OH HOLD UP CHARACTER IDEA JUST POPPED UP IN MY HEAD AND IT’S GONNA KICK SO MUCH ASS ONE SEC

copper dragon (dragonborn?) that’s so old their scales are all oxidized so they get mistaken as a green one

Patience

⚔️ 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Ouroboros Wand
Wand, rare ___

This wand has 3 charges and regains all expended charges daily at dawn. While holding the wand, you can expend 1 of its charges to cast the "acid arrow" spell from it, using a spell attack bonus of +7. The arrow created by the spell appears as a snake, rather than an arrow. When you expend the last charge from the wand, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand loses its magic and is transformed into a giant constrictor snake that’s hostile toward all creatures (including you). On any other result, the wand immediately regains 1d3 charges. Each time this happens, the minimum number you have to roll on the d20 to transform it into a snake increases by 1, to a maximum of 5; this number returns to 1 daily at dawn.

This version of the giant constrictor snake has twice as many hit points. In addition, any creature that it bites must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d4 poison damage and becomes poisoned for 1 hour. On a success, a creature takes half as much poison damage and isn’t poisoned. ___

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From the free Curse of Strahd intro adventure Death House. All stats taken from the free adventure, or the SRD. Images are from the adventure, too, or a google search for generic images.

This is an updated version of my Guide to Non-Evil Undead that I worked on before.  This is a “Beta” version because nothing has actually been playtested yet but I hope this could be a polished thing one day.  

This includes:

I have spent the last few months on my Guide to Non-Evil Undead, and have made a lot of additions, including updates, and pics!

It is still not finished, a lot of things still need to be playtested more and I haven’t incorporated all the pics in yet because the layout may change depending on how it is edited.  I would also like feedback on the readability of the statblocks.  This thing is almost finished, I just need some polishing on it and feedback, and hopefully I can get it up at DMsGuild soon!

The document is BIG, about 32 pages, and includes statblocks, worldbuilding advice, a faction, guides for undead player characters, and spells!

Here are links to the illustrations from my art: (link 1) (link 2) (link 3)

Here is the GM Binder link. (Works best in Google Chrome)

Here is a Google Drive Link for those of you who want a PDF

10 Free Spelljammer Monsters

Hubert Malevol

“Undead - concept” © Sergei Dorokhin, accessed at his ArtStation here.

[Hubert the Hunter was a saint of hunting associated with dogs, so making him some sort of undead monstrosity is delightfully sacrilegious. He’s one of the nastier family members in Castle Xyntillan, so I wanted him to be powerful, but not as powerful as Aristide.]

Hubert Malevol CR 11 LE Undead This human man is clearly dead, with blood red eyes, no nose and a lipless mouth surrounded by a matted beard. He wears hide armor and carries a sword and shield with him, a fine hunting horn on his hip.

Hubert the Hunter is one of the most powerful members of the Malevol family. He is Aristide’s grandson and embraced undeath willingly in order to pursue his hobbies—raising dogs and hunting people for sport—for eternity. He lives in Castle Xyntillian most of the time, but has a redoubt in the Indoornesse—the pocket dimension ruled by his father Runclus—and goes out to hunt the ordinary folk of Taldor at least every solstice and equinox. Hubert is loyal to the Malevol family to a fault. He takes a neutral position in most of the conflicts between family members, but takes great glee in dispatching disloyal servants and slaves. He takes trophies, and has taxidermied some of the kills he is particularly proud of.

Hubert is most comfortable in the saddle, and can summon his ghostly steed Redrum (his prized horse when they were both alive) to his side in order to ride around the wider hallways of the Castle. He loves dogs more than people, and has his grandfather or another necromancer in the family raise them as zombies or skeletons when they die of old age or violence. His prized hounds are galleytrots. He owns eight of them, each with the advanced simple template and Shake it Off instead of Mobility as a feat. Encountering Hubert with four advanced galleytrots is a CR 12 encounter.

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Transi

“Lich” © Anastasia Balakchina, accessed at her deviantArt page here

[The inspiration here derives from various Late Medieval and early Renaissance art tropes about death that aren’t represented in RPGs very well; Death holding a dart rather than a scythe, having a layer of leathery skin covering his bones, etc. The name is derived from the cadaver tomb, a tradition in which the deceased is represented as a rotting corpse or skeleton on their own tomb.]

