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.

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.

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.

What has come before.

I'm a complete amateur at this blogging thing. It's been fun, though I noticed I've put up enough posts at this point that finding anything is proving difficult. So I thought I'd list my posts here by category.

PC Races:

The Grippli

The Treeling

Critter Stats:

Bonjo Tombo

Indominus Rex

Aspis Drone

The Rest of the Aspis Nest

Yuki-onna, the Snow Woman

Ilsidahur, the Howling King

The Ghour

The Wendigo

Nordom & the Gear Spirit

Fall-from-Grace

The Sa'ir

The Eyeball, the tiniest beholderkin

The Yeth Hound

The Hodag

The Rakasta

The Norker

St Kargoth the Betrayer, King of the Death Knights

The Firbolg

Some Smaller Elementals

The Caterwaul

The Ukobach

The Cooshee, the Elven Dog

The Nightgaunt

The Ghasts of the Vaults of Zin

The Firenewt

The Keythong

The Ahool

My Sorry Excuse For An Attempt At A Class:

The Theurge

The Fey Sorcerer Bloodline

A ramble on the nature of the D&D multiverse.

I'm going to warn you now, this really is a long-winded, rambling bit of nonsense regarding D&D cosmology, creation myth, and all of that silliness. Read at your own risk.

The kind folks at Wizards put in a few different cosmological models for every DM to choose from with this most recent edition. We have the classic Great Wheel (my personal favorite), the tree one (that I'm not that familiar with), and the Astral Sea and Primal Chaos (which I guess was introduced in 4e?). I've recently spent a little too much time reading the various articles and what have you about the nature of the D&D multiverse and it made my eyes cross.

Now, the easy way to handle it is to say "Screw it. Oerth exists and Toril is someone's fever dream." Or vice versa. There are no other worlds, etc, etc. I grew up reading DC Comics, so as a result I can't do that. The thing is, the different "In the beginning" stories for each setting don't really mesh all that well together at times. We have Tharizdun trying to destroy everything in Oerth's distant past, Primordials looking at the Prime Material Plane and yelling "Gimme!" over in the Abeir-Toril neighborhood, and who knows what else. I'm not that familiar with many of those apparently awesome settings that came out in the 90s and possibly later. I mean, warforged! How awesome are they?

Now, keep in mind, I'm just rambling here. This is how I've decided to reconcile all of this craziness so that if, for some insane reason, I want people from the Forgotten Realms to visit the World of Greyhawk or vice versa, it all make sense. To me, at least. And honestly, it probably won't ever even factor into the game, but damn it, DC Comics!

So this is my thought: in the beginning there were primordial gods who did stuff. Exactly what kind of stuff? Who knows for sure. These gods predate any and just about all of the current gods running around out there messing with mortal lives. And, for whatever reason, most if not possibly all of these primordial gods, who didn't require the worship of mortals because there weren't any, are dead. Or whatever passes for dead for a supposedly immortal being. Thus we have giant, petrified dead gods floating around the Astral Plane with Githyanki cities built on them. Tharizdun may have been one of these gods, as might have been Ao. Atropus was probably one of them, but now he's just (just!) a petrified undead head travelling around the multiverse stamping out mortal life wherever he (it?) finds it. If Asmodeus is, in fact, Ahriman, then he would be one too. But of course Asmodeus is a big, fat liar who spreads so many stories about his past, who can know for sure which version of his origin is true. Jazirian, the couatl deity, may also be part of that most ancient group of gods.

So, from nothing, or the Primal Chaos, or who really knows, the primordial gods appeared. They, in turn, began the shaping of all things, and from them came the oldest gods. It's arguable who these oldest gods may be, but this is a creation myth, so different names get tossed about depending on who is telling the story. They, in turn, gave rise to still other gods. And somewhere in all of this, the Prime Material Plane came into existence, and mortals started popping up like dandelions. So this is my thought: originally there was only one world. Somewhere along the way, something happened. Something truly cataclysmic. Maybe is was Tharizdun's attempt to destroy all of creation. Maybe it was the Primordials getting grabby. Whatever it was, it happened so long ago that only some of the most ancient beings in the planes know exactly what happened.

Anyway, this cosmic event caused the Prime Material Plane to splinter. What was once one was now many, and this is why so many different worlds resemble each other so much, with many having many of the same races. There are variations here and there, of course: Krynn doesn't have orcs and has kender instead of halflings, Eberron has the warforged, Athas has scary cannibal halflings, etc, etc. Separated, each world began developing in its own way. Btw, I'm not sure how I feel about this Crystal Sphere thing that Spelljammer has going on.

