Two of my 5e players are keen to join a monster hunter's union, traveling the planes murderizing creatures big and small. What kinds of bounties can I give them/the bounty board to keep them interested?
>Brachiosaurus neck for a fancy noble who needs to one up their peers with rare delicacies
>Yeti horns for a mercenary captain as false trophies
>A demonically tainted golem who sucks the life from those it captures
Dumping pictures of monsters in the meantime
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>Local farm is losing cattle at an alarming rate, and massive holes are tearing up fields. All evidence points to a bulette nearby
>A djinn has been set loose in the area and is killing at random until it grants the wish of whoever unleashed it
>A devil has staked its claim on land outside the country's borders, and is demanding diplomatic rights. Most everyone wants him dead as quickly as possible
Gods.
Some specifics on the union if anyone is interested, needs to be fluffed out more
>200gp membership fee & sponsorship from an existing member is required, annual fees of 50gp
>Must fulfil a set number of contracts per year to maintain good standing
>Access to lodging when available, government/exclusive contracts, union resources (libraries, contacts, etc.), legal consultation
>Membership is growing steadily, having control over two of four major Confederate cities and trying to gain a foothold in the other two
Celestial beings would also be cool
>A corrupt merchant wants whatever the druids are worshipping in the redwoods. Now. Image related
Maybe some caravans have been attacked and eaten by a rare monster but all the goods are also disappearing. Once your players track it down it's revealed that a group of bandits are deliberately luring the creature onto the trade routes and then looting in the aftermath.
That's not bad at all
>The heart of a very specific Peryton must be claimed and preserved. Any signs of age or rot will result in a null contract
A recently added bounty on a drake terrorizing the countryside has accidental misinformation, and what they thought would be a young dragon turns out to be a basilisk
Could just steal from the Witcher games
-Local kenel master is offering a reward for anyone who can help depopulate all the local strays
-Lizard skin boots are all the rage, and a wealthy manufacturer will pay well for wyvern, basilisk, dragon, and any other hide one can provide
-Kill the harpies
>The great Modron March is fast approaching. Many wizards (bless their curious little hearts) are in a bidding war over parts
>A private collector wants a rare forest avian for their garden. Not a leaf is to be harmed in the process
I think a campaign based on hunting minor local gods (like kami) and working your way up to hunting major gods would be fun.
>An adventuring group of shinto priests exorcising and combating hostile kami in feudal Japan.
>The local fauna are being beset by a super-predator who has invaded the territory
>You must get rid of this invasive beast before he destroys the local ecosystem
Similar idea,
>The Tarrasque hasn't woken up in over two centuries, and local fauna is growing to abnormal sizes without the population control the titanic beast usually brings
>A surge of contracts for dire beasts floods the union boards
A housecat.
Just a housecat.
>Brachiosaurus
Anyone pissed that the brontosaurus in Volo's was such a pussy ass bitch? Sauropods were not to be fucked with, and certainly shouldn't be CR 5
I've felt like whoever writes the statblocks for dinosaurs has been phoning it in for a while desu
>What kinds of bounties can I give them/the bounty board to keep them interested?
Sure.
Luxury
>A rich trophy-wife noblewoman requests the luxurious intact pelt of a PURPLE Manticore in order to make a coat out of. She will penalize payment depending on the quality of the pelt and will accept no damaged furs nor' 'red' ones, it HAS to be purple.
Protection
>A particularly WARM and DRY summer has forced a Tyrannosaurus to travel up north from south of the border in it's search for food. The animal is insatiable and needs to be put down immediately as the local biosphere is not adapted for such a large predator: local game is fleeing, livestock is being devastated, it's even going after local, smaller, predators.
Material
>A local artisan has requested dragon bones for a special project. Dragon bones can be found obviously on any sort of dragon: drakes, wyverns, even large cockatrice species. But a particularly "enterprising" individual might find it... "safer" to use DINOSAUR bones as a cheap "alternative", the local artisan hopefully won't notice the difference.
Capture
>The druid council has detected the presence of a Unicorn in the local area. This is an extremely joyous turn of events and could lead to the crown sponsoring the council and the long term protection of their grove... IF they can prove it's true. The council is offering a high price for the safe capture of any local Unicorn: any "Unicorn" detained will be then confirmed by a royal witness before being released immediately.