Transi CR 11 NE Undead This skeletal humanoid is little more than decomposing skin stretched over bones. It carries itself with a regal air and holds a sheaf of oversized darts in its thin hands.

A transi, sometimes referred to as a memento mori, is an undead creature that exists to torment and mock the living, reminding them of the omnipresence of death. They are attracted to mortal suffering as a vulture is to a fresh corpse, and come to lands already tormented by warfare, disease or famine in order to make things worse for the survivors. Due to their fondness for suffering and death, they get along well with outsiders such as divs and daemons, and frequently work with these monsters.

In combat, a transi focuses on the strongest opponent first, as it takes joy from humbling the proud and laying low the mighty. Their javelins are infused with potent negative energy and they are capable of stealing the life of their enemies to add to their own power. Even those that escape an encounter with a transi alive are not finished suffering, as its claws spread plague. Many transis fight from the backs of monstrous steeds such as nightmares, hellcats or other beasts—those that do not have the service or allegiance of one of these monsters rely on a magically conjured phantom steed to add to their mobility.

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Sample Transi NPC

The Sickness is an honored guest in Castle Xyntillian, but a new one. After adventurers in Taldor entered the Harrowed Realm, and slew the tyrant Zassrion, the borders between the Harrowed Realm and the Material Plane became slightly more porous for a short period. Although most of the storykin were happy to remain in the Realm (or were freshly dead, and weren’t rebuilt in time to escape), The Sickness escaped into Taldor in order to spread ruin and plague. She emerged near Castle Xyntillian, and found the malevolent Malevols, and their guest of honor Debbie the Twice-Born, to be much to her liking.

To modify a transi’s statistics to better represent The Sickness, reduce the damage that her death’s dart ability deals to 2d8+10 (DC 22 Will save for half), but it also inflicts one disease of her choice on a failed save (as per the contagion spell). She is usually accompanied by her children, a gang of spectres. In order to advance The Sickness, give her levels in ranger (with favored enemy humans, the thrown weapon combat style and the companion’s hunter’s bond) or levels in cleric (worshiping Apollyon, Urgathoa, or another neutral evil power of disease).



Is the Sickness an NPC you created or an already-existing NPC from Castle Xyntillan?

The Sickness is the embodiment of this Harrow card:

I included her as a random encounter on the tables I wrote when I ran The Harrowing module, but my PCs never encountered her. So, since they completed the adventure, I figured that I’d share this as a crossover between The Harrowing and Castle Xyntillan.

does The Lost have an NPC?

In the adventure? Yes. The Lost is a cairn wight with fighter levels. Most of the Harrow cards are characters, events or locations in The Harrowing, but both The Sickness and The Snakebite aren’t covered, and that seemed like an oversight to me. I think I remember reading something about how they were cut in editing, but that was a long time ago. My version of The Snakebite was just a seps, and the PCs did fight it and survive. Barely.

Dalya

“Rider” © Cindy Avellno, accessed at her ArtStation here

[And Monster Girl Summer is officially a Go! Part of my goal with Monster Girl Summer is to reflect on the games I’ve run in the past. And to sort of mentally catalog how many of the PCs started out monstrous, or became monstrous over the course of play. Like Dalya here. Dalya was originally a human, but ended up reincarnated as a gnoll. And was in the half of the party that survived their fight with Karzoug, as opposed to being wiped out in round 1. Time stop + reverse gravity + prismatic sphere, don’tcha know.

I ran Rise of the Runelords in 3.5. Dalya was originally built using the battle dancer class from Dragon Compendium. So making her a brawler was a easy choice for the conversion.]

Dalya CR 18 CG Humanoid (gnoll) This tall, lean hyena headed woman has her hair done up in a dyed fringe, and tattoos are visible beneath her fur. She wears leather armor and carries a buckler and spear.

Born to an exiled Shoanti father and a Varisian merchant mother, Dalya was used to living on the road. But she didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did. Visiting the Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint, she was caught up in a goblin raid, which rapidly turned into investigating the growing power of the Sihedron cult and, eventually, opposing the forces of Karzoug. Underneath Thistletop, Dalya was slain by the barghest Malfeshnekor, but her allies were able to fight the beast back long enough to recover her body. Possibly as a side effect of being slain by one of Lamashtu’s chosen, Dalya was returned to life as a gnoll when brought back through a reincarnate spell. And Dalya couldn’t have been happier with her new body.

