Two Wyrmspeakers don't have stats - let's change that

[Chaosvii7]

I'm running Rise of Tiamat, and I've hit a snag in that I want the full gambit of Wyrmspeakers to be present at the final bout but both Varram the White and Galvan the Blue lack stats. Varram has become a PoW after chapter 3 and it's very likely that his arm can be twisted to show up to the final fight on the side of the heroes - and Galvan stays so far out of the conflict until the end it'd be wrong to just lack a whole potential body at the beginning of Chapter 9. The current plan is to have each one of my PCs control a separate NPC in addition(total of five players, and I've already made two or three of them) and I think it's reasonable enough to hand Varram over to one of my players. The only roadblock; They don't have any stats! (Technically untrue; Varram has 3 HP at the end of the third chapter, but that's it).

So I need to write up some statblocks so they can have an impact on the final fight(one for player empowerment, and one so I can try to kill them). I kind of want to follow the conventions by which all other Wyrmspeakers are designed. Admittedly, that's very poorly. Each Wyrmspeaker has a CR in the 7-11 range, but they only possess a melee attack and a ranged spell attack(that is usable at-will). The masks add legendary resistance(and most of them add legendary actions), but I fail to see how that pushes the CRs so high. I might re-design the Wyrmspeakers with the DMG so they'll be more competent for their CR, so for now let's make these two with that in mind and I'll worry about the individual specifics myself.

For Varram, I'm intending to use an old mechanic from one of the previous Encounters seasons. Varram's Ice Armor will function not unlike the abjuration wizard's Arcane Ward - a layer of temp HP that Varram redirects damage to when hit. Otherwise, I have no clue what else he should bring to the fight. I was thinking Winter's Strike like Talis, but it seems difficult to balance, and easier to just let him deal extra damage when he hits. As for every other specific, no clue whatsoever. Aiming for CR 8 or 9 for him, preferably lower because the party is already going to be loaded out a bit from the other support they'll have handy.

Galvan can be whatever he wants to be. I kind of want his spell attack to be like chain lightning when it hits a target. Otherwise I have no clue where to go and no preference for how he fills out.

So please, I beg of you, to help me stat out two mid-CR cultists with the works. Again, use the DMG guidelines for these two if you would be so kind. Otherwise, go crazy with suggestions. I'll go over it and eventually post WIP versions based on what we come together and create. I'd be eternally grateful for your help if you would help me stat them out. Thank you so much!

[Chaosvii7]

Giving the post a bump, I wanted to post my progress on Varram. I'm thinking the shield of ice is a bit superfluous and can probably be done away with at this point, but I would prefer that he has some sort of cool trait that lets him deal a bit of damage or provides a strong and clear utility. With that in mind I might wipe the armor but I'd want something sufficient to play around with. He's currently built with Neronvain in mind, so he's got a lower-end set of stats but otherwise I'm thinking that this is a good start.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qbSDAXiE3ZPsjUdodkGvk3_X5YyUAzBIq0K54lDCrD8/edit?usp=sharing

Please provide any Critique you'd like, and if you want to use or modify Varram in any way you're more than welcome to do so.

[Gnomes2169]

Going to agree with this. I would like to go through both wyrmspeakers individually...

Varram

I like what you are doing with Varram, though his AC is a bit off, bracers of armor are only +2 AC and he only has a +3 cha bonus, so with a -1 dex he should only have 14 AC. Maybe increase his dex to 12? It would bring him to AC 16. As well, to be more worthy of place in the group, he should likely have a third melee attack, or 2 legendary actions round (one of which is a melee attack, and the other which uses both legendary actions and does something... special.)

If I could make a suggestion about his "something else," perhaps it could be a ranged spell attack called "frost spines," with an attack bonus of +8, range of 90 and which deals 4 (1d8) piercing and 16 (3d10) cold damage.

For the 2 cost legendary action (if you give him legendary actions instead of a third attack), perhaps a chilling fog much like Rezmier's darkness legendary action? A fog that grants 1/2 cover for those within it, and deals 13 (3d8) damage to creatures within who don't make a proper DC (should be 15) con saving throw? The mist also has the advantage of being rather similar to the white dragon's lair action (with a bit more damage to it), so it is rather thematic. That said, Varram will not possess the white dragon mask, so he shouldn't technically have any legendary resistance, the draconic majesty feature (no cha to AC for the poor lad), and unless you somehow get it for Varram he shouldn't have legendary actions, so perhaps the 3 attacks method would work better.

