Let's Read The Monster Manual II: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Fight Them

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Me, too.

I'm also hoping that Curse of Strahd did well enough that we get some Ravenloft style gothic horror monster collections.

[S_A_M I AM]

From what I have been able to look up: Modrons are the next monster available to write about? I've never read any old Planescape lore so I'm not sure how accurate I'll be writing about them but this seems like a fun project and I'd like to volunteer.

[Regitnui]

And you're the sort of bloke whose inane fanboy ramblings turned my indifference to loathing.

I like talking about Eberron, and I'm certainly not going to stop. Though I do try to make sense and considering this is a thread about adapting monsters, I think it's an appropriate place for that sort of discussion as well. If another campaign setting had an interesting take on a monster, like Dark Sun and thri-keen (and possibly tlincalli, but they're not in this book), that can be mentioned too.

So if your only objection to Eberron is "Regitnui talks about it too much", you're welcome to block my enthusiasm from your forum life. Good day to you and sorry to everyone else for taking up this thread for a page and a bit. Unprovoked hatred tends to draw my attention.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

From what I have been able to look up: Modrons are the next monster available to write about? I've never read any old Planescape lore so I'm not sure how accurate I'll be writing about them but this seems like a fun project and I'd like to volunteer.

No one else has mentioned them, and I couldn't think of anything to say. So they're all yours.

[Unoriginal]

Mephit

Introduction:The Mephits, small impish beings of combined elements, have an interesting start to their
story. They first appeared in a 1979 issue of White Dwarf (a magazine which, a bit more than two decades later, will be one of the main reasons as to why I started playing RPGs), where they had the name of "imps". They then got their current name in the first Fiend Folio, and various strange variations (like the glass or ooze Mephit) started popping up over the years.

Art: The Mephits' illustrations are rather good. Their faces do convey the mischievous pettiness their fluff implies, with their smiles/rictuses and small eyes deep in their skulls, and each of them do give the impression they're made of their elemental subtances, from the Ice Mephit's well-made translucent, crystaline aspect to the Smoke and Steam ones' gaseous forms, passing through the viscose, semi-liquid, dripping impression given by the appearances of the Lava and Mud Mephits. They also look small, thanks to their posture and bodily proportions (although one could argue they might look too small, since Mephits aren't Tiny, but Small like Gnomes or Halflings). My only minor complain is that they're all very similar in appearance and pose, aside from their elemental makeups (which could have been the goal, but I'd have liked something a bit more personalized, like one laughing and pointing, another being angry, and a third looking with incomprehension on its face). Good artworks but, like most things in this entry, could have been pushed further for a better result.


Purpose and Tactics: The Mephits are basically your first supernatural rogue types. The main tactics they would use is laying in ambush using their Stealth and look, harasing the PCs by flying around and use their Breaths and/or innate spells to hurt and hinder the heroes (rince and repeat as much as possible, retreat otherwise), with some melee only when desperate (at least, against tough opponents). And when they die, their Death Burst can hurt or hinder the PCs one final time. Using them to illustrate the even apparently weak opponents can give tough fights, and that weird beings have weird powers, would be a good fit for them. Otherwise, they make for somewhat decent scouts, especially the Smoke Mephit.

Now, the Mephit kinds of rise the question: what is a threat? A Mephit doesn't seem like they're going to be much of a threat even for low-level PCs, with their low AC compensated somewhat by decent HPs. But with some luck (or bad luck from their foes), the Mephits can be dangerous, especially in large numbers, where one of their power got to hit once. Their spells and breaths can be quite potent if they do hit, which would be a turning point in a battle. And one has to put things in perspective how much creatures are a threat to the normal, non-adventuring folks: for Commoners, Mephits are monsters capable of killing you with one hit and who risk to take a guard's life even after getting killed.

Having the Mephits be in groups of varied elemental natures, or having them serve as support for other creatures, would be a good way to use the Mephits.

But if you want to make them significantly stronger, give them shields and/or other armors. The main weakness of the Mephit is its low AC, and a Lava Mephit proudly wearing and obsidian helmet and plastron, or the Dust Mephit carrying a corroded, antique bronze it looted from a tomb, would make them somewhat more durable, both in battle and in people's memories.


Fluff: The fluff is nice, but spartan. It barely has the room to describe the Mephits' personalities and their nature.

