Is There A Grim Reaper Monster In D&D 3.5?

[Bartmanhomer]

Is there a Grim Reaper monster in D&D 3.5? :confused:

[Afghanistan]

Is there a Grim Reaper monster in D&D 3.5? :confused:

The Entropic Reaper from Libra Mortis, page 98 has big Grim Reaper energy.

[Fizban]

You could also try an Aspect of Nerull from Miniature's Handbook, but the aspects there are all pretty lame. Or go with what the Deck of Many things deals out: a Spectre. But yeah, the Entropic Reaper is the single most "dude I'm gonna make a grim reaper and it's gonna be awesome!" monster in any of the books.

[Icewraith]

Remember, the Spectre from the Deck of Many Things has buffed HP and never misses... might also deal maximum damage per hit, IIRC. It’s quite relentless and can be a nasty surprise to spring on a pc.

[Crake]

Or go with what the Deck of Many things deals out: a Spectre.

It gives you a dread wraith, not a spectre.


Remember, the Spectre from the Deck of Many Things has buffed HP and never misses... might also deal maximum damage per hit, IIRC. It’s quite relentless and can be a nasty surprise to spring on a pc.

Neither of those things are true... It's merely a dread wraith, a more powerful version over the regular wraith, and it is unturnable.

[Fizban]

*Checks* Turns out it's actually a Dread Wraith, in addition to being un-turnable, and anyone who helps gets to fight their own duplicate. Dread Wraiths do con drain that can be resisted with a high fort save, but it doesn't say to max their damage. The problem is that it's a CR 11 incorporeal 100+hp foe that can Spring Attack in and out of walls and kill you in 2-5 hits.

Spectres on the other hand just deal 2 negative levels per round with 45hp at CR7. The reason I always think of Spectures is that War of the Burning Sky likes to use their "Tragedy" monsters all over the place including against under-leveled 4th-5th level parties, which is blatantly a Spectre with bonus hit points and no CR change. Two negative levels per round will still kill anyone a CR 7 should fight in 3-5 hits, but it doesn't have Spring Attack. Instead it has Blind-Fight, which means it can just stay in the wall and only take a 25% miss chance, but without the Dread Wraith's Lifesense it will have a harder time tracking you as well.

(Obviously any incorporeal undead can just have their incorporeal touch re-fluffed to look like a reaper scythe).

[Thurbane]

Yeah, the DoMT Death card got nerfed in 3E.

In earlier editions it summoned a "minor death" that had its own stats, never missed, and always went first in a round.

[Psyren]

Pathfinder has one (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/grim-reaper/) that would be pretty easy to port back.

[Crake]

Yeah, the DoMT Death card got nerfed in 3E.

In earlier editions it summoned a "minor death" that had its own stats, never missed, and always went first in a round.

In 3e, the scythe never missed, it's regular touch attack, if it wanted to use that, could still miss. The scythe was the only unique thing about the specre, nothing about unique stats, or the ability to go first.

[Bartmanhomer]

Pathfinder has one (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/grim-reaper/) that would be pretty easy to port back.

Nice. :smile:

[Thurbane]

In 3e, the scythe never missed, it's regular touch attack, if it wanted to use that, could still miss. The scythe was the only unique thing about the specre, nothing about unique stats, or the ability to go first.

Interesting - I went straight from 2E to 3.5, so I missed that incarnation.

[ShurikVch]

If 3rd-party Ravenloft is OK, then Denizens of Dread have the literal Grim Reaper (5 HD Outsider, CR 7), and Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II - Death (darklord of Necropolis; 10 HD Elemental, CR 11)

[Malphegor]

All things said, if you wanted a party to face a Grim Reaper on the level of Discworld’s Death, you’d probably be better served having a undead Dread Necromancer focused primarily on the touch attacks and the scythe rather than minionmancy. Necropolitan is the player go to, but for a monster, there’s a plethora of undead that suit the look, but privately an ordinary looking human skeleton would do.

[ShurikVch]

All things said, if you wanted a party to face a Grim Reaper on the level of Discworld’s Death, you’d probably be better served having a undead Dread Necromancer focused primarily on the touch attacks and the scythe rather than minionmancy. Necropolitan is the player go to, but for a monster, there’s a plethora of undead that suit the look, but privately an ordinary looking human skeleton would do.Also, Charon (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Charon) the boatman of Styx - have both looks and association with death; in "The Enemy of My Enemy" (Savage Tide adventure path, Dungeon #149), statted as 30 HD Outsider (CR 22)

[Angrith]

Not sure what level you're looking for, but pathfinder has a literal grim reaper (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/grim-reaper/).

[denthor]

Yeah, the DoMT Death card got nerfed in 3E.

In earlier editions it summoned a "minor death" that had its own stats, never missed, and always went first in a round.


I thought the minor death from deck of many things AD&D had like 32 hit points

[Thurbane]

I thought the minor death from deck of many things AD&D had like 32 hit points

AC -4; 33 hit points; strikes with a scythe for 2-16 hit points, never missing, always striking first in a round.

Those stats mightn't sound like much in 3.5 terms, but AC -4 made it incredibly hard to hit, 33 HP was tougher because characters didn't deal anywhere near as much damage back then, and always going first in a round meant it basically made it impossible for casters to use spells.

[Blue Jay]

Maybe try the yugoloth (marraenoloth) from Monster Manual II: it's a CR 10 boatman on the River Styx with a Fear Gaze, animate dead (at will) and phantasmal killer (also at will). The standard stat block doesn't come with a scythe, but since it's an Outsider (not Undead), it's got scythe proficiency, so you could just give it a scythe.

I also homebrewed a powered-up version of the Entropic Reaper, which has some SLAs, and its scythe has a trap the soul effect that fuels an ability to create wraiths as spawn. I've got it posted on Myth-Weavers, but I'd be happy to convert it to Playground format if you're interested.

[Icewraith]

All things said, if you wanted a party to face a Grim Reaper on the level of Discworld’s Death, you’d probably be better served having a undead Dread Necromancer focused primarily on the touch attacks and the scythe rather than minionmancy. Necropolitan is the player go to, but for a monster, there’s a plethora of undead that suit the look, but privately an ordinary looking human skeleton would do.

Which version of Discworld’s death? The original was a running gag who had an inability to properly scythe Rincewind, whereas the more recent versions simply showing up to beat up on the party would miss out on a lot of the things that make the character fun and interesting.

[Ruethgar]

I made little grim reapers. E6 game, all Awakened Cats who took a necromancer variant to bind souls into their familiars. Basically the head cat made the Grim Reaper Society because their world was severed from the afterlife, pretty much only the Ethereal, Shadow, Material. Elementals could be drawn from but not reached for proper travel. Anyway, they bind the souls, force them into mortal forms for a few weeks with the Dream "God" who would lucid dream them into a beautiful afterlife as they were drained of ambrosia and agony. Couple weeks and they would be utterly destroyed for crafting ingredients to make the pantheon of pseudo-gods more powerful. Death herself was also an awakened cat, but focused on Leadership and undead control to get as many reapers out there as felinely possible.

[D+1]

Which version of Discworld’s death? The original was a running gag who had an inability to properly scythe Rincewind, whereas the more recent versions simply showing up to beat up on the party would miss out on a lot of the things that make the character fun and interesting.

I'M SURE I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
Death can't comment directly here. You have to quote him.