Firedrake Dragonet - Dungeons and Dragons - Fiend Folio

From the pages of the 1981 Fiend Folio, the Firedrake is a member of the Dragonet species, they are often mistaken for young red dragons, citizens of Cormyr are quite familiar with the creatures as they populate the Stonelands and the Goblin Marches, but you can find them all over the place, they prefer rocky terrain, hills or mountains, quite difficult territory to navigate and usually away from well-travelled paths and roads of the forgotten realms. Of most concern to many adventurers though, is the empathic abilities of the Dragonets, which includes the pseudodragon and faerie dragon species. 

Though often mistaken for a young red dragon, the firedrake is neither as powerful nor as intelligent as its larger cousin. Yet this diminutive dragonet, standing just over two feet tall and measuring four feet from snout to tail, commands respect and caution in equal measure as its incendiary blood packs a hell of a punch, as we shall soon see. Its translucent hide, mottled with mauve and burgundy splotches over a crimson underlayer, ripples with restless energy, its wings ever in motion, even while at rest. The firedrake radiates nervous energy and palpable heat, shimmering in waves off its sleek form. It is a creature in perpetual motion, a bundle of nerves wrapped in pyrophoric scales, ready to erupt into flame at the slightest provocation.

Despite this, its not really that aggressive if left undisturbed, its just that the odds are 50/50 that merely entering the immediate vicinity of one or a group of them is going to provoke a shot of their highly combustable blood in your direction, and that stuff is impressively destructive for such a little critter.

The firedrake is a perfect miniature of its draconic relatives, sharing the distinctive ridges, frilled wings, and angular head of a red dragon. However, it is thinner, nowhere near as strong as even a hatchling red dragon and it's usually very hungry, they have a less stable elemental connection within their blood, some believe this is a sign that they branched off the family tree quite early on and are related to a now extinct precursor species of the true dragons, a much larger, flight capable fire drake that may have already been present on Toril and many other worlds, spread there by magical means a very long time ago. Nobody seems to know for certain. 

Its ever-beating wings are more than a quirk of temperament; they serve vital physiological functions. The slow, rhythmic motion cools its overheated body and wards off the incessant biting insects attracted by the heat and smell of the dragonet’s blood. This nervous fidgeting extends to its behavior—firedrakes are skittish creatures, darting about, very agile over rocky terrain and very mobile in combat, despite their small size they move 20 feet per round on the ground and have a flight speed of 30 feet, but make use of dash actions frequently.

A firedrake’s aggression is not born of malice but of pure survival instinct, they have to take on any prey they can eat and humanoids are within their range of animal sizes that they take on in the wild anyway. Like  honey badger, they are tenacious and will fight to the death if they have not eaten in days. They don't make claw attacks, can't make tail or wing strikes, but they have a pretty nasty bite and are quick to use it, dispatching most of their smaller prey without ever needing to use their breath weapon.

If a pack of up to 8 Firedrakes take down a humanoid, they will start eating their prey alive, a sight that is not pleasant to witness, particularly if its you they are dining on.

To attack with their flaming breath, they open up a blood-filled organ within themselves and eject a powerful jet of it that ignites immediately on contact with air and rips out a line of intense fire. The line of fire is 60-foot (18.3 meters) long and  10 feet (3 meters) wide and requires those caught in its path to do a a decent difficulty Dexterity test to avoid getting full damage, in the Fiend folio this was 2d8 points of damage, which I think is fine for 5th edition as well.

 For hunting, this breath weapon is used to smoke out small burrowing animals from holes and crevices in the rocky terrain they prefer, so the majority of their aggression goes into that formidable bite, as their claws are always busy, running, leaping and digging their way into the nests of their prey, but, they also fly very well, so they hunt birds, eat eggs, eat a lot of rock lizards and the occasional tressym, sorry to say, so, if you have a couple of mages meet and they have a tressym and a firedrake as their familiars, things can get very chaotic, very quickly, and you better have some means to put out a lot of fires. The Firedrakes don't gave to eject a full burst of their blood, they reserve the high powered and draining shots for real threats, and humanoids are certainly their most dangerous natural foes.

One of the reasons humanoids hunt them is that the firedrake’s blood, volatile and phosphorescent, is a valuable commodity. When properly preserved in airtight containers or submerged in water or inert liquid, it can be used as a firebomb or as an enchanting material for weapons. A blade dipped in firedrake blood ignites into a flaming sword for 3-6 rounds, though this can ruin the temper on a masterwork weapon and even cause an magic weapon to lose its enchantment, so its wiser to use it on a more mundane, cheaper weapon.

 Any exposure to air will set the blood off, so in combat, any slashing or piercing wound risks exposing the creature’s ichor to air, creating a flare of fire that scorches the attacker. Adventurers wielding bladed weapons against a firedrake must dodge out of the way with a dexterity test or suffer 1-2 points of fire damage for each successful hit.

In aerial combat, the firedrake employs its small size and agility to great effect. It favors attacking from below and behind, using its breath weapon and the radiant heat of its body to disrupt the flight patterns of larger, less maneuverable foes. Smaller creatures are often rammed mid-air, a calculated gamble that seeks to stun the target and send it plummeting to the ground.

Despite these advantages, the firedrake is far from invulnerable. Its thin hide is tough by lizard standards but offers little protection against physical attacks by other dragons, and it lacks the innate resistance to magic possessed by true dragons. They are totally immune to fire of course, so can take refuge in blazing heat within volcanic areas, though they do still need to breathe, so they can't hide in an inferno or lava flow for very long, as they will suffocate or drown fairly quickly.

Firedrakes are typically found in regions of high ambient temperature—volcanic landscapes, desert mesas, or arid rocky outcrops. The heat of these environments complements their physiology, allowing them to maintain their energy without expending as much effort to keep their blood aflame, but they can be found is all sorts of remote rocky areas, they are tenacious and hardy creatures.

Mated pairs of firedrakes are fiercely territorial, staking out lairs beneath rocky overhangs or in small cavelets. They guard their nests with obsessive vigilance, especially during the early summer months when their clutch of six to eight eggs begins to incubate. These eggs, kept warm by the radiant heat of their parents’ bodies, hatch after 60 days.

Hatchlings are even more temperamental than their adult counterparts, spouting jets of fire at the slightest provocation. While they are capable of producing flame before they can even walk, their first flight does not occur until roughly two months after hatching. By the following spring, the young are pushed out of the family lair, often traveling great distances in search of a mate and a territory of their own.

Though fiercely loyal to their mates, male firedrakes will occasionally engage in fiery territorial disputes during the mating season. These spectacular clashes rarely end in death, as one participant usually concedes and retreats before lethal damage is dealt, but they can immolate a lot of vegetation in the process if they decide to fight among some trees or some nobles garden in the outskirts of Cormyr or Sembia and occasionally a merchant ship hugging the coast will have its sails set on fire.

Firedrakes do not gather treasure, nor do they take any special care to remove the remains of their prey from their lairs. However, their nests often contain the charred remnants of weapons, armor, or valuables carried by unfortunate adventurers.

Firedrakes live comparatively short lives for draconic creatures, averaging between 75 and 100 years. Their bodies are marvels of adaptation, with their blood burning constantly within their veins. This internal fire gives rise to their shimmering heat aura but comes at a cost: the creature’s oxygen requirements are exceptionally high. Deprived of air, a firedrake will suffocate in half the time of a similarly sized creature. They also have eyes that glow and if they are active at night, only during the summer when hunting for their brood, they glow with a deep red gleam in the dark.

Some notes, they make pretty good familiars, they can be bonded with magically, though without magic they are terrible pets and almost impossible to train, fire giants love keeping them around, considering them cute and harmless, though firedrakes certainly don't like the firegiants, they will flee if not fed regularly. They were and still are a popular guard animal among the more notorious noble houses of Narfell and the many criminal organisations of the far east, where they were used once in a serious assualt against the Order of the Yellow Rose. It was a hot night and there was a hell of a lot of kung fu fighting.. those drakes were fast as lightning, and now you have that song stuck in your head.

