D&D General [Eberron Homebrew] Cooking With Gaze Attacks: Droaam's Monstrous Industry

[Libertad]

With the revised Monster Manual coming out next month, I became inspired enough to return to this older project of mine. Hopefully any new and modified stat blocks won't invalidate my prior workings, but I doubt that WotC will make any particularly substantial changes in the core themes and capabilities of their iconic monsters.

Spoiler: Arachnid Warning

Pathfinder RPG, Aranea, by Nikolai Ostertag. Spoilered for arachnophobes, as it has a spider-like face.

Aranea (Monster Manual Expanded, Volume 2): Although this monster hasn’t been officially converted to 5th Edition, they are an entry in Dragonix’s incredibly popular Monster Manual Expanded series. The 2nd volume, to be exact. As they are already monsters with a presence in D&D, I’m using that stat block as a basis for this entry.

Aranea are a scattered, semi-nomadic group who keep to wild areas, preferring forests. On Khorvaire, they’re most prominent in the Eldeen Reaches and tend to ally with the Greensingers druidic sect due to their own culture’s belief system of fey worship. Virtually every aranea comes to arcane magic naturally, which their culture claims to be the result of distant fey ancestry. Their shapeshifting abilities are said to be a gift from the archfey Thelania, bestowing upon them two forms: an arachnid, to climb out of reach of predators and make webs to entrap prey. And a humanoid form, to safely walk among mortals and not draw their ire. Additionally, aranea can inflict damaging psychic attacks on foes at will, which can further weaken assailants against mind-affecting abilities, including the aranea’s own vaunted spells.

Most aranea spells rely upon enchantment and illusion rather than direct offense. It’s common for them to overlay illusions on top of webs, sharpened sticks lined with their venom, and other traps to deal with foes. Their natural telepathy lets them silently communicate with each other, able to better coordinate efforts in creating multiple illusions to work in tandem greater than any individual. Unlike changelings and doppelgangers, an aranea’s humanoid form is locked into a single unique kind, so barring individual access to long-lasting personal illusion magic, they are outshone in that area by the aforementioned shapechangers.

Aranea of Droaam keep to themselves in well-defended villages. There are communities who pledged loyalty to the Daughters of Sora Kell due to viewing them as powerful fey to respect, But just as many want nothing to do with them, acknowledging prior allegiances to existing archfey. The former group are known as Nationalists, and the latter are known as Loyalists. Nationalists broker services as silk weavers, mages, and a “human face” when Droaam’s inhabitants have to deal with Easterners. Loyalist aranea seek closer ties with their brethren up north, believing that the tried and true ways of the druids will be a more stable, longer-lasting political alliance than with the hag sisters. In fact, many Loyalists are active in the border town of Sylbaran, passing along information to the Wardens of the Wood of happenings in the country’s interior. Some even covertly transport allied druids to the Watching Wood in expectation of an eventual civil war with the Nationalists. Said action may very well be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the Daughters of Sora Kell will view it as both an encroachment from the Eldeen Reaches and an excuse to raze disloyal aranea villages.

A particularly influential tribe of aranea in the Watching Wood built intricate webworks spanning great distances throughout the forest. Taking advantage of their species’ ability to sense the locations of creatures in contact with webs, the spiderfolk can utilize a non-magical form of long-distance communication. Using code composed of nonverbal vibrations and gestures, they can transfer information to all others in contact with the web network. The process isn’t instantaneous, and the webs can be broken and thus need regular maintenance, but it is an effective alternative for those who don’t have access to Sending Stones. Although the network is currently used by both Loyalists and Nationalists, increasing political divisions has made once-friendly communities less communicative. Some have even contemplated making alternative networks entirely.

Cranium Rats: Most of Khorvaire’s scholars regard the following as qualifying criteria for sapience: self-awareness, the capacity for abstract thinking, and language without the aid of magic. Whether a being is sapient or not is often regarded as a binary state. Alterations to an otherwise intelligent or instinctual creature are largely regarded as the result of external influence rather than an innate state of being for a species, such as using the Awaken spell on animals or Feeblemind to rob someone of higher thought. The cranium rat is a peculiar exception in that it’s a being whose capacity for rational thought ebbs and flows based upon the proximity of others of their kind. THey are thus a favored dilemma by philosophers debating the question of intelligence.

