D&D 5E Fun with the Monster Manual - Monster-a-Day in your Setting

[The_Gneech]

Nice, [MENTION=94389]jrowland[/MENTION]!

-TG

 

[Cernor]

[MENTION=92511]steeldragons[/MENTION], must you do multiple monsters per post? It isn't a race to get to the end of the book

Azer

In all honesty, I kind of skipped over this section in my first read-through of the MM.

The Ironshapers and Stonehewers of the <mountain range> are both old and respected clans of dwarves. They are, even among their people, considered master smiths and artisans, their goods renowned across the land for the quality of their craft. Young dwarves with lofty aspirations seek out either of the clans to learn the secrets of their skill (and go home disappointed after being told it's a mix of natural talent and years of work). The intense competition between the two has recently shifted in favor of the Stonehewers, who--seemingly overnight--have perfected their craft and nearly driven the Ironshapers out of business. The Ironshapers hire the party to figure out what happened and give them permission to use any resources of the clan to restore balance to the competition, either by bringing the Stonehewers back down to mortal levels or by elevating the Ironshapers' craft.

The dwarves would have summoned Azer(s) which wouldn't be happy to be subjugated outside of their home plane and subject to the whims of mortals. Ignoring the potential interplanar war, they would likely attract lots of interest with their new wealth: both from potential trade partners and dragons wanting to subjugate them and take what's theirs.

Banshee

Once upon a time there was an elf woman called Lia. She was the most beautiful elf in all the land, living in a palace deep in the heart of the <insert name> Forest, attracting admirers from around the world. However, she was cruel and petty, courting many princes at once to take the gifts and jewels they offered her before leaving them destitute. As punishment for her vanity, she was cursed with the banshee's curse: she shunned the living and took solace in her wealth, until she eventually died from starvation. She rose as a banshee and shuns the living, tormented now until the world ends and she can be freed. And that, my dear children, is why you should never court elf women.

--101 Haunting Tales (To Tell Your Children), author unknown

Events become stories which become legends which become myths which become stories in childrens' books. If the party decides to search the forest for the palace, they would find it overgrown and haunted with undead. In the depths would be the banshee formerly known as Lia, lamenting her existence and being generally depressing, as well as a sizeable hoard (which could be large for their level because they decided to investigate a location from a storybook).

 

[steeldragons]

Sorry [MENTION=6780066]Cernor[/MENTION]

The first post was "playing catchup" with the thread. Since then, when we get to a creature that I don't really have anything for/haven't used in my game world, I skip to the next one that, hopefully, I do have something for.

I will try to come up with some scenario for using whatever creature we happen to be on.

It is, obviously, the day after the Azer & Banshee...so, by rights, we should move on to the next thing since, ya know, "monster-a-day." But I'm happy to hang here for another day or two for others to catch up.

 

[jrowland]

I don't want to threadjack @ Mercurius thread, but I think the spirit of the thread is to post only one monster entry per reply per day. But since we're all slackers, I think as long as we look at the last one posted and then either
a) post our version of the "daily" (even if multiple days have past)
or
b) post the next monster as long as a minimum of 1 day has past
we should still keep in the spirit of the thread. (not saying we aren't)

 

[Cernor]

@jrowland, I agree. Just because the thread says a monster a day doesn't mean the days we post monsters have to be consecutive...

 

[steeldragons]

ALright you slackers..."Off the forum's first page, outta mind"?

I don't think so.

Basilisk

In the days of the elvin ages, in the infancy of Men, there were those humans who succumbed to the dark influences of the Chaosbringer and his demonic minions. According to the earliest records of the Men of the White Tribe, in the days before they rose to power as the nation and eventual empire of Seluria, there is mention of a nation of humans who fell to the worship of the demonlord Tulchulcha, but that is another tale for another time. To the peoples of Sel, this land of demon worshippers was called Duus, and through the horrific rites conducted there to and for their "Master of Monsters" the great lizards of that land were transformed to the creatures the Selurians would come to call, as we now call them today, Basilisks.

The wicked Men of Duus kept and bred these creatures as guard pets, battle hounds, and in one account there existed an immense breed used as war-mounts. They increased their power and territory even to the remoteness of Vot, leaving fields of lifeless stone in their wake. For you see, the creature's gaze is sure to infict a stony death upon all who gazed upon them, petrifying the very skin and blood and soul. After which, the monsters consume their meal of rocks which, in turn, strengthens the rock like hardness of their hides. With the fall of the Duusa the creatures, as many as could be, were destroyed. But it is an accepted fact that not all were slain or captured and made their way into the dark recesses where the servants of darkness dwell and, from time to time, haunt a ruin or barren waste to the detriment of all those in the region as none can face the creature, and survive, to remove it.

 

[Cernor]

Basilisk

Once upon a time...

