This DnD Monster Has NO ACTIONS? - Gray Philosopher -Monster of the Week - Dungeons and Dragons Lore

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Dungeon Dad

Dungeon Dad

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 292
@NoFunAllowed
@NoFunAllowed 3 жыл бұрын
how did you get that picture of me sitting behind the bleachers haha!?!
@Luboffin
@Luboffin 3 жыл бұрын
Ahaha that cameo was excellent
@derekstein6193
@derekstein6193 2 жыл бұрын
For higher level play, give the philosopher a Counterspell legendary action, called "But why?".
@towermoment.1347
@towermoment.1347 Жыл бұрын
Why not?
@MarMonkey2606
@MarMonkey2606 Жыл бұрын
because i can.
@kyleanderson449
@kyleanderson449 Жыл бұрын
Call it denial.
@Exxeron-ob3tv
@Exxeron-ob3tv 11 ай бұрын
Dammit! why won't it let me thumbs-up this more than once?
@EAdude101
@EAdude101 10 ай бұрын
Counterspell it with "Because I said so"
@LordSephleon
@LordSephleon 3 жыл бұрын
One thing I'd personally add in some way: Anyone who tries to read the mind of a Gray Philosopher runs the risk of suffering from the curse, or maybe it becomes easier for the curse to take hold when the Death Knell activates (suffering Disadvantage to the save or something like that). Very Ravenloft-inspired, but fits the creature. Love this creature. Never came upon it despite my love for the old, obscure creatures (especially undead). Thanks again, Dungeon Dad!
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
I love that idea so much! Thanks for watching man!
@Dyneamaeus
@Dyneamaeus 2 жыл бұрын
Personally, I like the idea of the Philosopher being in slightly odder places. Maybe it sits in the same place it died, crushed beneath an ancient bookshelf, drowned in a shipwreck, or cutdown on ye olde chamber pot. Perhaps the opposite is true, and the creature emerges not at its death location but wherever the obsession that haunted its life first began. One day it just appears in the audience seats of a theatre house, the waiting room of an ancient bank, a corner table at a seedy bar, or a dark mountain vista overlooking the kingdom.
@aformofmatter8913
@aformofmatter8913 2 жыл бұрын
What if the philosopher is so deep in thought that, instead of being just unaware of their surroundings, they hear things said around them but can't distinguish between outside voices & their own thoughts Combine this with it constantly muttering to itself & you might be able to ask it questions to receive occasional cryptic answers ...while being swarmed by malices, of course :)
@Luboffin
@Luboffin 3 жыл бұрын
A monster that just sits there and doesn’t react to anything is actually incredibly creepy. This is really cool, I gotta chuck this in a game soon!
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Heck yeah! They might make for a good Halloween monster!
@ViolosD2I
@ViolosD2I Жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDad First time player, but in our current party my L3 cleric of light would probably just cook it from afar with a single Flaming Sphere. Until the Barb decides to charge in, that is.
@Andrew-vq2zr
@Andrew-vq2zr 3 жыл бұрын
Man after you mentioned them in a lichs lair, I couldn't get the image out of my head of the party seeking out a lich for aid(for some reason) and coming into the lair and the lich is sitting next to the grey philosopher and having a deep philosophical discussion while sipping tea While writing that I had another idea, the grey philosopher knows a secret something like the location of the lichs phylactery but he won't give it willingly, so the party does some digging and finds out the lich actually has the answer to the gray philosophers question and has been keeping it from him.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Man, both of those ideas are truly A+, well done. I am absolutely gonna use this in the future
@Andrew-vq2zr
@Andrew-vq2zr 3 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDad awesome, maybe if you do a plot hooks episode about this guy I can get an honorable mention, keep up the good work man you are one of my favorites d&d KZbin channels
@morrigankasa570
@morrigankasa570 2 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of a None-Evil version of this creature. Also with the Lich scenario, what if they are a Sane None-Evil version of a Lich. Then add in perhaps a Druid and a Paladin who also aren't Evil. They perhaps all achieved Immortality or at least Immortality Adjacent (Druid Timeless Body and Clone Magic) they received many thousands of years ago a True Prophecy about a Planar Ending threat. So with this Immortality stuff they did so to be "alive" to then fight back against the threat.
@DraconicPTCG
@DraconicPTCG 3 жыл бұрын
Currently running Strahd, definitely gonna throw this in there as a cleric trying to figure out a way to defeat Strahd and becoming obsessed with trying to figure that out.
