Merfolk (Warrior, Wavecaller)

Merfolk. You know 'em, you (might) love 'em, you probably don't use 'em. The problem with merfolk is that they have underwater combat baked in, which most GMs and tables I know avoid given the myriad of questions it raises. How do you breathe and/or hold your breath? How well do you swim? How do you deal with combat in three dimensions? Lucky for you, all of these questions are actually pretty easy to answer for Pathfinder 2e.

Aside from the very basic mechanics the current merfolk offer, there isn't much to them. The real question is: how big are your underwater societies? Do you have entire nations of merfolk in a mystical Atlantis-adjacent city? What about pockets of merfolk that congregate around the ports? Do merfolk laborers scrape mussels off of the bottoms of ships? Do you have saltwater and freshwater merfolk? Was your entire world covered over in water at one point, allowing certain large lakes to have landlocked (ha) merfolk?

Think about what the merfolk means from a socio-cultural perspective. And yes, you should try and run them once in a while. The three-dimensional practice at lower levels will come in handy when your players get access to fly later. Give it a try! You don't need the Pythagorean Theorem to run them, I promise.

- TJ

Hook 1 (Nemanja) - The Pirate Without a Ship

A new pirate confederacy has risen to power off the coast of Tatamiki Archipelago—and it's quite an unusual one. The Wavecrashers call themselves pirates, though they own not a single ship as their manpower consists entirely of merfolk and harpies.

Those rare few who have survived Wavecrashers attacks talk of an eerie feeling of complete coordination between the two groups; the moray-bodied merfolk start with a series of boarding attempts that force sailors onto the defensive, turning their focus below. After the initial attack, the albatross winged, harpoon-bearing harpies descend from the clouds and begin the slaughter.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Might of the Moon

The Saint's Hope sunk off the coast of An'Zeth long ago. Now every three months, when all the moons are full, the Saint's Hope rises again, ravaging the coast outside of Nishka. The typical rumors surround it: the ship is cursed, it's haunted, or the captain has unfinished business. Attempts have been made to sink the ship, but regardless of how many holes are put in it, it does not waver. Discerning eyes, however, will note that the hull and frame of the ship (which sailors say regenerate anew each time it rises) are actually comprised of a patchwork of newer and older wood. Truly discerning individuals may be able to spot bits and pieces of previous ships the Saint's Hope has destroyed in recent months. 

The merfolk hydromancers maintaining the ship's buoyancy can only muster the proper magnitude of aquatic magicks when the moons are full. This gives the remaining merfolk plenty of opportunities to practice their carpentry using scavenged wrecks. Considering how well-fed they are given all of the crews they've eaten, they could keep at this for quite some time.

Hook 3 (Reece) - A Way Off World

Dear Fen,

As requested I am cataloging what I can of the flora and fauna here. Contrary to what one might think, there are very few merfolk here on Archipelagus. Given the prevalence of the plane of water here, I am particularly surprised.

There is one society I was able to locate in my travels—they were quite hospitable, to the point that I almost started to appreciate their hospitality. After ridding myself of that terrible impulse, I did learn a few things of interest.

These Mer, the Mi'ran, have been searching for a way off-world for some time now. They were left behind when the rest of their kin skirted into the Plane of Water. Evidently, their Shaman-King offended a powerful elemental lord who now bars their escape from this world. Should someone resolve the issue, I think we could take advantage of what they can't bring with them...

Insincerely, 

Gorimat

Kobold

Perhaps the most controversial thing not related to the mechanics of the game I've seen discussed on the topic of Pathfinder 2nd edition is the art direction of the Kobold. I will forever be a defender of these big-headed, skink-lookin' things. If you disagree? Please @ me on Twitter and I will tell you you're wrong *to your face*. Now that I'm done being needlessly aggressive, let's talk kobolds.

The kobold is the draconic counterpart to the goblin in a lot of fantasy media. Oftentimes you will find them close to one another in proximity or goals—they may even serve the same evil overlord (should they choose to serve someone other than themselves).

While I am personally opposed to the traditional stereotyping of a particular ancestry as wholly evil—evidently Paizo is too given both kobolds and Goblins are playable ancestries in Pathfinder Society—the kobolds present in the bestiary make great adversaries for a new upstart group of players.

Their favored tactics include, but are not limited to, the following: sneaking, swarming, trapping, and of course, running away.

The dragon mage, scout, and warrior all have Sneak Attack which allows for a surprising amount of additional damage at low levels. They are particularly dangerous in packs when they greatly outweigh a foe in the action economy of a particular fight.

As the kobolds are starting creatures, they are designed to be extremely versatile and can be used in most fantasy settings. Deploy them as vicious and tricky adversaries or as misunderstood scamps that cause a bit of mischief here and there.

It helps that they're cute—wherever you use them, they can be a great learning experience for new players that not all the "bad guys" look the part.

- Reece // @Cobalt_Crusader -- come at me -- 

Hook 1 (Max) - Locker, Kobold Thief Extraordinaire 

Do you need a master thief? Someone that can bypass any trap? Someone who can find their way into every possible place? Well, look no further, Locker has got you covered!

Truly an artist in his field, he knows everything there is to know about locks, traps, safes, and anything in between, putting to good use the knowledge of his people in this regard. He elevates the natural predilection towards trapmaking—a hallmark of all kobolds—to a whole new level. There are many stories of Locker's exploits, at least some of which are bound to be true.

