Getting out of control here today!
But I really wanted to incorporate an ogre howdah (Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, p221) in the adventure I was making. So I needed some small fries to do attacks from the howdah. And I didn’t want go with the obvious goblin and/or kobold combo.
Back story time.
The ogre base is ruled by an annis hag named Bumwart. She’s collected children from nearby towns and corrupted them. Now, they’ve been trained to work with the ogres in the howdahs, tossing rocks onto unfortunate heroes below.
I imagine them dressed like dirty Lost Boys, wearing frying pan helmets and armor made of bamboo (or large mushrooms caps as it were) which will work as hide armor.
They’re “evil”, but not totally gone.
I like the idea of a moral quandary here: is it cool to attack children? Sure, they’re throwing stones at your head, but do they know any better?
Structurally, these kids are just weak human commoners with pack tactics. Or kobolds with crappier Dex and no sunlight sensitivity. Shrug!
By the way, I love pack tactics. ’cause pack tactics plus ogre howdah equals “take that, ya stinky PC’s!”
Child of Bumwart
Small humanoid (human), chaotic evil
Armor Class 13 (hide armor)
Hit Points 2 (1d6 – 1)
Speed 30 ft.
Abilities Str 6 (-2), Dex 12 (+1), Con 9 (-1), Int 8 (-1), Wis 7 (-2), Cha 10 (+0)
Senses passive Perception 8
Languages Common, Giant
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
Pack Tactics. The child has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the child’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Actions
Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +0 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4 – 2) bludgeoning damage.
Dropped Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, one target directly below the child. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1)
Thanks for reading!
As usual, these are free for you to use in your own campaign. Just not commercially! And the art isn’t mine: borrowed!
See you next time!