a nalfeshnee, abilities she gained through treachery, wit and guile. Thraxxia frequently makes use of a variety of magical items when she is on the hunt.

Belyara

Large fiend (shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)

Hit Points 171 (18d10+72)

Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

20 (+5) 16 (+3) 18 (+4) 17 (+3) 17 (+3) 20 (+5)

Saving Throws Str +9, Con +8, Int +7, Cha +9

Skills Arcana +7, Deception +13, Insight +7, Perception +7, Stealth +7

Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal

Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

Fiendish Blessing. Belyara’s AC includes her Charisma bonus.

Innate Spellcasting. Belyara’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

At will: disguise self (any humanoid form), major image

3/day: charm person, detect magic, mirror image, scrying, suggestion

1/day: geas, plane shift (self only)

Limited Shapeshifting. Belyara can use her action to change her lower half into normal human limbs, assuming a wholly human form. She reverts to her true form if she dies.

Spellcasting. Belyara is a 10th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). Belyara knows the following sorcerer spells:

Cantrips (at-will): dancing lights, fire bolt, friends, mage hand, minor illusion, shocking grasp

1^st level (4 slots): color spray, shield. sleep

2^nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, hold person

3^rd level (3 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, haste

4^th level (3 slots): confusion, dimension door

5^th level (2 slots): dominate person

Actions

Multiattack. Belyara makes three attacks: one with her longsword and one with her intoxicating touch or two with her longsword, and one with her tail.

Intoxicating Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: The target is magically cursed for 1 hour. Until the curse ends, the target has disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws and all ability checks.

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) slashing damage, or 10 (1d10+5) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 17). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained, Belyara can automatically hit the target with her tail, and Belyara can’t make tail attacks against another target.

Acid Spit. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 20 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) acid damage.

Belyara is one of the demon lord Graz’zt’s more obscure children. Until relatively recently, she was the prisoner of a powerful eladrin conjuror. It is uncertain how long she was a prisoner, and it is unknown how she escaped. What is known, however, is that she is extremely angry with her father, and now she seeks revenge against him for allowing her to languish for so long. It remains to be seen what form this revenge will take.

Belyara’s mother is a lamia noble, and she has inherited a number of abilities from her mother, such as her limited shapeshifting ability and many of her innate spellcasting abilities. Like a lamia noble, Belyara looks like an extremely beautiful dark-complexioned woman, with lustrous black hair and an intoxicating smile. Her lower body, however, consists of the muscular coils of a serpent. Her eyes are piercing and inhuman, golden in color, with the slitted pupils of a venomous snake. Like her lamia mother, she likes to adorn herself in finery whenever she can.

Belyara is prone to wanton behavior, not unlike both of her parents. She has also displayed the violent outbursts that lamia nobles are known for.

Warduke, the baddest man in the whole damn town.

My first encounter with Warduke was his action figure, way back in 1983. He looked cool, even if his armor seemed impractical. He then appeared in Quest for the Heartstone as a pregenerated character, followed by The Shady Dragon Inn, with goals that were about as impractical as his armor. Somewhere in there he made an appearance in the Dungeons & Dragons animated series, where he captured Dungeon Master.

The last time I saw him was in Dungeon Magazine #105, where he was given stats updated to 3.5. Here, he was firmly placed in the World of Greyhawk, where he was a member of the Horned Society. After 591 CY, Warduke is a high ranking member of the Society, and a general menace to everyone. You can read about this here: Canonfire: The Horned Society

Here we have Warduke's Wikipedia page: Warduke

The Power Score Blog and Hack & Slash both have nice little retrospectives on the character.

Anyway, here is my 5e take on the character. I took the somewhat unusual step of giving him a full player character class, namely the Battle Master Fighter.

Art by Wayne Reynolds, of course.

Warduke

Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil

Armor Class 18 (adamantine half plate, spellguard shield)

Hit Points 175 (18d10+72)

Speed 30 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

20 (+5) 13 (+1) 18 (+4) 11 (+0) 13 (+1) 14 (+2)

Saving Throws Str +11, Con +10

Skills Athletics +11, History +6, Intimidation +8, Persuasion +8, Survival +7

Other Proficiencies Dragonchess, Smith’s tools

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal

Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

Action Surge. On his turn, Warduke can take one additional action on top of his regular action and possible bonus action. Warduke may use this ability twice, then must finish a short or long rest before he can use this ability again.

Battle Master. Warduke has 6 superiority dice, which are d12s. Warduke knows the following maneuvers (save DC 19): disarming attack, lunging attack, maneuvering attack, menacing attack, parry, precision attack, riposte, sweeping attack, trip attack

Fighting Style. Warduke has the Dueling fighting style, granting a +2 bonus to damage rolls if he is wielding a weapon in one hand and isn’t wielding any other weapons.

Indomitable. Warduke can reroll a saving throw he fails. He must accept the new roll. He may use this ability three times between long rests.

Know Your Enemy. If Warduke spends at least 1 minute observing or interacting with another creature outside of combat, he can learn certain information about its capabilities compared to his own. See page 74 of the Player’s Handbook for specifics.

Relentless. When Warduke rolls initiative, if he has no superiority dice, he regains 1 die.

Second Wind. On Warduke’s turn, he can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+18 hit points. He must finish a short or long rest before he can use this ability again.

Actions

Multiattack. Warduke makes three attacks.

Flame Tongue Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8+8) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage if used with one hand, or 11 (1d10+6) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage if used with two hands.

Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d4+8) piercing damage.

Equipment

Adamantine Half Plate. Warduke’s adamantine half plate armor is made from, you guessed it, adamantine. While he is wearing it, any critical hits against him become normal hits.

Dagger of Venom. Warduke typically only uses this weapon for assassinations, rather than open combat. It has +1 to attack and damage rolls. Warduke may use an action to cause thick, black poison to coat the blade. The poison lasts for 1 minute or until an attack using this weapon hits a creature. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 11 (2d10) poison damage and become poisoned for 1 minute. The dagger can’t be used this way again until the next dawn.

Nightwind. Nightwind is Warduke’s Flametongue longsword. It has +1 to attack and damage rolls. Warduke may use a bonus action to speak Nightwind’s command word, causing flames to erupt from the blade. These flames shed bright light in a 40-foot radius and dim light for an additional 40 feet. When the sword is ablaze, it deals an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage to any target it hits. The flames last until Warduke uses a bonus action to speak the command word again or until he drops or sheathes the sword.

Spellguard Shield. While holding this shield, Warduke has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and spell attacks have disadvantage against him.

Warduke’s Helm

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

This bat-winged helm has three rubies mounted on the faceplate and shrouds the wearer’s face in shadow, making it all but impossible to see it.  The only thing that can be seen from within the helm is the wearer’s eyes, which glow a baleful red. Wearing the helm confers the following benefits:

·         Darkvision 60 ft.

·         Advantage on Charisma (Intimidate) checks.

·         The central ruby acts as a ring of spell storing, able to store up to 6 levels worth of spells at a time. It functions exactly the same as a ring of spell storing.

Warduke usually has a word of recall spell stored in the gem.