Otyugh

Otyughs are the quintessential sewer-crawl monsters, ones that have been with us since the very first publications of the world's oldest roleplaying game. They have tentacles, look weird, and eat garbage, which makes them the perfect sewer encounter, right?

Wrong. I mean, you can use them thusly, and with their slew of garbage and tentacle-related activities it won't be an uninteresting encounter either, but come on. Take another look at the stat block and fluff text and come back. The otyugh might look odd and feed on literal excrement, but it is at an almost humanoid level of intelligence. Otyughs have something resembling a society. Otyughs are true neutral, and while decidedly alien they might be willing to reason with you. So I beg you, be creative and don't waste the waste eaters on forgettable encounters.

- Nemanja

Hook 1 (Max) - Fecal Decal

The duchy of Bayon, glorious golden wheat upon its emblem, is known for its abundance of food, which it exports to all corners of the land. That allowed all of its towns to grow into cities, massive in their scale. With this, certain needs arose, followed by certain problems.

Every bigger town in the area boasts a vast canal system, is typically accompanied by a giant heap of waste produced by its populace and stinks like a disaster.

Coincidentally, when the number of cities increased, the number of crops spoiling did as well—exponentially. The duke is looking for an answer, unaware that it lies directly beneath his grand cities.

Hook 2  (Nemanja) - The Goopy Guildmaster

In the Grand City of Al'Balaar, guilds are organized in a hierarchical manner, with lesser guilds reporting to those more powerful in an almost feudal manner.

To a foreigner, it could be odd that the thieves guild, assassins guild, the guild of lawyers, and other such guilds that operate outside the confine of the law, all report to the Sewersmith guild. Stranger still, it might seem that the guild is made up entirely of members of two less than popular groups; the field operatives are mostly goblins, whereas the top of the hierarchy is ruled by otyughs. The ironically named Underdoge—the ancient, alchemically-empowered Otyugh guildmaster—claims to have given his blessing to the rise of the last seven doges of the "Upper city".

After a career of adventuring, a group of wizards wishes to retire, forming a guild of illusionists to pass on their knowledge. Soon enough, they are approached by a goblin with a tentacle broch inviting them to discuss "matters of the flow of information" with his masters in the sewers...

Hook 3 (Reece) - Tower of Terror

The seat of power for the Relendish Republic within the capital is a point of consternation for many. After a brief and bloody conflict with the remaining royals that wished to hold onto power in Reylar's Rest, the question of what to do with The Steel Palace was a curious problem. An imposing monstrosity made entirely of steel that reached toward the sky, the building had been long ago created by the progenitor of the Steel Kingdom, and the magic that was sewn throughout the walls and into its foundation made it nearly impossible to destroy.

The Council of Guilds instead opted for turning the building into a series of offices for guild leaders as well as a place to house foreign diplomats. While over thirty years have passed since The Revolution, not everything about the building is fully understood, as its original inhabitants have been long since vacated, alongside their secrets.

When the Govenor of a nearby island-state is found dead, seemingly of a heart attack, and partially eaten inside of one of the restrooms, it spawns a controversy. As a new member of the Royal Navy's investigation unit, you are sent to find what happened, and if the building is a danger to others. It wouldn't be such a bad job if it weren't for the smell...

Ofalth

Today, we speak about something offal. Awful offal. Despite the terrible wordplay, I do quite love the concept of the Ofalth. A giant literal shit-trash monster to almost kill/disgust your players with? Sign me up.

There's a lot of ways to use an ofalth in your game, though you do have to bear in mind that it is a very powerful creature! At level 10, the ofalth remains a threat through level 12, when PCs become truly greek-myth-level powerful.

One may find an ofalth in the refuse room of a long-abandoned-now-resettled dungeon, as well as in major urban areas as a vital part of the fantasy ecology therein. Wherever you decide to use it, the Ofalth comes with some evocative abilities that tie to its central theme—being a living dumpster pile.

The ofalth can appear as a pile of garbage/refuse, its presence is physically sickening, and getting struck by the thing can cause you to just... bleed to death. Slowly. Fun!

When considering its use, try to think of how the ofalth fits into the world itself. As an aberration, they could be summoned by a particularly foul practitioner of magic, created for some purpose related to their environment, or drawn to sources of filth. All are perfectly valid options, just remember to consider how disgusting your description to your players is, don't want someone to lose their lunch onto your GM screen (or keyboard)

- Reece

Hook 1 (Max) - Down the Drain

The city of Netters is looking for mercenaries willing to get their hands dirty. Figuratively and literally. The rulers of the metropolis have a little bit of a problem with their sewers; they are getting clogged more and more often. Someone offered up a solution, but carrying it out requires highly skilled warriors.

In the grand capital of the kingdom, it's said the sewers are never clogged. Officials in Netters only know that some sort of cleaning organisms have been deployed in the capital. And so, the job is quite simple, if a tad unsavory.

Get into the sewers and bring one or two of these critters to Netters. Nice and easy, right?

Hook 2 (Reece) - Foul Play

Uvringin Palefinger liked collecting magical artifacts but did not like the work required to obtain them. When the skeevy little man stumbled upon a long-abandoned castle with a sprawling undercroft, a dastardly idea occurred to him: Why go and get the treasure himself when he can make the treasure come to him?

