I’m taking a little break from the Drowned Labyrinth this week to share another potential project with you which I’ve been thinking about. I’m curious to hear what you think about it.
I’m not entirely sure what to call it, but it’s essentially an encounter kit or a ‘field guide’ to monsters: notes for the DM on how to make the most of the 5e bestiary. It would be a nice companion to The Campaign Handbook, I think.
The obvious danger zone here is that I encroach too far on the excellent work of Keith Ammann, author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, How to Defend Your Lair, and Making Enemies, which I reviewed here. Keith’s work is certainly an influence, but I’m not looking to emulate it here. That’s his space, and he does it far better than I ever could (or anyone else, for that matter).
No: what I have in mind is more like inspiration fuel; an opinionated take on what’s the quintessential way to use this creature (or NPC) in your game world. Encounter advice, yes, but also a roleplaying kit, a bit of lore and mythology, treasure and rewards, and how to run the monster a bit differently—fresh takes on old favourites. I’m drawn to the ecology and world-building of 2nd edition AD&D Monstrous Manual and the encounter notes in Level Up 5e’s Monstrous Menagerie, but also the original 5e monster books, Volo’s and Mordenkainen’s, now sadly out of print, and the advice of people like Justin Alexander, Matt Colville’s Flee, Mortals!, and Daði from Mystic Arts:
Useability at the table would be paramount here. It needs to be effortlessly easy to parse. Subheadings, bullet points, minimal verbiage. The intent is a tool, a cribsheet, almost,not bedtime reading. Each monster would be a one-pager or a double-page spread, and the appendices would sort them not just alphabetically but also by terrain, difficulty, party level, even encounter ‘type’ (see Daði’s video, above).
I guess this post is my way of testing the waters—to gauge excitement and interest. This would be a big project, even more so since the recent hatching of Wyrmling II, but it’s the sort of thing I could chip away at, week by week, a bit like I did with The Campaign Handbook. I could release monsters in packets, perhaps themed around type or setting (‘undead,’ ‘city encounters’), and when I feel I’ve done enough, repackage and release it as a complete compendium. And while it would primarily be a 5e product, I’m hoping that the focus would be more on flavour than mechanics; not quite system-neutral, but certainly very useful to people playing other games (13th Age, Old-School Essentials, Dragonbane . . .)
At this point I should probably share a taster of what I mean. Actually, let’s do two: the lich and the giant rat.
The Lich
Difficulty: overpowering until the soul jar is destroyed.
Party level: at least 15th level for a final boss fight.
Rarity: legendary.
Overview
- Secret soul jar, key to its survival (book, gemstone, crown, preserved heart…)
- Cannot be destroyed while it exists
- Patient, scheming mastermind
- Reclusive and arrogant
- Repulsive abomination, radiates dread
Encounter
- 1 lich, solo. (Alternatives: death knight lieutenant, honour guard of wights—increases the difficulty.)
- Type: boss battle. (Alternatives: puzzle.)
- Objective: stop the ritual. (Alternatives: escape, theft.)
- Tactics: pre-buffs first, fight from range and cover, use reactions to counterspell, block, and manoeuvre.
Location
Ritual hall in a warded sanctum. Alarms, traps, surveillance, spellcasting counter-measures. Cold, airless, still. (Alternatives: laboratory, demiplane, forgotten ruin.)
Terrain:
- Octagonal, 50–60 ft across
- High vaulted ceiling
- Lightless
- Summoning circles
- Pillars break line of sight
- Cold floor (minor cold damage)
- Restrictions on flight and teleportation magic.
Roleplay
Quiet, courteous contempt.
- Social encounter: monologue, lore dump
- Goal: to complete its great work—and be left alone
- Voice: dry, icy, unhurried (Alan Rickman)
- Gesture: perfect stillness but for one deliberate movement
- Touchstones: Sauron, Voldemort, Vecna
Rewards
- Staff of the magi
- Robe of the archmagi (black)
- Ring of Wizardry
- Amulet of the Planes
- Tome of Clear Thought
- Unique spellbook
- High-level spell scrolls
- Journals
- Ritual apparatus
- Orrery
- Failed experiments
Ecology
- Death knight lieutenant
- Bound demons and elementals
- Constructs
- Terrified cultists and apprentices.
Background
- Pronounced ‘litch’ (archaic English word for a corpse)
- Symbolism: refusal to die; knowledge without wisdom; every wizard’s dark mirror
- Inspirations: Koschei the Deathless (the Russian folk tale), the undying sorcerers of pulp (Clark Ashton Smith), Faust
Variants
- The good lich: tragically damned themselves for a noble cause.
- Reluctant immortal: wants to die but cannot find its soul vessel.
- Rivals: two undying liches locked in a feud.
- The long game: the schemer behind everything in the campaign to date.
The Giant Rat
Difficulty: challenging.
Party level: 1st or 2nd level.
Rarity: common.
Overview
- Dog-sized rodents
- A hungry swarm moving in the dark
- Filthy, diseased
- A nuisance, a plague, or an omen
- A classic first fight
Encounter
- 6–10 giant rats. (Use mob rules for an infestation or swarm.)
- Type: horde. (Alternatives: ambush, skirmish.)
- Objective: deathmatch. (Alternatives: waves.)
- Tactics: throw themselves against the front line with pack tactics; dash away when hit, scatter when the numbers are thinned down sufficiently.
Location
City sewers. Filthy, flooded, echoey. (Alternatives: ship’s hold, rubbish dump, tavern cellar.)
Terrain:
- Tunnel junction, close quarters (30 to 40 ft)
- Utter darkness
- Filthy knee-deep channels of sewage (save vs disease)
- Narrow ledges (balance or fall in)
- Bolt holes (too small for most party members to follow)
Roleplay
- A chorus of squeaks
- Scrabbling claws
- Red eyes in the dark
- A floor that seems to move
Rewards
Left uneaten in its nest:
- Loose coin
- A locket or signet ring
- A chewed map
- A rusted key
- A ledger, journal, or spellbook
Ecology
- Other vermin: beetles, giant centipedes, spiders
- Bigger predators: an otyugh, grick, carrion crawler, ghoul
- Wererats
Background
- Symbolism: plague, decay, corruption, fear of swarms
- Inspirations: the Pied Piper of Hamelin, associations with the Black Death
Variants
- A warning sign: a mass exodus of rats signals something worse.
- The Rat King: a monstrous boss
- The infestation: not a normal combat but a spreading problem, an ongoing clock
- The hive mind: someone sees through the rats’ eyes . . .
* * *
That’s a taster of what I had in mind. What do you think? Is this something you’d use at your table? Or is it reinventing the wheel? Which monsters would you want to see first? Let me know in the comments below.
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