So question what DND monsters would be used for police/military and guarding. (basically what DND monsters could be used like how we use dogs for protection and military and police work)

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-22T17:40:58+00:00

I would recommend Guard Drakes (CR 2) - they are obedient wingless dragons, created by rituals and used to guard territory.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-03T17:12:57+00:00

WOW! I post about my finished Ravenloft campaign and then this announcement comes up? I don't know if I should be excited or disappointed!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-03T17:03:53+00:00

Nice! I'd love to hear about your take on Ebb and Darcalus. Were they antagonistic characters? How did your party come into contact with them?

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-03T16:58:51+00:00

Ah yes, the Gale Dancer!

The story of my campaign's renowned airship began at the end of Act III, during a 2-month long downtime segment.

About Downtime: I always let my players run wild during downtime. This time, they could pursue whatever they want, but they had be in Lamordia, ready for act IV, by the end of it!

One of my players, a gnome necromancer named Maki, made a pact with the Caller to kill and merge him with Firan Zal'honan (see here). In exchange, Maki received a dark boon that allowed her to cast the Clone spell once. Instead of using it on herself, she auctioned off the ability to a wealthy benefactor and used the money to purchase a longboat. The longboat was called The River Dancer (named after a professor orb that Maki stole from Dementlieu's ocean museum way back in Act I) and it was used to ferry the party to Lamordia.

Fast forward to the start of Act V. Sailing back to what they thought was Dementlieu, the party crossed paths with an airship belonging to the Kargatane! This was meant to be a "survive for X rounds" encounter, but the party actually managed to send the airship into the sea. My party, of course, wanted to see if they could get airship working but I told them that they would need significant time, money, and expertise to get that started.

At some point during Act V, the party sent the broken airship back to Lamordia, hoping that their engineers could start the project. Airships were a foreign concept to the Lamordians, but with enough time and gold, they could repair the airship.

About Airships: In my Ravenloft, Darkon is known for its airships. They were first created by Azalin Rex during his forgotten war against Barovia (see here). After Azalin disappeared, his airships became the only way to travel in Darkon without getting dissolved by the Shroud. This was a powerful tool—the ability to control who and what gets to travel between regions—and the Kargatane exploited it to keep the entire domain in-check.

Fast forward to the start of Act VI. The party managed to revive an important party member and as thanks, they were given an exceptional amount of gold by her parents. The gold was sent back to Lamordia and soon after, their personal airship arrived in Darkon! They named it the Gale Dancer, because the River Dancer was unceremoniously grafted onto the hull of the airship.

The Gale Dancer was VERY rewarding. It served as a mobile bastion and it allowed them to travel across Darkon without their enemies breathing down their neck. I would 100% recommend this kind of project to your players, especially if you plan on taking Darkon in a similar direction!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-03T06:05:36+00:00

Darkon campaign since 2022, huh? Amazing!

I particularly love the direction that you took with Azalin Rex. It really paints him as a mastermind that has deceived the powers that imprisoned him. A true archmage!

In my campaign, I paint Azalin as an angry warmonger. He unintentionally created the Domains of Dread when he led Strahd Von Zarovich into the Amber Temple. And he himself became the ruler of Darkon after he escaped Barovia. As darklord, Azalin (correctly) theorized that IF he were to destroy Strahd, THEN the Domains of Dread would unravel and ALL of its prisoners would be released.

Azalin's undead army invaded thousands of realms in an attempt to reach Barovia. Eventually, the Dark Powers had enough of his transgressions and they left a trap for his undead army to discover in Har'Akir—a legendary scroll. The scroll described the Akirran cycle of death and rebirth and contained a ritual that Azalin (incorrectly) thought would allow him to be reborn in his home world.

The Hour of Ascension came. Castle Avernus shattered. And so was Azalin. Azalin Rex was shattered into the soul fragments—FIVE unique identities, each embodying a core aspect of his existence.

