Unearthed Arcana unleashes so many possibilities to the already vast Dungeons and Dragons universe. Now Unearthed Arcana or UA is simply test material that Wizards of the Coast releases for their players to try out. They also encourage the public to come up with some material themselves to suit their own campaigns. This can greatly increase the risk an adventuring party can face, therefore making it more fun.
Since WotC themselves haven’t come out with too many monster variants we will look at some of the variants that the community has come out with, particularly from Reddit user Dave2008 who has come out with a list called 5e Epic Monster Updates.
10 Empyrean
The Empyrean is a huge titan that can cause a massive amount of damage if provoked. Empyreans are the celestial children of the Upper Gods and with it, they inherit the powers of their parents.
Now the updated version of this being comes with new abilities and spells one, in particular, is the ability to cast shape change to itself at will. This can cause some interesting roleplaying options. Imagine the party comes along talking to a little old lady, insults her, and then she takes her true form of a staggering titan right on top of them.
9 Primordials
Primordials are gargantuan entities of pure elemental chaos and power. They view humanoid beings the same way we view gnats. In fact, it takes quite a few hits to the being before they even bother to wake up.
Their attacks are so huge they are more considered an area effect than a hit. To defeat a primordial you have to destroy all of their body parts each one can have as much as 3000 hit points each. There is never a good reason to get in the way of any of these beings.
8 Arendagrost
Arendagrost is the most powerful spawn of Demogorgon. Known as the Maw of the Abyss this being can be a force of nature with its 3 heads of brutal breath power. This dragon-like demon has no respect for any adventuring party that ventures into the Abyss or anything foolish enough to bring it to the Material Plane.
The upgraded version of this creature, of course, includes a higher damage output along with a few more resistances. This being of collosol size does make it an easier target to hit but still has a very tough skin to breakthrough.
7 Eldrazi Swarm
An Eldrazi scion by itself is not such a big threat but once it becomes a swarm of them then they can become a real challenge. With a signal swarm, they can take up to 40 attacks to any target in range in a single round of combat. While each attack can only be about 10 damage each. All of that adds up to a world of hurt.
These pesky things not only can hit a lot but 20 of those attacks can drain the life of their target and regain the hit points themselves. This will cause a major headache for any player unfortunate to get caught up in this terrifying swarm.
6 Gibbering Orb
These grotesque alien entities are a more horrifying cousin to the Gibbering Mouther. They do everything a Mouther does but worse. They have a gravity field around them where if a flying monster or a non-magical ranged attack gets near them they can plummet to the ground. And if that isn’t bad enough along with the constant well, gibbering, they also have eye ray attacks like a beholder. Anyone unfortunate enough or foolhardy to get near one of these things can also get swallowed whole by anyone of its reeking maws.
5 Hecatoncheires
Based on Greek mythology this titan is known as the hundred hands one. Living up to his name he well has a hundred hands and that can lead to a lot of damage if you get on his bad side.
This updated version keeps to the 40 attacks per round philosophy of this being just with upgraded damage output. He also has reactions to block any would-be assailant attacks. This being is just a force to be reckoned with and get squish any puny adventurer under his 200-foot tall size. What’s also interesting is that he can cast plane shift on himself once a year for a quick getaway if he needs it.
4 Astral Dreadnought
This being is known to devour anyone traveling the Astral Plane. Now while this creature is fairly simple in design with its pretty standard attacks for its size, it does pose a challenge with its Antimagic Cone. This is pretty paramount for most adventurers in the Astral Realm since they needed magic to get there in the first place.
Now that alone won’t send you back to the Material Plane of course but it does cut out a pretty huge arsenal a wizard could dish out if he’s caught in it. What is scary though is that he if lands a critical hit on you he can kill you instantly.
3 Atropal
Atropals are reject-gods that now wander around the Multiverse spreading death and destruction as they go. An upper plane entity attempted their creation to rival the power of other gods and failed miserably. They don’t care what gets in their way so long as it dies and serves them in undeath.
Any adventurer close enough to these beings can’t receive any helpful healing of any kind, and if they were to fall they can the rise and serve the false god as its personal specter. As it is they also can drain the life of most targets and resist almost any attack.
2 Godforged Colossus
Many of the gods’ enemies are other gods. Therefore they created the Godforged Colossus to go out and do battle with them that can cross into the others realms or stand guard in their own. This golem can, of course, squish most puny adventurers even from a great distance away!
They have an attack that can strike down a target from 4000 ft away, 8000 at long range. If that hits you it can cause 220 damage which is pretty much the average amount of hit points any adventurer ends up with.
1 Great Dragons
Great Dragons are the Super Saiyans of dragon culture. Regardless of what type of Great Dragon the party goes up against they are all in deep trouble. Each one emits an aura of their own type that damages anyone who gets too close, eg Great Red Wyrm emits a fiery aura.
They all can cast spells regardless of what type. They all are immune to spells of level 3 and lower. They are destruction incarnate. Naturally, the bigger they are the more damage they do too. Seeing one of these flying straight at you will make even the hardiest adventure give in to despair.
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