For those living day-to-day in the sprawling cities and rural outlands of Khorvaire, such questions take a backseat priority. Cranium rats were created by the daelkyr to act as spies, and during the Xoriat invasion of Khorvaire the Dhakaani Empire placed a bounty on cranium rats. To this day it is common in goblinoid and orcish communities to hunt and slay such creatures with ruthless efficiency.

The animals have long since adapted to life on the Material Plane, living mostly in the wilderness and dark corners of cities. Yet occasionally they’re domesticated by those who can weather the stigma of “owning” them, notably jermlaine, xvarts, and creatures with natural telepathy. Such people use the rats as messengers, much like carrier pigeons. Collectively, courier rats would be instructed with messages they can understand while part of a larger hive-mind, but upon departing the warren they quickly revert to an instinctual frame of mind. Upon arrival in another courier warren, the rat’s enhanced intelligence would kick in and bring greater understanding of their experiences along with their original message. As a swarm can collectively cast Comprehend Languages, they are able to understand all non-coded languages. They also have immunity against mind-reading effects as well as divination in general, this makes them ideal for avoiding magical interception.

The only major setback on the use of courier rats is that those who remain in proximity to each other in large numbers for too long tend to bristle at being treated like beasts of burden and want more out of life. And their use of Command, Confusion, and Dominate Monster can easily turn the tables on their would-be “owners.” In most such cases, handlers tend to kill rats who start “thinking too much,” which ends up being used as justification for rat swarms to violently fight for their freedom.

For this reason, the few independent cranium rat colonies in Khorvaire are those who are living by themselves or in isolated places in large cities, often using Dominate Monster to gain a “helper” to provide them with food and shelter. They’ve earned an alliance with flumphs, who unlike many of the other peoples of the Material Plane are most willing to interact with them in good faith. The flumphs require little from them save for residual telepathic sustenance, a price the cranium rats can easily pay.

Cranium rats also pose a philosophical dilemma to druids: although they have the potential to be smarter than most animals and bear evident signs of aberrant origins, the cosmic principles that let a druid shapeshift into a limited set of mundane animals also apply to cranium rats. Those druids who spent time wildshaped in such a form and around actual cranium rats reported feeling a gentle yet persistent pull of something greater, an expanded sense of self, and a more intuitive understanding of the world. As such druids also inherit the rat’s telepathy and divination immunities, they are a practical option for espionage. But this isn’t widely accepted among all sects: the Gatekeepers and Ashbound react violently to druids who willingly take their forms or appear sympathetic to the animals, fearing aberrant influence. The Wardens of the Wood have been the most relatively open in using their forms, albeit more as a necessary evil and open secret, notably during the Last War in their revolt against Aundair.

Flumph: Possessing little natural means of defense, most of their kind having a benevolent nature, and advanced abilities to elude divination spells and telepathic creatures, flumphs are practically built for an evasive, non-offensive lifestyle. They are not native to the Material Plane, so those present are accidental wanderers out of Xoriat manifest zones. Attracted to stronger psionic creatures, one group of flumphs found themselves in Graywall, drawn by the presence of Xor’chylic and other telepathic beings in the city. Although of a different moral persuasion than the mayor, their keen knowledge in various subjects such as Arcana, History, and Religion made them useful as scholars and teachers. The flumphs were given a role in using their telepathy to teach Droaamish citizens important skills in exchange for shelter and payment, especially in the deriving of sustenance from the emotions of other psionic creatures in the city, notably the many colonies of cranium rats.

The flumphs helped form some of Droaam’s best institutions of learning, helping train a new generation of monstrous children about reading, writing, and the fundamental properties of cantrips. Additionally, they used their particular form of sensory telepathy to stand alert for any daelkyr activity in the subterranean tunnels snaking beneath the city. Not being powerful themselves, such flumphs are more of a warning system for more well-equipped teams to respond, than being the front lines against a dolgrim invasion.

