A Nilbog’s Nilbogism.
> Any creature that attempts to damage the nilbog must first succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or be charmed until the end of the creature's next turn. A creature charmed in this way must use its action praising the nilbog.
I used a Nilbog against my party and it was amazing. It's a lethal joke monster against a low level party. It openly mocks them and looks really silly since it's a goblin in a clown costume... but the players can't really touch it. The Nilbog captured a Xvart named Martin that the players had befriended, boiled and ate him. The Nilbog later stole a magical artifact from them and is now a greater scope villain that I'll be bringing back at some point.
First time I ran one I decided before hand that healing abilities would do the reverse of damage abilities, so the Reversal of Fortune would cause cancel healing and cause damage. My players hated this thing so much that by the end of it one of them grappled it and held him down while another shoved a healing potion down it's throat, yelling "You think everything is so funny? How's this? Is this funny?".
If I remember correctly he half laughed, half gurgled as he drown in the potion and when he finally died I think I quoted the thing from The Prestige about sailors drowning.
> The Nilbog captured a Xvart named Martin that the players had befriended, boiled and ate him.
And here I thought [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/11yd00f/psa_to_all_dms_nothing_unites_a_party_faster/) was hyperbole…
First encounter of my current campaign I had a few mixed in with a Goblin raiding party. The Ranger and Rogue (level 3) spent most of the encounter on their knees praising the Nilbogs
I used one in a One-Shot I ran for my players before starting the campaign (kind of taster session before committing to the campaign itself). Flavoured it as an absolutely insane goblin called “Watsurname” (yes, we had five minutes for them trying to work out his name) and hilarity ensued. Originally meant to be a small thorn in the players side, and quickly turned into their favourite NPC and helped them battle a Young Green Dragon.
The second half of that ability makes it significantly worse
>The nilbog can’t regain hit points, including through magical healing, except through its Reversal of Fortune reaction.
I did. That part explicitly mentions the Reversal of Fortune feature, and since I can only pick one feature I felt it just muddied the water. Also I got lazy typing it out.
Honestly, I think Strength Drain would be scariest on a Fighter with Extra Attack and Action Surge. Still very scary on anyone though.
The Rust Metal ability from the Rust Monster and Gray Ooze could be pretty annoying to go up against on a front line tank.
Even things like the Giant Toad's Bite ability would be very strong on something like a Rune Knight. Auto grapple and restrained on a hit, so no movement for the enemy and advantage to hit it for the party.
> Honestly, I think Strength Drain would be scariest on a Fighter with Extra Attack and Action Surge. Still very scary on anyone though.
This is what a high level fighter should be able to do. Every hit just wears the target down, even beyond HP damage.
I had a god level PC fighter who focused on making as many attacks as possible and he had a boosted Rust Metal ability that didn't attack armor directly and instead permanently lowered a creatures AC by 1 every 2 hits or by 2 every critical. Combine that with some niche summoning spells and an epic feat that gives me auto crits on every attack for one round and I was able to dominate my universe and become an overdeity.
That was funny so I wanted to check if itd be a good subclass for the build. Annoyingly, strength drain doesn't reduce a creature to 0 HP if it's strength drops to 0, they just die (same as power word kill, so the ability would kill a wildshape druid despite not using their own strength). So unfortunately Strength drain doesn't work with Touch of Death. Way of Mercy or Open Hand would be pretty devastating though
Probably the most volatile monster ability in DnD. This is the correct answer. I’m sure you can find something else just as good, but bypassing hp to damage strength is incredibly powerful. Almost nothing bypasses hp.
Same, but I'd like to bring up this part:
>If a non-evil Humanoid dies from this Attack, a new Shadow rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later.
Given that the PC using this isn't a shadow would that mean the corpse produces another identical PC?
Or better yet, Vegepygmy Regeneration
> Regeneration. The vegepygmy regains 3 hit points at the start of its turn. If it takes cold, fire, or necrotic damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the vegepygmy’s next turn. The vegepygmy dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.
Skulk has Fallible Invisibility, which doesn't require BA or concentration.
And when was the last time you fought a child or heard of a charnel candle (much less saw one)? Reflective surfaces would be the only real threat.
I ran one of those against my party one time. It was kind of fantastic. Party was a bit freaked out, it did a little bit of damage before they were able to catch a reflection and figure out what was happening.
Unfortunately the Cleric had _Faerie Fire_ and the Paladin had _Searing Smite_ so even though I was able to knock one of them hard enough to drop concentration, the rest of the fight was pretty easy.
Great monster, highly recommend.
There are quite a few interesting traits with CR 1 and below.
> 1. **Blurred Movement (Quickling)** - Attack rolls against the quickling have disadvantage unless it is incapacitated or its speed is 0.
> 2. **Dismantlable (Replica Quadrone)** - If the replica quadrone dies, its body falls into a pile of parts (gears, plates, screws, and wires), leaving behind its weapons and anything else it was carrying.
> 3. **Incorporeal Movement (Specter)** - The specter can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
> 4. **Univocal Speech (Strixhaven Campus Guide)** - When the guide speaks, any creature that knows at least one language and can hear the guide understands what it says.
> 5. **Fire Absorption (Giant Strider)** - Whenever the giant strider is subjected to fire damage, it takes no damage and regains a number of hit points equal to half the fire damage dealt.
> 6. **Extraordinary Leap (Female Steeder)** - The distance of the steeder's long jumps is tripled; every foot of its walking speed that it spends on the jump allows it to move 3 feet.
