D&D General [Eberron Homebrew] Cooking With Gaze Attacks: Droaam's Monstrous Industry

[Libertad]

With the revised Monster Manual coming out next month, I became inspired enough to return to this older project of mine. Hopefully any new and modified stat blocks won't invalidate my prior workings, but I doubt that WotC will make any particularly substantial changes in the core themes and capabilities of their iconic monsters.

Spoiler: Arachnid Warning

Pathfinder RPG, Aranea, by Nikolai Ostertag. Spoilered for arachnophobes, as it has a spider-like face.

Aranea (Monster Manual Expanded, Volume 2): Although this monster hasn’t been officially converted to 5th Edition, they are an entry in Dragonix’s incredibly popular Monster Manual Expanded series. The 2nd volume, to be exact. As they are already monsters with a presence in D&D, I’m using that stat block as a basis for this entry.

Aranea are a scattered, semi-nomadic group who keep to wild areas, preferring forests. On Khorvaire, they’re most prominent in the Eldeen Reaches and tend to ally with the Greensingers druidic sect due to their own culture’s belief system of fey worship. Virtually every aranea comes to arcane magic naturally, which their culture claims to be the result of distant fey ancestry. Their shapeshifting abilities are said to be a gift from the archfey Thelania, bestowing upon them two forms: an arachnid, to climb out of reach of predators and make webs to entrap prey. And a humanoid form, to safely walk among mortals and not draw their ire. Additionally, aranea can inflict damaging psychic attacks on foes at will, which can further weaken assailants against mind-affecting abilities, including the aranea’s own vaunted spells.

Most aranea spells rely upon enchantment and illusion rather than direct offense. It’s common for them to overlay illusions on top of webs, sharpened sticks lined with their venom, and other traps to deal with foes. Their natural telepathy lets them silently communicate with each other, able to better coordinate efforts in creating multiple illusions to work in tandem greater than any individual. Unlike changelings and doppelgangers, an aranea’s humanoid form is locked into a single unique kind, so barring individual access to long-lasting personal illusion magic, they are outshone in that area by the aforementioned shapechangers.

Aranea of Droaam keep to themselves in well-defended villages. There are communities who pledged loyalty to the Daughters of Sora Kell due to viewing them as powerful fey to respect, But just as many want nothing to do with them, acknowledging prior allegiances to existing archfey. The former group are known as Nationalists, and the latter are known as Loyalists. Nationalists broker services as silk weavers, mages, and a “human face” when Droaam’s inhabitants have to deal with Easterners. Loyalist aranea seek closer ties with their brethren up north, believing that the tried and true ways of the druids will be a more stable, longer-lasting political alliance than with the hag sisters. In fact, many Loyalists are active in the border town of Sylbaran, passing along information to the Wardens of the Wood of happenings in the country’s interior. Some even covertly transport allied druids to the Watching Wood in expectation of an eventual civil war with the Nationalists. Said action may very well be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the Daughters of Sora Kell will view it as both an encroachment from the Eldeen Reaches and an excuse to raze disloyal aranea villages.

A particularly influential tribe of aranea in the Watching Wood built intricate webworks spanning great distances throughout the forest. Taking advantage of their species’ ability to sense the locations of creatures in contact with webs, the spiderfolk can utilize a non-magical form of long-distance communication. Using code composed of nonverbal vibrations and gestures, they can transfer information to all others in contact with the web network. The process isn’t instantaneous, and the webs can be broken and thus need regular maintenance, but it is an effective alternative for those who don’t have access to Sending Stones. Although the network is currently used by both Loyalists and Nationalists, increasing political divisions has made once-friendly communities less communicative. Some have even contemplated making alternative networks entirely.

Cranium Rats: Most of Khorvaire’s scholars regard the following as qualifying criteria for sapience: self-awareness, the capacity for abstract thinking, and language without the aid of magic. Whether a being is sapient or not is often regarded as a binary state. Alterations to an otherwise intelligent or instinctual creature are largely regarded as the result of external influence rather than an innate state of being for a species, such as using the Awaken spell on animals or Feeblemind to rob someone of higher thought. The cranium rat is a peculiar exception in that it’s a being whose capacity for rational thought ebbs and flows based upon the proximity of others of their kind. THey are thus a favored dilemma by philosophers debating the question of intelligence.

For those living day-to-day in the sprawling cities and rural outlands of Khorvaire, such questions take a backseat priority. Cranium rats were created by the daelkyr to act as spies, and during the Xoriat invasion of Khorvaire the Dhakaani Empire placed a bounty on cranium rats. To this day it is common in goblinoid and orcish communities to hunt and slay such creatures with ruthless efficiency.

The animals have long since adapted to life on the Material Plane, living mostly in the wilderness and dark corners of cities. Yet occasionally they’re domesticated by those who can weather the stigma of “owning” them, notably jermlaine, xvarts, and creatures with natural telepathy. Such people use the rats as messengers, much like carrier pigeons. Collectively, courier rats would be instructed with messages they can understand while part of a larger hive-mind, but upon departing the warren they quickly revert to an instinctual frame of mind. Upon arrival in another courier warren, the rat’s enhanced intelligence would kick in and bring greater understanding of their experiences along with their original message. As a swarm can collectively cast Comprehend Languages, they are able to understand all non-coded languages. They also have immunity against mind-reading effects as well as divination in general, this makes them ideal for avoiding magical interception.

