Our Products Are Gorgeous

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Our printed products are gorgeous.

For our first Tales of Lothmar module, Burials of Teganshire, we used a new printing tier. The printed book is 8.5” x 11”, and the printer uses a digital offset laser press on premium 70# paper. This was taken with my crappy cell-phone camera:

That’s just the technical, physical side. We use a graphics designer and layout artist to layout the book. Guthrie is also a fellow RPG player, so he knows what is what. He has expert stat blocks, and the Tales of Lothmar layout he designed pops the text on the PDF, but especially in the premium printing. Our physical Tales of Lothmar books are some of the best in the industry.

So, if you’ve been on the fence about PDF vs. Print, go both: you won’t be disappointed.

For those of you outside of the US, international shipping has gone cra-cra. We don’t have a non-US print agreement in place (yet), but we do upload our print files to DriveThru RPG, and they have worldwide distribution for Print on Demand. Our distributor also has a relationship with Amazon, so our books show up there, too. So, for our international fans, hang-tight. One day we will offer better international shipping options, but until then, a digital pledge still goes a long way.

We love books at Griffon Lore Games. Placing great content in a premium book is our thing. Now is the time to back or change your pledge to physical goods if you haven’t already!

Thanks, everyone for your generous support!

Fire On Claymore Woods

Crossbow Man looks Premium in premium print.

Three Men and a Campfire

Posted on December 16, 2020December 19, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

A Beacon of Warmth and Danger (dun, dun, dun, dun!)

Ah, the campfire, in modern times, it is a beacon of light for warmth or merriment in the dark, the promise of wholesome food, and the world’s original gathering place for conversation.

In D&D, a campfire is usually a giant “here’s a big snack!” for monsters or “come kill me or take my stuff ” for brigands.

In a role-playing fantasy game, the titular campfire is an Encounter, especially if the PCs did not make it.

Here are three campfire-encounters, heavy on the role-play, for a DM to use. These encounters are not skill challenges. The PCs are traveling from Point A to Point B on a trail less traveled. In the dark, they spot the flickering light of a campfire.

Campfire 1: Beware the Old Man in a Profession Where Many Die Young

Javier Lance is eighty-years-old, wrinkled, and still muscular. A survivor of many skirmishes and a few battles, Javier is a tired man. His joints hurt in the cold more than usual, he’s slowed down considerably, and worse, to him, he’s beginning to forget things.

Thus, even living with his extended family (having buried his wife several years ago), Javier kissed everyone goodbye and left for “an extended hunting trip.” Javier is not a man to die in his sleep happy. His goal is to part the mortal realm with a blade in his hand in a final kill-or-be-killed fight. Everyone knows why he left.

Campfire Description

At the campfire is a man, turning a spit with a fat, skinned rabbit roasting over the coals. He’s tall, athletically built, and old. A well-used heavy crossbow sits against a tree along with a boar spear.

The man is armed to the teeth with a sword, warhammer, and numerous dagger sheaves on his dull-silver split armor under camouflage cloth. A battered shield with the King’s livery sits on a stump.

Javier’s Motivation

Javier came to the woods to die, knowing there are several Dire Cave Bears and Dire Boars about the woods. If approached, he will gladly share his campfire, the rabbit, and swigs of whisky from his flask.

Javier didn’t spend decades as a decorated soldier without learning a thing or two about people. He has a keen insight about people, and if he thinks the PCs are evil or wish him ill, he’ll smile at being favored by the gods in his old age and attack.

Disposition

Friendly

Javier, if treated with kindness and respect, offers to trade the PCs, either his crossbow, shield, sword, or warhammer, for one like item. Whatever the PCs have, Javier’s will be better. For example, if the cleric has a +1 shield, Javier’s will be +2.

The exchange is only for one item. If any (or all) PCs have a heroic reputation, he will ask them if they can meet him back at the camp location in three days.

If the PCs do so, they will find him dead of multiple wounds from some beast, with a smile on his face.

The PCs should bury him with his weapons or burn his body on a pyre with same. If they take his stuff, the local deity of war curses the PCs en masse, and the PCs will always fight under the curse spell’s adverse effects until they atone.

Does Javier Lance tell the PCs why he is here? Only if he senses that they would respect his choice.

Neutral

Javier tries to make friendly conversation, but if the PCs are not pleasant or say the wrong thing, it doesn’t bother him. He’s mostly immune to people’s bad manners.

Javier will offer to share a meal, and then he desires time to be alone with his thoughts and prepare his communion with the gods of the land.

If the PCs refuse his request, his disposition changes to Hostile.

Hostile

If the PCs are evil or turn hostile, Javier will matter-of-factly don his shield, grab his crossbow, and attack the weakest PC in terms of melee ability.

No need to roll up stats of Javier: take the best melee PC’s character sheet and clone it. Javier fights with a shield, longsword, and warhammer, switching weapons when appropriate. However, the gods have blessed this old man to have a glorious battle to the end. They give him:

The ability to strike as many times as there are PCs
All his hits do maximum damage
He always makes a saving throw or ability check
He can move about the battlefield without provoking opportunity attacks
He will fight until he is at -10 hit points, or until only the melee PC is the last one standing, in which he will die when the melee PC lands a good blow

He uses these tactics:

Javier will always deliver a death-blow. He is fully aware that healers can heal fallen people with magic. He will always strike at a fallen PC until assured that the PC is dead
He attacks in order from the lowest hitpoint PC, controllers, healers, damage dealers, and finally knights or heavily armored fighters
Javier is smart enough to put himself between a tree and a ranged weapon
At this point, any pain Javier feels is transitory. He smiles through the entire experience, thoroughly enjoying himself

This fight is not fair, but the PCs should be wary of Old Men in a profession where men die young, especially if they are communing with the gods before a battle.

Campfire 2: The Folly of Youth

Before a nice tent, this campfire has a young, heavily armored knight staring at the flames of the campfire. He wears a holy symbol and religious livery. He has pale skin but a stern demeanor.

The knight is Sir Davian Kadlem, a young but proficient cavalier and paladin. He’s here on monkey business, here to meet a lover. Tragically, his lover is a vampire. She already bit him twice.

Despite his stern demeanor, Sir Kadlem will easily converse with PCs and eventually cut off any conversation by saying he is here to meet a person privately and needs the PCs to be on their way.

Sir Kadlem will lie through his teeth about his shame, but it’s all lies by omission. If pressed, he tells the PCs his meeting is of intense personal nature and not for public consumption but a family matter–all true.

Kendra the Vampire

Thoroughly evil and entirely malignant, Kendra is a user and abuser. She uses handsome young men, feeds off their essence, and kills them before moving on to a new lover.

