In the olden days, in a time when orcs were green and evil, and the books had 17 types of polearm, the Tarrasque required a Wish to actually end.
There's also liches and arguably vampires that don't actually die when you reduce them to zero hitpoints.
But the game has a dearth of unkillable juggernauts. Am I missing any good ones, or do you have creations of your own. Like the T1000, or Fred Kruger.
Being an outsider doesn't count. Not because they're not cool and all, but because there's a million of them. They are sort of out of category - not an exception.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'm a little confused by your post, if you are looking for creatures that don't die and can keep coming back to haunt the party, try a Revenant.
It could be as simple as an NPC the party killed because they are Murder Hobos, and now it keeps coming back seeking revenge and messing with their plans whatever they are trying to do.
Just a suggestion...
Cheers!
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Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
Any creature that doesn't die qualifies. Revenant is a very good candidate - one I know but entirely forgot.
It's not about any particular situation in play, or specific party. It's a tool for story telling, for setting up something where 'more fight' isn't the solution.
Also just something that was on my mind this morning, and I wondered if anyone had any input or ideas.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Anything can become unkillable when you take away their stat block. Especially NPC children.
I guess?
But that's not really the thing. You can kill the Tarrasque with a wish, you can kill a lich by destroying it's phylactery. Apparently, you can kill the T1000 by dropping into molten metal. Not sure about Freddy though.
But what I'm looking for is monsters - any monster really - that you cannot defeat by reducing it's HP to zero.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
A fair number of regenerating creatures don't die unless you block their regeneration (such as trolls), though typically this is fairly straightforward to accomplish. There are a fair number of things that don't stay dead, though typically being reduced to zero hit points does remove them from play for a fairly extended period (revenants and liches are examples of this). A lot of demons and devils just get banished when reduced to 0 hp. NPC enemies who have access to resurrection effects can return. A few creatures have other special effects that trigger at 0 hp -- mostly mythics, though there's a few even weirded cases like the priest of osybus.
However, if you're specifically looking for unkillable juggernauts, I don't think "it will be back in a week" really qualifies, so that pretty much limits you to creatures that have special tricks required to kill them. Puzzle monsters like that tend to be one-offs, though, because the challenge is mostly figuring out out how to win, so I'd look in adventures, not sourcebooks.
Well, there's Tiamat, who just gets put in the time out box in Avernus for a while if she's reduced to 0 HP and can't actually be killed due to being a god.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
A fair number of regenerating creatures don't die unless you block their regeneration (such as trolls), though typically this is fairly straightforward to accomplish. There are a fair number of things that don't stay dead, though typically being reduced to zero hit points does remove them from play for a fairly extended period (revenants and liches are examples of this). A lot of demons and devils just get banished when reduced to 0 hp. NPC enemies who have access to resurrection effects can return. A few creatures have other special effects that trigger at 0 hp -- mostly mythics, though there's a few even weirded cases like the priest of osybus.
However, if you're specifically looking for unkillable juggernauts, I don't think "it will be back in a week" really qualifies, so that pretty much limits you to creatures that have special tricks required to kill them. Puzzle monsters like that tend to be one-offs, though, because the challenge is mostly figuring out out how to win, so I'd look in adventures, not sourcebooks.
Trolls are a fine example, and so mundane that I overlooked them.
Liches and revenants are totally fine, but you're right - while they return eventually, they fail to give the immediate impression of being unkillable. I'm really angling for that moment when the players shout 'why won't you stay dead?! '
Of course it's always a little dangerous to put players in that situation. But that's another matter.
Sadly the Priest of Osybus isn't something I can view. Well, I suppose I can google it and see if there's a version available anywhere.
Well, there's Tiamat, who just gets put in the time out box in Avernus for a while if she's reduced to 0 HP and can't actually be killed due to being a god.
I guess gods count, but that's cheating =)
I mean, mostly because players aren't supposed to fight gods. At least, only very briefly and unsuccesfully.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Not quite unkillable, but it does match the vibe of being terrifyingly powerful and inevitable, is the Marut from MMoM. Ton of HP, high AC, and some of the only attacks in the game that I know of that are guaranteed to hit, no matter what.
I think starlinvf has a point - if something has hp, you set an expectation that reducing that creature to 0 will have an effect. This is why we don't have stat blocks for the various gods of Faerun, for example. So I think a lot of the "unkillable juggernauts" of D&D don't have a lot of official material because they are more set dressing than creatures.
any creature with the diabolic restoration, (devils) demonic restoration, (demons) or exalted restoration (angels) traits are inherently unkillable unless you manage to encounter them in the one plane they can actually die.
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Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
Yes I'm aware my username is completely awful, just do your best to ignore it.
A fair number of regenerating creatures don't die unless you block their regeneration (such as trolls), though typically this is fairly straightforward to accomplish. There are a fair number of things that don't stay dead, though typically being reduced to zero hit points does remove them from play for a fairly extended period (revenants and liches are examples of this). A lot of demons and devils just get banished when reduced to 0 hp. NPC enemies who have access to resurrection effects can return. A few creatures have other special effects that trigger at 0 hp -- mostly mythics, though there's a few even weirded cases like the priest of osybus.
