Owlbear

The Owlbear is indeed another fantasy gaming staple tracing its lineage back to very early versions of the game. Pathfinder 2e presents us a slightly more interesting version of the creature, as it has some special abilities to set it apart from your standard bear-affair. The bestiary itself provides a compelling variant owlbear, one that can glide a great distance almost silently to descend on prey. 

Interesting and powerful abilities aside, I think the owlbear (and other monstrous creatures like it) reminds us that the fantastical is in some ways mundane—at least in the context of the game. The owlbear is an Avatar: The Last Airbender-like hybrid animal, but is not a magical creature and does not have any supernatural abilities; it's intimidating and brutally violent with prey. Consider how an owlbear's habits and behaviors might differ from that of both a bear and an owl, and how both of those things might influence said creature. Should you be lacking in understanding, I can think of a certain Paizo editor that can tell you all about bear behavior.

At level four, any encounter with an owlbear will be an early endeavor. As animals (not ravenous beasts) consider how a nature-attuned PC like a druid or ranger may be able to circumvent a combat with such a creature entirely. Such an occurrence can provide an interesting character moment and remind the players that there is more than one way to play PF2 than just beating everything you run into to death.

- Reece

Hook 1 (Nemanja) - Barnaby The Barn

When the hunters heard of the "barn-like owlbear" from the local populace speaking in broken common, they expected to find a barn-owl-featured owlbear. Not a barn-sized, horned-owl-featured one. Unfortunately, they are duty-bound not to back away from the fight—and even if they weren't, the local villages surely can't hope to stand against something like this.

Hook 2 (Max) - The Hoot

Niners is a peaceful town, all things considered. Do your job, don't get into any trouble with the law, and you'll do fine. Most of all, never, under any circumstances, go into the woods surrounding it after nightfall.

There is a story in the Niners. People say that should you venture into the dark forest after the sun goes down, you will face a horror that will turn your blood to ice. No one has ever seen in it, only the aftermath of its rage, a trail of bodies disfigured beyond recognition as if by the claws of a giant beast, many of the organs missing entirely.

The people of Niners know when the beast finds its next victim—a loud hoot, as if that of an owl, can be heard over the town. Without fail, every time it sounds, a new body is found in the wood.

So take heed, lest you want to fall prey to the terror stalking the night.

Hook 3 (Reece) - Tangle in Titansfield

The Titansfield Players are a circus that has moved away, at least as much as possible, from the use of animals during their shows. Magic illusions and druids capable of changing their own forms makes performances much easier and—in Thelia's estimation—more ethical. The petting zoo has remained, as the children frequent it in between the major shows. Goats cheese and wool also help subsidize some of the operating costs of the traveling circus.

At a stop outside a triumvirate of small villages, a local farmer brings an enormous egg to the Circusmaster, leaving her to decide what exactly to do with it. When one of the elderly griffons takes to brooding the egg, it hatches not long after arrival, revealing it to be an owlbear cubling. This in and of itself wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, the owlbear broodmother has come looking for its spawn in the middle of the biggest show for this area, when all the strongest and most capable performers are preoccupied and unaware...

Minotaur

Upon reading the Minotaur entry, two things stand out to me. The first one is that beyond their love for mazes and stalking prey (both of which kind of come a dime a dozen among dungeon-delving monsters), Minotaurs are almost a blank slate—that makes it a perfect opportunity for world-building. Is your minotaur a solitary, accursed being, along the lines of the classic greek myth? Maybe your minotaurs are exiles from a seven-dimensional plane, who have gone mad without access to advanced technology, but their weird knowledge manifests in their impeccable understanding of geometry? Maybe the bull of Minos was an outlier, and other minotaurs (with a bit of int-tweaking) are a race of scholars, shunned from civilization for their monstrous appearance and odd appetites?

The other thing—which may slightly contradict my first point—is that the only language that minotaurs seem to speak is jotun, a language that, in Golarion at least, seems to be associated with giants, dragons, and other primal creatures of raw power and deep magic.

- Nemanja

Hook 1 (Max) - Priests of the Golden Horn

The Golden Horn sits majestically atop a cliffside overlooking the nearby ocean. The view is, however, not its most striking and famous feature, as the whole city is devoted to the worship of the bull demigod that purportedly protects it. All manner of travelers make the arduous journey to the Horn in order to seek his guidance.

All rites are overseen by the Bull Priests, the ruling caste of the metropolis, whose word is law. To slight them and deviate from their teachings is seen as anathema, frowned upon, and is generally speaking extremely dangerous.