Dalya’s adventures continued from there, and she proudly brags that she’s never lost a fist fight with a giant. She was instrumental to killing Karzoug and preventing Varisia from being overrun by an army of lamiae and other monsters. But Dalya is not one to rest on her laurels, and she is in no way retired. Her current mission is to help a few packs of non-evil gnolls to settle in the Storval Plateau without causing too much conflict with the Shoanti quahs living there already. Her allies in this mission include a quartet of advanced crocuttals and Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills, a powerful warrior of the Sun Clan, himself reincarnated into a monstrous form (a bugbear) following a fatality in combat.

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Vasporan

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins, from Starfinder’s Alien Archive 4. Isn’t it adorable? I have a feeling that vasporans would be seen like bears and big cats are on Earth; as cute critters suitable for children’s toys that some people have a hard time remembering are actually dangerous apex predators. I know I want a vasporan plush.]

Vasporan CR 9 N Magical Beast This creature resembles a bipedal hedgehog the size of a polar bear, except that its body is a vivid blue color and its face ends in a cluster of tentacles instead of anything resembling a mammalian snout. Parts of its carapace seem to lift and separate from its muscles as it moves, and a patagium stretches between its short, stout limbs.

Vasporans are large carnivores native to wind-swept planets. They drift on their cuticles, constantly shedding parts of them to act as sails, buoyed by lighter-than-air gases that ooze from glands in the softer skin beneath. Despite their animal intellect, they are experts at reading the weather and adjusting to it, and often zip through skies during strong winds to attack animals that are sheltering from storms. They are remarkably stealthy for their size. Vasporans tend to be sky-colored, no matter the color of the sky on their planet, and their strikes are especially lethal to unaware targets.

The ability of a vasporan to molt quickly also serves a defensive purpose. These shed pieces of carapace act as temporary shields and as territorial markers. A vasporan does need to come to land in order to breed, and they prefer to sleep in cliffs or caves rather than on the wing (although they can do so if they must). The characteristic popping sound made by a shed carapace being stepped on acts as a warning mechanism for the resting vasporan.

Sages hypothesize that some vasporans, possibly mutants or exceptionally old individuals, develop the ability to store gases like a rebreather, and that their carapaces become extremely durable to changes in temperature. Such acclimations would allow the vasporan to escape planetary atmosphere, and then ride currents of gas between planets. This has never been directly observed, but it would explain how vasporans have spread from planet to planet, putting new peoples and new ecosystems in the line of fire of these dangerous predators.

A vasporan averages 11 feet long and weighs slightly more than 700 pounds.

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The Great Game: Outer Gods and Great Old Ones

As the deities that are most physically tied to the Material Plane, it is perhaps unsurprising that the various entities collected together as “Outer Gods” and “Great Old Ones” have been paying attention to the Great Game. The allegiances of some of the prominent members of these pantheons are as follows:

Abhoth The Unclean God is patron of disease and fecundity, and knows how these two things are tied together. More are born than can survive, and many of those that die fall to disease before anything else. As such, Abhoth is well versed in ecology, and knows that Lamashtu is overpopulating Golarion with her monsters. Abhoth’s followers seek to spread plagues among monstrous species in order to keep their numbers down, and as such, Mormo counts Abhoth as an ally.

Azathoth The Primal Chaos does not seem to have noticed the Great Game, or much of anything that has happened on Golarion in centuries. This is probably for the best. If any of his attention were to be turned onto the conflict, it could easily become a disaster for both parties…something that Nyarlathotep is hoping for, and working to make happen.

Bokrug The Water Lizard fondly remembers Mormo from before the evolution of true mammals, and they have hunted and sparred together and even mated in the past. Bokrug may be difficult to rouse from his slumber, but his ire is terrible when provoked, and is likely to be directed at the followers of Lamashtu.

Cthulhu The Dreamer in the Deep has dreamt of Golarion, and one or two of his star-spawn have come there. But he cares not for the Great Game; he has his own stars that need to be right once again. A star-spawn of Cthulhu is a dangerous agent of its own right, and one more likely to support Lamashtu than Mormo.

Hastur The King in Yellow respects Lamashtu and her ravenous appetites. Although he has his own plans to absorb chunks of Golarion, or the whole world if he can, into the Nightmare Kingdom of Carcosa, he is at least nominally on the Mother of Monster’s side. As long as their cultists can keep sharing the same sybaritic festivities.

