Brothers and Sisters,
Every 5e monster stat block feels the same, and your players are rarely in any real danger. Let’s fix that.
Today’s sermon offers 3 new abilities to give your D&D monsters that can drastically improve both their survivability and lethality, as well as make them unfamiliar to experienced players.
Remember to pay your tithing by liking this video and commenting your ideas in the comments.
Now, renounce your false gods and join the Church of Doom to be blessed with daily homebrew and encounter scrolls every weekday, a prepped 5-room dungeon every Friday, and vote on what I preach about next!
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#dnd #dndmonster #dndcombat #dungeonsanddragons #dndideas #dndhomebrew #dungeonmasteradvice
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Woo, first spot in the church pew!
Cool
Like I said last time, amazing job! Almost always better than the last!
I like your thinking on one immunity and one vulnerability versus resistances.
With resistances, my DMs always say "it doesn't seem that hit did as much damage as you would have expected." Boring.
I'd MUCH rather explore my attack options and be surprised to hear "that acid made the monster squeal and reel backward in obvious pain."
awesome content ! keep it up! Let's pray!
I love this. I do something similar with my monsters, but making sure to give them reactions and bonus actions gets a solid +1 from me. I've always been annoyed that barely any monsters have those.
I usually just give 2 challange 6 creatures magic items and and make then fight the lvl2 party. They are so extremly good strategically, so they always beat them:~/)
My party killed a werewolf at level 1. I need to give them a bigger challenge! The fighter wasn’t able to damage it, so if the others didn’t kill it, he would have strangle it!
A combo that I've used in the past is a monster ability that was combined with a trap in the room. Example: A creature with a kickback ability. On a hit, it knocks the target back 10 feet, 20 feet on a crit. If they hit a wall, its 1d6 on a hit, 2d6 on a crit if they hit something. so they kick a creature, knocks them back, does damage, bonus damage from being kicked into a pillar, which then triggers a spike trap that requires a save or they get damaged yet a third time. Its a damage spike, but within the rules to do so.
Skeletons. They’re too easy. We can start by giving them immunity to piercing damage (because stabbing bone seems pretty useless), and it already has resistance to bludgeoning. A skeleton might take an action to repair itself using the bones around them. What if, unless you killed it using bludgeoning damage, on its next turn, it could pick itself back up again with more hp. Certain skeletons could modify their bodies to be more proficient in certain tasks. For instance, a skeleton with a massive rib cage could act as a trap that leaps out and grapples you, allowing the other skeletons to attack. There could be skeletons with multiple extra arms so that they can attack more, or another set of legs to increase mobility. They might even be able to modify themselves in combat by picking up body parts and attaching them.
Resistance to damage sucks troll butt. As described in another comment, it is far better to have immunity and vulnerability for narrative purposes. DMs need to take charge moving around stat blocks or tossing them out the window completely. Just do what feels cool and original. Break from the chains of RAW!
Also, go grab Shadowdark RPG! The Kickstarter has reply for late pledges! Grim dark is the theme 😉
Action oriented monster by MCDM.
"church of doom" is a fantastic name and i love the theme going across the account. the podium makes so much sense with the sermon. so good! hoping the best for your growth!!
I know my players character sheets better than they do because they're all newish so I want to help avoid mistakes but as a consequence there are perfect times for them to use abilities or do cool things that they don't realise but I do. Rather than just telling the player in a direct manner I instead like to have their character roll a low DC Wis/Int Check (which I'll announce before they Roll) and then describe how their character thinks up the idea or their muscle memory kicks in, so they feel like the cool moment belongs to them rather than me playing for them.
Giving a monster with Keen Senses something like Alert would make Rogue players need more than Stealth to get their Sneak Attack. It could add more incentive for them to work with the party instead of just brooding in the shadows like an Edgelord.
Shit new Church video dropped? Time time to turn off the ad-blocker
Hmmm what if you make a Beholder vulnerable to radiant damage? But not in a way that deals extra damage. Rather, the but rather the bright light prevents it from falling asleep and dreaming another Beholder into existence. 🤔
I never wanted to run a troll encounter more than now
Primordial Wolf:
Immunity to lightning. Weakness to force.
Upon being struck let loose a concussion blast sending the attacker and wolf back thirty feet.
Love the way you explain things and conceptualize your ideas! Been following since 600 on tiktok and I’m happy to see your growth. Content is getting better and better. You’re like the I in AI! Haha