What is this?

Dragon+ Magazine was unfortunately very short-lived, and on-line only. When it was discontinued, the vast majority of content was taken down and is no longer accessible. This publication attempts to centralize the monsters that were published in that magazine. Edits have been made to some of the various stat blocks to fix typos and to attempt to bring the stat blocks up to 5e's current format. Enjoy.

v1.0

Chapter 1: The Negative Plane

Two Possible Scenarios

In this adventure you can choose two possibilities:

• The monks are an evil cabal awaiting the moment the stars to align once again to use the monastery’s power for evil.
• The monks are good, protecting the monastery from those who would use its power to summon the nightwalker once again.

The Order of Shadows

The monks that watch over the Monastery of Shadows have undergone a ritual of undeath to become its eternal guardians. Each monk wields a unique weapon, a blade forged exclusively for them, which is imbued with necrotic energy and attached by a length of chain to a censer. The blade represents their new soul, which replaces the one sacrificed to the order. Both the blade and the censer serve as ritual objects in their religious ceremonies, but they are also effective and deadly weapons. The blade can inflict painful, festering wounds and the censer not only affects the mind with its intoxicating smoke, but can also lash out and crush bone.

Zashtii, Devout Monk

Zashtii is a devout monk who became obsessed with harnessing the eldritch energies of the Negative Plane of existence. To give herself an eternity to grow in power, she underwent a ritual of undeath that turned her into a creature of shadow and smoke. The ritual bound her into a pair of magic bracers which allow her to solidify and control her form. But the bracers are vampiric and demand a steady feast of blood to keep Zashtii’s form coherent and tangible and, depending on how long it is since she last fed, Zashtii can be more smoke than solid. When encountering Zashtii, some part of her always appears as if she is materializing within the smoke or being dematerialized by it – a terrifying reminder of her curse.

By entering undeath, Zashtii can now walk unharmed within the deathless wasteland of the Negative Plane. With no life force or living flesh to be pulled apart by its necrotic energies, she can wander its endless ruins and uncover its ancient secrets. As head of the Monastery of Shadows, she has plans to bring back long forgotten magic and arcane lore from the Negative Plane so that others who seek ultimate power can join her order and learn its mysteries.

Malthraxis

Malthraxis is a nightwalker that is ancient beyond reckoning. It wanders within the dark wasteland of the Negative Plane of existence waiting for the moment when it can return to the Material Plane and feast on the raw nectar of the living. Malthraxis is covered with arcane sigils carved into its body by some long forgotten archmagus. The sigils not only give Malthraxis power, but they also contain long lost secrets of necromancy—no doubt put there to be guarded by the nightwalker.

Using Malthraxis In Your Game

Malthraxis is either an apocalyptic threat for lower-level parties or a dangerous foe for high-level parties.

Necromancer

Necromancers are specialist wizards who study the interaction of life, death, and undeath. Some like to dig up corpses to create undead slaves. A few use their powers for good, hunting the undead and risking their lives to save others.

Chapter 2: The Fathomless

Grabitha Grindleclaw, Green Hag

The green hag Grabitha Grindleclaw lurks in the middle of a dank and dangerous swamp with her toad familiar, Wart. She’s a collector of rare mushrooms, monster parts, extraplanar flowers, and magical spices, which she stores in the drawers of a wooden medicine chest she carries on her back. With the right ingredients, Grabitha can brew any potion imaginable in the magic cauldron she rides. If an adventurer brings her something special such as a roper’s tongue or a moth’s breath flower, Grabitha might take a liking to them and brew something to order. But be forewarned! Grabitha keeps a close eye on her business partners, and characters who aren’t careful might find themselves turned into the ingredients for one of her more fiendish concoctions.

Grabitha’s Potion Mastery

Grabitha’s signature ability allows her to make any potion in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. However, with the help of her galloping cauldron, she is also able to make unique potions, limited only by your imagination. All you need to determine is how difficult it is to obtain the ingredients Grabitha tasks the characters with collecting for her— and the more powerful the brew, the more dangerous getting those ingredients should be!