However, if you're specifically looking for unkillable juggernauts, I don't think "it will be back in a week" really qualifies, so that pretty much limits you to creatures that have special tricks required to kill them. Puzzle monsters like that tend to be one-offs, though, because the challenge is mostly figuring out out how to win, so I'd look in adventures, not sourcebooks.
Trolls are a fine example, and so mundane that I overlooked them.
Liches and revenants are totally fine, but you're right - while they return eventually, they fail to give the immediate impression of being unkillable. I'm really angling for that moment when the players shout 'why won't you stay dead?! '
Of course it's always a little dangerous to put players in that situation. But that's another matter.
Sadly the Priest of Osybus isn't something I can view. Well, I suppose I can google it and see if there's a version available anywhere.
Well, there's Tiamat, who just gets put in the time out box in Avernus for a while if she's reduced to 0 HP and can't actually be killed due to being a god.
I guess gods count, but that's cheating =)
I mean, mostly because players aren't supposed to fight gods. At least, only very briefly and unsuccesfully.
Hey, she's the final boss of a module. And a much more spectacular final boss than the other god that the players can potentially fight in Rime of the Frostmaiden.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Not quite unkillable, but it does match the vibe of being terrifyingly powerful and inevitable, is the Marut from MMoM. Ton of HP, high AC, and some of the only attacks in the game that I know of that are guaranteed to hit, no matter what.
Maruts are cool. But they're not unkillable, just tough. What I'm looking for is something that considers being reduced to zero hitpoints as an inconvenience.
I think starlinvf has a point - if something has hp, you set an expectation that reducing that creature to 0 will have an effect. This is why we don't have stat blocks for the various gods of Faerun, for example. So I think a lot of the "unkillable juggernauts" of D&D don't have a lot of official material because they are more set dressing than creatures.
But ... ok, the thing is that pretty much all games end like this: You finally meet the Big Boss, that has more hitpoints than all the others for you to remove before it dies.
In the Cadderly series by RA Salvatore, there's an assassin called Ghosts, who uses a magic mirror to kill people. Ghost is pathetically weak. What the mirror does is swap bodies, forcing the victim's soul into Ghost's weak body. Ghost then uses the victim's own body to strangle the victim (who is in Ghost's body), and when the soul has departed, he swaps back.
Ghost doesn't work for an end boss, but that's an interesting mechanic that doesn't involve hitpoints.
Hey, she's the final boss of a module. And a much more spectacular final boss than the other god that the players can potentially fight in Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Well, there is that, I guess. I did not know that, but I don't really let D&D dictate what I feel or think belongs in a D&D game =)
If you're willing to do a bit of homebrew, and if you're not afraid to psychologicaly torture your players, hear me out...
Way back in 1998, Denzel Washington did a movie called, "Fallen". Find it. Watch it.
Trust me.
Mm, ok - I'll try =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Personally, I'm a big fan of monsters who just turn into a different monster when reduced to 0 hp, if you're going for that "why won't it stay dead!!?!?!?" reaction
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Personally, I'm a big fan of monsters who just turn into a different monster when reduced to 0 hp, if you're going for that "why won't it stay dead!!?!?!?" reaction
A boss that is CR 1 to start with and goes up to Tiamat would be hilarious
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And you run, and you run
To catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racingaround
To come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way
But you’re older
Shorter of Breath
And one day closer to death
currently in love with redesigning subclasses send me a message and I will try
Personally, I'm a big fan of monsters who just turn into a different monster when reduced to 0 hp, if you're going for that "why won't it stay dead!!?!?!?" reaction
That's not a bad idea. How and why though? Does a goblin morph into a wolf, then into a wyvern? Because ... that feels like cheating to me, unless there's an explanation somewhere =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You can always have a villain who's using magic jar
Yes, good point. Only works once though, unless you cast it again.
I suggest rereading the spell. You probably want some legendary resistance to make sure you succeed at survival checks, but a well hidden jar is a nightmare to deal with.
I suggest rereading the spell. You probably want some legendary resistance to make sure you succeed at survival checks, but a well hidden jar is a nightmare to deal with.
Oh!
Yea, that's super obnoxious =)
No you're right, that totally qualifies. At a baracks or similar, that could wreak such havoc. Any place you can possess a superior, and command dozens of mooks the attack the players.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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In the olden days, in a time when orcs were green and evil, and the books had 17 types of polearm, the Tarrasque required a Wish to actually end.
There's also liches and arguably vampires that don't actually die when you reduce them to zero hitpoints.
But the game has a dearth of unkillable juggernauts. Am I missing any good ones, or do you have creations of your own. Like the T1000, or Fred Kruger.
Being an outsider doesn't count. Not because they're not cool and all, but because there's a million of them. They are sort of out of category - not an exception.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Greetings Acromos,
I'm a little confused by your post, if you are looking for creatures that don't die and can keep coming back to haunt the party, try a Revenant.
It could be as simple as an NPC the party killed because they are Murder Hobos, and now it keeps coming back seeking revenge and messing with their plans whatever they are trying to do.
Just a suggestion...
