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Legend
Step 5: Making Monsters (part 5 – Legendary Monsters / Villains)
The last topic on monster-making I want to cover is Legendary Monsters. I'm going to make this a 4-step approach, using my example of the Bonfire (a secretive archmage pyromancer ruling the Brotherhood of True Flame).
First, design philosophy & brainstorm.
Second, background & story.
Third, stat block.
Fourth, lair actions & regional effects.
[SBLOCK=Design philosophy & brainstorm]First, there's lots of design philosophies out there about this topic.
Some think villains should emerge organically through the players actions; in other words, that the DM throws out potential enemies without any attachment to one particular enemy, and whatever "rises to the top" (through players' actions or interest, your malign DM cunning, or sheer luck of the dice) that is where the villain is for now (and is subject to change at any moment). This school of thought also sometimes goes hand-in-hand with a minimalist aesthetic around monster design.
Others view crafting a villain as sort of literary art, where you really want to get inside their headspace, make multi-layered plans, contingencies to avoid an early death, and crafting elaborate lairs. This school of thought also sometimes goes hand-in-hand with elaborate monster design harkening back to some 3e and 4e monsters in terms of complexity, and often language like "boss monster" or "solo" is used.
For some "Legendary" is a chiefly mechanical distinction. For the minimalist DM, it can be just a catch phrase for "has a greater likelihood of killing a PC" or an indicator for the monster to control more territory. While for other DMs, the mechanics of being legendary can become an end in and of themselves.
For me, "Legendary Monster" means a villainous creature with a compelling story, whose actions (and sometimes mere presence) have far-reaching effects, they've been in play for several years most likely, and there are a variety of rumors/legends floating around about them with varying degrees of truth. In fact, I think 5e's Legendary Monsters, while indeed influenced by solo monsters from 4th edition, have origins in PLANESCAPE's Monster of Legend, which in turn references Classical Greek myth.
When I create a villain – and here I'm going to look at The Bonfire – I try to start from a clear concise backstory that explains that villain's essence. I can (and often will) flesh that out extensively, but sometimes excessive prose can cloud the clarity of your design. Just like with anything you create – adventures, dungeons, NPCs – you want to have a solid understanding of that creation, a "power statement" or "elevator" pitch if you will. Here's mine, still a work-in-progress, but getting there:
[SECTION]The Bonfire, also called Nar-Aidiya, is the suave yet paranoid ruler of the Brotherhood of True Flame, a man with a thousand enemies and a thousand fiery daggers waiting to be plunged into their hearts. In his youth, he was a mage at the University, but after an intimate betrayal his heart hardened against the kingdom. Finding solace in the writings of the Brotherhood, he was inducted into their ranks secretly over a year, and rapidly rose to a position of prominence until he challenged the former leader to a spell duel. Emerging the victor, he claimed the title of The Bonfire, and with it the stolen divine flame of a celestial was passed onto him, empowering his magic and lighting a fire in his mind.[/SECTION]
Part of the trick in crafting The Bonfire is that he's referred to elusively in several AL-QADIM books, where his mysteriousness is played up. Basically, being a mysterious threat is portrayed as his raison d'être – which is fine if you're just dropping a name, but a little more complicated when you actually want to include that villain in an adventure. Even as I define him, I don't want to define him so much, nor define him in the wrong way, that he loses that aura of mystery.
Designing this villain is going to be an iterative process for me, much like designing the dungeon. For now, I'm trying to work out the details of his background & most of all: Why is he obsessed with fire magic being superior to other forms of magic? And why has he adopted such extreme violent methods to convince/coerce others of this? So I need to delve into the psychology of the supremacist and the terrorist a bit, and that's going to take a bit of thinking to do in a way that doesn't resort to "well, he's insane."
I do have stat block ideas for him, but I think it's so important to get the story down first, so I'm going to hold off on getting into the stat block design until I "crack" The Bonfire's story.[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Background & story]
The Bonfire
The Bonfire, also called Nar-Aidiya, is the canny yet paranoid ruler of the Brotherhood of True Flame, an archmage with a thousand enemies and a thousand fiery daggers waiting to be plunged into their hearts. Only his trusted followers know the Bonfire’s true face, while the rest only see his vague burning visage in magic mirrors or projected images, or unwittingly meet him disguised as a senior flame mage.