It is not easy to find him, harder yet to get him on a job. But once he commits to a task, there is no stopping him. Despite the difficulties in hiring him, he can never resist a good challenge, for Locker believes that no lock or contraption can best him.

And, to be completely honest? There might be some truth to it.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Beyond The Trench

In the ages past, when battles were fought with glorious charges on open battlefields, kobolds were rarely seen as an important player in global geopolitics.

But the Great War came, and with it, trench warfare became the norm. In the past fifteen years of slaughter, the Kobold nation of Wingsreach has risen to become a major force. In the age of shifting borders and contested territories, their frontier, littered with endless trenches and countless traps, has never moved a single inch. No one even seems to know what their endgame is, either.

Despite all this, when Captain Khazad is sent to retrieve a prisoner of war taken behind their lines, he does not back down.

Hook 3 (TJ) - From Many Rise One

The traps of a small group of kobolds are little to be worried about for those that are prepared. Without a guiding force, kobolds remain unorganized and disordered so that their efforts often fall flat. Given sufficient time to pursue their own goals, however, some kobold magickers develop a disturbing power.

Known as a warrenmind, the head kobold magicker subsumes all of the minds of the kobolds within its warren. Stripped of individuality but suffused with the creativity of many, the warrenmind expresses as one of the most terrifying entities in the civilized world: a group of kobolds unified in thought and in purpose.

These warrenminds are nearly impossible to flush out, as stepping foot into the twisting dens concocted by this hivemind nearly guarantees death. Trying to force the warrenmind out into the open is likewise impossible, as their natural draconic resistances provide defense against most methods of attrition.

The biggest concern of those that find a warrenmind is to keep it isolated. If a warrenmind were to meet up with another warrenmind, only one of two outcomes is certain. Either both warrenminds are destroyed in the ensuing battle, or one easily subsumes the other and the warrenmind grows. If a singular warrenmind were to subsume all of the known warrenminds, that would certainly spell destruction for anyone that stood against them.

Horse

Horses. Yep. Nestled between pages and pages of fanciful creatures, we have the horse. Not just one horse, either. There are four different kinds of horses in Bestiary 1. No fire breathing, no flying speed, no bonus damage versus evil creatures—just a horse. We here at Beastfinder have a lot to say about the horse, much to the chagrin of our beloved editor. And why shouldn't we? We thought it was really funny. Chances are horses are much more ubiquitous in your setting than many other creatures.

So what do you use the horse for? They're a staple of travel. Sure, you could say "this is a horse-drawn carriage," or "this is what the stablemaster has available for travel rates." Pretty boring. Take the horse as an opportunity to explore your worldbuilding, but focus on nomenclature this time. Find a list of horse breeds and count how many are named based on the geographical region they're from. Go ahead. I'll wait.

There were a lot, weren't there? Maybe you see where I'm going with this. What do you call a Galacian pony when Galacia doesn't exist? A Russian Heavy Draft horse? A Clydesdale? Feel free to just go through and slap different names on these horses, but think about what that means about where they're from.

What about horses specific to your setting? Look at the Ryshadium from the Stormlight Archive. They are prized not only for their intelligence but also because of their ability to carry riders wearing Shardplate (fantasy power armor), the Rhyshadium is integral to the warfare presented in the early parts of the series because regular horses are just too weak. There are tons of different fantasy horse breeds in the Powder Mage series. One of the characters in the Gods of Blood and Powder trilogy knows every horse breed there is, given his career as a lancer. What sort of needs does your setting have for specialized beasts of burden?

You could go ahead and pass the horse by, only looking at it when one of your players comes up with a hare-brained scheme involving the horses they rented (you know the type). Will you need the statblock very often? Probably not. But take the chance to use it as a building block of your world. Do a little digging! The horse may be as integral to the foundation of your world as it was in ours.

-TJ

Hook 1 (Max) - Hooves the Horse

How the legendary troubadour wound up in the body of a horse remains a mystery to this day, though most speculate that he angered one too many powerful people. As it turns out, an artist can make do with what they got, no matter their appearance.

Hooves the Horse is extraordinarily well known, his name preceding him wherever he goes. He can dance and, with each stomp of his hooves, create highly enchanting tunes. He can also sing beautiful songs, recite epic poems and do a great many other things.

Despite enjoying a certain degree of notoriety, Hooves is searching for a way to return to his former body—even though he does not recall what it was or how he became a horse in the first place. Despite his lack of memory of his former life, he is quite certain that he must have been some great bard once upon a time.

But maybe, just maybe, he is merely a singing, dancing horse?

Hook 2 (TJ) - Caught Red Hooved

The owners at Cavront's Carriages are under investigation. Carriages owned by this company have been found destroyed on the roadside on numerous occasions. In each case, the passengers and coachmen have been massacred in what looks like an isolated stampede. The only other commonality is the bloody hoofprints leaving the scene, leading directly to the horse or horses attached to that evening's vehicle. Consistently, these animals seem unbothered by the blood rimming their hooves and whatever else happened that evening. 

Investigators are grasping at straws, suggesting everything from a horse-borne disease to a renegade druid mind-controlling these otherwise docile creatures. If they don't figure it out soon, Cavront's Carriages will be forced to close permanently and transportation options will suffer for it. As it is, the townspeople are already growing wary of any and all equine creatures within the town limits.

Hook 3 (Max) - Hard to Destroy Steed

The local barony is having an unusual issue. A single horse is wreaking immense havoc on both buildings and crops, showing no intention of stopping.

