Faolyn
(she/her)
OK, I’m back. My book will wait for the de-OGLification, so I might as well continue the monsters on my every-2-3-days schedule.
I’m kind of tired of dragons at the moment. I’ll come back to the linnorms in a while, but for now, I need to move on. …to Dark Sun, and the article “Mastered, Yet Untamed,” a collection of beasts of burden. Interestingly, this article also contains a list of monsters from other Monstrous Compendiums that would work well in Dark Sun. The list includes (among others), the desert centaur and living idol from Al-Qadim, the peryton and chitine from the Forgotten Realms, the grimlock from the Fiend Folio, and the goblyn from Ravenloft. In Level Up, of course, the grimlocks have been turned into weird tech bois, which would certainly make for a very differently-flavored Dark Sun.
Anyway, the first of the monsters is the baazrag, which is not a beast of burden at all. I absolutely love Brom’s original artwork for them and find them adorable. A baazrag variant, the boneclaw, was included in Dark Sun’s Monstrous Compendium Volume 2, and I’ve included it here.
Art by Brom
Baazrag
Mastered, Yet Untamed, Dragon Magazine #185
Created by Timothy B. Brown
Baazrags look something like a cross between a short-tailed horny toad and a pug and are covered by a leathery, spike-covered shell which is thicker on their head, almost making them look like they’re wearing a skull over their head. These mammalian creatures give live birth to darkly-colored young; they can be anywhere from red to green to golden-orange in color. Their coloration fades as they age, eventually becoming a pale, sandy gray.
Baazrags packs live in warrens situated underground or in the crevices between rocks and other hard-to-reach areas. Usually several members of the warren keep watch, chirping and squealing out a warning when they spot danger.
Diseased Bites. Baazrags will eat anything. The bacterial and toxins they consume are processed then extruded into sacs behind their teeth, causing any creature they bite to become infected with a nasty venom that prohibits the natural healing process. A pack of baazrags will bite a creature, then follow it at a safe distance until it succumbs to its infected wounds.
Liquid-Filled Tissues. Baazrags have the ability to draw moisture out of anything they eat, which they store in fatty, liquid-filled tissues under their shell. Baazrags never need to drink water; they get all the moisture they need from their prey.
A Handy Source of Protein. Baazrags are, technically, edible, and their meat is quite tasty—but also tainted by the toxins they pick up from their meals. If magically or alchemically purified, however, baazrag meat is highly nourishing.
Legends and Lore
With a Nature check, the characters can learn the following:
DC 10. Baazrags are small, vermin-eating animals. Wild baazrags have a nasty disposition, but domesticated ones make for friendly pets.
DC 15. Some baazrags grow to enormous size and become vicious protectors of their warren. Known as boneclaws, these baazrags—although no more intelligent than their smaller kin—can rally their packmates into violent attacks in order to bring down prey normally too large for them to handle alone.
DC 20. Baazrag meat is perfectly edible and contains a great deal of moisture—enough to keep a person going for a long time—but needs to be purified magically before it can be safely consumed.
Baazrag Encounters
Terrain: badlands, deserts, grasslands, hills
CR 0-2 1d6 baazrags; boneclaw baazrag
CR 3-4 swarm of baazrags; boneclaw baazrag plus swarm of baazrags
Signs
1. With a DC 10 Nature check, the entrance to their warren.
2. An animal dying from an infected bite.
3. A squeaking sound.
4. Scores of tiny footprints around a pile of bones.
Behavior
1. Attacking a lizard or rat.
2. Tussling with a pack-mate.
3. Bringing a dead prey animal to the warren.
4. Defending its lair; will attack on sight.
Baazrag
Tiny beast
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 3 (1d4+1; bloodied 1)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 3 (-4) DEX 11 (+0) CON 12 (+1)
INT 2 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 5 (-5)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 12
Saving Throws Con +3
Skills Perception +3
Damage Resistances poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Barbed Hide. A creature that grapples or is grappled by the baazrag takes 2 (1d4) piercing damage at the start of the baazrag’s turn.
Iron Stomach. The baazrag has advantage on saving throws against being diseased.
