I'm trying to build my first big bad guy for an encounter with four, level four characters. The stats are as follows, is this too much or too little, the adventure also has six 22 hit point humanoids with no special abilities and a 1d6 +1 attack but many can be avoided through stealth and some will only attack the players if provoked, there are a few traps sprinkled in but nothing terrible. The mind rot spell it has is as follows: You attempt to inflict the mind of a creature in range with a progressive deterioration. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw or succumb to a gradual shutdown of its mental faculties. While affected by this spell, the target must make another Intelligence saving throw at the end of each of its turns. After the initial failed saving throw and every failed saving throw thereafter, the target's Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores each decrease by 2 (to a minimum of 1). On a successful saving throw, the spell ends on the target. When the spell ends on the target it regains all points lost to its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, up to their original values. If the target can cast spells and this spell reduces their spellcasting ability to 1, they can no longer cast spells until their spellcasting ability is brought back above 1.
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 104 (16d12)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR
18 (+4)
DEX
18 (+4)
CON
14 (+2)
INT
16 (+3)
WIS
13 (+1)
CHA
4 (-3)
Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +7
Skills Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,000 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. Creature ’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
3/day each: mind rot, darkness
Spiked Body. A creature that touches or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 ft. of it takes 1d4 piercing damage.
Spider Climb. Creature can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, creature knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. Creature ignores movement restriction caused by webbing.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Creature makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 1) slashing damage.
Web (Recharge 4-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 60 ft., one target. Hit. The target is restrained by webbing. As an action the target can make a 12 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, breaking the webbing on success and ending the restrained condition. The web can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire, and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and psychic damage).
it looks like just a giant spider with spikes and spells and a health tonic. maybe buff their AC?
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Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
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It looks good to me, although I think you've overestimated its CR; this is roughly in line with a CR 4 (per the guidelines in the DMG's "Creating a Monster" section), but that's about what you'd want if you plan to use it against 4 level 4 characters by itself.
A couple of thoughts: I notice this monster has Web Sense and Web Walker, but no way to actually apply webs to the battlefield. Is that intentional?
Does Mind Rot require concentration? Darkness does, so if Mind Rot does also, the monster can't use both at the same time (maybe that's intentional, but I wanted to bring it up just in case). If Mind Rot is not concentration, is there a way to cure it other than passing the save? A character losing INT to Mind Rot is going to get less and less able to pass the INT save needed to end the spell, which is what we call a death spiral. D&D generally avoids death spirals on all but its toughest monsters, so I wouldn't put one on a CR 4 unless there's another way to end the spell (like breaking the creature's concentration).
I added Web under innate casting and Mind Sliver as a ranged spell attack, only other thing I was thinking of doing was raising the AC to 16?
Agripex, Weaver Of The Void
Huge monstrosity, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 104 (16d12)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR
18 (+4)
DEX
18 (+4)
CON
14 (+2)
INT
16 (+3)
WIS
13 (+1)
CHA
4 (-3)
Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +7
Skills Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,000 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. Agripex ’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
3/day each: mind rot, darkness, web
Spellcasting. Agripex is a 9th level spellcaster (spell save DC 16, +7 to hit with spell attacks). Agripex has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mind sliver
Spiked Body. A creature that touches or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 ft. of it takes 1d4 piercing damage.
Spider Climb. Agripex can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, Agripex knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. Agripex ignores movement restriction caused by webbing.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Agripex makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 1) slashing damage.
Web (Recharge 4-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 60 ft., one target. Hit. The target is restrained by webbing. As an action the target can make a 12 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, breaking the webbing on success and ending the restrained condition. The web can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire, and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and psychic damage).
I think it's in a good place with these changes. Honestly, I wouldn't increase its AC; an AC of 16 is going to give the average level 4 character a 50/50 chance to hit this thing, and it's already got a lot of abilities (web, darkness, Mind Rot) that will make it harder to attack. It's also punching a little above its weight class in terms of to-hit bonuses and saves, which is fine, but I wouldn't add an above-average AC to that mix.
I just noticed you may have forgotten to add its CON bonus to its HP. At CON +2, its total would normally be (16d12 + 32), or 136. That's a little high for the target CR (which I'm still assuming is 4, unless this thing is supposed to easily kill your players) but you can always leave it and adjust downwards on the fly if the fight is going very poorly.
