Today’s monster is the Avatar of the Water Mask.

Finally rounding out the avatars of the elemental masks, here is the water mask.  

The water avatar remains the person they were before donning the mask, though most take the power and use it for good. It is speculated that this is due to the cleansing power of water to wash away the past.

My bad, fixed now!

Today’s monster is the Headhunter.

In today’s sleight punday we have an organisation of elite bounty hunters. These folk will collect the reward on your head with or without the rest of you, your choice.  

If your adventurers have angered wealthy individuals then they may reach out to these skilled individuals who will stop at nothing to serve up their quarry for the right fee.  

Take note of the immunity to exhaustion, these hardboiled individuals will track day and night, and with their speed and long stride they will catch up quickly. If a target surrenders then a headhunter will never kill in cold blood, but if you put up a fight then they will not hesitate to take your head for safe keeping.

DMs, I urge you to take care when removing an adventurers noggin… it's difficult to put back on, but is an effective way to teach humility.

Today’s monster is the White Slaad.

The White Slaad is the next transformation the slaadi undergo when a death slaad has lived long enough. Able to affect the flow of time, the slaad can pull another version of itself from its own timeline to double the difficulty of a fight.

I set out to right something for our own campaign, but as it developed it became too much for our current player levels so I figured someone might like to play with this as something a bit more terrifying than your everyday slaad.

Today’s monster is the Jaxi.

When I saw the Jaxi in Mario Odyssey the GM in me thought “Hey, something cool to rip off.” and so I did, and here it is. It’s not much of an origin story is it? 

The Jaxi (I’m pretty sure that’s a Jaguar - Taxi portmanteau) is a construct that is more about speed than strength, which usually surprises an adventurer when a giant stone construct outpaces them. It feels like it would be home on the entrance to a giant Chuult temple, or guardian a mummy’s burial chamber, or used to impress visitors as it guards the royal children in some exotic palace in the desert.

Although please be advised, other videogame inspired stone guardian constructs are available.

You can go really silly with it and give it to a giant sentient stone golem who calls it Kitty.

Today’s monster is the Giant Riding Gecko.

Staying in the same sort of region as the Jaxi, we have the Giant Riding Gecko, who would be largely at home in the jungles of Chult, although would most likely focus on not being eaten by dinosaurs.  

These Geckos are a solid addition to any Lizardfolk tribe, especially if that tribe is peaceful and they can offer your adventurers guidance through the dense jungle on Gecko-back. Pick one adventurer (usually the one with the lowest handle animal) and have the Gecko periodically reach its head around and bite him. Have the local lizardfolk explain “That means he likes you.” or “Sorry, he has a taste for gnomes, you taste like giant scorpion.”

Otherwise, These things are great mounts for a dynamic combat against Lizardfolk Brutes and Priests.

Today’s monster is the Yuan-ti Malediction.

Our last dense jungle monster is a yuan-ti, these particular snake people inflict fear through their toxic venom. Cruel torturers and wicked slave drivers these yuan-ti rule over slaves with a cold iron grip of fear.  

Maledictions lead entire camps of slaves, purebloods and malisons. Should any of their subordinates step out of line, the fear toxin can be a strong deterrent for repeat issues. Once a slave transgresses too far the malediction use their long claws for ritual sacrifice to Dendar the yuan-ti god of nightmares.

Today’s monster is The Cheating Dungeon Master.

Happy Monday and a belated April Fools day to you all. We’ve (I’ve) wanted to write a DM themed monster for a while, but they never seem satisfyingly robust. So I decided to narrow down on what is threatening about the DM, mainly, that they can cheat and there’s not all that much you can do about it. 

So, here’s the Cheating DM, a monster that is the in-game avatar of a mean spirited dungeon master. Fudging their rolls, inventing their proficiencies, conveniently “forgetting” the initiative order even though it’s written down in front of them, and miraculously resistant to the exact attack you’re using.  

Good luck, the odds are very much against you.

 Everyone knows Plot armor is the best type of armor.

Today’s monster is the Juggler.

A not too distant cousin of the Fool these entertainers are applauded by the masses and looked down upon by authority. Often lumped in with other undesirables and vagabonds, jugglers make ends meet by making folk happy, mostly.  

Whether your jugglers have slightly different acts is up to you; perhaps your juggler is a gentleman juggler, juggling full cups of tea, umbrellas and top hats in an artistic fashion or it's a clown on stilts, and the fast movement speed represents the huge steps.

Jugglers can be hired muscle that no one suspects, or interesting witnesses. Your adventurers may encounter a travelling circus troupe or may the circus arrives in whatever town they're in instead. Maybe the juggler is a solo act, busking in the streets.. or perhaps a member of the kings court, entertaining and eavesdropping.

Today’s monster is the Tortle Snapper.  

A grouchy, more aggressive tortle with a bite that can take a hand off, the tortle snapper is a terrifying opponent for an adventurer, and often work best as a deterrent, if anyone can persuade one to work for them at least!

This is a bit of an odd one, for a character to lose a foot or a hand can provide a challenge, especially for lower level parties. It can provide a DM with a plot hook, or just give the players some room to find their own solutions.