Ithaqua Ithaqua is more concerned with consuming anyone on either side that he can sink his talons into. The Wind Walker is slightly more favorably minded towards Lamashtu than Mormo, but any relationship between their cults is likely to be a tenuous one that could break down into ravenous hunger at any point.

Mhar Mhar wants off of Golarion. He sees a change in the status quo as the best way of achieving that goal, and is resentful of lamia clerics of Lamashtu for helping Karzoug the Runelord to build a palace on his surface and deface him. Mhar’s release would likely be devastating for Mormo’s goals of making Golarion a richer and more diverse ecosystem. But on the other hand, volcanic ash and lava rock makes for excellent fertilizer, and his eruption might not be as destructive as he hopes it will be.

Nhimbaloth As a devourer of souls and a corrupter of wild things, Nhimbaloth is an ally of Lamashtu. Of course, she does respect Mormo’s goals of eating Lamashtu as a fellow apex predator. But Nhimbaloth thinks that the Goddess of Predators is too arrogant and needs to be taken down a peg. Nhimbaloth would happily eat Mormo herself if given half a chance, and for that reason, Mormo keeps a wide berth of Nhimbaloth’s home world, Voidbracken.

Nyarlathotep The Crawling Chaos is delighted by this galaxy spanning conflict, and on the surface is playing both sides. Lamashtu is his real dog in the fight, as he views Lamashtu as being more likely to lead Golarion to ruin, cracking open and releasing Rovagug. That would be a fun show to watch, seeing how the Rough Beast would react after eons of imprisonment. The Mask of Nyarlathotep that is most actively involved is the Black Pharaoh, whose cults are pushing technological advances into the hands of demon cultists and dangerous maneaters.

Orgesh The Faceless God is technically on Lamashtu’s side, although not by any direct aiding or abetting. Orgesh wants to fight Mormo himself. And is sending his chardra to pick fights with her worshipers, and is gunning for her most powerful servitors himself, in the hopes of getting Mormo’s attention. Worst case scenario, Orgesh will be killed and be able to respawn on another planet. Unless Mormo gets sick of his interference, and starts doing research on a way to kill him for real before setting her sights higher.

Shub-Nugganoth* The Goat of the Woods views Lamashtu as a kindred spirit, and the two of them have indeed collaborated on the spawning of horrors in the past. They are doing so again, notably through the personage of one of the Goat’s most powerful mortal worshipers in Avistan, a fleshwarping-obsessed alchemist named Doctor Agatha Shiny. Doctor Shiny and her creations are actively hunting down Mormo’s allies in order to transform them into blasphemous horrors, or just murder them.

Tsathoggua Saint Toad knows what it’s like to be forgotten and abandoned. He is a supporter of Mormo, if only because she’s the underdog in this fight, and Tsathoggua has a soft spot for underdogs, as much as he would deny that. Mormo knows that the Father of Night is a fickle and somewhat dangerous ally, so doesn’t rely on his help, but does appreciate his guidance and wisdom.

Yig The Father of Serpents calls Mormo “sister”, and the Goddess of Predators calls Yig “brother” in return. This may be an actual genealogical relationship, it may not be. But Yig is among Mormo’s closest allies, and the two are active collaborators. Those colonies of serpentfolk who worship Yig are hotspots for burgeoning cults of Mormo, as they see the two ophidian Old Ones as a way to reclaim some of the lost glory of the Age of Serpents without relying on the increasingly unstable Ydersius.

Yog-Sothoth The Key and the Gate views things on a vast, cosmic scale, even more than the other Outer Gods. As such, the safety and long term stability of the galaxy is his highest priority (after all, it has to collide with another galaxy in approximately 1.2 billion years, and then enough of it has to be around to decay into degenerate matter as the universe shifts past its stelliferous era. So anything that dramatically accelerates that process, or might get large portions of the galaxy pulled out of the Material Plane altogether, are not ideal outcomes for Yog-Sothoth. As such, he supports Mormo, but is doing so in a subtle way—opening portals in the right places, weakening planar boundaries—rather than sending his children to fight en masse.

*This is the name I am going to be using for that particular Outer God in the future. Clearly the same entity that has been developed into a character by Mythos authors over the last 100 years, but doesn't have a racist slur built into the name.

