New Monster - Animated Object: Scauldron (OSR and 5E)

Trinta tried her best to avoid contact with the large animated cauldron to no avail. It rammed into her tossing Trinta up and into its red-hot interior.

While Trinta screamed in agony the cast iron construct galloped off, clanging and banging down the long hall and disappeared around the next corner with its victim engulfed and burning.

Her companions hurried behind their kidnapped friend, cursing as they went. This was not how they expected their exploration of the ruins to begin.

Scauldron:

Animated by fiendish witchery, this oversized, four-legged iron cauldron's purpose is to engulf a target and run about while cooking them. By bouncing the victim around inside, it continues to trap them, doing searing heat damage. Once a victim has died the Scauldron dumps the body and goes hunting a new meal to cook.

Quick OSR version notes:

Hit Dice 5 dice plus 3 points

AC: 2 descending scale, or 18 ascending scale

Movement: 30'

Attack: as Fighter 5

Saves: as Fighter 5

Damage: 1d6 +2 and target must save vs paralyzation or be engulfed if man sized or smaller. Each round spent within the Scauldron causes an additional 2d6 damage from heat.

If the cauldron is unable to make away with the target it will continue to ram others causing 1d6+2 damage, but may only engulf one victim at a time.

Engulfed targets may attempt to escape by rolling at or below their strength on a d20 with no modifiers.

5E version:

Scauldron

Large construct, unaligned

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)

Hit Points 84 (8d10 +40)

Speed 30'

Ability Scores:  STR 16 (+3) DEX 10 (0) CON 14 (+2) INT 1 (-5) WIS 3 (-4) CHR 1 (-5)

Damage Resistance: slashing, piercing from non-magical weapons

Damage Immunities: fire, poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poison, prone

Senses: blindsight 60' (blind beyond 60'. Passive perception 6

Languages: none

Challenge Rating: 2 (450 xp)

Anti-magic Susceptibility. The Scauldron is incapacitated while in the area of an anti-magic field. If targeted by Dispel Magic, the Scauldron must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute.

False Appearance. While the Scauldron remains motionless it is indistinguishable from a large iron cauldron. 

Actions:

Ram. Melee weapon attack +5 to hit, reach 5', one creature. Hit: 2d6 +3 bludgeoning damage plus 1d6 fire damage.

Engulf. The Scauldron moves up to its speed and conducts a Ram melee attack. If successful, any medium or smaller creature must succeed on a DC12 Dexterity saving throw. On a success the creature may choose to be pushed 5' back or to the side of the Scauldron. On a failure the Scauldron enters the creature's space and the creature takes 3d6 fire damage and is engulfed. The engulfed creature is restrained and takes 6d6 fire damage at the start of each of the Scauldron's turns. When the Scauldron moves, the engulfed creature moves with it. An engulfed creature can try to escape by taking an action to make a DC13 Strength check. On a success, the creature escapes and enters a space of its choice within 5' of the Scauldron. The Scauldron may only engulf 1 creature at a time regardless of size. While engulfing a creature, the Scauldron will attempt to move away using the Dash action, along a path that seems to lead the farthest from other creatures. When a creature dies within the Scauldron the body is dumped out and the Scauldron chooses a new target.

New Magic Item/Monster - Strangler's Belt (OSR and 5E friendly)

Embuk stared at the third consecutive murder victim in as many days. All had been strangled to death, all with the pattern of a belt, but a different one in each instance. They were each missing their belt. "Odd," he thought. "Why would the murderer take their belts?"

Magic Item/Monster: Strangler's Belt

The magic item is sentient. Its only desire is to strangle it's owner and move on to find a new one. It is detectable as evil. After every third killing the murdering belt goes dormant during which time it is likely to have traveled some distance before needing to slay again.

Immediately after strangling its owner in their sleep, the belt slithers away, finding another belt wearer, absorbing their belt and taking its appearance.

DM's can treat this as an animated magic item, a golem, or anything in between to determine its stats should characters discover and try to destroy it. The belt will always fight back.

Give it advantage or magic resistance on saves against magic to make it tougher for higher level characters.

Experienced earned should be appropriate to the CR or monster level chosen, along with a bonus for figuring out the mystery.

""

New Monster - Parchment Guardian (Updated to 5E)

The original OSR version was published on April 23rd, 2012.  Yes, I'm digging deep for some of these updates.

Parchment Guardians were created to ward document archives and libraries from unwanted intrusion. Formed of loosely gathered scrolls, the spindles acting as the skeleton, they tumble off shelves and lunge unsteadily after intruders.