Somewhere in her dark heart, she grew fond of Sir Kadlem, and she perversely takes pleasure in the thought of bringing a paladin to wicked ends and becoming her companion and servitor for all eternity.

If the PCs confront Kendra at any time, she turns into a bat and flies away, or, if in dire straits, her misty form.

Possible Outcomes

This campfire is not a skill encounter where the PCs roll a dice, and the DM says this, that, and the other thing. Let the players organically come to their conclusions.

The level of the vampire and Sir Kadlem is variable, as a rule of thumb, an Average Party Level +4 encounter.

Liaison Observation

If the PCs are busybodies, leave, and spy on the paladin, a woman rides up to the campfire on a horse, jumps into his arms, and the two disappear into his tent.

Somewhere in the darkest hour, she bites him, but it’s doubtful the PCs will observe that. At dawn, she will ride away, leaving behind Sir Kadlem’s corpse to rise as a vampire fledgling at night. If the PCs go into the tent, they can tell something terrible happened, and even an examination by a non-healer will find the bite marks–this time on his neck.

The Pale Man

What do people look like after a vampire feeds off them two nights in a row?

Answer: Not healthy.

Sir Kadlem hides his malaise well, being so athletic. However, the most telling way he hides his condition is that he doesn’t know Kendra is a vampire. He thinks incorrectly, but honestly, he has a bout of food poisoning. He’ll even ask a PC if they look like an herbalist if they have some herbs to settle his stomach.

Davian’s neck is free of bite marks. They are in other places on his body, only found on a physical examination without his clothes. If a medically-inclined PC gets him out of his clothes and shows him the bite marks with a mirror, he’ll break his charm and ask the PCs for help.

Kendra won’t give up. She’ll fight the PCs for Davian but flee if the PCs do severe damage. Unless the PCs break his charm, Davian will fight for Kendra. She’ll think it’s hilarious if he falls, especially if the PCs are good.

I Read Your Thoughts

If a PC has a way to read memories and does so, those memories are disturbing. The knight has a paramour, but his memories never reveal her image. It is as if he is talking and having a liaison with an imaginary person.

Such is the power of a vampire that her image, even in memories, is not visible. If someone wants to gaze upon this vampire, they need to do it in person.

Where Is Your Horse?

Sir Kadlem came here on a horse, but his horse is not here, nor can he summon it magically. If the PCs ask about his camp contents, besides the tent is a lance and a horseman’s mace.

An inquiry about his horse is one of the few ways PCs can tell something is amiss–his horse ran off in disgust, and Sir Kadlem isn’t particularly worried about it. He’ll claim his horse was “moody” today, and before he could take off the saddle, he galloped off. “He’ll be back,” he says.

Sir Kadlem is not just a paladin; he’s a cavalier. His horse is the way he engages in battle and his honor. PCs can press him, and if they take a logical, systematic approach to their questioning, it becomes apparent that someone has muddled Davian’s thoughts. He alternates in bragging about his horse and his cavalier skills to an indifferent attitude on his horse’s fate.

It is now up to the PCs to figure out what comes next. In any event, the only way the paladin’s horse comes back is if he atones for his weakness. Once he has done so, his god sends him back his mighty paladin steed.

Victory (?) Conditions

The only way for the PCs to achieve some measure of victory is to get Sir Kadlem to his temple. Unless they break his charm (by dispelling it or by a protection from evil spell), he will fight them all the way. Regardless, sometime during the night, Kendra will attack the PCs on the way to the temple.

Once at his temple, the priests break his charm and heal him. However, Sir Kadlem will have to atone for his weakness–he will have to confront his nemesis and former lover and drive a stake through her evil heart. No small task, as he will not have access to any of his paladin powers until he has completed it.

He’ll need help in this quest. He won’t be able to complete it on his own.

Campfire 3: Death Head Ranger

Just what kind of people are the PCs? This encounter can put them to the test if they think they are all that and a bag of chips. This location should be at the edge of a remote, primal forest, far from civilization. The PCs may or may not be heading to a destination in the woods.

This campfire is at a permanent campsite. The fire has a windbreak that pushes heat back to a well-built lean-to. Well-placed rocks ring the flames, and a metal stewpot hanging on a metal tripod fills the campsite with the smell of savory stew.

At the camp is a middle-aged man in leather armor, a uniform of some sort–on his shoulder is a death head patch. This man is the Ranger Tamshire Roe, and he is a demi-god of sorts.

Tamshire Roe’s Motivation

The ranger forms a symbiotic relationship with an ancient green dragon, Sirlaenth, that lies deep in the forest’s center. At one time, the dragon tried to charm him, but Roe, a master ranger retiring from a harsh life of adventuring, pretended to be charmed. There was something odd about this gargantuan dragon, and Roe decided to get to the bottom of it.

Through observation and many conversations, Roe learned this particular dragon was immortal, as she set up her lair in a forest that, for reasons unknown, kept her from eventually dying of old age. Over the centuries and still thoroughly wicked, she has grown contemplative and stoic.

When Roe revealed he wasn’t charmed, the dragon laughed, thinking that was amusing and stupid on his part. Still, they quickly formed a relationship–the ranger would protect her forest from intrusion during retirement and ask nothing in return. He would even give her the considerable treasure he amassed over the years. As a ranger, he does not need material wealth.

In return, the dragon promised to “not fly off and do stupid shit to attract dragonslayers.”

Roe’s motivation is simple:

Protect the forest’s inner core from intrusion
Hold conversations with travelers to learn about the world-at-large
Deliver any treasure and information accumulated to Sirlaenth

What did Roe receive in return? He received peace and quiet with the occasional “turn back now there be monsters” speech. But now, he too is immortal. The same mystical properties that keep the dragon alive are keeping him from aging, also. Roe is over five-hundred-years-old.

Tamshire Roe’s Past

Before he embarked on a life of adventure, Roe was a feared hunter of men and elven criminals for a kingdom now long defunct. Lore or history savvy PCs will recognize the death head’s patch from an infamous group “widely known for tracking down men and elves for a tyrannical king,” although the real history is less dramatic. Criminals and enemies of the state would flee into the primal forest on the Kingdom’s border. Roe was a member of a company that would track them down.

If confronted about this past, Tamshire Roe will shrug his shoulders and proclaim, “I ain’t like that no more.”

Using Roe

Roe is a way for the DM to insert esoteric lore and odd help from strange places. Roe intentionally lights a campfire (see below) where the PCs can see it at night. The moment the PCs approach the fire, the ranger started judging their worth.

Low-Level PCs

Roe will heal any wounded Low-level PCs, ask for gossip, and, if prompted, he is a vast treasure trove of lore around nature and history. If asked about his patch, he will state it is a warning to the forest’s enemies that only death awaits them for defiling it.