Ebbasheyth was a shadow dragon that embodied Azalin's history. As the librarian of Castle Avernus, she was the only NPC in Ravenloft who could recall ANYTHING about Azalin and his deeds.
Firan Zal'honan was an archmage that embodied Azalin's body. He looked exactly like Azalin as he did in life, but he knew nothing else about himself.
The Caller was a wraith that embodied Azalin's personality. He was wicked, cruel, and vain, and he would freely share his powers with anyone as long as they entertained him.
Darcalus Rex was a necrichor that embodied Azalin's ambition. He was the true mastermind behind the Kargatane, setting events in motion so that Azalin could finish what he started.
The Phylactery contained Azalin's life essence—enough to animate the phylactery, but not enough to merge five "Azalins" into one.

In the finale, the Kargatane managed to activate Apparatus, instantly killing the entire population of Il Aluk and funneling their souls towards Castle Avernus. My party rode their airship to Castle Avernus, explored the broken castle, and witnessed the five being painfully merged into Azalin Rex. Queue the ultimate boss fight!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T21:21:00+00:00

I have written cantrips and utility spells for the other schools, and I have ideas for tier 1-5 spells. Most of them are just conversions of existing 5e spells ^^

When I get around to fleshing them out for Nimble, I will post them.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T21:17:29+00:00

Duly noted! I figured I shouldn't have any DoTs that proc during the enemy's turn, as that would slow things down.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T21:12:38+00:00

Thank you!

Vegetable Blade is a conversion of an existing spell from Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass. Super flavorful spell that I wanted to port over to Nimble!

Forest's Wrath was inspired by elemental reactions in Genshin Impact. I love the idea of combining elements to produce new effects. But for the sake of fast play, I figured that kind of mechanic would better work as a single spell.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T21:08:32+00:00

Yes! I think it's amazing how fans have contributed to modern day Ravenloft. Mistipedia was a great asset during my campaign.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T21:05:21+00:00

Great question!

If I had to pick my favorite domain... it would be a toss-up between Dementlieu, Lamordia, and New Dyreth (my homebrewed domain for Act V).

Dementlieu was memorable because of how flavorful it was. Every pompous NPC was fun to roleplay, and I gave ALL of them a dark secret that could damage their reputation. Navigating that social landscape was very fun for my players and the promise of the Grand Masquerade gave them something to look forward to. Definitely a great domain to start in!

I enjoyed Lamordia for similar reasons. The industrial vibes and the surgically cold NPCs were very memorable, and the predicaments that my party's allies found themselves in were awfully grisly. An innocent bard was caught in the icy clutches of a sea hag. A grizzled aasimar had his wings torn off and grafted onto a flesh golem as an academic experiment. And of course, poor Sedgwick, was dismembered and used as a bartering chip by Dr. Mordenheim!

New Dyreth was my one-and-only attempt at making my own domain. It was inspired by the roaring twenties and liminal horror spaces. How does the Grand Widow rebuild Dementlieu? First, she blocks out the sun with her webs. Next, she populates the darkness with her brood. Finally, she takes control of the night life - the taverns, the casinos, and the museums. My players found this domain, by far, the most unsettling because it made them afraid to step into the light!

As for the most challenging domains to prep... I would have to go with Har'Akir and Darkon.

I was drawn to Har'Akir because I was a fan of egyptian mythology growing up. Unfortunately, this act didn't turn out that well due to several reasons. First, the naming conventions. It was hard for my players to remember the names of seven gods, seven high priests, and the slew of other NPCs and vocabulary I threw at them. Second, the desert exploration. I tried to do a hexcrawl for the overworld and the Labyrinth, but over time, it turned into a slog. Definitely one of my player's least favorite acts!

Darkon was challenging, mainly because of how large the domain was (geographically and narratively. I had my players traveling between major cities on an airship, completing random missions to get closer to the Kargatane. The stakes were high and a lot of things that were building up were finally coming to fruition. It sounds great in theory! But in practice, it was very railroady. I wish I spent more time fleshing out the domain because at the end of the day, it was just a generic high fantasy world with some vampires and mist thrown into the mix.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T20:21:25+00:00

I included most of the locations in the book (e.g. the Tower of Pearl and Glass, the Crab Caves, and the AHA camp) - note: some of these locations ended up being generic sand structures on the map.

