A few weeks ago i got lots of comments and conversation - now Im mostly getting offers for spells from the nigerian illuminati and robots commenting.
One day I will do a beastmen book with my abhuman class, all these beastmen, elemental and other races all with individual racial abilities.
This image makes me think a world of cavemen might be fun with races reskinned as human types. I have used abhumans as orcs, cavemen and barbarians before as well which worked fine.
Will do more of these still. Underland version is to complement Veins in the Earth by Patrick Stewart and my own setting. I love his olm and trilobite knights. Yeah this took me a week which is pretty slow for me. Sewer hell next then a new poll on G+ as to what is next.
Beastmen Types to date...
Common
Highland
Aquatic
d12 Underland
1 Batmen
2 Spidermen
3 Newtmen
4 Axolotlmen
6 Salamandermen
7 Slugmen
8 Wormmen
9 Moleratmen
10 Termitemen
11 Armadillomen
12 Cricketmen
Batmen
Hideous cave dwellers who mostly come out at night. Humans fear them because in ancient times thew were conquerors and part of the great monster empire. They also have links to vampirism with some tribes eating blood and worshiping the vampire bat goddess one of the great underground evils. Her pyramids are found in jungles and hidden places from when her cult murdered thousands to appease her lust. Some go the next step and become supernatural undead vampires and not just blood drinkers. Many worship and mate with demons also and can be found populating the abyss. Some are content eating bugs and some more harmless ones only eat fruit but they don't appear in non tropical areas. You may hear them screaching to spread terror but also for their echo location. Most batmen are now flightless with only some of the greater ones regaining the power of flight or at least gliding. The even have breeds of flightless bat creatures for hunting pets and beasts of burden. Sailors have found islands where every mammal niche has been filled by bats. Many bats also gain mutations from their cults or the people they eat or the strange glowing cave lights of underland. They are poor at communicating with humans and very alien. Most are black with some brown, or red for fruit bats and occasional white ghost bats. The do have eyes they just don't need or depend on them but are handy to read non engraved texts. They are impressive climbers and enjoy hanging upside down with their cohorts screeching madly.
d12 Batmen Troubles
1 Batmen raiders by night have been kidnapping people for the rites of their horrid blood goddess. Somewhere nearby a rockslide has opened a cave temple releasing them
2 Something has moved into the village well and makes horrid screaming noises and stealing sheep
3 Old farmer Bill has been tormented by night creatures screetching his name from the darkness at night and tormenting him. Whatever the things are they have been killing his dogs and vandalizing his farm every night
4 A scholar has found a manual showing the savage bat men at worship and bloody sacrifice. He has heard rumours of a cave complex and would like to hire escorts to see if the batmen still act out their ancient rites or have degenerated over the aeons
5 A villager has raised a batman since a baby he found and the creature is an asset to the community killing foxes and wolves. Now wild batmen have been coming by night trying to get it to leave and join it's lost family and enter the embrace of their horrible goddess. The bat child would rather live with his human friends
6 A orchard community has been plagued by nocturnal fruit theft. In some nearby forest the adorable vegetarian fruitbat me live in tree houses. They may be negotiated with for trade but the humans for the moment are horrified out of fear and ignorance
7 A farmer has found a stone lid and opened a strange passage. Now since the seal is broken screeching night demon things have raided every night and simply resealing the hole and burying it has not helped
8 Sewer workers have discovered bloody alien graffiti under the city drainways and many dead rat men. The city sewer clerk has decreed explorers must find the new threats
10 A rural temple of the sun god collapsed into a sinkhole. Rescuers went in to see if they could find the priests but found them all missing. Tunnels indicate the area was undermined and the priests kidnapped
11 Dwarves are looking for adventurers to help them raid the temple cult of the batmen who have kidnapped dwarven children as hostages in their attempt to take over the dwarf mining complex
12 Some explorers found a cave recently under a waterfall with easily a thousand human skeletons, remains of where ancient batmen have discarded their sacrifices for generations. The locals want revenge and are hiring adventurers to clean out the fiends
Newtmen
Are a race of crested newts, at home near water and caves. They are black and grey spotted with crests on their heads down to tails. There is a smaller race halfnewts or newtlings that humans long exploited as slaves and food brought from Islands many centuries ago. Some of these escaped into drains and rivers and have grown from improved diets left alone into human sized race they are today. Some say there were subterranean tribes full sized aeons ago that have come from the depths. Whatever the case Newtmen are over being shy and not pleased with humans mistreatment of them. Highly industrious and willing to use their former slave skills they can build underwater domes with air they can hide in close to humans in large numbers. Preferring elemental gods they are naturally friendly to water elementals but some have heretically turned to fire elementals and lost their amphibian abilities to dwell in volcanic wastelands where humans wont go. They once had a misguided attempt to flood the world by melting all the ice but this was foiled. While many newts are wary of humans and happy to hide others feel they must stop the spread of man. if they can cause a flood with their aquatic engineering skills they will before attacking. Waterways and wetlands are their prefered habitats so they prey on human there first.The biggest threat from newts is their ability to retreat to where humans cannot go and breed huge numbers rapidly. Mostly they restrain their population for food reasons but war is something they are willing to be patient with. They can hide still for days and wait in water quite close without humans knowing. In some places newts and humans have friendly relations and can be dealt with fairly for trade. Sometimes in a city you can find newts working on docks.
d12 Newtmen Troubles
1 A rural town where the newt feast festival has attracted visitors for decades has reported many locals newt trappers have vanished and many visitors seem to have never arrived.
2 With heavy rains this winter newts have spread over the countryside. Locals are alarmed and calling for their extermination against the godless horrors
3 A wizard has been breeding newts in his hidden valley recognising his ability to produce a large army in only years. The newts don't really like him but he charm their leaders and the holy newt mother. A newt child has escaped and hopes to find humans who would rather help than blame the newts
4 A zealous newt messiah has made a pact with ancient evil newt elemental. His prepares a army while the elemental patron has been sending it's age old human cult to teach the newts magic and corrupt human society with elder newt chaos magic
5 A human wizard has discovered means to graft newt limbs onto crippled humans. As newts regenerate he thinks this is quite humane. Many humans and newts are horrified and want him dead while others are willing to pay for the treatment
6 A bandit has raised a generation of newts to replace his gang, the newts don't even understand money or what is happening
7 Human criminals have entered the sacred spawning pools and stolen thousands of eggs they plan to eat or sell to slavers
8 Fire newts and water newts have made a formal agreement to cooperate against humans living between their colonies
9 Newts have been croaking lots in the swamplands and local humans are worried the newts might be mad at them for their newt leather industry and want help to a preemptive attack on them
10 Lake placid used to be a popular fishing place but since newt slaves escaped it has turned into a centre for newt aggression. They seemed to have built a floating town with underwater domes and local humans want someone to find out what the newts are up to
11 A marsh village has been fighting newts for generations but the newts are out breeding humans in the long run and a human priest wants negotiators to speak terms with the newts before it is too late
12 A chef wants to cook some newts for a customer but the only ones to be found work at the docks and fisheries and are gainfully employed. So he will pay you to kidnap and murder some in secret and will even let you taste some
Axolotlemen
These exotic foreign relatives of newts and salamanders were brought over from a distant jungle land but some say they were also living in caves deep beneath the earth. They are black or gold or pink albinos. Best not to confuse them with their kin as they are quite different in many ways. Even their kin races think of them as immature and childish. The main difference is they have gills on the sides of their heads and they are more aquatic even preferring to be immersed but will briefly go onland to raid for sacrifices. The truth is they crazed psychopathic cultists, spawn of their bloodthirsty storm and lake god who craves human hearts. When explorers first found their babies and took them home to be slaves they had no idea each one was inborn with fanatic hatred in service of their god. As soon as they are old enough to walk on land they begin to make flint knives, spears and macuahuitl war clubs. While the first who escaped went on killing sprees when mature others more isolated built step pyramids then went on raids to obtain sacrifices. With no redeemable features most people live in fear of them but some do eat them if they happen to kill them. On rare occasions they speak they claim to be part of their god.
