Time Dragon Time Dragon Gargantuan Dragon, Neutral Button Hero Forge Mini Double mini, no kitbash Description (From 5e Planescape: Morte's Planar Parade - 2023): These sleek dragons harness the power of time to manipulate the past, present, and future. Time dragon wyrmlings are born with shining scales and have horns that are barely more than nubs. As they master the flow of time, their horns grow with branching, rainbow-hued veins suggestive of time’s paths and possibilities. Ancient time dragons can create temporal gates connected to specific times and places in the multiverse. Using these, they and allied creatures can travel anywhere in time to affect fate-determining moments or to banish threats beyond the flow of time. As a result of their ability to travel between ages, time dragons often seem unstuck from the usual flow of time and have a flexible view of what is, what was, and what will be. Time dragons prize historical records, objects representative of lost cultures, and treasures from long-gone creators. They are fascinated by time-manipulation magic and forgotten knowledge. Those who stumble upon a time dragon’s hoard might find invaluable historical information from eras past. A Time Dragon’s Lair Time dragons often lair in the ruins of ancient civilizations or temples to dead gods and do their utmost to preserve these historical sites. A time dragon’s insatiable desire for knowledge means it’s likely to have more than one such lair. The challenge rating of an ancient or adult time dragon increases by 1 when it’s encountered in its lair. Lair Actions On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon can take one of the following lair actions; the ancient or adult dragon can’t take the same lair action two rounds in a row: Temporal Fling. The dragon attempts to fling a creature it can see within 60 feet of itself forward through time. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or take 26 ((4d12)) psychic damage and move 1 round forward in time. A target moved forward in time vanishes for the duration. When the effect ends, the target reappears in the space it left or in an unoccupied space nearest to that space if it’s occupied. Temporal Lag. The dragon slows time for each creature within 60 feet of itself. Until initiative count 20 of the next round, the affected creature can move or take an action on its turn, not both. The creature also can’t take a reaction or a bonus action. Timeline Divergence. The dragon chooses a space it can fit into within its lair. The dragon exists simultaneously in its space and the chosen space until initiative count 20 on the next round. Whenever it moves or takes an action, the dragon chooses which version is moving or acting. If an effect or attack can target both the dragon’s spaces at the same time, the dragon is affected only once. Regional Effects The region surrounding an ancient or adult time dragon’s lair is altered by the dragon’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects: Time Dilations. Time fluctuates within 3 miles of the lair. Short rests taken within this area take 10 minutes or 2 hours (your choice). Timelessness. Beasts, Humanoids, and Plants within 3 miles of the lair age only 1 year for every 10 years that pass. If the dragon dies, these effects fade over the course of (4d12) days. (From Dragon Magazine #359 - 2007): This dragon's charcoal-gray scales lay closer to its flesh and bear no ridges, giving the creature a smooth look. An hourglass-shapes mask of black scales surroundes its eyes and twelve evenly-spaced lines of black scales radiate back along its body, like tree rings. A spike in the shape of a typical gnomon extends from the back of its skull, effectively doubling the length of its head. Its triangular wings spread from their narrowest points at its back to give them the overall shape of an hourglass. Two spikes of different lengths protrude from the end of its tail, giving it two tips. Breath Weapons (Su): A time dragon has two types of breath weapon, a line of ravaging time and a cone of time expulsion. Creatures and objects within a line of ravaging time age 1 year per age category (no save); creatures take 1 point of Constitution damage and objects lose 1 point of hardness per age category of the dragon (fortitude half). Creatures within a cone of time expulsion disappear and cannot act for 1 round per age category of the dragon (Will negates). These creatures are not under the effect of a time stop , they arc thrown into the future a number of rounds and effectively do not exist until lhe timestream catches up with them. Time Control (Su): A time dragon emerges from its egg with some level of natural control over the flow of time and its own place within the flow. From hatching, a time dragon can accelerate its actions relative to the actions of others. As a free action, a time dragon can will itself to move more quickly, enabling it to set as though affected by a haste spell tor up to 5 rounds each day. The duration of the haste effect need not be consecutive rounds. Time dragons are immune to slow effects. Time Stop (Sp): At a standard action, a time dragon can cast time stop at will. The time dragon cannot remain completely removed from the timestream, however, and must wait 2d4 rounds between uses of this ability. Draconic Surge (Ex): A very young or older time dragon can, once per day as a swill action, borrow time from the future. This allows the time dragon to take an extra standard or move action during its turn. An old or older time dragon can use this ability twice per day. Time Mastery (Su): Thanks to its greater control over its connection (or lack thereof) to the flow of hme, an adult or older time dragon operates continuously under the effects of a haste spell, A time dragon cannot suppress this ability, and if dispelled it automatically resumes at the start of the time dragon's next turn (this requires no action or conscious thought on the part of the time dragon). This increased control also allows a time dragon of at least adult age to slip into and out of the timestream mote effectively. It must wait only 1d4 rounds between uses of its time stop spell-like ability. Stow Aura (Su): An ancient or older time dragon possesses godlike control over time but also a much lesser amount of control over the space around it. It can express this control by emanating a slow aura up to 10 fat per age category for up to 10 rounds each day. Choosing to emanate the slow aura is a free action that must be made every round the time dragon wishes to maintain it. The duration of the slow aura need not be consecutive rounds. Creatures are automatically affected as by the slow spell (no save) each round they begin their turn within the area of the aura. Time Apotheosis (Ex): Once it lives long enough to become a great wyrm, a time dragon has such an intricale tie to the timestream that it can move backward and forward through time almost at will, This movement through time allows a great wyrm time dragon to wait only 1 round between uses of its time stop spell-like ability. In addition, a great wyrm time dragon becomes immune to any spell or effect with a duration greater than instantaneous cast on it by another creature, as well as effects that can affect it over time or that require the passage of time (such as dehydration, disease, poison, and starvation), it is not immune to its own noninstantaneous spells and effects. Because a great wyrm time dragon can travel into possible futures, it rolls 2d20 on every d20 roil it makes, taking the better of the two results. I.astly, a great wynn time dragon can make forays into the past and into possible futures. Such forays require preparation, and cannot be performed within the timeframe of a combat. Traveling Through Time: Generally, the longer into the past or future the time dragon wishes to explore, the more resources it must expend. The details of this preparation, as well as the actual specifics of time travel, are outside the scope of this article and really only affect PCs if they become willing (or unwitting) assistants to a time dragon. At the very least, a time dragon must spend several minutes in preparation of traveling through time, meditating and preparing itself physically and mentally for its journey. Spell-Like Ability: At will — time stop (wyrmling and older must wait 2d4 rounds, adult and older must wait 1d4 rounds, great wyrm must wait i round); 3/day- slow (juvenile or older). Skills : All Knowledge skills and Speak Languages are class skills for time dragons. Time dragons, also sometimes called chronology dragons, epoch dragons, or ageless dragons, rarely deign to interact with mortals — or even, for that matter, immortals. Strategies and Tactics Time dragons have better things to do than to engage in the potential dangers of combat. As such, they never hesitate to use every ability at their disposal to end a fight as quickly as possible or to simply flee if overwhelmed. Note that most time dragons are as satisfied with incapacitating enemies as killing them. They make extensive use of their time stop ability to move around the battlefield and set up spells to hinder or kill their opponents. Generally, time dragons start with their most powerful spells, weakening any who survive with their ravaging time breath. Time dragons never willingly fight to the death. Ecology : Only disasters or other creatures can kill time dragons. The passage of time itself cannot. As such, they are the only truly immortal nondeific dragons. Because of their unique ties to the timestream, time dragons age randomly. Knowing the age category of a time dragon does not, therefore, give an accurate estimation of its age, as shown on the following chart. To use this chart, roll for each age category the dragon has to see how long it took for it to reach its current level of maturity (and to give you an idea of its actual age). d%* Time up to 05 = 5d12 minutes 06 - 15 = 1d12 hours 16 - 25 = 1d6 days 26 - 35 = 1d4 weeks 36 - 45 = 1d12 months 46 - 65 = 1d10 years 56 - 85 = 1d10 decades 86 - 00 = 1d10 centuries above 00 = 1d2 millenia * For each age category the dragon possesses, add 5% to this roll. Time dragons younger than great wyrms can go months without eating, but doing so makes them lethargic. As dragons, they can eat anything and frequently do so, not bothering with bunting down living food. Environment : Time dragons can and do live anywhere they find air to breathe. They prefer remote locations for their lairs, although as seminomadic creatures they rarely claim a place as a lair for more ihan a few years. Great wyrms often relocate their lairs to some distant point in time, such as before the rise of humanoids or after their fall. Typical Physical Characteristics: A wyrmling time dragon's scales appear silvery white and lack black stripes or a black eye mask As the time dragon approaches very young, its mask and stripes grow in and its scales darken. The black stripes gradually change as the time dragon ages, each moving back along the length of its body and reappearing again near its eye mask when the twelfth stripe runs off the tip of its tail. Society : Time dragons have no society. They live apart from one another and other living creatures, preferring to spend the time they deign to socialise with deities and other powerful immortals. Roughly once a millenium, a group of four to ten time dragems comes together for the purpose of procreation. As soon as all the females in the group have been fertilised the dragons disband and, likely, never again see one another. Treasure : Time dragons rarely put much effort into their hoards, abandoning and rebuilding them hundreds of dines over the long course of years. A time dragon does jealously guard any piece in its board that measures time, from a mundane sundial to a mechanically wondrous waterclock. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Anywhere with air and food Stat Block 5th Edition (different ages have their own stat block): - Planescape: Morte's Planar Parade (2023) - DndBeyond 3.5e: - Dragon Magazine #359 (2007) Abilities - Time breath causes force damage and de-syncs creatures from time - Slows time against enemies - Time slips to teleport away from attacks - Rend attacks inflict force damage - Legendary Reactions - Legendary Resistance - Lair Actions with temporal effects - Flight - Blindsight - Creates time gates of up to 8,000 years - Reincarnates 1d100 years after death in a random plane of existence Appearance Time dragon wyrmlings are born with shining scales and have horns that are barely more than nubs. As they master the flow of time, their horns grow with branching, rainbow-hued veins suggestive of time’s paths and possibilities. Size Hero Forge: 10'7" ft. (XXL) Lore: Medium to Gargantuan Suggested: Medium to Gargantuan Other Monikers Chronology dragon, ageless dragon, epoch dragon Sources - Planescape: Morte's Planar Parade (2023) - DndBeyond - Dragon Magazine #359 (2007)

Leomarh Large Beast, Unaligned Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, mount mini Description (From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix II - 1995): The realms of the Great Road don’t always answer to the same natural laws that hold sway on the Prime Material Plane. From place to place, local ecologies are dictated by the high-up cutters who rule there. Exotic combinations or artificially stocked regions are common everywhere out here. Even Clueless travelers tumble to this little dark real fast: If physical laws can change on the planes, why can’t ecologies and food chains? ’Course, with that said, it’s also important to remember that living creatures need to find themselves a niche of some kind, or they won’t survive. Here’s where leomarhs come into the picture. They’re completely natural predators who’ve escaped the artificial realms of the powers and now exist anywhere some high-up isn’t in charge. They’re most common in the Outlands, but a cutter shouldn’t be too surprised to run across a pride of leomars in the dusty plains of Avernus or the meadows and forests of Amoria. After all, leomarhs are planars now, just like any basher born and raised in Sigil, and they can see portals too. Leomarhs appear to be much like lions — in fact, it’s almost certain that they evolved from lions or other great cats that were brought to the plains or created out here by one of the powers. But there are some important differences. Leomarhs have larger forequarters than hindquarters, resulting in a slight hyenalike slope to their bodies. They’re covered by fine scales rather than fur, and their tails’re long and snakelike with a bladed spade at the end. Leomarhs’ manes are dense, golden-brown fur, and they’ve got small beards and tassels of the same color along their legs and feet. Leomarhs’re much smarter than a typical lion, even if they still don’t speak or show signs of true sentience. It’s a fiend’s cunning they have, and a pride of hunting leomarhs sets expert ambushes and uses hit-and-run tactics with remarkable skill. Most importantly, they’re smart enough to have a real good idea of how tough armed humans can be, understand that some creatures can call on magical energy as a weapon, and leave the bigger foes alone. Combat : Leomarhs have exceptionally keen senses and are surprised only on a roll of 1. They’ve got a natural ability to change the color of their bodies to match their surroundings. If the leomarh holds still, it’s 90% invisible until it pounces. Generally, this gives the leomarh’s prey a -4 penalty to surprise checks. On the move, a leomarh gains no advantage from its camouflage. These