Doresain, The Ghoul King

[JNAProductions]

You know who you are, if you need to stay out.

Doresain, The Ghoul King
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 19 (Soulward)
Hit Points 900 (60d8+420, Maximized)
Speed 40', Climb 40'


Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma


22 (+6)
18 (+4)
24 (+7)
20 (+5)
20 (+5)
20 (+5)


Save Constitution +13
Skills Athletics +12, Stealth +10, Arcana +17, History +17, Religion +11, Insight +11, Perception +11, Deception +11, Intimidation +11, Persuasion +11
Damage Resistances Non-magical weapon damage
Damage Immunities Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned, Exhausted
Senses Darkvision 300', Blindsight 30', Passive Perception 21
Languages A Lot
Challenge Really High
Legendary Resistance (3/Day)
When Doresain fails a save, he may choose to pass instead.

Leaping Gait
Doresain can jump up to his full speed without needing a running start.

Soulward
Doresain adds his Charisma modifier to his AC in addition to his Dexterity modifier while wearing no armor.

Stench
Any living creature that starts their turn within 15' of Doresain or enters that area for the first time on their turn' must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, becoming Poisoned until the start of their next turn on a failed save.

Beefy Boi
Doresain's HP per hit die is maximized.

Masterful Turning Defiance
Doresain and any allied ghouls or ghasts within 60' of him are immune to being Turned.

Spellcaster
Doresain is a spellcaster, using Charisma. His save DC is 19, and his attack bonus is +11. He knows the following spells:

Cantrips: Blade Ward, Chill Touch, Frostbite, Thaumaturgy, Toll The Dead
1st Level (4 Slots): Absorb Elements, Arms Of Hadar, Bane, Command, Inflict Wounds
2nd Level (3 Slots): Blur, Darkness, Heat Metal, Misty Step, Ray Of Enfeeblement, Web
3rd Level (3 Slots): Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Fear, Hunger Of Hadar, Speak With Dead, Summon Undead
4th Level (3 Slots): Blight, Death Ward, Greater Invisibility, Shadow Of Moil, Vitriolic Sphere
5th Level (3 Slots): Antilife Shell, Cloudkill, Contagion, Danse Macabre, Enervation, Negative Energy Flood, Wall Of Stone
6th Level (2 Slots): Circle Of Death, Create Undead, Disintegrate, Eyebite, Harm, Soul Cage, True Seeing
7th Level (2 Slots): Finger Of Death, Power Word Pain, Whirlwind
8th Level (1 Slot): Horrid Wilting, Antimagic Field, Antipathy/Sympathy, Dominate Monster, Maddening Darkness
9th Level (1 Slot): Power Word Kill, Psychic Scream, Weird

Actions
Claw Melee Weapon Attack:
+12 to-hit, reach 10', one target. Hit: 2d8+6 slashing damage, 2d8 necrotic damage, and the target must make a DC 19 Constitution save or become paralyzed for one minute. They may repeat the save at the end of each of their turns to shake off the paralyzation.

Spittle Ranged Weapon Attack:
+10 to-hit, range 30', one target. Hit: 1d10 necrotic damage and the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or become paralyzed for one minute. They may repeat the save at the end of each of their turns to shake off the paralyzation.

Bite Melee Weapon Attack:
+12 to-hit, reach 5', one target. Hit: 4d6+6 piercing damage and 4d6 necrotic damage.

Extra Attack III
Doresain makes up to four attacks from Claws and Bites, as well as other attack actions. He may also cast a single spell during this action.

Bonus Actions
Invigorate
Doresain regains HP equal to the necrotic damage he has dealt this turn.

Retaliatory Stance
Doresain envelopes himself in a field of retaliatory necrotic energies. Until the start of his next turn, anyone who damages him from within 30' must make a DC 19 Dexterity save, suffering 2d10+5 necrotic damage on a failed save.
Doresain cannot use this bonus action in consecutive turns.

Defensive Stance
Doresain surrounds himself with protective souls. He gains advantage on all saves made until the start of his turn and resistance to one damage type of his choice.
Doresain cannot use this bonus action in consecutive turns.

Reactions
Parry
Doresain adds 6 to his AC against one attack.

Sacrifice
Doresain redirects an attack targeting him to an allied ghoul or ghast within 30' of himself. The new target must be within range.

