“The Badlands Twists Its Creatures” - Utilizing the Shadowdark Monster Generator

“The Badlands twists its creatures.” This was a rumor (and/or warning) passed on to the Sunday night PCs a few sessions back, perhaps from the nomads. 

Probably just an old wives' tale. Nothing to be concerned about.

Spoilers for my players, so be on your best behavior. 🙄

Second installment in my June Randomness Wagoning... 

Now, my prior campaign players/PCs were no stranger to the mutants engineered by the vivimancers in the mountains. As I mentioned way back when, Jon Becker's "Comes Chaos" and Steven Cook's "Chaos Hordes" were used for all my mutation needs. 

Particular player "favorites" were the Damned Horses, and that one naked guy running through the battlefield who no one wanted to get near. Cowards.

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But now we find ourselves in a new campaign, and a need for new randomized random monsters. In the flavor of Shadowdark.

So cracking open the rulebook, we find ourselves on Pages 190 ("Monster Generator") and 191 ("Make It Weird"). 

The critters were generated with four d20 rolls to get the basic build, and then d3 mutations to spice it up. My initial rolled results are below, followed by some quick thoughts, and the final creation. For the Party Level, I'm assuming Level 3 PCs.

Secondly, they are moving into the "badlands," which I have described as an arid region characterized by canyons, ridges, and natural labyrinths. Creations will be suited to such an environment.

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I rolled/created mostly honest, with one exception...

No peeking, Dan.

1. LV: PL-3 PL+2 Quality: Arachnid, Strength: 2d6dmg, Weakness: garlic?? Mutations: Burrows, fast healing, antimagic field

Ok, first of all, something this gunned-up is not a LV1-ish monster. Boost it to a suitable challenge level. 

Fast, magic-affiliated spider. One of my favorite types of antagonists (stay tuned for most recent play report). I have no idea how to incorporate garlic with a spider, so maybe its just into bland cooking, or it has a touch of undeath about it. That said, a trapdoor-style spider that can burst from the ground, possibly shake off spells, and then retreat underground to heal sounds like a real gem.

Silver Weaver: AC 13, HP 19, MV near (burrows), Atk: bite (+3) 1d4 + venom 2d6dmg (DC12 CON for ½ dmg) S +2, D +0 , C +1, I -2, W -1, Ch -3, AL N, LV5; Special: magic-reflective carapace (25% chance to reflect spell effects), burrows at movement rate, fast healing (1hp/round), Repelled by garlic (DC12 CON to resist)

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2. LV: PL-3 Quality: Plant-like, Strength: Ranged attacks, Weakness: iron, Mutation: tentacles

I'd originally thought about the Jumping Cholla, a cactus I encountered backpacking in Arizona. 

ouch

But tentacles leaves something "attached" to the plant, more like a root, runner, or rhizome... The desert may be bereft of sufficient soil nutrients, so an enterprising plant has to make its own way in the world. And, inspired by the stirge/stingbat, we have a nuisance to hikers everywhere... It's not likely going to take anyone down, especially since PCs can flee from it, but encounter a grove of these things, and you're running a gauntlet.

Vampire Bush: AC 11, HP 5, MV None, Atk (+1) d4 “darts”/round 1hp + drain (1hp/round); S +0, D +1 , C +1, I -2, W -1, Ch -3, AL N, LV1; Special: Darts are connected to plant rhizomes to feed (AC13, 1hp to sever), 2x damage from iron

3. LV: PL-2 Quality: Plant-like, Strength: Stealthy, Weakness: Silver, Mutation: gigantic, +1d6 dmg 

Again, weird weakness. But trust the dice, I guess. That said, I recently got a pot of Lithops (Stone Plants). In the real world, they are South African succulents camouflaged to appear stone-like, and with a very low-profile growth habit to avoid grazers. A fine inspiration for our next entry, what I'm calling a "trap" plant. Again, probably not a significant threat, but a nuisance, and its defense may alert other critters to investigate... Why is everything in the Badlands allergic to silver? 

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Bomb Lithop: AC 11, HP 11, MV None, Atk (+1) concussion vs close, 1d6 (DC12 CON or stunned 1d4 turns), S +0, D +0 , C +1, I -2, W -1, Ch -3, AL N, LV2; Special: stone-like appearance, “trap” plant, 2x damage from silver

4. LV: PL Quality: Serpent, Strength: impersonation, Weakness: water, Mutation: shapechange, 

Trust the dice. Two very suitably overlapping characteristics - impersonation and shapechange. Again, nature provides, with the Spider-tailed horned viper, and of course, the octopus. Impersonation, through mimicry, similar to a crow, parrot, mynah. Really, I just have to plug and play on this one. 

Travelers drawn in with a "help! help!" - searching for the source, only to be jumped by a large snake that had altered its skin color and texture to match its environment. Sure - it's a desert serpent, water doesn't agree with it.

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Mimic-Viper: AC12, 16hp, MV near, Atk: Bite (+4) 1d4+venom (DC 15 CON or go to 0HP in 1d4 rounds_, S +1, D +2, C +1, I +1, W +1, Ch +0, AL N, LV3; Special: impersonation (voice mimic), shapechange (octopus characteristics), ADV on surprise, can't swim, shuns water

5. LV: PL+3 Quality: Serpent, Strength: psychic blast, Weakness: light, Mutations: Iron-like scales, very fast 

I was initially going to go with a downgraded behir, but that's too much cheating. Especially since the attacks are quite different. Again, a sturdy desert serpent, one that takes down prey through physical attack, or stunning it and attacking at its leisure. But a nocturnal predator, perhaps only stirring in the daylight when disturbed. Its sensitive eyes evolved to take advantage of the desert night, but hampered by the glare of the sun.

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Psionic Cobra: AC 15; 29hp; Atk 2 bite +5 (1d8) or psychic blast; MV near, S +2, D +2 , C +1, I -2, W -1, Ch -1, AL C; Special: psychic blast 3/day - DC 15 WIS or unconscious 1d4 turns, critical fails lose 1d3 WIS, nocturnal - attacks at Disadvantage in daylight, LV6

6. LV: PL Quality: Ooze, Strength: Highly intelligent, Weakness: Fragile body, Mutations: burrows, very fast, telepathic 

Not sure why an ooze would be in the sands, but we're rolling with it. It's smart, maybe it just likes the solitude. Either way, it isn't easy being squishy.

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Gray Matter: AC 12, 13hp, MV near (burrow), Atk: 2x pseudo-pod (+3) 1d6 or spell effect (as Hypnotize): S +1, D +1 , C -1, I +2, W +0, Ch -1, AL N, LV3; Special: Telepathic communication (impressions vs language), burrows at movement rate, slashing attacks damage rolled w/ ADV

Anyway, d6 weirdos to accost the party with as they poke about in the washes of the Badlands.