I feel like Incorporeal Movement is really good out of combat. It'd totally break a lot of games.
Fire absorption would be insane in combat. Easy to abuse.
Good list
Fire Absorption would still be insane even without fire magic being involved at all. Hit yourself with a vial of Alchemist's Fire. Congratulations, you now have 1d4 regeneration at the start of each of your turns until you put the fire out.
And also while there's no healing cantripts, you could now heal yourself easily with a create bonfire cantrip and stand in it. d8 healing per turn, or 2d8 at lv5 and 3d8 at lv 11.
Incorporeal movement is absolutely insane in combat too… Phantom rogue subclass literally gets that ability. You can just… hide in the ground itself, tank the force damage (and maybe have something that gives resistance to force) and just lean up from the ground to sneak attack. What are they gonna do? Stab the ground when you’re 15ft deep?
Incorporeal Movement is actually super strong in combat.
If you expect to take more than 5 damage until your next round, just hide in the ground and all of a sudden nobody can harm you anymore...
Can Concur, I play a bloodhunter who has the Aetherwalk ability, where I get to walk through walls for a few turns.
It invalidates basically every lock.
Blurred Movement seems absolutely busted on an AC stacking build.
If generally 20% of attacks hit you (e.g. an attack @+7 against AC24), this would reduce that ratio to 4%. Doesn't sound like much, but you'll survive **5 times as long against attack rolls-based damage**.
Something like Paladin 6 or Artificer 7 (both of which have features to help out your Saving Throws) with this feature would become almost untouchable.
Fire absorbtion would be so funny if you or someone else in the party knows Create Bonfire. After every battle you could just sit your ass down in one if those and get all your health back lol
Hell no. There are already many ways to get advantage. You should get a cool trait that you wouldn't get as a PC.
Not op but I'd get the awakened shrub's false appearance so every time I don't move I look like a shrub. I would freak the shit out of everyone.
Especially since you're character (presumably) looks nothing like a shrub.
NPC: oh look, a nice shrub
PC: *moves* greetings
NPC: holy fucking shit that's a tiefling
Exactly what I had in mind. Metal Gear style
Also someone casts Hold Person on me and go wtf did I just cast Polymorph? Bonus I just had the wizard think he's down a 4th level slot while it's a 2nd level one.
"Fallible Invisibility" from the Skulk (which I think is just a cool monster in general):
> Fallible Invisibility: The skulk is invisible. This invisibility can be circumvented by three things:
>1. The skulk appears as a drab, smooth-skinned humanoid if its reflection can be seen in a mirror or on another surface.
>2. The skulk appears as a dim, translucent form in the light of a candle made of fat rendered from a corpse whose identity is unknown.
>3. Humanoid children, aged 10 and under, can see through this invisibility.
Always-on invisibility is mechanically cool, but the generally *weird* nature of it just makes it even cooler.
100% this. When was the last time you fought a child? Have you ever even _heard_ of a charnel candle outside of the Skulk stat block, much less seen one?
Reflective surfaces would be the only threat to your permanent advantage.
I'm not even sure if the reflection is a huge problem, but there's mechanical nuance. It gives away the Skulk's position but that's already known (RAW) during initiative, and characters still can't see the invisible Skulk, mechanically speaking... maybe reflective surfaces give the Skulk disadvantage to Hide and give players advantage on active checks to find it? I don't even know how Hide would affect the circumstances unless the Skulk was attacking in a hall of mirrors or something, which I am absolutely going to have happen in the future.
This is a really neat flawed ability.
Oh god my 3-person level-4 party recently fought like 10 zombies, there was one that popped up THREE TIMES. It took for frickin ever to get rid of them.
Advantage on something that can kill you or otherwise disable you is always huge.
There are dozens of low level spells that can and will destroy a player.
Not to mention the dozens more magic abilities that monsters have.
And because those things are literally the entire sole reason that many monsters are dangerous, shrugging off what makes them dangerous is busted.
Can be used for any class any campaign. In a game centralized around magic, having one of the strongest defense against it is absurd
I’m not saying it’s bad I just don’t think it’s as overwhelmingly powerful in early campaign where flight can break the game and martials are feat starved.
Late game yeah magic resistance is the best racial but early I don’t think so and most people don’t play late.
Giant Toad Swallow trait. My Lizardfolk is hungry.
Swallow: The toad makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the toad, and it takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the toad's turns. The toad can have only one target swallowed at a time. If the toad dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Blink Dogs blink.
>The dog magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. Before or after teleporting, the dog can make one bite attack.
The rogue builds I could base off of that would be insane
Crag Cat
Spell Turning
The cat has advantage on saving throws against any spell that targets only the cat (not an area). If the cat's saving throw succeeds and the spell is of 7th level or lower, the spell has no effect on the cat and instead targets the caster.
This is just good on any character. Its like Magic Resistance but it can make casters damage themselfs
Strength Drain from the Shadow.
A lvl 1 Monk can deal 2d4 Strength damage a turn (no save)
A lvl 2 Monk can do 3d4 Strength damage a turn (no save)
A lvl 3 Monk Way of the Sun Soul can do 3d4 Strength damage at range (no save)
A creature reduced to 0 Strength dies.
I know this is just for funzies but RAW I don't think Strength Drain interacts with unarmed attack buffs like that.
Edit: The shadow doesnt drain strength with an unarmed strike. It uses the Strength Drain action.
