Todays I'm starting a homebrew campaign in a fallen valhalla. I want to make it feel very authentic nordic, not just D&D with a re-sking. I have prepared an ambitous setting of dead heroes dragged to this fallen valhalla that resembles more the niffleheim and a strong sountrack based on heilung, wardruna, myrkur and similar.
Still, even do I read some investigations books about norse goods, I'm a beat lost in nordic creatures. I googled for D&D 5th monsters but all the interesenting things I found were a link to wikipedia, where it said that there are demons, trolls, elves and dwarves. For me, it seems lackluster, I have only two groups of enemies, demons and trolls (and trolls only have one monster in the D&D books i have). It seems there are things missing, at least, as far as I know, giants.
So, my question is simple. What monsters or monster types from D&D core would you include in a campaign set in norse mythology, if you want to be really accurate. With this I mean that I want only creatures that could really appear in authentic norse mythology, not generic fantasy creatures that authors tend to put in every fantasy setting.
Trolls, giants, draugr (wights), elves, dwarves, kraken for starters. Those can be transitioned directly into a Norse-themed campaign.
Have a look at some online resources for creatures in Norse mythology and I think you will find there are direct counterparts in 5e as well as monsters that can be transitioned in with a minimal reskinning while keeping their overall theme.
Lastly, check out this Kickstarter for a Norse setting for 5e. Even if you don't end up buying the book, watch the video and read through the summary because I'm sure it will provide some guidance and inspiration.
The low ammount of low cr creatures is a bit problematic. Any advise with that? After cheaking age of mythology I have thought in wolfs and boars, seems right no? but I would like something more.
What would be the closest thing to einherjars? Wights? Generic Undeads?
If you wanted to keep einherjars low CR, you could reskin a shadow or a zombie and make some cosmetic changes so they look and act more like ghostly warriors. You're right, though about the low CR monsters in Norse mythology. A lot of them are beasts like wolves and boars rather than, say goblins or orcs. You could just have wild tribespeople using existing pirate bosun and bandit stat blocks with pirate captain and bandit captain and a berserker as stronger versions as the party progresses. If you don't mind expanding your scope to include Finnish folklore, the Kalevala has a pretty rich collection of creatures and characters who are similar to, but not exactly like the stuff you see in Norse mythology.
I did find this Reddit thread where a guy spent a fair amount of time trying to build a campaign setting for 5e that involved some alterations to confirm better to Norse mythology. Give it a look-over. He even modified player races slightly to fit the theme.
Also reading the D&D monster lore I have found that wraiths infuse "live" to zombies (wow George R R ajjajajajajajja) and are created by wraiths, wich also create specters. So I would have more undeads to play with. Do you think this makes sense in norse mythos, specially the zombies or would you re-skin them as einherjars?
Doesn’t Odin use ravens as servants? So Swarms of Ravens might serve as encounter fodder, if not as a monster, just as a creature. Goats, boars, wolves, Dire Wolves. And other beasts or monsters native to coastal or Arctic environments can probably be imported without breaking immersion.
Thank you so much! I’m running a game with a Norse flavor and I’m going to use a flock of ravens in it!
One of the PCs is a warlock whose patron is a Pegasus that is ridden by a Valkyrie and I’m going to have the patron speak through a flock of ravens since they’re subtle and a winged horse isn’t subtle.
Okay, a lot of types of Norse monsters are Jotunn of one sort or another, which are basically man-eating giants, though a fair number of them are also illusionists, shapechangers, or transmuters, which will probably require coming up with custom monsters. There are some dragons (Fafnir, an unnamed dragon in Beowulf) and other unidentified critters (such as Grendel). Werewolves and werebears would not be surprising (or a barbarian path that lets you turn into a bear) though they aren't specifically called out (werewolves would be associated with Fenris). For that matter, wolves (including dire and winter wolves) would be fine.
I can recommend some very pleasant research to you -- though I don't think they are all available digitally yet. Walt Simonson's "The Mighty Thor" run from the 1980s at Marvel Comics... Thor #337 to Thor #382. One of the greatest comic-book runs in history (I would argue, probably the greatest) and absolutely the best mythological treatment of Thor in the Marvel Universe ever done. He takes you through most of the major Thor stories, and presents you with lots of cool Norse creatures... Jormungandr, the Norns, Fenris, Surtur, Hela, Loki, trolls, duergar, light and dark elves, etc. In particular the issue, I think it's #380, that has the battle between Thor and the Midgard Serpent, in which every single page is a splash page of gorgeous Simonson artwork, and the captions are paraphrased from the Edda, is a thing of beauty. That and the months-long Surtur saga are the best Norse-based stories I've ever read.
You can get the first 12 or so of these on ComiXology but the rest, I think you need to look for in TPB format.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Incidentally, Norse berserk and ulfzark (bear-skin and wolf-skin) are reasonably appropriately treated as barbarians with either totem warrior (bear/wolf) or the UA path of the beast.