Grugach

“Fauna” © Antonio De Luca. Accessed at his ArtStation page here

[In earlier editions of D&D, a grugach was a type of elf. In real folklore, a grugach is the shepherd equivalent of a brownie–a secretive faerie that aids farmers if appeased and torments them if offended. My version is a little out of column A, a little out of column B.]

Grugach CR ½ N Fey This woman has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. Her hair grows bushy and wild, and seems to move of its own accord.

A grugach is a fey creature of the pasture, and they are deeply attuned to domestic animals. As such, they tend to live in close proximity to herdsmen and shepherds, tending to their animals when the humanoids are away or assisting covertly when they are present. Like many household fey, grugachs can be wildly temperamental, and a grugach that is offended or slighted may take their revenge by tying knots in the animal’s wool, stealing their milk, or simply letting them wander away into the wilds.

Most grugachs live solitary, reclusive lives, but they sometimes gather together for company or come into social connection with mortals. Their hooves, horns and animate hair render them somewhat intimidating to many people, and many grugachs have been shunned by society. Some scholars suggest that grugachs are the result of mortals interbreeding with wild fey such as satyrs and korreds, but grugachs themselves scorn this idea.

Grugachs advance by character level, and most prefer to take classes that are tied to nature, such as rangers, druids or hunters. Bards are also common—grugachs have a deep appreciation for music, and their haunting melodies are often heard in the fields.

Grugachs as Characters +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength. Grugachs are quick and intuitive, but their muscles are built more for speed than strength Medium size Fey type Normal Speed A grugach has a land speed of 30 feet. Low-light vision Natural attack A grugach gains a gore attack as a primary natural weapon that deals 1d6 points of damage. Precise Step A grugach can take 5 foot steps in difficult terrain Wild Soul A grugach gains a +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal and Knowledge (nature) checks. If she takes a class that grants the wild empathy class feature, she gains a +4 racial bonus on the check. Writhing Hair The animate hair of a grugach wraps itself around the grugach’s opponents in close quarters. She gains a +2 competence bonus to Combat Maneuver checks and Combat Manuever Defense. Languages A grugach begins play speaking Common and Sylvan. Grugachs with high Intelligence scores may choose from the following bonus languages: Aklo, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc

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Pantere

“Parhelion” © Hit Point Press, by Ilse Gort. Accessed at the artist’s deviantArt here

[The medieval bestiary version of the panther is a monster I’ve always idly considered doing, but resisted because it doesn’t have a different name. Reverting to an archaic spelling is the route I’ve gone finally, but I’m still not fully satisfied. Because all medieval bestiaries involve elaborate religious metaphors, the panther is said to be Christ–it “sleeps” for three days at a time and attracts all creatures to it except for the dragon, Satan, which hates it. The fact that the panther then eats the creatures it attracts seems counterproductive to me, but I’m not a medieval monk or scholar. Because of this symbolism, I made the pantere good in alignment.]

Pantere CR 7 CG Magical Beast This creature resembles a great cat, with a spotted coat of multiple colors. Horn-like growths extend from its ears and forehead. The air around it smells sweet.

Panteres are benevolent cat-like creatures that are so merciful that they only kill their prey painlessly. They spend much of their time either sleeping or roaming from place to place, but when they hunt, they find an area rich in game and then spray it with their sweet breath. Creatures that breathe in this mist are lured towards the pantere and are knocked unconscious by its gaze. The pantere then selects which prey to kill and consume, favoring individuals that are obviously sick or weak, and then watches over the other sleeping animals until they recover. A pantere will guard these creatures from other, opportunistic hunters, and this is the time when they are most likely to fight directly.

A pantere might negotiate with intelligent creatures in its territory, but usually does so from hiding—it does not want to risk catching potential allies in its gaze, but neither does it trust many creatures to enter talked with its eyes closed. This has led to rumors that panteres are hideously ugly, or are somehow ashamed of their appearance. The one creature they are genuinely shy around is dragons. Due to some quirk of draconic physiology, the breath that attracts most creatures enrages dragons instead, and even good aligned dragons find these magical cats a menace. Panteres are usually solitary, but they do come together to mate and raise cubs. The young leave their parents when they are old enough to hunt for themselves, but families will keep in touch over the years by scent marking and occasional visits. Some panteres are friendly with fey or even empyreal outsiders, but others keep to their own kind their entire lives.

