i love you, my players

Here’s a list of 50 quest hooks involving creatures from both the Monster Manual and from the content I created during Shapeshifter Week. New creatures have links to the posts that contain their statistics. Existing Monsters can all either change their shape naturally, cast polymorph, or cast disguise self.

Quest Hooks (d100)

| 01-02 | A group of Doppelgangers are getting into trouble all over the city. Everyone wrongly blames the local paladin hero who the Doppelgangers have taken the form of.

| 03-04 | A Therianthrope is capturing and replacing the creatures in a certain city district with younger Therianthropes.

| 05-06 | A covey of Green Hags disguised as three humans have started a bookstore and is selling books that trap their readers in their stories.

| 07-08 | A Doppelganger has taken the place of a town’s wizard even though it can’t cast spells. Now it has to cleverly imitate the spells that the locals pay for.

| 09-10 | An Oni has taken the form of an innkeeper and is devouring the guests it deems the most “appetizing.”

| 11-12 | A Hagunemnon has appeared in a populated city and is massacring citizens like a wildfire. Everyone is in a panic but no one can determine the cause thanks to its ability to shapeshift.

| 13-14 | A Tula Hag’s mud creatures, in the shape of parents whose souls she has trapped, are going back to town and bringing their children to her river.

| 15-16 | A kraken is demanding worship from a cliff-side village of Kuo-Toa. The kraken is actually a Doppel-Gang that lives in a cave at the base of the cliff.

| 17-18 | A Monopod has accidentally gotten itself into a situation where a dwarven kingdom thinks it’s their lost king. Now it is having the dwarves raid for treasure which it hoards in its new “home.”

| 19-20 | Children have started playing relentless pranks throughout a village. When questioned, they all say they got the idea from a talking animal; really a Puca in disguise.

| 21-22 | A Doppelganger has fallen in love with a humanoid and keeps taking new forms in hopes of wooing them, but keeps getting rejected.

| 23-24 | A dwarven guide offers to guide the party through a complex cave system. In truth, it’s a Monopod that is leading them to a trap to steal their loot once they are dead.

| 25-26 | A Bouda is posing as a blacksmith in a small village. The items it makes are cursed.

| 27-28 | A damsel in distress is rescued. However, she has been replaced by a Succubus that wishes to take advantage of the damsel’s wealthy noble husband.

 | 29-30 | A hunter has offered the PCs the chance to hunt a powerful monster in return for gold. In truth, the hunter is a Weretiger that wishes to hunt them.

| 31-32 | A Sea Hag pretends to be a woman trapped on a desert island, flagging down passing ships and offering them a tropical banquet laced with Midnight Tears.

| 33-34 | A Swarm Shifter is “bugging” the offices of diplomats, and is blackmailing them using the information it has gathered.

| 35-36 | A magic item’s blueprint calls for a certain type of flower. It turns out that the flower described is actually a Blodeuwedd that knows the secrets of the item’s creation.

| 37-38 | A Doppelganger is using its talents to lift heavy pockets and get away clean.

| 39-40 | A Phasm has killed all the monsters in a dungeon in order to pretend to be all of the monsters by itself. As heroes “slay” one monster, it retreats in the form of a ghost only to impersonate the next monster that would have been in the next room.

| 41-42 | A Quasit has decided to convince young women that he is a prince disguised as a toad, and they need only to kiss him to return him to his true form.

| 43-44 | A Werebear has snuck into the ranks of a military encampment in the forest. Angry at the newcomers in its territory, it is picking off the soldiers one by one.

| 45-46 | Creatures travelling a certain road report strange surreal sightings or experiences. A Puca is to blame.

| 47-48 | A Green Slaad disguised as a dwarf mage is looking for the control gem of a Gray Slaad who hid it within a lost dwarven mine. It intends to use the gem to force the Gray Slaad to reveal its secrets of ascension.

| 49-50 | A Deva has taken the guise of a street urchin to investigate an evil cult growing in a city.

| 51-52 | A Couatl senses its impending death and seeks out another Couatl to mate with in a dangerous land. Disguised as an elven druid, it looks for heroes to help find another Couatl.

| 53-54 | An Incubus has seduced a member of the royal family and is now convincing their partner to introduce unfair laws and taxes on their people.

| 55-56 | A popular gladiator in a tusked helm is actually a Wereboar intent on spreading its curse to other pit fighters.

| 57-58 | Leshies warring over territory have led to each taking on disguises and recruiting wandering heroes to slay one another.

