Blackdirge's Suped Up Monster Thread: Monster Column Updated 06/26/06!
- Thread starter BLACKDIRGE
- Start date
WizarDru
Adventurer
Just as an FYI: Nature has kept the party safe from Kepnekarak's graces, so far. Last week, the party stopped just shy of encountering him (turning left instead of right). They're slated to meet him, but the weather here on the east coast cancelled last night's game.
Curses! Soon...so, soon.....
Curses! Soon...so, soon.....
Thomas Hobbes
First Post
Yeah, the snow's a pain. My group is still trying to convince me to trudge through the stuff, though. 
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TroyXavier
First Post
Very cool thread you have going here. The main opponent will be an Ancient Copper Dragon. I don't need anything for him. What I do want is a cohort controlled by him. I'd prefer a Minotaur(so he doesn't get lost in the mazes), but otherwise go wild with him. The party would be about 15-17th level.
BLACKDIRGE
Adventurer
Mr Thomas Hobbes, you and Caliber have been reading and posting on my threads as long as I can rememeber and for that I am extremely grateful. I am very happy for the opportunity to give a little something back, so Thomas here you go. Caliber, yours is on the way.
Vivevex is a keeper from the Fiend Folio with the Vampire Template. I found that the natural abilites of keepers mesh very well with those of a vampire and Vivevex turned out to be one nasty little critter.
Dirge
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Vivevex
Vampiric Keeper Rogue 4
Medium Undead (Chaotic)
Hit Dice: 8d12 (80 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft. (10 squares), climb 20 ft.
AC: 28 (+6 Dex, +10 natural, +2 leather), touch 16, flatfooted 22
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+16
Attack: Battleaxe (mimic) +16 melee (1d8+9 plus energy drain)
Full Attack: 2 battleaxes (mimic) +16 melee (1d8+9 plus energy drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Blood drain, dominate, energy drain, mimic weapon, poison spit, sneak attack +2d6
Special Qualities: +4 turn resistance, blindsight 200 ft., darkvision 60 ft., DR 10/magic and silver, dissolution, evasion, fast healing 5, gaseous form, immunities, resistance to cold 20, fire 10, electricity 20 and sonic 10, scent, SR 18, uncanny dodge, undead
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +16, Will +7
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 22, Con --, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 11
Skills: Bluff +8, Climb +27, Escape Artist +25, Hide +25, Listen +23, Jump +27, Knowledge (planar lore) +14, Knowledge (undead) +14, Move Silently +25, Open Lock +17, Search +11, Sense Motive +10, Spot +23, Survival +7
Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Track
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 13
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Blood Drain (Ex): Vivevex can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, Vivevex gains 5 temporary hit points.
Dissolution (Ex): When Vivevex is captured, pinned or held helpless, it has 10 rounds to free itself or be freed by another creature. If not freed within that time it dissolves into a 5-foot wide puddle of the same contact poison as its spit.
Dominate (Su): Vivevex can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that Vivevex must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone Vivevex targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under its influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a Vivevex’s slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, Vivevex gains 5 temporary hit points. Vivevex can use its energy drain ability once per round.
Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, Vivevex can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.
Immunities (Ex): Vivevex’s alien keeper physiology and incomprehensible mind makes it more akin to a construct than a living creature. Vivevex is immune to mind affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromantic effects, and any effect that requires a fortitude save unless it also works on objects. It is not subject to critical hits, sneak attacks, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or death from massive damage.
Mimic Weapon (Ex): Vivevex can form the malleable flesh and bone of its arms into any melee weapon, preferring the unsubtle chopping ability of the battleaxe. The mimicked weapons are treated as natural attacks and therefore not subject to the normal rules for two weapon fighting. In addition the mimicked battleaxes can convey Vivevex’s dreaded energy drain ability.
Spider Climb (Ex): Vivevex can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.
Poison Spit (Ex): Once every 1d4 rounds Vivevex can spew a nauseating contact poison in a twenty-foot cone. Contact, DC 14, initial damage nauseated for 2d6 rounds, secondary damage 2d6 con.
The bizarre enigmatic race of outsiders known as keepers are driven to uncover secret knowledge and guard it from all other beings, but sometimes this all-encompassing thirst for secrets can lead to a quick and messy death or worse. Such is the case with the rogue keeper known as Vivevex who unwittingly stumbled upon a portal to the negative material plane. Instead of avoiding the perilous plane of death and decay Vivevex’s curiosity overcame its wisdom and it stepped through the portal to discover what secrets might lie upon the other side. The instant Vivevex entered the portal the keeper hivemind experienced a surge of absolute pain and evil that threatened to overwhelm the entire keeper community to which Vivevex belonged. Desperate to stem the tide of infectious negative energy the hive mind did the only thing possible, they disconnected Vivevex from their collective consciousness, exiling the doomed keeper forever.