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I always wondered, is there any reason for the pantere having horns beyond the art that you chose? I don’t remember anything in particular about medieval bestiaries mentioning panthers having horns, or depicting them with such.

Mostly the art, but it does serve to make them lynx-like. Lynxes were also magical creatures to the medieval Bestiary, with x-ray vision (not that that’s what they would have called it). And I thought it would be appropriate for the bestiary’s inability to keep any cat that wasn’t a lion straight from each other.

General Abdalla Aulorian

“Fay“ © Ivana Abbate, accessed at her gallery here

[Unlike the other characters I’ve been posting for Monster Girl Summer, this one is Mine. Abdalla Aulorian is my character in a long form, freeform Pathfinder game run by @strawberry-crocodile​. Her main NPC, who I have an enemies-to-lovers relationship with, will be posted in a couple of days. This is Abdalla immediately before the campaign started.]

Abdalla Aulorian CR 7 LE Outsider (native) This woman has pale mauve skin, shoulder length black hair with red streaks, and ridged horns growing from her brow. Her left leg is differently shaped from her right, with an elongated ankle and a horse-like hoof.

Life is cruel to Abdalla Aulorian, and she has learned how to be cruel in return. Born as the sixth child in a particularly ambitious branch of the Aulorian family, her mother made a deal with the contract devil Jebelat to have her turned into a tiefling. She was treated as a whipping boy and basically a servant by her parents and most of her siblings, and she lashed out violently. To teach her some discipline and make her useful, she was shipped off to the Sisters of Eiseth. On the plus side, the Sisters did accept her as a trans woman, and helped her transition. On the other hand, they did so with humiliating rituals and beat what little independence she had out of her thoroughly. At the end of her training, Abdalla signed her soul over to Eiseth and bears her unholy symbol as a brand on her breast. If my soul was to be owned by hell, she rationalized, I might as well choose who my master will be.

From the nunnery, Abdalla went into the Chelish military as an officer. Although a few of her fellow cadets thought that as a tiefling she should be kept to non-commissioned status, those that complained too loudly had a nasty habit of turning up dead. Her assistance in crushing a halfling slave revolt near Laekastel won her a title, Demibaroness, and she was successful enough in the war against the Glorious Reclamation to claw her way up to the rank of general. She has some regrets, and plenty of nightmares, but is proud of her ability to survive in as hostile a system as she has. She hasn’t spoken to her parents in years—they fled their manor in Corentyn to a summer estate in Vyre, just in time for Ravounel to declare independence. Whether her family are keeping their heads down, fought back against the Silver Ravens and were captured or killed, or just used this opportunity to cut Abdalla out of her life… she doesn’t know and doesn’t particularly care. Now that she is a general, Abdalla regularly volunteers to lead troops into enemy territory, hoping either to win a plot of land to retire to or to be put out of her misery in combat.

General Abdalla Aulorian has survived as long as she has by being able to control her own emotions. She lies habitually, presenting herself as a loyal workhorse for the military and dutiful supplicant to Eiseth. In truth, she deeply resents Eiseth, Cheliax, her family, and herself for her very existence. Abdalla’s rage and self-loathing has been channeled into infernal power. She uses her few spells to augment her own physical abilities and for a modicum of protection. Abdalla never had much patience for ranged weapons, and relies on her soldiers to provide artillery support. Although she is fleet of foot, Abdalla’s gait is awkward due to her mismatched legs, and she finds both running and riding to be difficult. 

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I’d be really curious to see where she goes/has gone as a character since this point, if you’d ever be interested in sharing on the blog!

Absolutely! Like I said, this is her immediately before the campaign begins, and she undergoes a lot of changes really quickly from there. Both in terms of her personality and in terms of her mechanics. It’ll make a bit more sense when Galatea Cypress, the Lady Whitemarch, gets formally introduced.

I am planning on at least two different versions of Abdalla’s stats being posted as the game develops. For her second stat block, I’m probably going to need to use a template. For her final one… she’s either going to be a unique creature or I’ll have to get really creative with unique abilities. Fully Actualized Abdalla, I’ll need to commission art for.

