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Writer's picturebjacobt1

Monster Monday - Mesogog

Citizens scattered, their screams and cries rising in a cacophony as the marauders rampaged through their city. The invaders were like nothing they had ever seen before - humanoid in shape but with bodies that were a mix of leathery flesh and metal. Spikes and spines erupted from their scaly skin and long, raptor like claws extended from their hands. They tore through the stalls and stands of the market, causing chaos and savaging victims unfortunate to fall at their hands. Amidst the chaos and violence, a single figure strolled through the streets without fear or any apparent care. Dressed in dark robes, the imposing figure appeared saurian in nature, with dark green scales and a fanged maw. Crimson claws tipped his three-fingered hands, which were clasped behind his back as he callously considered the carnage around him. Something akin to a smile stretched across his features as the lowing of a great beast filled the city, accompanied with the crashing and crumbling of stone walls.

Running a bit behind today because I had to pivot on the monster being posted. But this is a request that came across the MM Discord that seemed fun. I was a fan of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and I remember a Power Rangers Wild Force that I liked, but I think I had grown out of them by the time this series came around, so I had to do some research for this build of the Power Rangers Dino Thunder antagonist, Mesogog. A saurian humanoid that is actually the alternate form of a human named Anton Mercer. I disregarded this aspect somewhat for my build of the creature, and there is some precedence there as Mesogog eventually separates from Mercer. Like many Power Rangers villains, Mesogog takes something of a backseat throughout the series, but demonstrates himself to be a considerable threat whenever he's on the scene. His most potent power appears to be psychic abilities that he has awakened that inflict pain on those he focuses them upon.


Extrapolating from these powers, I decided to build Mesogog as a summoner who sends his minions to the frontline while he unleashes his psychic powers from afar. I saw this as another chance to use the psychic magic ability while keeping his ability to summon monsters, either multitudes of drones like the Tyrannodrones or powerful, specialized monsters that are the weekly villains, to general spell-like abilities. Since I wanted summoning to be a main focus for the build, which can be difficult for an enemy when PCs often win the action economy arms race, I included his master of monsters ability to summon quicker and have his summons last longer. To further play into this aspect, I also picked up Augment Summoning, which, from what I could find on the Paizo boards, should work. For the classic trope in Power Rangers of empowering a defeated enemy monster into a giant, I whipped up violent regeneration, providing healing while also empowering and enlarging them. The ability has a week long cooldown in reference to the weekly nature of the show. When designing Mesogog, I specifically wanted to reference the saurian as a creature that he might be related to. As such, I included the saurian's roar and dinosaur empathy abilities.


Pathfinder 1e:

The ideas present in 1e Mesogog are just as present in the 2e Mesogog, who actually came first in the design process. I wasn't sure which name I liked better between violent regeneration and Final Form, and decided to use both, varying them between the versions. Given the wide range of creatures that appear as villains in Power Rangers, I gave Mesogog most of the summoning spells to reflect the strangeness of creatures that he calls upon. A unique power that I wanted to give the 2e version was something to play around with how weaknesses with Lingering Pain. This makes his phantom pain especially potent as long as he can keep the pressure. Master of Monsters helps with this, freeing up some of his action economy so that he can reposition and cast spells while still commanding his minions. While he has limited spells, Mesogog can at least keep up mental pressure with the daze cantrip.


Pathfinder 2e:

Blue's D&D 5e:

ENCOUNTER HOOKS

Rather than cooking up a pair of encounter hooks, I want to discuss how I would go about using Mesogog. As other characters that I've discussed here and there, he shouldn't be used as a random encounter. He should be planned and hinted at beforehand, possibly with powerful creatures he's called to serve him or with troops of Tyrannodrones running rampant. Even when faced, he should have some forces at his side in addition to those he summons and should have a way out - such as his teleport spells. He serves best as a recurring villain, possibly one seeking to return saurians to the dominant species of the planet. Weaker than the saurians already in Pathfinder, they are something he likely aspires to and whether they actively aid him or not could lead to some interesting options. In the future, I'll be building Mesogog's fully empowered form, the Mesomonster, to use as an end game style boss.


If you're interested in joining the discussion on what creatures 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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