Monthly Archives: December 2015

Happy New Year and Last Call for Homebrew Creations!

General / RPG Blog Carnival / 7 comments

December 31, 2015

I’m on vacation so this is a bit of a shorter update. Homebrew content is the theme of this month’s RPG Blog Carnival being hosted right here on this very blog. You’ve got one day left to get your submissions in. The exact theme is “Homebrew Holiday Gifts.” I’m asking bloggers everywhere to share their RPG creations for their favorite systems with me. At the end of the month I’ll make a list linking all participating blog posts so everyone can checkout the fine homebrew creations in one place. So get those entries in, friends! I can’t wait to see what you make.

If you missed it, there’s a new fifth edition adventure for level 20 PCs called Happy Holidays on the Free Game Resources section of the site. Santa‘s gone crazy and it’s up to the PCs to figure out why and put an end to his gifting of exploding coal. The adventure is complete with easy-to-print maps that can be brought into any virtual table. Check out the adventure for level 20 PCs.

Thank You for a Great Year!

I wanted to give a quick thank you to the folks who are following this site. World Builder Blog had an amazing second year. We more than tripled the amount of views on the site. Thanks for spreading the word. Here’s what I accomplished this year in the world of gaming with the help of many other awesome people.

190 posts on World Builder Blog
77 podcasts recorded for The Tome Show (including interviews with Ed Greenwood, Jeremy Crawford, Greg Tito, Susan J. Morris, R.A. Salvatore, Charlie Sander, Jon Gabrus, Erin M. Evans, Rob Schwalb, Rich Baker, Kenneth Hite, and so many other awesome people!)
98 PDFs added to the Free Game Resources section of this site (including three adventures)
3 articles published in EN5ider magazine (more to come in 2016)
2 weekly Exploration Age games going strong
1 successful monster submission to Kobold Press‘ Tome of Beasts

You are all amazing. Here’s to an awesome 2016!

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Happy Holidays! Get Those RPG Blog Carnival Entries In!

General / Adventure, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holiday, RPG Blog Carnival / 2 comments

December 29, 2015

Hey out there! This will be a shorter update since it’s the holiday season here in the United States and I’m on vacation. If you missed it, there’s a new fifth edition adventure for level 20 PCs called Happy Holidays on the Free Game Resources section of the site. Santa‘s gone crazy and it’s up to the PCs to figure out why and put an end to his gifting of exploding coal. The adventure is complete with easy-to-print maps that can be brought into any virtual table. Check out the adventure for level 20 PCs.

Speaking of awesome homebrew content, it’s the theme of this month’s RPG Blog Carnival which is being hosted right here on this very blog for all of December. The exact theme is “Homebrew Holiday Gifts.” I’m asking bloggers everywhere to share their RPG creations for their favorite systems with me. At the end of the month I’ll make a list linking all participating blog posts so everyone can checkout the fine homebrew creations in one place. So get those entries in, friends! I can’t wait to see what you make.

Happy Holidays – Free Holiday Themed Fifth Edition Adventure

Brass Tacks, Inspiration / Adventure, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holiday, pdf, RPG Blog Carnival / 0 comments

December 24, 2015

It’s time to kick Santa’s butt!

As many of you may know for the past several weeks I’ve been working on a holiday themed adventure for fifth edition. It all started with me deciding to create a stat block for Santa Claus. Then I went a little further and created stats for Mrs. Claus and the rest of Santa’s crew (including the crowd-pleasing hot chocolate elementals). The reaction to these creatures was so great that I decided to create a free adventure as a holiday gift for the readers of this blog. Well now you can grab it in the link below!

Happy Holidays

With the Winter holidays ruined by a rash of explosive coal gifts, adventurers must venture to the North Pole to discover what’s making Santa punish the nice and reward the naughty. Happy Holidays is an adventure for four to six 20th level characters which uses fifth edition rules.

Maps

Here are the maps I made using Pyromancers’ Dungeon Painter. It’s a free easy-to-use online mapmaking tool. Take a look at the gridded and gridless options of the map below. You should easily be able to bring the 51×51 map into any virtual table.

