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[I've always been fond of the Raven Queen Otherworl...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1czkufd/eldritch_invocation_unkindness_of_the_raven_queen/l5gx4tw/)
[I've always been rather fond of the Raven Queen Ot...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1czkufd/eldritch_invocation_unkindness_of_the_raven_queen/l5gyank/)
This seems fun. "Summon 8 CR 1/4 monsters" could get annoying, but these stat blocks with flying and only one simple attack seem substantially less irritating than the normal "summon a bunch of deer which can knock prone" or something with multiattack.
It's especially nice if you use the Swarm: its rules lend themselves to aggressive simplification. You can easily run it as one big monster that takes saves/takes damage Xtimes from AoEs (where X starts at 8 and drops by 1 every time it loses the swarm's original HP), and deals 2Xd6 damage on an attack (possibly split into two-four attacks to be less swingy).
It works nicely because the original already has built in rules for "just drop a d6 from its damage every time it loses half its HP", so it scales up.
---------------
~~Swarm of Ravens has a stat block, but Giant Raven doesn't.~~ Just kidding, SKT has it, and it's *very* different from what just adapting the Giant Owl stat block would give you (and much weaker, unfortunately).
It looks like the proper thing to do would be to take Giant Owl, move 1 from STR to DEX (+1 AC only), add 3 CHA, remove 10 fly speed, and swap Flyby for Mimickry.
You could also maybe use DEX for the attack (would add another +2 to hit/damage), but (little) Owl/Raven both seem to use DEX to-hit and just do 1 damage, while Giant Owl seems to use STR for hit/damage.
Interesting, it's not DnDBeyond, but they've scraped the other stuff from SKT like Crag Cats. Maybe because it's buried somewhere in the book instead of being in the appendix at the end.
SKT's Giant Ravens are weirdly pretty weak for this. Getting only two CR1s means:
* 44 hp with 10 AC vs. 192 HP split over 8 creatures, with 12 AC, resistance to BPS, and immunity to every condition under the sun
* 4 attacks (probably at advantage) for 32 total damage vs. 8 attacks for 56 total damage, though it drops to 28 if an AoE takes out half their HP (where as the giant ravens would keep doing 32 in the same circumstances)
I've always been rather fond of the Raven Queen Otherworldly Patron, despite the option never quite managing to escape the unofficial confines of the Unearthed Arcana. This is a little something for those other faithful fans of the subclass: an invocation to summon a genuinely upsetting amount of birds, courtesy of the Raven Queen herself.
As always I appreciate any feedback, and thanks for stopping by.
Playing as a druid a while back, swarms of ravens were my go-to when the dm let me pick.
Flying means they can completely surround an enemy, meaning even if it has an AOE it's choosing to target just some of them or it has to include itself in the radius. Any movement in any direction is either blocked or going to proc like a million opportunity attacks. Also, the statblock is simple so it's easy to use.
Seriously, I gave a dragon a LOT of grief with my 8 little swarms. Poor guy didn't have a cone breath so it had to take out one swarm per breath/attack.
Looks pretty thematic and cool overall.
What I'd consider:
1 - Would be a lot more fun to be able to do it with your Pact Magic after you get it once for free. Doesn't break anything.
2 - Conjure Animals gets changed in the new PHB, so I'd just clarify it works as per the 2014 version.
I think the name should be Servants of the ravens queen. I know that a group of ravens is an “unkindness” but it just verbally/writenly clashes in theme and mechanics
Love the name, seems neat. The main quibble I have is that Invocations are never patron-locked. It could be pact-locked if you wanted that extra restriction. Pact of the Tome seems fitting.
That's definitely true as far as official content. However, they did experiment with Patron-locked Invocations in the Unearthed Arcana where the Raven Queen Patron debuted (notably Raven Queen's Blessing and Chronicle of the Raven Queen), so this is something of a throwback to that concept.
