One of my favorite things about 4th Edition is how easy it is for the GM to assemble groups of monsters of a single theme or type and create a fun encounter for the players. Having goblins, kobolds, or undead of different roles, or with varying powers, appearing together keeps things interesting. I hope that this is something that carries over into D&D Next.

Monster groups were something we wanted to make sure we included in the Midgard Bestiary, and we found quite a few opportunities to do this. The Arbonesse elves, dwarves of the Ironcrags, clockworks, gearforged, Mharoti dragonkin, and kobold ghetto guard entries all feature several different monsters based around a single theme, making it easy for the GM to build a varied encounter.

My favorite example of a monster group is the “Mages of Allain” entry. The Magocracy of Allain, located at the edge of the Wasted West, is a fascinating part of Midgard. Here the survivors of the Great Mage War continue to practice dangerous magic, and many of them were corrupted by the alien powers of the Realms Beyond.

Josh Jarman had created a Bemmean wizard for the AGE Bestiary, a sinister hooded figure reminiscent of Ningauble and Sheelba from Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories. I have never played AGE, so I was essentially building the 4E version from scratch as a level 13 elite controller, creating new powers to capture the spirit of the AGE spells black geas and wrack. The Bemmean wizard was “accompanied by 1d3 sand devils from the Western Wastes that act as guardians and thugs.” These sand devils didn’t have their own stats, so I built them as level 10 lurkers that can unleash a blinding sandcloud, and I gave them a backstory. They are now the harborgoi, created by the warped magical energies of the Great Mage War.

To round out the group, I looked at the other cities of the Magocracy. Maillon is a swamp city where many dangerous alchemical experiments are conducted, often creating “interesting” side effects. A mutated spellcaster with writhing tentacles and a penchant for blowing stuff up sounded like a good idea, so I added the Maillon alchemist as a level 11 artillery.

Tintager is on the border with Arbonesse and attracts outcast sellswords and tiefling warmages willing to fight against the “elvish agressors.” The Warmage of Tintager is a level 11 skirmisher, capable of wielding a cold iron longsword in melee, as well as flinging blackfire bolts at anyone who crosses his path.

With three different mages of Allain, each fulfilling a distinct role, plus the invisible sand devil, we’ve made it easy for the DM to build a challenging and interesting encounter. I hope you have as much fun running these guys as I did when playtesting them in my campaign!

At the end of the alphabet comes the zmey. Originally found within the tales of the Old Margreve, the zmey is a creature of legend. These massive forest guardians have three dragonlike heads and a powerful tail, and they breathe fire down on their foes. It was a natural choice to make it a solo creature. Solo creatures that are far too easy for a party to defeat have also become stuff of legend, so we had to make sure our own would stand up to assault without being too powerful to provide a fair challenge. We continually tweaked it from inception to the very end of playtesting.

I began reading Kobold Quarterly and its print products only a couple of years ago, so I missed much of the earlier work until recently. The first version of the zmey was based solely on the descriptions from forum users. In a way, this was excellent because my first vision of the creature was based on its most memorable elements from players who had fought it. A lot can get lost in interpretation, though.

I eventually got my hands on the version as it was originally. I adapted the design to make sure I stayed true to the history of the zmey. This version allowed you to target a head and sunder it like a weapon. There are no rules for sundering in 4th Edition, but we wanted to retain the feel of this mechanic. Striking at the heads needed to be risky, and it needed to be distinct from the experience of fighting a hydra. An early feature allowed the zmey to attack any creature that missed with a melee attack. Combining this with the increased defenses when targeting a head proved to be a little too deadly in actual play.

The final result is a hardened foe that viciously cuts into the party at the start of combat. Each head represents a turn in combat, with a new chance to trample the group or recharge its breath weapon. The party will need to choose its tactics wisely. Will they slowly hack away and risk its continued attacks, or target the well-armored necks? Choose the latter and face a panicked rampage if you survive long enough to reduce the beast to a single remaining head.

You’ll discover many interesting creatures within Midgard. When selecting monsters for the 4th Edition bestiary, we had five years of Kobold Quarterly history at our disposal. The end result is an incredible menagerie featuring selections from nearly everything the kobold scribes have printed.

