Monster Of The Week - Speed and Senses

Last week we took a look at the multitude of Monster Types, now let's take a look at the terminology surrounding how they MOVE and how they SEE.

SPEED TYPES

BURROW
A monster with a burrowing speed can tunnel through sand, earth, mud, or even ice!  Bad news on a tactical map, but the monster can't burrow through solid rock unless it has a feature that says so.

CLIMB
Climb speed lets the creature scale vertical surfaces using all or part of its movement, and they don't have to spend extra movement in order TO climb.

FLY
Monster with fly speeds can use that movement to, you guessed it, FLY.  And some monsters have the ability to Hover, making it difficult to knock them out of the air.  Any decently smart creature with a fly speed (and a breath weapon) should be feared on a tactical battlefield.

​SWIM
Well, these are getting simple.  Creatures with a swim speed can swim their speed!  And they don't even have to use extra movement...  Who'da thunk?  Good to note, though, that a swim speed can only be used in a liquid; a semi-solid material, like mud, does not support a Swim speed (Burrow would be more appropriate), but in the same vein a Burrow speed does not allow you to swim (without costing extra movement as normal).

EXTRA SENSES

BLINDSIGHT
A monster with Blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, depending on the radius.  Creatures without eyes, like an ooze or grimlock, will usually have this sense, as do creatures that might use echolocation (like a bat) or something with heightened senses (like a dragon).  
  A naturally blind monster might also use this term to indicate the MAXIMUM RANGE of its perception.

DARKVISION
A creature with darkvision can see in the dark within the specified radius.  Just like with player characters, they can see in dim light as if it were bright like, and in darkness as if it were dim light.  And, just like PCs, the monster can't discern color palettes, only shades of gray.  Expect creatures who tend to live underground to have this special sense.

TREMORSENSE
​A monster with Tremorsense can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within its specified radius, provided that IT is not in contact with the same ground or substance.  No, it cannot be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures.  Expect monsters that tend to burrow, like an Ankheg or Umber Hulk, to also have this ability.

TRUESIGHT
A popular thing among high-level players, a creature with Truesight can see (out to a certain range) in normal and magical darkness, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceive the original form of one who is a shapechanger or someone transformed by magic.  Furthermore, the creature can see into the ETHEREAL PLANE out to the same distance.  A few ancient or psionic creatures might have this ability, but it is much more rare.

​TELEPATHY
This is a magical ability that allows a creature to communicate mentally with another creature within the specified range.  The contacted creature doesn't need to share a language in order to communicate, but it needs to understand at least one language (so the Google Translate has something to do).  A creature without telepathy can still receive and respond to telepathic messages, but can't initiate them.  
  A telepathic monster doesn't need to see the contacted creature and can end the contact at any time.  The contact is also broken if the two creatures ever exceed the range of the sense.  It often goes without saying, but contact is broken if the creature is incapacitated.  
Note: A telepathic creature within an Antimagic Field or another location where magic does not function will not be able to send and receive telepathic messages. 

DAMAGE TERMS

Sometimes you smack that enemy really hard and it does nothing, or you hurl a particular potent concoction, roll real bad, and deal double damage...or you find yourself somewhere in-between.  There are reasons why and these are the terms you need to know going in.

VULNERABILITIES
When a creature is Vulnerable to a damage type, it is assumed that the type deals twice as much damage to it.  Some DMs will have players roll twice as many dice, or, for speed and efficiency, simply double the number rolled.  Whatever the method, the creature can be considered "weak" to this type, and will therefore suffer more when dealt it.

RESISTANCES
A very common term among the monsters in 5E, a Resistance indicates the creature will only suffer half of the damage (rounded down) dealt to it of this type.  It can be expected that many Fiends will probably be resistant (if not Immune) to fire damage.

IMMUNITIES
An immunity indicates that the monster either cannot be affected by the named status effect or suffers no damage (even if an ability might punch through a Resistance otherwise - ahem, Elemental Adept feat - cough) from the indicated type.  Powerful undead can be Immune to necrotic damage, or a large fiend Immune to fire damage, or how a construct might be Immune to being poisoned.

MAGIC RESISTANCE
A trait often reserved for older, more powerful beings, (the Yuan-Ti Purebloods also enjoy this at level 1 in Volo's Guide To Monsters) a creature with Magic Resistance rolls with Advantage against ANY MAGICAL EFFECT THAT REQUIRES A SAVING THROW.  Any.  Magical.  Effect.  Yeah, that's awesome...or terrible, depending on which side of the screen you are positioned.  :)

Next time on Dragonball Z

Legendary Creatures, Lairs, and what the heck that all means.  
See you at the table, sipping on my coffee.
​...Gods I need more coffee...
-Adamus