In the chill of the night, the barbarian stumbles through the dark forest, ever-vigilant of the sounds coming from all sides. Darkness came quicker than he had been expecting and now it's impossible to see to set up camp. Fortunately, the barbarian spots the ruddy glow of a fire ahead and marches single-mindedly towards it, already dreaming of a warm meal and a chance to warm up. The fire flickers and dances as he approaches and as he draws close, he can smell the smoke hear it crackling merrily, and feel the warmth right before he barrels through the underbrush into the clearing. However, he finds no campsite or fire pit. Instead, a strange creature made of wood stands in the clearing, its back lit by a cherry glow. As the barbarian gawks at the looming creature, it fixes him with a crimson-eyed glare and unleashes a strange, creaking bellow before charging him.
I've done quite a few League of Legends character builds, but I wanted to try building a monster from it this time around. Most of them can be done by simply making modifications to already existing monsters, however the brambleback seems interesting enough. I don't do a lot of plant monsters, which is something I'd like to change, but this was a fun one. I didn't want to give the brambleback a full immunity to fire, so I went with resistance, which works better with fan the flames. I don't think this is an ability that will trigger too often, but if heroes don't properly identify the creature or give any thought to what they're doing, it's a nice little punishment. It's scorching sap is meant to evoke the crest of cinders buff it grants, with the entangled condition slowing people.
Pathfinder 1e:
Nothing too off-base with the 2e version, but I did decide to include an ability meant to the big, two-handed slam it does among its attack animations. Timber! gives it something to do other than just attacking though it is another damaging ability. However, it has greater utility for creating difficult terrain, possibly forcing a creature to Stride to get away instead of just Stepping, and therefore provoking an Attack of Opportunity from the brambleback.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
Sorry, no encounters this week! Thought I had them written up but I guess I didn't save them and I'm running short on time.
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Until next time, have a Monstrous Monday!
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