I've converted the firedrake to 5th edition stats in the description section below the video, and linked to the web resource I often use to help do so, its not as difficult as you might think.

My name is AJ Pickett, as always, thanks for listening and I will be back with more for you, very soon.

Tween - Dungeons and Dragons lore - Fiend Folio

Welcome, if you thought that this is going to be a video about a silly D&D monster from the 1980's, yes and no? Even I was shocked at how deep this rabbit hole goes, so, lets go.

The Tween first appears in Dungeons and Dragons history within the pages of White Dwarf Magazine issue number 8, it was designed and submitted by Ian Waugh, Ian also created the infamous Pervert class for Dungeons & Dragons, published in White Dwarf 1, and also contributed to Owl & Weasel, Owl and Weasel was a newsletter for board gamers, role-playing gamers and wargamers, published in London, England, by Games Workshop. A total of 25 issues were published from February 1975 until April 1977; it was edited by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. It was superseded by White Dwarf magazine. To be perfectly honest, I never knew this newsletter existed until just now either, and now I desperately need to find and add all of them to my vast trove of knowledge. It launched initially to complement and advertise Games Workshop's original business of producing and selling hand-crafted wooden board games, most interesting is issue number six, dedicated entirely to the new game of Dungeons and Dragons. Can I get hold of every digital copy of a newletter published and sent out to only 200 people 50 years ago? Heh heh... Hold my mead!

Link in the description below the video to all 25 issues, enjoy!

The Tween as a concept is based on the writing of Clifford D. Simak, one of the classic pulp science fiction and fantasy writers my father had on his bookshelf when I was a child; Simak was a good friend to Isaac Asimov and generally well-regarded by everybody. Simak's stories often took place in rural settings with a more backwoods and common man protagonist and there is a dry sense of humor to the tales, he really stands out to me in his theory on time travel, being a proponent of the multiverse theory, just like Rick and Morty, one is not traveling to the past, as there is no such place, rather, one moves to a close parallel dimension, one in which events take place later, thus it seems like one has stepping into the past but its some alternate reality, not your past anymore. In his popular novel 'Time and Again', a traveler from Earth crashes on a planet; he is then nurtured by ethereal duplicates that seem to accompany every sentient being throughout life. These are the so-called Halflings (not those halflings) that form the core concept of the Tween for The 1981 Fiend Folio entry on page 91, though there is a bit of a difference between the description of the Tween in White Dwarf magazine and the Fiend Folio and also Simak had a similar incorporeal species of far future human-alien hybrids in his novel 'Highway of Eternity' and now I am left pondering which is closer to the Tween concept.

So, settle back, grab yourself a tasty beverage it's time to get deeply nerdy.

Oh you thought we were in the rabbit hole already? No no, I'm just getting started.

The following information is sourced mainly from Planescape and is the only official lore detailing where the mysterious and elusive Tween came from. Thousands of years ago a planar species called the Kyleen ruled a city-state in the concordant plane of the Outlands in the location where the Gate town called Xaos now stands, Outlands is the massive sort of disc world below the multiplanar nexus city of Sigil, regarded by many to be the center of the multiverse, if there is such a thing as a center. From this central hub of the multiverse, the Kyleen traveled throughout the multiverse as traders, explorers, and planeswalkers. Unfortunately, their downfall came when a great smith performed a grand experiment. He wanted to see if he could sculpt an entire palace out of a dangerously unstable, transmuting substance called Karach, made from the chaos stuff of the plane of Limbo itself. Not only did this not go as intended, transforming the entire edifice into something never seen before or since, but it also spawned a virulent and rapidly spreading infection called the Chaos plague which every single member of the Kyleen race became a victim of. Each victim slowly and painfully turned into an entirely new form of creature and eventually, every single one of them just vanished. We now know that the bulk of the population migrated to the timeless Astral plane, seeking to halt the progress of the chaotic mutation; these became the Devete species; those who sought a cure in the countless demiplanes of the Deep Ethereal plane were never heard from again (so scholar claim), and those who lingered in the Border Ethereal plane became the Tween species.

Does this sound familiar to you? If you know about the Spellweaver species and the god Jergal and the fall of the Netheril empire, you will see a striking similarity to the tactic the Spellweavers regularly employed to wipe out civilisations they considered a threat to their dominance over the multiverse that once was. Yes, that was speculation on my part, but, I thought it was interesting enough to share. I have some more speculation, a little more obscure, for fans of 4th edition lore and the origin of the Quom species, more on that later in the video.

It's difficult to know exactly what the original Kyleen species looked like, but  the Devete stand around five feet tall, lean, with a wiry strength like the Githyanki, they have blue skin, and a long, thin tail like a lizard, they have large, haunting eyes, devoid of motivation, emotion or goals. The Tween when detected and not attached to a host, appear as a vague, misty humanoid silhouette that stands a rather stocky three feet tall, and if you could check the mass of both species, they would be about the same. 

On the Ethereal plane, however, according to the more complete information in the Monstrous Compendium 14 Fiend Folio appendix, we get an exact description and an image of what the Tween actually look like, and they are not pretty. They appear as short, squat and ugly humanoids with stubby arms and legs, and no neck, their eyes, nose and ears are relatively tiny and their pale, blue/white skin is mottled and thick with knotted veins pulsing under the skin along their arms. The look a lot like the Sontarans from Dr Who, but even shorter and with more stubby arms and legs with fingers almost becoming vestigial and they may have piercings in strange places or tattoos of disturbing symbols, they tend to wear a loin cloth and thick belt around their midsection with overlapping skirt and a studded pauldron over one shoulder made from the hide of phase spiders, some also have one or two crystals inset into the belt which seem out of phase with reality, their purpose unclear. Odd streaks of darkness appear and sink under their skin as the weird energy they feed on is drawn into their body,  this occurs when within six feet of the being they are bonded with, this energy seems to flow around and into them, then through and into the Tween, like they are using their host as some sort of collector and catalyst for their strange sustenance, almost like lines of magnetic force but more distorted and irregular, through this distortion, the pale, small glowing eyes of the Tween can see things which are most likely to occur within the next few seconds. See, they feed on Probability. More on that in a moment.

To beings on the Material plane, the Tween is a wraith-like being, more like a smoky outline, and can generally only be seen by anyone in 'phase' with it. Though its outline can be detected if viewed through smoked glass. After several hours with a host they gradually begin to assume the general shape and characteristics of that host, including their size, but, they will always remain a little more squat and stocky in their build.

Here's the other common factor between the Tween and the Devete, they only really display their own behavior and motivations when they gather in a group that is traveling together, unfortunately, they change from being neutral to becoming neutral evil, the worst kind of evil if you ask me, xenophobic and full of murderous malice toward any other intelligent beings they encounter and will attack and kill, the Devete have a particularly nasty bite and produce venom from a mouth full of fangs, the Tween never attack with a bite or claws, they use weapons which they carry with them and attack in a similar way to humanoid adventurers. When encountered alone, though, which is most of the time, the Devete will simply copy the behavior, even the motives of the being they observe closely. If you approach a Devete with the intent to harm it and steal from it, that is exactly how it approaches you, and if you sit and smell flowers and genuinely wish it love, peace, and happiness from a safe distance, that is also exactly how the Devete behaves, they are just.. blank until they encounter another intelligent being and start to emulate that being's behavior, even if an adventurer knows this, it requires a difficult wisdom test to really make oneself believe something strongly enough, and if they don't, well, the Devete will seem like its fallen for it, but now its manipulating the adventurer, the creatures emotional adaptation and mimicry is just too complete. Tweens go a step further; they actually bond with the intelligent being they lock their attention on. Like the Devete, Tween are telepathic, they can sense emotions to a more limited extent, but once they form their bond with another intelligent being, the most intelligent candidate they can find, they will not break that parasitic bond until either they are dead, or the host is, in which case, they will then undergo a literal traumatic split and become two Tween, the original and its duplicate offspring. The two will then go their own ways and seek out another victim to bond with, so, unless you want a plague of them, its best to kill the Tween and not the victims if one can manage it.

