I have a big bad. I really like him. He's a ghoulish vampire and ain't afraid of nuffin'.
Seriously, I'm having trouble balancing this boy. He'll be facing off against six Level 4 characters and I want it to be a tense and terrifying fight, without actually making it unfair for my players. Can any of you savvy DMs take a look at this massive stat-block and tell me how it fares?
As you may spot, he is sort of a vampire without the weaknesses, but also without a lot of the strengths. He's more of a beast than a sneaky shadow and I want him to rely on messing with the players so it's never a truly fair fight they fight.
I might add some other enemies in the room as the fight goes on, but it depends on how effective you think he might be.
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I have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing!
I have a big bad. I really like him. He's a ghoulish vampire and ain't afraid of nuffin'.
Seriously, I'm having trouble balancing this boy. He'll be facing off against six Level 4 characters and I want it to be a tense and terrifying fight, without actually making it unfair for my players. Can any of you savvy DMs take a look at this massive stat-block and tell me how it fares?
As you may spot, he is sort of a vampire without the weaknesses, but also without a lot of the strengths. He's more of a beast than a sneaky shadow and I want him to rely on messing with the players so it's never a truly fair fight they fight.
I might add some other enemies in the room as the fight goes on, but it depends on how effective you think he might be.
You might have to publish your homebrew, otherwise we cannot see it.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Argh damn, fought I'd done that already! It's shared now.
I've seen a few mistakes I missed, most notably that the "within 10 feet" thing for Withering Breath isn't relevant for the action anymore; it was for an old version if the count.
He seems to be too easy to me if he fights without an encounter before his fight. A full strength party will obliterate him. With a full strength party, I’d say he should be CR 9 even with tricky tactics if you want this to be tense if there is no other encounters before the fight. If there is other encounters, consider rests as a factor, but I’d say CR 8 then. If you don’t want a stat block alteration and want to keep him at a CR 7ish difficulty, I’d say give him minions in the fight.
The bite action does not seem like it will ever be used as an action in combat, since the mace is so much better. However, the damage done by him is extremely high, and he could probably knock one of your PCs unconscious in your turn. Also, you seem to have calculated his HP wrong. HP=Average hit dice roll + (CON modifier x number of hit dice). That would be 12d10 + 48, which equals 114. Also, why is the count large?
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
You've given Gregor a lair, but no Lair Actions (not necessary sure, but you reference a Lair Turn:
Mirror Walk. If the count is within 10 ft of a Mirror, he disappears into it and becomes un-targetable. He reappears at the start of the Lair turn in within 5 ft of another Mirror. If no Mirror is available, the count is trapped in the Shadowfell, and is defeated. Any creature grappled by the count are left behind where they are.
I know that generally, this is Initiative 20 (losing ties) but does anything else happen?
Second, a group of 6 4th Level players are probably not going to find this "a tense and terrifying fight" unless he has minions.
Possibly, when a mirror is destroyed, it summons a small group of additional enemies (this is a great mechanic for keeping fights tense, as it allows you to change the difficulty during the fight with the strength of the reinforcements) the Mirrors could shatter un-naturally loudly and then there's the sound of stirring undead.
Possibly, have it so each mirror can only be broken after the Count has Mirror Walked with it (personally, I'd have it breakable after he appears from it and the first fight starts with him appearing through a large mirror in the Foyer), and use Mirror Walk like a Mythic action from Mythic Odyssey of Theros? This could allow you to have a 'running battle' rather than a conflict in just one room. If the mirrors don't provide any healing, then it's just a case of nuking down Gregor then smashing a load of mirrors, if they heal him up (even if just half health or something)
I do really like the concept though, and hope you don't mind if I use it for a oneshot with my DnD group?
The Reader's Digest version is to give your boss monster a bonus action and 3 interesting reactions so that he can surprise the players -- along with the Legendary actions you have crafted.
He seems to be too easy to me if he fights without an encounter before his fight. A full strength party will obliterate him. With a full strength party, I’d say he should be CR 9 even with tricky tactics if you want this to be tense if there is no other encounters before the fight. If there is other encounters, consider rests as a factor, but I’d say CR 8 then. If you don’t want a stat block alteration and want to keep him at a CR 7ish difficulty, I’d say give him minions in the fight.