| 59-60 | An Aswang’s true identity has been discovered by a group of people. Now it’s trying to clean up the mess by either erasing the memories of witnesses or killing them, one by one.

| 61-62 | A Mechadaptor Titan has been built to protect a city’s vault, but the construct will no longer follow commands.

| 63-64 | A Hamrammyr has found its way near a dragon’s lair and is trying to devour more and more powerful creatures until it thinks it can kill the dragon. Powerful monsters’ corpses litter the surrounding wilderness.

| 65-66 | A Yochlol has infiltrated a group of drow rebelling against the matriarchy to tries and dismantle the rebellion from within.

| 67-68 | An Aranea seeking a certain magic item has disguised as a noble to task heroes to quest for it, promising wealth it does not possess.

| 69-70 | A Leyak is committing arson throughout a town while trying to frame other creatures for the deed.

| 71-72 | An entire forest is overrun by one gigantic subterranean fungi that is spawning Sporiforms to spread itself elsewhere. 

| 73-74 | A Doppelganger has replaced a local hero for the fame and fortune. When a great monster threatens the town, they turn to their “hero,” who wants nothing to do with it.

| 75-76 | A Silvermaster has appeared in a palace decked out with plenty of reflective decor for it to move through. Now the palace’s attendants are disappearing one by one, seemingly slain by their own weapons.

| 77-78 | A Lamia attends noble banquets disguised as a noble themselves, beguiling the rich into divulging their trade routes and shipments for it to disrupt.

| 79-80 | A mischievous fey disguised as a repairman is replacing people’s broken furniture with Mimics.

| 81-82 | A gang of Wererats are recruiting new members by spreading their curse to unwilling civilians.

| 83-84 | Imps in the form of rats are transporting hidden messages to members of a thieves guild throughout a city.

| 85-86 | A Rakshasa is selling demon-possessed magic items while disguised as a merchant.

| 87-88 | A Silver Dragon has taken up residence in a town as a kindly old woman who claims to be a historian. Their horde of artifacts is left proudly on display, with surprisingly low security.

| 89-90 | A Vampire has risen from a church’s catacombs thanks to an ancient curse. A strange mist or swarm of bats can be seen leaving the church each night at dusk and returning before each dawn.

| 91-92 | A Mimic ate a moneylender and spawned in their office. A stack of papers is a horde of Mimic Larvae.

| 93-94 | An Ultraloth has taken the guise of a guild leader for a monster hunting company. It’s tasking heroes to bring back living monsters which it then sells to evil buyers.

| 95-96 | A farmer’s wife was cursed with Werewolf lycanthropy. She tries to keep up her normal life but she awakens each morning next to dead livestock. It’s only a matter of time before she turns on her family.

| 97-98 | An ambassador has been replaced by a Doppelganger to incite war.

People have different thoughts and feelings about how to create a d&d character, and I want to preface this with the universal fact that however your group has fun playing d&d is the correct way to play d&d, and what I say here is how I and my group tend to play.

Step one: The World

When I am making a character or starting to review characters during a session zero, I consider how the concepts fit into the world of the game. I consider the setting and the tone of the game before I even start thinking of a concept, let alone a class or race.

Questions to ask your dm:

What pieces of media did you draw inspiration from for this campaign?

What is the tone of this game?

What themes will the game be exploring?

What events in the world of the game could have created an adventurer?

Step two: The Group

The second step I take is considering the group as a whole. What kind of character would fit into the group? Which group members might have a character connected with them in a way? What kind of archetype does the group need?

Questions to ask yourself:

Is my character a team player? If not, how can I justify them being in a group and not hogging attention?

What is the group missing that is integral to the game?

Is there a major theme of the campaign that is missing from the party’s motivation?

Step three: The concept

Before you assign a race and class, make a character. Give them wants, needs, and desires. Motivations for adventuring. Connections within the group. A connection to a main theme of the story and a backstory that fits within the constraints of the world. You can add in the race and class here if that helps you build a concept.

Questions to ask yourself:

What does my character want and need? What desire pushes them forward?

What would they have to achieve to stop adventuring?

What worldview does my character have that relates to a major theme the campaign explores?

Is my character value themselves over others or others over themselves?

Who will my character probably connect with in the party?

Personal freedom or structured rules?

Step four: The Mechanics

Now do all that fun character creation stuff like rolling stats and choosing a class and race.

Conclusion:

In a narrative-focused game like my group plays, having this setup for character creation will allow your DM to easily incorporate your character into major arcs of the game due to how you fit into the setting, your party will appreciate the cohesion from connecting the characters and it will make for fun roleplay encounters, Your character will have driving forces behind their decisions and the choices you make will feel more grounded in reality due to your understanding of your character’s motivations, worldview, and objectives.

