Dinosaurs & Stream of Annihilation

I've been sitting here for a little while thinking about statting up some more dinosaurs, because you really can't have enough dinosaurs. Then along comes Stream of Annihilation, and now I'm faced with deciding whether to still stat some dinos or accept that Wizards will probably be giving stats to about 15 more dinos in the near future.

I'm really looking forward to Tomb of Annihilation regardless.

Asmodeus, the Lord of the Ninth

I decided to take a shot at statting up Asmodeus. At this point, he's a full-fledged god (I think), so maybe this is just his avatar. Anyway, here he is.

Asmodeus is the lord of the Nine Hells. All of the other archdevils bow to his will. He can reshape any layer of Hell as he sees fit, change the form of any other devil (including the archdevils) at a whim, and he's instilled a huge sense of paranoia in all of his subordinates. You never know who might be a spy for the Lord of Nessus.

While clearly diabolical in appearance, he is still handsome. He also happens to be 13 feet tall. He wears such finery as would bankrupt many a mortal kingdom, and he wields the infamous Ruby Rod. An artifact of great beauty, glistening with an unearthly luster, and worth more than any mortal could hope to raise, the Ruby Rod is a powerful weapon of evil. It is also said that Asmodeus still has the bloody wounds that he gained when he was cast out of the Upper Realms, and when a drop of his blood touches the ground, a Pit Fiend or other powerful devil grows from that spot.

Asmodeus is always calm, charming, and seemingly in control. Even when someone manages to surprise him, which is pretty much never, he still gives one the sense that he is already three moves ahead of them. Asmodeus is also patient. Very, very patient. His plans can take thousands of years to unfold. He does not like to directly participate in combat if he can help it. He is certainly more than capable of defending himself, but he rather crush the wills of his enemies with his power. Failing that, he is more than happy to let his subordinates handle the task of killing adversaries. Such scut work is beneath him.

Asmodeus

Large fiend (devil), lawful evil

Armor Class 25 (natural armor)

Hit Points 620 (40d10+400)

Speed 40 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

30        16        30        29        29        30

(+10)    (+3)      (+10)    (+9)      (+9)      (+10)

Saves Dex +12, Con +19, Wis +18, Cha +19

Skills Arcana +18, Deception +19, Insight +18, Perception +18, Persuasion +19

Damage Resistances acid, cold, lightning

Damage Immunities fire, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 28

Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge 30 (155,000 XP)

Discorporation. When Asmodeus drops to 0 hit points or dies, his body is destroyed but his essence travels back to his domain in the Nine Hells, and he is unable to take physical form for a time.

Fear Aura. Any creature hostile to Asmodeus that starts its turn within 30 feet of him must make a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw, unless Asmodeus is incapacitated. On a failed save, the creature is frightened until the start of its next turn. If a creature’s saving throw is successful, the creature is immune to Asmodeus’ Fear Aura for the next 24 hours.

Innate Spellcasting. Asmodeus’ spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 27). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: charm monster, detect magic, dispel magic, fireball, suggestion, wall of fire

3/day: divine word, dominate monster, fire storm

Legendary Resistance (5/day). If Asmodeus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Limited Magic Immunity. Unless he wishes to be affected, Asmodeus is immune to spells of 6^th level or lower. He has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Asmodeus’ weapon attacks are magical.

Regeneration. Asmodeus regains 30 hit points at the start of his turn.

Ruby Rod. Any properties of the Ruby Rod that require a saving throw have a save DC of 19. Asmodeus can use an action to activate one of the following effects:

Cone of Cold: 75-foot cone, doing 70 (20d6) cold damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Line of Acid: 150-foot line, doing 70 (20d6) acid damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Line of Lightning: 150-foot line, doing 70 (20d6) lightning damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Each effect may only be used 1/day.

While holding the Ruby Rod, Asmodeus possesses the Aura of Might. Any creature attempting to attack Asmodeus must first succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, acting normally on a successful saving throw, or prostrating itself before Asmodeus and rendering it Stunned until the start of its next turn on a failed saving throw.

Once per day, the Ruby Rod can activate the Reverie of Nessus as a reaction (see below). Any creature touching the Ruby Rod without Asmodeus’ permission takes 21 (6d6) necrotic damage every round that it touches it.