d12 Axalotlemen Troubles
1 Locals have been vanishing for months up river and someone has seen a strange blood covered pyramid structure on the waters edge. Adventurers are being hired to investigate
2 Locals by the wharf have become fearful and fishing has stopped since axolotls have been biting off limbs and drowning people and food prices have doubled
3 Numerous ships have been sunk recently and explorers finally found the wrecks covered in blood and sailors body parts. Something had used the body parts to paint gory alien script on the decks. All signs point to a island surrounded by reefs as the source of the killers
4 A missing boy appeared of late claiming strange pink slimy tailed men kidnapped him but he was spared from sacrifice because he had a birthmark. He tells of piles of burning corpses and blood spattered temples an piles of gold. If only some adventurers would investigate
5 A scholar has kept a axolotl in a cage for months trying to speak with it and all he has got for his troubles is prayers for it's blood hungry god. Recently it escaped into the sewer and the scholar wants it back
6 A pilgrim went into a axolotl domain hoping to convert them but instead the convinced him. Now he lures visitors to their temple with offers of gold where they are murdered. Victims families want them stopped
7 A fisherman captured many baby axolotls and took them to the city but nobody found them appealing so he flushed them down a drain. Now months later they have begun raiding the surface killing and eating and murdering
8 A village has reported new pink walking fish in the river having come from up stream. A wise man identified them and a expedition is being sent to mind the colony so the military can finish them
9 At night pale creatures have crept from a well and kidnapped multiple locals. A rescue party are needed
10 A blood stained map to a deep cavern filled with gold temples has surfaced
11 Strange weapons were found by a blood tainted pool by travellers looking for a missing friend. They offer a reward for recovery of their comrade
12 Hundreds of severed hands have washed up in recent months on the river banks and the people are alarmed. Adventurers are being hired to investigate
Salamandermen
A dreamy, quiet creatures with often bright piebald patches of colour. Less aquatic than their newt or axolotl kin they rely on their toxic hallucinogenic skin. At home in the deep caverns swamps or forests they are often well hidden and shy. They are prone to spending time enjoying narcotics and in mystical trance states, dreaming of past lives and other worlds. Many make contact on their astral travels with strange powers and many salamanders are practitioners of sorcery or wizardry or even priests of strange cults or druids. Some talk about otherworldly beings as personal acquaintances. Salamanders don't tend to bother humans much and avoid them. They are not very materialistic, interested in power or human affairs but might be motivated by philosophy of planar alignments or cosmic or natural order. Salamanders socially discus philosophy and often sit about in collective lairs taking narcotics or in meditation. As some are quite ancient they may have esoteric knowledge. Some human magicians might consult them and because of their narcotic filled flesh they are poor eating. Some humans like to lick newts but most find a it a terrifying mind warping ordeal. Some are found visiting strange places nobody expects. Like giant cloud cities, exotic jungle ruins, in deep caves or black lotus dens. How they get there they don't explain.
d12 Salamandermen Troubles
1 A drug cult and a philosophy school have been feuding over company of a salamander. It has escalated to the point where both sides consider violence while the salamander can barely tell the difference between being licked by addicts or talking philosophy with humans
2 A cult have been drinking spring water runoff from a cave of salamanders. They have declared the spring holy and are building a shrine on it and making increasingly bizarre declarations
3 A salamander wizard has been teaching commoners magic unconcerned with human status or the regulated world of human wizards. Local villagers love the salamander and students because they seem more devoted to helping common folk. Proper wizards don't approve
4 Students have been crawling deep into a dangerous cave complex to visit a ancient salamander. Parents and teachers are increasingly wondering what they are learning
5 A religious group don't approve of salamanders inciting esoteric philosophy and drug abuse and will pay to have them chased out of the area
6 A great planar threat has been brewing for aeons and human priests and wizards need adventurers to visit a salamander enclave in a far off place to question them about the threat
7 Strange creatures from human dreams have been entering the waking world. At first they were just phantoms then real. Experts need the great old salamander of the mountains to explain why and help stop the threat
8 A drug dealer has had all his clients run off to follow a salamander instead of black lotus and he wants assassins to kill the amphibian trouble maker
9 A salamander has become a faculty advisor in the university and rival scholars are outraged and want it dead
10 A great once a century meeting of salamanders in a cave has atracted a gang of axolotl killers to interfere at bequest of their brutal god. A druid seeks adventurers to protect them and his sect has done so for a thousand years
11 A noble maiden has been having dreams where a salamander is trying to warn her about something. A dream sage scholar heard and could name the salamander and the family want someone to visit the creature to make sure
12 A salamander book of prophecies and planar metaphysics has been published and it has offended some cultists. Turns out a human stole the manuscript and translated it. The salamander wants the book back to avoid troubles and has been calling on elemental gods to retrieve it which has terrified the publisher
Slugmen
These slimy primordial beings colonised the surface and built civilization long before vertebrates. They are canny merchants, traders and sometimes crimelords. Now they prefer to have other races work for them and provide vice and entertainment and interesting food. Slugmen are patient but faster races have inspired them to position themselves among the wealthy merchant and ruling castes. They quite enjoy watching more ambulant creatures fight ans squabble. They let their infants run wild but they return when older and able to speak and older slugs adopt them into clans. Adults select youth for attractiveness, colour or talent. Then the young are kept in clan pits under the watch of elderly slugs who are losing their vigor. Many youths don't survive cruel tests and when near adult they are apprenticed to a senior slug or made servants in a slug house-clan. Able slugs will be kept close to the clan leaders so elders can steal the glory of competent underlings achievements. Slug leaders like to move as little as possible and surround themselves with luxury becoming more obese. Underling slugs do the dirty work or overseer other race slaves and gladiators or eunuch soldiers. Slugs have become increasingly cosmopolitan and their cities have more vassal races than slugs and they happily live in human cities. Aquatic slugs are more alien. The cities the have in the deeps are more slug populated and tend to worship more horrible dark demon gods. They claim credit for many decadent vices, tea and spiced wine. Too much alcohol can be fatal but they love it so they prefer lotus resin, hash and poppies for every day binges. Some humans find slugs grotesque and corrupt and declare them enemies of man. Some are hermaphrodites, some male or female and some change gender.