Now there are all these different worlds. Prime real estate for the molding. And wouldn't you know it, there are a gaggle of gods wanting to do just that. So there is a great, big cosmic landgrab and once those lucky gods and goddesses get in there, they start up their mythological PR machines, getting people to believe in their version of how it all started. Of course, some of those gods know more about those early days than others. Some of the youngsters probably don't really know that much more about it than the mortals do. And those who really know are either not talking, making up stories, or are dead and gone. The few remaining obyriths probably know the real deal. Ao, maybe Asmodeus, the oldest of the tanar'ri such as Demogorgon. Regardless, the truth of the matter is buried under so much conjecture, divine spin doctoring, and misinformation that very few know the real story. Then mortals start travelling the planes and sharing the stories of their own world with people from other places, and myths start getting combined and it all becomes a big mess that religious scholars and planar sages spend all their time debating. And of all the races populating the various worlds of the Prime Material Plane, only the aboleth really know what is going on, but they don't care to actually share this information with anyone else.

And just to mess everything up even further, along come the illithids, conquering world after world and threatening everything. And no one knows where they came from, not even the aboleth. Fortunately, events and their own arrogance conspired against these brain-sucking monsters and Gith and her followers destroyed the Mind Flayer empire and nearly exterminated the race. However, groups still exist here and there, which is why some worlds have them and some don't. And some worlds, like Golarion (that's right, I said it), once had mind flayers but were pretty much wiped out. However, some remnant still remains in the depths of Golarion's Darklands, the neothelids. Because as we all know, a neothelid comes from an illithid tadpole that didn't undergo ceremorphosis and wasn't eliminated by a colony's elder brain because it was dead. Sounds like the work of githyanki to me. And if the mind flayers are dead, and they either don't know about or care about the neothelids, then the githyanki have no reason to return to Golarion anytime soon.

And we all know that the Whispering Tyrant is a mystical echo of Vecna brought about by the Maimed God's attempt to recreate all of reality in his own image when he invaded Sigil. Right?

Indominus Rex

I'm sure many of you have seen Jurassic World by now. No doubt some of you loved it and some of you hated it. Regardless, you have to admit the Indominus Rex makes one heck of a D&D monster.

So, spoilers for all five of you who haven't seen the movie and still care about what happens. The Indominus Rex is a hybrid dinosaur made from combining DNA from the T Rex with velociraptor, tree frog, cuttlefish, and, I don't know, the Rock and I think maybe the Predator. Anyway, it's a bad mofo; smarter and more maladjusted than other dinosaurs, with the ability to camouflage itself. It also temporarily takes over the supposedly trained velociraptor pack because it's essentially a giant velociraptor with an incredibly bad attitude. I suspect How It Should Have Ended got it right when it portrayed the conversation as: I Rex: "Hey, we should eat all the humans." Velociraptors: "You make a very compelling argument."

Here's the thought I had for how this monster could fit into a D&D game, assuming you don't have mad scientists combining a bunch of random DNA together in a lab for giggles. Demogorgon's layer of the Abyss is supposed to have a giant jungle just loaded with dinosaurs and other nasty things. The Indominus Rex could be something that just evolved there, since it is the Abyss. Or, Demogorgon could have made the critter for yucks, because he apparently likes doing that sort of thing. I would imagine that a jungle in the Abyss is a really tough place to live, so while the I Rex probably wouldn't really group together in a less deadly environment, I could see some coming together for mutual benefit in that toxic cesspool. They certainly are smart enough to figure that one out. Obviously, it working with the velociraptors in the movie is what originally suggested the pack tactics. If your party can't handle three or four of these things, though, what are they doing in the Abyss?

Just to be upfront about it, I blatantly stole most of the design from Shawn Ellsworth over at Tribality. They do a lot of good stuff over there, if you haven't checked them out yet. I borrowed a tiny bit from DM Paul Weber, then mixed things up to my liking and here is what I got.

Indominus Rex

Huge monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 147 (14d12+56)

Speed 60 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

25 (+7) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 7 (-2)   14 (+2) 10 (+0)

Skills Perception +6, Stealth +6

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages –

Challenge 10

Ambusher. The indominus rex has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it has surprised.