Yahira Silverblade, Monster Hunter

Yahira Silverblade is a monster hunter for hire. This well equipped elf travels from city to town to village, following stories and rumors of monstrous trouble so that she might ply her trade and earn another sackful of loot.

Yahira is not much for words. But when she does open her mouth, she’s a straight talker who’s all about business. A student of her craft, she has extensive knowledge regarding aberrations, monstrosities, and the undead, with a special focus on fighting fiends of all kinds. But she is always on the lookout to learn more, and if someone wants to get her attention, the best way is to talk about fighting monsters—especially a monster she hasn’t previously heard about.

Using Yahira in Your Game

Yahira can be used in a number of ways in your campaign, most easily as a helper or a competitor to the characters.

Chapter 3: Magic the Gathering

Dakkon, Shadow Slayer

Dakkon was once a gifted blacksmith who some say had sold his soul for his uncanny ability to shape steel. Many in his village would hear him working at night as he chanted unknown litanies to the fire and steel. They say the litanies were taught to him by the fire, turning his forge into a portal so that he could bring forth a being of shadow—a master—to teach him the art of steel. Many nights a plume of red-hot embers crackled into the darkness as his hammer rang to the incessant gasping of the bellows. Some who spied on him as he worked swore that they saw a shadow appear from within the forge and slide up the glowing steel, entering the veins that bulged on his powerful arm.

As his clientele grew, Dakkon became less and less aware of those who peered into his smithy. They were gawkers and mere strewers of tales about town, chickens who clucked and kicked the dirt with nothing better to do. He was more focused on the voice in his head. A voice that sounded like a silver wind and the swelling sigh of the incoming tide. It told him how hot the forge should be, what metals to mix together, and where to strike the steel. The voice spoke in words and images; it showed him beautiful shapes and revealed complex secrets of the steel. Then the voice mentioned Shadow Slayer. It gave Dakkon a glimpse of a sword beyond the skill of any mortal master, a sword that longed to be alive. As the painter might dream that their work could walk off the canvas, so this voice spoke to Dakkon of Shadow Slayer, infusing his mind with inspiration and desire to make a sword of legend.

As Dakkon labored harder and harder, increasing his prowess so that he could one day attempt Shadow Slayer, the voice began to shift its way of speaking. It was now as if Shadow Slayer itself was speaking to him, giving him instructions on how it wished itself to be made. As Dakkon followed the voice, the more his skill progressed and the more secrets it divulged. He learned how to fold and forge spectral symbols into the steel to suffuse his work with magic. Under the guidance of the voice, he fashioned armor—a shield, a helm, and pauldrons—all of which would imbue his body with the unearthly power needed to wield Shadow Slayer.

With the armor complete, he followed instructions to prepare the forge to birth his final masterpiece. By this time, he was no more than a mortal shell, his body wasted away by neglect. Without any conscious understanding, guided by Shadow Slayer, he inscribed demonic sigils into the interior of the forge and over his body. When he did, he could feel arcane forces flood into his limbs, instilling them with enough energy to continue. On some level, he knew the energy from the sigils also bound him to the forge and would destroy what remained of his body, but the drive to complete Shadow Slayer was too great. He had come too far to turn back. To withstand the final process, he donned the armor and drew on its magic, and began to heat the steel. With each blow of his hammer, Dakkon could feel a part of his soul being consumed by Shadow Slayer. He could feel its hunger; the blade was starving for life and Dakkon suddenly became aware of the pulsing energy of the village and its inhabitants as he pulled Shadow Slayer from the fire. He left the forge, Shadow Slayer still glowing, and went into the village to quench its hunger.

Dakkon’s Items

Dakkon has forged his own arsenal of powerful magic items.