Not long ago, it was a regular stallion living its best life on the plains. That was, at least, until a group of mercenaries accidentally released some ancient spell from a nearby ruin. This led to the aforementioned incantation attaching itself to the poor animal.

Through it, it has gained two interesting abilities. Firstly, it can run at ludicrous speeds, reaching velocities so high that it can easily punch through stone walls. But how does it do it without turning into a bloody pulp? Well, the second part of the charm has made it impervious to all damage—both conventional weapons and magic. If anyone attempts to approach the beast, upon seeing them it simply gallops away, leaving behind a cloud of dust and ruin in its wake.

Hook 4 (TJ) - The Origin of Species

"Wh-what is that?"

"I'm glad you asked. Gaze upon it and tell me what you think."

"It seems to be... Like half of a centaur. No. Part of a hippogriff? The front half is clearly a partial hippocampus. Did you capture the steed of a gillman? It has the same structure to it... But only four limbs, unlike a centaur. No wings either, like a hippogriff would have. It's also lacking the gills of a hippocampus. It appears to be strong and sturdy. Impressive musculature. No fins or wings, so neither avian nor piscine in nature. It appears to be mammalian. You've made a... large, terrestrial mammal?"

"I'm very impressed. You've isolated many of the components that went into this creature. Strong, as you've said. Quick on its legs, just like a centaur. A mammal capable of grazing, easier to feed than the hippogriff, and no risk of a fall from a dangerous height. Terrestrial, unlike the hippocampus, with a little bit of training to ride, we could finally have an edge. Imagine a brigade of our brethren, all astride magnificent beasts just like this one, riding down our enemies. We could rule every square mile of inhabitable land, chase the gillmen back to the depths."

"This could be it. We... we could be kings! What will we call it?"

"I think I will call it... The Horse."

"...Really? That's it?"

Hook 5 (Nemanja) - Sons of Horse

Just when the Four Chieftains' Wars were becoming less bloody and intense, they appeared from the Vast, the endless plains beyond the Lands of Man.

They changed how wars were fought forever—every man, woman, and child in the Lands of Man knew how to ride, and battles were fought with endless variations of the mounted warrior.

This new enemy of ours though? Not a horse in sight. All of them are equipped with heavy armour and long, heavy pikes. They slaughtered us like pigs, though they tried to never hurt a single horse. Apparently, their leaders were twins who were cast out into the wilderness as children and a friggin mare raised them. A mare, I say.

Funnily enough, as they built a nation of castaways in that faraway hole of theirs, they also built a cult around their "mother". She's still around, by the way. Still kicking, some would say. Anyway, those religious freak soldiers of theirs? They believe that the old horse is connected to all of them and that she gives them strength beyond that of mortal men. It sure feels like they ain't wrong about that either.

So, if anyone could sneak back to the stable they call a palace and strike that old mare down, we just might stand a chance still...

Hook 6 (Nemanja) - Horse d'oeuvre

A group of Taiga Giants has kidnapped the mayor's daughter. They have promised to return her unharmed if the townsmen can deliver them at least two dozen highlands ponies. The tiny horses are, apparently, a favoured snack in giant culture, not meant to be consumed alive. Unfortunately for the giants, they are too large and not nearly dextrous enough to be able to catch them without harming them, at which point they are considered inedible.

Editor's Note: Oh you thought that just because we already had six hooks that the editor wasn't also going to write more completely unnecessary horse hooks? Well you're wrong, pal.

Hook 7 (Reece) - Breaking Badland

Old Man Trikar has a problem. He has been breeding horses for over 50 years and is known in the surrounding villages as the foremost expert on training the creatures. The Fey King of Horses is not overly pleased by Trikar's skill in subduing the majestic creatures, so he has decided to put the old man to the test. 

The Fey King has unleashed a Yunda Badlands Stallion into his paddock, and the damnable thing is beating on the other stallions and terrorizing the mares. They are foul-tempered and not easily broken, but Trikar thinks he can do it. He could, at least, if he could catch the sodden thing.

Yunda's are known to be twice as fast as any normal southlander horse and are near ten hands taller than even the strongest breeds. In his younger years he might've caught the beast, but with his old age—not to mention his missing leg—it's impossible for him to do alone.

He could really use the help, so long as you don't mind catching an oversized hoof.

And maybe the odd fire breath—they do that sometimes.

Hook 8 (Reece) - The Cube Rebellion

"You're kidding."

"No sir."

"They rebelled?"

"Yes sir."

"Pray tell, captain, how do horses rebel?"

"A mad druid has systemically awakened hundreds of them in the dead of night while most of the stablehands were asleep, sir."

"What exactly do rebelling horses want, captain? Are they joining the enemy or something?" 

"Ehm- No sir. They... Want soldier's pay, sir."

"What do they plan on buying?! They don't even have thumbs or coin purses!"

"They-" Captain Cadrus cleared his throat, looking visibly uncomfortable. "They want their pay in sugar cubes... Sir."

Gnoll (Cultist, Seregant, & Hunter)

Gnolls tend to have a rather unsavory reputation, most often deservedly so. Their relation to hyenas is made obvious not only in their appearance, but also their behavior - moving in packs, refusing to waste any meat (well, almost any), including that of their own fallen kin and, generally, steering towards bloodthirsty bouts of violence rather than fine arts.