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
Any creature that doesn't die qualifies. Revenant is a very good candidate - one I know but entirely forgot.
It's not about any particular situation in play, or specific party. It's a tool for story telling, for setting up something where 'more fight' isn't the solution.
Also just something that was on my mind this morning, and I wondered if anyone had any input or ideas.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Anything can become unkillable when you take away their stat block. Especially NPC children.
I guess?
But that's not really the thing. You can kill the Tarrasque with a wish, you can kill a lich by destroying it's phylactery. Apparently, you can kill the T1000 by dropping into molten metal. Not sure about Freddy though.
But what I'm looking for is monsters - any monster really - that you cannot defeat by reducing it's HP to zero.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
A fair number of regenerating creatures don't die unless you block their regeneration (such as trolls), though typically this is fairly straightforward to accomplish. There are a fair number of things that don't stay dead, though typically being reduced to zero hit points does remove them from play for a fairly extended period (revenants and liches are examples of this). A lot of demons and devils just get banished when reduced to 0 hp. NPC enemies who have access to resurrection effects can return. A few creatures have other special effects that trigger at 0 hp -- mostly mythics, though there's a few even weirded cases like the priest of osybus.
However, if you're specifically looking for unkillable juggernauts, I don't think "it will be back in a week" really qualifies, so that pretty much limits you to creatures that have special tricks required to kill them. Puzzle monsters like that tend to be one-offs, though, because the challenge is mostly figuring out out how to win, so I'd look in adventures, not sourcebooks.
Well, there's Tiamat, who just gets put in the time out box in Avernus for a while if she's reduced to 0 HP and can't actually be killed due to being a god.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Trolls are a fine example, and so mundane that I overlooked them.
Liches and revenants are totally fine, but you're right - while they return eventually, they fail to give the immediate impression of being unkillable. I'm really angling for that moment when the players shout 'why won't you stay dead?! '
Of course it's always a little dangerous to put players in that situation. But that's another matter.
Sadly the Priest of Osybus isn't something I can view. Well, I suppose I can google it and see if there's a version available anywhere.
I guess gods count, but that's cheating =)
I mean, mostly because players aren't supposed to fight gods. At least, only very briefly and unsuccesfully.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Not quite unkillable, but it does match the vibe of being terrifyingly powerful and inevitable, is the Marut from MMoM. Ton of HP, high AC, and some of the only attacks in the game that I know of that are guaranteed to hit, no matter what.
I think starlinvf has a point - if something has hp, you set an expectation that reducing that creature to 0 will have an effect. This is why we don't have stat blocks for the various gods of Faerun, for example. So I think a lot of the "unkillable juggernauts" of D&D don't have a lot of official material because they are more set dressing than creatures.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
any creature with the diabolic restoration, (devils) demonic restoration, (demons) or exalted restoration (angels) traits are inherently unkillable unless you manage to encounter them in the one plane they can actually die.
Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
Yes I'm aware my username is completely awful, just do your best to ignore it.
Hey, she's the final boss of a module. And a much more spectacular final boss than the other god that the players can potentially fight in Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
If you're willing to do a bit of homebrew, and if you're not afraid to psychologicaly torture your players, hear me out...
Way back in 1998, Denzel Washington did a movie called, "Fallen". Find it. Watch it.
Trust me.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Maruts are cool. But they're not unkillable, just tough. What I'm looking for is something that considers being reduced to zero hitpoints as an inconvenience.
But ... ok, the thing is that pretty much all games end like this: You finally meet the Big Boss, that has more hitpoints than all the others for you to remove before it dies.
In the Cadderly series by RA Salvatore, there's an assassin called Ghosts, who uses a magic mirror to kill people. Ghost is pathetically weak. What the mirror does is swap bodies, forcing the victim's soul into Ghost's weak body. Ghost then uses the victim's own body to strangle the victim (who is in Ghost's body), and when the soul has departed, he swaps back.
Ghost doesn't work for an end boss, but that's an interesting mechanic that doesn't involve hitpoints.
Well, there is that, I guess. I did not know that, but I don't really let D&D dictate what I feel or think belongs in a D&D game =)
Mm, ok - I'll try =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You can always have a villain who's using magic jar
Personally, I'm a big fan of monsters who just turn into a different monster when reduced to 0 hp, if you're going for that "why won't it stay dead!!?!?!?" reaction
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
A boss that is CR 1 to start with and goes up to Tiamat would be hilarious
And you run, and you run
To catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racing around
To come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way
But you’re older
Shorter of Breath
And one day closer to death
currently in love with redesigning subclasses send me a message and I will try
Yes, good point. Only works once though, unless you cast it again.
That's not a bad idea. How and why though? Does a goblin morph into a wolf, then into a wyvern? Because ... that feels like cheating to me, unless there's an explanation somewhere =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I suggest rereading the spell. You probably want some legendary resistance to make sure you succeed at survival checks, but a well hidden jar is a nightmare to deal with.
Oh!
Yea, that's super obnoxious =)
No you're right, that totally qualifies. At a baracks or similar, that could wreak such havoc. Any place you can possess a superior, and command dozens of mooks the attack the players.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.