Hi All! I'm running a game for a group that includes a kid who is mostly interested in the hack-and-slash aspects of DnD. Our compromise, to keep everybody from getting bored, is we spend one session in a dungeon killing monsters, then a session out of the dungeon doing a kind of townbuilding thing. It's been going well, but I recently introduced a new mechanic where they introduce elemental... elements... to the dungeon. The elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Breath, Blood, and Steel. They can mix these elements using Infinite Craft (thank you, Griffin McElroy), and when they've created a new element that they're interested in, they can "activate" it, which subsequently changes the nature of the town and the dungeon.
Thus far, they've made two combinations: The first was earth and steel, which created a plow, so now they have automatons that plow their fields. The second was blood and breath, which technically created a Vampire, but they don't actually get to see the result as much as I describe it to them, so I created a replica of the "helper" who lives in the dungeon (who is secretly the BBEG), who acts as a kind of "wise old man guide" for the group.
Anyway, as the blood/breath combo was most recently added, I've got to revamp the dungeon to reflect the two elements. Breath as an element is reflected in things like air, sound, and the machinery of motion, while blood tends to be reflective of flesh-and-blood living things. Obviously, with the two combined, there's going to be a big emphasis on more "human" monsters, but I'm wondering if anybody has any particularly interesting suggestions here? The party is level seven, but there's a mechanic in the dungeon where it's functionally impossible to die, so I'm happy to throw a couple more challenges at them. I'm also using DnDBeyond's encounter calculator, so please, only suggestions that exist in the books. I already have to populate this dungeon pretty quickly, I'm not going to spend hours homebrewing monsters. The monsters can be any mix of blood-based (Dragonblood Ooze), breath-based (Air Elemental), or in-between based (Knight). I'm just looking for some fun ideas to throw at them.
Oh, the Invisible Stalker is definitely going to be in the dungeon. I had it in the vanilla version of the dungeon, and they hated it so much that they now have the druid cast Starry Wisp down every hall they walk down. Those are definitely already on my list, hoping I can come up with some other ones.
Bears mentioning that, because the intent of the maze is to be a labyrinth of battles, some of the fights are "manageable" fights intended to burn down their resources. So, for instance, I had a room full of mephits in the original dungeon, largely so the sorcerer would have to waste a spell slot on a fireball (and a sorcery point to change its damage type from fire to something the mephits weren't immune to). That way they'd be a little exhausted for other, more serious battles. So feel free to suggest low-CR monsters that I can swarm them with, or throw at them in small groups. I'm already digging through all the material I can get my hands on, but I'm going cross-eyed from all the text, so that's why I sent out the bat signal.
Also bears mentioning that they can't die while in the dungeon, and the intent is to create a kind of roguelike experience, so if there's something that's insurmountable at level 7, but manageable at level 9, that's also okay.
If you want some more "annoying, resource wasters" I'd go for some low-CR birds with flyby like the Peryton, you can make them extra annoying if you put them in a room with cliffs and stuff where they can grab & drop or shove PCs off the edge for extra falling damage.
Also any monster with Life Drain is always good for softening up the party, e.g. Wraith, or Specter.
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Hi All! I'm running a game for a group that includes a kid who is mostly interested in the hack-and-slash aspects of DnD. Our compromise, to keep everybody from getting bored, is we spend one session in a dungeon killing monsters, then a session out of the dungeon doing a kind of townbuilding thing. It's been going well, but I recently introduced a new mechanic where they introduce elemental... elements... to the dungeon. The elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Breath, Blood, and Steel. They can mix these elements using Infinite Craft (thank you, Griffin McElroy), and when they've created a new element that they're interested in, they can "activate" it, which subsequently changes the nature of the town and the dungeon.
Thus far, they've made two combinations: The first was earth and steel, which created a plow, so now they have automatons that plow their fields. The second was blood and breath, which technically created a Vampire, but they don't actually get to see the result as much as I describe it to them, so I created a replica of the "helper" who lives in the dungeon (who is secretly the BBEG), who acts as a kind of "wise old man guide" for the group.
Anyway, as the blood/breath combo was most recently added, I've got to revamp the dungeon to reflect the two elements. Breath as an element is reflected in things like air, sound, and the machinery of motion, while blood tends to be reflective of flesh-and-blood living things. Obviously, with the two combined, there's going to be a big emphasis on more "human" monsters, but I'm wondering if anybody has any particularly interesting suggestions here? The party is level seven, but there's a mechanic in the dungeon where it's functionally impossible to die, so I'm happy to throw a couple more challenges at them. I'm also using DnDBeyond's encounter calculator, so please, only suggestions that exist in the books. I already have to populate this dungeon pretty quickly, I'm not going to spend hours homebrewing monsters. The monsters can be any mix of blood-based (Dragonblood Ooze), breath-based (Air Elemental), or in-between based (Knight). I'm just looking for some fun ideas to throw at them.
I get you wanting to use the books. Which books do you have access to? Any third party stuff?
I have access to most of the resources that are available on DnDBeyond, and if something really tickles me, I can always grab something.
How about:
Blood-theme : Zombie Clot, Blood Witch, Death Cultist, Oriq Blood Mage
In Between: Red Wizard, Beserker Commander, Underworld Cerberus
Breath-theme: Aerosaur, Cloud Giant, Invisible Stalker, Vrock
Oh, the Invisible Stalker is definitely going to be in the dungeon. I had it in the vanilla version of the dungeon, and they hated it so much that they now have the druid cast Starry Wisp down every hall they walk down. Those are definitely already on my list, hoping I can come up with some other ones.
Bears mentioning that, because the intent of the maze is to be a labyrinth of battles, some of the fights are "manageable" fights intended to burn down their resources. So, for instance, I had a room full of mephits in the original dungeon, largely so the sorcerer would have to waste a spell slot on a fireball (and a sorcery point to change its damage type from fire to something the mephits weren't immune to). That way they'd be a little exhausted for other, more serious battles. So feel free to suggest low-CR monsters that I can swarm them with, or throw at them in small groups. I'm already digging through all the material I can get my hands on, but I'm going cross-eyed from all the text, so that's why I sent out the bat signal.
Also bears mentioning that they can't die while in the dungeon, and the intent is to create a kind of roguelike experience, so if there's something that's insurmountable at level 7, but manageable at level 9, that's also okay.
If you want some more "annoying, resource wasters" I'd go for some low-CR birds with flyby like the Peryton, you can make them extra annoying if you put them in a room with cliffs and stuff where they can grab & drop or shove PCs off the edge for extra falling damage.
Also any monster with Life Drain is always good for softening up the party, e.g. Wraith, or Specter.