Cleon
Legend
I'm happy with the Pine Kindred as they are.
The Cthon is as good a place to start as anywhere.
I'll post a blank entry as a placeholder.
5E: Converting Monsters from White Dwarf Magazine for Fifth Edition
I'm happy with the Pine Kindred as they are.
The Cthon is as good a place to start as anywhere.
I'll post a blank entry as a placeholder.
Cleon
Legend
Chthon
Large elemental, lawful evil
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 126 (12d10 + 60)
Speed 0 ft.
Saving Throws DEX –1, WIS +2
Skills Stealth +1
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Terran
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Control Beasts and Plants. The chthon can telepathically control nonsapient flora and fauna. A single chthon can control up to twenty beasts and plants of Intelligence 0 to 3.
The chthon may try to establish control over any beast or plant it can see within 60 feet which does not have a special link to another creature (it cannot control a ranger's animal companion or a plant animated by a druid's spell, for example). The target must succeed at a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or fall under the chthon's control, which lasts until the chthon releases the controlled creature (a free action), the chthon or the affected creature is dead or unconscious, the two are separated by more than 10 miles, or the creature is affected by a power that breaks mind control. Controlled creatures always seek to remain within 10 miles of the chthon. A target that successfully saves is immune to this chthon's control attempts for the next 24 hours.
If a controlled beast or plant is within 120 feet of the chthon, it can send telepathic orders the creature follows to the best of its natural ability. These telepathic messages don't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners and through openings, but cannot pass through solid barriers of wood, stone, or metal. The chthon cannot force a controlled creature to do anything it could not do normally, such as suicidal or unnatural actions.
The chthon can telepathically call any or all creatures under its control to come towards the chthon and receive orders. This call has a range of 10 miles.
Note: The chthon's Challenge Rating of 4 does not include its retinue of controlled beasts and plants. A typical chthon will be accompanied by up to a dozen creatures whose total Challenge Rating is 3, such as a single CR 3 ankylosaurus; one CR 2 giant constrictor snake plus eight CR 1/8 giant rats; or a dozen CR 1/4 wolves and boars. Some chthon's only have a few squirrels and foxes at their beck and call, a few have massive retinues such as a herd of elephants.
Mineral Metabolism. The chthon does not need to eat or drink so is is unaffected by asphyxiation, drowning, starvation, or the airlessness of a vacuum.
Rooted. The chthon is normally fixed to the bedrock and cannot be knocked prone or moved by effects, it is still free to rotate in place to view or attack in any direction. A chthon can unroot itself as an action and then reroot itself by remaining in one spot for a minute. An unrooted chthon has speed 5 ft., burrow 5 ft. and can be knocked over and moved around by effects, but gains advantage on ability checks and saving throws against such effects and always uses Strength to make the roll if this gives the chthon better odds of success.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Barrier of Branches (Recharge after a Short Rest). A wall of tangled vegetation springs from the ground within 120 feet of the chthon. The barrier is composed of six panels, each 10 feet tall and either 10 feet long and 4 feet thick or 20 feet long and 2 feet thick. Each panel must be contiguous with at least one one other panel. The barrier remains standing for 1 hour before withering and collapsing into fragments of punk and mold. The area of the barriers is lightly obscured; but sight through the barrier becomes heavily obscured if the total thickness is 5 feet or more (e.g. two 4 ft. thick panels or one 4 ft. thick panel plus one 2 ft. thick panel).
If the barrier cuts through a creature's space when it appears, the creature must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. If it fails, the branches wrap tightly around the creature's body or limbs and it is restrained. On a success, the target is not restrained and can use its reaction to move up to its speed so that it is no longer in contact with the barrier. A creature restrained by the barrier can escape with a successful DC 14 Strength or Dexterity check, by doing at least 10 slashing damage to the barrier at one time, or by destroying the panels they are trapped in.
A creature can move through the barrier, albeit slowly and painfully. For every 2 foot a creature moves through the branches, it must spend 5 feet of movement. Furthermore, the first time a creature enters the wall on a turn or ends its turn there, the creature must make a DC 12 Strength or Dexterity saving throw or be momentarily snagged by the branches, becoming restrained for their next turn.
The barrier is an object made of wood that can be damaged and thus breached. Each panel has AC 12 and 10 hit points per foot of thickness, with resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage. Reducing a panel to 0 hit points destroys it but does not cause connected panels to collapse.