The Goblins of the Wasted West stick out in my mind as something I wanted to work on. Long before the bestiary was a live project, patrons of the Midgard Campaign Setting were discussing different goblin tribes that formed in the shadows of the Old Ones. One talented patron even began sketching some incredible images. That was all it took to hook me. These goblins were destined for my game table. I began writing example members of each tribe, and I continued to come up with ideas once the book got the green light. Not all the tribes I worked on made it into the final product. The Scarlet Rovers, for example, were eventually cut. These master warriors would have broken the mold on how mighty a single goblin’s martial prowess could be. The tribes that made into the bestiary, though, should do well to twist the traditional goblin on its head. We kobolds love flipping goblins.

One of the tribes that did make it is the Ghost Goblins. These goblins take reverence of their dead to a new level. They don’t just worship their ancestors; they raise them up to continue to fight for the tribe. Our representative of the tribe is the Ghost Goblin Horror. This grisly goblin did not fall in battle, but rather devoted itself wholly to the tribe’s strange gods and the veneration of undeath. Eventually this practice takes its toll and a horror is born, a being torn between life and undeath. With but a glance, it can creep inside its enemy’s mind, curse it with thoughts of its own death, and force its target to become paralyzed with a false rigor mortis. Hardly a hero’s death, since the rest of the tribe leaps at your stunned form.