The only major setback on the use of courier rats is that those who remain in proximity to each other in large numbers for too long tend to bristle at being treated like beasts of burden and want more out of life. And their use of Command, Confusion, and Dominate Monster can easily turn the tables on their would-be “owners.” In most such cases, handlers tend to kill rats who start “thinking too much,” which ends up being used as justification for rat swarms to violently fight for their freedom.

For this reason, the few independent cranium rat colonies in Khorvaire are those who are living by themselves or in isolated places in large cities, often using Dominate Monster to gain a “helper” to provide them with food and shelter. They’ve earned an alliance with flumphs, who unlike many of the other peoples of the Material Plane are most willing to interact with them in good faith. The flumphs require little from them save for residual telepathic sustenance, a price the cranium rats can easily pay.

Cranium rats also pose a philosophical dilemma to druids: although they have the potential to be smarter than most animals and bear evident signs of aberrant origins, the cosmic principles that let a druid shapeshift into a limited set of mundane animals also apply to cranium rats. Those druids who spent time wildshaped in such a form and around actual cranium rats reported feeling a gentle yet persistent pull of something greater, an expanded sense of self, and a more intuitive understanding of the world. As such druids also inherit the rat’s telepathy and divination immunities, they are a practical option for espionage. But this isn’t widely accepted among all sects: the Gatekeepers and Ashbound react violently to druids who willingly take their forms or appear sympathetic to the animals, fearing aberrant influence. The Wardens of the Wood have been the most relatively open in using their forms, albeit more as a necessary evil and open secret, notably during the Last War in their revolt against Aundair.

Flumph: Possessing little natural means of defense, most of their kind having a benevolent nature, and advanced abilities to elude divination spells and telepathic creatures, flumphs are practically built for an evasive, non-offensive lifestyle. They are not native to the Material Plane, so those present are accidental wanderers out of Xoriat manifest zones. Attracted to stronger psionic creatures, one group of flumphs found themselves in Graywall, drawn by the presence of Xor’chylic and other telepathic beings in the city. Although of a different moral persuasion than the mayor, their keen knowledge in various subjects such as Arcana, History, and Religion made them useful as scholars and teachers. The flumphs were given a role in using their telepathy to teach Droaamish citizens important skills in exchange for shelter and payment, especially in the deriving of sustenance from the emotions of other psionic creatures in the city, notably the many colonies of cranium rats.

The flumphs helped form some of Droaam’s best institutions of learning, helping train a new generation of monstrous children about reading, writing, and the fundamental properties of cantrips. Additionally, they used their particular form of sensory telepathy to stand alert for any daelkyr activity in the subterranean tunnels snaking beneath the city. Not being powerful themselves, such flumphs are more of a warning system for more well-equipped teams to respond, than being the front lines against a dolgrim invasion.

So far, the flumphs have been a boon in developing eastern Droaam’s education system, and sit as a sort of monstrous intelligentsia in the country. Children and the younger generations are quite fond of them, having developed positive bonds with the creatures in their formative years. Furthermore, the flumphs’ morals have been pushing otherwise selfish citizens towards more productive, progressive outlooks than the oppressive Social Darwinist nature of the traditional chib system.

Of course, not everyone is a fan of the flumphs. A group of creatures whose minds cannot be read and cannot be detected by divination is prone to breed paranoia. And more reactionary and evil-aligned Droaamites are none too fond of their preaching of benevolent equality and looking out for one’s fellow monster, be they goblin or troll, humanoid or aberration. When one flumph professor was found splattered to death by a giant-sized greatclub in Graywall one night, tensions and speculation over the murder spread throughout the city and beyond. In spite of his vow to apprehend the criminal, some among the flumphs and their allies think that Xor’chylic is acting a tad too slow, given his otherwise swift response to lawbreakers in his city.

Kruthik (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): Although there’s some debate over whether they’re reptilian insects or insectile reptilians, kruthik make for quite striking figures even among the biodiversity of Khorvaire’s monsters. They almost exclusively live in the depths of Khyber, rarely staying on the surface save for brief excursions. They bear no loyalty to the daelkyr nor speak the language of their creations, and the same goes for the trapped fiendish overlords. In fact, most kruthik don’t bear fluency in any tongue save their own unique language, so their origins are mostly unknown and subject to tall tales and speculation.

As for the kruthik themselves, what few communication outsiders had with them found the monsters decidedly uninterested in the past. In fact, most kruthik view the world as cyclical yet ultimately nchanging: all that is, was. And all that is, will be. The world as they know it is a dark, crowded place full of larger and stronger beings out to kill or enslave them. Kruthik clans embody the ideals of a “warrior spirit,” of life as an endless struggle where swiftness, cleverness, and community among clanmates against overwhelming odds allow them to remain free and prosperous.

Kruthiks are nomadic tunnellers organized into extended family units known as clans. A singular leader known as a hive lord rules a clan, making major decisions for the whole community. Kruthiks subsist off of salt, mineral, and crystal growths, but prefer meat and bones when they can get it. They approach relations with other peoples as transactional: kruthiks are suspicious of apparent generosity with no strings attached, abiding by deals if the other party manages to perform a great service for the clan or offers of cooperation can earn them choice resources.

