Homebrewed Antagonists, Monsters, and Mounts
As this campaign was heavily Blight-themed, many of the monsters, creatures, and enemies I used had a distinctly Dragon-Age flavour to them. Something that caused quite a great deal of trouble for my players, who learned the consequences of getting too close to the Blight firsthand, A consequence that I quite delighted in showing them. D&D Beyond has been a great tool for helping me to organize and keep track of the vast array of stat blocks I used throughout the course of the campaign, save for the BBEG stat blocks, which I kept in my Scrivener files, as theirs more closely resembled player character sheets, but with legendary and mythic creature additions and lair effects.
So, here we’ll be exploring the BBEGs that caused my players so much trouble, as well as the loyal mounts and problematic enemies that turned this campaign from a leisurely stroll through the Lantis Valley into a “For Sparta!” (their words, not mine) adventure across Eriathra, defeating a cult of liches, getting far too involved in politics, and saving the Isles of Avalon from the thralls of Merathis the Lingering Death.
The Great White Hart
This was the first of the creatures I created FOR my party rather than to give them a hard time. I’ve always liked the idea of a warrior princess riding in on a huge white hart with wide, branching antlers bedecked with glittery things. Which means, of course, that when my players started rolling suspiciously well on their d100 checks to see what sorts of hunting encounters they would have, I had to give them something fun. And I knew that my best friend, the party’s new paladin, was planning to take the Find Steed spell, so I thought I would speed up the process of getting a proper battle mount.
War Sheep
The addition of this particular mount was another example of shameless self-indulgence. I am…a long-time lover of RPGs, including of the Elder Scrolls franchise. The creation of the War Sheep that Maeka found in the midst of a jail break from the underground carta prison that the party had found itself in was purely a result of me being particularly fond of my Yorgrim River Ram mount from the Elder Scrolls Online.
And, of course, Maeka’s player rolled above a 95 on a d100, so I had to give him something special.
Screaming Magic Mushroom
This monster was inspired by a more recent addition to Runescape’s offerings. Now, when I say recent, keep in mind that I’ve been playing Runescape since ’06
But when an update introduced Anachronia a few years ago, one of the additions was the Ancient Zygomites. Sentient mushroom people whose favourite word is quite clearly “WAAAAAAAAH!”
So, since they amused and annoyed me so much, I made a low level monster in their honour. And proceeded to nearly tpk a level 2 party with them.
And because I didn’t feel like my players regretted their life choices enough, I spent many a night crafting special battles and centering whole chapters around the sort of nightmare encounters that had become commonplace at my table.
Was it a good idea to investigate that destroyed goliath village out in the Indorian Wilds, then follow the trail of evidence to the village shaman’s daughter who disappeared into the wilds near the old temple? Sounds like a wonderful idea!
What about exploring that underground temple that was being used for human (and halfling, half-elf, and gnomish) sacrifice? Sounds like a lovely basement for the artificer to build a castle on using the profits from his gold mine and business empire.
Should we have gotten involved in this political mess over the future of a kingdom in a struggle between a corrupt king involved with a cult, and a council of nobles backed by a guild of thieves that fight for the people? Probably not, but we’re here anyway, so let’s overthrow a king and found a new order of knights while we’re at it!
But we really shouldn’t have antagonized that wispmother in that swamp in the Isles of Avalon so much. After all, she was just having a really bad day after cursing some innocent kids to live as swans for eternity.