Desert Origins. Samad ita-Hariq was a sullen desert youth whose tribe – Al-Qamar (Children of the Moon) – suffered under an efreeti’s curse. Storms followed them from the Haunted Lands to the mountains to the coast, making the name “Al-Qamar” synonymous with wrack and ruin. Though Samad’s father, the sheikh, had grown superstitious against magic – pointing to the suffering the efreeti’s curse wrought – Samad believed magic held the key to breaking the curse. When none would listen, he stole much of the tribe’s fortunes and fled, enrolling himself at the University of Qadib.
Flame of Passion. Among the urbane wizards at the University, Samad was a ridiculed outsider. Though his pride burned, he was diligent in his studies of the efreet and their fiery magic, studying under the venerable Sahib Kumeer. Why the efreeti cursed his people remained a mystery until he met Rahmah al-Zahir, a student of wind and fire magic belonging to the royal family of the Grand Caliph. Samad’s passions and intellect found an equal in Rahmah, and with her help Samad learned that the efreet – named Malik Hakiziman – was bound in an oil lamp by the senior mages of the University before being tossed into the Haunted Lands. There, it was believed, the lamp would never be found. Outraged, Samad blamed the mages for his tribe’s curse.
Betrayal. Only Rahmah’s good graces kept Samad from acting rashly, but their torrid affair was cut short by an unexpected pregnancy which led to Rahmah’s royal family withdrawing her from the University upon Sahib Kumeer’s recommendation. In desperation, Samad made plans to call on the efreeti Hakiziman, planning to break his family’s curse and win Rahmah back. Before she left the University, Rahmah revealed his plans to the senior instructors and Samad was expelled, again upon Sahib Kumeer’s recommnedation. However, this did not stop him from summoning Malik Hakiziman. The efreeti’s insidious words revealed that Samad’s father was the one responsible for the curse; when Samad’s father freed the efreeti from its lamp he asked that it grant the Al-Qamar the might of the storm. In return the efreeti asked for his firstborn child, and so the deal was struck.
Family Reunion. Shocked, Samad returned to his tribe intending to confront his father and break the curse. However, he was received by a mob who intended to see him punished for stealing their wealth, scapegoating him as their “bringer of ill fortune.” When no mercy was to be found from his father, Samad made a new deal with the efreeti: Hakiziman would relinquish his claim on Samad’s soul and instead Samad would bring fiery wrath upon his tribe. Their souls for his. And so the dark deal was struck. To this day, the undead remains of Al-Qamar wander the Haunted Lands seeking release from their fate.
Rise in the Brotherhood. Samad then turned his dire gaze upon his former mentor Sahib Kumeer. Little could he have known that aging teacher was actually the Bonfire, secret master Brotherhood of True Flame who sought a worthy heir. Sahib Kumeer carried within his chest the divine flame of an asuras, a fiery angel, who was deceived by the first of the men bearing the mantle of the Bonfire into reqlinquishing it. However, this divine flame was destroying Sahib Kumeer and he sought to pass it down before it drove him mad. Samad was tested and rapidly rose to a position of prominence in the Brotherhood, nursing his grudge against the Bonfire until he was ready to issue a challenge. It was a spell duel to the death that shook the firmament of the desert. Narowly emerging the victor, Samad assumed the mantle of the Bonfire. However, as much as the asuras’ flame empowers him it also torments him for the wicked make a poor vessel for the transcendant.
Philosophy of Supremacy. Fire and the word. These things elevate mankind above the beasts, and there is nothing that embodies these more than flame magic, so teaches the Bonfire. Other forms of magic that control the sands, the waves, and the winds belong to ancient times when the world was consumed by darkness. The True Flame is the guiding light forward, and those who cannot be brought to its truth will be incinerated by it.[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Stat block]My next step is making a bullet-point list of traits that I plan on incorporating into the stat block:
Here's where this has led me so far, after a few rounds of edits thanks to comments from folks on ENWorld...