As a low-level soldier, it’s the Horror’s job to lock down opponents. Instead of using a traditional mark, its curse of rigor ability allows it to immobilize a target that’s within 5 squares. It can then close in to melee a new target, trying to keep two foes engaged. These creatures can make a powerful pair with artillery and controllers by keeping melee heroes at a safe distance. They can even work as a melee leader, fighting at the front of a pack of zombies and goblin skirmishers.

~~~

Now for those links we promised, but first, a special shout-out goes to game designer extraordinaire Rob Heinsoo, who became a backer for this project recently.

Gearforged Zobeck legionnaire
Pact drake

Now, we invite you to take a look at those stretch goals. As of this writing, the first stretch goal is within reach. For convenience, here they are:

If the Bestiary Reaches $4,500

The Bestiary adds 8 pages to every backer’s version of the final project, adding more monsters and art at the same pledge levels. Yes, you just get more!

Since these additional pages are monsters taken from the Bonus Bestiary, backers at the Iron Ghoul level get Bonus Bestiary 3 instead of Bonus Bestiary 1. Backers at the Fellforged level and up also get a collection of monster art from the book, formatted to easily print out and use as paper minis. Backers at the Isonade level and up also get Fury of the Lord of the Sea, a short adventure featuring the biggest nasty in the book!

If the Bestiary Reaches $5,500

All backers get the Iron Secret adventure using monsters from the book—AND a set of newly-commissioned, full-color PDF battle maps for the adventure! Suitable for online play or printing out to slap down on the table, your choice!

In our ongoing look at the Isle of Morphoi, we take a look at the Nethysule, which has been illustrated by Chris McFann. You can venture beyond the jump now to read the entire entry, and then head over to the Journeys to the West Kickstarter and join the crew if you want to see more about this area of the world! You can also take a look at the Part 1 and Part 2, plus maps.

Nethysule

This blue-purple-skinned humanoid wields a quarterstaff. It has vertically placed eyes and a ridged forehead.

Nethysule CR 1/2

XP 200
Nethysule druid 1
N Medium plant (aquatic)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +5
Defensive Abilities plant traits

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +0 (1d6) or quarterstaff +0 (1d6) or sling +1 (1d4)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +4)
6/day—wooden fist
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +4)
Constant—speak with plants
3/day—sanctuary (DC 14)
Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4)
1st—entangle^D (DC 14), obscuring mist, summon nature’s ally
0 (at will)—detect poison, flare, guidance
D domain spell; Domain Plant

STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 13

Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 11
Feats Great Fortitude
Skills Craft (any) +6, Heal +7, Knowledge (geography) +6, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +7, Spellcraft +6, Survival +11, Stealth +3 (+11 in vegetation); Racial Modifiers +2 Stealth (+10 in vegetation), +2 Survival
Languages Aquan, Common, Druidic, Sylvan; speak with plants
SQ amphibious, nature bond (Earth domain), nature sense, wild empathy

ECOLOGY
Environment any, the Isle of Morphoi (homeland)
Organization solitary, pair, circle (2–15)
Treasure standard (quarterstaff and sling, other treasure)

Nethysule are androgynous, asexual, plant-based creatures indigenous to the Isle of Morphoi. Their appearance is similar to the natural form of their morphoi cousins, but their ridged heads and purple-tinged skin delineate the two from a distance. Unlike the morphoi, the nethysule cannot change shape and do not possess an additional set of eyes in the back of their heads.

The nethysule are generally peaceful creatures, preferring to avoid combat whenever possible and keeping mainly to their druidic circles. They tend to the area’s flora, creating beautiful garden patches throughout the Isle of Morphoi.

Believed to be creations of Nethus, many of the nethysules’s circles (the more chaotic neutral ones) once served the sea deity’s whims. All nethysule still revere the sea god and make weekly offerings of small crafted items to the sea. None have seen or heard the god for some time now, and they do not understand why Nethus abandoned them. Because the violent lamia kill them for sheer sport, the nethysule keep away from Temple of Mnemosyne, and so have not learned anything about Nethus’s disappearance from the priestesses there.

The nethysule gather nutrients from the sun or through an intake of organic carbon, so they do not need to eat (and do not necessarily need sunlight to survive). They live in small druidic communities on their home island called circles. Some communities might be underwater, since they are amphibious creatures. Approximately 1 in 15 nethysule are druidic leaders (with at least 7 druid levels).

Nethysule Characters

Nethysule are defined by class levels—they don’t possess racial Hit Dice. All nethysule have the following racial traits.

+2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, –2 Strength: Nethysule are wise and intelligent creatures.

Senses: Low-light vision and darkvision 60 feet.

Plant Traits: The nethysule are a race of plant people. See the universal rules for plants.

Wild Children: The nethysule gain a +2 racial bonus to Stealth and Survival checks. Additionally, they receive a +8 bonus to blend in with vegetation.

Spell-Like Ability: A nethysule can use sanctuary three times per day as a spell-like ability. The caster level for this ability equals the nethysule’s class level.

Languages: Nethysule begin play speaking Common. Those with high Intelligence can choose any language as a bonus language. The nethysule can speak with plants.

Like this creature? Want to write a published adventure about it, or propose a better one? Join the crew of the Journeys to the West project!