So far, the flumphs have been a boon in developing eastern Droaam’s education system, and sit as a sort of monstrous intelligentsia in the country. Children and the younger generations are quite fond of them, having developed positive bonds with the creatures in their formative years. Furthermore, the flumphs’ morals have been pushing otherwise selfish citizens towards more productive, progressive outlooks than the oppressive Social Darwinist nature of the traditional chib system.

Of course, not everyone is a fan of the flumphs. A group of creatures whose minds cannot be read and cannot be detected by divination is prone to breed paranoia. And more reactionary and evil-aligned Droaamites are none too fond of their preaching of benevolent equality and looking out for one’s fellow monster, be they goblin or troll, humanoid or aberration. When one flumph professor was found splattered to death by a giant-sized greatclub in Graywall one night, tensions and speculation over the murder spread throughout the city and beyond. In spite of his vow to apprehend the criminal, some among the flumphs and their allies think that Xor’chylic is acting a tad too slow, given his otherwise swift response to lawbreakers in his city.

Kruthik (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): Although there’s some debate over whether they’re reptilian insects or insectile reptilians, kruthik make for quite striking figures even among the biodiversity of Khorvaire’s monsters. They almost exclusively live in the depths of Khyber, rarely staying on the surface save for brief excursions. They bear no loyalty to the daelkyr nor speak the language of their creations, and the same goes for the trapped fiendish overlords. In fact, most kruthik don’t bear fluency in any tongue save their own unique language, so their origins are mostly unknown and subject to tall tales and speculation.

As for the kruthik themselves, what few communication outsiders had with them found the monsters decidedly uninterested in the past. In fact, most kruthik view the world as cyclical yet ultimately nchanging: all that is, was. And all that is, will be. The world as they know it is a dark, crowded place full of larger and stronger beings out to kill or enslave them. Kruthik clans embody the ideals of a “warrior spirit,” of life as an endless struggle where swiftness, cleverness, and community among clanmates against overwhelming odds allow them to remain free and prosperous.

Kruthiks are nomadic tunnellers organized into extended family units known as clans. A singular leader known as a hive lord rules a clan, making major decisions for the whole community. Kruthiks subsist off of salt, mineral, and crystal growths, but prefer meat and bones when they can get it. They approach relations with other peoples as transactional: kruthiks are suspicious of apparent generosity with no strings attached, abiding by deals if the other party manages to perform a great service for the clan or offers of cooperation can earn them choice resources.

Kruthik clans do not keep slaves, and prisoners of war are disposed of or exiled as soon as possible. This is done less for moral reasons and more due to scarcity of resources, as well as the fact that daelkyr and fiendish servants are capable of telepathy and other means of clairvoyance. This means that such entities are potential security threats in the making. If a captive must be kept alive and under observation, they are stored in a small artificial cave that is sealed off by the kruthik save for a narrow hole to minimize contact with the rest of the clan.

When able, kruthiks prefer to create their own artificial or summoned servants such as constructs, elementals, oozes, and undead. Some of the more powerful clans are those who managed to take control of dwarven forges, daelkyr flesh-pits, and myconid fungal colonies after killing or driving off the original inhabitants. They repurpose the corpses and raw materials into macabre yet ingenious forms of artificing and necromancy. Ironically, it’s these few clans that transitioned into more sedentary lifestyles, and are the most hospitable to visitors as long as they have something to give or trade with them.

Unlike most other burrowing monsters, kruthik can leave intact tunnels behind them which others of the same or smaller size can safely use. Additionally, their tremorsense, darkvision, and ability to climb most walls and ceilings make them excellent hunters and scouts, and their Pack Tactics and sturdy natural armor make them deadly threats in melee. Many kruthiks often create trapped tunnels they can cave-in by boring through artificial support beams located above or underneath the tunnels themselves. It is this rare ability and combination of skills that have allowed the kruthik to outmaneuver and overcome much stronger, deadlier foes in Khyber. And to raid surface communities with startling speed.

