Nurn monsters overview

Not only Thinkers dwell in Nurna, some other creatures with voice, thought and reason can be found in the lands of the mortal world and in the subtle chaos of the Great Dream. However, they lack gods, Traditions and Commandments, so they are lost to their instincts, the will of the nature, and the maquinations of the Great Dark One. That's why some o f these creatures are known collectivelly as "the Lost Ones" or "the Lost People".

MONSTERS OF NURNA

In this chapter we offer the entire bestiary for Nurna campaigns. First, we will list all the mythological creatures from Precolombine/Native American folklore that can appear in this setting, and which are their equivalent in the http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop/dm-basic-rules and/or the Dungeons&Dragons 5 Monster Manual, but since this campaign was originally made for Pathfinder/Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, you may find some monsters that might not be in the SRD manuals for D&D 5. We hope you won't find any problems until we can repair every fracture in the adaptation process.
Each creature comes with their original mythology, what is its equivalent in the manuals, and a short description on how are they known in Nurna

• Ababinilii (Chickasaw, Fire Elemental): Elven name for fire elementals.


• Adlet (Inuit, Gnoll): dog-people from the frozen coasts of the northern Ronurna.


• Adlivun (Inuit, Ghost): Nunnehi name for ghosts.


• Agloolik (Inuit, Sahuagin): underwater creatures that dwell under the ice.


• Apsat (Wyandot*, see below, Hill Giant): giants that look like a enormous head with long legs and a lot of fluffy hair.


• Bakaak (also Baykok, Ojibwe, Wight): skeletical creatures from the land of the dead, with glowing red eyes.


• Binesi (also Thunderbird; Ojibwe, Roc): giant flying birds that prey on humans, half-orcs and elves.


• Canotila (Lakota, Pixies): sprits of the forest, usually friends with the Nunnehi.


• Chickcharney (Bahamas folklore, Owl Bear): strange creatures that look like a owl with legs and claws. They can be found in the Monsoon Islands, maybe the result of a magical ritual there that gone wrong.


• Chonchon (Mapuche, Vargouille): vampiric creature that looks like a flying head.


• Chupacabra (Puerto Rico folklore, Barghest): vampiric creature that looks like a cross between a gobelin and a dog.


• Giwakwa (Abenaki, Stone Giant): giants with stone skin that dwell in the Woody Mountains of the Ronurna.


• Keelut (Inuit, Yeth Hound): hairless dog that hunts in the icy steppes of the north.


• Mannegishi (Ojibwe, Doppelganger): a strange creature that looks a like an unfinished human.


• Mishispeshu (Objibwe, Displacer Beast): a strange panther-like creature that can live underwater.


• Nanurluk (Inuit, Aquatic Dire Bear): a giant bear that can swin and hunt like a killer whale.


• Ogopogo (Canadian and Northwest Coast Folklore, also Apotamki, Gasyendietha, Haietlik, Naitaka and Tizheruk; Crag, Ice and Tarn Linnorms): giant serpentine creatures that dwell in frozen lakes, caves and swamps throughout the Ronurna. They can speak Kawak.


• Piasa (Missouri folklore, Manticore): a strange creature, mixture of a man, a puma and a bird. It hunts in the mountains.


• Sasquatch (Halkomelem, Ape, Gorilla): ape-like creature from the forests and the mountains.


• Skin Walker (also Diné; Navajo, Lycanthrope): people able to change their skin that of an animal.


• Tlahtecuhtli (Aztec, Tarrasque): a giant dragon-like creature, that sleeps for centuries. Some legends say that Nurna was made from the body of one. It can speak Kawak.


• Tupilak (Inuit, Lemur, Quasit, Imp, Babau): demon that someone can summon in order to harm anyone. They are expert assasins. They speak the Dark Tongue.


• Tlahuelpuchi (Tlaxcalan folklore, Vampire): people affected by the Great Dark One that now need to feed on blood from the living.


• Tzitzimine (Aztec, Marilith): female demons that live in the shadows that left the sundering of the Aztlan continent. They await the Fifth Destruction, and the end of the world.


• Waheela (Cryptozoology, Worg, Winter Wolf): those white worgs that half-orcs from the White Worg Tribe use as mounts.


• Wendigo (Algonqin, Frost Giant): giant cannibalistic monsters from the icy forests of Northern Ronurna.