(This post is Product Identity.)

Speaking of exploration, we’ve got the beginnings of a new map, which the mighty Kobold Overlord has granted us permission to fill in with our islands, forever making our mark on Midgard! Woot! Take a peek. And to boot, if we meet $6,500 we’ll all get a shiny ocean chart poster map to show off to our player characters. It will be an invaluable visual aid when showing our PCs where they died a sailor’s death! Did I say that? Um, yeah, this project is all about exploration. Bad Chrissy. Seriously, it must be all those monsters bubbling up from my warped imagination that have me saying things like that. You can take a peek at those here on the Kobold Quarterly blog, as well, to see what I’m talking about. While you’re there, you can read about Brandon Hodge’s Isle of Morphoi for the Midgard Campaign Setting book. Here are the links: Mnemosynian lamia and the morphoi. I’ve got two more monster previews to come! If you are even more curious about what PCs might encounter on their journey, take a gander at the faceless stalker and neh-thalggu in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2. Those Paizo folks sure are devious, too!

There’s much more to come, so keep an eye on the updates on the Kickstarter page and on the KQ Blog. Onward!

Christina Stiles

Journeys Lead Developer

The patrons and designers have completed the first drafts of the The Lost City of Kadralhu patronage project, and now is a great time to jump on if you’re curious but haven’t yet signed up. This week, we present pages from Logan Bonner, Michael Furlanetto, Tracy Hurley, and Quinn Murphy.

We tried to choose sections that were as spoiler-free as possible, but if you’re planning to play this adventure, you should probably not peek.

Now, we present a few details of the tainted plant malsalix.

[previously]

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Originally found in the dark recesses of the fey realms, the malsalix is well known in certain circles for its penchant for stealing abilities. Since its introduction to the waterworks, the plant has grown quite comfortable in the dark environs…

Life Cycle

Spores:The plant begins its life as small spores. The spores interfere with the ability to remember things, especially positive emotions such as friendship and love.

Slime: When the spores settle in a nice moist place, they grow into sheets of interwoven strands. These slimes can steal abilities, such as powers.

Seedlings: The strands grow thicker and take on a wood-like appearance. They stretch upward, and the plant appears much more humanoid and can even walk upright.

Mature Plant: The original vines harden, and the number of tendrils increases.

Elder Plant: If the plant lives long enough, it can join with others of its kind to create an elder. Their vines intertwine, and they use each other as support to grow much larger.

Clearing the Taint (Skill Challenge)

Level: 15 (6,000 XP)
Complexity: 5 (12 before 3)

Kadralhu’s water is full of spores and other bits of the tainted plants. Unless the water is cleaned, the plants always re-establish themselves, and the madness will, eventually, strike again. As the PCs travel through the city and deal with the malsalix infestation, their actions determine if they eradicate the plant or just buy themselves some time.

Approach 1: Filter the water (max 4 successes).

The waterworks has a series of filters. Excess plant material clogged these filters, and the crash broke a few. Fixed filters help the PCs clear the water.

Primary skills: Arcana, Dungeoneering, Thievery
Arcana (DC 15)—You know the filters use arcane magic to work.
Dungeoneering (DC 22)—You find materials to help fix the filters.
Thievery (DC 22)—You apply the fixes.

Secondary skills: History, Thievery
History (DC 20)—You recall a contraption or story from elsewhere that may help. Gives a +2 bonus to a primary skill.

Approach 2: Defeat mature plants.

Special—Each successful encounter against one or more mature plants counts as 1 success.

Special—The encounter against the elder plant counts as 4 successes. PCs can use the successes from that battle to buy back failures. If they do not defeat the elder plant but are successful in the overall challenge, count it as a failure but with 8 successes, and tell them which faction is planning this.

Special—Deciding to help or ignore certain NPCs of the lost city counts as successes or failures. In particular, see the Waterworks Master and the Kidnapped Artificer sections.

Success: The plant is eradicated from Kadralhu.

Failure: Effect determined by number of successes:
8 or More Successes—A faction recognizes what the PCs are doing and attempts to save part of the plant for re-infection in 1d4+12 months.
6–8 Successes—A plant is successful at leaving its spores behind. Re-infection will occur in 1d4+6 months.
Less than 6 Successes—Some of the plants find a crevice to hide in and will re-infect the city in 1d4 months.

Trying again: If they try again after re-infection, they keep half of their previous successes as a starting point.

Additional Uses

Skilled artificers and arcane casters use the malsalix plant to craft certain magical items. Two of the best known are paralyzing nets and memory pots.

Paralyzing Nets

Woven from malsalix vines, these nets both immobilize their victims and remove the ability to think clearly.

Level: 16 (+4)
Price: 45,000 gp
Weapon: Any
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 damage per plus

Property: On a hit, the target is immobilized (save ends).

Power (Encounter): While entangled in the net, the creature cannot use any powers other than basic attacks.

Memory Pots

These ordinary-looking clay pots hide malsalix slime, allowing the user to steal powers from afar.

Level: 14 (+3)
Price: 800 gp
Alchemical Item

Property: The user of a memory pot must first create a psychic connection with the pot, requiring 5 minutes, and can be connected to only one pot at a time.