No, maybe not for the basilisk. And @steeldragons, I would have replied sooner, but I dislike double posting on stuff

Hidden away in the Noble District of the city of Northharbor is a brothel. It is known about by the citizens, albeit by whispers of rumours, but they say that it caters to every appetite--no matter how depraved. Also on offer are quality wines and substances of all sorts, both licit and illicit. In circles of the great and powerful, it has apparently been discovered that being petrified, and subsequently cured, provides a sense of euphoria greater than fornication with a succubus or a hit of the finest Ghost Powder. You have heard that they will pay handsomely for the gift of an adult male basilisk, which are common in the Clanging Mine to the east-- but nobody who ventured to capture a beast and claim the reward has returned.

 

[Cernor]

You didn't forget about this thread, did you? I dislike posting twice in a row, but you slackers have given me no choice

Behir

On the 14th day of Winterchill, on the 32nd year in the reign of King Codsworth XI; that is, the 194th year of the 3rd dynasty of the Kingdom of Bluevale; there was a disturbance in court of some significance. The dragon Illmeth, long a friend of Bluevale, sent an emissary asking the king for help defeating a creature that threatened her clutch of eggs. This caused quite the commotion, and the king offered a knighthood on whoever brought the beast of which she spoke back to court.

Two weeks later, it is said that a monstrous creature, like a blue serpent with legs and a terrible maw, destroyed the town of Bluevale during a battle with Illmeth, but none speak of who was victorious. Such stories must surely be nonsense: what could possibly threaten a dragon?

--Ossic the Monk, Court Scribe of the 4th dynasty of the Kingdom of Bluevale

 

[steeldragons]

You didn't forget about this thread, did you? I dislike posting twice in a row, but you slackers have given me no choice

Well, since it seemed I was being a nuissance with MY postings, so I thought it would be good to ease you out of your comfort zone/double posting phobia.

Let's see...one of my favorites.

Behir
In my world setting of Orea, Behir are one of several creatures who are considered "Dragonkin." That is, a fully draconic creature, born of dragons/dragon eggs, that isn't/doesn't form a fully developed "real" dragon offspring. Behir, hydrae, wyverns, and linnorms are the most abundant examples of these "almost right" dragon offspring, though others [like dragonnes] do exist. Naturally, the extreme rarity [or so it seems to mortal races] of dragon reproduction makes these "almost dragons" still quite rare.

Chromatic, moreso than Metallic, dragons produce these "imperfect" [as they are viewed by full dragons of all kinds, including their parents] offspring. The evil taint in their nature continues to lessen and dilute the former god-like power and form of chromatic dragons much more readily than "good" dragonkind. Thus malformed offspring are more common.

As such, dragonkin may come in as many varieties as their parentage. So such creatures as "red" behirs who breathe fire or "black" hydrae with/without acid breath, etc... are possible. Though they are not extraordinarily intelligent, behirs in particular have been known to speak a language or two, though no magic-using/spell-casting behirs are known or reported.

In the case of behirs, the creatures are often found within or very near the territory of their parent dragon, serving as additional guard, company, perhaps even consort, and/or eking out their own little corner over which to "rule", under the watch of mummy or daddy.

Perhaps the best know tale of a behir comes from the tales of the adventuring heroes known as the Stormriders. Relatively early in their career, the group came upon the lair of Rach'sha, known in the story as "the Black Behir." Its sleek hide of iron-hard scales an inky black banded by violet.

They found the beast at the base of the lone mountain/ruin of Nor Gorthok deep within the vile Feldmere swamp. There the creature resided in some luxury, worshiped by a large tribe of lizardmen as a deity. The creature received large sacrifices of riches, magic items, and lives (when it indicated it was hungry). Naturally, any non-lizardfolk that was found in the swamp was readily put on Rach'sha's sacrificial plate.

After multiple encounters and the total loss of three of their number, the heroes slayed the creature. It was later revealed the creature was the progeny of the dread wyrm Desaarthal. The ancient black dragon of significant magical prowess, among the eldest known in the realms, had an established lair within Nor Gorthok and was not at all pleased with the loss of one of her [many many] progeny.

It was said that the forces of the Demon Godson during the Scourge Wars also amassed a number of behirs to wreak chaos and havoc in a given locale prior to his armies' arrival/invasion. Perhaps the best known of these was a "blue lightning snake-wyrm" who terrorized the dwarven territories of Dundiran. It became known as "Shoktnuur", translating from the South dwarf [Sotdurv] tongue as "Rock Shatterer" or "Stonehold Explosion." Whether or not this was a name the creature actually used is unknown. Many encounters with the monster are chronicled, and great loss of dwarven life. Perhaps more importantly in the dwarven laments, loss of wealth, as the behir delighted in stealing what riches it could from the [then plentiful] gold and mithral mines. It was pressed ever-further beneath the mountains of Daegun, the creature's ultimate fate has never been revealed or confirmed.