Vivevex was thought destroyed and his memory was erased from the keeper collective so that other keepers might not follow his disastrous course. Unfortunately Vivevex was not destroyed, but was in fact warped and changed by the terrible forces of the negative material plane. Exactly one year after his disconnection from the keeper hive mind, Vivevex returned to the prime material plane a monstrous creation of evil and chaos.
The keeper collective to which Vivevex had once belonged made its home within the ruined dwarven kingdom of Deep Shanatar, picking through the ruined tunnels and great halls in search of forgotten knowledge. Vivevex returned to his old haunts with a new purpose, to exact revenge on the keepers who had exiled it to misery and undeath. Vivevex now stalks the crumbling ruins of Deep Shanatar picking off keepers or any other living thing that it encounters. So far Vivevex has slain every keeper it has encountered and the hivemind is baffled on how to combat the chaotic and savage creature. To date all their efforts have resulted in absolute failure and more keeper deaths. It is likely that Vivevex will continue to prey upon his former people until it has sated its thirst for vengeance or is destroyed.
Appearance & Tactics
Vivevex resembles other keepers in almost every way. Its skin is the normal pale gray of living keepers and it still wears the leather armor and black goggles common to its former people. The only real sign of Vivevex’s transition into undeath are the small fangs that jut from its upper lip, a telltale sign that it does its utmost to hide. Although a vampire, Vivevex’s bizarre physiology and alien mind set it apart from others of its kind. It lacks the ability to create spawn for the simple reason that its own transformation was due to a massive influx of negative energy and not the bite of another vampire. In addition keepers have very little attachment to the natural world and therefore Vivevex is unable to summon rats, wolves or bats. Because of its disconnection from the keeper hivemind Vivevex is also unable to call upon some of the abilities common to keepers such as body switching or immunity to flanking and surprise.
Vivevex is a fearsome opponent who couples the abilities of keeper kind with the awe-inspiring power of undeath. The vampiric keeper makes heavy use of stealth and ambush in its attacks and is nearly unmatched in both. Like a ghost it moves silently among the ruins of Deep Shanatar striking from the darkness against all living creatures it encounters. Vivevex favors its mimic weapon ability in combat, preferring the unsubtle battleaxe to savage its victims. The infamous vampire hunger is strong within Vivevex and although the blood of any living creature will power its undead body, if only finds true satisfaction from the blood of keepers.
Vivevex is a keeper from the Fiend Folio with the Vampire Template. I found that the natural abilites of keepers mesh very well with those of a vampire and Vivevex turned out to be one nasty little critter.
Dirge
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Vivevex
Vampiric Keeper Rogue 4
Medium Undead (Chaotic)
Hit Dice: 8d12 (80 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft. (10 squares), climb 20 ft.
AC: 28 (+6 Dex, +10 natural, +2 leather), touch 16, flatfooted 22
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+16
Attack: Battleaxe (mimic) +16 melee (1d8+9 plus energy drain)
Full Attack: 2 battleaxes (mimic) +16 melee (1d8+9 plus energy drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Blood drain, dominate, energy drain, mimic weapon, poison spit, sneak attack +2d6
Special Qualities: +4 turn resistance, blindsight 200 ft., darkvision 60 ft., DR 10/magic and silver, dissolution, evasion, fast healing 5, gaseous form, immunities, resistance to cold 20, fire 10, electricity 20 and sonic 10, scent, SR 18, uncanny dodge, undead
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +16, Will +7
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 22, Con --, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 11
Skills: Bluff +8, Climb +27, Escape Artist +25, Hide +25, Listen +23, Jump +27, Knowledge (planar lore) +14, Knowledge (undead) +14, Move Silently +25, Open Lock +17, Search +11, Sense Motive +10, Spot +23, Survival +7
Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Track
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 13
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Blood Drain (Ex): Vivevex can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, Vivevex gains 5 temporary hit points.
Dissolution (Ex): When Vivevex is captured, pinned or held helpless, it has 10 rounds to free itself or be freed by another creature. If not freed within that time it dissolves into a 5-foot wide puddle of the same contact poison as its spit.
Dominate (Su): Vivevex can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that Vivevex must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone Vivevex targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under its influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a Vivevex’s slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, Vivevex gains 5 temporary hit points. Vivevex can use its energy drain ability once per round.
Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, Vivevex can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.
Immunities (Ex): Vivevex’s alien keeper physiology and incomprehensible mind makes it more akin to a construct than a living creature. Vivevex is immune to mind affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromantic effects, and any effect that requires a fortitude save unless it also works on objects. It is not subject to critical hits, sneak attacks, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or death from massive damage.
Mimic Weapon (Ex): Vivevex can form the malleable flesh and bone of its arms into any melee weapon, preferring the unsubtle chopping ability of the battleaxe. The mimicked weapons are treated as natural attacks and therefore not subject to the normal rules for two weapon fighting. In addition the mimicked battleaxes can convey Vivevex’s dreaded energy drain ability.
Spider Climb (Ex): Vivevex can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.