Rise of the Undergrowth (Recharge 5-6). Thorny vines and gnarly roots rise from the ground in a 20-foot-radius circle centered on a point within 60 feet of the chthon, turning the area into difficult terrain. The undergrowth remains aroused for 1 minute and then reverts to its natural state. When the undergrowth rises, the chthon chooses which creatures within the affected area the vines and roots will target; each target must succeed at a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) piercing damage and be restrained until the undergrowth returns to normal. If a target fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it also falls prone. Creatures that successfully save take no damage and remain upright. As an action, a restrained target can make a DC 14 Strength or Dexterity check, escaping the restraint on a success. The undergrowth holding each creature can also be attacked (AC 12, 5 hit points, resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage), freeing the creature if the patch of plants restraining them is destroyed.
Description
A chthon is a bizarre elemental lifeform resembling an enormous boulder with a face set in its front. Its face resembles an old man's, with skin split by fissures, baleful black eyes, and a large jagged-edged mouth. Chthons are sedentary creatures who never (or almost never) move from the spot they've claimed as the center of their territory. The base of a chthon's boulder-like body is partially buried in the ground, rooting the creature to the bedrock.
Mineral Tyrants. All chthons despise non-elemental lifeforms and have an implacable paranoia about intelligent flesh-and-blood creatures more mobile than they are, particularly humanoids and sapient beasts. A chthon always strives to murder any "intelligent animal" that enters its territory.
Control of Flora and Fauna. A chthon has a strange control over non-intelligent animals and plants that live in its vicinity. It telepathically commands these creatures to become its spies and fighters. A chthon will callously send its minions to attack intelligent lifeforms without a care whether they live or die.
(Originally created by Colin Reynolds; appeared in White Dwarf Magazine #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) as part of the Fiend Factory mini-module "One-Eye Canyon", edited by Albie Fiore.)
Large elemental, lawful evil
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 126 (12d10 + 60)
Speed 0 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
18 (+4) | 5 (–3) | 20 (+5) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 15 (+2) |
Saving Throws DEX –1, WIS +2
Skills Stealth +1
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Terran
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Control Beasts and Plants. The chthon can telepathically control nonsapient flora and fauna. A single chthon can control up to twenty beasts and plants of Intelligence 0 to 3.
The chthon may try to establish control over any beast or plant it can see within 60 feet which does not have a special link to another creature (it cannot control a ranger's animal companion or a plant animated by a druid's spell, for example). The target must succeed at a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or fall under the chthon's control, which lasts until the chthon releases the controlled creature (a free action), the chthon or the affected creature is dead or unconscious, the two are separated by more than 10 miles, or the creature is affected by a power that breaks mind control. Controlled creatures always seek to remain within 10 miles of the chthon. A target that successfully saves is immune to this chthon's control attempts for the next 24 hours.
If a controlled beast or plant is within 120 feet of the chthon, it can send telepathic orders the creature follows to the best of its natural ability. These telepathic messages don't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners and through openings, but cannot pass through solid barriers of wood, stone, or metal. The chthon cannot force a controlled creature to do anything it could not do normally, such as suicidal or unnatural actions.
The chthon can telepathically call any or all creatures under its control to come towards the chthon and receive orders. This call has a range of 10 miles.
Note: The chthon's Challenge Rating of 4 does not include its retinue of controlled beasts and plants. A typical chthon will be accompanied by up to a dozen creatures whose total Challenge Rating is 3, such as a single CR 3 ankylosaurus; one CR 2 giant constrictor snake plus eight CR 1/8 giant rats; or a dozen CR 1/4 wolves and boars. Some chthon's only have a few squirrels and foxes at their beck and call, a few have massive retinues such as a herd of elephants.
Mineral Metabolism. The chthon does not need to eat or drink so is is unaffected by asphyxiation, drowning, starvation, or the airlessness of a vacuum.
Rooted. The chthon is normally fixed to the bedrock and cannot be knocked prone or moved by effects, it is still free to rotate in place to view or attack in any direction. A chthon can unroot itself as an action and then reroot itself by remaining in one spot for a minute. An unrooted chthon has speed 5 ft., burrow 5 ft. and can be knocked over and moved around by effects, but gains advantage on ability checks and saving throws against such effects and always uses Strength to make the roll if this gives the chthon better odds of success.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Barrier of Branches (Recharge after a Short Rest). A wall of tangled vegetation springs from the ground within 120 feet of the chthon. The barrier is composed of six panels, each 10 feet tall and either 10 feet long and 4 feet thick or 20 feet long and 2 feet thick. Each panel must be contiguous with at least one one other panel. The barrier remains standing for 1 hour before withering and collapsing into fragments of punk and mold. The area of the barriers is lightly obscured; but sight through the barrier becomes heavily obscured if the total thickness is 5 feet or more (e.g. two 4 ft. thick panels or one 4 ft. thick panel plus one 2 ft. thick panel).