@Spiggo97
@Spiggo97 Жыл бұрын
That's an awesome idea
@BJGvideos
@BJGvideos 8 ай бұрын
Party comes back "hey we defeated Strahd, we hit him really hard" and the cleric screams a terrifyingly loud obscenity and explodes
@elginsmith2234
@elginsmith2234 3 жыл бұрын
With the Grey following a god, I could totally see the malices showing up as little specters of that’s god domains, such as little ghostly winged badgers for a nature god or like a flying tome for a knowledge god. With these apparitions attacking anyone who barely shakes in their faith. Great video, loved it!!
@frankly_earnest
@frankly_earnest 3 жыл бұрын
No actions and no movement is definitely a jab at philosophy ;)
@HenriFaust
@HenriFaust 3 жыл бұрын
Philosophies are the root from which all cultural and political movements stem. Actions and movements just lag decades behind philosophy.
@TorchyThePyro
@TorchyThePyro 2 жыл бұрын
@@HenriFaust "The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
@growthisfreedomunitedearth7584
@growthisfreedomunitedearth7584 2 жыл бұрын
@@TorchyThePyro ty
@joshuasullivan16
@joshuasullivan16 2 жыл бұрын
@@TorchyThePyro that is an amazing quote
@TheLycanSubscriber
@TheLycanSubscriber 3 жыл бұрын
The Professor from Avatar was exactly what I was thinking of when you first mentioned they couldn't move. glad to see we're on the same page, mate
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Haha absolutely! He immediately came to mind!
@jeohranalfhir8366
@jeohranalfhir8366 2 жыл бұрын
"I could spend an eternity in there" is really a quote that shook me when I rewatched Avatar
@thehillz726
@thehillz726 3 жыл бұрын
I can see a litch developing the obsession and trying to farm these to create undead computers that double as defense systems
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Absolutely brilliant
@thehillz726
@thehillz726 3 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDad ty
@lexibyday9504
@lexibyday9504 3 жыл бұрын
adding this to the school I've been imagining from these videos. Failed studnts often become Gray Philosophers, wandering the school trying to learn all it contains until they can graduate in spirit. The library is hence a very dangurous place.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Oh damn! That's a great idea, I could see it fitting in perfectly with Strixhaven.
@nathanialwoods8281
@nathanialwoods8281 3 жыл бұрын
Here a good hook you could full Lovecraftin like Nyarlathotep was in their human guise and rolled though some small cities and caused some gray philosophers to be created by posing unanswerable questions to the local population causing the cities to be abandoned or over run. Heck it doesn't even have to be a plot hook it can be just world building flavour.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
That is a really cool idea, I am definitely going to use this at some point.
@dubuyajay9964
@dubuyajay9964 Жыл бұрын
Sounds like the short story of the same name.
@ryderma1
@ryderma1 3 жыл бұрын
Love the Gray Philosopher. I have that creature catalog. Another good book is " Tall Tail of The Wee folk" ,it allowed players to make Fey folk character or the DM to make more powerful Fey NPCs
@dubuyajay9964
@dubuyajay9964 Жыл бұрын
Don't you mean "Tale?"
@Persephon94
@Persephon94 3 жыл бұрын
I am totally going to use this creature along side Allips... One of my party member's father, who was a sage in this big archive died due to becoming obsessed with with knowledge he was being posessed by via the Allip... and so now I'm imagining when the party ever returns to this archive they find the whole place haunted by Allips that are like the congealed malices together into one as they escape and wander about looking for more information as insane whispering creatures.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
That's so creepy, I like it a lot. I can just imagine the players having these weird and incomprehensible questions asked of them in distant whispering tones while they traverse the dungeon.
@Persephon94
@Persephon94 3 жыл бұрын
@@DungeonDad Yeah, especially since this seems like a more effective way for an Allip to reproduce itself en masse as, if I'm not mistaken, it normally takes someone having to read an already infected book and then spend a ton of time writing all that information down before the new Allip is born right? Here the Allips would be forming out of the collective stray malice thoughts on the confounding subject...~ Not to mention, I had a follow up idea of having some Nothics also pursuing the bloated stacks to find those Arcane secrets...perhaps even having a Nagpa being behind the original spawning of this particular gray philospher so they could move in to take some knowledge for themselves.
@skylerhuihui341
@skylerhuihui341 2 жыл бұрын
I wonder if an Allip and a Gray Philosopher can come from the same person? Like a ghost and a zombie.
@kahlinwhatley8640
@kahlinwhatley8640 Жыл бұрын
Wait, Now all I can think about is PCs walking to a room where a Grey Jester is desperately trying to get a Grey Philosopher to laugh 😂😂😂
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Sorry for the day-delay folks, Covid shots are no joke! Rather than rush it out I wanted to make sure it was worth watching, so here it is! The latest Monster of the Week! Thanks for watching everyone!
