Behind the Screen: Monster Making Madness I

In this next part of the Behind the Screen series, I'll be looking at homebrewing monsters. I know, not as original as making cultures, but you can never have too many viewpoints.

In this first part I will be going over the most simple way to create a homebrew monster with which to terrify your players. This method follows the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), and it requires no playtesting balance issues, carefully adjusting AC or HP or CR, or possibly any mechanical aspects at all.

Order of the Black Arrow

Tarat gulped in breaths of air, desperately trying to refill his lungs after running as faster than he ever had. The day had started out so nicely too, he and his fellows had caught wind of a fat wagon train making its way through their stretch of woods. Best of all there seemed to be no guards.

The ambush started out well enough, the merchants stopped the wagon train when they rose out of the bush. That was when Tarat noticed that all of the merchants had the same, odd haircut, perhaps some sort of merchant's guild rule? Almost as soon as Yarvo began to tell the merchants how things were going to occur, an arrow with black fletchings buried itself in his throat. 

The merchants were all drawing black bows, knocking arrows, these were no merchants! Tarat dropped his crossbow and turned around to flee, catching sight of a monstrous spider crawling out from under one of the wagons as he did so.

Tarat didn't know how long ago that was, only that he could no longer run. He hoped that he had lost the merchants that were not merchants, he prayed to the Eternal Laughter, Erb, Tetsuor, and all the myriad of gods that he had heard of.

"Going somewhere?" a woman's voice dryly asked, the smirk obvious even if he couldn't see her. 

"Another bandit job finished, bag him and bring the proof back," a deep, male, possibly dwarven voice commanded.

The last thing that Tarat experienced was the exhaustion in his muscles as the arrow pierced his skull. The bounty hunters bagged his head and took the coin pouch from his belt before returning to the wagon train. The other "merchants" were in the process of preserving the bandit heads as proof, collecting arrows, or unstringing their bows. Another day, another bounty.

An infamous bounty hunting organization with a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, the Order of the Black Arrow number surprisingly few for their influence and reach. Though no one knows for sure their numbers, some estimate that they have members in every part of the Green Coast and the Sylvanor colonies.

Originally founded in the year 326 of the Age of Expanding Coin as a bounty hunter's guild, the Order of the Black Arrow experienced a period of rapid growth. By the year 380 their ranks numbered in the thousands. However this period of prosperity was not to last, cultists to Lekorch, the Demon Lord of the Hunt, rose to positions of power within the Order. A small group within the Order noticed that the jobs they were receiving were becoming less and less about hunting criminals, and more and more about hunting those that angered anyone that could pay.

More than the change in targets, what unnerved this group was the growing attitude of treating targets like prey. The way that some of their fellows spoke, made them sound like predators instead of people. So this group met in secret, sharing their worries and concerns. They came to an agreement: they would work in secret to discover what had changed and fix it if they could. To identify each other at a glance, a specific hair cut and style was devised. Any with their hair cut and styled in this way could be trusted.

Thus they worked in secret, moving up the ranks until they learned the truth: all of the leaders were worshipers of Lekorch. Coming to a decision, the group settled on an appropriate way to deal with the demon worshipers and the hunters became the hunted. Hunting down the leaders one by one, the Order fractured and crumbled.

With the Order broken, the group that slew the demon worshipers chose to rebuild the Order but in a different form. Each of the four members went to a different part of the Green Coast and took on apprentices. Every five years they would meet to share the stories of their time apart, before returning. Those apprentices upon finishing their training were permitted to cut their hair in the same manner as their masters.

So the Order of the Black Arrow continued. No longer as open as it was in its founding, the only way to become a member of the Order is to be chosen as an apprentice of a current member. Today most members share a similar skill set, specializing in hunting, tracking, and archery while many take beasts as valued companions.

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If you like my work and want to support me, check out my homebrew race book here.

Behind the Screen: Cultural Queries Part II

Whereas last time we went over the basics of culture design, here we'll be getting much more into the nitty gritty. This is not an exhaustive list of questions to answer each and every facet of your fictional cultures, such a list would far longer and might even be impossible, but it is intended to help you flesh out and think about the culture you are creating.

Are any of these question prompts necessary? No. Will they help immerse your readers/players in your world? Most certainly.

Great Coast Games: Overview

First played in the year 608 of the Age of Dragon Fire, the Great Coast Games is a two-month long competition held between every major power in the Green Coast. Excepting the hobgoblin empire, every city-state and nation send representatives to win glory, prestige, and more than a little bragging rights for their homeland. The first Great Coast Games were held between Chor Kolav, Glastig, Argoport, and the Aetherian Kingdom, after an age of war.