As previously mentioned, they have some inkling of reverence towards remains of living creatures, albeit they display it in their own gruesome way.

By eating them.

Refusing to eat someone's corpse is, in a gnoll's eyes, a great slight toward the deceased. A thing to keep in mind in more social interactions, perhaps.
An interesting note about their physiology: females are bigger and stronger than the males to the point that it's typically them leading the packs of hunters or warriors to battle.

Despite their apparent lack of aptitude for matters considered practical by most of the civilized world, gnolls prove to be quite an efficient force in combat, particularly given their pack mentality. This is illustrated particularly by their Pack Attack ability, which can greatly improve the damage output of any group of gnolls the party could stumble upon. Once you consider that the gnoll deals extra damage if any two allies are within reach, and then realize that most of them have have access to Attack of Opportunity, you can set up one nasty surprise for your players.

Hook 1 (Max) - Betrayer of Blood

There is word of a pack of ravenous beasts rowing the nearby plains, leaving only devoured corpses of animals in their wake.

They are trailing one of their own, a traitor to their tribe in need of swift judgement. Not all of them are willing to disclose the exact nature of this crime. When pressured in the right way though, a few among them will describe the night when Khazrash poisoned their chieftain, the group leader's father, leading to a rupture in the clan. Terash now seeks revenge for her sire as doesn't have much else to lose, rage fueled by the betrayal of her once closest friend.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Tooth for a Tooth

In gnoll society, teeth are highly prized. A gnoll is not considered fit for the hunt until all of their milk teeth fall out and are fully replaced with their permanent teeth. The gnollish phrase "still got your milk teeth" is a reflection of this idea, and is commonly used to refer to inexperienced outsiders.

As the teeth are used primarily for capturing prey, gnolls who settle disputes with strength rely on hand-to-hand combat. Knocking an opponent's tooth out in a fight is the ultimate indicator of victory. Any tooth gained in this way is commonly kept as a proof of a favor owed, to be returned when the favor is cashed in. As a result, any gnoll who's "got all their teeth" is one who is both strong and above reproach in society.

This also led to a more unusual development; gnolls are considered the progenitors of modern dentistry. Gnoll physiology is more forgiving of infectious materials given their propensity for eating carrion. As such, they were able to develop techniques for dental work first and worry about sterilization later. These gnollish techniques for reinserting teeth or creating dentures are highly valuable to all of the surrounding peoples and has led to some gnolls adjusting to a lifestyle of nomadic, philanthropic, dentistry.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Dregs of the Imperium

In the hobgoblin-ruled Imperium Of The Perfect Life, every subject species has a role, even those once treated as barbaric. The recently conquered gnoll tribes, for example, are tasked with taking care of the ever-growing pile of bodies coming back from the Holy Conquest.

In times of relative peace, when not many soldiers fall to the Adversary, gnoll-adjacent neighbourhoods might occasionally report missing children or pets. The authorities are instructed to turn a blind eye, though, for the danger of another Undead Uprising is far greater than letting the occasional civilian get eaten.

Ghoul & Ghast

The Ghoul; a staple of fantasy tabletop gaming for probably as long as the zombie has been a staple of the horror genre. This classic creature at its base can serve as a early challenge for a beginning party. What it lacks in damage it more than makes up for with some debilitating abilities.

Swift Leap, though limited in use, can serve as a reminder to the party fighter that the ghoul is not a mindless creature, as it does not trigger reactions. Consume Flesh doesn't explicitly state that a ghoul can't feast on its fallen allies, and I do recommend doing so when you run it. This tactic adds to the desperate, cannabalistic gruesome behavior that sets them apart from other undead. Ghoul Fever can be a significantly harmful condition, especially given that low level parties are already somewhat strapped for healing; cutting that in half can at the very least severely slow the players down. The added benefit, from a story perspective, is that low level parties may face off against fallen compatriots should they face off and lose against a ghoul pack.

Paralysis is straightforward and, more fortuitously, is something that can make it easier to critically strike players, thereby making up for low innate damage dice.

Combine these factors and the ghoul can be a formidable opponent up through level three. Better yet, the ghoul comes with optional rules for creating ghouls from any living creature. Should you find yourself wanting for options, take a swing at creating a ghoul (or ghast) out of something scarier such as a giant. Perhaps you wish to terrify your players and remind them that your world is not always fun and games. Make a whole ghoul troop or ghoul swarm akin to something out of that scene from World War Z! Terrible movie, awesome inspiration.

The ghoul provides some lasting utility in addition to serving as a great entry level creature to an undead-hunting campaign. Mix and match them with classics like liches and zombies for maximum effect.

Hook 1 (Max) - Ghastly Tragedy

A great tragedy had befallen the local mining town, their shafts collapsed trapping many workers inside. It's been over two weeks and the community still hasn't managed to open the closed passageways; the only sign of life from their efforts is occasionally uncovering a crushed, unrecognizable corpse.

As everyone started to lose hope in the survival of the trapped miners, shadowy figures started stalking the night. Graves in the cemetery have been found dug up at dawn. People are terrified.

What is actually happening? The miners have found a way out, although this was only after nearly succumbing to hunger, thereafter they resorted to desperate measures. They still do not completely grasp the full extent of their transformation, although they are fully aware that they are indeed no longer fully human and, as such, they wish to spare their loved ones from any pain they would no doubt feel upon seeing them in their current state.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - The Creature of Weissendorf

Entire herds of sheep have been disappearing overnight from the far-off colony of Weissendorf. Those brave enough to follow the massive tracks leading away into the hills easily find the perpetrator; a massive, ghoulified cyclops. While the undead giant is a massive threat on his own, fresh claw marks clearly show that whatever infected him with ghoul fever was at least twice the size. How such a massive predator could hide on the tiny, rocky island Weissendorf lies on is a mystery in and of itself.

