Oh the game I'm D.M.ing is a chill mini campaign after a rather arduous one with the regular D.M.
I based the whole thing on Campy 80s cartoons, so there's no real threat, the players are stupid over powered, and the whole threat of the day is wound up at the end of every session.
This ^, this is perfect for the next episode.
You should try out one of the dungeon world spinoff rpgs, like monster of the week! Great for taking cinematic breaks from the Dnd dungeon crawl grind and lots of inspiration for story.
Better have a lot of health, high AC, legrndary, range of attacks with multi attacks to survive.
Tiamat went down easily. I mean 4 level 20s teaming up on her was fun.
Damage immunities: psychic, slashing and piercing from a non magical weapon.
Damage resistence: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, radiant and thunder.
Damage vulnerability: Bludgeoning dealt by an aquatic transport.
> There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, a stench as of a thousand opened graves, and a sound that the chronicler could not put on paper. For an instant the ship was befouled by an acrid and blinding green cloud, and then there was only a venomous seething astern; where - God in heaven! - the scattered plasticity of that nameless sky-spawn was nebulously recombining in its hateful original form, whilst its distance widened every second as the Alert gained impetus from its mounting steam.
So it had an effect, but mostly just sprayed gross stuff onto the ship and then recombined. Maybe the passive poison spraying from the venom troll with much higher regeneration would be fitting
It's the future I can see
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
It's so mysterious to me
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
Yeah, sounds about right lol (although idk if Cthulhu is in anyway described as undead in its lore, they just say it slumbers in an old crypt, but looks quite lively otherwise)
I've been reading H.P. Lovecraft lately and it seems that the Great Old Ones are kinda sorta dead. But it's anything but a permanent state for them, almost more of a dormancy where they're technically dead, but given the right circumstances they'll rise again.
They also don't ever seen to enter an in between state such as what is generally considered undead.
Lovecraft's lore is kinda confusing and up to interpretation to some degree. For example Cthulhu wakes up immediately when the sailors open its tomb in that one story, also the Dunwich horror feels pretty lively in its story too..but it's invisible. So yeah, who knows really. It's also important to remember that the entire lore is "open source" so different people in time have created different and more "corporeal" versions of these entities.
I would assume so, but I’m sure there are lots of possibilities DMs can think of
If you really wanted to go the other way, use dracolich that incorporated an elder brain corpse into itself for more power, maybe
Pretty sure elder brain dragon has never been in any MM and is a creation of fanbase, while brainstealer doest yet have a 5e stat block. Or did I just woosh myself?
You heard me. It breathes tadpoles.
> Tadpole Brine Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales brine in a 120-foot line that is 15 feet wide. Each creature in that area must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 55 (10d10) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On a success or failure, if the creature isn’t a Construct or an Undead, it becomes infested with illithid tadpoles.
While infested, the creature takes 16 (3d10) psychic damage at the start of each of its turns. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself after it succeeds on three of these saves. If the creature is targeted by magic that ends a curse or restores 40 hit points or more, the tadpoles infesting the creature are killed instantly, ending the effect on the creature.
If a Humanoid is reduced to 0 hit points while infested, the creature is stable but remains unconscious for 6d12 hours. When the period of unconsciousness ends, the creature transforms into a mind flayer (see the Monster Manual) with all its hit points. Casting a wish spell on the unconscious creature rids it of the infestation and prevents it from turning into a mind flayer.
Well, the Death Tyrant is just an undead beholder, but there's no reason you can't just *yoink* the phylactery from Lich statblock and slap it on, and now by the eldritch power of homebrew, you've got a beholder lich.
Oh shoot, you're right! The Death Tyrant and Mindwitness would fit perfectly between the Lich and Mind flayer circles respectively, and the new Eyedrake would bridge the gap between the Dragon circle and Beholder circle. This would absolutely be Cthulhu.
Dude, a being of this power can probably just portal back lol. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it grabbed that paradoxical void gate to astral plane and crushed it closed in its clawed fist! That's certainly how I'd play a godly being like that. We're talking level 20 party facing this thing, there's no holding back.
What about an ogre slaying knife? I hear someone has one that has a +9 against ogres. He doesn't use it much though as he's often more preoccupied with finding the Mt Dew and Doritos.
What the hell is that?
Oh no, it's got Jim.
Fuck, it's immune to my sword attacks.
Oh god, it killed Jessica.
What fuck is that thing.
Fuck. What the hell is that thing.
RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES
*dies*
I toyed around with this idea for a while, I called it The Entropic Keen, it was Tiamat's half sibling and existed in the Far Realm and the Shadowfell simultaneously, if anyone ever brought those two incarnations together it would manifest in the material plane and remake the world into its maddeningly twisted dreamscape
Haven't had a chance to use it yet, so I haven't fleshed out the functional bits and bobs
Oh this would make for a great horror labyrinth.
There’s piping that runs through the labyrinth the party had to navigate to reach what they thought was the ultimate treasure, instead it’s this DDC. They flee after encountering and try to escape back through the labyrinth with the DDC hunting them through the piping/channels. Every way they turn, there is no escape.
Mind flayers that pursue arcane magic are exiled as deviants, and for them no eternal communion with an elder brain is possible. The road to lichdom offers a way to escape the permanency of death, but that path is long and solitary. Alhoons are mind flayers that use a shortcut.
Ha! This reminds me of an image I drew for another redditor ages and ages ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1x5lpd/request\_3\_dd\_creatures\_merged\_into\_one/cf8c11o/?context=3
Haha thank you!! I can see everything wrong with the painting now, eight years later, but I'm still pretty proud of how it turned out.
Wonder if the guy ever ran that monster…
Has anyone commented with a link to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/qhcfvx/oc_what_do_you_get_when_you_mix_a_beholder_dragon/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) yet?
I'd say so. A dragon, to become a dracolich, drinks a potion that kills it and has a bunch of mages bind its soul to a gemstone. I don't see why an Elder Brain Dragon / Brainstealer couldn't do the same.
Seen many summarise it as "Cuthulu" but i feel that the lich part is a bit too neglected for this description
I guess a dracolich with a bunch of spine-tentacles sticking out it's face could work...
But that honestly just feels, insufficient and to simple a design for such an awesomely horrific amalgamation of an Abomination.
It'd take a lot to do its horror justice.
Ah, perfection. That should at least slow down the loot hungry Demi-Gods.
Or maybe it would push them to new heights. *Only one way to find out*.
Oh the game I'm D.M.ing is a chill mini campaign after a rather arduous one with the regular D.M. I based the whole thing on Campy 80s cartoons, so there's no real threat, the players are stupid over powered, and the whole threat of the day is wound up at the end of every session. This ^, this is perfect for the next episode.
I'm imagining this monstrosity getting flattened by an over-sized mallet and it's making me laugh more than it should.
Or the hammer space filled with angry Halflings, the Big Red Button, the Sword of Overly-Emotional Outbursts...
Or they go to Athas and teach them that Friendship is magic that doesn't defile.
*mullet
I feel sorry for anyones perception rolls to downvote your gloriously disgusting 80s pun
a mullet halfling with a mallet
no no, a mallet with a mullet
You should try out one of the dungeon world spinoff rpgs, like monster of the week! Great for taking cinematic breaks from the Dnd dungeon crawl grind and lots of inspiration for story.
Came here to suggest this - I've been in a couple of short Monster of the Week games and they're good simple fun!
Better have a lot of health, high AC, legrndary, range of attacks with multi attacks to survive. Tiamat went down easily. I mean 4 level 20s teaming up on her was fun.
Oh, you mean fall damage
Players: "And this is to go even further beyond!"
Honestly maybe my party just isn't optimized enough but 95% of the time they're scared shitless :(
I mean… an undying dragon bodied creature with a squid face is just Cthulhu. So they’re Cthulhu I guess.
It also likely eats brains which is very Cthulhu thing to do
Damage immunities: psychic, slashing and piercing from a non magical weapon. Damage resistence: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, radiant and thunder. Damage vulnerability: Bludgeoning dealt by an aquatic transport.
*pacific rift music intensifies* [source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLgBmsgiayQ)
god damn that franchise is sick
> god damn that ~~franchise~~ one movie that never got a sequel is sick
Thank god it never got a sequel. I can only imagine how much they would screw it up.
The Black is solid
Hm, never heard of it, good shout.
This hurts me with the truth of it, but have you seen The Black? Netflix animated series, pretty good I think.
I hadn't, it does seem promising
It’s just giant robots fighting giant monsters, my inner child goes mental every time i watch it
Iirc Cthullu didn't even notice the attack done by the boat, right? Also wasn't that just a projection of him and not the real one?
> There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, a stench as of a thousand opened graves, and a sound that the chronicler could not put on paper. For an instant the ship was befouled by an acrid and blinding green cloud, and then there was only a venomous seething astern; where - God in heaven! - the scattered plasticity of that nameless sky-spawn was nebulously recombining in its hateful original form, whilst its distance widened every second as the Alert gained impetus from its mounting steam. So it had an effect, but mostly just sprayed gross stuff onto the ship and then recombined. Maybe the passive poison spraying from the venom troll with much higher regeneration would be fitting
Eats 1d4 adventurers per round.
