- The big bad attacks the target, which is somehow corrupted. Could be poison, psychic, a curse. This leads to eventual death if failing all saving throws. Could be no healing is possible unless first using Remove Curse.
- Upon death the target can be controlled. I think the Dybbuk's Possess Corpse would do this nicely. The big bad makes a copy of its mind and installs it in the target.
- The more creatures the big bad controls the more powerful it gets.
Don't hesitate about pointing out official, third-party, and homebrew (with link) material.
You could reskin animated tree as a mushroom that has a neural network, animated tree has the ability to animate other trees that it can see.
so you have the characters deep in a cave in the under dark and have a room that’s like 6 by 6 and completely covered in mushroom with a giant one at the center, on it’s second turn it fires out spores to two squares (roll 2d6 to randomly work out which for each) if a player is on the square they take like d4 damage but if it hits an empty square the mushrooms in that square magically mutates into a duplicate.
each mushroom can only do this once on its 2nd turn.
See how long it take your players to realise they need to destroy the mushrooms in the non mutated squares?
The mutating shrooms could change color, and only one patch stays the same color. Perception check, then maybe a straight up Intelligence check for the deduction.
That will generally be a plot device, though you can also have abilities that consume minions (there are several abilities that allow healing off of charmed victims). In general, critters get enough of a benefit from having allies nearby (just because those allies can attack, aid, etc) that extra bonuses aren't really needed.
The NPC will offload her curse onto others, her allies, but if the allies get killed she becomes fully affected by the curse and gains vulnerability to bludgeoning and thunder, but also more powerful.
Maybe a trait about the bad and good side of being affected by the curse.
A disease spreading spirit that can become all powerful. Sound juicy.
Here are my tips, and questions.
-You may want to add enhancements or defects to something enchanted by the big bad. (Such as doing poison damage in attacks).
-When killed, can a creature still transmit the curse or is it no longer active?
-You could make the curse weigh down on the player as they bear it. For example, if you take enough damage from the curse, the big bad can start trying to assert dominance. At any time, you could say something like: "You stagger back and see yourself crushing Jackson's throat in vivid detail. His neck feels so warm, so tender, so tempting. And then, if they've taken enough damage you could say "make a wisdom saving throw or be compelled to attack Jackson."
-When it gets stronger, the big bad could have the fallen players top 2 scores increase by 2 for it or something on the lines of that. Hope I helped.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
- A bit like a bloodied creature in 4e could gain powers or inflict more damage.
- She infects people with a psychic curse that, upon their death, replaces their mind with hers. If she dies it's the end of the big bad, and her mind clones running around in other people's bodies just die, I imagine.
- Really good. Yeah, you randomly attack allies as the growing mind clone takes root and replaces you.
- I remember seeing such a mechanic somewhere, but really at this point she's killed a few hundred people to stay alive.
I'm looking for several, specifically:
- The big bad attacks the target, which is somehow corrupted. Could be poison, psychic, a curse. This leads to eventual death if failing all saving throws. Could be no healing is possible unless first using Remove Curse.
- Upon death the target can be controlled. I think the Dybbuk's Possess Corpse would do this nicely. The big bad makes a copy of its mind and installs it in the target.
- The more creatures the big bad controls the more powerful it gets.
Don't hesitate about pointing out official, third-party, and homebrew (with link) material.
Well, you can look at models such as the Aboleth, Myconid Sovereign, or Wight, but often that sort of effect is a plot device.
I did not even come close to having these monsters on my radar. Thanks, Panta!
How about the last point?
The more minions a big bad has, or the more people are under its curse, or *something* like that, then the more powerful it gets?
Seen a mechanic like that?
You could reskin animated tree as a mushroom that has a neural network, animated tree has the ability to animate other trees that it can see.
so you have the characters deep in a cave in the under dark and have a room that’s like 6 by 6 and completely covered in mushroom with a giant one at the center, on it’s second turn it fires out spores to two squares (roll 2d6 to randomly work out which for each) if a player is on the square they take like d4 damage but if it hits an empty square the mushrooms in that square magically mutates into a duplicate.
each mushroom can only do this once on its 2nd turn.
See how long it take your players to realise they need to destroy the mushrooms in the non mutated squares?
The mutating shrooms could change color, and only one patch stays the same color. Perception check, then maybe a straight up Intelligence check for the deduction.
Nice mechanic idea, reminiscent of some 4e things I recall.
So no one's seen a mechanic for getting stronger the more of XYZ are near you? Or the like.
That will generally be a plot device, though you can also have abilities that consume minions (there are several abilities that allow healing off of charmed victims). In general, critters get enough of a benefit from having allies nearby (just because those allies can attack, aid, etc) that extra bonuses aren't really needed.
The NPC will offload her curse onto others, her allies, but if the allies get killed she becomes fully affected by the curse and gains vulnerability to bludgeoning and thunder, but also more powerful.
Maybe a trait about the bad and good side of being affected by the curse.
A disease spreading spirit that can become all powerful. Sound juicy.
Here are my tips, and questions.
-You may want to add enhancements or defects to something enchanted by the big bad. (Such as doing poison damage in attacks).
-When killed, can a creature still transmit the curse or is it no longer active?
-You could make the curse weigh down on the player as they bear it. For example, if you take enough damage from the curse, the big bad can start trying to assert dominance. At any time, you could say something like: "You stagger back and see yourself crushing Jackson's throat in vivid detail. His neck feels so warm, so tender, so tempting. And then, if they've taken enough damage you could say "make a wisdom saving throw or be compelled to attack Jackson."
-When it gets stronger, the big bad could have the fallen players top 2 scores increase by 2 for it or something on the lines of that. Hope I helped.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
-Trevor Noah
Current character: Daceth dococeth, moon blessed.
This is useful, no worries!
- A bit like a bloodied creature in 4e could gain powers or inflict more damage.
- She infects people with a psychic curse that, upon their death, replaces their mind with hers. If she dies it's the end of the big bad, and her mind clones running around in other people's bodies just die, I imagine.
- Really good. Yeah, you randomly attack allies as the growing mind clone takes root and replaces you.
- I remember seeing such a mechanic somewhere, but really at this point she's killed a few hundred people to stay alive.