creatures have mastered the tactic of dividing their pride and using several obvious attackers to drive their prey toward motionless, camouflaged ambushers. When they strike, leomarhs attack with their large, powerful front claws and a dangerous bite. If both front paws hit, the leomarh gains 2 extra attacks with its rear claws, raking for 1d4 points of damage each. In addition, a small or man-size opponent who’s hit by both front claws must successfully save versus death magic or be knocked prone. (Prone characters suffer a -4 penalty to their AC and attack rolls.) Leomarhs’ll drag down even the strongest warriors if they can get close enough, Last but not least, leomarhs’ve got an unusual immunits: Magic missiles don’t affect them. Some bloods believe that leomarhs’re plane-touched, just like tieflings, and have some unusual powers and abilities running through their bloodlines. Habitat/Society: Despite their unusually high intelligence, leomarhs are still animals. They’ve got a complex system of communication among themselves, but they don’t interact with intelligent races or monsters. A sod shouldn’t think that a leomarh’ll ever look at him as anything but a potential meal or threat to its offspring, and either premise is a poor one for approaching the leomarh’s lair. Leomarhs live and hunt in small bands known as prides. A pride usually settles in one area, selecting a dense thicket or small cave as its lair. From this lair, small hunting groups of 1 to 4 individuals range out in search of prey. Leomarhs’re extremely defensive of their young and aggressively attack anything barmy enough to approach their lair. Generally, a number of cubs equaling 1O% to 60% of the number of adults will be found in or near the lair. Leomarh cubs have only 1 HD and attack with a THAC0 of 20, their claws doing 1 point of damage, their bite only 1 to 2. A cub’s camouflage ability is fully developed at birth, and its instinctive response to danger is to lie still and keep out of sight. Ecology : Leomarhs prey on the scattered normal creatures inhabiting the Outlands and some regions of the Outer Planes. Typically, goats, deer, and bison or wild cattle are the preferred prey of leomarhs, but in some areas they’ll attack lesser fiends or local peasants if that’s the most plentiful supply of food. Leomarhs can be a significant danger to travelers in the wilder areas of the planes, since they’re willing to attack just about anything smaller than an elephant. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Outlands (any plains) Stat Block 3rd Edition: - enworld.org forums (homebrwew) 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Chameleon-like camouflage with their surroundings - Extremely good at stealth, ambush - Claw attacks drag enemies prone - Bite attack - Immune to magic missiles (force damage?) - Keen hearing and smell Appearance Leomarhs appear to be much like lions — in fact, it’s almost certain that they evolved from lions or other great cats that were brought to the plains or created out here by one of the powers. But there are some important differences. Leomarhs have larger forequarters than hindquarters, resulting in a slight hyenalike slope to their bodies. They’re covered by fine scales rather than fur, and their tails’re long and snakelike with a bladed spade at the end. Leomarhs’ manes are dense, golden-brown fur, and they’ve got small beards and tassels of the same color along their legs and feet. Size Hero Forge: Mount (XL) Lore: Large (6-7 ft. long) Suggested: Large Other Monikers Planar lions Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995) - mojobob's website

Gibbering Mouther Medium Aberration, Chaotic Neutral Hero Forge Mini Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, single mini Description (From 5th Edition Monster Manual - 1994): Of all the terrors created by foul sorcery, gibbering mouthers are among the most wicked and depraved. This creature is the composite eyes, mouths, and liquefied matter of its former victims. Tormented by the destruction of their bodies and absorption into the mouther, those victims gibber incoherently and are forced to consume everything in reach. Amoeboid Form. The gibbering mouther’s body is an amorphous mass of mouths and eyes that propels itself by oozing forward, fastening several mouths to the ground and pulling its bulk behind. Though it moves slowly, it swims through water, mud, and quicksand with ease. Horrifying Cacophony. When a gibbering mouther senses prey, its mouths begin to murmur and chatter, each with a different voice: deep or shrill, wailing or ululating, crying out in agony or ecstasy. This cacophonous gibbering overcomes the senses of any creature that hears it, causing most to flee in terror. Others are overcome with confusion or stand paralyzed, fixated on the horrific creature as it oozes forward to consume them. All-Consuming. Driven to devour any creature it can reach, a gibbering mouther flows over victims transfixed by its ranting, its multitudinous voices temporarily silenced as it gnaws and swallows living flesh. The monster liquefies stone with which it comes into contact, hindering creatures that overcome its gibbering and attempt to flee. A gibbering mouther leaves nothing of its prey behind. However, even as the last of a victim’s body is consumed, its eyes and mouth boil to the surface, ready to join the chorus of tormented gibbering that welcomes the monster’s next meal. (From 3.5e Monster Manual - 2003): This unwholesome creature has a body with the form and fluidity of an amoeba. Its surface has the color, but not the consistency, of human flesh. Countless eyes and toothy mouths constantly form and disappear all over the creature, often retreating into its body even as they become apparent. A gibbering mouther is a horrible creature seemingly drawn from a lunatic’s nightmares. Although not evil, it thirsts after bodily fluids and seems to prefer the blood of intelligent creatures. Sometimes the arrangement of eyes and mouths on a gibbering mouther’s body a resembles a face, but just as often they have no relationship to one another. A gibbering mouther is about 3 feet across and 3 to 4 feet high. It weighs about 200 pounds. Gibbering mouthers can speak Common, but seldom say anything other than gibberish. Combat : A gibbering mouther attacks by shooting out strings of protoplasmic flesh, each ending in one or more eyes and a mouth that bites at the enemy. A mouther can send out a total of six such members in any round. Gibbering (Su): As soon as a mouther spots something edible, it begins a constant gibbering as a free action. All creatures (other than mouthers) within a 60-foot spread must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or be affected as though by a confusion spell for 1d2 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting compulsion effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same gibbering mouther’s gibbering for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based. Spittle (Ex): As a free action every round, a gibbering mouther fires a stream of spittle at one opponent within 30 feet. The mouther makes a ranged touch attack; if it hits, it deals 1d4 points of acid damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. Eyeless creatures are immune to the blinding effect, but are still subject to the acid damage. The save DC is Constitution-based. Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a gibbering mouther must hit with a bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Blood Drain (Ex): On a successful grapple check after grabbing, that mouth attaches to the opponent. It automatically deals bite damage and drains blood, dealing 1 point of Constitution damage each round. A mouth can be ripped off (dealing 1 point of damage) with a DC 12 Strength check or severed by a successful sunder attempt (the mouth has 2 hit points). A severed mouth continues to bite and drain blood for 1d4 rounds after such an attack. A creature whose Constitution is reduced to 0 is killed. Engulf (Ex): A gibbering mouther can try to engulf a Medium or smaller opponent grabbed by three or more mouths. The opponent must succeed on a DC 14 Reflex save or fall and be engulfed. In the next round, the mouther makes twelve bite attacks instead of six (each with a +4 attack bonus). An engulfed creature cannot attack the mouther from within. The previously attached mouths are now free to attack others. The save DC is Strength-based and includes a +2 racial bonus. Ground Manipulation (Su): At will, as a standard action, a gibbering mouther can cause stone and earth in all adjacent squares to become a morass akin to quicksand. Softening earth, sand, or the like takes 1 round, while stone takes 2 rounds. Anyone other than the mouther in that area must take a move-equivalent action to avoid becoming mired (treat as being pinned). Amorphous (Ex): A gibbering mouther is not subject to critical hits. It cannot be flanked. Skills: Thanks to their multiple eyes, gibbering mouthers have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks. A gibbering mouther has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It always can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. (From Assassin Mountain: Monstrous Compendium Pages - 1993): The gibbering mouther is an amoeboid form of life composed entirely of mouth and eyes. With its eyes and mouths closed, it appears to be a lump of earthly material, surprising creatures that stumble across it. Its only motive is to eat whatever is edible and within reach, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral. Gibbering mouthers move by oozing forward, fastening several mouths to the ground and pulling themselves along. A mouther may move faster over fluid and viscous terrain, such as mud and quicksand, by swimming. Combat: The brain of a mouther is located in its midportion, and its gelatinous body makes it difficult to strike this spot, hence its relatively low Armor class. The mouther attacks in three ways: gibbering , spitting and biting. When any edible object is sighted by a mouther, it begins gibbering incoherently, causing confusion among all within a 60-foot radius who fails a saving throw vs. spell. Each character who fails must immediately roll 1d8 to determine which of the following effects occurs. On a roll of 1, the victim wanders aimlessly for one round; on a roll of 2-5, the victim stands motionless, stunned for one round; on a roll of 6-7, the victim attacks the nearest living creature for one round; and on a roll of 8, the victim runs in fear for two rounds. The spittle of a gibbering mouther bursts into a bright flare if it strikes any hard surface. The resulting flash blinds characters looking at it if they fail to save vs. petrification — the blindness lasts 1d3 rounds. The mouther may then attempt to bite blinded opponents with a +2 bonus to its attack rolls. Blinded victims attack with a -4 penalty. A mouther attacks by biting with six mouths per round. Each attack roll exceeding the number required to hit by 2 or more indicates that the mouth attaches to the victim and drains an additional point per round. When three or more mouths are attached to a single victim, that character must make a successful Dexterity check each round thereafter or slip and fall. The mouther will then flow over the victim and bite with 12 mouths, gaining a +4 bonus to strike its prone opponent. Once it pulls down one victim, a mouther tries to trap another. If a victim reaches 0 hit points, he is absorbed into the mouther, giving it another mouth and pair of eyes, as well as 1 hit point permanently, up to the maximum for its Hit Dice. Only living flesh can be absorbed like this. A mouther liquefies the ground and stone within a 5-foot radius and controls the consistency of the material, changing it to doughy quicksand. It requires 30 seconds to alter earth to quicksand, and a full round to mutate stone to earth. Habitat/Society: Like other amoeboid life forms, gibbering mouthers reproduce by asexual fission. When a mouther has absorbed enough victims to gain maximum hit points, it splits in two. Each mouther has 4+3 Hit Dice (one has 17 hit points, the other has 18). The mouther retreats to some small, dark den before the four-hour process begins. When the two new mouthers recover from the dividing process (which takes 7+3d12 turns), each seeks its own new territory. Gibbering mouthers avoid each other’s territories and even physical contact with one another. It’s believed that bringing two mouthers in physical contact forces them to merge, creating a larger creature with twice the size, HD, and number of attacks, but half the already-slow movement of the parent monsters. These great beasts strip the land so thoroughly that they generally die of starvation as soon as prey becomes scarce. Ecology: Gibbering mouthers are unnatural creatures, usually created by foul sorcery and kept as guards by mages or obscene cults. Although they can survive in the wild, they are more scavenger than hunters, and they rarely establish reproducing populations in any but the most lush swamps. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Unknown (Far Realm, Prime Material Plane) Stat Block 5th Edition: - Monster Manual (2014) - Angry Golem Games - DndBeyond 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Gibbering confuses creatures - AOE blinding spittle - Bite knocks creatures prone and absorbs them if they die - Transforms nearby ground into difficult terrain - Immune to prone condition Appearance The gibbering mouther is an amoeboid form of life composed entirely of mouth and eyes. With its eyes and mouths closed, it appears to be a lump of earthly material, surprising creatures that stumble across it. Size Hero Forge: 2'5" (XL) Lore: Medium (4-7' tall) Suggested: Medium to Huge Other Monikers None Sources - 5th Edition Monster Manual (2014) - 3.5e Monster Manual (2003) - Assassin Mountain: Monstrous Compendium Pages (1993) - DndBeyond - mojobob's website

