I'm perfectly fine home-brewing something, or leveraging and upgrading a 5e conversion/alteration of the Formians, but I was wondering if anyone had suggestion for a type of creatures which:
Are suitable for a 6th level party ( I think this excludes any serious concentration of Mind Flayers, as 2 are Deadly for 5 x 6th level Characters ).
Are hive minds ( nice to have, not strictly required )
Have the ability to control a host, or animate the dead.
Are strictly subterranean/Underdark ( I'd like a reason why they're not spilling out of the Dwarven mine and eating the local village ).
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Could consider a reflavour on the Dybbuk. Suitable for level 6, controls and animates a dead host, but I don't know how well the rest fits with your ideal.
Those could work nicely, or could be tweaked to work. I think I could come up with in-game reasons why they are restricted to the mine, since they're extra-planar.
I might need to come up with a reason why they have a supply of fresh corpses nearby, of a suitable type - but that just takes some thought.
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A circle of myconids might work (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mm/monsters-m#Myconids). They can reanimate corpses (will probably have a few servants in the colony, there is a template to turn any creature into a servant) and have a pseudo hive mind in the form of mass telepathy. And they naturally live underground. They have low CR individually, but there should be about 20 living together, so you can send them out in groups, and/or have stronger servants fight.
There's some real potential there with the Myconidsas well. I like the idea of the Myconid Sovereign being a central creature that they can fight their way to and dispatch.
Play up the warm, dripping, humid aspect of the tunnels - dark, lots of attack vectors for them to attack from ( might give the Myconids a spider climbing ability ), a central "queen" to attack, finally figuring out where the Dwarven inhabitants went as they're now "Spore Servants" - could really go for a horror vibe, a lot like the movie Aliens.
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I think the Myconids might be the way to go - as they're kind of a meta-monster. I can crank up the CR by having more powerful Spore Servants - I can even have the Party be the second group of adventurers to breach the mines - with the former group slain and now being re-animated Spore Servants, and a suitable challenge for the Party - with a few remnants of the original Dwarven population.
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I'm perfectly fine home-brewing something, or leveraging and upgrading a 5e conversion/alteration of the Formians, but I was wondering if anyone had suggestion for a type of creatures which:
Any ideas?
Thanks,
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Could consider a reflavour on the Dybbuk. Suitable for level 6, controls and animates a dead host, but I don't know how well the rest fits with your ideal.
As featured on Critical Role? ;)
Those could work nicely, or could be tweaked to work. I think I could come up with in-game reasons why they are restricted to the mine, since they're extra-planar.
I might need to come up with a reason why they have a supply of fresh corpses nearby, of a suitable type - but that just takes some thought.
Thank you :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
All it takes is one, and then they can make their own supply! ;)
A circle of myconids might work (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mm/monsters-m#Myconids). They can reanimate corpses (will probably have a few servants in the colony, there is a template to turn any creature into a servant) and have a pseudo hive mind in the form of mass telepathy. And they naturally live underground. They have low CR individually, but there should be about 20 living together, so you can send them out in groups, and/or have stronger servants fight.
There's some real potential there with the Myconids as well. I like the idea of the Myconid Sovereign being a central creature that they can fight their way to and dispatch.
Play up the warm, dripping, humid aspect of the tunnels - dark, lots of attack vectors for them to attack from ( might give the Myconids a spider climbing ability ), a central "queen" to attack, finally figuring out where the Dwarven inhabitants went as they're now "Spore Servants" - could really go for a horror vibe, a lot like the movie Aliens.
Another great suggestion, thanks :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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I have one word for you:
Tribbles
Can you imagine what they would do to the quadro-triticale crops in Faerûn?!
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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And a great famine struck Faerûn, what would our heroes do to solve this plight?
I think the Myconids might be the way to go - as they're kind of a meta-monster. I can crank up the CR by having more powerful Spore Servants - I can even have the Party be the second group of adventurers to breach the mines - with the former group slain and now being re-animated Spore Servants, and a suitable challenge for the Party - with a few remnants of the original Dwarven population.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.