A Custom Monster: Thoughts?

[RareSwordfish]

Hello all, I have created a new monster, and I wanted some input on it. This is the whole thing (some things are not written exactly like the rules would have them, but are implied):
Ice Golem
Size: large
Speed: 35 feet
Hit Points: 276
Armor Class: 20 (magic ice)
Strength: 18 (+4)
Dexterity: 9 (-1)
Constitution: 20 (+5)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 17 (+3)
Charisma: 7 (-2)
Damage immunities: Cold and poison damage
Damage resistances: Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical weapons.
Damage weaknesses: Fire and thunder damage
Ice form: if the Ice Golem receives cold damage, it takes no damage and instead gains health equal to the damage. Also, ice and snow do not impair the movement of the Golem or require it to make a save.
Multi-action: the Ice Golem has two actions, the second of which can only be an attack or a spell.
Slam: one target, +7 to hit, range 5 feet, 4d6 bludgeoning damage.
Ice pulse (recharge 5/6): A pulse of ice extends in a 20-foot radius around the golem. The golem heals 2d10 + 3 health when it uses this attack. The ground in the radius is frozen over and now counts as difficult terrain, any object in the area is frozen over and must be chipped out after 3 rounds, and any creature in the radius must succeed a DC 18 strength or dexterity check to avoid being frozen to the floor (a surprised creature makes the check with disadvantage). A creature that is frozen to the floor is restrained, or if it is already frozen to the floor it must make a DC 19 strength check or become petrified. A restrained creature can use an action to free one foot if they have a weapon (or claws, a beak, or something similar) or three if they don't, or succeed a DC 25 strength check and free one foot. A petrified creature can be chipped out of the ice after 1 minute, or they can succeed a DC 30 strength check to become restrained. They can attempt this check every 3 rounds. Any creature restrained or petrified by this effect takes 1d4 cold damage on the start of it's turns. The ice has 10 HP per 5 feet and is weak to fire and thunder damage and immune to poison and phsycic damage.
Ice Boulder Throw: One target, +7 to hit, range 80/160 feet, 4d10 bludgeoning damage. Also, any creature within 5 feet of the target must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw, taking 1d8 cold damage on a failed save. The golem must have an ice boulder to use this ability.
Ice Boulder Smash: One target, +7 to hit, range 5 feet, 5d10 bludgeoning damage. Also, any creature within 5 feet of the target must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw, taking 1d8 cold damage on a failed save. The golem must have an ice boulder to use this ability.
Create Ice: The golem creates ice in any shape up to a five-foot cube. This is used to create the boulders in the golem's Ice Boulder Throw and Ice Boulder Smash attacks. (this is treated as a 6th level spell, but can be used an infinite number of times).
Spells: The golem is casts all of its spells at 6th level, and it has 6 6th level spell slots. It knows 6 spells, which are:
Awaken
Sleet storm
Dispel magic
Hold Monster
Cone of cold
Animate Objects

Much length, many long, yes, but I wanted to cover it very strictly. Is it fair and balanced, or did I overlook something? It is designed to fight a party of
7 level 6 adventures.

[Kuulvheysoon]

A few things that immediately jumped out at me -

(Lack of) Condition Immunities: Many monsters have these, and Golems in particular tend to have immunities to the following conditions: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified and poisoned.
Action Economy: if this thing is going solo against 7 adventurers, it's going to get trashed, even with the double actions.
Strength or Dexterity is usually added to the damage of Slam attacks
Those checks to escape the ice look a little wonky The Tarrasque (CR30, remember) has about DC17-20 saves, and Tiamat herself only hits a DC of 26.
Do you want the create ice ability to be able to be dispelled/counterspelled? Because as of right now, it can be.
Judging by the to-hit bonus, this thing is supposed to be about a CR 8ish? (Proficiency bonus of +3)

[the_brazenburn]

God, I love this idea! I've always wanted more golems with immunity to more damage types. I've been working on a Wood Golem with Poison Absorption. Does anybody have any ideas for a thunder-absorption golem? I can't think of any.

[RareSwordfish]

Kuulvheysoon, much helpful advice, I actually did not realize the challenge rating for this guy's abilities were so high (almost as high and higher than a CR 30 monster is a bit too high), so I will decrease them by 3-5 each. The condition immunities were kind of one of those implied things, but I will add them anyway. Forgot to add the strength to the attacks, whoops! The CR is supposed to be 10 or 11, so would it be a good idea to increase the proficiency? the_brazenburn, thanks! I do like making new monsters, and there really was nothing like this in the MM, so I figured I'd make my own. A new question, what is a good way to prevent a monster from just getting smashed? My party can currently take down a hydra no problem, so I need it to be quite a bit stronger than that.

