Into The Jungle Part 2
Continuing the theme from last time, for today's post we're still in the mysterious jungles of Veridia - the party have survived their initial encounters and are now exploring the ruins of the fallen kingdom. I wanted a slightly more challenging monster for them to face that started to play with some interactions in Daggerheart mechanics, while also letting them stretch out the abilities of their new characters. Enter the Oneg'low!
Petrus paused, the leaves of the trees rustling in the gentle wind. Something wasn't right, Lena should have been back by now. The forest was eerily silent, the usual cacophony of birds and insects conspicuous by their absence, the scent of fear drifting through the mists. He pushed through the branches straining for any sight of his companion, seeing nothing but foliage and fog, until he caught a movement in his periphery. He spun around, only to be confronted by a strange dancing light. All other thoughts left Petrus's mind, the beauty of the dancing green light taking all his focus. That beauty was the last thing he saw before the claws came down.
The Oneg'low is a large, hulking creature - a gorilla-like monster recognisable by the haunting cluster of lights that dangles in front of its face like an anglerfish. It distracts and lures prey off the jungle paths, bringing them into its domain where it tears them apart. In our game it ambushed the party as they entered the ruins of one of the ancient cities of Veridia, but it could also be found in your games in any jungle or forest, or even in mountains or other remote places.
The observant among you have probably noticed that this is labelled as a Tier 2 Solo. One thing I've already noticed while playing Daggerheart with a fairly large group of 5 players is that they deal with Tier 1 creatures very easily - even at level 1, without sending a horde of enemies at them it's hard to provide a proper challenge. (And this is with the large amount of Fear I had from a recent Long Rest, without that ability to spotlight several creatures a turn it would have been a walkover). I suspect this is with how the game scales to larger groups at lower levels - it'll be interesting to see how it goes at higher tiers of play - and perhaps I've just been unlucky as the group has been rolling with hope a lot. Regardless, one Tier 2 solo seemed to be a good match for a more tense fight for my 5 players - particularly with Daggerheart's HP system meaning it's much harder to 1 hit KO a player accidentally.
The Oneg'low is also good for getting players to try new tactics, and rely on other party members - so far, the up close fighters had been the stars of the show. The Oneg'low's Hypnotic Glow ability encourages the players to keep moving, and gives ranged players a chance to shine (having said that, it was a close-combat character that managed to slay it in the end!). I adjusted this slightly mid-battle - originally players could get affected by the glow multiple times, but that was leading to some players not able to take any actions so we adjusted it to be once per battle, which still seemed a risk enough. When combined with the Lure and Pounce action, it becomes fearsome.
A fun way to introduce this predator is to have the creature stalk the party through the wilds. Have them notice the occasional rustle of leaves or feel the eyes upon them. Then, when one of them is a little way away from the others spend a Fear to have them notice the lure, make the Entranced save, and start the ambush!
I hope this monster can provide an interesting encounter for your games! Next time, we'll venture inside the ruins of Lepiditia, and see what lurks inside...