 

[steeldragons]

Like the legendary Tarrasque, it can be buried. It can be forgotten. But it will never die.

<performs Thread Necromancy ritual. Rolls natural 20!> The Monster-A-Day thread returneth!

Now, onto the serious business at hand...

The Beholder
A, some might say the, D&D classic. When it comes to these sorts of iconic D&D monsters, I tend not to venture too far from the originals. My world doesn't have any Xanathar's [or whatever that 'holder in Waterdeep's name was]. No secret societies. Though I have toyed with the whole "separate Underdark civilization" idea. Never gotten to/had to use it yet.

In the spirit of the thread, however, a view of this symbol of D&D itself as might be discovered or heard by PCs...

From The Collected Writings of Ormont the Observant, Sage of Brightmoon and Knower of things Unknown as written, collected, editted & otherwise organized by same.:

...and on that day the chronicler, Justiniel Swanharp, arrived for an appointed tea. The celebrated bard of the southern kingdom asked his brilliant host about a scrap of a legend he'd gleaned from, as this writer understands it, a drinking song of the dwarves of Dundiran. The song tells of the Daegun dwarves first founding delves into the roots of those mountains and an encounter with a horror, calling it only "the Eye of the Deep" and, so the song goes, "the Eye gazes only on the dead." This same 'Evil Eye', or so the bard supposed, is a curse among the bearded stoutfolk who inhabit the south kingdom about Daegun and, indeed, the men of that same realm, with the whispered exclamation of "Eye take you" or "the Eye take it" used, as this writer was given to understand, as an expletive for any sort of misfortune or unwanted happenstance.

The wise sage responded thusly, "It is said the Eye of the Beholder holds beauty, but according to the few fragments of myth and literature that I have had the foresight and intelligence to gather on the topic, what few have survived to our current days, of course, this unknown creature holds naught but death and destruction to all who view it.

"It is said the creature's gaze surpasses that of the basilisk or medusans. That death comes in many forms, from the nearly merciful petrification to fire and pain and unto complete annihilation.

According to report by one daelvar, to whom I undertook the month-long journey to northern Grinlia to interview personally, having been given by mine agents word of this alleged encounter, the creature is naught but eyes. From each a different torture is contained within and shines forth to the lamentations of all they meet.

"Of course, this poor creature was more than a little mad from his ordeal, alleging to be the only survivor of a twelve member foray. The locals of the village did confirm the daelvar's membership in such a company, who were apparently adventurers of some renown for that region. But given the hairfoot's mental state, I musts like the pitiable fellow's observations with grains of salt.

"Naturally, being the thorough and truest student of knowledge, I kept mine own eyes and ears open for corroboration to any information about this creature of Eyes of Death and came across a fragment of an elvin history from the ages before Men. It tells of the passing of that age's final Dragonmage, and in fact chronicles the end of that line until revived in the bloodline of the family we know today. The details of the battle have been long lost to dust, but the remaining fragment, which I saw with mine own eyes, states, and I quote:

...the Eye didst scowl and scorch and make great destruction. The dragon magic failed him, as ne'er before nor since. The greatest [wizard of dragons], hope of elfkind, fell. Hopelessness claimed him. Beholden to the creature's mighty appetite of insatiable despair, didst the final blood of Authrykaii leave the world. Shining spirit, naught but dust. Beautiful light, fore'er darken'd. "​

"Thusly, and by site of Belbin's Indisputable Bestiary, this great sage of our age reasons all of these tales are tied and refer to what Belbin calls only "the Beholder." A creature of such malice and malignancy that e'en the very air about it seems to sulk in gloom and misery and whose gaze, be the eyes one or many, for Belbin the creature is both, brings only instant death or madness to all it perceives.

"So this writer concluded to the Mostralian minstrel that this Death Eye of the dwarves, the poor daelvar of Grinlia, the elvin history and the entry of the indisputable Belbin, were creature or creatures one and the same. Indeed, give prayers and make offerings to all gods you revere, the Eye of the Beholder ne'er fall upon ye.

"Bysdan and Sorilorr bless we do not.', replied Justiniel in wrapt terrified attention. The two wise men concluded their evening partaking of excellent blackginger tea and pearlberry scones.

As might be expected, The Collected Works of Ormont are not an Orean bestseller. Though for all his long-windedness, the observations are nearly always accurate and so sages, historians, bards and wizards across the realms, reluctantly give the blowhard his due....and his recipe for pearlberry scones remain a favorite confection throughout south Grinlia.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOURS, FROM STEEL DRAGONS!!!
Wishes to all for a safe and fulfilling holiday.