Hook Spider Large Monstrosity, Lawful Evil Hero Forge Mini Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, single mini Description (From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appdendix II - 1995): Spiders of all kinds are fairly common throughout the Outlands and the Great Wheel. Normal-size hunters and web-spinners can be found in the strangest places, surviving where no other mundane animals can. Even the large, huge, and giant varieties’re surprisingly successful, and there are more than a few minor fiends or aasimon who’ve ended up as a spider’s dinner on their own home plane. The creature known as the hook spider’s simply a giant spider that’s adapted to life in a particularly dangerous and desolate corner of the multiverse: the Lower Planes. The body of a book spider’s about the size of a goat’s or large dog’s , but each of its legs is as long as a man is tall. The two forwardmost legs aren’t used for walking, but are instead equipped with powerful, inward-curving claws or hooks to snag and hold prey. The spider’s mandibles are powerful enough to pierce plate armor. Unlike those of many normal spiders, each of the hook spider’s eight eyes are primary eyes. The eyes are arranged high on the creature’s head, giving it 360-degree vision. The hook spider’s naturally a dull yellow color with red markings, but it’s rarely found in this coloration thanks to its psionic chameleon power (see “Combat” below). Hook spiders are almost as intelligent as human beings, and demonstrate a diabolical patience and skill in hunting. They create traps made from materials on hand and their own webbing, they use stealth to surprise their prey, and packs of spiders operate wifb perfect coordination. Worse yet, hook spiders’ve developed some rudimentary psionic skills to help them take their prey. Combat: Hook spiders make every effort possible to attack only from ambush or while the potential meal is helpless. When the time comes to strike, the hook spider can leap up to 60 feet from concealment, giving its target a -2 penalty to its surprise check. The spider attacks with its two hooked claws and a bite of its venomous mandibles. If it hits the same man-size or smaller target with both claws, the victim is held pinned and helpless, and the bite attack automatically succeeds. The victim can escape the spider’s grasp with a successful open doors check. A creature bitten by the hook spider must successfully save versus poison or suffer an additional 25 hp of damage, or 2 to 8 points of damage if the save is successful. The onset time is two rounds, so a victim suffers no immediate effect in the round he’s bitten or in the following round. Hook spider venom quickly loses its potency if removed from the spider, becoming inert within 1d3 turns. Hook spiders frequently use their psionic powers to ensure that they’ll be able to surprise their opponents. They’re especially fond of using chameleon power or invisibility to prevent their intended meal from noticing their presence, or using shadow form or reduction to creep within striking distance undetected. If the spider successfully uses its psionic powers to completely mask its presence, it gains automatic surprise when it strikes. Hook spiders aren’t web-spinners, but they do use their strong silk to create trap-door hatches or blinds to hunt from. They occasionally use their silk to create traps such as nets or lassoes that the spider tends with its front legs. There is a 20% chance (30% for rangers, druids, or other such characters) that the victim spots the trap before walking into it. The spider must make an attack roll to spring the trap, but only the victim’s Dexterity and magical adjustments help him evade the spider’s net — armor itself doesn’t count. The victim may attempt a saving throw versus paralyzation to avoid being netted or bound, but if he fails he’s securely trapped and can escape only with a bend hars/lift gates roll or a full turn of work with a dagger or other small edged weapon. Hook spiders love to trap as many members of a group as they can, and then attack the untrapped characters before returning to finish off the victims who were snared by their ambush. Habitat/Society: Hook spiders live in small groups called nests or clutches. The adults of a nest are always siblings. Unlike most other spiders, hook spiders are social creatures that cooperate closely to catch their prey. They’re careful to let powerful fiends or lower-planar denizens pass by unmolested, but any thing weaker than an abishai or rutterkin ’s fair game. The spiders like to choose a single small area and carefully build it into a complex lair and hunting ground. For example, a nest of hook spiders might take over a small grove, a rocky outcropping, or a spring or pond. A labyrinth of small burrows’ll be dug beneath and around the area, providing the spiders with a number of bolt-holes and ambush sites. Traps’ll be laid in places where meals are likely to come by. The hook spiders make sure that their presence is well-collcealed, and it’s not uncommon for a band of bashers to walk right into the middle of the spiders’ lair without realizing anything’s wrong. Hook spiders are capable of communicating with other creatures by means of their telepathic power, but they rarely do so. They’re inclined to honor agreements or contracts, but they’re very shortsighted — if a hook spider doesn’t see an immediate gain for itself, it won’t bother to strike a deal. In some cases, ambitious fiends’ve been known to lure meals into the spiders’ den in exchange for the spiders’ elimination of rivals, enemies, or troublemakers. Ecology: A nest of hook spiders normally comprises 2 to 8 adults, and anywhere from 10 to 30 spiderlings equal to large spiders in all respects save intelligence. Spiderlings avoid large prey such as humans or fiends, preferring to let the adults deal with these meals and feeding on the leftovers. Unlike most spiders, hook spiders lay only 3 to 6 eggs at a time and invest a moderate amount of time and care in feeding and protecting their young. Although hook spiders are certainly dangerous and cunning predators, they’re often not very high on the food chain in some of their infernal habitats. They compensate hy cooperation against victims of moderate power, and they avoid contact with more powerful creatures. Typically, creatures such as nupperibo , lemures , spinagons , ahishai, or petitioners are preyed upon, but greater haatezu and creatures of similar size are left alone. Psionics Summary: Level Dis/Sci/Dev Attack/Defense Score PSPs 3 2/2/7 -/MB,M- 12 45 Psychometabolism — Science: shadow form; Devotions: body control, body equilibrium, chameleon power, reduction. Telepathy — Science: mind link; Devotions: contact, attraction, invisibility. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Acheron, Baator, Gehenna, Outlands Stat Block 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Hooked legs grapple creatures - Venomous bite - 60-foot jump, advantage on initiative - Psionic "chameleon" power - Innate Spellcasting (psionics) - Intelligent, uses webbing to make traps (nets, lassoes, etc.) - Telepathy Appearance The body of a book spider’s about the size of a goat’s or large dog’s, but each of its legs is as long as a man is tall. The two forwardmost legs aren’t used for walking, but are instead equipped with powerful, inward-curving claws or hooks to snag and hold prey. The spider’s mandibles are powerful enough to pierce plate armor. Unlike those of many normal spiders, each of the hook spider’s eight eyes are primary eyes. The eyes are arranged high on the creature’s head, giving it 360-degree vision. The hook spider’s naturally a dull yellow color with red markings, but it’s rarely found in this coloration thanks to its psionic chameleon power. Size Hero Forge: 6'2"(XL) Lore: Medium (4' long body) Suggested: Medium to Huge Other Monikers None Sources - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995) - mojobob's website

Amethyst Dragon Amethyst Dragon Gargantuan Dragon, Neutral Hero Forge Mini Button Double mini, no kitbash, 1 variant below Description (From Fizban's Treasury of Dragons - 2021): Amethyst dragons, the mightiest of the gem dragons , study and psionically manipulate the fundamental principles of the multiverse, from the force of gravity to the emanations of the Outer Planes. Their innate psionics give them a measure of control over how physical laws affect them. They defy gravity with flight that doesn’t rely solely upon their great wings, and gravitational force empowers both their devastating breath weapon and the exploding amethyst crystals they spit at their foes. Royal Purple. When first hatched, an amethyst dragon has scales of dull, opaque purple. As the dragon grows, their scales, horns, and wing membranes become more vibrant and translucent. When the dragon is fully mature, their scales resemble rich purple amethyst crystals, refracting light to take on an inner glow. Their pupils fade with age, making the eyes of an ancient dragon resemble glowing white or pale lavender orbs. Crystalline horns reminiscent of amethyst chunks hover behind their heads, held there by telekinetic force and shifting with their moods. Cosmological Study. Many amethyst dragons are fascinated by the existence of other worlds in the Material Plane, and especially the way individual dragons manifest unique echoes across those worlds. They also prize understanding of the cosmic forces that emanate from the Outer Planes, studying the opposing tides of good and evil, chaos and order, so they can offer counsel to those with the wisdom to accept it. Amethyst dragons pay particular attention to intrusions of the Far Realm into the Material Plane. They loathe the corruption that accompanies such intrusions into the world, making them fierce opponents of the Far Realm and any creatures warped by its touch. Strangely, though, they are intrigued by and fond of flumphs . These Aberrations, which oppose the depredations of mind flayers and other wicked Aberrations, remind amethyst dragons that allies can be found in the strangest places. Hoarded Arcana. In addition to material wealth, amethyst dragons delight in collecting knowledge and magic dealing with the nature of the planes of existence, cosmic forces, and distant worlds. They prize treasures drawn from different worlds of the Material Plane, especially magic items and artworks that highlight the unique nature of different worlds. Magic items that allow teleportation or travel between planes, spellbooks filled with similar magic, and treatises examining the nature of the multiverse form the centerpiece of an amethyst dragon’s hoard. Creating an Amethyst Dragon Use the Amethyst Dragon Personality Traits and Amethyst Dragon Ideals tables to inspire your portrayal of distinctive amethyst dragon characters. Amethyst Dragon Personality Traits d8 - Trait: 1 - I am never so content as when contemplating the beauty and wonders of the multiverse. 2 - I am a sworn protector against the depredations of the Far Realm, and I will root out its corruption wherever it may arise. 3 - What use is vast knowledge or insight if it is not shared with those who can appreciate it? 4 - Although some are fascinated by words, I think numbers are the true foundations of creation. 5 - To experience a thing is to truly understand it. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge.6I see a far more kaleidoscopic reality than you do … or than any of your selves do, really. 7 - It is not my place to interfere. I merely seek to observe, learn, and understand.8With a true understanding of metaphysics, anything is possible—including the creation of a more orderly and perfect cosmos than this one. Amethyst Dragon Ideals d6 - Ideal: 1 - Balance. Everything is a complex interaction of forces that must be kept in a delicate and carefully maintained balance. (Neutral) 2 - Knowledge. We are the whole of creation, seeking to understand itself. (Any) 3 - Self-Improvement. I am a complex gem, and I constantly polish and refine my many facets to make the whole that much more perfect. (Any) 4 - Responsibility. Having knowledge and power gives one a responsibility to those who have less of either. (Lawful) 5 - Noble Obligation. My superior experience, intellect, and insight give me a duty to mediate disputes when I can. (Good) 6 - Power. Knowledge is power, power must be used, and I use it. Your concerns are irrelevant. (Evil) An Amethyst Dragon’s Lair Amethyst dragons make their lairs in caves next to or under secluded pools and lakes, preferring caverns with at least one entrance submerged underwater. They prize locations with a combination of open space, connecting tunnels, and dead ends to make the most of their natural and magical mobility, using flight and teleportation to navigate obstacles in their lairs. The challenge rating of a legendary amethyst dragon increases by 1 when it’s encountered in its lair. Lair Actions On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon can take one of the following lair actions; the dragon can’t take the same lair action two rounds in a row: Beguiling Whisper. The dragon telepathically whispers to one creature within range of the dragon’s telepathy. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the dragon until initiative count 20 on the next round. A creature charmed in this way obeys to the best of its ability any command the dragon issues that isn’t directly harmful to the creature. Imprisoning Force. The dragon casts the forcecage spell, using its spell save DC and requiring no spell components. The spell ends early if the dragon uses this lair action again or dies. Spatial Projection. The dragon chooses a space it can fit into within the lair. It exists in its own space and the chosen space simultaneously until initiative count 20 on the next round. Whenever it moves or takes an action, it chooses which version of itself is moving or acting. If an effect or attack can target both of the dragon’s spaces at the same time, the dragon is affected only once. Regional Effects The region surrounding a legendary amethyst dragon’s lair is altered by the dragon’s magic, creating one or more of the following effects: Background Check. Once per day, the dragon can cast the legend lore spell, requiring no spell components, naming any person, place, or object within 1 mile of the lair as the spell’s subject. Crystal Profusion. Amethyst crystals and geodes form along muddy shores and lake beds within 6 miles of the lair. Thriving Wildlife. Fish and other aquatic Beasts reproduce rapidly and thrive in bodies of water within 6 miles of the lair. Foraging in these waters yields twice the usual amount of food. Watery Sight. Water within 6 miles of the lair is a conduit for the dragon’s psionic presence. As an action, the dragon can cast the clairvoyance spell, requiring no spell components and targeting any body of water in that region. If the dragon dies, the populations of aquatic life near the lair return to normal levels over the course of (1d10) days. The existing abundance of amethysts remains, but new crystals and geodes form at a normal rate. (From 2nd Edition AD&D Monstrous Manual - 1991): Amethyst dragons are wise and regal, with a detached air, and ignore what they consider to be petty squabbles between good and evil, law and chaos. When hatched, amethyst dragons have lavender skin with small scales of a light, translucent purple. As they grow older, the scales gradually darken. Adults are a sparkling lavender in color. Amethyst dragons speak their own tongue and the tongue common to all gem dragons, and 18% of hatchling amethyst dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon. Combat: Amethyst dragons prefer talking over combat. If parleying goes badly, the dragon attacks first with its breath weapon, then with psionics and spells. They never hide or attempt ambush. Amethyst dragons consider retreat dishonorable, but do so if faced with death. Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: An amethyst dragon’s breath weapon is a faceted, violet lozenge, which it can spit into the midst of enemies, up to 75 feet away. The lozenge explodes with concussive force, causing the indicated damage to all creatures within 60’ of the impact (save vs. breath weapon for half damage). In addition, all creatures size huge and smaller must save vs. paralyzation or be knocked down. Any creature taking damage from the blast has a 50% chance of being knocked unconscious for one round per age level of the dragon, plus 1d8 rounds. An amethyst dragon casts spells and uses its magical abilities at 9th level, plus its combat modifier. Amethyst dragons are born with an innate water breathing ability and an immunity to poisons. They are also immune to force attacks and effects, such as those from beads of force , Bigby’s hand spells, wall of force , and Otiluke’s resilient sphere . As they age, they gain the following additional powers: Young: water walking six times a day. Juvenile: neutralize poison six times a day. Adult: shape change , as a druid, into a reptile, bird, or mammal, three times a day, with each form usable only once per day. Old: Otiluke’s resilient sphere three times a day. Very old: reflecting pool once a day. Venerable: control weather once a day. Psionics Summary Level = HD Dis/Sci/Dev = 3/3/5 Attack/Defense = PB,EW,PsC/M-,TS,TW Score = Int PSPs = 250 Psychokinesis — Sciences: detonate, project force, telekinesis; Devotions: control body, inertial barrier, molecular agitation. Psychometabolism — Sciences: complete healing, energy containment, metamorphosis; Devotions: cell adjustment, expansion, reduction. Telepathy — Sciences: domination, mind link, mind wipe; Devotions: contact, ESP, identity penetration, truthear. Metapsionics — Sciences: empower, psychic surgery, ultrablast; Devotions: magnify, psionic sense, psionic drain. Most amethyst dragons prefer psychokinetic powers and many choose psychometabolism as an additional discipline. Habitat/Society: Amethyst dragons live on the shores of isolated mountain lakes and pools, some in caves beneath the water. They are good parents, but believe their young should fend for themselves as soon as they become young adults. Amethyst dragons dislike red and white dragons , and consider silver and copper dragons to be foolish. Ecology: Amethyst dragons prefer to eat fish and a large number of gems. They are not inherently enemies with any life form. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Elemental Plane of Earth Stat Block 5th Edition (different ages have their own stat block): - Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (2021) - 5eTools - DndBeyond 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Gravity-warping singularity breath - Spits explosive crystal - Resistant to force, psychic - Colossal claw, bite, and tail attacks - Psionic teleport - Psionic spellcasting - Legendary Actions - Legendary Resistance - Lair Actions - Flight - Change shape - Amphibious - Blindsight - Telepathy Appearance When first hatched, an amethyst dragon has scales of dull, opaque purple. As the dragon grows, their scales, horns, and wing membranes become more vibrant and translucent. When the dragon is fully mature, their scales resemble rich purple amethyst crystals, refracting light to take on an inner glow. Their pupils fade with age, making the eyes of an ancient dragon resemble glowing white or pale lavender orbs. Crystalline horns reminiscent of amethyst chunks hover behind their heads, held there by telekinetic force and shifting with their moods. Size Hero Forge: 10'5" (XXL) Lore: Medium to Gargantuan Suggested: Medium to Gargantuan Other Monikers None Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (2021) - 5th Edition Monster Manual (2014) - DndBeyond - AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual - mojobob's website

Deceiver Genie Deceiver Genie Medium Elemental, Neutral Evil Hero Forge Mini Single mini, no kitbash Description (from Monstrous Compendium: City of Delights -1993): Deceiver genies are servants of noble djinn and sometimes the most powerful of jann. They themselves are djinn perverted to a life of deception, sworn to mask the face of the world. Their true form is difficult to judge, but they are said to be tall and gaunt, with thin arms and legs, and large heads, hands, and feet. They have long fingers, blond hair, and striking eyes — one blue, one brown. Their skin is a mottled gray. Combat: Deceiver genies are cowards shrouded in a perpetual displacement effect, so the first attack on a deceiver genie always misses. However, creatures able to see through this illusion can attack them at their natural Armor Class of 4. These genies can use each of the following spell-like abilities at will: change self , delude , false vision , tongues , misdirection , undetectable lie , and whispering wind . Twice per day they can create distance distortion , massmorph , spectral force , and shadow masic . Once per day they can invoke disbelief , projected image , solipsism , and sundazzle . Once per week they can use a mass suggestion (up to 24 levels or HD of creatures) or create a permanent illusion , programmed illusion , or veil . Their illusions are equivalent to those cast by a 24th-level caster for purposes of dispel magic, duration, area of effect, and so on. However, their life of trickery renders them susceptible to their own game; deceiver genies save against illusion/phantasm magic at -1. Favorite tricks of deceiver genies include sending hapless victims over illusory bridges, chasing illusory oases, or even making them argue with one another over trivial matters. They also enjoy sending unnerving messages to sentries, caravan guards, and other watchmen. They have the minds of immature pranksters, and no trick is to low or too difficult. Deceiver genies will gladly give up food, sleep, and treasure in pursuit of a truly cruel scheme. The only trick they dislike is taking the place of others; although they can alter their outward appearance, they are uncomfortable being near others for more than a few minutes. They pretend to be someone else only when a larger plot requires it. If forced into melee, deceiver genies fight with a hysterical, terrified strength. On a natural roll of 20, their steel nails tear out an opponent’s eye. If the roll of 20 is 1 more than the genie needs to hit its target, both eyes are torn out. In either case, an immediate system shock roll is required to avoid passing out for 1d6 turns from the pain. Partially blinded foes strike at -2, and fully blinded opponents suffer a -4 penalty to all attack rolls, and all rules for blind-fighting apply. In most cases, deceiver genies call up spectral minions to serve them in battle. These are often reinforced by real minions of the same type; deceiver genies think the resulting chaos is hilarious. Habitat/Society: Though most deceiver genies serve other genies, they sometimes cooperate with others of their kind to build themselves a village and hide it in remote regions. They rarely speak the truth, even under magical duress — a deceiver genie under the influence of a charm monster spell or similar magic still lies constantly and shamelessly to its friends. These genies are dangerous to their masters when not constantly set to a task; when idle, they spin webs of lies, generally to provoke their masters into some disastrous action. Deceiver genies see the entire world as a fiction, a game, or a toy created for their manipulation and amusement. Deceiver genies aren’t very interested in wealth, but they’re great fans of the arts, which they consider a formal but fascinating form of lying. They will never harm a storyteller or tasked artist genie, though they may still confuse them. Anyone wishing to bind such a genie must always be on guard for its effects on and promises to one’s servants, cohorts, and loved ones as loyalty to a master does not include loyalty to a master’s retainers in the code of a deceiver genie. Ecology: Tasked deceivers eat, drink, and sleep as humans do. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Elemental Plane of Air Stat Block 5th Edition: - N/A (may write a homebrew eventually) 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Powerful Innate Spellcasting (illusion, enchantment) - Displacement effect causes enemy attacks to miss - Steel nails permanently blind opponents - Telepathy - Flight Appearance Their true form is difficult to judge, but they are said to be tall and gaunt, with thin arms and legs, and large heads, hands, and feet. They have long fingers, blond hair, and striking eyes — one blue, one brown. Their skin is a mottled gray. Size Hero Forge: 9 ft. (XXL) Lore: Medium (7 ft.) Suggested: Medium to Huge Other Monikers Tasked Deceiver Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Monstrous Compendium: City of Delights (1993) - Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium (1992) - mojobob's website

Flumph Small Aberration, Lawful Good Hero Forge Mini Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, single mini Description (From 5th Edition Monster Manual - 2014): The mysterious flumphs drift through the Underdark, propelled through the air by the jets whose sound gives them their name. A flumph glows faintly, reflecting its moods in its color. Soft pink means it is amused, deep blue is sadness, green expresses curiosity, and crimson is anger. Intelligent and Wise. Flumphs communicate telepathically. Though they resemble jellyfish, flumphs are sentient beings of great intelligence and wisdom, possessing advanced knowledge of religion, philosophy, mathematics, and countless other subjects. Flumphs are sensitive to the emotional states of nearby creatures. If a creature’s thoughts suggest goodness, a flumph seeks that creature out. When facing creatures that exude evil, a flumph flees. Psionic Siphons. Flumphs feed by siphoning mental energy from psionic creatures, and they can be found lurking near communities of mind flayers, aboleths, githyanki, and githzerai. As passive parasites, they take only the mental energy they need, and most creatures feel no loss or discomfort from such feeding. Consuming psionic energy reveals the thoughts and emotions of the creatures on which the flumphs feed. Since so many of those creatures are evil, flumphs are often subjected to thoughts, emotions, and hungers that sicken their pure nature. When flumphs encounter good-hearted adventurers, they eagerly share the dark secrets they have learned in the hopes of casting down their evil sources of energy, even if doing so means they must seek out new sources of nourishment. Flumph Society. Flumphs live in complex and organized groups called cloisters, within which each flumph has a place and purpose. These harmonious groupings have no need for leaders, since all flumphs contribute in their own way. (From 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium Annal Volume 2 - 1995): Flumph resemble aerial jellyfish. These odd creatures are round and almost flat, perhaps the or four inches thick in the center, tapering to one or two inches near the edge. The body is mostly hollow, much like a large cushion. A round orifice si+s in the center of the upper surface, flanked by two eyestalks, each about six inches long. Several short tentacles hang from the creature’s underside, concealing a mass of small spikes. The tentacles closest to the flumph�s rim can be used for fine manipulation of small objects. A common flumph is pure white in color; a monastic flumph is generally a pale yellow or green, with darker tentacles. A flumph flies by taking in air through the hole on its upper surface, and expelling it through several small holes on its underside. The creature also has several small apertures along its equator, for use in maneuvering. It usually hovers about four to six inches above the ground. Keeping its body aloft does not require great amounts of air. It creates a gentle breeze, and a slight whistling sound can be heard in a quiet area. Common flumphs cannot communicate vocally, but have a unique sign language that makes use of their tentacles and eyestalks. Some monastic flumphs, perhaps 10%, can speak and understand common or another language. Combat: The flumph survives by hunting small creatures, such as rats, lizards, frogs, and the like. The flumph hovers along just above the ground, or hangs motionless in reeds or similar concealment. When it finds a small creature, it rises a foot or two, then drops onto its prey, its spikes inflicting 1d8 points of damage on a successful attack. In addition, the flumphs tentacles secrete digestive acids into the wounds; the acid causes an additional 1d4 points of damage each round for the next 2d4 rounds. Once the prey is dead, the flumph settles on it and absorbs nutrients through its tentacles. Flumphs often need to pursue their healthier prey for a short distance before the victim dies. The acid can be washed away by complete immersion in a fast-moving stream, or by actively washing with 2d4 gallons of water (simple immersion or rinsing will not work). If threatened by a larger creature, the flumph usually attempts to drive it away by squirting a foul-smelling liquid from an orifice on its equator, in the front. This can strike anyone in a 60 degree arc before the flumph, within a range of 20 feet. Any creature struck by the noxious liquid must make a successful saving throw vs. poison or become nauseated, reeling and unable to attack for 2-5 rounds. The odor lingers for 1d4 hours, and can be detected up to 100 feet away. If this method of repulsion fails, the flumph can rise to a height of 10 feet and drop onto an opponent, as if hunting. A flumph is helpless if turned over. Habitat/Society: The common flumph is a nomadic hunter, intelligent, good-aligned, and peaceful. A flumph reproduces about every two years by budding, producing 1d8 tiny flumphs on its underside. These become independent after about three months when they reach two inches in diameter. They grow to adult size within a month, and live for 20 years. Ecology: Flumphs are predators low on the food chain, feeding on smaller creatures and clearing their area of vermin. Flumph flesh has a foul taste, and they are generally considered unpalatable, though ogres and some goblinoids will eat them. Monastic Flumph The seldom-seen monastic flumphs are more advanced creatures that can cast spells as if they were clerics of levels equal to their Hit Dice. They gather in cloisters to share knowledge and to worship deities unknown to humanoids. A cloister is usually in a large cavern or (in swamps and grasslands) a large, nest-like bower constructed of grass and mud. The inside of a cloister is decorated with fine, colorful paintings, made by flumphs dabbing natural pigments with their tentacles. The paintings are usually abstract, showing spirals and other curved lines, though some are vaguely representational of flumphs engaged in hunting. Each cloister is led by an “abbot”, a flumph with 5 HD. The abbot is aided by one “prior” per six flumphs in the cloister; a prior has 3 or 4 HD. The remainder of the flumphs are “monks,” each with 2 HD. On occasion, a small group of common flumphs can be found near a cloister, bringing food as an offering in return for healing or guidance. (From Dragon Magazine #246 - 1998): ECOLOGY OF THE FLUMPH - By Jonathan M. Richards: “Well then, if there is no further business,” said Dreelix, his gavel raised in the air to strike the table, “I hereby declare this meeting of the Monster Hunters Associa—” He was cut off in mid-sentence by a commotion in the doorway. Buntleby bustled into the meeting hall, out of breath and with a large, squirming sack tucked under one arm. Ozzie, his osquip familiar, trotted obediently at his feet. