D&D 5E 5e Spawn of Kyuss

[Tormyr]

I have been going through Age of Worms, a 3.5 adventure path since April. We started under the September play test rules and converted as the starter set and PHB came out. I have been converting monsters to 5e that entire time. Thank goodness the Monster Manual is finally out. So the party is finally getting to their first encounter with the Spawn of Kyuss. I have converted it to 5e from the adventure path document. I think I have got everything converted over in a way that properly reflects the 5e way of doing things. Several traits are taken from other entries in the MM.

I would appreciate anyone who has the Age of Worms adventure path or the 3.5 Monster Manual II to comment on this conversion, particularly those who have experience running the AP. Specifically I am looking for if you think I got anything really wrong, or you think it would be better to do it differently.

I did try very hard to not plagiarize the entry, but there was not really a way to do the Create Spawn entry differently. So apologies from an IP perspective. I hope that does not create any issues by posting it here. Without further ado, here is the entry.

Spawn of Kyuss

Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 11 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 9 (-1) 14 (+2) 6 (-2) 11 (+0) 15 (+2)

Saving Throws Con +2, Wis +2
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +1
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, stunned
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Regeneration. The spawn regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. If the spawn takes radiant damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the spawn’s next turn.

Turn Resistance. The spawn has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.

Curative Transformation. Remove curse or remove disease or more powerful effects that duplicate these effects remove the spawn's Regeneration, Turn Resistance, Horrific Appearance, Create Spawn, Kyuss Gift, Kyuss Worm, and all resistances and immunities except for poison and poisoned.

Create Spawn. If a spawn hits a creature with a Slam attack or Kyuss Worm attack, it transfers a Kyuss Worm to the creature. The worm is a tiny vermin with AC 10 and 1 hit point. During this time, the worm can be killed by normal damage or the touch of silver. On the spawn’s next turn, the worm burrows into the flesh of its target (creatures with natural armor +3 or more are immune), making its way toward the brain and causing 1 hit point of damage per round until it reaches the brain 1d4+1 rounds later. When inside a victim, the worm can be destroyed by remove curse or remove disease (or spells that duplicate these effects); dispel evil or neutralize poison delays its progress for 10d6 minutes. These spells affect multiple worms within the same victim. Worms cannot survive outside of a host for more than 1 round. A DC 20 Wisdom (Medicine) check extracts the worm and kills it.
Once the worm reaches the victim’s brain, it inflicts 1d2 points of temporary Intelligence damage per round until it is destroyed or the victim reaches 0 Intelligence, at which point the host dies and rises as a spawn of Kyuss 1d6+4 rounds later. Small, Medium, and Large creatures become spawn as described above; smaller creatures quickly putrefy rather than becoming spawn; larger creatures become normal zombies. Spawn (and spawned zombies) are not under the control of their parent but usually follow after whatever spawn created them.
Any creature that touches a spawn with an unarmed strike or other natural weapon is immediately attacked by 1d4 worms.

Actions

Multiattack.The spawn makes two attacks: either two Slam attacks or two Kyuss Worm attacks. It can use its Horrifying Appearance in place of an attack.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, a Kyuss worm is transferred to the creature.

Kyuss Worm. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 10 ft./20 ft., one target. Hit: A Kyuss worm is transferred to the target.

Horrifying Appearance. Each non-undead creature within 40 feet of the spawn that can see it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened condition on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to this spawn's Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours.

EDIT: Moved Horrifying Appearance from a trait to an action after discussion with @Rune
EDIT: Removed Zombie Fortitude; Curative Transformation now strips all special stuff; Kyuss Gift now modeled after Mummy Rot; Thanks @Grazzt, @"the Jester;" and @Shroomy
EDIT: Thanks to @Grazzt for input on hp and attack damage.
EDIT: Changed to a CR3 creature.

 

[Henrix]

I have just started running the Age of Worms (with a twist) again.
And naturally thought about how to convert the spawn, but waited as I do not have the MM yet.

I'll check your version more in detail when I have the time. It does look very 3e at first glance, I'll look at the AD&D version.

 

[Kai Wren]

The worm seems pretty nasty compared to most effects I've seen in 5e (I don't think there's anything which is straight 'have access to Remove Disease or you will die' but I haven't dug too deeply so I may be mistaken).

My gut reaction would be to change it so that the victim needs three successful con saves vs the worm's save (possibly 12) as it travels up the body, or three failures will kill them and reanimate - with the protection from evil 'pausing' the battle. That puts it more in line with similar save-or-die type effects, and you're likely to be having to make a lot of these saves if the party isn't specifically geared out to deal with the monster - for a challenge 5 creature that seems pretty scary compared to things like the Medusa, even with the extra ways to delay and reverse the damage.

 

[Rune]

That's a lot of traits to keep track of--very un-5e-like.

Some of them are even kind of redundant. Regeneration and Zombie Fortitude, for instance, kind of fulfill the same role (keeping the monster standing for longer).

My instinct would be to find a simplified way to make something that feels like the original (from a player's perspective).