Parchment Guardian

Medium construct, unaligned

Armor Class 12

Hit Points  11 2d8+2

Speed 30'

Ability Scores:  STR 10 (0)  DEX 14 (+2)  CON 12 (+1)  INT 3 (-4)  WIS 10 (0)  CHR 3 (-4)

Damage Vulnerabilities: fire

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, slashing and piercing attacks from non-magical weapons that aren't adamantine.

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses: blindsight 30', passive perception 10

Challenge Rating 1/4

False Appearance while the Parchment Guardian remains unmoving it is indistinguishable from a pile of ordinary scrolls.

Immutable Form the Parchment Guardian is not affected by any spell or magic that would alter its form

Magic Weapons the Parchment Guardian's attacks are magical

Actions:

Multiattack. The Parchment Guardian makes 2 claw attacks.

Claw. Melee weapon attack +4 to hit, reach 5', one target. Hit: 1d6+2 slashing damage.

Envelope. Reaction. If set on fire the Parchment Guardian immediately attempts to wrap itself around the nearest creature, moving up to 30' to accomplish this task. The target must make a DC12 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed roll the target creature becomes enveloped sharing its space with the Parchment Guardian and having the restrained condition. All fire damage done to the Parchment Guardian is also done to the enveloped creature.

Lightning Glyph. Reaction. Parchment Guardians are inscribed with a glyph granting the ability to use the Shocking Grasp spell as a reaction when struck with a melee weapon (Recharge 4-6).

Burning Cube 5e Errata

 So I updated the Burning Cube from OSR stats to 5e stats on April 9th and managed to miss some important info, It should have had a higher attack bonus to hit, and the damage should have scaled up at least a little. I went back and added the errata to the post. It may still be a little off by 5e standards, but not by much.

New Monster (Unique, Legendary) - Burning Cube (Updated for 5e)

Embuk kicked and swam for all he was worth through the cold waters of the underground lake. He prayed that the horrible creature could not cross the water.

A trail of ashes behind the thing were all that remained of his companions Maluk and Zefram. They had tried to fight back after the cube-like monstrosity slammed into them at the intersection of hallways. They had not noticed it coming.

It was as the rumors had said, a wizard had dropped his powerful wand of fireballs only to see it engulfed by a massive nearly invisible cube of slime. Now, imbued with the elemental energies of the wand the creature wanders the caverns and worked hallways beneath the ruins incinerating its victims.

Zefram had struck it full on with the point of his spear only to suffer a retributive blast of flames gushing from the wound. Maluk fared no better, though he did not become paralyzed, the thing wrapped itself around, absorbing him. Within its transparent form he burned to charred cynders over the next several seconds, writhing and screaming the whole time.

Embuk fired his crossbow and sadly sealed Zefram's fate as another gout of fire burst forth and down Zefram went. The thing lurched forward over his fallen companion and Embuk ran.

Burning Cube (Unique Legendary Creature) modifications:

To convert the Gelatinous Cube from the 5th edition Monster Manual into the Burning Cube change all damage types to fire. Add immunity to fire. Remove the paralytic ability. Add a retributive attack 3d6 fire in an area effect 15' cone beginning next to the cube, when damaged by slashing or piercing weapons (DC15 Dexterity Save for half damage). Upon death the Burning Cube explodes in a 20' radius inflicting 8d6 fire damage, DC 15 Dexterity Save for half damage. Give it maximum 120 hit points. Change CR to 4 (Legendary and Lair). If you decide to keep the paralyzing capability, adjust the CR to 5.

Errata: increase the attack modifier by +1 more, increase damage to 3d8 and 6d8 for the pseudopod and engulf respectively.

The retributive burst of fire is not a recharge feature, it happens automatically immediately when triggered. If the triggering attack is ranged, the effect still happens beginning in the square next to the  cube.

Legendary Actions (3 charges): At the end of an enemy's turn the Burning Cube may take one of these actions as described in the Monster Manual.

Pseudopod (cost 1 charge) or Engulf (cost 2 charges, including the additional movement).

Lair Actions: On an initiative count of 20 (losing initiative ties) the cube takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects.

Ceiling Collapse. A small section of the ceiling above collapses onto one enemy within 60' of the cube. The target takes 4d6 damage and must make a DC15 Dexterity Saving Throw. Success reduces the damage to half. Failure results in the creature being restrained and prone. Freeing the creature from the restrained condition requires using an action and a strength check with a DC of 20. 

