Catfolk Pouncer

The catfolk pouncer's statblock is really nothing radical and new with two special abilities, one lifted straight from a fighter feat, and another potentially falling into the category of what the Gamemastery guide calls "invisible abilities" and suggests avoiding.
That said, the catfolk have appeared in so many media across the years, in so many different incarnations, evil, good, and everything inbetween, that you have an insanely big well of ideas to draw from, and not giving them something interesting lorewise would really be a mistake.

In the world of Landya, there is a dark secret behind the catfolk's creation. Apparently, long ago, the world was ruled by humans (now reduced to small, hairless, semi-bipedal primates) while the cat "folk" used to have a form of mere "cats", quadruped forms of their now bipedal bodies. A small white cat prayed to the god of dreaming, to end the cats' suffering, and when she woke up, the world was as it is today.
When a druid with a human companion learns of this, he seeks out sages, wizards and clerics, seeking to find a way for both versions of reality to coexist.

The Unluckies are a group of black catfolk who specialize in divination and illusion magic, as well as thievery. While they are well known to be thieves and scoundrels, there are many legends that say those who try to go after them bring misfortune upon themselves. Of course, such stories may be circulated and inflated by the catfolk themselves...

Thuomas and Gerardo are a famously opposed catfolk and ratfolk. Thuomas is a paladin of Arslan, a catfolk deity of "might and light", while Gerardo is a chaotic scoundrel, popular among the common folk, but hated and hunted by many authorities. The stories following the two's escapades are numerous and possibly inflated, but that chaos follows wherever one of them arrives is certain.
While clearing out the basement of a chateau they inherited, a group of heroes stumble upon a ratfolk nest, with the notorious scoundrel easily identified among them. He offers them riches beyond measure if they smuggle him out, but behind the golden-fanged smile there's the obvious threat of a knife in the dark if they rat him out (pun damn well intended).
Otherwhere, the city has seemingly overnight been covered with posters promising gold and the mercy of gods to those who report any information about Gerardo to the Paladin, currently staying at a local tavern...

Cat

Ok, we've got another multiple-stat entry on our hand - this time, we have the leopard, lion, tiger and the mighty smilodon on our hands.

In the Bakshii savannah, big cats are a sign of prestige. 
Shamans are rarely seen without leopards trailing them, local warchiefs hunt with lionesses, and the high warchief is bonded with an old, heavily maned lion. Any travelers who may have cat companions such as jaguars or tigers are greeted with utmost respect, but those traveling with canines are seen as dirty and barbaric.

An insane druid has taken over a pack of lions, and has been using them to cut a trail of blood through the countryside. At this point, the pack has developed so much of a taste for hobbit meat that simply eliminating the druid - in the skin of a great, white lion - won't be enough to stop the slaughter.

A notorious bounty hunter known simply as "Fang" refuses to show his face, securing deals only through trusted underlings. Curiosuly, Fang never takes on deals where the target is wanted alive - going in only for the kill. The truth is, Fang is an awakened smilodon, who hates his newfound awareness, and is collecting money to reverse the spell. If he is confronted, he is quick to attack, but promising him help on his quest to revert to a simpler life might save many more lives, not the least of which are the ones of those who make the promise...

Cassisian (Archive Angel)

Aight, blog update time. I've been away for several days, and I am sorry for that. A lot of life happened in those few days, but now that everything is fine, i'll be getting back to beastfinder. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

I  really, really love abilities that rely on some GM fiat, like the Cassisian's repository of lore. Your angel witnessed the creation of the world and knows everything about every deity, but can't see the difference between dwarves and humans? Sure.

In the duchy of Santa Clara, the aristocracy has always had good relations with the heavens. Several cassisians are present within castle walls at all times, prime among them an old an experienced being called Firstlight. Firstlight is not above investing itself within day-to-day politics of the duchy, though it mostly concerns itself with matters of piety and morality.
When the old Duke dies, his twin sons call a moot, to decide who will ascend to the throne. Unfortunately, instead of landing on one of their heads, as it had for every duke ten generations prior, the angel decides to land on a lone ranger, expelled from the city for his treacherous claim he was the duke's illegitimate son...


Before ascending to godhood, claiming the title of God Of Hard Work, Mistress Bunuela was a wizard specializing in good-aligned planes. In one of her many travels, she famously formed a bond with an archive angel named Flutterswap. Now that she is gone from the mortal realm, a race to find the angel has begun, as many speculate it's perfect memory holds his mistress's plan to achieve godhood, and could indeed be used to recreate her feat.