d12 Slugmen Troubles
1 A bloated slug drug merchant needs adventurers to recover his stolen waggon of resin and will pay in silver or narcotics
2 Two rival slug bosses are pitting gladiators against each other. Each is looking to wound the rivals fighter before the fight by bribed guards, poison, overzealous sparring parners or any dirty tricks adventurers can come up with to rig the fight
3 Ancient slug documents describing long ignored demonic rites have been stolen and the slug scholar thinks a human cult might try the blasphemous rituals
4 A slug crimelord in his perfumed pleasure garden has been murdered and slugs want to hire investigators to make sure it was just a rival slug lord. If it was a non slug they want the murderers killed to send a message to slug enemies
5 Slug dandies in a tea house have made a bet to hire a adventurer party each and send them on the same mission for a laugh
6 Orcs have mined up from the earth in service to a demon slugman cult stronghond in the underland. The orcs are raiding food that is considered rare in the deep
7 A wise old slugman priest requires sacred tea fo rituals stolen by bandits. He promises the thanks of the local slug people if they help fight the bandits and recover the tea
8 A secret cult of evil slug men wizards are seeking to bring through a elder slug demon to rule and unite their race. A moderate slugman merchant wants to pay humans to kill them all
9 A slug holy person has been imprisoned in a salt mine for ransom and it's followers will pay for a rescue. It will be tricky getting them out and the slug is prone to cowardly screams and squeals and is used to being papered
10 Slugmen merchant caravan has been pinned in a canyon for days by vicious flailsnails and a local business slug will pay for a rescue
11 A slave gladiator school has wrongfully escaped and the slug master wants the rascals captured. He is offering improved work conditions, more drugs and tea breaks if they return before he has them declared outlaws. He hires adventurers to find them and make them his offer
12 Slugman merchants wish to hire adventurers to travel with them to their far away homeland. Offering unparallelled pleasure, adventure and wealth beyond wildest dreams is on offer
Wormmen
Wormmen come on many breeds but most are kin to common earth worms. The most horrible ones are kin to parasitic worms such as tapeworms, heartworms, etc. Some are more segmented with semi rigid scaly skin. Marine varieties also exist in fresh and salt water but the ones that most frequently interact with humans are kin to the common earthworm. Most are pink but can be black, grey or brown depending on where they live. Most come from the great depths feeding of decayed matter washed into the underland by water. They cope with darkness and being smothered in earth quite well. Wormfolk frequently dwell in deep caves and often serve other races. Wormkind were once one of the great powers in the early days of the pre human monster empire but they were usurped and reduced to slaves and food mostly. Bat and Mole men are among their greatest tormentors. Worms hate the surface world suffering agoraphobia but might raid the surface by night on a urgent missio or requested by their masters. Worms are among the most alien of beastmen and their language is ancient and inexplicable. As they vary from horrible corpse eaters to peaceful wanderers by demeanor it can difficult to predict what any group will act like. Some worship demon elder worm gods of the underworld others worship a peaceful worm mother goddess. As some worms are passive they make excellent baggage handlers in the underland but best not accidentally recruit the flesh eating chaos cult ones by accident. While humanoid by definition of beastmen they're eyes are barley visible. Their heads seem blank faced round fleshy sacks. When their mouths open from nowhere most are surprised. Some of the more horrible types have a single huge tooth or many and can hang their whole body from their mouths while feeding..
d12 Wormmen Troubles
1 A wizard requires exotic materials from the deep dark and his hired adventurers and worm baggage handlers for the expedition. He says the worms are trustworthy stupid creatures who work for excrement
2 A sickly titan crawls out of the sea begging for help - he is infested by tribes of various worm men and wants someone to crawl in his body and kill them. He is seemingly bigger on the inside being a divine being
3 Something horrible has infested the sewer system and is attacking people through the privies and outhouses and snatching sewer workers and people are outraged
4 On the edge of town worm men have been thriving in the midden pits and have set up a village. Locals are offended about these lazy freeloaders and now demand pay for their garbage and the worm men are angry and hungry
5 A cult of white worm men living in the hills are led by a human sorceress. The cult have been devouring people and some say they have a paralytic pite
6 A horde of hungry worm folk have invaded a underland settlement of mixed races who gather for trade. The voracious worms are relentless and unless some one helps this spark of civilization will end
7 A horrible tribe of worm men have moved under beach sand and are snatching beach combers and fishermen. If not stopped this local resource will end
8 Horrible creatures have been roaming at night snatching dogs, animals and stealing. A local found some strange loose earth tunnels that seem fresh
9 A tribe of glowing worm folk have been enslaved by miners who find them good workers and even dead their hacked up corpses and blood make great lamps. The foreman is so impressed he wants to spread his methods. A druid has found out ans is apalled
10 Worm men have been trading with locals swapping gold for animal feces and food scraps for years in secret. One of the traders is curious about life in the deep and where the gold comes from and wants some adventurers to follow them
11 A tribe of worms recently ate the corpse of cultists who were killed and burried by the mob. Now the worms are acting just like the cultists and performing the same rites and using black magic
12 Worshipers of the devouring worm god who eats all have called a tribe of wormmen to their aid. With these doughy beastmen troops have been raiding for sacrifices and stealing garbage
Moleratmen
Very different to normal ratmen these hairless beastmen with tiny eyes and huge teeth are strict matriarchs. The queen rat produces hormones that suppress other females from reproducing and rules with a iron paw. They are very capable miners and can survive with much less oxygen. Occasionally a young couple in love flee the tribe and start a new colony. Sometimes a member will swap colonies and this helps the bloodlines and spread culture and technology. Mostly humans don;t even know they exist but find them repulsive and assume the worse when they discover a tribe under their feet. They don't tolerate normal ratmen and are less interested in filth, disease and garbage so don't get along with ratmen or their gods. They have their own rat goddesses which are mostly interested in molerat business. Sometimes a colony expands into a dungeon and goes to war with the inhabitants till one side is exterminated. A pair will often escape and start the process again. They regard reptilians as their main enemies. In ancient times they were allied with batmen and worked as sappers in their armies of bloody conquest. Some say there were moleratmen and batmen hybrids which were probably disgusting. A smaller breed of moleratlings exist also but they are more shy and avoid the surface. They may have dog and cow size non intelligent molerat domestic animals. Molerats have no special hatred or grudges against human kind, they find humans more likable than many other humanoids. This feeling is not often reciprocated by humans. Molerat airs are often cramped crawlspaces low in oxygen which doesn't bother them but helps keeps out intruders. They farm tubers and have little need of anything outside their lairs. They are willing to trade for food and some colonies swap metal nuggets and truffles for finished metal goods like weapons. Trading with humans has proved difficult due to misunderstanding.
d12 Moleratmen Troubles
1 Local goblins have fled their dungeon complex in terror from invading molerats conquering their dungeon. The desperate goblins have been attacking travellers out of desperation
2 Some farmers found a molerat burrow and saw some of the creatures. They have reported the horrors they saw to the sheriff and he now is looking for adventurers to investigate this threat that must be chaos horrors
3 A cheerful young molerat out exploring the surface has been captured by terrified farmers. A scholar has been talking to the cheekie chappie and wants a expedition to meet and return to their maze to trade
4 Dwarves have mined their way into a rat maze and have been fighting. One dwarf has realized the rats are intelligent and wants to broker peace trading food for minerals but wants adventurers to help him bring peace
5 A sole survivor from the deep has found a cave ruled by batmen with a gold covered pyramid guarded by molerats. The survivor has raised funds for a return expedition and believes the molerats can be turned against the bat overlords
6 A miner has kidnapped a molerat queen and is forcing them to mine for him. A young molerat has escaped and seeks help but has been put in a cage by a freakshow
7 A tribe of molerat raiders who worship a demon have undermined a village and dragged down the inhabitants to sacrifice and devour. A villager came home to find a rubble filled pit.
8 Molerats have decided to colonise a city sewer system and have been fighting the regular ratmen. Humans are mostly ignorant but recently they have begun to fight on the surface. Townsfolk are perplexed and unsure which is better or what to do in response
9 Molerats have accidently discovered a dungeon complex long forgotten. The queen wants some humans to clean it out and has sent messenger bats with scrolls in the elder tongue of the monster empire to recruit adventurers. So far humans don't seem to get it
10 Locals in a settlement have had no children in years for some reason. A diviner said to look underground and dug into a tunnel complex. Frightened villagers offer a large pig to adventurers who solve the problem
11 A hillside has crumbled and collapsed revealing tunnels and passages. Local children went exploring and have not come back
12 A disease has killed the tubers that molerats farm and the colony have become hungry. So they have burrowed under a local farm and stolen human crops. Farmers are perplexed and now livestock have vanished and stores in their barn. The local magistrate has called for investigators to solve the mystery
Termitemen
Termite men eat wood and mix the excreted pulp with dirt and syliva to make concrete like organic looking citadels up to ten stories high. The sub levels are huge open spaces with specialized functions. Some keep their cities beneath the ground to be secrets and have long passages to hide the real locations. Related to ants they are colonial insect men with strict caste system including workers, warriors and queens. The prefer wood but will eat intruders or anything dead they take advantage of. Some grow fungus crops also. The are quite alien to humans and conflicts and misunderstandings frequently occur even though they are not especially aggressive. Eating houses, wooden forts and ships tend to annoy humans which often starts fights. Sometimes the burrow into a mine and eat all the scaffolding of foundations of a whole wooden town. They may nor be wilfully malicious but can get territorial and will plot to steal your wood, barley aware of obstacles. Some wizards have employed them to build them towers with a alien organic feel. Termites besides their natural building materials are master carpenters and make quality secret doors
d12 Termitemen Troubles
1 Two different tribes of termites have gone to war (red and yellow tribes) and humans in between are just in the way of resources and territory. When there was only one tribe they seemed more peaceful when there was only on tribe
2 Local ants and termites have gone to war undermining the region in tunnels and sinkholes opening all over the area
3 Something at night has been chewing on boats and nets and the night watch has only heard gnawing sounds
4 Slowly strange towers have risen out of the forest bewildering locals who have no idea what it could be
5 A great flood came down the river and investigators are promptly needed. Upriver beavermen and termite men have been fighting
