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“Fibble’s Fantastic Familiars” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #42

Okay, DMs, how many times have your D&D players asked you about familiars and other companions? A DM who has at least one Wizard or Warlock (Pact of the Chain) in the group will likely display how fun this relationship can be, and that may lead to a desire for others to have their own “little friend.” Some will want one for color or roleplaying. Some will want one for the power it gives for scouting and “Help” actions. Some will want one out of sheer envy. Players are all different.

Furthermore, despite any plot hooks you might think are obvious, or some clear indications the players should take on a task or head in a specific direction … they will still seek out something they WANT. Feel free to jump on this opportunity as a way to create new encounters, plot threads, and campaigns. No player will be able to honestly or fully shrug off any culpability in any events which spawn from their agency … if and only if … you allow the story to follow their direction.

To that end, you might even wish to take a page from Harry Potter and have a district in a larger community filled with places like this, along with potion apothecaries, arcane focus dealers, and material component “spice markets.” Even in a lower-magic setting, so long as you have no “magic item dealers,” you could run such establishments in their own section. They might even come with their own social stigma or, more likely, their own array of con men and fakery salesmen who would more than gladly pawn off their junk as “magical.”

You may even wish to make some of these vendors transient. They would take their wares from town to town like the “snake oil salesmen” of our own glorious past. Imagine mixing fake magic trinkets with actual oddities (perhaps from either the Trinkets or Gothic Trinkets tables) as the make up of their wagon-bound inventories.

The options here, really, are truly endless.

In this specific case, we address Fibble and his Fantastic Familiar shop.

Environment: Town/Village/City/Roadside wagon

Suggested level: Any (Suggested 3+)

Description: With regard to this specific encounter, the player characters are within a town, village or city that allows for a shop of oddities. Nestled in this section, a simple wooden-faced shop front exists with wooden shuttered windows painted with stylized pictures of small animal companions. The shutters are closed and the door to the inside is also closed. Above this simple wooden door hangs a sign painted in peeling bright blue with a stylized black cat upon it. Painted in yellow upon the door is “Fibble’s Fantastic Familiars.”

Knocking on the door will bring a verbal response in a high-pitched squeaky voice. “Come in! Come in! HEY! Get back here! (insert sound of commotion)”

Should the players open the door, this is the visual that will greet them:

Inside this dust-filled shop, the players will enter into a roughly 8’x15’ customer area, blocked by a 3’ high wooden counter to a larger area beyond blocked by a curtain. Upon the counter is a large glass jar with some sand and twigs, in which resides a large fist-sized black beetle. Another jar, ceramic and opaque, has black painted letters indicating “familiar treats.”

A voice issues from behind the curtain. “Be there in a moment!” Followed by the sound of a bucket being knocked over, a ceramic object breaking, and a chicken clucking loudly. Immediately thereafter, a face will poke out from a split in the middle of the curtain and will greet the players with a large toothy grin. A scrawny human male, no taller than 5’, wearing broken spectacles and with graying black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, will smile broadly and nervously, all the while holding the curtain closed.

“Busy day, busy day … (nervous laugh) … So, what can Fibble do for such fine folks as you?”

What happens from here will be up to the players. Fibble claims to run a shop that sells only the finest animal companions to those seeking something unusual. To that end, he may or may not, but will always upsell everything in his shop. Here are some examples of that:

The Beetle on the counter is actually just a beetle. Large, well fed, and imposing, but just a beetle. He will sell it as a rare and unusual specimen rumoured to actually be a dragon under a polymorph spell. A victim, you might say, to punitive and powerful adventurers. He keeps this specimen on the counter in open view as the former dragon was also rumoured to be quite vain, and would love to be viewed by its victims and captives. Fibble will then say that he hopes that the dragon will take this public display into account when it finally breaks free and will be merciful upon Fibble if and when the spell breaks.

