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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next CR 5 Caster Monsters: Dark Enchanter and Death Cleric [PEACH]



Gastronomie
2016-07-10, 06:39 AM
These two are designed to be bosses of low-to-mid level campaigns. Most boss casters I created previously were pretty high-CR, so I supposed I should make mid-CR ones too.

I love enemy casters. They're awesome. You have no idea what they'll cast the next turn, and they add variety to the encounters. They also make good bosses, being generally intelligent, or wise, or charismatic (in many cases, multiple of them).

Both the Dark Enchanter and the Death Cleric are better at supporting their allies than fighting on their own (I created them to be like that on purpose), so I would strongly suggest you give them henchmen.

Re-fluffing the "Bandit Captain", "Berserker", "Cult Fanatic", "Knight", "Priest", "Spy", and "Veteran" monsters in the Appendix of the Monster Manual can easily give you a handful of varied henchmen.
For weaker henchmen, consider re-fluffing "Acolyte", "Cultist", or "Thug". Kobolds and Goblins may also work, by either making the bosses hire the evil humanoids, or by simply re-fluffing them into humans.

The "Giant" animals ("Giant Centipede", "Giant Frog" etc.) may also suit the Dark Enchanter, as will Gibbering Mouthers, Carrion Crawlers, and Fiends, among many others. To give the character a very specific impression, you could focus all or most of his spells on a certain type of animal, including how certain spells work (for instance, if his "trademark animal" is a frog, his Hold Person may be not a normal "Hold Person", but him reaching out with his abnormally long tongue and wrapping up a character. His Bestow Curse may gradually give a character frog-like charasteristics. And needless to say, his Polymorph will turn a character into a frog).
Hell, you could even have it that these animals are former humans that the Enchanter turned into animals under his command with black magic.

Obviously, zombies are well suited as the "friends" of the Death Cleric. Flesh Golems may be interesting (re-fluff it to be treated as a zombie as well) for pretty high-level or strong adventurers.

Being casters of sorta high levels, these enemy NPCs may also have a magic item or two of rarity rare or lower (some of which they may put to use during the fight with the PCs). These could be pillaged by the adventurers as a special "present" from the DM. This way, the items have a backstory - an episode of how the adventurers obtained it.

Finally, some of the spells these casters know are taken from the Book of Vile Darkness, converted into 5th edition (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?477473-6-spells-from-the-Book-of-Vile-Darkness-PEACH).
Imagine these casters to be holding "copies" of certain pages, or special scrolls containing these spells. After these monsters are defeated, you can have it that the player characters find the information about that spells, including the knowledge required to potentitally add them to their respective class spell lists. What they do with these "evil spells" is up to the adventurers.
Dark Enchanter
Medium/Small Humanoid (any race), any evil alignment
Hit Points: 65 (10d8+20)
Speed: 30ft/25ft (racial)
AC: 12 (15 with mage armor)
Str 8 (-1) Dex 14 (+2) Con 14 (+2)
Int 17 (+3) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 16 (+3)
Skills: Any skills the DM feels appropriate
Damage Resistance: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Senses: Passive Perception 15, any racial darkvision
Languages: Any number of languages that the DM feels appropriate
Challenge Rating: 5 (1800 XP)
Magic Resistance. The Enchanter has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Master Enchanter. The Enchanter can concentrate on up to two spells at the same time. Make a separate saving throw for each spell.
Spellcasting. The Enchanter is a 7th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The Enchanter has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): acid splash, mage hand, poison spray, prestidigitation
1st level (3 slots*): mage armor (already activated), shield, tasha’s hideous laughter
2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, darkbolt**, hold person, web
3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, vampiric touch
4th level (1 slot): polymorph
*Indicates number of slots left for the actual encounter
**Taken from Book of Vile Darkness

Actions
Multicasting. The Enchanter casts 1 spell and 1 cantrip (in any desired order).


Death Cleric
Medium/Small Humanoid (any race), any evil alignment
Hit Points: 65 (10d8+20)
Speed: 30ft/25ft (racial)
AC: 18 (Breastplate, shield)
Str 16 (+3) Dex 14 (+2) Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2) Wis 17 (+3) Cha 16 (+3)
Skills: Any skills the DM feels appropriate
Damage Resistance: acid, cold, fire, necrotic, poison
Senses: Passive Perception 15, any racial darkvision
Languages: Any number of languages that the DM feels appropriate
Challenge Rating: 5 (1800 XP)
Blessings of the Dark Deity. The cleric may cast spells, ignoring its Material and Somatic components. When the cleric targets a non-undead creature(s) with a spell that heals hit points, the cleric can alter the effect of the spell so that the non-undead targets do not gain hit points, and instead take necrotic damage equal to twice the hit points that would have been healed.
Necrotic Circle. Undead creatures within 10 feet of the cleric gain advantage on attack rolls.
Spellcasting. The cleric is a 5th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The cleric has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, guidance, resistance, spare the dying
1st level (4 slots): bane, cure wounds, inflict wounds, shield of faith
2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, spiritual weapon
3rd level (2 slots*): animate dead (already activated), bestow curse, dispel magic, mass healing word, unliving weapon**
*Indicates number of slots left for the actual encounter
**Taken from Book of Vile Darkness

Actions
Multicasting. The cleric casts 1 spell and makes one weapon attack (in any desired order). The weapon attack must be a done by a weapon he is holding.
Weapon: Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target
Hit: 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Weapon: Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Weapon: Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.

SilverStud
2016-07-12, 05:30 PM
Quality boss monsters as always.

One quibble: The wording of Blessings of the Dark Deity is hard to parse out. It sounds like he can hurt with healy spells?

Gastronomie
2016-07-13, 04:30 AM
Quality boss monsters as always.

One quibble: The wording of Blessings of the Dark Deity is hard to parse out. It sounds like he can hurt with healy spells?Sorry, upon looking back, there were two wrong words in the original post. Edited:

"When the cleric targets a non-undead creature(s) with a spell that heals hit points, the castercleric can alter the effect of the spell so that the non-targetundead targets do not gain hit points, and instead take necrotic damage equal to twice the hit points that would have been healed."

What the hell "non-target target" means, I have no idea.

And yes, the Death Cleric's healing spells can both damage and heal. The idea is that he channels negative energy into the targets. If the target is a zombie, it gets healed. If the target is a mortal being, he gets damaged by the negative energy. Sorta get the idea?

Thanks for the comment~