Chameleon. The indominus rex is able to change its color to blend in with the foliage around it. It has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide, and it may take the Hide action as a bonus action.

Keen Senses. The indominus rex has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.

Pack Tactics. The indominus rex has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if it has at least one of the indominus rex’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Actions

Multiattack. The indominus rex makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with either its claws or tail. It can’t make a bite attack and a tail attack against the same target.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 33 (4d12+7) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 19). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the indominus rex can’t bite another target.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8+7) slashing damage.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8+7) bludgeoning damage.

Throwing my hat into the DM's Guild ring.

I've finally decided to give the DM's Guild a try. My first effort is the Folio of Fiends, which takes a bunch of classic monsters from the Fiend Folio from the early 1980's and updates them to D&D 5e. It's pay what you want, so if you don't want to pay anything, you're in luck!
Go check it out: Folio of Fiends

Thank ya kindly.

Fall-from-Grace of Planescape: Torment fame

Fall-from-Grace is possibly one of the most unusual succubi in the outer planes. She was in the Planescape: Torment game, and mentioned in a couple of other places in the D&D game. The daughter of Red Shroud, granddaughter of Malcanthet and Pazuzu, she shows that sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree.

Fall-From-Grace

Medium fiend (shapechanger), lawful neutral

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points 105 (14d8+42)

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

13 (+1) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 19 (+4)

Saves Wisdom +6, Charisma +7

Skills Arcana +6, History +6, Insight +6, Perception +6, Persuasion +7, Religion +6

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

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal, telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 6

Telepathic Bond. Fall-from-Grace ignores the range restriction on her telepathy when communicating with a creature she has charmed. The two don’t even need to be on the same plane of existence.

Shapechanger. Fall-from-Grace can use her action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid, or back to her true form. Without wing, Fall-from-Grace loses her flying speed. Other than her size and speed, her statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.

Spellcaster. Fall-from-Grace is a 9^th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with attack spells). Fall-from-Grace has the following cleric spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): guidance, sacred flame, spare the dying, thaumaturgy

1^st level (4 slots): bless, cure wounds, sanctuary, shield of faith

2^nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, silence, spiritual weapon

3^rd level (3 slots): dispel magic

4^th level (3 slots): banishment, freedom of movement

5^th level (1 slot): dispel evil and good, raise dead

Actions

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage.

Charm. One humanoid Fall-from-Grace can see within 30 feet of her must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed for 1 day. The charmed target obeys Fall-from-Grace’s verbal or telepathic commands. If the target suffers any harm or receives a suicidal command, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. If the target successfully saves against the effect, or if the effect on it ends, the target is immune to Fall-from-Grace’s Charm for the next 24 hours.

Fall-from-Grace can have only one target charmed at a time. If she charms another, the effect on the previous target ends.

Draining Kiss. Fall-from-Grace kisses a creature charmed by her or a willing creature. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw against this magic, taking 42 (7d10+4) psychic damage on a failed save, or half a much damage on a successful one. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

Etherealness. Fall-from-Grace magically enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa.

Fall-from-Grace’s equipment:

Fall-from-Grace’s Earrings

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a female)

Fall-from-Grace’s earrings give +1 to AC and saving throws while worn.

Fall-from-Grace’s Chastity Bodice

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a female)

Fall-from-Grace’s Chastity Bodice gives advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects while worn. It also has minor enchantments on it that keep it clean and repair minor damage in the fabric.

Fall-from-Grace is the daughter of the succubus Red Shroud, who is in turn the daughter of Malcanthet, the Queen of Succubi, and Pazuzu, Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms. Red Shroud sold her daughter to the devils of the Nine Hells, where she served as a slave for an uncertain amount of time. She challenged one of her infernal masters to a contest of improvisation, which she won, and thereby earned her freedom.

Once freed, Fall-from-Grace left the lower planes for Sigil, where she encountered the Society of Sensation. Identifying with their philosophy, she joined the Society and founded the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts. There, the staff offered intellectual and emotional stimulation, rather than sexual.

Fall-from-Grace is a creature of contradictions. Born of chaos and evil, she is lawful and inclined towards good. A creature of dark sexuality, she is by all appearances chaste. She possesses the holy powers of a cleric, yet worships no god. She is dedicated to the philosophy of the Sensates.

She left the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts for a time to accompany the Nameless One on his quest. What happened afterwards is unknown, just as it is unknown how she fared during the Faction War in Sigil. It is known that the Society of Sensation didn’t survive the Faction War, though many of its members did.