Power (Consumable): Standard Action. Make an attack: Ranged 5/10; Targets one creature; +17 vs. Will; on a hit, steal one power from the creature. Determine the highest level of power that may be stolen using the attack die roll and these guidelines:
Natural 2–14—At-will power.
Natural 15–19—Encounter power.
Natural 20—Daily power.

You gain the stolen power and use it with the statistics for the power from the originating creature. After an extended rest, the ability returns to the originating creature. Miss—Area burst 1, centered on the creature; +17 vs. Reflex; on a hit, the target…

Find your way to The Lost City of Kadralhu today by becoming a patron—and perhaps a playtester as well!

The patrons and designers have completed the first drafts of the The Lost City of Kadralhu patronage project, and now is a great time to jump on if you’re curious but haven’t yet signed up. This week, we present pages from Logan Bonner, Michael Furlanetto, Tracy Hurley, and Quinn Murphy.

We tried to choose sections that were as spoiler-free as possible, but if you’re planning to play this adventure, you should probably not peek.

Tomorrow, we’ll show you the section about the tainted plant Malsalix. Now, though, we present themes for the new oklu race.

[previously]

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Oklu all fit different roles as dictated by their caste. Within each caste are different groups, each with their own specific function and duties. To create oklu with various roles within each caste, use the appropriate statblock and then replace the default imprint ability with the desired power from this list…

Salaa

The salaa caste is charged with defending society from without and within. Hunters are trained to forage and kill animals for the settlement. Assassins quietly dispatch unruly oma who make trouble. Last are soldiers, who police and defend the oklu communities.

Soldier, Tre-Salaa: Tre-salaa defend oklu to the limit of their ability. Even if defense takes the tre-salaa’s life, it is seen as a worthwhile sacrifice. The soldiers of oklu society also use their strength of arms to enforce laws and maintain peace when no external enemies threaten the settlement.

Tre-salaa use the statblock for kagash on page XX. Typical tre-salaa hues are earthen reds and brown. Typical tre-salaa names: Sonus, Jollu, Gafto, Rutte, Kade, Genna.

TRE-SALAA IMPRINTS
[M] Imprint of Aggression (weapon) • At-Will
Trigger—A creature adjacent to the soldier hits with an attack.
Attack (Immediate Interrupt)—Melee 1 (the triggering creature); +15 vs. AC.
Hit—2d8+6 damage.

Imprint of Preservation • At-Will
Trigger—An ally adjacent to the soldier is hit with an attack.
Effect (Immediate Interrupt)—The attack is resolved against the soldier instead.

Hunter, Gra-Salaa: Gra-salaa have the most dangerous position in oklu society. Hunters must confront the brutal, unpredictable world outside the northern and western walls in search of food for the settlement. The danger they confront dwindles their numbers each day, until few remain.

However, those few are hardened and deadly. The skill these oklu use every day to survive is overwhelming and fatal to their enemies.

Gra-salaa use the assassin statblock on page XX. A gra-salaa’s hue is gray stone. Standard gra-salaa names: Hefad, Jaree, Thena, Awa, Zani, Yiir.

GRA-SALAA IMPRINTS
[M] Imprint of Precision • At-Will
Trigger—An enemy or ally within 10 squares gains a bonus to an attack roll.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The hunter gains a +2 power bonus to attack rolls until the end of its next turn.

[M] Imprint of the Predator • At-Will
Trigger—A creature within 10 squares scores a critical hit.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—Until the end of its next turn, the hunter’ next hit is an automatic critical hit.

Assassin, Que-salaa: Fewer in number than even the gra-salaa, the assassins of the oklu possess lethal arts and knowledge that place them outside normal oklu society.

There is very little for que-salaa to do unless some outsider has trespassed against the oklu. Otherwise, they typically are left to practice in their quarters. When time does come to use their services, however, it is impossible to turn them away from the target.

Que-salaa use the assassin statblock on page XX. Que-salaa skin is black, but few see this outside of the assassin’s training site. Assassins frequently take the color of another role within oklu society. Standard que-salaa names: Iden, Muden, Mudon, Tiden, Wedon, Loden.

QUE-SALAA IMPRINTS
[M] Imprint of Travel (teleportation) • At-Will
Trigger—An enemy within 10 squares of the assassin shifts multiple squares, charges, runs, or teleports.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The assassin shifts an equal number of squares.

[M] Imprint of Pain (necrotic) • At-Will
Trigger—An enemy within 10 squares of the assassin is bloodied.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The assassin makes a basic attack against a valid target.

[M] Imprint of Shadows • At-Will
Trigger—An enemy within 10 squares of the assassin gains concealment from the assassin or an ally of the assassin.
Effect (Immediate Reactions)—The assassin gains concealment against all enemies until the end of its next turn.

Iness

Oklu within the iness caste form the backbone of the society in Kadralhu. The iness include the laborers (known as burdens), craftsmen, and merchants in oklu society. Iness use the burden statblock on page XX.

Burden, So-Iness: Seeing to repairs and physical labor required in Kadralhu are the so-iness, the “burdens” and laborers. With bigger frames than typical oklu, burdens are well adapted for the strenuous labor each day brings. There is too much work for the burdens to ever keep up with, which means the city is deteriorating at a pace just beyond the oklu ability to repair it.

