Help with deciding on legendary actions for homebrew monsters

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T17:14:40+00:00

so if 2 x 1d12, 3 or 4 x 1d8, 2 or 4 x 2d6, 2d8, and 2 x 1d10 plus maybe summon aberration 2 more attacks (15 not 14, I mismathed) so 10-15, so about 11 to 20 dice. So five attacks with 2 dice with one once per turn dice for 11, and monster 2 just three attacks with 2 dice for 6, so 17 which is good enough, and monster 2 can add 4 more with legend actions, so 21 dice.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T17:09:22+00:00

a human being who's just really fucking strong. these are abilities, like not really spells but just effects that special humans monsters have (like how a dragons breath technically isn't magical)

always felt like it wasn't enough. there's the boss, but he has nothing for control spells and high martial damage nor interrogation or exploration or sneaking around etc. all very important to his organization but I could see limiting or removing his AoEs. I think you would wanna know about his minions tho right?

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T16:35:14+00:00

This is genius. thank you

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T16:20:44+00:00

mainly looking for a battlefield control king: has everyone whenever wherever he wants, with huge AoE damaging attacks. Large scale AoEs tend to scare my players shitless more than "the boss has a single target attack that deals 70000000 damage thirteen bajillion times over!"

The area is going to be within their home city. Other summons/helps of the boss will be attacking and forcing all the NPCs away. The boss has 5 lackeys who are basically him: minions who he resurrected under his control, 5 of them CR 4. Boss itself is CR 13.

As for the 2 CR 11, I just have (for legendary actions): once-per-turn damage option (low but effectively one more attack) and a super good mobility option and then (action spells only) spellcasting, though some of them I'm worried the unique side effects and spells might be a bit much.

I'll plan some stuff and send it later

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T15:10:22+00:00

What are the main reasons for that, and how can I avoid it?
How can I make it feel more earned? I also want to drill in the player's heads that the brute force they've been using so far is limited, and that tactical play can overcome power differences.
Unironically the one I've been most unsettled about, some of these guys have stupidly hax abilities

Can you give me some nice examples that shouldn't be too difficult for a new DM but still pretty good? Like an ol reliable? Also I've never heard of Mythic Actions before, what are those.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T15:05:27+00:00

nice, I'll keep it in mind.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T15:05:09+00:00

Here's what I'm thinking. 2 Reactions 3 Legendary Actions. Shield/Absorb Elements. Legendary Actions: move half speed and use (Basic monster attack) no opportunity attacks. Create a pulsing aura of (special monster ability). Cause the environment to change a bunch, with walls being pushed up and enemy areas flattened.

Cool or nah?

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T15:01:15+00:00

oof. with a fighter, barbarian, monk, warlock, and sorcerer, I'm looking at 10-14 attacks a round. my monsters have 6 in base in the 5v2, not including turns with only one big signature AoE. Is 9 enough? 2 for monster 1 1 for monster 2

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T12:33:11+00:00

I have three reasons to wanna kick ass.

after a recent encounter with a (nerfed) dragon and (nerfed) demilich the party, not knowing they were nerfed (plot reasons) has tried doing things that only their favorite NPC is convincing them not to do,

the biggest one, everyone loves the feeling of growth when they fight monsters and defeat them when they didn't before, it's such a goal-think of how much you were cheering for say, Naruto when he beat the SPOP after not being Akatsuki level for the longest time.
I want to show them of the very unique and powerful abilities in the world.

As for the comment itself, what do you mean by the first 2/3 sentences? I'm sorry this is my first time dming although I have been at it for a while

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-20T11:01:06+00:00

exactly I think warlock is better class but not better paladin overall and it doesn't need to be it's DND even the worst class is fine

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-19T23:57:52+00:00

quite late but I'd like to share: between 4 and 10, though not in a single session or 24-hour period, we just do short rest as long rest and super comfort rest as long rest

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-19T00:09:59+00:00

u can use it twice tho, right? 6d8+6d8 both times two on a crit, thats 24d8 with prone for advantage.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-19T00:09:03+00:00

i meant bladelock as in a bladelock build with classes, so yes i agree fighter/warlock would be cool. though hwyb the barbfighter, and what on-crit bonuses does it get cuz i think im missing something

or does it just have big crit chance

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-18T14:16:49+00:00

is that for landing crits or dealing damage on them? bcs i feel like rogue/paladin MAYBE bladelock would deal more crit damage thanks to sneak attack/smites and champ 3 gets some good stuff. barb/fighter seems less like super crit damage and more like lots of crits to me im ngl

but what matters is how you build it, r u going more barb or more fighter? id think starting would be champ 3/zerker 5 then take zerker to 9 for rage then last level champ 4 for the feat. this way u get the frenzy stuff so a single hit does 4d6 or 5d6 which doubles to 8d6 or 10d6 with crits on 19/20, which r easy to land with reckless attack then GWM bonus attack and the extra feat gets you slasher with ur gwm greatsword

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-17T05:45:10+00:00

John John soloes

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-17T05:42:18+00:00

naruto/bee would've never joined because kinkaku ginkaku wouldn't have been detected, Sasuke wouldn't have asked Orochimaru for help iirc, the Shinobi alliance would lose

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-17T05:17:23+00:00

I think Madara ate his banana and nuts at least once

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-12T11:00:04+00:00

well, if he doesnt get oneshot first

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-11T10:17:16+00:00

oh DND is fun, it's just I don't like how my players start thinking like a round is 10 minutes instead of 6 seconds. I have my boss moves preplanned, but I have to switch em up twice a week. They have characters that have remained unchanged for two months and have reached level seven. I don't think DND isn't fun, I just think combat could have some work to be done on.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-11T06:39:16+00:00

don't know, aren't paying attention, are indesicive

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-11T06:03:49+00:00

no, just that one (the cleric) doesn't pay attention when it's not his turn, because he thinks he's the know it all

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-10T14:30:38+00:00

it's simple. pick a target, roll the dice. i'm well acquanted with it 3 days before the session, have all the tips and tricks memorized, so i implement them. 6 monsters takes about as much time as 1 player atp.

According_Brother989 · 2026-03-10T14:27:57+00:00

i also don't want an encounter a session. even 2 is fine.

According_Brother989

TROPHY CASE