6 Wounded elves with a dead dryad flee the forest. Some hideous monsters ate their sacred trees!
7 Ghouls and termitemen have been co habiting a maze complex and digging into the graveyard sharing the coffins and corpses
8 The local guildhall has been finding all their antique furniture and wooden railings disappear. Each night the phantom woodnapper takes more historic antiques and the guards are bewildered
9 The middle of a farm on the edge of a forest has been growing a huge mound. The farmer hears weird chitter noise inside and now a opening has appeared and he wants adventurers to check it out
10 A bandits have been attacking stockades and the walls have been falling down by themselves and later there is no sign of the wooden buildings. Nobody can explain the mystery
11 A farmer was drying his special medicinal herbs in his barn and something large burrowed in and stole the whole stash. He needs some discreet adventurers to get it back and a bonus if the thieves never come back
12 Termite men have alway lived in rocky woodlands but recently they have begun connecting their tower mounds with walls and dividing the forest like a fortified walls
Armadillomen
Armadillow men are a burrowing race with mighty digging claws and a semi plastron shell. Some breeds can roll into a armoured ball and leap to their feet instantly. The Glyptodon tribe are bigger with stronger shells and club tails. Giant ones lived in the past leaving tunnels throughout the countryside used by other creature as lairs. Smaller ones armourdilings and are mostly mostly harmless. Most of them are a harmless and defencive but if attacked they are aggressive. They use teamwork.and stop running to defend each other. A small number of them are cursed with a flesh rotting disease and eventually become mummies. They dig underground near the surface but long lost tribes of albino ones dug too deep aeons ago. They live in family burrow complexes and tunnels they defend efficiently. They compete with other burrowing subsurface beastmen like mole men, ratmen, badgermen or others. They also compete with dwarves but might live with gnomes. They are suspicious of underland races of the deep dark and the surface dweller. A colony might vary in disposition from kind and just to suspicious and mean.
d12 ArmadillomenTroubles
1 A diseased evil armadillo colony have become a cultists dedicated to the spread of the rot
2 Begun digging and found a dungeon. Decided to get top quality but cheap murder hobos to take care of the problem.
3 Armadillo and batmen have been fighting over a tunel and other near surface races are feuding and raiding also turning area into a no mans land of muddy trenches of collapsed tunnels
4 Armadillo bandits have been holding up waggons of vegetables. The farmers want them stopped but the merchants see an oportunity to trade with armadillos
5 A clan of albino deep cave armadillos have discovered the long lost surface and the delicious food it has to offer. Farmers are less impressed and have called the wrath of Boggrump the turnip god. Now the are is full of turnip headed goblin men turning their fields into a fortified area they wont even let humans. The priest hopes some diplomatic decision can be reached
6 Slave armadillos have escaped the mine the work in and tunneled away into a underland cave complex. The owner wants to follow and try to get them back offering a reward
7 In the mountains the armadillos have built a cliff town of pueblos inaccessible to threats and harm. Local villagers are a bit threatened and jealous by the non human community
8 Locals have noticed strange armoured spheres rolling about avoiding curious onlookers. Locals wonder what the creatures are and offer a prize pumpkin to whoever finds out
9 A bitter one eyed armadillo is the last survivor of a enslaved tribe. He has vowed revenge and has been murdering travellers. He is not even sure if his people are alive or where to find them. If they can be helped he is willing to pay for his crimes
10 Armadillos have been paid to clear out a mountain trail collapsed in a quake. They have made good progress but have returned to their camp afraid of something they have dug up
11 Armadillo men are working on digging a major highway tunnel to the underland for trade and hope to charge a toll and trade with travellers for wealth
12 A armadillo emissary has visited area inviting people to employ his tribe for engineering projects. Already they have been plowing fields for some locals. Several unemployed oxmen and horsemen are not amused losing work
Cricketmen
These creepy looking bug men look horrorfying but are mostly harmless. They will defend a lair but mostly eat decaying plant matter, fungus and animal remains rather than kill to eat. They can make loud chirping noises, leap, cope well in darkness and are themselves popular food for other creatures. Some have turned to chaos to gain power so they no longer feel fear. Crickets are very wary and prone to anxiety and mild paranoia. They dwell in caves but might forage at night on the surface. Deepest dwellers are albinos. You can hear them chirping and relaying messages over miles of cavern before meeting them and they will accept pay to send messages for other races. They are reasonably technologically talented and will use weapons as used by local humans or craft flint spears and make bows and arrows if it is all they can find. A squad of veteran cricket halberdiers can be quite menacing. They are good miners and will trade minerals and fungus from their farms for goods they cant get themselves. People are quite surprised how civilized they can be. Some have even used gunpowder and learned sophisticated fencing. They are not too needy and enjoy relaxing as providing for their needs is easy so they have time for leisure and luxury unlike other bugs. Some humans have got gangs of cricket workers with food and drugs and grog to work for them easily. Mole crickets are more hideous, wrinkly and have powerful digging claws instead of manipulating limbs. They often work for their shiny black cousins as workers. They regard grasshoppers and locusts as kin but scoff at their on cricket behaviour.
d12 CricketmenTroubles
1 Horrible chirping noises are keeping the village awake and disturbing babies
2 Farm children found a hole and saw a hideous creature inside so they ran home screaming about demons
3 Cricketmen traders from the deep have bben tapping on peoples doors at night to trade but the humans seem to scream and pretend they are not in. Now the villagers want adventurers to save them from the night demon army
4 A cricket man has come from the deeps and is looking for adventurers to free his cavern from a invasion of scorpions and spiders. He has samples of gold and strange magic tablets and gems as samples of his homeland wealth
5 Goblins have come to humans crying about monsters taken over their fungus cavern. They want to hire a big human or several and will pay with magic mushrooms
6 Frogmen have kidnapped all the baby crickets from a creche and the cricketmen want help against the fiendish frogs
7 A young cricket was an apprentice or a staghorn beetleman demonologist. Demons escaped and have taken over the tower and eaten the master. The young cricket iss concerned the demons will get hungry and harm locals. They don't seem to be listening and run away screaming as if he were the demon
8 A cricket dandy has been trying to teach a wood golem boy right from wrong and the boy has been kidnapped to be used as a slave. The cricket wants someone to help the boy because it is the right thing to do
9 In a hollow by the creek a cricket man band have been playing their loud strange music at night and drinking. Most locals are unimpressed but hipster bards have been visiting and they are even worse. The locals want someone to lead their mob to get rid of all the culture from their area. The bards will pay more to protect the crickets
10 Cricketmen have made a elaborate tunnel complex and goblins want it. The fight has raged for months and now goblins and crickets are fighting in in the street at night trying to outflank each others tunnel complexes. The humans are getting fed up and dont really want either of them
11 A shanty town of insect people has sprung up led by the leader Old Jim. More and more bugs have joined in and a cross pollination of bug culture unseen in aeons is happening. The local noble wants the non tax paying freeloaders gone. Some humans think it a chance to learn about bugs and some scholars and merchants want the town to grow
12 A savage tribe of albino cricketmen from the depths are surfacing looking for victims to sacrifice their insect demon god. As they snatch outcastes nobody has objected but a old murder hobo was attacked and killed three of them and found gold medallions on them. He wants to assemble a team to descend and rob and kill the tribe
More adorable naked molerat links
https://monster-man-08.deviantart.com/art/Queen-Under-the-Molehill-507113380
Highland
Aquatic
d12 Underland
1 Batmen
2 Spidermen
3 Newtmen
4 Axolotlmen
6 Salamandermen
7 Slugmen
8 Wormmen
9 Moleratmen
10 Termitemen
11 Armadillomen
12 Cricketmen
Batmen
Hideous cave dwellers who mostly come out at night. Humans fear them because in ancient times thew were conquerors and part of the great monster empire. They also have links to vampirism with some tribes eating blood and worshiping the vampire bat goddess one of the great underground evils. Her pyramids are found in jungles and hidden places from when her cult murdered thousands to appease her lust. Some go the next step and become supernatural undead vampires and not just blood drinkers. Many worship and mate with demons also and can be found populating the abyss. Some are content eating bugs and some more harmless ones only eat fruit but they don't appear in non tropical areas. You may hear them screaching to spread terror but also for their echo location. Most batmen are now flightless with only some of the greater ones regaining the power of flight or at least gliding. The even have breeds of flightless bat creatures for hunting pets and beasts of burden. Sailors have found islands where every mammal niche has been filled by bats. Many bats also gain mutations from their cults or the people they eat or the strange glowing cave lights of underland. They are poor at communicating with humans and very alien. Most are black with some brown, or red for fruit bats and occasional white ghost bats. The do have eyes they just don't need or depend on them but are handy to read non engraved texts. They are impressive climbers and enjoy hanging upside down with their cohorts screeching madly.