Fall-from-Grace is, like all of her kind, extremely beautiful. Blonde, statuesque and perfect in form, save for the small pair of horns that grow from her brow and the dark wings that extend out from her back. She dresses modestly, though this does little to disguise the beauty of her form. She abhors the touch of metal, a fact not known to many, and as a result refuses to wield weapons in combat.

The Gear Spirit & Nordom the Rogue Modron

Just to be upfront, I've never played Planescape: Torment. So it's possible I have no business statting up a character from the game, but I'm going to do it anyway. Because he looked kind of cool on the game's wiki. So, I give you Nordom Whistleklik, rogue modron.

I've also created stats for the Gear Spirits, creatures of living metal tasked with maintaining the cogs of Mechanus. They basically sound like they've been enslaved by the modrons, and sometimes one just can't stand it anymore and goes walkabout.

Nordom Whistleklik as depicted in the game.

Nordom Whistleklik

Medium construct, chaotic neutral

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points 52 (7d8+21)

Speed 40 ft.

Str        Dex      Con      Int        Wis      Cha

16 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 16 (+3) 8 (-1)   8 (-1)

Skills Perception +1

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Common, Modron

Challenge 3

Crossbow Expert. Nordom ignores the loading quality of crossbows. Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on its ranged attack rolls with crossbows.

Disintegration. If Nordom dies, its body disintegrates into dust, leaving behind its weapons and anything else it was carrying.

Actions

Multiattack. Nordom makes four fist attacks or four crossbow attacks.

Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage.

Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 5 (1d4+3) bludgeoning damage.

Nordom’s Crossbows

Nordom’s crossbows appear to be normal light crossbows made from metal. They are, however, actually a pair of gear spirits. They have Intelligence and Wisdom scores of 10, are capable to shifting their shape into other sorts of metal weapons and tools, and are able to generate a seemingly infinite amount of ammunition for their crossbow form. The ammunition they create is non-magical. Their metal forms are susceptible to rusting effects, such as the touch of a rust monster. These gear spirits, like Nordom, are rogues and are chaotic neutral in alignment. See below for more details on gear spirits.

Nordom Whistleklik is a rogue quadrone from the plane of Mechanus. Its function became altered after it was exposed to the raw chaos of Limbo. Nordom was encountered by the being known as the Nameless One in the Rubikon, also known as the Modron Maze, on the plane of Limbo. It was inadvertently given its name by the Nameless One when he referred to it as “a backwards modron”. Nordom joined the Nameless One on his quest for a time, and its ultimate fate is unknown. As a rogue modron, its kind are hunting for it so that they may take it back to Mechanus for destruction and replacement.

Nordom has managed to acquire a variety of upgrades, some more visible than others. These upgrades account for its altered stats. Nordom replaced its pair of wings with an extra pair of arms, which allows it to utilize two light crossbows in combat.

Despite it being a rogue, Nordom doesn’t have much more personality than a regular modron. It is still very much a mechanical thinker.

Gear Spirit

Small construct (shapechanger), lawful neutral

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 4 (1d6+1)

Move 15 ft., burrow 15 ft.

Str        Dex      Con     Int        Wis      Cha

10 (+0) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Modron

Challenge ¼ (50 XP)

Meld with Metal. The gear spirit is able to step into any manufactured metal or machinery large enough to fully contain its body. Once fully blended with a machine, it is able to command it to obey its will, though only within the established functions of the device. It could, for instance, make a wheel roll or unlock a door, but it would not be able to make a lamppost attack its enemies. While melded with a metal object, the gear spirit is able to see and hear its environment and it cannot be attacked directly. Destroying the metal object it is melded with forces the gear spirit to be expelled and fall prone into an unoccupied space.

Reduce Armor. If the gear spirit hits a creature wearing nonmagical metal armor or wielding a metal shield with a melee attack, the armor takes a permanent and cumulative -1 to the AC it offers. Armor reduced to an AC of 10 or a shield that drops to a +0 bonus is destroyed. The gear spirit is unable to use this ability with ranged attacks.

Rust Susceptibility. The gear spirit’s body is vulnerable to rust of both natural and magical nature. A successful touch by a rust monster’s antennae removes 1 hit point from the gear spirit, destroying the gear spirit if its hit point total reaches 0. The gear spirit’s body rusts roughly twice as quickly as steel.

