Monster: Ether Scarab

Monster: Ether Scarab

Ether scarabs are the prey species of the Ethereal Plane that developed an ability to tear planar boundaries with their mandibles to escape predators. When slain on the Material Plane, they explode, forming a portal to the Ethereal Plane. How cool is that?

Monster: Sea-Dasher Octopus

Monster: Sea-Dasher Octopus

Magic: the Gathering has hundreds of interesting creatures that, unfortunately, do not have much in terms of lore or description. However, the art, flavor text, and abilities sometimes are enough of an inspiration to come up with a proper statblock. Also, the lack of lore lets you get your creative juices flowing, helping you focus on the creation of something new instead of an adaptation.

So, I went on scryfall.com, hit the random card button, and got the Sea-Dasher Octopus. I remember being excited for Ikoria as a set, but then being utterly disappointed. Regardless of that, I like a lot of the creatures from that set. Let's see - this octopus doesn't look much bigger than a normal octopus on the art. It's a sea-dasher octopus and it is shown grabbing a fish, which probably isn't that easy of a feat. Also, its coloration is similar to the surroundings, seeming to imply improved camouflage abilities. Thus, I decided to use the normal octopus as the base, increase DX and Water Move, remove Ink, add Enhanced Move 1, improve Chameleon. This way we get an octopus that relies on its camouflage and bursts of speed to catch prey and evade predators. But what about Mutate? I decided to give Chameleon the Affects Others enhancement. I can imagine the sea-dasher octopus having a symbiotic relationship with another predator that benefits from the octopus attaching itself and granting the camouflage ability.

Sorcery GCS Library, Status Update, etc.

Sorcery GCS Library, Status Update, etc.

First things first - Merry Christmas! I haven't posted anything in more than two weeks, but I am still alive, and I wasn't slacking off either. I decided to embark upon the exhausting journey of creating a GCS library for all sorcery spells from this blog, and not just advantages with the final cost, but the entire statistical structure of every spell, which allows you to alter power modifiers or make whatever other changes you need to make spells fit your setting conventions without the need to recalculate the costs. Convenient, right? However, this is one of the thing that is exclusive to my Patreon subscribers. My policy is to keep all my content free, but provide additional utilities for the patrons. Yes, this is shameless advertising.

Now that this task is done, I can finally go back to my normal posts. Monsters, spells, perhaps another solo game, or whatever else inspires me at the moment. Also, I am entertaining the thought of creating a GCS library of monsters to be used in FoundryVTT. You know, just like in Nordlond Bestiary.

Monsters: Demodands/Gehreleths

Monsters: Demodands/Gehreleths

At last, my supply of old monster conversion notes in need of updating is exhausted! I'll probably take a break from monsters for some time and focus on something else.

Monster: Neh-Thalggu (Brain Collector)

Monster: Neh-Thalggu (Brain Collector)

An extradimensional horror that teleports around and extracts brains from humanoids at range. Very cool.

Monster: Shadow Drake

Monster: Shadow Drake

A small drake with some spellcasting and shadow-related abilities. A nice alternative to a faerie dragon or a pseudodragon.

Monster: Spirit of the Air

Monster: Spirit of the Air

A winged monkey spirit creature with some air abilities. Very weird, but I think it has roots in the Eastern folklore.

Monsters: Magens

Monsters: Magens

Magens are alchemical constructs made of gelatin. They are weaker than golems, but are more intelligent. I've always been fond of these, and I even remember using them in my games.

Monsters: Felldrakes

Monsters: Felldrakes

The felldrake category of lesser dragonkinds consists of four species. I've always been fond of them.

Monster: Cesspit Ooze

Monster: Cesspit Ooze

An ooze that formed and gained sentience due to arcane emanations in a city's sewers. The enraging acid ability is kind of cool.