As Hundred Acre Wood became less and less populated, so too did the sources of reliable food disappear. Owl refused to leave his home under any circumstances and weathered famine as best he could, but eventually even the madness of hunger consumed him. It reached its zenith while a friend was visiting—as he spoke at length of his dear distant relative Hephast dying in a fire—and a small flame burned his avian companion. More than a week had passed since Owl’s last meal and he found himself utterly consumed by his hunger, driven to attack, kill, and eat his guest. The first of these murders was difficult but over time he has rationalized his cannibalism and embraces it, seeking out different types of humanoids to try out new recipes. Now Owl is friendlier than before, eager to bring home newcomers for dinner.

Owl

Small monstrosity, lawful neutral
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (10d6+10)
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
11 (+0)	16 (+3)	13 (+1)	8 (–1)	9 (–1)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Wis +1
Skills Deception +7, History +1, Investigation +1, Perception +3, Persuasion +5
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances force, thunder; bludgeoning
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Flyby. Owl doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks when he flies out of an enemy’s reach.

Keen Hearing and Sight. Owl has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or sight.

Lean and Hungry. Owl requires half as much food and water as normal, and he can go twice as long without food or water before suffering from exhaustion, but he is always possessed by a desire to eat the flesh of intelligent humanoids (Intelligence 7 or higher). When the opportunity to consume the flesh of a recently killed humanoid presents itself (even an ally’s), he must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or spend his next action eating part of the body.

Long-Winded Tales. Owl can use action and choose a creature within 5 feet that can see or hear him. The target makes a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or remains charmed by Owl until the end of his next turn. While it is charmed by Owl in this way, the creature is obviously mesmerized, its speed is reduced to 0, and it is incapacitated. On each of his turns as long as he remains within 5 feet of the charmed creature, Owl can use his action to continue using this feature and extend the duration an additional round. The effect immediately ends when the creature takes damage, it can’t see or hear Owl, or if he moves more than 5 feet from the creature. After a creature has been targeted by this feature or successfully saves against it, it is immune to Owl’s Long-Winded Tales until he finishes a long rest.

Spellcasting. Owl is a 6th level spellcaster that uses Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13; +5 to hit with spell attacks). He knows the following spells from the bard’s spell list:

Cantrips: minor illusion, prestidigitation, vicious mockery
1st-level (4 slots): charm person, detect magic, dissonant whispers, identify, thunderwave
2nd-level (3 slots): detect thoughts, invisibility, suggestion
3rd-level (3 slots): major image, slow

 

ACTIONS

Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) slashing damage.

 

 

Like so many other times in his life one day Gopher fell down a hole in the forest—though unlike before his plummet was out of the ordinary, lasting far longer and making him tumble far further than he’d ever gone. When he finally came to a stop Gopher found himself in a strange and unfamiliar cavern with a pulsating crystal at its center promising the possibility of an explosion too spectacular to be ignored. After hours of anxious fidgeting and poking he finally dared to grasp the unusual jewel, trying with all his might to pull it from its place. Realizing too late that something was wrong, to his horror they began to merge with Gopher’s arm sinking into the unnatural thing as it came loose from its strange, scaled moorings. Filled with terror he tried in vain to flee, his prize too awkward to squeeze through his narrow tunnels. 

Then Gopher heard a sickening, wet popping sound echo from the chamber behind him. Someone was staring back at him—someone that looked exactly like him. Panicking now and fueled by adrenaline he pushed away with all his might, finally managing to break free though not without a toll. To this day a large chunk of the strange gem is fused around Gopher’s right arm, turning the limb into little more than a club for smashing and whispering endlessly to him. He’s not yet succumbed to the madness being softly uttered into his mind but few would realize it as he has become positively manic, working feverishly to fill in the holes being dug by his doppelganger. What Gopher has yet to realize is that he has more than one double and that there are scores if not hundreds of his fell clones (which use the same statistics as Gopher) tunneling around Hundred Acre Wood, slowly and gradually creating a massive underground rune to summon their dark master into this peaceful world.

Gopher*

Small monstrosity, chaotic neutral
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 66 (12d6+24)
Speed 30 ft., burrow 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	9 (–1)

Saving Throws Cha +1
Skills Athletics +4, Insight +3, Perception +5, Survival +5
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances force, thunder; bludgeoning
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Nimble Escape. Gopher can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of his turns.

 

ACTIONS

Multiattack. Gopher attacks once with his bite and once with his gem-arm.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.

Gem-Arm. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+2) magical bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.

Dynamite (4). Gopher lights a stick of TNT and throws it at a square within 30 feet where it explodes in a 15-foot radius. Creatures and objects in the area make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (6d6) fire damage, or half as much on a successful save.

 

*Gopher clones have immunity to poison damage, diseases, and the poisoned condition.