Legendary Actions
Doresain can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Doresain regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Attack. Doresain uses Claw or Bite.
Move. Doresain moves up to his speed.
Regain Reaction. Doresain regains his reaction.
Cast (1-3 Actions). Doresain casts a spell, with the number of required actions equal to the level of the spell (minimum 1 action).

Edit: Made adjustments based on critiques received.

[J-H]

I actually wrote and ran a ghoul-centric module for 14th level characters about 6 months ago, so this caught my attention!

1. High-level characters taking this guy on are probably not threatened by regular ghouls or ghasts. They're just there as moving obstacles and damage sponges for Doresain, which means the party will probably ignore them. You may want to include a few higher-level ones with better DCs, or some grappling/proning effects.

2. That's a big spell list to cast off of. Antipathy takes 1 hour to cast (unless you cast with Wish), Eyebite consumes your action to use, he probably doesn't need Death Ward, etc. I suggest cutting it down to the top 10 spells he's likely to use in combat. As a DM at the table I have learned that I do not like excessive spell lists.

3. He has Legendary Resistance, but no proficient saving throws. Once LR is down, don't expect him to keep any Concentration spells up for very long.

4. His Proficiency Bonus is off. Proficiency Bonus in the CR 20-30 range scales up from +6 to about +9, and you'll need to decide what you want it to be. I'd expect PB+9 to go with 900hp, which improves all of his to-hits and DCs.

5. Parry is not usually worth tracking. It's weaker than a 1st level Shield spell. Sacrifice is generally better.

6. How about a Legendary Action to move, or to make a jumping attack to try to grab a flying enemy out of the sky? He's a deity, give him a +bonus to Jump like he has the Athlete feat or something. In a room with 40' ceilings, an enemy who can jump 30' and grab 5' above that can reach anyone.

7. He's a ghoul god... why can't he affect those around him?
7a. Any humanoid killed within 30' of him rises on its next turn as a ghoul unless resurrected before then, maintaining 1/2 its class levels and proficiency with the equipment it was wearing when it was killed.
7b. Here's the aura I gave the ghoul warlord: Aura of Hunger. Living creatures within 30’ must make a DC 18 Charisma save. On a failed save, they take 4d6 necrotic damage, and must use their reactions to move up
to half their speed towards the closest living target and make their normal melee attack against it. On a successful save, they take 2d6 necrotic damage. A creature reduced to 0hp or killed by this aura will immediately rise as a Greater Ghoul upon dying.

8. Non-melee non spell attacks are nice to have if the party tries to kite everything, and to spread the damage around. Something like this? Spittle. Ranged weapon attack, +9 to hit, 30’. The target must make a DC 17 Constitution save or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

I hope this helps him nom down on the party in a more impactful and scary way!
https://media.tenor.com/OCFk-AwIe64AAAAC/cookie-monster-eating-cookies.gif

Edit: Also, Medium is a bit small for an avatar/deity. Maybe Large? If you keep him medium, how about a trick where he can swap his location and appearance with that of another ghoul to disappear into the crowd of ghouls, requiring active Insight checks to find him?

[JNAProductions]

1) Very true. I intend to have ghouls and ghasts respawning during the fight, but they are mostly chump change.

2) Fair. I'm heading to work soon, but I'll definitely consider chopping it down a bit.

3) Also fair. Might add Con saves.

4) I set it at +6. Sticking to that.

5) True, but what if there's no nearby mooks? It can be the difference between getting smote and not.

6) Ooh... Me likey! Thanks for that. Again, work soon, but I'll be adding that when I get home!

7) I like those, but at the same time, I don't want to remove my party's control of themselves too much. Gotta straddle the line between challenging and fun.

8) Also likey!

Thank you so much for the critiques! You've definitely given me some stuff to tinker with. :)

[MrStabby]

You know who you are, if you need to stay out.

Doresain, The Ghoul King
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 19 (Soulward)
Hit Points 900 (60d8+420, Maximized)
Speed 40', Climb 40'


Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma


22 (+6)
18 (+4)
24 (+7)
20 (+5)
20 (+5)
20 (+5)


Skills Athletics +12, Stealth +10, Arcana +17, History +17, Religion +11, Insight +11, Perception +11, Deception +11, Intimidation +11, Persuasion +11
Damage Resistances Non-magical weapon damage
Damage Immunities Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned, Exhausted
Senses Darkvision 300', Blindsight 30', Passive Perception 21
Languages A Lot
Challenge Really High
Legendary Resistance (3/Day)
When Doresain fails a save, he may choose to pass instead.

