In one campaign I'm DMing, I recently introduced a sort of recurring quest-giver: Dr. Glumberry the gnome arcanobiologist. Essentially, he rewards the party with magic items for defending him while he researches magical creatures. The session I introduced Glumberry, the crew helped him study the Great Tree Eaters, moose-like beings with an elephant's size and small amounts of nature magic. Everyone had fun with the quest being a nice break from hacking through monsters, and we all enjoyed chilling with the big timid nature moose.
This idea got me thinking: What other magical and weird creatures could the party research? I initially had some ideas about studying the courtship dances of Jungle Wyverns, but I'm unsure of what else to add. The region this campaign is set in is quite biodiverse, with deserts and tundras and jungles, and I'm hoping to populate these area with wacky and wonderful beings for the party to remember. I'd love to hear any ideas you have!
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Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Observing Owlbears in their natural habitat. They are creatures that defy known biology. You can shape the adventure in a similar way as to what happened in the real world when the platypus was first discovered. It went against everything science understood at the time, and there were even some in the academic community that went out of their way to destroy any evidence of their existence (well, not that dramatically, cutting the bills of samples brought back and other mischief). You can play on this idea with Owlbears. Perhaps a rival academic team is seeking to destroy Dr Glumberry's research on Owlbears, and the party need to protect both him and the Owlbears.
Or perhaps the Dr wants to examine the passive hunting practices of Gricks. How they camoflauge themselves into the surrounding stones and wait for prey to show up.
Observe the beautiful ankeg mating dance! Unseen by any humanoid eyes before yours!!(Mostly cause the acid used in the dance burned their eyes out...)
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NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
collect cave fisher moltings and try to determine how old these creatures can live in the wild. their parts are valuable and their blood is flammable which puts them at risk for both opportunistic poachers and drunken troublemakers.
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
These are all incredible ideas! I always love to hear ideas about what interesting behaviors and customs these magical beings have, and I always love interesting twists on established creatures. I'm also wondering about adding a few homebrew creatures into this campaign: What are your thoughts?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
I think if your characters enjoyed the "Great Tree Eaters" sidequest you described, then they would probably love discovering some homebrew creatures as well. If you're not really sure how interested your players would be, you could always start by just homebrewing a few minor variants of existing monsters ("wait, why does that wyvern have patches of feathers on it?") and see how they react when they run into those. The group I DM for has run into "blink deer" (inspired by blink dogs, of course), which are deer that shift between the material and ethereal planes while they run.
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In one campaign I'm DMing, I recently introduced a sort of recurring quest-giver: Dr. Glumberry the gnome arcanobiologist. Essentially, he rewards the party with magic items for defending him while he researches magical creatures. The session I introduced Glumberry, the crew helped him study the Great Tree Eaters, moose-like beings with an elephant's size and small amounts of nature magic. Everyone had fun with the quest being a nice break from hacking through monsters, and we all enjoyed chilling with the big timid nature moose.
This idea got me thinking: What other magical and weird creatures could the party research? I initially had some ideas about studying the courtship dances of Jungle Wyverns, but I'm unsure of what else to add. The region this campaign is set in is quite biodiverse, with deserts and tundras and jungles, and I'm hoping to populate these area with wacky and wonderful beings for the party to remember. I'd love to hear any ideas you have!
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
Maybe help a mated pair of bulettes protect their offspring from poachers?
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
Observing Owlbears in their natural habitat. They are creatures that defy known biology. You can shape the adventure in a similar way as to what happened in the real world when the platypus was first discovered. It went against everything science understood at the time, and there were even some in the academic community that went out of their way to destroy any evidence of their existence (well, not that dramatically, cutting the bills of samples brought back and other mischief). You can play on this idea with Owlbears. Perhaps a rival academic team is seeking to destroy Dr Glumberry's research on Owlbears, and the party need to protect both him and the Owlbears.
Or perhaps the Dr wants to examine the passive hunting practices of Gricks. How they camoflauge themselves into the surrounding stones and wait for prey to show up.
Observe the beautiful ankeg mating dance! Unseen by any humanoid eyes before yours!!(Mostly cause the acid used in the dance burned their eyes out...)
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)
catoblepas musk and it's many surprising uses in perfume making!
the owner of a mill and a boggle are having a sort of feud. what are the drawbacks of "renewable" fey oils?
solve the age old mystery of basilisk bathroom habits. however, don't run afoul of a rival researcher creating (accidentally?) stone cursed.
what won't a giant spider eat? what are the ethics of tossing an awakened shrub into the webs?
collect cave fisher moltings and try to determine how old these creatures can live in the wild. their parts are valuable and their blood is flammable which puts them at risk for both opportunistic poachers and drunken troublemakers.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
These are all incredible ideas! I always love to hear ideas about what interesting behaviors and customs these magical beings have, and I always love interesting twists on established creatures. I'm also wondering about adding a few homebrew creatures into this campaign: What are your thoughts?
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)
I think adding a few homebrew creatures would be a great idea.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
I think if your characters enjoyed the "Great Tree Eaters" sidequest you described, then they would probably love discovering some homebrew creatures as well. If you're not really sure how interested your players would be, you could always start by just homebrewing a few minor variants of existing monsters ("wait, why does that wyvern have patches of feathers on it?") and see how they react when they run into those. The group I DM for has run into "blink deer" (inspired by blink dogs, of course), which are deer that shift between the material and ethereal planes while they run.