Little does anyone know that their stringent tendencies, along with the fact that their deity is only seen at a specific time of day, are due to the fact that The Bull God is, in fact, a farce—a captured minotaur that the priests use as a puppet for their faith.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Anti-aurochs architecture

When the Second Helene Republic was formed in the XIV century, the greater community of Greece and surrounding areas begrudgingly accepted the Bull-men of Minos into their midst. Despite their fiery temper, the minotaurs have proven themselves both as soldiers (serving as heavy infantry) and as civil servants, especially architects. Indeed, their chokehold on architectural industries is such that many cities have neighbourhoods purposefully designed in such a labyrinthine way that members of other species find it impossible to traverse them. The most infamous of these is the Pathfinders' Peril, the massive labyrinth in Second Sparta that stretches through almost half the city and surrounds the mysterious White Bull's Temple.

What only a few people alive know is that the labyrinth is specifically not made to keep anyone out, but to keep the White Bull in.

The White Bull, for its part, is the ancient progenitor of the Minotaur race. It has the body of a giant, and the head of an aurochs (the ancient, European wild cattle). It is a hungry and bloodthirsty deity, but its power over the minotaurs has waned alongside its influence. Should it feed again, however, its influence will burn bright again, and with it, the rage of its children will awake too.

All of this should have been critical information for an invading army. Too bad that you, the human handler assigned to the Third Ottoman Kallikantzaros division, weren't briefed...

Hook 3 (TJ) - Grain of Satisfaction

Entimira never really understood the draw of an unending labyrinth. Isn't the point of a maze to eventually have the satisfaction of getting out? Why would he be interested in trapping people in unending twists and turns? Besides, once people gave up, where was the fun in killing them? It isn't like he was killing for food, and killing for sport never seemed quite right. No, his method was much better. This way, he got to see the joy people experienced at finally figuring it out. And this was far more efficient for food. He could actually eat this. Yes, as he stood over his meticulously arranged corn seedlings, he knew. This year's corn maze was going to be his best yet.

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.

Hobgoblin

Hobgoblins love conflict, their entire culture revolves around it. Out of all goblinoids, they are easily the most cunning and threatening in battle. This is exactly why they can be used to great effect, reminding your party that there are no "low-level" enemies, only those who don't use their full potential. Sure, a single goblin doesn't pose a threat, nor do ten goblins alone. If they work in tandem, though, coordinating between themselves while thinking strategically, suddenly they become far more threatening.

This is where hobgoblins come into play; they are better organized than their kin and live, in many cases, solely for the purpose of waging war. Again, a single hobgoblin may not be a serious threat, but when fighting in a bigger group (as they should), they very well might be.

This is mirrored by the ability that all hobgoblins present in the bestiary share, Formation, which can increase the survivability of any gobbo. This is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when using hobgoblins—they work best as a unit. The General can play a significant role at the start of a battle, with General's Cry, a good way to set a primary target for their soldiers, but The General can also dish out a reasonable amount of damage as needed. Soldiers serve as the frontline, dealing less damage at level one, though they can soak up damage and create space for their back-line allies. Consider applying the elite adjustment to soldiers if you need to beef them up a touch against a tougher party. Archers can really ruin the day for any party who does not consider their positioning wisely. Their kit makes them the perfect hit-and-run enemy, given their movement and reload capabilities in addition to above-average precision against effects like cover and concealment. When you combine all three of them, you get yourself one nasty encounter. If they get the jump on the party and set themselves in a favorable position, life and death can easily be on the line.

- Max

Hook 1 (Max) - Rotbag's Horde

Rotbag Iron Mandible has earned the respect he commands from countless battles and duels, the most famous of which cost him the lower part of his face and earned him the moniker. Now, he only communicates via sign language, not that it impedes any of his plans.

And these plans are grand in scale indeed. He has already succeeded in uniting most goblinoid communities in the area, now boasting a considerable force under him. Before setting out further, he has set his sights on the cities that lay nearby.

He is not stupid; he knows that his army wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight, as goblins are prone to routing and are not particularly disciplined, while hobgoblins tend to lose themselves in battle. Hence, he won't risk an open battle if he's not sure of the outcome. He can allow himself the comfort of patience as provisions are seldom a problem with the army.

Innumerable warbands scour the plains, attacking caravans and transports, leaving no trace behind. His stealthiest and best soldiers infiltrate the settlements at night, poisoning wells and food supplies, setting fire to buildings, killing people in charge, getting rid of mages and miracle workers in addition to any other important people. Sew chaos. Disorient the enemy.

Eventually, people grow tired and weary, leaving the town that is in complete disrepair, hoping for a better future. Sometimes in big groups, more often than not in small ones. Those are the easiest to pick.

When towns are decimated by disease, fire, and anarchy, Rotbag strikes with his full might. Typically the fight is quick and his horde takes very few casualties, which they don't really mind given the incredible spoils; many slaves, valuables, and another new stronghold for the army that grows ever bigger by the day, as more and more troops join it, arriving from far off lands.