Kruthik clans do not keep slaves, and prisoners of war are disposed of or exiled as soon as possible. This is done less for moral reasons and more due to scarcity of resources, as well as the fact that daelkyr and fiendish servants are capable of telepathy and other means of clairvoyance. This means that such entities are potential security threats in the making. If a captive must be kept alive and under observation, they are stored in a small artificial cave that is sealed off by the kruthik save for a narrow hole to minimize contact with the rest of the clan.

When able, kruthiks prefer to create their own artificial or summoned servants such as constructs, elementals, oozes, and undead. Some of the more powerful clans are those who managed to take control of dwarven forges, daelkyr flesh-pits, and myconid fungal colonies after killing or driving off the original inhabitants. They repurpose the corpses and raw materials into macabre yet ingenious forms of artificing and necromancy. Ironically, it’s these few clans that transitioned into more sedentary lifestyles, and are the most hospitable to visitors as long as they have something to give or trade with them.

Unlike most other burrowing monsters, kruthik can leave intact tunnels behind them which others of the same or smaller size can safely use. Additionally, their tremorsense, darkvision, and ability to climb most walls and ceilings make them excellent hunters and scouts, and their Pack Tactics and sturdy natural armor make them deadly threats in melee. Many kruthiks often create trapped tunnels they can cave-in by boring through artificial support beams located above or underneath the tunnels themselves. It is this rare ability and combination of skills that have allowed the kruthik to outmaneuver and overcome much stronger, deadlier foes in Khyber. And to raid surface communities with startling speed.

Kruthik clans are regarded as a necessary evil by other civilizations in Khyber. Kruthik areas often serve as a buffer zone between lands full of fiends and daelkyr creations, and the monsters often view raids on such lairs as a point of pride and opportunity for treasure. Better to train them on demons and dolgrim rather than dwarven forges and kobold warrens, as the saying goes in Droaam and the Mror Holds. Additionally, other civilizations have hired small groups of kruthik to create tunnels into enemy fortifications, giving the kruthik a portion of spoils in exchange for this valuable service.

While kruthiks largely find mining to be a boring, thankless job, a particularly arrogant hobgoblin mage managed to mentally dominate a kruthik hive lord into turning a clan into an efficient bunch of tunnellers. That they raid other claims and literally cut down the competition is of little concern to the unscrupulous hob. Greater violence is sure to follow if the enchantment fails and the kruthiks blame the larger community the hobgoblin belongs to for this grave offense!

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Because of the widely different physiques of the citizens of Droaam, I wonder if the sisters of sora kell have anything like our contemporary notion of "Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance". Are all new constructions required to allow a hill-giant to pass easily through the doors? If not, would a citizen of Droaam whose body doesn't neatly fit into a world made for medium humanoids feel like a "second class citizen"? You'd think that foment alienation, rather than creating civic unity, which seems to be what Droaam is shooting for.

Imagine how much of an administrative state must therefore exist to wield the power of government in order to make people who are clearly not physically equal, equal in matters of daily life.

 

[Libertad]

Sea Spawn (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): When Droaam united as a single nation and declared independence from Breland, it served as a beacon for various people deemed “monsters” across Khorvaire who hoped settle in a more welcoming environment. While this dream doesn’t always live up to the ideal, the disparate species collectively known as sea spawn proved to be one of Droaam’s more unusual immigrants. “Sea spawn” is a collective term for beings, and the descendents of beings, who were kidnapped and enslaved by powerful aquatic entities, such as the aberrant aboleths but also the storm empires of ancient Xen’drik. Although diverse in form and features, their captors favored magical experiments that grant physical enhancements, limited amphibiousness, and mental vulnerabilities in order to make them an easily-exploited source of labor. And the sinister reputations of chuul, skum, and other aquatic beings enthralled to pelagic entities often cause communities to treat escaped sea spawn coldly. Ironically the sea spawn are all too often grouped in with willing spies and servants of the very monsters from which they sought to flee.

Although a rising power in the west, Droaam is still an underdeveloped country, and it has yet to form a formal navy. Its only port town is Vralkek, and its local militia otherwise leaves the masses to fend for themselves. When groups of sea spawn refugees began showing up on the shores of western Khorvaire, a community leader by the name of Vredias Glithain petitioned Gorodan Ashlord to grant his people residency and citizenship rights. As many of the sea spawn easily found work serving as fishers and pearl divers, Glithain hoped that Vralkek’s chib would see merit in taking them in as skilled citizens who can bolster Droaam’s coastal economy.

A rational ruler would’ve found merit in this deal: sahuagin, merfolk, and aquatic elves were already part of existing political powers and had little reason to move to Droaam, and anyone invading from the sea would prioritize Vralkek for supply lines. But Ashlord is a reluctant ruler, unconcerned with the affairs of Khorvaire and thus one of the country’s less loyal chibs. Thus, the fire giant has made the sea spawn refugees a shelved priority, leaving things up to locals on how to deal with them. Glithain and other sea spawn are well aware of his apathy, and are hoping to take the message of their plight to the Daughters themselves. Given that they cannot survive for more than a day without immersing themselves in seawater, they’ll need a hardy group of adventurers to deliver their petition to the capital city of Great Crag, in hopes that the hag sisters will have a more sympathetic ear.

