Legendary Bestiary: Legendary Actions for Low-Level Monsters

Apr 18

Watch Live: 7pm Est 4/19/20

Crit Academy discuss the Legendary Bestiary: Legendary Actions for Low-Level Monsters. Legendary Actions are one of the coolest, most memorable aspects of fifth edition! As a DM, they allow you to make dynamic choices throughout a combat round, not just relying on a single action to make a huge impact. This element of unpredictability keeps the more tactics-minded players guessing as well, which is likely a big reason they come to the table. This fantastic supplement provides you with the tools to enhance those lower level monsters to give your player characters a swift kick the dice.

Segment: Crit Nation Feedback: Let’s talk about Blank!

Buffing the Way of the Four Elements Monk If your Dungeon Master is willing to use house rules, consider using the following house rules to buff the Way of the Four Elements subclass:

Reduce the ki cost of all Elemental Disciplines by 2 (to a minimum of 1). This cost reduction is applied after you spend additional ki to raise the spell’s level. For example, the Fist of Four Thunders discipline lets you cast thunderwave for 2 ki. This cost is reduced to 1. Casting the spell at 2nd level increases the ki cost to 3, but it still only costs 1 ki point after the cost reduction of 2 points.
At 3rd level, you learn the Elemental Attunement discipline as normal, and two other disciplines of your choice (instead of just one).
You learn two new disciplines at 6th, 11th, and 17th level (instead of just one), and can replace any discipline you know with another one that you meet the level requirements to learn when you gain a level in this class.
You can also learn two cantrips of your choice from the following list: acid splash, fire bolt, mold earth, produce flame, ray of frost, shocking grasp. When you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of these cantrips with another instead of replacing an elemental discipline with another. (If you have other sources, such as Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, you can choose other cantrips from those sources that deal acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage, or have an otherwise elemental theme, with your DM’s permission.)

Give Away: Loresmyth: Modular Dungeon Tiles - Arcania

Modular dungeon tiles are an easy way to create your own beautiful digital maps. The Arcania lets you make dark, shadowy dungeon maps, rich with the fumes of arcane secrets.

Winner: tbrents42

Didn’t win? Np, head to www.critacademy.com/loresmyth a free set of digital terrain and much more.

Segment: Main Topic:

166 Legendary Bestiary: Legendary Actions for Low-Level Monsters

DEATH DOG Consume Flesh. The dog eats a portion of a corpse killed within the past hour, regaining 1d8 hit points. A corpse can only be consumed once.

Detect. The dog makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.

Foul Breath. The dog exudes a disease-ridden stench in a 5-foot-sphere around itself. Any creature in the area must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or spend their next action retching and reeling. Creatures that don't need to breathe or are immune to poison automatically succeed on this saving throw.

BERSERKER Brute Force. The berserker attempts to shove a creature within reach.

Push Through. The berserker moves up to half its speed. It has resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from opportunity attacks it receives as a result of this movement.

Worked Up. The berserker gains temporary hit points equal to its Constitution modifier.

OGRE ZOMBIE Lumber About. The zombie moves up to 15 feet. This movement cannot be in a straight line.

Lunging Grasp. The zombie attempts to grapple a creature within 5 feet of it. If the attempt fails, the zombie must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

Give Away: Jeff Stevens: Villains and Lairs II!

Revolutionize your game with this collection of 28 villainous NPCs, from small fry to world-ender, eight of which include maps and details of their lairs. Sinister side-quests, terrifying overlords, bounties, one-shots and more lie in wait for you inside. Villains and Lairs II

Winner: vanbeekbr

Didn’t win? Np, head to www.critacademy.com/jeffstevens to get V&L’s 3 Free

Unearthed Tips and Tricks: New and reusable D&D content for you to bring with you on your next adventure.

Character Concept:

Magic Bubble Boy/Girl

This character spent most of their life trapped inside of an oversized glass jar. Their parents always told them that they have a disease that spreads easily and could kill them if they were to leave. Through a variety of circumstances they are freed. They learn that the bubble they were trapped in actually was an anti-magic field because their parents were afraid of their power. Now they have taken to adventuring to see the world and unlock their true potential.

Monster Variant:

Boon Satyr

While most satyr’s are raucous fey that frolic in the wild forests and are driven by curiosity, sometimes their home is threatened, and forces them into a more combative role. While they aren’t the strongest defenders of the forest, their aptitude for magic has pushed some to become a boon upon a company of protectors. Their proficiency in support magic is apparent, they prefer to keep their distance. Instead allowing their allies to take front and center and imbue them with power to strengthen their offense and defense.