Godzooky

“Varan-02″ © deviantArt user JSochart. Accessed at their gallery here

[Sponsored by @glarnboudin​. Ignore the “Varan” title, or maybe don’t. I realized that Godzooky may not be Godzilla’s blood relative, but he’s probably Varan’s. For those of you who don’t know, the Godzilla Power Hour was a Hanna Barbera adventure cartoon in the 1970s, which licensed Godzilla but had a cast of other monsters in it. Think Johnny Quest with less racism for the tone. But since it was 70s Hanna Barbera, it had to have a comic relief sidekick. Enter Godzooky:

Godzooky was a cute little dragon-y thing that whined and whimpered like Scooby-Doo, because he had the same voice actor, Don Messick. Think Minilla, but less repulsive to look at. This is my attempt at injecting some fantasy ecology into the concept of “Godzilla’s nephew”. It turned out kind of the opposite of a gray render as far as flavor text is concerned.]

Godzooky CR 7 N Magical Beast This creature is a reptilian biped, with a row of spines and plates along the back, sharp teeth and claws. It has membranous wings growing from between its arms and down its torso.

A godzooky is an omnivorous reptile that lives as a monstrous pilot fish. It follows in the wake of a greater monster and feeds on materials kicked up and carrion left behind by the movements and attacks of its superior. Their attitude towards this greater monster is something like that of a nephew towards their favorite uncle. The monsters a godzooky associates itself with can be anything from a genuinely weaker monster that has an irascible attitude and dominant personality all the way up to literal kaiju. Although they are curious and fairly friendly creatures, the appearance of a godzooky in a town or on a road brings concern—its patron monster may be close behind.

A godzooky is actually a reasonably powerful melee combatant, but they prefer to leave direct fighting to others. Instead, they make hit and run attacks through the air—they are not exactly graceful fliers, but they are speedy ones. Godzookies can breathe a cloud of choking smoke. There are reports of some that can actually breathe fire, but these are likely either mutated or very old and powerful specimens. A godzooky has a versatile vocal range, and they can magnify their calls into a deafening howl. The sound itself is dangerous in the short term. The fact that such a noise often acts as a beacon for a stronger monster is potentially catastrophic.

A godzooky is about ten feet tall when standing on its hind legs, and around thirty feet in length.

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Spellscale

“Half-Dragon” © deviantArt user mmmegh, accessed at her gallery here

[The spellscale originally appeared in Races of the Dragon, a D&D 3.5 book devoted to dragon-influenced PCs. It was the third of three player races, the other two of which have long shadows. One was kobolds, cementing them mechanically as “little dragon people” to go with the flavor introduced in the 3.0 Monster Manual. The second were dragonborn, which reappeared in both 4e and 5e as a core race. The spellscales were not nearly so popular.

Why? Two reasons. First, they’re mechanically dumb. Their signature mechanic is that they can meditate on different dragon gods every day and pick from between twelve different bonuses. Too bad that all of these bonuses are good for spellcasters only, and most of them aren’t any use until high levels, since they grant metamagic feats. Second, their flavor text is quite frankly offensive. They are painted as an entire species of camp gay stereotypes. Which is not helped by all of the art for them being androgynous and purple skinned.

So this is an in-name-only conversion. The basic idea of magically talented dragon people is a good one, but pretty much only that core remains. And new art for dragon people is easy to come by on the internet. The trick is finding some that isn’t overtly pornographic.]

Spellscale CR ½ CN Humanoid (reptilian) This powerfully built humanoid has a small pair of horns growing from her head, claw-like fingers and toes, and a fine layer of silver scales for skin.

Spellscales are to dragons as tieflings are to fiends or aasimar are to celestials—they are humanoid descendants of draconic bloodlines. Many dragons are capable of interbreeding with other creatures, and their magical nature imbues humanoid lineages for countless generations. Ironically for being descended from such long-lived creatures, spellscales have lifespans equivalent to those of humans. This (relatively) short lifespan gives most spellscales a level of drive and ambition not seen in their dragon ancestors, and most try to make an impact on the world around them.

Spellscales are typically magically gifted and curious, frequently innovating with new spells and magic items. Even those without levels in spellcasting classes possess some magical talents. They tend to live in larger mixed race settlements, rather than sequestering themselves in their own communities. Most spellscales delight in trying as many novel sensations and experiences as possible, and spend at least part of their lives as adventurers. They get along well with other cultures with strong magical traditions, like most gnomes and elves

Spellscales vary in appearance with their levels of draconic traits. All have their namesake scales, but some have clawed feet, tails, horns or other physical markers of dragons. Despite what some prejudiced folk may think, the color of a spellscale’s scales has no reflection on their alignment—metallic spellscales can be evil, chromatic ones be good, and many spellscales have patterns and colors not reflected by true dragons at all. They tend towards chaotic alignments, but even spellscale monks and paladins are not unheard of.