If the PCs need to get somewhere in the forest, Roe will happily guide them and protect them from harm as long as their destination is not its core.

Mid-Level PCs

As with low-level PCs, Roe is helpful, if a bit odd, extending the PCs the same courtesies as if they were low-level. However, he will ask the PCs for a boon in return–if he helps them, the ranger would like the PCs to obtain supplies for him: Roe has a fondness for booze, wine, cheeses, and anything else he can’t make in the forest during his perpetual campout. He can pay twice the going rate for such items.

He pays in coin, usually taken from people that try to penetrate the forest interior.

High-Level PCs

Tamshire Roe is highly wary of high-level adventuring heroes, viewing them as arrogant and dangerous. However, he always judges people based on their actions, so it’s not so much what the PCs say than what they do.

Powerful PCs could know that the forest center contains an epic dragon. Roe will admit as much but warns the PCs that what they are talking about is not a dragon but a “primal force of distilled nature.”

A high-level party could be after esoteric lore or an item. Roe will exchange items for like items and folklore for a minor magical item or gems and coins but warns the PCs that it will take several days for him to fetch what they need.

Under no circumstances will Roe lead the PCs to the dragon, but the dragon, in human form, could decide to meet the PCs at the edge of the forest.

Getting Frosty

Attacking Tamshire Roe has severe consequences. Not only is he capable of running a hit-and-run battle through the forest, but also tracking PCs who manage to escape his wrath. If the PCs decide to get it on, conclude the session (letting the players think about their folly for a bit), and pick back up with a max-level ranger with the following properties:

Tamshire Roe is a 20th level ranger with appropriate magical items.
Roe can teleport at will to any of his campfire sites in the forest. There are twelve of them that dot the edges. He can do this as a reaction to being hit, stunned, grappled, or incapacitated
However, in the woods, PCs are unable to teleport or plane shift or go ethereal. This restriction also includes low-level spells such as misty step
PCs cannot scry him, and divination reveals he is “a forest creature of death” and nothing more
The ranger cannot have his thoughts read and is immune to psychic damage of any sort
He has all the powers, immunities, and resistances of a legendary ancient green dragon, including the breath weapon
Finally, if killed, Roe and his gear disappear for 1d4 days and reform at one of his 12 campfires. The only way to permanently kill Roe is to destroy all his campfires and kill the dragon within

Both Sirlaenth and Roe instantly know if someone attacks the other, and the dragon will come to his aid should he be pressed. Now PCs are dealing with both a quasi-deity of the forest and the oldest dragon. Neither Roe nor Sirlaenth are evil; they have transitioned well-past moral and ethical boundaries.

Companionship

Someone could offer Tamshire companionship, and while he is flattered, the shape-shifting Sirlaenth is all but his wife in name only, and not only that, jealous and protective of anything she owns, which in her mind includes Roe.

Our Kickstarter for Fire on Claymore Woods is going strong. Back today for a great discount and a DM-friendly stand-along module or a sequel to Burials of Teganshire.

Crossbow Man Returns, and he ain’t happy.

Fire on Claymore Woods – a Module for 5E and Pathfinder

Posted on December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Built With BoldGrid

“A vain celestial, drunken fairies, and plotting druids. Meet the second chapter of the Circle of the Blood Moon campaign!”

Primary Link | Back now on Kickstarter!

Heading

Choices and Consequences: which way will the PCs go, who will they support, and how far will they go to achieve victory?

Choices

In Fire on Claymore Woods, we present the PC with many choices, including making no choice at all. For example, do they help the villagers protect the village core and its chapel with the mysterious obelisk, or do they help the surrounding farmers protect their farms?

But that choice is only available if the PCs solicit a knight in defense of the village. The knight is concerned with his farms and tells the PCs the villagers can rebuild it. But the Burgermeister counters that the farms rely on the village, and without it, everything from obtaining supplies to surviving the winter will be difficult and potentially catastrophic.

PCs might not even know the farms need protection! The local knight is the only NPC with the strategic training and forethought to realize their enemy will try to draw them away from the village by setting fire to structures far enough to draw them away from the chapel.

If the PCs don’t talk to him, they might never know.

Where do they go now?

That’s a sample of the decisions the PCs must make. Once they defend the village (or not), they need to find the druids to talk to them or exact revenge. But the Claymore Woods are wild and dangerous, filled with threats, supernatural shenanigans, and wonders. There is no map of the woods, the PCs are on their own, and they will need to explore.

The direction they choose sets the stage, but the deeper they go into the woods, the more dangerous it gets. They’ll need to do more than make a few tracking rolls. They’ll have to start thinking like their adversaries. They’ll need to decide how sneaky to be, or if a good-old-fashioned “kill everything that moves” play is in order.

Consequences

We hope that gives you as a Game Master a sample of the adventure flavor in Fire on Claymore Woods. Like most Griffon Lore Game products, there are no easy answers, and those answers are usually not right or wrong. Indecisiveness is the best way to “lose” our modules, and the players always have the ultimate choice:

Are their PCs Zeros or Heroes?

Back Fire on Claymore Woods today and find out!

Back now on Kickstarter!

BoT Post 31: Index of Burials of Teganshire Marathon Posts

Posted on September 15, 2020September 16, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 31 of 30.

Harken ye to the master table of the 30-Days of Burials of Teganshire Posts.

Which one was your favorite? Leave a comment and discuss!