Razharak, Dakkon’s Wyvern

Under the arcane instruction of Shadow Slayer, Dakkon forged the soul of a wyvern into a shield. The wyvern, Razharak, can be summoned from the shield by speaking her name aloud.

Using Dakkon In Your Game

There’s one main question to answer in order to unlock the mystery of Dakkon: Is he in accord with Shadow Slayer, is he locked in conflict with it, or is he the master of it? Here are some related questions to ponder:

• Is Dakkon just a death dealer, bent solely on harvesting souls for Shadow Slayer, or is there still humanity left that is looking for a way out of this curse?
• Has Dakkon become a mouthpiece for Shadow Slayer, his body and mind now a puppet for its ancient intellect or does he now enjoy his existence, wielding the power of Shadow Slayer to achieve his own goals?
• What does Shadow Slayer want other than more souls?
• Is there an endgame that Dakkon and Shadow Slayer are seeking together or are their ends separate and in conflict with one another?

Here’s one story possibility:

Sivitri Scarzam

Sivitri Scarzam was born with the blood of ancient sea dragons flowing through her veins. As a young girl, the ocean called to her, and many times her parents pulled her from its waters after she swam too far into its blue-green depths. As she grew, her sorcerous abilities began to surface with uncontrollable power—the tide would swell and tower before her in the form of a giant serpent, then crash at her feet. Often when this would happen, her eyes would roll back and she would begin speaking an unknown tongue.

People began to fear her, whispering that she was marked by evil. Sivitri did not understand the power that was emerging within her, and was terrified by what she might become. At night her dreams were filled with wild visions of a dark, underwater realm ruled by a scaled serpent that sat coiled in the dark, its cold eyes silently speaking to her, filling her mind with arcane symbols and magical secrets.

Her only refuge was the sea, and each time she entered its soothing depths the world faded into its deep blue void. In the embrace of the ocean Sivitri could know peace away from the chattering crowds and the confusion that clouded her mind. But she was always limited by how long she could hold her breath, her burning lungs forcing her back to the surface and its noise.

She began to stay under longer and longer until one night she entered the sea with no intention of returning to the surface. She surrendered to death. But instead of dying, Sivitri walked through a blinding veil into another realm. She passed into the Dragon Stronghold—an undersea dimension where the Scarzam dragons had created their lair—to find a great sea serpent waiting to reinstate her into the lineage of the ancient sea dragons. Her draconic blood had opened a portal to her birthright and a power beyond death— the ability to walk between worlds.

Sivitri stayed in the dragon’s realm to learn magic that filled her blood with energy as she uncovered a history far older than the memory of humanity could fathom. Knowledge of that history instilled her with a purpose. When she emerged from the ocean years later, she was born anew. Her mortal self was long gone and her reign of immortal power had begun.

Scarzam Dragon

The Scarzam dragons were once powerful and feared, and all save one have been wiped out. This dragon is now the last of its kind and is bonded to Sivitri by blood. Some claim that Sivitri was the creator of these unique dragons, while others say that long ago the Scarzam dragons foresaw their demise and mingled their blood with humanity, in the hopes that one day the bloodline would bring forth a human who could be a champion of their lineage.

Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt

On the treacherous world of Ikoria, gargantuan beasts fight each other for survival in a land where humans sit at the bottom of the food chain. Ikoria’s wildlife, it turns out, is evolutionarily aggressive. If a creature doesn’t already have the advantage in an encounter it might grow a new body part to gain the upper hand—sometimes quite literally!

Adventurers should also be wary of further changes. A creature might have transformed once already but Ikoria is home to countless others with the same ability and there’s nothing to stop further mutations making Snapdax even more deadly than it already is!

Sol’kanar the Swamp King

Sol’kanar was once a nature spirit who dwelled within the island of Corondor. There, in the island’s core, he mingled with the other forces of nature—sometimes in conflict, sometimes in harmony—but always with the overall health and well-being of Corondor in mind. Each force shaped the land’s geology and filled it with a diversity of life.