d12 Batmen Troubles
1 Batmen raiders by night have been kidnapping people for the rites of their horrid blood goddess. Somewhere nearby a rockslide has opened a cave temple releasing them
2 Something has moved into the village well and makes horrid screaming noises and stealing sheep
3 Old farmer Bill has been tormented by night creatures screetching his name from the darkness at night and tormenting him. Whatever the things are they have been killing his dogs and vandalizing his farm every night
4 A scholar has found a manual showing the savage bat men at worship and bloody sacrifice. He has heard rumours of a cave complex and would like to hire escorts to see if the batmen still act out their ancient rites or have degenerated over the aeons
5 A villager has raised a batman since a baby he found and the creature is an asset to the community killing foxes and wolves. Now wild batmen have been coming by night trying to get it to leave and join it's lost family and enter the embrace of their horrible goddess. The bat child would rather live with his human friends
6 A orchard community has been plagued by nocturnal fruit theft. In some nearby forest the adorable vegetarian fruitbat me live in tree houses. They may be negotiated with for trade but the humans for the moment are horrified out of fear and ignorance
7 A farmer has found a stone lid and opened a strange passage. Now since the seal is broken screeching night demon things have raided every night and simply resealing the hole and burying it has not helped
8 Sewer workers have discovered bloody alien graffiti under the city drainways and many dead rat men. The city sewer clerk has decreed explorers must find the new threats
10 A rural temple of the sun god collapsed into a sinkhole. Rescuers went in to see if they could find the priests but found them all missing. Tunnels indicate the area was undermined and the priests kidnapped
11 Dwarves are looking for adventurers to help them raid the temple cult of the batmen who have kidnapped dwarven children as hostages in their attempt to take over the dwarf mining complex
12 Some explorers found a cave recently under a waterfall with easily a thousand human skeletons, remains of where ancient batmen have discarded their sacrifices for generations. The locals want revenge and are hiring adventurers to clean out the fiends
Newtmen
Are a race of crested newts, at home near water and caves. They are black and grey spotted with crests on their heads down to tails. There is a smaller race halfnewts or newtlings that humans long exploited as slaves and food brought from Islands many centuries ago. Some of these escaped into drains and rivers and have grown from improved diets left alone into human sized race they are today. Some say there were subterranean tribes full sized aeons ago that have come from the depths. Whatever the case Newtmen are over being shy and not pleased with humans mistreatment of them. Highly industrious and willing to use their former slave skills they can build underwater domes with air they can hide in close to humans in large numbers. Preferring elemental gods they are naturally friendly to water elementals but some have heretically turned to fire elementals and lost their amphibian abilities to dwell in volcanic wastelands where humans wont go. They once had a misguided attempt to flood the world by melting all the ice but this was foiled. While many newts are wary of humans and happy to hide others feel they must stop the spread of man. if they can cause a flood with their aquatic engineering skills they will before attacking. Waterways and wetlands are their prefered habitats so they prey on human there first.The biggest threat from newts is their ability to retreat to where humans cannot go and breed huge numbers rapidly. Mostly they restrain their population for food reasons but war is something they are willing to be patient with. They can hide still for days and wait in water quite close without humans knowing. In some places newts and humans have friendly relations and can be dealt with fairly for trade. Sometimes in a city you can find newts working on docks.
d12 Newtmen Troubles
1 A rural town where the newt feast festival has attracted visitors for decades has reported many locals newt trappers have vanished and many visitors seem to have never arrived.
2 With heavy rains this winter newts have spread over the countryside. Locals are alarmed and calling for their extermination against the godless horrors
3 A wizard has been breeding newts in his hidden valley recognising his ability to produce a large army in only years. The newts don't really like him but he charm their leaders and the holy newt mother. A newt child has escaped and hopes to find humans who would rather help than blame the newts
4 A zealous newt messiah has made a pact with ancient evil newt elemental. His prepares a army while the elemental patron has been sending it's age old human cult to teach the newts magic and corrupt human society with elder newt chaos magic
5 A human wizard has discovered means to graft newt limbs onto crippled humans. As newts regenerate he thinks this is quite humane. Many humans and newts are horrified and want him dead while others are willing to pay for the treatment
6 A bandit has raised a generation of newts to replace his gang, the newts don't even understand money or what is happening
7 Human criminals have entered the sacred spawning pools and stolen thousands of eggs they plan to eat or sell to slavers
8 Fire newts and water newts have made a formal agreement to cooperate against humans living between their colonies
9 Newts have been croaking lots in the swamplands and local humans are worried the newts might be mad at them for their newt leather industry and want help to a preemptive attack on them
10 Lake placid used to be a popular fishing place but since newt slaves escaped it has turned into a centre for newt aggression. They seemed to have built a floating town with underwater domes and local humans want someone to find out what the newts are up to
11 A marsh village has been fighting newts for generations but the newts are out breeding humans in the long run and a human priest wants negotiators to speak terms with the newts before it is too late
12 A chef wants to cook some newts for a customer but the only ones to be found work at the docks and fisheries and are gainfully employed. So he will pay you to kidnap and murder some in secret and will even let you taste some
Axolotlemen
These exotic foreign relatives of newts and salamanders were brought over from a distant jungle land but some say they were also living in caves deep beneath the earth. They are black or gold or pink albinos. Best not to confuse them with their kin as they are quite different in many ways. Even their kin races think of them as immature and childish. The main difference is they have gills on the sides of their heads and they are more aquatic even preferring to be immersed but will briefly go onland to raid for sacrifices. The truth is they crazed psychopathic cultists, spawn of their bloodthirsty storm and lake god who craves human hearts. When explorers first found their babies and took them home to be slaves they had no idea each one was inborn with fanatic hatred in service of their god. As soon as they are old enough to walk on land they begin to make flint knives, spears and macuahuitl war clubs. While the first who escaped went on killing sprees when mature others more isolated built step pyramids then went on raids to obtain sacrifices. With no redeemable features most people live in fear of them but some do eat them if they happen to kill them. On rare occasions they speak they claim to be part of their god.
