| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MalariaMoon |
Posted - 31 Mar 2011 : 17:03:52
Hi All,
My adventurers will shortly be venturing into an area of the Underdark inhabited by a large tribe of mongrelfolk. The mongrelfolk are under the subjugation (both magical and psychological) of a powerful sorcerer. In the centre of their territory is a long tunnel that leads to the lair of ... something. Fear of this beastie keeps the mongrelfolk in line. The sorcerer seems to have some kind of power over it, or at least he makes it appear so ...
I'm seeking a suitable monster, and I'd like something a little unusual. Something big, solitary and dangerous, with a habit of hunting puny humanoids.
Any suggestions? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| althen artren |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 23:54:46
Green slime. Green slime that moves at
at MV rate of 40. Sentient and hungry!
all the time. |
| ChieftainTwilight |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 08:18:11
quote:
Originally posted by Zireael
Drow... or worse, vampire drow or half-fiend drow.
funny story... my Vampire Drow kicked a Half-Fiend Drow's ass in a Mage Duel once... of course, he did it more with tooth-and-nail than with sorcery... >w< |
| Zireael |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 07:47:59
Drow... or worse, vampire drow or half-fiend drow. |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 05:01:32
Neothelid. The most creepy, big, ugly and dangerous thing that comes from illithids. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 04:13:47
Fiendish Weredinosaur? |
| Mystic Lemur |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 03:54:20
quote:
Originally posted by Marquant Volker
What about earthquakes?
What about them? They don't live in caves to be controlled by sorcerers, after all.
I like the idea of a vampire. How about a vampire minotaur? |
| Marquant Volker |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 02:57:03
What about earthquakes? |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 01:55:29
quote:
Originally posted by althen artren
OOOHHHHHHH, cast a epic level spell on the Terrasque to make it
medium size. I LIKE it! I'll go home and stat up a medium
Terrasque tonight.
Talk about a surprise! Man!
Fighter: "What the crap...a dinosaur in the underdark?"
Wizard: "I'll just cast a quick spell and we can be done with this..."
DM: <evil laughter> |
| althen artren |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 00:08:12
OOOHHHHHHH, cast a epic level spell on the Terrasque to make it
medium size. I LIKE it! I'll go home and stat up a medium
Terrasque tonight. |
| Alisttair |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 15:46:40
I was gonna answer straight off of just the topic, thinking what would scare me if I lived in the Underdark, and my answer was going to be the endless sky above my head on the surface... |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 20:34:44
Er, doesn't the Tarrasque hide in the Underdark when it's sleeping between rampages? If so, it might be stumbled upon any time during its years/decades of "harmless" dormancy. lol, for all I know, it would be content to sleep forever and only berserks across the land when some arrogant little drow mageling enrages it with rudely interrupted slumber. Perhaps it is instinctly driven by a desire for a few hundred gallons of coffee and a croissant. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 19:39:22
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I wouldn't worry about the tarrasque if I was in the Underdark... The majority of the tunnels and caverns are too small for it.
Nothing says "tunneling" like a vorpal bite!
It would take a lot of bites to widen a tunnel enough to accomodate the tarrasque. In the meantime, those it was trying to bite are most likely headed somewhere else.
Though, a miniature version of the tarrasque could be scary... |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 18:25:35
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I wouldn't worry about the tarrasque if I was in the Underdark... The majority of the tunnels and caverns are too small for it.
Nothing says "tunneling" like a vorpal bite! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 18:23:56
I wouldn't worry about the tarrasque if I was in the Underdark... The majority of the tunnels and caverns are too small for it. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 17:38:33
Go big or go home, right? There might be a few bigger monsters, but I think cloning the Tarrasque would suffice. |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 17:08:06
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Would the tarrasque fit into a deepspawn?
Quoted for effect.  |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 16:50:15
Would the tarrasque fit into a deepspawn? |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 15:46:36
quote:
Originally posted by MalariaMoon
Certainly a nightwalker would be too powerful for my adventurers at the moment. The sorcerer is not particularly high level, she's able to charm enough mongrelfolk to keep them in line with ease, but wouldn't have the ability to command a nightwalker, and based on her rather particular backstory, she wouldn't have anything to offer it in return for obedience.
I'm more drawn towards the bestial, low intelligence side of the monster spectrum. The gulgahydra is a particularly good idea; thanks all for sharing your ideas.
Nightwalkers must be terrifying wherever you meet them. If you worry about it being too powerful for you party, tune the CR down a notch.
