Coming to us from the world of Monster Hunter, the great jagras and its diminutive cousins were some of my first introduction to the creatures of Monster Hunters. Despite its simplistic design and low threat level, I find it to be an endearing creature and it was actually one of the first MH creatures I statted out. However, I built it before I even started this blog and didn't want to post it twice on the site I started on. Looking back on things though, enough has changed between that initial post (I used to just type out the stat blocks instead of putting them on a page format) and this one that I feel fine reposting it.
The jagras and great jagras are very simple creatures - they don't even wield an element like many of the creatures in Monster Hunter do. For the former, I gave them pounce to represent the sudden move and flurry of strikes they'll use, but they don't have much going on outside of that. Fortunately, the great jagras was a little more fun to design. He has an abnormally high pool of health but this compensates for its lower attack bonuses - a sturdy beast but not a terribly accurate one. It has the same attacks as the jagras but with its added bulk, it can now grab creatures with its bite and follow that up with a swallow whole. Given the size of the creatures we see the great jagras consume, I did give it the ability to swallow creatures of its size or smaller in inflated stomach. It also knows how to make use of the heavy meals it swallows, leveraging the added bulk in adding force to its blows while slowing it down. If having this prey leaves it too vulnerable, it can simply throw up the swallowed creature to hopefully further deter foes. Amusingly, while I've experienced this several times, Blue told me he had never seen great jagras do this in game.
Pathfinder 1e:
I improved the jagras a little bit, adding the Pack Attack ability to their arsenal and putting Acrobatics in their skill list to make them better at moving around and encircling prey. The great jagras is a pretty standard translation into second edition though I did have to make some adjustments to it after building a short oneshot around it and realizing that I made it too powerful. I didn't want to give it super high AC but also didn't want to put it too low given that its Inflated Stomach does lower its AC. I settled on 19 and gave it slightly higher HP while also improving its defenses somewhat with the Attack of Opportunity reaction. The rest of its unique abilities are pretty faithful to its abilities from 1e.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Mis-Steak-en: A local farmer approaches the burgeoning adventurers in hopes of looking into an attack on one of his pastures last night. It appears several cattle were taken and the rest wandered into the nearby hills. He needs the heroes to first round up the cattle while he fixes the fence, but leaves the method on how the heroes get his cows back up to them as long as they’re healthy and in one piece. When the heroes go to round up the last cow, they are set upon by a lone jagras with a broken leg – one of the culprits behind the previous night’s attack. Left behind due to its injury, it attacks the cow in desperate hunger but turns its attention on any that get in the way of its meal. Once all the cattle are secured, the heroes must trek through the nearby forest, following the trail left by the jagras pack. They find a small group tearing apart a cow in a clearing that has a cave marked with blood and bones. After dealing with the pack, the heroes descend into the caves to find the great jagras itself, full and content with its latest meal.
The Greatest: Rumors have begun to circulate of a great jagras of an unusual size. Far stronger than most of its kin, having the advanced and giant simple templates, this great jagras has proven to much of a challenge for local hunters to take down. When it attacks a caravan and ends up swallowing a barrel full of magical items, whether they be runes, miscellaneous wondrous items, or otherwise is up to the GM, the merchants who lost their stock approach the heroes to take out the immense beast. They promise them their pick of some of the magical items that the monster swallowed, but they don’t realize that a few complications have arisen. Firstly, the great jagras’s unusual growth has greatly upset the local food chain, pushing some other monsters to attack wildly in their hunger. Secondly, the great jagras has managed to integrate some of the magical items it has swallowed, gaining their benefit as long as they are within its gut.
The day of Monster Hunter: Rise is approaching and without it coming to PC, I'm debating whether or not I'm going to buy a Switch for it. I will absolutely be statting out creatures from it - I just don't know if I'll be doing so by watching a bunch of videos or by spending a bunch of money and experiencing it myself. Before that happens, I do have plenty of older MH creatures to use and I would honestly like to look at some other franchises for monsters as well.
Consider joining our Discord, where we discuss monster designs, homebrew creations, and other TTRPG stuff, or following our Twitter, where we have teases for upcoming posts on the blog here!
Have a Monstrous Monday!
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