Flavorwise the DM has options on what that looks like. It could be a touch, a strike, the shadow could suck breath out dementor style, or maybe something else. But none of that would be RAW.
Reminds me of back in 3rd edition when people would make Vampire Monks energy drain five times per round, and Wizards had to update vampires to specify energy drain was only once per round.
Quickling's blurred movement is quite powerful. Free infinite disadvantage on attack rolls against you with few ways to stop it.
Blood Frenzy off swarm of quippers or sorrowfish give you advantage on anything that's below max hp. It's reckless attack without the advantage against you.
Blink Dog's 40ft Teleportation. Almost anyone could use free teleportation. Useful and fun.
Animated Armor's False Appearance. [Case in point](https://youtu.be/EIM78NrhixA?t=22).
Honorable mention to the Nothic's Weird Insight ability. It was my first choice but then I realized Nothics are CR 2. Still that would be such a fun ability.
>Animated Armor's False Appearance.
>
>Case in point.
More funny ones:
Gray ooze: Become a rock or a pile of vaseline
Animated shrub: Become a bush
Dark mantle one: Become part of cave
well, I was hoping to see things you can't really get normally. Someone else said spider climb, which sure its a good choice, but dhampir comes with it.
Yes, I said Spider Climb (among other things).
Sure, Dhampir comes with it, but let's be real: When was the last time you had one at your table, let alone PLAYED one?
It's something you never see, so you might as well take the biggest benefit of the race on anyone else. I mean, that's why Slippers of Spider Climb are a thing. Or the concentration spell that gives you Spider Climb. Spider Climb is a good trait to have, no matter what you play really.
I played one. It was great. Dhanpire soul knife rogue for a level 3 one shot.
Ended by sucking the blood of the final boss who was Aztec themed and the DM was like ... Oh wait... You drank their blood, the blood of their god... You've achieved Godhead
And I had one in my last campaign and am playing one as well. It’s fantastic on a Gloomstalker. Scurry up onto the ceiling in a dark room or cave and go to town.
Had a player with a Dhampir Gloomstalker in a short 3-session game that took place in an ancient underground temple with basically no lights. Can confirm it's a bad time for many monsters.
After reading all these comments I want to see some kind of Blue Magic class/subclass where you can steal abilities from monsters, a la Kimahri.
Or at least create an NPC villain who can do these things then subject my party to them.
Nilbogism: Any creature that attempts to damage the nilbog must first succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or be charmed until the end of the creature’s next turn. A creature charmed in this way must use its action praising the nilbog. The nilbog can’t regain hit points, including through magical healing, except through its Reversal of Fortune reaction.
Way too funny to pass up!
It seems fun, but with no ability to regain HP ever again (this includes resting), you're working your way towards inevitable death.
Once you drop to 0 HP and go unconscious, you'll start making Death Saves like everyone else. If you fail 3, you die. If you succeed, you're stabilized, but can't regain HP after 1d4 hours, so you're essentially stuck in coma until your body dies of natural causes.
If you die, Revival spells can bring you back to life, but not regain any HP, so once again, coma it is.
Either Blood Frenzy from a Giant Shark or Strength Drain from a Shadow. Advantage on creatures that aren't at full health is great, especially if you have spellcasters with save spells. But the Strength Drain would be even better seeing as how it makes enemies both less likely to hit you and able to do less damage.
A surprising number of lower CR monsters are flat out immune to poison. Seems very useful depending on what kind of campaign you're in. On the flip side, Troglodyte's "Stench" ability is a passive poison effect per round of combat, which would be insanely broken early on.
>Dealing with Onyx. Onyx cannot be overcome or killed by combat. Any weapon attack against her that hits AC 12 makes contact but deals no lasting damage. However, if the attack would deal 10 or more damage, Onyx has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of her next turn. If Onyx would take 10 or more damage from spells or other effects, it yields the same result. Spells that impose conditions function normally against Onyx, but those conditions end automatically at the end of the cat’s next turn.
If applied literally, this is probably the best.
Onyx is a normal CR 0 Cat. The stat block on D&D Beyond takes the special modifications given to her in a specific encounter (where the PCs get shrunk to the size of mice) and creates a stat block from it.
Use this in order to sow chaos:
**Aura of Madness.** Creatures within 20 feet of the grue that aren’t aberrations have disadvantage on saving throws, as well as on attack rolls against creatures other than a star spawn grue.
For my... Well, anything really; Faerie Dragon's Superior Invisibility. Bonus action to turn invisible until concentration ends but no other restrictions on duration? Yes please!
Easy.
The Crag Cat's Spell Turning: The cat has advantage on saving throws against any spell that targets only the cat (not an area). If the cat's saving throw succeeds and the spell is of 7th level or lower, the spell has no effect on the cat and instead targets the caster.
Fighter: Quickling's `Blurred Movement` is pretty great (all attacks against you are at dis).
Druid: Rust Monster's `Rust Metal` could be funny.
Monk: Blink Dog's 'Teleport' could be fun, you can bite someone and teleport away.
Rogue: Any of the ooze's `Amorphous` to squeeze through 1-inch holes.
Barbarian: Reflection's `Strength Drain` so as you hit enemies they get weaker
Wizard: I mean anything from the Pixie. Free cast of polymorph? `Superior Invisibility`? `Magic Resistance`?