So the monsters new starts are...
JK, no need to list the whole thing again. Just imagine the first one but with the new changes. :smallsmile:

[Kuulvheysoon]

Kuulvheysoon, much helpful advice, I actually did not realize the challenge rating for this guy's abilities were so high (almost as high and higher than a CR 30 monster is a bit too high), so I will decrease them by 3-5 each. The condition immunities were kind of one of those implied things, but I will add them anyway. Forgot to add the strength to the attacks, whoops! The CR is supposed to be 10 or 11, so would it be a good idea to increase the proficiency?

According to the DMG, the proficiency bonus for a CR10 should be +4. It's probably easiest to calculate the save DCs with the bonus and relevant ability modifier: in this case, you could make the case for the Ice Pulse ability being Constitution-based, leading to a Dexerity/Strength save of 8 + 5 (Constitution bonus) + 4 (Proficiency) = DC17. It'd probably be wisest (and conform most closely to the design of 5e) if you gave the players an action to break out of the ice with an Athletics or Acrobatics check matching the save DC of 17. Could another player help them escape, either giving the trapped player advantage (via the Help action) or just try to bust them out themselves?

[damascoplay]

I think action economy is a big problem with monsters in general in 5th edition,even if you slap a high AC and a bunch of hit points,your players are still going to be damaging it really quickly from one round to another,since each player should get atleast 2 turns with a modifier of +7 or higher,so they're going to hit most of the time. The healing abilities in attacks and the resistence/immunities are quite a nice touch,but won't help your golem remain on its feet for too long if the players have magic items on their side and spells such as fireball.

But for 7 levels players,two or three are probably going to get knocked unconscious but nothing too serious is going to happen besides that.

Edit: Jesus Christ, they have to succeed a DC 25 and DC 30 checks? Ok,that's a bit too much for level 6 players. Max the DC should be is 17 or 18 for them...

[RareSwordfish]

Kuulvheysoon, good thinking. Saves are now 17 for initial save, 18 for second save (cause it is harder to get away when you are stuck), DC 20 to remove a foot without an action (cause you can get lucky), and 25 to end the petrification effect (because it is quite difficult to do). You can remove a foot for free by using an attack (or using three unarmed strikes). It makes sense for a friend to be able to free a frozen or partially frozen person because I do not want this to happen:
Adventurer 1: "Quick, Adventurer 2, help me out so the Golem can't hit me with Cone of Cold."
Adventurer 2: "Sorry, can't."
Adventurer 1: "Why not?"
Adventurer 2: "Because I just can't."
Adventurer 1 dies from Cone of Cold.
Adventurer 2: "NOOOOOOOOO!! Why this ice?"
Or a similar scenario. Friends don't let friends get hit by Cone of Cold.
damascoplay, I think I will drain the party's resources, so they can't just Fireball. Something that might not have been noticed for the challenge rating of this guy is he is a spell-caster.

[damascoplay]

Kuulvheysoon, good thinking. Saves are now 17 for initial save, 18 for second save (cause it is harder to get away when you are stuck), DC 20 to remove a foot without an action (cause you can get lucky), and 25 to end the petrification effect (because it is quite difficult to do). You can remove a foot for free by using an attack (or using three unarmed strikes). It makes sense for a friend to be able to free a frozen or partially frozen person because I do not want this to happen:
Adventurer 1: "Quick, Adventurer 2, help me out so the Golem can't hit me with Cone of Cold."
Adventurer 2: "Sorry, can't."
Adventurer 1: "Why not?"
Adventurer 2: "Because I just can't."
Adventurer 1 dies from Cone of Cold.
Adventurer 2: "NOOOOOOOOO!! Why this ice?"
Or a similar scenario. Friends don't let friends get hit by Cone of Cold.
damascoplay, I think I will drain the party's resources, so they can't just Fireball. Something that might not have been noticed for the challenge rating of this guy is he is a spell-caster.

I think you need to tone down the DC for the petrification effect. They would need to roll,at their current level,an 18-19 if they have proficiency with that save to escape from being petrified,or a nat 20 if they don't have enough stats to pass the save. You know what are the chances of rolling a 20? 5%... And that is not fair for level 6 players. Even really high level players struggle to get a 25 on their save,but a bit less on checks (assuming that they have proficiency).

And about the party resources,i can say just one thing about it: Be wise about it. Players will usually try to save their potions and spells slots if they know they're going to be facing a more tougher enemy up ahead. They are just likely to avoid the encounter with it's minions entirely if possible.
If the players get to the boss room without spells slots or ways of dealing with him,a tpk will be eminent.