If the barrier cuts through a creature's space when it appears, the creature must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. If it fails, the branches wrap tightly around the creature's body or limbs and it is restrained. On a success, the target is not restrained and can use its reaction to move up to its speed so that it is no longer in contact with the barrier. A creature restrained by the barrier can escape with a successful DC 14 Strength or Dexterity check, by doing at least 10 slashing damage to the barrier at one time, or by destroying the panels they are trapped in.
A creature can move through the barrier, albeit slowly and painfully. For every 2 foot a creature moves through the branches, it must spend 5 feet of movement. Furthermore, the first time a creature enters the wall on a turn or ends its turn there, the creature must make a DC 12 Strength or Dexterity saving throw or be momentarily snagged by the branches, becoming restrained for their next turn.
The barrier is an object made of wood that can be damaged and thus breached. Each panel has AC 12 and 10 hit points per foot of thickness, with resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage. Reducing a panel to 0 hit points destroys it but does not cause connected panels to collapse.
Rise of the Undergrowth (Recharge 5-6). Thorny vines and gnarly roots rise from the ground in a 20-foot-radius circle centered on a point within 60 feet of the chthon, turning the area into difficult terrain. The undergrowth remains aroused for 1 minute and then reverts to its natural state. When the undergrowth rises, the chthon chooses which creatures within the affected area the vines and roots will target; each target must succeed at a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) piercing damage and be restrained until the undergrowth returns to normal. If a target fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it also falls prone. Creatures that successfully save take no damage and remain upright. As an action, a restrained target can make a DC 14 Strength or Dexterity check, escaping the restraint on a success. The undergrowth holding each creature can also be attacked (AC 12, 5 hit points, resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage), freeing the creature if the patch of plants restraining them is destroyed.
Description
A chthon is a bizarre elemental lifeform resembling an enormous boulder with a face set in its front. Its face resembles an old man's, with skin split by fissures, baleful black eyes, and a large jagged-edged mouth. Chthons are sedentary creatures who never (or almost never) move from the spot they've claimed as the center of their territory. The base of a chthon's boulder-like body is partially buried in the ground, rooting the creature to the bedrock.
Mineral Tyrants. All chthons despise non-elemental lifeforms and have an implacable paranoia about intelligent flesh-and-blood creatures more mobile than they are, particularly humanoids and sapient beasts. A chthon always strives to murder any "intelligent animal" that enters its territory.
Control of Flora and Fauna. A chthon has a strange control over non-intelligent animals and plants that live in its vicinity. It telepathically commands these creatures to become its spies and fighters. A chthon will callously send its minions to attack intelligent lifeforms without a care whether they live or die.
(Originally created by Colin Reynolds; appeared in White Dwarf Magazine #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) as part of the Fiend Factory mini-module "One-Eye Canyon", edited by Albie Fiore.)
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Casimir Liber
Adventurer
I had a bit of a mental block after I started. Always liked the pic and I could imagine using it (and did - I think - in the 80s). Grey Squaarg and Dragon Warriors could be fun. Trying to think how to shoehorn the cyclops into existing canon....
Cleon
Legend
The main problem with statting the Chthon as a conventional 5E monster is that it is immobile and has no attacks. The only way the original monster could injure its enemies is by siccing its controlled animals and plants on them.
So I'm thinking we might add some attack actions.
The picture shows it looks like a boulder shaped like a splintered tree trunk with a monstrous face on the side, with eyes, nose and a large jagged mouth, which suggests a Bite attack.
It controls plants as a "defensive screen" so maybe it can animate plants as weapons? Entangling, bludgeoning or crushing enemies with large roots or branches.
Its control ability is overly vague. It can control up to 20 non-intelligent or animal-intelligent plant and animal creatures but the original beast has no restrictions on the power of its minions. It could have anything from a couple of squirrels to a score of mastodons or walking trees at its command, the latter of which would totally crush most opponents.
So I'm thinking its "Nature Allies" should be a more set value. Let's say up to twenty creatures with a total Challenge Rating of 5, so it could be one CR 5 beast or plant such as a giant crocodile or triceratops, a pack of five CR 1 dire wolves, a mob of twenty CR 1/4 or lower creatures like axe beaks, blood hawks or giant rats, or a mixed group that adds up to Challenge 5, like one CR 2 creature plus six CR 1/2 creatures, like an awakened tree plus a half dozen crocodiles.
The SRD includes the following possibilities:
The Italic Entries appear in the main section of the Monster Manual while Nonitalic Entries are in Appendix A: Miscellaneous Creatures (page 317). Unless stated otherwise, the monster's type is beast.