@yanaleigh
@yanaleigh 3 жыл бұрын
Yeah. I ran a fever for a week after mine. Still grateful for it! But it was real rough.
@nicolaezenoaga9756
@nicolaezenoaga9756 3 жыл бұрын
I got two and I was fine.
@pallyboy6005
@pallyboy6005 2 жыл бұрын
A bit late, but congratulations! Big and important, everyone needs one for sure, such a tremendous defense
@jonathanbrown5747
@jonathanbrown5747 2 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of Goldmask from Elden Ring. His philosophical problem kept his spirit attached to his form, when he solved the philosphy, he immediately dies.
@DracosDiabolis
@DracosDiabolis 3 жыл бұрын
ok so different thought on this monster. A Grey Philosopher comes back "from the great beyond" as a Reborn or a Revenant still trying to unravel the mystery that plagued them in life and then the unlife. Now it still haunts them. for flavor, and the CR fits (i think). take the Swarmkeeper Ranger for the little Malice creatures. eh this is more of spitball, getting the idea out there. thanks for in inspration.
@Figgy5119
@Figgy5119 2 жыл бұрын
One of the long standing mysteries in my campaign is that a few thousand years ago when there was a horrible event where astroids struck the world and devastated the mortal population, it was actually not an accident and the gods had done it on purpose to wipe out the advanced civilizations because they regretted letting them access magic because they were able to challenge the gods. That would be a very good mystery for a gray philosopher to be working on and it would be a great way to let the players get their first big hint to it.
@NecromancyForKids
@NecromancyForKids Жыл бұрын
This did happen in D&D history, though only one specific civilization. Mages learned how to cast 10th level and higher spells, and attempted to gain control of the goddess of Magic herself.
@sinisterthoughts2896
@sinisterthoughts2896 Жыл бұрын
That's the story of pathfinder, basically.
@yanaleigh
@yanaleigh 3 жыл бұрын
This is great timing because my guys are soon headed into the wastes of the world looking for a city that was ruined about 8,000 years ago. This will make a great encounter that might or might not be combat, depending on if the barbarian or the bard take the malice's personally.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Awesome! Let us know how it goes!
@astuteanansi4935
@astuteanansi4935 Жыл бұрын
I could almost see a massively souped up version of one of these as the final boss of a campaign. Imagine having a Big Bad who wreaks havoc upon the land with his summoned hordes of eldritch creatures, and all the party knows is some kind of motivation, maybe become a deity like you said. Maybe he even started off well-intentioned but somewhere along the way realized that, in order to solve the enigma, he would have to employ dark and unsavory means and that's where his Malices begin to spawn. Throughout the campaign the party never meets him, never interacts with him in any way, only fighting his summoned Malices and his disciples. And then at the climax they finally come face to face with him, they give their big heroic speech and... nothing. He doesn't speak to them. He can't even hear them. Even as they start wailing on him, he doesn't fight back. He has been chasing this secret for thousands of years, beyond death itself, and now he will finally take it to oblivion with him. It would make for a rather chilling confrontation, I think. Alternatively, maybe once they've whittled him down to half health, his eyes suddenly light up and focus, he stirs and says something like: "I've got it. After all these years, I've finally got it. The answer... is *you.* You are exactly what I needed... all this time." And then the *true* battle begins.
@your_doppleganger2304
@your_doppleganger2304 3 жыл бұрын
Im thinking of running a low level dungeon crawl built by spellweavers. I could see using this as the librarian/sub-boss.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
They would fit perfectly with the flavour!~
@stupiddude3257
@stupiddude3257 2 жыл бұрын
I'm a very new DnD player, but watch your videos often, and am a big fan! While watching this, I had the idea of potentially using these creatures in combination with the False Hydra, which was mentioned in another one of your videos. Perhaps there are multiple citizens who's minds were warped so severely by the False Hydra, that their souls have been trapped, left to wonder why or how a specific event happened? Then, BOOM. "The Gray City" is born, a completely levelled remnant of a town, with multiple Gray Philosophers left as it's only inhabitants.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 2 жыл бұрын
Oh man, that's a really cool idea!
@frankly_earnest
@frankly_earnest 3 жыл бұрын
Also, I see a nice overlap with the contemplator...a fusion of the two (gray contemplator?) could make a great higher-level encounter.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
Damn, that's a neat idea. These guys have big contemplator vibes for sure.