Actions

Multiattack. Asmodeus makes three attacks with his Ruby Rod.

Ruby Rod. Melee Weapon Attack: +19 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d8+10) bludgeoning damage plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage.

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

Reactions

Reverie of Nessus (1/day). Asmodeus can incase himself in a 10-foot spherical Wall of Force. The area 50 feet around the sphere, but not within it, becomes an antimagic field. This effect lasts for 3 round. On the first round, Asmodeus is purged of unwanted enchantments. On the second round, he is purged of any diseases, poison, or physical maladies (including missing body parts). On the third round, he is healed to full hit points and is refreshed as if he had just completed a long rest. This ability triggers automatically if Asmodeus ever fails a saving throws against an unwanted enchantment spell or effect.

Legendary Actions

Asmodeus can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Asmodeus regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Attack. Asmodeus makes one attack with his Ruby Rod.

Teleport. Asmodeus uses his teleport action.

Word of Submission (Costs 2 Actions). Asmodeus can force a single creature that can hear and understand his voice to make a DC 27 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature submits to all of Asmodeus’ commands for 1 day, doing whatever he asks as if his every request was a suggestion spell that does not allow a saving throw. On a success, the creature cannot be affected by this ability ever again.

Asmodeus’ Lair

Asmodeus rules the Nine Hells from Fortress Nessus. This bleak citadel sits at the endpoint of The Serpent’s Coil, a vast spiraling canyon said to be where Asmodeus landed when he fell from the upper realms. Fortress Nessus is a place of splendor, every surface decorated with precious metals, rare fabrics, and gems of astonishing size. A sense of regret and despair permeates these splendid hallways, however, affecting those who stay too long with a powerful melancholy. Though the citadel seems uninhabited, with vast hallways that stretch for miles, the constant sound of weeping can be heard echoing from its walls.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Asmodeus can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects: he can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row.

·        Asmodeus can summon any devil he wishes and compel it to provide a service.

·        Asmodeus radiates a debilitating cold that affects all creatures within 300 feet of him. Each creature other than Asmodeus must make a DC 27 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion.

·        Asmodeus casts the command spell on every creature of his choice in the lair. He needn’t see each one, but he must be aware that an individual is in the lair to target that creature. He issues the same command to all the targets.

The Wereshark

There wereshark was originally created by John Eric Holmes, according to a source I looked at. It first appeared in AD&D in 1983 in Monster Maual II. It has since appeared a number of times in the different editions through the years.

Originally, the wereshark only had two forms: the humanoid form and the shark form. It gained a hybrid form in 3rd edition, though if I were to use one, I'd probably stick to the two forms. The wereshark detailed here is based on existing D&D material. The Razor Coast campaign from Frog God Games has a slightly different take on the wereshark (spoilers). They're still arrogant and cruel, but they are less individualistic due to being dedicated to an evil shark god. So you end up with groups of the darn things, and they do have the hybrid form.

Now on to the stats:

The original MMII picture.

Wereshark

Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), neutral evil

Armor Class 11, 12 in shark or hybrid form

Hit Points 97 (15d8+30)

Speed 30 ft. (0 ft. in shark form), swim 40 ft. in shark or hybrid form

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

18 (+4) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) 10 (+0) 11 (+0) 9 (-1)

Skills Perception +2

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses blindsight 30 ft. in shark or hybrid form, passive Perception 12

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Amphibious (shark or hybrid form only). There wereshark can breathe air and water.

Blood Frenzy. The wereshark has advantage on melee attacks against creatures that don’t have all of their hit points.

Shapechanger. The wereshark can use its action to change into a Large shark-hybrid or Large shark form, or back to its true form, which is humanoid. In shark-hybrid or shark form, it gains a swim speed of 40 ft., and loses its 30 ft. speed in shark form. All other stats, other than its size and AC, remain the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Actions

Multiattack. The wereshark makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Bite (shark or hybrid form only).Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wereshark lycanthropy.

Boarding Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing or slashing damage or 8 (1d8+4) piercing or slashing damage if used with two hands.