 Sticky Surface. An area 10' in diameter within 30' of the cube becomes difficult terrain reducing movement by half.

This monster is inspired by the blog banner and this piece of art created for The Dice Are A Lie by Mark Allen.

Monster Ecology: From Rot Grub to Carrion Crawler

One of the most feared creatures for a party of adventurers to encounter by surprise is the infamous Carrion Crawler. This tentacled caterpillar shaped beast stalks through dungeons in search of corpses to eat. Reaching as much as 9' in length at maturity, the crawler is nothing to trifle with.

When Crawlers are ready to reproduce they gather in groups, known as horrors, of up to 6 members, to seek out living hosts to paralyze and into which they lay clutches of hundreds of eggs. Carrion Crawlers are hermaphroditic both fertilizing and laying eggs. Once all members of the horror have deposited eggs into separate hosts they go their own ways and exhibit no parental care of the resulting offspring.

The warmth of the helpless victim triggers the eggs to begin hatching almost immediately to begin devouring the host. These tiny ravenous larva are what we know as Rot Grubs. The larva are highly competitive, racing to eat their path to vital organs and fighting each other to the death for dining rights.

What begins as hundreds of fingernail sized hatchlings dwindles as they consume the living host and each other. As their numbers drop into the dozens the grubs have grown to finger length and nearly twice the girth.

Competition continues over what remains of their now long dead host. Remaining grubs strike out in small groups seeking fresh carrion or warm living bodies to eat.

Upon reaching roughly the size of a human forearm the individual grubs find shelter to begin the next stage in their development. Within a chrysalis the grub transforms into a miniature version of their eventual adult form, the Carrion Crawler.

In their new form they have become dangerous hunters far more mobile and armed with paralytic venom capable of stopping even the largest of prey.

Because of the dangerous nature of both the Rot Grub and the Carrion Crawler, neither form has a natural predator other than those of their own kind.

Rumor is that deep in the Under-realm enterprising tribes of humanoids have trained crawlers as war mounts, but no evidence of this is known. Such a practice seems too hazardous to be worth the required effort.

Among deep tribes tales of enormous Carrion Crawlers persist, though it is unlikely they exist at those sizes.

New Monster - Graven Tongue

"Three miles deep, by seventeen northeast, by two miles west. That's where Tharsella said we would find her alleged oracle." Fiddry remarked.

"This cavern alone could be a mile or more across, and a hundred feet floor to ceiling. It could be anywhere in here Fiddry." Loren remarked, peering as far into the darkness as her vision would permit.

Murnon moved ahead, trying to portray confidence while shuddering slightly beneath his heavy armor. "Hope we find this thing and get what we want soon. I feel mighty uncomfortable, like something is watching."

That's when Rejjet screamed and their gnome guide Underfoot fell unconscious.

A great, moist thing, dark and warty brushed among the group physically, and something worse. Their minds reeled as if assaulted by the unknowable intruding on each person's sense of being.

Fiddry couldn't move as if frozen, paralyzed in his tracks. "RUN!" his mind yelled, nearly drowned out by the babbling cascading within his head in eons of lost languages. Ideas, flashed in warped, unreal imagery, through Loren's eyes. She cried tears of blood and covered them with her hands as if pleading for the agony of sight to end. And end it did as her vision left her. Murnon, writhing about upon the floor of the cavern was screaming about the worms he felt sure were devouring him from within.

It seemed like hours before their nausea passed, and they could make even the slightest sense of what had transpired. All felt as if some part of their essence had been taken from them or violated horribly. None of them dared speak of the things lingering in their minds. It would be a week before they began to guess at what the oracle meant, and longer before they gained an inkling about their role in the prophesy.

New Monster: The Graven Tongue
The Graven Tongue is thought to be an ancient flesh construct left behind by foul beings beyond understanding, though it may in truth really be a tasting organ protruding into this reality from a being beyond the world.

The tongue is a flesh construct 135 feet long and varies in thickness from 1 foot at the tip to 90 feet at the base with tendrils like veins stretching further from the base and into the cavern ceiling.  It has a mottled coloration including tones of purple, black, ochre, blood red, and flesh, with indecipherable runes carved into the slimy surface. A spell that allows understanding some of the runes will cause those reading them to suffer additional damage (half with save) and a level of fatigue.