Behind the curtain, there is a larger 15’ wide by 10’ deep storage area filled with crates and cages containing the following for sale, which will all by upsold with a tale:

A black cat named “Nexus.” Fibble will claim that this cat is actually the former property of a Hag named Agatha Blacktooth, who was allegedly slain at least a decade ago. The cat survived the fireball that killed her, and Fibble has not been willing to test what the cat actually is for fear of demonic retribution. The cat has a habit of staring unblinkingly at all who sleep as if planning something. Fibble will suggest it may be a great way to buy favor from any Hags they know, as a Hag may appreciate property that’s been returned. “Anything to prevent being turned into a frog,” he’ll claim. The base price for this cat will be 25gp. Alter that price +/- up to 50% based on negotiations.

A chicken, panicked and constantly making noise. Its cage is covered in discarded feathers. Fibble will claim this chicken was sold to him by a farmer. A cattle farmer. That had no chickens … This farmer’s wife went missing one night and the farmer (apparently named “Frederick”) brought this chicken into Fibble’s shop in a strange, almost controlled state (Fibble will claim). If Fibble remembers correctly, this chicken is actually not the wife, but the milkmaid taken on by the farmer whom the wife claimed was having …”relations” … with her husband. The wife, in her rage, called out to diabolic forces and the milkmaid was cursed to be a chicken. The farmer and the wife have since gone missing, but the milkmaid’s beauty was reputed to be near angelic. She might be grateful to her rescuer. The base price for this chicken will be 20gp. Alter that price +/- up to 50% based on negotiations.

A spider in a small glass jar. The jar is wrapped in chains and carries a heavy padlock. Fibble will claim this is no spider, but actually a demon. The demon took this form to escape judgement by its pursuers. He would gladly sell this spider at a bargain price if the party would promise not to release it inside the town border. The base price for this spider will be 50gp. Alter that price +/- up to 50% based on negotiations.

A raven that has free reign to fly about the place but never tries to leave the shop. This raven, whom Fibble calls “Edgar,” is trained to speak several words and phrases and also will start to mimic the players if they stay here long enough. “Edgar” has a habit of crying “watch out” or “be careful” when it’s dramatically appropriate. It’s unknown if this is a repeat of something Fibble has said or something a wise customer has claimed. Fibble will avoid discussing a price on this raven and will not divulge why. If pressed, everything is for sale, but Fibble will at least make it look like he’s losing out by selling Edgar at all. The base price for this raven will be 100gp, if he sells at all. He will never go lower than 100gp for Edgar, and he will refuse to answer why – or what Edgar is, even if pressed.

There’s an empty cage that, when discovered by either Fibble or the players, will make Fibble become agitated. He’ll claim “it LOOKS like a Rat … but that’s what they ALL look like.” He’ll take up his broom and encourage the players not to enter any sewers for the next little while. If pressed, he might claim he’s had problem with shape-shifters in the past and having one of their kind in captivity kept him safe for a while.

Lastly there’s a wooden box, approximately 3’ cubed, covered in a black sheet. If they remove the sheet, it will prove to have some small 1/2” diameter air holes in each side. Fibble will avoid this box when possible. He will tell the players this box is only for the most powerful of adventurers and not to be taken lightly. When pressed about this box, his normally confident and social air will chill, and he will become very serious. He will tell them this box contains a powerful familiar for only the most bold, and it has to be won, not earned. It was sold to him by travellers from the far side of the realm and has cost him no small amount of other potential familiars and companions, but he fears releasing it unless the buyer is truly strong and capable. Negotiations for this creature will only begin if a player offers a good price of 50gp or more. A Successful Persuasion (DC: 15) check will allow such a negotiation to begin. The players will have to win his trust to begin this sort of process, and a Persuasion check is reasonable. Doubling the base price will certainly help that occur (DM’s discretion).

This last box actually contains a Gazer. The Gazer can actually see through multiple air holes and creates occasional havoc in the shop, so Fibble tends to keep the box draped so it reduces the damage done by this beholder. Lanoosh, the Gazer, wants nothing more than to be released and generate as much carnage in this shop as possible. Fibble knows this. If a player wishes to purchase this Gazer, Fibble will want a great price, but will be more willing to let it go.

