Horror Monsters

UNTOLD TERRORS HAUNT T H E DOMAINS OF Dread. Among them skulk nightmares known on countless worlds, but even familiar monsters can take on twisted forms or demonstrate unexpected abilities. This chapter explores ways to help you, the DM, make even the most commonplace monsters more frightening, as well as providing a host of horrors to add to your adventures in the Mists.

H O R RO R M O N ST E R S

For adventurers who regularly face terrifying monsters, it's easy for familiarity to sap the frightfulness from terrible foes. Restoring mystery and menace to even the most ordinary monsters can be a simple matter, though, and enhances the atmosphere of horror adventures. Six simple techniques can transform a stat block straight out of the Monster Manual (or other source) into a horror to haunt your characters' dreams: Monstrous Origins. Monsters in Ravenloft can be every bit as unique as player characters. Notorious Monsters. A monster is more frightening when its reputation precedes it. Describing Monsters. Give yourself permission to dwell on a monster's description. Monstrous Tactics. Monsters that fight dirty-or in a particularly fearsome way-have more impact. Monstrous Traits. Simple tweaks to a monster's stat block can enhance its horror. Monstrous Minions. Simple traits can reflect a monster's relationship to the evil master it serves.

M O N ST RO U S O RIGIN S

A variety o f explanations, from transformative curses to magical experiments, can justify the appearance of a unique individual with unusual traits. I n the same way, monsters in Ravenloft don't need to be members of a species or society. You can have a vicious merrow living under a bridge or a yuan-ti abomination Darklord without having to explain merrows as a species or the nature of all yuan-ti in the setting. Monsters can be one-off flukes of nature or the products of insidious magic.

For significant adversaries, use the tables in the "Genres of Horror" section of chapter 2 to inspire you as you craft a monster's unique details. When it comes time for the final confrontation, it m ight not matter whether the bridge-haunting merrow was the product of an amoral experiment to infuse piscine traits into a soldier or the result of someone drinking from a spring tainted by demon's blood; the merrow's stat block remains the same. But those different origin stories suggest completely different paths for adventurers to follow when investigating the creature and ensuring nothing like it ever returns to be a menace again.

NOTORIOUS MONSTERS

Every monster tells a story. The more you treat monsters as unique individuals and foreshadow their threat, the larger they'll loom in characters' minds. Build dread by giving monsters reputations that suggests their form, deeds, or peculiarities while letting players' imaginations embellish details.

For example, tales describe a horrifying skeletal figure that corrupts the land wherever it walks. Its habit of whistling cheerfully while committing brutal acts is the source of its epithet: the Whistling Fiend. Characters might hear rumors of its merry tunes becoming fearful earworms for those who survive its passing. A party seeking the monster might also hear the whistling long before they confront the fiend. All that time, they can at guess at their enemy's nature, but ultimately the Whistling Fiend might be any demon or other threat you choose.

The Whistling Fiend's notoriety has little to do with its stat block. It's famous because of its habit of whistling amid acts of terrible carnage. Use the tables in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master's Guide to help inspire similar characteristics to color a monster's notorious reputation.

D ES C R I B I N G MONSTERS

When adventurers encounter a monster fo r the first time, especially if its reputation precedes it, dwell on its description. You could tell the players that they see a merrow or hold up the creature's picture from the Monster Manual. But that first moment of revelation is the best time to paint a horrifying picture of the monster in the players' imaginations. In addition to the techniques described in the "Running Horror Games" section of chapter 4, consider these concepts as you describe a monster:

Emphasize Wrongness. Focus on the features that make the creature alien, inhuman, and out of place. The Whistling Fiend looks like a humanoid skeleton dripping its own gelatinous musculature.

Its skull curves to a point suggestive of a sickle. Engage All the Senses. Describe elements of the creature that are likely to provoke a visceral response, such as the smell of rot that its oily flesh exudes, the whistled tune of a well-known nursery rhyme issuing from its lipless mouth, and the unnatural heat that forms ripples in the air around it. These details don't need to rely on grotesque descriptions. Sometimes it's a contrast between mundane and terrifying details that stands out, like a monster's soulful eyes or pearly teeth set amid vicious features. Make it Personal. There's a fine line here: Don't dictate a character's actions in response to what they see. But you can touch on the feelings that the creature provokes, leaving it up to the players to describe how they respond to those feelings.

Your gut twists in revulsion. The acrid air stings your nostrils. You're suddenly aware of how small and hollow your dreams are in a world that can spawn beings of pure evil.

M O N STROUS TACTICS

Monsters, just like player characters, can try anything you can imagine in combat, including the full range of combat options described in the Player's Handbook. Monsters can use the Help action to aid each other, they can grapple or shove their enemies, and so on. Some monsters use these options to maximize their advantages in battle; others use them to sow fear among their enemies, even if they're not strategically optimal choices.

For example, creatures known as "goblyns" in Kartakass and other domains are ordinary hobgoblins in terms of their game statistics, but they're known for a tactic they call "feasting": they grapple their enemies and then make unarmed attacks to bite their faces. These attacks aren't terribly dangerous (a hobgoblin's unarmed strike deals only 2 damage, compared to the average of 5 it deals with a longsword), but the face-biting is much more shocking to the victim and onlookers.

Monsters become more fearsome if they use tactics like ganging up on the least-armored characters in a party, taking the time to take bites from unconscious foes, separating party members from each other, and attacking from hiding. Use these tactics judiciously; the goal is to surprise and scare the players, not to convince them that you're trying to make them fail.

THE W H I ST L I N G F I E N D IS N O T O R I O U S FOR B E I N G H E A R D L O N G B E FO R E I T 'S S E E N .

M O N ST ROUS TRAITS

Consider undermining players' expectations about what a creature is or can do by making tweaks to the traits in its stat block. Adding a sahuagin's Blood Frenzy trait to a different monster can help it feel like a bloodthirsty horror, for example. Traits such as a troglodyte's Chameleon Skin or a doppelganger's Ambusher can help make a monster feel more sinister as it lurks in hiding and ambushes its foes. Some traits, such as a night hag's Etherealness or an imp's I nvisibility, can help a monster escape from an encounter so it can return to haunt the adventurers another day. Traits such as a banshee's Horrifying Visage or a black dragon's Frightful Presence can heighten the inherent fearsomeness of truly terrifying creatures.

Of course, you're not limited to the traits that appear in existing monster stat blocks, but those are a good starting point. Feel free to invent your own.