Skulk (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): While most fey would proudly deny it, the development of mortal societies influences Thelanis just as much as fey influence the people of the Material Plane. The storybook logic of fairy culture is shaped in turn by the culture of living mortals. Due to this, the most prominent of archfey are those whose titles and legacies are household names passed from one generation to the next. But what happens to the stories of civilizations that no longer exist, whose cultures never passed on or been adopted by other groups?

A skulk is a fey whose folkloric archetype has failed to persist among mortal memory. As long as a tale is adapted, a character is changed, or a fictional world is built upon, a fey can survive, albeit in a very different form. So in order for a skulk to exist, a culture must be so thoroughly erased that its stories are forgotten as its final souls fade away in Dolurrh. Such acts most often arise from mass deaths accompanied by a lack of records, be it by a sweeping plague wiping away an isolated civilization or an act of genocide and book-burning to ensure a people’s utter destruction. The fey of such unfortunates almost fade away, becoming invisible, voiceless entities who others struggle to remember. Their limited invisibility is cited by those few in the know as evidence of fey origin: their ability to be seen in reflections, within certain kinds of candlelight, and by humanoid children are a combination of traits that don’t arise naturally.

Being fey themselves, the Daughters of Sora Kell managed to learn of the existence of the skulks. But it was Sora Katra who managed to earn the loyalty of several promising individuals. Seeing potential in their innate powers, she offered them the ability to be remembered, to have their deeds chronicled and be known as the nameless whispers in the night. Their names and deeds wouldn’t be acknowledged, but they will endure as the thief who absconds with small trinkets, the unseen guardian who leaves mysterious gifts, the invisible hand that causes tragic accidents to befall troublemakers, and the winds of fortune that give a lucky break to the favored of the Daughters.

Sora Katra sought to mold these skulks into an elite “shadow guard” of spies, assassins, messengers, and saboteurs, but has had mixed success. On the plus side, the fact that skulks are this way naturally and don’t leave any tracks allows them to easily conduct espionage and sabotage with minimal evidence and avoid detection of magical auras. Additionally, the average skulk is so starved for companionship and recognition that they rarely ask for anything from the hags.

On the other hand, skulks aren’t the most perceptive, and their inability to speak makes them unable to use most spells and magic items with command words. This hinders their ability to engage in more complex and delicate tasks as seen in the likes of the Mark of Shadow dragonmarked and accomplished illusionists. Furthermore, the skulks’ ability to be seen by children caused an increase in “bogeymen” sightings in Droaam, leading to many a skeptical parent needing to console their frightened offspring. Most concernedly, a few of the more ambitious skulks aren’t content to have all their work credited to the Daughters. Having already seen the fear they can spread, there’s a conspiracy of skulk celebrities in the making, leaving behind unique calling cards at the scenes of heists and accidents, including in the more urbanized areas of Breland. Tracking down the skulks responsible can earn adventuring PCs favor with Droaam’s rulers. Alternatively, siding with these skulks can give the party valuable intel on said nation’s wetwork operations.

Image From Pathfinder 2e, Bestiary 2

Xill (Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio, Vol. 1): In spite of his self-imposed isolation, Mordain the Fleshweaver is one of Droaam’s most famous individuals. His experiments created, modified, and enslaved countless creatures, and it is believed that the xill are but one of many. With their ability to effortlessly travel between the Material and Ethereal Planes, they are one of the few non-magical beings who can reliably and consistently avoid physical barriers and terrain without the downsides of long-term immaterialization.

Most xill serve Mordain, acting as kidnappers and thieves searching for items and victims of interest to bring back to the archmage. Their paralytic poison is often used to nonlethally dispatch quarries, meaning that xill raids have startlingly few casualties yet are no less vilified by their victims and loved ones. As can be expected, precious few xill have been caught and interrogated alive, with Speak With Dead having limited success when it comes to learning about Mordain’s grander plans.

Yet, there are some xill who interact nonviolently with outsiders. It is unclear whether or not these ones broke free of Mordain’s influence, as they are loath to talk about the archmage and worriedly change topics or go silent. Called Redeemer Xill by others, these ones most often take the role of unconventional exorcists, venturing into the homes of possessed people and haunted lands to forcefully drive away the intruders. The religion most experienced with exorcisms, the Church of Silver Flame, is a vilified religion in Droaam. As few such priests can be found here, these xill fulfill a useful societal niche as professional ghost hunters in the country, although they hunt all manner of ethereal monsters beyond ghosts such as phase spiders. This is not enough for many communities to accept the Redeemer Xill with open arms, so they are often tolerated to stay just long enough to do their jobs before leaving for the next contract several towns over.

 

[Libertad]

Because of the widely different physiques of the citizens of Droaam, I wonder if the sisters of sora kell have anything like our contemporary notion of "Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance". Are all new constructions required to allow a hill-giant to pass easily through the doors? If not, would a citizen of Droaam whose body doesn't neatly fit into a world made for medium humanoids feel like a "second class citizen"? You'd think that foment alienation, rather than creating civic unity, which seems to be what Droaam is shooting for.

Imagine how much of an administrative state must therefore exist to wield the power of government in order to make people who are clearly not physically equal, equal in matters of daily life.

