Tag: CR 26

  • Monsters of the Multiverse: Demon Lords

    Time to wrap up my survey of Monsters of the Multiverse with the final category: demon lords. My look at archdevils went so quickly, I was tempted to go ahead and lump both groups of archfiends into one post, but demon lords turned out to be more complicated. As with the archdevils, I’ve placed these notes behind spoiler tags.

    One note that applies across the board is that references to insanity have been eliminated, so that any regional effect of a lair characterized as “Madness of X” is now called “Beguiling Realm” or “Corrupted Nature” and given the simple effect of imposing advantage or disadvantage on certain skill checks, or it’s simply deleted. Regional effects usually kick in before combat begins, so these changes mostly apply to situations occurring before or after a battle, but they can also alter the outcome of a mid-combat parley or keep an unconscious and dying character from being stabilized.

    (more…)

  • Monsters of the Multiverse: Archdevils

    It’s been my longtime policy not to post analyses of the stat blocks of unique villains on this blog, because I’d be a fool to think players don’t read it, too—in fact, I’ve encouraged them to—and going through every part of a BBEG’s kit is about as spoilery as it gets. Which is why the tactics of archdevils and demon lords are content exclusive to MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing.

    But there’s a problem, isn’t there? The content of MOAR! Monsters, at this point, is locked in, and it refers to the archfiends and their stat blocks as they’re described in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. The only place you’ll find updates reflecting the changes in Monsters of the Multiverse is right here. However, all the archfiends are changed in some way or another, and I can’t ignore them.

    To resolve this conflict, I’m taking two measures:

    1. I’ve placed every section of this post and the next referring to a particular archfiend behind a spoiler box, which you have to open to read. There won’t be any accidental spoilers.
    2. As much as possible—and with more assiduity than I’ve bothered showing in my prior Monsters of the Multiverse updates—I’m going to confine my comments to precisely how these tactics differ from those in MOAR! Monsters.

    With that out of the way, let’s start with the archdevils.

    (more…)

  • Dragon Tactics, Part 4: Greatwyrms

    A dragon is considered ancient when it celebrates its 801st birthday … but then what? How long do dragons live, anyway? What if there were a dragon alive today that had been born during the early dynastic period of ancient Egypt, 5,000 years ago—or that was already ancient when that period began? What if there were a dragon that could tell you stories of its conversations with Huangdi and its narrow escape from Gilgamesh like they happened just yesterday?

    And what if it just … kept … getting … bigger?

    Well, then you’ve got something of another class altogether, something verging on demigodhood. Something that, as far as anyone alive knows, has always existed, like an ocean or the moon. Something beyond the capacity of history, legend and even myth to describe: a greatwyrm.

    I feel like that word should be capitalized.

    Three types of greatwyrms are statted out in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons: chromatic greatwyrms, metallic greatwyrms and gem greatwyrms. Aside from some variation in the damage types they deal and are immune to, they’re not distinguished by color within each type; all greatwyrms of a type possess the same powers, ability scores and basic traits. Their stat blocks are built on the adult/ancient dragon chassis, with one or two alterations and several embellishments. (more…)



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