We migth expect and extended look at the Mephits in the book on Planes, WotC is likely cooking, but I wouldn't bet on that.

Hooks:

Smoke on the Water, Fire in the Sky:

A dimensional rift opened by a careless spellcaster is causing troubles: Lava and Smoke Mephits are pooring out of it, and fighting for conquering the other's lands, the Lava Mephits having claimed the sky while the Smoke ones have claimed the surface of a lake, both trying to set up bases in their respective area (mostly by stealing fishers' cabines or building houses in soon-to-be-burned trees. How will the PCs handle this situation?


Mist and Mirror:

The so-called Queen of Steam has contacted the PCs, asking them to retrieve a legendary magic mirror in a dungeon, being even willing to pay in advance a part of the PCs' reward. But is the mirror even real, when so many doubt it? Was the dungeon set up by the Mephits to trick the PCs? And what does the Queen want the mirror for?


A Dubious Guide is a Guide Indeed:

As they search for the remains of an ancient necropolis where a Mummy Lord might be heading to to replenish their army, the PCs can only find a Dust Mephit called Ocresea as a guide. It's not going to be a pleasant trip...

Verdict: A nice monster, but with its full potential who really would have benefited from going further, or at least deeper with its concepts.

[Regitnui]

I tend to use mephits as animated elements when they're not the focus of the encounter. For example, I needed to beef up an encounter with a giant seastar, so I had mud mephits dripping from its arms as it attacked, taking advantage of the seastar's attack to cause their own chaos.

[Envyus]

I was just going to namedrop the Kingdom of Many Arrows (an orcish kingdom in the middle of the Sulver Marshes) in the Realms, but given as how it collapsed within a century....

Blame the Drow for that. They assassinated the Moderate King framed his heir Lorgru, and helped put a warmongering puppet on the throne. When the Warmonger was defeated and the Heir returned the Dwarves angry and refused to allow Lorgru to set up again and restart trade. Forcing him to give up a lot of his land and most of their progress. But Many Arrows is not destroyed and is still on the map.

Ironically the chain of events leading to this end was partially set off by Lorgru being a generous moderate. He and a squad had captured an Elf who had been trespassing on Many Arrows Land and had slain orcs in her defense. She was also one of the main leaders of the neighboring Moon Elves. Lorgru released her as a gesture of good will (and in exchange for a public and formal apology to Many Arrows.) which angered a lot of the more aggressive and war wanting orcs for not just killing the hated elf.

[DerKommissar]

As for the modrons: they are actually quite interesting if you see them as a whole species in their cosmic place.

There is a video about them on the YouTubes i once saw where one is depicting their lore very broadly and entertaining . Quick search gave me „dungeons and dragons lore: modron secrets“, think it was this video. Not a must to watch, but the channel was (whether the info is right or wrong) quite interesting in its monster discussions...

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Fluff: The fluff is nice, but spartan. It barely has the room to describe the Mephits' personalities and their nature.

Which is too bad, I remember my 2nd edition descriptions of the mephits with each race having distinct personalities (Salt Mephits were sarcastic and bitter, Ash Mephits were depressed and gloomy, Steam Mephits were arrogant braggarts).

[Unoriginal]

Which is too bad, I remember my 2nd edition descriptions of the mephits with each race having distinct personalities (Salt Mephits were sarcastic and bitter, Ash Mephits were depressed and gloomy, Steam Mephits were arrogant braggarts).

Well, 5e does it too. For ex, Dust Mephits are fascinated with death and Steam ones always try to lord over others.

It's just that it's a couple of sentences rather than a description like, say, the Genies got.

Let's hope the Mephits get explored more in the Plane book.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Mephits are named after skunks. The skunk and stink badger family is mephitidae after the Latin mephitis, for stench. So mephits that belch foul gasses at your players for no purpose other than to be annoying are part of a long and proud tradition that may go back to the pre-Roman Italian peninsula.

[Unoriginal]

Mephits are named after skunks. The skunk and stink badger family is mephitidae after the Latin mephitis, for stench. So mephits that belch foul gasses at your players for no purpose other than to be annoying are part of a long and proud tradition that may go back to the pre-Roman Italian peninsula.

Or they could just be called Mephits after "mephitis" itself or its derivatives. Mephitic is an English adjective, after all, which means "noxious" among other things.

[War_lord]

Mephits just scream filling a space in a random encounter table to me.

