Comments/suggestions on Jester's rules (5e)

[nothri]

Thoughts and comments on the Barbarian class. Try to do similar things to the other classes as time allows.

1. Persistent Rage: Should it be affected by Fear, Horror, and madness checks?
2. Primal Path Beserker- Mindless Rage: Again, fear horror and madness should be unaffected, I feel. Also, ongoing affects like being bitten by a Vampyre or hearing the song of a wolfwere?
3. General questions and observations about Path of the Totem Warrior
a. Should the Barbarian be subject to any dread companion/familiar rules for his totems?
b. If a Darklord has some affinity with a totem spirit, will they be able to influence the totem or barbarian in some way?
c. As an extension of question A, some lands have their own totem like beings (e.g. loa in Souragne, kami in Rokushima, maybe the Ancestral Choir in Kartakass?). So if there is such a thing as a “dread totem spirit” could a Barbarian avoid such a dubious relationship by deliberately seeking out a spirit of one of these lands instead? And if that is allowed, would the spirit or barbarian be subject to shamans that also commune with them (for example, the lord of Souragne or the Maiden of the Swamp if a barbarian partners with a Loa).
d. Thinking very specifically of Gregor Zolnik, could evil barbarians have the option to become a lycanthrope at 8th level by donning the skin of a totem animal?
e. And while we’re on the subject of Zolnik, is there anyone here who will argue with me that he’s clearly an 8th level Barbarian of the totem path (his animals being the wolf and the snake, which I guess can be used in place of the eagle)?

[therealvang]

I spent a few days brainstorming a conversion for "Aggie" the giant undead lake serpent from Castle Forlorn and here is what I have so far. This is a rough conversion as 2.0 (Castles Forlorn: The Weeping Lands - p93) only gives me a vague idea of the difficulty of the fight and 3.5 (Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - pp122-123) suggests a monster that can cast a 9th lvl cloudkill as a breath weapon which sound a bit overkill considering the adventure is written for lvl 4-6. Feel free to rip this conversion apart as this one is mostly done blind and based loosely on purple worm and ancient black dragon.

Aggie
Gargantuan Undead
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Armor Class 22 Natural (I feel this should likely be lower but both 2e and 3.5 have crazy AC)
Hit Points 157
Swim 40 ft
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_STR _DEX_ _CON_ _INT_ _WIS_ CHA
29(+9) 9(-1) 10(0) 12(+1) 10(0) 6(-2)
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Saving Throws (3.5 suggests Con +6 Dex +7 Wis +12) 2.0 suggest nothing will work due to its undead nature.
Senses Darkvision 60 ft passive Perception 16
Languages ---
(probably require some resistances both editions suggest a immunity to non magical weapons among other things)
Challenge 12 (8,400)
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Amphibious. Aggie can breath air or water

(I am considering adding a legendary resistance (3/day) to account for the saves)

Actions_________________________________

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack:+13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit:25 (3d10 + 9) piercing damage. The target must make a DC (not sure conversion suggest 22 thinking 18) saving throw or be grappled Aggie will drag the target to the bottom of the lake on the following turn in a attempt to drown the target. If Aggie suffers 30 hit point of dmg before the start of her next turn she will drop the target. (drowning in this edition is almost a non issue as a pc with a 10 in con can hold their breath for 10 combat rounds with no issues so I am unsure how to make this seem deadly)

Cloudkill Breath. (3/day) 40ft long 20ft wide. Hit 22 (5d8) poison damage or half as much on a successful DC 17 Con save. The fog moves 10 ft every round and last 4 rounds unless dispersed by a strong wind. The area the fog covers is heavily obscured. (This operates just like the cloudkill spell aside from it being a breath weapon)

Frightful Presence. (3/day) When Aggie has dropped below 50% of her health she gains access to this ability. A wounded Aggie roars loudly. Each creature within 50ft that can see or hear her must succeed a DC 17 wisdom save or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Is a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Aggies Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. (2.0 says aggie will only use this ability when th battle is turning against it and may only use it up to 3 times per day.)

[nothri]

Not much to question on the Bard. The only comment I would make is to not allow Countercharm to affect Fear, Horror, and Madness (a bonus to the roll, on the other hand....). Besides that, all I wonder is whether Harkon Lukas is more a Valor or Lore sort of College man. I can see both, but I tentatively lean towards Valor. He seems to sort to remember the daring deeds of others even as he pines for greater glories for himself.

