[1]
The cloud above
you gets curious about your little group traveling through the
mountains. It slowly floats lower, which covers the entire ridge and
makes it hard for you to see, meaning all wandering monsters have a 5
in 6 chance to surprise you.
If you attack the cloud with a magic weapon, a spell, or insult it in a way it can understand it will become black, stormy, and aggressive, with stats as (1).
If you attack the cloud with a magic weapon, a spell, or insult it in a way it can understand it will become black, stormy, and aggressive, with stats as (1).
The
Cloud loses interest in 2d6 days.
[2]
Red Faced Nobles. They appear as typical young, slightly pudgy nobles
with facial features common throughout the world attributed to
nobility. However, their faces look dark red as though caked in clay
mud. They wear expensive outfits with white stripes flawlessly
stitched along the side; as they are nobles from the outer realm.
They are all young men, and if an attractive female party members
offers to marry one (or all) of them; treat reaction check as good
result.
Red
Faced Nobles
(2 HD, +4 to-hit and AC, 1d6+2 magic shortswords, +2 bonus AC vs
swords, +4 to all saving throws, lesser spells, whisper spells)
Morale: 17
Number: 1d6+2
On a reaction roll;
Good
Result-
The Red Faced Nobles feel curious about where the party is from and
sponsoring their little expedition; each offers a platinum trinket
worth 2,000 coins in return for draining a single level from the
character's head worth of experience from their world and culture.
They are disappointed if you refuse the offer.
Neutral
Result-
Red Faced Nobles lord status over common “adventurers”,
profiteers in their mountainous other realm. They will hurl insults,
demand you relinquish a few weapons, or cast lesser curses on you to
giggle at your misfortune. Don't attack unless you resist.
Bad
Result- Red
Faced Nobles pretend to be supportive, but while one speaks two begin
to whisper spell incantations. All but one gets to cast a spell as a
surprise round from their whisper casting ability.
The otherworldly Nobles have lesser spells, each one
knows a single first level spell and can cast it once, either as a
surprise round from whisper casting or in normal combat in place of
an attack.
The Noble boys use magic swords and have metal slits
underneath their clothes; the metal is magic and counts as +2 for
weapons and +4 for armors but degrades the lower in elevation it
gets. In the highest mountains in the setting they will only act as
+1 or +2, and if brought to sea level will corrode into slag dust.
[3]
Frothy white masses move across the landscape like animals in a
migration, but are simply a kind of unliving strange phenomena. The
frothy liquid smells and looks like spit and is heavily acidic,
breaking down anything in its path. If you roll this encounter while
the characters are asleep or camping, then make a save or one of the
tents and all its occupants get swept up in the mass. Save each round
to escape, else take 2d8 acidic damage and burn away leather and wood
equipment and objects. These are not living things at all, and are
simply a naturally moving mass that exists here, driven by invisible
ethereal winds.
[4]
Reverse avalanche. In areas where there is great noise such as from a
river or arguing (2),
too much silence could cause a sudden reverse avalanche. The
avalanche sweeps everything up the mountain to its peak, in which
case it will flow right into the sky and never come back down, like a
cold, slow motion volcanic eruption.
You can avoid the avalanche by making enough noise.
Characters in the area get a sense that too much silence will cause
the event, and will need to make a lot of noise either through
shouting, spells, banging pots and pans together, etc. These will
trigger a wandering encounter check.
[5]
You find a Smallstone on the ground. The Smallstone is a smooth,
black, tablet shaped piece of stone with magical properties that is
nearly impossible to snap or reshape. Only a character of demigod
levels of strength, incredible magic, or an intricate and expensive
machine could break the stone. The moment it is broken, the magic
user could cast a single spell of any level without its normal
physical component, as the stone substitutes for it.
Once the stone is broken, or if it is broken and a spell
is not cast immediately after, it dissolves into black dust and
floats back into the heavens to be reformed once again, the magical
spent energies of the world coalescing into this shape.
[6]
This peak has a five hour year, with each season taking one hour. All
the life here grows, wilts, sleeps, and dies within the span of five
hours, as though living through a year. They do not move or act any
faster then normal animals and creatures, but simply go as though the
year ends every five hours. Some animals may live for a real time day
or two, growing old by those years.