But as ill-fortune would have it, a great multiversal war came to Corondor, crushing the island in its grip of madness and throwing everything out of balance. The forces of nature fled deeper into Corondor, but a demon planeswalker singled out Sol’kanar and tore him from the land to use as a living weapon. The benevolent nature spirit was unable to resist the planeswalker’s demonic magic, which warped Sol’kanar’s mind and twisted him into an instrument of destruction.

In his new demonic form, Sol’kanar saw things through different eyes. His mind was no longer constrained, death and rage were his to wield like an unquenchable fire, and he found himself embracing war and relishing slaughter—the once benevolent force of nature was now fuel for a demonic pyre. But, as with most wars, this conflict eventually moved to another front, leaving only death and ruin in its wake. With nothing more to gain from Corondor’s domination, the demon planeswalker left to pursue her wrath and madness elsewhere and Sol’kanar’s broken form was discarded and left to rot in the corpse-laden swamps of his home world.

Sol’kanar’s spirit did not die, but was taken deep into the soul of Corondor, where the remaining forces of nature formed a confluence of Corondor’s energies. There, in the vault of the world, they discussed whether or not to revive Sol’kanar, as his soul would be forever demon-tainted and potentially dangerous. But Corondor had been horribly defiled and the forces of nature had been helpless to stop it. Nature needed a champion. Sol’kanar, it was decided, was to be brought back to life.

The mountain spirits offered up a sacred stone known as the Heart of the Mountain, and both the river spirits and those of the great swamp poured their elemental power into it. It was there, deep within Corondor that Sol’kanar was reborn, emerging from the bogs with a burning desire to defend Corondor and destroy any who would dare defile it.

Using Sol’kanar In Your Game

Sol’kanar is bound to his island kingdom of Corondor, which can be used in any fashion in your game. It could be a place where the characters are shipwrecked, or it could be a place where an item is hidden.

If you’d like to use the rich history from the Magic: The Gathering storyline, Corondor is a place still recovering after the devastation of a terrible war, so all manner of latent magic, mysterious weapons, cool artifacts, and wrecked war machines could be buried there.

Sol’kanar is a fierce defender of his land, so any untoward activity on Corondor is sure to pique his ire, and few survive his wrath. However, there could be things that Sol’kanar

needs to bring stability and peace back to his land. Although he is a demon, Sol’kanar’s chaotic nature is kept in check by the Heart of the Mountain, which allows him to hold on to some of his original essence—a spirit of nature who cares for his kingdom.

Chapter 4: Planescape

Monsters in this chapter appeared in Dragon+ #16 and were featured in the video game Planescape: Torment.

Gronk

Huge, squat beasts with powerful legs and a thundering croak, the gronk are also known as “hopping rocks” or “stone frogs.” The ill-tempered beasts pose a threat to the nomadic bariaur tribes that roam the Outlands, and those tribes occasionally mount hunting parties solely to thin the gronk’s numbers. According to the bariaur nomads, gronk have existed on the Outlands for as far back as five bariaur generations. Their numbers have not increased substantially during that time, mostly due to bariaur thinning gronk herds with their rites of passage. A number of planewalkers have sighted the gronk on several Prime worlds as well.

Violent and Antisocial. When a creature comes within its line of sight, a gronk emits a thundering croak and hops toward the target to smash it to death with its spiked headplate. All gronk are nearly deaf, and bright visual displays irritate them. Tales tell of wizards who cast dancing lights into gronk herds to drive them into a frenzy. This results in the gronk turning on themselves until nearly every member of the herd is dead.

The gronk are so ill tempered that they can’t even tolerate their own species. Despite their herd mentality, the strength of the herd depends on the gronk’s emotional cycle, and members of a new herd can survive for a week at most before becoming irritated with one another. Soon after, their natural hatred gives way to furious bouts of head smashing. The herd then dissolves and reforms into new herds several months later.