Hook 2 (TJ) - The Story of Scars

The Timbermen of Rowefront are a proud bunch. They are willing to make a game or a show of anything. Feats of strength, tests of speed, challenges of wit, these and many others feature prominently in any and all of their social gatherings. The thing the Timbermen are most proud of, however, are their scars. Adventurers are generally treated with contempt in Rowefront. Not only do they generally bring trouble, but their reliance on supernatural, magical healing sources reduces the marks and marring of their skin. 

This contempt first started when Salmaracakanzz (colloquially known as "Sawbones Sal") moved into Rowefront. An expert surgeon, Sal's ideas of the beauty of scars and the stories they tell alongside a general mistrust of "elf magic" spread quickly to the Timbermen. Now, the comparing of scars and the stories that go with them feature just as prominently any time the Timbermen get together.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Bear Witness, Bring Wrath

While most hobgoblins use their ruthless minds to dominate militaristic structures of power, Globrech of Ganthia became a master merchant instead.

Ten years ago, he owned but a single alchemical shop. Now, his wealth runs deep enough that most of Tarabath is in his pocket. That's become an issue since there's an obscure Tarabathi law that states "Should anyone come to own more than half of the land in the city, the title of Doge is to pass to him".

As the day of the ceremony comes ever closer, the old doge's librarian digs up another law written when the city was founded: "Should at least thirteen men or women of age produce credible evidence against a citizen's honour, said citizen shall forever be banned from holding public office in Tarabath".

Of course, finding those willing to testify against the most powerful man in the city is going to involve a lot of stealth, subterfuge, and encouragement.

Griffon

The griffon, also spelled griffin or gryphon, is a mythological cornerstone. A mix (usually) between a lion and an eagle, two apex creatures within their own ecological niche, the griffon has a myriad of real-world mythos associated with it. I could give you real-world historical information on it but this is a Beastfinder entry, not a Wikipedia article.

Statistically, the griffon is a pretty generic creature. It uses hit-and-run tactics with Flying Strafe, which allows it to Fly once (using its massive 60ft fly speed) and Strike twice throughout that movement. It can also serve as an ambush predator with Pounce. At the end of the day, the griffon is an animal. It has low intelligence and fights in order to protect its territory, its young, or in search of a meal. That being said, it generally will lean toward self-preservation in battle, flying out of range of enemies when it grows too wounded to continue.

The griffon is useful for our purposes because of its iconic nature. It's easily recognizable and carries with it the zeitgeist of various historical periods. Because of these attributes, in my opinion, the griffon functions best as the subject of a quest, not the boss monster of an encounter. Poachers collecting griffon eggs, a mated pair needing to be relocated due to a precarious nesting location, that sort of thing. You could take it a step farther, however, and create entire subspecies of griffon based on other feline/bird hybrids. Not that I, uh.

Not that I'd know anyone who would do that.

Hook 1 (Max) - Loyal Steed

At night, a soul-rending shriek of agony can be heard. Upon investigating it, one will find a mighty griffon clad in ornamental armor, bleeding from countless wounds, inflicted by both weapons and magic from the looks of it.

If healed, it will immediately start walking (assuming it cannot yet fly) northward. After a day of travel, anyone following the beast will happen upon a battlefield, though "massacre" might be a more apt descriptor. Dozens of griffons and knights in similar armor lie scattered about, most of them in barely recognizable pieces. The animal cries out in anguish after finding what one could only assume to be its rider. The pained beast looks toward the nearby ruins of an old keep.

Whatever demolished the warriors is there.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Pennycat Problems

The Westway Pennycat is a small griffonoid creature that rules the underbrush of the Galboia Range. The diminutive Pennycat seems to be a cross between a common grouse and the runt of a bobcat litter and is therefore not fit for riding like the Ozun Seahawk would be.

This does not stop enterprising breeders and tamers from seeking them out, however. Pennycats make incredible mousers, and ratcatchers all over Aldunn have begun to use them to clear out local rodent populations.

When a fire broke out at the compound of Huxley Dawndew, the lead pennycat breeder in Westway, he released all of his pennycats so that they could flee the blaze. Now that the fire has died down, he needs help tracking all 473 of them down, as well as finding the source of the fire.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Secrets of Sand

Folk tales among the Nffrach people of the Resspa desert claim that the vigilants - the vulture-hyena griffons of the region - value sea fish over any other food. Of course, for most locals, living hundreds of miles away from the sea means that is a virtually untestable premise.

Travelers from faraway lands will find out that upon offering a vigilant seafood, it will bow down, indicating that the donor should mount them. Curiously, should one accept the offered seat, they will find themselves dropped off at elven ruins surrounding a dried-out oasis deep in the desert, two continents away from the next closest elven settlement known...