[Unoriginal]

Mephits just scream filling a space in a random encounter table to me.

I disagree.

Mephits are pretty fun for a thematic encounter in any elements-related plot. Not only their screwy natures make it easy to justify their presence, whether or not the bad guys wanting them around, but they also have what many elemental beings lack: personal reasons to do things beyond "they were summoned here and are compelled to obey." They also can be nice as social encounters, if the PCs can communicate with them, since they're the kind of beings that could provide help or "help" (like telling what they know of the bad guys' schemes or giving info on a place's layout) to the PCs if they see it as worth their while, and they could be used as side-quest givers. And they can be fun to roleplay for a DM.

Maybe I should edit my entry to reflect that.

In my setting, Mephits tend to show up in any places where the Material Plane and the Elemental Planes are close, which makes it easier for them to be met by low-level adventurers.

[Regitnui]

In my setting, Mephits tend to show up in any places where the Material Plane and the Elemental Planes are close, which makes it easier for them to be met by low-level adventurers.

I personally like them being irritating little creatures that hang around any source of elemental magic. Like you summon a earth elemental and a few mud mephits slouch into your lab if you forgot to set up the wards right.

[Unoriginal]

I personally like them being irritating little creatures that hang around any source of elemental magic. Like you summon a earth elemental and a few mud mephits slouch into your lab if you forgot to set up the wards right.

They can also make fun henchmen for PCs who like that kind of stuff.

[the_brazenburn]

They can also make fun henchmen for PCs who like that kind of stuff.

Too bad their size won't allow them to become familiars.

[Mith]

I used them as minions for an Ice giant craftman villian for a mini adventure to give a DM a break. The problems I had was less to do with the creatures themselves and more to do with the constraints of having characters I couldn't kill. But they still make fun minions.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Merfolk are the humans of under the sea, the default humanoid creature when you need something familiar instead of a weird fish-thing. They're back in the main Monster Manual for 5E after being left out of 4E's.

Merfolk are as iconic within the broader culture as any creature in the Monster Manual. Religious depictions of fish-human hybrids go back to at least 1000 BC, and may stretch further back than that. Legends about merfolk or similar creatures are found across the Middle East and Europe, and in Japan, the Caribbean, China, Brazil, the Philippines, Nigeria, Polynesia and Cameroon. While sometimes friendly or docile, they're frequently malign tricksters who lure people to watery graves.

Merfolk have been depowered somewhat in 5th Edition compared to 3.5. They're slightly faster on land but slower in the water, and they've lost their tridents and crossbows. Fortunately for those who encounter them, merfolk have also lost their inbuilt penchant for mischief.

Art

3rd Edition merfolk art is watercolor Waterhouse, with a pretty, only slightly exotic young lady cradling and caressing a handsome male sailor who may or may not be dead. 5th Edition takes a more contemporary direction. The classical form is retained, though the tail is longer and more heavily finned than usual. Gone are the bizarrely star-shaped nipples; what we get is a blue-skinned creature with a bunch of fins, including a headdress reminiscent of some of the Warcraft naga. This version also wears clothes, including a skirt of sorts around the waist, which is unusual. The torso and face are very humanoid, but the flattened nose, extensive fins and long, webbed fingers with an extra joint keep the merfolk from looking too prosaic. The merfolk here has metal jewelry and working buckles, which is unusual for reasons explained in the fluff section.

Overall, less Ariel, more Rajis Fyashe. It's a good change.

Purpose and Tactics

Merfolk probably aren't there to be antagonists for PCs. Their default civilization is small hunting-gathering tribes, but also sometimes those tribes coalesce into dynastic kingdoms that last centuries. It doesn't make a great deal of sense, but it doesn't have to; merfolk will fill the same role in an aquatic campaign as random elves and dwarves and humans do in a typical above-water campaign. Of course, the relative paucity of undersea antagonists means that your PCs will probably fight some merfolk with class levels at some point.

Merfolk need those levels to pose any real threat. At CR 1/8, they're not a challenge. Merfolk run by the book have improvised spears and no combat advantages other than 40' swim speed. They can throw the spears, but don't have natural weapons to fall back on. Against a party that can move around in the water, their best tactics are to keep their distance as best they can, throw spears and retreat to salvage more (though they don't have any special ability to do this). Attacking in swarms is pretty much their only hope without being leveled up. Fortunately, as underwater humans, there's no reason not to bulk them up if needed.