This can be an interesting public works project for the PCs to support. Such a thing will need lots of funding and cooperation, particularly if it's done beyond the local level. I sort of hinted at this with my entry on mephits and some debates on whether or not to make contracts with the Dragonmarked Houses for public works projects, and how this would run up against the already-local construction company in the tiefling city of the Venomous Demesne.

But back towards your question! While this is my own personal interpretation, Droaam strikes me as a nation that isn't centralized enough yet to have this kind of wide-reaching law. Accomodations for creatures of different sizes and biologies would be most common in the bigger cities, but the sourcebooks mention that most communities are still largely monospecies. Most harpy aeries likely wouldn't have elevators or ladders for flightless people to easily travel around, save perhaps for individual meeting points with traders.

That being said, there is evidence that Droaam is moving socially towards making comingling as painless and practical as possible. At least in the larger population centers Frontiers of Eberron has a few magic items for such purposes, such as a belt that lets the wearer shrink or grow to Medium size and can thus allow for goblins and ogres to fit comfortly in rooms and on furniture for human-sized folk. Additionally, Exploring Eberron's chapter on Droaam talks about how the government provides free food to all citizens in the form of grist mills that serve regenerating troll meat, and Droaam communities also have free public housing. Said public housing is still low quality and consists of little more than a roof over one's head and a bunch of blankets in a communal space, but it does look like the Daughters of Sora Kell and those loyal to them have a vested interest in attending to the basic needs of citizens. Also, some of the more progressive population centers have given more rights to kobolds, goblin, and weaker monsters, who tend to be the staunchest supporters of the Daughters as a result.

That being said, this doesn't mean that Droaam is a harmoniously progressive space. There's still a lot of resentment and tensions between various monster populations and chibs, and I tried to reflect that in my posts. Droaam, like a lot of societies in both reality and fiction, has many contradictory aspects at war with itself.

 

[Zaukrie]

Still remains a truly amazing thread

 

[Libertad]

Image from Heroes of Baldur's Gate

Gibberling (Heroes of Baldur’s Gate & Quests From the Infinite Staircase): Calling themselves the zarsh, the gibberlings’ more common title by outsiders arose from their non-stop chatter. Much like how a dog won’t get tired or a sore throat from barking all day and night, a zarsh’s biology and psychology are built to support this. Their language is a tonal one composed of monosyllabic words, where a single word can have many meanings based on the pitch and volume. This is because zarsh developed a need to convey as much information as possible in a short amount of time, as every second counts when evading Khyber’s dangers.

The zarsh hail from various levels of Khyber, preferring to remain close to the surface and away from the more dangerous denizens deeper underground. While their origins are uncertain, there is evidence that daelkyr and fiends alike had heavy involvement in their peoples’ development.

Zarsh societies are leaderless communes where major decisions are decided by majority vote. Their dwellings are a nonstop chorus of conversation, filled with work-songs, debates over daily tasks, reports of significant events, and a myriad other topics going through the community at any one time. Zarsh are used to holding conversations with multiple people at once, taking in a huge amount of information in a short amount of time, although they have difficulty doing this when speaking other languages than their native tongue. Every zarsh owns a dagger or shortsword among their personal belongings. Such weapons are worn with age and use yet treated with reverence, passed down from parent to child. They serve as a reminder that every member of the commune must take up arms to ensure the survival of the many. There is no distinction between civilians and soldiers in zarsh culture, which has led to instances of tragic brutality when they waged war on each other as well as outsiders.

In Khorvaire, the larger-sized races often dismiss the zarsh as primitive savages, believing them to be a devolved goblinoid offshoot. The goblinoids don’t view them much better, thinking them to be one step above animals. However, the zarsh managed to earn some measure of respect in Droaam during the Last War, where they proved surprisingly efficient against Brelish troops.

One of the zarsh’s more notable traits is their extreme mental resilience against enchantment. While they may be tricked and intimidated by mundane measures, most magical compulsions cannot find purchase in their minds. Additionally, zarsh have been raised from birth to fight in large units: beyond the advantage of numbers, the presence of their companions instills in them a nigh-supernatural level of alacrity. Spells that would entangle, restrain, or stun may work on an individual zarsh, but when assembled into a swarm they become unstoppable. The zarsh’s war cries were designed to make it harder to concentrate on spells, and when combined with the former immunities made them ideal combatants to send against spell-wielding soldiers and magewrights.

These advantages didn’t last long, as their intense fear of fire and light caused great setbacks, but they made enough of an impression in early battles to make a name for themselves in the new monster nation. In post-war times, Droaamish zarsh live in the deep forests and mountains, with some communities in the tunnels beneath the Great Crag and Graywall. They tend to be self-sufficient foragers in the wilds, and manual laborers in the towns and cities. Zarsh don’t work well with others given that other races find their nonstop conversations distracting, but when allowed to regulate among themselves they make for extremely coordinated workers.

PS: Gibberlings in 5th Edition have two sets of stats. Technically three, for a Gibberling Swarm. One from Quests From the Infinite Staircase, and one from Heroes of Baldur’s Gate. While both stats differ in several ways, they both have enough similarities that I feel I can include both. Infinite Staircase can reflect gibberlings whose ancestors were created by fiendish overlords, while Baldur’s Gate can reflect those of daelkyr origin.

