Top 3 Monsters of Social Combat
Not every monster is a fight to the death. Sometimes, when blades cross-it is more of a metaphorical blade. The sharp tongue against a bumbling bulwark that cedes defeat before the first dinner course is even done.
This week, I want to look at three of my favorite monsters that (while I guess you could plunge your sword into them as the wizard blasts them with a fireball) are great for changing things up and bringing in some social squabbles and contemptible contretemps. These monsters, first and foremost, should have the chance to quietly quarrel with your honorable heroes with vicious vocalizations, before the bombastic bloodshed begins.
Rakshasa
The first time a party encounters a rakshasa shouldn’t be when rolling initiative. Instead, a rakshasa is a planner and schemer. They sit in the back, maybe controlling a gang or an important guild, slowly twisting the machinations of the city or kingdom to their will.
When a rakshasa does reveal itself, it is to congratulate the heroes on being bumbling buffoons who are about to die or to rage at the adventurers for investigating the rakshasa’s secret schemes and ruining everything. Rakshasa do not reveal their austere form simply because some adventurers start sniffing around the gambling hall and thinking something is amiss.
In fact, because a rakshasa can hide its form, it will probably meet the party multiple times, toying with them by giving them bad information, conflicting rumors, or sending them against the rakshasa’s rivals and watching as the adventurers toil away for a plot they have no understanding of.
Rakshasa, Monster Manual, 2014 Wizards of the Coast
Rakshasa Quests
The local thieves’ guild was in a very violent and quick power struggle. Everything seems to have calmed down, though the new leader is a bit of a stranger to most of the guild. They had only joined the gang a few months ago, but now everyone is taking orders from them. No one is quite sure how they got on top so quickly, or even where they came from.
A noble has recently gone missing, and their family is looking for adventurers to take on the investigation as the guards refuse to rule it as anything more than the noble running off with a lover. In truth, the noble had been working with the rakshasa to eventually usurp the upper nobility and gain control of the city. The rakshasa had no interest in doing that, but rather getting access to ancient treasures that the upper nobility were in charge of safeguarding. The rakshasa’s plan isn’t complete.
The rakshasa is of the Naztharune, a group of skilled assassins who work for rakshasa masters to cause death and chaos to the multiverse so that their clans can climb ever higher into positions of power. The naztharune was charged with assassinating an archmage who lives in a hidden tower somewhere in the city. Unfortunately, the naztharune has only reached dead ends and is looking to hire adventurers to track down the wizard. Of course, the adventurers will have to be dealt with once their usefulness is at an end.
Dazzle / Al-Jahar
I’m cheating on this one, as this monster is not in the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but rather appeared in the 2nd edition. With that said, I’m providing a stat block I created for it, so I’m allowing it.
Dazzle / Al-Jahar, Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol1, 1995 TSR
The al-jahar, more commonly referred to as dazzles, are a race of humanoids who feed off of strong emotions from intelligent creatures. They often appear as beautiful humanoids; their innocent beauty hiding their true form, that of a genderless winged humanoid comprised of sparkling white motes and giving off waves of invisible heat. Dazzles hide in large population centers where they can manipulate its people to produce stronger emotions for it to feed on.
Dazzles never show their true appearance but rather use their innate ability to alter their form to fit in with whoever they are interacting with. They use this ability quite often to look like other people in order to start fights, to cast spells, and tricking people. Whether because they are some strange offspring of genies or distant cousins, genies can easily discern if a creature is a dazzle, thus many dazzles avoid genies at all costs.
A dazzle rarely ever gets involved in a fight, rather it relies on others to fight and create the emotions for it to feed on. To start these fights, it will change its appearance to someone in the nearby vicinity and then cast spells like friends or charm person to make others hostile to its stolen form. Once others are hostile, it will quickly change out of its form and sit back as others begin fighting. It will often cast spells during fights or arguments, sowing confusion and even more anger and violence. If the dazzle is targeted by someone, it will quickly attempt to push that focus on to someone else or run away, changing its form when it is no longer under scrutiny.
Dazzle Quests
While on a ship, a dazzle has made the mistake of joining the crew. It was simply trying to reach a new city, but now it is beginning to starve as there just aren’t enough emotions for it to feed on. To that end, it has begun sowing mutinous thoughts in many of the crew. Soon, the captain will find themselves against a very violent and mad crew who want nothing more than to watch the captain walk the plank. Luckily, a group of adventurers may be able to find who is beginning these mutinous rumors and put a stop to it.
What started as a friendly drinking contest has turned into a violent bar brawl where multiple people have died. One of the people who died was a noble’s son. The guards are looking for answers on how the son died, and who was ultimately responsible. The dazzle, of course, can’t just sit back and watch as adventurers close in on them, so they are doing everything they can to cause the adventurers to squabble amongst themselves or have the guards and investigators pick fights with each other.
A lone traveler is lying almost dead on the side of the road. They don’t have any obvious wounds, but it’s obvious they are suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and starvation. It the adventurers attempt to lend assistance to the traveler, the traveler starts getting better and travels with them for a bit. Unfortunately, this traveler is feeding on their emotions, causing them to argue and fight more than normal.
Incubus / Succubus
These insidious creatures are more than just sexy fiends. They are crafty creatures who prey on other creatures, slowly using charming words to corrupt. They delight in the game of seduction, whether that means carnal pleasure, gaining a trusted relationship, or baser lusts for gold, wealth, or power. To them, any time they lure a creature away from a path of ‘good’ is a good time.
These creatures rarely use their base form, instead they take on disguises that would best delight their targets. This could be a buxom barmaid, but just as easily a gnarly grandmother, a wizened wizard, or a meticulous merchant. A body to them is nothing more than a body, and they don’t much care what that body looks like so long as it can be used to push others towards dark desires.
Succubus, Bestiary, 2019 Paizo Publishing
Incubus / Succubus Quests
The king’s spymaster has summoned the party and wants them to go on a rather difficult quest. Of course, the spymaster promises such rewards and prestige for their service, and who doesn’t want to lay claim to a dragon’s hoard? What the spymaster doesn’t bother to share is that the dragon is a gold dragon and trusted friend of the king. The spymaster, actually an incubus hoping to lead the king down a path of evil, is worried that the dragon might learn that the spymaster is a fiend.
The owner of a tavern, The Fox’s Paw, is a succubus and spends her days gaining information on adventurers, the comings-and-goings of merchants, and all other manner of information. Her goal is simply to take this information, and find ways to cause fractures in the lives of nobles. Her favorite meddle was when she convinced a group of heroes that there was a sacrifice happening at a nearby temple, only for the heroes to charge into the middle of a wedding and a group of noble guards attempted to protect the bride and groom. Oh what delightful bloodshed she had caused.
This succubus has formed a cult of personality, and now everyone seems to simply do what she says. With such power, the succubus has decided that now is the time to cause quite a bit of chaos and has decided to conduct a demonic summoning. Of course, she is going to need to find some mortals to sacrifice. Luckily, her cult is more than happy to help her find some adventurers no one will care if they go missing, and she is working towards earning their trust and bringing about a demonic invasion by spilling their lifeblood.
Words Turn to Swords
Of course, it’s not a game of Dungeons & Dragons if you don’t eventually draw blades and cast spells. These creatures are all willing to match wits and power, proving that they can defeat your adventurers with words and swords.
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