@kdavidsmith1
@kdavidsmith1 8 ай бұрын
A lawful good gray philosopher, but is so strictly lawful that it sticks exactly to the letter of the law that it becomes an issue. Further more it has some sort knowledge that when ever a new law becomes law within its perceived realm it instantly knows the law. This would mean having its minions be allowed more range to handle bringing them to the Gray Philosopher for the law breakers' punishment, but it would be a good plot.
@jek__
@jek__ Жыл бұрын
Lol I like how you used the art for Battle of Wits when you were talking about someone sitting there forever doing nothing but thinking until suddenly they have ultimate power. Thats pretty perfect "There is no loftier ambition than the pursuit of knowledge."
@thefooly
@thefooly 2 жыл бұрын
Never heard of it but I love it! Question: I know it’s undead so the malignant thoughts deal necrotic…. But does anyone else feel as if maybe they should deal psychic damage?
@bonderoff
@bonderoff 3 жыл бұрын
Awesome video. Really well done and the fact you go over plot hooks is really valuable content!! I’m starting a Theros campaign tomorrow and this fits perfectly with the Sage PC’s backstory. Someone asked him a question that he didn’t know the answer to, when he sought out the information, it angered Kruphix (the God of the Horizon and sacred knowledge). And thanks to your video, I have a plan! The person who was seeking the info was showing traits of the curse, and will eventually (when the players are appropriate level) turn into the gray philosopher, still seeking answers. Thanks again for the video.
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
You're super welcome, thanks for watching! I adore that idea. I have a huge soft spot for Theros, so I'm really happy someone is going to be using this monster in a Theros game. Tying it to Kruphix and one of the PC's backstory is literally perfect. Great idea!
@nukerwolf7788
@nukerwolf7788 2 жыл бұрын
I also imagine them moving as putting up a conspiracy board with sting and everything.
@Llamadangles
@Llamadangles 2 жыл бұрын
Dude you have become my new every day channel. All you're content embodies all the things I love about dnd yt channels in one. Love love LOVE IT!!!
@vadaritis
@vadaritis 3 жыл бұрын
Spawning more powerful creatures you say? Maybe such as the Sorrowsworn?
@yanaleigh
@yanaleigh 3 жыл бұрын
I was thinking star spawn, but same general idea.
@victorvaldez8869
@victorvaldez8869 3 жыл бұрын
I can see this being in a modern setting where one of these is setting where it was trying to unravel the ultimate mathematics for the perfect algorithm & is now sending his Malices out through the Web to harass & attack users at home. Of course his hubris was questioning the infallibility of the sacred algorithm, blessed be it's works. (Yes that was sarcasm.)
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
They have to calculate Pi!
@victorvaldez8869
@victorvaldez8869 3 жыл бұрын
Imagine what havock a Malice with access to the web do in a "Smart Home." An oven with Wi-Fi is no longer just arguably a waste of money, now it's a murderous hazard.
@rmartikke
@rmartikke 2 жыл бұрын
I've fallen in love with this channel.
@Natsirt666
@Natsirt666 3 жыл бұрын
Have a look at the Chwidencha. It's easily my favourite non-5e monster. Recently threw some at my players. Of a party of 4, 3 of them were knocked during the fight. So much fun!
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad 3 жыл бұрын
I’ll check it out!
@kethos017
@kethos017 3 жыл бұрын
That is a great one! Have seen a heavy homebrew of this in the team four star homebrew campain. The unsealed it by moving an elevator up and had to fight against the legs trying to pull the arcane platform into the abyss or where ever. I think the episode was called „Costing a leg and a leg“
@randallbaumgardt3424
@randallbaumgardt3424 2 жыл бұрын
As a God of secrets I would imagine that Vecna had a hand (just one mind you) in their creation. With an eye (again just one) to uncovering vast secrets.
@medievalknevil
@medievalknevil 2 жыл бұрын
Just one mind you... 😄
@grimlock5990
@grimlock5990 2 жыл бұрын
This is an AWESOME creature. So much potential. Its so obscure I feel like almost no one would have come across one.
@jq4767
@jq4767 2 жыл бұрын
Yo, super cool monster! Great find, for certain! I never heard of it myself but it does sound super interesting. I could see running it as a lower level threat for a horror-themed adventure. A wizard, sage, cloistered, heretical monk or Philosopher comes across a dark, eldritch tome, and if the tome itself is not directly cursed, the knowledge within worms it's way into the reader's mind, becoming their obsession. This can let you put one of these monsters in a more active environment, providing a more immediate hook as a village or abbey becomes plagued by unending malices. The players have to find the Gray Philosopher, who might be hidden in a secret lab or chamber as their studies drove them to paranoid conspiracy, while constantly fending off the ever spawning malice. Not to mention if they aren't careful when defeating the Gray Philosopher, it's Death Knell could end up cursing the NPCs in the area, either perpetuating the problem or causing a full 'nice job breaking it heroes' where a once humble village just becomes nothing but a mass of Gray Philosophers in a sea of Malice because of the player's actions.