Shapechange. The gear spirit is able to change its form, commonly taking the shape of mechanical device or tools. It is able to change its limbs into tools and weapons or assume the form of a weapon at will. It is able to provide itself with near limitless ammunition if it changes all or part of its form into a crossbow.

Actions

Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage.

Melee Weapon.  Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage depending on weapon form.

Gear spirits are creatures of living metal, assuming a myriad of form. Though it typically takes the form of common tools or mechanical devices, it always has an irregularly shaped face visible. The gear spirits are formed and controlled by the modrons, tasked with the maintaining of the cogs of Mechanus. Each gear spirit is tied to a specific cog by the modrons.

The gear spirit is able to manipulate the shape of its body, taking on a form suitable for whatever task is at hand. It eats manufactured metal, which maintains its form, which is highly susceptible to rusting. The idea of rusting away to nothing is an absolutely horrifying thought for a gear spirit.

Gear spirits have more individuality and personality than modrons do. The servitude forced upon them rankles just a bit, and occasionally a gear spirit will slip away from its duties. Though there is little chance that the unsupervised cog will malfunction, there is still a chance and the modrons hunt down these rogue spirits in much the same way then hunt down rogue modrons. Once they have brought their quarry to Mechanus, a new gear spirit can then be formed to take its place.

Grippli player character race

The grippli (humanoid tree frogs that first appeared back in 1982) seem to have recently become a somewhat popular choice for a player character race for those who want to try something a little different. My girlfriend became fond of them when they made their appearance in the Pathfinder game. I have, since 5e has come out, seen a few different takes on them. This would be mine. I hope you enjoy it.

This picture is from Greywiki.

Grippli

The grippli are humanoid tree frogs. They are a reclusive race, living deep in tropical swamps and jungles. They are nervous of outsiders, frequently using elves or fey as intermediaries.

Peaceful Hunter Gatherers

Grippli eat fruits and insects. Small insects are trapped in large quantities, while giant insects are hunted in much the same way humans hunt large game. Grippli hunt with snares and nets, as well as blowguns and occasionally spears.

Grippli commonly gather herbs to make poisons, potions and herbal tinctures. They trade rare herbs and extracts with other races in exchange for brightly colored baubles such as polished glass and quarts. Grippli are not at all warlike, but they have been known to make rapid raids to steal bright colored clothing to decorate their homes with.

Grippli only rarely wear brightly colored clothing for decoration, or for the practicality of having pockets. Most of the time a grippli will only wear a belt or loin cloth to hang weapons and the like from.

Secluded Swamp & Jungle Villages

Grippli live in villages made of small wood or mud huts, either hidden on the ground in deep shaded areas beneath swamp and jungle foliage, or built in the boughs of large trees. There may be a ceremonial area on the ground where they have bonfires. Each village is led by a tribe mother, who is a female of unusual height (almost 4 feet tall) who is capable of emitting a poisonous musk cloud. She is usually accompanied by one to three males, who are also of unusual height (around 3 ½ feet tall).

The tribe mother is divinely ordained with absolute authority, said to have the blood of their nameless froglike goddess in her veins. Most day-to-day decisions are left to experienced hunters, but only the tribe mother can speak for the tribe when negotiating with outsiders.

Grippli grafts are generally simple in nature, made from the sorts of things that are found around their villages such as wood and stone. They depict their goddess in sculptures of wood or stone, appearing as a bulbous frog with vibrant rainbow skin. Spiders and snakes are frequently depicted as demons and evil spirits.

Adventuring

Most grippli are perfectly happy staying close to their village. It is a rare event for a grippli to become curious enough about the outside world to want to venture forth to experience it. Sometimes a particularly adventuresome grippli might leave his or her village to seek out trade opportunities for things like gems or metal. Metal is highly prized, and metal heirlooms are deeply cherished.

Grippli Names

Grippli don’t place much importance on names as a general rule. Grippli only possess a given name, and are frequently known by a nickname when among other races. Common names include Bullgup, Chirk, Quartle and the like.

Grippli Traits

Boosted Ability Scores. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age. Grippli are born as tadpoles and become fully formed within six months. Grippli effectively reach adulthood at 12 years of age, though don’t become fully sexually mature until 30 years, and can live up to 180 years.

Alignment. Grippli are usually neutral in alignment. Grippli lean much more to the benevolent than the malevolent, so they are more likely to deviate towards good. Evil grippli are extremely rare.