Green Hag

I have never properly deployed hags as they are written in any game I've run, as I haven't had the story I wanted to tell with them properly centered. It is important to bear in mind that hags of all types play into the trope of the duplicitous, deceptive, or evil (sometimes old) woman, which is not often an arc or story I have an interest in telling. We've all heard the stories of the various witch hunts of colonial America and the old United kingdom from which the hags are inspired. The folklore from which these hunts were derived in many cases predates that of the hunts themselves. The archetype of the wizened woman of magic even ties to some of the old druidic traditions of modern-day Ireland, Scotland, and the old Gaelic tribes

With all this in mind, there is a great burden with which the Pathfinder 2e hags can be deployed. They occupy a unique place within the game mechanically and narratively as creatures that can be a threat to a party throughout their adventures, ranging in level from 3 through 10 as of the date of my writing. When theorizing how you might place a hag within your setting, I do recommend that you consider creating an entire coven within the area of influence for use. This serves two functions:

- The Coven ability grants spells to the entire coven that the individual hag may not have access to
- The Coven itself can be a primary or tertiary antagonistic force that can help or hinder your players whilst harassing the countryside

To these ends, I recommend the hag and accompanying coven as a way to inject a further level of mystery or fantasy horror into your chosen setting. The hag becomes far more interesting when their grievance and hatred with humanity is not entirely unwarranted. It is with this in mind that I will make recommendations for future hags.

The Green hag in question is a creature covetous of perceived beauty and purity. Given the previous recommendation, you may consider that a hag is a lover scorned long ago by a cruel and unloving partnership or that she was once a woman of good standing betrayed and attacked by someone close to her or her chosen community.

Exacting revenge against those who offend her or her sisters' sensibilities can be a great way for an antagonistic or evil presence to also seem justified, in a twisted sense, in that the curses they place are upon family lines or against villages who were the origin of their suffering and status as outcasts. The hag coven may even be a necessary evil to be leveraged for your players gain in knowledge or aid against some greater malevolence which could create a somewhat conflicted allyship ample with roleplay opportunities.

I neglected to mention the myth of changelings and stolen children, though perhaps there is a place for such conversation another day. Should combat be thrust upon the green hag, it is best served as a creature that acts in tandem with minions of some type such as twisted creatures of nature or evil adherents. Her spellcasting and abilities are all complimentary to debuffing and making otherwise strong parties vulnerable to her lesser more martial allies.

Between the above and the fact that the green hag has quite the set of spells for creating an unearthly and unsettling environment, such as ghost sound, pass without trace, and message. Don't hesitate to lean into this to foreshadow whatever doom is to befall your players, should they enrage the entire coven.

Hook 1 (Max) - I Chopped the Sheriff

Anna, the sheriff of a small town by the name of Marsh Hill, has changed, and not for the better. Ever since her expedition into the swamplands, where she defeated a hag and got an impressive scar for the effort, she has become more erratic and cruel in her behavior. Some say that the loss of her right eye is to blame, though it does seem unlike her even given the circumstances.

Not long after her return, the chief was mysteriously and brutally murdered along with his family, a matter which the sheriff had been intensely looking into. At least that's what she claims, for she is far more occupied with ruling the Hill with an iron fist, as she demands tithes to be paid to her for the "protection" she provides.

Anna can be only seen in the company of her four guards, her four most trusted men that joined her in her quest to slay the hag who, for some inexplicable reason, don't speak anymore. Alongside her imposing presence and a new tendency for violent outbursts of anger, this process has been enough to keep the townsfolk "In Line".

Most attribute the change to the trauma sustained by the sheriff and her men during their fight with the hag. Some question if the monster was truly slain, given her magics can still be seen and sensed in the area. The Sheriff dismisses those claims and forbids anyone from going into the marshland.

While that could stem from concern for the well-being of her people, the reason is far simpler. Should anyone go into the swamps and find the hag's cove, they would quickly find the ghastly remains of the actual sheriff whose face has long since been clawed into a barely recognizable mess.

Hook 2 (Reece) - The Hagsong

Beauty fond and beauty fair
Doth thou flaunt without care?
Purity, rightness, thought and grace
Thou can't flaunt without a face

Heart of iron, heart of gold
Heart of thistle, turned to mold
Strong of will and keen of mind
Flask of acid makes thee blind

Thoughts of courage and warmth in touch,
Thou cant stand without thine crutch
Bound by thorns and bound by hair
Thou wilt sate me, and bring thine heir

-From "The Hagsong" - Source unreliable. Found dead approximately 36 hours after recording. Cause of death: Strangulation. Think the brambles grew into the eye sockets post mortem.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Lover's Scorn

In a rare twist of fate, a gancanagh has decided to settle in one place for a few years, finding the overall energy present in the artist's colony of Vibrance exactly to his taste.

