“Alright,” Trio murmured, taking a few steps back. “There’s a change in the tunnel up ahead, so let’s talk before we cross, yeah?”
Rolling Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20+6
Rolling Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20+1
Rolling Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20-1
“Like hell there is,” Cassandra grumbled. “It’s just more of the same.”
“I gotta say,” Jason agreed, scratching the top of his head, “it doesn’t seem like—”
“Oh come on, mom, dad!” Harriet glared at both of them, savage-voiced for all the low volume of their collective words. “The supports are a different kind of wood and the walls go from rough stone to dirt! I’m not saying I’d have noticed if Trio didn’t point it out, but really?”
“Huh.” Both of her parents blinked a few times, as if refocusing. “Well,” Cassandra muttered, “I guess we know what it’s like for this lunkhead here to roll a one, huh.”
“Rogues’ gallery, focus up,” Harriet interjected. “Bestiary, dramatis personae, whatever. Trio, brief us!”
“Alright, well.” He rapped his knuckles on the stone with a considering look on his face. “You’ve already seen the goblins, they sorta manifest outta the miasma of despair and waste, far as we know. Get enough of ‘em together, they’ll outpace their sustainable rate—we think, we don’t actually know what they eat or whatever—and die off, and stack the corpses somewhere fetid. Get enough of ‘em, and the next thing that spawns there is usually either a hob or a bugbear.”
Bugbear
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil
Armor Class: 16 (hide armor, shield)
Hit Points: 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed: 30 ft.
Stats: 15 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 9
Skills: Stealth +6, Survival +2
Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages: Common, Goblin
Challenge: 1 (200 XP)
Brute: A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the bugbear hits with it (included in the attack).
Surprise Attack: If the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage from the attack.
Actions
Morningstar: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage.
Javelin: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage in melee or 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage at range.
“Mind you, it ain’t always a goblinoid you get. I’ve heard tell you can get an aberration or monstrosity a’some sort from a deathmound.”
“Aberrations or monstrosities?”
Type
A monster's type speaks to its fundamental nature. Certain spells, magic items, class features, and other effects in the world interact in special ways with creatures of a particular type. For example, an arrow of dragon slaying deals extra damage not only to dragons but also other creatures of the dragon type, such as dragon turtles and wyverns. The world includes the following monster types, which have no rules of their own.
Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature's alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world. The quintessential aberrations are aboleths, and slaadi.
Humanoids are the main peoples of the world, both civilized and savage, including humans and a tremendous variety of other species. They have language and culture, few if any innate magical abilities (though most humanoids can learn spellcasting), and a bipedal form. The most common humanoid races are the ones most suitable as adventurers: humans, dwarves, elves, and halflings. Almost as numerous but far more savage and brutal, and almost uniformly evil, are the races of goblinoids (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears), orcs, gnolls, lizardfolk, and kobolds.
Monstrosities are monsters in the strictest sense--frightening creatures that are not ordinary, not truly natural, and almost never benign. Some are the results of magical experimentation gone awry (such as owlbears), and others are the product of terrible curses (including minotaurs). They defy categorization, and in some sense serve as a catch-all category for creatures that don't fit into any other type.
“You know,” Cassandra muttered grimly, “this whole thing where savagery and evilness are one thing, and let’s not even get into how semantically fucked the word savage is, feels pretty odious. My husband’s a half-orc, but I guess he gets his right to be actually sapient from his non-orc parent? What the fuck is this almost uniformly evil nonsense?”
Trio shrugged. “Dunno what t’tell you, Miss Scholar, you’re the learned one here. Kobolds are clever and smart, thinking-folk enough to organize and do diplomacy, of a particular sort, and even the new-born will try to chew their mothers’ throats out. But I’ve never met a lizardfolk what isn’t well and full on the other side a’savage from us, and they’re thinking-folk, though not particularly clever, and they’re True Neutral. Maybe not every last one of ‘em, but I’ve traded with both tribes on this island and never seen one who wasn’t, nor heard tell of one. Never been shafted on a deal with one, nor seen any do violence first, neither.”
