Fiend Factory 5E. White Dwarf 41: Zrunta Mountainheart (Inhuman Gods Part III)

Issue 41 Zrunta Mountainheart

 

Phil Masters’ “Inhuman Gods” series continues in Part III, from Frostmen to Mountain Giants, providing Deities and Demigods style stats for gods of races that have appeared in this column and in the Fiend Folio.

 

First up, the Frostmen from the Fiend Folio, who look like regular humans that emanate cold, and can shoot frost rays from an eye which they normally keep covered with an eye patch – kind of like a cold-based version of Balor the Fomorian of Cletic myth, or Cyclops from the X-Men.

The god that Phil gives the Frostmen also gives them a neat origins story, suggesting that they were created from human stock as a reward for worshipping this entity, known as Kraada. Kraada is a hulking crab-like creature with a single eye, and a predictable array of cold-based powers. It’s also hinted that Kraada might be the offspring of Cryonax, the Prince of Elemental Evil Cold, from the Fiend Folio. It’s okay, but generally I find the frost-men uninspiring.

 

The Greenmen, Brendan Bulger’s take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ green martians, get a demigod called Carratriatuh, and it feels a little like Phil lacked inspiration since this entity is just a vaguely idealised version of the green-man, a wandering warrior exemplar that comes and goes at will. Phil also handwaves that the greenmen don’t have a very developed mythology. I can see the value in a kind of vague figure as this (kind of like Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name writ large), but it doesn’t make it very interesting to stat up. Although perhaps the one that I did do is similar.

 

The Grimlocks worship any old evil entity, but Phil gives us one of their favourites – Klagg. Klagg is a daemon, or yugoloth as they are now known, a hunched, rotting humanoid figure with claws and decaying skin. Although Klagg can shred with his claws and has magical powers, mainly to do with decay, it likes to lie and manipulate. Again, another potentially useful “boss” monster, and suitably loathsome.

 

Finally, the Lava Children from the Fiend Folio have an interesting pair of gods – Halnass the Fire Father, and Quorggg the Earth Mother. These two have been imprisoned on their respected elemental planes for their forbidden love (that created the lava children), and the lava children seek ultimately to bring their creators back together again – it’s hinted that this would be a bad thing for the cosmos, which would be a neat campaign backdrop. Unfortunate, then, that lava children are such a goofy concept, but one could perhaps re-tool them to not look like Alfred E Neumann from MAD magazine.

 

In the end, I chose the god of the Mountain Giants – Zrunta Mountainheart. Partly because he’s got a cool name, but he’d also be very useable as a giant hero figure rather than a god as such. The mountain giants, by the way, are not very exciting; they feel like something in between stone giants and hill giants, without the clear identity of either, so, use one or the other in their place.

 

Zrunta is a very good example of an exemplar deity, hence I chose him; he’s also really simple in terms of statistics, pretty much a big, tough, legendary giant. This is one case so far where I’ve taken into account the spellcasting powers of the Deities and Demigods style stat block – I’ve given Zrunta clerical spellcasting (with some earth/mountain themed wizard and druid spells folded in).

 

The rest is a pretty straightforward conversion, although I’ve added the “Mountainheart” ability based on some of the spell immunities, as well as Bolster Giants to make Zrunta more of a leader figure.

Zrunta Mountainheart

Huge giant, chaotic neutral

Armour Class 20 (natural armour) Hit Points 325 (26d12 + 156) Speed 50 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 25 (+7) 19 (+4) 23 (+6) 20 (+5) 16 (+3) 15 (+2)

Proficiency Bonus +6 Saving Throws Str +13, Con +12, Wis +9 Skills Intimidation +14, Perception +15, Survival +15 Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened Senses passive Perception 25

Languages Common, Giant

Challenge 18 (20,000 XP)

Bolster Giants. All giants within 60 feet of Zrunta gain a +2 bonus to their Armour Class and damage rolls as long as Zrunta is conscious. Legendary Resistance (3/day). If Zrunta fails a saving throw he can elect instead to succeed. Magic Resistance. Zrunta has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Mountainheart.  Zrunta is unaffected by phenomena such as avalanches, rockfalls and earthquakes, either natural or magically induced. He takes no damage and is unaffected by any conditions caused by such phenomena. If buried or trapped, he can spend 5 feet of movement to free himself on his turn. Summon Allies (1/day). As a bonus action, Zrunta can summon 1d4 of his sons, who appear immediately in an unoccupied space within 90 feet. The Sons of Zrunta are mountain giants with maximum hit points and a +2 bonus to attack rolls and saving throws (use stone giant stats). Alternatively, Zrunta can call either 1d4 +1 stone giants (mountain giants), 1d6 + 2 hill giants, 6d6 ogres or 4d4 trolls. These creatures arrive in 1d3 rounds at the start of Zrunta’s turn. Spellcasting. Zrunta is an 8th level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). Zrunta knows the following spells which he prepares and casts as a cleric: Cantrips (at will): guidance, mending, resistance, true strike 1st level (4 slots): command, cure wounds, fog cloud*, inflict wounds,                      sanctuary,  thunderwave* 2nd level (3 slots): aid, maximilian’s earthen grasp*, pass without trace*, silence, spiritual weapon 3rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, erupting earth, lightning bolt*, meld into stone, sleet storm* 4th level (2 slots): hallucinatory terrain, ice storm*, stoneskin, stone shape*   ACTIONS

Multiattack. Zrunta makes two club attacks. Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 34 (5d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage. Thrown Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, range 30/300 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (4d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage.   LEGENDARY ACTIONS

Zrunta can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Zrunta regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Detect. Zrunta makes a Wisdom (Perception) check. Club. Zrunta makes a club attack. Tremor (costs 2 actions). Zrunta causes the earth to shake. All creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. Zrunta can choose to exclude his allies from this effect.