Unusual Biology. Ironically, the gronk’s hatred of each other propagates their species. A gronk’s reproductive organs are located near its brain, in the spiked carapace over its forehead. The ridged spikes that cover the gronk’s headplate are actually buds that exchange reproductive material when two gronk smash their heads into each other, then subsequently fall off. If a fallen bud touches dirt, sand, earth, or rock, it submerges a few inches beneath the ground, only to burrow forth a few months later as a tiny gronk.

The gronk have never been seen to eat; it is a mystery how they sustain themselves. A gronk’s lifespan ranges from three to five years. As a gronk ages, its headplate cracks and flakes off until the creature suffers brain failure and dies.

Valuable Parts. Gronk headplates are often sought after for use in creating shields and armor plating, including for siege towers and shield walls. One bariaur myth talks of gronk headplates being placed upon an enchanted battering ram that could act as a horn of blasting upon any structure, but which needed a huge number of people to carry it.

The gronk also have bladder-like glands along their necks and upper backs that can be removed with care after a gronk is slain. When treated with the right resins and filled with acid, the gland sacs can be used as grenades, and are known to be extremely effective against fiends.

Sohmien

A sohmien resembles a huge horse with a leathery, ashen hide and dead white eyes. Its shoulder blades extend beyond its head and neck, and bone spikes (extensions of its spinal column) sprout from each shoulder.

Sohmiens leave a trail of mist in their wake, resembling that which shrouds the Hinterlands. The touch of their hooves kills vegetation and can taint the lands they stampede across for years. No one has ever successfully used a sohmien as a mount.

Sohmien do not eat, sleep, or mate, and their rides are governed by some cycle that eludes scholars. Herds of them emerge from the Hinterlands randomly before returning, and many suspect that they appear only in response to a creature craving vengeance.

Born of Nightmare. According to legend, the last of the nightmare lords was lured to the Gloom Meet by his subjects, then attacked by fiends who had tired of bartering for permission to use his nightmares. The nightmare lord was driven into the Hinterlands, his body riddled by cold iron spears and arrows. It is believed that where his blood struck the earth, sohmien sprang forth.

Sohmien hate nightmares and attack them over all other targets. It is said that the ride of the sohmien will not end until they kill every nightmare in existence.

Sadistic Combatants. Sohmien prefer to start combat at range with their shoulder spines, each of which makes a horrible whistling noise when fired and shrieks when it tastes blood. In close-up combat, a sohmien gores and bites its foes in non-vital areas, allowing a creature to experience as much pain as possible before its eventual death.

A Thirst for Vengeance. According to myth, sohmien are creatures of vengeance. They can be summoned by any vengeful mage or priest of sufficient power through a long-lost ritual called the sohmien pact. When summoned, sohmien must be ordered to ride, destroying all in the path leading to the creature that has wronged the summoner.

The ride ends only when all the sohmien are slain or when they have reduced the offending creature to near death. At that point, the sohmien wait, pawing the ground in the hope that their victim will seek its own revenge by sending them stampeding back to the first summoner. What happens when the sohmien return is unknown, but chronicles talk of the original summoner vanishing, its voice joining the frightful wails that follow the sohmien as they ride from the Hinterlands.

Trelon

Trelons originated on one of the Prime worlds and were brought to the Outlands by a sorcerer living on the ninth ring. This sorcerer used them as weapons, transporting them into the Academy of Weavers near Curst, where the trelons murdered the entire school of illusionists in their sleep.

Trelons have been described as a “mixture of orange and shadow.” They have two long arms that end in curved spikes, two mandibles near the mouth for feeding, and two spindly legs. According to legend, trelons were created to exterminate mages on some long-dead Prime world. True or not, the trelons seem to hate mages and magic in general.

Deadly Swarms. A trelon swarm is terrible to behold. When they appear, they mob any nearby creature, tearing through their victims like scythes. Trelons attack with their two arm spikes, bisecting a target like a pair of cutting shears. They do not stop until they have killed every non-trelon in sight, but when the fight is done, the mandibles around their mouths scoop up the remains of their victims.

