Lore: Slaves and Smiths
Within the Elemental Plane of Fire, slithering across the Sea of Ash, the salamanders enjoy two things above all else: power and flames. On the Material Plane, they can most often by found reveling within forest fires or among the blazing skeletons of their victims. Born from eggs of obsidian, they are initially small snakes of fire, but grow to adulthood within a year.
In times long past, the efreet tried to enslave the azers in order to build the City of Brass. When that effort failed, the efreet instead turned to the salamanders, enslaving them and using them as weapons of war to lay waste to the Planes. The salamanders blame the azers for their enslavement, which the efreet use to manipulate them. Should someone other than the efreet use a salamander as a slave, the efreet destroy them rather than enslave them.
Their slavery has impacted the culture of the salamanders. Their societies are built after the efreet fashion, with the strongest and largest taking control. As they age, they only grow larger and more powerful, becoming cruel nobles of their kind that wander across the Elemental Plane of Fire like nomads.
Salamanders generate intense heat within their bodies, making them dangerous to even touch. They themselves use this heat to smith iron and steel with their bare hands. Though not the best, salamanders are regarded as some of the best metalsmiths in all the planes. Some use them as warriors, but others enlist their aid for their crafting skills.
This lore is rife with storytelling potential. It could be a simple encounter; the players come across a forest fire and need to defeat a salamander within. Or maybe it could be something on a larger scale; maybe the players need to enlist a salamander smith to forge an item for a quest, or even lead an uprising against the efreet. The sky is the limit!
Design: Dave and Cooler Dave
So we’ve got a fire snake and a fire snake man. Well, at least we have variety.
Of the two designs, the salamander is much more interesting. The fire snake is just that. It works, but it’s kind of dull.
The salamander’s look is much more interesting. The flame-like ridges along its body, the roaring fire-like hair (or… whatever that is), it’s cool! They could have stopped at making it orange and red to communicate it’s fiery nature, but they went above and beyond!
Is it wholly unique? Not really. You’ll see monsters like this abound in fantasy. Still, it is definitely one of the cooler monsters.
Stats: Feel the Heat
Oh, joy. Two monsters at once. Again. Love it when it does that.
The Fire Snake is the weaker and more boring of the two. This one is really simple; all it can really do is hit you with basic melee attacks augmented by fire. That, and it’s Heated Body ability deals damage so long as you stand near it. And as you might expect, it’s immune to fire damage and resistant to nonmagical melee. Even with that, it’s still not a complex or interesting fight. Though it’s vulnerability to cold damage ought to make a wizard’s day.
The Salamander itself is a bit more interesting. It has the same resistances, immunities, and weakness to cold that the fire snake had. It also has the Heated Body ability, as well as the Heated Weapons ability, which adds extra melee damage. Finally, it has a Tail attack, which has a chance to grapple its victim, a dangerous combination with its fiery abilities. Beyond that, however, it’s just as simple and boring as the fire snake.
And… yeah, that’s about it. If you’re looking for something simple but challenging, these monsters are an excellent pick. However, if you’re looking for something that will really push your players to their creative limits, you might want to look elsewhere.
Placement
This monster is a mixed bag. It’s lore is fantastic! Then its design is okay. And we wrap up on a disappointing stats section. I’m honestly not sure where I’m going to place it.
But I guess we’re about to find out. So the Salamander is going to… let’s say… #72 on the Best of the Bestiary.
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Mind Flayer
- Dragon Turtle
- Mummy/Mummy Lord
- Nagas (all three of ’em)
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Sea Hag
- Lamia
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Kuo-Toa
- Gibbering Mouther
- Kraken
- Intellect Devourer
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Gelatinous Cube
- Lich
- Peryton
- Remorhaz
- Orcs (all four of ’em)
- Magmin
- Kobold
- Kenku
- Hobgoblins
- Night Hag
- Green Hag
- Black Pudding
- Ankheg
- Hook Horror
- Oni
- Purple Worm
- Storm Giant
- Hill Giant
- Empyrean
- Efreeti
- Grimlock
- Minotaur
- Dao
- Cloud Giant
- Manticore
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Modrons (all five of ’em)
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Gray Ooze
- Ochre Jelly
- Hydra
- Rakshasa
- Marid
- Salamander <—————–
- Harpy
- Werejackal
- Otyugh
- Half-Dragon
- Cambion
- Fire Giant
- Nothic
- Pixie
- Animated Armor
- Roper
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Revenant
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Sahuagin (all three)
- Ettin
- Medusa
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Mimic
- Djinni
- Merrow
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Myconids (all four of ’em)
- Piercer
- Werebear
- Lizardfolk
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Pseudodragon
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quaggoth
- Frost Giant
- Weretiger
- Werewolf
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Nightmare
- Rust Monster
- Wereboar
- Wererat
- Githyanki
- Owlbear
- Planetar
- Imp
- Ogres/Half-ogres
- Roc
- Clay Golem
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Githzerai
- Grick
- Invisible Stalker
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Flesh Golem
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Mephits (all six of ’em)
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Homonculus
- Merfolk
- Solar
- Deva
- Gorgon
- Hippogriff
- Griffon
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Ghost
- Pegasus
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Iron Golem
- Stone Golem
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Helmed Horror
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
Jonah's Daily Rants 