Hook 3 (TJ) - Crisis in Haverdale

Nobody in the town of Haverdale knows what to do. Raet, the town surgeon, is deathly ill and will not make it through the night. The bite on his hand has festered rapidly, growing rot at a rate that no one has yet seen. As the men of the town attempted to wrangle the mangy dog menacing Haverdale's streets, several of them, including Raet, were bitten. While some of them recovered, the rabies treatments Raet tried on himself and two others has not improved their condition, and they are now too ill for Raet to devise anything else. The mayor has sent to Kingsport for another surgeon with all haste. Come nightfall, however, it will be too late and Haverdale will have more than a sickly surgeon to worry about...

Duergar

 The dwarves' own drow, the duergar remain a bit more flexible in how you can utilize them in your campaign. In Golarion, they remain enslaved by an evil, slaver deity - but your take on them can always give them a different niche.

A particularly ambitious ashen dwarf oracle has decided that the world needs more duergars. To that end, he has enlisted the aid of several dero scientists - who are happy to work for him as long as there is a steady supply of fresh daywalker meat, which they experiment on with glee. This has resulted in an increase of disappearings in the dwarf-ruled settlement of Prestroyka, and an investigation is called for.

On the barren world of Druzga, all civilized life resides underground. For the past few decades, among the Dvergar, babies with mutations such as light skin, and resistance to the Sun's deadly rays have appeared at an alarming rate. What the public doesn't know, is that these so called "dvarfs" have united into a loose alliance, along with lightskin drow and fey-blessed svirfneblin. While the alliance has grown over the years, the only path to the surface leads through the lair of a massive crimson worm.

The Duergar of Antyss Abyss are said to worship the devil himself. True enough, as lords of the neighbouring lands dread duergar priests like no other enemy. Each fall, those priests come to the most downtrodden of villages, the dirtiest of slums, the bloodiest of the arenas. There, they find the poorest, the weakest and the most desperate. Each of them is offered a fulfilment of a single wish, supposedly coming from a god whose name must not be said out loud. The price is always the same: the recipient of the gift must place a single brick into the massive foundations of an unknown structure at the bottom of the Abyss. And yet, many who do so choose to remain underground, working menial jobs under cruel duergar masters. Each year, more and more good men flock to the depths, and the Lords' coffers and armies are begginig to thin.

Drow

 Drow, you know? The evil tyrannical elves everyone has to put a twist on these days. So let's do our best in honouring that tradition in three different ways.

The drow of Mad Moon Mountains are known as a tribe consisting exclusively of madmen. Not without reason, either. The ashen elves, out of religious reasons tied to dead gods, follow a social system known as infantarchy - all of their leaders are toddlers, whose instinctive and impulsive actions supposedly follow the chaotic will of the universe. Sane men fear the drow, for they could be friendly one day, and launch an invasion based on the slightest offense the next day. However, trade with the mad elves is often conducted - as their feats of magic and technology, developed at their masters mad whims, are unparalleled. 

In the Shadowlands, beneath the Elderspire, it is the drow who come from driders, not the other way round. While they share most traits with other elven tribes, and can reproduce, the most common way a drow is created is when a drider commits something so heinous he needs to be cast out from society. A painful procedure is conducted, removing the future elf's arachnid lower body and reconstructing humanoid legs. Then comes the exile.
A former drider theologian, now a drow drifter, postulates that all elves actually have an origin similar to the drow, only the drow are singular in remaining in contact with their progenitors. He is now recruiting a team to find the butterfly-like nectarians, centipede-bodied crawlaths, mosquito-headed skeeters, and the lobster-clawed bleegers.

The drow of Bizarria are a misunderstood people. They are a very meek, selfless and good-natured people, but they managed to offend a trickster god many millennia ago. In retribution, he turned their entire language (a perfectly understandable dialect of elvish) on its head, making words mean their exact opposites. Recently, the bizzarians found a way out of their dark lands in the world below, and seeing so many races thriving on the surface, they naturally tried to make friends. Unfortunately, greetings like "Goodbye, enemies, we leave to take your loot" mean that the surface dwellers are now preparing for war - unless someone realizes that the drow never seem to deliver on their threats, instead leaving gifts and offerings.

Dog

 You know what? I might be a cruel GM who enjoys tactical fights, but i am never going to make you fight good bois. They also come in two sizes, small and medium.

Sir Borky is a celestial being from the other side of reality, who takes the shape of a dog. His divine mission is to appear to people who have become misguided and yet could have been great, and (in ways only a pet really can) teach them about compassion, responsibility and communication. However, while in the care of Despario, an emotionally stunted tiefling mage, he is forced to break character - as a bunch of angelslayers appear at the door.

A group of adventurers, desperately needing a crucial bit of information, makes a pact with a lord of the Fae. In exchange for completing a task that is "daunting, overwhelming and nigh-impossible", the Fey will reveal any knowledge they might desire to them. Fearing the worst, they prepare - yet the task is not at all what they were expecting. The Fey gives them an ugly, unkempt, sickly looking dog... and gives them the arduous mission of somehow winning the yearly dog show in Straganza City.