Verbeeg (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden): Verbeeg are giants renowned for having humanlike facial features in comparison to ogres and trolls. They have lanky builds which make them more nimble than most giants, and their adroit dexterity makes them surprisingly nimble fighters and athletes to those who underestimate them as yet another “slow, big brute.” Verbeeg have a long history of comingling with ogres and hill giants in Khorvaire, and adopted many of their customs and traditions. But what is distinct about their culture is their reverence for creatures of the natural world, and verbeeg communities specialize in particular forms of animal husbandry which they use for food, labor, and trade. They even domesticated bears and wolves, and have a special social class of rangers known as Longstriders who master primal magic to defend natural sites.

In modern times, verbeeg operate farms and ranches in western Khorvaire, and in Droaam have positive relations with the Gaa’ran orcs and worgs. The pacifistic orcs have found it advantageous to call the giants their friends, for the verbeeg don’t shy away from fighting and often took the “speak softly, but carry a big stick” approach in dealing with those who’d threaten the Gaa’ran farms. It’s not uncommon for raiders and exploitative chibs who treat the orcs poorly to find themselves harassed by falcons, bears, and otherwise wild animals who are operating not by instinct but instead by advanced training and tactics.

But the verbeeg’s greatest possible threat to their way of life comes not from their warlike neighbors, but the expansionist Dragonmarked Houses. House Vadalis in particular sought to take over their livelihoods, and their industrialized farms don’t have the same standards of ecological respect that the verbeeg are known for. Several verbeeg ranches initially welcomed House Vadalis in good faith, and quickly came to regret the decision as they quickly took the farms over and used mercenaries from House Deneith and House Tharashk to deal with any complaints and dissent. The verbeeg suffered during the Last War as much as anyone, and the older generation are mostly too war-weary to risk reprisal. But younger and more zealous verbeeg seek to carry on the fight.

 

[Libertad]

Barghest: Natives of Mabar, these wolflike fiends slip into Eberron when that plane’s coterminous and also via linked manifest zones. They are fond of hunting mortal and fey souls, taking on the forms of goblins to lull people into a false sense of security by posing as a weaker creature. They are hunters par excellence, their blindsight allowing them to sense others regardless of visibility, they can be nigh-undetectable with effortless use of Pass Without Trace, and telepathy lets them silently communicate with allies. Their limited ability to call upon enchantment magic and cast Dimension Door evens the odds in getting out of risky situations. Combined with the fact that fiend-worship bears less of a social stigma in Droaam, summoners and some magically-inclined chibs often use barghests as spies and assassins, particularly for getting rid of targets who have a fair chance of being resurrected or in generating distrust and hatred against or within goblinoid communities. Such periods of alliance and servitude are short-lived, for barghests relish freedom and take the opportunity to run off and go into hiding once their terms of service are up. They’re too rare and distrustful of each other to make lasting societies of their own, so they often live solitary existences in Khorvaire’s wilds or in disguise among goblinoid communities, using their social skills and enchantment to bend others to their will.

During the days of the Empire of Dhakaan, barghests were called “Gek’shera,” or “Thieves of Valor.” They are so named for two reasons: the first is that by taking the forms of goblins instead of striding openly in their true forms, they were disrespecting the sacredness of a warrior fighting honestly. And in taking the souls of the fallen, they were viewed as seeking to erase the participants in a battle’s history in the most hated way, in wiping out the trace of their foes. In the millennia since, barghests have taken on various other explanations by various cultures, although they are invariably treated with fear and disdain. A barghest’s fear of fire given its ability to banish them back to Mabar is often attributed to ancient enmities against Dol Arrah, the Silver Flame, Siberys, or whatever entity of light and morality is dominant to a certain culture.

The barghest’s ability to assume goblin form has been the subject of scholarly debate. As for barghests themselves, they either don’t seem to know or care about their origins. And they lie and give contradictory information to summoners to encourage disinformation. One theory is that barghests in Khorvaire are modeling themselves off of that continent’s longest-running empire, and are choosing a people associated with societal longevity. Another theory is that barghests, being fiends, also enjoy engendering hatred and mistrust. By taking the form of a now-disenfranchised group, they can make them into scapegoats for the barghests’ killing sprees, and many acts of repression and violent bigotry against goblins often use a supposed barghest sighting as an excuse. The fact that barghests are also commonly mistaken for lycanthropes has led to many tragedies during the Silver Crusade, something the fiends were all too happy to take advantage of in order to weaken the Church of Silver Flame’s hold in communities.

Norker: Called Tessur’dar, or “unyielding people” in Goblin, norker are short like goblins but much more physically resilient given that their calloused skin and fortified skeletal structure acts as natural armor. Their presence dates back to the Empire of Dhakaan, where they were deployed as frontline infantry in warfare while overseen by hobgoblin officers. During times of peace and in post-war Khorvaire, norkers often worked in manual labor such as mining. The term norker comes from the phrase ‘nork,’ a popular onomatopoeic war cry among their people. It is said that norkers were made from a Dhakaani ritual of “living artifice,” where the essences of stone and metal were combined with goblins to make them stronger in battle. Norkers are fond of telling this to others, and gravitate towards martial occupations as a means of earning money and respect for their families. During the Last War, norker warrior societies were often referred to as “naked militias” based on the fact that many intentionally eschewed the use of armor and even clothes in battle as a means of displaying their tough nature. Traditional armies’ reluctance in equipping norkers with proper gear beyond clubs, shields, and slings made them take pride in being able to make do with so little.