Keep that in your back pocket as a DM; you can always get away with adjusting monster HP in the middle of combat, but adjusting damage output or AC is much more obvious. That's why I prefer to keep my ACs a little low and compensate with higher HP on custom mobs.
Another trick you can keep in your pocket (Mdhe) for monstrous bosses. If the party is having hard time hitting, on one of the blows that gets through say some of the armor has been cracked or broken off - lowering the monster AC. Completely in line with video games, anime, fantasy movies, so your players will buy it.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
So always Give a BBEG fodder. I ran a dungeon in Pathfinder took players 4 sessions to navigate it and clear till they got to the boss room. They all pre buffed outside the room and due to lucky initiative roll’s ended up one rounding him before he even got to go.
I believe minions and traps would have made the difference without making it too one sided. 6 level 4 characters and I had just the one “monster in room”
it looks like just a giant spider with spikes and spells and a health tonic. maybe buff their AC?
Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
It looks good to me, although I think you've overestimated its CR; this is roughly in line with a CR 4 (per the guidelines in the DMG's "Creating a Monster" section), but that's about what you'd want if you plan to use it against 4 level 4 characters by itself.
A couple of thoughts: I notice this monster has Web Sense and Web Walker, but no way to actually apply webs to the battlefield. Is that intentional?
Does Mind Rot require concentration? Darkness does, so if Mind Rot does also, the monster can't use both at the same time (maybe that's intentional, but I wanted to bring it up just in case). If Mind Rot is not concentration, is there a way to cure it other than passing the save? A character losing INT to Mind Rot is going to get less and less able to pass the INT save needed to end the spell, which is what we call a death spiral. D&D generally avoids death spirals on all but its toughest monsters, so I wouldn't put one on a CR 4 unless there's another way to end the spell (like breaking the creature's concentration).
I added Web under innate casting and Mind Sliver as a ranged spell attack, only other thing I was thinking of doing was raising the AC to 16?
Agripex, Weaver Of The Void
Huge monstrosity, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 104 (16d12)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR
18 (+4)
DEX
18 (+4)
CON
14 (+2)
INT
16 (+3)
WIS
13 (+1)
CHA
4 (-3)
Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +7
Skills Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,000 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. Agripex ’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
3/day each: mind rot, darkness, web
Spellcasting. Agripex is a 9th level spellcaster (spell save DC 16, +7 to hit with spell attacks). Agripex has the following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mind sliver
Spiked Body. A creature that touches or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 ft. of it takes 1d4 piercing damage.
Spider Climb. Agripex can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, Agripex knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. Agripex ignores movement restriction caused by webbing.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Agripex makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) piercing damage + 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 1) slashing damage.
Web (Recharge 4-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 60 ft., one target. Hit. The target is restrained by webbing. As an action the target can make a 12 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, breaking the webbing on success and ending the restrained condition. The web can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire, and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and psychic damage).
I think it's in a good place with these changes. Honestly, I wouldn't increase its AC; an AC of 16 is going to give the average level 4 character a 50/50 chance to hit this thing, and it's already got a lot of abilities (web, darkness, Mind Rot) that will make it harder to attack. It's also punching a little above its weight class in terms of to-hit bonuses and saves, which is fine, but I wouldn't add an above-average AC to that mix.
I just noticed you may have forgotten to add its CON bonus to its HP. At CON +2, its total would normally be (16d12 + 32), or 136. That's a little high for the target CR (which I'm still assuming is 4, unless this thing is supposed to easily kill your players) but you can always leave it and adjust downwards on the fly if the fight is going very poorly.
Keep that in your back pocket as a DM; you can always get away with adjusting monster HP in the middle of combat, but adjusting damage output or AC is much more obvious. That's why I prefer to keep my ACs a little low and compensate with higher HP on custom mobs.
Another trick you can keep in your pocket (Mdhe) for monstrous bosses. If the party is having hard time hitting, on one of the blows that gets through say some of the armor has been cracked or broken off - lowering the monster AC. Completely in line with video games, anime, fantasy movies, so your players will buy it.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
So always Give a BBEG fodder. I ran a dungeon in Pathfinder took players 4 sessions to navigate it and clear till they got to the boss room. They all pre buffed outside the room and due to lucky initiative roll’s ended up one rounding him before he even got to go.
I believe minions and traps would have made the difference without making it too one sided. 6 level 4 characters and I had just the one “monster in room”
I have a couple posts on how to run a bbeg if want check them out. If I'm completely honest this pretty awesome for your first bbeg. Thumbs up dude👍👍👍