The effect is constant and never ends. When first
encountered, roll what season the peak is beginning on and every hour
it changes. The seasons here are abnormal and don't really apply to
regular seasons. Races or spells that have specific advantages or
abilities for certain times of the year get roughly 50% of the bonus
or penalty if the season of the peak is close enough to the season of
the peak.
- Season of the Floods- Water comes down in great rivers from the peak, sweeping away the dead. Water is easily followed to [7]
- Season of the Gatherers- All animals here gather seeds, plants, fruits, and corpses from their hunts. Plants gather piles of dirt nearby them slow grasping roots.
- Season of Growth- Animals and plants rapidly grow, and babies become adults. They eat from their stockpiles, predator and prey sitting back to back ignoring each other for this short time of year.
- Season of the Witch- Spells have double duration, effect, or enhanced qualities. All animals and plants glow with ambient mana from their transformations, and begin to fight with each other with magically enhanced and charged bodies.
- Season of Stillness- Almost all creatures and plants lie dead now, murdered from the magical war. It is very quiet until the floods come, to begin the cycle again.
[7]
Village of moldy shrews. They look like shrew people, stained green
with mold in their fur, with long necks and fingers to pick through
garbage. They live directly underneath [6]
and harvest what floods downwards to live; but do a poor job of it.
Everything from above degrades within mere minutes, sometimes so fast
you can watch it go away, so the shrews spend almost all their time
eating the debris and getting soaked by the flood, hence the growth
of mold on their bodies, with almost no time to groom themselves.
They speak common and can only throw the blue rocks as
weapons, at 1d3, treat morale as 8 if you fight them. If you try to
trade with one or get information out of them, roll a reaction check.
Good
Result- The chief of the tribe
will request the party members grant them any useful item that will
stand the test of time (as in, won't degrade to nothingness overnight
like everything else they have). Weapons, clothes, a tool, etc. If
you grant him this, it will be considered a powerful relic among
their people and he will offer you his daughter's hand in marriage;
the most beautiful and least moldy shrew girl in the village. She has
flower seeds tied in her fur, so they constantly bud, bloom, and fall
away as you look at her.
Neutral
Result- Party members are
ignored, caloric intake too pressing, even a moment of hesitation
could lead to starvation.
Bad
Result- The shrews assume, like
almost everything else they've known, that the party members are
escaped animals from the upper peak. As such, they'll lock them in
cages made of rapidly decomposing materials in the hope that the
party will become old and die of natural causes. The cage falls apart
once the shrews have gone to sleep, letting you easily escape. If you
choose to be “captured” you'll only be locked up for 2d6 hours.
Easy roll to pick the lock.
[8]
Massive stone faced chiseled into the side of this mountain incline.
Steep angle, required to climb further up. The face is shaped like an
oval lengthwise, with a cracked mustache and close lidded heavy eyes.
Stepping on the face at any point makes the character bleed, usually
from feet, or from the feet of their mount they are riding. Deals 1d4
damage if you cross the face.
Only floating methods of travel avoid this damage.
The face will “suck” up blood spilled upon it into
its mouth, either from battle or walking across it, and will be
awoken if it is damaged. The face has a name and personality; it is
named Barnaboros. Since waking it up means damaging it, it is already
hostile and attacks once awake.
Barnaboros
(6+4 HD, cannot dodge, made of stone, boiling blood spew deals 2d8
damage- save for half, casts greater spells)
Morale- N/A
The great stone face vomits out pools of boiling blood
from within its mountain; collected from all creatures who dared trod
upon its face. The stone face speaks cruel and harshly upon all who
step upon it, and demands their deaths in its name. There is a 1 in 4
chance that this attracts (3) to the party during the fight
with Barnaboros. Within this mountain is a huge reservoir of hot
blood, with room for much more, pooled for the end times.
The stone face is so large that it requires no to-hit
roll, since it is literally the mountain you are climbing on, but can
only be hurt by magic weapons of +2 or better, or something that can
actually damage its stone; like a spell, siege weapon, or
sledgehammer.
Barnaboros
knows and casts several greater spells, of 3rd
level and above, which quake the mountains around him when he
incants. One such spell is Enlarge
Visage which lets him
spread his face across the entire mountain, dealing 1d4 bleeding
damage to all who are forced to stand on it for that round. Magic
users could copy and learn this spell, allowing them to project their
face on surfaces or across the rest of their body.