Of course, they haven't given up the passionate outlook of their kind, and under many disguises and names have reveled across town. This, unfortunately, caught the eye of a local green hag who is reusing the azata's disguises to revisit their lovers and inflict misery upon them - purely out of spite.

The townspeople, although used to occasional fey meddling, are starting to realize something is off and are looking for paranormal and occultic experts who can look into it.

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.

Ghost Mage & Ghost Commoner

Ghosts, in my opinion, are incredibly straightforward with regards to how they are supposed to be used: They always, always, come with a mystery attached. How that mystery plays out, and how the ghost itself manifests, leave a lot of room for creativity, but the basic setup remains the same.

Further pushing this highly individual approach to ghosts is the fact that they aren't a single stat block - though we are given the commoner and mage variety, ghosts come with a monster making template attached, giving GMs a wide variety of options for making a ghost's stat block a perfect thematic fit for the mystery they come attached to. They are also one of the few creatures that come with alternate conditions to "beat" the encounter baked in; Rejuvenation notes that a ghost only is permanently destroyed when it has been lain to rest. Bear this in mind when utilizing the ghost.

Hook 1 (TJ) - The Stalker of The Dunnhills

Following a particularly catastrophic fire, the trees of the Dunnhills Forest are nothing more than stumps and soot. As for the wildlife, those that could not escape the blaze perished as well, their lingering fear and anguish adding to the oppressive atmosphere of residual heat and devastation. If your path takes you through the scorched remnants of the Dunnhills, you might notice a flicker of movement here and there; ghostly rodents are still going about their previous lives, finding places to hide that exist only in their memories, seeking shelter in canopies that no longer stand. Over several trips, you might notice that the number of these apparitions is dwindling. With the lack of movement underfoot, the forest of yesterday is quiet as a graveyard. All this seems quite natural.

But this is no longer a natural place.

You may no longer see any movement, but the ghostly revenant of a mountain lion, stalking paths only it knew, is running low on mice and rabbits to eat.

So, while you do not see it; it certainly sees you.

Hook 2 (Max) - Unfinished Business

The Jermainn merchant family just can't seem to catch a break. Not long ago their patriarch, a man of considerable skill and wisdom, succumbed to a mysterious illness, only to be followed by an unfortunate accident that struck his only male heir who suffered a substantial blow to his cranium.

Since then the young man changed, considerably so. He has been acting more erratic and, at least according to his mother, far too much like his late father.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Finnick's Finale

Finnick the Fickle was a gnome sorcerer who was long ago imprisoned by the mad dero. For a full year he was experimented on with little regard for his life or well-being. Finally, he gave in, and tried to end the agony he was in, using the last reserve of magic left in his body to burn the entire laboratory-prison he was in to the ground, taking his own life in the process.

Alas, it was not to be. Three days later, he rose as a ghost. While the mage has long since slain all of his captives, three copies of the journal accounting the Grand Alchemist's experimentations were passed down to his grandchildren, each of whom now serve as Grand Alchemists of their own conclaves. The spirit will not go to rest until those books are burned down, though a more morally dubious finder might realize those could be pretty valuable to scholars of anatomy or even necromancy...

Gargoyle

 _**Editor's Note:**_ _We normally keep to one hook for each of us on any given creature, but I didn't have the heart to cut one of TJ's hooks. As you can tell by the length of today's intro, he **really** loves gargoyles._

In fantasy, we are given all sorts of interesting creatures inspired by real-life counterparts. When looking for one inspired by architecture and religion, look no further than the gargoyle. Originally an ornate alternative to unsightly drainpipes on buildings, at the table the gargoyle fits the niche of an urban ambush predator. Given the jumpiness and suspicion of most players, you'll likely only get the satisfaction of having a humanoid statue come to life as an adversary a single time. After that, every statue is an enemy in the player's mind. This is where the gargoyle separates itself from other statue-like earthen creatures.

Whereas most golems, constructs, and other creatures with inanimate objects as their conceptual impetus are mindless guardians set to a task, the same is not true of thinking, breathing gargoyles. You might use this in some interesting ways. Is that just a statue, or is it a gargoyle informant? Use their chameleonic tendency to mimic stone (usually architecture) around them in other places. A bunch of unusually wide stalactites? Gargoyles roosting from the ceiling, wrapped in their wings. The Bestiary defaults them to chaotic evil and makes them seem relatively unintelligent, but if 90s cartoons taught me anything, that definitely isn't a standard you have to stick to.