Trelons do not like natural light, and torches or strong lanterns can prevent them from attacking. However, magical light drives them into a frenzy, and they attack any opponent using it without hesitation.

Unseen and All Seeing. A trelon never appears at a distance of greater than 30 feet from other creatures. Targets might thus never know that they are in the middle of a swarm of trelons until the creatures suddenly begin to materialize. How this ability works remains a mystery, but trelons are known to appear primarily in shadowy conditions where there is no natural light. It is likewise not known where they retreat to once they have finished their attacks.

Some believe that the trelons track creatures by their shadows, their emotions, or the sounds they make. But it is also known that trelons have the ability to track a victim through the use of spells or magic items designed to conceal the user. They are drawn to those protected by invisibility, a cloak of displacement, and similar magic, and can sense targets no matter how well they are hidden. Magical cloaking seems to drive trelons into a rage, and they often attack invisible or cloaked targets before other foes.

Mysterious Ways. Trelons speak a unique language that consists of soft clicks and chittering noises, which rise to a near-deafening screeching when they strike. Their insect-like nature makes several sages suspect that they may have a hive mentality, but like much that is known about trelons, this is only speculation.

Trelons are valued for their talons, which are long enough to be used as sword blades and make fearsome mage-slaying weapons when properly enchanted. Likewise, trelon blood is said to be usable in the crafting of unique arrows of slaying meant to kill mages. But incidents have been recorded in which attempts to use trelon blood in magical rituals have instead summoned a swarm of trelons to the scene.

Chapter 5: Lower Planes

Belaphoss appeared in Dragon+ #4 and is mentioned in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide as a patron, but without stats.

Subknock (Imp)

Among the many former masters of the imp known as Subknock was the bone devil that would later invade Kwalish’s lost laboratory, installing itself as the Grand Master of the Monastery of the Distressed Body. Long before those events, however, a quasit fought the shiftless Subknock for the right to serve the bone devil, becoming its new assistant and sharing in its triumphs. (Full details on the Grand Master can be found in Lost Laboratory of Kwalish.)

Thwarted Ambition. Subknock can assume beast form at will, but in its natural state, it resembles a diminutive red-skinned humanoid with small horns and leathery wings. It bears a set of special necrotic claws stolen from its rival, the quasit Whazzit. The quasit in turn stole and now bears Subknock’s barbed stinger tail.

Like its quasit rival, Subknock is a rather accomplished inventor, especially when it comes to devices of warfare and torture. To further its ambitions, it might offer to serve as a familiar to a new master. Even if it does, however, Subknock is principally interested in gaining control of Daoine Gloine, the site of Kwalish’s newer lost laboratory, or in establishing another suitable laboratory for its own dark experiments.

Subknock is also motivated to seek vengeance against its quasit rival. The two are rumored to keep in contact with each other, with both sending emissaries and assassins against one another via the planar gates located in the Monastery of the Distressed Body and in Daoine Gloine.

Familiar. Subknock might serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what Subknock senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While Subknock is within 10 feet of its master, the master gains proficiency with two sets of artisan’s tools of the master’s choice: alchemist’s supplies, carpenter’s tools, glassblower’s tools, mason’s tools, smith’s tools, or tinker’s tools, determined when first bonded. At any time and for any reason, Subknock can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.

Subknock is likely to serve only spellcasters of 7th level or higher and of evil alignment, or who can grant the imp access to materials and resources to further its own experiments.

Subknock appeared in Dragon+ #24.

Whazzit (Quasit)

Quasits infest the Lower Planes. Physically weak, they keep to the shadows to plot mischief and wickedness. More powerful demons use quasits as spies and messengers when they aren’t devouring them or pulling them apart to pass the time.