Galvan

Now then, Galvan seems to me like he would be the "wizard" of the bunch. Out of all of them, being a blue, he seems like he would have studied and mastered at least a few spells (blues being all about arcane hoarding and all). I think starting with the Mage would be a good staging point (spellcasting wise), though the spells memorized should be more along a lightning, knowledge and mobility curve than they should the standard array, and as a wyrmspeaker, he should be a bit more accomplished than a mage (say, level 11 spellcaster instead). As well, he will need a bit more HP, a bit more AC, and he should have his own special attack and legendary actions. So let's get cracking on a stat block, eh?

Galvan the Blue
Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil

Armor Class 17 (20 with mage armor)
Hit Points 97 (15d8+30)
Speed 30 feet

StrDexConIntWisCha
10 (+0)16 (+3)14 (+2)18 (+4)16 (+3)18 (+4

Saving throws Intelligence +8, Wisdom +7
Skills Arcane +8, History +8, Deception +8, Stealth +7
Damage immunities Lightning
Condition immunities charmed, frightened, stunned
Senses passive perception 13
Languages Common, Draconic, Infernal
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

Draconic Majesty Galvan has studied the blue dragon mask long enough that he can somewhat emulate its magics, allowing him to add his charisma bonus to his armor class (already included)

Legendary resistance (1/day) When Galvan fails a saving throw, he may succeed on it instead.

Spellcasting Galvan is an 11th level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is charisma (save DC 16, +8 to hit with spells). Galvan has the following wizard spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): Blade ward, light, message, prestidigitation, shocking grasp
1st level (4 slots): Mage armor, shield, thunderwave
2nd level (3 slots): Invisibility, mirror image, misty step
3rd level (3 slots): Clairvoyance, fly, lightning bolt
4th level (3 slots): Arcane eye, dimension door, Evard's black tentacles
5th level (2 slots): Mislead, scrying
6th level (1 slot): Chain lightning

Actions

Rapier Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) lightning damage.

Static burst Ranged spell attack: +8 to hit, range 90 feet. Galvan targets one creature with a jolt of lightning which spreads to up to 2 creatures within 10 feet of the original target, making separate attack rolls for each one. Hit: The target is dealt 22 (4d10) lightning damage.

Legendary actions

Galvan's studies have given him insights into the magic of the masks and dragons, allowing him to take 3 legendary actions. Only one legendary action can be used at any time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Galvan regains all spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Rapier Galvan makes one attack with his rapier.
Static burst (2 actions) Galvan uses his static burst action.
Lightning rain (3 actions) Galvan calls down a bolt of lightning against up to 4 targets within 60 feet, each of which must make a DC 16 dexterity saving throw or be dealt 27 (6d8) lightning damage.

Neronvain

Now, while we are at it, there are some other things that are distinctly missing or wrong in the stat blocks. For instance, Neronvain (who wears a mask and is supposedly Rezmier's better) does not have legendary actions or legendary resistance of his own despite wearing the green mask, and his eldrich arrow should have a +8 attack bonus instead of the stated +7. So we add a use of legendary resistance, and give him legendary action, as long as he wears the mask. Since he's not as powerful as Galvan or Severin, let's give Neronvain 2 legendary actions/ round, and let's spitball these as his actions...

Attack Neronvain makes one attack.
Toxic haze (2 actions) Neronvain releases a cloud of vapor that stings the eyes and burns the skin from himself. Creatures within 20 feet of Neronvain must make a DC 16 constitution saving throw. On a failed save the a creature is dealt 14 (4d6) poison damage and has disadvantage on all actions until the start of Neronvain's next turn. On a successful save, the creature is dealt half as much damage and does not suffer disadvantage from this ability. Until the beginning of his next turn, Neronvain has 1/2 cover from all attacks made more than 20 feet away from himself.

Severin

Next we have Severin himself, who's attack bonuses are all completely wrong!!! They should be +9, not +5. :smallfurious: Damnit Kobold Press, work with the proficiency system here! Beyond that he seems to be okay, though his HP could be a bit higher (say, 165 (22d8+66)), the damage on his fiery touch could be improved by two dice and the damage of his other attacks could be improved by 1 damage die apiece (including his Ignite Enemy ability). Oh, and his Dex should really be 16... which increases his AC to 18 and dex save to +7, but as all of the other wyrmspeakers have 16 dex I don't really see much of a problem giving him said buff. Really, for a potential BBEG, Severin without some minor tweaks really just seems ever so slightly disappointing.

