puzzle
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ERINYES: Fighting the Furies in a Burning House
How to Use – Corrupter As the only devils to not look obviously evil, I would imagine that they get the job of convincing important mortals to trade their souls and otherwise bargain with the hells. (Run of the mill devils will be approached by imps, the hell’s errand boys. Succubae and/or rakshasas would be… Continue reading
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QUASIT & Making Familiars and Other NPCs Interesting
Before we get into uses for this monster as an enemy, I’m going to start with how to use the quasit as an ally. Specifically, how it can be used when it’s playing the role of a warlock’s familiar. Continue reading
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MANES: Using the Manes’ Unique Powers
The manes erupt into a cloud of extremely bad smelling gas when killed. For our first combat encounter, realize that this would trigger an alarm. Continue reading
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HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot
The hezrou actually does have an optimal fighting method, thanks to its poison effect. It wants to be as close to as many of its enemies as possible, so as to maximize the poison condition it causes. Continue reading
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COUTAL: The Hidden Advisor
The coutal is good aligned monster that is clearly designed to be a quest giver. It only exists because in order to fulfill a mission given by a long-forgotten deity, it stays in hiding when it doesn’t have a pressing need to act… How else can it possibly be used? Continue reading
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CLOAKER: Masters of the Tactical Ambush
Scenario: Cloakers depend of taking their prey by surprise. They are also fairly intelligent. One way of taking their prey by surprise is to creep along behind them, as suggested here. Another way that they might fight is by taking advantage of the fact that they look like cloaks. Continue reading
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BASILISK: Exploring the Consequences of Fighting Blind
The base idea behind running a basilisk is running a monster that can’t be looked at without harsh penalties. Fighting a monster without being able to look at it is unfortunately quite complicated. I’m going to break it up into three parts. Continue reading
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ANIMATED ARMOR: How to Make the Mundane Special
One of the main rules of animated objects, and animated armor in particular, is to let the players see it, and get used to it, in its non-animated form. That way, when it does animate, if feels a lot more magical, mystical. Continue reading
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ABOLETH: Strategies for the Masters of Enslaving
Story. The players have heard of the aboleth’s presence, and they wish to meet with it. Perhaps they want information from it, perhaps they want to defeat it, or maybe it heard of them and wishes to meet [and own] them. Spin it as you wish Continue reading
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AARACOCKRA & Making Allies, Dissuading Allies, Using Allies Properly
How to Use – Social Encounter The Aarakocra are one of D&D’s good monster types. The purpose of their existence revolves around fighting evil. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to be friendly to the PC’s. Perhaps They don’t trust the PC’s, and would rather they stay away from their village. Not… Continue reading
About Me
I’ve been a DM since I was about 10 years old. (Not of D&D, admittedly, but still.) After growing bored of fights that were all the same, dungeons heavily populated by one monster type, and a general shortage of ideas, I figured I’d embark on my own trip through the Monster Manual, one monster at a time. Feel free to join the quest.