As far as abilities are concerned, the gargoyle statblock doesn't stand out when attacking. Its offensive abilities aren't that significantly different than most of the bird-like creatures that fill the Bestiary. What you really came here for was what makes a gargoyle a Gargoyle; hiding in plain sight. With its Statue ability, the gargoyle is an excellent creature to check your understanding of the concentrate trait and the nature of checks vs. DCs when it comes to being perceived or deceiving someone else. If the PCs are seeking, they use the Gargoyle's DC. If the Gargoyle is actively hiding against someone else's Perception DC, use the check. The result is the same either way (32) but this helps you get into the habit of when to use what.

Give the gargoyle a try! Increase its intelligence! Give it a water spout ranged attack as an homage to its origins! Put gargoyles in every environment! Make gargoyle societies! Homebrew gargoyles as a playable ancestry! ~~Devote your entire life to chasing the nostalgia of the 90s!~~ Or run it Rules-As-Written; it's your game.

Hook 1 (TJ) - Textbook Larceny

The first years at the University of An'Zar are under investigation for a string of thefts of some of the more ancient tomes from the An'Zar Athenaeum. Bleary eyed students studying late might think that the movement they saw from the periphery of their vision was simply an artefact of staring too long, or a magelight flickering from a colleague nodding off at a neighboring reading desk. Even for a mage's college, the truth of a scholarly gargoyle swooping from the rafters of the Athenaeum to gather tomes for daytime reading would be a bit far-fetched. That is, until one of the missing tomes comes plummeting down from the upper pillars in the middle of finals week.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Edifice of Death

For the past three months, a gargoyle has appeared at the roof of St Argus' cathedral every Monday at the sixth toll of the day bell.

The gargoyle, nicknamed the Signifier, has a body resembling a heavily scarred angel. He remains recognizable, though his face changes each time he appears, taking on the likeness of a member of the republic's senate. Without fault, said senator had been found dead the following day, killed in a different and often needlessly elaborate manner.

While the gargoyle isn't mute - and indeed, striking conversations with him reveals an incredibly deep and nuanced understanding of anarchistic philosophy - he outright refuses to acknowledge the murders in addition to his own mutable disposition. Most of the city's population seems apathetic at best; with how corrupt the senate is, that comes as no surprise. That indifference, however, is abruptly turned on its head when two other gargoyles appear, each sporting the face of artists and craftsmen of the city...

Hook 3 (TJ) - Civic Surveyors

The nation of Ordrea is a nation of conquerors. Slowly engulfing each and every poleis around them and subsequently integrating them into their culture has made the architecture of the Ordrean capital, Ordreanapolis, very eclectic. Analyze what you will about the subtle nuances and changes in cultural identities of those that now live within its walls. The more glaring change, however, is in the appearance and culture of the gargoyles that dwell there.

As new tenements rise up from the dirt, wings of local gargoyles claim the new territory. The varied architecture styles have made the gargoyles that choose to roost equally so, to the point where the separation in districts in Ordreanapolis are more recognizable by the appearance of the gargoyles in the eaves than the cultures of the ground-dwellers below.

Ingratiating yourself with a wing is the best way to have your safety assured while travelling in that district, but it has an equal and opposite reaction in other sections of the cities, as the wings of gargoyles fight back and forth, squabbling over unknowable things.

Gancanagh (passion azata)

Heavily inspired by the gean cánach of Irish myth, the Gancanagh is essentially a benevolent spin on the incubus archetype. While brief and baffling in their quantities, a gancanagh's romances come from a place of honest desire.
However, other than their partner's wishes and maybe the will of gods, there's not much holding a gancanagh in check - they will straight up ignore laws and societal norms in their pursuit of free love. This often puts them at odds with those who might see promiscuity, revelry and hedonism as sins.
Interestingly, the bestiary notes that, as shapeshifters, gancanaghs do not give much thought to the idea of gender, presenting depending on spur of the moment rather than some deeply rooted idea of their own preference.
The stat block confirms the gancanagh's status as primarily a social encounter creature - its spell list lends itself to diplomacy more than anything else.
If forced into combat though, the best bet the passion azata has is supporting their allies through invigorating passion, before it gets relegated to competent but somewhat limited rapier swinging.

Hook 1 (Nemanja) - Plain Joe

Plain Joe is the administrative clerk who gets assigned to most adventurers' banking business. While eerily unremarkable in almost every way imaginable, he catches the eye of the Thriceborn Three with his friendly and somewhat strangely spontaneous actions. As the friendship grows deeper, Plain Joe becomes more and more obviously uncanny in his mannerisms and behaviours.