Poison Spit (Ex): Once every 1d4 rounds Vivevex can spew a nauseating contact poison in a twenty-foot cone. Contact, DC 14, initial damage nauseated for 2d6 rounds, secondary damage 2d6 con.
The bizarre enigmatic race of outsiders known as keepers are driven to uncover secret knowledge and guard it from all other beings, but sometimes this all-encompassing thirst for secrets can lead to a quick and messy death or worse. Such is the case with the rogue keeper known as Vivevex who unwittingly stumbled upon a portal to the negative material plane. Instead of avoiding the perilous plane of death and decay Vivevex’s curiosity overcame its wisdom and it stepped through the portal to discover what secrets might lie upon the other side. The instant Vivevex entered the portal the keeper hivemind experienced a surge of absolute pain and evil that threatened to overwhelm the entire keeper community to which Vivevex belonged. Desperate to stem the tide of infectious negative energy the hive mind did the only thing possible, they disconnected Vivevex from their collective consciousness, exiling the doomed keeper forever.
Vivevex was thought destroyed and his memory was erased from the keeper collective so that other keepers might not follow his disastrous course. Unfortunately Vivevex was not destroyed, but was in fact warped and changed by the terrible forces of the negative material plane. Exactly one year after his disconnection from the keeper hive mind, Vivevex returned to the prime material plane a monstrous creation of evil and chaos.
The keeper collective to which Vivevex had once belonged made its home within the ruined dwarven kingdom of Deep Shanatar, picking through the ruined tunnels and great halls in search of forgotten knowledge. Vivevex returned to his old haunts with a new purpose, to exact revenge on the keepers who had exiled it to misery and undeath. Vivevex now stalks the crumbling ruins of Deep Shanatar picking off keepers or any other living thing that it encounters. So far Vivevex has slain every keeper it has encountered and the hivemind is baffled on how to combat the chaotic and savage creature. To date all their efforts have resulted in absolute failure and more keeper deaths. It is likely that Vivevex will continue to prey upon his former people until it has sated its thirst for vengeance or is destroyed.
Appearance & Tactics
Vivevex resembles other keepers in almost every way. Its skin is the normal pale gray of living keepers and it still wears the leather armor and black goggles common to its former people. The only real sign of Vivevex’s transition into undeath are the small fangs that jut from its upper lip, a telltale sign that it does its utmost to hide. Although a vampire, Vivevex’s bizarre physiology and alien mind set it apart from others of its kind. It lacks the ability to create spawn for the simple reason that its own transformation was due to a massive influx of negative energy and not the bite of another vampire. In addition keepers have very little attachment to the natural world and therefore Vivevex is unable to summon rats, wolves or bats. Because of its disconnection from the keeper hivemind Vivevex is also unable to call upon some of the abilities common to keepers such as body switching or immunity to flanking and surprise.
Vivevex is a fearsome opponent who couples the abilities of keeper kind with the awe-inspiring power of undeath. The vampiric keeper makes heavy use of stealth and ambush in its attacks and is nearly unmatched in both. Like a ghost it moves silently among the ruins of Deep Shanatar striking from the darkness against all living creatures it encounters. Vivevex favors its mimic weapon ability in combat, preferring the unsubtle battleaxe to savage its victims. The infamous vampire hunger is strong within Vivevex and although the blood of any living creature will power its undead body, if only finds true satisfaction from the blood of keepers.
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Thomas Hobbes
First Post
BLACKDIRGE said:
The pleasure's all mine, BLACKDIRGE. Especially now that I have Vivevex.
As always, an intriguing creature in both statistics and backstory He will, no doubt, soon be terrorizing my PCs (he fits in neatly, actually, and considering all the other vampires running around, the deaths from both him and the normal Keepers should confuse the PC's wonderfully). I cackle with delight at the thought. One question, though- how did you determine his stats?(i.e, what point buy, if point buy)Thanks again, BLACKDIRGE, for all the wonderful stuff you've given us for free. You've given alot to ENWorld, and we thank you for it.
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BLACKDIRGE
Adventurer
Ok, this critter is not to fill anyone's requests, just a little idea I had.
Nemogg is an advanced death dog with the half-troll template. He is a pretty straight forward critter so I included a short piece of fiction instead of the usual writeup.
Dirge
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Nemogg
Advanced Half-Troll Death Dog
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 6d10+42 (87 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
AC: 19 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flatfooted 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+19
Attack: Bite +14 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: 2 bites +14 melee (2d6+8)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Disease, rend, trip
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 5, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +16, Will +7
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 06, Wis 13, Cha 08
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +7, Move Silently +5, Spot +7
Feats: Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Any desert, hill, plains, mountains, or underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Disease (Ex): Any creature hit by Nemogg’s bite must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 20) or contract a wasting disease. Incubation 1 day, 1d3 points of Str and Con damage.
Rend (Ex): If Nemogg successfully strikes a creature with both its bite attacks it will hang on and rip its opponents flesh for an additional 4d6+12 points of damage.