While loathe to travel, Palefinger has a keen mind for magical, alchemical, and mechanical arts. He constructed a lab within the depths of the castle, creating all sorts of terrible monstrosities that he could use in his devious ploy. Once his many traps were laid, he spread rumors through surrounding cities that a powerful staff was hidden within the castle.

Should one make it into the bowels of the place, they would find a beautiful length of wood that appears to be a Greater Staff of Healing, mounted on the wall behind an enormous pile of trash. In actuality the staff is a fake and the room is actually where Palefinger has been throwing the refuse from his failed experiments, feeding it to his pet Ofalth. Anyone foolish enough to mistake the pile for a simple dump will be quite shocked to find otherwise... And Uvringin will be quite happy to add to his collection should the unfortunate adventurer fail in their quest for the false staff.

Hook 3 (Max) - Secret Ingredient

The secret to the world-famous fermented wyvern egg is a well-guarded secret of the Jakus family. For generations, they have sold this very special dish to the rich and adventurous, building a fortune from the delicacy.

There are those who would love to unveil the secret and steal it for themselves—perfectly understandable. There is a good reason, other than protecting their wealth, for the Jakus to protect it.

The fermentation process is conducted in the vast caverns beneath their grand mansion by most unsavory beings.

Nilith

The Nillith is a pretty interesting creature that manages to add new flavour to an old and established concept in TTRPGs: the stalking nightmare.

Several bits set nilliths apart. First, while your initial instinct might be to throw them in the melee, their spell list isn't trivial as it suits their proposed hit-and-run tactics quite well—especially the nasty at-will invisibility.

Second, while they have strong ties to the Astral/Dreaming plane, they are still beings of the mortal realms—this means they must somehow figure in local ecologies. Thirdly, there's the implication that Nilliths are but mere mouthpieces connected to beings beyond most mortals' capacity to fathom...

- Nemanja

Hook 1 (Nemanja) - The Signal of The One

After years of fighting off beings from the Hidden City Of Leng, a wizard has found a way to intercept the connection between a nillith and its mystical master. At first, all went well; the wizard used the accursed being to essentially be in two places at once, using the nillith's body for menial, physical tasks, while delving yet ever deeper into studies of what lies beyond the Veil. Recently, his sanity seems to have slipped. While no blood has been spilled, the nillith has been seen frothing at the mouth and staring at odd-shaped clouds in the dead of night, whereas the wizard has started drawing odd runes on the city walls, claiming to herald the arrival of "The One Who Sees Through Us All". As the madness that took him looms ever closer to an escalation, the wizard's old compatriots are called in to investigate.

Hook 2 (Reece) - The Nilith Number

Nary a knight knows not the night. Nary they nap now or none. Know none of knights that knock or nest upon that nightmare road—none that nab naps near the Knobwood. There knows the knight that the nightmare rests. There knows the knight that no knight might nick the knave, as no knave naps in the knob—only nightmares therein take flight. 

- Bardic song of the Knobwood, said to be haunted by a beast that feeds upon noble knights.

Hook 3 (TJ) - Weary of the Whisperwood

A ring of houses surrounds the town in the middle of The Whisperwood. These houses—though they seem to be abandoned—were never inhabited, and no one shall ever live there. This ring of houses serves as decoys for the foul spirits of the Whisperwood who seek to corrupt the dreams of those who rest close to its borders. In a similar insulatory fashion, the people who call the Whisperwood home do all their business strictly by daylight, leaving plenty of buffer to get home before the sun goes down. When a hunting accident delays the main fighting force of the town, the remaining locals must make a hard decision: brave the woods, or leave them to their demise.

Mimic

 I'd say Mimics exist in the lower echelons of likeability with other creatures such as Rust Monsters, mainly due to them being used as a very adversarial tool along the lines of "ha, gotcha!" by many GMs. Of course, given its toolset, it is of no surprise to anyone that the mimic is typically deployed more so like a trap than an actual creature.

That is the most obvious and easy approach. But we are not here for the obvious and easy, are we? RAW, the mimic can only appear as a medium object—but it can be any object. Despite being portrayed as pretty much mindless, mimics do possess a considerable amount of intelligence (score of a 10 is higher than a lot of animals and beasts in the book), so what's to say they shouldn't use it? And why couldn't a particularly tricky one get very big and pretend it's, say, a house?

- Max

Hook 1 (Max) - Galvanni's Gift

An announcer in fine robes shouts in the middle of the town square.

“Master Galvanni’s magnificent adaptable armor! Get yours today, don’t wait! It can do anything you need! Change its size to fit your chiseled physique, cover your nostrils from poisonous fumes, shift its color to blend into surroundings, create a nifty little backpack should the need arise and so, so much more! Visit Galvanni’s workshop to set up a visit today! You won’t regret it!”

*You might regret it.*

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - An Unpleasant Guest

G̶͕̜͕̲̱͍̘̈͐̄̇͘͜l̶̡͌̾̑̔̉͂̌̚͝ų̴̻̖̗͖̤͓̒͐̈́͝g̶̢̮̯͍͇̫͊̃̀̓̎́̈͜͝g̷̡̠̠̗̮̪̎͑̑͋̊͛̀̀͜ä̷̞̯̹́́͂̊͐̓͛̕͘͘j̸̛͈̖̙̮̑̇̍͛̈a̶̡͍̮̠̦̻̭͍̱͐͋̽b̴̗͎̣̞͚͊͆́͌̒̑̏͆̉͜͝į̶̧̲̪̰̯̗̮̈́̒̍͛͒̎͆̀̋̍g̶̢̛̟̬̜̗̪͇̍̑ǧ̶͚̀̈́̏͠ is a mimic who really, really likes traveling.