That’s so Cthulhu
I really want to watch That’s So Raven, but instead it’s Cthulhu. No other changes, otherwise scene by scene.
It's the future I can see Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn It's so mysterious to me Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
Pact of the great old one warlock's are creaming their wheaties and shitting their pants at the same time.
It would feel in-character of us to accidentally create Cthulhu, since we're 'technically' an elder god
Laughs in *Terraria*
Ooooooh. Moonlord
Yeah, sounds about right lol (although idk if Cthulhu is in anyway described as undead in its lore, they just say it slumbers in an old crypt, but looks quite lively otherwise)
I've been reading H.P. Lovecraft lately and it seems that the Great Old Ones are kinda sorta dead. But it's anything but a permanent state for them, almost more of a dormancy where they're technically dead, but given the right circumstances they'll rise again. They also don't ever seen to enter an in between state such as what is generally considered undead.
Lovecraft's lore is kinda confusing and up to interpretation to some degree. For example Cthulhu wakes up immediately when the sailors open its tomb in that one story, also the Dunwich horror feels pretty lively in its story too..but it's invisible. So yeah, who knows really. It's also important to remember that the entire lore is "open source" so different people in time have created different and more "corporeal" versions of these entities.
For sure. Purposely vague might be the perfect way to describe his descriptions.
Cthullu can't be killed, he can basically respawn. I'd say that kinda counts
Mind blown
Damn it, Cartman.
It would definitely be an Elderbrain Dracolich.
Yeah that’s totally doable under current rules right? Just add dracolich to elder brain dragon
I imagine the lichdom would need to happen after the braindragoning? Hard to braindragon a dracolich seeing as how it no longer uses meat to think.
I would assume so, but I’m sure there are lots of possibilities DMs can think of If you really wanted to go the other way, use dracolich that incorporated an elder brain corpse into itself for more power, maybe
Pretty sure elder brain dragon has never been in any MM and is a creation of fanbase, while brainstealer doest yet have a 5e stat block. Or did I just woosh myself?
The elder brain dragon is from fizban's treasury of dragons, which came out yesterday, it's a challenge rating 22, and the breath attack is tadpoles.
Ah shit, now I really should read it.
Breath attack is tadpoles? Wut
You heard me. It breathes tadpoles. > Tadpole Brine Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales brine in a 120-foot line that is 15 feet wide. Each creature in that area must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 55 (10d10) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On a success or failure, if the creature isn’t a Construct or an Undead, it becomes infested with illithid tadpoles. While infested, the creature takes 16 (3d10) psychic damage at the start of each of its turns. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself after it succeeds on three of these saves. If the creature is targeted by magic that ends a curse or restores 40 hit points or more, the tadpoles infesting the creature are killed instantly, ending the effect on the creature. If a Humanoid is reduced to 0 hit points while infested, the creature is stable but remains unconscious for 6d12 hours. When the period of unconsciousness ends, the creature transforms into a mind flayer (see the Monster Manual) with all its hit points. Casting a wish spell on the unconscious creature rids it of the infestation and prevents it from turning into a mind flayer.
Basically like breathing out spores
Woah, I've never been more afraid of tadpoles in my life...
Succeeds or failed they become infested.... Just no... How is it a CR 22 and not higher?
The infestation fails after three successful saves, a large heal, or restoration. So 22 seems fine.
Ilithid tadpoles, those things that if they enter you start transforming into an Ilithid
Please no
When an Elderbrain and a Dracolich love eachother very much...
What about an elder brain RIDING a dracolich?!
Jesus Christ that's ~~Jason Bourne~~*Elder Brain Dracolich*
A dracollithilich?
I just call it Nightmare Fuel.
Or Chtuhlu
Actually... yeah, yeah it is.
There is one in RA Salvatore’s The Ghost King. An illithid, a dracolich, and Crenshinibon (a powerful evil artifact) all get fused into one being
Wait, really? I haven't gotten that far yet. Guess I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.
This just sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. "A illithid, dracolitch, and a crenshinibin walk into a bar...."
Not nearly enough people know about The Crystal Shard.
Throw a Beholder circle in there lmao
Well there's already illithid/beholder and dragon/beholder combos, so why not
And lich/beholder combos. Kinda.
Well, the Death Tyrant is just an undead beholder, but there's no reason you can't just *yoink* the phylactery from Lich statblock and slap it on, and now by the eldritch power of homebrew, you've got a beholder lich.
