der_kluge
Adventurer
I think the monster advice is on point. In fact, I spent some time last night going through the MM and finding monsters that I thought would work well (as-is), and a narrative began to emerge from that.
a spectator (pg. 30) could guard a lair - interesting because it could be described like a beholder
A forest cursed by Blights (pg. 31-32)
Someone is lost and hasn't returned. They encountered a cockatrice (pg. 42), and have been turned to stone
A quasit (pg. 63) - a former familiar to a dead master, the quasit can assume alternative forms and can scare people into thinking it's something greater than it is.
A dryad (pg. 121), having lost her tree (perhaps corrupted by blights) and is now driven into madness.
An ettercap (ettercaps?) (pg. 131) has turned a once pristine forest into a gloomy, webbed nightmare.
A lot of the Witcher lives in this sort of moral grey area. So, a green hag could actually be seen by some of the populace as kind of beneficial person, when of course, she isn't. So, the PCs could align themselves with a green hag in order to get something they need (and of course, if they do something for her, in turn). She could act as a kind of "wise woman" in the area, that preys on the populace, and fills a weird kind of niche.
As for a campaign (or the start of one), I kind of envision some sort of Mage, or something like that, dying, and creating a power vacuum, and chaos in his wake. The quasit could be a former familiar, and he left a spectator to guard something the party might need. Some sort of forest became corrupt - sending the dryad into madness. Ettercaps moved in, and are waging a slow war against the blights.
I really liked the earlier idea of a populace sacrificing pigs to a vampire (a vampire spawn in this case). And for fun, I've included a wereboar, who is obviously very opposed to the idea, and leads wild boars in an attack on the town, in order to stop sacrificing "his kind" to the vampire.
So, it's a fun exercise in constructing stuff in this manner, and I think it could lead to an interesting campaign. I might not run it as a standalone game. Rather, I'm thinking of using some of these ideas later one when my city-based party makes their way into the wilderness, and learns that life outside the gates is really, really harsh. (i.e., you've lived in Oxenfurt your whole life, and have suddenly been displaced to Velen...)
a spectator (pg. 30) could guard a lair - interesting because it could be described like a beholder
A forest cursed by Blights (pg. 31-32)
Someone is lost and hasn't returned. They encountered a cockatrice (pg. 42), and have been turned to stone
A quasit (pg. 63) - a former familiar to a dead master, the quasit can assume alternative forms and can scare people into thinking it's something greater than it is.
A dryad (pg. 121), having lost her tree (perhaps corrupted by blights) and is now driven into madness.
An ettercap (ettercaps?) (pg. 131) has turned a once pristine forest into a gloomy, webbed nightmare.
A lot of the Witcher lives in this sort of moral grey area. So, a green hag could actually be seen by some of the populace as kind of beneficial person, when of course, she isn't. So, the PCs could align themselves with a green hag in order to get something they need (and of course, if they do something for her, in turn). She could act as a kind of "wise woman" in the area, that preys on the populace, and fills a weird kind of niche.
As for a campaign (or the start of one), I kind of envision some sort of Mage, or something like that, dying, and creating a power vacuum, and chaos in his wake. The quasit could be a former familiar, and he left a spectator to guard something the party might need. Some sort of forest became corrupt - sending the dryad into madness. Ettercaps moved in, and are waging a slow war against the blights.
I really liked the earlier idea of a populace sacrificing pigs to a vampire (a vampire spawn in this case). And for fun, I've included a wereboar, who is obviously very opposed to the idea, and leads wild boars in an attack on the town, in order to stop sacrificing "his kind" to the vampire.
So, it's a fun exercise in constructing stuff in this manner, and I think it could lead to an interesting campaign. I might not run it as a standalone game. Rather, I'm thinking of using some of these ideas later one when my city-based party makes their way into the wilderness, and learns that life outside the gates is really, really harsh. (i.e., you've lived in Oxenfurt your whole life, and have suddenly been displaced to Velen...)