If you want to go for the more monstrous encounter try combining stuff, or change the monster's abilities/appearance to throw the party off.
When my party ventured into the Underdark, albeit for a very short time, i was in need of something similar of what you want. I found the Grey Render suitable. Massive, bestial, roaring, ripping and certainly charging monster. I simply changed some of it's abilities, to have it match a Underdark environment. Made it's skin dark, gave it superior smell and hearing, even gave it a phase shift ability (which my party was high level enough to handle, but it could prove rather difficult if your party is a bit low level). |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 05:55:07
What about a shadow mastiff, then? Not TOO high powered, and it would still make a fairly frightening beast to go against. Give it a couple of extra hit-dice, and you've got a good opponent that can still be controlled. Or a shadow-cat would work, too. Perhaps a vampire lairs there? It might work well with the sorcerer in exchange for the occasional mongrel man snack. If she can charm them, she could occasionally send one into the vampire's lair, and in return, it might offer service or protection. |
| MalariaMoon |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 05:23:43
Certainly a nightwalker would be too powerful for my adventurers at the moment. The sorcerer is not particularly high level, she's able to charm enough mongrelfolk to keep them in line with ease, but wouldn't have the ability to command a nightwalker, and based on her rather particular backstory, she wouldn't have anything to offer it in return for obedience.
I'm more drawn towards the bestial, low intelligence side of the monster spectrum. The gulgahydra is a particularly good idea; thanks all for sharing your ideas. |
| ChieftainTwilight |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 05:07:07
the way I see it, what better place to use it's connection to the Shadow Plane than the Faerunian Underdark (which has the easiest access to the Shadow Plane in that setting)? seriously, it is not likely that it has gotten stuck.
but I'm curious what things the Sorcerer could provide that etices it to play along rather than just slaughter the mage and his Mongrelfolk? |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 05:03:30
Who says it has to be commanded? Maybe it was sent by someone else to aid him, or he made a deal with it. (I can think of plenty of things he could acquire or do for it that it can't.) Perhaps it is trapped somehow, possibly due to the configuration of the caverns themselves. (Cause anything that big wouldn't be able to use normal-sized doors and tunnels, but cave-ins and other alterations to the tunnels might have imprisoned it.) |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 04:56:51
eathquakes |
| ChieftainTwilight |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 04:26:08
yeh... but I don't think there is any way that a Sorcerer of anything less than epic-level could command one of those. ._. there isn't anything he could offer it that it couldn't get on it's own, and it is unlikely he could overpower one. |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 04:16:04
What about a Nightwalker? It's big, nasty, and would scare just about any party. Twenty foot tall giant black humanoid charging down the tunnel? Sounds like pants-wetting time to me.... |
| ChieftainTwilight |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 03:58:59
I imagine something that is highly Beastial, and which is fast and strong. a terrible monster. perhaps a Cave Giant (Maur), or maybe even some type of Dinosaur. the last idea I have is a Gulgathydra (it's like a cross between a Hydra and an Ottyugh).
on the other hand, you could also use more intelligent creature that the Sorcerer has some kind of pact with. good examples are a psionic creature, a Fiend of some sort, or a Dragon. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 03:21:28
Ghosts, spectres, and apparitions floating through the darkness would be pretty awful. I'm not sure if they'd be invisible or actually radiate their own palpable light or darkness. Shadows and wraiths would be invisible, though ironically, they might require a light source to exist. I never really thought about it ... lol, can a ghost be used as a light source? |
| MalariaMoon |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 03:16:46
Thanks all for some great suggestions, although I want to avoid creatures with tunnelling abilities, as it rather diverts from the idea of them crawling/charging/slithering/gslloping out of that long, dark tunnel. It's pre-spellplague, vaguely 3rd edition, thus far a fiendish cave bear or basilisk would fit the bill fairly well; I think a deep dragon might be a little too powerful and too obvious. I've also been considering a really big grell (perhaps 12 HD thereabouts) with some interesting alternations, perhaps some psionic abilities and a lightning lance.
Aleksander suggests the dark itself - actually that might be such a bad idea, I'm toying with the idea that the beast might actually have died some years previously, unbeknown to the mongrelfolk. Should the PCs choose to explore its lair, maybe they'll just find its bones, or even better, its ghost! |
| althen artren |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 02:04:10
Deep Dragons, big ones with rotting flesh and milky eyes. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 01:31:05
A beverage called "the Great Elixir" which is served in Sshamath.
Think about it.  |