Norkers can be found in small concentrations wherever goblins live. In Droaam, they are looked down upon by bigger and stronger monsters, although they’ve earned a particularly ornery spirit that makes them poor slaves. Many chibs opted to simply kill them, often treated as little better than vermin. This has caused their numbers in the country to be quite low. With the Daughters of Sora Kell declaring nationhood, norkers along with goblins and kobolds are one of the hags’ more loyal political blocs.

Image from Ptolus: City by the Spire

Oni: One of the most powerful species in Droaam, oni make up a disproportionate amount of chibs and political authorities in the country. Cousins to ogres, their physical strength and assortment of magical powers make them skilled fighters, which many oni families used to cement their own dynastic lineages in western Khorvaire.

Khorvairan oni attribute their personal powers and social status to being blessed by the Dark Six. They credit the Devourer for teaching them to harness the power of the storm by giving them flight and the ability to conjure Cones of Cold. They teach that the Traveler taught them to take the forms of various humanoids and giants, while their ability to rapidly regenerate wounds is from making regular sacrifices to the Keeper to give them more time on Eberron. And they invoke the Shadow’s name as divine right to rule, saying that if a worthy contender comes along then the god would back the winning side in a power struggle. This has often been used by successful rebels, oni and non-oni alike , just as much as it has been used by keepers of the status quo. The oni themselves see no contradiction in this: conflict keeps society from becoming stagnant, and while Droaam may be hag-ruled they are still sitting in privileged positions.

Oni are most fond of using glaives in battle for their reach, and the weapon has major cultural significance based on the Tale of Agrin. The Tale is a poem about an oni who defeated a seemingly-invincible demon. A seer said that the only one who could harm the demon was the demon itself, so Agrin fashioned a polearm by taking one of the demon’s shed teeth and fashioned it as the blade of a glaive. Agrin’s example teaches the virtues of cleverness and using an enemy’s strength against them, and it is customary for oni to fashion their own magic glaive as a coming-of-age ritual. The glaive’s ability to change in size based on the oni’s form is part of the ritual, and in line with the lessons of adapting to different circumstances.

Although learned behavior from rulership and Droaam’s violent history encourage many oni to act as tyrants, their capability to take on other forms and turn invisible lets them walk among other people unnoticed, providing insight into what it’s like to be a much smaller creature and to learn how they’re regarded by those they rule over in supposed confidence. This has led some oni to develop a more understanding and empathic attitude, leading to some more enlightened chibs to try and rule fairly. But it just as likely convinces oni to hold onto the power they have all the tighter, convinced that softening the grip will lead to them becoming the oppressed instead.

 

[Libertad]

Image From Monster Manual Expanded II

Deep Scion (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): Deep scions are made, not born. Each one is a person modified by the fell magic of a powerful undersea entity. Krakens and aboleth in particular rely heavily on servants who can move and survive on land to keep them abreast of news in these unreachable areas. Unlike sea spawn, skum, and chuul, deep scions are infiltrators engineered for extended operation inland. Their unique ability to telepathically transfer their memories to their masters is an effective and cost-efficient means of long-distance communication, and their ability to change shape into a humanlike form helps them avoid fear and harassment. Unless possessed of special talents and training before their enthrallment or given it afterwards, deep scions do not have innate magical and psionic abilities beyond their telepathic screech and memory-sharing. Their masters rarely send them into battle or high-risk areas, instead preferring the chuul and other creatures for those purposes.

The increased amount of traffic in the Thunder Sea due to exploration and colonization of Xen’drik is of great interest to Eberron’s oceanic civilizations, particularly in regards to retrieved valuables and eldritch artifacts. Additionally, the immigration of kalashtar from Sarlona escaping Riedran aggression, as well as Riedran trading vessels, brings opportunity of the psionic variety from this distant continent. Recent centuries saw a cabal of Thunder Sea aboleth preying upon smugglers, pirates, and gangsters. People whose deaths come as little shock to anyone, and who already have connections in the criminal underworld and fearsome reputations.

Criminals formerly believed lost at sea that come back as deep scions are given a cover story after being conveniently deposited in a port town. Ideally they’d reconnect with their comrades and be welcomed back into their organization. By implanting these double agents, the aboleth seek to use Khorvaire’s organized crime syndicates to enmesh themselves in its black markets. Deep scions are frequently found on missions involving the smuggling of intercontinental magic items and artifacts, slave trafficking of Sarlonan refugees and Xen’drik natives, raiding places of interest to the aboleths under the guise of an existing pirate fleet, and blackmailing dockmasters, naval officers, and other persons of authority. Most syndicates are unaware of these double agents, although a few willingly enter into deals with the aboleths in exchange for power. The former group can be allies to PCs who are enemies of the aboleth and who can stomach working with the lesser evil.

Lycanthrope: Once more numerous, lycanthropes are nearly extinct on Khorvaire. The survivors of the Silver Crusade fled into the more remote reaches of the continent, Droaam being one such destination. As a land that shared a hostile stance against the Church of Silver Flame, this outweighed its reputation as a monster-filled region for some survivors. In modern times Droaam is notable for having two organizations of lycanthropes: the Beast Brigade mercenary group and the Dark Pack. The latter of whom still seek to keep their existence hidden, despite being given protection by the Daughters of Sora Kell.