But why would you kill them, what is the nature of their bond and why do they do it?

Although they live permanently on the Ethereal plane, Tween are not undead, not even a little bit, they require nourishment and the chaos-plague mutation has provided a remarkable adaptation, not only are the omnivorous, able to eat a wide variaty of organic materials, they actually eat probability, don't ask me how, I don't know, its way outside biological or even arcane science, the effect in the Dungeons and Dragons game are fairly straightforward and easy to represent, particularly in 5th edition. Here is how it works, when they bond with an intelligent being on the prime material plane, they assume the general shape of that individual and always accompany them, staying within six feet and remaining in telepathic contact with them, appearing like a smoky or shadowy outline, once the bond is set, neither the host or the Tween can sever it voluntarily. While bonded, the Tween causes a disruption in reality which causes all luck to be in favor of its host, and all other beings within 50 feet will have bad luck, so, the host rolls every d20 roll with advantage and everyone else, friend or foe within 50 feet rolls with disadvantage. This doesn't trigger other abilities that rely on the host having advantage, like sneak attacks and so on, but it is a massive boon for the host, as you can imagine, this makes them a big problem if they happen to be traveling with a party of fellow adventurers, because unless their allies stay 50 feet away from them, they will roll dismally and quite often, this can be deadly. The host will have to deal with becoming an outcast, very much like the Tween do.

If the host gets killed, the Tween suffers a massive trauma of grief and loss; it literally splits into two individuals; the original will immediately set out to find a new host, and the new Tween will wander around in the Ethereal plane for a while, becoming more and more lonely and miserable. Although they don't have any natural enemies other than phase spiders, apparitions, and other undead and predatory species dwelling in the Border Ethereal, they don't have any allies either, no friends, no support, even other Tweens kind of hate and shun each other, there is almost nothing to eat and it constantly craves that sweet flow of probability, or luck, that it can only get when bonded to a host in the Material plane.

Physically, the Tween are not formidable creatures, they rely on weapons and poorly crafted protective gear that they scavenge or craft by hand, they are not strong or agile, but can keep up with their host and do have a psychic ability that manifests as Mage Hand used like a cantrip, they are not locked to their hosts actions and can fight and defend themselves independently, though they have low hit points and while they can see a few moments into the future, its not a huge tactical advantage other than a remarkable bonus to their Dexterity checks and things like dodging arrows and such.

Tween will rely heavily on their ethereal, non-corporeal defence and their influence on luck, but facing a foe on the Ethereal plane with them, they are far less confident, but unable to flee unless their host does.

So, that's the Tween for you, kind of a sad existence really.

Now, for the 4th edition fans, or those who cherry picked the few bits of good lore that came along, the story of the Dawn War and the callous destruction of the Goddess Lakal and the origin of the Quom is very interesting, I found the Quom one of the more original 4th edition species, and as I was researching the Tween, the Devete and the Kyleen, I thought, what if those Kyleen who fled into the deep Ethereal plane didn't just vanish, what if they created or perhaps found a living, divine demiplane and bonded with it completely? Well, that is the Quom! 

For all the info on that species,  check out my lore video on this channel and explore the depths of the rabbit hole with me.

Khargra - Dungeons and Dragons - Fiend Folio

By popular demand, lets dive into the earth, deep into the earth, the elemental plane of earth to be exact, an environment that is probably the most and least understood, I mean, we know its an infinite plane of three dimensional rock, all kinds of minerals, ores, crystals and rock and earth types, its the dream of every Moradin loving dwarf in existence to one day find some portal to a chasm of endless jewels just clusted to every surface like the richest geode in the universe, to find molten rivers of pure gold and mountains filled with the silver steel of Mithril. 

I have talked about Earth elementals before, how they are energy beings, like spirits made up of units of spirit, collective organisms that feed on each other and can grow into a collective, becoming more powerful, more able to hold together and manipulate raw elemental earth in the shape of their elemental forms when outside of a pure rocky environment, and the more that accumulate the more intelligent and individual the elemental becomes.. well, thats just one form of life within the elemental plane, there are many others, and today, we are going to learn all there is to know about a rarely appearing creature called the Khargra, appearing for the first time in the pages of the 1981 Fiend Folio, created by The Lawrence Schick with an illustration by Erol Otus. Lawrence Schick is the co-author of the original Star Frontiers and has written many other games over his career, he created White Plume Mountain, ranked the 9th greatest Dungeons and Dragons adventure of all time and was the head of TSR that hired Tom Moldcay, so you can thank him for the Red Box D&D Basic set, oh and you may know him recently since he is the Princple Narrative Designer for Baldur's Gate three.. ok, so, THAT Lawrence Schick, an absolute legend, RPG Hall of fame, godfather of the hobby, total badass, he basically created online roleplaying games and his accomplishments and influence are far beyond the scope of this little video.

His creation of the Khargra, the Earth Fish or Rock Piranha if you like, is a window into a whole other strata of life forms existing in the elemental planes and very rarely encountered on other planes and planets within the Prime Material Plane. So lets dive into the ecology of these mysterious and freaky looking critters, settle back, grab yourself a tasty beverage, its time to get deeply nerdy.

The Khargra recently got an update and is included not only in Pathfinder lore, but also 5th edition, thanks to  'Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1: Monsters Malevolent and Benign', saves me a little work converting it (you would think), but we will take a look at that one in a moment.

While they do match many of the physical characteristics of other rock eating creatures from the Elemental plane, such as the Xorn and the Xaren, they are not the same species, some scholars assert the Khargra are the juvenile life stage of these creatures, that's not true.

Each Khargra is the shape of a tube, basically the look like a jet engine crossed with a fish, 3​ to ​4 feet (up to ​1.2 meters) in length, tapering somewhat towards the rear, and covered in large, closely interlocked iron, platinum and other trace mineral alloy metallic scales. The intake mouth is a full foot in diameter, and lined with sharp exotic metal alloy teeth with a curve, being able to shut like an aperture. Three metal fins, large and weirdly flexible, formed of the same sort of alloy as the scales, extend equidistantly from one another like a rocket. Similarly, three conical sheaths containing arms are tucked between the fins. Small eyes bulge out from either side of the top fin. The clawed arms, when fully extended, stretch out to 3 feet (0.91 meters) from the creatures body and are mainly used to latch onto things they are feeding on, and are part of the mating behavior, latching on to each other even while speeding through their native environment. That environment is rock, basically, but encompasses the incredible variety of strata, molten flows and extremely high pressure or density zones of the elemental plane of earth and the quazi-elemental plane of Minerals. They weigh around 300 pounds or 140 kilograms, most of which is their outer layer of metallic fins and scales.

The Khargra's constantly working maw is opens and closes like an iris, the closest equivalent I can think of is the tiny rotifers found in fresh water on Toril. The maw draws in earth, absorbing the required elements and ejecting the rest out the back, hurling the creature forward so they seem to fly through solid ground at a speed of 30 to 35 feet per round, this speed also allows them to shoot out of the ground and sail for 10 feet through the air before landing, a tactic they will use to pounce on a food source or escape a predator chasing after them in their solid world.

Their feeding changes the consistency of the rock to a softer gravel behind them and its possible for a skilled individual to identify and track them this way, if they have the means to follow them. This can, in some cases, be damaging to structures that rely heavily on their strength, such as fortifications, but it would take some bad (or good) luck for the Khargra to cause really significant damage or a catastrophic collapse all at once, they don't do that sort of damage with ill intent, they are naturally quite neutral creatures with a low intelligence and just follow instinctual behavior. So, don't fill your castle walls with gold and stuff, that would be my advice, and don't build such structures in the migratory path of the Khargra schools.