This is sort of my problem already; I want this to be the kind of boss battle where the players are dealing with one big nasty and several smaller "horde" enemies. The Count a sort of Ghoul Vampire with less weaknesses but also less strengths of a proper Vampire, who commands powerful, ravenous ghouls... Only adding just two if my modified deepwood ghouls (Who are CR 1) would make the battle insanely difficult. I have another homebrewed creature called a dredge (essentially a small fey-like creature that is pure ghoulism in a small, Gollum-esque form) who are 1/8 CR that I could use, but they're so small and inconsequential that it feels meaningless to add them.
My options would be to make sure the players have allies that can help them. They already have a magical lantern that can cast Sacred Flame, can blind and can cast Protection from Evil and Good, so there's that... But maybe it would be more fun if they had allies that could fight with them?
The bite action does not seem like it will ever be used as an action in combat, since the mace is so much better. However, the damage done by him is extremely high, and he could probably knock one of your PCs unconscious in your turn. Also, you seem to have calculated his HP wrong. HP=Average hit dice roll + (CON modifier x number of hit dice). That would be 12d10 + 48, which equals 114. Also, why is the count large?
Aight, I fixed the HP and buffed the Bite, while reducing the power of the Mace. He is Large because he's essentially a huge Ghoul; here's my Heroforge version of him: https://imgur.com/VEJn8og - He's basically a Vampire Ghoul; more physically menacing but less mystically gifted.
You've given Gregor a lair, but no Lair Actions (not necessary sure, but you reference a Lair Turn:
Mirror Walk. If the count is within 10 ft of a Mirror, he disappears into it and becomes un-targetable. He reappears at the start of the Lair turn in within 5 ft of another Mirror. If no Mirror is available, the count is trapped in the Shadowfell, and is defeated. Any creature grappled by the count are left behind where they are.
I know that generally, this is Initiative 20 (losing ties) but does anything else happen?
Second, a group of 6 4th Level players are probably not going to find this "a tense and terrifying fight" unless he has minions.
Possibly, when a mirror is destroyed, it summons a small group of additional enemies (this is a great mechanic for keeping fights tense, as it allows you to change the difficulty during the fight with the strength of the reinforcements) the Mirrors could shatter un-naturally loudly and then there's the sound of stirring undead.
Possibly, have it so each mirror can only be broken after the Count has Mirror Walked with it (personally, I'd have it breakable after he appears from it and the first fight starts with him appearing through a large mirror in the Foyer), and use Mirror Walk like a Mythic action from Mythic Odyssey of Theros? This could allow you to have a 'running battle' rather than a conflict in just one room. If the mirrors don't provide any healing, then it's just a case of nuking down Gregor then smashing a load of mirrors, if they heal him up (even if just half health or something)
I do really like the concept though, and hope you don't mind if I use it for a oneshot with my DnD group?
He's got Lair Actions now; one that can remove bonus actions and reactions on a Constitution Save, one that creates magical darkness and one that deals psychic damage and knocks a player prone on a Charisma saving throw.
I've been thinking about having a "fleeing fight" - I had this idea where the players would walk through the Bachsburg Manor and get to talk to "shades" of the Count in his human form, before the shade would sic something or someone on them before disappearing into a Mirror. I could change that type of encounter to have the actual, monstrous Count do that instead, so the players would have to chase him through his Lair to damage and defeat him, until they finally had to get to the crypt and destroy his body in its stone sarcofagus... But something about that just feels like it's not quite right.
The main reason he has the mirrors were so he could move from place to place quickly during a battle and threaten the "back-liners" easier... And so the players could defeat him by trapping him in the mirrors rather than defeating his body directly. Ideas, thoughts?
And you can totally use him and the concept behind him! It would be an honor!
I have a big bad. I really like him. He's a ghoulish vampire and ain't afraid of nuffin'.
Seriously, I'm having trouble balancing this boy. He'll be facing off against six Level 4 characters and I want it to be a tense and terrifying fight, without actually making it unfair for my players. Can any of you savvy DMs take a look at this massive stat-block and tell me how it fares?
Gregor von Kiefenwald, the Carrion Count
As you may spot, he is sort of a vampire without the weaknesses, but also without a lot of the strengths. He's more of a beast than a sneaky shadow and I want him to rely on messing with the players so it's never a truly fair fight they fight.
I might add some other enemies in the room as the fight goes on, but it depends on how effective you think he might be.
I have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing!
Your link seems to be broken.
You might have to publish your homebrew, otherwise we cannot see it.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Argh damn, fought I'd done that already! It's shared now.