Here’s the catch. Fibble will want this creature sold without releasing it from the box. He will claim it’s too dangerous to be released inside the confines of the shop. The Gazer, however, will have other ideas. From inside the box, the players will hear this creature mimicking Fibble in a very high pitched and sarcastic way. This should be a great way to inject humor and basically make the players distrust Fibble’s warnings of how dangerous this creature is.

This will result in one of two things:

The Gazer is released inside the shop. “Lanoosh” will get out. He’s a beholder the size of a basketball, a faded purple/pink in color with four tiny eyestalks. Each eye is black with a white iris, and the entire creature looks like it’s covered in smooth and shiny satin. Its singular central eye sits above a wide mouth filled with human-like teeth, likely part of the reason it’s so good in mimicking Fibble.

The Gazer will go on a rampage and will target the other small beasts of the shop with its fury. This can only be prevented by either killing/incapacitating the Gazer or by its being brought under the control of a spellcaster of 3rd level or higher. This control can be through some sort of social contest initiated by the player with a relatively high DC (say like a 17 or so) or by some means like a Suggestion spell (DM’s judgement).

The Gazer is released outside the shop. This will be the bane of any small animals, pets, other familiars, and children. Lanoosh will dart about the community creating chaos in his wake, as he punishes everyone and everything for his captivity. This can be brought to an end in the same way as inside the shop. Doing so quickly will likely reduce the ire of the public at large.

If Lanoosh can be won over by the right person, it can and will serve as a familiar (see Gazer, [amazon_textlink asin=’0786966017′ text=’Volo’s’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d173f036-fbfe-11e6-94f7-0f132fe23165′], page 126).

If Lanoosh is successfully sold and/or released outside the shop, Fibble will lock up for the day immediately after the players leave. The door will magically have “CLOSED” appear on it in large red-painted letters. The door will have an Arcane Lock with a DC of 15 for the purposes of picking it or knowing it down. If the players all move their attention to the box, its contents, or anything else for more than a few rounds, feel free to have the very building that Fibble worked out of take on a completely different identity — as if the shop took over that space magically and is now gone elsewhere.

Monsters: Fibble – Use “Commoner” with the following changes: Intelligence 14, Charisma 16.
Expertise : Persuasion, Deception. Skills: Persuasion +7, Deception +7.

“Lanoosh,” Gazer – See Volo’s Guide to Monsters, page 126.

The other beasts are up to the DM. They are either their mundane counterparts in the Monster Manual with 1 hp each, or they are actually what Fibble claims. That’s up to the individual DM in question and the plot hooks associated therein.

Treasure: That depends on the DM in question and whether or not Lanoosh is won over. The players may have a transformed a beast of supernatural origin with a great back story, a mundane creature that they have been bilked out of honest coin for, or a brand new Gazer familiar. That’s truly the DM’s choice.

Complications: Again, this is dependent upon a lot of aspects. Lanoosh might destroy a pet store. Lanoosh might create no end of havoc in whatever community this shop is in, followed by its fair amount of angry villagers, pitchforks, torches and the like.

Or, based on the DM ‘s whim, one or more of Fibble’s claims might be true, even unknowingly. There might actually be transformed dragons, damsels, and the like. There might actually be demons and misplaced familiars of Hags in play. This all depends on the DM in question and if he wants a charlatan or a magical salesman in play.

Furthermore, Fibble could be a constant arrival in towns, villages, and market squares. Fibble could have ripped off the players or sold them an angry Gazer only to try and pull the same sort of thing again with someone else – and the players have to show up and clean up after him.

Fibble could be even more than he seems. Fibble himself could be a Fey/Archfey, a wandering Fiend, Djinn or other creature that seeks to create chaos for his own pleasure and amusement.

The whole menu is open to the DM and how far they want to take this sort of encounter.

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