In an above-ground campaign, merfolk will appear rarely as a possible source of information.

Fluff

In 3rd Edition, merfolk liked sunning themselves, being pretty and playing tricks on people. Fortunately there's a bit more to them in 5th. Unfortunately, there's not much more.

By default, merfolk are practically Neolithic and lack a written language or ways to shape materials for crafting. That means they mostly dwell in natural spaces or ruins. They have a preference for shallow water and haven't got any special ability to see in the dark, suggesting that they're diurnal. In addition to hunting and gathering, they have some basic agriculture and cultivate schools of fish and seabed farms. They also cultivate bioluminscents like jellyfish for light. And they're as ubiquitous in livable space under the water as surface races are above it.

Frankly, what this screams to me is market inefficiency. Merfolk have access to all sorts of cool underwater stuff – the contents of shipwrecks, pearls, exotic fish, curiosities from the ruins. What they don't have are basic tools. While binding treaties might be difficult without writing, one would expect there are some trades to be made, especially since merfolk speak Common by default. And lacking writing would presumably spur a vigorous oral tradition, so merfolk might still possess legends about the Elder Times that the rest of us have forgotten. Still, though, there's limited utility here for a DM looking to run a conventional campaign.

Hooks

Ships are disappearing in the Ocean of Tears, and the Sisters of Erollisi are concerned. And merfolk are crowding close to the shores of the island...

Trade-Prince Gallywyx is in a tough spot. He's got a speculative streak and his last few bets haven't worked out well. The palace guards are starting to grumble, and he's feeling a tremor in his throne. He's at his wit's end. There better be some truth in those old stories about pearls the size of eggs...

Usually when the sailors see the mer-people, they're flashing past underwater or shaking their spears. No one's ever seen one this... this old before. And what's this about a cycle?

Verdict

How useful you find the merfolk depends entirely on your campaign setting. It's possible to go decades as a DM or player, I think, without ever encountering them. But in an aquatic campaign, I think they're probably essential. There's enough here to use and enough left unsaid to make them fit in your game. Ultimately though they're going to be limited by their environment.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

If merfolk are underwater humans, merrow are underwater ogres; in fact, that's what they were in previous editions. While that's no longer the case, they haven't gotten any more civilized. Merfolk generally represent the good parts of mermaid legends. Merrow represent the other side, though they aren't the temptresses or tricksters of legends.

The word is probably derived from Irish, though there's not a lot of consensus on precisely how.

Art

Presumably the merrow we're shown is male, and it's close enough in appearance to the female merfolk that they could be the same species if the obvious savagery were toned down a bit. Strip away the six-inch claws and teeth reminiscent of some sort of anglerfish and this could be your visual guide to male merfolk, who aren't depicted nearly as often as the females. That said, those teeth and claws are kind of central to the merrow. The creature is heavily muscled and stocky, and its numerous fins are more jagged and tattered than its more elegant cousin. The eyes glare out of a vaguely draconic head and the mouth is surrounded by feelers.

Like the merfolk, the features of the creature seem inspired by Warcraft; in this case, by the naga royal guard or myrmidons. Still, the art is good, it fits the creature and serves as a guide to the males of the other species.

Purpose and Tactics

They're antagonists. They don't speak Common, though they can speak, and they don't really have motivations beyond being mean to things. Again, they're probably limited to aquatic adventures.

Unlike merfolk, merrow are reasonable combatants, clocking in at a respectableish CR 2. Their AC isn't high, but they have a decent blob of hit points, a couple of attacks and a way to threaten creatures out of the water: harpoon attacks that can pull creatures up to 20' with a strength check. In most circumstances, the pull won't be life-threatening, but a character getting pulled off the deck of the ship into the water could be in serious trouble. Still, restricting the movement of foes is always powerful, and the merrow aren't completely stupid so there's reason to expect some tactics out of them. Class levels could be added to beef them up if necessary. Warlock would be thematically appropriate, though they've only got 9 Cha as published.

Fluff

Once upon a time a tribe of merfolk found an idol and started worshiping it and it turned out to belong to Demogorgon and then they did blood sacrifices and opened a gate and went to live in the Abyss and then Demogorgon sends them back to be jerks in the ocean when he feels like it. But also they seem to have pseudo-civilizations in caves filled with treasure; anchoring rotting corpses with kelp around the borders of their territory provides a macabre touch. It's not very practical, though, as stuff gets eaten pretty fast underwater.