The massive, yet high-stamina elven ridge-backed dogs are used for hunting smilodons. However, Ri'shi, a dog from the latest litter, seems to be afraid of every sort of cat, from the smallest to the largest. The elves would be willing to, for the first time in history, give one of these dogs to an outsider. However, anyone willing to take on such a companion might first demonstrate discipline, a level of stubbornness, and dedication - lest the beast grow up to become a monster, ruining the breed's reputation (which would indeed, be an insult to the elves who bred it).

Dhampir wizard

 Preparing to do an introduction to this post, i realized one thing. Despite being a mostly pathfinder GM, and pathfinder being a combat focused rpg... i really, really love writing social/non-combat encounter ideas. Anyway, this should technically be a "family" kind of post, like the dragon posts, but since bestiary one really only gives us one member of said family, i'll stick to the traditional post format.

Two different anonymous patrons have hired The Molty Crew, a tengu band of mercenaries, to find an elusive mage. The mage turns out to be a dhampir - and the patrons, his parents. His paladin father wants to cleanse him of the vampirism and help him integrate fully into humanoid society, but must not socialize with a spawn of darkness. His vampire mother, on the other hand, wants to keep him safe in a dhampir haven - but in her world, safety is paid for with blood money and comes without any luxuries attached. For his part, Motlin the mage is notoriously bad at making decisions - and asks the tengu mercs to help him decide.

In the accursed land of Notorya, where vampires rule with an iron fang, dhampirs aren't mishaps. Instead, they are intentionally bred to be the vampires day-walking arm of the law. That is why, when a rag-covered dhampir steps out of a portal, and exclaims "come with me if you wish to save mortalkind", not many in the Mortal Liberation Army are willing to trust them. Which is a shame, as the brave five who do end up following him find that they have been transported to the Progenitor's Crypt - a labyrinthine complex that, legend has it, houses the sleeping deity of all vampirekind. Ancient lore claims that if this being is slain, all of the vampires will lose their dark powers.

A dhampir wizard looking to rid himself of his curse found an ancient artifact that split him in two. The crew he works with is now at a loss - while the vampire part kept all of the magical knowledge, it is also now a vicious and monstrous being, although one that can be bargained with. On the other hand, the humanoid half kept the undying loyalty he was known for, along with the connections in the city's shady underworld. Unfortunately, they both categorically refuse to work together ever again.

Dero

 Have you ever felt a need to run a stereotypical little gray men from UFOs story in TTRPG form, but decided it was ill-fitting for your fantasy setting? Worry not, the dero are here to save you. 

A band of warriors wakes up in a dark and moist dungeon, shackled to the walls. The night before, they had celebrated a major victory against the invading forces of Niblingast, and they must have gotten very, very drunk - as all of their memories appear very hazy, and they haven't the faintest clue where they could be.
Soon enough, a group of small, milky-eyed humanoids enter the room without a word. They feed their captives some sort of fungal sludge, and one of them slips several keys in Fluki the Shade's hands, whispering in a broken form of elvish: "if you survive what is coming, seek me out. I have an interesting proposition".
After the first group is finished, another enters - this one accompanied by a cave giant, and led by a cackling, syringe wearing elder of the race.

Synn, an aasimar who can trace her lineage to the actual Sun-god Zhaa, is approached by a strange man in a long black trenchcoat. The "man" turns out to be two dero standing on top of one another. The uncanny humanoids have a proposal: If Synn is to allow them to clone her - and "care not if the clones get murdered, hurt, and/or eaten in the pursuit of enlightened science", she will be given access to their vast amounts of research on Zhaa. Such knowledge could unlock her true angelic potential, but it also hides secrets best left undisturbed...

The proud city of Arkhangast is falling into darkness. Literally. Over the last few months, entire households have started collapsing into the ground overnight, as their foundations mysteriously vanish. The city was built on top of a large complex of deep gnome tunnels - but those have long since been purged. A deeper (pun intended) investigation reveals that the tunnels have been repopulated - but not with the svirfneblin but with previously unseen humanoids, the sun-fearing dero. The paranoid little humanoids gather around a messiah whose ultimate goal is as simple as it is insane - if the dero can not rule the Overworld by inhabiting it, then they shall simply bring all of the overworlders into the blessed Underworld, even if some (or most) of them do not survive the trip.

Deinonychus

You know what? No big writeup this time, i'm just gonna tell you if you describe these boys without feathers, i'll appear at your doorstep and bonk you on the head with an encyclopedia. 

Dino races are a very popular sport in Saurotopia. When an unknown perpetrator sabotages the locks on the raptor stables, a group of stable-boys are put to a test - they are the only thing that stands between a horde of deinonychuses and a city completely unprepared for it.

The natives of Uk'Tash jungles hunt alongside their dinosaur companions. Conquistadors taking the reptiles for mere lizards, and launching a war against the barbarians might find themselves in a bit of a pickle - as the natives' reptilian goddess infuses the dinosaurs with rage and a spark of intelligence, sending them in endless yet carefully coordinated swarms against the would-be conquerors.

A spoiled noble is paying an extremely large sum to the first person able to bring him a trained dinosaur. While it has never been done before, it is theoretically possible. While the money is enough to net an early retirement, merely getting to the Emerald Jungles is a perilous task - and getting there and back again, while caring for an exotic being like a deinonychus (apparently the smartest and easiest to train of the reptiles) is the type of adventure that songs are sung about.

