My players may (depending on which plot seeds they pick up) be headed into the depths of the ocean to investigate a mysterious shipwreck. The area is tainted by the waters of the Styx (not instantly dangerous, but will cause memory loss if spending an extended period in the area) and inhabited by hydroloths, but I'm looking for suggestions for what other interesting threats they could come across (likely level 14-15, depending on what other threads they follow first). Any suggestions?
Chokeweed - a coral/sea weed that gabs and suffocates anyone nearby causing them to be restrained and unable to speak (including perform verbal components of spells), you could add in some fast & stealthy like a Deep Crow or a Nycanaloth but reskin it and convert it's fly speed to swim speed. That darts in to feast on trapped creatures. And/or add in paralytic poison injected by the Chokeweed.
Elder Oblex - this is the closest thing D&D has to an angler fish, so super thematic for deep-sea diving, have it start out exuding simulacrums of fish and other harmless sea creatures trying to lure the party closer and give it a squid-like ability to exude ink so that even darkvision can't see the main body of the Oblex until they flush it out of its hiding space.
Tunneling Eels - the aquatic alternative to Kobolds, long thing eels that tunnel through whatever floor / walls they are passing by and dart out to attack and then quickly retreat back into the very narrow tunnels. You can have different flavours/types of eel - some might be electric and stun their targets, some might spit acid, some might infest their target with their eggs like Slaad do, some might exude slime creating patches of difficult terrain.
Aboleth is another classic if you want one with more RP value than combat.
Hydroloths specialize in gathering and bartering information. So when a person dies and their spirit travels down the River Styx toward the Underworld, they will inevitably lose their memory. So maybe the hydroloths are there offering to purchase those memories before they are lost. But maybe someone came through who had a secret so immense and so powerful that they just couldn't bear to lose it. The prospect of losing one's memory is terrifying, after all. But the more you struggle against the inevitability of death, the more you are driven beyond the limits of your mind and your soul. In such a case, someone could be driven completely mad by the loss of their memory, and in D&D terms that results in a particular undead creature called . . . the Allip (from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse).
In the books, an Allip is only CR 5, but they have a ton of resistances and immunities that make them surprisingly resilient in combat. And they have two ranged psychic attack options that can stun targets and even cause enemies to attack each other. Just boost the HP a bit and boost the DC of those psychic attacks and you've have a nice thematic monster.
Also, on a pedantic side note, the River Styx only transported souls from our world to the Underworld. In order to pass through the Underworld and into Elysium, the soul had to cross (and drink from) the River Lethe, which is actually the one that causes the loss of memories. Ackchyually.
Also, on a pedantic side note, the River Styx only transported souls from our world to the Underworld. In order to pass through the Underworld and into Elysium, the soul had to cross (and drink from) the River Lethe, which is actually the one that causes the loss of memories. Ackchyually.
I'm aware of the real world mythology, but D&D decided to assign that function to the Styx.
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My players may (depending on which plot seeds they pick up) be headed into the depths of the ocean to investigate a mysterious shipwreck. The area is tainted by the waters of the Styx (not instantly dangerous, but will cause memory loss if spending an extended period in the area) and inhabited by hydroloths, but I'm looking for suggestions for what other interesting threats they could come across (likely level 14-15, depending on what other threads they follow first). Any suggestions?
Chokeweed - a coral/sea weed that gabs and suffocates anyone nearby causing them to be restrained and unable to speak (including perform verbal components of spells), you could add in some fast & stealthy like a Deep Crow or a Nycanaloth but reskin it and convert it's fly speed to swim speed. That darts in to feast on trapped creatures. And/or add in paralytic poison injected by the Chokeweed.
Elder Oblex - this is the closest thing D&D has to an angler fish, so super thematic for deep-sea diving, have it start out exuding simulacrums of fish and other harmless sea creatures trying to lure the party closer and give it a squid-like ability to exude ink so that even darkvision can't see the main body of the Oblex until they flush it out of its hiding space.
Tunneling Eels - the aquatic alternative to Kobolds, long thing eels that tunnel through whatever floor / walls they are passing by and dart out to attack and then quickly retreat back into the very narrow tunnels. You can have different flavours/types of eel - some might be electric and stun their targets, some might spit acid, some might infest their target with their eggs like Slaad do, some might exude slime creating patches of difficult terrain.
Aboleth is another classic if you want one with more RP value than combat.
Zegana from GGR is fun as well.
也许这艘沉船只是海怪头上的装饰品，或者是某种巨型寄生生物（比如寄居蟹）的壳。
A kraken!!
I know its a CR 23, but my party at level 13 beat a Blob of Annihilation. (There were seven of us, however, a smaller party would have been toast.)
There are story reasons why a Kraken is inappropriate, but the Oblex is interesting.
Hydroloths specialize in gathering and bartering information. So when a person dies and their spirit travels down the River Styx toward the Underworld, they will inevitably lose their memory. So maybe the hydroloths are there offering to purchase those memories before they are lost. But maybe someone came through who had a secret so immense and so powerful that they just couldn't bear to lose it. The prospect of losing one's memory is terrifying, after all. But the more you struggle against the inevitability of death, the more you are driven beyond the limits of your mind and your soul. In such a case, someone could be driven completely mad by the loss of their memory, and in D&D terms that results in a particular undead creature called . . . the Allip (from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse).
In the books, an Allip is only CR 5, but they have a ton of resistances and immunities that make them surprisingly resilient in combat. And they have two ranged psychic attack options that can stun targets and even cause enemies to attack each other. Just boost the HP a bit and boost the DC of those psychic attacks and you've have a nice thematic monster.
Also, on a pedantic side note, the River Styx only transported souls from our world to the Underworld. In order to pass through the Underworld and into Elysium, the soul had to cross (and drink from) the River Lethe, which is actually the one that causes the loss of memories. Ackchyually.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
I'm aware of the real world mythology, but D&D decided to assign that function to the Styx.