Oswint Orkbane was a legendary knight, known for never appearing in public without his suit of armor and winged helmet on. After he embarrasses himself during a feast, an investigation reveals that ser Oswint is gone, and that what has been walking around in his stead is a suit of animated armor, and a cassisian angel mounted on top of it. Weirdly enough, even when questioned within magical zones of truth, the angel seems to fully believe himself to be the legendary knight.

Caligni

The caligni, previously known as dark folk (with the term now being considered racist in the setting, possibly reflecting real life) come to us in three variants - the dancer, a low-threat support, the creeper, a fairly standard rogueish type, and the stalker, whose encircling command ability is easily one of my favourites in the entire bestiary.

Deep beneath the city of Tanatolia, an ancient populace of sterile caligni has lived for centuries. Previously, they've never caused too much issues for the surface dwellers - an occasional prank or mugging getting overshadowed by the city's own criminal underground. Recently, though, the caligni have become the city's premier problem - breaking into homes and stealing babies from their cribs. An investigation leads to the disturbing discovery that they've made a pact with a dark entity, giving them the ability to create new members of their races by submerging human babies into the lifeless waters of an underground river...

Grothluk Paleblood is the leader of a mercenary war band, infamous in the darklands. In combat, the old warlord is known for yelling commands across the battlefield, positioning his troops perfectly across the battlefield, using terrain to its fullest advantage. In the rare cases when encountered outside of a war, he isn't above resorting to regular banditry either...

A mysterious entity has possessed the caligni shaman on the outskirts of the dwarven undercity of Globlum. This resulted in many young caligni growing up into previously unseen forms and roles, the most common being the seemingly mindless exploders, who sneak into settlements and set entire districts ablaze, and firespitters, who do not combust on death, but can spit out a substance that lights ablaze on contact with flesh.
While slaying the shaman to save the city is always an option, the dwarven king would prefer an exorcism to be performed, to restore friendly relations with the dark folk.

Cacodaemon

Can i just say how much i appreciate everything about this angry little dude's design? He has enough going for him to be solid nightmare fuel if the GM desires to go that route, but he also looks... kinda cute? And the multiple eyes and weird proportions make it pretty clear that we're not in Middle Earth any more, this is weird fantasy territory and bless it for being so.

A shepherd's daughter has been going on about a lizard that speaks to her for weeks, but everyone ignored her. When a passing knight jokingly asks to see the lizard, the child puts it in his armored palm. Immediately, the lizard changes form into that of a little bulb of eyes and teeth, and offers the knight the soul of a virgin queen in exchange for its life.

A cunning cacodaemon has a new favourite strategy to gain souls - he appears before unsuspecting travelers, and threatens to call forth his master, an old and sadistic crucidaemon, unless the travelers are willing to trade one soul - be it one of theirs or otherwise acquired - for their freedom.
Those who see through the ruse, though, realize that the little fiend is working alone, and poses no real threat to experienced adventurers.

Salazar Salienza is a masterful tiefling assassin, always trailed by a cacodaemon he made a pact with long ago. The daemon gets to do whatever he wants to with the soul gems created from the many, many targets of his master partner's skills, and in exchange is expected to act as a scout, as well as a scholar of the planes if the need arises. If encountered together, Salazar is likely to apply a dose of hunting spider venom onto the daemon's teeth, making the little thing even more of a nuisance, while the assassin himself moves towards the least armored opponents he sees.

Bunyip

Using a cryptid like a bunyip in a game presents a weird question for a gamemaster: In a world where two-headed dragon snake-turtles, landsharks, and goblin-faced wolves are a common sight, how do you make a creature weird or obscure enough to stand out? The answers is - honestly, i have no bloody idea. But it's worth pondering.

In post-awakening Australia, bunyips aren't that rare of a sight. Making their lairs in billabongs, while elusive, they are now a staple of the weir flora and fauna ever since what was once supernatural became the norm. The thing is, everyone know the two species that make up a bunyip - it's always a mix of features of the australian fur seal and a bull shark.
When a lad called Connor spots a specimen apparently sporting the features of a great white, mixed with those of an australian sea lion, no-one is inclined to believe him - yet soon enough, fishing boats in the area start disappearing...