Index of Burials of Teganshire Marathon Posts

Post	System	Type	Link
1	RPG	Running the Game	Never Give Your PCs an Excuse Not to Care
2	RPG	World-Building	The Locality Campaign with NPCs Who Breathe
3	RPG	World-Building	Maps and the Trope of Adventuring Beyond the Village
4	RPG	Plotting	Plot Points on the Localized Campaign
5	RPG	Design	Six D&D Villains That Bring it Home and Make it Personal
6	RPG	Running the Game	Wind Up Your PCs with Your Villain and Let Them Go
7	RPG	Plotting	Adding Personalized Content to an Adventure in 10 Minute Slices
8	D&D 5E	Encounter & Monster	Ghost Wagon Encounter: Introducing the Lothmar Meta Mimic for 5E
9	Pathfinder 1E	Encounter & Monster	Introducing the Lothmar Meta Mimic for Pathfinder 1E
10	RPG	Plotting	When the PCs Lose the Players Will Win: the Hero's Journey
11	D&D 5E	Design	Enrich Your 5E Campaign World with a Permanent Magic System
12	RPG	Humble Brag	Burials of Teganshire Fully Funded on Indiegogo! Come Get Your Copy!
13	RPG	Encounters	2d10 Encounter Tables for Traveling on a Road in a Fantasy RPG
14	D&D 5E	Backgrounds	Three New 5E Backgrounds to Enhance Your New PC
15	D&D 5E	Design	The Misunderstood World of 5E Game Balance
16	D&D 5E	Design	The Misunderstood World of 5E Game Balance
17	D&D 5E	Feats	Three 5E Homebrew Feats that go with Homebrew Backgrounds
18	RPG	World-Building	Use the D&D Magic System to Introduce a Pervasive Magical Cold War to Your Campaign
19	Pathfinder 1E	Design	Pathfinder 1E Encounters: Borrow This, Steal That and Action Economy Everything
20	RPG	Burials of Teganshire	Spruce up Burials of Teganshire with These Roleplaying Additions
21	D&D 5E	Monsters	Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: the Trickster Island Red Fox
22	Pathfinder 1E	Monsters	Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: The Pathfinder 1E Trickster Island Red Fox
23	RPG	Running the Game	Sample Session 0 Handout for a New D&D Campaign
24	RPG	Burials of Teganshire	Additional NPCs for Burials of Teganshire
25	D&D 5E	Monsters	Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: the 5E Demon Crocodile
26	Pathfinder 1E	Monsters	Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: The Pathfinder 1E Demon Crocodile
27	RPG	World-Building	D&D Villains That Are Also Allies
28	RPG	World-Building	Using Magic to Mess with PCs in D&D
29	RPG	Plotting	Vile Rumors and Unsubstantiated Claims in D&D
30	RPG	Design	Megadungeon Julia! Layer Your Dungeon Using History
31	RPG	Running the Game	This post!

Wait until you see upgraded Crossbow Man in the next module!

Previous 30 Days of BoT | The End!

BoT Post 30: Megadungeon Julia! Layer Your Dungeon Using History

Posted on September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 30 of 30

Designing a dungeon to put the D back into D&D? A good dungeon design considers not just who built it, but who added to it later.

Layer Your Dungeon From the Game World’s History

“Dungeon” doesn’t necessarily mean a hole in the ground. Still, it is more difficult to replace underground structures rather than walling off unneeded portions, so, even a new “owner” of the dungeon would not make many underground changes.

In our example, we’ll use a Castle. Since we’re going to turn the castle into a “megadungeon,” most of our design will center around history. The smaller the complex, the less work the DM should do. If the place fits on a small map, grab an exciting monster(s) from the Monster Manual(s) and design the dungeon around that.

Step 1: Establish a History of the Dungeon

In our castle example, I sketched out a history that jives with the region history:

Age of the Heirophant

The hierophants of old established a monumental civilization that spanned thousands of years. They used “world magic” and had no use for structures, tools, or artifacts. After a very long while, their civilization ended when the hierophants expanded their existence beyond the physical realm and left the world.

One of the places they left behind was a Fey Gate, a place where they could stand and will themselves into the Feywild. It’s a 5ft. square of beautiful stonework that does not age or diminish.

Age of Wanderers

Nomadic humans wandered the region, and not knowing what the Fey Gate was, surrounded it with a small monolith structure. Later humans worshiped the place as a whole, but they eventually died out to war and environmental hazards.

Age of Elves

The elves migrated to and then built an extensive civilization in the region known now as Lothmar. They had more than passing knowledge of the Hierophants, and, when investigating the monolith, recognized the Fey Gate for what it was. Knowing that this side of the gate was inactive, they built a warding statue that preventing anyone from opening the entrance from the other side.

Having spent a considerable amount of effort on the warding statue, and also admiring the artistic beauty of the elf maiden it depicts, the elves built a castle-like structure that included the monolith, with its new figure, as a courtyard garden. Over time, the place became an area of study, much like a university.

Gekk Conquistadors

The gekk, a four-armed, arcane magic resistant race of lizardmen, invaded the elven nation and pushed all the elves north. When they came upon the abandoned elven complex with the statue, they admired its beauty and liked the central garden. They had their dwarven slaves expand the structure underground, for both the storage of goods and the imprisonment of their many captives.

Imperial Crusaders

*The dwarves built elaborate underground corridors in pride, even as slaves.*

The Paladin Lothmar destroyed the gekk in a holy crusade under the banner of the Immortal Emperor. Coming upon the odd (in their minds) elf-like complex, also appreciating the artistry of the statue, and wild garden in the middle, an Imperial Legion commander decided to make the complex his headquarters. His War Wizard told him the statue was magical and warned against occupying the place until she figured out what it was, but the Legate said, “Well, if it didn’t bother the gekk, it’s not going to bother us.”

The legion built extensive fortifications around the elven buildings, turning the place into a proper imperial castle. They closed-off unneeded portions of the dungeon, and the Castilian contacted a group of nearby dwarves, recognizing the dwarven constructions underneath.

The dwarves related the sad, sad tale of the dwarven slaves, and also told the crusaders that there were indications of rich mineral deposits under the castle. The imperials paid the dwarves for this information, and, throughout a couple of hundred years, created a mining complex underneath the gekk dungeon.

The place became known as Castle Julia, named for the legion’s high priestess who died in the crusade.

Near the end of their control, the imperials re-opened and expanded the closed portions of the gekk dungeon, putting in a laboratory to study and create clockwork, of which their legions started to use by directive of the Emperor.

Kingdom of Lothmar

The rein of the imperials was short-lived when Lothmar split from the Empire. The Empire was embroiled in internal conflict, and several of their far-flung districts, such as Lothmar, left. The legion rushed home to the far away Empire and never came back.

Eventually, the Lothmari took over Castle Julia. They thought it odd that it was named after an elf called Julia, but the imperials were a bit out there, and everyone had to admit whoever this Julia elf was, she sure was beautiful. Eventually, the noble who moved in replaced the entrance with a grand gatekeep, hired a gardener to spruce up the central courtyard, and made it the seat of his County.

Abandonment

Unfortunately for Castle Julia, a not-so-far-away earthquake shifted the river that was the source of the County’s agricultural base. Several large lakes also drained away. The entire area around Castle Julia turned into a swamp, and the region was made inhospitable to travel, agriculture, and trade.

The noble at the time held out for as long as he could, but Castle Julia was now a big castle, in the middle of a swamp, guarding nothing as the Common folk all moved away to areas they could grow food. He sealed it off as best he could, said goodbye to the statue he always liked, and abandoned the place.

Step 2: Based on History, Establish the Dungeon Areas

At 762 words, that history might be excessive, but proper grammar and eschewing abbreviations certainly added its fair share. The history, however, gives us a “historically accurate,” in the game-world, architecture. So here are the areas of Megadungeon Julia!

