Frozen Foes and Adventure Epilogues
This issue is all about 5e homebrew! So far this newsletter has kept its focus on D&D, but starting next issue we will be branching into a few other TTRPGs—including one I wrote myself. Let me know if there’s any RPG you want this newsletter to cover. We’re always on the lookout for new games to play!
—Brian Flaherty
This Week in The Fractured Realms…
Monster Mash - Two abominable snow creatures for your winter games
DM to DM - Steal the Credit, Extend the Game
Loot Box - Blight, a stinking sphere to rot your foes
Schedule - Upcoming releases in The Fractured Realms
Loot Box: Blight
A stinking sphere for your fetid foes
History
Blight was designed by Mirin, the Maker and is one of the nine Divine Artifacts. Commissioned by Viz Kyne, the Rotting, Blight is a self-sustaining, semi-sentient instance of the necromantic blight spell contained within a spherical magical membrane. It was designed specifically to kill enemies through necrotic rot rather than total annihilation–as seen in items such as a sphere of annihilation–to allow Viz Kyne to raise the slain creatures as undead servants.
Features
Though it is neither verbal nor telepathic, the orb can emit a number of foul smells as a form of crude, olfactory-based communication. Though few have been close enough to smell blight and live to recount their observations, some sources of dubious origins have assigned the following smells to common emotions:
Trash Juice = Happiness
Burnt Toast = Disappointment
Skunk Spray = Humor (maybe laughing?)
Body Odor = Interest
Rotting Fish = Displeasure
Mold = Hunger
The orb has not been seen in centuries and is believed to still be in the possession of Viz Kyne. However, the orb leaves a distinctive trail of blue tinted mushrooms anytime it comes in contact with non-magical vegetation. These mushrooms have yet to be cultivated through any natural or magical means and are prized for their use in fine dining. Though quite rare, veins of them are discovered with some regularity throughout Riven in a variety of climates and environments.
(Blight first appears in Canon Fodder Ep.6 - The Many Stenches of Viz Kyne, the Rotting with Nathan Yaffe)
Steal The Credit, Extend The Game
An easy epilogue to any adventure
What do heroes want even more than beating the big bad evil guy? CREDIT for beating the big bad evil guy (BBEG, for short). Whether this comes in the form of gold, or items, or just notoriety, PCs want everyone to know exactly who slayed that dragon, beholder, or ancient eldritch horror. So if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to bridge the gap between villains, consider doing the unthinkable: have someone steal all the credit.
Story time! The first campaign I ever ran was Tomb of Annihilation for a group of three friends who were all experienced players. They made their way through the adventure and were sure to remind every NPC they came across exactly who and how great they were. They trampled over my NPCs, ignoring threats or status in the way a party of murder-hobos ignores the sanctity of life. They wanted to solve the mystery and end the death curse, but more than anything, they wanted the glory that came with it.
In the end they beat the BBEG, ended the death curse, and made their way back to town to bathe in all the accolades and riches they were owed for their heroic deeds of derring-do. But when they arrived and the bard began to sing a song of their triumph at the local tavern, the crowd all scoffed. “You didn’t do that,” they said, “Ubtao ended the death curse.” And thus began their quest to expose the charlatan masquerading as a lost god in order to win back the credit they so rightly deserved.
This ended up being everyone’s favorite arc of the campaign. There were lots of reasons for this, but I think it was largely because they finally had a real stake in the adventure. At the start of the adventure, they met an NPC who was afflicted with the death curse and went off to save them, but by the time they got back they barely remembered why they had gone into the jungle the first place. They weren’t invested in the plot hook. But after 30+ sessions, they cared deeply about their story and their reputation. The moment that was threatened, they were all in.
If you’re looking for your next plot hook, consider having someone steal credit for their actions. The culprit could be an enterprising minion the party let escape, a new villain they’ll now be keen to defeat, or even a longstanding rival getting ahead of them by any means necessary (see my recent article on Building a Good Rival). By delaying gratification just that little bit longer, your players will have that much more fun when they finally succeed…again.
Monster Mash
Winter Creatures with a Chilling Bite
Abominable Snowball
Adventurers should be wary of more than just yetis when they find themselves trudging through a blizzard. Abominable Snowballs are small elemental creatures originally enchanted as elements for a popular winter sport called Frost Ball (rules to come in a future newsletter), but when a certain prominent Frostball team attempted to “defrost” some of these snowballs to gain an advantage in an upcoming game, the enchanted snow grew feral and attacked, consuming the team’s captain, Bomb Traedy, and creating the first abominable snowman. Now these snowballs lurk in blizzards and squalls hoping to find a new host to bolster their frozen ranks.
Abominable snowballs are always found in packs. A single snowball is weak and easily dispatched, but in a group they aim to attach themselves to a creature, restraining them, before freezing them to death and consuming them to form a new abominable snowman. Without a means of mobility, they rely on the strong winds of a blizzard to grant them a limited fly speed. Without an outside force, they can only roll at a glacial pace (pun absolutely intended). In either case, they prefer an early ambush on a solitary target in order to slow it enough to overwhelm it. Though they prefer lone prey, they will still attack an adventuring party if they encounter one. In that case, the snowballs will focus their efforts on one creature, hoping to kill it quickly and turn them into an abominable snowman with a better chance of consuming the entire party and expanding the nascent snowman empire.
Abominable Snowman
Abominable snowmen are formed by the freezing and consumption of a creature by a swarm of abominable snowballs. Unlike its constituent spherical parts, an abominable snowman is not easily dispatched with and utilizes its snowy environment to regenerate its body whenever injured. This creature is able to create more abominable snowballs from its own body, often hurling them at prey in order to slow and, eventually, consume them. In this way, a single abominable snowman is capable of building a frozen army with the ability to overwhelm a small city.
Since they draw much of their strength and tactical advantage from wintery climates, they are rarely found below the perpetual snowcaps of the tallest mountains or outside arctic regions where heavy snowfall is common. Explorers and inhabitants of these regions would be wise to always have a source of fire on hand, as it is the most effective deterrent of these creatures.
2/10 - Canon Fodder w/ Kevin Bauer (Nerdy for 30)
2/14 - Twenty Sided Podcast Ep.12 (Prisoners of the Static arc)
2/16 - My First Dungeon Season 2 Trailer
2/17 - Canon Fodder w/ guest TBA
2/21 - Twenty Sided Podcast Ep. 13 (Prisoners of the Static arc)