Blog Carnival

I should also mention that this blog post is part of this month’s RPG Blog Carnival, which is being hosted right here on this very blog for all of December. The theme is “Homebrew Holiday Gifts.” I’m asking bloggers everywhere to share their RPG creations for their favorite systems with me. At the end of the month I’ll make a list linking all participating blog posts so everyone can checkout the fine homebrew creations in one place.

More PDFs

Check out the Free Game Resources section of the site for more free RPG goodness. You can grab several maps there with gridded and gridless options (and their corresponding adventures) along with free PDFs of fifth edition magic items, monsters, backgrounds, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, and more created by yours truly.

Map of Santa’s Workshop

Brass Tacks / Adventure, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holiday, Lair, map / 0 comments

December 22, 2015

Before we get to the short quest I want to show off the map I made for it using Pyromancers’ Dungeon Painter. It’s a free, easy-to-use online mapmaking tool. Take a look at the gridded and gridless options of the map below. You should easily be able to bring the 51×51 map into any virtual table. Take a look and let me know what your initial impressions are in the comments below!

More Maps

If you like these maps and want to grab some more for your games, check out the Free Game Resources section of the site. You can grab several maps there with gridded and gridless options (and their corresponding adventures) along with free PDFs of fifth edition magic items, monsters, backgrounds, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, and more created by yours truly.

Round Table – 99 Jon Gabrus and Charlie Sanders

Round Table / Charlie Sanders, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Movie, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, Jon Gabrus, podcast, Rudy Basso / 0 comments

December 21, 2015

A new episode of my podcast, The Round Table, is up on The Tome Show’s website.

Rudy Basso and I sit down with improv comedians Jon Gabrus and Charlie Sanders to discuss their love of Dungeons and Dragons, the D&D movie, improv, and the D&D story writer’s room. This podcast was recorded on December 16, 2015.

Warning: this episode of The Round Table has several swear words.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, it helps a boat load!

Links:

The Tome Show on Facebook

The Tome Show on Twitch

D&D V&G

D&D V&G 8.5 – Sword Coast Legends

Game O Clock YouTube Channel

Critical Hit

Twilight: 2000

Jon Gabrus UCB

Charlie Sanders UCB

Santas in the Barn

High and Mighty

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, check out my other podcasts, Bonus Action and Gamer to Gamer, tell your friends, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

The Night Santa Went Crazy

Brass Tacks / artifact, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holiday, magic item, pdf, world building, worldbuilding / 4 comments

December 17, 2015

It all started when I wanted my PCs to fight Santa. I started creating an adventure to do just that and I shared the Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition monster statistics for Mr. Claus and his crew on this very blog. I plan on posting the entire adventure next week, but before I put it all together in a free holiday PDF for ya’ll, I wanted to share the final important piece of the adventure. This is the magic item that makes St. Nick go insane.

You see Narese, an evil empyrean on Santa’s naughty list, got her hands on the Crown of Bewitching Enchantment. This powerful artifact allowed her to dominate the jolly old celestial and turn him bad. Soon he started sending gifts to everyone on his naughty list and exploding coal to the kiddies on the nice list. Dang that must be one powerful crown! Read about it below.

The Crown of Bewitching Enchantment

Wondrous Item, artifact (requires attunement)

Forged millennia ago for the Prince of Frost of The Winter Court in the Feywild, the Crown of Betwitching Enchantment can force all but the most willful beings into utter subjugation to the wearer. The crafter, an elf witch who fell madly in love with the Prince of Frost, spent more than 500 years pouring magical energy into the crown each day before she presented it to the man of her affection.

This was long before the Prince of Frost was cruel and heartless. He accepted the gift from the witch, but feared the ultimate power it possessed and ordered the crown sent away. For centuries it sat in the Nine Hells. Those who knew of the crown were unable to retrieve it and the devils had no idea it was hidden in the wastes of Avernus. Eventually Asmodeus himself felt the pull of the crown. He ordered it retrieved and gave it to one of his pit fiend commanders named She’kalor. The fiend brought balor generals under her control and the eternal stalemate of the Blood War began to tip in the favor of the devils.

