IADnDMN Stream Monsters! (2018/09/12)
As always, tune into ItsADnDMonsterNow's weekly monster-making stream on Twitch every Wednesday at 11am Pacific! We hang out, talk DnD, and make monsters together as I explain my process and share my tips for making fun and effective monsters that you can use in your own games!
Ammit
Based on the Ammit from Egyptian mythology, suggested by twitch viewer @SherlockHole1.
Some religious circles say that these creatures are the aspects of the goddess of death and the afterlife. Other religious sources, however, claim that they are in fact demonesses hungry for the souls of the deceased.
Ammit
Huge fiend, neutral evil
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 216 (16d12 + 112)
Speed 60 ft., swim 50 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 22 (+6) 14 (+2) 24 (+7) 17 (+3) 19 (+4) 21 (+5)
Saving Throws Str +11, Dex +7, Wis +9, Cha +10
Skills Insight +9, Perception +9, Religion +8, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances cold, fire , lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned
Senses truesight 60ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal
Challenge 14 (11,500 XP)
Hold Breath. The ammit can hold its breath for 1 hour.
Keen Smell. The ammit has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Leaping Charge. If the ammit jumps at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a melee attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 10 (3d6) damage of the attack's type, and must succeed on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Magic Resistance. The ammit has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The ammit's weapon attacks are magical.
Running Leap. With a 10-foot running start, the ammit can long jump up to 30 feet.
Actions
Multiattack. The ammit makes three attacks: one with its bite, and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 19). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the ammit can't bite another target.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Juggle. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature grappled by the ammit. Hit: 39 (6d10 + 6) piercing damage. Hit or miss, the target can immediately make a saving throw to escape the grapple.
Devour Dead. The ammit eats the corpse of a Large or smaller creature that has died within the last 24 hours, regaining a number of hit points equal to a roll of half of the devoured creature's maximum hit dice (rounded down). The ammit must be able to see the corpse and be within 5 feet of it.
A creature whose corpse is devoured this way can't be restored to life except by a wish spell. A humanoid corpse devoured by this action rises 1d4 rounds later as a wraith under the ammit's control, unless the humanoid is restored to life. These wraiths can't use the Create Specter action. The ammit can have no more than eight wraiths under its control at one time.
Alp/Mara
Based on the creature from German folklore, and this one was also suggested by twitch viewer @SherlockHole1.
Alp and mara are the male and female form (respectively) of these little elf-like fiends, much like the delineation between incubi and succubi.
While not always overtly hostile, these creatures are undeniably evil through and through. They delight in causing misery in their victims, and will use their magic to do anything from creating minor annoyances, to potentially killing on a whim.
The alp and mara aren't particularly strong, instead relying on their magic to indirectly harm their victims by striking them ill, or simply feeding off the creature's vitality as it sleeps, causing the victim to suffer terrible nightmarish paralysis.
Each of the fiends is always in possession of their tiny trademark cap, which makes them easily distinguishable, even when they change forms. This cap is in fact the instrument of their power, and removing it from their possession causes alp or mara to become nearly powerless.
This is a very valuable tactic, since if you were to possess an alp's or mara's cap, the creature will go to nearly any lengths to assure its return—though beware their vengeful nature should you hold up your end of the deal.
Alp/Mara
Small fiend (shapechanger), chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 22 (5d6 + 5)
Speed 35 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 9 (-1) 16 (+3) 13 (+1) 10 (+0) 11 (+0) 14 (+2)
Skills Deception +4, Perception +2, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages —
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Magic Cap. The alp always wears a magic cap, which is visible in all of its shapes. This cap powers the alp's shapechanging magic, which it can't use while the cap is not in its possession.
As an action, the alp can use its cap to innately cast invisibility on itself (including its cap), requiring no components aside from the cap itself. The spell lasts until the alp ends it (no action), makes an attack, or is no longer in contact with its cap.Third Eye. The alp possesses a third eye, which powers its Evil Eye action, and motivates its evil inclinations. A creature within 5 feet of the alp can use its action to make a melee weapon attack against the alp with disadvantage, using a weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage. On a hit, the alp's third eye is destroyed, causing it to permanently lose its Evil Eye action, and changing its alignment to neutral good.
Shapechanger. The Alp can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Tiny beast, or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form, except that it adopts the speed of its new form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed, including its cap. It reverts to its true form if it dies.
Actions
Multiattack. The alp makes two attacks: one with its bite, and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 hour. A poisoned creature has its speed reduced by half, and can repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns. A creature that fails this save twice is knocked unconscious for the duration, or until it takes damage or until a creature uses its action to shake it awake.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) slashing damage.
Sleep Paralysis. One unconscious creature the alp touches must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage and become paralyzed. The alp then regains a number of hit points equal to the psychic damage dealt. The creature remains paralyzed until 1d4 rounds after it wakes up.
Evil Eye (Recharge 5–6). The alp targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw against this magic. On failed save, a creature takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage, and falls prone, becoming stunned for 1 minute as it seizes and convulses on the ground. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is not stunned. A stunned creature can repeat its save at the end of each of its turns, ending the condition on a success.
Hairy Jelly Cube
This one was suggested by /u/CeruleanRuin on a reddit post created by /u/CrashTestJesus.
An apparently relative of the more common gelatinous cube, the hair jelly cube is an ozze cube which lacks the eveloping capability of its more famous ancestor, but is nevertheless even more deadly.
The jelly cube is covered with a shimmering coat of silky fur which is not only prehensile, but can extended or retracted by the cube at will. The individual hairs that make up this coat can twist together as they extend, forming reaching tendrils which can bludgeon and grasp prey.
The impeccable shine of the cube's coat is owed to the fact that, like most oozes, the cube's body is highly acidic, and a sheen of acid actually absorbed into the fur through its skin, like a paintbrush wet with paint.
Since the cube's body is composed of a tough, rubbery jelly instead of a semipermeable ooze or gelatin, it can't engulf its prey to digest them, instead preferring to grind up its prey along the rough stone of its preferred habitat and simply soak up the resulting slurry.
The cube's rubbery body also gives it remarkable bounce, evident when it falls from a great height, or when it is hit with bludgeoning weapons.
Hairy Jelly Cube
Large ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 7
Hit Points 105 (10d10 + 50)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 4 (-3) 20 (+5) 1 (-5) 6 (-2) 2 (-4)
Damage Resistances cold
Damage Immunities acid, bludgeoning
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 8
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Bouncy Cube. Under its fur, the cube is made up of a tough, rubbery ooze. The cube takes up its entire space. If the cube is subject to falling damage, it then bounces vertically a number of feet equal to the damage it would have taken, then moving horizontally half that distance (no action).
If the cube lands in one or more creatures' space, each creature must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone and take bludgeoning damage equal to the falling damage rolled. If at least one creature fails this save, the cube doesn't bounce.
A creature that hits the cube with a melee weapon that deals bludgeoning damage must succeed on a Strength saving throw or become the target of its own attack. The DC for this saving throw is equal to the triggering attack roll.Spider Climb. The cube can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Actions
Multiattack. The creature makes 2 attacks with its fur tendrils.
Fur Tendrils. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (4d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). A creature grappled by the cube takes 3 (1d6) acid damage at the end of each of its turns.