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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Nightshades for 5e



JamesIntrocaso
2017-03-09, 08:48 AM
So I've been posting the undead I've been updating and creating for my homebrew world on here and everyone has given amazing feedback. Thank you so much for that.

EN World forum user pukunui suggested I tackle some nightshades, and that got me thinking about how much I loved them in older editions. So I present to you now my 5e version of the nightcrawler, nighthaunt, nightwalker, and nightwing. They are in the link below! Let me know what you think.

https://worldbuilderblog.me/2017/03/09/nightshades/

arrowed
2017-03-10, 06:19 AM
Looks good at a glance :smallsmile:, only issue would be the nightwing's magic item negating power seems too strong. I'd give the bitten creature a charisma save to resist and make it only affect 1 item at a time.

JamesIntrocaso
2017-03-10, 07:34 AM
Looks good at a glance :smallsmile:, only issue would be the nightwing's magic item negating power seems too strong. I'd give the bitten creature a charisma save to resist and make it only affect 1 item at a time.

Cool. Thank you so much for this feedback. I was wondering about how far was too far with that power.

MrStabby
2017-03-10, 07:43 AM
Going to have to be a quick one - these guys look pretty strong.

Nighthaunt:

Defence
That's a lot of HP. More than an adult dragon which will generally have a higher CR than the nighthaunt. AC is a little less and it doesn't get legendary saves but it does get magic resistance. More immunities/resistances than dragons - i nice touch but not really game-breaking.

Disadvantage on attacks from darkness spell + blindsight will help mitigate the lower AC anyway.

In terms of mobility a 60 ft fly speed is awesome. A little lower than an adult dragon but enough to bypass a lot of walls, obstacles and difficult terrain as well as spells that only affect a low altitude.

The spellcasting level on these guys is pretty obscene for something with such a strong melee presence. The spellcasting also tends to add to, rather than compete with attack actions. Planeshift? A great escape card to play. Dominate monster? Can ruin a lot of strategies involving polymorph as well as generally allowing the nighthaunt to turn conjured creatures against their creator. Create undead will give these guys some free helpers, at no cost of an action in battle. Dispel magic will generally handle a lot of powerful effects that otherwise could not be dealt with. At will invisibility or darkness? I get that this is a powerful creature but the ability to fly off and return invisible with more undead or having dispelled party buffs... this is really really strong. Either as part of an encounter or by themselves their spellcasting is pretty powerful.

Offensively they don't get legendary actions like dragons, instead they just get 4 attacks. 4 attacks... is a lot. The attacks are not low damage either. The horns save or be knocked prone is a great bonus - and a bonus with no tradeoff. No resource used, no attack sacrificed. Just a save or the next three attacks from this guy are made with advantage. And advantage for the ghouls this guy summoned and anything else in the encounter.

The bite attack rider seems designed to kill players. It is a nice touch and forces people to think about healing people before they become unconscious, which is interesting.

All in all I like the package but I think it comes in somewhere above CR11 in practice. It can play hit and run with some solid at will abilities and multiple uses of dispel magic. It almost need never fight alone with the ability to create undead. It is tough, lots of resistances including magic, its hard to pin down so it can fly in to attack casters concentrating on key spells and it does a solid load of damage. Eyeballing this I might have guessed it as a CR 14 creature?



Nightwing:
Tougher, higher AC more mobile... Dispel magic at will might enable some more atritional tactics from this guy. Finger of death added to the list justifies more zombies in the encounter as well... The bite effect may be almost irrelevant or highly relevant depending on the campaign. Worth asking/clarifying if "being magical" is a property. If biting someone means that this creature becomes resistant to their attacks it might be a bit over the top. Only three attacks but they are powerful high damage ones - at the level where they are inflicting penalties to concentration saves.

Nightwalker
The slam attack could be very annoying. I would be careful about using this. Evil Gaze is obscenely strong - skipping their action and having advantage against them and critical hits? The Nightwalker is possibly outputting 100 damage per round without using any resources. Then the interaction of the two abilities. Paralysis causes critical hits, slam destroys magic items on a critical hit... Ouch. CR 16 seems a bit low for the hatred these guys would engender.

MrStabby
2017-03-21, 01:46 PM
One thing I would be interested in your take on would be a mummy, or a varient somewhere between the two in the MM. CR3 to CR15 is a big gap.