So, yes, they are migratory, they have an interesting life cycle, they almost always travel in small schools, there will be a larger one, I'm not sure if its a male or female, in fact, we don't know how their genders work at all, they have none, they might have three or be like the cuttlefish, with different types of males, they are rarely found outside the planes of earth and mineral so study is difficult indeed, normally the only reason they will travel to the prime material plane is if they are attracted to very large or pure source of some metal, particularly platinum, so, rarely, very rarely. The kargra life cycle has them hatch from a beautiful golf ball sized egg within a convection complex within the plane of earth where they grow to maturity over the course of decades, then they will group together and make their way to the quasiplane of Mineral where it seems they just eat themselves to death in absolute ecstacy, there is really no other way to explain it, they travel to their own version of heaven and perish there, transformed into bloated geodes of spectacularly rare and refined minerals that simply explode, or implode really. Unlike salmon, they are not returning to their spawning ground, its more like, they finally answer the call, having produced many new generations of their kind, they retire to their ultimate reward and final doom. Rarely an individual will break away from the school and venture for great distances and often to strange places, nobody knows why, but they tend to be the largest of their kind. Rogues I guess you could call them, I have no idea how old they can get, but they don't usually grow much larger than 4 feet long. 

All Khargra feed on high-grade ores. But like most animals, If presented with the opportunity for a rich and easy meal, they won't hesitate to exploit it. Unfortunately, this means folks venturing around wearing metal suits of armor, weapons, refined steel, alloys, pure gemstones, enchanted wondrous constructs and even coins and trade bars or ingots are just a walking buffet table to the Khargra, they have no interest in eating organic material or living creatures though, its just incidental that their feeding can cause tremendous harm to folks who don't know you can just throw coins and shields and swords and stuff at them and the Khargra will just leave them alone completely, slurping and grinding up these substances with terrifying ease. 

Inside the Khargra the metals and minerals will be ground up in its gullet catchment pockets, so a dead Khargra will always have up to 600 gold coins worth of valuable minerals inside it that is not that difficult to retrieve. In non-murder hobo terms, thats around 100 pounds or 45 kilograms of digested material, half of which will be mostly valuable nuggets of iron and other common metals, but 10% will be nuggets of silver, gold or platinum. Those who know the deep lore will harvest the fins of the Khargra as Dwarven smiths can use them in the construction of fine magical weapons, allowing them to hold a very keen and durable edge. The body scales can be used to directly fashion scaled armor and the teeth make excellent arrowheads or spear points.

Approaching Khargra do create vibrations through solid ground, beings with tremorsense, Dwarves with stonecunning and many Underdark species will be able to sense this faintly as the creatures switch direction as they suddenly sense food close by, all khargra can scent the location of ferrous metal within 30 feet of their location at all times, probably by generating their own magnetic field. The prime material plane is not as rich in minerals and they are almost always very hungry when found outside the inner planes, many will starve to death, sadly. They will fly out of the earth or solid rock and extend their claws to latch onto metallic objects and bite with their formidable maw, inflicting .. wow.. ok, 5th edition has seriously nerfed this down to a mere 1d4+1 points of piercing damage, seriously for a one foot wide maw full of sharp metallic teeth used to tear through solid stone? Are they deluded? No, no.. They can eat up to five pounds of metal per melee round, the bite does 3d6 points of piercing damage, not 1d4+1, that's ridiculous, they are flying wood chippers of armor and weapons, that's the whole point.. another error is they don't take damage from remaining inside solid earth and rock, its their native environment!

Bill, Bart, Mike, what were you smoking, stay out of the long bottom leaf when you are updating the monsters please.

The limitation of this formidable bite attack is that the Khargra is literally like a fish out of water outside of the earth, they can only move toward a target by dragging itself along with their retractable arms, and while the arms do no damage themselves, if they lash out and strike a target, they can latch on and haul the maw toward the target to take that formidable bite, so they basically have to hit you twice, but, once they latch on, they are very difficult to remove unless they have eaten all the metal on the target, or been killed, and if you do strike at them with a metal weapon, they will try to eat it. OK so just to be very clear, when they leap out of the solid earth or rock, they are out of phase, at a molecular level and it takes them a full combat round to phase into solid form in order to even make a bite attack, and they have to score a grappling hit with a retractable arm first in order to do so. If you hit them with a metal weapon they get to make a bite attack, once per round, against that weapon, and if they score a 16 or higher to hit it, they will bite a big chunk off it, only if it is metal, if it is magical, you add a point to that for every level of enchantment, so, 17 if enchanted, 18 if its a +2 weapon or armor, 19 if it is +3, artifacts and non-metallic weapons will not be eaten. Its like, try and attack me with some fried strips of delicious bacon, I dare you.

They are immune to fire, cold and poison, a heat metal spell will do full damage though and if you hit them with an old school spell like phase door or similar while they are shifting their molecular structure prior to or after phasing into solid rock or earth, they will be instantly killed and remain in a solid state, I dare say petrification would have a similar lethal effect.

The 5th edition lore also says they don't like eating gold, again, not true, 90% of their diet is iron, but 10% is made up of Platinum, gold or other, rarer metals and ores, there is no mention of copper or other specific metals and no mention of indigestion caused by gems or organic material, they just don't eat living or organic things if they can help it, much like I don't prefer to eat styrofoam.

Khargra's dark eyes can see in total darkness as well as through earth and stone, obviously they don't rely on photons to do so, they probably generate the magnetic fields somehow

Despite their very low intelligence, Khargra can speak the Terran language of elemental earth creatures and a number of azer, dwarven, and duergar clans are known to have trained khargras over the course of years for the purpose for couriering messages, having them learn the direction to underground strongholds and outposts. They accomplished this by sprinkling iron dust upon scrolls or other organic items bearing a message, than sending the khargra to the destination. Once a destination was reached, they would cough up the item-bearing message. Dragons absolutely loathe Khargra as the damn things will just eat a dragon's hoard of precious metals like a shark feeding frenzy and dragons will try to kill them on sight, much like the Dao genies.

On the Elemental Plane of Earth they were known to be hunted by chaggrin, pech, and stone giants. however, they do have their fans; Khargra are a favored by the gnome deities Callarduran Smoothhands, Flandal Steelskin, and Urdlen. They are also much loved by the earth deity Grumbar.

And there you have it my friends, the mysterious and weird little Earth Fish, bane of the armored knight, the Khargra, as always, thanks for listening and I will be back with more for you, very soon

Apparition - Dungeons and Dragons - Fiend Folio

The tomb loomed ahead, cloaked in shadows, and as dusk deepened over the hills, the light from Torm’s signet felt weaker in the cleric’s hand. Garren, a cleric of Torm, clutched his holy symbol tightly as he moved through the ancient crypt entrance. The air hung heavy with decay and the acrid tang of old stone, and his every step echoed back at him from the depths below. Somewhere in that shadowed maze, his brother lay.

Garren’s brother, Alden, had once been his closest companion. Though a skilled archer and ranger devoted to Torm, Alden had never felt the calling to serve as a cleric or paladin of their faith. It was a matter the two had argued about many times—Garren, who saw signs of Torm’s guidance everywhere, and Alden, who found faith in the silent language of the wilds and trusted his heart to know what was right.

Six months ago, Alden had entered this very tomb, seeking ancient relics left behind by an order of knights lost to history. But he had not returned, and Garren’s prayers for guidance on his brother’s fate had been met with silence. Now, finally, Garren had gathered the strength to return alone and retrieve his brother’s body. To let him rest, once and for all.

Garren tightened his grip on his holy symbol, an iron gauntlet engraved with Torm's emblem, feeling its comforting weight as he stepped into the tomb’s eerie darkness. Despite the chill pressing in on him, he felt the warmth of Torm's presence—a gentle, steady reassurance, as if he was not leading the way into the darkness, but rather, following something, someone greater than himself.

This was his brother's resting place, desecrated by something dark and terrible, and he was here to do what honor demanded. He would find Alden, bring him peace, and put an end to the curse that twisted his spirit.

As he ventured deeper, Garren whispered prayers, his voice unwavering. "In Torm's name, I walk without fear," he murmured. "For the Loyal Fury watches over me."

The tomb’s shadows seemed to shift around him, and he saw flickering images of battles long past, remnants of spirits condemned here, perhaps by the same evil that had claimed his brother. 

