Monsters for Slavers in a Mine

[KingGramJohnson]

Hello everyone!

I'm running a custom campaign in the standard Pathfinder setting, and there is a chance that the party may get captured and imprisoned in a silver mine where slaves mine the silver ore. I'm planning on a drow fighter/rogue to be the warden of the mine, I already have him statted out. However, I've used a lot of humanoids thus far in my campaign and I would like to throw something unusual/fun at my players. So I was thinking that maybe the slavers in this mine are some kind of monstrous creature (besides goblins or kobolds) that you wouldn't normally see guarding a mine.

I'm having trouble thinking of good monsters to use for this situation. What kind of monster would be comfortable in a silver mine, be intelligent enough to take orders, brutish enough to keep the slaves in check, and yet not too tough for the party when they make their escape?

I would appreciate any ideas.

The party is level 7 and consists of a paladin, a barbarian, a gunslinger, an oracle, and a ranger, by the way. If they get captured, they will lose all of their equipment and will have to find it in the mine.

Thank you!

[Isthill]

Admittedly, they are humanoids, but Derro could be helpful to you. They live in the underdark, are pretty mercenary (working for Drow is definitely not out of the question), and can easily be scaled to your party with class levels. Having played against them before, they can be absurdly creepy when they use their natural stealth and brutality to perform guerrilla combat on the PCs, or if they crawl around the walls with magic help from their more powerful friends. Plus, their natural tendencies towards creating mad slaves can also add to the creepiness if the PCs run into a bunch of mad people before realizing what they're up against.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Ettercaps

Years ago a group of mites began to covet the silver in the mines. Their intention was to use the precious metal to vex a pack of werewolves threatening the outskirts of their swamps. They didn't know why the humans and dwarves had abandoned it as the ore was still plentiful. Little did they know or understand; the ground had gone sour and that foulness had seeped into the earth's bones.

Ettercaps are aberrations. They have a vague intelligence, just enough to take and receive orders. They also have Spider Empathy, craft traps, and shoot webs. In my games I've used aberrations not just as weird aliens or ancient, promethean evils, but also to represent mutation run amok.

In this case, the mites mutated into hulking beasts; ettercaps. You can also use Driders; half-humanoid, half-spider aberrations, except change them from the humanoid (Drow) to fey (Mite) in the upper half.

I like using aberrations in situations like this for a few reasons. 1, you can get real creepy with them. 2, they are generally physical Combat type creatures so they make good muscle. 3, they often have fun extras like Climb speeds, poison, acid, etc.

[LordKailas]

I will start by saying I think the ettercap idea is good. I have some other suggestions though.

Rock Troll - Big and strong. What's more since they can regenerate a prison riot isn't going to go very well for the rioters since wearing them down isn't an option. But the trolls themselves are prisoners since they can't wander off out of the cave.

Violet Fungus - Depending on how prisoners are brought in maybe there aren't really guards just colonies of violet fungus outside the exits. Supersition keeps the resulting pygmies at bay. Food and supplies are exchanged for ore and so prisoners either work or starve.

Mothmen - While these might not make sense as normal guards, they could serve as taskmasters or higher, if you want something a bit more unusual.

[KingGramJohnson]

Fascinating ideas. Thank you!

[Val'bryn2]

Humanoid, but a rather rare choice, grimlocks. They are blind, so losing the light means little to them. Tough, brutish, and commonly work with the drow.

[Grailknight]

Urdefhan. Cruel, aggressive and intelligent, they will be willing to work with other races and are slavers by preferred profession.