The sorceress struggled with leafy tendrils and creepers that crawled over her form, attempting to restrict her movement. Not far from her, the ranger berated the barbarian for instigating the conflict with the source of the vines entrapping them, and he snapped back in kind. Both seemed to have forgotten the very creature they were discussing – a burly quadruped wrapped in pebbly green scales. Thick curling horns extended from its head, which it lowered as it pawed at the ground. She tried to call out a warning, but it fell on deaf ears. The beast exploded forward with ground-shaking force, fully pulling the pair from their argument. Its horns dipped down, hooking and tearing up the vegetation that it trampled through. It impacted the barbarian with terrible force, showering him with earthen debris that sent him sprawling. Then, the brawny beast turned its gaze upon the rest of the party.
This fearsome farmer forces foes from its fields with ferocious flings and forceful flourishes, fully focused on fighting for and fostering its flora and fauna.
This is the latest in my lineup of wingless, quadrupedal dragons known as tarragons. With each tarragon reflecting an aspect of humanoid society, field tarragons are mostly associated with agriculture and the domestication of animals. They excel at working on the farm, whether it be tending the crops, rearing and guarding animals, or simply readying the fields for the next planting season. All tarragons share a symbiotic bond with humanoids, but the field tarragon is often the bridge between civilization and a tamed form of nature. With this concept, they use a lower level – one that puts them above any farm animals and most predators that would menace them, but nothing too crazy. They have a bit of a focus on being durable, almost-support sort of creatures, which we see with their focus on Constitution. This is also apparent with their only moderate attack bonuses and moderate Armor Class though their bulk and burliness does lead to moderate to high damage and high Hit Points (which I almost made higher).
Their Tender’s Aura further exemplifies this and covers their purpose as a protector of their home farm, empowering the other creatures that live upon it to aid in its defense. This is very different from the other auras I’ve given the other tarragons, but it fits with the feel of community common in rural areas. Its other abilities are a bit more directly activatable, with it able to Push creatures that it hits with a tail Strike. Its high Athletics means that it has a decent chance at a critical success on these checks, which lets it trigger Hurl Bale. With this, the tarragon stabs prey with its pitchfork-like tail and then hurls them over its shoulder just like one might do with some hay or straw. This is nice to help the field tarragon escape from flanking or simply reposition enemies and make them waste actions. While auras are common abilities among tarragons, breath weapons are the regular among dragons, and the tarragon does indeed have one. Though calling it a ‘weapon’ might be a stretch. Bolstering Breath has some usage in its day-to-day life, but can also potentially lock down hostiles. Since it doesn’t deal damage normally, it uses an extreme DC though the Escape DC is moderate because during the test, which was just an easy encounter, the players were really struggling to get free.
This ability uses a fairly low cooldown of only 1d4 because it can actually combo with itself. If the field tarragon uses Bolstering Breath over an area of difficult terrain created by vegetation, such as the initial area it created with it, it instead becomes hazardous terrain. This deals very minor damage but it plays into another part of the field tarragon’s kit – its Earthchurning Charge. This is a classic ability along the lines of Sudden Charge or Powerful Charge that, at the very least, has some nice action compression with two Strides and a Strike. When the field tarragon does this charge, it lowers its horns, tearing up the ground and using it to batter creatures. This is translated into extra damage on its horns Strike, using a baseline of 2d4, which increases those horns to an average of extreme damage. However, if the field tarragon moves through hazardous terrain instead, the damage dice increase by a step and the extra damage type changes to match the damage type of the hazardous terrain. This meshes nicely with its Bolstering Breath as does its Roughshod ability although as a passive effect, it’s a bit less interesting. This is a mechanically useful effect for it and one that I debated on including. But I feel like it makes sense for this creature to move through dangerous terrain that it’s clearing out for a new field to be unaffected by said terrain.
PATHFINDER 2E:
BLUE’S D&D 5E:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Rural Rage: Raiders have been attacking farms on the outskirts of a kingdom and the heroes been tasked with conducting reconnaissance - or are simply passing through the area. When they come across a farm that has been burnt down and its livestock slaughtered, the only survivor is the farm's field tarragon. It might be pierced with a number of weapons that were unable to kill it, and in its rage, grief, and pain, it attacks these unfamiliar faces. Outside of merely slaying the creature, players might try to pull free the weapons piercing its hide to calm it down.
Fracas on the Farm: A druid turned farmer has not lost his resentment of cities and the like. The primalist has been breeding and rearing its livestock into monsters. The heroes have uncovered this threat and been tasked with putting a stop to it. However, when they arrive, the initial line of defense is a field tarragon that is bound to the farm. It attacks them, accompanied by some of the druid's completed creations.
You can check out a video that goes a bit more in-depth on the field tarragon over on YT. There's also a playtest of it there, featuring some fun interactions between the field tarragon and the kineticist. If you're interested in joining the discussion on what creatures/builds I'm working on or just discussing your own homebrew works, check out our Discord! If you want to get some teasers or help us get to our yet unlisted milestones for extra content, check out the Twitter.
Have a monstrous Monday!
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