The legend of Deepcroak Estate is a well-known tale in the nearby town of Summerstock. Many generations ago, the castle in the middle of the estate, which lies in a marshy area, was home to the Himmel family, who were old aristocracy. Lord Himmel was an avid traveler, and used to bring colourful souvenirs from his travels, some to be hung on the walls or displayed in cases, and yet others as gifts to his lovely wife or little daughter. After one of his wildest journeys, he dragged home a big, covered canister, and told his daughter he brought her a pair of pets who were "as sweet as angels yet as terrifying as devils". When he opened them, though, they appeared to be empty.
Mere months later, the entire family was apparently gone, and the estate appeared to be empty, but the marshlands were now haunted by terrible roars in the night.

A wizard claims to have finally managed to catch a live bunyip - but alas, it escaped into his giant underground complex. As he tells to the group of monster hunters he summoned, the creature appeared entirely nonmagical... except for the fact that it was completely and utterly immune to divination magic, with no easy explanation. It has bestial cunning, but the sight of blood makes it reckless, says the wizard. He has no idea how it escaped the myriad wards he placed around its cage, as they apparently were strong enough to contain djinnis and giants beforehand. It did leave a set of wet tracks, leading deep underground, but the wizard it always walked trackless before - leading him to the conclusion that the beast wants to be hunted for some reason...

Bulette

Bulettes are one of those monsters that are just crazy enough to work despite being an absurd concept. LAND. SHARKS. Anyway, while you can always turn your campaign into jaws but on land, we'll go another route, and see what else makes these tick in the following entries.

Spiridon the alchemist has been mutating bulettes for the past few years. While he also made several alchemically aligned specimens, his proudest work are bulletes that feed only on a certain type of humanoid.
Indeed, if anyone breaks into his lair, he quickly scans the ancestries of the intruders, before opening the heavy, metal canisters containing bulettes who will only try to eat the intruders and not him.
Unfortunately for him, if someone know his secret - and the Shire Constabulary, chasing after him, have learned it - opening the canister with the elf-eater bullete might not end up well for him...

Deep Black is the oldest, meanest, and most definitely largest bulette arround. The massive female stalks the outskirts of the dwarven undercity of Kel Marhmahoor, slaughtering entire caravans in one attack. Recently, its appetites seem to have increased, as it has entered the city itself on several occasions, snatching people and dragging them back under the ancient bedrock. Dwarven heroes are called for, and the beast needs to be slain once for all.

For ages, The Royal Stables of the Kingdom of Gnarlia have had a designated bulette slayer. Unfortunately, the previous man fell ill, and passed away a mere night away. Now, as the king's new champions arrive to be given horses and ride away on a new adventure, a bullete appears, foaming at the mouth...

Bugbear

The Bugbear is an interesting case. While it's fluff suggests boogeyman-like roots, and an almost horror-esque vibe, what the stats and artwork give us is a fairly standard goblinoid with some decent stealth options.
While I urge you to go for the former, I will try to present options for both paths you can take in the following encounters.

While they are shunned in most of the civilized world, in the northern county of Vladimirsk, bugbears are revered as great bounty hunters. Of those, the most infamous is Plotsk Paleblood, an old and respected, if a bit sadistic hunter.
A rumor says that Plotsk is impossible to find, and that he will only appear to those who use a ritual to summon him, and even then only if he deems the quarry worth it.
While they are passing through the region, on their way to the Crown Of The World, the members of the Royal Northern Expedition make an encampment at the foothills of mount Exoda. As night falls, a pale, bestial bugbear appears in the command tent, demanding to know who summoned him. When everyone pleads ignorance, he threatens to kill every last person in the room one by one until someone speaks.

Grand Inquisitor Thalmir is on the hunt for an escaped goblin, but soon enough, he realizes he is also being hunted. When Bruhk, the goblin merchant, sold The Church Of Commerce's secrets, he threatened the clergy not to go after him. Taking it as empty threats, the church sent Thalmir, who now finds himself on the verge of success, but trailed by two bugbears, who he only occasionally spots in the distance, laughing maniacally as they close in.

Ever since her childhood, princess Iulia has talked about her imaginary friend, a being she met while it lived under her bed. The old king quickly dismissed such tales as childish foolery. At the eve of her sixteenth birthday, when the king told Iulia he will be bringing her suitors to ask for her hand, the princess pleaded him not to do so, because "crackface will get angry".
True enough, the morning after the princes and dukes arrived, they were each found in their room, with their throats neatly slit and no clue as to who could have done it.