 

[Tormyr]

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far. As I respond, I am not arguing for arguing's sake. I am giving some of my reasoning for the way I have initially written it, and I would like some dialog on that. This is the iconic monster for this adventure path, and the AP has a reputation for being deadly.

I have just started running the Age of Worms (with a twist) again.
And naturally thought about how to convert the spawn, but waited as I do not have the MM yet.

I'll check your version more in detail when I have the time. It does look very 3e at first glance, I'll look at the AD&D version.

It is very 3.5, since that is where it came from, but you knew that.

The worm seems pretty nasty compared to most effects I've seen in 5e (I don't think there's anything which is straight 'have access to Remove Disease or you will die' but I haven't dug too deeply so I may be mistaken).

My gut reaction would be to change it so that the victim needs three successful con saves vs the worm's save (possibly 12) as it travels up the body, or three failures will kill them and reanimate - with the protection from evil 'pausing' the battle. That puts it more in line with similar save-or-die type effects, and you're likely to be having to make a lot of these saves if the party isn't specifically geared out to deal with the monster - for a challenge 5 creature that seems pretty scary compared to things like the Medusa, even with the extra ways to delay and reverse the damage.

Yeah, there might not be any creatures that require remove disease or you die, but this is more than that. The Spawn of Kyuss has to hit with a melee or ranged attack (or someone makes contact with their body) for the Spawn of Kyuss to even transfer a worm to the victim. Then the worm has to wait one round before it can burrow in. At this point, the worm is very vulnerable. Only after that do things get dangerous, but even then there are 1d4+1 turns before Bad Things Happen. After that, the character has a minimum of 4 rounds to a maximum of 20 rounds before the worm finishes munching its brain. I am not sure what saving throw would be appropriate here (i.e. what saving throw keeps a worm that is already inside you from eating more of your soft innards).

There are several ways to not die with this, and remove disease is highly available at this level. At this point, the party is 6th level, and Bards, Clerics, Druids, Rangers and Paladins will have access to Lesser Restoration. Paladins can also spend 5 points of Lay on Hands to remove a disease. At this point, Paladins are immune to disease. Later in the AP, monks will be immune to disease, so they will be able to punch with no issues.

While this is a fairly scary CR5 monster, there are several things that offset it. Its hp is very low for a CR5 creature. It has a similar number of hit dice, but its Constitution modifier is useless. The party could wipe out the Spawn of Kyuss in one round. A remove disease effect used on the Spawn of Kyuss will neutralize it outright.

That's a lot of traits to keep track of--very un-5e-like.

Some of them are even kind of redundant. Regeneration and Zombie Fortitude, for instance, kind of fulfill the same role (keeping the monster standing for longer).

My instinct would be to find a simplified way to make something that feels like the original (from a player's perspective).

The vampire also has 6 traits, and it also has 6 actions. While most creatures do not have nearly this many, the Spawn of Kyuss is special.

The Spawn of Kyuss is a "super zombie" that derives its power from the symbiotic relationship between it and the worms. The worms give it its super powers, and the worms cannot survive without a host except for short periods or in special circumstances. The Spawn of Kyuss gets turn resistance, regeneration, a fear aura and the ability to create more spawn. It is a zombie, so it gets Zombie Fortitute, but the worms restore the Spawn of Kyuss from within, so it gets the regeneration. The worms are not undead, which aids in turn resistance, and the worms are horrific to see which gives the fear aura. I am not sure how to preserve the feel of the symbiosis while pulling some of these mechanics back.

 

[Rune]

The vampire also has 6 traits, and it also has 6 actions. While most creatures do not have nearly this many, the Spawn of Kyuss is special.

The Spawn of Kyuss is a "super zombie" that derives its power from the symbiotic relationship between it and the worms. The worms give it its super powers, and the worms cannot survive without a host except for short periods or in special circumstances. The Spawn of Kyuss gets turn resistance, regeneration, a fear aura and the ability to create more spawn. It is a zombie, so it gets Zombie Fortitute, but the worms restore the Spawn of Kyuss from within, so it gets the regeneration. The worms are not undead, which aids in turn resistance, and the worms are horrific to see which gives the fear aura. I am not sure how to preserve the feel of the symbiosis while pulling some of these mechanics back.

The Vampire is a legendary creature, though. Generally a solo, so that's not really that much to keep track of.

If you don't intend for these to be solos, it seems overly complex.

If it were me, I'd ditch both Regeneration and Zombie Fortitude and just up the hp by some number large enough to be noticeable in play. Easier and serves the same purpose.

Instead of Turn Resistance, you could just give it proficiency with Wisdom saves. Combined with its immunities, this serves the same purpose.

I'd keep the attacks the same.

Finally, I don't see the need for the fear effect, at all.

If the monster is sufficiently dangerous (that is, significantly more than most things that the PCs face), the players will be scared of it, which translates to scared characters.

 

[Tormyr]

Thanks for the feedback. This has really helped me understand better some of the elements of monster design as I have gone through your responses.

The Vampire is a legendary creature, though. Generally a solo, so that's not really that much to keep track of.