There was an edge to these visions, a sense of injustice, of futility, of cruel ends for worthless reasons, if there was any reason at all. It was a pervading sense of the evil done to the innocent, of loss, and of resentment, it seeped into his bones like he was wading through a cold and muddy marsh that went on forever, it was a place of despair, and hatred.

Soon, a cold dread filled the air, and before him materialized a translucent figure draped in tattered robes. The skeletal shape glided forward, emerging from the solid stone as if it were water.

Garren's heart clenched. Though its face was naught but bone, he recognized the broken ribs and the twisted arm—wounds Alden had borne in life. His brother, his dear brother, had become this cursed thing.

“Alden,” Garren whispered, reaching out a hand, though he knew his brother could not touch it. “I am here to set you free.”

The apparition’s jaw clicked open, and the shadows of bony fingers reached toward Garren’s throat. Yet Garren stood firm, whispering words of courage and devotion to Torm. He would not falter. “In the name of Torm,” he commanded, his voice steady, “I swear you shall find rest, my brother.”

Alden’s apparition withdrew, twisting and recoiling as if in pain, but its hollow, lifeless eyes locked onto Garren. Garren knew then that Alden’s soul was not alone in this prison of shadows—some darker spirit, some more ancient and twisted evil, held sway here. Torm’s teachings flooded back to him, in the quiet hall of devotion with its magnificent statue and beautiful stained glass window overlooking the yard where the paladins trained as he read from holy books and listened to the wisdom of his elders. He must confront not just the symptom of the curse, but its source.

Closing his eyes, Garren called on Torm for strength to carry out his sacred duty. “Great Torm, grant me passage to the Veil of Death, the Spirit Realm, so that I may end this blight.” He knew this could be done, though it was not common for priests militant of the Tormtar, or that of Tyr or Ilmater, he knew of an ability the priests of Kelemvor used when they called on their god.

A surge of divine energy rippled through him, and as he opened his eyes, the tomb around him took on an ethereal glow. He had crossed into the spirit realm, the land of the dead. Before him, towering and more monstrous than Alden’s shade, loomed the apparition of an ancient creature—a being of pure malice, the one who had condemned his brother to this fate.

Garren faced the dark apparition, lifting his holy symbol high. “By Torm’s command, I shall release the souls you hold captive and end your reign of terror. For justice, for loyalty, and for my brother!”

The apparition hissed, a sound like rusted steel tearing through cloth, and rushed at Garren with skeletal claws outstretched. For a moment, the cleric felt a chill gnaw at his courage, but he focused on Torm’s principles: his sense of duty, his loyalty, his willingness to sacrifice all for this final confrontation.

Channeling Torm’s divine power, Garren unleashed a radiant pulse of light from his holy symbol. The apparition’s form faltered, its dark energy fraying. Still, it lashed out, but Garren held his ground, his prayers to Torm forming a shield of radiant energy around him.

With each word he spoke, each prayer that escaped his lips, the apparition grew weaker, dissolving into tendrils of smoke. In its final moments, the apparition let out a ghastly wail and vanished, leaving only silence.

Garren looked to where his brother’s shade had been, and for the briefest moment, he saw Alden, his face at peace, nodding in silent thanks. Then, like a whisper on the wind, his spirit was gone, finally free.

Garren knelt in the tomb’s eerie quiet, pressing his hand to his heart. “Torm, my thanks for the strength you granted me. May Alden’s soul now rest, and may I be worthy of your guidance always.”

With a heavy heart, Garren rose and made his way out of the tomb, feeling the weight of his duty fulfilled yet knowing that his path, as a servant of Torm, was far from over.

Apparitions come to us from the original Fiend Folio published in 1981. They are one of those monsters that feel like a Dungeon Master's mean prank—designed to weaponize a player's assumptions and land their characters in serious trouble if they underestimate what they’re dealing with. This mischievous, sometimes deadly trickery is a hallmark of classic creatures from the Fiend Folio, like the infamous Disenchanter or the Nilbog.

An apparition is a spectral form of undead that comes into existence primarily as the result of a curse, binding its soul to the Ethereal Plane in an unending loop of terror and rage. It takes on the appearance of a skeletal figure cloaked in decaying, filthy bandages, existing in a semi-solid form only when attacking, but otherwise appearing airy and insubstantial. Apparitions are notable for being able to cross from the Ethereal Plane to the Prime Material Plane frequently, requiring only a momentary lapse in reality to phase between planes.

The nature of the apparition's torment is a psychic agony, locking the undead spirit into a fractured and relentless pattern of behavior that drives it to lash out with murderous rage at any living beings it encounters. The apparition exists in a twisted mindset, wherein it blames the living for its plight. This compulsion to strangle its victims, though, does nothing to relieve its suffering or lift its curse. It merely acts out of a blind rage, strangling the living in a futile attempt to alleviate the endless torment it feels.

When crossing over into the Material Plane, apparitions appear from within solid, non-living structures—whether walls, floors, or furniture—catching intruders off guard with frightening ease. This ambush quality imposes disadvantage on the surprise rolls of any creature within reach, as the apparition seems to materialize from within the structure itself. Moreover, an apparition can sense any creature with an Intelligence score of 5 or greater within a range of 100 feet, making it especially dangerous in confined spaces or structures filled with unaware victims.

What makes the apparition particularly dreadful is its method of attack. It does not engage in direct physical combat; rather, it employs a potent, supernatural form of suggestion to instill a horrific illusion that convinces its victim they are being strangled by spectral hands. There is no need for the apparition to touch the victim directly. Instead, the target must succeed in an Intelligence check, with disadvantage, to disbelieve the attack. Failure results in the victim experiencing a fear effect, fleeing as if under a fear spell for 1-4 rounds, and becoming susceptible to another attempt if the apparition attacks again. However, if this roll fails entirely, the victim may be “scared to death,” suffering an immediate, fatal heart attack. If a remove fear spell is not applied within the same round, the victim's death is final. For the slain, unless returned to life within 24 hours, there is a high likelihood (80%) that they will rise as an apparition 2-8 hours later, continuing the grim cycle.

An apparition’s drive to propagate its curse is an ingrained part of its undead nature. When it kills, it imparts a similar curse upon its victim, and those who perish without proper rites or purification are at risk of becoming apparitions themselves. Apparitions left to linger on the Material Plane without proper rites will often fixate on familiar souls or former companions, seeking them out to share in the torment that bound their own spirit to undeath. They don’t attack out of memory but rather through an instinctual drive to continue their curse, homing in on the living who they feel must suffer the same fate.

Apparitions have no need for sustenance, companionship, or dwellings, as they do not eat, drink, or sleep. A newly formed apparition may remain near the creature that originally created it, adjusting to its newly damned state before ultimately wandering off to pursue its own path of destruction.

In combat, they are a formidable opponent. Apparitions on the Material Plane can only be attacked while in their semi-solid state during an active attack, and only silver or magical weapons can affect them. On the Ethereal Plane, they can be confronted normally, although they possess an Armor Class of 5, adding to their resilience. Clerics can attempt to turn apparitions, but this task is difficult, and the apparition’s ethereal nature makes it a challenging foe to banish from any realm permanently.

Apparitions will reform in the Ethereal Plane 5-8 days after being struck down on the Material Plane unless destroyed in their native realm. Driven by the torment that curses them, they will seek out those who survived their attacks, drawn by the relentless compulsion to spread their fate. Only when an apparition is permanently destroyed in the Ethereal Plane does it find a release from its curse.

In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, the apparition’s converted stats preserve much of its unnerving abilities. This horrific undead maintains its ethereal nature, possessing resistance to non-magical attacks and an unsettling suggestion ability that can paralyze and eventually kill by sheer fear. The apparition’s Horrific Suggestion compels its target to believe they are being strangled by ghostly hands, inciting terror, paralysis, and even death if not stopped. Once slain, the victim has a 50% chance of rising as an apparition themselves unless laid to rest by a blessing such as gentle repose or protection from evil and good.

In every way, the apparition embodies a terrible fate—one of restless vengeance, unending torment, and unquenchable hatred for the living. It stands as one of the most effective reminders in the game that undeath is often a fate far worse than death itself, a curse that breeds only more suffering, perpetuating itself through fear, pain, and endless horror.