Soulward
Doresain adds his Charisma modifier to his AC in addition to his Dexterity modifier while wearing no armor.

Stench
Any living creature that starts their turn within 15' of Doresain or enters that area for the first time on their turn' must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, becoming Poisoned until the start of their next turn on a failed save.

Beefy Boi
Doresain's HP per hit die is maximized.

Masterful Turning Defiance
Doresain and any allied ghouls or ghasts within 60' of him are immune to being Turned.

Spellcaster
Doresain is a spellcaster, using Charisma. His save DC is 19, and his attack bonus is +11. He knows the following spells:

Cantrips: Blade Ward, Chill Touch, Frostbite, Thaumaturgy, Toll The Dead
1st Level (4 Slots): Absorb Elements, Arms Of Hadar, Bane, Command, Inflict Wounds
2nd Level (3 Slots): Blur, Darkness, Heat Metal, Misty Step, Ray Of Enfeeblement, Web
3rd Level (3 Slots): Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Fear, Hunger Of Hadar, Speak With Dead, Summon Undead
4th Level (3 Slots): Blight, Death Ward, Greater Invisibility, Shadow Of Moil, Vitriolic Sphere
5th Level (3 Slots): Antilife Shell, Cloudkill, Contagion, Danse Macabre, Enervation, Negative Energy Flood, Wall Of Stone
6th Level (2 Slots): Circle Of Death, Create Undead, Disintegrate, Eyebite, Harm, Soul Cage, True Seeing
7th Level (2 Slots): Finger Of Death, Power Word Pain, Whirlwind
8th Level (1 Slot): Horrid Wilting, Antimagic Field, Antipathy/Sympathy, Dominate Monster, Maddening Darkness
9th Level (1 Slot): Power Word Kill, Psychic Scream, Weird

Actions
Claw Melee Weapon Attack:
+12 to-hit, reach 10', one target. Hit: 2d8+6 slashing damage, 2d8 necrotic damage, and the target must make a DC 19 Constitution save or become paralyzed for one minute. They may repeat the save at the end of each of their turns to shake off the paralyzation.

Bite Melee Weapon Attack:
+12 to-hit, reach 5', one target. Hit: 4d6+6 piercing damage and 4d6 necrotic damage.

Extra Attack III
Doresain makes up to four attacks from Claws and Bites, as well as other attack actions. He may also cast a single spell during this action.

Bonus Actions
Invigorate
Doresain regains HP equal to the necrotic damage he has dealt this turn.

Retaliatory Stance
Doresain envelopes himself in a field of retaliatory necrotic energies. Until the start of his next turn, anyone who damages him from within 30' must make a DC 19 Dexterity save, suffering 2d10+5 necrotic damage on a failed save.

Defensive Stance
Doresain surrounds himself with protective souls. He gains advantage on all saves made until the start of his turn and resistance to one damage type of his choice.

Reactions
Parry
Doresain adds 6 to his AC against one attack.

Sacrifice
Doresain redirects an attack targeting him to an allied ghoul or ghast within 30' of himself. The new target must be within range.

Legendary Actions
Doresain can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Doresain regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Attack. Doresain uses Claw or Bite.
Regain Reaction. Doresain regains his reaction.
Cast (1-3 Actions). Doresain casts a spell, with the number of required actions equal to the level of the spell (minimum 1 action).


Ok... 900HP? That is... a lot. Not saying this is wrong, but its kind of going to dominate the player's experience. AC 19 is pretty modest at high levels but it will be enough to mean than a lot of summons won't contribute massively to the fight. Again, this is OK, but it does mean that there are few shortcuts through that HP. Legendary resistance will mean that most unoptimised spellcasters wont do anything till turn 4 at the earliest - blasting spells will barely dent his HP and control spells will just eat saves. Thankfully there is no magic resistance which means there is a non-zero probability of these players having fun and it works well with the huge pool of HP, ensuring that the fight likely won't be over before then; defensive stance covers this though, but at least the threat of spells is slowing his healing. I think its worth looking at your party and the spells they use and seeing how many turns it will take of them continuously casting before they have a 50% chance of landing a spell that needs a save.