Solars took notice and realized the fiends had to be stopped. If the armies of The Nine Hells took over The Abyss, how many other planes might the combined forces of demons and devils conquer together? The angels sacrificed much to get the Crown of Bewitching Enchantment, but they keep it with them at all times. Should the need arise and a hero prove strong of heart and mind, they will award the crown for a short time to aid the doing of good deeds.

Random Properties. The Crown of Bewitching Enchantment has the following random properties:

1 major detrimental property
2 minor beneficial properties
1 major beneficial property
1 minor detrimental property

Properties of the Crown. While attuned to the crown you gain the following benefits.

You are immune to psychic damage.
You are immune to the charmed condition.
You cannot be surprised.
You can cast the following spells at-will (spell save DC 20): dominate person, fey step, invisibility, zone of truth
As an action you cast a special form of dominate monster (spell save DC 20). This spell functions the same way as the normal spell except all creatures have disadvantage against this saving throw, it does not require concentration, and the duration is indefinite. You can have up to three creatures charmed this way. If you want to charm a fourth creature using this ability, you must choose to release one of the creatures you already have charmed (no action). The effect ends on all creatures if you are killed, a new wearer becomes attuned to the crown, or the crown is destroyed.
As an action you can emit a 60-foot cone of psychic power from the crown. Creatures you choose in the cone must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or take 8d8 psychic damage and become paralyzed for 1 minute. Creatures paralyzed in this way can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turns, ending the effect of a success. Once you have used this power three times, you cannot use it again until the next day at dawn.

Destroying the Crown. The only way to destroy the Crown of Bewitching Enchantment is to gather a coven of fifty hags to perform a daylong ritual which summons a blessed elder purple worm to devour the crown.

PDF

Would you like a PDF of this magic item along with the hundreds of other D&D fifth edition magic items I’ve created on this blog? Grab it below!

Crown of Bewitching Enchantment

If you don’t want to grab them now, but decide you want the PDFs at a future date, head on over to the Free Game Resources section of this site where the documents will live along with monsters, backgrounds, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, adventures, and more created by yours truly.

If You Stat It, They Will Fight It

Brass Tacks, Inspiration / Adventure, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holidays, RPG Blog Carnival, world building, worldbuilding / 4 comments

December 15, 2015

I heard that a lot last week.

I’m creating a holiday themed adventure for the season and kicked it off with two different blog posts where I showed off Santa Claus and his crew. There was a lot of people responding with the joke above saying, “Don’t give Santa stats! Then your players will kill him!” Here’s the thing though – I want Santa to have stats so he can fight the PCs.

There’s really only two practical reasons to give a creature combat statistics in Dungeons and Dragons.

The PCs are going to fight it.
The PCs are allied with the creature and it’s going to fight beside them.

The third (and somewhat impractical) reason would be that it’s just fun to create stats. I digress. In my case I designed Santa and his minions because my group of players is going to take him on in a holiday themed royal rumble. Why? Well check out the adventure background and synopsis below.

Happy Holidays is a short fifth edition adventure for four to six level 20 characters. The adventure assumes the high level characters are well known throughout the land.

Adventure Background

It is a time of evil at the North Pole. Santa’s workshop, normally a cozy den of cheery work ethic, has been plunged into darkness. Santa, Mrs. Claus, and many of their friends and guardians at the North Pole are under the influence of an evil empyrean with an axe to grind named Narese Lathanya.

It all began centuries ago, when Santa put Narese on the naughty list for the murder of her sister. Narese’s twin, Bellatros, bested her in a contest of strength. The gods awarded Bellatros with a crown of bewitching enchantment which allowed her to charm others. In the night jealous Narese killed her sister as she slept and took the crown as her own. Santa, who sees all, moved Narese’s name over to the naughty list at once. Coal began appearing in Narese’s holiday stocking and she swore Santa would pay.