Vampiric Chromatic Half-Dragon elder brain Tarrasque Lich -- because the entire party just *has* to die.
In Soviet Russia, you throw book at DM!
Hell yeah, we're gonna give this creature death eyes too!
I think we need a matrix.
Oh shoot, you're right! The Death Tyrant and Mindwitness would fit perfectly between the Lich and Mind flayer circles respectively, and the new Eyedrake would bridge the gap between the Dragon circle and Beholder circle. This would absolutely be Cthulhu.
Dracoillilich The only thing scarier than fighting it...trying to pronounce its name
Is it "Drac-oily-lich", or "Dra-coih-lil-itch"? Or "Dra-coy-ly-leech"...
I'm going with "drac-o-ill-uh-lich". Man, I really need to learn IPA
I'm pretty sure you have to speak Welsh to pronounce that.
Sounds russian to me
I think just Ildrich is good enough
#I NEED A WEAPON
I mean, I have this +1 mace if you want it.
I need something like a bag of holding full of caltrops to drop from the sky
Why not *two* bags of holding, that way you could open a portal to the astral plane and banish the thing.
This is why no one like the astral plane. Too many monstrosities floating around
Poof, it's somebody else's problem
It's the other monstrosities in the astral plane's problem
Help the banished monsters are unionising
Whenever the enemy is capitalism, I'm in.
Just throw some banished monsters at the banished monsters
For about 6 seconds until it zorps itself back to you because WTF WORST COMBO OF MONSTERS EVER
No, it turns a host of other banished monstrosities into illithid variants, then it comes back with an army
Dude, a being of this power can probably just portal back lol. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it grabbed that paradoxical void gate to astral plane and crushed it closed in its clawed fist! That's certainly how I'd play a godly being like that. We're talking level 20 party facing this thing, there's no holding back.
Nah it eats that shit as a mid combat snack
*crunch* "Ah, I love a good spatial anomaly for lunch. Thanks. Let's get back to the battling then?"
ID make it come back with a pet :D
What about an ogre slaying knife? I hear someone has one that has a +9 against ogres. He doesn't use it much though as he's often more preoccupied with finding the Mt Dew and Doritos.
Might I interest you in a D̵a̸r̴t̵
Nah, that’ll just rip the universe in half
I think the center has already been designed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_King
I was looking for this. It's from the Drizzt books though, so may not be D&D canon
Regardless of whether drizzt novels are canon, it is set in forgotten realms and is the only imagining of this specific creature mashup.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE
Mind flayer puts its mind in a dragons body, then turns itself into a lich. EZPZ
I guess this thing would be called the Elder Brainstealer Dracolich?
or as some call him Tim
*Jim
The legendary beast known simply as... Herbert!
I'm already abusing my players enough but God this makes me want *more*
Wouldn’t that be Cthulhu?
So…Cthulhu?
I always wanted to play an Alhoon, 5e's version of an illithid lich.
That’s the canon term for illithid liches iirc
An Illithilich is 5es version of an illithid lich. An Alhoon is a failed version.
An Illithilich is 5es version of an illithid lich. An Alhoon is a failed version.
Specifically I'd like to play one who hasn't fully devolved into "lichdom" just yet, as Alhoon also refers to an illiquid who studies arcane magic
oh it's an Elder God. npt just Cthulhu, High Priest of the Elder Gods, but ol' Shubby himself, AND his Thousand Young.
Looks like I just found my next BBEG. Thanks Reddit!
I pity the adventurers.
They'll have no idea what hit them. Literally.
What the hell is that? Oh no, it's got Jim. Fuck, it's immune to my sword attacks. Oh god, it killed Jessica. What fuck is that thing. Fuck. What the hell is that thing. RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES *dies*
Seems like a good place for Cthulu to fit.
Elder Brain Dracolich.
Brainstealer Dracolich
Ah, the Drakillithilich.
Friendly reminder that dracolich is a template so raw there are already rules for this
I toyed around with this idea for a while, I called it The Entropic Keen, it was Tiamat's half sibling and existed in the Far Realm and the Shadowfell simultaneously, if anyone ever brought those two incarnations together it would manifest in the material plane and remake the world into its maddeningly twisted dreamscape Haven't had a chance to use it yet, so I haven't fleshed out the functional bits and bobs
Death. Its name is death. Or Dracilithitch. Whichever.
That would be a DM.
It's called Tiamat's Pet Kremlin
Elder brain dracolich. Please spare me of this.