Garbug Fiend Folio Dungeons and Dragons monster lore

Welcome. Today, we delve back into the 1981 Fiend Folio to one of the strange monsters we have never heard from again, but there is a lot to learn about the weird relative of the Carrion Crawler, the Garbug. Created by Jonathan Jones, who also created the Volt and the Witherstench for the Fiend folio.

If I could sum them up in one simple phrase, that should strike fear into ANY experienced player. These things are FLYING JUNGLE CHUUL.

There is a solid bit of lore for these creatures, and I have a really good theory about their ecology and perhaps the origin of the dreaded Chuul as well, so grab yourself a tasty beverage and settle back; it's time to get deeply nerdy.

Found in dank and hot, humid environments, such as jungles, swamps, and underground caverns overgrown with fungus and often very difficult terrain, the Garbugs may not only be closely related to Carrion Crawlers, but they could easily be another stage in the dangerous vermin's life cycle, one that only occurs in just the right kind of environment.

Garbugs are not pleasant to look at, and they are also very clearly divided between the genders, with the males being a glossy black and the larger dominant females being a striking violet hue; they are not small; these nightmare bugs can grow up to six feet long for the males and nice feet long for the females with the bulk of an ox, though nowhere near the mass of one, like a huge mutant locust, their body has a lot of hollow parts to it and their respiratory system is also a mass of tubes and accordion style primitive lungs that pump air directly around their body. They share physiological traits with Mantis shrimps and lobsters, but also terrestrial arthropods and have body tissues and strange organs more like a jellyfish, so it is most likely that these creatures evolved on some other world or plane of existence entirely, being naturalized other-dimensional or alien monstrosities.

Garbugs resemble wasp-bodied lobsters with five pairs of limbs. They can fly in a cumbersome manner on flimsy wings but spend most of their time skittering around on six legs; they have two impressive-looking front pincers, but these are actually fairly weak in the males and a lot stronger in the females, and their six moist and loathsome mouth tentacles are far more dangerous, extending out to two feet and loaded with paralytic secretions.

They have short eyestalks and long antennae, and their exoskeleton is quite hard, often spiked in some places, with overlapping segments like plate armor. 

The medium-sized male Garbug has a long proboscis and smaller pincers. The large female Garbug is a uniform violet of striking hue, except for the set of strong claws on her topmost pair of limbs; these are dark yellow; if she manages to grab hold of a victim with both claws in one round, she can apply her full strength to try and tear the target apart with a vicious rending bonus attack. The black male's proboscis is used to plunge into the body of a humanoid or often a Giant Spider to feed on the blood or other fluids inside, which is terrifying for a paralyzed victim, of course.

The males are quite voracious and will fight each other fiercely to feed on a paralyzed victim, which can work in their prey's favor if they manage to break free of the paralysis.

With another example of a monster that regularly hunts and feeds on giant spiders, it's nice to know that there are checks and balances in the forgotten realms and other fantasy worlds that keep such apex predators in check; even dragons have their parasites, diseases, and predators, let's not forget the formidable Behir, a species engineered by the giants to devastate the dragon species. Biological warfare is a crime many mages are eternally damned for, as once unleashed, they are nearly impossible to eradicate.

Talking of biological engineering, its long been known that the dreaded aberrations known as Chuul, which dwell in aquatic environments and often guard magical objects or locations are some sort of artificially created species, and when you look at the Garbugs and Carrion Crawlers, it seems pretty obvious that here we have the original monstrous creatures that were transformed through forbidden magics into the Chuul, those deadly paralytic tentacles are a dead giveaway and its deeply satisfying to me to have that logical connection, thanks to the sort of value-added world building and addition plots it unlocks, so, now you could have a laboratory with all three types of monster, along with whatever crazy bastard is trying to make Garbugs and Carrion crawlers even worse than they already are. 

Garbugs dwell in warm and wet environments, though the males just roam around and rest wherever normally clinging to the underside of a large tree branch or to the side of a boulder or cave formation, the females tend to seek out a nesting site in a small cave or hollow, inside an ancient fallen log or other hollowed out space, even inside the ribs of some great beast long dead, they will line their nest with moss and rotting leaves, which composts and creates natural heat from its decomposition, this is purely for the female's comfort and has nothing to do with their breeding habits. Once or twice a year, Black garbugs use their proboscises to fight one another in dazzling aerial combat, trying to win the privilege of mating with a violet garbug. About a week after a strangely beautiful mating ritual, the violet female lays 20-40 eggs in standing water. These eggs hatch into nymphs, which look like crayfish but are colored according to sex. 

The nymphs are quite active and feisty critters that are left to their own devices by the adult Garbugs, the adults don't nurture them and they don't eat them, the nymphs will eat each other if there is very little food in the water, in which case sometimes its just a single female who survives, quite often this will also cause the nymphs to try and venture outside of the water before they are fully developed, and this is where we have the origin of the Carrion Crawlers, where the water is very barren, or dries up, or has a predator which is going to eat all the nymphs, they will escape and remain in a state between the nymph and adult state, growing to adult size and able to breed, but never developing their full exoskeleton, pincers, proboscis or wings.

There are usually five or six males for every female. In two months, the nymphs undergo a metamorphosis, briefly taking on that bloated Carrion Crawler form, then swelling into a cocoon before emerging as full adults.

Garbugs do eat carrion at all stages of their life but do prefer to eat living paralyzed prey; the six tentacles are packed with stinging pods that fire a toxin-soaked filament harpoon into the flesh of whatever contacts the thousands of pods and sets them off, exactly the same mechanism used by jellyfish, though thankfully the toxin causes total numbness rather than horrible searing pain like you have been whipped by a balrog. This is the reason why the tentacles only cause a single point of damage on contact, if they crippled via pain it would probably be much higher damage. The toxic secretions of the tentacles are not just found in the stinging pods though, the whole length oozes the stuff and it is mildly corrosive, also serving a part in the digestive process of the Garbug, so if not washed off it will cause ongoing damage of one point per round as it sizzles away on exposed flesh.

Male garbugs use both the tentacles and their stabbing proboscis to feed. The feeding tube is left inside the victim as long as possible, draining blood, mostly, this causes ongoing damage of course and a swarm of garbugs is very tenacious, even fighting each other to get at prey, they will fight to the death even if there is plenty of other prey around, once they lock onto a target, they won't back off unless confronted by a wall of fire or a good illusion of the same sort of thing.

The violet garbug attacks with her tentacles and her strong claws. Once her victim is paralyzed or dead, she will use her claws to tear off hunks of flesh, which she slurps off with her tentacles and feeds into her other mouthparts.

Garbugs seldom live longer than five years and their breeding habits and aggression tend to keep the numbers in a swarm small, no more than 12 in an area, which would have to be very rich in prey species to support so many predators. Any sort of tropical feeling and overgrown place that also has Giant spiders around is likely to be a good spot to encounter Garbugs.

Why would you want to hunt after them?

Well, Garbug tentacles are very useful in the manufacture of magical inks for making scrolls or glyphs and of course the ingredients for potions and poisons of paralysis, there are a few substances like this but Garbug venom is particularly good and remains stable and viable for a long time. Also, If a female garbug is captured while still a nymph, she may be raised as a guard animal. A violet garbug nymph might bring as much as 1000 gold pieces from the right buyer.  Females are smart enough to recognize individuals and can be trained to follow very simple, single-word commands, such as Stay or Fetch; the males are not able to be trained at all.

If you want a great combination for a quick encounter, I suggest combining a group of males and a single female, five or six males to every single female is normal; the females will conceal themselves within a patch of deadly Violet Fungus and the males will lurk in undergrowth or canopy branches, under giant mushroom caps and immersed in stagnant ponds, a perimeter with a few Shrieker fungus will set them into a hunting frenzy if they hear the screaming alarm sounds and the terrain will be uneven, slippery and those stagnant pools may also be loaded with vicious little nymphs that are happy to chew and stab at anyone who plunges a foot or falls into the stinking water. Patrons and channel members, you can find a full set of 5th edition stats for all of these on Patreon or the exclusive supporter's section on my Discord server.