For the next three hundred years, Narese traveled back and forth across the North Pole searching for Santa’s workshop. Tried as she might, she could not find the place. Santa’s magic shields the workshop from the eyes of evil beings. Frustrated by the uselessness of her labors, she took a different tactic. She visited scholars across the land and using her crown persuaded them to tell her all they knew about Santa. She learned that any letter or package addressed to Santa by a child pure of heart would magically arrive in the workshop next day. She found an enormous box and an innocent little boy who fell under the sway of her crown. The next day she was inside Santa’s workshop.

Once inside Narese took control of Santa and Mrs. Claus’ minds with the crown of bewitching enchantment. This magic trickled down through Santa to the Winter elves and guardians of the place. Narese, jealous and eager to punish those on the nice list, had Santa switch the names with those on the naughty list. The empyrean charmed Santa into sending all creatures on the naughty list dangerous and explosive coal for the Winter holidays.

Adventure Synopsis

The characters get wind that something is amiss in the North Pole by getting their own explosive coal and then hearing about similar incidents throughout the land. Based on their reputation for past deeds the children and parents of the world write to the PCs and ask them to save the Winter holiday. From there the characters travel or teleport to the North Pole, storm Santa’s workshop, fight the man himself, and confront Narese to break her hold over the jolly celestial.

Making Santa Work in Your Game

In the real world Santa Claus is a mythical creation who gives well behaved boys and girls presents during the Christian holiday of Christmas. Your own game world may not have Christianity as a religion and thus there is no Christmas in the world. Fear not! Santa isn’t so tied to religion that you can’t play this adventure. Instead use the Santa lore below to work him into your world and have him deliver gifts on any Winter holiday, harvest, or even the solstice.

Blog note: Santa’s lore can be found in this blog post.

Hook: Blow Up the Holidays

The PCs awake on a Winter holiday to find presents placed at the foot of their beds. Santa has been there! As the PCs open their presents they find each perfectly wrapped box contains a single lump of coal. The coal explodes, dealing 1 fire damage to the person who opened the box. While this isn’t a huge problem for the PCs, good creatures everywhere are opening similar boxes and getting the same surprise. For some, like younger children, the results are serious injuries.

The PCs get word or witness this curious occurrence. They also get wind of naughty children and evil creatures being rewarded with toys and beautiful gifts. Cheating spouses, thieves, and politicians all sport new jewelry, clothing, and more. One of the PCs’ evil enemies might resurface with a new magic item given as a gift from Santa.

The next day a mail carrier comes to visit the characters with letters from parents and children throughout the land, begging the well-known band to investigate what happened to the Winter holiday. What’s wrong with Santa? Can the characters please find out? Describe letters from children who might draw crude pictures of the PCs riding around in Santa’s sleigh, drinking hot chocolate with Winter elves, and opening gifts. Parents may call for the head of Santa or have more anger in their letters demanding justice for the exploding coal which ruined their holiday. These can be humorous letters, but should get the PCs moving to the North Pole. If they need more of an incentive, a wealthy individual could offer them lots of gold to look into the matter or a kindly wizard could offer each character a magic item from her collection in exchange for finding out what happened to Santa.

Getting to the North Pole

At 20th level the characters probably have a few options for traveling to the North Pole. They can teleport or use other magic to get their quickly. Maybe they own special mounts or a fantastic vehicle like an airship. They might have a powerful friend, like a silver dragon, who offers to fly them North to investigate what’s happening. You might even allow characters to use the same technique Narese did and have them find a child who agrees to mail them to the North Pole.

Of course your party could end up traveling one of the more mundane ways to the North Pole. On foot, on mounts, or by ship. If this happens feel free to play out the trip and roll for random encounters along the way. Odds are this will be a very long journey if magic doesn’t speed it along, so be sure that’s the kind of thing your group will enjoy before you dive headlong into lots of walking and random battles.

Round Table 98 – D&D in VR and at Gamehole Con

Round Table / Alex Basso, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, Gamehole Con, Greg Blair, Merric Blackman, podcast, Topher Kohan, Virtual Reality / 2 comments

December 14, 2015

A new episode of my podcast, The Round Table, is up on The Tome Show’s website.