In ages past, a bone devil gained the services of a particularly ambitious quasit named Whazzit, which was looking to escape the typical fate of its kind. With Whazzit’s help, the bone devil conquered the lost laboratory of Kwalish and converted it into a monastery dedicated to its own dark cult, becoming the monastery’s Grand Master. But the devil eventually met its demise investigating Kwalish’s grand experiments, and its infernal life force was drawn into powerful extraplanar machinery. (Full details on the Grand Master can be found in Lost Laboratory of Kwalish.)

Whazzit survived—and quickly saw opportunity. The quasit managed to construct an elaborate war machine based on Kwalish’s designs, using the bone devil’s exoskeleton as its framework. The tiny fiend then kept up an elaborate ruse for years, piloting this exoskeleton as it pretended to be the Grand Master.

Infernal Plotting. Whazzit can assume a number of beast forms, but in its true form, it looks like a two- foot-tall green humanoid with horns. The quasit has grafted tiny shards of the bone devil’s exoskeleton onto its own body for added protection, and has incorporated a stinger into its tail stolen from a rival—the imp known as Subknock. The imp in turn stole Whazzit’s original set of necrotic claws, a theft that still fills the quasit with rage.

Chapter 6: Novels

Sun Pellet

Wondrous item, very rare

---

This small ceramic ball is specially coated with enchanted oil. As an action, you can crack a sun pellet or throw it up to 100 feet, whereupon it releases a brilliant magical light. This light is equivalent to a sunburst spell (save DC 15) but has a radius of 20 feet.

Chapter 7: Monster Miscellany

Havoc Orb

The havoc orb is an insane embodiment of law from a distant plane, which leads a retinue of destructive fey creatures in an effort to eliminate all chaos from the multiverse—starting with all other living creatures. It resents even the chaos of its fey retinue, but it willingly suffers them until all other chaos is eliminated. At that point, it plans to destroy its minions last of all.

Drawn to Chaos. All havoc orbs are created on some distant lawful plane through an unknown process. Their essence is the very fabric of chaos from Limbo, which is taken and carefully urged into a metastable order. But this metastability causes a havoc orb to go mad when confronted with a disordered reality that it must compute, calculate, and model internally. Some believe that havoc orbs begin existence as lawful neutral creatures on their home plane, whose perfect order is easy for them to understand. But as soon as it experiences any other reality, a havoc orb’s madness twists it to evil.

A havoc orb is attracted to areas of high natural chaos, such as forests, even as it attracts chaos to itself—causing many fey to be enamored of it. The creature perceives an inherent order in water, and so it avoids lakes and seas. Still, a havoc orb can easily adapt to living underwater, and in rare cases, these creatures can be found beneath the sea with a horde of aquatic fey behind them.

Phasing Form. A havoc orb is a creature of chitinous joints and spindles set around a massive, glaring eye. Its long claws change phase as they come into contact with other creatures or matter. The effect is hard to see, with the orb’s appendages seeming to ripple and vanish into whatever it is touching. This phasing form also provides an orb with powerful defenses, letting it throw itself into combat with impunity. It harries creatures at range with multiple eldritch blast attacks, but its more fearsome assault comes from its phasing claws. When those claws hit, the havoc orb’s structure momentarily melds with its target, weakening it in body and spirit.

Fey Minions. A havoc orb often travels in the company of fey creatures. Evil fey bent on destruction are easily attracted to the orb’s service, including redcaps, quicklings, and hags. But even neutral fey such as satyrs, boggles, and darklings are often swayed by the destructive potential a havoc orb unleashes, and they too can be found in the creature’s service. No society of havoc orbs exists, for each is mad in its own unique way. An orb maintains its retinue of fey followers, and that circle functions like any other group of fey. It pays no real attention to its retinue, however, other than to shepherd its fey along and lead them into combat.

A havoc orb has no interest in treasure, but its fey followers are quick to scoop up coins, jewels, and magic left behind in the aftermath of the destruction commanded by their master.

Havoc orbs appeared in Dragon+ #18.

