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Gastronomie
2016-07-16, 11:20 AM
This was a boss monster I used in a low-level campaign I did with IRL friends, and boy did the players love this guy. This thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?494719-Interesting-5e-monsters) got me thinking I should show this to other people too, so here it is.

So, as the DM of the aforementioned low-level campaign, I supposed the boss monster had to be a dragon. This was because this was the first time playing D&D for many of the players, and I supposed throwing in the monster that has its name mentioned in the game title wouldn't be a bad thing.

Since the original entry in the Monster Manual was sorta boring, I gave him a lot of original attacks that made him really versatile, as well as hopefully interesting. He swipes, he bites, he swings, he flies, he breaths acid, and he even breaths darkness.

Also notice that to not make low-level characters frustrated due to his attacks never hitting their mark, the AC is low for a dragon (AC 15), but his HP is much higher to compensate.

All in all, I think this is one of my best creations so far.

In the original short campaign I used this guy in, this dragon's name was Bahl-Zolo, and he was the tyrannical and yet charismatic captain of a pirate gang - the "Black Wings" - composed of goblins and other evil humanoids. The adventurers fought him atop a sinking ship (because that's always just so awesome), and when Bahl-Zolo was finally defeated, none of the five players had over 5 HP left. They had used up almost all their resources to fight this guy and his gang. It was a close shot, but the players all managed to survive.

Of course, the players' victory was also a result of Bahl-Zolo's personality. Bahl-Zolo was arrogant, as well as sadistic, and instead of focusing all his attacks on a particular character, he spread out his attacks over the characters, using Wing Blast to nullify all opportunity attacks that result from him flying in and out of the characters' ranges. He didn't have enough experience to understand that he was dying, and thus insisted on fighting to the end, believing in his absolute superiority.

The characters were given low-level magic items crafted from the body of Bahl-Zolo, like a shortsword that dealt extra 1d6 acidic damage on a critical hit, a talisman that gave its wearer resistance to acidic damage for one minute as a reaction (once per day), and such.

Elite Black Dragon Wyrmling
Large dragon, chaotic evil
AC: 15 (If the players are level 5 or higher, increase this AC to 18)
Hit Points: 99 (13d10+26)
Speed: 30ft., fly 50ft., swim 30ft.
Str 18 (+4) Dex 16 (+3) Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 16 (+3)
Saving Throws: Dexterity +5, Constitution +4, Wisdom +4
Skills: Atheletics +7, Acrobatics +6, Stealth +6, Perception +5
Damage Immunity: Acid
Senses: blindsight 10ft., darkvision 60ft., passive perception 16
Languages: Any number of languages that the DM feels appropriate
Challenge Rating: 5 (1800 XP)
Amphibious. The dragon can breath air and water.
Acidic Adaptation. The dragon can move over difficult terrain caused by acid as though it were normal terrain, and it automatically succeeds on all saving throws and skill checks related to acidic terrain.

Actions
Multiattack. The dragon can use its “Wing Blast”. It then makes two attacks, selecting from those below (each attack must be a different one).
Wing Blast. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 5 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be blown back up to 10 feet and use up its Reaction for this turn without doing anything. Even if the creature succeeded, the creature cannot make opportunity attacks against the dragon during this turn.
Normal Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target
Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage. If this attack has advantage, the acid damage increases to 7 (2d6).
Bite and Swing. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target
Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage. The dragon proceeds to swing its head while biting upon the target, and throws the target into a square within 15 feet. If the target hits an object, the creature takes an additional 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target hits a creature, both creatures make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone on a failed save.
Acidic Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target
Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become affected by the highly corrosive acid of the dragon’s claws (mechanically, this is treated as the Poisoned condition) for one hour. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to this condition caused by this dragon for the next 24 hours.
Tail Swipe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target
Hit: 8 (1d8+4) bludgeoning damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be knocked away up to 10 feet, and become Stunned till the end of his next turn. If he succeeds, he is knocked away 5 feet.
Acid Bomb. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 60 ft., one target
Hit: 13 (3d8) acid damage. If this attack scores a critical hit, the damage changes to 18 (4d8), not 6d8.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 60 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Acid Breath (Recharge 5-6). Activate one of the following effects:
- The dragon exhales acid in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 17 (5d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The area that the acid breath passes becomes slippery, difficult terrain. Any creature who starts his turn within this area or enters this area for the first time during his turn must succeed on a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone.
-The dragon grabs at a target within 10 feet (no roll required since this is just a theatre effect), tosses him into the air, and exhales his breath weapon at him alone. The target must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw with disadvantage, taking 21 (6d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Reactions.
Barrier of Darkness (1/Day). When a creature within 10 feet makes a melee weapon attack at the dragon, the dragon may shoot inky darkness from his mouth at the target (the dragon casts the Darkness spell as a reaction, targeting the weapon the creature used to attack as the source of magical darkness). Ignoring the original text of the Darkness spell, the darkness emanates from the creature’s weapon and moves with it.
Bloodied Breath (1/Day). When the dragon's HP cuts 50, or when the dragon with 50 or less HP takes damage, as a reaction, the dragon activates its breath weapon, swinging its head as it does so. All creatures within a 15-feet half-circle centered upon the dragon must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 17 (5d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The area that the acid breath passes is treated as the same terrain as the one described in “Acid Breath”. Also, after using this reaction, change the recharge ability of “Acid Breath” to “4-6”.