Trip (Ex): When Nemogg hits with a bit attack it can attempt to trip its opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity.
Two men staggered down a moonlit path, weaving in the complicated rhythms of the truly drunken. The men were notable only because they differed from each other so drastically. Verek was short, fair skinned and portly his clean-shaven cheeks glowing brightly with the rosy hue of much imbibed ale. He wore a stained muslin shirt tucked into ill-fitting trousers of soft leather and seemed to exist in a heightened state of dishevelment. His companion, a hulking brute of a man, was called Dorun and his lethal glower was a direct contrast to his rather innocuous looking comrade. Dorun was clad in a sleeveless tunic of coarse black wool, gray hose and high black boots. His muscular arms were covered in thick hair the same black as his bushy beard. Swarthy skinned and tall, Dorun conveyed a fighting man’s grace made all the more evident by the longsword he carried in a battered leather scabbard on his left hip.
Both men were gate guards in the nearby town of Gundervale and were returning along the dark twisting path that ran between town and their favorite watering hole, a foul dive known as the Rusty Codpiece. The tavern was located a good five miles outside of town, as the local clergy of Torm had long ago banned drinking within city limits. Both men made the hike to the Rusty Codpiece almost every night, leaving town just after sunset and returning stinking drunk well into the small hours of the morning.
Today had been no different for the two men and as soon as the gate captain had relieved them they had set out for the Rusty Codpiece reveling in visions of cheap ale and cheaper women. Verek and Dorun had been patronizing the disreputable tavern for years and had made the five-mile hike hundreds of times. It was actually a pleasant little stroll, winding along through the Heatherwood, a small forest that lay to the south of Gundervale. The tavern was located in a small clearing and was just outside city jurisdiction and the intolerant arm of the Tormite clergy.
Tonight had been a fine night for the two besotted guards as the proprietor of the Rusty Codpiece had actually convinced a traveling bard to stop and share a song or two. The bard, an unfortunate and only moderately talented lass named Fenarra Glorysong had withstood nearly half and hour of jeers, cat calls, lewd suggestion and the occasional hurled ale stein before storming out in a huff. Verek and Dorun had played a large part in the bard’s hurried exit and where drunkenly proud of their accomplishment.
The two men had left the tavern – or more rightly were thrown out – at just after three in the morning. They had begun the trek home in high spirits, arm and arm, singing raging off key parodies of Fenarra Glorysong’s bardic endeavors. The night was clear and bright with a silver orb of a full moon shedding a lustrous pale luminance across the countryside, and the two drunken guards had managed to fall down only twice in the short distance they had traveled.
Verek and Dorun were nearly halfway home when the quiet chirping of nighttime insects was suddenly shattered by two piercing howls form the east. Both men had staggered to a halt, eyes peering in vain through the gloom of the Heatherwood. They listened for nearly ten minutes but the distressing noise did not return and the two men simply moved on, crediting the strange howling to ale-induced delusion.
Another mile went by swiftly as Verek and Dorun quickened their pace, neither man willing to admit that the two howls had frozen his blood with the icy grip of terror. The Heatherwood was an incredibly benign forest, with nary a wolf or bear to threaten from beneath its inviting canopy, but when the double howl came again, this time much louder then before, both men began to doubt that claim.
“There it is again, Verek.” Dorun whispered, his eyes wide in the moonlight. The short guard stood frozen his head cocked to the side, listening intently.
“By Torm’s hairy crotch, Verek! You are the biggest coward I have ever had the extreme displeasure of working with!” Spat Dorun, but his hand had slid down to the hilt of his ever-present longsword, an ugly but lethal three feet of well-honed steel. The big man feigned exasperation but there was fear lurking behind his brash words.
“Do you think it is wolves?” Verek said, ignoring Dorun’s outburst.
“That’s ridiculous!” Dorun blustered. “There haven’t been wolves in the Heatherwood for two generations. Its probably a couple of dogs that got loose from their master’s kennel.”
“Ok, but I never heard dogs sound like that before. It sounded big.” Verek continued to use hushed tones, his fear lingering on his words like the ale that lingered on his breath.
“Look, Verek. I’m tired, and I have no desire to stand here in the middle of the gods be damned woods discussing the veracity of dog howls.” Dorun hissed stepping close to his short companion. “Now, can we go before I beat you senseless with the flat of my sword?”
“Yeah, sure Dorun. I just thought them howls was funny is all.” Verek acquiesced and began to amble down the road again. Dorun followed, bemused at the smaller man who kept sneaking glances over his shoulder.
They had gone another hundred yards when a thick crashing echoed from the tree line, to the left of their narrow path. Both men stopped and this time Dorun actually drew his sword. Seeing the glimmering length of steel, Verek scuttled behind his larger companion whimpering in drunken terror.
All traces of intoxication had seemingly disappeared from Dorun’s movements as he peered intently into the gloom beneath the trees.