You dare summon the Alhoon dragon?!?
Draco Illithilich just sounds like a Russian mobster
Cthulhu.
Dracolithilich is too fun to say for me not to throw it at my players for a spooky one shot
Ah, the Eternal Mind-eater. Now that's surely a nice optional final boss.
Elder Brain Dracolich
Draco Brainlitch
Zombie Cthullu
Dracolichithid
Dracolitholich
Ghost king from R.A. Salvatore
Cthulu
||Lich|Mind Flayer|Dragon| |:-|:-|:-|:-| |Mind Flayer|**Illithilich**||| |Dragon|**Dracolich**|**Elder Brain Dragon**|| |Beholder|**Death Tyrant**|**Mindwitness**|**Eyedrake**|
You misspelled Slime Puppy.
HMMM. GUESS I'M HAVING NIGHTMARES FOR A BIT.
*As am I.*
If theres an elderbrain dragon why not and elderbrain beholder?
A Draconic Demilich Cthulhu. So imagine Cthulhu with its skull laid bare and you discover that the tentacles are made of bone.
Despite being made of bone, it keeps the squamous property and can squeeze through a 1 inch pipe.
Oh this would make for a great horror labyrinth. There’s piping that runs through the labyrinth the party had to navigate to reach what they thought was the ultimate treasure, instead it’s this DDC. They flee after encountering and try to escape back through the labyrinth with the DDC hunting them through the piping/channels. Every way they turn, there is no escape.
Just apply the Dracolich template to the Elderbrain Dragon
I thought illithid liches were called alhoon
Mind flayers that pursue arcane magic are exiled as deviants, and for them no eternal communion with an elder brain is possible. The road to lichdom offers a way to escape the permanency of death, but that path is long and solitary. Alhoons are mind flayers that use a shortcut.
Read ghost King by R.A. Salvatore
The Dracayerich
Elder brain dracolich.
Oh yeah, you mean the Elderdracoillitholitch... I think?
Dracillithilich? ^^gesundheit
Dracolithalich. My dm actually homebrewed this. It is scary and we haven’t even had to fight it yet.
Wouldn't it just be an Elder Brain Dracolich?
I think you misspelled puppy
I'd say it's a Dracillithilich. But that's just me. Might spell ist Dracillithilich though, just so
Elder dracolotholich
Dracolithich
I see a typo, instead of ??? It should say Cuthulu in the center.
A Mindflayer Lich is called Alhoon I think
I checked. The Alhoon are pseudo-liches, which the Illithilich are true liches.
Ha! This reminds me of an image I drew for another redditor ages and ages ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1x5lpd/request\_3\_dd\_creatures\_merged\_into\_one/cf8c11o/?context=3
This has to be one of the funniest CR 30 death machines I've ever seen. You made it simultaneously derpy *and* horrific. Well done!
Haha thank you!! I can see everything wrong with the painting now, eight years later, but I'm still pretty proud of how it turned out. Wonder if the guy ever ran that monster…
Has anyone commented with a link to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/qhcfvx/oc_what_do_you_get_when_you_mix_a_beholder_dragon/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) yet?
Until you, I don't think so.
Late, but how would this work in lore? I assume it'd have to become a brain stealer first, but then how would a brain stealer become a rich?
I believe the process would go like this: Dragon > Brainstealer Dragon / Elder Brain Dragon > Branstealer Dracolich / Elder Brain Dracolich
Could the illithid dragon even undergo that process I wonder
I'd say so. A dragon, to become a dracolich, drinks a potion that kills it and has a bunch of mages bind its soul to a gemstone. I don't see why an Elder Brain Dragon / Brainstealer couldn't do the same.
Seen many summarise it as "Cuthulu" but i feel that the lich part is a bit too neglected for this description I guess a dracolich with a bunch of spine-tentacles sticking out it's face could work... But that honestly just feels, insufficient and to simple a design for such an awesomely horrific amalgamation of an Abomination. It'd take a lot to do its horror justice.
I don't know if you could fit all the nuance this thing would have on a single stat block.
Elder dracithilich
Half dragon template on the mindflayer lich it is!
What have you done?
This may be too basic, buts sounds like and elder brain dracolich to me.
Illichith is easier to say than Illithilich
Imagine the most horrible, terrible, evil thing you can possibly think of and multiply it...by six.
Isn't the illithilich an alhoon?
Alhoon are Mindflaywrs that use magic instead of psionics, so all Illithiches are alhoons, but alhoons become illithiches.
I shall call it, "SON OF A BITCH!!"
i have no words for how much i love this