P.S. NPCs

For you DMs out there, a condensed form of this formula is also helpful for making memorable NPCs. My process for making any of my NPCs is the “A DOVE” method:

Appearance: What does the character look like? Are they striking or plain? (ex: Arthur Augefort in Fantasy High is a dark skinned, bald wizard with a long white beard. He wears a purple suit that matches his eyes and carries an umbrella. In front of his left eye sits a gold monocle.)

Demeanor: What kind of personality does the character have? Usually a single adjective. (ex: Lucretia in The Adventure Zone being calm and regal.)

Objective: What does the character want from the players? (ex: Mishka in NADDPOD wants the party to rid her town of the Barbarians who have invaded.)

Voice: What sort of voice should the character have? Not necessarily an accent, but deep or high voice? Funny or grounded? How does it connect with the Demeanor? (ex: Ipskix in Escape From the Bloodkeep with his exaggerated screechy voice.)

broke d&d taverns: filled with 50+ people yet only one barman (is often the landlord is just always on shift???) and one floor staff, chef is  n e v e r  heard of, is there even more than one chef? How long are the shifts? Drinks are a pathetically small menu with barely one of each kind of beverage, usually just called ale (wtf just ale? is it dark, amber, light, hoppy, malty??), elvish wine, mead, and dwarven ale. Food? okay, basically just full englishes at any given hour, not healthy or diverse but enjoyable enough if you don’t visit regularly (would explain lack of chefs!). What’s the service time on that food? I hear people be picking bacon off trays as it’s carried past?? HOW ARE THEY CHARGING FOR THAT SHIT?? WHO’s KEEPING TRACK OF THE BILLS?? Also open in at least half capacity all night long every night!?!

I SEE YOU JERRY ‘ONE WOMAN RESTAURANT-PROPHETESS DRAN’ HOLKINS! 

I SEE YOU MATTHEW “1 BARMAID, 1 FLOOR STAFF YET INSTANT FOOD” MERCER!

NO ONE IS SLEEPING IN A TAVERN OR PUB IN THE DINING AREA, YOU GET TOLD TO LEAVE IF YOU TRY THAT ANYWHERE

woke d&d taverns: 2 bar staff, 2-3 on floor, uncoordinated checkbacks, the party is bothered at least twice. You can hear violent yelling from at least 2 kitchen staff whenever the kitchen door swings open. Opens at 8-9am (small crew of 2-3 people) shift changes at 10am (couple more), 3pm (openers leave) and 6pm (night staff). The staff are all vaguely passive aggressive when party are like that. Five meal options, and 2ish light bites. DM gets to create bunch of silly drink names and uses them interchangeably between pubs depending on regions. 5 beers, 4 whiskeys, 3-4 ciders, 2-3 wines, and a brandy. ORDER AND PAY AT SAME TIME!  How often do they have music? No motherfucker is playing lute at 11pm on the regular at the local.

“LAST ORDERS!”…half hour later *waitress* “if you ain’t got rooms GTFO now! I have kids and need to be up at 6am! *Points at barman* “He doesn’t have kids but he’s covering an midday shift so he should have been gone an hour ago!”

ADDITIONALLY: There is a union/guild called HAMAG; Hospitality Against Mercenaries and Adventurers Guild, that makes sure all adventurers are legally contracted to sign a waver and deposit gold as insurance for damages because of the sheer ridiculous amount of violence these people bring to the industry. Spontaneous pub brawls are cracked down upon, there are bouncers, and all staff have cudgels. Absolutely no motherfucker is going to run a pub when it’s at constant peril of being vandalised by nigh unkillable magical superheroes every week.

The long and short, I am  V E R Y petty when it comes to logistical details about the service/hospitality industry. And before you @me I am aware pubs and taverns are filler backdrops for revelry/meet-ups and whatever but my gods the fiscal irresponsibility kills me!