If the adventurers catch wind of something being wrong, an investigation involving the dark and shady magical underground of the Gilded City will reveal to them that Plain Joe is actually a passion azata cursed by a jealous witch-ex-lover to be forever stuck in a single, unremarkable body.
Should the adventurers manage to lift the curse (no thanks to the bitter, obstructive witch), they will gain a lifelong ally and companion.

Hook 2 (Reece) - Passions of Revolution

Something is afoot in the brutally dictatorial city of Coalwick. The Coalwickers are dissatisfied both by their leaders and the terrible working conditions of the mine that employs over half the town. They have begun to speak of The Man of Many Faces, one who is reportedly hard at work to free the people from their gray and unsatisfactory lives. While no one seems to know who he is, it is widely known that his lavish (and illegal) parties are stirring revolutionary sentiments amongst the commoners.

These passions are an inconvenience to the Coal Baron and, as his go to enforcers, you've been sent to put a stop to them. Perhaps, however unlikely, this could instead be the spark that lights the wick of rebellion; for you, or for the whole city.

Hook 3 (Max) - An Oracle's Quarrel

While it is a somewhat well guarded secret, there is purportedly a contract out to kill somebody in town. Ghiarma, the old oracle believed by some to be an actual hag, has an unforeseen competitor in her field. Now all the young men and women who once came to her for advice on how to win someone's love go to another; a young fellow known only as Archibald.

He arrived a couple months ago and from the outset became a favorite amongst the adolescents as he was more welcoming and forthcoming than the old fortune teller. Archibald, or as townsfolk began to call him, "Archie", offers friendly (and nine out of ten times correct) guidance to anyone who finds themselves in emotional turmoil. Some are saying that he himself is looking for his one true love, but that's just teen gossip.

Despite his popularity, the prize on his head is quite good, should anyone be willing.

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. 

Duskwalker ghost hunter

 Duskwalkers are the spawn of monitors/psychopomps and mortals, and thus deal with matters of life and death - though their mortal nature might make them fare more prone to making mistakes.

A duskwalker tracks down the party, claiming he is a ghost hunter, and senses the taint of undeath in the camp. Apparently, one of the party members is a vampire who cheated death, but has been hiding that from the rest.
In truth, the newcomer is no ghost hunter at all - he is a charlatan, hired by the group's adversary, hired to create tension and distrust, and make them easier targets.

In the world of Scythar, duskwalkers are the only beings on the material plane able to see ghosts and spirits. However, after a bloody civil war, they are now treated as a lesser race, and are hunted down.
The Guardians, an order of champions dedicated to protecting the world from supernatural threats, have heard a prophecy foretelling the advance of an entire army of spirits coming to eat the mortals' souls - but fighting such a threat without the aid of the duskwalkers spiritsense is nigh impossible. Regrettably, even those few among the monitor-kin who would be willing to help mankind have retreated into unknown sanctuaries, and just finding one is a tremendous task unto itself.

Though most duskwalkers hunt for restless spirits, some utilize their talents differently. Wahrong Whitehair styles himself a businessman and a patron of explorers, champions and heroes. In truth, his trade is tracking down the restless dead - and then selling their locations and (for an additional fee) secrets and weaknesses to would-be heroes.

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.

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.

Beetle

Under beetle in the bestiary, we get two critters - the firefly-like flash beetle and the giant (actually only large) stag beetle.

In the old land, part of the celebration of the beginning of a new year was filling a big, colourful tent with flash beetles and food for them. The beetles would go on a ravenous feast, flashing and chirping excitedly, painting the night with their lights.
On the first celebration since they migrated across the sea, though, the gnomes learn how different this new land is - the flash beetles' lights attracts a swarm of beetles the size of horses, who initially feast on their smaller cousins, but noticing the myriad treats laid out for the festivity, they rampage across the settlement.

In The Olde Boglands, the wandering lights can be deceptive. While the swampy region is practically teeming with flash beetles, it also has a significant population of will'o'wisps. Unfortunately, as the beetles are harvested as a source of illumination for the nearby coal mine, encounters with the malevolent will'o'wisps are common.

In the Sequoia Woods, Giant Stag Beetles occasionally cause issues by bringing down the giant trees. While its usually not catastrophic, requiring the already nomadic people of the woods to relocate, they are about to cause the greatest calamity so far. Namely, they have started gnawing at the roots of the Hearttree, the largest tree (and probably largest living organism) in the world, which is surrounded by a massive wooden temple dedicated to the nature spirits. With no other options left, the indigenous people of the woods ask the colonizers for help, and the latter send out a team of architects to find a way to support the tree, along with a squadron of exterminators for the bugs.