Imperial Wall

A dual wall curtain surrounds the castle, braced by square, but decorative, towers, all built out of stone and imperial concrete. There are twelve towers in all, all identical and former troop barracks.

Upon closer examination, a mason, dwarf, or stone smith can spot repaired earthquake damage. Someone spent a lot of money to restore the place to full functionality.

Grand Gatekeep

This is a Lothmari-designed grand gatekeep: four, round 60’ diameter towers as the entrance to Castle Julia, topped off with a two-story building over the kill-zone entrance. The place is massive and is the latest in superior castle entrance design.

Elven Stone Buildings

There are four elegant multi-storied stone buildings arranged at the corners of a great, wooded courtyard, with a statue of a beautiful elf maiden in the middle. Each building has stairs going down into the dungeon.

A monolithic stone henge surrounds the wooded courtyard, marking its boundaries.

Smelter and Forge

Away from the elven stone buildings stuffed in the corner are a smelter, a metal storage area, and a forge, all obviously built by the imperials. There is also a covered, large coal bin, devoid of coal or other fuel. Minecart tracks lead to this area from the mine entrance.

Barracks Foundations

There is a large flat area with concrete foundations. The imperials used concrete on occasion, and while the Lothmari knew how to do so, they never had the manpower or equipment to do so.

The imperials made the barracks out of wood, but the Lothmari didn’t need to house a legion in the castle, so they dismantled the barracks, leaving the foundations.

Minecart Storage and Mine Entrance

This area contains a shed with several minecarts with tracks leading to the stone building of imperial design. The building is the entrance to the mine, with cart tracks leading into the gloom.

Some of the carts are magically self-powered and can pull or push up to five other carts filled with ore, rock, or dirt.

Dwarven Dungeon

This complex is extensive, and some of it is sealed off from the rest. The sealed off portions reveal an Imperial Laboratory, where they created clockwork and magical items (such as the self-powered minecart).

Several stairs go down into the mining area.

Mine Area

Created by the imperials, this area has seen better days as nobody has fixed any of the infrastructure damaged during the earthquake. The noble spent all his money repairing the castle before abandoning it.

It’s big, and just for fun and giggles, the DM can have this also connect to a series of natural caverns, henceforth explored only by an imperial geologist, who said not to bother with the labyrinthine-like caverns. The imperials sealed it off, but the stone wall fell down during the earthquake.

Step 3: Populate the Areas

And here is where we end. All the DM now needs is a map and a bunch of monsters, and motivations for exploration. Perhaps some imperial archeologist wants to lead an expedition, but she secretly wants some of the clockwork that is still functional and hidden away. Or maybe the dwarves wish to seize the mines since nobody else wants to do so, and someone needs to go in and clean it all out.

Or, maybe, the clockwork laboratory went into “automation” mode and is now creating deadly war machines without purpose. It’s grown in size, and now is a hidden threat to the entire kingdom!

Or, made a vampire lord moved in and stores treasure, and deadly secrets, in the caverns below.

Whichever you chose, this ends the 30 Days of Burial of Teganshire posts, well, other than the index post we’ll make tomorrow. Ending the blog series about a dungeon seems fitting. An idea of the history of the dungeon lets the DM give it an organic, believable design in the campaign setting. In a world filled with magic, things don’t need to make sense all the time, but the best campaign-worlds have logical consistency. A consistency that gives the world—you guessed it—verisimilitude.

Your players may never discover the complete history of the place, but they might wonder why things look the way they look. And who knows? Perhaps another earthquake can shift the river again, or the swamps drain away, giving PCs, one of whom is maybe the last of the noble line that owned the place, an excuse to occupy Castle Julia once more.

Epilogue

I have to admit, my favorite part of Megadungeon Julia is the clockwork laboratory.

Fighter: This door is obviously different. See if you can open it.

Thief: Um, it’s different because it’s locked from this side.

Cleric: Well, it should be easy to open, then.

Thief: This is the most elaborate lock I have ever seen.

Wizard: Open the door and let’s loot the place.

Thief: (sigh)

Thief: (eventually unlocks the door)

Fighter: (opens door)

Clockwork Dragon: BEHOLD! THE MIGHTY SINGULARITY ENGINE! THE PERFECT MERGING BETWEEN MAN AND CLOCKWORK! AND IT’S BEAUTY SHALL BE HAUNTING! CAN YOU SEE ME NOW, EMPEROR? I WILL MAKE IT SO YOU NEVER WANT TO LEAVE!

Fighter: (closes door)

Fighter: Shame. Empty.

Wizard: Yes, too bad.

Cleric: Uh.

Thief: I told…

Fighter (putting a gloved finger on the thief’s mouth): Shhhhhh. Leaving now.

Last chance to get Burials of Teganshire at the intro 20% discount! Head on over to Indiegogo and support us by clicking here: https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Burials of Teganshire on Indiegogo Crossbow Man would wonder what type of idiot would put such a large castle in the middle of a swamp!

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BoT Post 29: Vile Rumors and Unsubstantiated Claims in D&D

Posted on September 1, 2020September 2, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 29 out of 30—the end is near edition!

You don’t need magic to mess with the PCs. A simple rumor will do, whether it is about them or someone else. Delicious tales should always be a part of the campaign-setting backdrop, and not just to plant the seeds of adventure. Here’s one method for incorporating tall-tales, speculation, and fantastic stories.

Vile Rumors and Unsubstantiated Claims in D&D

The PCs, having helped the village with their monster problem—after spending a few weeks recovering from various wounds—decide to travel to the city thirty miles away to deliver an heirloom they found to the Baron.

They enter the city, and when walking by a food cart, the vendor screams: “Ah! It’s the werewolf!” and runs off.

Now, the PCs don’t know that a traveling merchant told a nearby tavern, “Those monster killers, they fought them dire wolves like they were werewolves themselves!” And then described what one of the PCs looked like, as the PC entered the Bouncing Mutt Tavern, wounded and in need of a celebratory beer.

By the time the rumor reached the food vendor, that PC was a werewolf. Completely untrue, and a bit funny. Well, for the rest of the players and DM, that is.

Designing Rumors—setting the basics

Put yourself in the shoes of the commoner in a quasi-medieval campaign-world. The nobility is in the hot seat for protecting the locals from the depredations of monsters and magic. Most commoners never wander past the horizon. So a PC, be them a “monster killer,” “magic warrior,” or “wizard,” is just as fantastical as the monsters themselves. Commoners will even view priests of a respected religion as a bit of a freak show, as the priest wandered away from the safety of the church walls.

On the flip side, magic and the objectively observed existence of divine power also has an educational effect. The local populous doesn’t need to create fantastic mythology to make sense of the world—they can ask the resident priestess that channels power from her god, or ask the educated wizard having a beer at the local.