Size. Grippli are typically 2 ½ to 3 feet tall, weighing roughly 30 lbs. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a climb speed of 20 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to nocturnal living as much as diurnal, you have superior vision in dark and dim 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 gray.

Camouflage. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in forest and swamp environments.

Leap. You always count as having moved at least 10 feet when you make a long jump or high jump.

Grippli Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the blowgun and the net. Additionally, you have proficiency either with the herbalism kit or the poisoner’s kit (your choice).

Languages. You can speak Common, Grippli and the Batrachian Common tongue that may be used to speak to other froglike humanoids such as bullywugs. Grippli is composed of croaks, groans, clicks, and squeaks. Grippli has no written form. Furthermore, it is rare for grippli to learn to read and write in other languages, as traditionally only the tribe mother is permitted to create written records.

Getting some feedback.

While I'm not as prolific as many of my fellow gamers out there with a blog, I've put together a few random things that some might find useful. If you've used anything from this blog in your game, I'd like to hear about it. What worked. What didn't. That kind of thing.

Imperial Space Marines in 5E Part 1

Some random attack of insanity hit me the other day and I started statting up 40K Imperial Space Marines for 5e. If you're not familiar with them, you might look at these stats and think, "Dang! These things are ridiculous!" If you are familiar with Warhammer 40K, you might look at these stats and think, "These are weak sauce compared to the fluff." I'm okay with that, since GW can't even seem to capture the badassitude that is the Imperial Space Marine in the 40K fluff.

Imperial Space Marines are genetically altered warriors that defend the Imperium of Man from all threats foreign and domestic in the year 40,000. They are altered by the genetics of the God Emperor himself, a superhuman who technically died in the year 30,000, but has been kept in a state of living death by his Golden Throne for the last 10,000 years. The Imperium is said to consist of a million worlds, and I'll leave that there because I don't want Dune fans to get overly irritated.

The initiates of the Space Marines go through several modifications over the course of a number of years, while also being essentially subjected to various kinds of conditioning and brainwashing as well as extensive combat training. Most Marine Chapters live by the Codex Astartes, which a sacred tome of military organisation, strategy and tactics, and moral behavior as written by one of the superhumans that started the Space Marines in the first place. For some reason, many in the Imperium have this stupid idea that Space Marines only go into battle in bright colors, charging into the teeth of enemy guns led by screaming glory hounds who think things like helmets are for lesser warriors. Some know better, though, aware that the Codex Astartes covers things like, oh, camouflage, and other things that involve a little more strategic and tactical acumen than acting like a Kzinti high on speed. (Scream and leap, suckers.)

Once an initiate reaches a certain point, he is sent into the field as a Space Marine scout. Scout squads are led by experienced warriors who share their wisdom with the neophytes while in the field. Once a scout is deemed ready, he will then be elevated to the ranks of the full battle brothers of their Chapter.

Part 1 is just going to cover the Space Marine scouts.

Space Marine Scout

Medium humanoid, any alignment

Armor Class 17 (scout armor)

Hit Points 75 (10d8+30)

Speed 35 ft.

Str                    Dex                  Con                  Int                    Wis                  Cha

16 (+3)             15 (+2)             16 (+3)             10 (+0)             13 (+1)             10 (+0)

Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +4, Con +5

Skills Athletics +5, Perception +3, Religion +2, Stealth +4, Survival +3

Proficiencies land vehicles

Damage Resistances poison, thunder

Condition Immunities deafened, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Challenge 4

Astartes Organs. See specifics at a later date.

Charger. When the scout performs a Dash action, he may use a bonus action to make one melee attack. If he has moved at least 10 feet immediately before taking this bonus action, he gains +5 to the attack’s damage roll.

Keen Smell. The scout has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Memory Consumption. The scout can experience the memories of a creature by eating it. The memories gained are usually only up to a week old and usually only provide general details.

Actions

Multiattack. The scout makes two melee or ranged attacks. He may also make one attack with an off-hand weapon.

Bolter. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 150/600, one target or 10-foot-cube area. Hit: 13 (2d10+2) piercing damage.

Bolt Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 90/270, one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) piercing damage.

Combat Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing or slashing damage.

Heavy Bolter. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 400/1200, one target or 10-foot-cube area. Hit:  24 (4d10+2) piercing damage.

Shotgun. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 50/150, one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+2) piercing damage.

Sniper Rifle. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 400/1200, one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) poison damage.

Reactions

Parry. The scout adds 2 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit him. To do so, the scout must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.