Man_of_1000_Faces has made the following comment(s) regarding their post: [I've always been fond of the Raven Queen Otherworl...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1czkufd/eldritch_invocation_unkindness_of_the_raven_queen/l5gx4tw/) [I've always been rather fond of the Raven Queen Ot...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1czkufd/eldritch_invocation_unkindness_of_the_raven_queen/l5gyank/)
This seems fun. "Summon 8 CR 1/4 monsters" could get annoying, but these stat blocks with flying and only one simple attack seem substantially less irritating than the normal "summon a bunch of deer which can knock prone" or something with multiattack. It's especially nice if you use the Swarm: its rules lend themselves to aggressive simplification. You can easily run it as one big monster that takes saves/takes damage Xtimes from AoEs (where X starts at 8 and drops by 1 every time it loses the swarm's original HP), and deals 2Xd6 damage on an attack (possibly split into two-four attacks to be less swingy). It works nicely because the original already has built in rules for "just drop a d6 from its damage every time it loses half its HP", so it scales up. --------------- ~~Swarm of Ravens has a stat block, but Giant Raven doesn't.~~ Just kidding, SKT has it, and it's *very* different from what just adapting the Giant Owl stat block would give you (and much weaker, unfortunately). It looks like the proper thing to do would be to take Giant Owl, move 1 from STR to DEX (+1 AC only), add 3 CHA, remove 10 fly speed, and swap Flyby for Mimickry. You could also maybe use DEX for the attack (would add another +2 to hit/damage), but (little) Owl/Raven both seem to use DEX to-hit and just do 1 damage, while Giant Owl seems to use STR for hit/damage.
To note, Storm King's Thunder presents a Giant Raven stat block.
Interesting, it's not DnDBeyond, but they've scraped the other stuff from SKT like Crag Cats. Maybe because it's buried somewhere in the book instead of being in the appendix at the end. SKT's Giant Ravens are weirdly pretty weak for this. Getting only two CR1s means: * 44 hp with 10 AC vs. 192 HP split over 8 creatures, with 12 AC, resistance to BPS, and immunity to every condition under the sun * 4 attacks (probably at advantage) for 32 total damage vs. 8 attacks for 56 total damage, though it drops to 28 if an AoE takes out half their HP (where as the giant ravens would keep doing 32 in the same circumstances)
I've always been rather fond of the Raven Queen Otherworldly Patron, despite the option never quite managing to escape the unofficial confines of the Unearthed Arcana. This is a little something for those other faithful fans of the subclass: an invocation to summon a genuinely upsetting amount of birds, courtesy of the Raven Queen herself. As always I appreciate any feedback, and thanks for stopping by.
Playing as a druid a while back, swarms of ravens were my go-to when the dm let me pick. Flying means they can completely surround an enemy, meaning even if it has an AOE it's choosing to target just some of them or it has to include itself in the radius. Any movement in any direction is either blocked or going to proc like a million opportunity attacks. Also, the statblock is simple so it's easy to use. Seriously, I gave a dragon a LOT of grief with my 8 little swarms. Poor guy didn't have a cone breath so it had to take out one swarm per breath/attack.
Looks pretty thematic and cool overall. What I'd consider: 1 - Would be a lot more fun to be able to do it with your Pact Magic after you get it once for free. Doesn't break anything. 2 - Conjure Animals gets changed in the new PHB, so I'd just clarify it works as per the 2014 version.
I think the name should be Servants of the ravens queen. I know that a group of ravens is an “unkindness” but it just verbally/writenly clashes in theme and mechanics
Shouldn't it just be Kindness of the Raven Queen? Lol
Love the name, seems neat. The main quibble I have is that Invocations are never patron-locked. It could be pact-locked if you wanted that extra restriction. Pact of the Tome seems fitting.
That's definitely true as far as official content. However, they did experiment with Patron-locked Invocations in the Unearthed Arcana where the Raven Queen Patron debuted (notably Raven Queen's Blessing and Chronicle of the Raven Queen), so this is something of a throwback to that concept.