I sit down with Topher Kohan, Alex Basso, Greg Blair, and virtual Rudy Basso to discuss AltspaceVR’s Dungeons and Dragons experience and the Gaming and BS Chris Perkins interview at Gamehole Con. This podcast was recorded on December 6, 2015.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, it helps a boat load!

Links:

The Tome Show on Facebook

The Tome Show on Twitch

D&D V&G

Gaming and BS Podcast

Merric’s Musings on Chris Perkins at Gamehole Con

Merric’s Murings

Gamehole Con

Game O Clock YouTube Channel

Topher on Google+

Topher on Facebook

Titan Games and Comics

More Holiday Monsters

Uncategorized / Christmas, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holidays, Monster, monster creation, pdf, world building, worldbuilding / 11 comments

December 10, 2015

Deck the halls with Santa’s minions! On Tuesday I showed you my 5e version of Santa. Well now I’d like to introduce you to some of his staff. Why? Because I’m thinking I should put out a mini holiday-themed D&D adventure as a present to all. To do that, I’m going to need some unique creatures.

I know you’re saying, “But James, some of these critters are good aligned… why would my party fight them?” More on that to come in future blog posts, my friends.

Winter Elves

Winter elves, more commonly known as Santa’s elves, are a smaller than their more common cousins and have a strong work ethic and crafty minds. Their festive dress, positive attitudes, and infectious smiles fill everyone around them with cheer.

Jolly Laborers. Winter elves live to make gifts that cheer up others. Their generous spirit keeps them singing joyous songs and laboring throughout the day knowing their work will reward the kind of heart. They are loyal to Santa above all.

Guardians in Outrageous Outfits. The dress of the Winter elves are patterned stockings, colorful tunics, pointed hats, and curly toed shoes. While their size and outfits may make them seem silly, make no mistake. These elves have fast hands and powerful magic that can lay enemies flat in moments.

Winter Elf

Small humanoid (elf), lawful good

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 81 (18d6 + 18)

Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (-1)	19 (+4)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +6

Damage Resistances cold

Condition Immunities exhaustion

Skills Perception +6, Performance +7

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 16

Languages Common, Elvish

Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Ice Weapons. The elf’s weapon attacks deal an extra 1d8 cold damage (already factored into its attacks) and count as magical.

Fey Ancestry. Magic cannot put the elf to sleep.

Magic Resistance. The elf has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Master Artisan. The elf is proficient with all artisan’s tools. Its proficiency bonus is +3.

Nimble Movement. The elf can take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action on each of its turns.

Spellcasting. The elf’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

At will: invisibility, mage hand, mending, misty step

3/day: charm person, hold person, sanctuary, sleet storm

1/day: cone of cold, polymorph

Actions

Multiattack. The elf makes two attacks.

Light Hammer. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage and 4 (1d8) cold damage.

Hot Cocoa Flask. Every elf carries an enchanted flask of hot cocoa which stays piping hot. As an action the elf commands this flask to shoot a line of cocoa 60 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 21 (8d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The elf cannot use this ability from the same flask again until it completes a long rest.

Animated Toys

Santa has created guardian constructs out of his most requested gifts to defend his home. These toys appear to be the real thing but super-sized so they look like the toys of a giant rather than a humanoid.

Surprising Protectors. Santa’s animated toys serve as decoration most of the time. They are well-crafted, gorgeous pieces of art. It is only when they descend upon an intruder or join Santa in one of his battles outside the North Pole that their true strength is realized. Intruders and evil-doers often don’t learn this lesson until the toys are upon them, tearing limb from limb.

Giant Doll

Medium construct, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points 136 (16d8 + 64)

Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	10 (+0)	18 (+4)	7 (-2)	8 (-1)	3 (-4)

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 9

Languages understands all languages, but can’t speak

Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Critical Hit Immunity. Critical hits become normal hits against the doll.

Magic Weapons. The doll’s weapon attacks count as magical.