[9]
You reach the top of a mountain, and find a breathtaking vista.
Restore all retainer loyalty to normal levels, and every character
injured restores 1d6 Hit points from the beauty and peace of this
location, but only the first time it is visited. This peak is quite
high up and can see [6],
[8], and [14]
from its position.
[10]
Between two of the blue mountains, you find a secret red chasm. It
goes deeper down then you'd think possible in the sapphire mountains;
and the stone here of any kind is worth double the blue stone from
the other mountains.
Within the chasm are several obvious skeletal remains
and their possessions; bags of gold coins, a few weapons and armor
shards, and a well painted shield that glows in the dark and grants
+1 AC vs orcs and creatures of the caverns. Each of these items is
separated and must be precariously lifted up or explored through slow
rappelling down into the chasm on ropes or spells.
If you spend more then three turns in the chasm, then
you attract the attention of the Ruby Whippers, monsters native to
this place and makers of those skeletons.
Ruby
Whippers
(1 HD, +3 to hit, 1d6+1 red whips, fraying damage, camouflage)
Morale- 11
Number- 1d10
The
Ruby Whippers appear as odd imp-like creatures with red skin and
horns that appear exactly as the red chasm where they live. This
camouflage means they are very likely to get a surprise attack round
against the party, and if they stand still for a round they can blend
in and easily escape. These creatures use magic red whips that always
deal 1 damage, even on a miss, as the red energy from the whip's
crack penetrates armor.
Every wandering monster encounter roll in the red chasm
after the ruby whippers have been encountered is treated as a chance
to encounter more of the whippers again.
[11]
Silver Stream. It's water with a silvery color, flowing down the
mountain in a clean stream. Tastes very fresh and clean, and can be
used to refill your flasks, water your animals, to bathe and clean
wounds, etc.
Over the course of 1d4 days, any of this water stored for later slowly turns into puffy gray cloud mist. These streams in the sapphire mountains flow out into the sky of the normal world, becoming rain clouds. Any of the stream-water you've stored do the same, becoming miniature rainclouds that either release much more water then what you gathered when let out from their container, or floating away and bringing the rains to that land in a few days. Rain clouds gathered this way will only have a minimal impact on drought stricken lands.
[12]
High in the mountains; an elf village. They live in small squat white
trees, twisted into boxy houses from their elf songs and elf magic.
Roll a reaction check on your approach.
Good
Result- The elves don't get many
villagers and invite you within. They say they will brew you special
tea by singing to the plants, but it will take a day of rest to
accomplish it. If you wait, they'll brew the tea and everyone in the
party who drinks it will restore 2d6 hit points and the same amount
to any damaged ability scores they have.
Neutral
Result- The village is open to
you, but you are asked to keep your weapons sheathed, and your magic
users take a vow of silence. Shops that sell elf goods have normal
expensive prices, slightly inflated even moreso for visitors. Elves
mostly sell rations, lamp oil, rope, and other useful items with
slightly enhanced or magic properties.
Bad
Result-
The elves close their doors to you and tell you to leave, as you are
attracting the various predators and dangers of the mountains with
your conspicuous noise and travel companions. If you refuse to leave
they'll pelt you with spells and arrows, or call a group of (6)
to attack you; the archers have guarded the village for centuries.
[13]
The Emerald Sapling. Tiny green tree, appears to be made of some kind
of crystal. Once every century, the elves from [12]
visit the tree and drip a single drop of purest water on its soul.
The Tree is grown in the blue soil of the mountains, the rocks around
it forming a small circle.
If dug up, the tree would die, but could be sold as a
single piece worth 20,000 coins, or if broken into pieces that could
be sold as 3d6 individual gemstones worth 1,000 coins each. The
person carrying the tree will cause it to shatter into pieces if they
drop it, are attacked in melee by a blunt weapon, or fall off a
cliff.
[14]
The corpse of a massive sky whale, tethered to a nearby mountain
peak. The sky whale has spiraling marks of bright yellow on its nose
and face. The whale is tied by a collar around its neck, implying it
was someone's pet. There is no writing on the collar, and its faded
from age.
The whale itself is crawling with parasites and decomposers trying to eat its flesh; a large hole in the side of its flank opens to the inside of the whale. The whale's corpse is a small dungeon, filled with giant maggots and lice as monsters. The whale has a magic crystal worth a ton of money growing on its heart; its as big as your head.