So, do shapeshifters appear in norse mythology (apart from being gods)?
Yes. The norse word "hamløper" literally means skin-runner (skinchanger). I think most of the myths includes wearing a skin of the animal, and then transforming into the beast.
Jotuns - Primordial giants of the mythos. Various giants could work well for a lot of them. Some of them however could be WAY more powerful if you'd like.
Trolls - I think trolls are more an 18th centry invention from the Scandinavian fairytales then actually norse mythology, but I guess they work.
Beasts - A lot of beasts and sentient beasts. Wolves, ravens, horses, seals, salmon etc.
Blackelves - The blackelves of the norse mythology are quite difficult to understand. Some places the term is used as a synonym for dwarves, sometimes for all "evil" that resides underground. The norse term "elf" is actually better translated with fairy than elf after Tolkien hi-jacked the term elf. I guess both Dueregar and Drow can work for Blackelves, but some of them have a lot of innate magic.
Dragons - The norse dragons were called worms, and did NOT have wings. They were poisonous. I really don't remember if I've read about any of them breathing fire, but they for certain had poison.
Undeads - A lot of undeads should actually work quite fine. Perhaps just call them with a more norse name (Draug, skrømt (wight), dauding (deatthling) etc). Probably skip vampires, mummies etc though.
Einherjar - They are actually the sould of dead warriors that lives in Valhalla. Using zombies for them seems very strange to me. That would be like saying that heaven is inhabited by zombies...
That was some thoughts from the top of my head :-)
Dragons - The norse dragons were called worms, and did NOT have wings. They were poisonous. I really don't remember if I've read about any of them breathing fire, but they for certain had poison.
The dragon in Beowulf breathed fire, but poison is more common.
the roleplaying game symbaroum might also offer some insight. while not written to be nordic fantasy per se, it is swedish in origin and much that is imagined seems to come from their folktales. the art is also lovely.
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Rule for drama. Roll for memories. If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
I too, am making a norse themed campaign. I figure Einherjar should just be played with the warrior stat. It really is a shame 5e doesn't have any information on making the avatars of gods, since odin, vili and ve visit midgard all the time in the myths.
Hi, fellow DMs.
Todays I'm starting a homebrew campaign in a fallen valhalla. I want to make it feel very authentic nordic, not just D&D with a re-sking. I have prepared an ambitous setting of dead heroes dragged to this fallen valhalla that resembles more the niffleheim and a strong sountrack based on heilung, wardruna, myrkur and similar.
Still, even do I read some investigations books about norse goods, I'm a beat lost in nordic creatures. I googled for D&D 5th monsters but all the interesenting things I found were a link to wikipedia, where it said that there are demons, trolls, elves and dwarves. For me, it seems lackluster, I have only two groups of enemies, demons and trolls (and trolls only have one monster in the D&D books i have). It seems there are things missing, at least, as far as I know, giants.
So, my question is simple. What monsters or monster types from D&D core would you include in a campaign set in norse mythology, if you want to be really accurate. With this I mean that I want only creatures that could really appear in authentic norse mythology, not generic fantasy creatures that authors tend to put in every fantasy setting.
And yes, I know copying D&D monsters to norse mythology can be troublesome. But I don't care taking a few as they are authentic to the setting.
Trolls, giants, draugr (wights), elves, dwarves, kraken for starters. Those can be transitioned directly into a Norse-themed campaign.
Have a look at some online resources for creatures in Norse mythology and I think you will find there are direct counterparts in 5e as well as monsters that can be transitioned in with a minimal reskinning while keeping their overall theme.
Lastly, check out this Kickstarter for a Norse setting for 5e. Even if you don't end up buying the book, watch the video and read through the summary because I'm sure it will provide some guidance and inspiration.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Thanks, TexasDevin.
The low ammount of low cr creatures is a bit problematic. Any advise with that? After cheaking age of mythology I have thought in wolfs and boars, seems right no? but I would like something more.
What would be the closest thing to einherjars? Wights? Generic Undeads?
If you wanted to keep einherjars low CR, you could reskin a shadow or a zombie and make some cosmetic changes so they look and act more like ghostly warriors. You're right, though about the low CR monsters in Norse mythology. A lot of them are beasts like wolves and boars rather than, say goblins or orcs. You could just have wild tribespeople using existing pirate bosun and bandit stat blocks with pirate captain and bandit captain and a berserker as stronger versions as the party progresses. If you don't mind expanding your scope to include Finnish folklore, the Kalevala has a pretty rich collection of creatures and characters who are similar to, but not exactly like the stuff you see in Norse mythology.
I did find this Reddit thread where a guy spent a fair amount of time trying to build a campaign setting for 5e that involved some alterations to confirm better to Norse mythology. Give it a look-over. He even modified player races slightly to fit the theme.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Thank you very much.