@Oburi7
@Oburi7 2 жыл бұрын
One Idea is that you could use this creature at the beginning of a campaign and when the party kills it, his scream affects the whole world, now the whole world is in chaos and the party has to figure out a way to fix their mistake
@RealityRogue
@RealityRogue 2 жыл бұрын
I like the idea of using the Grey Sage as a good NPC. Someone that the party could come back to gain knowledge but would often get lost in thought and stop talking. Maybe it would be a “White Sage”?
@jedijoebp
@jedijoebp 7 ай бұрын
running a spelljammer campaign soon. this + your spirit warrior video has inspired me to make an astral elf grey philosopher trying to solve the mysteries of how spirit warriors were originally created as an encounter i think
@madocmayhem
@madocmayhem 3 жыл бұрын
You sir are a gentleman, scholar and philosopher. An artist and and genius. Loved this video and have to admit I was not aware of it xD
@gabrielregli1222
@gabrielregli1222 2 жыл бұрын
this is certainly warlock undead patron material
@Stormer13
@Stormer13 2 жыл бұрын
A scenario I could see being fun to run this creature against a party in would be to have a fellow adventuring party slowly falling prey to the curse and them calling out to the players for help
@Warpedfilms
@Warpedfilms 3 жыл бұрын
Very cool and I got ideas for how this fits into my world already. Thanks
@msf2399
@msf2399 Жыл бұрын
Okay, very important question: could the Grisgol’s madness curse create one of these things?
@DungeonDad
@DungeonDad Жыл бұрын
That is a very cool idea! I love that.
@moonringXD
@moonringXD 3 жыл бұрын
Excellent video as always!👍
@GringatTheRepugnant
@GringatTheRepugnant 2 жыл бұрын
I could see a Grey Philosopher being in a ruin with a load of moignos around it instead of malices, if it's more of a neutral creature maybe.
@richardmohan6307
@richardmohan6307 2 жыл бұрын
I would add one thing, not sure if its a correction because I'm not sure what you were saying with never to be heard from again. But the creature actually appeared in (and the nice colored artwork you use is from) the Mystara Monstrous Compendium (which was in large part just the 2e version of the Creature Catalog with some monsters missing and some new ones added and nice colored artwork). I only know this because a- I'm obsessed with bestiaries for games I play in and don't play in and b - Creature Catalog and, by extension, the Mystara Compendium are some of my favorite monster books of all time. And on that note, thank you for converting this guy, I've always loved the Gray Philosopher and the extra ideas you gave for higher level parties is VERY inspiring!
@kyleanderson449
@kyleanderson449 Жыл бұрын
A great way to buff this creature is to give it a class and passive abilities based on which class you give it.
@CodyPease
@CodyPease 6 ай бұрын
Part of me thinks it would be cool for it to be an undead warlock patron.
@akun50
@akun50 2 жыл бұрын
I had a thought of a slightly altered version of this creature that could be made into a one-shot, but would require the creature to move. The Grey Philosopher could've been a researcher who stumbled upon a truly massive magical library, but was in such poor health that they died shortly after arriving, perhaps without even opening a single book (alternately, it could be a normal spirit that transforms INTO a Grey Philosopher during the adventure). The party is tasked to help the researcher's spirit by guiding them to areas where the spirit could find materials relevant to its research, perhaps under the assumption it was looking for something akin to a cure for a disease ravaging the area. However, as they continue to help, curious adventurers may begin to notice that the books that the spirit focuses on aren't exactly wholesome and begin getting suspicious, but should they try to confront the creature, it spawns a number of Malices and leaves to continues its research in another room. The PCs must now hunt the Grey Philosopher throughout the library, only to eventually find it on a throne hidden behind a secret wall (maybe have some Malices come through cracks in the wall to indicate that it's there), where upon the more traditional fight against the Grey Philosopher happens as it tries to figure out the answer it sought.
@annicknijm7428
@annicknijm7428 Жыл бұрын
A bit of cool flair could be that the Gray Philosopher walled themselves shut and put some magic wards when they were still alive to avoid being distracted by outside forces. Maybe a spell that alter people's perception so they're compelled to ignore the wall. And as time passes no one even remember there was an alcove/room at that spot. Effectively, there's no way for the party to readily locate and access the Philosopher, so they have to pay attention to their map and where the malices are behaving to pinpoint their origin. Maybe the warding spell can actually become a clue, for instance after a successful roll, they can finally manage to look at the wall, and realizes it's unusually naked compared to the rest of the place: no shelves, no painting or decoration, no torch holder. If the place is still used and cleaned and the party is particularly keen, they might even see this is the only spot where dust is allowed to settle.