“There is something moving…” Dorun had no time to finish his sentence as a huge black shape burst from the trees and collided with the big fighter. Dorun was knocked backwards over the cowering form of Verek and fell heavily to the ground. Dazed and still fighting the numbing influence of too much drink, Dorun rolled over to see a slavering two headed monstrosity bearing down on his companion.
The creature’s form was suddenly illuminated by the silvery moonlight as it bore down on Verek. It resembled a wolf but only a wolf in the most fevered dreams of a raving lunatic. As large as a draft horse and solidly built, it emitted the piercing double howl from two massive fanged heads. Two sets of red eyes blazed in the gloom and Dorun saw a dark and malevolent intelligence lurking within the hellish glare.
Verek let loose a high wailing scream and turned to run. He managed a dozen paces before the beast leapt after him covering the distance in two great bounds. The creature simply rammed its body into the fleeing guardsman knocking him to the ground in a tangle. Verek rolled over wide-eyed to see the two heads dipping low for murder.
“No! No!” The small man screamed beating at the beast’s double maws with the flat of his pudgy hands. “Dorun! Help me! Help me! Please…” Verek's words suddenly trailed off into frenzied screaming accompanied by the grisly sound of tearing flesh.
Dorun surged to his feet, sword in hand and although his mind was choked with fear, he found himself charging down the path towards certain annihilation. The beast saw him coming and its eyes blazed bright with malice. In response it locked both its great jaws onto Verek and began to worry his body savagely. A terrible ripping sound echoed through the night as Verek came apart in a fountain of gore. The beast tossed both halves of his mutilated body to the side and patiently awaited Dorun to close. Heedless of the ghastly display of carnage, Dorun charged in.
Unlike Verek who had been little more than a poorly trained guard, Dorun had spent most of his life serving in various mercenary and adventuring companies throughout Faerun. He was a skilled combatant and had battled many men and beasts in his long career. In Gundervale the former mercenary had found there was little need to unsheathe his sword in anger, a prospect that suited him just fine. He had seen more than enough of bloodshed and misery to last a lifetime.
Dorun carried only one legacy from his time as an adventurer and mercenary. His sword, a blade wrested from the tomb of a long dead necromancer in Vaasa, was much more than it appeared to be and Dorun called upon the unique abilities of his weapon as he closed in on his foe. “Heruush! He cried, and in response the glittering length of his blade was suddenly consumed in crackling red flames.
The beast waited, twin jaws hanging open, eagerly awaiting the warm flesh that surged towards them. Dorun did not slow his advance and as the great hungry jaws reached out to snap him up, he spun his body in a complete circle without altering his forward momentum. The twin maws closed on empty air as Dorun danced aside with nimbleness few would have thought possible in such a large man. His defensive maneuver had carried him to the left flank of his adversary and he let his blade lick out in the midst of his defensive whirl, scoring a deep smoking furrow in the beast’s hide.
The creature let loose two howls of agony as its flesh gave way to Dorun’s flaming blade and leapt back to avoid the warrior’s burning brand. Dorun stood, blade extended taking the measure of his foe and his first close look at it jogged something in his memory. He had seen a beast such as this before. On the plains of Vaasa there roamed packs of vicious two-headed dogs named Fenred na Kerr by the native people, a phrase that translated loosely into “the dogs of death”. But the monstrosity that confronted him now was much larger and was subtly different. It had the same bristly black fur of its smaller relatives and of course the two slavering heads that characterized the death dogs, but its size and musculature was grossly exaggerated as if it had been bred with something else to attain such a massive girth. In addition the exposed flesh of its twin muzzles was a sickly green and had a rough warty appearance that triggered a warning on the edge of Dorun's memory.
Out of range of his weapon the beast watched him, waiting for him to make a move. Dorun knew that if he came within range of those two powerful jaws that his end would be quick and messy. He would have to strike and then retreat beyond range if he hoped to live to see the morning.
With little choice but to take the offensive Dorun charged in again sweeping his sword in a wide burning arc. The beast whipped its heads to the side attempting to dodge the incoming blow but Dorun was quicker and his blade cut a deep slash in the top of the creatures left head. Enraged it darted forward to crush its foe in its jaws but Dorun had already retreated safely beyond its reach again.
The beast was not badly wounded and Dorun knew that his game of cat and mouse could not last forever. Eventually he would he would not be quick enough to evade one of the bites and he would be torn to pieces. He had to end the battle quickly.
The beast for its part had grown impatient and bounded forward snapping and growling. Dorun gave ground swinging his sword in a defensive pattern that dazzled the beast causing it to leave off its attack and retreat a few paces. It was taking his measure, looking for a chink in his defenses that Dorun knew it would eventually find if he did not take decisive action now.
“Alright, then lets see how smart you are.” Dorun whispered under his breath. He then raised his sword and charged forward slashing furiously, the beast gave ground but Dorun stopped short with an awkward hopping gate. The fighter pulled back limping, feigning an injury to his right leg and cursing dramatically.
