Monsters and Creatures - Jim Zub & Stacy King & Andrew Wheeler

by Dungeons

  LAIR You’ll find goblins in old caves, abandoned mines, derelict dungeons, and other forsaken places. They take advantage of their small size by riddling their lairs with tunnels and bolt-holes that block the passage of larger enemies. Goblins also set many traps and alarms to ensure they aren’t caught unaware.

  SIZE Goblins are about the height of a kitchen table. They are short but stocky, which gives them better balance when moving across rocky or uneven terrain.

  GOBLIN POLITICS Lairs are ruled by the strongest or smartest goblin, who must constantly fight to hold their position. Turnover among goblin bosses is high, since all goblins want to seize power for themselves! Many goblin tribes are ruled by bugbears (see this page), who use their superior strength and size to bully their smaller cousins into submission.

  DO THIS

  Target the leader. Goblins are cowardly and often run away once their strongest fighter is defeated.

  Stay alert! Goblins favor ambushes and sneak attacks from behind, so beware when traveling through their territories.

  Put on a fearsome show. Sometimes all it takes is a magic illusion or a powerful battle cry to send them scurrying.

  DON’T DO THIS

  Don’t rush into battle. Goblin lairs are riddled with traps and alarms. Be careful to avoid setting them off.

  Don’t trust them! Goblins are habitual liars and cannot be trusted to keep their promises (unless their lives are on the line).

  MIND FLAYER

  Wherever they appear, mind flayers are the scourge of sentient creatures. Psychic overlords and slavers, they are sinister masterminds that will not hesitate to wipe out entire races to achieve their own evil ends. Once, their empires oppressed many worlds; even today, their mental powers allow them to enact far-reaching schemes of intense cruelty.

  The four tentacles on the squidlike head of a mind flayer are channels for their psychic powers. Mind flayers communicate telepathically, both among themselves and with the creatures they have psychically enslaved. Solitary mind flayers are rare, as most belong to colonies, each of which serves an elder brain. When a loyal mind flayer dies, its brain is harvested and deposited in the briny pool where the elder brain resides, so their gray matter and knowledge can be absorbed by their leader. A mind flayer’s mental control is so absolute that their slaves will battle to the death to protect their master!

  LAIR Mind flayers reside within the Underdark, a vast network of subterranean tunnels and caves that lies below the earth. They live in colonies of five or more adults who are all related to the elder brain that lives in a briny pool near the middle of their den. Mind flayers acting alone are outcasts, and often gather mind-controlled slaves around themselves for added security.

  SIZE Adult mind flayers are only slightly larger than normal humans. (It’s their psychic powers, not their size, that make them deadly!) Elder brains are around ten feet in diameter.

  SPECIAL POWERS

  DOMINATE MONSTER

  Overpowers the mind of any living creature, turning them into a psychic slave willing to give their own life for their master.

  BRAIN EXTRACTION

  A mighty attack, which works against already-stunned foes, allows the mind flayer to crack open enemy skulls and devour their brains.

  MIND BLAST

  A psychic attack that batters heroes with powerful mental energy, leaving them stunned.

  PSYCHIC STRIKE

  Their tentacles can deliver damaging blows using psychic power and snare you in a tight grasp.

  DO THIS

  Aim for the brain. Despite its impressive mental attacks, the elder brain is relatively defenseless compared to an adult mind flayer.

  Watch out for others. Mind flayers rarely live alone, so look out for siblings or enslaved creatures.

  Starve them out. Mind flayers eat humanoid brains to survive. Cut off their food supply to weaken them before your final attack.

  DON’T DO THIS

  Don’t focus on their slaves. If you can kill the mind flayer, you’ll break its control—and freed slaves are more likely to run than continue attacking.

  Don’t let down your guard. It will take all of your focus not to fall prey to the mind flayer’s psychic powers.

  MYCONID

  Myconids are intelligent, mobile fungi who resemble mushrooms, if mushrooms were shaped sort of like humans. These strange, intelligent creatures live in a sprawling subterranean kingdom called the Underdark, seeking enlightenment through communal mind-melds they create using their specialized spores.

  If approached peacefully, myconids will allow adventurers safe passage through their colonies. They dislike violence, but are more than capable of defending themselves if attacked. Their spores can create psychic connections with other creatures and signal distress, induce calm, and even—in the case of their mighty sovereigns—reanimate the bodies of small- to large-size creatures. These loyal spore servants will not hesitate to defend their myconid masters from intruding adventurers, so be careful!

  LAIR Myconids live in the Underdark and have darkvision, which allows them to move freely through the inky blackness of their homes. Each colony is made up of twenty or so myconid adults and a handful of their child sprouts, overseen by a powerful sovereign who is the largest in the colony.

  SIZE

  SPROUT

  All myconids begin life as sprouts, two to three feet tall, which gradually grow to adult size. They are relatively defenseless, but capable of wielding small melee weapons.

  ADULT

  Adults are six- to seven-foot-tall plant creatures capable of defending themselves with pacifying spores that stun opponents.