@LordM46
@LordM46 3 жыл бұрын
I do like this monster, pure mind and spirit given form. I see so many possibilities with the gray philospher.
@TROOPERfarcry
@TROOPERfarcry 2 жыл бұрын
The posthumous obsession transfer sounds a little bit like that one Golem made up of magical artifacts with the Lich-Heart in the middle... where destroying the creature exposes the victor to a gradually debilitating obsession which increasingly hampers a PC's ability to function.
@canis2020
@canis2020 3 жыл бұрын
With this upload being a day late made me lose track of time and I missed my funeral!
@LikeTheBirb
@LikeTheBirb 2 жыл бұрын
What an obscure monster from gen 1! I love that you remind us all of some OLD monsters.
@Metalchemist2
@Metalchemist2 Жыл бұрын
I had a ghost in a campaign I am making who is just sitting there writing on a page, his main purpose is to give information to the players after he is killed by them. ty for this as he is now a gray philosopher and can add new roleplaying aspects to it.
@ernestlam5632
@ernestlam5632 2 жыл бұрын
When you mentioned the partial Ascension I thought of Stargate SG1's Anubis
@tbaldwin5114
@tbaldwin5114 Жыл бұрын
What an odd monster. Perfect for my brooding philiopher king who is trying to understand where his kingdom fell apart. Thanks very much. My players are very RP heavy, they will love the idea of almost knowing some great insight.
@AsAMonkeyInAPinata
@AsAMonkeyInAPinata 3 ай бұрын
I like the idea of having one of those guys just thinking about the most trivial stupidity, and you get to give him the answer (like a chad paladin who’d died JUST after being asked a dumb riddle) and you tell him the answer, and it’s the most weird-ass “ascension”. Like, there’s no big reveal, no curse, unless maybe you got a dumber party member who now tries to figure out why the answer works, and you may even get this nee chad-bro lesser god on your side or against you according to if he wanted you or not to give him the answer…
@madripoor6652
@madripoor6652 3 жыл бұрын
I really like this one, teaming it up with some allips would make a fun encounter
@Robin_Goodfellow
@Robin_Goodfellow 7 ай бұрын
This reminds me of a philosopher undead you meet in Divinity Original Sin 2. If you talk to him you can challenge him to a battle of wits, which gets so existential that if you lose, your character's head literally explodes and you have to res them.
@connormurphy349
@connormurphy349 Жыл бұрын
An ascended Philosopher would be an amazing Patron, encouraging the player to seek out all knowledge they can possible obtain
@rmzing
@rmzing 11 күн бұрын
Coming back here a few years later with Elden Ring and its DLC out, this would definitely be the way to incorporate the Lord of Frenzied Flame into a D&D encounter.
@TwilitbeingReboot
@TwilitbeingReboot Жыл бұрын
This is... _so_ perfect for the campaign I'm working on. It doesn't hurt either that I've been reading _Lockwood and Co._ lately.
@remnantryku7112
@remnantryku7112 2 жыл бұрын
This sounds like an awesome monster. I can imagine the party winning the battle by helping the Gray Philosopher’s come to a realization and gaining a powerful ally.
@sharondornhoff7563
@sharondornhoff7563 10 ай бұрын
I remember re-statting this one for 3.5 years ago. I made the philosopher itself a hazard rather than a creature, because it's so passive that only its Malices really needed full stats. The philosopher could be "Disarmed" with either sufficient magical-weapon damage or with a high enough Wisdom or Religion check to out-argue it.
@barelbarthis5109
@barelbarthis5109 2 жыл бұрын
I've been binge watching your videos and I've been enjoying the look into ad&d because I pull alot from second edition for my fifth edition games. my question though is where do I get a copy of the creature catalogue?
@quinnlee-newbury9003
@quinnlee-newbury9003 2 жыл бұрын
Really neat and creepy creature. Definitely wanna include an order that watches over a grey philosopher waiting for it to learn some groundbreaking info. Could be a great plot hook for the party to hear it finally learned that piece of knowledge
@olivierboo831
@olivierboo831 2 жыл бұрын
this reminds me of the creature called the crypt thing from the fiend folio of dnd 1e where it sits there, and teleports people while saying "he disintegrated" them
@jamesgordon364
@jamesgordon364 9 ай бұрын
I like the idea of a Grey philosopher searching for a profound truth for a good order. The idea that for the greater good they have condemned themselves to a horrible fate played off of the concept of a scapegoat or a martyr. I could see an entire order of clergy training their whole lives for the chance at being a speaker for the oracle. And I would consider using the star spawn for the eldritch creatures that are spawned by the philosopher.