As the curse of lycanthropy only affects humanoids, a sizable percentage of Droaam’s population are immune to it. Most Droaamish lycanthropes (both natural and afflicted) are drawn from orcish, gnoll, goblinoid, kobold, and shifter stock. Natural lycanthropes are part of their own close-knit communities made up of extended family members. They are careful to only infect volunteers who earned the community’s trust. When using their natural weapons in battle, they take pains to infect someone they are confident enough in killing. This is to avoid others from discovering their existence should a foe manage to flee. The vast majority of unintended infections come from afflicted lycanthropes, who don’t have full control of themselves. Most lycanthropes choose to remain either in animal or their base form, changing shape into hybrid form when the opportunity for discretion is long past. Animal forms are used to take advantage of unique senses and methods of locomotion, such as increased size to scare off rivals, excellent hearing or smell to detect ambushes and track down quarry, and natural weapons to ensure that one is never truly unarmed. It’s for these reasons that the weaker species of Droaam most often seek out lycanthropes, viewing their powers as a means to gain an edge. Most of the time they’re rebuffed at best, killed at worst should they be lucky enough to find a community. But for those who earn this dubious honor, sometimes the rumor of a lycanthrope in a goblin or kobold clan can deter raiders and rivals in looking for easier pickings.

While the various animal forms common to lycanthropy aren’t as dangerous to an ogre or troll as they are to the average human, their immunity to all forms of nonmagical physical damage that doesn’t come from a silver source gives them an amazing edge in fights with Droaam’s monstrous population who mostly rely on brute strength. This has given risen to a popular saying: “a brawl between a troll and a werewolf” is an indicator of a conflict or dispute with no clear solution in sight. However, the myriad unique features of Droaam’s various monsters has been quite the equalizer: venomous creatures can still harm lycanthropes provided that their method of injection doesn’t require breaking the skin, a medusa's petrifying gazes work just as well, and hags and other monsters with psionic and magical attacks can easily make up for a lack of silver. These factors do much to convince arrogant newcomer lycanthropes that Droaam isn’t a region they can effortlessly take over.

During the Last War, lycanthrope soldiers would afflict an enemy soldier or civilian and let them free during nights on or close to the full moon. If the infection remained undetected, they would transform and turn on their allies and neighbors. This tactic, while accepted as a necessary evil when fighting Breland, is much less popular when Droaamish citizens fight each other. One for the fact that biological warfare is less easily controllable, and two for the fact that this can tip off a previously-unaware community to the lycanthropes’ existence in their midst. Several lycanthropes who sought to apply their wartime tactics to resolving personal disputes begotten tragic consequences of spreading intra-community paranoia, unintended casualties, and encouraging people to start finding silver weapons and hunting lycanthropes down like the days of old. In wartime, the lycanthropes had the aid of other monsters when fighting the Brelish. in peacetime, they no longer have that ace up their sleeve.

Ogres of War (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse): During the Last War, ogres were least-adapted among Droaam’s monsters in fighting the more industrialized Brelish soldiers. Harpies and gargoyles had aerial capabilities, hill giants could throw massive objects at great distances, Znir Pact gnolls had the best archers and their own regimented martial culture, oni had ample magical powers, medusae could turn others to stone with but a glance, trolls could safely ignore most sources of harm, and orcs and goblinoids could repurpose most weapons and armor from the Five Nations. The ogres had none of the aforementioned advantages, and combined with their large forms they suffered some of the highest casualties from siege weapons and wandslingers.

The advantages of ogres in number and physical strength was still too much of a boon to give up, so the Daughters of Sora Kell came up with ways to adapt ogre soldiers to modern warfare. The Skullcrusher Ogres served as distinguished members of their species. Raised from childhood for the purposes of war, they had quality equipment and training in comparison to their peers.

Although Skullcrushers were the most famous unit, Droaam created other less prestigious yet effective ogre units. The Bolt Launchers adopted ballistas as portable weapons, taking advantage of their long range and devastating power in order to reliably engage with distant combatants. Battering Rams were designed to destroy enemy fortifications and siege weapons while also preventing cavalry and vehicles from passing by them in key chokepoints in the Graywall and Byeshk Mountains. Howdahs were made to provide protection to Small-sized archers and double as troop transports given the lack of lightning rails in the country. Chain Brutes were outfitted with whiplike chains to knock down multiple enemies at once.

These ogre units find no lack of opportunities in post-war times. Chibs still find reasons to fight each other, and House Tharashk heavily recruits ogres from these four units. Some even found applications of their gear and talents in civilian jobs. For instance, a legion of ogre firefighters and construction workers in Graywall use Battering Rams to engage in controlled demolitions and in breaking down the walls and doors of burning buildings to rescue people. Howdahs hire their services as multi-passenger rickshaws. More than a few goblins and kobolds of means have taken to hiring their own personal howdahs as status symbols, relishing the ability to literally look down on others for a change of pace.

 

[Libertad]

Still remains a truly amazing thread

Thank you. Hearing these words of encouragement helped me press on in writing more for it.

 

[Zaukrie]

Thank you. Hearing these words of encouragement helped me press on in writing more for it.

I can't imagine ever using all of this, but it's very inspirational. And well written. I'd sell this on dmsguild if I was you