CR 5: dinosaur–triceratops, giant crocodileᵂ, giant sharkᴬ
CR 4: elephant
CR 3: dinosaur–ankylosaurus, giant scorpion, killer whaleᴬ
CR 2: awakened treeᴾ, dinosaur–allosaurus, dinosaur–plesiosaurᵂ, giant boar, giant constrictor snake, giant elk, hunter sharkᴬ, polar bear, rhinoceros, saber-toothed tiger
CR 1: brown bear, dire wolf, gas sporeᴾ, giant hyena, giant octopusᵂ, giant spider, giant toad, giant vulture, lion, myconid–quaggoth spore servantᴾ, tiger
CR 1/2: ape, black bear, crocodileᵂ, giant goat, giant sea horseᴬ, giant wasp, giant wolf spider, reef sharkᴬ, warhorse
CR 1/4: axe beak, boar, constrictor snake, dinosaur–pteranodon, draft horse, elk, giant badger, giant centipede, giant bat, giant frogᵂ, giant lizard, giant poisonous snake, panther, riding horse, violet fungusᴾ, wolf
CR 1/8: blood hawk, camel, flying snake, giant crabᵂ, giant rat, giant weasel, mastiff, mule, poisonous snake, stirge, pony
CR 0: awakened shrubᴾ, baboon, badger, bat, cat, crabᵂ, deer, eagle, frogᵂ, giant fire beetle, goat, hawk, hyena, jackal, lizard, octopusᵂ, owl, quipperᴬ, rat, raven, scorpion, sea horseᴬ, shriekerᴾ, spider, vulture, weasel
ᴬ Aquatic. This creature cannot survive outside the water and is unable to move or fight effectively on land.
ᴾ Plant. This creature has the plant type, other entries are beasts.
ᵂ Water-dweller. This creature normally lives in or near water but can fight on land; it may only be able to survive in air for short periods of time.
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Casimir Liber
Adventurer
looks good - so give it spell-like abilities? entangle (2x?day)? plant growth (1/day)? Open to ideas of other spells. Animal stuff above I agree with
Cleon
Legend
I'm hesitant to give it actual Innate Spellcasting since the original monster lacked it.
So more like supernatural Actions it can take, with Recharge of a degree to be determined during development.
Should it need to use any Actions to summon its Nature Allies or direct them in battle, or does it just order them as a free action? Can it see through its creatures senses as if they were Familiars?
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
(a) free action and not involving Concentration either
(b) yes - I think considering the animals as Familiars is the best way.
So if not spellcasting, maybe just "spell-like powers that aren't spells" as WOTC prefers now?
(b) yes - I think considering the animals as Familiars is the best way.
So if not spellcasting, maybe just "spell-like powers that aren't spells" as WOTC prefers now?
Cleon
Legend
That's OK by me.
It'll need some limits though.
For example, the "see through bonded creature's senses" ability would have the same 1 mile range as a familiar.
Should we place a cap on the maximum Challenge or Hit Dice of the bonded creatures or let it pile everything into a single CR 5 creature plus nineteen CR 0 nuisance creatures? A CR 0 monster isn't that much weaker than a CR 1/8 or 1/8 one, so that might be a bit unbalanced.
Wouldn't worry about that until we get to the actions.
Let's start with the basics: Size, type and alignment.
Okay, making it a lawful evil elemental is clearly the best fit for the original monster, but how big is it? There's no dimensions in the original description.
However, I'm thinking Large. In AD&D and 3E the smaller variety of standard Earth Elemental has 8 HD like the Chthon, and it's Large size and 8 feet tall. That seems about right.
So would you accept Large elemental, lawful evil for the first line of its statblock?
Casimir Liber
Adventurer
Yep - Large elemental, lawful evil sounds good.
Cleon
Legend
Updating the Chthon.
I've given its monster commanding trait the placeholder name of Control Nature's Creatures for want of anything better.
Proceeding, I'm thinking an Earth Elemental is a useful comparison.
The 5E version of that has AC 17, HP 126 (12d10 + 60) and STR 20, DEX 8, CON 20 for its physical ability scores.
It is also immune to poison damage and the exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned and unconscious conditions, plus has darkvision and tremorsense and speaks Terran.
The Chthon had a somewhat tougher Armour Class (2 points better than an AD&D Earth Elemental, to be exact) but is also immobile, so I'd be inclined to give it a lower DEX than that monster.
I'm inclined to keep the immunities of the Earth Elemental, and I'm also thinking it can't be drowned or starved since it's basically a rock.
So how about:
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 126 (12d10 + 60)
Speed 0 ft.
STR | DEX | CON |
|---|---|---|
20 (+5) | 5 (–3) | 20 (+5) |
Skills Skill +#, Skill +#
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 1#
Languages Terran
Mineral Metabolism. The chthon does not need to eat or drink so is is unaffected by asphyxiation, drowning, starvation, or the airlessness of a vacuum.
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