@mpeterll
@mpeterll 2 жыл бұрын
Yes. I read about these, but never actually used one in a game. With the living wall, that's two of the big three "zero-movement" monsters covered. Do you have any plans to do the gazebo?
@TheZenBullet
@TheZenBullet 2 жыл бұрын
The CR would be too high for a standard 5e game
@mpeterll
@mpeterll 2 жыл бұрын
@@TheZenBullet Gazebo: CR2. Attack routine: Stand motionless, ignoring all damage for 2d4 rounds, then collapse inflicting 3d6 damage to all creatures within 20'. A dexterity save is allowed for half damage.
@angrypvz1236
@angrypvz1236 2 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of the grey philosopher being sort of a meta enemy, where it contemplating the meaning of life itself and the grey philosopher realizes it’s a story construct in the mind of a dm, essentially they’ve broken the fourth wall. And when it dies, it ascends to an unknown plane of existence and screams it’s existential knowledge to the party members, giving them mental crisises
@benthomason3307
@benthomason3307 Жыл бұрын
One thing I never got about monsters like this or 5e sorrowsworn is that there's no accomodation for someone that simply decides to help the philosopher. Help it set up a blog or lecture hall so it can discuss the matter with other people, thus letting move onto the afterlife without hurting anyone.
@kitsunami7251
@kitsunami7251 6 ай бұрын
"The numbers, what do they mean?? They must mean something..."
@HBookbinderGM
@HBookbinderGM 3 ай бұрын
Okay now I want to theme the lair along the lines of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
@vonkug
@vonkug 9 ай бұрын
I got hit by one in a 1980s era Sliders campaign. Just slid on in to a town who was like "yeah, we don't fucking go into that library anymore. You get asked unknowable questions at the door, and a wrong answer is death."
@botondhetyey159
@botondhetyey159 2 жыл бұрын
I feel like with a bit of rework, this could be a new, interesting take on the Stone Giant Dreamwalker. Maybe after years of wondering in the 'dreamworld', and going more and more mad, while collecting weird objects they think have some great meaning, some dreamwalkers sit down to think, motionless, gradually turning into stone.
@Kattlarv
@Kattlarv Жыл бұрын
I like how they are just... evil by default. So it's not even sitting there thinking. It's doing EVIL thinking xD
@alanchoichang8336
@alanchoichang8336 Жыл бұрын
the oracle or seer that communicates with the lawful good gray philosopher could also be corrupt, and is lying to the people. kind of like the skyrim dark brotherhood night mother vibe.
@mikerutkowski4653
@mikerutkowski4653 5 ай бұрын
Idk if you’ll ever see this, but I really like your series for this and really appreciate them. You deserve good things
@blackshard641
@blackshard641 5 ай бұрын
Oh my GOD. This is PERFECT for my campaign!!!
@artiepavlov6593
@artiepavlov6593 3 жыл бұрын
definitely heard of them before - know for a fact they appeared in Mystara and Ravenloft sourcebooks but don't know of actual appearances in adventures.
@ecchicharmed
@ecchicharmed 2 жыл бұрын
Huh. This could be a good encounter I have in mind for an undead priest who's wandering a graveyard in the city my campaign takes place in. Thanks!
@redmaxxs
@redmaxxs 2 жыл бұрын
This is the perfect monster to use all the wall damaging spells against.
@andreesebastingonzlezlugo921
@andreesebastingonzlezlugo921 3 жыл бұрын
Since im working on an ancient greece campaign the idea of an undead philosofer is just perfect for me!
@MultiSonicRules
@MultiSonicRules 2 жыл бұрын
An idea to play with the malices is that what if they are the "eyes and ears" of the gray philosopher, where they are constantly floating about going down the rabbit hole that spawned them. Like using the idea of immortality beyond lichdom, they could inquire about potions, a malice could form, and it starts to read the closest available resource on potions. However, as the Gray Philosopher grows older and the local resources dry up and there's more effort into each thought, each malice is going to be bigger and it's going to have to go further. The reach of the malices becomes the scope of the knowledge the gray philosopher searches through in this manner.
@hermeticbear
@hermeticbear Жыл бұрын
Inside the abandoned temple of a far realm cult, a gray philosopher, sits and ponders the dark and hideous secrets of that twisted realm.