SUITABLE CREATURES FOR NURNA CAMPAIGNS

Here is a list of other monsters from the Pathfinder Bestiary/Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual that can be found in Nurna:

• Aboleth: creatures from a lost past, maybe the world before the Second or even the First Destruction.


• Ankheg


• Ant, Giant


• Ape (also Dire Ape)


• Assasin Vine


• Basidirond


• Basilisk


• Bat (both Swarm and Dire Bat)


• Bear (also Dire and Grizzly Bear)


• Beetle (also Giant Stag Beetle and Fire Beetle)


• Bugbear


• Cat (you can use the Leopard to represent Jaguars and Pumas)


• Centipede (both Swarm and Giant Centipede)


• Cockatrice: strange creatures from the jungles in the Lanurna.


• Couatl: sacred creature from the Snake Rainforest that the Coatl Tribe uses as totem.


• Crab (both Swarm and Giant Crab)


• Crocodile (both normal and Dire, use it in order to represent Alligators)


• Darkmantle


• Dinosaurs (all types): Lanurnan Jungles are home to many types of giant lizards.


• Dog (also Riding Dog): dogs in Nurna are called "gozque", and look like chihuahuas.


• Eagle (also Giant Eagle): totem of the Eagle Elves.


• Eel (also Giant Moray and Electric)


• Elemental (all types)


• Ettercap: strange creatures that survived from one previous Destruction of the world.


• Flytrap, Giant


• Frog (also Giant and Poison Frogs)


• Goblin: in Nurna, they are called Gobelin** (see below).


• Golem (all types): magical animated statues from old ruins and dwarven temples.


• Griffon: in Nurna, Griffons are the mix of the hawk and the jaguar. This is why they are considered sacred by the Naacal Tribe: they represent their people perfectly as it is the mix of the totem animal of the Sun God Tama-Nui-Te-Ra and the Moon Goddess Mu, patron deities of the Naacal.


• Harpy: usually seen in the Bronze Ridge, these monsters are feared by dwarves.


• Herd Animal (only Bison, not Auroch).


• Hobgoblin: in Nurna they are called Hobgobelin** (see below).


• Kobold: creatures that look like lizards, from the world previous to the Third Destruction. In Nurna they share features with axolotls.


• Kraken: feared giant squid from the seas, usually seen as a manifestation of the sea god Kanaloa.


• Leech (both Swarm and Giant)


• Mummy: dwarves mummify their people, and sometimes they come back to live.


• Octopus (also Giant Octopus)


• Ogre: deformed monsters from the mountains, enemies of the half-orcs.


• Purple Worm: some deserts, like the Salt Desert of the Lanurna, or the No-Sea Desert of the Ronurna, hide this gigantic monsters from times past.


• Scorpion, Giant


• Shark (also Dire Shark): the totem of the halfling Tangaroa Tribe.


• Shocker Lizard


• Shoggoth: some creatures from the forgotten past dwell in the darkest tunnels of eldritch temples...


• Skeleton: the Naacal Tribe believes that some nights skeletons can wake up and dance under the nightsky.


• Slug, Giant


• Snake (also Constrictor and Venomous)


• Spider (also Swarm and Giant Spiders)


• Squid (also Giant Squids)


• Troll: beneath the mountains, some creatures known as trolls live. They were an inteligent race in a forgotten past, but became twisted by The Dark One.


• Violent Fungus


• Wasp (also Swarm and Giant Wasps)


• Wolverine (also Dire Wolverine)


• Worg (also Winter Wolf Worg, known as Vaheela, see above): wolves in Nurna are big and strong: half-orcs know them as worgs, and they use them as mount and totem, since they are the representation of Chaak, god of storms.


• Zombie: magic, and the Dark One can sometimes make the dead walk.

NOTES

*: the name "apsat" appears in the Revised Wendigo Tribebook (from Werewolf: the Apocalypse) and is used to name a monster with similar features to the Flying Head of the Wyandot folklore. I don't know if Apsat is the correct translation but, since the description of the Apsat matches with the one from the Flying Head, I kept the name
**: goblins and hobgoblins are translated into my mother language as "trasgos" and "hobtrasgos" but I hate it. However, during our first betatesting session with Nurna I misspelled goblin as "gobelin" (go·buh·leen). Players like that name so much that we decided to keep it as the name for Nurna goblins. For their appereance, we used as reference Wood Goblins from the old Warhammer Fantasy, since they have Native American features in their culture.