Edit: I forgot about one thing...casting spells as 6th levels is a bit too much for the players to handle at their current level. To counter that,give them some stronger healing potions and ice resistence concoctions.

[LordEntrails]

No way to balance the creature until you have a target CR. Other than that, I don't like the Multi-Action trait. As written it means the creature can cast two spells per turn.

[RareSwordfish]

LordEntrails, naturally, a bad decision would be to say, "hey party, you have no spells and not much health. Fight this boss now, K?" Playing it smart is quite important. :smallsmile: I think I will knock the DC down to 15 for first and second, 17 for a free foot release, and 19 for unpetrification. The reason I gave him 6th level spells is only cone of cold is a direct attack, and I won't make him use that often. Plus 6666 (for the memes). :smallbiggrin: LordEntrails, He only has 1 direct attack spell and 6 spells slots, so he is not an incredibly good fighter on the spell front. I may bump down the level to 5th or 4th level for spells, if it would be a problem. The reason I went with the multi-action trait is because the party is large and they are incredibly good at taking down even powerful monsters (hydras are not a problem), and that way the Golem could make an ice boulder and throw it in the same turn. Oh yes, also the target CR is 11 or so.

[damascoplay]

LordEntrails, naturally, a bad decision would be to say, "hey party, you have no spells and not much health. Fight this boss now, K?" Playing it smart is quite important. :smallsmile: I think I will knock the DC down to 15 for first and second, 17 for a free foot release, and 19 for unpetrification. The reason I gave him 6th level spells is only cone of cold is a direct attack, and I won't make him use that often. Plus 6666 (for the memes). :smallbiggrin: LordEntrails, He only has 1 direct attack spell and 6 spells slots, so he is not an incredibly good fighter on the spell front. I may bump down the level to 5th or 4th level for spells, if it would be a problem. The reason I went with the multi-action trait is because the party is large and they are incredibly good at taking down even powerful monsters (hydras are not a problem), and that way the Golem could make an ice boulder and throw it in the same turn. Oh yes, also the target CR is 11 or so.

:smallamused: Lol,i understand your problem of players taking down really high level monsters with ease. My players are currently level 10,and one is close to getting level 10,wich is the warlock of the group. So making the fights tougher for them is becoming a necessity,but you can handle that quite often by putting minions to help,and even heal the boss if they're spell casters.

One tip? Instead of draining the party resources,let them come to the boss room full,just to find out that all of his most trust-worthy powerful minions are all there to ambush them once they get into the chamber or wherever you want,potentialy making the enemies gain a surprise round. Traps and hazard environments can make up for the lack of action economy if the boss is fighting solo.

Oh,and about the Golem,it's looking pretty good now,it's beginning to take shape. Why don't you try to test if and see if everything's okay? Looks like a solid challenge for them to face it. :smallsmile:

[snooggums]

If it is going to be a solo fight, adding some legendary actions would go far in making it more fun for 7 characters.

These could be things like freezing people in place, pushing people around with a cold wind, or even some extra slam attacks. If the CR is under 10 I would only give them 2 Legendary actions per round.

[RareSwordfish]

damascoplay, thank you! I will keep those things in mind for when the adventures face it. The reason for its skill set was because my party likes to dog pile any enemies they face, so this guy will punish those who try. Also, for those skeptical about the multi-action trait and spell-casting, the 5e rules say you can only cast one spell per turn, so I am not worried about that. snooggums, I was also thinking about that. I should think of some legendary actions. Thanks for all of the imput so far, everyone!

[furby076]

6 level 6 spell slots. A 20th level wizard only gets 2. I'd consider giving them spell casting ability of a 10th lvl wizard and spell slots. Clearly focused on cold spells. More spells, but less powerful. Or just allow the ice golem to use those spells up to 3x per day total.

As for minions. 1 per round, when the ice golem takes melee damage, a chunk flies off and forms into mini ice golem. Use the stat for a zombie or skeleton, with immunity to cold, weakness to fire /lightening

[RareSwordfish]

furby076, You do have a valid point, so I knocked the spell slots down to 5th level and gave him only 4, but kept the same spells. The minion idea is an excellent one, but I think he should also be able to create them as his legendary action or with his create ice ability. Adapted skeleton stats sound about right. Thanks!

[Joe the Rat]

God, I love this idea! I've always wanted more golems with immunity to more damage types. I've been working on a Wood Golem with Poison Absorption. Does anybody have any ideas for a thunder-absorption golem? I can't think of any.

Quartz Golem. By BS-ing the piezoelectric effect, it turns physical impact and/or vibration into lightning (and possibly healing).