                        To that end, he has perfected a very uncommon "hunting" strategy—his preferred disguise is that of a single golden coin. He will often travel for a while in the possession of an adventurer or wanderer until eventually revealing his true form, giving his earnest and nuanced review of locations visited before finally consuming his increasingly confused victim.

Hook 3 (TJ) - The Fence

When it comes to disposing of ill-gotten goods in Millstone, the underground knows that there's really only one place to go. One would be tempted to think that farming communities don't have much in the way of crime or the need to offload stolen items, but that betrays an outsider's misunderstanding of what it means to have a centralized milling operation. Millstone's strategic positioning on the widest and fastest part of Logan Creek is no mistake. Farmers from all over bring their grain to Millstone for its expedient and affordable milling services.

The nefarious underground may not have the same economy of scale as larger operations in major cities, but it is certainly profitable. And no one makes more profit in Millstone than The Fence. First-time contraband foisters may think that their contact is called "The Fence" because of what they do—fence stolen goods. When they get to the meeting location on the north side of town and the posts and beams begin to warp and tremble, they're quickly proven wrong.

Gug

Of the many varied aberrations in the first Bestiary, the Gug is one of the most unsettling, I think. While this creature bears a striking resemblance to a certain antagonist monster of Netflix fame, I think it does have some other interesting narrative options to offer.

Firstly, the gug is scared of ghouls but not ghasts. Given its ability to quickly squeeze through spaces and its darkvision, the gug can make a very interesting part of a subterranean ecosystem ranging from long-forgotten ruins to thriving cities of undead.

The gug's statblock is quite straightforward and is somewhat flexible given its high AC to remain a threat against parties of up to level 12-14. As stated in its descriptive text, granting a higher-level gug otherworldly powers for it to deploy against its prey is a good way to subvert the expectations your players may have for its behavior and tactics. A witch-like gug empowered by its aberrant patron that is worshipped by lowly gugs? That could serve as a perfect opportunity for a simple, yet varied, dungeon crawl.

- Reece

Hook 1 (Max) - A Chug from the Gug Jug

Worship takes many forms. Even amongst man-eating horrors from the deep. A community of gugs performs an... unconventional ritual. They are looking for a worthy champion for their dark god, bringing many people from above to test them.

What is this great trial?

The leader of the beasts found a black chalice etched with ancient runes. Alongside his brethren, he has filled the curio with a plethora of foul things scavenged from their intermittent surface raids. The monstrosities believe that the one to survive a single chug from the jug will lead them to glory, victory, and a great many meals.

So far no one managed to do so, mind you.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Star Folly

In the faraway land of Starfall, there's an ancient order of magi with a sacred purpose. Known as the White Necromancers to some, or Death's Druids to others, these reclusive mages have been tasked with keeping Those That Spew Forth From Fallen Stars at bay for centuries, maybe even millennia.

Unfortunately, as Goldhorn's crusade rages on, history is lost as anything dubbed "black magic" is put to the sword or torch.

As necromancy becomes a dying art and ghouls are executed on sight, the beings that arrived from outer space might have an opening...

Hook 3 (TJ) - Anatomical Anomaly

Anatomists have long clamored for a chance to study the gug. A large creature capable of squeezing itself through tight spaces, bony protrusions to protect its eyes from its prey, arms that split at the elbow to grant extra hands, all of these features make this aberration of particular interest. Luckily for the sciences department at the University of An'zar, a gug skeleton has recently been donated for study.

While it does lack its original musculature, the skeleton is still an impressive addition for study. Some days ago, the staff began to notice the specimen was being repositioned each morning when they arrived in the building. Strangely, this morning it was found as if it was roaring in triumph over some invisible foe. The blood dripping from its skeletal maw and claws, however, is anything but invisible.

Guardian Naga

Friendly aberrations are few and far between both in fantasy RPGs in general and in the currently published bestiaries for Pathfinder 2nd edition. It is, then, with great honor that we present the Guardian Naga who are as patient as they are unsightly to the more common folk.

The guardian naga is a great companion to the much later published Flumph, which I am sure we will get to in a few hundred days after chewing through the rest of 1 and all of 2.

Daunting, that.

Kindly creatures that have some monstrous elements to them are among my favorite tropes in fantasy. Dragons are often the most commonly cited, though there are many others—like the guardian naga—that may satisfy this role such as friendly were-creatures in control of their faculties or grandmotherly druids of the forest that one could mistake for a hag.

When finding a use for the guardian naga in your game, it is not only a more-than-proficient combatant, but it also has access to a plethora of spontaneous divine spells that both heal and deal damage. If for instance a guardian naga is mistaken for a creature one might attack, the guardian naga may do everything in its power to avoid killing a perceived innocent, up to and including the use of breath of life on a creature it just nearly killed.

Consider these things when utilizing the naga. A friendly, albeit ghastly, face in the center of some dilapidated ruin could serve as welcome respite to a combat-laden dungeon crawl, as well as providing opportunities for roleplay where there would otherwise be few sensible options for NPCs that could be placed within a terribly dangerous locale.

- Reece

Hook 1 (Nemanja) - Ishtara Exul

Before the Royalists seized power, Ishtara's grand temple had an entire ward dedicated to taking in pregnant women and caring for them. Unsurprisingly, the Goddess was not a popular figure with the heavily patriarchal regime, and the temple's clergy were chased away or executed.