Deep gnome

 In Golarion proper, deep gnomes serve as the only remotely (true neutral) approachable faction in the darklands. If you, however, do not play in Golarion, you might find a different niche for them, and with little to make them mechanically interesting (decent illusory disguise on scouts and warriors, and some more primal spells on the rockwardens), I'd say you should weave a story that makes them feel different.

Young gnomes have been disappearing from the city of Calora. An investigation of the metropolis's sewers - along with several encounters with enraged duergar - lead the gnomes' chosen champions deep underground, where a settlement of stone-skinned gnomes is built around a magitechnological contraption. The kidnapped gnomes are thrown into the machine's reservoirs, where long tubes pierce their flesh, and start drawing out all colour from their bodies. The machine then produces a nectar that is both invigorating and highly addictive for the deep gnomes. While the sages of the settlement are open to alternative fuels for the machine (which inevitably kills the captives), unless such an alternative is presented, they are not willing to stop the operation. Of course, violence is always an option, but the potion makes deep gnomes a serious force, not to be taken lightly...

Diddlyfrumph Cloisterdoinks was a moody old gnome who owned a tavern. The tavern was notorious for having a (heavily enforced) sign on its entrance that said "Entry forbidden to dogs and dwarves". When Diddlyfrumph dies of old age, his proteges find that he left behind a large quantity of face and hair paint, as well as a map that supposedly leads to a hidden treasure. There's only one problem - the map claims that the planet is hollow, and saying that out loud, or trying to prove it, is heresy in the eyes of the Smiling God and his powerful clergy...

After searching for it for years, a group of adventurers have finally found the fabled Bottomless Pit. Throwing his lamp inside is the only way to truly contain a djinn prince that the group have been dealing with since the humble beginnings of their epic travels. The only problem is, the only way to the pit is through a Svirfneblin temple-city. The gnomish men are willing to allow the adventurers to pass - but the dwarven princess in their escort must not set foot on the holy stone of the city. While the Svirfneblin swear on their forgotten gods' names that no harm will come to the princess, the demon who hides in her soul is sure to be let loose if but one deep gnome tries to draw blood from the girl. If its anger is unleashed, not only would the temple be razed to the ground, but the adventurers could end up with no way home...

Crocodile

 The croc comes to us in two sizes - the basic crocodile and the primeval deinosuchus. Despite clocking in at a measly level 2, the crocodile has one of the deadliest abilities in the game - death roll. Once you drown a PC in knee-high water, you will get a reputation as that GM.

The Milzeezipee river is a great route for logs, cut in the north and transported downstream. Unfortunately, some gators have realized folks who try to steal single logs from the massive groups make for easy food, and gator hunting season has been called for. Each gator will net you ten gold, and the hunter who bags the largest of the beasts will get another thousand, along with a magical machete. 

A group of grizzled mercenaries is approached by a strange man in a beige robe called Stevanos Irwinos. He wishes to (for some insane reason) catalogoue the crocodile population of the Nakhunta glades. The catch is, he wishes no harm on the animals. As the glades are treacherous and full of dangers, he needs protection.
Even as a legendary deinosuchus - a crocodillian beast the size of a small house - capsizes their boat, Stevanos keeps trying to calm the situation down and urges his compatriots not to hurt the beast. If they listen, they are rewarded a single scale from the lizard king when their ordeals are over - allowing them to summon an entire army of dinosaurs as a one-time boon.

Legend holds it that if a lizardfolk egg is swallowed whole by a dire crocodile, it will immeddiately hatch and give birth to a mighty champion of the swamps. A militant iruxi shaman now summons a troupe of foreigners he once nursed back to health, and asks them to help him devise a plan of action. He wishes to distribute as many eggs over as big of a territory as he can, hoping to raise a physically enhanced warbands.
Of course, even if they know of a way to help him, the foreigners are at a conundrum - such a warband would surely be used for invasion. On the other hand, the sanctity of an owed favour is not to be carelessly broken...

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...

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.

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.

Boggard

Despite (or maybe because) of their cheesyness and pulpy aesthetic, the wicked frogmen are among my favourite "evil" humanoids. Fighting off a squad of orcs may satisfy my Tolkeinean fantasy needs, but slaying a dozen or so of these weird little buggers skips Tolkien and defaults back to Conan, and that, my friends, is the real deal.

The Arcadian vanguard arrived on the marshy shores of Naq-talya maybe two weeks ago. Looking for the Diamond City their oracles pointed them to, they went straight through the thickest and deepest marshes.
Their first soldier was slain the very first night, his throat cleanly cut. In the days since, they got picked off one or two at a time. Now, when only the final five men remain, a group of a dozen slimy, croaking frogmen jump at them from the trees, obviously not looking to take prisoners.

When the Boggards of the Lastgrasp swamplands meet the knights of the Order of the Willow, tradition demand they smoke a pipe together. Unfortunately, the substance the boggards smoke, while having a mild hallucinogenic and anesthetic on them, brings painful death to most other races - which the swamp-dwelling creatures legitimately didn't know.
With all their seniors dead to poisoning, the testimony of the only surviving knight can mean the difference between a peaceful investigation and all-out war.

