#griphons

[hydrasquadd]

Bloom- training

Previous

Next

[rogue-taxidermy-of-sarina-brewer]

Additional angles of “Absinthe”, the taxidermy sculpture from my previous post. For a 360° view via video, scroll to the post before my post from yesterday.

[rpg-wonderland]

Griffons

I am of the belief that every entry in a bestiary should provide not just a statblock, but an actual game function or a niche in the world. I'm not interested in a monster that's just some number of HD and a special ability or two but that's just another monster that wanders around waiting to be slaughtered for xp.

But of course, there's many monsters from mythology and folklore that a GM might want to include in the game that don't have an obvious niche; monsters that even in the original story were unthinking beasts with nothing more to them than being hungry.

D&D generally treats griffons as one of such creatures; they're just a flying monster to fight, with at best a writeup about the value of their eggs or their usage as mounts.

But! Looking to medieval beliefs gives us something to do with griffons besides being a plain opponent to fight.

Griffons were believed to be heated enemies of horses, and would carry them off in their huge talons for a meal.

By having griffons prioritize taking off with the party's horses rather than trying to break through uneatable metal armor, you turn griffons into a threat towards resources rather than hit points - possibly taking off with the party's mounts, supplies, or treasure.