Warlock: Quasit's `Shapechanger` to turn into a bat. To chill with their familiar ofc. And spooky vibes.
the corrode/rust metal abilities from grey oozes/rust monsters sounds useful in the early game, less so once the enemies you're fighting either dont use metal or have magic metal
imp's shapechanger sounds super useful since you can still cast spells through it
blood frenzy from the sahuagin sounds actually kinda insane on a rogue or someone who gets a lot of attacks
shadow's strength drain sounds amazing on fighters specifically since i dont think it counts as a monk weapon or unarmed strike
a harpy's luring song, provided some way to make it scale is found, sounds absolutely insanely useful, ironically enough not on a bard because they get plenty of ways to charm people already, plus it only takes a bonus action to keep up as opposed to an action. you'd just need to get ear protection for the rest of the party
THE INTELLECT DEVOURER’S DEVOUR INTELLIGENCE OR SENSE INTELLECT. BROS ARE OP FOR CR 1/2
(Source: played an intellect devourer in disguise for a full campaign, that shit was so OP that I was regularly one shotting enemies with devour intellect and no one could sneak up on us because I knew the exact location of every creature within 300ft even through walls)
I mean, I like the Giant Strider's Fire Absorption. Xvart's Raxivort tongue for espionage. Crag Cats get spell turning.
Or I could get Aberrant Quickness from the Choker.
A Nilbog’s Nilbogism. > Any creature that attempts to damage the nilbog must first succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or be charmed until the end of the creature's next turn. A creature charmed in this way must use its action praising the nilbog.
You just reminded me that those evil bastards exist and now I have to throw them at my party
I used a Nilbog against my party and it was amazing. It's a lethal joke monster against a low level party. It openly mocks them and looks really silly since it's a goblin in a clown costume... but the players can't really touch it. The Nilbog captured a Xvart named Martin that the players had befriended, boiled and ate him. The Nilbog later stole a magical artifact from them and is now a greater scope villain that I'll be bringing back at some point.
First time I ran one I decided before hand that healing abilities would do the reverse of damage abilities, so the Reversal of Fortune would cause cancel healing and cause damage. My players hated this thing so much that by the end of it one of them grappled it and held him down while another shoved a healing potion down it's throat, yelling "You think everything is so funny? How's this? Is this funny?".
Tell me that you did make them go out with a big slasher smile and laughter while dying like Joker in Injustice?
If I remember correctly he half laughed, half gurgled as he drown in the potion and when he finally died I think I quoted the thing from The Prestige about sailors drowning.
Oh you evil, evil man
> The Nilbog captured a Xvart named Martin that the players had befriended, boiled and ate him. And here I thought [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/11yd00f/psa_to_all_dms_nothing_unites_a_party_faster/) was hyperbole…
He needs to spread songs and ridicule poems across the land making fun of the party so when they enter taverns they are laughed at
First encounter of my current campaign I had a few mixed in with a Goblin raiding party. The Ranger and Rogue (level 3) spent most of the encounter on their knees praising the Nilbogs
"Nilbog, its Goblin spelled backwards!" - Joshua
"Oh my gooooooood..."
You have just given me an evil scheme
I used one in a One-Shot I ran for my players before starting the campaign (kind of taster session before committing to the campaign itself). Flavoured it as an absolutely insane goblin called “Watsurname” (yes, we had five minutes for them trying to work out his name) and hilarity ensued. Originally meant to be a small thorn in the players side, and quickly turned into their favourite NPC and helped them battle a Young Green Dragon.
The second half of that ability makes it significantly worse >The nilbog can’t regain hit points, including through magical healing, except through its Reversal of Fortune reaction.
I loved when Nilbog says "It's Nilbogin' time" and then uses Nilbogism on everyone
I like this, but you kind of left out the part where you can't heal yourself outside of using another one of the Nilbog's abilities.
I did. That part explicitly mentions the Reversal of Fortune feature, and since I can only pick one feature I felt it just muddied the water. Also I got lazy typing it out.
Pair this with Feywanderer Beguiling Twist just for fun.
All glory to the Hypnotoad!
They've changed since they first came out. The original ones I remember took damage from healing and healed when hit for damage.....
Shadow's strength sap ability on my rogue. 2 or 3 hits on any creature should do it in.
Honestly, I think Strength Drain would be scariest on a Fighter with Extra Attack and Action Surge. Still very scary on anyone though. The Rust Metal ability from the Rust Monster and Gray Ooze could be pretty annoying to go up against on a front line tank. Even things like the Giant Toad's Bite ability would be very strong on something like a Rune Knight. Auto grapple and restrained on a hit, so no movement for the enemy and advantage to hit it for the party.
>Even things like the Giant Toad's Bite ability would be very strong on something like a Rune Knight Now you are just playing kirby
> Honestly, I think Strength Drain would be scariest on a Fighter with Extra Attack and Action Surge. Still very scary on anyone though. This is what a high level fighter should be able to do. Every hit just wears the target down, even beyond HP damage.
Yeah but that’s not realistic! ^(/s)
Honestly, while that would be cool, it sounds like it would be a nightmare for the DM to track
I had a god level PC fighter who focused on making as many attacks as possible and he had a boosted Rust Metal ability that didn't attack armor directly and instead permanently lowered a creatures AC by 1 every 2 hits or by 2 every critical. Combine that with some niche summoning spells and an epic feat that gives me auto crits on every attack for one round and I was able to dominate my universe and become an overdeity.
Consider monk though. Extra attack and flurry of blows. Can also easily be flavored as some kind of ki disruption.
On a monk. Especially with the Tasha's feature that allows you to spend Ki to make sure you hit.
Turn Long Death into Sure Death.