These days, rumor has it that a trio of women operates in the catacombs below, granting aid to women hurt or ostracized by the new system. These rumors vary wildly in how easy or hard it is to acquire that aid. The reason is quite simple. 

The triumvirate, while powerful and united in their cause of helping downtrodden women, is quite the heterogeneous group; it consists of the temple's last high priestess—presumed dead—a hag who is trying to earn favours from the local population, and a guardian naga fascinated with the temple's sacred purpose. Their respective backgrounds and attitudes often change their approach as each of them favor varying tactics

Hook 2 (Max) - Blightguard

The Wandering Magus is a blight on the land. Wherever he walks, calamity follows, more often than not a direct result of his work. He appears as a senile old man in rags, his only apparent possession is a walking stick, worn smooth from centuries of continuous use.

Because of the mischief he sows, a bounty has been placed on his head. He has already been slain a number of times, which led to a simple conclusion: his real body must be hidden somewhere else.

And so it is, in an old, forgotten tower, guarded by nagas that come from an ancient and proud line who believe that the Magus is about to finally bring peace and solace to the world. With this sworn duty, they will defend him with everything they have.

Hook 3 (Reece) - Vaultkeeper

At the farthest point from any habitable land, deep within the ruins of a long-forgotten ruin, in the bowels of the Infinite Darkness that seems to swallow the world is a vault of divine purpose. The trek to this place is fraught with incredible hardships comprised of dangerous monsters, mystifying puzzles, and deadly traps. Should one survive the journey and reach the vault, they are greeted with a much-needed respite from the difficulties of their mission.

Pormandagon The Kind has guarded the Divine Vault for thousand-ten-thousand years. The vault, which is said to hold that which those who enter wish for most, is Pormandagon's charge and duty. While his judgment is swift upon those he deems of ill intent, he is more than likely reading and drinking tea at the center of the Infinite Darkness, waiting for the next brave traveler that might survive the descent.

His sight is regarded as the most discerning of any creature to ever live, as he is thrice blessed by three different gods to guard the vault from unwelcome intruders.

It is said to be a tradition to sup with Pormandagon as he prods you with questions both moral and philosophical. His queries are of course pretense; his true sight reveals both the desires and sins of mortal kind. This has never stopped him from keeping up the practice, even if it means that he must then strike down a guest he has become fond of.

Grothlut

When considering fates worse than death, being turned into a Grothlut is surely one of them. These mindless, pitiful creatures only have a passing resemblance to their former selves as they are now coated in slime and waste, found slithering in the darkness and moaning miserably at the sight of another living being. Some vestige of their shattered psyche perhaps remains, woefully aware of its circumstance.

Other than its normal ranged and melee attack, the grothlut's main abilities are its Piteous Moan and Disgusting Demise. The former is a pretty strong crowd control ability that can be used to great effect when paired with other combatants on the abomination's side (more than likely its creator), while the latter makes the monster a good kamikaze-style enemy. This pairing turns the creature into a solid choice for the frontline of any assault en masse.

- Max

Hook 1 (Max) - Father and Son

Old Man Heimmer is desperate. Desperate enough to ask the unsavory vagabonds passing through his village for help.

Not long ago his only son, Jahn, left the village. That alone wouldn't be such a terrible thing were it not for the fact that he departed with a wandering wizard who, according to Heimmer, put some sort of charm on the young man. There was a decidedly odd and frankly unsettling feeling to the mage's countenance. Many described his presence as something that "sent a chill down your spine when you looked at him". Most of the villagers steered clear of him, save Jahn, who still had his head full of dreams of derring-do and adventure. He took the arcanist's offer to join him almost immediately.

Heimmer is worried, though. He wants his son to come back, or at least for someone to check on the young man, as he is far too old to do so himself.

Sadly, Heimmer's worries stem from a grim reality, as the wizard dabbles in rather unsavory practices. He is, in fact, actively being hunted down by many of his colleagues due to his disturbing backlog of failed experiments. Unfortunately for young Jahn, the mage is sure that this one will turn out differently and he is determined to see it through so that he may discover how far he can take the powers of transmutation.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - The Pozica Strategem

Unless it is an absolute must, a grothlut will never touch salt.

Before abandoning the outpost of Pozica, the drow therein used this fact for a final, devilish scheme - painted on the floors of both the keep and other major facilities are lines of salt-infused paint that create lanes in which the grothluts patrol.

While the drow are long gone, the slug-men still patrol the halls, moaning pathetically as they guard the veritable trove of alchemical goods that remain unplundered within

Hook 3 (Reece) - A Pleading Letter

Dearest Brother,

I implore that you do not enlist as you so often told me you would. With great effort, I have passed this letter twelve trenches back to the main messenger's outpost where I hope it then survives long enough to reach you.

The elves have grown both bolder and crueler in their strategies to route us from the southern plains. When the war started and we enlisted, we thought it would be a grand thing; we were to defend our homeland and our kin from the savageries of the fair folk.

It is not so.

The artillery was the first sign of what was to come, I think. Alchemical fires and salvos of arcane energies rained from the heavens. We built these sheltered bunkers because of those brutal weapons, many of which have taken friends dear to me.

The creatures they deployed some weeks later have been the worst of it though. A soldier two trenches forward told me about how when one of the things rushed the bunker, it tore two men apart and then exploded when stuck with enough blades. The ones that survived will be... Scarred.

