Monster Monday - Rey Dau

Dark clouds filled the skies above, their underbellies brightening with lightning that leapt between them. An errant bolt lanced towards the ground, its brilliance prompting the party to shield their gaze. The jagged branch stabbed into the beast arrayed before them, a golden wyvern arrayed in spiked scales. It did not flinch as the storm bore down upon it. Instead, it crowed in victory, its wings flaring as electricity arced over its body and the sand trapped in its scales turned to glass. Clawed feet dug into the earth as its horns and mandibles swung forward, bolts dancing between them. The air screamed and a strange smell filled the battlefield before a lance of lightning ripped from it towards the bewildered party.

Rey Dau from Monster Hunter Wilds

A lively, leaping lord of lightning, this looming lizard leads by a landslide when it lands in a labor, launching leagues of lances in a lethal line-up that leave lackeys lugubrious.

I'd appreciate you check the video on the rey dau - I was generously provided with some video of it in action by Sisyphus from the MM Discord!

We've been working our way through the creatures of Monster Hunter Wilds, and we've made it to the rey dau, the railgun wyvern! Technically, I think its epithet is the Shining Thunder Wyvern, but we know what it's really about. This was an exciting monster to work on and is one of the actual dragons to make from Monster Hunter since they're a little liberal when it comes to applying the 'wyvern' designation. It's built along the lines of a brute with a middling Armor Class but some potent attacks in its arsenal. The zap Strike is intended to the smaller lightning bolts it launches at enemies whereas its big charge-up and blast, which I probably should have named the Earth-Piercing Bolt, is created through its Lightning Eruption. It deals limited use area damage at a high DC, but is an otherwise basic area effect. It does get something a little unique with it being a line of variable length that ends in a blast, but the real benefit is largely seen when looking at its other effects.

For example, per the thunderblight it inflicts and the daze this can cause, I included Stunning Shocks, which can cause stunned 1 unless the players succeed at a moderate DC save. I've used this before for a similar idea, but that's not all the rey dau has in its arsenal. It can follow up a zap Strike or Lightning Eruption with Fulgurite Blades, a reaction that turns the sand trapped in its scales into glass shards to enhance its cutting power. Mechanically, this increases the moderate damage of its wings to a high damage value and also adds in the fatal trait to them. For balancing within Pathfinder, this has a relatively low duration, which is also the case with Charge Up. This will really only come into play if the heroes don't Recall Knowledge about the rey dau, but you could also plan out other electricity-wielding or environmental effects for the rey dau to take advantage of. Even if the rey dau's Lightning Eruption is off cooldown, this will at least make it quickened for a round, which might just help give it enough actions to get into position for a Dunecarver Dive. This is actually one of the rey dau's more typical attacks, inspired by the swoops it does while dragging its wing blades along the ground. Design-wise, its based off of the likes of Trample but the wider range of its wings and the fact that it Flies while doing so led to me limiting it to a single Fly action, rather than the two Strides afforded by the Trample ability.

To design some gear for the rey dau, I was inspired by its armor, but mainly designed it to resemble some of the effects of the rey dau rather than the abilities of its armor within Wilds itself. It can become charged and then transfer that charge to its bearer to make them quickened, which I honestly think I maybe should have attached a frequency to, or to unleash a bolt of electricity. I'm not sure I could have made any gear for the rey dau that doesn't at least feature something like this though now I almost wish that I had made a proper railgun for it.

PF2e Rey Dau

PF2e Components

PF2e Rey Dau Gear

Blue's D&D Rey Dau

ENCOUNTER HOOKS

Died by Lightning: In the midst of a terrible storm, the players cross into the territory of the highly aggressive rey dau. In addition to the obvious threat presented by the raging wyvern, lightning periodically strikes the battlefield. This isn't really a hazard that players can disable, so I would do two quick rolls for the storm at some point during a round. The first would be a flat check to see if lightning strikes the battlefield. If that succeeds, a second roll can be made to determine who gets hit by bolt, maybe providing a greater range to bigger creatures or those wearing metal armor. Use damage and DC appropriate for the party's level though the rey dau has no intent of dodging.

Rail to the King: A dragon rider could be a sick combo with a rey dau though it will probably need to be one with some resistance to electricity. A storm-themed spear/lance wielder or archer perched atop a rey dau sounds like a fun concept, delivering the storm with each strike. A magus-like concept likely fits this the best, but something like the lines of a storm druid could be fine and provide plenty of opportunities to both bolster the rey dau and unleash a tempest against the team.

A quick mention - I've talked with Blue, my maker of D&D monsters, and we've discussed starting a Patreon for the blog and channel. We've posted about it on the Discord, so please check in and chime in with your thoughts! Along with that, if you're interested in joining the discussion on what creatures/builds I'm working on or just talking about 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!