Ask any veteran 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons player what their favourite encounter is, and they’ll regale you with heroic tales featuring man, dwarf, and elf, versus the likes of Tiamat, Count Strahd Von Zarovich, and the Demogorgon. Oh, and slaughtering an ensemble cast of undead, orcs, demons, e✅lementals, and more along the way.
The False Hydra has caused a ruckus amongst DMs and players alike and rivals the best that Faerun offers. It’s rare for a homebrew creation to receive the same accolades as the canon Dungeons & Dragons bestiary. It takes time to craft a bad guy worthy of inclusion. That’s why playtesters the world over, pour thousands of hours into exploring every angle. Homebrew monsters rarely receive the same treatment. So what is it that makes The False Hydra so compelling? And how should a DM play one?
What Is A False Hydra?
A False Hydra is an unofficial, homebrew creation and does not appear in official source books or have an official stat block. This hasn’t stopped it from finding a loyal following among the tabletop community and taking the lead role in streamed games on YouTube and Twitch. The sands of time are murky on their true origin, but players will recognise many of The False Hydra’s abiliti🐼es from the realms of mythology.
The term False Hydra was first coined in a post made in 2014 by blogger Arnold Kemp. This outlines his vision for the menacing creature and is an essential read for DMs looking to run one. With no official stat block available, several fan interpretations have popped up, with the website providing one of the most popular to date.
What Makes The False Hydra Special?
The consensus for the False Hydra depicts a horrific beast that should test the metal of your party. At first glance, they may appear harmless, but on🎐ce you peel back the outer layer, they reveal their true nature. While they share similar traits to the Hydra, they aren’t 🦩related. They are a multi-headed beast that can regrow their heads and even sprout new ones. Younger False Hydras start with a single head, but once they have gained a zoetic food source, they bide their time, subtly influencing the minds of those close by and living off the less fortunate.
False Hydras have long necks that can snake around the sub-surface tunnels they make. As they aဣge, they grow new heads and their range extends, allowing them to reach long-distance in multiple directions. In the same way, mermaids entrance their victims, the False Hydra sings a beautiful song that lets them control nearby victims. They can use this control to lure villagers to their doom. This extends to wiping the mind of others from their victim’s existence. Left unchecked, the False Hydra wipes entire settlements from its inhabitants, leaving a slew of ghost towns behind.
The Setup
Every great adventure starts with a good setup, an🍸d this is even more important when running a False Hydra campaign. The hook you use to grab the attention of the party will set theܫ tone for adventure and should play to their strengths and weaknesses.
There are many ways to open, aside from the “mysterious person” at the Inn. A town in trouble may have sent a representative from the City Watch, hoping to find a team of specialists who can help solve a mystery. Alternatively, the party might find a bounty placed on a job board, for the head of a mythical beast or information on family members lost in a nearby village. If DMing a regular group, try building up intrigue over several adventures by dropping subtle hints about something bigger looming on the horizon. Regardless of their entr💜y point, your adventurers have a mystery to solve - Scooby-Doo style.
Murder Mystery
The False Hy♚dra scenario is essentially a murder mystery with an ensemble cast of monsters, villagers, witnesses, and more, all culminating with a last encounter with the False Hydra. You don’t want to rush things but, don’t prolong things unnecessarily. Seed plenty of clues before starting your campaign; allow players to discover them naturally, and don’t force them onto the players. Adventures like this can feel contrived if not run carefully.
Don’t be afraid to fudge things a little if the story needs it. The early stages of the campaign are story-driven, so allow players some leeway for failed rolls. Yꦡou can always revisit ideas later on in the adventure. Let the players have fun. There are plenty of opportunities for them to explore their ch🐼aracters and the environment in greater depth. Religious buildings and town libraries are great locations to include, as they give plenty of places for the players to search for clues. Books are an excellent information source. Census information, news scrolls, and notebooks are obvious choices, but including handwritten notes from previous adventurers gives greater depth.