The beast lowered its head and its four eyes narrowed deviously. Although far more intelligent than any common predatory animal it instinctively recognized wounded prey. Its twin maws split in what seemed a grin of pure delight and the creature surged forward to finish its wounded adversary.
Dorun kept up the illusion of his injury hopping backward on a single leg frantically as the beast charged in. It had taken the bait and as it twin jaws stretched out to take him he flung himself backward onto the ground with a bone-jarring thud. The beast was unable to stop its forward momentum and surged over Dorun bringing its vulnerable underside in range of his deadly blade. With a single savage thrust Dorun drove his sword up into the beast’s furry belly, extinguishing the flames about the weapon as the blade sunk in to the hilt. The creature loosed a single strangled howl and lurched to the side ripping Dorun’s blade from his hand. It staggered a few feet away weaving drunkenly and gasping in great blood flecked wheezes.
Dorun climbed to his feet praying that his thrust had been mortal while the beast regarded him with four burning eyes that blazed with incalculable depths of hatred. Suddenly it threw back both heads and emitted two great mournful howls that froze the blood in Dorun’s veins and backed him up a few steps. But that was the extent of the beast’s fury and as the howls faded against the silence of the moonlit night so did the fire in its eyes. With a double wheezing exhalation the creature pitched over on its side and lay still, its blood leaking from the great wound in its belly in a widening pool.
Dorun was suddenly filled with a relief so complete it threatened to sap the strength from his limbs and the motivation from his will. He walked cautiously over to the steaming corpse of the beast and with drew his imbedded blade with one great pull. The blade came out in a spout of crimson flame that Dorun quieted with another utterance of the word that had brought the flames forth. The big warrior sheathed his sword at his side and sighed heavily. Even in a quiet and peaceful town such as Gundervale it seemed he could not escape his former life. With a heavy heart he went to retrieve the remains of poor Verek vowing to give the small man the best burial he could afford.
Overhead the night was giving way to the first stirrings of dawn and Dorun cursed mightily for the adrenaline rush he had experienced during the battle was giving way to what would be the most colossal hangover of his entire life.
Nemogg is an advanced death dog with the half-troll template. He is a pretty straight forward critter so I included a short piece of fiction instead of the usual writeup.
Dirge
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Nemogg
Advanced Half-Troll Death Dog
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 6d10+42 (87 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
AC: 19 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flatfooted 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+19
Attack: Bite +14 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: 2 bites +14 melee (2d6+8)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Disease, rend, trip
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 5, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +16, Will +7
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 06, Wis 13, Cha 08
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +7, Move Silently +5, Spot +7
Feats: Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Any desert, hill, plains, mountains, or underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Disease (Ex): Any creature hit by Nemogg’s bite must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 20) or contract a wasting disease. Incubation 1 day, 1d3 points of Str and Con damage.
Rend (Ex): If Nemogg successfully strikes a creature with both its bite attacks it will hang on and rip its opponents flesh for an additional 4d6+12 points of damage.
Trip (Ex): When Nemogg hits with a bit attack it can attempt to trip its opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity.
Two men staggered down a moonlit path, weaving in the complicated rhythms of the truly drunken. The men were notable only because they differed from each other so drastically. Verek was short, fair skinned and portly his clean-shaven cheeks glowing brightly with the rosy hue of much imbibed ale. He wore a stained muslin shirt tucked into ill-fitting trousers of soft leather and seemed to exist in a heightened state of dishevelment. His companion, a hulking brute of a man, was called Dorun and his lethal glower was a direct contrast to his rather innocuous looking comrade. Dorun was clad in a sleeveless tunic of coarse black wool, gray hose and high black boots. His muscular arms were covered in thick hair the same black as his bushy beard. Swarthy skinned and tall, Dorun conveyed a fighting man’s grace made all the more evident by the longsword he carried in a battered leather scabbard on his left hip.
Both men were gate guards in the nearby town of Gundervale and were returning along the dark twisting path that ran between town and their favorite watering hole, a foul dive known as the Rusty Codpiece. The tavern was located a good five miles outside of town, as the local clergy of Torm had long ago banned drinking within city limits. Both men made the hike to the Rusty Codpiece almost every night, leaving town just after sunset and returning stinking drunk well into the small hours of the morning.
Today had been no different for the two men and as soon as the gate captain had relieved them they had set out for the Rusty Codpiece reveling in visions of cheap ale and cheaper women. Verek and Dorun had been patronizing the disreputable tavern for years and had made the five-mile hike hundreds of times. It was actually a pleasant little stroll, winding along through the Heatherwood, a small forest that lay to the south of Gundervale. The tavern was located in a small clearing and was just outside city jurisdiction and the intolerant arm of the Tormite clergy.
Tonight had been a fine night for the two besotted guards as the proprietor of the Rusty Codpiece had actually convinced a traveling bard to stop and share a song or two. The bard, an unfortunate and only moderately talented lass named Fenarra Glorysong had withstood nearly half and hour of jeers, cat calls, lewd suggestion and the occasional hurled ale stein before storming out in a huff. Verek and Dorun had played a large part in the bard’s hurried exit and where drunkenly proud of their accomplishment.