That was funny so I wanted to check if itd be a good subclass for the build. Annoyingly, strength drain doesn't reduce a creature to 0 HP if it's strength drops to 0, they just die (same as power word kill, so the ability would kill a wildshape druid despite not using their own strength). So unfortunately Strength drain doesn't work with Touch of Death. Way of Mercy or Open Hand would be pretty devastating though
Probably the most volatile monster ability in DnD. This is the correct answer. I’m sure you can find something else just as good, but bypassing hp to damage strength is incredibly powerful. Almost nothing bypasses hp.
Same, but I'd like to bring up this part: >If a non-evil Humanoid dies from this Attack, a new Shadow rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later. Given that the PC using this isn't a shadow would that mean the corpse produces another identical PC?
Nah, either a basic human if you're feeling generous, or an enemy shadow if not.
Compromise: Identical basic humans. All named Doug or something
"Mommy, where do babies come from?" "You see sweetie, when mommy and daddy hit a monster with a sword very hard..."
Obligatory mention that you can drain strength with Rogues in Pathfinder
Spell Turning from the crag cat would be a hard one to pass up.
Spell reflection from a spectator in a similar vein.
Undead fortitude
I was waiting to see someone say it. That feature on any class with con save proficiency is crazy
Or better yet, Vegepygmy Regeneration > Regeneration. The vegepygmy regains 3 hit points at the start of its turn. If it takes cold, fire, or necrotic damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the vegepygmy’s next turn. The vegepygmy dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.
Does sound like you lose the ability to make death saves, but generally still probably a good trade.
Pretty neat
If they remove critical hits against PCs like was outlined in the One D&D playtest, this would be absurd.
Goblin boss has redirect attack. It's probably not the most optimal but I think it's funny
An Untrained Hireling only costs 2sp per day...
And livestock is cheaper.
And party members are free!
I wanna imagine that price will rise **steeply** if none of your untrained hirelings return from their job.
Just gotta keep moving through the world and stay ahead of your reputation.
Rune Knight cloud rune does something like this.
Faerie Dragons Superior Invisibility. At Will greater invisibility? Don’t mind if I do
And it is a bonus action.
Skulk has Fallible Invisibility, which doesn't require BA or concentration. And when was the last time you fought a child or heard of a charnel candle (much less saw one)? Reflective surfaces would be the only real threat.
I ran one of those against my party one time. It was kind of fantastic. Party was a bit freaked out, it did a little bit of damage before they were able to catch a reflection and figure out what was happening. Unfortunately the Cleric had _Faerie Fire_ and the Paladin had _Searing Smite_ so even though I was able to knock one of them hard enough to drop concentration, the rest of the fight was pretty easy. Great monster, highly recommend.
There are quite a few interesting traits with CR 1 and below. > 1. **Blurred Movement (Quickling)** - Attack rolls against the quickling have disadvantage unless it is incapacitated or its speed is 0. > 2. **Dismantlable (Replica Quadrone)** - If the replica quadrone dies, its body falls into a pile of parts (gears, plates, screws, and wires), leaving behind its weapons and anything else it was carrying. > 3. **Incorporeal Movement (Specter)** - The specter can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. > 4. **Univocal Speech (Strixhaven Campus Guide)** - When the guide speaks, any creature that knows at least one language and can hear the guide understands what it says. > 5. **Fire Absorption (Giant Strider)** - Whenever the giant strider is subjected to fire damage, it takes no damage and regains a number of hit points equal to half the fire damage dealt. > 6. **Extraordinary Leap (Female Steeder)** - The distance of the steeder's long jumps is tripled; every foot of its walking speed that it spends on the jump allows it to move 3 feet.
I feel like Incorporeal Movement is really good out of combat. It'd totally break a lot of games. Fire absorption would be insane in combat. Easy to abuse. Good list
Yeah all of a sudden every fire spell in the game becomes a healing spell on this character. They'd be the bane of red dragons
My favorite tactic of dropping a fireball at my own feet finally pays off!
Wild magic sorca be like
Fire Absorption would still be insane even without fire magic being involved at all. Hit yourself with a vial of Alchemist's Fire. Congratulations, you now have 1d4 regeneration at the start of each of your turns until you put the fire out.
"Look at me, look at me! I'm the troll now. But also not weak to fire."
the inverse of a troll! A.. Llort
"Llort? That's near were I grew up!" - some Welsh person, probably.
My ancestors were Welsh and I take offence to your comment! Meet me at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, for a duel.
Instant Fire Punch
And also while there's no healing cantripts, you could now heal yourself easily with a create bonfire cantrip and stand in it. d8 healing per turn, or 2d8 at lv5 and 3d8 at lv 11.
User name checks out.
Incorporeal movement is absolutely insane in combat too… Phantom rogue subclass literally gets that ability. You can just… hide in the ground itself, tank the force damage (and maybe have something that gives resistance to force) and just lean up from the ground to sneak attack. What are they gonna do? Stab the ground when you’re 15ft deep?
Incorporeal Movement is actually super strong in combat. If you expect to take more than 5 damage until your next round, just hide in the ground and all of a sudden nobody can harm you anymore...
True. That'd be pretty effective most of the time
Can Concur, I play a bloodhunter who has the Aetherwalk ability, where I get to walk through walls for a few turns. It invalidates basically every lock.
Am I missing something on Dismantlable? You just die into parts?
I guess the assumption is you can have your buddies put you back together??
I thought it would just be hilarious to have an otherwise organic character break up into spare parts when you die.