The priestess of the dark gods that dwell drowned within the swamp prayed, and the gods answered. The priestess gave birth to the new swamp lord, a mutated boggard that shares many of its features with a froghemoth. The three-eyed warlord quickly united the tribes, but despite now controlling the largest force in that part of the world, he did not go on a raid or conquest. Instead, all his efforts appear to be focused on breaking into the Skytooth, the tower in which the last cyclops dwelt until his death. Unfortunately, this means a group of mages, who have found a way to use the tower's magic to see the future, will not have an easy way getting into it...

Boar

So, basically, the boar comes in two variants - the regular old eurasian boar, and the slightly beefed up daeodon. Now, i tend to like most of the bestiary artwork, i really do... but the boar but its even more boary than a boar art really doesn't do justice to a daeodon. Seriously, do yourself a favour, and go google how that thing looks like, and then come back and read this.

The saviours of Soldier's hill have managed to reconcile the orks and the hobbits of the region, even founding a multi-racial settlement. As one of the saviours' firstborn's birthday comes, the ork shaman asks if a pet would be a worthy present. The hero accepts, expecting a puppy, or maybe one of the raptor birds the orks use in hunting. Alas, what arrives is a daeodon piglet, already voracious and larger than a small child.

The kings has made a proclamation: no civilian can own a scroll of fireball, unless explicitly given permission by the king himself. The self-proclaimed leader of the serfs, old Wilbur McNabeth, comes into the capital, preaching to the masses about how he needs those scrolls to keep his children safe. "A question do i have for ye, those who owneth land beyonde the cittie walles. How doth one slay three to four dozen wilde boars within a twentieth of the bell, if those boars do cometh while one's little ones be out working the fields?"
The king says "arrest him", but some of the guards agree with the old man, and of course, his followers might be carrying scrolls as well, so chaos is bound to erupt. It is the seregant of the city's guard unlucky day, as he is rushed into making a decision.

When old man Wilbur was jailed, the boar population in the countryside has exploded. As he stubbornly refuses the king's offer of amnesty, the monarch looks for a group of heroes willing to face herds consisting of literally hundreds of the beasts.

Bat

Under "bat", the bestiary gives us two entries - the all-time classic vampire bat swarm and the generic giant bat.

On the floating islands world of Naltraxya, different people use wildly differing methods to get by from island to island. Dwarves have their zeppelinships, orks use enormous ballistae with projectiles connected to chains to make primitive zip lines, and gnomes tame the flying foxes, the local variety of giant bat.
Gnome culture of the isles being nomadic, the taming of your first flying mount is actually considered a rite of passage, with those who fail to return home on the back of a bat being shunned as "landlocked" and treated as simple-minded.

The mad Vampire Maraphlingus wants to fight his equal in both martial prowess and intellect. To that end, he has locked himself deep within a mine, and has created a series of challenges of increasing difficulty that lead up to his personal chambers. The opening chamber is intended to test the potential champion's willingness to sacrifice others on his path to greatness - a large flock of vampire bats make their home there, making up for several swarms, which can easily be dealt with with a few simple area of effect spells or several alchemist bombs. However, the floors, walls and ceiling of the chamber are visibly covered in explosive materials, meaning that anyone within a certain distance stands next to no chance of surviving if anything detonates.

In the Shamadayama jungles, giant bats are extremely rare and are considered sacred. Indeed, legend holds it that they hunt during the night, but retreat into the chambers of a benevolent jungle spirit before the sun rises.
As a plague ravages the surrounding villages, a group of pilgrims decides to try following a bat, leading them into the spirit's abode, where they intend to beg for help.

Animated object

The animated object "family" of creatures comes with four examples in the bestiary - from the lowly animated broom, to the genre classics animated armor and statue, and finishing off with the giant version of the latter. Of course, the possibility for creating countless others exists within the framework of the game - its a simple matter of using the right ritual.
As opponents, animated objects aren't exactly the type of encounter you'd base your around - they work best as simple obstacles or even mere "set dressing".

The king's new bride kept complaining about how unclean the castle was - and a group of gremlins heard her. While never gentle and always mischievous, the gremlins have lived in the castle for generations, and had a special fondness for the young king. They immediately took a dislike to the new queen. Seeing their opportunity, they stole every single broom in the kingdom, and then promptly animated all of them in the middle of the castle. The King's guests are led on a wild hunt for the tiny tricksters, through the nooks and crannies of the labyrinthine castle, but if they find out the impossibly beautiful queen's dark secret, they may yet side with the gremlins in antagonizing her.

The megalopolis of Petroskin has a huge necromancer problem. To deal with it, the Maple Hill Cemetery uses a large number of animated statues. These statues remain immobile during the day, but as soon as night falls they start patrolling the graveyard. To distinguish the animated and regular statues, the sculptors sculpt their own faces onto the animated ones.
Recently, however, there have been several disappearances among the cemetery staff. What is more, a rumor is starting about a mysterious huge statue starting to appear from time to time. For some reason, unlike the other statues, the huge one appears to have a completely blank and featureless face.

Sir Flavio's school of the highest art of the rapier is a rather prestigious school of fencing. As part of the mind-numbingly expensive deal, after finishing the course, students are given a an animated suit of armor, loaded with the commands for basic fencing practice, with the idea that no real fencer ever stops honing his skills. A week ago, however, a high-profile assassination was pulled off - one of the school's armors was somehow replaced with one with the instruction to murder the student's rich father as soon as it was delivered.
Sir Flavio has reason to believe that the assassins will try again, and inspectors he hired now have a hard task ahead of them - decide which of the ten remaining constructs were planted by the assassins, but preferably do so without damaging any others.