Comments and constructive critisism greatly appreciated~~

JNAProductions
2016-07-16, 09:47 PM
83 HP-CR 5 should have anywhere from 130-145. That is TINY.

Speed and AC seem fine.

Saving throws seem fine.

Skills are fine.

Everything in the top bit (except HP) is fine.

Wing Blast should NOT auto-consume the reaction. Only on a failed save. Otherwise, that's just cheating the players.

DPR is around 20 (bit higher, I think) which is also too low for CR 5. Should be mid to upper 30s.

Overall, though, looks really cool! It should be a fun encounter-it just needs some minor buffs to make it CR 5. (Little bit more damage, and little bit more HP.)

Gastronomie
2016-07-17, 02:13 AM
Thanks for the comments and advice~~!

While the "130 to 145 HP" scale you proposed seems sorta off from the average CR 5 monster, I do agree that it may need more HP, especially concerning the fact this guy has only 15 AC. As for actual data: Elite Black Dragon Wyrmling (This Monster)
AC 15
HP 83
Attack: +7 to hit, approx. 20 damage plus several effects

Bulette
AC 17
HP 97
Attack: +7 to hit, 30 damage

Cambion
AC 19
HP 82
Attack: +7 to hit, 20 to 22 damage, also has spellcasting

Drow Elite Warrior
AC 18 (Parry for 21)
HP 71
Attack: +7 to hit, 34 damage

Air Elemental
AC 15
HP 90 (resistance to non-magical weapons)
Attack: +8 to hit, 28 damageI think I'll increase the hit die by two to make him have 99 HP. Thanks~

Wing Blast's original idea was that the characters can't attack the dragon while he swoops up. This may seem like a strong effect on first glance, but it actually benefits the players more in a weird way, because otherwise the dragon can't spread out his attacks among all the player characters (which is what Bahl-Zolo did in my campaign).

Initially, I had thought of giving him Flyby, but the next second I realized that would be rediculously overpowered (only ranged attacks can ever harm him), so I made it so the "no-opportunity-attack" thing is only at the start of the turn.
So, I still wanna keep the "no opportuntiy attack" bit, regardless of save. But using up the reaction might be a bad way of doing it, now that you've mentioned it.

So, editing Wing Blast:
Wing Blast. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 5 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be blown back up to 10 feet and use up its Reaction for this turn without doing anything. Even if the creature succeeded, it uses up its Reaction. the creature cannot make opportunity attacks against the dragon during this turn.

As for damage, I don't want it to be too high - I rather want this guy to use conditions and moving characters to manipulate the battlefield and make it a really tough and exciting encounter without killing the characters. Thus a bit low damage. But not really lower than a lot of CR 5 monsters.

How would this be like?

JNAProductions
2016-07-17, 10:35 AM
Do you not own a DMG? Because that's ripped straight from the suggested monster stats.

And at level 5...

Cantrip is 2d10, hitting on an 8.

Greatsword is 2d6+4, twice, hitting on an 8.

Eldritch Blast is 1d10+4, twice, hitting on an 8.

And Rogue is 1d8+4+3d6, hitting on an 8.

That's (11+22+19+19)*.65=46.15 average damage a round, assuming NO RESOURCES SPENT. An Action Surge ups the damage by 14.3, Hex will up the damage by 4.55, the Rogue can't really up his damage, and the Wizard can drop a Fireball for an additional 9.3 damage.

So, assuming they nova it, that's an average of 74.65 damage. This thing dies in two turns, almost guaranteed.