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, “but I was unavoidably detained.” “Late?” squeaked Dreelix. “I was just about to adjourn! You must learn to be a bit more punctual if you wish to continue in this prestigious . . . guh! By the gods! What is that smell?” Dreelix wasn’t the only one to notice. All around the room, the collected wizards and sages that made up the Monster Hunters Association were getting a good whiff of the stench that Buntleby seemed to have brought into the meeting hall with him. Throughout the room, nostrils flared and noses wrinkled in disgust. Lady Ablasta raised a perfumed handkerchief to her nose and pretended not to notice as others administered table napkins or bits of their own cloaks or robes in an attempt to ward off the vile odor. “Oh, that. Sorry. I sort of had a little encounter on the way here...” Buntleby reached into his bag and pulled out its contents—a whitish, disk-shaped creature with writhing tentacles on top. “I don’t want to hear about it! Get out of here with that thing!” “Wait!” said Spontayne, a taciturn scholar who seldom spoke up. “Is that what I think it is?” “Beats me,” said Buntleby. “I haven’t the foggiest idea what the thing is. I was hoping maybe Willowquisp could tell us.” Willowquisp the Zoophile, an elderly sage with a fondness for all of nature’s creatures—even the silly ones—squinted over at his friend. “Why, bless my soul!” he said. “That looks like a flumph!” Spontayne nodded his head in agreement. “It attacked one of my osquips,” Buntleby said. “I managed to capture it, but not before it squirted some foul smelling gunk all over me. It seems harmless enough now, but it has some unusual properties, and I thought maybe the Association might want to study it.” “Fine, fine,” agreed Dreelix, barely understandable as he spoke with his left hand over his nose and mouth. “I hereby appoint Willowquisp, Spontayne, and Buntleby as a subcommittee to study the creature. Zantoullios, maybe you’d better join them. Any questions? Good. Meeting adjourned!” And without another word, he jumped up from the head table and rushed out the door into the fresh night air. Zantoullios wasn’t the most powerful wizard among the Monster Hunters, but he did have the best-equipped lab, filled with the most modern equipment. He prided himself on being on the cutting edge of magical experimentation technology. Perhaps more truthfully, the reason his paraphernalia was so new was it was constantly being replaced after Zantoullios’ experiments blew up in his face. He still hadn't lived down his recent attempt to use a summoned fire elemental to test the flameresisting properties of a new magical oil. The battered sword he had coated in the oil survived just fine; the lab, converted from an old wooden barn, didn’t fare quite as well. Buntleby arrived at Zantoullios’ recently-restored laboratory to find the other three members of the newly-created subcommittee already there. Willowquisp was seated at a table, poring over a large book he had brought with him, with Spontayne the Studious looking over his shoulder and nodding occasionally to himself. Zantoullios was pouring brandy into four beakers. “Hope you don’t mind the glassware, Buntleby; I brought the bottle but left the glasses back at the house.” “That’s fine. Why’d you build the lab so far away from the house, though? Seems a bit inconvenient.” “It’s, uh, safer that way,” Zantoullios admitted. “I’ve had to rebuild the lab three times now after things . . . kind of got out of hand, but the house has managed to avoid any damage so far. Willowquisp? Spontayne? Some brandy? No? Suit yourselves. So, is that the beast?” Buntleby took the beaker and placed his sack on the worktable. It shifted and wiggled around as the flumph inside it tried vainly to escape. “Thanks,” he said to his host. “So, where should we start?” Willowquisp cleared his throat. “Spontayne and I have been reading up on it, and you’re right: there are some rather interesting features about the creature. Why don’t you start by telling us how you came across it?” Buntleby sipped his brandy and began his tale. “Well, I had just walked out the door and was on my way to the meeting hall when I heard a squeal from the direction of the osquip pen around back. I dashed to the back and found the flumph perched atop one of my osquips-Squinty—with its tentacles wrapped around his body to hold it in place. I ran forward to pull the thing off, when it spotted me with its eyestalks.[1] It immediately let go of Squinty and rose up into the air. I saw its base swivel slightly,[2] and before I knew it, I was being sprayed with this liquid that—well, you all got a whiff of it, and that was after it had worn off a bit.[3]” “It stunk even worse than Grindle’s patented garlic and onion stew!” suggested Zantoullios. “Anyway,” continued Buntleby, “there was a butterfly net at the side of the house, so I grabbed it up thinking to capture the creature for study. Meanwhile, Squinty was running around in a panic at my feet, and in all of the confusion, I sort of...” He winced in memory of the event, and stopped talking. “Tripped over him?” guessed Willowquisp. “Stepped on him, actually,” admitted Buntleby. “On his head.” “Oof!” said Willowquisp. “Is he okay?” Buntleby grimaced. “He bit his tongue.” “That’s not so bad,” pointed out Spontayne. “Off,” added Buntleby. “You know what their teeth are like?” “Poor thing.” “Getting back to the flumph...” suggested Willowquisp. “Oh, right. Well, stepping on Squinty put my swing a little off. I twisted my ankle and went plummeting to the ground, but on the way down I gave the net a wild swing at the flumph. I hit him on one side, but as it turned out this was a lucky break, because instead of catching him in the net I flipped the creature over in mid-air, and it crashed to the ground on its back. It seems to be helpless when its upside-down.”[4] “Yes, that’s mentioned in my book,” noted Willowquisp. “So then what?” “Well, I fixed Squinty up as best as I could—poured a potion of healing down his throat, you know, the cherryflavored kind he likes. His back was scarred from the flumph’s attack,[5] but the potion healed him up okay. So I threw the flumph into an old potato sack and raced to make it to the meeting in time. I guess that’s about it.” “So what prompted you to bring the creature to the Association for study?” asked Willowquisp. “Well, I figured there’s got to be something we can make out of it. Zantoullios?” “Well, you’ve got our procedures backward: usually, we come across a formula for a new spell or a magical Item, find out what strange body parts we need, and then plan a Hunt accordingly. But still, we’ll see what we can come up with. Hmm, hovering: potions of levitation, perhaps, or spell components for levitate, or possibly reverse gravity spells...” he muttered to himself, his mind already examining the possibilities. “Acid secretions: tentacles might be useful in oil of acid resistance, possibly tie it in somehow with a Melf's acid arrow spell? Maybe. Smelly squirting liquid: stinking cloud spell components, perhaps . . . I’ll have to check my formulae.”[6] He busied himself in the back of the lab, digging through a pile of disorganized notes and books filled with his tiny scrawlings. Buntleby pulled the flumph out of the sack and looked at it in the light of the laboratory, careful to keep it upside-down. It was entirely white, from the eyestalks to the tentacles. Even its short little spikes were a whitish-gray, although there were specks of dried blood staining a good number of them. Its eyes were a dark blue, almost black, and it looked at Buntleby with an unfathomable expression. Was it angry at its captivity? Curious? Frightened? Buntleby had no way to know. “Look how long the eyestalks are,” said Buntleby, holding up the flumph for his companions to see. “I wonder why they’re so long?” “By necessity, no doubt,” suggested Willowquisp, looking up from his tome. “If it spends its life in the air and drops down on its prey, it would have to be able to see past its own body.” “Makes sense,” admitted Buntleby. On a whim, he placed the inverted flumph on his own head, and held its eyestalks together under his chin. “Here we go,” he said, “A new hat for Lady Ablasta.” Tilting his head back so he could look down his nose at his companions, he scrunched his face into a lemon-sucking configuration and did his best Lady Ablasta imitation. “I’m sure you young men cannot possibly appreciate just how proper and fashionable my new headgear is. But of course, such is to be expected of the uncouth members of todays society.” Willowquisp chuckled and held out his hand, and Buntleby passed the flumph over to him, careful to keep it upside-down. Willowquisp tested the sharpness of the creature’s spikes with his finger, and offered, “There are times I’d be sorely tempted to place this little fellow, as is, on Dreelix’s chair.” “That would be a sight!” agreed Buntleby, placing the flumph down on a chair and waggling his butt over it as if about to sit. Even Spontayne, normally slow to join in any jocularity, allowed a grin to cross his face as he pictured Dreelix sitting on a flumph. Buntleby picked the creature back up, then examined its shell. “Hey, feel how hard the top is, compared to the bottom,"[7] he said. Spontayne gave a rap on the creature’s top, then poked a finger into its squishy, pliant underside. The flumph responded with a squeaky “wheel” of exhaled air, as if ticklish. “Almost like a turtle’s shell,” he said. “Odd that they can fly with so much weight on top.” “No, really, its not that heavy at all. Here, feel for yourself.” Buntleby passed the creature over to his mentor. “Amazingly light,” agreed Spontayne. “Perhaps the shell could be used in the construction of lightweight armor of some type.” “Possibly. Or maybe a buckler, or something.” He took the creature back from Spontayne and carried it over to Zantoullios, who was buried in a pile of arcane formulae and research notes, many of which had spilled out onto the floor. “Hey, take a peek at this texture. Think we could fashion some sort of armor from this?” Zantoullios spun around at the sound of Buntleby’s voice. His oversized book of notes bumped the flumph out of Buntleby’s hands, and the creature spilled onto the floor. At the same time Buntleby's foot slid on a loose scrap of paper, one of Zantoullios’ escaped notes that now littered the floor of his lab. He went crashing to the floor, jarring his funny bone in the process. The flumph landed on its edge and began spinning across the floor like a runaway wheel. Zantoullios made a grab for it but slipped himself and landed hard on his face, shooting a stack of notes detailing the marvelous new uses he’d found for troglodyte bladders flying out behind him. “Stop it!” Buntleby yelled, crawling to his feet. “Don’t let it get away!” Willowquisp and Spontayne looked up from the thick zoological tome Willowquisp had brought, to see the flumph barreling across the floor at them in a bee-line, tentacles splayed out on one side and eyestalks splayed out on the other. It hit Spontayne’s foot and tipped over, wobbling in a small circle along its circumference like a dropped coin between the two men. “Look out!” yelled Zantoullios. “It’s flipped up! Grab it, quick!” Willowquisp bent over to grab the flumph. Spontayne did the same, and the sound of their heads colliding could be heard clear across the lab. Both staggered backward, and the flumph shot up into the air between them. In an instant, the flumph reached a height of ten feet, well out of the range of the four humans below, where it teetered drunkenly and attempted to regain its balance. Spontayne staggered over and slammed the shutters closed on the lab window, preventing its escape. “Now what?” he asked. “Got that butterfly net with you?” asked Zantoullios. Buntleby shook his head. “What about spells?” Buntleby took a quick mental survey. “Nothing of use,” he admitted. “You?” “Sadly, no. Wait a minute, though, I’ve got an idea.” He disappeared into a back room. The flumph circled around the room slowly, eyestalks waving back and forth as it looked for a way out. It had apparently regained its equilibrium and scooted about along a horizontal plane well out of reach of the humans below. The three Monster Hunters could hear a low whistling as air passed through its maneuvering jets.[8] It glided aerially along one wall, did a quick pirouette, and floated along the , next wall, eyestalks in constant motion. Suddenly, its eyes did a double-take, and in a burst of speed it maneuvered over to the far corner of the lab. A sudden thought struck Buntleby. “Where’s Ozzie?” he cried. The flumph positioned itself over the osquip, making final adjustments as it aligned itself above its unwitting prey. “No!” screamed Buntleby as he leapt across the room toward his familiar?[9] The two reached Ozzie at about the same moment. Buntleby curled protec¬ tively over his familiar, and the flumph ended up landing on Buntleby's shoul¬ der. He felt a brief prick of pain as several of the creature’s spikes penetrated the layers of his robe, but then the flumph, surprised by the loss of its prey, zoomed back up into the air. It didn’t get far. Zantoullios, brandishing a staff of striking he’d been meaning to recharge, gave a blood-curdling scream as he charged across the room and smacked the creature between the eyestalks. The flumph teetered and tottered in the air, wobbling crazily as it tried to regain its balance. Not surprisingly, it let loose with its defensive spray, catching Buntleby, Zantoullios, and Ozzie in their faces. Zantoullios dropped his staff, recoiling in disgust. Spontayne made a grab for a wand on the worktable and tossed it over to Zantoullios. The gangly wizard caught it, spoke a command word, and the air became more breathable at once. The slim black wand had an inflatable bag at one end. As the bag filled with air, the stench became less and less noticeable. “Troglodyte bladder. Good thinking Spontayne.” Spontayne merely grunted his agreement and went over to check on Buntleby. Zantoullios picked up his staff and looked up at the flumph, hovering just out of reach. “So now what do we do?” asked Willowquisp. There was a loud bang at the shuttered window. All eyes turned toward it, including those of the flumph.[10] The shutters buckled once, twice, and then crashed open. To the Monster Hunters’ amazement, a hammer-shaped field of energy floated into the room, followed by a pair of flumphs. These flumphs were different-greenish-yellow, with tentacles shaded dark green. There seemed to be a considerably greater number of tentacles present on the green flumphs, and they waved about constantly.[11] The white flumph hovered up to the newcomers and performed an intricate series of movements with its tentacles and eyestalks, one tentacle pointed accusingly in Buntleby’s direction. The green ones positioned them¬ selves between the white flumph and the startled humans below. Spontayne was bent over Buntleby, both caught staring up at the strange creatures hovering above them. Willowquisp the Zoophile held his large tome up like a shield as if to ward off any evil spells the things might hurl at him. Zantoullios stood with an enlarged troglodyte bladder on a stick in one hand and a staff in the other, ready to strike. Under the creatures’ gaze, he lowered the staff to the floor and gave a sickly chuckle, his oversized Adam’s-apple following his nervous gulps down his throat. Buntleby felt a gathering of magical energy about him, and found that he was unable to move. From the corner of his eye he saw the others were immobile as well, and from the look of puzzlement on Willowquisp’s face he figured the sage had never been in the grip of a hold person spell before.[12] One of the green flumphs sucked In a large breath of air from its dorsal mouth-organ and forced a few words out of one of its rim holes.