Control
>Both the agricultural and sewage aqueducts have become infested with Slimes, (both of the amoebic and cubed variety) due to the recently warm summer creating an algae bloom. The city is offering a bounty per every 12 slime nucleus handed in- they must be fresh, dried ones will not be accepted.
And the last/worst one:
DREADED EGG QUEST.
>The Crown is offering a substantial payment to anyone that can acquire an undamaged, fertile, griffon egg. Griffons are of course a protected species and killing or even harming such a creature is a heinous crime that will be punished to the full extent of the law..... So, obviously, anyone interested must do so without disturbing the Griffon.
>Payment will be issued once the egg embreos are identified as Griffons and not Hippogriffs under lamp light. Persons caught trying to pass off Hippogriffs will be fined.
Are you sure they are not poacher? I am certain they are poacher.
>Sauropods were not to be fucked with, and certainly shouldn't be CR 5
I agree.
Dinosaurs were fucking crazy and shouldn't be underestimated and instead respected as the nearly unfathomably massive, monstrous, wonderful animals they were.
My favorite thing is how we keep saying, "they can't get any bigger than this, it is literally impossible" only for us to find a larger dinosaur.
I love these, honestly exactly what I'm looking for
PCs specifically too dino contracts because they're headed to Not!Isla Nublar. Any recommended buffs without just making them bags of hit points like 5e dragons?
I've been thinking about this for a while actually. It's quite difficult to make dinosaurs special in D&D without turning them into other monsters. Give them super powers, and they're not really dinosaurs anymore, yeah?
That said, I think this could work: first, for the brachiosaurus specifically, bump that STR and CON up to 30. HP should be in the 200s bare minimum, and give them multiple stomp attacks, a tail swing, and a neck swing that they can swap the stomps out for. That'll give them way more versatility.
Secondly, wrt all large dinos, give them resistance to ranged attacks, to represent their thick hide and blubber. This forces the players to engage in melee, where their terrifying power and strength becomes evident.
Then, give them lots of knockback effects. Shockingly few large monsters have the ability to throw enemies around with their attacks, so that mechanically sets them apart, and gives them a way to control the battle field that doesn't just turn things into a slug fest.
One of my favorite insights is this: consider that, in a population with a normally distributed size range, 50% the population is within 1 standard deviation of the average. This means that 75% is close to the average or smaller.
Consider then, that fossilisation is an incredibly rare process. All the conditions have to be just right, and the chances that the bones won't be destroyed in the intervening time until some paleontologist evolves and digs them up is slim.
Thus, statistically sleaking, most dinosaurs that we know of are almost certainly close to average.
Meaning that there's a strong likelihood that they could get even BIGGER
Those aren't bad buffs! I'll save the resistance to ranged attacks for anything with explicit heavy armour (ankylosaurus) but giving sauropods knock back and some stomps/tail swings fits just right.
Thanks! For the sauropod, I'd word it like this:
>Multiattack. The sauropod makes two stomp attacks, and one tail attack. It may not use them against the same target. It may use a neck swing attack instead of its stomp attacks
Something along those lines. Then give it like a 40 or 50 ft. Range on the neck and tail attacks
Something that you're not considering that could go a long way without significantly diverging from dinosaurs, spell resistance.
You can use whatever explanation suits your setting but make dinosaurs harder to effect with magic.
>dinosaurs are strong against magic, owing to their primeval origins when magic was more powerful and concentrated in the universe
>dinosaurs are weak to psionics, which is why aboleths used to rule the world
>Treasure mimics have taken to nesting in the kingdoms' vaults, feasting on any precious gems in the area. Rumor has it that the nests are led by a duo of King/Queen Gilded mimics.
Bring heavy blunt weaponry. They're like crystal insects
Oh, right, and for what it's worth: I personally keep "witch/undead/paranormal doo-hikery" as an entirely separate school, culture, and economy of hunting. I've even been calling it "curse hunting" for lack of a better term in order to better distance the two.
Why I'm mentioning this is; I believe it's alright to have normal or even above average people hunt down 'beasts', but I think it becomes inappropriate or should at the very least be "unmanageable and horrifying" for most folks to even attempt to kill paranormal creatures- it should MEAN something, it shouldn't be so disposable or casual as to have a bulletin board notice.