[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Lair actions & regional effects]
The most important thing to remember when designing lair actions & regional effects is that they represent the monster's connection to / influence on the environment. A good example is the Beholder causing eyes/appendages to grow on the walls – that speaks to the creepy unnatural effect it has on its surroundings. A bad example is the Lich regaining a spell slot or firing a crackling cord of negative energy tethering it to a living creature – while those are Lich-y things to do, they don't seem unique to its lair, and seem like better candidates for Legendary Actions. So I want to keep that in mind while devising the Bonfire's lair actions & regional effects.
Like before, I begin with a brainstorm:
Regional Effects
The region containing the Bonfire’s lair, including Krak al-Mazhar and the Great Anvil, is warped by his magic, which creates the following effects:
[SECTION]Resources: Villain & Legendary Monster Design
Villain Builder: 7 part series by Wolfgang Baur
Sly Flourish: Building Legendary Creatures
Secret Planescape Origin of Legendary Solo Monsters (my ENWorld thread)[/SECTION]
The last topic on monster-making I want to cover is Legendary Monsters. I'm going to make this a 4-step approach, using my example of the Bonfire (a secretive archmage pyromancer ruling the Brotherhood of True Flame).
First, design philosophy & brainstorm.
Second, background & story.
Third, stat block.
Fourth, lair actions & regional effects.
[SBLOCK=Design philosophy & brainstorm]First, there's lots of design philosophies out there about this topic.
Some think villains should emerge organically through the players actions; in other words, that the DM throws out potential enemies without any attachment to one particular enemy, and whatever "rises to the top" (through players' actions or interest, your malign DM cunning, or sheer luck of the dice) that is where the villain is for now (and is subject to change at any moment). This school of thought also sometimes goes hand-in-hand with a minimalist aesthetic around monster design.
Others view crafting a villain as sort of literary art, where you really want to get inside their headspace, make multi-layered plans, contingencies to avoid an early death, and crafting elaborate lairs. This school of thought also sometimes goes hand-in-hand with elaborate monster design harkening back to some 3e and 4e monsters in terms of complexity, and often language like "boss monster" or "solo" is used.
For some "Legendary" is a chiefly mechanical distinction. For the minimalist DM, it can be just a catch phrase for "has a greater likelihood of killing a PC" or an indicator for the monster to control more territory. While for other DMs, the mechanics of being legendary can become an end in and of themselves.
For me, "Legendary Monster" means a villainous creature with a compelling story, whose actions (and sometimes mere presence) have far-reaching effects, they've been in play for several years most likely, and there are a variety of rumors/legends floating around about them with varying degrees of truth. In fact, I think 5e's Legendary Monsters, while indeed influenced by solo monsters from 4th edition, have origins in PLANESCAPE's Monster of Legend, which in turn references Classical Greek myth.
When I create a villain – and here I'm going to look at The Bonfire – I try to start from a clear concise backstory that explains that villain's essence. I can (and often will) flesh that out extensively, but sometimes excessive prose can cloud the clarity of your design. Just like with anything you create – adventures, dungeons, NPCs – you want to have a solid understanding of that creation, a "power statement" or "elevator" pitch if you will. Here's mine, still a work-in-progress, but getting there:
[SECTION]The Bonfire, also called Nar-Aidiya, is the suave yet paranoid ruler of the Brotherhood of True Flame, a man with a thousand enemies and a thousand fiery daggers waiting to be plunged into their hearts. In his youth, he was a mage at the University, but after an intimate betrayal his heart hardened against the kingdom. Finding solace in the writings of the Brotherhood, he was inducted into their ranks secretly over a year, and rapidly rose to a position of prominence until he challenged the former leader to a spell duel. Emerging the victor, he claimed the title of The Bonfire, and with it the stolen divine flame of a celestial was passed onto him, empowering his magic and lighting a fire in his mind.[/SECTION]
Part of the trick in crafting The Bonfire is that he's referred to elusively in several AL-QADIM books, where his mysteriousness is played up. Basically, being a mysterious threat is portrayed as his raison d'être – which is fine if you're just dropping a name, but a little more complicated when you actually want to include that villain in an adventure. Even as I define him, I don't want to define him so much, nor define him in the wrong way, that he loses that aura of mystery.