The whale itself is crawling with parasites and decomposers trying to eat its flesh; a large hole in the side of its flank opens to the inside of the whale. The whale's corpse is a small dungeon, filled with giant maggots and lice as monsters. The whale has a magic crystal worth a ton of money growing on its heart; its as big as your head.
[15]
Huge black iguana sunning itself on the blue stones. It's as long as
two horses put nose to tail and has a fat face and lazy eyes. Roll a
reaction check, and add +1 if your group is especially large or noisy
on approach.
Good
Result-
The iguana runs off, believing the party is more then a match for it.
Neutral
Result-
The iguana hisses and flicks its tail in irritation, it doesn't want
to be disturbed. It will only attack if attacked or anyone gets close
enough to touch it.
Bad
Result-
The iguana turns and starts attacking immediately, sensing easy prey.
+1 Morale.
Regardless of what happens; the iguana was revealed to
have been laying on a nice warm pile of copper sand. It's a very fine
sandy material made of pure copper, worth its weight in pure copper
coinage, and easy to carry and store. The pile is enough to smelt
5,000 copper coins.
Great
Black Iguana
(4 HD, +8 AC, 1d8 bite, 1d4 tail whip, terrifying hiss, spell
absorption)
Morale- 12 or 13
The Great Black Iguana is a simple creature with tough
hide, strong jaws, and an innate resistance to magic. Anyone killed
by its bite attack has part or all of their body greedily swallowed,
and anyone killed by the tail whip is jutted off a cliff instead.
The Iguana's hiss is so loud and penetrates into your
bones that it causes morale checks among retainers and hirelings. The
creature's reptile hunger and driven nature make it quite scary.
The Iguana is also resistant to spells; treat it as an 8
HD creature for the purposes of monster HD for spells and spell
saving throws, and it takes half damage from all magic spells.
[16]
Rings of Ice. Suspended by tiny, almost invisible pillars of frozen
ice high in the air, these rings are clear. Mountain birds fly
through the rings to attract mates. A single attack or shove could
cause any ring to fall down and shatter.
If Wandering Monster number (8) is encountered here, the
blue wind travels through the rings of ice and makes it even more
bitingly cold. Characters also take -1d6 Con damage without taking
cover.
[17]
You find the old shepard woman's hut. The hut lies on a lonely peak
with short shaggy grasses criss crossing the blue mountain, and a few
neglected long haired white alpacas roam around eating their fill.
The hut is abandoned and the shepard woman can be found somewhere
down the slope, mummified from the cold with bright blue knuckles and
knees. The alpaca could serve as mounts or a source of food in this
desolate place.
Within the hut is a small bag of silver coins hidden
inside a large urn; a life's savings for her. Plus, a single large
pajama like suit made of alpaca fur. The suit has a 1 in 6 chance to
fit anyone who tries it on; even beast races or ogre people or very
small creatures as well; and once the person who it fits is found it
will always only fit them. The suit is white with yellow stripes and
little purple balls in place of buttons; forced through loops to
connect the outfit loosely together.
The
suit counts as magic leather armor, reduces all damage taken from
cold elemental spells or attacks by -2, and a total resistance to
(8)'s
effects. The suit is also self cleaning and self repairing.
[18]
Doing a full split between two almost touching mountains is a
Disciple of Many Ways; a master of martial arts. For his arrogance
and thirst for combat; his master cursed him with an animal tail.
Roll on the table to determine the tail.
- Lobster
- Pig
- Lynx
- Lion
- Horse
- Dog
He
is deep in meditation, which means he will not notice you unless you
speak to him. Roll reaction.
Good
Result-
The Disciple ignores you, but if anyone in the party is close to
reaching their physical prime in a physical stat (17 in Strength,
Dexterity, or Constitution) he will give them some pointers and a
dieting plan to reach the peak (18) in that stat over the course of
two seasons. Treat as +1 to a stat, but only if the character follows
the advice and pays an expensive budget for special food and
training.
Neutral
Result-
The Disciple looks over the party and will ask the most imposing
warrior to a duel. The conditions of the duel are simple; to the
brink of death, and no armor. If accepted, the Disciple will stop his
final strike right before the lethal damage is rolled, but has a 1 in
4 chance to kill the character instead on accident from his
overzealous nature. If refused, the Disciple simply mocks your
weakness and lets you pass.
