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| Alexander Korotich |
BONE FLUTE
Hobgoblins are ubiquitous mercenaries after the collapse of the Serpentman Empire - instability in the Underdark encouraging many to go topside to seek their fortunes. This deluge of foreign sellswords certainly hasn't helped the hobs' reputation as a race of murderous lunatics.
Bone Flute is a free company roaming the frontier in search of people rich enough to hire them (2,500 GP per week) or weak enough to extort. Their name derives from an Underdark practice of turning enemies into musical instruments. Gruesome, but at least they're remarkably good singers.
The company has twenty seven Hobgoblins (OSE). The infantry use pike and shot warfare, ten landsknechts carrying heavy pikes protect another ten carrying muskets. A pair of 4HD doppelsöldners armed with zweihänders command the formation and bolster troop morale.
The footsoldiers are supported by five cuirassiers on Dire Wolves (OSE) armed with sabers and pistols. They harass enemy formations with gunfire, charging wherever they see a weakness. Münchberger the 5HD Hobgoblin Captain leads the cavalry, clad in a baby blue +2 Cape Of Protection and carrying the company's Banner Of Wound Closure.
Unused to sunlight, the hobgoblins wear giant floppy hats and drink strong booze to numb their constant sunburns. They adore garish colours, baggy pantaloons and outrageously large codpieces. Their weapons are all silvered, fashionable and handy for stabbing magical monsters. Their baggage train of "requisitioned" mules and wagons contains 9,400 GP in pelts, coin and plundered goods.
Bone Flute navigates the Redriver with "commandeered" barges propelled with long poles. But they prefer being on foot - hacking, burning and shooting their way through the wilderness in search of plunder and pelts. Without the subtlety for hunting, the hobgoblins intend on killing or robbing whatever Random Encounter they blunder into. Including you.
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| Daniel Hopfer |
THE THREE PRINCESSES
The Dainty Maids are elite female cataphracts famous for their vows of chastity, unicorn mounts and inspiring an entire subgenre of nunsploitation porn. They recruit from the unwed daughters of noble houses, offering them a life of adventure, excitement and righteous crusades.
The virgin knights ride Unicorns (OSE), creatures so painfully noble they literally glide above the Redriver's filthy waters. They use an Instant Fortress for camping in the field, which comes stocked with a year's provisions, Unseen Servants and an indoor stable for their mounts.
1: Rhodopis the Glass KnightRhodopis is a Level 7 Knight clad in opaque glass, a set of +1 Plate of Spell Reflection prophecy foretold would fit her alone. She wields a horseman's pick, shield and Rod of Cancellation.
An air of firm nobility surrounds the knight, ironic given she's the bastard daughter of a camp follower. This quiet assuredness makes Rhodopis the natural leader of the trio.
Talia is a Level 6 Knight clad in plate armour with a surcoat so blue it looks black. She carries a Potion of Growth and the cursed +2 Greatsword "Moonsun" which can cast Sleep on targets of 8+1 HD, at the cost of also rendering the wielder comatose.
Partially due to her sword-induced narcolepsy, Talia is irritable and prone to outbursts of rage. She's the first to start a fight and the last to back down.
3: Pyrrha the Red KnightPyrrha is a Level 7 Paladin of the Roadwarden clad in mithril chain (movement as unarmoured) and a crimson +2 Cloak of Defence. She carries a Horn of Panic, a +1/+3 Sword of Wolfsbane (+3 versus shapechangers and canines) and a brace of pistols loaded with silver bullets.
Pyrrha is jovial, amorous and casually violent, only keeping to her vows in the strictest sense (getting your definition of "virginity" from a magic horse leaves plenty to the imagination). To her, adventuring's all about meeting, fighting and fucking interesting people.
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| Jean Pichore |
MEN OF THE FLOATING GARDEN
The Floating Garden is a city-state famous for its maritime trade, dyeworks and coteries of assassins. Any self-respecting Man of the Garden would take great offence at being called a common cutthroat, probably right before they ram a +2 Dagger into your back.
5th level Assassin, Genos the Gardener, heads a cabal of five 1st level hitmen working as longhunters in the Bloody Glades. The bravos are accompanied by seven Thouls (OSE), mutant supersoldiers who chose the winning side over being disassembled for alchemical reagents.
The Gardeners wear leather armour and dark purple cloaks that provide surprisingly good camouflage. They wield rapiers, bucklers and crossbows with bolts coated in paralytic Thoul venom. Genos carries a Potion of Invisibility and +1/+3 Shortsword of Hydrophobia (+3 versus anything with a swim speed, those struck must Save vs Spells to enter water).
In a fight the Assassins hide while the Thouls charge, abusing HP regeneration to no-sell any damage. Once the mutants are engaged, the bravos alpha strike with poisoned bolts and backstabs.
The Gardeners travel the Redriver in a war gondola (stats as Riverboat, OSE), rowed by their Thoul auxiliaries and armed with a pair of scorpio (3D6 DMG, 3 rounds to reload). The boat's cargo hold contains 7,270 GP in furs, assorted coinage and expensive dyes.
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| Frans Hals |
THE HERESIARCHS
The name's ironic. The See of Trees has repeatedly (and loudly) condemned, excommunicated and denied any ties with the Druid Mafia. But it's an open secret that whenever the See wants someone snubbed out beyond their borders, they call on the syndicate.
The Heresiarchs are elven longhunters with close ties to the Druid Mafia, a cushy relationship that gets them preferential treatment, potion discounts and tariff exemptions. In exchange they do the occasional pro bono jobs for the druids (and by extension the See).
The party consists of three 1st level Elves and three 1st level Wood Elves. They're led by Tooth Fairy, a 3rd level Wood Elf with full body tattoos (including her eyeballs) and wooden dentures. She carries a Ring of Control Insect and a +1 Whip of Domination (on hit cast Charm Person, 3/day).
The Elves wear fogwood plate armour (buoyant in water), wielding mancatchers, nets and blackjacks. The Wood Elves wear leather armour, wielding blowpipes loaded with Yellow Lotus (Save vs Poison or unconscious per Sleep spell) and bolas (Save vs Paralysis or fall prone). Religious law forbids elves from personally taking a life, which Tooth Fairy circumvents with a Giant Water Skimmer she charmed (stats as Giant Mantis, OSE Adv). The bug performs the coup de grace once the Heresiarchs have subdued their prey with poison, magic or blunt force trauma.
The hunters traverse the Redriver in a quartet of canoes. Three are piloted by a pair of Elves, the fourth carries Tooth Fairy and is towed by the Water Skimmer. On foot they travel light, using two Bags of Holding to hold their supplies, canoes and 8,900 GP in monster parts.
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| Dale Jorgensen |
Despite being called "Pelts For XP", this project hasn't had a lot of hunting-based content. That's OK, the name's really just a placeholder that overstayed its welcome. But it still felt good to write up some longhunters for my players to run into.
The intention of these NPCs is to stop wasting brainpower on spicing up generic encounters. Instead of trying to make "4D6 Hobgoblins" or "3D10 Bandits" interesting, we just use Bone Flute or the Fatharvest Gang. We can replace generic adventuring parties with the Gardeners or Heresiarchs.
Though not everyone needs to have a funny name and a gimmick. I might still add in randomly generated Basic/Expert Adventurers as Wandering Monsters. Either that or we do a follow-up post to bulk out my random encounter tables.
The Three Princesses and the Heresiarchs feature material from Mellonbread's blog. The See of Trees and elven pacifism are both his inventions, but I couldn't find a specific post to link to.
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| Gaston Fébus |
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