Two Undead creatures I really like but might be a bit too weak for the level of players are the Skeletal Juggernaut and Dybbuk. The Juggernaut is just a fun spectacle battle... a giant skeleton made of little skeletons that explodes into 12 skeletons whenever it's defeated. Really hard to give it any kind of "personality", though, if you're looking for generals the characters might interact with out of combat.
A Dybbuk is basically a demon that possesses corpses and can make them twist and move unnaturally (think of them like the Deadites from Evil Dead). It's a super interesting concept that is unfortunately not particularly powerful, but if you adjusted their stats a little they would make for a great enemy to screw with players... possessing the body of an ally they lost, jumping into the corpse of a giant or something else to give them better boss stats. Not the best enemy to challenge the players with in a straight-on battle in an open field or something, but in an environment like a winding crypt or something where the Dybbuk can repeatedly fade through walls or has a large variety of potential bodies to inhabit they can become a major threat.
A revenant could be cool too, not just endlessly persuing vengeance themselves but directing their political and military might towards vengeance in service to a dark lord maybe? I feel like you could have some fun backstory about how in life they might have been a hero that was betrayed, and through some "the enemy of my enemy" shenanigans they ended up allying with the vampire lord.
The cool thing about a revenant lesser villain is that they might not be the most powerful monster in the world, but they're unstoppable-- literally, even if you kill one, it comes back to un-life a short time later-- unless it achieves is revenge.
Maybe you could even have the main bad guy use that to their advantage. Villain knows their revenant lieutenant will fade away after killing the man who betrayed them, maybe the villain secretly imprisons that guy where the revenant will never find him, gaining a powerful unkillable general for all time.
So you said you were looking for generals - assuming that these are the top tier monsters who might be surrounded by guards etc. So it's the bit that really stretches them or even will force them to retreat?
Some ideas that could push the boundaries could be
Alhoons (CR10 - undead mind flayer from Volo's. Perhaps drawn in by the lure of more arcane magic in a library of the vampire lord(s))
A pair of Bodak's (CR6 - also Volo's). Two warrior brothers who swore an unholy oath to Orcus to destroy their enemies. Now manipulated by the lords to carry out an endless string of favours to get the information/clues on their enemies locations.
Sword Wraith commander (CR8 - Mordekainen's). Former warriors so desperate for honour and fame that they never rested (perhaps the vampire lords took them out in their prime only to enlist them as they rose)
You'll want to downgrade Ghost Dragon a bit to make it more achievable.
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Sure, as long as it isn’t the first General they fight.
They’re pro’ly gonna be at least 8th level if not closer to 10th level by the time they fight the first 4 generals & retinues and do the rest of the adventuring they’ll have in between. A CR 17 dracolitch isn’t even quite half the daily budget for a party of five 9th level PCs with 0 magic items. Theoretically they should be able to kill 2 in 1 day with a rest in between and some expected level appropriate magic items.
I’m not saying it’ll be an easy fight, and I’m not saying they’ll all survive, but it would sure be epic.
To rehash an idea I put on some other forum a while ago:
The Groundskeeper.....a Circle fo Spores Druid accompanied by a Cadaver Collector and found tending to several Corpse Flowers. No undead present until the Cadaver Collector start summoning Specters and the Corpse Flowers start spawning Zombies.
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What sort of theme are you after with these? I'm assuming you want a different flavour for each of them, so you have a sinister puppet master who I guess has minions and potentially can possess people with their puppet-master-ness.
What other "types" are you looking for? a Deciever, who uses illusions and such to their advantage, maybe being an air elemental type person who is nigh-unhittable? A juggernaut of raw power is a good one to engage the martial types. Someone who can split themselves into multiple copies, each of which has 1hp so is easily despatched but they also are just as dangerous as the original offensively.
I would suggest breaking down the encounters you want and then approach it from there. For example, you might say:
Horde Battle - Puppet Master
Maze - earth bender, forms mazes and traps - maybe a minotaur?
Melee fight - juggernaut, maybe that skeleton monster suggested earlier?
Magic Fight - sinister spell user, can't remember if death knights have a decent load of magic
Finale - a combination of the 4, so an earth-bending, horde-commanding, magic-using, giant-greatsword-wielding dracolich.
I have a party of three and there going to be sent to a vampire lords kingdom
I NEEED 5 monsters that would fit as generals of war
I have a homebrew puppet master i need 4 more
(edit) there level 7 and wont stop trying to start a fight with everyone
So the obvious one sounds like....vampires?
