I'm DMing a one-off with my group soon, and was going to use a beholder as the boss encounter, but my DM just used a death tyrant (The Cooler Daniel) in our main campaign and I don't want to bore the players by making them fight something they just dealt with. What are some interesting monsters (CR ~13, aberrations preferred) I could use instead?
Some background: my plan was to have the players encounter a humanoid NPC who makes vague claims about his father being a very important person in some capacity -- eventually they find out his father is a beholder and then he morphs into one as well, hopefully in a way that allows for a grotesque, body-horror description on my part
So far I’ve been suggested an Aboleth which is really cool, but I think for that I’d have to rework my one-off to include water in some capacity so as to not screw over any players that get affected by its abilities
You might have to homebrew something, the major classes of high-CR aberrations are Aboleths, Beholders, Illithids, and Slaadi, but there aren't terribly good boss choices for the latter two in the CR 13 range.
A Yuan-Ti Anathema, An adult dragon, or some sort of undead monstrosity following an attempt to become a lich, using atropal, boneclaw, skull lord, or devkarin lich stats. A beefed up mind flayer or slaad, or perhaps a star spawn would also work.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Mind Flayers are a little less grotesque than what I was hoping for, but their relationship with Elder Brains could work pretty well for my narrative, and Mind Flayer Arcanists coming preloaded with wizard spells sounds like a lot of fun to play around with, so I might give this a shot
Mind Flayers are a little less grotesque than what I was hoping for, but their relationship with Elder Brains could work pretty well for my narrative, and Mind Flayer Arcanists coming preloaded with wizard spells sounds like a lot of fun to play around with, so I might give this a shot
There's various mind flayer associated horrors, like a neothelid; you basically have an excuse for anything with tentacles.
I'm DMing a one-off with my group soon, and was going to use a beholder as the boss encounter, but my DM just used a death tyrant (The Cooler Daniel) in our main campaign and I don't want to bore the players by making them fight something they just dealt with. What are some interesting monsters (CR ~13, aberrations preferred) I could use instead?
Some background: my plan was to have the players encounter a humanoid NPC who makes vague claims about his father being a very important person in some capacity -- eventually they find out his father is a beholder and then he morphs into one as well, hopefully in a way that allows for a grotesque, body-horror description on my part
So far I’ve been suggested an Aboleth which is really cool, but I think for that I’d have to rework my one-off to include water in some capacity so as to not screw over any players that get affected by its abilities
Sounds like you need to introduce a morkoth to the adventure. It's a CR 13 aberration contained in Volo's Guide to Monsters, has a strange personality, likes to collect people, and is very difficult to fight.
The creature would look something like a medusa, but instead of having snakes on her head, it would be eye-stalks. And maybe she could be passing herself off as human...ish. Maybe people just think she's some old witch or hag or something. But when you finally show up to the boss fight thinking you're ready to take down a hag, and she pulls back the hood of her cloak, and all those eye-stalks pop up!
Boom! Brown pants!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
If you want a monster capable of shape-shifting or appearing as a humanoid, I recommend a pair of Rakshasas. Like Beholders, they are very strong against magic-users and would quite believably be found in a human settlement. While not an Aberration, how horrifying it is to encounter them depends a lot on how well you present the atmosphere leading up to the encounter and the players' expectations.
The creature would look something like a medusa, but instead of having snakes on her head, it would be eye-stalks. And maybe she could be passing herself off as human...ish. Maybe people just think she's some old witch or hag or something. But when you finally show up to the boss fight thinking you're ready to take down a hag, and she pulls back the hood of her cloak, and all those eye-stalks pop up!
Boom! Brown pants!