Forgotten Realms Guide to Astrology - Dungeons and Dragons - Star Signs ...

The Year on Toril is very similar to a year on Earth. There are four seasons, twelve months of 30 days, with five days between those months during that year which are seasonal festivals celebrated differently depending on the location and culture found there; the main differences between Toril and Earth calenders are that each of the months has exactly 30 days, and they are divided up into three ten-day long segments, called Tendays, rather than weeks.  Each of the twelve months has its astrological sign, and while the names are different, there are strong common aspects between the Astrology of Earth and that of Toril.

Now I absolutely must point out here that Astrology is not an aspect of the campaign setting that is covered in any official capacity in the campaign guides and various lore sources over the decades, which is something I found to be quite a shock, all things considered, while there are known stars and constellations, planets and such, astronomy in other words, there isn't any astrology, so, today I am going to show you how I would handle it, and the reasons why I have done things a certain way.

So, to begin, I go with a concept of sticking with 70% familiar and 30% strange, this means I am not going to deviate hugely from existing astrology, most people don't know much about it beyond what they see in newspapers and apps on their mobiles anyway, I just happen to have studied the subject fairly intensely way back in the early 1990's, so I have the advantage of already knowing the subject material pretty well to begin with, and being able to treat the subject with a bit of authenticity and respect. I'm not here to sell you on the idea of astrology, this is a nerdy video about a fantasy world, no more, no less, but, at the end of it, you should have a much better idea of how Astrology can fit very comfortably into the Forgotten Realms, and I hope, make good use of it to enrich your own games and world building.

To give you an example of how I would use it, imagine a Dwarven Master Stonemason who is selecting a new apprentice to train from a few youngsters in the clan, he's not familiar with them, they come from a very large clan, perhaps as many as 5000 dwarves living and working in a township, he knows their family names, but nothing much else about them, so naturally, he will ask some questions, and his first question is, what month were you born?

Young Thurngood is the first to answer, he says Flamerule, and the Stonemason nods, looking to the next dwarf who speaks up and says they were born at the beginning of Ches, to which the stonemason actually rolls his eyes a little and frowns before looking to the last dwarf, who says he was born on the second tenday of Eleasis, to which the Master mason looks relieved. He turns back to the other two and says to the individual born in the month of Ches, also known as the Claw of Sunsets "Thank you for coming in, you have some good work and your fathers tools are excellent, but you should know, this is not the life for you, oh, it may go well as you learn and face challenges, but come ten or twenty years, you will be deeply unsatisfied with this life, so no, I can't be leading you down the wrong road, you best be off, go see Fullgrun, she is looking for some recruits to her guards and rangers, that would suit you better, I appreciate your respect for your father's example but, you will never be the craftmaster he was, alright?" and turning to the first to answer, he looks the lad over, a fine dwarfen fellow, popular and motivated, no doubt. "Lad, I appreciate you coming in as well, but theres no fame and fortune to be made in this workshop, I'm very light with the praise and expect many long and back breaking hours of hard, boring work, which I don't doubt you could do, for a while, and do it very well, but again, in decades to come, you will be unfulfilled by this work, frustrated that nobody knows your name, tired of the same old faces and same old tools, day after day... no lad, there is only one choice from the three of you." and cutting off any objections, he held out a calloused hand and clapped the last candidate on the shoulder, "Born under the sign of the Anvil? Your heart craves the ring of hammer on chisel, your eyes find delight in a precisely fitting block, you want to learn the language of stone, don't you lad? Yes, yes, this is the life for you, as though Moradin put you in these mountains for just this, you were literally born to be a mason or smith, come take your tools inside, its time to get to work".

Dwarves are very traditionally minded, and to them it makes perfect sense that each dwarf is made by Moradin to be particularly well suited to a specific role in society, given a choice in the matter, there really was no choice between those three candidates for the master mason, and nobody would question his reasons. He could have gone against this logic of course, there are any number of other qualities which go into making a good mason, and if two of the applicants had been born in the same month, maybe he would have gone with more specific personal traits, but, in this case, the month they were born was all he needed to know.

Right or wrong, only time can tell, but with an average lifespan of three centuries, plenty of time is a luxury that all dwarves share, along with the practical wisdom of plenty of experience.

Lets get into the details now and go over the months of the year and the signs that govern them and here is where the 70% familiarity will become very clear to you. 

Where the symbols, mythology and links to an individual's nature came from, we don't really know, the secrets of the ancient past and long lost empires is the whole point of The Forgotten Realms, but I like to think that even as far back as the Age of Thunder some 35 thousand years ago, when the Empire of the Serpent mages dominated a very different landscape and climate, the observations and symbols of Astrology developed alongside the study of Magic, with the Sarrukh Empires actively collecting, hoarding and delving deeply into the mystic wisdom of all other races they encountered and dominated. This deep history is the reason that almost all of the civilisations on Toril now share those same symbols and meanings.

In the month of Hammer, the equivalent of January, it is a month also known as Deepwinter on Toril, on Earth the star sign Aquarius is given to places, things and people who began or were born from January 21st to February 18th, but to keep it simple, anyone on Toril born in the 30 days of Hammer have the star sign called Elael, or The Songsmith in the common tongue and it is the equivalent to Aquarius the water bearer in its specific personality traits.

So lets go through them all, for all twelve months of the year.

Hammer or Deepwinter - Elael "The Songsmith" (January - Aquarius "The Waterbearer")

Individuals born under the sign of the Songsmith are creative, humanitarian, and independent, with a love of music, art, and self-expression. However, they can be aloof and seem cold-hearted. They are natural rebels, always seeking to challenge the status quo and create a better world through their imagination and innovation. Songsmith individuals are unconventional, unpredictable, and charming, always seeking to inspire and uplift others through their art and their example, they are also known to be very frank and honest people, intolerant of lies and deception. Elael is seen as the hope of spring in the pure white snow of winter. Their love of freedom and nonconformity can sometimes make them seem erratic or unpredictable, but their vision and creativity always guide them towards the path of progress and revolution.

The Songsmith is a constellation based on an ancient elven fable about a mage who crafts a song so pure and sweet that even the gods are humbled. It is part of the larger Alturiel (Lion) constellation, forming the voice of the lion. Most also call this sign The Bard, although bardic magic is comparitively very modern and a new invention on the world of Toril.

Alturiak or The Claw of Winter - Namarie "The Elfmaid's Tears" (February - Pisces "The Fishes")

Individuals born under the two teardrops sign of Namarie are deeply emotional and empathetic, with a strong connection to the spiritual realm. They are compassionate, imaginative, and creative, with a love of art, music, and drama. Namarie individuals are natural dreamers, always seeking to connect with something greater than themselves. Their intuition is strong, and they are often guided by their emotions and instincts. While they can be vulnerable to the whims of fate, their adaptability and resilience always help them navigate the ups and downs of life.  The Elfmaid's Tears is a star constellation clearly visible directly over the city of Waterdeep and is mentioned in the novel The Dream Spheres by Elaine Cunningham, on page 17. Not much is known about the mythology behind the teardrops symbols, but, it's clear that the symbol is very old, even older than the history of the elves on the planet.

Ches or The Claw of Sunsets - Ieriynari "The Sailor's Star" (March - Aries "The Ram")

Those born under the sign of Ieriynari are natural adventurers, always seeking to chart new courses and explore the unknown. They are confident, courageous, and passionate, with a love of freedom and a disdain for routine. Ieriynari individuals are natural leaders, always taking the helm and guiding their companions through the challenges of life. Their impulsiveness can sometimes get them into trouble, but their quick wit and resourcefulness always help them find a way out.

Ieriynari, also known as the Sailor's Star, is a bright and steady star that guides sailors and travelers through the night. It is held sacred to Selunites and praised by sailors across Faerun. The star is also known as Y'landrothiel, the Traveler's Star, among the elves, who believe that humans first learned of the star's navigational uses from them. Those from beyond Toril are often struck by how much the symbol looks like a compass, and those from Toril who acquire maps from other worlds are often perplexed at the symbol for Leriynari appearing on them.

