Sometimes, a dragon or an evil mage just doesn’t cut it. You want something bigger, more monstrous, more horrific... and less able to be beaten up for experience points and a sack of gold. So, what you need are some Old Ones- monstrous beings which defy explanation, undo reality with merely their presence, and even if beaten, aren’t gone forever, just sealed away again. But how do you even give statistics for that? How do your PCs battle such a monster? Something like this shouldn’t be able to be “killed” outright (unless you’re playing at Epic or Mythic levels)- so just beating what it’s able to manifest in the Material Plane should be a Herculean task. Something like this should ideally be a colossal challenge- 40-50 Hit Dice (or more!), some magical resistances, and whatever your equivalent of 5e’s Lair Powers or Legendary Actions are- this should be a terrible, colossal, implacable foe, who barely even registers your PCs as being worthy of being stomped. If you have 3rd edition or 3.5, there used to be a Kaiju template which added 40+ HD to a monster and some magical effects, which would be ideal. Some kind of monster like a Grick, which has tentacles and an alien-like appearance, is ideal. Even if *beating* this creature isn’t possible, just holding out against it for a few rounds (preventing a ritual from being completed, destroying the artifact, etc.) may be a feat your PCs remember for a lifetime, and gives a threat of returning which they will never quite let down their guard again, if you threaten it. Even after leveling up, hearing threats of “the cult of Dagon” again will be something they’ll want to leap into action to resolve. Have you had any creatures like this in your games? Let us know! (Give is some inspiration as well!) (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 23 March 2018) Categories All Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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