Some key points to remember
- The False Hydra typically lives beneath a settlement. They use their long necks to explore, sing, and influence their victims. Include at least one way of reaching the False Hydra. A nearby cave system or secret tunnel is hidden in one of the town buildings.
- From a storytelling perspective, The False Hydra’s song will affect Player Characters, but it is fair to assume their experience and adventurer status give some additional protection. The less world-weary, the more susceptible to suggestion and mind control NPCs will be; they are more likely to surrender to mind control.
- One of the more troublesome questions we need to tackle is how the townsfolk or villagers know people are missing? After all, a False Hydra has control over the memory of those nearby and can erase them from existence. How then was this village brought to your attention? One idea to explore is a combination of the town records and population. Have a sign welcoming travellers with a population count that is greater than the number of residents.
- Another option is to look at the wider area. A house on the edge of influence may escape the mind control and raise their concerns. The empty residences scattered around back this up. They will look lived in but show evidence of disappearance. Perhaps the missing occupants have set the dining table for a meal, with half-served food left behind? Maybe workers have left their tools out as if midway through a job. The adage of “show don’t tell” is especially important here. Give the players plenty of room to come to their own conclusions.
The Final Encounter
Congratulations. Your players have solved all🐈 the clues, explored the False Hydra’s lair, and are about to face the last challenge. This is perhaps the hardest part of the campaign. The False Hydra has several abilities that, if not carefully managed, could weigh agܫainst the players. Planning a strategy and sticking to it is key to success. Think of each of the abilities as a challenge the players must overcome and once they have, don’t use it again. Remember, the False Hydra should be beatable by the players, but that doesn’t mean you have to go easy on them.
Dividing the False Hydras actions and abilities in a repeatable sequence of turns willඣ let you and the players manage combat, an example of which follows
- Turn 1 Attack players This could be from using one or more of their heads, lunging and attempting to capture and eat one player. For an extra dramatic flair, if the beast is successful, and the player fails their save, have them re-roll. If the second attempt (or third?) succeeds, they escape from the beast by cutting their way out through the neck, consequently decapitating the head. The False Hydra has other methods of attack available. They have claws and while not the fastest creature out there; they are big and should be able to stomp and crush their foes.
- Turn 2 - Mind Control The False Hydra can mind control creatures, and that includes the players. As the players are in combat, the duration should be short and it can be broken. There is no minimum or maximum, but the longer they keep the mind control up, the easier it is for the players to break, representing the difficulty of maintaining it during the fight. Another possibility is to have the False Hydra mind control NPCs who attack on their behalf. This should still be breakable, but do treat this differently as they have controlled these targets for a long period and it’s safe to assume it easily influenced them and this is now considered a passive control, something they don’t have to think about.
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Turn 3 - Healing And Growing Heads False Hydras can (re) grow heads. This is not a simple task and should only succeed if they meet the correct criteria.
- It should be a deliberate action, independent of anything else. Don’t mix this into other turns as it can get confusing and players should have the chance to counter it.
- The monster needs a food source they can consume. How you manage this is up to you, but the source will be smaller animals such as sheep (brought and penned in by those in servitude to the beast), denizens of the dungeon, or residents of a local town or village under its control.
- If the False Hydra is at the maximum number of heads, it has a chance to grow a new one, otherwise, it can regrow an existing head. Both are not automatic and have a high risk of failure. The chance to regrow is higher than growing a new head. If the chance to grow a new head is 5%, the chance to regrow could be 10%.
- Turn 4, etc. - Rinse and Repeat You should repeat the above turns until the players slay the creature.
Hopefully, b♑y now, you are better positioned to run your own False Hydra campaign. They are a lot of fun when managed well, and they give you a chance to show off your DMing chops. Don’t do everything in one sitting. Break it up into separate adventures, perhaps taking place over several in-game days. Remember, there is a mystery to solve, and it’s not just about puzzle-solving. There is plenty to be inspired by from pop culture. Shows like Dr. Who and movies like Dune and Tremors are good places to start and d🧸on’t be afraid to drop in the odd nod towards them.