Perhaps a little more info on character levels might b helpful
Level 7
A death knight would be appropriate for a vampire lord. (but as overchord said, it would be helpful to know the character's level)
Two Undead creatures I really like but might be a bit too weak for the level of players are the Skeletal Juggernaut and Dybbuk. The Juggernaut is just a fun spectacle battle... a giant skeleton made of little skeletons that explodes into 12 skeletons whenever it's defeated. Really hard to give it any kind of "personality", though, if you're looking for generals the characters might interact with out of combat.
A Dybbuk is basically a demon that possesses corpses and can make them twist and move unnaturally (think of them like the Deadites from Evil Dead). It's a super interesting concept that is unfortunately not particularly powerful, but if you adjusted their stats a little they would make for a great enemy to screw with players... possessing the body of an ally they lost, jumping into the corpse of a giant or something else to give them better boss stats. Not the best enemy to challenge the players with in a straight-on battle in an open field or something, but in an environment like a winding crypt or something where the Dybbuk can repeatedly fade through walls or has a large variety of potential bodies to inhabit they can become a major threat.
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A revenant could be cool too, not just endlessly persuing vengeance themselves but directing their political and military might towards vengeance in service to a dark lord maybe? I feel like you could have some fun backstory about how in life they might have been a hero that was betrayed, and through some "the enemy of my enemy" shenanigans they ended up allying with the vampire lord.
The cool thing about a revenant lesser villain is that they might not be the most powerful monster in the world, but they're unstoppable-- literally, even if you kill one, it comes back to un-life a short time later-- unless it achieves is revenge.
Maybe you could even have the main bad guy use that to their advantage. Villain knows their revenant lieutenant will fade away after killing the man who betrayed them, maybe the villain secretly imprisons that guy where the revenant will never find him, gaining a powerful unkillable general for all time.
An Oathbreaker Paladin and a Death Domain Cleric would be perfect for two of them. Maybe a Necromancer Wiz and/or Warlock too.
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So you said you were looking for generals - assuming that these are the top tier monsters who might be surrounded by guards etc. So it's the bit that really stretches them or even will force them to retreat?
Some ideas that could push the boundaries could be
Alhoons (CR10 - undead mind flayer from Volo's. Perhaps drawn in by the lure of more arcane magic in a library of the vampire lord(s))
A pair of Bodak's (CR6 - also Volo's). Two warrior brothers who swore an unholy oath to Orcus to destroy their enemies. Now manipulated by the lords to carry out an endless string of favours to get the information/clues on their enemies locations.
Sword Wraith commander (CR8 - Mordekainen's). Former warriors so desperate for honour and fame that they never rested (perhaps the vampire lords took them out in their prime only to enlist them as they rose)
Ooohh! A dracolitch!!
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For a group of 7th level PC's?
My suggestions:
Mindwitness
Neo-Otyugh
Yuan-ti Abomination
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Sword Wraith Commander - Infantry
Dullahan - Cavalry
Alhoon -Artillery
Ghost Dragon - Close Air Support
You'll want to downgrade Ghost Dragon a bit to make it more achievable.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Sure, as long as it isn’t the first General they fight.
They’re pro’ly gonna be at least 8th level if not closer to 10th level by the time they fight the first 4 generals & retinues and do the rest of the adventuring they’ll have in between. A CR 17 dracolitch isn’t even quite half the daily budget for a party of five 9th level PCs with 0 magic items. Theoretically they should be able to kill 2 in 1 day with a rest in between and some expected level appropriate magic items.
I’m not saying it’ll be an easy fight, and I’m not saying they’ll all survive, but it would sure be epic.
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To rehash an idea I put on some other forum a while ago:
The Groundskeeper.....a Circle fo Spores Druid accompanied by a Cadaver Collector and found tending to several Corpse Flowers. No undead present until the Cadaver Collector start summoning Specters and the Corpse Flowers start spawning Zombies.
What sort of theme are you after with these? I'm assuming you want a different flavour for each of them, so you have a sinister puppet master who I guess has minions and potentially can possess people with their puppet-master-ness.
What other "types" are you looking for? a Deciever, who uses illusions and such to their advantage, maybe being an air elemental type person who is nigh-unhittable? A juggernaut of raw power is a good one to engage the martial types. Someone who can split themselves into multiple copies, each of which has 1hp so is easily despatched but they also are just as dangerous as the original offensively.
I would suggest breaking down the encounters you want and then approach it from there. For example, you might say:
Good luck, let us know what you come up with!
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