Kruthik clans are regarded as a necessary evil by other civilizations in Khyber. Kruthik areas often serve as a buffer zone between lands full of fiends and daelkyr creations, and the monsters often view raids on such lairs as a point of pride and opportunity for treasure. Better to train them on demons and dolgrim rather than dwarven forges and kobold warrens, as the saying goes in Droaam and the Mror Holds. Additionally, other civilizations have hired small groups of kruthik to create tunnels into enemy fortifications, giving the kruthik a portion of spoils in exchange for this valuable service.

While kruthiks largely find mining to be a boring, thankless job, a particularly arrogant hobgoblin mage managed to mentally dominate a kruthik hive lord into turning a clan into an efficient bunch of tunnellers. That they raid other claims and literally cut down the competition is of little concern to the unscrupulous hob. Greater violence is sure to follow if the enchantment fails and the kruthiks blame the larger community the hobgoblin belongs to for this grave offense!

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Because of the widely different physiques of the citizens of Droaam, I wonder if the sisters of sora kell have anything like our contemporary notion of "Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance". Are all new constructions required to allow a hill-giant to pass easily through the doors? If not, would a citizen of Droaam whose body doesn't neatly fit into a world made for medium humanoids feel like a "second class citizen"? You'd think that foment alienation, rather than creating civic unity, which seems to be what Droaam is shooting for.

Imagine how much of an administrative state must therefore exist to wield the power of government in order to make people who are clearly not physically equal, equal in matters of daily life.

 

[Libertad]

Sea Spawn (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): When Droaam united as a single nation and declared independence from Breland, it served as a beacon for various people deemed “monsters” across Khorvaire who hoped settle in a more welcoming environment. While this dream doesn’t always live up to the ideal, the disparate species collectively known as sea spawn proved to be one of Droaam’s more unusual immigrants. “Sea spawn” is a collective term for beings, and the descendents of beings, who were kidnapped and enslaved by powerful aquatic entities, such as the aberrant aboleths but also the storm empires of ancient Xen’drik. Although diverse in form and features, their captors favored magical experiments that grant physical enhancements, limited amphibiousness, and mental vulnerabilities in order to make them an easily-exploited source of labor. And the sinister reputations of chuul, skum, and other aquatic beings enthralled to pelagic entities often cause communities to treat escaped sea spawn coldly. Ironically the sea spawn are all too often grouped in with willing spies and servants of the very monsters from which they sought to flee.

Although a rising power in the west, Droaam is still an underdeveloped country, and it has yet to form a formal navy. Its only port town is Vralkek, and its local militia otherwise leaves the masses to fend for themselves. When groups of sea spawn refugees began showing up on the shores of western Khorvaire, a community leader by the name of Vredias Glithain petitioned Gorodan Ashlord to grant his people residency and citizenship rights. As many of the sea spawn easily found work serving as fishers and pearl divers, Glithain hoped that Vralkek’s chib would see merit in taking them in as skilled citizens who can bolster Droaam’s coastal economy.

A rational ruler would’ve found merit in this deal: sahuagin, merfolk, and aquatic elves were already part of existing political powers and had little reason to move to Droaam, and anyone invading from the sea would prioritize Vralkek for supply lines. But Ashlord is a reluctant ruler, unconcerned with the affairs of Khorvaire and thus one of the country’s less loyal chibs. Thus, the fire giant has made the sea spawn refugees a shelved priority, leaving things up to locals on how to deal with them. Glithain and other sea spawn are well aware of his apathy, and are hoping to take the message of their plight to the Daughters themselves. Given that they cannot survive for more than a day without immersing themselves in seawater, they’ll need a hardy group of adventurers to deliver their petition to the capital city of Great Crag, in hopes that the hag sisters will have a more sympathetic ear.

Skulk (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): While most fey would proudly deny it, the development of mortal societies influences Thelanis just as much as fey influence the people of the Material Plane. The storybook logic of fairy culture is shaped in turn by the culture of living mortals. Due to this, the most prominent of archfey are those whose titles and legacies are household names passed from one generation to the next. But what happens to the stories of civilizations that no longer exist, whose cultures never passed on or been adopted by other groups?