A character cursed with lycanthropy gains a Strength of 18 if his or her score isn’t already higher, and a +1 bonus to AC while in shark or hybrid form (from natural armor). Attack and damage rolls for the natural weapons are based on Strength.

Weresharks are avaricious brutes, individualistic and always out for their own gain. As humanoids, they are muscular, frequently showing evidence of a shark attack in the form of scars or possibly even a missing limb. These old wounds are not evident when in shark form. Arrogant and cruel, weresharks are also fiercely territorial and will defend a claimed area to the death. The only creatures weresharks will usually associate with are real sharks, though it’s not unknown for a wereshark to cooperate with sahuagin or a priest of an evil sea god.

A wereshark fighting on land will use weapons appropriate to its previous maritime existence, such as a boarding axe. It much prefers to do its fighting in the water, where it has an advantage. Weresharks don’t tend to worry about infecting victims with lycanthropy. It’s a rare occurrence for a wereshark to leave a victim alive, so it rarely becomes an issue.

Of Gods, Demons, & Devils

I'm just going to ramble a bit about all those powerful supernatural entities D&D has running around in the Outer Planes.

Against The Wicked City talks a bit about how those demon lords & arch-devils used to be a bit closer in power level to the PCs. It is certainly true: powerful enough to be dangerous, but weak enough that a decently high level party could stand a chance of taking them out. As new editions have come and gone, we've seen these beings become increasingly more powerful.

It seems that 5e has kind of scaled it back a bit, though at CR 30, Tiamat could really ruin your party's day. Send her consorts along for the ride, & a 20th level party would probably decide to nope out, until better circumstances presented themselves.

Anyway, so far CR 30 is as high as things go, with the demon lords statted up so far being between CR 21 & 28. Of course, some of these guys used to be CR 35 or 40 or more, and I know some people don't like this downpowering.

I've decided to try to stat up a CR 30 Asmodeus. I'll be posting these stats soon. I know some people are going to be all "He's a god now. He shouldn't have stats at all or should be CR 45 at the least." A CR of 45 seems kind of pointless if you ask me.

If you can't stomach these ultra powerful beings being downgraded from previous versions, you do have options: aspects, proxies, & avatars.

Aspects are duplicates of an entity, bestowed with a small part of the being's power. They first appeared in the D&D miniatures game. They can be of various power levels and are used to represent the being in matters either too dangerous or too trivial for the entity to deal with directly. When they are created, and multiples can exist at the same time, they are of the same mind as their creator, but from that point on, they are essentially free-willed. Supposedly, an entity can create one really powerful aspect, but only one due to how much power is invested in the creation.

Aspects never willingly come near each other, and are likely to try to destroy each other if they are forced into each other's presence. If the original entity is destroyed, the aspects continue to exist, and it's possible for one to ascend to the position of the original entity.

I've never seen a proxy in an adventure, while I've seen aspects a few times. The proxy is a servant of the entity in question that has proven itself and is given a bit of the entity's power. So kind of similar to an aspect. The proxy then goes out to represent the interests of the boss.

An avatar is, I believe, a manifestation of the entity under the entity's direct control. It's not as powerful as the original, but it's still one bad mofo. If it's destroyed, the entity is all nice and safe back on it's home plane of existence.

If you've read this far, thanks. As I said, this was just a bit of rambling. Now the question is, do those stats written up for the demon lords & Tiamat represent the entities in their full glory? Or are they just avatars or aspects?

The Boarding Axe

I've been thinking about Frog God Games' Razor Coast campaign lately, which led me to think about the boarding axe. The boarding axe was a common maritime tool used for a variety of purposes, such as fire fighting, gathering firewood, smashing through doors, walls, etc, and of course, battle.

Boarding Axe Function and Form goes into much more detail about the various designs of the axe as well as its many varied uses. It's kind of an interesting read.

Based on what I've read there, this is what I've come up with for a boarding axe for 5e.

Boarding Axe   10 gp   1d6 slashing or piercing   3 lbs   Versatile (1d8), special

The boarding axe's spike may be used as a crowbar, granting advantage to Strength checks where the spike's leverage can be applied.

So what do you think? Balanced? In need of some work? Let me know.

Elven Courtblade?

So, what do you all think of this for an elven courtblade?