Actions

Multiattack. The doll makes two attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Wanting Wail. The doll screams. Each hostile creature within 30 who can hear the doll must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. Creatures who fail take 18 (4d8) psychic damage and move their speed toward the doll, incurring opportunity attacks as normal. Creatures who fail take half damage.

Giant Teddy Bear

Large construct, unaligned

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points 178 (17d10 + 85)

Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
22 (+6)	10 (+0)	20 (+5)	7 (-2)	10 (+0)	3 (-4)

Damage Immunities poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 10

Languages understands all languages, but can’t speak

Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

Critical Hit Immunity. Critical hits become normal hits against the bear.

Magic Weapons. The bear’s weapon attacks count as magical.

Actions

Multiattack. The bear makes one bite and one slam attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the bear cannot slam another target.

Bear Hug. The bear attempts to crush a creature it is grappling against its body. The creature must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failed save the creature takes 33 (6d10) bludgeoning damage and the bear makes a bite attack against the target.

Giant Toy Soldier

Medium construct, unaligned

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)

Hit Points 110 (13d8 + 52)

Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	20 (+5)	18 (+4)	7 (-2)	10 (+0)	3 (-4)

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 10

Languages understands all languages, but can’t speak

Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

Magic Weapons. The toy soldier’s weapon attacks count as magical.

Overwind. At the start of each of the toy soldier’s turns roll a d20. On a 20, the soldier gets two actions this turn. On a 1, the soldier is incapacitated until the start of its next turn.

Quick Reload. The toy soldier ignores the reload property of any weapon with which it is proficient.

Actions

Multiattack. The toy soldier makes three attacks.

Musket. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 40/120 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d12 + 5) piercing damage.

Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage.

Hot Chocolate Elementals

The Elemental Plane of Sweets is home to more than the giant ice cream bunny. Amongst the tropical marshmallow isles, hot chocolate elementals swim through sugary seas. Santa has summoned and bound some of these beings to his service. They guard his workshop with a cocoa-soaked fury.

Hot Chocolate Elemental

Large elemental, neutral

Armor Class 15

Hit Points 90 (12d10 + 24)

Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	20 (+5)	14 (+2)	6 (-2)	10 (+0)	8 (-1)

Damage Resistances fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 10

Languages Cocoan

Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Hot Cocoa Form. The elemental can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing. A creature that touches the elemental or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage. In addition, the elemental can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. The first time it enters a creature’s space on a turn, that creature takes 5 (1d10) fire damage.

Actions

Multiattack. The elemental makes two attacks.

Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) fire damage.

Hurl Marshmallow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) fire damage and if the target is Large or smaller, it is restrained as the marshmallow envelops its body. A creature restrained this way can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check to free itself from the marshmallow and become unstrained. Dealing 10 damage to the marshmallow (AC 10) destroys it and frees the creature.

Mrs. Claus

No Team Santa would be complete without his Big Red Oneness’ lovely wife. Mrs. Claus is a celestial, just like her jolly husband. She too defends the good people and supports her husband’s labors. Theirs is a true partnership, with each member of the couple respecting and cherishing the other.

Mrs. Claus

Medium celestial, neutral good

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)

Hit Points 180 (24d8 + 72)

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	20 (+5)	22 (+6)

Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +9, Wis +11

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities cold

Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified

Skills Perception +11, Persuasion +12

Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 21

Languages all

Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)

Discorporation. When Mrs. Claus drops to 0 hit points or dies, her body is destroyed, but her essence travels back to Santa’s domain in the North Pole, and she is unable to take physical form for a time.

Magic Resistance. Mrs. Claus has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spellcasting. Mrs. Claus’ spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 20, +12 to hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

At will: bless, invisibility, magic circle, magic missile, sanctuary

3/day: cone of cold, dispel magic, heal, hold monster, polymorph, sleet storm

1/day: teleport, true polymorph

Actions

Multiattack. Mrs. Claus makes two attacks.

Radiant Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) radiant damage and the target must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or become blinded until the end of Mrs. Claus’ next turn.

Chill Beam. Ranged Spell Attack: +12 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (6d8) cold damage and the creature must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. A creature who fails this saving throw can take only a move or an action on its next turn, but not both.

