Interested in ideas folks have around using a Nightwalker as a part of a high-level adventure. To me, these are things that should be a calamity like the tarrasque, not just a wandering monster to fight. This thing strolling/hovering through a town or a city could kill dozens by the second.
Started with my ideas for a 2024 update. I noted that the nightwalker's design around AC, resistances, and immunities are similar to intangible creatures (though they aren't intangible), so I used the wraith update for inspiration.
Proficiency with initiative.
In new monster design, legacy resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing is replaced either by no resistance and additional hit points, or with full resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. I added the latter, making it fully vulnerable only to force, radiant, and elemental masters.
Added immunity to Charmed and Unconscious conditions. Since controlling spells and effects now depend on the Charmed condition, this reduces the vulnerability from its poor Int/Wis/Cha saving throws, making it a more dire threat.
Removed the saving throw from Enervating Focus. Maximum hit point reduction is guaranteed on a hit.
Replaced the long dash beside Languages with the more explicit "Does not understand any language and cannot speak." Thus, it cannot be communicated with or commanded unless a creature has a means of communicating without language.
Reading the details about the negative plane (and positive) in the 2024 DMG, I've decided travel to these planes is not as simple as any other plane. They are special places.
There are no teleportation circles in either plane. Ever. The energy of these planes will consume/disintegrate anything material long before any permanent circle could be created.
The material components required to use plane shift to reach these planes are very, very rare. Far, far more than 250 gp (which is fine because the spell reads "250+ gp"). Would require an adventure in themselves. Maybe the key for the negative plane needs to be hand-crafted from voidstone, making one impossible to handle directly (i.e. lots of mage hand) and dangerous to possess at all.
It's not possible to determine any "precise location" in these energy planes, so gate can't be used.
The simplest way to use a nightwalker would be if the party needs to rescue the person trapped in the plane by getting the nightwalker back into the negative plane. Now that banishment explicitly does not affect undead, it can't be simply shipped back to the negative plane by a 4th level spell, so this becomes quite the conundrum. Likely need to duplicate the means by which the individual entered the plane in the first place.
Another tack is having to fight one of these, not knowing what it is or the consequences, then having to prevent another one by stopping someone recklessly creating them. Another approach could be to explore that those not destroyed are only "sometimes" drawn inside and replaced. What causes the "sometimes"? It also says that destroying the nightwalker destroys all hope of the trapped creature escaping. Why is that? What happens? Lots of interesting ideas this could generate.
Any intriguing ideas folks have, either along those lines or any others?
I actually have a plot that involves a giant shadow-beast that I was calling a Nightwalker, but I'm pretty sure I'll just build a new monster from scratch that resembles a Nightwalker, the existing monster is quite boring (decently dangerous, but boring).
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Interested in ideas folks have around using a Nightwalker as a part of a high-level adventure. To me, these are things that should be a calamity like the tarrasque, not just a wandering monster to fight. This thing strolling/hovering through a town or a city could kill dozens by the second.
Started with my ideas for a 2024 update. I noted that the nightwalker's design around AC, resistances, and immunities are similar to intangible creatures (though they aren't intangible), so I used the wraith update for inspiration.
Reading the details about the negative plane (and positive) in the 2024 DMG, I've decided travel to these planes is not as simple as any other plane. They are special places.
The simplest way to use a nightwalker would be if the party needs to rescue the person trapped in the plane by getting the nightwalker back into the negative plane. Now that banishment explicitly does not affect undead, it can't be simply shipped back to the negative plane by a 4th level spell, so this becomes quite the conundrum. Likely need to duplicate the means by which the individual entered the plane in the first place.
Another tack is having to fight one of these, not knowing what it is or the consequences, then having to prevent another one by stopping someone recklessly creating them. Another approach could be to explore that those not destroyed are only "sometimes" drawn inside and replaced. What causes the "sometimes"? It also says that destroying the nightwalker destroys all hope of the trapped creature escaping. Why is that? What happens? Lots of interesting ideas this could generate.
Any intriguing ideas folks have, either along those lines or any others?
I actually have a plot that involves a giant shadow-beast that I was calling a Nightwalker, but I'm pretty sure I'll just build a new monster from scratch that resembles a Nightwalker, the existing monster is quite boring (decently dangerous, but boring).