Bad
Result-
The Disciple believes you are phantasms conjured by his master that
he must defeat, which has happened to him before, and attacks. He
rolls morale the first time he kills someone, not sure if its real or
an illusion. He keeps failing his training because he's not supposed
to fight the phantasms at all, and work things out peacefully.
Disciple
of Many Ways
(4 HD, +3 to hit, +3 AC, 1d4 Bo Staff, 1d6+1 magic unarmed punch,
combat tail, +4 to saves, deflecting strike)
Morale-
12
The
Disciple is a combat expert and knows who to single out first in
combat; he will intentionally try to attack or throw his Bo Staff at
any magic users about to chant a spell. He can also give up his
unarmed punch to deflect a single melee attack coming his way each
round.
The
Disciple can use his tail to spring up and leap very high, or as a
prehensile third arm to pick up a dropped or disarmed weapon and use
it as an extra attack. If you cut off his tail, it magically grows
back and the attack only does 1 damage. He's tried cutting it off
before, but his Master won't let him get out of his trail that
easily.
[19]
The Empowered platform. Cube made of dark blue stone, darker then the
normal color of the mountains. It draws in energies from the
mountains themselves and brings it to whoever is standing on the
platform. If only one person is on the platform, they feel a rush of
euphoria and have any spells they cast be treated as though they were
one caster level higher. If multiple people occupy the platform, then
they all feel a buzz but are not benefited. The platform can be used
once per 1d6 days before it needs to recharge.
Near the platform is a mummified person with bright blue joints, killed by the winds. They have on them surveying equipment and an insignia from the empire ruled by mages in the setting; they have a vested interest in this platform.
Near the platform is a mummified person with bright blue joints, killed by the winds. They have on them surveying equipment and an insignia from the empire ruled by mages in the setting; they have a vested interest in this platform.
[20]
White trees, low to the ground and very young, dot this area. The
trees are protected by white wasps, which blend in perfectly and live
on the tree as a symbiotic relationship to protect them and provide
the wasps with shelter. The trees themselves can have their bark
scraped to collect the jelly amber just underneath their bark; the
jelly amber is a dark purple color and can be sold like a
semiprecious gemstone at 1d10x100 from each tree scrapped.
Any
noise louder then a whisper or fast movements, such as drawing a
sword, will alert the wasps and make them attack the source of the
disturbance. Scrapping a tree will alert only the swarm of that tree,
as long as the fight with them is kept quiet.
White
Wasp Swarm
(2 HD, 1d8 brutal stingers, white aura, swarm rules)
Morale-
17
Number- 1d4
White Wasps are little white insects that have extremely
powerful stingers. As a swarm, you can only deal 1 damage to them
through melee attacks without a special weapon; AoE spells deal full
damage against a swarm.
The White Wasps also have a special magical aura, which
blocks out any abilities using truesight or magical wizard vision as
big clouds of white as the swarm moves its spirit in unison. Studying
the corpses of these wasps along with 4,000 coins of research would
allow a magic user to make a new spell; White Aura Fog.
White
Aura Fog - 2nd
level
Obscures
magical vision over a person or small area, equal to a single room.
Blocks all aura sight, true sight, wizard vision, scrying &
divination, etc. The area or person will appear as a white
featureless fog, and the spell lasts for 1d4 days. If a corpse of a
White Wasp is used with the spell casting, then the spell lasts for
1d4 weeks instead.
Wandering
Monsters
Roll 1d8
(1)
Malevolent Stormcloud
(4 HD, ethereal, 1d8+2 lightning damage bolts, flight)
Morale- 9
Numbers- 1 or 2
Small black stormcloud, possesses intelligence, wishes
to harm and destroy. Has to fly close to deal damage by shooting
lightning bolts.
Characters wearing heavy metal armor are always attacked
first by this ability. Because it's just a magic cloud, can only be
hurt by magic weapons or spells, or by more powerful blasts of air or
weather effects.