[alhoon]

HL is probably Valor guy, but since he's an NPC we can give him an assortment of powers even if they are not available for PCs. I.e. he could be 60% Valor and 40% Lore. But IMO, he's pure Valor.
He's a bard after all, even a valor bard knows a lot of stuff, remembers legends of others and knows tales. If anything I would say he's fighter/bard

[Jester of the FoS]

Thoughts and comments on the Barbarian class. Try to do similar things to the other classes as time allows.

I've been avoiding doing the big list of altered class features for a few reasons.

1) It's difficult to maintain. This edition is more content lite that others, but there's still going to be regular additions. This means continually updating the list of features or having the additions be unaffected by the Mists.
2) It's hard to use. When you level up a character it potentially doubles the places you have to look for information. And when checking rules you need to look at two documents, one that is only partially for players.
3) They can be traps. Suddenly, an iconic class feature has a downside, which might not have been known before choosing the class. The player might feel penalized for playing their character.

Also it's not very 5e. The focus on 5e is "rulings not rules". So the DM makes the call. Instead of rules there's advice needed to make a call.
One DM might rule that raging just eliminated the need for fear/horror checks. Others might have it be tricky to rage when filled with fear.

c. As an extension of question A, some lands have their own totem like beings (e.g. loa in Souragne, kami in Rokushima, maybe the Ancestral Choir in Kartakass?). So if there is such a thing as a “dread totem spirit” could a Barbarian avoid such a dubious relationship by deliberately seeking out a spirit of one of these lands instead? And if that is allowed, would the spirit or barbarian be subject to shamans that also commune with them (for example, the lord of Souragne or the Maiden of the Swamp if a barbarian partners with a Loa).

That's some neat ideas for totem spirts. I'll need to add references to loa and kami in the document.

[alhoon]

I added the Vargouille. Changed them to aberrations (to avoid the reality wrinkle debacle) and said that they've been introduced to Ravenloft ecosystem without saying how, since I don't want to make things up for the ruleset.

IMC Vargouilles weren't brought it; they're the products of curses or unspeakable evil etc. An example is a serial killer that was beheading his victims till their heads (cause of a vistani curse) rose up and ate him alive, leaving only his head and heart intact. But his evil was so great that his head flew off (as a Vargouille). The paralyzing shriek of a Vargouille resembles the screams he was making when he was being mauled by the jaws of his victims.
And that's just one Vargouille outbreak.
I.e. they're "Ravenloft-made" in my campaign. But that's just me so you won't see any of that in the manual.

[alhoon]

I added the Head Hunter. Which presents a problem.

Namely: I'll admit I haven't read what we do with traps and XP so while I added the web... I don't know how it affects encounter difficulty.

[Jester of the FoS]

I added the Head Hunter. Which presents a problem.

Namely: I'll admit I haven't read what we do with traps and XP so while I added the web... I don't know how it affects encounter difficulty.

I'd give it an action called "spin razor web" and make that part of its assumed damage.

I'd also look to how the intellect devourer handles body stealing. The head hunter should be similar.

[alhoon]

Nah, actually throwing decapitating web deviates far from the head-hunter both in 2e and 3e and it doesn't solve the "how we handle an encounter that has a monster and a trap in D&D next?" .
The essence of the head hunter is to be crying wolf and have people drop in the web, while by itself, it presents little threat aside of the poison. And the web could be there if the HHunter dies\leaves while goblins make good use of it.

As for the body stealing, it was pretty easy and straightforward. Also, unlike the Intellect devourer, the HHunter doesn't assimilate the owners skills, class abilities, spells, languages and it is not inside the creature's head but it takes the place of the creature's head. I don't think that HHunter should be similar to Intellect Devourer.

[Jester of the FoS]

Nah, actually throwing decapitating web deviates far from the head-hunter both in 2e and 3e and it doesn't solve the "how we handle an encounter that has a monster and a trap in D&D next?" .
The essence of the head hunter is to be crying wolf and have people drop in the web, while by itself, it presents little threat aside of the poison. And the web could be there if the HHunter dies\leaves while goblins make good use of it.

