On the Zoog

[Douglas Muir 406]

The single Zoog in _In Search of Sanity_ doesn't do much. It's a a CR 1 Lovecraft-themed monster, and... that's about it. It's not much good in combat (Bleed 1 is only an issue if the PCs are already weakened and/or don't have anyone with the Heal skill) and it doesn't have any magic, so its role is basically to creep the PCs out a bit and then die. Can we improve on this?

-- Give the Zoog a level of Rogue. This lets it be stealthy and raises the possibility of a recurring foe. It still faces the problem of low Str -- even with SA, it just doesn't do much damage. Might consider this against a smaller or weaker party.

-- Give the Zoog a level of caster. Zoogs have 5 Int and 5 Cha, but 12 Wis, so it would have to be a Wis based caster. Leaving out goofy stuff like warpriest or empyreal sorceror, your options are cleric, druid, shaman or (if you're really feeling frisky) spiritualist.

I think a cleric is really strong and interesting -- spells like Cause Fear and Murderous Command can hit pretty hard if PCs fail their saves. I'd use this against a larger or stronger group. A druid is slightly less powerful, but makes a lot of thematic sense; zoogs are magical beasts, not outsiders or aberrations, and when they're at home they live in forests. Creepy haunted Dreamlands forests, but forests. A shaman is (in this context) basically a weaker druid, with a familiar (a rat, presumably) replacing the animal companion. Spiritualist... I guess it'd be the ghost of some poor victim, somehow bound to the zoog?

Thoughts?

Doug M.

[Kryzbyn]

My players were horrified by it, and wouldn't accept that it was basically harmless. The scene went wonderfully.
It also put them on a false premise that everything there isn't as bad as it looks, then the nightgaunt happened.

I think from the writer's standpoint, that might just be mission accomplished.

[Douglas Muir 406]

Oh, I like that. In that case, yes, mission accomplished indeed.

I'm thinking of describing the zoog as "like a raccoon crossed with a squid". And, as everyone knows, raccoons were not meant to be, and adding cephalopods to the picture makes things even worse.

Doug M.

[gustavo iglesias]

I suppose it depends on how powerful is your group. If it is bigger than the stabdard 4 guys or built with more than the expected 15 points, it might make sense to raise the encounter, I guess.

Playing with the standard 15pt buy and regular sized group, (the AP expected lvl) it is already a very dangerous lvl 1 adventure, with dopplengangers and later ghouls etc. Not every encounter must be a coin flip for your life. In particular when the adventure is already very difficult

If I wanted to change that combat, I'd add more zoogs instead of rats.

[InsaneFox]

My PCs negotiated with it and are lugging it around with them feeding ity human hands because... reasons? It believes one of the PCs has submitted to being its servant and the PC has given the Zoog no reason to think otherwise. So far it has been used as a magical flashlight twice and has 'helped' finish off an incorporeal creature... with a whopping 2 damage. But, whatever makes them happy.

They also peacefully talked it out with the voonith, going above and beyond to help keep it safe. Not giving them a second pet... but it may reappear in book 3 to return the favor.

[Benchak the Nightstalker]

My party's wizard stuck his face under the boiler to find out what was mysteriously glowing down there. Lets just say that the experience was traumatizing.

The ratlings later in the adventure only reinforced the wizards rodent phobia.