I beg you, listen to mother. Stay home. Do not seek the front.

With Love,

Lieutenant Doctor Chessa Everstone 

Grikkitog

The grikkitog is the perfect union of both monster and trap. It serves as a reminder that the things you're afraid of can be afraid of something themselves, as the grikkitog infests earth elementals in a parasitic manner. It then uses their earthen affinity to lie in wait, eating who or whatever happens to stumble its way.

With a cursory glance at its statblock, you might be tempted to run this creature just as a sentient trap, but I think you would be missing something key: this is an intelligent creature, capable of speaking Terran. While this may not be a common language for your PCs to have, it's not impossible. With that in mind, attempting to reason with this creature would make for incredible role-play opportunities.

This creature can serve as a widespread trap and, given its aforementioned intelligence, makes an incredible one. It would absolutely be in character for the grikkitog to wait to attack until creatures are closer to the center of its Infestation Aura, to give it more opportunities to attack them as they attempt to flee. Like with the gargoyle, its ability to imitate stone gives you a good opportunity to test your understanding of how checks vs. DCs work, but I would hope you have a grasp on that by level 14.

I will leave you with one final recommendation. A grikkitog's major feature is its Infestation Aura, right? Well, how much more can you do with a 120-foot radius when you have three-dimensional space to work with? A grikkitog who has a "service elevator" of sorts in a winding cave system to freely move around and reposition? You can do wonders for its effective range when the caves funnel your PCs back into its range. Now there's a fight to remember.

Hook 1 (TJ) - The Hungering Tunnel

The svirfneblin of the Undergallery have long been sought out as masters of stonecraft. Recent rumors purport they've created a ritual that can bring the stone to life. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the first of these attempts went rather poorly. The resultant creature, although ravenous, could still be reasoned with. Fortunately for the svirfneblin, the passages to the Undergallery can be quite treacherous. Trips to see the wonders these deep gnomes produced were already renowned as a dangerous but worthwhile journey. If a few individuals go missing on their way to the Undergallery, swallowed up by the earth, it is easily written off as a natural risk. The grikkitog, however, is growing tired of this passive arrangement, as it has become increasingly greedy for more. The svirfneblin are becoming fearful, though they have little hope of reaching out for help without alerting the hungry earth that watches the exits...

Hook 2 (Max) - The Black Garnet

The Shrine of the Heavenly Garnet is a place of great reverence where thousands of pilgrims journey every year in search of enlightenment. The travel itself is arduous but reportedly worth it as the sight of the enormous, crimson gem changes people in some way.

At least that was the story up until recently because, for the better part of the last couple of months, no soul has returned from the journey to the top of the mountain where the shrine is located. Priests who admit the pilgrims onto the path are starting to worry.

A disquieting darkness has fallen over the Shrine as the Garnet, once stunningly red, is now jet black. The rich and malicious darkness seems to nest within the gem's many facets as the thing seemingly waits for more and more unfortunate souls to be fed to it. growing with each passing day, both in size and its unsated hunger.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Gemeater Pass

To get to the Golden City, the last utopian metropolis of the great Golden Elves, anyone arriving from the south must go through the Gemeater pass.

The treacherous canyon is home to an entire colony of juvenile grikkitogs who infest every step of the mile-long trek. While one might hope to outrun the aberrant elementals, as fighting is hardly an option, the clue to survival actually lies in the canyon's very name; if given gemstones, the elementals will try and consume them before any living flesh. Oddly enough, different gems seem to have different effects: emeralds (the informed choice) make them sick and docile for hours, rubies throw them into a murderous rage, and amethysts greatly increase their mental capabilities...

Gibbering mouther

Despite their countless mouths, it is nearly beyond a Gibbering Mouther's capability to form a comprehensive sentence. A soggy mound of flesh pierced through with eyes and maws, this incomprehensible creature is indeed a sight to behold, albeit not the nicest one.

Origins of gibbering mouthers remain shrouded in abject mystery, perhaps for the best. They are not completely mindless, though their true desires or purpose is anyone's guess. In spite of any inclination as to how these monstrosities reproduce, it remains a fact that they are omnipresent in all sorts of dungeons and underground complexes.

On its own a gibbering mouther may not appear to be a considerable threat, especially considering their lack of mobility. It makes up for this shortcoming with some wonderful abilities. The signature ability Gibbering spreads confusion among those that stray too close. Reactive Gnaws can deal considerable extra damage to close quarters combatants while Burn Eyes is an added benefit to the signature ranged attack that can really ruin someone's day. That's all fine and dandy, but let's suppose you add some other beastie to the mix, one that takes advantage of the mouther's aura. Now the battle becomes far more interesting. Because of its low speed, the gibbering mouther may as well (on land at least) serve as an immobile, though dangerous, piece of terrain that harasses your party. Or, if you're feeling especially funky, the entire terrain.

When running a gibbering mouther (or perhaps a few) take note that it is best suited to short bursts of comparatively quick speed, as Engulf can serve as both a tool for movement and an attack all wrapped up in two actions.

