The rogue dashed forward, sliding under a fallen, moss-covered tree as she heard the earth and stone churning behind her. A snarl reached her ears as her pursuer sprang after her, clearing the immense trunk with ease only to catch a face full of shield courtesy of the waiting fighter. Thrown away by the mighty blow, the creature slid to a halt, its claws digging furrows in the dirt. Vaguely feline in appearance, the fenroar appeared to be made of various types of fungus and it fixed the party with a glare as they readied themselves to face it, the grizzled fighter helping the silver-haired rogue to her feet. The fenroar began to prowl in an arc only to spring into the air – and land atop a suddenly float patch of earth and stone. It leapt again and another platform caught it, lifting it higher into the air before it leapt from its perch, descending upon the fighter that had earned its ire like a moldy meteor.
We return to the world of Dauntless for this week’s fearsome foe – the fungal fenroar. This is actually the result of a creature known as the embermane becoming affected with spores that have caused it to develop into an entirely new species that wields powerful terra abilities, manipulating the earth for offense, defense, and mobility. This is a swift foe, built as a skirmisher with a high Armor Class and low Hit Points though it has considerable offensive capability in its high attack claws and jaws as well as an extreme damage on its moderate attack tail.
Fitting its highly mobile nature, it has a few abilities to facilitate that. Among the most unique of them is likely its Stone Steps, allowing the fenroar to move unique ways, taking to the air despite being an earthy beast. As a very secondary effect, these stones fall after a round, which may incidentally deal unlimited use area damage at a moderate DC. Once it has claimed the high ground, it can spring upon foes with its Advantageous Pounce, potentially turning the momentum of its fall into extra damage. Alternatively, this can just be used on the ground but lacks extra benefits outside of action compression, which is also why it uses the flourish trait. Its final movement-based ability is Surge Through Stone. This covers the fenroar’s ability to dive through the earth while churning up soil and stone and is structured based on the nightmare’s Flaming Gallop. It deals unlimited use area damage at a high DC and includes the chance of knocking people prone as it causes the ground to roil beneath their feet.
It can express its control through its primal innate spells, with wall of stone and grasping earth actually both intended to represent the alleyways of wall it can make. I didn’t want to simply make an alley of bludgeoning damage as it felt a little boring as a design. The former of these spells allow the fenroar to wield it in a more defensive manner while the latter is meant to be the way it slams the walls together but is utility based with its way of trapping victims, holding them in place as the fenroar rampages. It also has Raising Earth to represent the vent of rocks that it blasts into the air before they come crashing down. This is a pretty standard limited use area damage with a high save DC but does have the added effect of potentially inflicting stunned on a creature.
The fenroar’s final ability isn’t really related to any mechanics in game but is instead inspired by the matter that created it – fungal spores overtaking the embermane. It can inflict a similar effect through its Spore Burst reaction, potentially causing enemies to briefly fall to the fungus and lash out randomly.
Finally, the effect of its gear is based off of the Stunning Vigour effect provided by a few pieces of its armor. I thought about having this trigger off of inflicting any condition but had trouble reconciling with how the armor actually did so. Instead, I went with the idea of needing to interact with enemies through Athletics action, providing physical contact for the armor to draw upon and fortify its wearer.
Pathfinder 2e:
As always, the big difference in Pathfinder 1e is the inclusion of feats, but there is actually another facet for this particular creature. In Pathfinder 2e, a lot of immunities were decoupled from creature, which is admittedly likely for the better. But that is not the case in 1e so while it is a magical beast, it will have Immunities based on its plant traits, demonstrating how deeply the fungi is tied into its being. It also has feats, many of which are based on its abilities in 2e. Most notable is Branch Pounce and Death From Above resembling its Advantageous Pounce. It also covers a lot of its maneuverability with options such as Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack. I don’t think 1e Stone Steps are quite as effective as they are in 2e but that’s simply due to the action economy of 1e.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Horticultural Hound: A recent treasure found by the heroes is actually the prized possession of an elemental who wants it back. To aid in finding it, the elemental unleashes his pet – a fenroar. It single-mindedly hunts its victims and once it finds them, it attracts the attention of its master. The ensuing fight becomes a race against the clock as the elemental magically closes the distance, joining the fight if it’s still ongoing by the time it arrives.
A Fun Guy to Fight: Following the death of a mu spore and the decomposition of its remains, ecological researchers have been dispatched to study the effects on the local wildlife. Their encampment came under attack and they were forced to abandon it- and possibly some of their companions. The heroes are approached by the commission that the researchers work for to investigate the area and whatever unidentified threat attacked the researchers. A venture into the forest reveals the culprit to be a fenroar, an unknown creature twisted by the remains of the mu spores and now intent on keeping its territory.
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As always, I appreciate any constructive criticism for the design of the creature as well as, of course, for the the video on the monster that you can find on YouTube!
Have a monstrous Monday!
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