Back in May, I, Wolfgang Baur, posted on the Kobold Press blog about the value of homebrew design for tabletop and asked people to share their published or unpublished brews for promotion. Well, things got away from me, but here are the TOP 4 submissions from GMs, lightly edited and with a few notes on why I like them!
In no particular order, here are the first two of four—a charming dragonette and the Western Marches of the Blood Kingdoms of Midgard. The remaining two designs will release next week.
From Cas Chalk:
Recently, the party opened an ancient, extra-dimensional library and is using the Tales of the Valiant Research downtime activity to answer some important questions. While there, they’ve had a few small adventures, and they’ve learned how the library keeps itself clean: Dust-Jacket Dragonettes. These absolutely adorable little dragons love reading and have a compulsion to keep things clean and orderly.
Dragonette, Dust-Jacket
A pair of curious eyes and tiny little claws peek out from between the pages of a leather-bound tome, and when the book opens, a tiny dragon-like creature unfolds itself. Its long serpentine body is covered in soft scales like slightly fuzzy parchment, with leathery wings like book covers, and short, stubby, clawed legs and arms. Its tail, which it holds close and anxiously strokes with its claws, ends in a feather-duster ball of fluff.
Bookish Dragons. Also called bookwyrms, dust-jacket dragonettes result from a wizard’s work crossbreeding mimics and dragonettes to create a more intelligent caretaker for their library. These cat-sized, serpentine dragons have remarkably compressible bodies that fold to resemble the pages of a book nestled between closed, cover-like wings, a near-perfect mimicry of an ordinary book.
Voracious Readers. Often found reading, dust-jacket dragonettes use their delicate claws and wingtips to gently turn each page with tender care. They also hoard knowledge, passed down through family lines over the generations, which has granted them two boons. First, they can read any written language. Second, they have a knack for reflecting spells back at their foes.
Anxious Cleaners. Created to clean by their maker, dust-jacket dragonettes are prone to incessant, over-the-top cleaning. They use their feather duster tails to lock dust and dirt particles away. When they don’t use this dust in self-defense, these dragonettes mix it with their glue-like spit to build complex nests that act as bookends, filling empty spaces on bookshelves with beautiful nests to attract mates and stake out territory.
Dust-Jacket Dragonette CR 1
Tiny Dragon
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 47
Speed 15 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)
Perception 12 | Stealth 14
Immune prone | Vulnerable fire | Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages Common, Draconic (see Eyes of the Rune Keeper)
STR +0 | DEX +2 | CON +1 | INT +4 | WIS +2 | CHA +1
Compress. The dust-jacket dragonette can squeeze its body through a space as narrow as its unfolded wings allow (2 inches by 15 inches).
Eyes of the Rune Keeper. The dust-jacket dragonette can read all writing.
False Appearance. While the dust-jacket dragonette remains motionless with its wings closed around it, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary book.
Literary Camouflage. The dust-jacket dragonette’s Stealth is 19 while in a library, bookstore, scriptorium, or other location containing books.
ACTIONS
Nip and Scratch. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Dust Cloud (1/Day). The dust-jacket dragonette fluffs its feather duster-like tail and flaps its wings, releasing dust in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on itself. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is lightly obscured. It lasts for 1 minute or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it. A creature that needs to breathe and that starts its turn within the sphere or enters the sphere on its turn must make a DC 14 CON save or be poisoned and unable to cast spells that require verbal components while sneezing uncontrollably for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. The dragonette is immune to its own dust cloud and the clouds of other dragonettes.
BONUS ACTIONS
Dust Puff. Using a puff of dust, the dust-jacket dragonette takes the Disengage or Dodge action.
REACTIONS
Textbook Reversal. The dust-jacket dragonette adds +2 to its AC against one melee spell attack or ranged spell attack that would hit it. If the spell attack misses, the triggering spell is reflected at the caster using the original spell attack roll targeting the caster’s AC instead.
Startled Shelving. When initiative is rolled or the dust-jacket dragonette hears a loud sound or is startled, it can move up to half of its speed without provoking attacks of opportunity, folding its wings over itself to resemble a book, and taking the Hide action.
DUST-JACKET DRAGONETTE FAMILIARS
Some dust-jacket dragonettes are willing to serve spellcasters, especially if that spellcaster promises to expose the dragonette to novel experiences. Such dragonettes have the following trait.
Familiar. The dragonette can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a magic, telepathic bond with that willing companion. While bonded, the companion can sense what the dragonette senses if they are within 1 mile of each other. While the dragonette is within 10 feet of its companion, the companion shares the dragonette’s Eyes of the Rune Keeper trait and the companion is immune to the dragonette’s Dust Cloud feature. At any time and for any reason, the dragonette can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.
From DJ Shepard:
The linked blog post is from some homebrew fan content I made for a campaign set in Midgard last year. I drew a hex map at the nexus of the Blood Kingdom and the Dwarven Cantons as a hexcrawl and sandbox; the focus was on resisting a minor vampire noble, the Lady Illmalad. We played in this sandbox for months until life intervened and pulled some players away.
Your Next Adventure Could Be Published!
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The submission deadline is October 30, so don’t wait! Back Underworld, share your idea, and you could be the next community creator to bring an adventure to life with Kobold Press.
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