Hook 1 (Max) - The Gibbering One

People in need tend to turn to any source of hope they can find. Such is the case with people of Biada, a small mountainside village that has been struggling just to get by for generations. Recently something outstanding has happened; the deity of their shrine (arguably a bastardization of some major cult) has spoken. The populace of Biada took this as a sign of good fortune to come even thought they can't really understand the words their god is uttering, nor are they aware of the vast array of caves and natural tunnels beneath their village.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Mouth of Madness

On each of the four tallest peaks in the world of Veyleya there is a solitary gibbering mouther. While erratic and violent, the aberrations are not evil. Should anyone find a way to calm one down, the creatures will switch from the cacophonous gibberish they usually spout to monotonously and menacingly repeating a single word.

Certain books written by mad prophets of eons past claim that these four words, in the correct order, make up the incantation needed to close the Pulsating Portal at the Bottom of the World which would in turn stop the invading shoggoths and save humanity.

Hook 3 (Reece) - The Primordial Enemy

At the first sunrise, when mankind was first taking its tentative steps from the safety of The Divine Garden, the untamed wilds of the world help primordial dangers of immeasurable power. It is said in The First Song that aberrant creatures antithetical to all of life and creation crafted monstrosities to prey on mortal kind. These varied peoples were, in the eyes of these progenitors of chaos, invaders of the worst kind; creatures that sought to bring order to the wilds the aberrations lorded over.

The gibbering mouther was first among these aberrant creations sent to destroy humanity. They were served as some of the very first soldiers of chaos sent to sew madness and despair across budding civilizations as they took the eyes of watchful sentries and turned the first scholars into incoherent sycophants enslaved to the service of The Outsiders.

Faceless stalker (ugothol)

Whereas dopplegangers are merely humanoids on a wicked, hedonistic streak and without much regard for life, ugothols are actively trying to sabotage whatever society they infiltrate. Their goals are far more obscure and far less understandable to mere humanoids.

The summer and winter courts of the Wickerlands fae have been at war for generations. Their power rises and falls with the seasons - as the first snow falls, the winter queen Titania wakes from her sleep, and when Firebirds return from the south, Titania goes back into a torpor just as her counterpart Maeve wakes from hers. It is only the recruitment of fey-born mortal champions into the war that brings a disturbing truth to light - Maeve and Titania are one and the same.

The city of Rothalingia is notorious for it's exceptionally well organized crime. Everyone seems to agree there must be some sort of secret cabal running things behind the scenes - but no-one even suspects that the black heart of the city is an orphanage. Indeed, the city's hidden masters take perverse glee in taking forms of children and toddlers as they unleash extreme violence upon the city's unsuspecting populace.

Several times across the years, members of the Witchfinder guild have foiled a hidden enemy's schemes. Growing annoyed at their interference, the faceless stalker tries a new gambit - over several months, he drains the blood of hapless victims and leaves their bodies in a public place (in stark contrast to his usual MO). As rumors of a bloodsucker start spreading across the city, the ugothol allows himself to be seen in vampire form several times - each time closer and closer to the guild's headquarters. If he isn't caught quickly, the guild's dhampir members are sure to be arrested - and most probably burned at the stake. 

Drider

 While they bring a lot to the fray with their stat block (some decent spells, venom, thrown webs), the true terror of a drider comes from their disgusting origin. But fleshwarping is mostly tied to the drow... and what if your world doesn't feature drow, or features them in a positive role? These following encounters will try to explore driders as true abominations, while giving you multiple ways to play that sense of degeneracy.

Pyottar Pakhar was a mad elven scientist and alchemist, whose goal was to hybridize humanoids and animals. Running out of both willing and unwilling subjects, he conducted his final experiment on himself. He exposed a spider to the wild magics of the Magicka Wastes, and then had that spider bite him. While the experiment was a partial success, giving him a spider's legs, as well as the ability to scale walls and produce webs, it also backfired. The former genius is now reduced to an almost bestial level of intelligence, instinctively guarding his old lab. The fact that the lab contains a potion rumored to stop aging has given him ample opportunity to feed.

In the netherspace, driders aren't created - they are instead a parasitic species. The vile spider-beings' larvae travel between planets on asteroids, embedding themselves in soil, and finally reaching their humanoid hosts through nutrition. Once ingested, the larvae wake up from dormancy, and quickly produce spider-like growths on the infected's bodies. The nervous system is the last to be attacked. The growths can somewhat safely be removed before the host kills for the first time - but a taste of fresh blood awakens a deep frenzy in the beings, sealing their hosts fate.
While individually dangerous, the spiderlike parasites have been treated as a pest for years - owing to the fact that they appear to posses no true nervous system, and no real agenda. That belief is put to a test when a group of smuggler accidentally discovers a planet absolutely overrun with driders, who seem to be gathered around massive, organic, pyramid-like structures.

The mysterious driders have been engaged in a war with elves for eons. When a renegade squad of them comes to an elven redeemer, asking for a chance at breaking the "cycle of curses", the elf is slow to trust them, but willing to hear the story. The driders reluctantly agree to show the redeemer the "sacred sacrificial altar", where supposedly everything will be clear.
Unfortunately, that same night, their camp is attacked - by beings similar to the driders, but with the lower bodies of massive scorpions instead. Only the elf and his squire make it out with their lives. They are now faced with the question of a lifetime. Is the secret that could end the cycle of violence worth risking their lives?

Dark Naga

Dark Nagas appear to be beings of immeasurable pride, stuck in ages long forgotten. They cling to those times when they walked as gods among the lesser beings, and they cling to areas and objects that remind them of those times. Also, something about them just screams pulp adventure, at least to me.

