I'm hoping I could get some feedback and advice on a monster I created. The basic idea for this monster is that it can steal magic that is cast on it and then use it at a later date.
To clarify, here is an example of what I'm trying to do here:
Characters: Enemy Wizard (EW), Alp-luachra (AL), and the Alp-luachra's Ally Wizard (AW)
EW targets AL with the spell magic missile.
AL's Negate Magic reaction kicks in and cancels the magic missile. Negate Magic also adds a single-use magic missile spell to AL's spell list
AW casts mage armor on AL, mage armor is negated by Negate Magic and a single use Mage Armor spell is added to AL's spell list.
AL casts magic missile on EW. Magic Missile is cast and removed from AL's spell list. AL cannot use the spell again unless targeted by another magic missile spell.
It also has a secondary skill where it can use one spell from a spellcaster in range. Using the same characters as above:
AW knows fireball, but does not use it.
AL uses Steal Magic to cast fireball on EW. Fireball is not added to or removed from AL or AW's spell list.
AL cannot cast any spells from AW's spell list until 3 turns have passed.
Thanks in advance for any advice that you can give.
Magic Backlash seems overpowered. With 1 attack it can potentially hit up to 25 creatures every turn. Also, the Steal Magic ability is overpowered too because it can use it every turn as long as it keeps targeting different creatures. You could balance it and simplify it by making it Recharge 5+ instead like a dragon’s breath weapon.
The resistances are probably quite irrelevant, due to having a mere 5 hit points.
I would give Steal Magic Recharge (5-6) rather than only being able to target a single creature.
The resistances to magic weapons is a weird one, because by the time players have magic weapons, they'll probably be dealing at least d8+5 damage or higher, so a single melee hit will take it out anyway. But lower level characters without magic weapons actually have a kind of advantage.
Does Negate Magic work against area of effect spells like Thunderwave or Fireball? If I hit 3 x AL with Fireball, do they all learn Fireball? Just one of them? If all of them get Fireball then kiss the party goodbye. If only one of them does then how does that work?
Overall though I'd think about how these would fit into an encounter, as the level of the players and the number of AL's makes a huge difference to how the encounter will go.
At just 5 hit points and 15 AC, it's likely that this is going to die instantly if it doesn't roll high on initiative.
If the AL is on its own, then expect it to die to a single attack before it has a chance to do anything.
If there is more than one AL and they roll high on initiative, then they'll presumably steal all the parties most powerful spells. But they'll then be likely to be killed during the following round.
There's a lot of record keeping about which AL has stolen which spell if there are several!
If a party has 2 characters who can do AoE, let's say a Sorcerer with Fireball and a Bard with Shatter, then it's still possible to wipe out all of the AL's with 2 spells even if they absorb the first.
Overall I like the abilities but feel that they would be better placed on a CR5 monster with 85+ it points, limit the spell level that they can cast (so that they can appear in higher level encounters without simply being magic immune), decide how AoE works
Hi everyone!
I'm hoping I could get some feedback and advice on a monster I created. The basic idea for this monster is that it can steal magic that is cast on it and then use it at a later date.
Here is a link to my monster: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/633614-alp-luachra
To clarify, here is an example of what I'm trying to do here:
Characters: Enemy Wizard (EW), Alp-luachra (AL), and the Alp-luachra's Ally Wizard (AW)
EW targets AL with the spell magic missile.
AL's Negate Magic reaction kicks in and cancels the magic missile. Negate Magic also adds a single-use magic missile spell to AL's spell list
AW casts mage armor on AL, mage armor is negated by Negate Magic and a single use Mage Armor spell is added to AL's spell list.
AL casts magic missile on EW. Magic Missile is cast and removed from AL's spell list. AL cannot use the spell again unless targeted by another magic missile spell.
It also has a secondary skill where it can use one spell from a spellcaster in range. Using the same characters as above:
AW knows fireball, but does not use it.
AL uses Steal Magic to cast fireball on EW. Fireball is not added to or removed from AL or AW's spell list.
AL cannot cast any spells from AW's spell list until 3 turns have passed.
Thanks in advance for any advice that you can give.
Magic Backlash seems overpowered. With 1 attack it can potentially hit up to 25 creatures every turn. Also, the Steal Magic ability is overpowered too because it can use it every turn as long as it keeps targeting different creatures. You could balance it and simplify it by making it Recharge 5+ instead like a dragon’s breath weapon.
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You could add a weapon attack, I don't like how a lot of it has to do with magic.