Out of the Box introduction

Classic image of a displacer beast from the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. [Art by David A. Trampier]

When D&D players, and indeed player characters, think of monsters, they tend to think of them as simply combat applications or access roads to treasure. They forget the majority are born, live, mate, grow and live full lives until the PCs find them. In these unknown moments, there are a lot of ways to take a simple monster encounter.

Some old school D&D dungeons would present moments where goblin or orc young would be encountered, giving the PCs a moral dilemma. This same opportunity exists for an entire range of monsters and beasts, be they bears, owlbears, werebears, or giant zombie were-dino-bears (any use of that last entry is entirely upon the Dungeon Master. I’m not to blame).

Many (if not all or some) types of monsters are almost exclusively seen in their adult form, and are androgynous sacks of hit points with a certain number of attacks. This is especially true if the exact nature of these creatures is not fully known. Whereas it is true creatures like demons or devils are not “born” per se, this truth is not upheld for other monsters from other non-prime material plane locales. This is a lost opportunity.

For instance, it is well within reason some beings from the Feywild might well have normal (if not magically influenced) life cycles. This might be especially true for those now trapped here in the world of the PCs. (This might also not be true, but I’m running with it).

In this instance, I would like to present an encounter where the difficult moral choices of the PCs are further magnified by the presence of cute little kittens…six-armed, and tentacled kittens, but kittens nonetheless, and the eventual presence of some angry and protective parents.

Fitting…that for #13 of the Out of the Box series a dark cat should cross another’s path…

Environment

Wilderness/Forest

Level

4-6

Description

The PCs may find themselves wandering a thick wooded forest. Travel, unless upon some form of path or trail, is difficult and strewn with hazards and blockages. Sunlight streams here and there through a thick green canopy, casting multiple shadows and flickers of green, yellow and orange here and there. The occasional swarm of mosquitoes or black flies harry the party with aggravating bites, while songbirds and crows echo their tales through dark greenery. This is all familiar to those who have wandered the wilderness before.

At this point, the DM should either use the Passive Perception scores of the PCs, or can elect to have them roll Wisdom (Perception) checks with a DC 14. Any who should succeed in this regard will hear something strange. Should the DM wish to have the PCs hear this noise as a plot hook, there’s no reason why such an event cannot be read as a narrative moment with no check needed whatsoever.

Daww! [Image by deviantart user warriorpoet2006]

With a successful check (see above), the party will hear the cry of something feline, but very small….like kittens crying. The cry will persist. It will come from off the beaten trail (in a direction so chosen by the DM in question). If the PCs wish to investigate this sound, some effort will be required. Unless they have some sort of magical means to traverse the thick woods to the source of the noise, movement will be worse than normal. The rules for Difficult Terrain will apply, meaning the party will move at half their movement speed toward the noise for as long as the DM deems appropriate.

A good minute or two should do for those requiring a time limit. Keep in mind the sound would have to been audible through thick woods, so those knowing such landscapes in real life will understand how quickly sound can be muffled.

When the party closes upon this noise, they will find a small cave dug into the ground like a large burrow. The truck of a large tree, felled by age or a storm marks the mantle of the doorway into the earth. The doorway itself is 5 feet in diameter, and the cave travels in an irregular way for another 15 feet, finally opening into a 10 foot diameter hemispherical chamber with an 8 foot ceiling. Those keen enough to either succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception), Wisdom (Survival), or Intelligence (Investigation) check on either the passage or the chamber will determine the passage and the chamber were carved and not natural.

For those truly aware, who also succeed at a DC15 will realize this den was created by clawed creatures. Those who crack the superhuman level of DC 25 will recognize the telltale marks of the spiked tentacles of a displacer beast.

This conclusion may be supported when the characters find the mangled corpse of a red deer, slashed and torn in an almost chaotic method laying with its nearly exposed spine toward the entering PCs. The mewling will persist, perhaps drawing the party closer. Those who look over the corpse of the red deer will find, laying on a pile of fur scraps, tree boughs and bones…two tiny mammalian creatures resembling purple-black kittens. These kitten have six legs (two forepaws and four rear paws), and stubby tentacle growths protruding from their shoulders. They are stumbling over each other and meowing loudly in the recess that used to be this deer’s belly.

The DM, upon this discovery, should start a clock. A five minute timer should suffice of some kind. Players will often discuss amongst themselves lots of things, and may ask for skill checks, ask questions, and the like. The reason the DM starts the timer will be to determine when the parents of these fine kittens will arrive.

To handle the possible questions, a success on a DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) check will determine these are displacer beast kittens, and a further success on a DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check will also provide the fact that these creatures are native to the Feywild, and are likely born there normally.

During this investigation of the area, anyone who moves the kittens from the deer carcass and crawls inside the belly of the deer will discover the guts are a small portal to the Feywild. This portal will only allow the passage of one large or smaller creature at a time to crawl their way into this other plane, and the creature had best mark the exact spot where they arrived…or they may become lost there forever.

The displacer beast kittens are non-combatant, have AC10, and have 1 hit point and no attacks or special abilities. These kittens, if taken and sold to the right collector or trainer, could be worth as much as 1000gp each. Their care and upkeep to that point is its own adventure…

A displacer beast as seen in the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

At the end of the five minute timer, a sound will echo from the entrance to the chamber. Those outside the chamber (perhaps standing guard) will now deal with the approach of the parents of these kittens, who have heard their cries and are coming with rabbits to feed their children.

The displacer beasts will be approaching with Dexterity (Stealth) DC 13. Unless the PCs specifically mention they are making Perception checks to find approaching targets (or similar statements), this is a perfect opportunity to use their Passive Perception scores, compared to the Dexterity (Stealth) score of the two displacer beasts. This comparison will determine surprise.

If no one is outside on guard, use the same determination for surprise for occupants within the chamber, but the displacer beasts get advantage on their Dexterity (Stealth), meaning the DM can then roll twice instead of using the static DC listed above. Should the displacer beasts’ checks defeat the PCs’ Passive Perception or Wisdom (Perception) checks, they will have surprise on the first round of combat. That can be important in this confined space where a single displacer beast can use the Reach feature of their tentacles to attack the party safely from the entry passage.

These adult displacer beasts will fight with feverish fervour to retrieve their kin, which itself may strike the players as uncharacteristic. This fight will only end if it becomes obvious the parents cannot retrieve their young or they have successfully done so. One might try to grab both young (one in each tentacle) and then escape to the Feywild through the belly of the deer…leading to a possible chance to travel to another plane.

Monsters

Displacer beasts (2): As per Monster Manual (page 81).

Also 2 displacer beast kittens, (non-combattant)

Treasure

Displacer beast kittens and a potential portal to the Feywild.

Complications

It would be a lie to say there are none. The characters may be surprised by the displacer beasts, which could be devastating early in a combat. They may accidentally or intentionally end up in the Feywild, which itself is its own plot hook. They may end up in a running battle with angry displacer beast parents wishing to retrieve lost kittens. Overall, there’s a lot that could go awry in this encounter, with the only limit being the players’ choices and the DM’s wishes.

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