The two men had left the tavern – or more rightly were thrown out – at just after three in the morning. They had begun the trek home in high spirits, arm and arm, singing raging off key parodies of Fenarra Glorysong’s bardic endeavors. The night was clear and bright with a silver orb of a full moon shedding a lustrous pale luminance across the countryside, and the two drunken guards had managed to fall down only twice in the short distance they had traveled.
Verek and Dorun were nearly halfway home when the quiet chirping of nighttime insects was suddenly shattered by two piercing howls form the east. Both men had staggered to a halt, eyes peering in vain through the gloom of the Heatherwood. They listened for nearly ten minutes but the distressing noise did not return and the two men simply moved on, crediting the strange howling to ale-induced delusion.
Another mile went by swiftly as Verek and Dorun quickened their pace, neither man willing to admit that the two howls had frozen his blood with the icy grip of terror. The Heatherwood was an incredibly benign forest, with nary a wolf or bear to threaten from beneath its inviting canopy, but when the double howl came again, this time much louder then before, both men began to doubt that claim.
“There it is again, Verek.” Dorun whispered, his eyes wide in the moonlight. The short guard stood frozen his head cocked to the side, listening intently.
“By Torm’s hairy crotch, Verek! You are the biggest coward I have ever had the extreme displeasure of working with!” Spat Dorun, but his hand had slid down to the hilt of his ever-present longsword, an ugly but lethal three feet of well-honed steel. The big man feigned exasperation but there was fear lurking behind his brash words.
“Do you think it is wolves?” Verek said, ignoring Dorun’s outburst.
“That’s ridiculous!” Dorun blustered. “There haven’t been wolves in the Heatherwood for two generations. Its probably a couple of dogs that got loose from their master’s kennel.”
“Ok, but I never heard dogs sound like that before. It sounded big.” Verek continued to use hushed tones, his fear lingering on his words like the ale that lingered on his breath.
“Look, Verek. I’m tired, and I have no desire to stand here in the middle of the gods be damned woods discussing the veracity of dog howls.” Dorun hissed stepping close to his short companion. “Now, can we go before I beat you senseless with the flat of my sword?”
“Yeah, sure Dorun. I just thought them howls was funny is all.” Verek acquiesced and began to amble down the road again. Dorun followed, bemused at the smaller man who kept sneaking glances over his shoulder.
They had gone another hundred yards when a thick crashing echoed from the tree line, to the left of their narrow path. Both men stopped and this time Dorun actually drew his sword. Seeing the glimmering length of steel, Verek scuttled behind his larger companion whimpering in drunken terror.
All traces of intoxication had seemingly disappeared from Dorun’s movements as he peered intently into the gloom beneath the trees.
“There is something moving…” Dorun had no time to finish his sentence as a huge black shape burst from the trees and collided with the big fighter. Dorun was knocked backwards over the cowering form of Verek and fell heavily to the ground. Dazed and still fighting the numbing influence of too much drink, Dorun rolled over to see a slavering two headed monstrosity bearing down on his companion.
The creature’s form was suddenly illuminated by the silvery moonlight as it bore down on Verek. It resembled a wolf but only a wolf in the most fevered dreams of a raving lunatic. As large as a draft horse and solidly built, it emitted the piercing double howl from two massive fanged heads. Two sets of red eyes blazed in the gloom and Dorun saw a dark and malevolent intelligence lurking within the hellish glare.
Verek let loose a high wailing scream and turned to run. He managed a dozen paces before the beast leapt after him covering the distance in two great bounds. The creature simply rammed its body into the fleeing guardsman knocking him to the ground in a tangle. Verek rolled over wide-eyed to see the two heads dipping low for murder.
“No! No!” The small man screamed beating at the beast’s double maws with the flat of his pudgy hands. “Dorun! Help me! Help me! Please…” Verek's words suddenly trailed off into frenzied screaming accompanied by the grisly sound of tearing flesh.
Dorun surged to his feet, sword in hand and although his mind was choked with fear, he found himself charging down the path towards certain annihilation. The beast saw him coming and its eyes blazed bright with malice. In response it locked both its great jaws onto Verek and began to worry his body savagely. A terrible ripping sound echoed through the night as Verek came apart in a fountain of gore. The beast tossed both halves of his mutilated body to the side and patiently awaited Dorun to close. Heedless of the ghastly display of carnage, Dorun charged in.
Unlike Verek who had been little more than a poorly trained guard, Dorun had spent most of his life serving in various mercenary and adventuring companies throughout Faerun. He was a skilled combatant and had battled many men and beasts in his long career. In Gundervale the former mercenary had found there was little need to unsheathe his sword in anger, a prospect that suited him just fine. He had seen more than enough of bloodshed and misery to last a lifetime.