Space Marine Scout Sergeant

Medium humanoid, any alignment

Armor Class 17 (scout armor)

Hit Points 127 (15d8+60)

Speed 40 ft.

Str                    Dex                  Con                  Int                    Wis                  Cha

19 (+4)             15 (+2)             18 (+4)             13 (+1)             16 (+3)             15 (+2)

Saving Throws Str +7, Dex +5, Con +7, Wis +6

Skills Athletics +7, Perception +6, Religion +4, Stealth +5, Survival +6

Proficiencies land vehicles

Damage Resistances poison, thunder

Condition Immunities deafened, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Challenge 6

Acid Spittle. The scout sergeant may spit acid as an action at a single target within 5 ft., causing 5 (2d4) acid damage, though rarely chooses to do so. This ability recharges on 5 or 6.

Astartes Organs. See specifics at a later date.

Charger. When the scout sergeant performs a Dash action, he may use a bonus action to make one melee attack. If he has moved at least 10 feet immediately before taking this bonus action, he gains +5 to the attack’s damage roll.

Keen Smell. The scout sergeant has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Memory Consumption. The scout sergeant can experience the memories of a creature by eating it. The memories gained are usually only up to a week old and usually only provide general details.

Regeneration. The scout sergeant regains 5 hit points at the start of his turn if he has at least 1 hit point.

Stabilization. The scout sergeant has advantage on stabilization rolls when reduced to 0 hit points.

Actions

Multiattack. The scout sergeant makes two melee or ranged attacks. He may also make one attack with an off-hand weapon.

Bolter. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600, one target or 10-foot-cube area. Hit: 13 (2d10+2) piercing damage.

Bolt Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 90/270, one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) piercing damage.

Chainsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) slashing damage.

Combat Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing or slashing damage.

Power Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8+4) bludgeoning damage.

Shotgun. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 50/150, one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+2) piercing damage.

Reactions

Parry. The scout sergeant adds 2 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit him. To do so, the scout sergeant must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.

Scout Weapons                       Damage                      Weight                                    Properties

Martial Melee Weapons

Chainsword                             1d10 S                         12 lbs

Combat Blade                         1d6 P or S                    2 lbs

Power Fist                               3d8 B                           20 lbs                           Unwieldy

Martial Ranged Weapons

Bolter                                      2d10 P                         20 lbs               Ammunition (range 150/600), burst fire, reload (30 shots), two-handed

Bolt Pistol                                2d6 P                           6 lbs                 Ammunition (range 90/270), reload (10 shots)

Heavy Bolter                           4d10 P                         85 lbs               Ammunition (range 400/1200), burst fire, heavy, reload (100 shots), two-handed

Shotgun                                   2d8 P                           14 lbs               Ammunition (range 50/150), reload (15 shots), two-handed

Sniper Rifle                             2d6 P + 4d6 Poison      15 lbs               Ammunition (range 400/1200), reload (5 shots), silenced, two-handed

Grenades

Fragmentation                        5d6 P                           1 lb

Fragmentation Grenades may be thrown at a point up to 60 feet away. Each creature within 20 feet of an exploding frag grenade must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take the damage listed a failed save, half as much on a successful one. DMG 268

Krak                                         5d10 P                         1 lb

Krak Grenades may be thrown at a point up to 60 feet away, but lack a blast radius. They may be attached to a target for maximum effect, causing double damage against objects such as walls, doors, etc.

Weapon Properties

Silenced. When this weapon is fired, creatures must make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to hear it.

Unwieldy. This weapon is so large and heavy that it may not be used by the creature wielding it as part of a reaction.

Other weapon properties are as given in the Player’s Handbook & Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Armor

                                                Armor Class                                        Weight

Medium Armor

Scout Armor                            15 + Dex modifier (max 2)                 30 lbs

Scout armor is the armor used by scout squads in the field, being a modified form of carapace armor. Full battle brothers may also use this armor during times of relative peace. Scout armor consists of fatigues made of ballistic material and overlapping ceramite plates. It is equipped with a long-range, encrypted vox that allows the wearer to stay in contact with his unit. It also has an interlocutor beacon that helps identify the wearer to friendly forces and which can also act as a distress beacon. Lastly, due to the sacred unguents and special coatings worked into the armor, it makes the wearer difficult to detect through technological means. It grants the wearer advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks vs technological detection devices, as well as imposing disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks on anyone relying on a technological device to detect the wearer.