  SOVEREIGN

  At more than ten feet tall, these are the largest of all myconids. Sovereigns can reanimate dead creatures to do their bidding!

  SPECIAL POWERS

  DISTRESS SPORES

  When hurt, a myconid releases special spores that alert other myconids within two hundred forty feet of its pain.

  PACIFYING SPORES

  These spores can stun a single target near the myconid, allowing the pacifist creature to avoid combat.

  RAPPORT SPORES

  All creatures within a thirty-foot radius are bound together in a telepathic link that allows them to communicate silently for one hour.

  ANIMATING SPORES

  Produced by myconid sovereigns, these spores reanimate the corpses of living creatures, transforming them into loyal servants.

  DO THIS

  Ask for help! These peaceful, intelligent creatures can be useful allies, sharing valuable knowledge of the area around their colony and the dangers that lie ahead.

  Let the sunshine in! As dwellers of the Underdark, myconids can be weakened and even killed by exposure to sunlight. Maybe your party’s magic-users have a spell that could help light up the darkness!

  DON’T DO THIS

  Don’t think that a scarf over your nose will save you! Spores can be absorbed through the smallest patch of bare skin.

  Don’t brag about your conquests. Myconids despise violence!

  MYCONID COLONY

  Tulra shivered as the strange spores settled into her skin. Everything about the Underdark was unsettling, but the myconid colonies, with their eerie silence and musty, alien smells, were her least favorite. Still, the myconids had insight into the mind flayer known as Deenarh—knowledge she needed if she was to have any hope of breaking its dark hold over her village.

  A shudder ran along Tulra’s spine as the spores did their work, opening her up to the thoughts of the creatures around her. A dozen minds sparkled along the telepathic link, one brighter than the rest.

  “We know you, barbarian,” said the sovereign, its voice nothing but a psychic rattle in Tulra’s head. “You smell like the half-orc who burnt down our colonies at Shilmista three summers
past.”

  Tulra froze. The power of the myconid mind-meld was legendary, but she hadn’t expected to be identified hundreds of miles from Shilmista. The revelation left her with a difficult choice. She could explain the terrible situation that led to the colony’s demise and hope for forgiveness or lie and say it wasn’t her—a difficult task given the psychic bond that linked their minds together.

  Should Tulra tell a dangerous truth or a dangerous lie? If she chooses the truth, would the myconid colony offer her forgiveness or use their dangerous spores to seek revenge? If she lies, will the myconids detect her deception—and how would they react to discovering her untruth? It’s up to you!

  DEMOGORGON

  Demogorgon is a horrific demon prince who epitomizes the forces of chaos. His massive body is a warped mixture of different creatures all jammed together: the legs, feet, and tail of a dinosaur; the tentacles of a giant octopus; and the upper body of an ape, with a pair of disturbing-looking apelike heads mounted on top, hungry and roaring. Demogorgon is one of the most dangerous creatures anywhere. A battle with him is either the well-planned culmination of a massive quest, or a suicidal fool’s run that ends in annihilation.

  Demogorgon embodies madness and destruction, and he constantly works to destroy order and goodness in the universe. The turmoil around Demogorgon helps empower him, but it’s also a source of weakness. His two heads (named Aameul and Hathradiah) constantly argue about how best to destroy his foes, as his evil plans shift and change. It’s hard to raise an army and plunge the world into chaos when your own two heads can rarely agree on how best to do it.

  LAIR Demogorgon lives in a strange other dimension called the Abyss. The Abyss is a shifting and turbulent place of war and insanity, where only the most powerful adventurers could even have a chance to survive, let alone triumph. The Abyss is broken up into more than six hundred layers of dangerous lands, some of them without any ground to walk on, others without any air to breathe. On the Abyssal layer called the Gaping Maw, Demogorgon’s fortress is partially submerged in dark and deadly water.

  Traveling to the Abyss and confronting Demogorgon directly is almost impossible for anyone less than the most epic of heroes. Most battles with Demogorgon take place elsewhere, when the Prince of Demons chooses to travel to other worlds.

  SIZE Demogorgon is eighteen feet tall, which means he could look into the second-story window of a multistory house. Each of his tentacles is wider than your whole body, and his ape mouths are large enough to bite you in half without even chewing.

  SPECIAL POWERS Demogorgon can use his huge tentacles or tail to grab heroes and smash them. He can also cast powerful magic spells, but his most potent abilities come from the glowing eyes of his twin ape heads. With just a glance, Demogorgon can cause heroes to stop in their tracks or go crazy.

  BEGUILING GAZE

  Stuns you so you can’t move or think as long as you’re staring at him.

  HYPNOTIC GAZE

  Lets Demogorgon take control, making you do whatever he chooses if your mind isn’t strong enough to resist.

  INSANITY GAZE

  Unravels your mind so your thoughts don’t make any sense. Confused and dizzy, you won’t be able to attack or communicate with anyone else.