Dorun carried only one legacy from his time as an adventurer and mercenary. His sword, a blade wrested from the tomb of a long dead necromancer in Vaasa, was much more than it appeared to be and Dorun called upon the unique abilities of his weapon as he closed in on his foe. “Heruush! He cried, and in response the glittering length of his blade was suddenly consumed in crackling red flames.
The beast waited, twin jaws hanging open, eagerly awaiting the warm flesh that surged towards them. Dorun did not slow his advance and as the great hungry jaws reached out to snap him up, he spun his body in a complete circle without altering his forward momentum. The twin maws closed on empty air as Dorun danced aside with nimbleness few would have thought possible in such a large man. His defensive maneuver had carried him to the left flank of his adversary and he let his blade lick out in the midst of his defensive whirl, scoring a deep smoking furrow in the beast’s hide.
The creature let loose two howls of agony as its flesh gave way to Dorun’s flaming blade and leapt back to avoid the warrior’s burning brand. Dorun stood, blade extended taking the measure of his foe and his first close look at it jogged something in his memory. He had seen a beast such as this before. On the plains of Vaasa there roamed packs of vicious two-headed dogs named Fenred na Kerr by the native people, a phrase that translated loosely into “the dogs of death”. But the monstrosity that confronted him now was much larger and was subtly different. It had the same bristly black fur of its smaller relatives and of course the two slavering heads that characterized the death dogs, but its size and musculature was grossly exaggerated as if it had been bred with something else to attain such a massive girth. In addition the exposed flesh of its twin muzzles was a sickly green and had a rough warty appearance that triggered a warning on the edge of Dorun's memory.
Out of range of his weapon the beast watched him, waiting for him to make a move. Dorun knew that if he came within range of those two powerful jaws that his end would be quick and messy. He would have to strike and then retreat beyond range if he hoped to live to see the morning.
With little choice but to take the offensive Dorun charged in again sweeping his sword in a wide burning arc. The beast whipped its heads to the side attempting to dodge the incoming blow but Dorun was quicker and his blade cut a deep slash in the top of the creatures left head. Enraged it darted forward to crush its foe in its jaws but Dorun had already retreated safely beyond its reach again.
The beast was not badly wounded and Dorun knew that his game of cat and mouse could not last forever. Eventually he would he would not be quick enough to evade one of the bites and he would be torn to pieces. He had to end the battle quickly.
The beast for its part had grown impatient and bounded forward snapping and growling. Dorun gave ground swinging his sword in a defensive pattern that dazzled the beast causing it to leave off its attack and retreat a few paces. It was taking his measure, looking for a chink in his defenses that Dorun knew it would eventually find if he did not take decisive action now.
“Alright, then lets see how smart you are.” Dorun whispered under his breath. He then raised his sword and charged forward slashing furiously, the beast gave ground but Dorun stopped short with an awkward hopping gate. The fighter pulled back limping, feigning an injury to his right leg and cursing dramatically.
The beast lowered its head and its four eyes narrowed deviously. Although far more intelligent than any common predatory animal it instinctively recognized wounded prey. Its twin maws split in what seemed a grin of pure delight and the creature surged forward to finish its wounded adversary.
Dorun kept up the illusion of his injury hopping backward on a single leg frantically as the beast charged in. It had taken the bait and as it twin jaws stretched out to take him he flung himself backward onto the ground with a bone-jarring thud. The beast was unable to stop its forward momentum and surged over Dorun bringing its vulnerable underside in range of his deadly blade. With a single savage thrust Dorun drove his sword up into the beast’s furry belly, extinguishing the flames about the weapon as the blade sunk in to the hilt. The creature loosed a single strangled howl and lurched to the side ripping Dorun’s blade from his hand. It staggered a few feet away weaving drunkenly and gasping in great blood flecked wheezes.
Dorun climbed to his feet praying that his thrust had been mortal while the beast regarded him with four burning eyes that blazed with incalculable depths of hatred. Suddenly it threw back both heads and emitted two great mournful howls that froze the blood in Dorun’s veins and backed him up a few steps. But that was the extent of the beast’s fury and as the howls faded against the silence of the moonlit night so did the fire in its eyes. With a double wheezing exhalation the creature pitched over on its side and lay still, its blood leaking from the great wound in its belly in a widening pool.
Dorun was suddenly filled with a relief so complete it threatened to sap the strength from his limbs and the motivation from his will. He walked cautiously over to the steaming corpse of the beast and with drew his imbedded blade with one great pull. The blade came out in a spout of crimson flame that Dorun quieted with another utterance of the word that had brought the flames forth. The big warrior sheathed his sword at his side and sighed heavily. Even in a quiet and peaceful town such as Gundervale it seemed he could not escape his former life. With a heavy heart he went to retrieve the remains of poor Verek vowing to give the small man the best burial he could afford.
Overhead the night was giving way to the first stirrings of dawn and Dorun cursed mightily for the adrenaline rush he had experienced during the battle was giving way to what would be the most colossal hangover of his entire life.
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