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Lizardfolk
Medium humanoid (lizardfolk), neutral
Armor Class: 15 (natural armor, shield)
Hit Points: 22 (4d8 + 4)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Stats: 15 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 7
Skills: Perception +3, Stealth +4, Survival +5
Senses: passive Perception 13
Languages: Draconic
Challenge: 1/2 (100 XP)
Hold Breath: The lizardfolk can hold its breath for 15 minutes.
Actions
Multiattack: The lizardfolk makes two melee attacks, each one with a different weapon.
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Heavy Club: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Javelin: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Spiked Shield: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
“Did you know,” Cassandra said with an air of placid curiosity, “that lizardfolk specifically are called out in the fundamental underpinnings of the world itself as expressed through the System’s very own words as being uniformly evil, along with the goblinoids, orcs, gnolls, and kobolds?”
“Not surprised ‘bout most of those,” Trio said bleakly. “But I’d say that gives gnolls too much credit when it comes to thinking. Most of ‘em won’t think past their next meal; when we had a tribe show up on the island, long story why but it wasn’t their doing, we laid out poisoned meat and the weaker ones ate what had already killed the stronger ones. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see the last of ‘em involved here, since we never found the outdwellers.”
“Outdwellers?”
“Too weak to live inside the main camp,” he clarified, “or to be in sight or hearing of it. Not cubs, not any mothers—those were all in the center—but the weak, the infirm, the crippled. They foraged, and got raided by the fist, that’s the gnolls around the edge of the camp, and those got bullied by the heartdwellers. Gnolls. Dirty business. Wasn’t ever a big enough population to get the Blessed ones, at least.”
Gnoll
Medium humanoid (gnoll), chaotic evil
Armor Class: 15 (hide armor, shield)
Hit Points: 22 (5d8)
Speed: 30 ft.
Stats: 14 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 7
Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages: Gnoll
Challenge: 1/2 (100 XP)
Rampage: When the gnoll reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, the gnoll can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.
Actions
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Spear: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.
Longbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
“We don’t have any reason to worry about the beasts,” Trio said after a moment of scratching his chin. “Party like ours is too big, too loud. Keep an eye out for snakes, sure, and don’t stop on ‘em, but that’s just a kindness. Hm. What else?” He closed his eyes, humming thoughtfully. “Goblins, hobs, bugbears, maybe a few gnolls. You said you ran into an acolyte; might be a Priest—”
Priest
Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
Armor Class: 13 (chain shirt)
Hit Points: 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed: 25 ft.
Stats: 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 13
Skills: Medicine +7, Persuasion +3, Religion +4
Senses: passive Perception 13
Languages: any two languages
Challenge: 2 (450 XP)
Divine Eminence: As a bonus action, the priest can expend a spell slot to cause its melee weapon attacks to magically deal an extra 10 (3d6) radiant damage to a target on a hit. This benefit lasts until the end of the turn. If the priest expends a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each level above 1st.
Spellcasting: The priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has the following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt, sanctuary
2nd level (3 slots): lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, spirit guardians
Actions
Mace: Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.
Description
Priests bring the teachings of their gods to the common folk. They are the spiritual leaders of temples and shrines and often hold positions of influence in their communities. Evil priests might work openly under a tyrant, or they might be the leaders of religious sects hidden in the shadows of good society, overseeing depraved rites. A priest typically has one or more acolytes to help with religious ceremonies and other sacred duties.
“—around, won’t be a tribal caster, not for gobs, but, ah, Hel, can’t remember the name. Casts fire bolt, burning hands, sleep, fireball, lightning bolt, few other spells. And I’ve never run across any of the Variant Ilks for goblinoids, no evidence of ‘em on the island but always a chance, can’t tell ya what they’re like though.”
“Okay.” Cassandra took in a deep breath, reaching out her hand to the side. Feeling the two ibuprofen land in her palm, she popped them in her mouth, swallowed them with the assistance of her water pouch, then focused in the moment long enough to kiss her husband with intent, rather than doing it absently. “That’s all good information. Now give me a sec while I blast my brain, and by extension ours, with a bunch of details on spells.”
“Scholars,” Trio said, shaking his head. “Y’all are fucking weird.”