D&D 5E Life Draining Attacks

[LordEntrails]

All, I'm creating a demon spawn monster that is a being raised/hatched by draining the life from a group of humanoid victims.

My thought is that this monster is draining the life from these victims with tentacles and as it does so it gains hitpoints. At some point these victims die, and when the spawn gets strong enough, it hatches into its demon form.

Since the victims are commoners, they don't have a large enough hit point pool to account for all the hitpoints the spawn will have if it emerges. Therefore I can't use regular vampiric touch type of rules.

So, other than vampires, I'm looking at examples and ideas for not just hitpoint drain, but also for ability point drain. And how such drain might buff, heal or evolve a monster. Suggestions?

 

[WarpedAcorn]

While "grappled" each commoner is drained 1 hp per round/minute/hour/day and gains 1 level of Exhaustion. You can say that each HP or Life consumed empowers the demon by a certain %. Basically you just would need to determine how long you would want the Demon Spawn to "cook" before it hatches and work from there. If you're intending for the PC's to intervene, then saving the commoners and detaching the tentacles would be the events that buy more time.

If the intent is also to have the Demon Spawn hatch regardless, but have its power related to how much lifeforce its absorbed, then you're going to have to go custom with that. I would start by picking a monster in the Monster Manual and "reskinning" it. Make sure it has some neat abilities. Then, determine which abilities it has at base and which ones you want to section off based on the number of HP absorbed. Toss in things like bonus HP or +2 AC if did well, or maybe some Legendary Actions if it got everyone. You've got a lot of creative options here that can reward the players for saving the commoners.

 

[LordEntrails]

[MENTION=6819400]WarpedAcorn[/MENTION],
Thanks, that's kind of what I already have. When the players enter the shrine, the priests are finishing their ritual, the tentacles are attached, but the spawn doesn't have enough energy yet to spawn/rise.

The intent is for the players to have the option/conundrum of do they go after the priests, who are summoning minor demons, or do they prevent the spawn from killing the victims and coming to life? The PC's are only level 3, so the monsters can't be too difficult.

But, I'm really looking for current monsters as ideas. Or maybe spells or other ideas for the effects itself. I'm working the encounter balance (i.e. how quickly it grows, how fast the other enemies arrive, etc) so once I get a feeling for how much damage a level 3 party can deal out each round I can handle that part.

Right now I'm really looking for flavors and trait/ability examples.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Remember that when you're working outside the rules, you don't have to go for a straight point-for-point conversion. I take it the idea is that the creature is going to be hatching before the party encounters it, but you think that if it has to use a 1pt drained to 1 pt gained conversion it will need to depopulate the entire village?

If its just plot-related before the actual fighting with the PCs begins, you don't have to work it out on a by-hitpoints basis. Instead of "must drain 100 hitpoints before hatching" you could use a "must drain 3 humanoids to death" system or similar. Or that it gets a bonus 10 hp every time one of its victims that is currently being drained fails a death save or similar.

 

[LordEntrails]

It won't be hatching (if at all) until the players get there. And since the players can break/destroy the tentacles, how many rounds until it "hatches" is not fixed. I could just hand wave it all, but there is a possibility that one of the players might get attacked by the tentacle and if that happens I want to have the effects better defined than abstracted by some point or energy tracking.

There has to be something that does ability or life force drain or something out there right? (other than vampires)

 

[discosoc]

For a truly terrifying monster, have it's draining attack deal percent damage (maybe even just a flat percent). Something like 5% health each time, round down, minimum of 1.

 

[Lehrbuch]

My thought is that this monster is draining the life from these victims with tentacles and as it does so it gains hitpoints. At some point these victims die, and when the spawn gets strong enough, it hatches into its demon form.

Since the victims are commoners, they don't have a large enough hit point pool to account for all the hitpoints the spawn will have if it emerges. Therefore I can't use regular vampiric touch type of rules.

This what I would do.

Have the spawn gain a Life Force point per hit point of damage caused by the tentacles (or per 2 hit points damage; or whatever). Then, let the spawn take a Bonus Action to spend a Life Force point to either:

1. Gain 1 Hit Dice of hit points (up to some maximum).
2. Evolve a Feature. Might include grow a new tentacle (i.e. gain an additional attack), or whatever other Features the spawn/demon has. Some Features might allow the spawn to do something, others might only be available to use when the demon form is hatched.
3. Hatch.

So, as the encounter progresses the spawn (i.e. you the DM) can decide if it has enough hit points / features and wants to hatch. Or whether it continues to grow/evolve. Depending on how quickly you want it to grow, you could let it spend multiple Life Force points per Bonus Action.

 

[LordEntrails]

Thanks [MENTION=6811402]Lehrbuch[/MENTION], those are some good ideas. I'll see if any work out for how I'm working out the growth vs combat balance aspects.

Does anyone know of any current creatures other than vampires and stirges that drain life/energy from players? More examples of RAW possibilities would be appreciated.

 

[77IM]

It's only tangentially relevant, but you might want to look at the life cycle of the red slaad for an example of a creature where the larva feeds on a commoner but winds up having more hit points than the poor commoner.

 

[LordEntrails]

@77IM
Thank you!