Reactions

Stern Look. Mrs. Claus causes an attack that would hit her to miss.

PDF

Would you like these baddies in a PDF along with all the other fifth edition D&D creatures I’ve designed? Grab them below.

Hot Chocolate Elemental

Mrs Claus

Santa Claus

All Monsters

If you don’t want to grab them now, but decide you want the PDFs at a future date, head on over to the Free Game Resources section of this site where the documents will live along with magic items, backgrounds, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, adventures, and more created by yours truly.

5e Santa Stats

Inspiration / Christmas, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dungeons and dragons, holidays, Monster, monster creation, pdf, Santa, santa claus / 7 comments

December 8, 2015

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. What time is that? It’s the time this site hosts the RPG Blog Carnival. The theme is “Homebrew Holiday Gifts.” I’m asking bloggers everywhere to share their RPG creations for their favorite systems with me. At the end of the month I’ll make a list linking all participating blog posts so everyone can checkout the fine homebrew creations in one place.

Of course all over the world many people are getting into the holiday spirit as well as celebrating the RPG Blog Carnival. So it is with that inspiration I present that latest fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons creature I’ve brewed up – Santa Claus. Of course if you prefer the third edition Santa, he lives over here.

Santa Claus

The story of Santa Claus is known throughout the land. This jolly old elf (actually a celestial) brings cheer to those on his nice list and punishes those on the naughty list. Common folk know him as a generous, kind giver of gifts, but his enemies know him only as a giver of pain.

Kind Old Man with a Righteous Spirit. Santa Claus’ appearance is one of an elderly human male dressed in warm red and white robes carrying a large sack of gifts. His cheeks are rosy, his eyes are twinkly, and a mop of white hair adorns his smiling, bearded face. This appearance leads some to believe Santa is no more than a kind grandpa, but this being is full of magical power fueled by the generosity of all good creatures.

Created by Generosity. Santa may appear humanoid, but he is really a product of something far more mystical. When a good creature performs a generous act, a small amount of positive energy is released. This energy travels as far North as it can. The first commingling of this energy created Santa Claus himself, the next created his wife, then his army of winter elves, and finally his workshop. Now the energy which travels North sustains these life forces and workshop.

Promoter and Protector of Good. Santa’s mortality is directly connected to good people. Thus he encourages kindness by rewarding all good folk with presents once a year. Less known is that Santa travels to defend groups of good creatures when their lives are threatened. Using his magic he has beaten many bands of marauding monsters, fiendish incursions, and things that go bump in the night.

Santa’s Lair

Santa’s lair is a magical workshop run by his winter elves (a size Small subrace of elves). Here these creatures make toys and other gifts. Various items symbolic to a plethora of Winter holidays decorate the walls of this grand mansion.

Most of the workshop is dedicated to the construction and delivery of gifts. There’s huge rooms dedicated to carpentry, mechanics, gift wrapping, candy-making, and stables for reindeer. The elves have a spacious dormitory, Santa and his wife have modest living quarters, and all residents share a dining hall and library. A special room in the center of the mansion gives Santa the ability to scry on any creature on the same plane.

While Santa’s workshop may appear harmless, the property is well protected. Only creatures of good alignment can actually see the mansion from the outside. Inside the workshop, seemingly harmless life-sized toy soldiers, teddy bears, and dolls come to life and attack intruders while magic traps controlled by Santa can blast enemies with cold energy and freeze them in place.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Santa takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; Santa can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

Magic mistletoe grows down from the ceiling and attempts to grab up to three creatures Santa can see within 120 feet of him. Those creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until the start of Santa’s next lair action. On its turn a creature restrained this way can try and free itself as an action with a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. Another creature can attack the mistletoe and attempt to destroy it (AC 15, HP 20, immune psychic, vulnerable slashing).
Spectral jingle bells appear and sound. Each creature within 120 feet of Santa who can hear the bells must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. Santa can slide any creature who fails 30 feet in the direction of his choosing.
Santa laughs and the ground shakes like a bowl full of jelly within a 60-foot radius around him. Every creature on the ground within the area other than Santa must succeed on a DC 15 saving throw or be knocked prone.