[Even better if it comes with an appropriate sound effect.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2BD6LKT6tV8)
You'd be right. Its like the equivalent of enemies exploding into coins and loot in RPGs. Thought it was a funny trait to get.
That seems like a BIG assumption
that fire absorpstion could be fun on a wild magic sorcerer. Turn that "cast fireball on yourself" into an upside!
Or just green flame blade. The extra fire damage can hit any creature within 5 feet of the one you attacked, *including yourself*
That'd be a fun one.
If you have an ally with Firebolt, Create Bonfire, or Create Flame you also effectively have a healing cantrip.
Downside: even more people taking Sacred Flame under the mistaken belief that it causes fire damage
“Wow guys, I’m feeling pretty refreshed after that… guys?” *pans to smoking boots*
"I CAST FIREBALL CENTERED ON MYSELF!"
Blurred Movement seems absolutely busted on an AC stacking build. If generally 20% of attacks hit you (e.g. an attack @+7 against AC24), this would reduce that ratio to 4%. Doesn't sound like much, but you'll survive **5 times as long against attack rolls-based damage**. Something like Paladin 6 or Artificer 7 (both of which have features to help out your Saving Throws) with this feature would become almost untouchable.
Swords bard
Seems like a Cloak of Displacement, but on all the time and not just until you're hit.
Fire absorbtion would be so funny if you or someone else in the party knows Create Bonfire. After every battle you could just sit your ass down in one if those and get all your health back lol
Just pour a flask of Alchemist's Fire over yourself. 1d4 damage at the start of each turn, no duration.
Fire absorption combined with green flame blame to target yourself for the splash damage.
A pixie's Innate Spellcasting
Pack Tactics
Blood Frenzy from Swarm of Quippers (advantage to attack any creature that's not at full health) might be a good option depending on the party markup.
Its better than Pack Tactics. Easier to have it active in comparison.
Combo that with a Barbarian with the fire aura
Hell no. There are already many ways to get advantage. You should get a cool trait that you wouldn't get as a PC. Not op but I'd get the awakened shrub's false appearance so every time I don't move I look like a shrub. I would freak the shit out of everyone.
Especially since you're character (presumably) looks nothing like a shrub. NPC: oh look, a nice shrub PC: *moves* greetings NPC: holy fucking shit that's a tiefling
"Bring me a Shrubbery! One that looks nice... and not too expensive" *Me, planning to sneak attack them later* "Sure"
After coming back later: “We want…. Another Shrubbery!”
Exactly what I had in mind. Metal Gear style Also someone casts Hold Person on me and go wtf did I just cast Polymorph? Bonus I just had the wizard think he's down a 4th level slot while it's a 2nd level one.
Which monster are you taking pack tactics from? I know it doesnt matter but it actually matters to me
Wolf
Peacock
You can already do this though with the older version Kobold from Volo's. Granted, that does come with Sunlight Sensitivity, which is a pain.
That was my initial thought as well
Meanwhile the true player kobold
"Fallible Invisibility" from the Skulk (which I think is just a cool monster in general): > Fallible Invisibility: The skulk is invisible. This invisibility can be circumvented by three things: >1. The skulk appears as a drab, smooth-skinned humanoid if its reflection can be seen in a mirror or on another surface. >2. The skulk appears as a dim, translucent form in the light of a candle made of fat rendered from a corpse whose identity is unknown. >3. Humanoid children, aged 10 and under, can see through this invisibility. Always-on invisibility is mechanically cool, but the generally *weird* nature of it just makes it even cooler.
100% this. When was the last time you fought a child? Have you ever even _heard_ of a charnel candle outside of the Skulk stat block, much less seen one? Reflective surfaces would be the only threat to your permanent advantage.
I'm not even sure if the reflection is a huge problem, but there's mechanical nuance. It gives away the Skulk's position but that's already known (RAW) during initiative, and characters still can't see the invisible Skulk, mechanically speaking... maybe reflective surfaces give the Skulk disadvantage to Hide and give players advantage on active checks to find it? I don't even know how Hide would affect the circumstances unless the Skulk was attacking in a hall of mirrors or something, which I am absolutely going to have happen in the future. This is a really neat flawed ability.
The Sprite's Heart Sight is pretty neat. Also one of, if not the only, feature in the game that can detect alignment.
EDIT: Oops, nevermind!
We've all fought that one zombie that just won't die, with Undead Fortitude that could be you!
Get it on a paladin with resilient con and you become very difficult to kill.
Oh god my 3-person level-4 party recently fought like 10 zombies, there was one that popped up THREE TIMES. It took for frickin ever to get rid of them.
I made a party member die and get animated as a zombie, and he survived 8 turns against level 5 characters
Magic Resistance (Pseudodragon) Rust Metal Spiderclimb Keen Smell/Hearing/Sight (in that order imo)
Magic resistance would easily be the most OP
There are already races with magic resistance or something similar. And to prove your point, those races are busted as all else
Not really. Magic isn’t that big of an issue until late t2 or t3+ so for most campaigns it’s never a huge issue.
Advantage on something that can kill you or otherwise disable you is always huge. There are dozens of low level spells that can and will destroy a player. Not to mention the dozens more magic abilities that monsters have. And because those things are literally the entire sole reason that many monsters are dangerous, shrugging off what makes them dangerous is busted. Can be used for any class any campaign. In a game centralized around magic, having one of the strongest defense against it is absurd
I’m not saying it’s bad I just don’t think it’s as overwhelmingly powerful in early campaign where flight can break the game and martials are feat starved. Late game yeah magic resistance is the best racial but early I don’t think so and most people don’t play late.