The Graven Tongue hangs down from ceiling, reaching out to "taste" creatures passing within its sensory range, detecting them by their life or mental essence. Anyone touched directly by the appendage suffers a level of fatigue in addition to the other affects. In the process of tasting creatures, they are slammed with incredible volumes of information, most of which they cannot possibly comprehend initially, but gradually some information may become clear enough to be acted upon, rightly or wrongly.

Encountering the Graven Tongue causes a one time amount of physical damage appropriate for a moderate challenge to the party.  Creatures are also afflicted with at least one condition determined randomly. For one hour after encountering the Graven Tongue, all creatures have the poisoned condition.

Random Condition Table (roll a D20)

1 - Blinded
2 - Charmed (DM should determine the meaning of this for their plot)
3 - Deafened
4 - Frightened
5 - Grappled (the tongue spends a round enjoying some flavor, creature suffers extra damage)
6 - Incapacitated
7 - Invisible - (creature is straddling the line between worlds for one round)
8 - Paralyzed
9 - Petrified (creature is merged with the nature of another plane, turned to an element or combination useful for the plot)
10 - Poisoned
11 - Prone
12 - Restrained (the beyond holds fast to the creature, as if studying it, for one round)
13 - Stunned
14 - Unconscious
15 - Roll twice combining conditions if possible
16 - Roll twice combining conditions if possible
17 - Roll until determining a condition, creature takes extra 2d6 mental damage
18 - Roll until determining a condition, creature takes extra 2d8 mental damage
19 - Roll until determining two conditions, combining them if possible, and creature takes extra 2d4 mental damage
20 - Roll three times for conditions, combine them if possible, conditions persist until magically cured (restoration?)

The Graven Tongue does not engage in actual combat. If damaged by attacks causing a total of 25 points, it withdraws from the world on the following round.

Monster Ecology - From larval to juvenile to adult forms

Some of the monsters through the history of the game lend themselves to inventing reasons for them to exist. This is an attempt to show how 3 monsters fit together even if going by the rules wouldn't quite make sense. F it, it's magic!

Our subject today is the Roper.

In caverns deep there are horrors aplenty just waiting to make a meal of your frail adventurer. It could be things like the Mimic and it's cousins the trapper, lurker, etc. In this case we're looking at the Roper and what it might look like at various stages of life.

I posit that what we know of as the roper is the adult form of a very long lived monster:

The roper is a strange stalagmite appearing creature, powerful enough to destroy adventuring parties or at least block their way to where they want to go. It can drain the strength of opponents when it grabs them with tentacles and begins dragging them to where it can deliver a savage bite. It is also exceptionally intelligent and knows it can bargin or extort treasure or magic from the potential food in order to avoid a fight and still gain something to lure other easier prey.

The monster is rare and that is a good thing since a monster of such power and intelligence could control or wipe out whole underground kingdoms should a group of them be so inclined. Thankfully then they are chaotic.

But what do they look like and behave like when they are younger and not so powerful?

Perhaps this is their juvenile form:

The much more mobile and vulnerable Darkmantle. In this younger form it is able to fly short distances, create areas of darkness, an ability it seems to lose in adulthood, and it spends most of its time skulking about at the tops of cavern rooms waiting to ambush prey, a trait maintained from when it was in the larval form. This creature is often encountered in numbers since on their own they are fragile and easily slain if the prey are in groups. You can see from this image that it has formed numerous tentacles and begun to take on a form similar to what it will have as an adult. The multiple eyes will gradually combine into a single, large ocular orb and the tentacles will fuse to form fewer, but much stronger appendages.

Moving on to what I believe to be the larval form of the dreaded roper:

These pathetic creatures imitate stalagtites, hanging in larger groups, high up on the ceilings of mineral rich caverns. They have a very strong outer shell formed by absorbing calcium and other rocky minerals. Some might even manage to pick up some small semi-precious stones as their carapace hardens. In this form they are nothing more than hungry ambush predators desperate for anything they can fall on and devour. It is very likely that they can sense the vibrations of movement below and their eyesight, though primitive, is enough to sense light. Through these combined senses they know when dropping down is likely to score a hit on something they might be able to eat.

Once down below they are so slow moving that surviving prey can often slaughter them before the beasts can climb back up to safety. This might account for the large number encountered at any time. Their hardened shells help buy time for some of them to reach safety and grow into the juvenile form.

Of course this could all be a flight of fancy and these could well and truely be unrelated monstrosities inhabiting similar niches in our magic rich world.

Yours with curiosity and imagination,

                                                              Prinportia the Sage, of Loreltarma