The damage buff on his abilities would bring him to:

Ignite enemy 11 (2d10)/ round
Burning touch 27 (6d8)
Flaming orb 45 (10d8)
Scorching burst 22 (5d8)
Fiery teleport 11 (2d10)
Hellish chains 30 (7d6)/ round

Rezmier

And finally we get to the Hoard of the Dragon Queen BBEG herself, Rezmier the Black. In some campaigns she is deader than a doornail, but in the front of Rise of Tiamat it says that the cult could very well resurrect her, or perhaps she can come back through "other means." Personally, I fluffed her as "The Witch of the Shadowfell," and have her working for Shar, with her death at the hands of the party acting as just another stepping stone in the road to her ascendance. So she was struck down, and became more powerful than the party could imagine :smalltongue: Regardless, if she appears at the Well of Dragons, then she should get a few buffs to be an actual challenge to the party. So, here's a list of what to do:
Increase hp Rezmier is a hybrid melee/ ranged character, she should be a bit tougher than the pure ranged Neronvain and Galvan the squishy mage. Something like 128 (17d8+51) should do the trick.
Increase AC Rezmier will not have the final dragon mask in the final battle, so increasing her AC is likely a good idea. She will probably grab a suit of medium armor with ceremonial import to it to allow her mobility should something go wrong while also giving her an air of formality for when Tiamat returns, so let's say that she is wearing Half Plate and has AC 17.
Replace the Hazirawn Yeah. We sort of need to. The party looted it from her corpse after all, so she needs something... different. A greatsword that deals 2d6 acid damage would be fitting for her dragon type.
Remove the restriction on Dark Advantage As written it can only be used 1/turn. Removing this restriction puts her more in line with the Dragonfangs.
Give her multiple attacks Rezmier will lose her legendary actions, meaning that she only has 1 attack/ round. This is entirely too little for a final-battle creature, so adding in a second attack (with either Caustic Bolt or her Greatsword) is fitting.
Allow Rezmier to cast darkness 2/day Self explanatory, really. She needs to proc dark advantage somehow.
Increase Caustic Bolt damage Just to 27 (6d8). Nothing too spectacular.
Increase her cha score to 16, and her str to 18 Giving her a +3 and +4 bonus in both respectively. She attacks, her capabilities should reflect this.
Increase CR by 2 and thus Prof bonus by 1 As a tougher CR 9 creature, Rezmier's prof bonus should go up by 1 (to a +4 bonus). So her Arcana is +6, her stealth (which she has expertise in) is +11, her attack bonus with her greatsword is +8, and her attack bonus with the caustic blast is +7.

And that would be my suggestions for all of the wyrmspeakers... none of which are likely balanced, but hey, hopefully it gets someone's idea ball rolling so that they can come up with something themselves.

[Chaosvii7]

Thanks for all the input. I'll take it all in and write up Varram and Galvan. I was thinking a simple patch to the Wyrmspeakers' power would be to give them all Dark Advantage(As Rezmir's ability). Just to give them a bit more of an edge.

[Gnomes2169]

Giving all of them Dark Advantage might be a bit overkill, and takes away part of Rezmier's particular niche. She is the one that skulks in the darkness, stabs people in the back and goes out of her way to fight in the most underhanded way possible. Giving that to all of the wyrmspeakers (especially when most don't have a way to proc it) makes her a little less special.

[Envyus]

Galvan is not a wizard and should not be better at magic then Rath. He is related to Rath and it is stated in Galvan's back story that he tried to become a Red Wizard but was not talented enough.

Anyway I stated Galvan out myself. I gave him all the traits that the other Wyrmspeakers have along with making his Health second to Severin. I gave him a lighting Whip attack (A basic melee whip that does quite a bit of lighting damage) and lighting bolt ability.

But the thing I gave him that truly made him a cool fight is his lighting conduit and lighting clone powers. The Clone is a copy of Galvan with half his hp made of lighting (It's only capable of using the lighting whip attack.) Galvan can swap places with his clone as a bonus action. His conduit ability allows him to connect a line of lightning between him and his clone or the horn of a blue dragon up to a 150 feet. The line moves with it's parts allowing him to deal damage to those it goes between if they fail a Dex save. If the Line is connected to a Blue Dragon and a clone a triangle forms between them. Anything inside the triangle takes lighting damage instead of them having to go through the lines.

On Varram just in case he needed stats I gave him a slight edit of Talis' stats.

[Chaosvii7]

Giving all of them Dark Advantage might be a bit overkill, and takes away part of Rezmier's particular niche. She is the one that skulks in the darkness, stabs people in the back and goes out of her way to fight in the most underhanded way possible. Giving that to all of the wyrmspeakers (especially when most don't have a way to proc it) makes her a little less special.

Understood. Maybe I can find better riders for Varram and Galvan to give them their own niche. Severin has enough to do with his legendary actions, but I feel like it's just too one-dimensional for him to toss fire at you up to three times per turn. There's more he could do, but just can't because of the way he was built as a creature.

As for that Lightning Conduit with Galvan, that sounds phenomenal and it was really well thought out. I love the idea and the implementation, Envyus!