Green Dragon

Most inclined towards conversation with other beings amongst their kin, Green Dragons are famed as scholars and keepers of lore. This immediately makes them a very useful tool in any GM's arsenal - if your party needs some piece of information, it is very likely that a Green has it. How they'll go around convincing the beast to give it up is where the fun begins.

It is important to bear in mind that these creatures are intolerant of foolish behavior, as the bestiary notes. The spectrum of what constitutes a "fool" for them is quite broad. If you bring some valuable knowledge in exchange, they may be inclined to help you out.

Somewhat obviously, Green Dragons like to take up their residence in forests of all kinds, proclaiming themselves their protectors and sole cultivators. This is an important thing to keep in mind when talking with them, or speaking as them in the GM's case.

In battle, the Green is no pushover; it is a dragon, after all. The Twisting Tail reaction is a great way to keep characters nearby, or at the very least waste their movement. The traditional combo of Breath Weapon, Draconic Frenzy, and Draconic Momentum is also there to remind your party why they, by all accounts, should be wary of these huge monsters. In forests, Greens greatly benefit from their Woodland Stride. Ensuring that Greens are surrounded by thick foliage and underbrush for combat can help maximize the use of the ability and remind the players that they are the Green's domain. Adults take it a step further with Trackless Step, making them particularly difficult to follow or see signs of while grounded. Ancients make their Breath Weapon even nastier with Miasma, which not only creates a wonderful aura of toxin around them but also effectively hides them from sight.

As with all dragons, Greens have also some innate spells, focusing mostly on mind control that can be used both in and out of combat. Do not forget that many dragons, by default, can shapeshift and cast other spells as they live very, very long and have ample time to learn a great many skills.

Hook 1 (Max) - The Verdant Sage

Sophist Wood is home to incredible and numerous marvels, prime among them being its undisputed ruler - an ancient dragon known by many names. Merchants who have to traverse the forest, paying considerable tithes, labeled her the Scourge of Pockets or the Benevolent Tyrant, whilst her subjects speak of their sovereign as the Verdant Sage.

The dragon is very old, even amongst her kin, and lusts primarily after two things - being left in peace and expanding her collection of knowledge. The former is maintained by her longstanding presence in the wood. This has granted her swathes of faithful followers willing to serve her, from animals she awakened intelligence in, to dragon knights swearing their loyalty, and even sycophantic drakes who wish to emulate her interests. The latter is achieved by the contributions made by any travelers that wish to traverse the woods. Many make these contributions quite happily as the road is safe, guarded, and leads straight to the mercantile heart of the region.

The Sage herself prefers to seclude herself in her study, having amassed extensive knowledge in a plethora of subjects. This expertise has made her a well sought-out advisor, a service she provides only to those whose case seems interesting enough for her tastes. Her residence, the Green Palace, was crafted using ancient magics and the forest itself. It is a grand, living mansion grown out of the forest floor, vast and enormous with roots forming miles of dungeon-like root caves beneath the entire forest.

Although quite proud of her draconic form, she will oftentimes assume a humanoid shape, an elven woman of fair features clad in a green robe with golden embroidery. Books are often easier to read that way.

Though she is a scholar, at the end of the day she is still a dragon. Should one find themselves in the unfortunate event of facing the Sage in battle, they would also expect all sorts of nastiness coming their way. The faithful adherents of her domain pale in comparison to the sheer might of the living walls of the Green Palace. The menagerie of magical artefacts and items she has accrued in addition to a great many spells she has mastered over her long life all render her a powerful and capable foe.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Deep Rooted Information

The roots of the mangrove tree at the heart of the Murkriver Expanse grow much farther than anyone could have imagined, having stretched across several kingdoms and territories. Gulvantrel's draconic wiles and a pinch of druidic power have helped her take advantage of this vast pre-existing network. With a small infusion of magicks, Gulvantrel can cause voices to carry through the roots. Her lair at the base of the tree serves as a massive information hub, and trading in tidbits and rumors has made her quite rich. Any of her information trading partners that grow too close to finding out her true identity or location end up choking on a torrent of poison from the sky, a streak of green scales the last thing they see. The people that replace these unfortunates have learned to ask fewer questions.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - The Ego of the Intellectual

After a thousand years of cordial rivalry, the green dragon Sutrilach has decided to pursue the identity of his intellectual adversary The Verdant Savant. The Savant, an anonymous interlocutor, has openly opposed many philosophical stances Sutrilach has put forth under his own pen name, Scalabus Smaragdus. He wouldn't admit it if asked, but it seems the dragon's vanity is starting to get the better of him.