Gastronomie
2016-07-17, 11:20 AM
Well yeah, actually, of course I own the DMG and I know what you mean, but the suggested monster stats in there contradict absolutely everything shown in the actual Monster Manual. I value the MM's stats more than I do the DMG, since so far, the stuff in the MM has served me right.

The DMG stats don't count in the various other abilities the monsters actually have. As a result they're much higher than what the MM stats actually suggest. Thus, I trust the MM more than the DMG when creating monsters. At least, in my case.

As for your math, yes, it's mostly true (by "mostly", I mean that not all characters have an attacking stat of 18 at level 5). But the actual thing here was that the players who I fought with this guy were not level 5. They were level 4. Which downgraded their damaging abilities quite a lot (also, -1 proficiency bonus).

I should have noted beforehand that if this were to be used for a level 5 party, it needs more buffing. Sorry about that. I should have been more clear.

Anyhow, during my game, it went fine 'cause (even if everyone had 18 stat for attacks, which they did not):
Cantrip is 1d10, hitting on an 9.
Greatsword is 2d6+4, hitting on an 9.
Eldritch Blast is 1d10+4, once, hitting on an 9.
And Rogue is 1d8+4+2d6, hitting on an 9.

4d6+1d8+2d10+8=37.5
37.5x0.6=22.5

So yeah, indeed, I remember it took about 4 or 5 rounds to fight this thing + several weak goblin minions.

That being said, CR 5 might be a really difficult place to balance things, because everything changes between whether the players are level 4 or 5. It's just staggering, the difference between those two levels. The difference is probably more than the difference between level 16 and 17.

JNAProductions
2016-07-17, 11:23 AM
Well yeah, actually, of course I own the DMG and I know what you mean, but the suggested monster stats in there contradict absolutely everything shown in the actual Monster Manual. I value the MM's stats more than I do the DMG, since so far, the stuff in the MM has served me right.

The DMG stats don't count in the various other abilities the monsters actually have. As a result they're much higher than what the MM stats actually suggest. Thus, I trust the MM more than the DMG when creating monsters. At least, in my case.

As for your math, yes, it's mostly true (by "mostly", I mean that not all characters have an attacking stat of 18 at level 5). But the actual thing here was that the players who I fought with this guy were not level 5. They were level 4. Which downgraded their damaging abilities quite a lot (also, -1 proficiency bonus).

I should have noted beforehand that if this were to be used for a level 5 party, it needs more buffing. Sorry about that. I should have been more clear.

Anyhow, during my game, it went fine 'cause (even if everyone had 18 stat for attacks, which they did not):
Cantrip is 1d10, hitting on an 9.
Greatsword is 2d6+4, hitting on an 9.
Eldritch Blast is 1d10+4, once, hitting on an 9.
And Rogue is 1d8+4+2d6, hitting on an 9.

4d6+1d8+2d10+8=37.5
37.5x0.6=22.5

So yeah, indeed, I remember it took about 4 or 5 rounds to fight this thing + several weak goblin minions.

That being said, CR 5 might be a really difficult place to balance things, because everything changes between whether the players are level 4 or 5. It's just staggering, the difference between those two levels. The difference is probably more than the difference between level 16 and 17.

I would drop it to CR 4. It's not CR 5-again, two rounds for a level 5 party, and can be taken on (with minions!) by a level 4 one.

Gastronomie
2016-07-17, 11:29 AM
You're probably right. Editing.

EDIT: Actually, checking back on CR 4 monsters, I realized this is much, much, stronger than an average CR 4 monster. Its actual strength is on par with CR 5 monsters, and just lowering its attack bonus and HP wouldn't be sufficient.

Most CR 5 monsters can be actually defeated by a level 4 party. This is shown in the DMG - for a 4-man level 4 party, a 1800 XP CR 5 monster is in-between "Hard" and "Deadly". In my party's case it was 5-man, making it in-between "Medium" and "Hard". Add several minions and it seems to be around "Hard", but I heard somewhere that the DMG Combat Encounter Difficulty assumes the adventurers fight 6~8 times a day, so it's not really something that can be 100% trusted, when I don't actually fling that many encounters at the adventurers.

Again, I'm changing it back to CR 5. It's 1:33 AM here in Japan and I need to sleep, so tomorrow I will work on a way to keep this thing alive against level 5 adventurers.

Gastronomie
2016-07-18, 02:07 AM
I added "Change its AC to 18 if the players are level 5 or higher". This should do the job, if you also add minions (solo encounters are a bad idea in 5e anyway).