This is the basis of the Rumor Landscape. Before we can dive right in, let’s talk about the basics of a good rumor.

Objective Truth and Falsity

Rumors are true, false, and in between. Creating an accurate tale about a PC is easy, so is embellishing bravado to the point some of it never happened. And then there are outright lies.

Picture of a Woman Wearing Black — *I like black because it makes me look good.*

But the best lies are rooted in truth. “That warlock talks to voices inside his head, he’s crazy, and will steal your thoughts!” The warlock does talk to voices inside his head and does have access to people’s thoughts on occasion—but he has no capability of stealing or altering memories.

Yet.

When adding rumors to the game, try to keep the ones that are entirely untrue to a minimum.

One of my favorite rumors is the “black widow.” A PC is wearing all black because (the player) she likes the way she looks in black.

But the local populous, wearing black is a symbol of mourning. And thus, the PC finds people calling her “the Widow” because they think she is mourning. Some get confused, mostly if the PC acts against the cultural expectations of someone grieving the loss of a family member. And the player might think it’s funny (or not), up until a widower approachers her asking for advice in dealing with grief and loss.

Designing Rumors—Level Plus Charisma Method

In a game as complex as D&D (and it’s variants such as Pathfinder), it behooves a DM to keep track of information about each PC in a spreadsheet, OneNote, or other note-taking software. That’s where you want to store your rumors!

Here’s the “Level Plus Charisma Method”

For each level, a PC should have one true rumor and one false rumor about them
Add a one true and one false rumor per Charisma ability modifier. So, a first level PC with a 16 (+3) Charisma would have four true rumors and four false rumors about her
As the PC levels, the DM occasionally replaces rumors with stories specific to the location the PC now inhabits or more juicer tidbits introduced by the PC’s actions upon the game world

Now that you have your rumors—have at it. Use them when the energy at the game table seems low, or if a player hasn’t contributed much that evening, or, better still, at the worst opportune time, socially, for the PC.

Rumors as a Weapon, and Plot Device

As deeply-rooted as junior high, using rumors against rivals is as old as sin. Players, once they realize there is a game mechanic around the Rumor Mill, will start to use gossip and slander to their advantage, in addition to battling such from their enemies. Eventually, in any political environment, there will be propaganda.

Which is not to say folk are entirely gullible. Many people participate in the rumor mill just for the sport of it all, exchanging stories for the thrill of making life less mundane than it is. But salacious rumors about good people are damaging. Give your players a chance to deal with rumors as-is—if they engage in hurtful behavior, show the consequences of that, but also allow them to make things right.

The Rumor Mill in D&D is for the creation of DRAMA. Drama can lead to conflict, and conflict leads to action. Action leads to rolling dice and killing monsters.

Even a rumor about wearing black can turn into rolling dice and killing monsters. Perhaps that widower needs to face down the alligator that killed his wife at the swimming hole. And, maybe the PC wants to help him, not knowing that the gator in question is a demon. Perhaps the PC finds a common bond with the NPC, after, of course, she sets him straight about her fondness for black dresses.

Back our new adventure on Indiegogo’s InDemand service, and support us bringing vile rumors to your PCs! Click here to get your copy of Burials of Teganshire! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Crossbow Man deals with rumors with—wait for it—a BOLT TO THE FACE!

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BoT Post 28: Using Magic to Mess with PCs in D&D

Posted on August 31, 2020September 1, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burial of Teganshire Post 28 out of 30

Magic is weird. The PCs are weird. Weird things should happen to them. Here are ten strange things to throw at a deserving (cough) PC.

Using Magic to Mess with the PCs in D&D

Roll 1d10 if you’re feeling punchy.

1. The Box of Shenanigans

Every time the PCs travel to a different urban location or stay in their current one for a few days, they run into a person who mistakes one of them for “Lee Branford, famous locksmith.”

Only the PC isn’t a locksmith, and if they question the person, he or she will claim that the PC, a few months ago, did maintenance on all their locks for a modest fee. All will be friendly, praising the PC for their expert locksmithing skills.

After a few months of this, the PC finds a box in his room. It has the name “Lee Branford” on it with the symbol of a lock. Inside are finely crafted locksmithing and lockpicking tools, along with the Tome of the Guildmaster, a book that only the PC can read. It takes a week to read the book, and after that, the PC has proficiency with both toolsets.

If the PC throws away or destroys the box without opening it, it reappears in their gear 2d4 days later.

2. The Raven Barks at Midnight

A raven lands on the PC’s shoulder and whispers, “the dog barks at midnight” and flies away.

The next time someone asks a password from the PC, the password is “the dog barks at midnight.”

3. A Fist Full of Coins

One of the coins a PC has starts glowing one day. It has a faint aura of conjuration. If A Fist Full of Coins tossed in the air, it flies in a direction for several rounds, leaving a trail of blue, sparkly, motes, and drops to the ground.

If the PC finds the coin again, this process can be repeated until the PC is led into a copse of trees, and there they will find a small coffer of 100 gold pieces.

After the PC finds the coffer, the coin ceases to be magical.

4. Sad McSadderson

The PCs visit a pub called “The Gloomy Cloud.” The next day, if any PC express sadness or unhappiness, a small cloud will appear over their head and throw shade over the PC. This occurs even if the PC is indoors. If the PC further declares their sadness, the cloud will start to rain, and if the PC gets angry, small lightning bolts appear accompanied by soft thunder. This persists for 1d4 hours.

If the PC goes back to the pub, the bartender will shrug his shoulders and say, “Yeah, that sometimes happens. Didn’t you know? I mean, that’s the name of the pub, yeah?”

5. That’s Awkward

For 1d4 hours, the PC is weightless. If the PC is off the ground when the weightlessness expires, he or she floats back to the ground under the effects of a feather fall spell.

6. Go Away, Don’t Come Around Here No More

When a PC walks by an oak tree, twelve squirrels start throwing acorns at the PC, chattering angrily. If anyone speaks with animals, one of the squirrels will say, “They killed Fredrich!”

7. Meow

When staying at an Inn, when a PC wakes up, there are 32 cats in their room, sleeping. If the PC wakes up one of the cats, they all disappear. If the PC manages to get dressed without waking up any of the cats, they are gone when the PC comes back.

The PC is then charged five silver for “32 bowls of milk,” but nobody remembers who made the order.

8. Illusionary Problems

The party is minding their own business when a man in noble garb asks them to be witnesses to a duel. If they agree, they are lead by the man to a park, and a rapier duel between two older gentlemen commences. The contest ends when one is stabbed in the eye. The winner becomes distraught and runs off, yelling, “I’ve killed my best friend! I’ve killed my best friend!”