A group of investigators hired by Sutrilach's proxies uncovers the identities behind both pen names - revealing the fact that the Great Wyrm's secret intellectual rival is also his uneasy ally, the Elven High King Latristoteles.
Both are known for their massive yet fragile egos, but as fate would have it their alliance is the only thing keeping the machinations of the industrialist, fascist, ever-expanding Imperium of Humanity out of Deepwood. Given that fact, the handling of that intel suddenly becomes an incredibly delicate matter...

Gogiteth

Reading the gogiteth's flavour text along with its stats feels quite incongruous. It's essentially described as a powerful pest, but it is a staggering level 12 creature, meaning it can't be treated as trivial until the PCs hit level 15.

This oddity means you can do several things with it it. You can reflavour it to fit your story, which is never a bad option honestly. You can come up with a reason to fight a solo gogiteth, and give your lower-level PCs a pretty tough fight. Or you can embrace its status as a pest and throw swarms of these at your demigod party, reminding them how far they've come when a disturbed and powerful aberration is cannon fodder to them. The last option is my personal preference here, as the creature's abilities make it feel like a nuisance rather than as an epic boss-level fight.

Hook 1 (Max) - The Hungering Fortress

The city of Blackwode has three very distinct problems at the moment.
First is the plague that struck seemingly out of nowhere and is taking heavy toll on the populace; many districts have already been isolated due to the outbreak. Nothing it couldn't manage normally, as its denizens are countless.

This is, however, where the second issue arises, taking the form of attacks made by swathes of humanoid abominations that leave heaps of dead soldiers and civilians in their wake, littering the streets and ruins. The monsters climb, jump, or fly over the walls and descend upon the city with ferocity, killing dozens and vanishing thereafter before anyone can properly react. Armed patrols were organized, but they simply aren't enough.

This is mostly due to the third problem - in the dark hours of night, clambering, spider-like monstrosities make their way into the town and take the corpses away with them. Should they stumble upon living people, the unfortunate souls are taken away screaming, off into the darkness. The beasts are covered in dark, makeshift plate, as though the force driving them forward does not want them to be damaged.

Why would that be?

That is because, unbeknownst to the people of Blackwode, there is a fourth matter at hand. Deep in the woods from which the city was given name, something sinister is taking shape. It began as a single black stone and a handful of animals turned to ravenous beasts, alongside a few of the spider-things. Alas, it has now taken the form of a towering black fortress whose armies grow stronger with every captured man, woman or child. With each corpse fed to the entity, its malevolent obsidian walls rise higher, driven by some unspeakable hunger.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Chasms of Consequence

The duergar of the Deep Chasms are growing bolder. There have been many earthquakes as of late, and it seems that with each shockwave they grow increasingly desperate. Their slaving parties have come to the surface well equipped to capture the best fighters the elven nation of Sel'filas can field. The duergar slavers are almost apologetic. Each party of slavers explains in broken elven that the svirfneblin earthcatchers have grown heedless of the repercussions of their excavation efforts. The tectonic shift releases a new hive of shambling, creaking, spider-like monstrosities upon duergar lands with each quake. The elven warriors are promised their freedom in exchange for helping with the menace, but nations neighboring Sel'filas on the surface are beginning to sense their weakness...

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Chasin' Charon

Charon, the dreaded boatman, has abandoned his post for an unknown reason. The hunting party sent after him must trek through a multitude of deadly regions of the underworld. One of these terrible places is known only as the Swallower Swamp.

The damp wetland is not only riddled with sulfurous geysers that erupt at random intervals, it is also home to a massive colony of striders; lithe-bodied mutates of gogiteths who have evolved the nasty ability to walk on the surface of water...

Gimmerling

 The Gimmerling is a creature that sees use in many different ways. As with other creatures that have shape-changing capabilities, you may be drawn to use a gimmerling (or more than one) as a "gotcha" while your players are on some higher level adventure through the fey world. Unlike many other fey creatures, a gimmerling is threatening enough to serve as a final boss of sorts for lower level parties. Its battlefield control through Treacherous Aura and Trip Up can wreak havoc on melee characters.