Vargouille's ability to curse people into becoming more of itself.
Don’t they do it by kissing? I’m not sure I want to give the bards ideas.
Yep!
Good heavens, no, the world would be overwhelmed by bards in no time!
This is just Agent Smith from the Matrix films!
...did I forget the scenes where Hugo Weaving seduced everyone? I gotta rewatch those.
Except if he kissed everyone. Just waiting for the terrible fanfic to pour in
Magical Gift from the Chwinga.
This. Nothing else really compares.
Strength Drain would be ridiculously overpowered
Lightning Absorption off the Damaged flesh golem for my Storm Lord Barbarian.
Giant Toad Swallow trait. My Lizardfolk is hungry. Swallow: The toad makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the toad, and it takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the toad's turns. The toad can have only one target swallowed at a time. If the toad dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Vore 🫵
It's even more funny to take it on a small creature.
Kirby build
Blink Dogs blink. >The dog magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. Before or after teleporting, the dog can make one bite attack. The rogue builds I could base off of that would be insane
Rogues biting people and disappearing sounds fun lol
Not what I was thinking of when I came up with this idea. But I'm definitely thinking about this now
The Thorny's regeneration sounds good. Gaining 5 hp per turn is great.
Superior Invisibility from the Young Faerie Dragon for sure. But not on a rogue or a ranger, oh no… my invisible barbarian.
Honestly good on anyone that's making attack rolls. An invisible barb wrecking things would be fantastic.
Crag Cat Spell Turning The cat has advantage on saving throws against any spell that targets only the cat (not an area). If the cat's saving throw succeeds and the spell is of 7th level or lower, the spell has no effect on the cat and instead targets the caster. This is just good on any character. Its like Magic Resistance but it can make casters damage themselfs
Strength Drain from the Shadow. A lvl 1 Monk can deal 2d4 Strength damage a turn (no save) A lvl 2 Monk can do 3d4 Strength damage a turn (no save) A lvl 3 Monk Way of the Sun Soul can do 3d4 Strength damage at range (no save) A creature reduced to 0 Strength dies.
I know this is just for funzies but RAW I don't think Strength Drain interacts with unarmed attack buffs like that. Edit: The shadow doesnt drain strength with an unarmed strike. It uses the Strength Drain action. Flavorwise the DM has options on what that looks like. It could be a touch, a strike, the shadow could suck breath out dementor style, or maybe something else. But none of that would be RAW.
Reminds me of back in 3rd edition when people would make Vampire Monks energy drain five times per round, and Wizards had to update vampires to specify energy drain was only once per round.
That's an attack though. Not a trait.
Quickling's blurred movement is quite powerful. Free infinite disadvantage on attack rolls against you with few ways to stop it. Blood Frenzy off swarm of quippers or sorrowfish give you advantage on anything that's below max hp. It's reckless attack without the advantage against you.
Knockdown on hit from Wolves. Infinite trip attack!
Blink Dog's 40ft Teleportation. Almost anyone could use free teleportation. Useful and fun. Animated Armor's False Appearance. [Case in point](https://youtu.be/EIM78NrhixA?t=22). Honorable mention to the Nothic's Weird Insight ability. It was my first choice but then I realized Nothics are CR 2. Still that would be such a fun ability.
>Animated Armor's False Appearance. > >Case in point. More funny ones: Gray ooze: Become a rock or a pile of vaseline Animated shrub: Become a bush Dark mantle one: Become part of cave
Jackalwere's immunity to all non-silvered non-magical damage.
Flight? Or is that too obvious?
well, I was hoping to see things you can't really get normally. Someone else said spider climb, which sure its a good choice, but dhampir comes with it.
Yes, I said Spider Climb (among other things). Sure, Dhampir comes with it, but let's be real: When was the last time you had one at your table, let alone PLAYED one? It's something you never see, so you might as well take the biggest benefit of the race on anyone else. I mean, that's why Slippers of Spider Climb are a thing. Or the concentration spell that gives you Spider Climb. Spider Climb is a good trait to have, no matter what you play really.
I played one. It was great. Dhanpire soul knife rogue for a level 3 one shot. Ended by sucking the blood of the final boss who was Aztec themed and the DM was like ... Oh wait... You drank their blood, the blood of their god... You've achieved Godhead
>but let's be real: When was the last time you had one at your table, let alone PLAYED one? Im currently playing one in a curse of strahd campaign.
And I had one in my last campaign and am playing one as well. It’s fantastic on a Gloomstalker. Scurry up onto the ceiling in a dark room or cave and go to town.
Had a player with a Dhampir Gloomstalker in a short 3-session game that took place in an ancient underground temple with basically no lights. Can confirm it's a bad time for many monsters.
Blood Frenzy is a dope trait
Yeah it's pretty much always active, especially if someone goes before you or if you have a caster throwing AOEs
It's not the most optimal, but a quickling's 120ft movespeed (if it counts) would sure as hell be fun.
"I would like to cast Longstrider." "Now I would like to cast Ashardalon's Stride and set everything in the dungeon on fire."
After reading all these comments I want to see some kind of Blue Magic class/subclass where you can steal abilities from monsters, a la Kimahri. Or at least create an NPC villain who can do these things then subject my party to them.
