I was told by a farmer, as I was passing through their village, that these creatures tend to appear around fall threshing season or during spring plowing. He also said they lay eggs in the ground somewhat shallow so striking a nest with a plow can be a life ending event. A Druid with a Control Insect spell would be a formidable enemy if they could summon and control a group of these beasties.
something most people dont consider with burrowing creatures is cover. An ankheg half buried in the ground(essentially 5ft above ground, 5ft under it) would get a +2 AC from half cover. The ankheg could then use its last 5ft of movement to go back down, now the earth around it would be super loose and its technically in reach to attack and be attacked so +5 AC from 3/4th cover is a happy middle ground. thats a VERY tough CR 2 creature to hit, and it can likely hit the characters without them benefiting from cover at all.
An idea for player dig speed. They have that 2.5 dig speed if they are digging through the collapsed tunnel, though the player doesn't know which way that is. Maybe, 1 action to find the direction then 1 action to dig? Their dig speed would be 12.5 per minute in that situation.
I like the idea of this process involving checks...both to find the direction but also for the actual distance traveled...so like maybe a strength check with a DC of 8 where for every point you exceed it by is a foot moved (would average 2.5 ft per round on a strength 10 character) ...but might also depend on the group.
I actually ran a homebrew bagman as a solo boss / monster thriller adventure for my level 11 party a few months ago! I'll have to add it to my video "to-do" list!
Ran an Ankheg as a monster for a 3ed level beginner group...I didn't have it drag anyone down right away even though I was thinking "well yeah it really should drag them underground" since it was a beginner group. Really liked the breakdown on what happens after a character gets dragged under, feels like the thing to think about when running this monster....and yeah those home-brew variants are pretty sweet...definitely might use them.
Cheers, hope the homebrews work out for you if you get a chance to run them! Good call on the beginner party though - don't want to go too hard on new players, especially at low levels!
Just a quick clarification; creatures with the Tunneler feature only leave a open tunnel behind them when they choose to use the feature to dig through solid stone.
I was told by a farmer, as I was passing through their village, that these creatures tend to appear around fall threshing season or during spring plowing. He also said they lay eggs in the ground somewhat shallow so striking a nest with a plow can be a life ending event.
A Druid with a Control Insect spell would be a formidable enemy if they could summon and control a group of these beasties.
If they could be controlled, they could make a great pet (or pest control animal).
something most people dont consider with burrowing creatures is cover. An ankheg half buried in the ground(essentially 5ft above ground, 5ft under it) would get a +2 AC from half cover. The ankheg could then use its last 5ft of movement to go back down, now the earth around it would be super loose and its technically in reach to attack and be attacked so +5 AC from 3/4th cover is a happy middle ground.
thats a VERY tough CR 2 creature to hit, and it can likely hit the characters without them benefiting from cover at all.
Yeah, very good point on cover! It's important to factor in.
An idea for player dig speed. They have that 2.5 dig speed if they are digging through the collapsed tunnel, though the player doesn't know which way that is. Maybe, 1 action to find the direction then 1 action to dig? Their dig speed would be 12.5 per minute in that situation.
Yeah, that could work. Maybe even something like a Survival check to orient yourself to work out the correct direction.
I like the idea of this process involving checks...both to find the direction but also for the actual distance traveled...so like maybe a strength check with a DC of 8 where for every point you exceed it by is a foot moved (would average 2.5 ft per round on a strength 10 character) ...but might also depend on the group.
I am in love with the homebrew you did. it adds so much both mechanically and narratively. keep it going.
Thanks, I'll bear that in mind for future videos. I've got plenty of homebrew monsters I could share!
Love the content. From a new follower well earned. Please do the bagman 👍😁
I actually ran a homebrew bagman as a solo boss / monster thriller adventure for my level 11 party a few months ago! I'll have to add it to my video "to-do" list!
@@NazirNorth the concept and the lore behind him can be such a creepy pastor. He can instal so much fear in a campaign.
i have been wanting more deadly encounters in my game. I will send this to my dm. thanks :)))
Hopefully they don't use it to kill your character!
@@jacobball2565 true. But my main complaint at the moment is a lack of challenge. i doubt they will overdo it.
Cheers! I hope they enjoy it!
Ran an Ankheg as a monster for a 3ed level beginner group...I didn't have it drag anyone down right away even though I was thinking "well yeah it really should drag them underground" since it was a beginner group. Really liked the breakdown on what happens after a character gets dragged under, feels like the thing to think about when running this monster....and yeah those home-brew variants are pretty sweet...definitely might use them.
Cheers, hope the homebrews work out for you if you get a chance to run them! Good call on the beginner party though - don't want to go too hard on new players, especially at low levels!
Just a quick clarification; creatures with the Tunneler feature only leave a open tunnel behind them when they choose to use the feature to dig through solid stone.
Yes, good point. Even tunneling creatures would leave collapsed tunnels behind them when moving through loose earth.
More home brew.
Glad people enjoyed it - I'll add in some more in future videos!