Pack Tactics. The baazrag has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the baazrag’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) poison damage, and the creature must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Symptoms start 2d4 hours later and include fatigue, sweating, and cramps. Until this disease is cured, the creature regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice, and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
After finishing a long rest, a creature may make a new Constitution saving throw. On a success, the disease ends.
Combat
As animals, baazrags usually try to flee rather than fight, but will bite when cornered. In large groups, however, they become fearless and will attack viciously and to the death.
Variant: Domestic Baazrag
Many people raise baazrags, as they make for decent enough pets and are very good at hunting household pests. These baazrags are usually fed a better diet and do not inflict poison damage or disease with their bite, and their meat requires cooking to be edible, but not magical treatment.
Variant: Boneclaw
On rare occasions, a young baazrag grows… and grows, and grows, to enormous sizes. These giant baazrags, know colloquially as boneclaws, are sterile and remain with their packs as protectors.
A boneclaw uses the attributes of a brown bear, but with the following changes: it retains the baazrag’s saving throw proficiency, immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition and the Cast Iron Stomach and Pack Tactic traits. It is immune to the Frightened condition its Barbed Hide inflicts 5 (1d10) piercing damage, and its Bite attack is changed as follows:
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (1d10) ongoing damage from bleeding out. A creature can end the ongoing damage by staunching the wound as an action or by giving the target magical healing.
*
Baazrag Pack
Medium swarm of Tiny beasts
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 55 (10d8+10; bloodied 27)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 3 (-4) DEX 11 (+0) CON 12 (+1)
INT 2 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 5 (-5)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 12
Saving Throws Con +3
Skills Perception +3
Damage Resistances poison; bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, unconscious
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Barbed Hide. A creature that grapples or is grappled by the baazrag takes 2 (1d4) piercing damage at the start of the baazrag’s turn.
Iron Stomach. The baazrag has advantage on saving throws against being diseased.
Pack Tactics. The baazrag has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the baazrag’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. It can’t gain HP or temporary hit points.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage, or 7 (2d6) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage if the swarm is bloodied, and the creature must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Symptoms start 2d4 hours later and include fatigue, sweating, and cramps. Until this disease is cured, the creature regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice, and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
After finishing a long rest, a creature may make a new Constitution saving throw. On a success, the disease ends.
I’m kind of tired of dragons at the moment. I’ll come back to the linnorms in a while, but for now, I need to move on. …to Dark Sun, and the article “Mastered, Yet Untamed,” a collection of beasts of burden. Interestingly, this article also contains a list of monsters from other Monstrous Compendiums that would work well in Dark Sun. The list includes (among others), the desert centaur and living idol from Al-Qadim, the peryton and chitine from the Forgotten Realms, the grimlock from the Fiend Folio, and the goblyn from Ravenloft. In Level Up, of course, the grimlocks have been turned into weird tech bois, which would certainly make for a very differently-flavored Dark Sun.
Anyway, the first of the monsters is the baazrag, which is not a beast of burden at all. I absolutely love Brom’s original artwork for them and find them adorable. A baazrag variant, the boneclaw, was included in Dark Sun’s Monstrous Compendium Volume 2, and I’ve included it here.
Art by Brom
Baazrag
Mastered, Yet Untamed, Dragon Magazine #185
Created by Timothy B. Brown
Baazrags look something like a cross between a short-tailed horny toad and a pug and are covered by a leathery, spike-covered shell which is thicker on their head, almost making them look like they’re wearing a skull over their head. These mammalian creatures give live birth to darkly-colored young; they can be anywhere from red to green to golden-orange in color. Their coloration fades as they age, eventually becoming a pale, sandy gray.
Baazrags packs live in warrens situated underground or in the crevices between rocks and other hard-to-reach areas. Usually several members of the warren keep watch, chirping and squealing out a warning when they spot danger.
Diseased Bites. Baazrags will eat anything. The bacterial and toxins they consume are processed then extruded into sacs behind their teeth, causing any creature they bite to become infected with a nasty venom that prohibits the natural healing process. A pack of baazrags will bite a creature, then follow it at a safe distance until it succumbs to its infected wounds.
Liquid-Filled Tissues. Baazrags have the ability to draw moisture out of anything they eat, which they store in fatty, liquid-filled tissues under their shell. Baazrags never need to drink water; they get all the moisture they need from their prey.