A human-beholder hybrid is really close to the idea I had originally, actually! But I’m very new to DMing and don’t really have any experience with homebrewing beyond re-skinning an existing creature, so the hybrid became a human that morphs into a beholder
Star Spawn could work quite well (They are from MToF). You could either use one larva mage (CR 16) and nerf it, or do a fight with a Seer and some minions. If you want to reskin a beholder to be a beholder-human hybrid, change the size to medium, and maybe get rid of the hover speed and change it to 30 ft. of walking speed. That and a good description can surprise your players. The only problem I have with plain beholders and mind flayers is that they are almost too iconic; most experienced D&D players know how to fight them and what they do.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
I'm DMing a one-off with my group soon, and was going to use a beholder as the boss encounter, but my DM just used a death tyrant (The Cooler Daniel) in our main campaign and I don't want to bore the players by making them fight something they just dealt with. What are some interesting monsters (CR ~13, aberrations preferred) I could use instead?
Some background: my plan was to have the players encounter a humanoid NPC who makes vague claims about his father being a very important person in some capacity -- eventually they find out his father is a beholder and then he morphs into one as well, hopefully in a way that allows for a grotesque, body-horror description on my part
So far I’ve been suggested an Aboleth which is really cool, but I think for that I’d have to rework my one-off to include water in some capacity so as to not screw over any players that get affected by its abilities
You might have to homebrew something, the major classes of high-CR aberrations are Aboleths, Beholders, Illithids, and Slaadi, but there aren't terribly good boss choices for the latter two in the CR 13 range.
A Yuan-Ti Anathema, An adult dragon, or some sort of undead monstrosity following an attempt to become a lich, using atropal, boneclaw, skull lord, or devkarin lich stats. A beefed up mind flayer or slaad, or perhaps a star spawn would also work.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Mind Flayers are a little less grotesque than what I was hoping for, but their relationship with Elder Brains could work pretty well for my narrative, and Mind Flayer Arcanists coming preloaded with wizard spells sounds like a lot of fun to play around with, so I might give this a shot
I haven’t heard of most of these and atropals are absolutely horrifying! I might look more into them
There's various mind flayer associated horrors, like a neothelid; you basically have an excuse for anything with tentacles.
Slaadi make a great boss fight. Infect some players with tadpoles and chaos phage. Maybe a White Slaad shows up!!!
Edit: Maybe they find a Gormeel! BRB, making a new campaign.
Sounds like you need to introduce a morkoth to the adventure. It's a CR 13 aberration contained in Volo's Guide to Monsters, has a strange personality, likes to collect people, and is very difficult to fight.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Morkoths are aquatic, which would be hard to do with how aziz has things planned out, with the guy transforming. A land based monster would be better.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
They can breathe air.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
What about the spawn of a beholder and a human?
The creature would look something like a medusa, but instead of having snakes on her head, it would be eye-stalks. And maybe she could be passing herself off as human...ish. Maybe people just think she's some old witch or hag or something. But when you finally show up to the boss fight thinking you're ready to take down a hag, and she pulls back the hood of her cloak, and all those eye-stalks pop up!
Boom! Brown pants!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
If you want a monster capable of shape-shifting or appearing as a humanoid, I recommend a pair of Rakshasas. Like Beholders, they are very strong against magic-users and would quite believably be found in a human settlement. While not an Aberration, how horrifying it is to encounter them depends a lot on how well you present the atmosphere leading up to the encounter and the players' expectations.
See also: https://www.themonstersknow.com/rakshasa-tactics/ for tips on running an encounter featuring Rakshasas.
A human-beholder hybrid is really close to the idea I had originally, actually! But I’m very new to DMing and don’t really have any experience with homebrewing beyond re-skinning an existing creature, so the hybrid became a human that morphs into a beholder
Star Spawn could work quite well (They are from MToF). You could either use one larva mage (CR 16) and nerf it, or do a fight with a Seer and some minions. If you want to reskin a beholder to be a beholder-human hybrid, change the size to medium, and maybe get rid of the hover speed and change it to 30 ft. of walking speed. That and a good description can surprise your players. The only problem I have with plain beholders and mind flayers is that they are almost too iconic; most experienced D&D players know how to fight them and what they do.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System