A curse/witch hunter 'needs' to be a specially trained individual capable and knowledgeable in multiple studies not limited to: martial arts, musketry, cqc, detective work, history, religious studies, etc.. They need to be a special individual with a diverse set of skills in order to do what they need to do.
Even something as seemingly simple as "a couple of skeletons spookin' around" can have wild long term implications or causes.
Monsters though in the form of weird creatures, though, I like them to remain "higher-pay-grade animals".
It makes them endearing. I like animals.
Dragons are cool, but Witches are scary.
a bit of Witcher Vs. MonsterHunter
That's a distinction I haven't made in my game, but is good to be aware of going forward. I enjoy the idea of having the union board be different from any other tavern with missing persons or deliveries though.
Whoever takes the job dealing with witches/the paranormal is either a) stupid and not long for this world, or b) prepared and well suited. Anyone in-between knows to stay away from such things, leave them to the professionals.
Consider it stolen. All of it. Every little piece.
40-50ft range is fucking brutal. I love it.
It's definitely something to play around with. Personally I much prefer these types of changes, more mechanical and lore based, than the resins and minor abilities Tome of Beasts gave dinosaurs
If you want to be really mean, turn the neck and tail attacks into area of effect cone attacks. Really put the fear of god in 'em
>That's a distinction I haven't made in my game, but is good to be aware of going forward. I enjoy the idea of having the union board be different from any other tavern with missing persons or deliveries though.
When I do a Monster Hunting board I usually do it in a couple of ways:
-Large, professional, "official" monster hunting lodges will have a wanted/quest board, a "game warden" and a staff of secretaries n' book keepers to organize the collection of larger kills, find buyers, and just keep track of all that book-keeping shit.
That's a pretty well established one; one you might find in a city who does contractual work or something to neighboring towns and has certain expectations.
-MOST though are literally just a forum board that has the address of and is managed by either a local law-man, druid, ranger, or transferred game warden....Who'll usually only want your name and next of kin in case you get your throat ripped out by a sabre-tooth tiger.
WITCH HUNTING though is ALWAYS managed by the Church.
The only time you'll find a curse/witch hunting contract on a public monster-hunting board is through clerical (kek) error or because the quest-giver didn't know better.
Witch Hunting bounties are organized and managed by the Church(es) to prevent people from going on literal(?) witch hunts: no body wants a bunch of angry villagers to go running around the community lynching their least favorite person because they think they're a werewolf or a doppelganger.... Or god forbid they actually do find the villager who's a werewolf and he ends up infecting and mauling the "for-fun" lynch mob.
So much power...
>WITCH HUNTING though is ALWAYS managed by the Church
That right there is an aspect that, unfortunately, doesn't feature prominently in my campaign. None of the PCs are particularly religious, and the church, any church for that matter, hasn't been a story feature either.
The former two distinctions though, those are absolutely what I picture the two tiers of bounty boards to be. Attach lodging and basic amenities to the first one and you're off to the races.
It definitely sounds like witches/curses/necromancy have a different flavour in your game than most, which is killer. You don't see it firmly separated like that when it comes to job boards in most games
>"Zeus impregnated my wife while I was doing farmwork! I want that fucker dead!"
>reward: 5 silver pieces
In that BBC documentary about dinosaurs, they mentioned that the long and spindly tails the sauropods are sporting are veritable whips, probably able of breaking sonic speed (i.e. whips). Might be pulled out of some creative directors ass, but I love the idea of an intimidation effect based on thunderous bangs everytime they attack. They are thunder lizards after all ;) also seeing several hundred tons of meat, hide and muscle snapping towards your face at the speed of sound is basically like staring down an 18wheeler barreling down at you. Fighting dinosaurs should really be something that takes more than combat ability.
source?
I dunno why, but this thread has given me an idea for a marvelous NPC:
>19th century style painter who creates beautiful landscape with the various Dinosaurs and Monsters of the land he so admires as his muse and prime subject matter. Famous painter loved by the people and well known for his pieces hanging in museums, universities, and arcanums: he is always requesting and hiring adventurers to protect him or act as guides so he may observe and capture the beauty of giant beasts on canvas.
>Is however, often criticized by certain groups who find his painting "romanticize" monsters.
>Is a blatant homage to Charles R. Knight.