Cool monsters and adventure that go with them

[hanexs]

We had a great adventure the other night, which basically revolved around exploring some caves, a medusa and some nagas. Basically the whole thing reminded me how cool monster can make a fun night. I am definetely a story DM, but my players LOVED the simple adventure with interesting monster for a change.

So, anyone know any cool monsters and possible some adventure scenarious I could follow up with?

[Molech]

I think "Ugluzu(?) of the Underdark" by (Perkins, right, not Walsh?) is the best single-monster themed adventure. Cosmo or someone can give you a link to the 2E Dungeon in which it was featured. In one of the best scenarios Dungeon [i]ever published, Ugluzu is an undead Myconid whose spores create undead. Some derro (right?) conveniently use him as an impromptu guardian of a surface cavern with a crevice leading to their underdark village. The PCs enter the cave completely unaware and then kill him.

-W. E. Ray

[Turin the Mad]

hanexs wrote:

So, anyone know any cool monsters and possible some adventure scenarios I could follow up with?

Advance Warning: Next Comment May Be Construed as Snarky

Sadly, I do not personally know any cool monsters. Unless you count Sheeple.

~~~~~~~~

Personally, grab a bunch of hordlings and spawn them on your PCs when they're sleeping in thier skivvies! Random mayhem!

After all, adventurers worth thier body wieght in salt should have hacked off someone in your game world enough to incur something along these lines...

[Kobold Catgirl]

A vampire and some bats, a mummy and some spirit nagas, etc. Use cliches. vamps go with bats. Mummies go with spirit creatures. A krenshar? Get a nightmare creature. Maybe even a nightmare itself!

[Eyebite]

Racing the Snake was a fantastic Dungeon Adventure, which essentially involved a single yuan-ti ranger, that chases the party and tries to ambush them at various points.

I've run it twice and both times everyone enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

[Rezdave]

Molech wrote:

I think "Ugluzu(?) of the Underdark" by (Perkins, right, not Walsh?)

That would be Uzaglu of the Underdark by Christopher Perkins in Dungeon #67. My database description is very simple:

Overcome the Undead Myconid King guardian of a crossroads in the Underdark.

One chamber, intriguing opponent, cool environment, lots of fun.

Rez

[Rezdave]

hanexs wrote:

exploring some caves, a medusa and some nagas ... anyone know any cool monsters and possible some adventure scenarious I could follow up with?

Ran a combo once of Well of Lord Barcus (Roger Baker, Dungeon #41) and Prey for Tyrinth (Tim Hitchcokc, Dungeon #90).

Spoiler:

Basically, the PCs arrive at a sacred Wishing Well and shrine, only to have the ghost of a thief who died robbing the well try to possess them so that he can return the stolen loot and move on to the afterlife.

Guessing the problem they return everything and the ghost moves on, but then they descent the well to explore and find themselves in the half-flooded lair of a naga. For a long time no one got a good look at her but fell for a few illusions and so thought they were fighting a "Sorcerer Fish". It's fun in the semi-flooded passageways when she has concealment and can ambush them then swim away.

I also ran a home-brew much later in the same campaign where the PCs decided they wanted Hippogriff mounts, so they tracked a herd to their lair.

Spoiler:

Only, these were being used to foal mounts for Aerial Orc scouts in service to the Drow.

PCs climb a mountain headed for the hollowed out cap only to be ambushed along the way by a pair of Harpy Archers shooting from the limit of bow range (very dangerous still, and generally out of spell-range) while the Hippogriffs make strafing runs with their claw/claw/bite routine. Minions and cohorts got hurt but PCs were doing ok and drove off the 'griffs, and eventually the harpies as well.

Arriving at the hollow cap of the mountain (there was a "porch" for the 'griffs with an overhang, a "skylight/chimney" that provided direct access to the main nest, and a "postern cavern" that was the harpy lair (they were the outer-guards hired by the drow to protect the herd).

Once inside the main nest cavern the PCs had little trouble dealing with the 'griffs and then absconding with the foals. Even finishing the harpies wasn't an issue. They real problem was that also in the main nest/cavern was a tall stalagmite/stalactite column that, once they had entered, began moving and was revealed to be a roper who could reach ever square in the room and far enough around the corners of connecting hallways that you couldn't escape its range and still have line-of-sight. Darned if those drow can't find/bribe a bunch of strange and frustrating monsters to protect things they consider valuable.

Spoiler buttons are just to keep the post shorter if you don't want to read how things went down.

Rez

[Matthew Morris]

There was a side trek with a slithering tracker I ran. Almost turned into a TPK. Gave one player nightmare

[Kobold Catgirl]

Ive always wondered, what is homebrew?

[Molech]

Homebrew is when the DM creates the material instead of using published stuff

-W. E. Ray

[Molech]

UZAGLU!! That's it. Man that's a heckuva little adventure. And I thought it was Perkins; there was just this bug in the back of my mind wondering about Willie -- I think the adventure starts in a rolling farmlands with the PCs being approached by some yokels about something different than the actual cave -- that part just screamed Willie Walsh in my head.

"Well of Lord Barcus"! I remember that -- another really good one!

[Kobold Catgirl]

Ah! Yeah, I thought it might be that. Thanks!

[Rezdave]

Molech wrote:

I think the adventure starts in a rolling farmlands with the PCs being approached by some yokels about something different than the actual cave -- that part just screamed Willie Walsh in my head.

IIRC the Uzaglu adventure simply starts "you're walking through a tunnel in the underdark when you enter this chamber full of fungus ..."

As for Walsh, Pakkililir (52), Pearlman's Curiosity (32), Iasc (60 and probably the "rolling farmlands" one you're thinking of), Asflag's Unintentional Emporium (36), and White Boar of Kilfay (37) all kind of fit the thread.

Granted, Perlmann's is a bit of a stretch, but then Centaur of Attention (Johnathan M. Richards, 60) works on the same lines.

No doubt I'll keep stumbling across more to add to this list, like Ailamere's Lair (Perkins, 51) or Sadie & Her Lair (Perkins, 93).

I love having a database of my collection ... Geek Points for ME !!!

Rez