Spellscales as Player Characters A spellscale does not have racial Hit Dice and advances by character level. Spellscale characters have the following traits +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Con Spellscales have powerful muscles and personalities, but lack stamina Medium size A spellscale gains no penalties or bonuses due to their size Normal speed A spellscale has a land speed of 30 ft. Darkvision 60 ft. Spell Ward A spellscale gains a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities Magical Gift A spellscale gains a single cantrip from the sorcerer/wizard list as a spell-like ability usable at will. It uses its HD as its caster level, and the save DC (if any) is Charisma based. Shrewd A spellscale gains a +2 racial bonus on all Appraise and Spellcraft checks. Languages A spellscale begins play speaking Common and Draconic. A spellscale with an Intelligence bonus may pick any language as a bonus language, except for secret languages such as Druidic.

Alternate Racial Traits Claws Some spellscales have clawed fingers. A spellscale with this racial trait gets two claw attacks that deal 1d4 points of damage. If a spellscale with this trait takes the draconic bloodline or any other class ability that gives them claws, their claws deal damage at one die higher. This trait replaces magical gift.

Imperious Some spellscales are imbued with draconic mastery over fear. They gain a +2 racial bonus to all Intimidate checks, and the DC to intimidate them increases by 2. This trait replaces shrewd.

Dragon Immunities Some spellscales have the immunities of the dragon type instead of a general protection from magic. A spellscale with this trait is immune to sleep and paralysis effects. This trait replaces spell ward.

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@june-brysen asked why spellscales were camp, and I’m glad they did. Well, here’s the first picture of a spellscale we see in the book:

Races of the Dragon spends a full page talking about their fashion sense. Before it talks about their history, place in the world or psychology. When it does talk about their psychology, it paints them as flighty, frivolous and self-absorbed. I’ll include some screenshots with quotes, so you don’t think I’m exaggerating:

I can’t tell whether this is well intentioned but extremely tone deaf, or a hate crime. The phrasing of this makes me think it might be the latter:

Yikes

Dracotaur

Image © Wizards of the Coast, by Steve Prescott. Accessed at the Monster Manual III Art Gallery here

[Tauric creatures count as furries, right?

Honestly, I don’t have much to say about the dracotaur. This conversion hews pretty close to the original, except that I toned down its Str and Con scores a little. The dracotaur still hits hard for a CR 3 creature, but not quite as dramatically.]

Dracotaur CR 3 NE Dragon This creature has the upper torso of a reptilian humanoid. A colorful crest grows from its head, and its teeth are sharp. Its lower body is that of a wingless dragon, with a lashing tail tipped in spikes.

Dracotaurs are sly, nomadic predators that live in roving bands. Although rival bands may fight over territory, such clashes are usually non-lethal, and they will join together to face a greater, outside threat. Dracotaurs may bully humanoids sharing their land into serving them and giving them treasure, but kowtow in turn to more powerful dragons. Most dracotaurs revere true dragons, and will gladly serve even juvenile dragons. Dracotaurs and centaurs hate each other.

A dracotaur band favors speed over stealth, although they take advantage of difficult terrain and water features in order to hinder their foes. They favor the use of spears in combat, although they are also capable of fighting with their teeth and powerful spiked tails. Dracotaurs can spit small fireballs similar to a flask of alchemist’s fire, which they typically use to start a fight or pick off fleeing prey. Most dracotaurs are too enamored with their own strength to be satisfied at range for very long.

Dracotaurs advance by character class, and many are rangers or barbarians. Sorcery is the most common magic among them, as they tap into their draconic bloodlines. A dracotaur stands about seven feet tall and is ten feet long. Males have more vibrantly colored crests than females, which they often use in both courtship and territorial displays. Their scales are slightly oily to the touch.

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Gargoyles #4 Covers and Synopsis

Dino Dracon has just been released from prison. Determined to take over the new York underworld, Dino won't let anyone - human or Gargoyle - stand in his way! So when Goliath and Hudson go out on their nightly patrol, they're in for a couple of extremely nasty surprises!

Small redesign for one of my D&D characters from a few years ago. Her name is River, and she is a draconic bloodline sorceress.