If you don't intend for these to be solos, it seems overly complex.

I am not sure that analysis really holds. The dragons are arguably "more" of a legendary/solo creature, but they only have 1 or 2 traits each. demiliches have 3. Liches have 4. Several creatures across the CR spectrum have 4 traits, and some of the Slaads have 5. It seems like number of traits has nothing to do with legendary status or CR and more to do with if their special stuff does not easily fit in one of the standard sections.

If it were me, I'd ditch both Regeneration and Zombie Fortitude and just up the hp by some number large enough to be noticeable in play. Easier and serves the same purpose.

Well, it is a zombie, so zombie fortitude makes sense. While you could just make it a big bag of hp, that changes two things. The party loses one route to ending the fight quickly, and the fight loses the opportunity to drag on beyond the end of the fear effect. As you describe the wounds closing up, the players realize that they must fight quickly to bring the spawn down. A lower hp maximum with regeneration gives this.

Instead of Turn Resistance, you could just give it proficiency with Wisdom saves. Combined with its immunities, this serves the same purpose.

This is a really good idea, but it does not follow what other creatures get in the monster manual. The proficiency bonus is much closer to the +2 bonus it gets in 3.5 than the +5 average increase from advantage. Unfortunately, this means that the spawn also is better at resisting deception and persuasion checks for no reason. Every time something in the MM is better at resisting turn undead, the creature has the Turn Resistance or Turn Immunity trait.

I'd keep the attacks the same.

Finally, I don't see the need for the fear effect, at all.

If the monster is sufficiently dangerous (that is, significantly more than most things that the PCs face), the players will be scared of it, which translates to scared characters.

Players quickly learn what needs to be done to not fear an enemy. The fear effects are given to creatures that inspire true fear. And players being scared does not split the party or inflict disadvantage on their attacks. Ghosts, dragons, liches and others have this. What you made me realize though, is that this is an action in 5e instead of an aura/trait.

Thanks for your help with this. I will update my stat block.

 

[Rune]

Thanks for the feedback. This has really helped me understand better some of the elements of monster design as I have gone through your responses.


I am not sure that analysis really holds. The dragons are arguably "more" of a legendary/solo creature, but they only have 1 or 2 traits each. demiliches have 3. Liches have 4. Several creatures across the CR spectrum have 4 traits, and some of the Slaads have 5. It seems like number of traits has nothing to do with legendary status or CR and more to do with if their special stuff does not easily fit in one of the standard sections.

Well, I don't know anything about that; I don't have the Monster Manual yet. I was just looking for ways to make the monster easier to run.

Well, it is a zombie, so zombie fortitude makes sense. While you could just make it a big bag of hp, that changes two things. The party loses one route to ending the fight quickly, and the fight loses the opportunity to drag on beyond the end of the fear effect. As you describe the wounds closing up, the players realize that they must fight quickly to bring the spawn down. A lower hp maximum with regeneration gives this.

Fair enough.

This is a really good idea, but it does not follow what other creatures get in the monster manual. The proficiency bonus is much closer to the +2 bonus it gets in 3.5 than the +5 average increase from advantage. Unfortunately, this means that the spawn also is better at resisting deception and persuasion checks for no reason.

Seems appropriate to me for something that is essentially being governed by an alien hive-mind intelligence.

Players quickly learn what needs to be done to not fear an enemy. The fear effects are given to creatures that inspire true fear. And players being scared does not split the party or inflict disadvantage on their attacks. Ghosts, dragons, liches and others have this. What you made me realize though, is that this is an action in 5e instead of an aura/trait.

Actually, I like it as an action.

Coupled with the regeneration, it actually does make the monster scarier.

 

[Grazzt]

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, a Kyuss worm is transferred to the creature, and the creature must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be infected with the supernatural disease Kyuss’ Gift. Each day after, the victim loses 1d6 Constitution and 1d4 Wisdom damage manifested as rotting flesh and dementia. Any healing (including a long rest) is only half as effective for the victim, though any effect that removes disease cures it normally.

I'd change this. Very few things in 5e deal ability damage/drain anymore. I think only the Shadow does now. (I don't remember anything else in the MM doing it.) Change this so it reduces maximum hp each day, like the mummy's curse or whatever, and maybe give disadvantage on Wisdom checks/saves.

Edit: In 2e, IIRC, the Sons' melee attack and the mummy's melee attack both caused pretty much the same disease: rotting, reduces Charisma, negates healing (or slows it), fatal in 1d6 months. I'd just copy/paste the text from the 5e Mummy.

 

[the Jester]

Let me just say that this has been one of my favorite undead since the first time I saw that creepy, over-inked picture in the 1e Fiend Folio. Now then:

Wow, that's... quite a lot of text.

First, I'd find a way to trim it significantly. Second, I'd find a way to rework the ability damage to something more appropriate to 5e.

Zombie fortitude is redundant with regeneration in my eyes, and a spawn/son of Kyuss is not just another type of zombie, IMHO. I'd drop zombie fortitude.