[13] “Not evil,” it squeaked, evidently revealing the results of a quick detect evil spell. The spiritual hammer winked out of existence behind it. “Explain behavior.” Suddenly, Buntleby could move againapparently, he had been released from the spell. He looked at his companions, but they remained immobilized. It seemed that he was to be their spokesman. “Why fight?” asked the green flumph in its high-pitched voice. “We were, uh, defending ourselves,” he began. The green flumph that had spoken pointed at the white flumph with a thin tentacle. “Why attack?” it demanded in its squeaky voice. “Well, he started it! He attacked one of my osquips!” The flumph swung its eyestalks to stare down at Ozzie. “Kill vermin.” “Ozzie’s not vermin! He's my familiar and my friend!” As if understanding the flumphs' motives, Ozzie prudently scooted behind Buntleby’s feet and hid from the hovering creatures. The flumph swung its eyes back to Buntleby. “Not vermin?” it asked, surprised. “Definitely not!” “Not vermin?” it asked again. The green flumph pointed his two eyeballs at each other in confusion, then seemed to give a mental shrug. It pointed a tentacle at its white-skinned cousin, and said, “Not hat.” Buntleby felt his cheeks burn crimson as embarrassment crept over his face. “Yes, well, I’m sorry about that,” he mumbled. “Not cushion. No sit.” Buntleby’s face grew even redder. “Look, I think there’s been a terrible misunderstanding on both our parts. I apologize for the way we’ve treated your friend here, and I see now that no harm was meant on your part toward my osquips, too. How about we just admit to our misunderstandings and each go our own separate ways?” The flumphs stared at the Monster Hunters for a few seconds, then turned and waggled tentacles at each other. “Agreed,” said the flumph spokesman. With a puff of air, it swiveled around on its central axis and jetted out the window, the other two creatures following behind it. Movement returned to the other Monster Hunters. “Well I’ll be,” remarked Zantoullios. “I think we were just scolded. What were those things, his parents?” “Unlikely,” Wiliowquisp replied , flipping through his book once again. “Flumphs have but a single parentthey reproduce asexually by budding, once every two years or so. No, I believe they were a different type of flumph altogether. My tome here hints at a race of spellcasting flumphs, and I think that’s what we just saw.” “So the little white guy just got rescued by two of his more powerful cousins,” remarked Buntleby, bending down to his familiar and stroking him behind the ears. “And I’d say we were lucky at that,” said Wiliowquisp, flipping quickly through his book in search of a particular page. “We got off easy in only having to deal with a spell-using flumph; we could have been facing one of these, instead!” Finding the page he was after, he flipped the book around so his friends could see. The picture showed a creature that looked like nothing so much as a giant brain, from which grew a parrot¬ like beak and ten long tentacles. From the way it was drawn on the page, it was obvious that the creature was hovering in mid-air. “A grell?” asked Buntleby. “I’ve never heard of them.”[14] “You’re lucky never to have met one,” said Zantoullios. “I don’t think we’d have got off so easy if it was a couple of grell that burst in here.” There was silence for awhile, as each Monster Hunter reflected on what had just occurred. Finally, Zantoullios broke the silence. “Actually, I’d prefer explaining to the Association that we lost our flumph to a daring raid by a couple of nasty grell, rather than admit that the four of us were bested by a little green. flumph,” he said with a squeaky voice. “Good point,” admitted Buntleby, rubbing his sore shoulder. “I think,” suggested Wiliowquisp, “that after much investigation, we decided that flumphs are unsuitable for magical experimentation, and we let him go free.” “I like it,” said Spontayne. “Me too,” agreed Buntleby. “Good plan,” said Zantoullios. Johnathan M. Richards says he is very familiar with the concept of the nausea-inducing smell, since he grew up living across from a mushroom farm that brought in compost daily by the truckload, and currently lives downwind from a meat-rending facility. FOOTNOTES: 1. A flumph’s eyestalks can move independently of one another, giving it a wide field of vision. As the creatures are nocturnal, flumphs have infravision to a range of 60 feet. They have no eyelids and so cannot close their eyes, even during sleep. For this reason, they are seldom surprised in visually-oriented situations. (For example, it would be difficult to walk up to one without it being aware of the approach.) On the other hand, they tend to take more damage from light-based assaults (for example, they save at -2 against light spells cast on them to temporarily bnnd them). If an eyestalk or tentacle is severed, it takes about a week to grow back. One-eyed flumphs strike at -2 to hit due to a lack of depth perception; those missing a tentacle or two are not impeded and cause full damage with their acid attacks. 2. The flumph hovers by an innate form of anti-gravity, but it maneuvers by means of several smafl holes along the rim of its disk-shaped body. A mouth-like organ on its top takes in air, which can be expelled by any of the holes along the rim. Air being jetted out the back of the flumph’s body propels it forward; air jetted from the creature s left sends it to the right, and so on. The air jets propel the creature horizontally, while it moves vertically at will by means of its antigravity ability. Its tentacles are used like rudders, enabling the creature to spin clockwise or counter-clockwise, depending on tne placement of the tentacles as it forces air out one of its rim holes. This is important in lining up its defensive spray, as the liquid can be expelled from only one of tne eight rim holes. This one rim hole is usually referred to as the creature’s “front” (a somewhat arbitrary position on a radially-symmetrical creature). 3. A flumph’s defensive spray squirts out in a 60° arc from its “front,” with a range of 20 feet. The liquid is extremely foul-smelling, something of a unappealing melange of skunk musk, rotting cabbages, and the unwashed armpits of a sweaty, overweight ore. The stench causes those struck to save vs. poison or be unable to attack for 2-5 rounds due to extreme nausea and dizziness. The odor from this attack lasts for up to 4 hours and is detectable from 100 feet away. (This scent could easily attract wandering monsters.) The flumph’s spray attack also propels it in the opposite direction, since the attack emanates from one of its rim holes. A flumph can use its spray only once every ten rounds. 4. A flumph is virtually helpless when placed on its back, even more so than a turtle. The creature’s innate anti-gravity is aimed downward from the creature’s lower side, making it useless if the flumph is flipped over. Its many tentacles are capable of delicate maneuvering but do not possess much strength, so the flumph is unable to flip itself over by grasping at nearby handholds. Furthermore, its “maneuvering jets” cannot be employed unless it is levitating, and this includes tne one responsible for its defensive spray. To add insult to injury, its long eyestalks are pinned by its body when overturned, so the creature cannot even get a good look at what is going on around it. 5 . Although the flumph’s “mouth” is on its upper surface, it is used for air intake only. The creature actually feeds by means of several small spikes located centrally on its underside, surrounded by its tentacles. The flumph drops down on its prey (mostly frogs, lizards, and small rodents), piercing the victim’s body with the spikes for id8 hp damage. It then introduces acid into the wounds by means of its tentacles. Each tentacle is hollow, much like an elephants trunk, and is highly flexible. While some tentacles entwine around the prey in an effort to hold it still, others secrete acid, causing an additional 1d4 hp damage for the next 2a4 rounds. The acid is produced in the flumph’s lower body cavity; anyone piercing a flumph’s underside (AC 8) from below is hit with a shower of acid causing damage as noted above. The acid is highly potent, requiring active washing with 2-8 gallons of water or immersion in a swiftly-moving stream in order to remove it completely; simple immersion is not enough. Once the prey is dead and the acid has had enough time to liquefy the creature partially, the flumph sucks up nutrients through its tentacles. In this respect it is similar to most spiders, whose venom liquefies the insides of its captured prey, allowing tne spider to “drink” its victims. 6. The brain of a flumph—a small organ located just under the creature’s upper shell, midway between its mouth and its rear rim holewhen pulverized, produces a liquid useful in the roduction of potions of levitation. One flumph rain provides enough liquid for three such potions. The inner layer of hollow flumph tentacles can be removed and used as one of the ingredients for oil of acid resistance. It takes about 20 tentacles for one application of this magical oil. The gland that stores the flumph’s defensive spray can be used as an alternate material com¬ ponent for the stinking cloud spell. If used for this purpose, any flumphs within one mile of the spells effect have a 50% chance of investigating the stinking cloud. 7. A flumph’s upper surface is AC 0. During the daylight hours, the creature often flies up into a tree and settles on a sturdy branch, wrapping its tentacles around the branch for support. This leaves its hard upper shell exposed while pro¬ tecting its softer underside while it sleeps. The eyestalks are retractable and can be whipped into the creature’s body quickly if necessary, but the flumph usually keeps them out and facing opposite directions while sleeping, flumph sleep is very light, and the creature remains somewhat aware of its surroundings at all times. If danger is present, It can snap awake in an instant, although it does suffer a -2 penalty to its surprise roll if attacked while sleeping. 8. This noise is just incidental to the flumph’s movement through the air and does not constitute a language. There is a flumph language, but it is a sign language based on tentacle and eyestalk movements, difficult for non-flumphs to learn and impossible for them to reproduce (short of using polymorph magic to take on the shape of a flumph themselves, or creating the illusion of a flumph and using it to do the “talking”). 9. Flumphs have no regular feeding schedule. They almost always attack rodents on sight, regardless of how recently they have fed, leading some to believe that flumphs prefer a rodent diet, or that they were specifically bred as a farming aid to cut down on the rodent population. They will also eat small creatures such as lizards, frogs, and snakes, but given a choice will always go after rodents first. A flumph sees killing rats and mice as a sacred duty to be performed whenever possible. 10. Although flumphs have no external ears, they do have a sense of hearing on a par with that of a human. They do, in fact, have four inner ears spaced equidistant around their bodies just below their maneuvering jets. They have an excellent sense of touch in tne tips of their tentacles but a weak sense of smell (based on the mouth-like organ on their upper surface) and no sense of taste. Their sense of smell is somewhat unique in its extreme sensitivity to one particular scent—the odor of their own defensive spray. A flumph is able to pick up that one scent from over a mile away. Tnis means when a flumph uses its spray, it is also alerting all other flumphs in the immediate vicinity that a dangerous situation has arisen. Being lawful good creatures, any flumph picking up the defensive odor heads toward tne scent to assist if it can. 11. Monastic flumphs are a higher order of flumph, able to cast priest spells as if they were clerics of equal level to their hit dice. At 2-5 HD, this gives them access to priest spells of first to third level. These spells are modified versions of the spells known to PCs, requiring only somatic gestures, which they perform with consummate skill with their numerous tentacles. Monastic flumphs have a larger number of tentacles than do common flumphs; while this enables them to cast spells, it also leaves less room on their undersides for spikes, and as a result monastic flumphs cause only 1d6 hp damage instead of the common flumpn’s 1d8. Little is known about the mysterious monastic flumphs. They gather together in large cav¬ erns to worship unknown, lawful good deities. Each monastic flumph society is called a “clois¬ ter,” led by a 5-HD “abbot,” 3-or 4-HD “priors” (one per six flumphs in the cloister), and a handful of 2-HD “monks.” Cloisters commonly hold up to 32 individual monastic flumphs, who act as guardians for the common flumphs and pursue their own mysterious interests. Most of what little is known of the monastic flumphs was documented by one Cartificant the Learned, a curious sage with a penchant for unusual field-work. It was he who gave the monastic flumphs their religious-based titles, and since so little has been written about the creatures, the terms “cloister,” “abbot,” “prior,” and “monk” have become common usage in describing monastic flumph society. Had Cartificant finished his field-work with the monastic flumphs (tragically, he was killed in a rare butter-churning accident), he might have learned the true relationship between ordinary flumphs and the monastic variety. Monastic flumphs are not a higher order of flumph so much as normal” flumphs are a lower order of monastic flumph-specifically, their idiot mutant children. About 10% of monastic flumph buds grow into albino flumphs. While these creatures are lower in intelligence and cannot cast spells, they are nonetheless cherished and looked after by the lawful good monastic flumphs. The albinos always breed true, so over time, the “normal” flumphs came to far outnumber the monastic ones. 12. Since monastic flumphs cast their spells using only somatic gestures with their many ten¬ tacles and also move their tentacles when com¬ municating with others of their species, there is usually no warning for an outside observer that a monastic flumph is casting a spell. 13. A very few monastic flumphs (about 10%) have mastered the Common tongue or another verbal language. They do not speak often, and when they do it is in short bursts of words as they force air out of their rim holes. A speaking monastic flumph sounds like it just took in a lungful of helium and is trying to do a Mickey Mouse impression. 14. No grell would ever come to a flumph’s rescue, although it is very possible that the flumph and the grell are genetically related. Sages point out tne many similarities between the two creatures: both hover in the air by means of an innate ability; both have numerous tentacles; both drop down on prey from above; both are nomadic, seldom staying in one area for long. In addition, each has a solitary type (the common flumph and the rogue grell) as well as a “colony” type (the monastic flumph and the colonial grell). Further Information on grell is available in the Monstrous Manual® tome (under “Grell”), MC5 Greyhawk® Adventures Appendix (under “Grell”), and MC9: Spelljammer® Appendix (under “Grell, Colonial”). Another creature believed to be related to the flumph is the belabra, or “tangler.” Somewhat more primitive than either the flumph or the grell, the jellyfish-shaped creature cannot levitate or fly, but instead glides after a springing leap that can take it 60 yards at a time. The creature has 12 rubbery tentacles, a hard, bony upper shell, and four dorsal eyestalks. Further evidence of flumph ancestry is the fact that when a tentacle is severed, the creature sprays Its blood at enemies, which has a debilitating effect on them. Belabra also reproduce through budding, as do flumphs. Many sages believe tne belabra to be a precursor to both the flumph and grell species. Further information on belabra can be found in MC3: Forgotten Realms® Appendix, under “Belabra (Tangier).” The best guess regarding the flumph’s origins, taking into account its probable genetic ties to the grell, is that flumphs originate from a different world. They may have traveled on grell spelljamming vessels (perhaps by design, but more likely without the grells’ knowledge) and disembarked onto their new planet. Or, for that matter, it might have only been a single (monastic) flumph-since they reproduce asexually, it would only take a single flumph to found an entire race on a new world. If this theory is true, it might also explain the “normal” flumph’s existence-perhaps the albino mutation came about as a result of some subtle difference between this world and the monastic flumph’s original home world. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Unknown (Prime Material Plane, Underdark) Stat Block 5th Edition: - Monster Manual (2014) - Angry Golem Games - DndBeyond 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Poisonous AOE stench spray - Barbed, acidic tendrils apply damage over time - Advanced telepathy - Telepathic shroud - Flight Appearance Flumph resemble aerial jellyfish. These odd creatures are round and almost flat, perhaps the or four inches thick in the center, tapering to one or two inches near the edge. The body is mostly hollow, much like a large cushion. A round orifice is in the center of the upper surface, flanked by two eyestalks, each about six inches long. Several short tentacles hang from the creature’s underside, concealing a mass of small spikes. The tentacles closest to the flumph's rim can be used for fine manipulation of small objects. A common flumph is pure white in color; a monastic flumph is generally a pale yellow or green, with darker tentacles. Size Hero Forge: 1'4" (XL) Lore: Small (2 ft. diameter Suggested: Small Other Monikers None Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Monster Manual (2014) - Archive.org (Dragon Magazine #246 - 1998) - Archive.org (Monstrous Compendium Annal Volume 3 - 1995) - DndBeyond - mojobob's website