Designing this villain is going to be an iterative process for me, much like designing the dungeon. For now, I'm trying to work out the details of his background & most of all: Why is he obsessed with fire magic being superior to other forms of magic? And why has he adopted such extreme violent methods to convince/coerce others of this? So I need to delve into the psychology of the supremacist and the terrorist a bit, and that's going to take a bit of thinking to do in a way that doesn't resort to "well, he's insane."
I do have stat block ideas for him, but I think it's so important to get the story down first, so I'm going to hold off on getting into the stat block design until I "crack" The Bonfire's story.[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Background & story]
The Bonfire
The Bonfire, also called Nar-Aidiya, is the canny yet paranoid ruler of the Brotherhood of True Flame, an archmage with a thousand enemies and a thousand fiery daggers waiting to be plunged into their hearts. Only his trusted followers know the Bonfire’s true face, while the rest only see his vague burning visage in magic mirrors or projected images, or unwittingly meet him disguised as a senior flame mage.
Desert Origins. Samad ita-Hariq was a sullen desert youth whose tribe – Al-Qamar (Children of the Moon) – suffered under an efreeti’s curse. Storms followed them from the Haunted Lands to the mountains to the coast, making the name “Al-Qamar” synonymous with wrack and ruin. Though Samad’s father, the sheikh, had grown superstitious against magic – pointing to the suffering the efreeti’s curse wrought – Samad believed magic held the key to breaking the curse. When none would listen, he stole much of the tribe’s fortunes and fled, enrolling himself at the University of Qadib.
Flame of Passion. Among the urbane wizards at the University, Samad was a ridiculed outsider. Though his pride burned, he was diligent in his studies of the efreet and their fiery magic, studying under the venerable Sahib Kumeer. Why the efreeti cursed his people remained a mystery until he met Rahmah al-Zahir, a student of wind and fire magic belonging to the royal family of the Grand Caliph. Samad’s passions and intellect found an equal in Rahmah, and with her help Samad learned that the efreet – named Malik Hakiziman – was bound in an oil lamp by the senior mages of the University before being tossed into the Haunted Lands. There, it was believed, the lamp would never be found. Outraged, Samad blamed the mages for his tribe’s curse.
Betrayal. Only Rahmah’s good graces kept Samad from acting rashly, but their torrid affair was cut short by an unexpected pregnancy which led to Rahmah’s royal family withdrawing her from the University upon Sahib Kumeer’s recommendation. In desperation, Samad made plans to call on the efreeti Hakiziman, planning to break his family’s curse and win Rahmah back. Before she left the University, Rahmah revealed his plans to the senior instructors and Samad was expelled, again upon Sahib Kumeer’s recommnedation. However, this did not stop him from summoning Malik Hakiziman. The efreeti’s insidious words revealed that Samad’s father was the one responsible for the curse; when Samad’s father freed the efreeti from its lamp he asked that it grant the Al-Qamar the might of the storm. In return the efreeti asked for his firstborn child, and so the deal was struck.
Family Reunion. Shocked, Samad returned to his tribe intending to confront his father and break the curse. However, he was received by a mob who intended to see him punished for stealing their wealth, scapegoating him as their “bringer of ill fortune.” When no mercy was to be found from his father, Samad made a new deal with the efreeti: Hakiziman would relinquish his claim on Samad’s soul and instead Samad would bring fiery wrath upon his tribe. Their souls for his. And so the dark deal was struck. To this day, the undead remains of Al-Qamar wander the Haunted Lands seeking release from their fate.