@styx5293
@styx5293 2 жыл бұрын
You should try having a coupon for the specific Adventure that holds the old monster in it remix into 5e. Each video become a small advertisement for yourself and you can create a large collection of these various Adventures for people to purchase. This will allow you to still do your freebies but I have more than just a patreon subscription with added bonuses. Just a thought
@harrisjaved4912
@harrisjaved4912 2 жыл бұрын
Instead of being a pet to a lich have the lich seek out the philosopher. A specific one who is contemplating the true nature of death. He is contemplating true immortality and how to kill anything, even a god or even a titan. The lich has a way of getting the knowledge from the philosopher or something.
@remito7839
@remito7839 2 жыл бұрын
Maybe something like, the Lich being able to gain answers, but in turn being affected by the curse. But since the Lich reforms at it's Phylactery after death, it causes both itself to reappear, while also creating a grey philosopher in the place it died. And so it wanders the Lands, using it's Arcane Power and magic to try and find answers to impossible questions, creating more and more Grey Philosophers, until the party manages to destroy the Lich once and for all, causing all the Philosophers it spawned to disappear. You could even make it take a dark turn and make it so that the party killing the Lich, causes every single creature currently effected by the curse to die, all of them unleashing their cursed shriek, causing a massive wave of the curse spreading across all the towns/villages that the Lich went through, making it so that the players in pursuit of loot and exp, doomed massive parts of the continent.
@ReplicatorFifth
@ReplicatorFifth Жыл бұрын
I needed cool creatures to add to Ythrin! Thanks this works perfectly and totally somthing a Wizard of Thay would do! Though I loved the idea of Theros!
@iexcedo6918
@iexcedo6918 Жыл бұрын
I'd like to imagine two scholars, brothers. Over the years one becomes mad turning into a philosopher. While the other desperate to "save" him goes down the road of becoming a lich. For 100's of years he trys to help his brother eventually reaching out to a party with a disguise. Only after the party helps him, he tells his story and hands over his phylactery telling them to destroy it so they might both rest.
@medievalknevil
@medievalknevil 3 ай бұрын
I have just finished a campaign where the entire party were new players, effectively an intro to D&D. My big bad was a Grey Philosopher. The idea was, the Grey Philosopher was a mad cleric whose evil plan was thwarted 500 years ago when he was assassinated, but his soul refused to move on until he could figure out how to complete his plan. Anyway it worked really well because depending on whether or not the new players wanted to continue, I had options. At the upcoming session zero, if they want to continue with the campaign, the Grey Philosopher could transform into a lich or something else and continue to be a threat (potentially being sucked into Ravenloft). If they wanted to change the campaign, or stop, the villain was beaten. The other thing was being such an obscure monster, the noob PCs would have had no idea how to beat it without having collected numerous clues about how to deal with him. The other thing I was able to do was I prepared a "vision" associated with his death knell, which was a couple of paragraphs that I instant messaged to those who failed their saving throw, so it doubled as the curse and foreshadowed his return in another form. It showed the Grey Philosopher sacrificing his followers by draining their psychic energy to enable his return.
@Tasarran
@Tasarran 11 ай бұрын
When the character doesn't want to remove the Death Knell, you know the curse has begun to affect the PLAYER... ;)
@TheDraconicBard
@TheDraconicBard Жыл бұрын
Me becoming a grey philosopher trying to figure out what to have for dinner
@Fadexpl
@Fadexpl 9 ай бұрын
The philosopher could turn into an Allip after discovering the secret, which immediately prolongs the encounter.
@theblocksays
@theblocksays 2 жыл бұрын
One idea around them could serve as a sort of ritual for how a rather ambitious Green Slaad might advance to the next "evolution" into a Grey Slaad, they learn of the eldritch formula for putting the curse into a mortal which sends them into a maddened state of contemplation which left uninterrupted, dooms them into becoming the spectral thinker. He takes some contingencies into placing a marker on that soul before some adventuring party stumbles upon it and battles it. When they destroy it and it's soul is sent to the lower planes the green slaad quickly warps down there to where it spawned into a Larvae to secure it before any other fiends or Night Hags get their claws on it, devours it. Next it would undergo a DBZ Frieza-like transform one step closer to final form and the sleeker grey frog-like body tears its way out of the wider framed green toad like it's molting. Should they fail to nab that larvae then they'll have to take note of the next mortal who got cursed and play another long game of that person dying and becoming another Grey Philosopher; strangely patient for a being of chaos, but it's not like they ever spelled out what becoming the more advance type slaads beyond green entails so why not?
@davidtucker9498
@davidtucker9498 2 жыл бұрын
Because I think monsters need more weaknesses to reward clever players and diversifying damage, maybe the Grey Philosopher should have a venerability to Psychic damage, as that would interrupt his contemplations.
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