Lady's Maze - Timlin Lady's Maze - Timlin Author(s) Matt-GM talespire://published-board/TGFkeSdzIE1hemUgLSBUaW1saW4=/9420017042942ed4e3dabe96eba76271 Board Link Features - Walls built of ruined tenements from Sigil’s hive ward - Statue of the Lady of Pain at the maze Center - Maze endlessly loops on itself, secret portal exit (not part of current maze, instead I had an item puzzle get the players out) Notes - Maze from 2nd edition Planescape Adventure Book: A Well of Worlds (see module for info) to imprison Timlin, an ex-factol of Sigil Assets from Tales Tavern None

Mediator Medium Construct, Lawful Neutral Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, single mini Description (From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I - 1994): Mediators are proxies of the powers of neutrality. Mechanus Mediator: Mechanus mediators, the balancing forces found in the Clockwork Universe, ensure that all things, light and darkness, liquid and solid, maintain perfect balance and harmony. They look like clusters of geometric shapes made of strange green crystal. They are roughly spherical in shape, prickling with protuberances: squares, triangles, trapezoids, and spheres of all sizes stick out in all directions. Unlike their lesser kin, the translators, Mechanus mediators communicate through empathy. They cannot communicate with undead. Combat: Mediators rarely enter combat except to balance an ongoing battle. They attack with a piercing green ray of light that inflicts 2d12 damage and ignites combustibles. The ray has no range modifiers; the mediator can attack anything it can see. Mechanus mediators can create or do anything as long as it directly relates to maintaining balance in Mechanus. For game purposes, this means that they have unlimited wish spells, but only for the purpose of balance. For example, if the amount of liquid in Mechanus begins to exceed the amount of solid matter, a mediator can transform liquid to solid until balance is restored. If two groups battle, the mediators can destroy combatants until the sides are equal or even telekinetically stop the battle. Given their omnipotent power, it is perhaps fortunate that only three mediators exist in Mecbanus. Because their own destruction is the greatest possible threat to balance, Mechanus mediators use their wish ability to save themselves from danger. Without conscious effort mediators can affect any attacker, no matter where or in what manner the attack is launched. The attacker immediately undergoes an alignment shift to absolute neutral and, therefore, ceases its attack. Simply put, a mediator cannot be killed, so they have no experience point value. Habitat/Society: The sole purpose of the mediators is to maintain balance. It is irrelevant whether the balancing is of good and evil, light and darkness, liquid and solid, etc. The mediators are heedless of anything except this symmetry of existence, even of sapient life. This causes some to view them as evil and uncaring, but mediators are certainly not evil in this respect. Rather, they are amoral in their drive for perfect equilibrium. Mediators have gained an almost godlike reputation in Mechanus. They are rarely seen, and when they appear it is generally to effect tremendous change in the name of equilibrium. Even those beings of true neutral alignment are not beyond slight error or deviation. Neutrality tends to be inhibited, in some cases, by emotion. The mediators, however, are neutrality unfettered by emotion. They are objective judges, free of bias. Ecology: A legend of the mediators, its origin and truth lost in the mists of time, claims that eons ago when the Outer Planes were first forming, the powers of creation divided space among them. They created planes of certain alignments as homes for the corresponding powers. Intense arguments between powers of the same alignment but slightly differing viewpoints led to the creation of 17 individual planes for the nine alignments. When the Outlands were created, they were to be the home of the neutral powers. From there they could send out their influences to maintain balance and order. But the neutral powers bickered because they disagreed how to organize and construct the inner areas of the plane. Each tried to exert individual influence, causing the plane to become unbalanced. When the powers of creation saw what had happened, they cast the powers of neutrality out of the Outlands, thus closing it off to all beings. They created Mechanus with its perfect harmony and giant clockwork, and sent the powers of neutrality there to live. In order that the neutrals not corrupt Mechanus as they had done with the Outlands, the powers of creation made the mediators and gave them great power and influence over balance. Three mediators were made, one for each of the Lights of Balance that shine now at the center of the Outlands. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Mechanus Stat Block 2nd Edition: - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I (1994) - Monstrous Compendium: Outer Planes Appendix (1991) - mojobob's website Abilities - Can cast unlimited Wish spells as long as the casting furthers the cause of balance - Alters the alignment of any attacking creature to absolute neutral to cease their attack - Cannot be targeted with any attack or harmful magic, and thus cannot be killed - Flight Appearance They look like clusters of geometric shapes made of strange green crystal. They are roughly spherical in shape, prickling with protuberances: squares, triangles, trapezoids, and spheres of all sizes stick out in all directions. Size Hero Forge: 2'7"(5')(XL) Lore: Medium (5' diam) Suggested: Medium to Large Other Monikers None Sources - adnd2e.random.com - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I (1994) - Monstrous Compendium: Outer Planes Appendix (1991) - mojobob's website

Larva Medium Fiend, Neutral Evil Hero Forge Mini Single mini, no kitbash Description (from Dungeon Master's Guide - 2014): A larva is a miserable fiend that retains the facial features of its previous form but has the body of a fat worm. A larva has only a few faint memories of its previous life. Hades is crawling with larvae. Night hags , liches , and rakshasas harvest them for use in vile rituals. Other fiends like to feed on them. (from Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I - 1994): Among the odder treasures of Castle Neutomas is a branding iron bearing a letter from an alphabet of the Lower Planes. Famed planar traveler Mordeia the Great tells how she got it in her Signs and Wonders: A Planar Tour . “We had managed to go undetected in the Gray Wastes by disguising ourselves as a lich and its court. Our plan seemed to be working well. Then we heard a great liquid sound that brought to mind the sound of dogs retching. From across the plain came a vast herd of larvae, driven by mephit drovers at the command of three night hags riding nightmares . The mephits flew above the (almost liquid) herd, driving them along with sprays of fire and salt. We estimated that perhaps three or four thousand of the creatures wormed their way along, covering the plains in a sticky foul smelling slime. One of the mephits spotted us and flew our way, bearing greetings from its mistress and inquiring if we were interested in buying any of the herd. “Not wanting to give ourselves away, we expressed casual interest, but asked how we could he sure the herd belonged to these hags? The mephit whistled, and two of its kind pulled one of the great sticky worms from the mass and flew it our way. They showed us clearly that the larva had been branded. “I said that we would indeed he interested in looking over the stock (thinking that, if need be, we could escape using our cubic gate). The hags joined us. For a time we made small talk, and I asked if I could see a branding operation. The mephits pulled forth an unmarked larva, a new arrival that had just materialized among the others. A lava mephit began to heat the iron. I walked over and picked up a cold branding iron (they had three, one for each hag). I sauntered back to my party, and we activated the cubic gate. “That branding iron now ranks among my favorite trophies from my many travels.” Larvae, evil dead from other planes who led especially selfish lives, are now doomed to spend their wretched existences serving evil on the Lower Planes. Larvae are horrifying 5’-long worms, sickly yellow and covered with viscous, foul-smelling fluid. Instead of a worm’s head, they have distorted faces resembling the mortals they were in life. Larvae communicate with one another through instinctive body movements that cannot be interpreted by others. Combat: Larvae have no will of their own and simply lie in giant, quivering masses on the grounds of the Gray Waste. However, when commanded by a greater power — that is, just about anything in the Waste — larva will attack en masse. These foul creatures bite (1d4+1 damage) that bleeds for 1 additional hp damage per round until bound. In addition, anyone bitten by a larva must successfully save vs. poison or contract a rotting disease. Those contracting the disease develop a painful skin rot. After three weeks, they lose 4 hp a day unless they lie absolutely still. After one month, they die. A cure disease spell destroys the disease. Habitat/Society: Night hags herd larvae to use them as bargaining chips in the Gray Waste. Lower planar powers use the larvae to form quasits and imps , and in return they agree not to enter night hag territories. Powerful liches feed on larval energies to maintain their undead immortality, and in return the liches destroy creatures who refuse to trade with the hags. The complex bartering system is sustained by the growing numbers of lower planar inhabitants. Few rumors exist of the fortress/palace of Malsheem on Baator’s ninth layer. The most powerful baatezu do speak of one future event: The Bringing. The Dark Eight plot The Bringing to ensure the destruction of their hated enemies, the tanar’ri . The ceremonies to invoke The Bringing will be long and dangerous (although whatever could endanger a pit fiend can only be guessed at), and titanic magical energies will be released. To fuel the great spell, the life forces of a million larvae must be utterly destroyed. Although the rumor’s truth is uncertain, the baatezu have been acquiring larvae from the night hags at an unusually rapid pace. Ecology: Larvae are the sole means for creating imps and quasits. Because imps and quasits later advance to become greater fiends, larvae are the foundation of the population of the Lower Planes. Because all larvae are equally lowly, fiends select them randomly to transform into other types of creatures are needed. How the larvae become higher creatures depends on the fiends that transform them. The baatezu, for example, cast the larvae into pools of flame, where the larvae suffer for 11 days before emerging as cruel new creatures. Other fiends have different ways to promote larvae. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Gray Waste (Hades) Stat Block 2024: - 2024 Monster Manual - DndBeyond (individual) - DndBeyond (Swarm) 5th Edition: - 5etools - Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) - DndBeyond 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Bite transmits rotting disease - Can attack in swarms Appearance Larvae are horrifying 5’-long worms, sickly yellow and covered with viscous, foul-smelling fluid. Instead of a worm’s head, they have distorted faces resembling the mortals they were in life. Size Hero Forge: 2'6" (XL) Lore: Medium (5-6 ft. long) Suggested: Medium Other Monikers Soul larvae, fiendish larvae Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - 2024 Monster Manual - Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) - DndBeyond - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I (1994) - Mojobob's website

