Monsters#

Creatures encountered in and around Drakkenheim. In-session the party uses descriptive names to keep things grounded; official monster type names are noted in GM entries below.

Ratlings#

Mutated rats that walk on two legs, about three feet tall. Already transformed by delerium, so further exposure doesn’t affect them. Use rusty blades and delerium-tipped projectiles. Worship The Rat God.

Notable Traits

  • Ratling Cunning: Can all disengage and flee simultaneously as a group reaction
  • Pack Tactics: Advantage on attacks when allies are adjacent
  • Can say “Kill!” — unclear if they know other words

Notable Variants

  • Burly Ratling “Booger” (Session 3): Larger champion at the Rat’s Nest barricade. Scavenged armor, makeshift shield (window shutter), toxic-sludge spear. Killed by Margareta’s Fire Rune strike.
  • Ratling Warlock (Session 3): Magic-using leader with purple teeth from delerium exposure. Eldritch Blast, Burning Hands, Conjure Animals. Religious and military leader of the Rat’s Nest warren. Killed by Theobroma’s Flaming Sphere.

Full detail in Lore: Ratlings

Contaminated Undead#

  • Official Name: pending
  • Sessions: 2
  • Locations: Drakkenheim streets

Shambling human corpses with delerium shards protruding from rotting flesh. Glow faintly from embedded crystals. Slower and less dangerous than the Wretched.

Notable Traits

  • Death can trigger a contamination burst (Constitution save)
  • No useful delerium recoverable from corpses — shards corrode after death

Wretched#

  • Official Name: pending
  • Sessions: 2
  • Locations: Drakkenheim streets

Twisted figures with purple-gray flesh, crystalline protrusions from the skin, and elongated tongues. One specimen had a blinking yellow eyeball on its neck. Faster and more aggressive than contaminated undead.

Notable Traits

  • Claws deal necrotic damage
  • On a hit, target must make a Constitution save or gain a contamination level
  • Critical hits are especially dangerous

Troll#

  • Official Name: pending
  • Sessions: 3
  • Locations: Shepherd’s Way junction, northwest Drakkenheim

Enormous creature encountered fighting a harpy at the Shepherd’s Way fork. Speaks Giant. Extremely hungry and very direct about it. Carries a large pack (contents unknown — the harpy was specifically targeting it with crossbow fire).

Notable Traits

  • Regeneration: Wounds close within one round. A crossbow bolt lodged in its back sealed over and fell out on its next turn. Regeneration appears to slow with significant accumulated damage.
  • Multiple attacks per round
  • No notable immunities
  • Can be negotiated with in Giant — very transactional

Encounters

  • Session 3: Fought a harpy at the Shepherd’s Way fork. Margareta negotiated in Giant (Intimidation 22). The party paid 1 gold coin toll and it lumbered off into the haze.

Harpy#

A flying humanoid creature. Agile and crossbow-armed. Appears to have a cultural connection to kenku, viewing them as “feathered kin.” Motivated by treasure — the individual encountered was targeting the troll’s pack, not the troll itself.

Notable Traits

  • Highly mobile: dash and disengage available as bonus actions
  • Stronger in numbers — likely encountered in groups
  • Views kenku (like Cory) as “feathered sisterhood”

Encounters

  • Session 3: Fought a troll at the Shepherd’s Way fork; fled when wounded by Cory’s crossbow. Invited the party to the Cosmological Clock Tower, addressing Cory specifically: “You shouldn’t be fighting us. You should be joining us — your feathered sisterhood.”

Giant Rat#

Large rats, visibly bigger than the mundane variety. Eight were conjured simultaneously by the ratling warlock in the Rat God’s inner sanctum. Vanished the instant the warlock died.

Notable Traits

  • Can be conjured in packs of 8 by the ratling warlock
  • Disappear instantly when the conjuring spell ends

Encounters

  • Session 3: Summoned by the ratling warlock during the sanctum battle. All vanished when the warlock was killed.

Wall Creature#

A creature that appears to inhabit or animate masonry. Heda noticed the Rat’s Nest Tavern walls “breathing” slightly, with eyes appearing in the stonework at the corner of his vision. When approached, a piece of the building broke away — revealing a mouth full of teeth and eyes positioned where you would not expect them.

Notable Traits

  • Blends into or animates stone and rubble
  • Encountered on the tavern exterior (not in the sewers below)
  • Full capabilities unknown — the party avoided engagement

Encounters

  • Session 3: Spotted at the Rat’s Nest Tavern surface. The party retreated into a sewer grate to avoid it.