Statblock: Dryad

Lost Features: Speak with beasts and plants, Tree stride, fey charm. (spells: all removed except shillelagh)

New Spells:

At will: Vicious Mockery

3/day: Command, Healing Word, Shillelagh

1/day Aura of Vitality, Crusader’s Mantle

New Weapon:

Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

Encounter:

Dungeon and a Dragon

DandyBeyond

A D&D campaign, Osmosis Jones style setting, but it’s in a dragon and it’s body parts and organs form a mega dungeon. It’s literally, a Dungeon and a Dragon!

Additional thoughts:

Charles Koontz - Reflavor different oozes for parasites or cells that attack the party.

Safet Zukic - the dragon ate a priceless artifact, the owner, a Wizard, gives the party a potion of Mega Reduce. Then asks them to retrieve it. Call it...Dragon heis...Damnit!

Magic Item:

The Witches’ Eye

Wondrous Item, Rare (requires attunement)

"The price of prophecy is an empty eye socket."

It is said that this eye came from that of one of the fates themselves. Some believe she still seeks it out.

This disgusting eye soft, gooey eyeball is imbued with the power to see small glimpses into the future. The eye has 3 charges for the following properties. It regains 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the eye's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the eye crumbles into ashes and is destroyed.

Spells. While holding the wand, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells (save DC 16): arcane eye (1 charge), Augury (2 charges) or, Divination (3 charges.

Divine Insight. While holding the eye, you can use your bonus action to expend 1 charge to cast Truestrike.

Dungeon Master Tip:

Immersive Exploration Encounters - DnD Beyond Article

Inserting mysterious locations or items into a wilderness or dungeon exploration is one of the most common ways for Dungeon Masters to subtly add depth to their world. At the highest level, biomes and climates are the first way a DM communicates anything about the campaign world. The bleak environments of Ravenloft are wildly different from the rolling green fields of the Sword Coast, which are in turn wildly different from the towering skyscrapers of Sharn.

A rewatch of the Lord of the Rings films will give you ample inspiration for environmental worldbuilding, from the imposing statues of Amon Hen to the vast and crumbling halls of Moria. This environmental design tells your players not just about the place they’re in, but about the people who created such things. Of course, not all environmental worldbuilding elements need to be ruins from a bygone era, like they so often are in Lord of the Rings and the countless fantasy stories that drew inspiration from it. What about markers and monuments left by people who are still living, or who only recently were killed. You can use graffiti on city walls to show what the downtrodden of a city value and fear. Or, you can subtly telegraph the powers of a monster by decorating its lair with grisly trophies of past kills—a manticore leaves snapped bones stripped clean of flesh, with dozens of shed spines nearby, whereas a salamander might post the charred corpses of its foes on stakes as a warning to those who would threaten its colony.

Player Tip: Don’t be a Dick! You can avoid dickitude by...

Booming Crack

Martial Training/Arcane Studies

Spell Sniper + Booming Blade (Wizard/Warlock/Sorcerer) for Whip synergy. This allows you to Booming Blade without getting into melee range, which removes the risk of opportunity attacks as you try to force your enemy to move.

Spell Sniper

Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell You have learned techniques to enhance your

attacks with certain kinds o f spells, gaining the following benefits:

• When you cast a spell that requires you to make an attack roll, the spell’s range is doubled.

• Your ranged spell attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover.

• You learn one cantrip that requires an attack roll.

Choose the cantrip from the bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.

(Booming Blade)

As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails. On a hit, the target suffers the attack's normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it immediately takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

Closing: Please join us on our next episode and we will be joined by special guest John Day to talk “The Game Shoppe”!

If you have any feedback, unearthed tips and tricks or topics you would like us to discuss, please send them to us. You can email them to us at critacademy@gmail.com or find us on twitter and facebook @critacademy.

We hope you’ve enjoyed your experience here at Crit Academy. If you did, you can help others find the show by leaving a hopefully 5 star review on itunes. Or just send us a message telling us how much you enjoy the show

Also be sure to give us a like and a share!

Make sure to subscribe to our show at www.critacademy.com, follow us on Twitch and Youtube so we can help you on your future adventures as well as a chance to win cool prizes each and every week. Make sure to check out our fellowship members as well.

Keep your blades sharp and spells prepared heroes!

I am your host Justin and I am your guest(name). Thanks for listening.