A skulk is a fey whose folkloric archetype has failed to persist among mortal memory. As long as a tale is adapted, a character is changed, or a fictional world is built upon, a fey can survive, albeit in a very different form. So in order for a skulk to exist, a culture must be so thoroughly erased that its stories are forgotten as its final souls fade away in Dolurrh. Such acts most often arise from mass deaths accompanied by a lack of records, be it by a sweeping plague wiping away an isolated civilization or an act of genocide and book-burning to ensure a people’s utter destruction. The fey of such unfortunates almost fade away, becoming invisible, voiceless entities who others struggle to remember. Their limited invisibility is cited by those few in the know as evidence of fey origin: their ability to be seen in reflections, within certain kinds of candlelight, and by humanoid children are a combination of traits that don’t arise naturally.

Being fey themselves, the Daughters of Sora Kell managed to learn of the existence of the skulks. But it was Sora Katra who managed to earn the loyalty of several promising individuals. Seeing potential in their innate powers, she offered them the ability to be remembered, to have their deeds chronicled and be known as the nameless whispers in the night. Their names and deeds wouldn’t be acknowledged, but they will endure as the thief who absconds with small trinkets, the unseen guardian who leaves mysterious gifts, the invisible hand that causes tragic accidents to befall troublemakers, and the winds of fortune that give a lucky break to the favored of the Daughters.

Sora Katra sought to mold these skulks into an elite “shadow guard” of spies, assassins, messengers, and saboteurs, but has had mixed success. On the plus side, the fact that skulks are this way naturally and don’t leave any tracks allows them to easily conduct espionage and sabotage with minimal evidence and avoid detection of magical auras. Additionally, the average skulk is so starved for companionship and recognition that they rarely ask for anything from the hags.

On the other hand, skulks aren’t the most perceptive, and their inability to speak makes them unable to use most spells and magic items with command words. This hinders their ability to engage in more complex and delicate tasks as seen in the likes of the Mark of Shadow dragonmarked and accomplished illusionists. Furthermore, the skulks’ ability to be seen by children caused an increase in “bogeymen” sightings in Droaam, leading to many a skeptical parent needing to console their frightened offspring. Most concernedly, a few of the more ambitious skulks aren’t content to have all their work credited to the Daughters. Having already seen the fear they can spread, there’s a conspiracy of skulk celebrities in the making, leaving behind unique calling cards at the scenes of heists and accidents, including in the more urbanized areas of Breland. Tracking down the skulks responsible can earn adventuring PCs favor with Droaam’s rulers. Alternatively, siding with these skulks can give the party valuable intel on said nation’s wetwork operations.

Image From Pathfinder 2e, Bestiary 2

Xill (Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio, Vol. 1): In spite of his self-imposed isolation, Mordain the Fleshweaver is one of Droaam’s most famous individuals. His experiments created, modified, and enslaved countless creatures, and it is believed that the xill are but one of many. With their ability to effortlessly travel between the Material and Ethereal Planes, they are one of the few non-magical beings who can reliably and consistently avoid physical barriers and terrain without the downsides of long-term immaterialization.

Most xill serve Mordain, acting as kidnappers and thieves searching for items and victims of interest to bring back to the archmage. Their paralytic poison is often used to nonlethally dispatch quarries, meaning that xill raids have startlingly few casualties yet are no less vilified by their victims and loved ones. As can be expected, precious few xill have been caught and interrogated alive, with Speak With Dead having limited success when it comes to learning about Mordain’s grander plans.