This sene is an elaborate series of illusions, detectable with a spell, or if one of the PCs touches the duelists, their seconds, or any other onlookers.

The caster is nowhere to be found, and divinations do not reveal any information other than “What happened was never about you.”

9. My Girlfriend Lives in Canada

The PC makes a connection with someone who returns their affections. They can have a relationship, but after a month, everyone has forgotten who the paramour was or even that they existed—except the PC.

If the PC investigates through magical means, they eventually meet their lover. The paramour tells the PC that they were sick for a while with the inability to dream. A wizard fixed their malady, but one of the dreams “escaped,” and that’s who the PC encountered.

The real person is highly embarrassed this happened, but they already are in a relationship, and asks the PC to forget whatever happened.

10. Of Course, It’s a Druid

When the PC is out riding, their horse suddenly turns into a druid (if a stallion) or a druidess (if a mare). The druid is very confused and has no memory of how they wild shaped into the horse. Their last memory was finding an odd runestone with a glowing rune of a horse on it.

It should not take the PCs long to figure out the druid is not quite right in the head. If brought to another druid, he or she thanks the PCs and gives them a minor potion of healing.

If the PCs keep the addled druid around, they never return to normal but can stay in horse shape for as long as they want, which seems to please them.

Back our new adventure on Indiegogo’s InDemand service, and support us brining the strange to your PCs! Click here to get your copy of Burials of Teganshire! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Crossbow Man deals with weirdness with a BOLT TO THE FACE.

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BoT Post 27: D&D Villains That Are Also Allies

Posted on August 30, 2020August 31, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 27 of 30

Saving the World requires heroes to get their hands dirty, and perhaps, what makes them heroes is keeping their valor and honor when everyone around them sacrificed those attributes on the Altar of Survival.

D&D Villains That Are Also Allies: Campaign Design

A campaign—not necessarily the game world—has a beginning, middle, and end (one way or the other), and using “morally challenged” individuals requires planning and creativity. The tricky part of the process is knowing your players. If the DM runs a sandbox campaign, then spends days designing a plot point requiring the PCs to travel in a specific direction is a risk. It’s tempting fate. Running a localized campaign can mitigate that risk by organically encouraging the players to engage the game-world on a local level. Still, it will be a sad day indeed if you turn the Baron sixty miles away into one impressive dude, and the players decide that barony in the opposite direction needs conquering.

So, there are two types of a Villainous Allies a DM can use, the Macro Villain Ally and the Micro Villan Ally and which one to use depends on the type of campaign.

The Macro Villain Ally

More challenging to pull off but epic in scope is the Macro Villain Ally (Macro VA). The Macro VA could be an entire culture, nation, or some leader of the same.

This type of VA is well-suited for a campaign that is more “open-world” vs. “sandbox,” that is, players show up to play in a campaign where the general plot is known ahead of time. They are having fun adventuring and doing their own thing within the boundaries of the game world that supports a story rather than a story based on the players’ interpretation of the game world.

In other words, the DM has a pretty good idea that if he makes a Macro VA, the players will run into the VA.

Example of the Macro VA

(campaign beginning)

A bad neighbor is a great plot device and generates drama. It can even be the primary antagonist for the earlier portions of the campaign. My favorite is the Bad Baron plot device.

Bad Baron, one Torc Mac Ceti, was just the worst. He waged a hidden campaign of agitation against the PCs, and when they finally found him out, the cold-war turned hot, and there were battles. The King intervened and had the Bad Baron thrown in jail, and because the PCs’ hands weren’t exactly clean in this conflict, he made one of them marry the Baron’s daughter so the two neighboring regions would stop feuding and start becoming allies.

(campaign middle)

Things are going not-so-well, the neighboring barony views the PCs as interlopers. There are low-level protesters (the PCs are, after all, backed by the King so, like the Bad Baron, most of the agitation is covert) and the Baron’s former allies cause issues as they liked Torc Mac Ceti. The PCs, not so much. Things escalate until the PCs have just had enough and are planning to go overt, despite the complication that one of their own is married to the beloved daughter of the barony.

(campaign end?)

All through the campaign thus far, the King has been seemingly unconcerned with the PCs’ various plights as he always grumbles about the exterior threats he faces. Well, that all comes to a head because Super Evil Bad Guys invade the kingdom, and things are now looking grim.

And one of the first things the King does is let Torc Mac Ceti out of jail because Bad Baron is a military tactician. He puts the Bad Baron under the command of the PCs and tells them in no uncertain terms they need to all work together or the Super Evil Bad Guys are going to destroy the kingdom and basically everything in it.

Bad Baron was never the primary antagonist in this campaign. In fact, everything up to this point, even with hours and hours of gameplay, could reasonably be considered prolog to the main plot point. Bad Baron, indeed is a shit. But he’s a patriot, and, the villain that he is, he would die for the kingdom.

Do the PCs redeem Torc Mac Ceti? How do they deal with him being in their grill for the rest of the campaign? Can they set aside their differences? Do they show weakness that the Bad Baron can’t help but to exploit? Does the Bad Baron teach PCs some of his ruthlessness, and the PCs teach him some of their honor?

A DM can substitute Bad Baron with “the Nation Next Door,” orcs (a classic, especially if the PCs are morally ambiguous themselves), etc.

The Micro Villain Ally

One might think the Baron is a Micro Villain Ally, but he’s not. He’s a product of his barony, and the PCs were all set to smack the hammer down on the fostering rebellion even with him in jail. He comes attached to the barony, a product of both the region and the times.

The Micro Villain Ally, however, is a singular person, usually sitting outside of society, a constant thorn in the PCs side at every worst possible moment, and a hard target. The DM uses Micro VAs when he or she just doesn’t know what direction the campaign is going to go.

Let’s talk about the above example in the context of an Open World vs. Sandbox—the DM makes an adventure of retrieving the Staff of the Thunder Monk from a commercial product, the Isle of Dread.

And the players like adventuring on or near the sea so much, that becomes the campaign focus. The barony and all its problems tossed aside—Torc Mac Cetia can have it, they have a pirate fleet to capture!

Micro VAs are an excellent way for the DM to spend time and morph the VA to the current plot. Let’s go over some examples!

Root

Root from Person of Intrest was a compelling, creepy villain, viewing people not as smart as her as expendable tools she could manipulate and nothing more. Long before becoming a member of Team Machine, she played an expert hacker. Root was a villain when she first encountered what would become her people, and later would sacrifice so much to protect and even grow to love her friends.

Root in the course of the series was the Villain, the Tool, and the Ally. She had a compelling character arc along the Hero’s Journey and became a sympathetic character.