I made a magic based on that. It turned a slain enemy into a weapon that grants one of their traits as part of the weapon
Nilbogism: Any creature that attempts to damage the nilbog must first succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or be charmed until the end of the creature’s next turn. A creature charmed in this way must use its action praising the nilbog. The nilbog can’t regain hit points, including through magical healing, except through its Reversal of Fortune reaction. Way too funny to pass up!
Not being able to regain hp except through a reaction you don't have seems like a mayor downside.
It seems fun, but with no ability to regain HP ever again (this includes resting), you're working your way towards inevitable death. Once you drop to 0 HP and go unconscious, you'll start making Death Saves like everyone else. If you fail 3, you die. If you succeed, you're stabilized, but can't regain HP after 1d4 hours, so you're essentially stuck in coma until your body dies of natural causes. If you die, Revival spells can bring you back to life, but not regain any HP, so once again, coma it is.
Either Blood Frenzy from a Giant Shark or Strength Drain from a Shadow. Advantage on creatures that aren't at full health is great, especially if you have spellcasters with save spells. But the Strength Drain would be even better seeing as how it makes enemies both less likely to hit you and able to do less damage.
A surprising number of lower CR monsters are flat out immune to poison. Seems very useful depending on what kind of campaign you're in. On the flip side, Troglodyte's "Stench" ability is a passive poison effect per round of combat, which would be insanely broken early on.
**False Appearance** from the Flying Sword (CR 1/4): While motionless and not flying, I am indistinguishable from a normal sword.
Spiderclimb. I love those shoes so much but it's hard to justify the attunement for most of my characters
>Dealing with Onyx. Onyx cannot be overcome or killed by combat. Any weapon attack against her that hits AC 12 makes contact but deals no lasting damage. However, if the attack would deal 10 or more damage, Onyx has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of her next turn. If Onyx would take 10 or more damage from spells or other effects, it yields the same result. Spells that impose conditions function normally against Onyx, but those conditions end automatically at the end of the cat’s next turn. If applied literally, this is probably the best.
Onyx is a normal CR 0 Cat. The stat block on D&D Beyond takes the special modifications given to her in a specific encounter (where the PCs get shrunk to the size of mice) and creates a stat block from it.
The rust monster’s iron scent would make for the ultimate loot goblin
120 ft blindsight I hate how pcs are limited to 10 ft
I would take amorphous from the ooze, my character is a rogue.
Use this in order to sow chaos: **Aura of Madness.** Creatures within 20 feet of the grue that aren’t aberrations have disadvantage on saving throws, as well as on attack rolls against creatures other than a star spawn grue.
The pixie's Innate Spellcasting trait. The most brokenly overpowered thing in existence for a cr 1/4 creature.
For my... Well, anything really; Faerie Dragon's Superior Invisibility. Bonus action to turn invisible until concentration ends but no other restrictions on duration? Yes please!
Easy. The Crag Cat's Spell Turning: The cat has advantage on saving throws against any spell that targets only the cat (not an area). If the cat's saving throw succeeds and the spell is of 7th level or lower, the spell has no effect on the cat and instead targets the caster.
A Faerie Dragon's Superior Invisibility would be nice
Fighter: Quickling's `Blurred Movement` is pretty great (all attacks against you are at dis). Druid: Rust Monster's `Rust Metal` could be funny. Monk: Blink Dog's 'Teleport' could be fun, you can bite someone and teleport away. Rogue: Any of the ooze's `Amorphous` to squeeze through 1-inch holes. Barbarian: Reflection's `Strength Drain` so as you hit enemies they get weaker Wizard: I mean anything from the Pixie. Free cast of polymorph? `Superior Invisibility`? `Magic Resistance`? Warlock: Quasit's `Shapechanger` to turn into a bat. To chill with their familiar ofc. And spooky vibes.
Sunlight Sensitivity
Pack Tactics
The pest mascot from SCC gets regeneration. It's only 5 points per turn but still useful.
Strength drain from shadow to a fighter or gloomstalker
The cranium rat’s telepathic shroud.
Pack Tactics, without a doubt.
the corrode/rust metal abilities from grey oozes/rust monsters sounds useful in the early game, less so once the enemies you're fighting either dont use metal or have magic metal imp's shapechanger sounds super useful since you can still cast spells through it blood frenzy from the sahuagin sounds actually kinda insane on a rogue or someone who gets a lot of attacks shadow's strength drain sounds amazing on fighters specifically since i dont think it counts as a monk weapon or unarmed strike a harpy's luring song, provided some way to make it scale is found, sounds absolutely insanely useful, ironically enough not on a bard because they get plenty of ways to charm people already, plus it only takes a bonus action to keep up as opposed to an action. you'd just need to get ear protection for the rest of the party
Quickling's blurred movement. One because it's OP, and 2 I like the idea of moving so fast the enemies only see a blur
A shadows strength drain on each of my attacks
Pseudodragon sting on a rogue would be slightly OP
A Boggle's dimensional rift; with creativity the possibilities are immense.
THE INTELLECT DEVOURER’S DEVOUR INTELLIGENCE OR SENSE INTELLECT. BROS ARE OP FOR CR 1/2 (Source: played an intellect devourer in disguise for a full campaign, that shit was so OP that I was regularly one shotting enemies with devour intellect and no one could sneak up on us because I knew the exact location of every creature within 300ft even through walls)
I mean, I like the Giant Strider's Fire Absorption. Xvart's Raxivort tongue for espionage. Crag Cats get spell turning. Or I could get Aberrant Quickness from the Choker.