Yet, there are some xill who interact nonviolently with outsiders. It is unclear whether or not these ones broke free of Mordain’s influence, as they are loath to talk about the archmage and worriedly change topics or go silent. Called Redeemer Xill by others, these ones most often take the role of unconventional exorcists, venturing into the homes of possessed people and haunted lands to forcefully drive away the intruders. The religion most experienced with exorcisms, the Church of Silver Flame, is a vilified religion in Droaam. As few such priests can be found here, these xill fulfill a useful societal niche as professional ghost hunters in the country, although they hunt all manner of ethereal monsters beyond ghosts such as phase spiders. This is not enough for many communities to accept the Redeemer Xill with open arms, so they are often tolerated to stay just long enough to do their jobs before leaving for the next contract several towns over.

 

[Libertad]

Because of the widely different physiques of the citizens of Droaam, I wonder if the sisters of sora kell have anything like our contemporary notion of "Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance". Are all new constructions required to allow a hill-giant to pass easily through the doors? If not, would a citizen of Droaam whose body doesn't neatly fit into a world made for medium humanoids feel like a "second class citizen"? You'd think that foment alienation, rather than creating civic unity, which seems to be what Droaam is shooting for.

Imagine how much of an administrative state must therefore exist to wield the power of government in order to make people who are clearly not physically equal, equal in matters of daily life.

This can be an interesting public works project for the PCs to support. Such a thing will need lots of funding and cooperation, particularly if it's done beyond the local level. I sort of hinted at this with my entry on mephits and some debates on whether or not to make contracts with the Dragonmarked Houses for public works projects, and how this would run up against the already-local construction company in the tiefling city of the Venomous Demesne.

But back towards your question! While this is my own personal interpretation, Droaam strikes me as a nation that isn't centralized enough yet to have this kind of wide-reaching law. Accomodations for creatures of different sizes and biologies would be most common in the bigger cities, but the sourcebooks mention that most communities are still largely monospecies. Most harpy aeries likely wouldn't have elevators or ladders for flightless people to easily travel around, save perhaps for individual meeting points with traders.

That being said, there is evidence that Droaam is moving socially towards making comingling as painless and practical as possible. At least in the larger population centers Frontiers of Eberron has a few magic items for such purposes, such as a belt that lets the wearer shrink or grow to Medium size and can thus allow for goblins and ogres to fit comfortly in rooms and on furniture for human-sized folk. Additionally, Exploring Eberron's chapter on Droaam talks about how the government provides free food to all citizens in the form of grist mills that serve regenerating troll meat, and Droaam communities also have free public housing. Said public housing is still low quality and consists of little more than a roof over one's head and a bunch of blankets in a communal space, but it does look like the Daughters of Sora Kell and those loyal to them have a vested interest in attending to the basic needs of citizens. Also, some of the more progressive population centers have given more rights to kobolds, goblin, and weaker monsters, who tend to be the staunchest supporters of the Daughters as a result.

That being said, this doesn't mean that Droaam is a harmoniously progressive space. There's still a lot of resentment and tensions between various monster populations and chibs, and I tried to reflect that in my posts. Droaam, like a lot of societies in both reality and fiction, has many contradictory aspects at war with itself.

 

[Zaukrie]

Still remains a truly amazing thread

 

[Libertad]

Gibberling (Heroes of Baldur’s Gate & Quests From the Infinite Staircase): Calling themselves the zarsh, the gibberlings’ more common title by outsiders arose from their non-stop chatter. Much like how a dog won’t get tired or a sore throat from barking all day and night, a zarsh’s biology and psychology are built to support this. Their language is a tonal one composed of monosyllabic words, where a single word can have many meanings based on the pitch and volume. This is because zarsh developed a need to convey as much information as possible in a short amount of time, as every second counts when evading Khyber’s dangers.

The zarsh hail from various levels of Khyber, preferring to remain close to the surface and away from the more dangerous denizens deeper underground. While their origins are uncertain, there is evidence that daelkyr and fiends alike had heavy involvement in their peoples’ development.

Zarsh societies are leaderless communes where major decisions are decided by majority vote. Their dwellings are a nonstop chorus of conversation, filled with work-songs, debates over daily tasks, reports of significant events, and a myriad other topics going through the community at any one time. Zarsh are used to holding conversations with multiple people at once, taking in a huge amount of information in a short amount of time, although they have difficulty doing this when speaking other languages than their native tongue. Every zarsh owns a dagger or shortsword among their personal belongings. Such weapons are worn with age and use yet treated with reverence, passed down from parent to child. They serve as a reminder that every member of the commune must take up arms to ensure the survival of the many. There is no distinction between civilians and soldiers in zarsh culture, which has led to instances of tragic brutality when they waged war on each other as well as outsiders.