Tarsakh or The Claw of Storms - Khorni "The Horn" (April - Taurus "The Bull")

Those born under the sign of Khorni are practical, dependable, and determined individuals with a love of stability and security. They are patient, persistent, and hardworking, always seeking to build a strong foundation for themselves and their loved ones. Khorni individuals are natural craftsmen, always taking pride in their work and seeking to create something of lasting value. Their stubbornness can sometimes make them seem inflexible, but their loyalty and dedication to their loved ones are unwavering.

The Horn is a constellation representing good fortune, wealth, and fertility. It is associated with the goddess Waukeen, especially among the societies of Amn, Tethyr, and the Western Heartlands. The elves know this constellation as Shansibal, the mythic Cornucopia, and it is sacred to the priesthood of Aerdrie Faenya. The Hin, or Halflings, know this as the symbol of their creator goddess, Yondalla.

Mirtul or The Melting - Jestarin "The Jester" (May - Gemini "The Twins")

Individuals born under the sign of Jestarin are quick-witted, curious, and adaptable, with a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge. They are natural communicators, always seeking to share their ideas and connect with others. Jestarin individuals are mischievous and playful, always looking for the humor in life and the irony in every situation. Their restlessness can sometimes make them seem scattered or easily distracted, but their versatility and creativity always help them stay one step ahead of the game.

The Jester constellation shines brightest in Eleint, especially around Higharvestide. Humans and halflings know this constellation as the Jester, while among elves, It is associated with the myth of the Dancer, a figure that has become associated with Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden, Daughter of Lolth who seeks to reunite the elven people.  

Kythorn or The Time of Flowers - Chaldirs "The Chalice" (June - Cancer "The Crab")

Those born under the sign of Chaldirs are nurturing, protective, and loyal individuals with a deep connection to family and community. They are emotional, sensitive, and empathetic, always seeking to care for and support those they love. Chaldirs individuals are natural caregivers, always putting the needs of others before their own. Their emotional depth and strong intuition make them highly attuned to the needs of those around them. On the other hand, they also tend to be blunt and are sometimes reluctant and moody when forced outside their comfort zone.

The Chalice is a relatively minor constellation known as "Chebelos" or "The Odalin" in ancient texts. Although the meaning of these words is lost, the texts indicate that the Chalice once played a more important role in the heavens.

Flamerule or Summertide - Svendorin "The Swordsman" (July - Leo "The Lion")

Individuals born under the sign of Svendorin are confident, passionate, and generous, with a love of drama and a flair for the dramatic. They are natural performers, always seeking to entertain and inspire others through their creativity and charisma. Svendorin individuals are warm-hearted and loyal, always standing by their friends and loved ones. Their pride and ego can sometimes make them seem arrogant or domineering, but their warmth and generosity always shine through in the end.

The Swordsman is a constellation that shares the same traits in cultures across Faerun: loyalty, guardianship, battle, and freedom. Many legends and myths have been attributed to the Swordsman through the ages, although most recent human ones center around Torm or Tempus's exploits.

Eleasis or Highsun - Kragnir "The Anvil" (August - Virgo "The Maiden")

Those born under the sign of Kragnir are practical, hardworking, and diligent individuals with a love of craftsmanship and a desire to create something of lasting value. They are precise, analytical, and critical, always seeking to improve and perfect their work. Kragnir individuals are natural craftsmen, always taking pride in their skills and seeking to create something of beauty and utility. Their attention to detail and perfectionism can sometimes make them seem nitpicky or overly critical, but their dedication to their craft is unwavering.

The Anvil is a constellation known as Jansreene's Throne to humans, named after the legendary Queen Jansreene of Asram. To dwarves, the constellation is known as the Anvil and holds great religious significance to them, especially in relation to the church of Moradin.

Eleint or The Fading - Tymori "The King's Coin" (September - Libra "The Scales")

Individuals born under the sign of Tymori are charming, gracious, and social, with a love of beauty, harmony, and balance. They are natural diplomats, always seeking to create peace and understanding between opposing forces. Tymori individuals are cooperative, adaptable, and conciliatory, always seeking to find common ground and resolve conflicts through compromise and negotiation. Their love of luxury and comfort can sometimes make them seem superficial or materialistic, but their sense of fairness and justice always guides them toward the path of righteousness.

The King's Coin is a brightly shining, yellowish star that forms the "pommel" of the sword in the Swordsman constellation. It is traditionally held to foretell the lives of Faerun's rulers, and many tales through the ages tell of the Coin glowing brightly at the birth of rulers destined for greatness. Elven legends, however, take a much darker view of the star, knowing it as the "Kingslayer" and associating it with the goddess Tymora, the chaotic good deity of good fortune, skill, and adventurers in the Faerûnian pantheon.

Marpenoth or Leaffall - Maerizik "The Serpent" (October- Scorpio "The Scorpion")

Those born under the sign of Maerizik are intense, profound, and transformative individuals with a love of mystery and a fascination with the unknown. They are passionate, private, and perceptive, always seeking to penetrate to the heart of any matter. Maerizik individuals are natural alchemists, always seeking to transform and transmute base materials into something of greater value. Their power and intensity can sometimes make them seem overwhelming or intimidating, but their compassion and empathy always guide them toward the path of healing and growth.

The Serpent is a constellation named by the inhabitants of ancient Raurin. In their legends, Maerilzoun was a huge, evil serpent that would one day descend from the skies at the end of the world to devour the sun. To the nomads of the Shaar, the Serpent is the godly counterpoint of Uerdyl, the Lion (personified by the Swordsman constellation). The Serpent is associated with the cycle of transformation and renewal and with the gods of magic, including Azuth and Mystryl.

Uktar or The Rotting - Ulazirin "The Wizard's March" (November - Sagittarius "The Archer")

Individuals born under the sign of Ulazirin are adventurous, optimistic, and expansive, with a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge. They are natural explorers, always seeking to explore new horizons and discover new wonders. Ulazirin individuals are enthusiastic, freedom-loving, and principled, always seeking to inspire and uplift others through their example and their teaching. Their love of adventure and exploration can sometimes make them seem restless or easily distracted, but their vision and idealism always guide them toward the path of progress and discovery.

The Wizard's March is a grouping of three stars known collectively as The Wizard's March. Although the name of the constellation has passed into common lore among the peoples of Faerun, it is believed that their origins lie to the east, in the lands of Rashemen and ancient Raumathar.

Nightal or The Drawing Down - Labraini "The Archer" (December - Capricorn "The Goat")

Those born under the sign of Labraini are ambitious, disciplined, and responsible individuals who love a good challenge and a desire to achieve greatness. They are natural strategists, always seeking to create and execute a plan with precision and skill. Labraini individuals are patient, persistent, and practical, always seeking to build a strong foundation for themselves and their loved ones. Their reserve and caution can sometimes make them seem aloof or distant, but their loyalty and dedication to their goals is unwavering. On the downside, those with the sign of the Archer can be sticklers for rules and ferocious when upset.

The Archer is a constellation often seen as a companion to the Swordsman, whom he faces across the nighttime sky. The elves also call this constellation Labraen, and each elven enclave seems to have its legends and stories about him.

And that is all twelve of the star signs; as you can see, they are just copies of our familiar star signs because we really don't need to reinvent the wheel, and I think players will automatically feel a connection to the idea thanks to their star signs being represented. It's a perfectly valid bit of character creation to write down what star sign they are, since you can combine Astrology with the character's other traits, such as Alignment and background flaws or boons. It does nothing but add to the game's richness and complexity.

In the Realms, Nobles and merchants consult astrologers regularly to choose auspicious dates for key events like treaties, battles, and weddings, believing celestial alignments affect luck, wealth, and power. Commoners, too, follow these signs for decisions in daily life—when to plant crops, start a journey, or even pick a spouse.

I hope you enjoyed this video and the Astrology concept, my name is AJ Pickett and as always, I will be back with more for you, very soon.