Jeff Crunch: Statting Grendel

by Jeff Harris


Grendel         
male half-thawn cave creature troll barbarian 2
Description: Grendel is a twisted and awful creature to behold.  The blood of thawn, hag, and troll mixing do little to make him physically beautiful to any.  His body is malformed and lop sided, however his miss treatment and the rage it fuels make him terribly strong and resilient.  His massive hands end in jagged claws, and sharp fangs unevenly fill a maw that suffers a severe under bite.  Grendel wears little more than a tattered loin cloth and uses a filthy moth eaten quilt as a cloak.                                                                                                                                          


Grendel CR 6
NE Large humanoid (giant, cave creature, troll, thawn)
Init +2; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +6
Aura Repulsive appearance 30 ft.
===== Defense =====
AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 16; (Dex +2, natural +7, size -1)
hp 81 (4d8+28, 2d12+15); regeneration 2 (acid and fire)
Fort 14, Ref 3, Will 2
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge
===== Offense =====
Spd 40 ft., Climb 20 ft.
Melee Claws +14/+14 (1d8+8), Bite +12 (1d4+4)
Ranged Rock +6 (1d6+8), 
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Rage 11 rounds/day, Rend (1d8+12)
===== Tactics =====
Before Combat Grendel always attacks at night, and uses the dark to pick off individuals.  Grendel seeks to use his unusual stealth to separate his target from help.
During Combat Grendel always enters rage on the first round of combat, and then targets the unfortunate soul whom he has stalked and hopefully cut off from aid.  Grendel attempts to kill targets one at a time, if attacked by more than one foe, he rips chunks from the walls or hurls furniture or other objects as missiles to keep multiple foes at bay.  If in melee with more than one foe Grendel uses his knockdown rage power.
Morale Normally Grendel fights to the death, however if he fails two consecutive saves when shown his own reflection, he flees regardless of the progress of the battle.
Base Statistics Grendel’s base statistics have been modified to reflect the effects of the barbarian rage class ability. Normally Grendel has Strength 22, Constitution 20, AC 18, and Will +0
===== Statistics =====
Str 26, Dex 14, Con 24, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 4
Base Atk +5; CMB +14 CMD 26
Feats Stealthy, Multi-attack, Nightstalker.
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +12, Perception +6, Stealth +6 (+12 in shadows or darkness), Survival +3, Swim +12
Languages Giant
SQ fast movement, knockdown (rage power), light blindness, silent hunter,  
Other Gear: Golden dragon mead horn.

===== Special Abilities =====
Repulsive appearance (Ex): Grendel finds his appearance disturbing as do other intelligent begins whether out of revulsion or pity. As such, Grendel wears a heavy cloak or otherwise obscures his countenances when not engaged in combat. All creatures with an intelligence of 1 or greater within 30 feet of Grendel must make a DC 15 Will save or be sickened for 1 round. This repulsion is all the more severe when Grendel sees his own reflection. Should Grendel be confronted with his own reflection (such as being presented with a mirror) he must make a DC 15 Will save or be sickened for 1d4+1 rounds.  However at the end of this effect if Grendel is still conscious he will automatically go enraged even if he has exhausted his total rounds of barbarian rage for the day.  If this is the case then the rage lasts 1d4+1 rounds.

Blindsight (Ex): A cave creature can discern objects and creatures within 60 feet regardless of concealment. It usually does not need to make Perception checks to notice creatures within range of its blindsight. A silence spell negates this ability and forces the cave creature to rely on the base creature’s senses.

Light Blindness (Ex): When abruptly exposed to bright light (such a lightning bolt in a dark room), a cave creature is blinded for 1 round. When operating in an area of continual bright light (such as daylight or a daylight spell), the cave creature takes a –1 circumstance penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks.

Mishelved: Beowulf

From Lit to Battleboard legit

By Frank Gori

They have seen my strength for themselves,

Have watched me rise from the darkness of war,

Dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove

Five great giants into chains, chased

All of that race from the earth. I swam

In the blackness of night, hunting monsters

Out of the ocean, and killing them one

By one; death was my errand and the fate

They had earned. Now Grendel and I are called

Together, and I've come. –Beowulf

Beowulf has some obtuse turns for a modern audience. The story builds up Grendel as the primary threat when we eventually learn that his mother is a greater threat. The two conflicts establish Beowulf as a hero, but then we skip to fifty year later when Beowulf is an old king for his last battle against a dragon.

For once I think the movie made a better story. Grendal’s mom being the most compelling villain, partly because she acts first on vengeance which for the culture was a proper response to Grendel’s death. When the hero confronts the mother she seduces and uses him, in time he is forced to face that and his own weakness.

Back to the written work, what makes Grendal’s mother a more potent threat for me is the lair. I think this is a good lesson for fantasy design, its not filled with traps but obstacles and the set up is creepy. The lair mimics a hall like the one Beowulf is from, it’s a twisted mirror of culture, modeled the same way but inaccessible to society.

Give Beowulf another read it sounds like an RPG campaign, there’s even a sword that kills the main bad guy in the dungeon. Apologies to my regulars I do not have the energy for more crunch today… Consider this another open call throw an email in the comments section and we’ll chat.

Monster Monday's: Grendal's Mother

by Frank Gori

I love Beowulf, aside from being the oldest example of a written tale in english, its also a rather good one. We see a culture's idea of a hero, and later their ideal of an elder king. We see the things that culture fears and values and its very fantasy RPG.

There's a bit of a controversy with Grendal's mother check our wikipedia for more on that...

In her natural form Grendal’s mother appears to be a repulsive mix of Green Hag and Thawn. Unfortunately few men have the mental fortitude to see her as such and she appears to be a lovely Dryad or Nixie.

Hag Thawn CR 7
XP 3,200
NE Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft. ,; Perception +17
Aura Pheromones (60 ft., DC 20 fort counts as a poison, failure makes victim mentally pliable -6 to will saves)

----- Defense -----
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+8 Nat, +1 Dex)
hp 95 (12d10+24);
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +9
Immune poison; SR 16
Weaknesses repulsive

----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +16 (1d4+4 plus weakness),
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
Constant—pass without trace, tongues, water breathing
At will—alter self, dancing lights, ghost sounds, haunting mists, invisibility, silent image
3/day— charm person, deep slumber
1/day—Aqueous Orb, Hallucinary Terrain, Rain of frogs

----- Statistics -----
Str 19, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +12; CMB +16; CMD 27
Feats Alertness, Blind Fight, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Throw Anything,
Skills Climb +13, Craft (traps) +23, Intimidate +13, Perception +17, Stealth 17(+21 amid mud or rocks), Survival +11, and Swim +29; Racial Modifiers +6 Craft (traps), +4 Stealth amid mud or rocks
Languages Aklo, Common, Giant
SQ mimicry

----- Special Abilities -----
Mimicry (Ex) A thawn hag can imitate the sounds of almost any animal found near its lair.
Repulsive (Ex) Thawn hags find the appearance of themselves and others of their kind revolting. As such, most wear heavy cloaks or otherwise obscure their countenances. All thawns within 30 feet of an uncloaked thawn must make a DC 15 Will save or be sickened for 1 round. This repulsion is all the more severe when a thawn sees its own reflection. Should a thawn hag be confronted with its own reflection (such as being presented with a mirror) it must make a DC 15 Will save or be sickened for 1d4+1 rounds.
Weakness (Su) A thawn hag's claws sap strength from those she strikes. Each time a thawn hag hits a foe with her claw attack, the victim takes 2 points of Strength damage unless he resists the weakness with a DC 16 Fortitude save.