Also reading the D&D monster lore I have found that wraiths infuse "live" to zombies (wow George R R ajjajajajajajja) and are created by wraiths, wich also create specters. So I would have more undeads to play with. Do you think this makes sense in norse mythos, specially the zombies or would you re-skin them as einherjars?
Doesn’t Odin use ravens as servants? So Swarms of Ravens might serve as encounter fodder, if not as a monster, just as a creature. Goats, boars, wolves, Dire Wolves. And other beasts or monsters native to coastal or Arctic environments can probably be imported without breaking immersion.
Thank you so much! I’m running a game with a Norse flavor and I’m going to use a flock of ravens in it!
One of the PCs is a warlock whose patron is a Pegasus that is ridden by a Valkyrie and I’m going to have the patron speak through a flock of ravens since they’re subtle and a winged horse isn’t subtle.
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Okay, a lot of types of Norse monsters are Jotunn of one sort or another, which are basically man-eating giants, though a fair number of them are also illusionists, shapechangers, or transmuters, which will probably require coming up with custom monsters. There are some dragons (Fafnir, an unnamed dragon in Beowulf) and other unidentified critters (such as Grendel). Werewolves and werebears would not be surprising (or a barbarian path that lets you turn into a bear) though they aren't specifically called out (werewolves would be associated with Fenris). For that matter, wolves (including dire and winter wolves) would be fine.
I can recommend some very pleasant research to you -- though I don't think they are all available digitally yet. Walt Simonson's "The Mighty Thor" run from the 1980s at Marvel Comics... Thor #337 to Thor #382. One of the greatest comic-book runs in history (I would argue, probably the greatest) and absolutely the best mythological treatment of Thor in the Marvel Universe ever done. He takes you through most of the major Thor stories, and presents you with lots of cool Norse creatures... Jormungandr, the Norns, Fenris, Surtur, Hela, Loki, trolls, duergar, light and dark elves, etc. In particular the issue, I think it's #380, that has the battle between Thor and the Midgard Serpent, in which every single page is a splash page of gorgeous Simonson artwork, and the captions are paraphrased from the Edda, is a thing of beauty. That and the months-long Surtur saga are the best Norse-based stories I've ever read.
You can get the first 12 or so of these on ComiXology but the rest, I think you need to look for in TPB format.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Incidentally, Norse berserk and ulfzark (bear-skin and wolf-skin) are reasonably appropriately treated as barbarians with either totem warrior (bear/wolf) or the UA path of the beast.
Frost giants immediately come to mind, and elves and dwarves can be bad guys too. Drow and Duergar, but even just the regular ones can be bad.
So, do shapeshifters appear in norse mythology (apart from being gods)?
Yes. The norse word "hamløper" literally means skin-runner (skinchanger). I think most of the myths includes wearing a skin of the animal, and then transforming into the beast.
Ludo ergo sum!
Some thoughts from the top of my head:
Jotuns - Primordial giants of the mythos. Various giants could work well for a lot of them. Some of them however could be WAY more powerful if you'd like.
Trolls - I think trolls are more an 18th centry invention from the Scandinavian fairytales then actually norse mythology, but I guess they work.
Beasts - A lot of beasts and sentient beasts. Wolves, ravens, horses, seals, salmon etc.
Blackelves - The blackelves of the norse mythology are quite difficult to understand. Some places the term is used as a synonym for dwarves, sometimes for all "evil" that resides underground. The norse term "elf" is actually better translated with fairy than elf after Tolkien hi-jacked the term elf. I guess both Dueregar and Drow can work for Blackelves, but some of them have a lot of innate magic.
Dragons - The norse dragons were called worms, and did NOT have wings. They were poisonous. I really don't remember if I've read about any of them breathing fire, but they for certain had poison.
Undeads - A lot of undeads should actually work quite fine. Perhaps just call them with a more norse name (Draug, skrømt (wight), dauding (deatthling) etc). Probably skip vampires, mummies etc though.
Einherjar - They are actually the sould of dead warriors that lives in Valhalla. Using zombies for them seems very strange to me. That would be like saying that heaven is inhabited by zombies...
That was some thoughts from the top of my head :-)
Ludo ergo sum!
The dragon in Beowulf breathed fire, but poison is more common.
the roleplaying game symbaroum might also offer some insight. while not written to be nordic fantasy per se, it is swedish in origin and much that is imagined seems to come from their folktales. the art is also lovely.
Rule for drama. Roll for memories.
If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
Kobold Press has quite a lot of this info in their Midgard books, Tome of Beasts, and the others.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I too, am making a norse themed campaign. I figure Einherjar should just be played with the warrior stat. It really is a shame 5e doesn't have any information on making the avatars of gods, since odin, vili and ve visit midgard all the time in the myths.
"not all that glitters is gold"
You could work on the Hamramr Berserkers (basically shapeshifting barbarians)