Agent Franks

Aw yeah, Agent Franks. A VA that was so captivating Larry Correia wrote an entire novel about him, most likely to shut up all the Agent Franks fans. As the Monster Hunter International: Nemesis book copy says: “Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts – parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He’s nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself.”

He’s not good. He’s not bad either. He’s, um, Agent Franks. Read the first four books of MHI to explore the fantastic world of Agent Franks.

Nil

If ever there was a disturbing villain that a protagonist occasionally works with, Nil from Horizon Zero Dawn fits the bill. He’s a serial killer who understands the problems of his pathology and kills bandits as an outlet. And he really isn’t redeemable, he’s basically a weapon, and you as the protagonist can choose to engage with him, or not. It doesn’t help that there are good-girl, bad-boy creeper undertones to Nil’s interaction, adding a disturbing and creepy undercurrent to a problematic, but a highly useful, ally.

At some point when I was slaughtering Yet Another Bandit Camp™ with Nil at my side, I was thinking—am I the baddy?

Nil, my psychopathic bandit killing (boy?) friend, my favorite Micro VA, I salute you!

Bottom Line: Let the Heroes be Heroes

When using a Macro and Micro VA, resist the urge to use moral lessons that have wormed their way into current entertainment media. Let the VA’s action stand on their own, and let the PCs deal with those actions as they see fit.

However, this type of gameplay is an excellent vehicle to interject higher-plot points such as nature vs. nurture, nobler motivations, moral lines in the sand, and the timeless redemption arc.

Heroes often fail. That’s the price of admission. Give players the chance to make things right. Allow players to turn their nemesis into their greatest ally. And if they all fail anyway, I can guarantee you the campaign will be anything but boring.

D&D was never about survival.

Back our new adventure on Indiegogo’s InDemand service, and support us brining you villains your PCs will never forget! Click here to get your copy of Burials of Teganshire! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Crossbow Man has yet to encounter a real villain.

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BoT Post 26: Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: The Pathfinder 1E Demon Crocodile

Posted on August 29, 2020August 30, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 26 of 30

The successful funding campaign is over, but Burials of Teganshire is still available on Indiegogo’s InDemand service. Click here to get your copy! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Is there an evil obelisk or demon in your swamp? Well, eventually, a demon crocodile will appear, and low-level PCs are in for a swim. A SWIM OF DOOOOOOOOM!

This demonic reptile lunges out of the placid water with shocking speed. Its jaw gapes open in a roar, its powerful tail lashing behind, eyes glowing red.

Pathfinder 1E Demon Crocodile

CR 2 | XP 600 | Male fiendish crocodile | CE | Large animal

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +8

Defense

AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 13 (+1 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size) | hp 22 (3d8+9)

Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2

DR 5/cold iron or magic; Resist cold 5, fire 5; SR 7

Weaknesses vulnerability to positive energy

Offense

Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.; sprint

Melee bite +5 (1d8+4 plus grab), tail slap +0 (1d12+2)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks death roll (1d8+6 plus trip), smite good (+3 damage once a day)

Statistics

Str 19, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2

Base Atk +2; CMB +7 (+11 grapple); CMD 18 (22 vs. trip)

Feats Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth)

Skills Perception +8, Stealth +5 (+13 in water), Swim +12; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in water

SQ hold breath

Tracked Resources

Smite Good (1/day) (Su) – 0/1

Ecology

Environment warm rivers and marshes

Organization solitary, pair, or colony (3-12)

Treasure none

Special Abilities

Death Roll (Ex) If Demon crocodile grapples a target, it can roll to inflict bite damage and knock the creature prone.

Grab: Bite (Large) (Ex) Demon crocodile can start a grapple as a free action if it hits with a bite.

Spell Resistance (7) Demon crocodile has Spell Resistance.

Smite Good (1/day) (Su) +0 to hit, +3 to damage when used.

Trip: Death Roll (Ex) Demon crocodile can make a trip attempt on a successful attack.

Damage Reduction (5/cold iron or 5/magic) Demon crocodile has Damage Reduction against all except Cold Iron or Magic attacks.

Vulnerability to Positive Energy Demon crocodile is vulnerable (+50% damage) to Positive Energy damage.

Darkvision (60 feet) Demon crocodile can see in the dark (black and white only).

Energy Resistance, Cold (5) and Fire (5) Demon crocodile has the specified Energy Resistance against Cold and Fire attacks.

Hold Breath (x4) (Ex) Demon crocodile can stay under water longer than normal.

Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.

Sprint (×2, 1/minute) (Ex) Double land speed once a minute.

Swim (30 feet) Demon crocodile can Swim.

Description

Described by a ranger as “a jaw of doom attached to a body composed of hate and malice,” the demon crocodile is a manifestation of demonic corruption in a swamp or wetland.

Purely evil, the demon crocodile exists only to kill and will do so not only to feed itself but out of spite and enjoyment. Usually found in pairs, one demon croc will try to pull a victim underwater while the other croc lies in wait, hiding, to attack any swimming rescuers. The pair is not above surfacing a grappled victim to show any onlookers the horror of the attack. Once satisfied others have seen the display, they pull the victim underwater again.

Demon crocodiles are fast land runners, and will tirelessly run fleeing victims down. They will attack anything except a demon and innately target clerics or paladins wearing a holy symbol first, regardless of tactical significance. Smiting and then drowning a good-aligned ranger is one of their favorite pastimes.

Back our new adventure on Indiegogo’s InDemand service, and support us making more monsters such as the DEMON CROCODILE! Click here to get your copy of Burials of Teganshire! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Crossbow Man declines to go for a swim.

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BoT Post 25: Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: the 5E Demon Crocodile

Posted on August 28, 2020August 29, 2020 by Anthony Pacheco

Burials of Teganshire Post 25 of 30

The successful funding campaign is over, but Burials of Teganshire is still available on Indiegogo’s InDemand service. Click here to get your copy! https://igg.me/at/teganshire

Is there an evil obelisk or demon in your swamp? Well, eventually, a demon crocodile will appear, and low-level PCs are in for a swim. A SWIM OF DOOOOOOOOM.

D&D Beyond Entry: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1088677-demon-crocodile

Tales of Lothmar Beastiary: the 5E Demon Crocodile

Description

Described by a ranger as “a jaw of doom attached to a body composed of hate and malice,” the demon crocodile is a manifestation of demonic corruption in a swamp or wetland.

Demon crocodiles are fast land runners, and will tirelessly run fleeing victims down. They will attack anything except a demon and innately target clerics or paladins wearing a holy symbol first, regardless of tactical significance. Drowning a good-aligned ranger is one of their favorite pastimes.

Crossbow Man faces a foe a bit tougher than the demon crocodile.

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