(2)
Gravelthroats
(5 HD, +2 AC, 1d10 stone bags, thunderous voices)
Morale- 14
Numbers- 1d4+1
Gravelthroats are large, gray, ogre like creatures with
a hole in their throats, revealing spinning and tumbling stones and
gravel. Whenever they speak, the stones move and crash against each
other, giving the creature a loud and booming voice. The noise is so
tremendous that there is no chance for you to be surprised by these
creatures, and you can trivially sneak up or past them as they speak
to each other. The gravelthroats constantly argue with each other
about nonsense, like the number of wings a bird has (none of them
have ever seen a bird), or how long you'd have to stand on a mountain
until your weight would press it flat against the ground.
The gravelthroats carry large bags full of stones they
gather, their favorites, along with stones that fell out of their
throat when they burped or hiccuped. The bags are also used as
weapons, and are simply so heavy and burdened with stones they are
very dangerous.
The gravelthroats will shout over any spell incantations
they hear, and the noise is so great that it will chase its way into
the magic user's throat, cutting off their spell as it is cast and
causing it to fail. The gravelthroats can only do this if they aren't
in melee, or as long as they keep stones in their throats.
(3)
Barnaboros Cultists
(2 HD, +2 AC, +6 AC from chainmail armor, 2 attacks with 1d4 bleeding
knives, blood parasite jars)
Morale- 13
Number- 1d10 + Neophytes
The cultists seek blood to feed to their God;
Barnaboros, the great blue stone face. The cultists wield knives with
channels within; where the blood flows down into the hollow hilt for
collection.
The cultists also carry an extra jar filled with spoiled
blood and a spiked worm parasite; the blood parasite can be thrown as
a weapon and upon the jar being broken the creature skitters to the
nearest source of warm blood; usually within a creature. Save or the
creature starts to dig its way into your body dealing 1d6 damage per
turn. Those with poisonous or acidic blood, or no blood, will simply
kill the creature when it tries to feed on them.
The Barnaboros cultists also have the power to Turn
Bloodless. This ability functions exactly as turn undead, but it
works on bloodless beings instead.
When you encounter the cultists, they are chastising the
Neophytes. Roll a reaction check.
Good
Result- The cultists demand the
party fill a jar of blood for their God, and will bandage and cure
the wound for free in return. The jar only needs 6 points of hit
point damage to fill, and can be done collectively among any party
members. They will also accept the location of [7]
as payment, as the shrews are easy prey, but will not accept [12]
because the elves are too dangerous for them to assault.
Neutral
Result-
The cultists demand a person or large animal to sacrifice to their
god via lethal exsanguination.
They will also accept the location of [7]
as payment, but not [12]
as above.
Bad
Result-
The cultists immediately attack; sending the Neophytes in first as
they draw the blood parasite jars from their bags.
Barnaboros
Neophyte (1
HD, -2 AC, 1d8 penance stone)
Morale- Does not retreat until Cultists do
Numbers- 1d4+1
The Barnaboros Neophytes are initiates to the cult; and
are forced to carry very large heavy blue stones with Barnaboros's
face carved upon them. These are called penance stones, and the
neophytes are made to walk laps around the carved face of Barnaboros.
(4)
Vochomp
(2-3 HD, +2 to hit and AC, 2d10 ambush bite, 1d6 normal bite, leaps)
Morale- 7
Number- Always 1
The
Vochomp is an ambush predator that lives on the slopes of the
sapphire mountains. It appears as a furry crocodile with no hind legs
and a long, spiraling paddle tail. The Vochomp aims itself for its
prey across mountain ranges and valleys using its incredible
eyesight, then leaps across the vast distance. It can seemingly know
where the prey is going to be in a few minutes after it leaps, even
if the prey stops or slows their walking speed. This ability is not
supernatural, and is just a talent the creature seems to possess. The
creature has a 1 in 6 chance to have 3 HD instead, which is a more
territorial male that will continue to leap and return again and
again against the same party to slowly kill and dismember them; the 2
HD females are more passive and will only take a limb to feed
themselves, preferring not to attack prey a second time to avoid
retailiation.
On its first bite, the Vochomp attempts to sever a limb or kill a creature; before picking up the limb in its jaw or the greater part of its corpse and jumping back across the mountain range to safely gnaw on the limb over the course of several hours to feed. It's first bite always deals 2d10 damage from the surprise and great speed it travels, characters only get a hard save to avoid this if they're already on edge, otherwise it happens no matter what they do because of the Vochomp's planned jump & bite attack. Once it leaps away, it's basically impossible to see where the Vochomp is headed, as its blue fur helps it blend in with the mountains flawlessly, as well hide it's approach.