d12 Axalotlemen Troubles
1 Locals have been vanishing for months up river and someone has seen a strange blood covered pyramid structure on the waters edge. Adventurers are being hired to investigate
2 Locals by the wharf have become fearful and fishing has stopped since axolotls have been biting off limbs and drowning people and food prices have doubled
3 Numerous ships have been sunk recently and explorers finally found the wrecks covered in blood and sailors body parts. Something had used the body parts to paint gory alien script on the decks. All signs point to a island surrounded by reefs as the source of the killers
4 A missing boy appeared of late claiming strange pink slimy tailed men kidnapped him but he was spared from sacrifice because he had a birthmark. He tells of piles of burning corpses and blood spattered temples an piles of gold. If only some adventurers would investigate
5 A scholar has kept a axolotl in a cage for months trying to speak with it and all he has got for his troubles is prayers for it's blood hungry god. Recently it escaped into the sewer and the scholar wants it back
6 A pilgrim went into a axolotl domain hoping to convert them but instead the convinced him. Now he lures visitors to their temple with offers of gold where they are murdered. Victims families want them stopped
7 A fisherman captured many baby axolotls and took them to the city but nobody found them appealing so he flushed them down a drain. Now months later they have begun raiding the surface killing and eating and murdering
8 A village has reported new pink walking fish in the river having come from up stream. A wise man identified them and a expedition is being sent to mind the colony so the military can finish them
9 At night pale creatures have crept from a well and kidnapped multiple locals. A rescue party are needed
10 A blood stained map to a deep cavern filled with gold temples has surfaced
11 Strange weapons were found by a blood tainted pool by travellers looking for a missing friend. They offer a reward for recovery of their comrade
12 Hundreds of severed hands have washed up in recent months on the river banks and the people are alarmed. Adventurers are being hired to investigate
Salamandermen
A dreamy, quiet creatures with often bright piebald patches of colour. Less aquatic than their newt or axolotl kin they rely on their toxic hallucinogenic skin. At home in the deep caverns swamps or forests they are often well hidden and shy. They are prone to spending time enjoying narcotics and in mystical trance states, dreaming of past lives and other worlds. Many make contact on their astral travels with strange powers and many salamanders are practitioners of sorcery or wizardry or even priests of strange cults or druids. Some talk about otherworldly beings as personal acquaintances. Salamanders don't tend to bother humans much and avoid them. They are not very materialistic, interested in power or human affairs but might be motivated by philosophy of planar alignments or cosmic or natural order. Salamanders socially discus philosophy and often sit about in collective lairs taking narcotics or in meditation. As some are quite ancient they may have esoteric knowledge. Some human magicians might consult them and because of their narcotic filled flesh they are poor eating. Some humans like to lick newts but most find a it a terrifying mind warping ordeal. Some are found visiting strange places nobody expects. Like giant cloud cities, exotic jungle ruins, in deep caves or black lotus dens. How they get there they don't explain.
d12 Salamandermen Troubles
1 A drug cult and a philosophy school have been feuding over company of a salamander. It has escalated to the point where both sides consider violence while the salamander can barely tell the difference between being licked by addicts or talking philosophy with humans
2 A cult have been drinking spring water runoff from a cave of salamanders. They have declared the spring holy and are building a shrine on it and making increasingly bizarre declarations
3 A salamander wizard has been teaching commoners magic unconcerned with human status or the regulated world of human wizards. Local villagers love the salamander and students because they seem more devoted to helping common folk. Proper wizards don't approve
4 Students have been crawling deep into a dangerous cave complex to visit a ancient salamander. Parents and teachers are increasingly wondering what they are learning
5 A religious group don't approve of salamanders inciting esoteric philosophy and drug abuse and will pay to have them chased out of the area
6 A great planar threat has been brewing for aeons and human priests and wizards need adventurers to visit a salamander enclave in a far off place to question them about the threat
7 Strange creatures from human dreams have been entering the waking world. At first they were just phantoms then real. Experts need the great old salamander of the mountains to explain why and help stop the threat
8 A drug dealer has had all his clients run off to follow a salamander instead of black lotus and he wants assassins to kill the amphibian trouble maker
9 A salamander has become a faculty advisor in the university and rival scholars are outraged and want it dead
10 A great once a century meeting of salamanders in a cave has atracted a gang of axolotl killers to interfere at bequest of their brutal god. A druid seeks adventurers to protect them and his sect has done so for a thousand years
11 A noble maiden has been having dreams where a salamander is trying to warn her about something. A dream sage scholar heard and could name the salamander and the family want someone to visit the creature to make sure
12 A salamander book of prophecies and planar metaphysics has been published and it has offended some cultists. Turns out a human stole the manuscript and translated it. The salamander wants the book back to avoid troubles and has been calling on elemental gods to retrieve it which has terrified the publisher
Slugmen
These slimy primordial beings colonised the surface and built civilization long before vertebrates. They are canny merchants, traders and sometimes crimelords. Now they prefer to have other races work for them and provide vice and entertainment and interesting food. Slugmen are patient but faster races have inspired them to position themselves among the wealthy merchant and ruling castes. They quite enjoy watching more ambulant creatures fight ans squabble. They let their infants run wild but they return when older and able to speak and older slugs adopt them into clans. Adults select youth for attractiveness, colour or talent. Then the young are kept in clan pits under the watch of elderly slugs who are losing their vigor. Many youths don't survive cruel tests and when near adult they are apprenticed to a senior slug or made servants in a slug house-clan. Able slugs will be kept close to the clan leaders so elders can steal the glory of competent underlings achievements. Slug leaders like to move as little as possible and surround themselves with luxury becoming more obese. Underling slugs do the dirty work or overseer other race slaves and gladiators or eunuch soldiers. Slugs have become increasingly cosmopolitan and their cities have more vassal races than slugs and they happily live in human cities. Aquatic slugs are more alien. The cities the have in the deeps are more slug populated and tend to worship more horrible dark demon gods. They claim credit for many decadent vices, tea and spiced wine. Too much alcohol can be fatal but they love it so they prefer lotus resin, hash and poppies for every day binges. Some humans find slugs grotesque and corrupt and declare them enemies of man. Some are hermaphrodites, some male or female and some change gender.
d12 Slugmen Troubles
1 A bloated slug drug merchant needs adventurers to recover his stolen waggon of resin and will pay in silver or narcotics
2 Two rival slug bosses are pitting gladiators against each other. Each is looking to wound the rivals fighter before the fight by bribed guards, poison, overzealous sparring parners or any dirty tricks adventurers can come up with to rig the fight
3 Ancient slug documents describing long ignored demonic rites have been stolen and the slug scholar thinks a human cult might try the blasphemous rituals
4 A slug crimelord in his perfumed pleasure garden has been murdered and slugs want to hire investigators to make sure it was just a rival slug lord. If it was a non slug they want the murderers killed to send a message to slug enemies
5 Slug dandies in a tea house have made a bet to hire a adventurer party each and send them on the same mission for a laugh
6 Orcs have mined up from the earth in service to a demon slugman cult stronghond in the underland. The orcs are raiding food that is considered rare in the deep
7 A wise old slugman priest requires sacred tea fo rituals stolen by bandits. He promises the thanks of the local slug people if they help fight the bandits and recover the tea
8 A secret cult of evil slug men wizards are seeking to bring through a elder slug demon to rule and unite their race. A moderate slugman merchant wants to pay humans to kill them all
9 A slug holy person has been imprisoned in a salt mine for ransom and it's followers will pay for a rescue. It will be tricky getting them out and the slug is prone to cowardly screams and squeals and is used to being papered
10 Slugmen merchant caravan has been pinned in a canyon for days by vicious flailsnails and a local business slug will pay for a rescue
11 A slave gladiator school has wrongfully escaped and the slug master wants the rascals captured. He is offering improved work conditions, more drugs and tea breaks if they return before he has them declared outlaws. He hires adventurers to find them and make them his offer
12 Slugman merchants wish to hire adventurers to travel with them to their far away homeland. Offering unparallelled pleasure, adventure and wealth beyond wildest dreams is on offer
Wormmen
Wormmen come on many breeds but most are kin to common earth worms. The most horrible ones are kin to parasitic worms such as tapeworms, heartworms, etc. Some are more segmented with semi rigid scaly skin. Marine varieties also exist in fresh and salt water but the ones that most frequently interact with humans are kin to the common earthworm. Most are pink but can be black, grey or brown depending on where they live. Most come from the great depths feeding of decayed matter washed into the underland by water. They cope with darkness and being smothered in earth quite well. Wormfolk frequently dwell in deep caves and often serve other races. Wormkind were once one of the great powers in the early days of the pre human monster empire but they were usurped and reduced to slaves and food mostly. Bat and Mole men are among their greatest tormentors. Worms hate the surface world suffering agoraphobia but might raid the surface by night on a urgent missio or requested by their masters. Worms are among the most alien of beastmen and their language is ancient and inexplicable. As they vary from horrible corpse eaters to peaceful wanderers by demeanor it can difficult to predict what any group will act like. Some worship demon elder worm gods of the underworld others worship a peaceful worm mother goddess. As some worms are passive they make excellent baggage handlers in the underland but best not accidentally recruit the flesh eating chaos cult ones by accident. While humanoid by definition of beastmen they're eyes are barley visible. Their heads seem blank faced round fleshy sacks. When their mouths open from nowhere most are surprised. Some of the more horrible types have a single huge tooth or many and can hang their whole body from their mouths while feeding..