Artifacts have been disappearing from Niflungard's museum of history. A closer look by the city's constabulary reveals most of the missing pieces belong to the museum's exotic collection of artifacts from the ancient naga-cyclopean war, that ravaged the continent in a forgotten age before men and elves arrived. Arranging an ambush, the detectives catch a group of mind-washed trogs, who reluctantly point them in the direction of the nearby asbestos mines, where their lord, The Gilded Snake, makes his domain.

Even gods have finite appetites. An experienced group of heroes, each of them a child of one of the gods of mount Atlas, investigate rumors of a dark cult taking root in the ruins of old Nakatosh. When they arrive, they find a city of mutated ogres ruled by a dark naga. The "god" postures in front of his underlings about how he will consume and destroy the intruders, but as soon as he is left alone with the heroes, he proposes a deal - play the role of his chosen champions, and they shall have unlimited access to the vaults beneath Nakatosh. Of course, he forgets to mention that it is in those vaults that his master, a truly divine being, makes his dark hunting grounds...

On the Wall, a magi-physical construct created to keep the creatures of the outer planes at bay, the paladin defenders have been joined by unlikely allies - a group of seven dark nagas. While any help is more than welcome, such beings aren't know to act in altruism - and the resident inquisitor is tasked with investigating their motives, without angering them so much that they pick up and leave.

Cloaker

God, I love it when creatures with seemingly weird ecology and biology have decent chunks of lore behind them. And cloakers definitely do have some in the mix - and it paints them as paranoid, borderline delusional lunatics hiding away and scheming. Keep in mind that despite their monstrous appearance and skewed perceptions of the world, your average cloaker is mentally superior (at +2 int, +3 wis, and +1 cha) to your average humanoid.

An ancient cloaker vizier has become convinced that the strange mutterings of gibbering mouthers are actually key to surviving the impending apocalypse. To that end, he "farms" the insane creatures in his vast subterranean domain. Any unlucky travelers who happen to trespass are given a choice - either help him decipher it, and save the world from impending doom (at least according to him) or fight endless hordes of aberrations in the deep, narrow tunnels of the world below.

Several members of the Inner Circle of Bogsdale underworld have been mysteriously murdered in their own homes. An investigation by a group of unaffiliated thieves, hitmen and enforces reveals that each and every one of them had received a gift wrapped in a weird, dark material. Furthermore, those gifts appear to have been sent by a mysterious figure figure who calls himself "high priest of the Whisperer From Below".

Eons ago, a cloaker named Swirlmaw cast a spell on himself to make him believe to be a mere manta ray. Thus, he reasoned, he would be free of the influence of any dark gods who wished to use his vast intellect and impeccable knowledge of the Underlands. Unfortunately, the spell was set to break if any artifact of said gods came within close distance of him - so that he could react and defend. An unlucky group of scavengers carrying a yet unidentified monstrous claw across a subterranean river full of dark life are those unlucky enough to finally wake him.

Chuul

Chuuls are just weird.
Intelligent, but uninterested to actually converse with you.
Evil, but not really petty or grandiose or anything like that - they're just out to eat your face and then spit on your grave.
While their monstrous appearance and their penchant for irredeemable evil make them perfect one-off faceless villains, I'd suggest actually playing up their weirdness, making your players not just scared for their characters' lives, but also creeped out by the very existence of these buggers.

The docks of the port city of Gulibash are infested with chuuls, to the extent that almost no-one is allowed to go there at night. Smickersmacker was a famous gnome children's poet that lived in the city, but after going missing one day, was presumed to have been eaten by the waterfront. A recent series of attacks has fueled some wild rumors though - an old and heavyset chuul female has appeared, that apparently sings lullabies to its victims before devouring them. At first, those songs were Smickersmacker classics, but oddly, new songs are appearing - so stylishly impeccable as to be indistinguishable from Smickersmacker originals.

For millennia, humans have shared the planet with chuuls, sadistic, monstrous crustaceans who live in underground waters, and occasionally sewers. Due encounters with chuuls always ending in violence, no real attempt was made to decipher their weird language. That is, until one day, a group of brave teenagers decided to record it, and then played it in reverse.
What they ended up hearing, in perfect english, was "in a week, the reckoning comes. Time starts flowing back in another direction, and who once were chuuls, shall now walk as humans, and who once were humans, shall be monsters again".
The kids not only face scorn from their parents for risking their lives so foolishly, but now need to convince the world at large that action is required.

For ages, people have been freaked out by chuuls devouring all flesh from the bodies of their victims, and leaving perfectly clean bones in their wake. But when even bones started going missing, the panic only grew. Returning from a spice run to the north, a captain of a merchantman swears to have spotted a towering structure made entirely out of bones on an island just off the coast.

Brain collector

Woah.
I just want to mention that this post marks a full month of this blog running, and I have to say - I'm enjoying the hell out of it. There's plans for guest writers, maybe for some stat-blocks, and other cute shit... but this format is just so fun to do.
The monster we'll be covering today isn't exactly your standard fantasy beast - hell, it looks like it'd be more at home in starfinder than in pathfinder. But if you want to throw some weird fantasy at your players, or you like that sweet spot between unknowable cosmic horror and this thing can it you in a single bite, this is exactly the creature you want to use.

The crew of the galley "Saint Sandair" find a shipwreck on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. The ship's captain, who appears unharmed, can't seem to remember what happened, and the rest of his shipmates lie around his ship, looking brutalized. When the rescue crew disembarks to take a closer look, the glamour fades - the ship appears as a half metallic-half organic behemoth, while in the place of the old captain, there's a lumbering, scorpion-like monstrosity.

