The air shimmers, like a ripple from a heat wave, only to split in a series of vertical lines that widen before they merge, creating a starry void. Its edges glimmered with the shifting hues of the rainbow and from it stepped a leonine creature. Antlers curled from its brow while its hide was flecked with faintly glowing embers. Seated atop it was a warrior with glowing eyes, bearing a longsword and shield who pointed the blade at the party as it called out a challenge. As the band readied their own weapons, the monstrous mount roared in response to the scraping steel and a shroud of molten matter flowed over its body as a shield.
Exploring deeper into the latest God of War comes the gradungr, a nifty beast that seems to be a cross between moose and lion. They are frequently used by the einherjar and Asgardians as mounts and beasts of war and are encountered in three different forms throughout the game – a flame, frost, and dodher version which wields Bifrost energy. It’s a pretty standard combatant, using powerful charges to crash into foes while also lashing out with its claws. Gradungr aligned with an element are able to shroud themselves in that element, forcing the player to use an opposing element to crack this shell before they can actually harm them. These gradungr can also release bursts of this energy in areas around them.
This is a creature that I definitely took some liberty with. Leaning into their connection to the einherjar, I opted to flavor them as beasts of burden for the outsiders, giving them the same creature type and alignment. Building off of their ability to channel Bifrost as well as different elements, I decided to make them beasts able to travel the realms, giving them plane shift much like how nightmares are able to do so. Further exploring this aspect of the creature is attune to elements. Thematically, this is to allow the gradungr to explore any environments it travels to while also giving a reason for the existence of the flame and frost variants. A little caught up in the idea, I decided to explore some other environments and how they may affect a gradungr. An aspect that I enjoyed when it came to building this creature was the interaction between its abilities. For example, while it is attuned to an element, the gradungr can then use its elemental shroud to increase its defenses but also leaving it weak to a certain element – representing the elementally aligned health pool that players must contend with in GoW. This is similar to other abilities I’ve designed though I worry that I gave it too little temp HP, considering the vulnerability it forces on the creature.
However, if the gradungr can hold onto its shroud, it can then use its elemental burst, further promoting interactivity in its design, as a fairly standard damaging AoE effect. The only cooldown on this burst is its own shroud, which felt easier than putting them on two separate cooldowns to be tracked. The final vaguely unique ability that the gradungr has is its powerful charge. This in itself isn’t a particularly unique ability, but how the gradungr interacts with it is different than most. It further ties in its elemental attunement, but the aspect for when it is not attuned is intended to represent the Bifrost energy that the gradungr channels. In GoW, Bifrost is a condition that marks your health bar with a blue section. The next attack that hits you deals its usual damage while also consuming that blue-marked section. To capture the feel of that, I’ll be representing Bifrost by vulnerability to the next instance of damage a target takes, a solution that I’m kinda proud of. It has a short duration so that it is something that has to be exploited quickly – a character can’t just let it go for when they’re ready to pop it.
Other aspects of the gradungr are drawn from its more lion-like nature along with some moose and similar critters. Most notable among these is likely pounce but the selection of Improved Overrun follows similar ideas.
Pathfinder 1e:
As is typical these days, the Pathfinder Second Edition gradungr was built before the First Edition version but features similar concepts in its design. Attune to Environment follows the same settings, but I was able to use poison for forests and jungles, which feels a better fit to me than acid did. The gradungr is designed with lower AC while having HP at the high end of moderate, specifically designed this way to account for its ability to gain temporary HP that pushes it towards high HP for its level through its Elemental Shroud. This is balanced by the easily exploitable weakness, which was a bit of a problem in the monster test. My poor gradungr couldn’t get off its Burst ability because the PCs melted its shield within two turns (two crits in a row from the gunslinger didn’t help). In cases where a team seems almost geared to face off against a gradungr due to their elemental typing, it does have a Get Out of Jail Free card that it can play in the form of Rapid Adaptation to match their element – forcing them to further adjust their tactics to face their foe. It also has the Buck reaction like many mount type creatures to further tie it to them.
As with the vulnerability in the PF1e design, the effects of Bifrost are captured through a temporary weakness to the next attack the gradungr makes. This worked out very well for the PF2e gradungr in the test as it would make an Energized Charge before slashing out with its agile claws to proc it. This version of the Bifrost is a little truer to the game where it is a set amount of extra damage, unlike the variable damage in 1e depending upon the attack that pops it. I’m eager to explore Bifrost as something in Pathfinder further in the next monster build I have in the works!
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Hunters of Souls: After escaping from the afterlife to carry out a mission that had been interrupted by their death, the heroes are pursued by valkyries and their minions. Chief among their trackers is a pack of gradungr and their einherjar riders. While the gradungr are savage creatures that rip and tear at foes, the riders use weapons and tactics to trip and debilitate their foes. Even as the heroes cross to other planes to escape their pursuers, the gradungr follow them with their ability to cross planes.
The In-Between: A mistake with interplanar transport lands the heroes between realms. Travel from this inter-realm isn't possible due to the conflicting energy of the place, forcing the band to find a way to a more stable plane from which they can travel. However, as they are doing so, they soon realize they are being hunted by a pack of gradungr. Dwellers in this space between realms, these gradungr are infused with Bifrost energy, causing their attacks to mark victims with such energy.
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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