Spinning the web is something it does. Which means it should be in its statblock. The webs don't just appear.
Having the web lying around when its gone is an exception to dealing with the web, and is easy handled by pulling the web details from the statblock.
And the challenge of dealing with the web is the hazard of dealing with the Headhunter. It should factor into it's CR.

As for the body stealing, it was pretty easy and straightforward. Also, unlike the Intellect devourer, the HHunter doesn't assimilate the owners skills, class abilities, spells, languages and it is not inside the creature's head but it takes the place of the creature's head. I don't think that HHunter should be similar to Intellect Devourer.

But it should still use the stats and generic statblock. If it's in a stronger creature, it's host should be hardier.

[alhoon]

But it should still use the stats and generic statblock. If it's in a stronger creature, it's host should be hardier.

Hmmm... I was thinking of head-hunter in a human. Indeed according to AD&D headhunters could get horse bodies, humanoids etc.

[therealvang]

Any advice you guys can offer on converting a darklord? Specifically Tristan ApBlanc?

[alhoon]

Weeeeeeeeell... I would say try to keep faithful to the "basic idea" of the darklord and not try to convert him hp-to-hp, AC-to-equivalent-AC etc.
I.e. Make him from scratch based on the material provided. After done, check his CR. If it's too low for your tastes, increase it by adding HP and attacks.
I would certainly put legendary resistance at least 1/day to a Darklord and at least 1 action point.

If you want, check what I did with Jacqueline Renier in Jester's monster book.

[Jester of the FoS]

Any advice you guys can offer on converting a darklord? Specifically Tristan ApBlanc?

I'll see if I can do that today. It feels like a monster building day.

[Jester of the FoS]

Here's a rought Tristen (now also in the monster document):

Tristen ApBlanc
Medium undead, neutral evil
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Armour Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 99 (18d8+18)
Speed 30 ft.
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Str 18 (+4) Dex 16 (+3) Con 12 (+1) Int 16 (+3) Wis 8 (-1) Cha 19 (+4)
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Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +2
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons, excluding ones made of deer antlers
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 13
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 6 (1 ,800 XP)
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Allergen. ApBlanc cannot enter a residence or area where deer antlers are present and displayed.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If ApBlanc fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Children of the Night (1/day) ApBlanc summons 2d4 swarms of bats or rats or 3d6 wolves instead to his side. The called creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds , acting as allies of ApBlanc and obeying its spoken commands. The beasts remain for 1 hour, until ApBlanc dies, or until ApBlanc dismisses them as a bonus action .
Legendary Actions
ApBlanc can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn . ApBlanc regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Move. ApBlanc moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Command Goblyn. One goblyn ally makes an attack.
Command Beast. One allied swarm or wolf makes an atttack.

Ghost Form
In ghost form ApBlanc gains the following trait:
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non magical weapons, excluding ones made of deer antlers
Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Ethereal Sight. ApBlanc can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa. Incorporeal Movement. ApBlanc can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. He takes 5 (1d10) force damage if he ends histurn inside an object.
In ghost form ApBlanc has the following attack options:
Withering Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage.
Etherealness. ApBlanc enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. He is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vise versa, yet it can't affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.
Possession (Recharge 6). One humanoid that ApBlanc can see within 5 feet of him must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be possessed; ApBlanc disappears, and the target is incapacitated and loses control of its body. ApBlanc now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. ApBlanc can't be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that turn undead, and he retains his alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened . ApBlanc otherwise uses the possessed target's statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, class features, or proficiencies. The possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points, ApBlanc ends it as a bonus action, orApBlanc is turned or forced out by an effect like the dispel evil and good spell. If the creature was sleeping when possessed, ApBlanc can control the body until dawn , but the creature can repeat the saving throw each hour, ending the effect on a success. When the possession ends, ApBlanc reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body. The target is immune to Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or after the possession ends.

Vampyre Form
In vampyre form gains the following trait:
Charming Bite. Creatures bitten by ApBlanc must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed for 1 minute.
Regeneration. ApBlanc regains 10 hit points at the start of his turn if he has at least 1 hit point and isn't in sunlight. If ApBlanc takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn't function at the start of his next turn.
Spider Climb. ApBlanc can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
In vampyre form ApBlanc has the following attack options:
Multiattack. ApBlanc makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage. Instead of dealing damage, the vampire can grapple the target (escape DC 13).
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by ApBlanc, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and ApBlanc regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.