I've seen a few mistakes I missed, most notably that the "within 10 feet" thing for Withering Breath isn't relevant for the action anymore; it was for an old version if the count.
I have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing!
He seems to be too easy to me if he fights without an encounter before his fight. A full strength party will obliterate him. With a full strength party, I’d say he should be CR 9 even with tricky tactics if you want this to be tense if there is no other encounters before the fight. If there is other encounters, consider rests as a factor, but I’d say CR 8 then. If you don’t want a stat block alteration and want to keep him at a CR 7ish difficulty, I’d say give him minions in the fight.
The bite action does not seem like it will ever be used as an action in combat, since the mace is so much better. However, the damage done by him is extremely high, and he could probably knock one of your PCs unconscious in your turn. Also, you seem to have calculated his HP wrong. HP=Average hit dice roll + (CON modifier x number of hit dice). That would be 12d10 + 48, which equals 114. Also, why is the count large?
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
You've given Gregor a lair, but no Lair Actions (not necessary sure, but you reference a Lair Turn:
I know that generally, this is Initiative 20 (losing ties) but does anything else happen?
Second, a group of 6 4th Level players are probably not going to find this "a tense and terrifying fight" unless he has minions.
Possibly, when a mirror is destroyed, it summons a small group of additional enemies (this is a great mechanic for keeping fights tense, as it allows you to change the difficulty during the fight with the strength of the reinforcements) the Mirrors could shatter un-naturally loudly and then there's the sound of stirring undead.
Possibly, have it so each mirror can only be broken after the Count has Mirror Walked with it (personally, I'd have it breakable after he appears from it and the first fight starts with him appearing through a large mirror in the Foyer), and use Mirror Walk like a Mythic action from Mythic Odyssey of Theros? This could allow you to have a 'running battle' rather than a conflict in just one room. If the mirrors don't provide any healing, then it's just a case of nuking down Gregor then smashing a load of mirrors, if they heal him up (even if just half health or something)
I do really like the concept though, and hope you don't mind if I use it for a oneshot with my DnD group?
You might want to watch Matt Colvile's video on Action Oriented Monsters:
https://youtu.be/y_zl8WWaSyI
The Reader's Digest version is to give your boss monster a bonus action and 3 interesting reactions so that he can surprise the players -- along with the Legendary actions you have crafted.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
This is sort of my problem already; I want this to be the kind of boss battle where the players are dealing with one big nasty and several smaller "horde" enemies. The Count a sort of Ghoul Vampire with less weaknesses but also less strengths of a proper Vampire, who commands powerful, ravenous ghouls... Only adding just two if my modified deepwood ghouls (Who are CR 1) would make the battle insanely difficult. I have another homebrewed creature called a dredge (essentially a small fey-like creature that is pure ghoulism in a small, Gollum-esque form) who are 1/8 CR that I could use, but they're so small and inconsequential that it feels meaningless to add them.
My options would be to make sure the players have allies that can help them. They already have a magical lantern that can cast Sacred Flame, can blind and can cast Protection from Evil and Good, so there's that... But maybe it would be more fun if they had allies that could fight with them?
Aight, I fixed the HP and buffed the Bite, while reducing the power of the Mace. He is Large because he's essentially a huge Ghoul; here's my Heroforge version of him: https://imgur.com/VEJn8og - He's basically a Vampire Ghoul; more physically menacing but less mystically gifted.
He's got Lair Actions now; one that can remove bonus actions and reactions on a Constitution Save, one that creates magical darkness and one that deals psychic damage and knocks a player prone on a Charisma saving throw.
I've been thinking about having a "fleeing fight" - I had this idea where the players would walk through the Bachsburg Manor and get to talk to "shades" of the Count in his human form, before the shade would sic something or someone on them before disappearing into a Mirror. I could change that type of encounter to have the actual, monstrous Count do that instead, so the players would have to chase him through his Lair to damage and defeat him, until they finally had to get to the crypt and destroy his body in its stone sarcofagus... But something about that just feels like it's not quite right.
The main reason he has the mirrors were so he could move from place to place quickly during a battle and threaten the "back-liners" easier... And so the players could defeat him by trapping him in the mirrors rather than defeating his body directly. Ideas, thoughts?
And you can totally use him and the concept behind him! It would be an honor!
I have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing!
New version of the Count; a bit more like a Vampire and with a less complicated stat-block... If just by a bit. He's also CR 9 now: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1218632-gregor-von-kiefenwald-the-carrion-count
I have some semblance of an idea of what I'm doing!