Invigorate... its kind of OK most of the time with various claw attacks making it likely you will get a substanital amount of HP back. 4 attacks, say 3 hit at 4d6 each... lets ignore the paralysis giving crit hits its just 12d6 HP back or 42 HP per turn. Its a big deal, but not overwhelming and it should get plenty of time to use it. If nothing else, a caster with chill touch gets to contribute. The issue is, that he can really spike this up - blight, harm... imagine a horid wilting vs a party of 5 (or more with summons), finger of death. This is all in addition to the necrotic damage from attacks. It might be a bit frustrating for players - on the one hand you want to nova it down, on the other it has so many HP that using your resources in this way is probably not that efficient. The players also might feel frustrated that all their effort is so easiy undone - especially as there may not be much of an end in sight to this guy's spells.

The hate for martials is pretty strong as well. At this level a party of five is probaby throwing out about 8 attacks a round so parry would only really matter to about 12.5% of attacks. The other abilities might be a bigger deal - retaliatory stance isn't that painful, but its going to add up and means that any downed PC cant just be thrown back into the fight after 1HP of healing.

Defensive stance doesn't only screw spellcasters but can also shut down other PCs. Piercing resistance will screw archers and rogues and radiant resistance will make smiting paladins and spirit guardians clerics feel a bit impotent. It just feels like this ability is making him tougher at the expense of a small subset of the party that get shut out.

I would advise moving these bonus actions to lair actions and with the stipulation that they cannot be repeated on consecutive turns. No longer endless resistance to arrows or spells or being able to heal every turn. Making the fight also about when to use abilities to find gaps in his defence might be a more fun and tactical fight.

Legendary actions are fine... mosty. The casting a spell part is potentially a big deal as it might be unexpected. Its not unfair though. Throwing down 4 attacks and a fear spell is the kind of thing monsters at this level shoud do.



The spell list... this is a funny one. Yeah there is a lot of themaic stuff and there is a lot here to power healing . I like the damage component - putting the PCs on the back foot early will make the fight exciting. Then there are some that don't really fit with what I envision, but might be needed. Absorb elements, misty step...

The big worry though is antimagic field. On a wizard its meh. On a cleric, it can be great. On a melee powerhouse like this it will be brutal. No force cage, no wall of force, no teleportation, suppression of forbidance... but also supresson of magic weapons and armor. Now this is bad enough, but it also means that it will be getting resistance to all weapon attacks as well as immunity to spells. How exactly are you envisaging this being stopped then? Do you give out artifact weapons to every player? Even some ower level spells like shadows of moil can be pretty brutal at shutting down casters.


I think that there is a bit of a risk with this that some of the abilities are just too hard-counters to some PCs. I think there is a real risk that, depending on what some peopl eplay, it might just not be fun for them. It feels that this could be really equipment dependant - if it were me I wouldn't like the feeling that I wasn't someone who could defeat this guy, but rather that I was the person that had lucked-into owning a toy that could defeat it. Even things like protecting ghouls from being turned - it feels like the cool cleric anti undead abiltiy that might let a cleric do somethig more fun that just healing in this fight, is taken away just as it is needed for the cleric to have a good time.

I love the really tough, very hard to chew through monster and I think you have pretty much nailed the theme. I think most of the offensive abilities seem right for an eng-game monser, but I think the defences might be a bit frustrating and might resut in a number of players feeling they are sitting out the major climactic battle.

[JNAProductions]

J-H's modifications have largely been made.
Mr. Stabby's advice on the stances has been taken-they're now not usable consecutively.

I am aware that this guy's a pretty potent threat, but at the same time, I threw a beefed-up Nightwalker at this party (had some bonuses, including maxed HP), and they tore through it in a few rounds.

[MrStabby]

J-H's modifications have largely been made.
Mr. Stabby's advice on the stances has been taken-they're now not usable consecutively.

I am aware that this guy's a pretty potent threat, but at the same time, I threw a beefed-up Nightwalker at this party (had some bonuses, including maxed HP), and they tore through it in a few rounds.


Yeah, no problem with top level monsters beig super powerful - it was really just two issues:

1) Will people actually have fun fighting this, or it will it be frustrating affair where no one gets to use the abilities they want
2) When all the interactions and synnergies are aded together, do you get something more or less powerful than expected.


Sure, some things will depend on the party, but 900 HP that is effecively doubled through spells ike antimagic field an that will rack up some pretty substantia healing as the fight goes on is very unlikely to be a pushover.