Over time, this puts the viability of oklu existence into question, but to burdens, it matters not at all: they labor tirelessly regardless. So-iness skin is dark green. Typical so-iness names: Gremma, Jobi, Femma, Bodi, Mysh, Rodi.

SO-INESS IMPRINTS
Imprint of Endurance • Encounter
Trigger—A creature within 10 squares is healed.
Effect (Immediate Interrupt)—The burden gains temporary hit points equal to half its bloodied valued.

Imprint of Power • At-Will
Trigger—A creature within 10 squares makes a successful saving throw.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The burden can make an immediate saving throw.

Craftman, Ku-Iness: The burdens are the backs and legs of the oklu, and the ku-iness are the hands, working skillfully at forges or weaving fabrics. The many trades passed down and imprinted on these oklu keep them occupied through the majority of their days. Oklu use no currency, so they often trade products of their craft for other needed services or donate them for the common good. The ku-iness that the raw resources the burdens extract and put them to use by other oklu. The Ku-Iness hue is sea green.

KU-INESS IMPRINTS
Imprint of Skill
Trigger—An enemy within 10 squares of the craftsman makes a successful skill check.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The craftsman gains a +2 to all defenses until the end of its next turn.

Imprint of Talent
Trigger—an enemy within 10 squares uses an ability that is an encounter, daily, or has a recharge.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The craftsman gains a +4 power bonus to damage on its next attack until the end of its next turn.

Lothaa

Teachers, scholars, scientists, and advisors of the oklu people, the lothaa caste is devoted at once to the preservation of traditions and to the discovery of new information. It is with this group that any progress can be hoped for as scientists and sages explore and experiment, bringing new knowledge and information to the oklu communities. Those lothaa devoted to science in particular are devoted to progress and evolution of the oklu.

There are no sub-factions of lothaa; each member of this caste is responsible for learning and teaching multiple subject matters, so a lothaa’s role is more a matter of the individual’s abilities and knowledge. Lothaa skin is various shades of blue, adorned with sigils that represent the knowledge that oklu has mastered. Common lothaa names: Hivo, Thiir, Yoki, Goyu, Riyo, Cintu.

LOTHAA IMPRINTS
Sorcerous Imprint • Recharge 5
Trigger—The maester hits an enemy.
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—Deal 2d6 extra damage of a type dealt by the last creature who hit with an attack.

Imprint of Progress • Encounter
Trigger—An ally within 10 squares hits an enemy
Effect (Immediate Reaction)—The maester gains a +2 power bonus to attacks until the end of its next turn.

Find your way to The Lost City of Kadralhu today by becoming a patron—and perhaps a playtester as well!

The patrons and designers have completed the first drafts of the The Lost City of Kadralhu patronage project, and now is a great time to jump on if you’re curious but haven’t yet signed up. This week, we continue to present pages from Logan Bonner, Michael Furlanetto, Tracy Hurley, and Quinn Murphy.

We tried to choose sections that were as spoiler-free as possible, but if you’re planning to play this adventure, you should probably not peek.

Later this week, we’ll show you themes for the new oklu race and the section about the tainted plant Malsalix. Now, though, we present the trignotarbs.

[previously]

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Long thought extinct by even the eldest eladrin sages, trignotarbs are queer amalgams of parasitic wasps and webless spiders. They embed their larvae in living hosts, who are drained of both knowledge and life by the insectile parasites. The larvae then molt into gardeners, hunters, and savants with the most powerful eventually attaining the rank of queen. Other castes may exist yet unknown to scholars…

Trignotarb Larval Myriad (Level 16 Minion Lurker)

Thousands of larvae lurk on every trignotarb, and they even haunt the ground on which trignotarbs have perished. The larvae hunt for living creatures, sapping their prey of life as they burrow. Once the prey is weak enough, the trignotarb takes over its mind.

Medium natural beast (swarm); XP 350
Initiative +20; Perception +12; darkvision

HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
AC 29, Fortitude 29, Reflex 27, Will 26
Speed 0
Immune disease; Resist 5 all, half damage from melee and ranged attacks

TRAITS
Parasitic Possession • Aura 1
Attack—+19 vs. Fortitude.
Hit—The target loses one healing surge. If it has no healing surges remaining, it is dominated by the larva.

Alignment unaligned; Languages —
Str 15 (+10)         Dex 27 (+16)       Wis 18 (+12)
Con 15 (+10)       Int 18 (+12)         Cha 21 (+13)

Larvally Controlled Creatures

A creature that falls victim to a trignotarb larva spends its first day dominated. Next, it progresses to the recently infected stage. Add the following trait to its statblock.

Recently Infected

TRAITS
Emergence from the Swarm
The larvally controlled creature gains a +1 on all attacks for every other larvally controlled creature within 5 squares of it.

Alignment unaligned; Languages Trignotarb

After 1 week, the larva within a recently infected creature progresses to the nearly mature stage. Replace the appropriate elements of the host creature’s statblock with the following. Retain two powers—one of which should be an at-will power—using the original damage and effects. Remove the other powers and traits.

Nearly Mature

Minion

HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
Immune disease; Resist 5 all
Action Points none

TRAITS
Emergence from the Swarm
The larvally controlled creature gains a +1 on all attacks for every other larvally controlled creature within 5 squares of it.

Alignment unaligned; Languages Trignotarb

Find your way to The Lost City of Kadralhu today by becoming a patron—and perhaps a playtester as well!