I do love warlocks thematically. They’re all scratchy and full of thin sorrows and toothy things

(Left out Celestial and Hexblade because my brain bounces off them a bit. Added in Lurker because lovecraft and oceans and tentacles, hi, yes please)

Fiend

For faustian bargains and occult dabblings:

A gambler who made an ill-advised wager and now must send 13 monstrous souls into their patron’s keeping, for those souls have their own debts to pay, and devils don’t like to be cheated

A literal fire-and-brimstone preacher who, knowing themselves already soundly damned, has decided to try and spare others by showing them exactly what they wish to bargain with

Archfey

For all your favourite twisted fairy and Arthurian tales:

A jaded, weary knight who met a lovely lady in the woods who told them that she would give them great power and prowess if only they would serve as her champion(/lover) for a year and a day

An embittered courtier who made a bargain with a fey sorceress for the ability to play the game better, in exchange for half their heart (and their ability to feel pity)

A feisty young brawler who wrestled a shapeshifting fey into submission and won beguiling spells in exchange (the fey may or may not have deliberately thrown the match)

Great Old One

For all your Lovecraftian horrors and eldritch bargains:

An absent-minded astronomer who looked through the wrong telescope at the wrong time, and now bears a dark mote in their eye, and the attentions of a far-off, unnatural star

A prisoner left to starve to death in a mouldering dungeon who felt the foul touch of something that matched and exceeded, a thousand times, any mortal hunger, and offered means to satiate it

A cool-headed merchant who bought an eldritch artefact, and is currently pitting cold logic and icy sanity against increasing gibbering horror in a (semi-genial?) battle for their mind and soul

Undying

For all your Egyptologist/Universal Horror needs:

An archaeologist who fell in love with an ancient priestess from her writings, and then unearthed her tomb only to find her still awake, patient and undead, and needing a gallant to go forth on her behalf

A dragonborn sage who was deeply upset that dragonborn lived so much shorter lives than dragons, and who searched for and gained the patronage of an ancient and sympathetic dracolich

Lurker in the Deep (UA)

For all those lovely eerie maritime mythologies:

A construct (warforged) built centuries ago to dredge a long-lost harbour, who has wandered the sea floor until gradually it gained sentience, and the friendship (?) of something else long since sacrificed to the deep

If you have any tips on organizing/keeping track of thoughts for different NPCs it would be appreciated.

To me there’s two different problems at work here, requiring two different skills to be sharpened. 

1) Most NPCs don’t actually have their own thoughts, and are just vessels the narrative takes while communicating what information the players need to know. While you might give the important ones motivations and backstory to color their expression, they’re still masks you as the DM use in your role as storyteller to direct the plot in different ways. 

Say you’ve got an adventure involving a particular ghost-haunted ruin you want the players to explore. What you need is a particular “story beat” to get the party where you need them to go, but this beat can take innumerable forms before your party decides to either bite on the right adventure hook or abandon it for another storyline they become more interested in. It can start as a rumor overheard in a tavern, then into a request for esoteric materials by an enchanter, finally a plea from a wealthy town elder to rescue their loved one. You don’t need to keep track of who “knows” the beat, only keep it in circulation among your other ideas until it’s needed. 

2) When and how to dole out information to your party, including deciding how many hoops they need to jump through and when to get it. 

I like to separate “hidden” information in my campaigns into three distinct categories:

A, Specialized knowledge: The kind of thing not everyone would know, necessitating the party seek out an expert. ( Ask around and have an encounter with an NPC, gain entrance to the archives etc) 

B, Privileged information: Things other people DON’T want you to know, requiring the party to make specialized contacts, or slip past the people who guard said information . 

C, Forgotten Lore: Information that is flat out a mystery, requiring the party to unravel conspiracies or go on full out adventures to gain access to.

When I make an adventure, generally the ways to avoid obstacles and get one’s bearings is only rank A, only an encounter with a single NPC away from being solved, where as true motivations and unseen factors are rank B. Information involving major story events is relegated to rank C. 

Here’s the trick, when the party progresses the story, all that information slips down one rank: That which is hidden is discovered by those in the know, who can drop hints about it while the party is seeking them out for more relevant knowledge, where as that which was previously valuable information becomes common gossip. 

Say there’s a murder plot going on that you want your party to be involved in after this campaign arc. It starts as forgotten lore, something the party stumbles on only if they happen to find a secret treasure trove of information, and then only as a hint. Later, as the party get closer to the murderplot, important npcs begin to know something about it, perhaps asking the party to check in on it in exchange for what they know.   If the party blithely ignores the plot, it’ll eventually become common gossip, something that NPCs can’t help but blab about for the party to overhear. 

Carnival and celebrations

Chance for players to practice role playing a bit.