I don't find this interesting, especially since they can't seem to make up their mind where the things actually live. But it doesn't really matter as their only purpose is to be sea-*****, kind of like gnolls. If I were interested in using them for anything else, I'd rewrite everything.

Hooks

Long ago, merfolk were transformed into a bestial race of bloodthirsty creatures. Today, they roam the coasts, flooding out of the underwater gateway to the Abyss, and nothing in the Timorous Deeps are safe. Perhaps, if the idol that originally transformed these monsters were found, the transformation could be undone. It's academic, however; the idol was lost long ago, either in the ocean or in the Abyss itself...

Verdict

Merrow are basically here to be the wandering monsters that you save the merfolk from in an aquatic adventure. Savage murder-machines isn't really fluff that's good for much else. Still, their connection to Demogorgon means they might have a part to play in a high to epic level adventure.

[Unoriginal]

Personally, I like the Merrows' connection to Demogorgon. I find how many monsters in 5e are the results of the Demon Princes' twisting life an interesting part of the lore.

What I also find interesting is that Devils are more or less incapable of that. Too often I get the impression that people basically see Demons as "dumb devils who can't plan for ****", and this help make them giving them their own feel.

[Regitnui]

Merfolk I used as one of the races in my pirate campaign. They weren't playable, but they had a rather well-defined civilisation; hunter-gatherers and manatee farmers in the north, and coral-building, elf-influenced semi-urban in the south. They were pretty much identical, but the different cultures didn't like each other much. The south would love to send "missionaries" north, but for one thing;

The Maw of Khyber, a huge underwater volcano in a trench that went into the lightless zone, split the cities from the farmers, and while the merrow occasionally swam up from there to raid and kill, it was the other beasts and demons that were with the merrow that kept the merfolk civilisations apart. Dragon turtles were the area's chief protectors, though merfolk helped.

All of this unknown to the sailors above, of course.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Strip away the six-inch claws and teeth reminiscent of some sort of anglerfish and this could be your visual guide to male merfolk, who aren't depicted nearly as often as the females.

Makes sense. You could probably say much the same thing if you put a picture of an ogre next to a human female- strip away the claws, the fangs and the size category difference and they look much like the same race.

[DerKommissar]

The Art of Merfolk/Merrow remind me of Magic the Gathering cards and both exist in both games - coincidence? ;)

[SharkForce]

i find the argument that merfolk only have a single spear each to be a bit sketchy. no, it doesn't say they carry extras for use as ammunition. but technically, centaurs (for example) don't have *any* ammunition listed for their bows, we just kinda presume that they have some. the amount of ammunition a monster carries isn't really part of their stat block. so while perhaps not every single one of the merfolk will be carrying half a dozen spears or anything like that, it's entirely reasonable to presume that some or perhaps even most merfolk will carry a few spears for throwing just like we would presume a centaur has arrows for their bow.

[Regitnui]

The Art of Merfolk/Merrow remind me of Magic the Gathering cards and both exist in both games - coincidence? ;)

Nope. This edition's art shares a lot with various incarnations of the merfolk in M:tG, especially the Zendikar ones. The only thing they're missing is legs, as merfolk in the card game are bipedal.

[Unoriginal]

i find the argument that merfolk only have a single spear each to be a bit sketchy. no, it doesn't say they carry extras for use as ammunition. but technically, centaurs (for example) don't have *any* ammunition listed for their bows, we just kinda presume that they have some. the amount of ammunition a monster carries isn't really part of their stat block. so while perhaps not every single one of the merfolk will be carrying half a dozen spears or anything like that, it's entirely reasonable to presume that some or perhaps even most merfolk will carry a few spears for throwing just like we would presume a centaur has arrows for their bow.

I'm away from my books right now, but I think there is a rule saying monsters carry 1d4 thrown weapons if they have one in their statblocks or something like that. Though I'd say it makes sense 1/8 CR beings wouldn't be well prepared for combat.

[S_A_M I AM]

-Snipitty doo dah-

[the_brazenburn]

-Snipping-

[Eunostus]

Modrons are way out of order. We still needed to do mimics and minotaurs.

Don't forget about the mind flayer. Also, isn't it customary to wait for discussion of the previous to wind down?