... And exactly the kind of male cow poo that a cheating DM would use to hand-wave that killing blow.

Today’s monster is the Kurdra.

The Kurdra is a big cat, and big is an understatement; these creatures are what the giant folk refer to as big cats, huge feline creatures that live for hundreds if not thousands of years.  

With a special connection to the earth and stone, Kurdra get along with dwarves, goliaths and stone giants although they only really interact with other beings on their own terms: usually as prey, but sometimes if they need or want something.  

The Kurdra are an elusive and mysterious long lived being that can prey upon your adventurers or provide long forgotten information they desire… or both.

Today’s monster is the Voodoo Doll.

At first a doll doesn’t seem to be much of a threat, it’s small and weak; the needle attacks are an annoyance at most, and the bites aren’t much worse. When one of your adventurers fails a charisma saving throw however, things get much worse for them. The party will have only a couple options, removing the doll’s curse with magic, praying the adventurer has more health than the doll, or capturing the doll alive and locking it in a box, bag or cage.  

If they keep attacking the doll anyway, hoping to out damage it and the adventurer’s soul becomes forfeit, well then you can either have them control the doll’s body, or be “locked in” until someone prepares *remove curse* or you can introduce some way of breaking the spell. Remember, that when they do remove the soul from the doll, the doll reanimates, so they might want to plan ahead for that eventuality. There’s also the consideration of the dead weight they have to carry around due to the soulless corpse.  

If your adventurers are below level 5, then consider they won’t have an easy way to break the curse, and their health is certainly lower than the dolls. They should have a scroll or NPC nearby to fix the worst case scenario. Although this encounter cannot kill a player, it can certainly hinder them greatly. Although it might be funny to allow the warrior to play a doll-sized needle fighter for a session or two.  

If your adventurers are higher level, consider one doll per party member as an encounter, perhaps in a room with hundreds of dolls, five or six of them are voodoo dolls. If the adventurers lose they’re not dead, but now they’re all trapped in dolls. This can be a great scene for a villainous monologue where your adventurers can’t really interfere. Then soon after the adventurers could perhaps learn how to use their new bodies, find their old bodies and somehow break the curse.  

Today’s monster is the Giganpig.

Happy...does this count as a pun?...Punday! Or maybe it’s more of a portmanteau.  

This prodigious pig is a simple scaling up of the giant boar, because the giant boar just isn’t big enough. Obviously the intent is for your adventurers to encounter a wandering merchant, tavern or other mobile establishment and become impressed enough that they wander into any of your exposed plot hooks.  

Alternatively these giganpigs are a food source, or a wandering monster in the right region. Perhaps they can even be captured and trained so that your adventurers become “those weird guys with the massive pig” who go from town to town trying to sell their wares.  

Hopefully this could help turn an otherwise forgettable merchant encounter into memorable experience for your adventurers.

Today’s monster is the Gitrog. 

Obviously inspired by the Gitrog Monster of magic the gathering fame, this tremendous toad could also be used to represent a hypnotoad. References to futur- ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.  

A great addition to a Bog Hag’s swamp, although perhaps only as tentative allies. Or alternatively the sole source of strife for a local village, perhaps they’ve been used livestock to placate the gitrog but they’ve run out, or the gitrog has gotten hungrier.  

The gitrog can use its telepathy to extort and manipulate travellers and townsfolk, forcing them to do its bidding under threat of death. A creepy swampside town where everything seems a little off, and the children sing creepy nursery rhymes is an excellent trap just waiting for the adventurers to be locked in the town hall with the gitrog “mayor”.

Today’s monster is the Kobold Sage.

Not all cowards are kobold sages, but the ones that live long enough to call themselves wisened often pick up some magical tricks are all cowards… and sages… Kobold Sages!  

Sages are the advisors on all things natural, more than willing to gamble other kobold’s lives on herbs and plants not being poisonous or irritating. They commune with nature, which to less wise kobolds appears to be screaming at trees. Not least of all, they sometimes manage to heal the wounds of the injured, but usually they just turn into lizards and hide in small holes.  

Why would any tribe want a sage I hear you ask? Well it’s a kobold and it’s over two hundred years old, it must be doing something right… right? Either way, these old cranky kobolds are capable of defending themselves, buffing allies, healing wounds and knowing when to begin escaping.  

Today’s monster is the Kobold Spiker. 

Couldn’t find any art for this one, but would welcome suggestions!  

The Kobold Spiker is a supplementary kobold guerilla that can spontaneously create spikes, whether in a pit, as a hazard, or from the ground beneath your feet. Comboing well with the holethrower, they can instantly turn a battlefield into an ever changing hazard.

The Spiker doesn't appear.

Today’s monster is the Kuo-toa Gulper.

Want at least 1 or 2 members of the party captured for a plot hook? The Kuo-toa Gulper should be able to give your standard kuo-toa encounter a little more _bite_.

Don’t want to use Kuo-toa but still want to use the gulper? They also make excellent companions or vermin control!