Locations

Inn- Arm wrestling, eating and drinking contests

Town square/centre- Find the coin, ring toss, knock over the bottles

Town Green-Target shot, ring the bell, log toss, checkers

Food Ideas

• Candy apples, sweet and crunchy 10 silver

• Shush kabobs, lamb&haloumi, chicken&mushroom, beef&capsicum, halloumi, mushroom&capsicum 10 copper

• Apple pie and other sweet pastries 5 copper

• Hand pulled candy floss 10 silver

• Raspberry/strawberry taffy 10 silver

Drink Ideas

Main price Per Bottle(per cup is 1/4 price)

• Ale 20 copper(5 copper)

• Wine 20 silver(5 silver)

• Spirits 20 gold(5 gold)

• Fruit juice 20 copper(5 copper)

• Sarsaparilla 20 silver(5 silver)

• Sparkling fruit juice 20 gold(5 gold)

GAMES

Town Square

• Knock over the Bottles: Dex DC13, 3 balls for 25 copper knock down the milk bottles. 3 times in a row to get spell scroll animal friendship, 2 wins gets an animal plush and 1 win gets a lolliepop Run by a young halfling girl with blond pigtails and freckles, she has a sweet and cheery disposition and appearance, wearing a simple blue dress, her name is Lizzy.

• Find the coin: Int/perception Dc15. 10 silver per game, watch the cups and find the coin. If you find the coin you win an item from the Magic Item Table A. held at the shrine of luck and run by Sister Ashling, a zealous young elf who worships Tymora

• Ring Toss: Dex Dc18, 3 rings/hoops for 50 copper Throw hoops onto bottles. Win a dagger worth 25 gold. Run by a shady old man named Rowland, who is wearing a rough spun tunic, dc13 insight/perception reveals that this game is rigged and he's very sure no one will win

• Ring the Bell: Dc20. 25 silver for 1 try. Hit the bell and win an item from Magic Item Table B. Run by Falmire a tall human male with huge muscles and and a rough beard, showing off his muscled arms by previously tearing off his sleeves.

Town Green

• Target Shot: Dex DC10-20, 3 bolts for 50 silver. Hit the bulls eye of the targets to win a prize. Easy target Dc10-redbrand ruffian dog toy. Medium Target Dc13 candied apple. Hard target Dc16, bronze engraved light cossbow. Impossible Target Dc20, win 10 special +3 Crossbow bolts/arrows . This game is run by a sharp-tongued human woman Lillian Greyjoy, she seems to be advertising her weaponry and armour.

• Checkers: Int vs opponent, minimum 10 copper to enter, winner takes all. Seems to just be a friendly game set up by a few older townsfolk. 1d4 for opponents.

• Log Toss: Str vs 1d6 opponent dc 15 to succeed. 25 gold to enter. 1st place gets an item from the 250gp art object table. 2nd place prize Morningstar. 3rd place prize decorated iron flask. Run by Torin a lean and balding human male shopkeeper of fifty years with a kindly manner

Inn/Tavern

• Arm Wrestle: Str vs opponent, minimum 25 silver to enter competition.Prize = total coin added to pot.1d6 for number of opponents. Not run by anyone in specific just a congregation of burly men drunkenly having a go

• Eating Contest: Dc10 first to 5 successes wins, 5 fails you're out of the running, 10 silver to play. Prize is 25 gp Art Objects Table and the total of the all participant's entry fee minus 10% for the proprieter. 1d6 opponents. Organised by the innkeeper/bartender

• Drinking contest: Dc15 first to 5 successes wins, 5 fails you're out of the running 10 gold to play. Prize is an itdm from the Magic Item table A and the total of the all participant's entry fee minus 20% for the proprieter. 1d6 opponents. Organized by the innkeeper/bartender.

Time for a trip to the magic pet store: Here is a preview of what will be

Clockwork Dragon’s Guide to Arcane Familiars

Familiars have always been an exciting prospect for me, but 5e’s handling of them is… well, lackluster at best. To that end, I took it upon myself to retool the familiar system and provide a suitable myriad of options for people seeking to keep and train a tiny magical companion.This supplement is still in progress, and likely needs quite a bit of play testing. The final release will have a total of 100 familiars, but quite honestly, I am burnt out on familiars, and want to work on another project for while, so for now please enjoy 13 new Feats, and the first 50 familiars in this extended preview.

 As a major notice on this bit of brew: the guide to familiars is still a work in progress, and I’m still in the process not only of adding new familiars, but also sourcing all of the artwork. I don’t do any of my own art, and I always try to credit that artwork back to the original creator. The final published release of this document will contain citations and sourcing for all artwork, but as ths is only meant to be a WIP preview so you all know what I have been working on, much of that is still missing, and will be updated as I work through it.

Preview images above are low resolution, and does not contain all 50 familiars. For the latest high-resolution PDF, as well as a whole host of other work I have done, check out this handy dropbox link. And be sure to tell me what you think!