d12 Wormmen Troubles
1 A wizard requires exotic materials from the deep dark and his hired adventurers and worm baggage handlers for the expedition. He says the worms are trustworthy stupid creatures who work for excrement
2 A sickly titan crawls out of the sea begging for help - he is infested by tribes of various worm men and wants someone to crawl in his body and kill them. He is seemingly bigger on the inside being a divine being
3 Something horrible has infested the sewer system and is attacking people through the privies and outhouses and snatching sewer workers and people are outraged
4 On the edge of town worm men have been thriving in the midden pits and have set up a village. Locals are offended about these lazy freeloaders and now demand pay for their garbage and the worm men are angry and hungry
5 A cult of white worm men living in the hills are led by a human sorceress. The cult have been devouring people and some say they have a paralytic pite
6 A horde of hungry worm folk have invaded a underland settlement of mixed races who gather for trade. The voracious worms are relentless and unless some one helps this spark of civilization will end
7 A horrible tribe of worm men have moved under beach sand and are snatching beach combers and fishermen. If not stopped this local resource will end
8 Horrible creatures have been roaming at night snatching dogs, animals and stealing. A local found some strange loose earth tunnels that seem fresh
9 A tribe of glowing worm folk have been enslaved by miners who find them good workers and even dead their hacked up corpses and blood make great lamps. The foreman is so impressed he wants to spread his methods. A druid has found out ans is apalled
10 Worm men have been trading with locals swapping gold for animal feces and food scraps for years in secret. One of the traders is curious about life in the deep and where the gold comes from and wants some adventurers to follow them
11 A tribe of worms recently ate the corpse of cultists who were killed and burried by the mob. Now the worms are acting just like the cultists and performing the same rites and using black magic
12 Worshipers of the devouring worm god who eats all have called a tribe of wormmen to their aid. With these doughy beastmen troops have been raiding for sacrifices and stealing garbage
Moleratmen
Very different to normal ratmen these hairless beastmen with tiny eyes and huge teeth are strict matriarchs. The queen rat produces hormones that suppress other females from reproducing and rules with a iron paw. They are very capable miners and can survive with much less oxygen. Occasionally a young couple in love flee the tribe and start a new colony. Sometimes a member will swap colonies and this helps the bloodlines and spread culture and technology. Mostly humans don;t even know they exist but find them repulsive and assume the worse when they discover a tribe under their feet. They don't tolerate normal ratmen and are less interested in filth, disease and garbage so don't get along with ratmen or their gods. They have their own rat goddesses which are mostly interested in molerat business. Sometimes a colony expands into a dungeon and goes to war with the inhabitants till one side is exterminated. A pair will often escape and start the process again. They regard reptilians as their main enemies. In ancient times they were allied with batmen and worked as sappers in their armies of bloody conquest. Some say there were moleratmen and batmen hybrids which were probably disgusting. A smaller breed of moleratlings exist also but they are more shy and avoid the surface. They may have dog and cow size non intelligent molerat domestic animals. Molerats have no special hatred or grudges against human kind, they find humans more likable than many other humanoids. This feeling is not often reciprocated by humans. Molerat airs are often cramped crawlspaces low in oxygen which doesn't bother them but helps keeps out intruders. They farm tubers and have little need of anything outside their lairs. They are willing to trade for food and some colonies swap metal nuggets and truffles for finished metal goods like weapons. Trading with humans has proved difficult due to misunderstanding.
d12 Moleratmen Troubles
1 Local goblins have fled their dungeon complex in terror from invading molerats conquering their dungeon. The desperate goblins have been attacking travellers out of desperation
2 Some farmers found a molerat burrow and saw some of the creatures. They have reported the horrors they saw to the sheriff and he now is looking for adventurers to investigate this threat that must be chaos horrors
3 A cheerful young molerat out exploring the surface has been captured by terrified farmers. A scholar has been talking to the cheekie chappie and wants a expedition to meet and return to their maze to trade
4 Dwarves have mined their way into a rat maze and have been fighting. One dwarf has realized the rats are intelligent and wants to broker peace trading food for minerals but wants adventurers to help him bring peace
5 A sole survivor from the deep has found a cave ruled by batmen with a gold covered pyramid guarded by molerats. The survivor has raised funds for a return expedition and believes the molerats can be turned against the bat overlords
6 A miner has kidnapped a molerat queen and is forcing them to mine for him. A young molerat has escaped and seeks help but has been put in a cage by a freakshow
7 A tribe of molerat raiders who worship a demon have undermined a village and dragged down the inhabitants to sacrifice and devour. A villager came home to find a rubble filled pit.
8 Molerats have decided to colonise a city sewer system and have been fighting the regular ratmen. Humans are mostly ignorant but recently they have begun to fight on the surface. Townsfolk are perplexed and unsure which is better or what to do in response
9 Molerats have accidently discovered a dungeon complex long forgotten. The queen wants some humans to clean it out and has sent messenger bats with scrolls in the elder tongue of the monster empire to recruit adventurers. So far humans don't seem to get it
10 Locals in a settlement have had no children in years for some reason. A diviner said to look underground and dug into a tunnel complex. Frightened villagers offer a large pig to adventurers who solve the problem
11 A hillside has crumbled and collapsed revealing tunnels and passages. Local children went exploring and have not come back
12 A disease has killed the tubers that molerats farm and the colony have become hungry. So they have burrowed under a local farm and stolen human crops. Farmers are perplexed and now livestock have vanished and stores in their barn. The local magistrate has called for investigators to solve the mystery
Termitemen
Termite men eat wood and mix the excreted pulp with dirt and syliva to make concrete like organic looking citadels up to ten stories high. The sub levels are huge open spaces with specialized functions. Some keep their cities beneath the ground to be secrets and have long passages to hide the real locations. Related to ants they are colonial insect men with strict caste system including workers, warriors and queens. The prefer wood but will eat intruders or anything dead they take advantage of. Some grow fungus crops also. The are quite alien to humans and conflicts and misunderstandings frequently occur even though they are not especially aggressive. Eating houses, wooden forts and ships tend to annoy humans which often starts fights. Sometimes the burrow into a mine and eat all the scaffolding of foundations of a whole wooden town. They may nor be wilfully malicious but can get territorial and will plot to steal your wood, barley aware of obstacles. Some wizards have employed them to build them towers with a alien organic feel. Termites besides their natural building materials are master carpenters and make quality secret doors
d12 Termitemen Troubles
1 Two different tribes of termites have gone to war (red and yellow tribes) and humans in between are just in the way of resources and territory. When there was only one tribe they seemed more peaceful when there was only on tribe
2 Local ants and termites have gone to war undermining the region in tunnels and sinkholes opening all over the area
3 Something at night has been chewing on boats and nets and the night watch has only heard gnawing sounds
4 Slowly strange towers have risen out of the forest bewildering locals who have no idea what it could be
5 A great flood came down the river and investigators are promptly needed. Upriver beavermen and termite men have been fighting