Khaasta Medium Humanoid (Lizardfolk), Chaotic Neutral (Evil) Hero Forge Mini Kitbashed, mount mini Description (From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix II -1995): The khaasta are raiders, slavers, and smugglers who plague the Outlands and the chaotic planes. They’re vicious, unreliable cutthroats and cross-traders who’ll turn stag on a cutter as soon as look at him. Only two things really matter to a khaasta: prestige and wealth. Wealth is fairly easy to accumulate and display, but the khaasta code of prestige is a convoluted and twisted set or rules of conduct that rewards backstabbing, conniving, and deceit. To a khaasta, there’s nothing so wonderful as peeling a powerful enemy and living to give him the laugh. Khaasta bear a passing resemblance to lizardmen of the Prime Material Plane. They’re humanoid in form, but their bodies are covered with tough, small scales, and they have long, powerful tails. A khaasta’s face has a blunt, lizardlike snout and its head is crowned with a flaring crest. A khaasta’s colorful scales create intricate, unique patterns that’re never repeated from individual to individual. Unlike their more primitive relations, khaasta dress in bronzed plate armor and wield exotic weapons. Khaasta typically travel in roving trader-bands, although the trade of any particular group can turn to extortion, kidnaping, or smuggling at a moment’s notice. Since they have no innate planewalking abilities, khaasta are forced to walk the Great Road to get from plane to plane and must rely entirely on portals or conduits. Combat: All khaasta, both male and female, consider themselves warriors and hold themselves ready for a fight at any time. Their tough scales provide a natural AC of 5, but khaasta typically wear bronze breastplates, greaves, and half-helms that improve their AC to 2. Khaasta are capable of delivering serious damage with their bites, and typically wield a large two-handed sword, halberd, or battle axe; their considerable Strength gives them a +1 to damage rolls. They can both bite and attack with a weapon in the same round. Khaasta often use giant lizards as mounts and prefer to fight mounted whenever possible. Fighting mounted gives the khaasta a +1 bonus to hit characters on foot and also provides them with the additional combat power of their mount. Note that a khaasta cannot use its bite attack while fighting from a mount. Whether on foot or mounted, khaasta are excellent archers, and almost all khaasta can use composite long bows in addition to any other weapons they may have. Habitat/Society: A khaasta’s home is its band. Typically. a khaasta band wanders caravan-style across the planes, seeking opportunities for trade or pillage wherever it goes. There’ll always be a number of giant lizards equal to half again the number of khsasta present as mounts and pack-beasts. Khaasta bands are notoriously chaotic and disorganized. They believe in the rule of the strong, and there are constant challenges of authority and schemes for advancement among the khaasta. Long ago they learned to resolve these differences by ritualistic, nonlethal combat; in ancient times the race almost dueled itself to extinction. While dealing with a khaasta band is a dicey thing. it doesn’t always have to turn out badly. Khaasta can be excellent sources of information, muscle, or illicit goods, as long as a cutter can meet their price and demonstrate (forcibly) that he’s too tough to challenge or turn stag on. See, the khaasta code demands that they just take from the weak instead of dealing with ’em, and if a khaasta perceives itself to be in a position of strength it’ll try to take what it wants. One last note: Never assume that a khaasta’s going to do what it promised it would. Another part of the khaasta code is the challenge of the strong by any means available. Even if a khaasta doesn’t think it can take a basher on today, it’s likely to plan an ambush or stack the odds somehow in a fight tomorrow. Ecology: Khaasta don’t have many friends out on the planes, and in some of the places thes travel they’rw the low sods on the food chain. Consequently, they take any opportunity to live well today. There’s nothing too good for a khaasta cockpot, including fellow travelers or the local natives if that’s the easiest meal at hand. Khaasta young are carefully guarded by their parents until they reach 7 to 10 years of age. In an average band, a group of young equal to half the number of adults can be found tending the pack lizards or acting as noncombative scouts and sentries. Usually, about half the adults remain to guard the caravan while the rest raid or deal with outsiders. Khaasta Chieftain The leader of a khaasta band is usually a warrior of exceptional size, strength, and cunning. Typically, a khaasta chieftain has 4+4 to 6+6 Hit Dice, a THAC0 of 15, and a useful magical item or two to help it stay on top. Khaasta chieftains gain a +3 damage bonus with weapons due to their Strength. Khaasta Wise One A band of 15 or more khaasta may have a wise one with them (50% chance). Wise ones are counselors and shamans to the khaasta chieftains, existing outside the code of challenge. Khaasta wise ones have the spell abilities of a 4th-level cleric and are defended by 2 to 4 khaasta warriors. Although the wise ones claim they are uninterested in the khaasta power struggles, it’s not unusual to find bands where the wise one is pulling the strings of a chieftain it advises. From Fiend Folio (2003): Khaastas are dangerous reptilian humanoids that roam the wastelands of the Outlands and the chaotic planes. They are infamous for being raiders, plunderers, slavers, and mercenaries. Khaastas superficially resemble lizardfolk, and they may have descended from them long ago. However, khaastas are considerably larger, tougher, and more aggressive than normal lizardfolk. Khaastas have tough, small scales and flaring crests that are colored in intricate, wild patterns unique to each individual. They have long, powerful tails that are used for balance rather than combat. Most khaastas travel in nomadic bands in the Outer Planes, where they look for loot, slaves, and combat. They hire themselves out to anyone that seems powerful (and in their eyes, worthy) enough to command them, but they backstab their patron at the first sign of weakness. Khaastas speak Draconic and Common. Combat : Khaastas look for ways to dive into combat. Some begin by peppering their opponents with arrows, while other khaastas charge into melee with their halberds. A khaasta can make a bite attack while wielding a weapon, and it relishes tasting blood during a fight. The creatures make use of giant lizards as mounts. Khaastas plan and execute ambushes that focus on hindering dangerous foes until they can be brought down in melee combat. However, khaastas have a strong cowardly streak and run when the combat turns against them. Khaasta Society: Among the roving bands of khaastas, might makes right. The pecking order of any band is in constant flux, and challenges are common. Khaastas once determined status by having duels to the death, until they almost drove themselves to extinction. Since then, disputes and challenges have been resolved through a nonlethal form of ritual combat. Khaastas have a convoluted sense of honor that is impossible for outsiders to understand. Treachery, betrayal, theft, and murder are all acceptable methods of advancement in khaasta society. Females are just as strong and tough as males and are just as likely to be found in marauder bands. Some foes have seen a female khaasta wading into battle with a young one strapped to her back. Despite this seeming disregard for the safety of their children, khaastas defend their young with incredible ferocity. KHAASTA CHARACTERS: A khaasta’s favored class is fighter; most khaasta leaders are fighters or clerics. Khaasta clerics can choose any two of the following domains: Chaos, Strength, Trickery, or War. A khaasta PC’s effective character level (ECL) is its class level + 3. For example, a 1st-level khaasta fighter has an ECL of 4 and is the equivalent of a 4th-level character. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane Outlands, chaotic-aligned planes Stat Block 3rd Edition: - realmshelps.net 2nd Edition: - Mojobob's Website Pathfinder 1e: - mimir.net Abilities - Tough scales and heavy armor make them difficult to injure - Skilled in heavy melee weapons, ranged weapons, and mounted combat - Bite attack - High strength Appearance They appear much like the djinn from the Elemental Plane of Air. From the waist up they are strong, baldheaded humans with distinct features. The dominant males usually sport a moustache and goatee. They adequate fond of jewelry, often wearing necklaces, arm bracers, earrings, etc. From the waist down, air sentinels look very much like a small tornado or twisting cone of wind. Size Hero Forge: 5'8" (XL) Lore: Medium (6-7 ft. tall) Suggested: Medium Other Monikers None Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Fiend Folio (2003) - Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995) - Mojobob's Website

Goristro Goristro Huge Fiend (Demon), Chaotic Evil Hero Forge Mini Hero Forge Mini Double mini, no kitbash, 1 varaint below (inc. single mini) Description (from Planescape Planes of Chaos Monstrous Supplement- 1995) Collectively known as goristroi, these huge tanar’ri can be found on nearly any plane of the Abyss, for they are adaptable and much desired by the rulers of the place to serve as engines of destruction. Abyssal lords and powers are able to command the goristroi and keep them serving as guardians, enforcers, siege engines, and so on. The hulking goristroi are too stupid and bestial to do more than carry out their orders, and thus their status never reaches that or the true tanar’ri. From the third volume of Deception And Strategems, by the pit fiend Mellagorus: "Though the lumbering goristroi are excellent at climbing sheer stone faces and though these assaults can break our fortications, such strategies also present us with an opportunity to destroy the beasts. Their powerful clawed fingers can make handholds in sheer stone, but their enormous size makes them vulnerable to falls, and they suffer twice the damage a smaller creature might from a fall. The goristroi are especially afraid of Bigby’s forceful hand, dig, fly, levitation, and other spells that can push them off the heights to be broken on the rocks below or, even more amusingly, onto the weapons of their fellow tanar’ri. Weak-minded goristroi are also vulnerable to spells such as cause fear, fear, symbol of fear, and repulsion, which drive them off walls. For all these reasons, arcanaloth are the best countermeasures to employ against goristroi assaults on an entrenched position on the height. Fools though they are, tanar’ri commanders rarely order a goristro over the walls unless the situation is desperate or a diversionary attack has drawn off most of the defenders. Take this as a sign of weakness and counterattack." Usually solitary, goristroi are only important among their kin because of their ability to absorb damage and to mete it out. They are stupid and otherwise limited in power, unable even to gate in other tanar’ri. The vast majority of goristroi encountered are in the service of some Abyssal ruler, blindly carrying out the duties assigned to them with complete fanaticism. There is never a question of retreat or morale when dealing with these brutes, though the threat of long falls can induce paralysis on the field of action. In all other respects, they always continue to follow their given commands until completion or death occurs. In the Blood War the goristroi serve as siege engines and rallying points for lesser tanar’ri, much as elephants do among some prime-material worlds. A goristroi citadel is a platform strapped to the creature’s head and shoulders like a helmet. The tanar’ri carries this citadel as a lesser creature might carry a knapsack; it hardly seems aware of it. The fortification usually provides excellent cover (-7 to AC) for two to four riders, depending on the size of the goristroi. Again from Mellagorus’ Deception And Strategems: "Goristroi citadels are dangerous and best kept busy with cannon fodder and inferior troops, but if they can be broken the lesser troops surrounding them are usually routed. The best way to accomplish this is to harry a goristro from two directions. The retarded behemoth will turn from one attack to the other, unconscious of the fact that its rapid movements are shaking and battering the creatures within the citadel to death. At this point flying troops such as abishai can take the citadel and slay the goristro by a surgical strike to the neck with axes, polearms, and cleavers. "Goristroi ruled by an Abyssal lord or power always wear some symbol of servitude, such as a collar, an arm or wrist band, or an implanted symbol. Such devices zypically have the power to conves telepathic commands to the wearer as well as serve as tracking devices should the masters wish to know the whereabouts of their servants. Without direct command or supervision, goristroi tend to wander off on destructive rampages of their own direction and desire. "Goristroi do not breed naturally. They are carefully mated by their owners after extensive negotiations, eventually resulting in a single young. The goristroi are carefully watched throughout the entire process, for fear of foul play by the other side, such as an attempt to slay these valuable beasts. Generally, the terms are that the owner of the male goristroi gains the female young, and the owner of the mother is entitled to the male young produced. The young grow to maturity within five voracious, screaming years. This allows the lucky owner to breed further young on his own, albeit inbred ones. However, abductions, infanticide (if the young is the wrong gender), and even outright purchases of the live young are fairy common. Under no circumstances are the parents allowed to have any influence on the young goristro." Goristroi are predators that make no distinction between various types of prey. They eat anything that moves, even among their own kind, devouring lesser tanar’ri when their dim minds believe no one is watching. They are exclusively carnivorous, unable to eat vegetable matter even if no other food is available. If forced to go without living or recently slain meat, goristroi wither and die within two weeks, so tanar’ri commanders usually sacrifice lesser troops for the sake of keeping their citadels going. Goristroi flesh is itself poisonous if ingested, so not even powerful planar creatures or pack hunters like trolls and armanites attack them. Combat : The attack mode of these monsters consists of two clubbing smashes with their long and very powerful arms for 6d4+6 points or damage each. Each is equal to a crushing blow, so material struck must be saved for. In addition, these brutes can make a stamping attack against any 6 feet tall or shorter opponent within 10 feet of them for 5d8 points of damage. They hurl boulders as cloud giants (240 yard range for 2d12 points of damage). In addition to standard tanar’ri abilities, goristroi have the following spell-like powers, which they can employ one at a time, one per round, at will: detect invisibility, detect magic, fear (as a wand, by gaze), levitation , and spider climb. Even the lowliest of goristroi can be harmed only by +1 or better magical weapons. All of them are immune to cold, fire, poison, and poison gas. They regenerate 1 hit point per turn. They have infravision to 360 feet. As noted in the statistics above, gorislroi gain 6 hit points per hit die in addition to whatever is rolled, giving each hit die a range of from 7-14 instead of the usual 1-8. Goristroi that have 140-160 hit points are only 21 feet tall and can be hit by magical weapons of +1 or better. Those with 161-200 hit points are 22 feet tall, and are also hit only by +1 or better weapons. If a goristro’s hit points fall in the range of 201-240, the beast is 23 feet tall and is hit only by +2 or better weapons. (from Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - 2014) The goristro resembles a fiendish minotaur towering more than twenty feet tall. When controlled by a demon lord, goristros make formidable living siege engines and prized pets. Goristros possess preternatural cunning when navigating labyrinthine passages and shifting corridors, pursuing foes in a terrifying hunt. A hulking goristro sometimes bears a palanquin, carrying smaller demons on its broad shoulders, much like an elephant carries riders on its back. Alternate Versions Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Button Home Plane The Abyss Stat Block 5th Edition: - Monster Manual (2014) - DnD Wiki - DnDBeyond 2nd Edition: - mojobob's website Abilities - Siege Monster - Goring charge - Labyrinine recall Appearance Gorislroi are vaguely reminiscent of giant bears, although their shoulders are broader, their visages a nightmarish cross beztween bison and human, and their hands and feet disproportionately large, splayed, and humanlike. Their arms are extremely long, like an ape’s. Individual colors vary from dark brown through sickly greenish yellow to a peculiar purplish gray. Size Hero Forge: 7 ft. Lore: Huge (20 ft. or more) Suggested: Huge to Gargantuan Other Monikers Bull demons, minotaur demons Sources - Forgotten Realms Wiki - Monster Manual (2014) - DnDBeyond - Planescape: Monstrous Compnedium Appendix I (1994) - mojobob's website