Regional Effects

The region containing Santa’s lair is changed by his magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

All pack animals (such as horses, reindeer, and oxen) gain a fly speed equal to their speed within 6 miles of the lair.
For non-evil creatures any snow within 6 miles of the lair tastes like peppermint and provides nourishment. Such creatures automatically succeed on Constitution saving throws against exhaustion due to harsh climate within 6 miles of the lair, warmed by a delightful feeling which comes from within their hearts.
Snowmen created by creatures with the good alignment within 1 mile of the lair come to life and point the way to Santa’s workshop. Evil creatures who build snowmen within 1 mile of the lair find the creation explodes upon completion, dealing 11 (2d10) cold damage to anyone within 5 feet of it.

If the Santa dies permanently, the effects end immediately.

Santa Claus

Medium celestial, neutral good

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)

Hit Points 300 (40d8 + 120)

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	10 (+0)	16 (+3)	20 (+5)	22 (+6)	24 (+7)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +9, Wis +12

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities cold

Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified

Skills Animal Handling +12, Perception +12

Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 22

Languages all

Challenge 20 (25,000 XP)

Amorphous. Santa can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Discern Alignment. Santa immediately knows the alignment of any creature he can see.

Discorporation. When Santa drops to 0 hit points or dies, his body is destroyed, but his essence travels back to his domain in the North Pole, and he is unable to take physical form for a time.

Flying Sleigh. When Santa drives a sleigh drawn by at least 6 pack animals, the animals and sleigh gain a 120-foot fly speed.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the Santa fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Santa has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Santa’s weapon attacks are magical.

Master Artisan. Santa is proficient with all artisan’s tools. His proficiency bonus is +6.

Naughty List. Santa deals an extra 9 (2d8) cold damage to creatures of evil alignment with weapon and spell attacks.

Spellcasting. Santa’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

At will: bless, invisibility, locate creature, misty step, ray of frost, scrying, sleep, zone of truth

3/day: cone of cold, hold monster, mass cure wounds, sleet storm

1/day: teleport, time stop, wall of ice

Actions

Multiattack. Santa can make three sack of gifts attacks or two Jolly Holly attacks.

Sack of Gifts. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Jolly Holly. Ranged Spell Attack: +13 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 7) piercing damage and the creature must make a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw. A creature who fails this saving throw collapses in a fit of laughter, falls prone, and cannot stand until the end of Santa’s next turn.

Open Up Your Present. Santa hurls a random gift from his sack up to 90 feet. It explodes in a 20-foot-radius sphere. Creatures in the area must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw. Creatures who fail take 21 (6d6) cold damage. Creatures who succeed take half. In addition creatures who fail the save suffer a random effect rolled on a d4. On a 1 they’re blinded, on a 2 they’re deafened, on a 3 they’re frightened of Santa, on a 4 they’re poisoned. The random effect lasts one minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect early on a success.

Peace on Earth. Santa and any number of creatures he chooses within 30 feet fall under the effect of the sanctuary spell (DC 21). The effect lasts 1 minute, but ends early if Santa attacks, casts a spell, or chooses to end the effect as a bonus action.

Legendary Actions

Santa 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. Santa regains all spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Jolly Holly. Santa attacks with Jolly Holly.

Twinkly Eyes. Santa targets one creature he can see that can also see him within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by Santa until the end of Santa’s next turn. While charmed by Santa the creature cannot attack him.

You’ve Been Naughty. Santa shows a creature within 30 feet who can seem him its name on on the naughty list. The creature must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or suffer disadvantage on all attacks against Santa and his allies. In addition Santa and his allies have advantage on attack rolls against the target, and the target suffers disadvantage on saving throws against the effects of Santa’s abilities and spells. These effects last until the end of Santa’s next turn.

PDF

Would you like Santa in a PDF along with all the other fifth edition D&D creatures I’ve designed? Grab them below.

Santa Claus

All Monsters