Minion

A minion is a small, yellow-skinned humanoid that has either one or two eyes. They are often found in packs ranging from dozens to hundreds of minions, though groups as small as three sometimes undertake select missions. They speak their own language, seemingly composed of words and phrases borrowed from many tongues. While minions are chaotic neutral by nature (with a strong emphasis on chaotic), their strongest desire is to provide service to the greatest evil leader in any given area.

Shaggy the Groovy God

Shaggy is an entity of unfathomable power of which little is known, though every inhabited plane has legends in which Shaggy appears. Some versions devour all in their path and bring ruin, while other factor prominently in creation myths. In several, Shaggy is a comic, even bumbling character that goes on to significantly influence the world. Common threads exist across tellings, most notably the presence of its beloved and loyal familiar, Scooby-Doo, an extraordinarily intelligent canine, capable of speech, resembling a Great Dane. Shaggy and its familiar are sometimes thought to be extensions of the same being, though they act as distinct entities.

Omniplanar. Shaggy exists across many planes simultaneously, with any given manifestation on any given plane utilizing but a fraction of the being’s overall power. Even a small percentage of Shaggy’s power, if demonstrated, can have immense ramifications; entire universes exist due to an act of pure will be a single manifestation.

Bottomless Hunger. Shaggy is generally concerned with little beyond the ample sustenance required to maintain its immense power. Above all else, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo desire “Scooby Snacks.” They will go to nearly any lengths to obtain and consume them.

Reluctant Combatant. Shaggy tends to be an easygoing or even friendly presence, with a distaste for fighting. But while merciful and likely to feign terror and flee, Shaggy will retaliate should its familiar, Scooby-Doo, be threatened, and the wise will avoid this at all costs. Should battle occur, vanquishing Shaggy would likely require extraordinary effort from a team of powerful entities. Still, the resulting cataclysm would leave the plane a scorched, uninhabitable wasteland, and the victory would be a hollow one, since any single Shaggy is but a trivial piece of the whole. Engaging Shaggy in combat is a fool's errand, and truly defeating it is virtually impossible. A battle with Shaggy will result in devastating consequences, both for the other combatants and the entire plane in which the battle occurs, and the odds of living to tell about it are slim to none.

Shaggy appeared in Dragon+ #25.

Terror of Undermountain

A grotesque creature of Halaster Blackcloak’s own creation, this legendary monstrosity was abandoned shortly after being unleashed within Undermountain. Now long forgotten and left to wander the great dungeon, it is driven only by its instinct to destroy.

Infectious Hunter. The Terror of Undermountain has cultivated a diseased bite from years of consuming carcasses and offal. Whenever it comes across a potent threat, it satisfies itself with biting that creature once, then falling back and waiting for it to die.

Vlaakith the Lich Queen

Vlaakith, The Revered Queen, sits at the center of everything concerning the githyanki. She is their ruler in every sphere of activity and, as such, demands and receives utter obedience.

During the war with the illithids, Vlaakith urged Gith to seek out allies from among the planes and in particular advised her to seek counsel with Tiamat. Gith agreed to venture into the Nine Hells to forge an alliance with the Queen of Dragons. She didn't return. Instead, the great red dragon Ephelomon brought news to the gith: Tiamat had pledged many of her red dragon servants to the gith cause. They would refrain from attacking gith and would provide support against the illithids and protection for the gith's outposts on the Material Plane. In return, a few select young dragons would serve alongside the gith for a time, for purposes known only to Tiamat. Ephelomon also proclaimed that Vlaakith was to rule in Gith's place until she returned.

After the gith overthrew the mind flayers and Zerthimon's followers began to emerge as a threat to Gith's preeminence, Vlaakith played a critical role in ensuring that the githyanki under her rule were protected from an immediate, direct assault by their kin. Using her mastery of arcane magic, she helped the githyanki establish a permanent stronghold on the Astral Plane. From there, she began making plans to strike back at both the hated mind flayers and the traitorous githzerai.