In Khorvaire, the larger-sized races often dismiss the zarsh as primitive savages, believing them to be a devolved goblinoid offshoot. The goblinoids don’t view them much better, thinking them to be one step above animals. However, the zarsh managed to earn some measure of respect in Droaam during the Last War, where they proved surprisingly efficient against Brelish troops.

One of the zarsh’s more notable traits is their extreme mental resilience against enchantment. While they may be tricked and intimidated by mundane measures, most magical compulsions cannot find purchase in their minds. Additionally, zarsh have been raised from birth to fight in large units: beyond the advantage of numbers, the presence of their companions instills in them a nigh-supernatural level of alacrity. Spells that would entangle, restrain, or stun may work on an individual zarsh, but when assembled into a swarm they become unstoppable. The zarsh’s war cries were designed to make it harder to concentrate on spells, and when combined with the former immunities made them ideal combatants to send against spell-wielding soldiers and magewrights.

These advantages didn’t last long, as their intense fear of fire and light caused great setbacks, but they made enough of an impression in early battles to make a name for themselves in the new monster nation. In post-war times, Droaamish zarsh live in the deep forests and mountains, with some communities in the tunnels beneath the Great Crag and Graywall. They tend to be self-sufficient foragers in the wilds, and manual laborers in the towns and cities. Zarsh don’t work well with others given that other races find their nonstop conversations distracting, but when allowed to regulate among themselves they make for extremely coordinated workers.

PS: Gibberlings in 5th Edition have two sets of stats. Technically three, for a Gibberling Swarm. One from Quests From the Infinite Staircase, and one from Heroes of Baldur’s Gate. While both stats differ in several ways, they both have enough similarities that I feel I can include both. Infinite Staircase can reflect gibberlings whose ancestors were created by fiendish overlords, while Baldur’s Gate can reflect those of daelkyr origin.

Verbeeg (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden): Verbeeg are giants renowned for having humanlike facial features in comparison to ogres and trolls. They have lanky builds which make them more nimble than most giants, and their adroit dexterity makes them surprisingly nimble fighters and athletes to those who underestimate them as yet another “slow, big brute.” Verbeeg have a long history of comingling with ogres and hill giants in Khorvaire, and adopted many of their customs and traditions. But what is distinct about their culture is their reverence for creatures of the natural world, and verbeeg communities specialize in particular forms of animal husbandry which they use for food, labor, and trade. They even domesticated bears and wolves, and have a special social class of rangers known as Longstriders who master primal magic to defend natural sites.

In modern times, verbeeg operate farms and ranches in western Khorvaire, and in Droaam have positive relations with the Gaa’ran orcs and worgs. The pacifistic orcs have found it advantageous to call the giants their friends, for the verbeeg don’t shy away from fighting and often took the “speak softly, but carry a big stick” approach in dealing with those who’d threaten the Gaa’ran farms. It’s not uncommon for raiders and exploitative chibs who treat the orcs poorly to find themselves harassed by falcons, bears, and otherwise wild animals who are operating not by instinct but instead by advanced training and tactics.

But the verbeeg’s greatest possible threat to their way of life comes not from their warlike neighbors, but the expansionist Dragonmarked Houses. House Vadalis in particular sought to take over their livelihoods, and their industrialized farms don’t have the same standards of ecological respect that the verbeeg are known for. Several verbeeg ranches initially welcomed House Vadalis in good faith, and quickly came to regret the decision as they quickly took the farms over and used mercenaries from House Deneith and House Tharashk to deal with any complaints and dissent. The verbeeg suffered during the Last War as much as anyone, and the older generation are mostly too war-weary to risk reprisal. But younger and more zealous verbeeg seek to carry on the fight.