  FORESTS, MOUNTAINS & OTHER TERRAIN

  Open fields. Gentle hills. Quiet forests. These are the lands where many people make their homes, living peaceful lives of farming and trade, communities large and small connected by interweaving roads.

  But people are not the only ones who flock to such terrain. Rocky hills and shallow caves provide promising lairs for brutal beasts. Roadside obstructions allow ambushers to set upon unwary travelers. Even open plains may make a suitable home for the clever and the quick.

  Though open sky may feel less oppressive than the claustrophobic dark of an underground lair, the creatures who prowl beneath the sun and stars are no less dangerous than the subterranean variety. Are you prepared to take on monsters who threaten the safety of peaceful communities across the land?

  CENTAUR

  The proud nomadic race of creatures known as centaurs combine the speed and strength of horses with the determination and intelligence of humans. Their upper bodies allow them to wield weapons for hunting or warfare, while their lower bodies allow them to traverse great distances at tremendous speed or to trample an enemy underfoot.

  Centaurs are tribal creatures who move along the same ancient trading routes used for generations, through lush forests, snow-capped mountains, and dry deserts, capturing or trading whatever supplies they need as they go. As they have no territory to defend, they are not naturally inclined toward war, but they still train for it, and are powerful and ferocious warriors when crossed.

  Yet centaurs prefer a peaceful life, living in harmony with nature. They have tremendous respect for the cycles of the natural world, taking only what they need and giving back what they can.

  LAIR Centaurs do not have lairs. They only settle in one place when forced to do so by injury or age. If you encounter a group of centaurs by an oasis or a lake one day, they will be gone the next, leaving little behind except hoofprints in the mud.

  SIZE The horse part of a centaur is about the same size and height of a large and powerful horse, but the human half of a centaur adds to its overall height, making these very imposing creatures to face in battle.

  THE WISDOM OF CENTAURS You might never encounter centaurs out in the wild, as they prefer to travel through remote lands. However, if they are too old or weak to travel, a lone centaur may end up living in a humanoid settlement. These noble individuals are often revered in the community for their knowledge of the world and ability to read natural omens.

  DO THIS

  Keep your distance. Centaurs do not enjoy company, and they can strike fast if you venture too close.

  Offer knowledge and seek their advice. Centaurs are well-traveled and value the knowledge gained from exploration; scholarly party members, like wizards and monks, may make an ally by offering a trade of information.

  DON’T DO THIS

  Don’t mistake them for horses. Centaurs are not steeds for you to ride and will resent any remarks that insult their intelligence.

  Don’t pick a fight. Centaurs don’t like to start fights, but they know how to finish them.

  DISPLACER BEAST

  Displacer beasts are vicious magical monsters that possess the otherworldly ability to displace light so that they appear to be several feet away from their actual location. This power makes them dangerous opponents, since it’s hard to fight enemies who are never quite where they seem to be. They resemble sleek predatory cats covered in blue-black fur, with six legs and two spiked tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. Their eyes glow with a deep malice, a fire that cannot be dimmed even in death.

  Originally bred by the Unseelie Fae (dark faeries) to hunt unicorns, pegasi, and other marvelous creatures, displacer beasts soon escaped and spread across the lands. They retain a love for the hunt, killing for sport as well as for food, and may toy with weaker prey before making a final strike. They hunt alone or in small packs, using their wicked intelligence to set up ambushes for unwary travelers. Don’t let these dangerous creatures catch you by surprise!

  LAIR Whether solo or in packs, displacer beasts favor densely wooded areas near roadways, where they can easily ambush prey. They can sometimes be found alongside intelligent evil creatures, such as vampire lords or mind flayers, serving as guards within their lairs.

  SIZE Displacer beasts are one-and-a-half times the size of a panther, the great cat they most resemble. With six legs, their bodies are long and lean.

  SPECIAL POWERS

  VERSATILE ASSAULTS

  Their spiked tentacles hit like melee weapons and move independently, giving the displacer beast multiple options for attack.

  DARKVISION

  Wicked
, glowing eyes can pierce up to sixty feet (even through total darkness).

  DISPLACEMENT

  Via magical illusion, the displacer beast appears to stand several feet away from its real location, making it difficult to both hit and avoid. If you do land a blow, this power is temporarily knocked out, giving you a better chance to win.

  DO THIS

  Aim wide. Their displacement ability means these wicked beasts are never where they seem to be.

  Be alert for tricks. Displacer beasts are cunning creatures, favoring strategy over straightforward assault.

  DON’T DO THIS

  Don’t chase after a retreating displacer beast. It may be trying to lure you toward the rest of its pack!

  Don’t stick to a schedule. Displacer beasts are clever enough to remember the schedules of travelers passing by on a regular basis, so avoid an ambush by changing up when and how you travel.

  OWLBEAR

  Part giant owl, part enormous bear, these vicious creatures are densely muscled and covered in thick feathers. Their owl-like faces feature large, piercing eyes and a sharp beak, ready to tear apart the soft flesh of its prey. No one knows if these strange beasts were created by nature or by magic, but everyone knows to steer clear when they’re on the prowl.