Barghest

I tend to treat flavour text in the bestiary as a suggestion, not canon, and I like to feel I've been encouraging the readers of this blog to do the same. If you've actually listened to me and done so before, ignore it now. Paizo just do everything about goblinoids and goblinoid-adjacent rules so goddamn perfectly. While I will try to put at least a bit of a spin on the entries that follow, i feel like you can just rip a page from any Paizo adventure using goblins, hobs, or even the goddamn goblin dogs and snakes, and you'll have a top-tier encounter in your hands.
Also, for god's sake, this stat block practically begs you to modify it, with the random mutation piece of fluff. Please, do yourself and your players a favour and do it.

Most Barghests who become greater Barghests find their morbid hunger under control. With Grax the Glutton it was the opposite. The morbidly obese, fleshy fiend rarely goes into wolf form these days, preferring that of a massive, tumorous bugbear. While the legion of hobgoblins he rules over guard the only bridge leading across the Valga river, preparing a lavish feast for him may be enough to soften him up for negotiations.

While barghests tend to hate "civilized races", their disdain for those pales in comparison to their disdain for other barghests. County Keyldaire is home to two Barghests - a mangy, pathethic thing that alternates between a goblin and a goblin dog form known as Skittermaw, and powerful old Hobgoblin warlord going by the name of Azguul. While Skittermaw is a minor menace at worst, stealing food, breaking into homes, and pulling pranks on the good people of Keyldaire, Azguul and his tribe are essentially in a state of open warfare with the city guard, raiding the surrounding countryside, killing, kidnapping and pillaging.
The location of Azguul's fort has been found, but so far, no-one has dared march against it.
Skittermaw appears in the barracks one day, claiming to know a secret passage that from the surrounding hillside straight into Azgul's private quarters in the fort, but his price for the information is rather unconventional - the right to land the final blow on the warlord, and keep the body "as a trophy" afterwards.

Many barghests end up ruling tribes of goblinoids, but not Skindazzle Fellswoop. He became the leader of a pack of wargs instead, indeed hunting with them for so long that even in his goblin form he retains many canine features.
He is notorious for directing the beasts with brutal precision, letting them focus on the more physical combatants, while he himself goes into the back line, tearing any archers, casters or any such nuisance to shreds.

Arboreal

The arboreal entry in the bestiary comes to us with two variants and a third related stat block - namely, the basic warden, then the regent (also known as your classic tolkinean treant) and finally, a stat block used for animated trees.

Brinewood is an ancient forest made entirely of animated trees, known to migrate endlessly across the continent of Gunguska. While its diligent treant shepherds obviously have some sort of agenda, occasionally herding the thousands of trees towards war-torn regions and reviving ecosystems, no-one seems to be able to divine the idea behind the forest forming a dense, almost impassable ring around the trade hub of Blotvensk. The Grand Prince of the city knows better than to send woodcutters out, knowing that they would quickly be cut down by the wood's legendary wardens - but he knows all too well that reaching the heart of the forest, where its fabled regent resides, is no ordinary task. Even if the envoys he sends are granted audience, though, there is no knowing what the timeless master of the woods may ask of them.

Arboreal Regents were instrumental during the Green Revolution of Eire. They and their numerous wardens brought down man-made structures more quickly than any natural magic could, and were initially hailed as the heroes of the new Druidic state. After peace was won, however, and all of the numerous factions created a Grand Moot to decide what comes next, the more humanoid races of the newly created state realized that the treants' slow and deliberate manner, as well as their general lack of interest in the day-to-day operations meant that making any decisions would take literal years. In the first few months of the post-revolution period, it was Master Gerardo, the man who started and lead the revolution, keeping the humans, halflings and elves from turning on the tree-men, but when he finally succumbed to the wounds he got during the battle of Lake Killarney, a motion was put forward to revoke the voting rites of the arboreals, effectively making them second-rate citizens. As distrust grows among the other constituent races, a fairly young (not even a full millennium old) treant puts forward an idea - he will create a group of Leshys, imparting in them some of his knowledge, but none of his race's timeless care, to act as mediators.

While arboreals are clasically depicted as having the characteristics of trees commonly found inland on the continent of Epoure, those with other characteristics also exist. The Peaceful Lady is a treant who dwells in the Southern Olivelands, The Knotted Wiseling resembles a squat baobab, and Greenmane is a palm-like arboreal regent known to gift his own coconuts to those who show him respect. Legends also speak of The Heavenly, possibly the tallest existing living being, an impossibly large specimen resembling a giant Sequoia.
Recently, a team of wizards and druids decided to test whether the chicken or the egg came first - they planted a large number of grafted trees around woods known to be home to a large number of arboreal wardens.
Several days later, the monastery where this team of researchers resided was leveled by an unknown force. Just this morning, a herald of the nature god Malgerufion appeared before his devoted cleric and his trusty compatriot, and in a weeping tone asked them to put down "the bleeding trees", before fading from existence.