A Handy Source of Protein. Baazrags are, technically, edible, and their meat is quite tasty—but also tainted by the toxins they pick up from their meals. If magically or alchemically purified, however, baazrag meat is highly nourishing.
Legends and Lore
With a Nature check, the characters can learn the following:
DC 10. Baazrags are small, vermin-eating animals. Wild baazrags have a nasty disposition, but domesticated ones make for friendly pets.
DC 15. Some baazrags grow to enormous size and become vicious protectors of their warren. Known as boneclaws, these baazrags—although no more intelligent than their smaller kin—can rally their packmates into violent attacks in order to bring down prey normally too large for them to handle alone.
DC 20. Baazrag meat is perfectly edible and contains a great deal of moisture—enough to keep a person going for a long time—but needs to be purified magically before it can be safely consumed.
Baazrag Encounters
Terrain: badlands, deserts, grasslands, hills
CR 0-2 1d6 baazrags; boneclaw baazrag
CR 3-4 swarm of baazrags; boneclaw baazrag plus swarm of baazrags
Signs
1. With a DC 10 Nature check, the entrance to their warren.
2. An animal dying from an infected bite.
3. A squeaking sound.
4. Scores of tiny footprints around a pile of bones.
Behavior
1. Attacking a lizard or rat.
2. Tussling with a pack-mate.
3. Bringing a dead prey animal to the warren.
4. Defending its lair; will attack on sight.
Baazrag
Tiny beast
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 3 (1d4+1; bloodied 1)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 3 (-4) DEX 11 (+0) CON 12 (+1)
INT 2 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 5 (-5)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 12
Saving Throws Con +3
Skills Perception +3
Damage Resistances poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Barbed Hide. A creature that grapples or is grappled by the baazrag takes 2 (1d4) piercing damage at the start of the baazrag’s turn.
Iron Stomach. The baazrag has advantage on saving throws against being diseased.
Pack Tactics. The baazrag has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the baazrag’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) poison damage, and the creature must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Symptoms start 2d4 hours later and include fatigue, sweating, and cramps. Until this disease is cured, the creature regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice, and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
After finishing a long rest, a creature may make a new Constitution saving throw. On a success, the disease ends.
Combat
As animals, baazrags usually try to flee rather than fight, but will bite when cornered. In large groups, however, they become fearless and will attack viciously and to the death.
Variant: Domestic Baazrag
Many people raise baazrags, as they make for decent enough pets and are very good at hunting household pests. These baazrags are usually fed a better diet and do not inflict poison damage or disease with their bite, and their meat requires cooking to be edible, but not magical treatment.
Variant: Boneclaw
On rare occasions, a young baazrag grows… and grows, and grows, to enormous sizes. These giant baazrags, know colloquially as boneclaws, are sterile and remain with their packs as protectors.
A boneclaw uses the attributes of a brown bear, but with the following changes: it retains the baazrag’s saving throw proficiency, immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition and the Cast Iron Stomach and Pack Tactic traits. It is immune to the Frightened condition its Barbed Hide inflicts 5 (1d10) piercing damage, and its Bite attack is changed as follows:
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (1d10) ongoing damage from bleeding out. A creature can end the ongoing damage by staunching the wound as an action or by giving the target magical healing.
*
Baazrag Pack
Medium swarm of Tiny beasts
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 55 (10d8+10; bloodied 27)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 3 (-4) DEX 11 (+0) CON 12 (+1)
INT 2 (-4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 5 (-5)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 12
Saving Throws Con +3
Skills Perception +3
Damage Resistances poison; bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, unconscious
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages —
Barbed Hide. A creature that grapples or is grappled by the baazrag takes 2 (1d4) piercing damage at the start of the baazrag’s turn.
Iron Stomach. The baazrag has advantage on saving throws against being diseased.
Pack Tactics. The baazrag has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the baazrag’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. It can’t gain HP or temporary hit points.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage, or 7 (2d6) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage if the swarm is bloodied, and the creature must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Symptoms start 2d4 hours later and include fatigue, sweating, and cramps. Until this disease is cured, the creature regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice, and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
After finishing a long rest, a creature may make a new Constitution saving throw. On a success, the disease ends.