1d10 slashing  two-handed  finesse  special

Special: Must have elven weapon training to be proficient with the elven courtblade initially. It is possible to train to be profiicient with the elven courtblade if an appropriate teacher can be found.

Just a bit of randomness that popped into my head while at the gym.

Liska, the skulk daughter of Graz'zt.

Liska, daughter of Graz'zt and a skulk, is the last of the demon lord's children that I am statting up. She made an appearance in Dungeon 212, back in March 2013. Her stats are 4e, and while I'm not overly familiar with that edition, I would say she seems quite a lot more powerful than what I've come up with. Still, I like what I've come up with.

Liska

Medium fiend, chaotic evil

Armor Class 19

Hit Points 135 (18d8+54)

Speed 30 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

18 (+4) 20 (+5) 17 (+3) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 19 (+4)

Saving Throws Str +8, Con +7, Int +6, Cha +8

Skills Acrobatics +8, Deception +8, Intimidation +8, Perception +7, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +8

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

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven

 Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)

Assassinate. Liska has advantage on any attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn yet in combat. In addition, any hit she scores against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit.

Chameleon Skin. Liska has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide. Liska may hide by pressing herself against a solid surface that is at least as tall and wide as she is. While she remains there without moving or taking actions, Wisdom (Perception) checks to detect her are made with disadvantage.

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

Innate Spellcasting. Liska’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16). Rule-of-Three can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

3/day: alter self, command, detect magic

1/day: plane shift (self only)

Poison Use. Liska is proficient in the poisoner’s kit.

Sneak Attack. Once per turn, Liska can deal an extra 21 (6d6) damage to one creature she hits with an attack if she has advantage on the attack roll. Liska doesn’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and Liska doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.

Stealthy Step. Liska is able to move stealthily at a slow, normal, or fast pace with no penalty.

Vanish. Liska can use the Hide action as a bonus action on her turn. Also, Liska can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless she chooses to leave a trail.

Actions

Multiattack. Liska makes two dagger attacks if wielding one weapon, three dagger attacks if wielding two weapons.

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d4+6) piercing damage.

Equipment

Dagger of Venom. You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

You can use an action to cause thick, black poison to coat the blade. The poison remains for 1 minute or until an attack using this weapon hits a creature. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 2d10 poison damage and become poisoned for 1 minute. The dagger can't be used this way again until the next dawn.

Liska fights with two of these daggers.

Liska is another of Graz’zt’s daughters, a deadly skulk assassin of great skill. Her first loyalty is to her own survival, then to her father. She defends the demon lord’s interests faithfully, using guile and subterfuge, and a cadre of male drow loyal to her. She doesn’t hesitate to put her own continued existence first if circumstances dictate it, though she immediately goes back to defending Graz’zt’s interests as soon as possible.

Liska’s cadre of drow warriors are unshakably loyal to her, giving their lives if need be. Liska takes her favored warriors as consorts, though her affection is fickle.

Liska is a slender, hairless humanoid with grey skin and elfin features. Being a skulk, she is able to change the color of her skin to match her surroundings, making detecting her extremely difficult. She wears minimal clothing so as to make the most of her camouflage abilities.

Zeitgeist's setting, and the deva & goblin.

So, it occurs to me that I could have a wee bit more about Zeitgeist's setting. Like anything at all. This is what I get for posting while on lunch at work.

Zeitgeist takes place on Lanjyr. It used to be a relatively stereotypical fantasy world until about 300 years before the start of the ap. A goddess died, terrible things happened, magic stopped working some places, etc. As a result of this, the industrial revolution came to the world.

The PCs start out in Risur, which has a rather Great Britain feel to it, but it's in a subtropical region. It's industrial revolution came a bit later, and there is a lot of social issues as a result. Risur has traditionally been very magic and nature oriented, and now it's moving to industry and technology. The PCs start out as members of what is essentially Risur's version of the Secret Service and/ or the FBI.

So you're starting from a very different place than in most aps. Some of my players had difficulty adjusting to this. Anyway, things happen, the PCs get thrust into the middle of it, and ultimately some really epic stuff happens.