Even against as a (-2) or more creature, the gimmerling can be employed with traps, snares and the like in order to take full advantage of Trickster's Step. and remain relevant after level 15. Their powerful handcrossbow attacks and jaw poison are great ways to harry a group down while always staying just far enough out of reach to remain a nuisance.

Although they are evil, they may serve as an equally interesting narrative counterpart as well. High Crafting, Deception, Stealth, and Thievery skills can make a gimmerling a crafty and devious foe. Should you find something sufficiently worth their interest, though, you could find yourself with a powerful (and more-than-likely dangerous) magical item or ally.

Hook 1 (Max) - Merchant's Trappings

Great treasure lays in the ruins of the nearby castle. Allegedly. A lot of people went after it and never came back, so there's probably at least their possessions to be taken. Most likely.

The merchant who talks of the riches sits in the local tavern, a hearty man of middling age, who wouldn't hurt a fly.

It seems.

He is, in fact, the reason why no one comes back from the ruins. Not that he dirties his hands, not directly. He just... Appears, typically as a scantily clad woman, baiting intrepid adventurers into a labyrinth of carefully lain traps that only he can navigate. There's a lot of traps there. A ridiculous amount, quite honestly. Most of them don't make any logical sense. Like, why would you fill a room with water every time someone steps into it? Or make a twelve lever puzzle that sends you into a spike pit after you solve it? Or a chasm that you can walk over, but only if you do it backwards while dancing, and the only reward on the other end is an invisible skeleton?

It could be that he just enjoys making traps. It is a strong possibility. Probably.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - The Coward's Way

The Snickerjaws, a local tribe of Kobolds, have grown from a minor nuisance to one of the most prolific factions in the lawless Tricrown Hills area. The change wasn't a slow one either; it seemed to happen practically overnight.

The Snickerjaws were always regarded as good trappers. While they were once effective, their tactics became common knowledge among neighbouring people, at least until a recent dramatic increase in the quality and ingenuity of their traps. The reason for this is simple; The Snickerjaw chieftain entered a partnership with a gimmerling inventor. The gimmerling is a coward who enjoys the pain his complex and brutal traps cause, though he is afraid of going out into the warzone to set them up, as it is contested by at least five different factions, in addition to one very spiteful demigod. The kobolds, in turn, are well versed in setting traps right under their enemies' noses, so they are delighted to be given a new advantage in the unfolding conflict.

Hook 3 (Reece) - Devil's Conundrum

It is said that Fegerdal Fingermaster is one of the greatest magical smiths across any known plane. Even among his gimmerling kin, the blades he forges are imbued with powerful fey magicks. Though he is a master craftsman, he is equally prone to outbursts of anger which make him incredibly difficult to work with. Should one be able to enlist his services to forge a weapon, any small slight or misstep can result in Fegerdal deciding to forgo his end of the bargain, noting the contract for his service has been voided.

A dispute of this kind is what requires your express assistance. Shybrandila Shiver-Tongue, a contract devil of some importance, bartered on behalf of her lord for a new powerful blade. When the gimmerling smith took offense at some minor slight during the final transaction, Fegerdal stated their business was concluded and had his apprentices escort her from his realm.

Too embarrassed to tell her lord what has occurred, Shybrandila has asked for your help in retrieving the blade by any means necessary. Infiltrating the fey workshop could prove difficult, especially given Fegerdal's penchant for devious and murderous contraptions.

Cyclops

 Cyclopes come to us in two versions - the large, not too smart regular cyclopes, and the larger, dumber, more brutal great cyclopes. The exact correlation between the two is left vague - and that is where your writing comes into play.

Nubonga the cyclops is a reluctant ally of the Merry Mercenary Company of Marsholm. While he is prone to violent outbursts at a slightest perceived offense, the one-eyed giant's deep knowledge of the threads of fate makes him a very valuable asset. However, when the mercenaries return to his cavernous dwelling after several months of exploration, they find him mutated, almost doubled in size, and more maddened than ever. Before jumping at them with murderous intents, the giant manages to mutter "moon... spawn... help... me".