Rise in the Brotherhood. Samad then turned his dire gaze upon his former mentor Sahib Kumeer. Little could he have known that aging teacher was actually the Bonfire, secret master Brotherhood of True Flame who sought a worthy heir. Sahib Kumeer carried within his chest the divine flame of an asuras, a fiery angel, who was deceived by the first of the men bearing the mantle of the Bonfire into reqlinquishing it. However, this divine flame was destroying Sahib Kumeer and he sought to pass it down before it drove him mad. Samad was tested and rapidly rose to a position of prominence in the Brotherhood, nursing his grudge against the Bonfire until he was ready to issue a challenge. It was a spell duel to the death that shook the firmament of the desert. Narowly emerging the victor, Samad assumed the mantle of the Bonfire. However, as much as the asuras’ flame empowers him it also torments him for the wicked make a poor vessel for the transcendant.
Philosophy of Supremacy. Fire and the word. These things elevate mankind above the beasts, and there is nothing that embodies these more than flame magic, so teaches the Bonfire. Other forms of magic that control the sands, the waves, and the winds belong to ancient times when the world was consumed by darkness. The True Flame is the guiding light forward, and those who cannot be brought to its truth will be incinerated by it.[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Stat block]My next step is making a bullet-point list of traits that I plan on incorporating into the stat block:
- 20th level wizard chassis with Spell Master & Signature Spell features.
- Lots of fire spells (some homebrew), but not limited to wizard list if spell is fire-themed.
- Paranoid...because many are trying to kill him.
- Invested with asuras' divine flame...improved concentration? leadership of flame mages? transferrable if killed.
- Some sort of connection to undead, given his backstory of what he did to his tribe. Possibly a Legendary Action.
- Ability to heal himself by "consuming" fire...not like iron golem's Fire Absorption. Possibly a Legendary Action.
- Ability to teleport through flames, probably close to dimension door. Possibly a Legendary Action.
- His counterspelling has fiery kickback.
- Good saving throws & Magic resistance. Immunity to fire damage. Probably no Legendary Resistance trait (I think it's cheap and lacks flavor).
- Will need to boost Hit Points (over normal 20d8 for a roughly 20th-level NPC) to make him able to survive a 15th-16th level party.
- Many potent magic items, some homebrew & one – The Molten Throne – is an artifact.
Here's where this has led me so far, after a few rounds of edits thanks to comments from folks on ENWorld...
[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK=Lair actions & regional effects]
The most important thing to remember when designing lair actions & regional effects is that they represent the monster's connection to / influence on the environment. A good example is the Beholder causing eyes/appendages to grow on the walls – that speaks to the creepy unnatural effect it has on its surroundings. A bad example is the Lich regaining a spell slot or firing a crackling cord of negative energy tethering it to a living creature – while those are Lich-y things to do, they don't seem unique to its lair, and seem like better candidates for Legendary Actions. So I want to keep that in mind while devising the Bonfire's lair actions & regional effects.
Like before, I begin with a brainstorm:
- Drawing on power of caldera to cause eruption of a fumarole. Lair Action.
- Drawing upon the Portal to Plane of Fire in Krak al-Mazhar to conjure minor fire elementals. Lair Action.
- ? Lair Action?
- Awareness of fires lit in Krak al-Mazhar and option to perceive through them & cast enchantment/divination spells through them (underlined in stat block). Regional Effect.
- Barely controlled curses "roaming" the Great Anvil desert. Regional Effect.
Regional Effects
The region containing the Bonfire’s lair, including Krak al-Mazhar and the Great Anvil, is warped by his magic, which creates the following effects:
- Anytime a creature lights a fire in Krak al-Mazhar, the Bonfire becomes aware of it and may take an action to see and hear through the fire. While his perception is shifted into the fire, the Bonfire is blinded and deafened with respect to his physical body, but he can speak through the fire and cast divination and enchantment spells (underlined) using the fire as the origin.
- Seven curses afflict the Great Anvil due to the legacy of the Bonfire; these are more extensive than the usual regional effects...
[SECTION]Resources: Villain & Legendary Monster Design
Villain Builder: 7 part series by Wolfgang Baur
Sly Flourish: Building Legendary Creatures
Secret Planescape Origin of Legendary Solo Monsters (my ENWorld thread)[/SECTION]
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but hopefully I'm doing better now!