So, the deva. In this setting, the deva is someone who was originally your garden variety mortal, but they were in the blast radius when that goddess died. As a result, a piece of her divinity became lodged in that person's soul and now they reincarnate when they die. The deva doesn't really have memories of their former lives, though there are vague rumors that some have managed to figure out how to do that.

Deva Traits

Ability Score Increases: Your Intelligence score increases by 1, your Wisdom score by 2.

Age: Devas are reincarnated as adults and have an immortal life span. They can still died from disease or injury.

Alignment: Many devas tend towards good. Lifetime after lifetime has taught them that being virtuous to others has its own rewards.

Size: Your size is medium.

Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 ft.

Astral Resistance: You have resistance to necrotic & radiant damage.

Cantrip: You know one cantrip from the cleric spell list. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability score for this spell.

Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes: When you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check & don't like the result, you can roll 1d10 & add it to the result. You must complete a long rest before you can use this ability again.

Worldly Knowledge: You have proficiency in the History skill.

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common & Elven. If you've lived in Risur for a significant amount of time, you can also speak, read, & write Primordial.

This is obviously very heavily borrowed from World Builder Blog.

As for the goblin:

Goblin Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2, your Wisdom score by 1.

Age: Goblins mature faster than humans, reaching adulthood by age 10. Goblins rarely live past 50 years of age.

Alignment: Goblins used to tend towards Neutral Evil. In this new civilized age, goblins now tend towards Neutral.

Size: Goblins range 3 to 4 feet in height, and typically weigh 40 to 60 lbs. Your size is small.

Speed: Being unusually fleet of foot, your base walking speed is 30 ft.

Darkvision: Goblins are used to living underground. You can see in dim light as if it was bright light up to 60 ft., and in darkness as if it was dim light.

Nimble Escape: When an attacker targets you with a melee attack & misses, you may Disengage as a reaction and move away from your attacker.

Sneaky: You are proficient in the Stealth skill.

Goblin Weapon Training: You are proficient in the scimitar & shortbow.

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common & Goblin. Goblin uses the Dwarven script. Immigrants to Risur are typically also able to speak, read, and write Primordial.

I borrowed heavily from Myth Weavers & the Small But Vicious Blog for the goblin.

Zeitgeist: the Gears of Revolution for 5e

If you're not familiar with Zeitgeist, published by En World, it's a very good AP. It's very different from the other APs out there, and players who want to hack and slash rather than roleplay & investigate probably won't like it. That was a mistake I made when I tried to run it; I didn't make a good choice on who to invite to play it.

Anyway, I wanted to run this for 5e. It's been published for 4e, which is reflected in a couple of things in the material, and Pathfinder. I started converting the Pathfinder stuff to 5e. A couple of people on the En World forums have also done some conversion work, and I borrowed some of that. If I post any of that material, I will properly credit the source. En World announced not long ago that they would be putting out some converted material, which should be nice.

First up: playable races.
Deva
Dragoborn (any)
Eladrin
Gnome (forest & rock)
Goblin
Goliath
Half-elf
Half-orc
Human
Lightfoot Halfling
Minotaur
Mountain Dwarf
Tiefling
Wood Elf

There are wood elves & eladrin in this setting. Obviously, you can get the eladrin from the DMG.

Goblins can now be found in Volo's. I originally came up with something different, which I'll put in my next post.

There are Devas here, which is a type of aasimar. I'll put that in my next post, too. Both the deva & goblin are originally other people's ideas.

For the minotaur, you have the UA material & material from Kobold Press to choose from.

Everything else is straight out of the PHB. I will say I like the stuff over on Tribality to mix things up a bit for dragonborn.

That's all for now.

Second item up on DM's Guild.

Hi all. I've finally gotten around to posting a second item up on DM's Guild. Like the first thing I posted, it's pay what you want. So check it out, see if you like it. If you're so inclined, toss a couple of quarters my way. I'm not proud, I'll take quarters.

PC Race Options: Half-ogre & Grippli Player Character Races

It has the information I originally posted on this blog, as well as stats for the typical NPC grippli you might meet.

And just as a reminder, here's the first item I posted on DM's Guild.

Folio of Fiends

The next thing I'll be posting will be a collection of 24 creatures from myth, legends, and cryptozoology. They're all original creations, not updates of creatures from other editions.

Thanks!

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.

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.