For years, local have avoided the Three Crowns hilltop. While the cyclopes that dwell there were brutal and aggressive, they rarely wandered beyond their ruined city's crumbled walls. For the past few days, however, loud sounds have been coming from that direction. Anyone who dares investigate will find out that the cyclopes have, after decades or even centuries of passivity, started rebuilding. What that means for the surrounding kingdoms of men and elves remains to be seen.

On the faraway, technologically advanced planet of Dezcordia, every sentient is implanted with a chip. Those chips record and store every bit of the implantee's knowledge. A group of archeologists - although some would call them grave robbers, or even thugs - are looking for information on pre-purge societies. It just so happens that the only good source of such information is the only living being who was alive at the time - a great Cyclops called Ugryt. Unfortunately, Ugryt is locked away in a solitary prison-satelite complex, guarded with several layers of counter-measures.

Copper dragon

 Copper dragons are essentially fairy dragons with an agenda. While threading on almost fey territory with their hedonistic approach to life and love of jokes, but their staunch, if easily misdirected moral compass is what sets them apart.

While dragons are wise and powerful, they aren't immune to indoctrination. While investigating ways to combat a dwarven lich king, a group of would-be heroes end up facing his top enforcer - a young copper dragon, convinced from hatching that tyranny and lordship over the weak are virtues. While battling him remains a (risky, bordering on suicidal) option, if swayed he could make for an exceptional ally.

A venerable copper dragon is throwing a massive party in the city's keep. The party is supposed to be a masquerade, and there's a prize - those who divine the draconic patron's identity will be given riches beyond measure.
While that is certainly true, the great wyrm also plans to recrtuit the five most successful investigators from the crowd - and with or without their consent, transport them to the city of Tarabath, where he needs help thwarting the plans of a secret society of shapeshifters.

An accomplished gang of mage-criminals travels to the faraway, dragon-ruled land of Netraxia. After stealing a prized diamond in a diabolical and daring heist, an officer of the law finally catches up to them - except its a dragon as tall as a house. If they express disbelief, the dragon responds with "Well yeah, we're know as coppers, aren't we?", before trying to chomp their heads of - keeping a self-satisfied grin on its face while he does.

Cauthooj

Well, its been a while.
The global pandemic kinda drastically changed my rhytm of life, so beastfinder had to go on hold for a while - but I'm back now, and should start posting (semi)regularly again.

For the creature that opens this new season, we have the cauthooj. One of the first beasts to catch my eye in the first skim through the book, before i knew the system too well, two campaigns later this feathered asshole intrigues me at least as much. It seems hellbent on forcing parties to reconsider their tactics, which always makes for an interesting encounter.

Durdenshire was hit by a terrible tragedy - the many hobbits of the settlement often went missing in the woods. Luckily, a group of merry daredevils happened upon the quiet town, decided to help the poor fellows, and found the culprit - an eerie bird called a shrill shrike, that lurked on the outskirts of town and preyed upon the weak. The townsfolk asked the creature be delivered to them alive, so they may exact justice on their own terms. When the heroes left the town, the beast was scheduled to be publically beheaded.
Unfortunately, at the long-awaited beheading, the executioner's axe missed its mark, for the first time in the fifty years he has been on duty - instead, it hit his apprentice, standing a mere foot away.
The town took to this as an omen from dark gods, signifying that the bird is one of their chosen beasts, and have since let it reign free, and leave it sacrifices and offerings.
When the heroes return to the town, what they find is radically different from what they left. The beast obviously needs to be slain once for all, but how will the townsfolk react?

In the gladiator pits of Ghoulipoll, shrill shrikes free for alls are one of the most popular events. Dozens of mighty warriors are set upon each other... and then the hellish bird is released in their midst. While they more often then not try to cooperate to bring down the larger foe, the bird's redirection of attacks and telepathic abilities make short work of such temporary alliances. The inevitable backstabbing, be it of sound mind or directed by the bird's cries, is considered the highlight of the battle.

The Weeping Wetlands have always been an area most sane people avoid or outright consider to be cursed. Recently, a few people previously to be missing or dead, have returned from the swamp, and they all keep muttering things about the "feathery apocalypse" and "cracking the world-egg".
It is of note that the area is rumored to be home to a population of Puppet Master Birds intelligent enough to converse in common.