6 Wounded elves with a dead dryad flee the forest. Some hideous monsters ate their sacred trees!
7 Ghouls and termitemen have been co habiting a maze complex and digging into the graveyard sharing the coffins and corpses
8 The local guildhall has been finding all their antique furniture and wooden railings disappear. Each night the phantom woodnapper takes more historic antiques and the guards are bewildered
9 The middle of a farm on the edge of a forest has been growing a huge mound. The farmer hears weird chitter noise inside and now a opening has appeared and he wants adventurers to check it out
10 A bandits have been attacking stockades and the walls have been falling down by themselves and later there is no sign of the wooden buildings. Nobody can explain the mystery
11 A farmer was drying his special medicinal herbs in his barn and something large burrowed in and stole the whole stash. He needs some discreet adventurers to get it back and a bonus if the thieves never come back
12 Termite men have alway lived in rocky woodlands but recently they have begun connecting their tower mounds with walls and dividing the forest like a fortified walls
Armadillomen
Armadillow men are a burrowing race with mighty digging claws and a semi plastron shell. Some breeds can roll into a armoured ball and leap to their feet instantly. The Glyptodon tribe are bigger with stronger shells and club tails. Giant ones lived in the past leaving tunnels throughout the countryside used by other creature as lairs. Smaller ones armourdilings and are mostly mostly harmless. Most of them are a harmless and defencive but if attacked they are aggressive. They use teamwork.and stop running to defend each other. A small number of them are cursed with a flesh rotting disease and eventually become mummies. They dig underground near the surface but long lost tribes of albino ones dug too deep aeons ago. They live in family burrow complexes and tunnels they defend efficiently. They compete with other burrowing subsurface beastmen like mole men, ratmen, badgermen or others. They also compete with dwarves but might live with gnomes. They are suspicious of underland races of the deep dark and the surface dweller. A colony might vary in disposition from kind and just to suspicious and mean.
d12 ArmadillomenTroubles
1 A diseased evil armadillo colony have become a cultists dedicated to the spread of the rot
2 Begun digging and found a dungeon. Decided to get top quality but cheap murder hobos to take care of the problem.
3 Armadillo and batmen have been fighting over a tunel and other near surface races are feuding and raiding also turning area into a no mans land of muddy trenches of collapsed tunnels
4 Armadillo bandits have been holding up waggons of vegetables. The farmers want them stopped but the merchants see an oportunity to trade with armadillos
5 A clan of albino deep cave armadillos have discovered the long lost surface and the delicious food it has to offer. Farmers are less impressed and have called the wrath of Boggrump the turnip god. Now the are is full of turnip headed goblin men turning their fields into a fortified area they wont even let humans. The priest hopes some diplomatic decision can be reached
6 Slave armadillos have escaped the mine the work in and tunneled away into a underland cave complex. The owner wants to follow and try to get them back offering a reward
7 In the mountains the armadillos have built a cliff town of pueblos inaccessible to threats and harm. Local villagers are a bit threatened and jealous by the non human community
8 Locals have noticed strange armoured spheres rolling about avoiding curious onlookers. Locals wonder what the creatures are and offer a prize pumpkin to whoever finds out
9 A bitter one eyed armadillo is the last survivor of a enslaved tribe. He has vowed revenge and has been murdering travellers. He is not even sure if his people are alive or where to find them. If they can be helped he is willing to pay for his crimes
10 Armadillos have been paid to clear out a mountain trail collapsed in a quake. They have made good progress but have returned to their camp afraid of something they have dug up
11 Armadillo men are working on digging a major highway tunnel to the underland for trade and hope to charge a toll and trade with travellers for wealth
12 A armadillo emissary has visited area inviting people to employ his tribe for engineering projects. Already they have been plowing fields for some locals. Several unemployed oxmen and horsemen are not amused losing work
Cricketmen
These creepy looking bug men look horrorfying but are mostly harmless. They will defend a lair but mostly eat decaying plant matter, fungus and animal remains rather than kill to eat. They can make loud chirping noises, leap, cope well in darkness and are themselves popular food for other creatures. Some have turned to chaos to gain power so they no longer feel fear. Crickets are very wary and prone to anxiety and mild paranoia. They dwell in caves but might forage at night on the surface. Deepest dwellers are albinos. You can hear them chirping and relaying messages over miles of cavern before meeting them and they will accept pay to send messages for other races. They are reasonably technologically talented and will use weapons as used by local humans or craft flint spears and make bows and arrows if it is all they can find. A squad of veteran cricket halberdiers can be quite menacing. They are good miners and will trade minerals and fungus from their farms for goods they cant get themselves. People are quite surprised how civilized they can be. Some have even used gunpowder and learned sophisticated fencing. They are not too needy and enjoy relaxing as providing for their needs is easy so they have time for leisure and luxury unlike other bugs. Some humans have got gangs of cricket workers with food and drugs and grog to work for them easily. Mole crickets are more hideous, wrinkly and have powerful digging claws instead of manipulating limbs. They often work for their shiny black cousins as workers. They regard grasshoppers and locusts as kin but scoff at their on cricket behaviour.
d12 CricketmenTroubles
1 Horrible chirping noises are keeping the village awake and disturbing babies
2 Farm children found a hole and saw a hideous creature inside so they ran home screaming about demons
3 Cricketmen traders from the deep have bben tapping on peoples doors at night to trade but the humans seem to scream and pretend they are not in. Now the villagers want adventurers to save them from the night demon army
4 A cricket man has come from the deeps and is looking for adventurers to free his cavern from a invasion of scorpions and spiders. He has samples of gold and strange magic tablets and gems as samples of his homeland wealth
5 Goblins have come to humans crying about monsters taken over their fungus cavern. They want to hire a big human or several and will pay with magic mushrooms
6 Frogmen have kidnapped all the baby crickets from a creche and the cricketmen want help against the fiendish frogs
7 A young cricket was an apprentice or a staghorn beetleman demonologist. Demons escaped and have taken over the tower and eaten the master. The young cricket iss concerned the demons will get hungry and harm locals. They don't seem to be listening and run away screaming as if he were the demon
8 A cricket dandy has been trying to teach a wood golem boy right from wrong and the boy has been kidnapped to be used as a slave. The cricket wants someone to help the boy because it is the right thing to do
9 In a hollow by the creek a cricket man band have been playing their loud strange music at night and drinking. Most locals are unimpressed but hipster bards have been visiting and they are even worse. The locals want someone to lead their mob to get rid of all the culture from their area. The bards will pay more to protect the crickets
10 Cricketmen have made a elaborate tunnel complex and goblins want it. The fight has raged for months and now goblins and crickets are fighting in in the street at night trying to outflank each others tunnel complexes. The humans are getting fed up and dont really want either of them
11 A shanty town of insect people has sprung up led by the leader Old Jim. More and more bugs have joined in and a cross pollination of bug culture unseen in aeons is happening. The local noble wants the non tax paying freeloaders gone. Some humans think it a chance to learn about bugs and some scholars and merchants want the town to grow
12 A savage tribe of albino cricketmen from the depths are surfacing looking for victims to sacrifice their insect demon god. As they snatch outcastes nobody has objected but a old murder hobo was attacked and killed three of them and found gold medallions on them. He wants to assemble a team to descend and rob and kill the tribe
More adorable naked molerat links
https://monster-man-08.deviantart.com/art/Queen-Under-the-Molehill-507113380
I love the beastman posts. More more !
ReplyDeleteThe picture at the top is gold too it shosw the genus homo have been real jerks for some time now.
will be more but they take a bit more work and research
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