Creatures of Shadows over Vathak: Mudwake Boar (5e)

This pdf clocks in at 2 pages, 1 page for the new critter, 1 page for editorial/SRD/etc., so let’s take a look!

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Note: This is imho a boss critter for a horror setting; at challenge 4, this fellow is a tough cookie for the challenge, but that’s how I like it, and its stats do allow clever players to deal with it.

Okay, so, the mudwake boar is actually more interesting than one would expect—and more scary. For one, the creature type is actually “elemental” and the Large boar thus has abilities associated with earth, such as the option to glide through earth and create an aura of mud; coupled with its Aimless Fury (tactical combat/opportunity attacks against this fellow are risky) and the expected Charge, the critter actually does a good job blending themes of a boar and an elemental. The math of the critter is 100% correct, and apart from Multiattack erroneously referring to a gore attack, when that should be tusk, there is nothing to complain about.

As an aside: As somebody who managed to scramble up a tree as a kid when attacked by a wild boar, this thing struck a chord with me. The critter feels “boar-like”, and yet weird; it has this “angry nature spirit” touch, and the combination works well.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good on a formal level, very good on a rules-language level. Layout adheres to a two-column full-color standard, and the critter-artwork by Rick Hershey is nice, but I’d have enjoyed the elemental theme being more pronounced in it. A layer of the like would have really made this shine. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.

Ismael Alvarez’ mudwake boar is a fun critter; it’s a suitable brute for its challenge, and its theme of stupid ferocity is executed well. It didn’t blow me utterly away, but it certainly is worth the low asking price. My final verdict will be 4.5 stars, rounded down.

This critter is totally worth getting for a buck; you can get it here!

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Endzeitgeist out.

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