Mob of Creatures (5e Template)
Mob of Creatures[edit]
Few things say "epic" more than skilled heroes trouncing countless hordes of low-grade minions. 5e rules, unfortunately, are ill-suited for such encounters. This template lets player characters elegantly fight huge numbers of enemies without requiring too much micromanagement or dice rolling, or trampling over the design philosophy of bounded accuracy. While 5e already has mass combat rules, I personally dislike how they are incompatible with a man-to-man scale. Consider this template a variant.
- Prerequisite
Any creature of small size or larger can become a mob. Tiny or smaller creatures can only form Medium-sized swarms, and as such can't qualify for this template.
Statistics[edit]
Size. The creature becomes a Gargantuan swarm of creatures the same size category as the base creature. Mobs of Small or Medium creatures occupy a 20-by-20 foot (4x4) space, mobs of Large creatures occupy a 40-by-40 foot (8x8) space, mobs of Huge creatures occupy a 60-by-60 foot (12x12) space, and mobs of Gargantuan creatures(!) occupy an 80-by-80 foot (16x16) space, or more depending on the size of the base creature.
Hit Dice. The mob gains 10 hit dice, and all of its hit dice become d20s if they weren't already.
Equipment. Each creature within the mob has a copy of the base creature's equipment. If precise numbers matter, assume the mob has 25 sets of equipment.
Abilities. The mob's Strength score increases by 10, and the mob's Constitution score increases by 4. As usual, the mob's ability scores cannot exceed 30.
Condition Immunities. The mob is immune to the charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, and stunned conditions.
Damage Vulnerabilities. The mob is vulnerable to area effect attacks and to attacks which affect more than one target. This doesn't represent that such attacks are especially damaging per se, but rather represents how such attacks can screw up a unit's cohesion/morale in addition to inflicting injury.
Traits[edit]
Mob. The mob can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the mob can move through any opening large enough for a the base creature. The mob can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions[edit]
The mob loses the multiattack action and any weapon attacks the base creature possessed. In return, it gains the mob action, a melee weapon attack with a reach of 0 ft. targeting all creatures of the mob's choice within range. On a hit, a target takes damage calculated as four times the damage dice of the base creature's most damaging melee weapon attack, and the target is grappled. For instance, a mob of commoners taking the mob action would deal 15 (4d4 + 5) bludgeoning damage on a hit, with the calculation accounting for the mob's increased strength. Similarly, a mob of orcs taking the mob action with their greataxes would deal 34 (4d12 + 8) slashing damage.
If the mob had a ranged weapon attack, it gains the barrage action, a ranged weapon attack targeting all creatures of the mob's choice within 20 ft. of a point within range. On a hit, a target takes damage calculated as four times the damage dice of the base creature's most damaging ranged weapon attack. For instance, the same mob of orcs taking the barrage action with their javelins would deal 22 (4d6 + 8) piercing damage on a hit.
CR Calculation[edit]
Recalculate the creature's CR with the following considerations:
- Increase hit dice by 10, and change hit dice to d20s.
- Increase Strength by 10 and Constitution by 4.
- Modify the creature's damage per round according to the changes listed in "actions".
Examples[edit]
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