Exploring the worlds beyond, the Gean Exploration Force meets the contemplatives - the giant-brained, shrivelled-boddied monks. The weird psychics embrace them, and a great cultural exchange is born. To top it off, two of the explorers are invited to join the ritual in which seven chosen people are conjoined, becoming a single mind. Unfortunately, the ritual involves the chosen ones' brains being consumed by a blistering monstrosity that arrives from beyond the stars. Refusing the deal might anger the hosts, not to mention the weird beast, but accepting it is not an option.

Maximiliana Van Der Mooth is an alchemist, theologist, arcanist, and philosopher. Her latest discovery is that the so-called Neh-Thalggus are the last remnants of the darkness before creation, and were present when the One Before All shaped the world. She now hypothesizes that the weird whispers that the creatures telepathically emit are indeed a perversion of the Song Of Shaping. If someone were to record such a thing, it may unlock the secrets of what makes gods gods. Of course, finding a neh-thallgu and surviving an encounter with it are great accomplishments alone, so finding someone mad enough to attempt something like this won't be easy.

Baomal

Reading the stat block for this thing, two things catch my eye
1. Despite being essentially a giant two headed turtle, its not a beast - its an aberration, suggesting ties to the more nefarious breeds of creatures, or even an artificial origin
2. Despite its relatively low intelligence and bestial appearance, it can speak.

The Dread Leviathan is a baomal hunting off the coast of the Inigo archipelago. The Baomal is so adamant in its hunt, that legend goes that no-one has left the islands and their several warring nations three hundred years.
When a group of swashbucklers take it upon themselves to be the saviours of their people, and manage to defeat the mighty beast, they are surprised to hear the ancient thing speak the priest tongue with its dying breath. There and then, it tells the would-be heroes a tale of how the people of the islands have become the carriers of a terrible plague, to which they are immune, but continental people would not be. The Leviathan was, or so it claims, sworn by a mighty dragon to forever keep the plague isolated on the archipelago.
If the heroes believe it to be telling the truth, they must find a way to stem the inevitable wave of explorers wanting to see the world now that the beast lies dead on the bottom of the ocean.

In the Nangaska region, the seasons are measured according to baomal migrations. When the giant monsters migrate south, the people of the region return to their summer homes, and live off fishing for a while. As soon as the dreaded spikes are spotted on the horizon, entire villages return inland, where they live off foraging and hunting gazelles.
One season, only two of the great beasts return, and when they do, they beg the fishermen to come with them to a land on the other side of the world, sailing on their backs.

The elven nations of Al'Cantara have been in perpetual war for as long as anyone can remember. While alliances were made and broken on a daily basis, one thing has been constant - noone ever allied the treacherous drow. That is, until now. The sea-elves, for some unknown reason, accepted an alliance offer from the drow, and within three months of signing a pact, their united forces presented their new weapon - a fleshwarped creature similar to a two-headed dragon turtle, but large enough to snap a capital ship in two with a single bite.
While the creature appears to be an unique experiment for now, knowing the drow, its only a matter of time before they conclude the tests and try to replicate it on a mass scale. Slaying the creature as well as its creator is the only chance the other nations hope to have, lest all ports be forever cut off from the world.

Alghollthu Master (Aboleth)

The aboleth, now called the Alghollthu masters, are back, and boy are they back in style. While their stat block makes it quite easy to use them in direct combat, where it really shines is leading up to it - with a wide array of high-level illusion spells, most of them at will, the abloleth can give the adventurers hell before they even know what they are facing.

The wizard Jack Custard has been keeping a chained Aboleth in a huge pool beneath his tower. He decides to let in his proteges, the crew of the drakar Mother's Mercy in on the secret - his recent expeditions into the ocean have been fueled by the mucus collected from the huge monster, allowing him to breathe underwater.
However, when the jolly pirates see the mighty aberration, it uses its mind magicks to show them how it's been captured and treated by the wizard. It paints a cruel and insensitive picture of their beloved patron, but not implausible - after all, the crew do know him to be very ambitious and power-hungry. Are they really giving a chance to a disgusting monster, or is this the famed deep magick gnawing at their beliefs?

When the incursions of water elementals from the realm of the mysterious Deep King abruptly ceased, the elf-viziers of Al-Khazadia were relieved. However, after several weeks passed, the viziers grew curious, and a detachment of scouts was sent to those ancient lands. What they reported was a land where nothing was as it seems - apparently solid rock bridges disappearing into thin air as soon as someone tried to cross them, innocent children turning into gaunt and fleshy monstrosities, and heaps of treasure reverting back to stones and dirt just as the traps behind them are activated.
The surviving scouts refuse to go back even under threat of death.
Still, the khazadi Sultan will not rest until he has proof that the Deep King has truly been vanquished, so he gathers daredevils and desparates and sends them deep into the heart of madness.

A hunting party set up camp on the shore of Lake Albonga, ignoring the wise elder's warnings. When they wake up, the little patch of land they had cleared for themselves is now a tiny island, and water surrounding them is rising fast, threatening to drown them all. A tentacled monstrosity emerges from the lake, offering to save their lives, if they each promise to grant it a favor with no questions asked.
What the hunters don't know is that while the monster is real, the rising tide is an illusion, and the Aboleth is using it to force them into submission.