On its first bite, the Vochomp attempts to sever a limb or kill a creature; before picking up the limb in its jaw or the greater part of its corpse and jumping back across the mountain range to safely gnaw on the limb over the course of several hours to feed. It's first bite always deals 2d10 damage from the surprise and great speed it travels, characters only get a hard save to avoid this if they're already on edge, otherwise it happens no matter what they do because of the Vochomp's planned jump & bite attack. Once it leaps away, it's basically impossible to see where the Vochomp is headed, as its blue fur helps it blend in with the mountains flawlessly, as well hide it's approach.
The Vochomp's fur is bright blue and very valuable;
worth 600 coins if in good condition, or 400 coins if its tattered
up. Male Vochomp fur is worth 1.5x the females from his enhanced
size.
(5)
Fallen Star
(9 HD, -2 to hit, cannot dodge, 3 lightburst attacks at 1d4, causes
blindness)
Morale-
N/A
Number-
Always 1
This
fallen star rolls slowly along the ground, either having left or been
kicked out of the night sky. It's a huge ball of light, twinkling its
own light-based body to move and exist. Every attack aimed against it
automatically hits; you merely must swing at the light to harm it.
You can also easily escape the star, simply reaching out of its range
of light means it can no longer sense or harm you.
The
Fallen Star can only roll very slowly, and is bright as to never
surprise anything with eyes. It can only attack by attempting to
spear you with clumsy shafts of light, and gets 3 of these attacks
each turn. Anyone who enters the center mass of this star can see its
face; a cartoon-esque look of either apathy, despair, or anger.
Anyone who sees this face must make a save or be stuck totally blind
for the rest of their life. The Star may attempt to roll into people
to force them to see its face.
(6)
Lapis Archer
(2 HD, +10 to hit, +1 AC, 1d10 Great Blue Bow, breaking bolt,
camouflage)
Morale- N/A
Number- 1d4
Huge, sleek, statuesque being that appears as a naked
man or woman with equal frequency. They have no visible genitalia and
their hair is made out of the same rubbery flesh as their body is,
which is always neatly styled on their head. The archers are very
similar in color to the mountains, making them hard to see, and they
often pose in silence for very long periods of time, making them seem
or appear as statues.
As
long as the party has not “disturbed” the mountains; such as by
hunting its wildlife (except in self defense), taking tools to the
stones, disturbed corpses or graves on the mountain, dug up [13],
or messed with the elves at [12],
then the Lapis Archers simply stay still and do not interact.
Once active, the archers aim to kill trespassers in the
mountains by using their huge blue bows and arrows. The archers do
not miss regular shots; their only chance to miss their target comes
from the armor and footwork of the character, and they always hit
unarmored average people.
Each carries a breaking bolt; a large arrow with a
pyramid shaped head; the flat base of the pyramid on the end of the
arrow with it tapering to the shaft. This bolt can smash through
shields, armor, spell barriers, even barricaded walls not also made
of stone. There is a 1 in 20 chance after fighting the Lapis Archers
that you will find a small square depressions of the bolts hitting
the mountains themselves from so bygone ancient battle.
(7)
Dark Flier
(2 HD, +4 AC, 1d6 black talons, flight, casts spells in form of sky
runes)
Morale-
14
Number-
1d4
The
Dark Flier is a black shadow in the rough shape of an eagle that
flies across the sky. It leaves a black streak that persists for
several seconds wherever it flies, and appears as little more then a
shadow. Due its speed and the black streak, it is difficult to hit.
As
it flies, the dark fliers make patterns in the shape of spell runes
that glow with dark energy. Looking at these runes for more then a
second causes them to cast a 2nd
or 3rd
level spell upon the character who accidentally looked at the rune.
You have to make a saving throw when looking into the sky at the
fliers or to make a range attack; if you fail the save, then you've
glanced at a rune on accident and the spell is cast upon you. The
Dark Flier swoops in to attack with its talons at targets who refuse
to look skyward as a backup, and they prefer to target people close
to ledges or climbing as to knock them off.
I like the way the reaction check shapes how intelligent beings respond to the characters. (Also some of these intelligent beings are real creeps, even if you get a "good" reaction!)
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