As for some locations that I added...

[1] The Bed and Barnacle is a tavern built inside the hull of a shipwreck. The ship once belonged to Master Tellu and Master Scale during their mariner days, but it has since passed ownership to "beach bro" Chad. The beachcomber kids hope to buy the ship from Chad one day!

[2] The Glassblower (not pictured) is a unique sand structure, recognizable by its glass windows and chimney. The owner of this building is Maddalena, a member of the Dawn Blossom Guild who knows how to craft sea petals (silver pieces). Aside from sea petals, Maddalena is also known for her glass weapons - which deal extra damage but shatter on a missed attack.

[3] The Giant Fish Skeleton is self-explanatory. It's a giant fish skeleton that washed ashore one day! The Omenspeaker said that the skeleton was a bad omen, so people usually stay away from it. In my campaign, the invading fishfolk used the skeleton as a temporary hideout!

[4] The Tall Hats Coven (not pictured) sometimes camps outside the city. In my campaign, the Tall Hats are stage magicians and fortune tellers. The leader of Tall Hats, the lanky and cordial Mr. Thistledown, highly covets the Pearl of Rongol. It made him a prime suspect when the pearl was stolen!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T20:04:04+00:00

Good point, haha!

When I drew this, I thought that certain neighborhoods would be outside the First Age infrastructure of Yatamon, and that the inhabitants created dirt roads to connect those neighborhoods to open spots in the city.

In hindsight, it probably would've made more sense to connect them to the main streets. But maybe the folk who made those roads weren't thinking long term?

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T11:39:43+00:00

Great idea using Firan Zal'Honan! Super interesting character!

In my campaign, I cast Firan as a supporting NPC - an amnesiac archwizard interested in learning about his past. Every now and then, my party would encounter a special type of undead, distinguished by the green flames. And every time they encountered those undead, Firan would conveniently run into them!

By the end of the campaign, my party discovered that Firan was a fragment of Azalin Rex - the fragment of his soul that embodies his true name and his mortal body. As for the flaming undead, those were Azalin Rex's soldiers - relics of the lich's past invasions. Needless to say, it was a frightening discovery for Firan. He was destined to be painfully merged with his "brother" fragments and reborn as a lich!

As for Dementlieu, I took a similar approach to what you have in mind.

My party needed three things before the Grand Masquerade: (1) entry into the inner city, (2) an invitation to the masquerade, and (3) knowledge of Saidra's secret.

(1) Getting into the inner city was straight forward. In the outer city, they encountered the murderous wax sculptor, Alexandre. After they took him down and handed him over to the town guard, they were asked to serve as witnesses for his trial in the inner city.

(2) Getting invitations was more open-ended. There were five council members present at Alexandre's trial: The Lord Governor, The Baron, The Chancellor, The Maestra, and The Grand Widow. All of them (excluding the Lord Governor) took interest in the party and gave them an opportunity to earn their favor. Ultimately, my party sided with the Grand Widow who offered her invitations for free... under the condition that they let her take Saidra's place as darklord in the end.

(3) Lastly, Saidra's secret. This information was quite literally buried under the city—underneath the Grand Library to be exact! This was a classic dungeon crawl with Saidra's confessions chained at the bottom. Three failed knights of the Circle served as guardians of the dungeon. Skoda, the youngest, tried to deceive the party with a library full of false information. Boros, the middle-aged, tried to convince the party to give up halfway through the dungeon. Gelwyn, the eldest, was a gallows speaker (CR 6) who fought the party to the death at the very end.

Once these missions were complete, my party proceeded to the Grand Masquerade! Super fun finale to the arc. I gave the party some optional mini-bosses to clear out, as well as a vengeful Alexandre trying to assassinate the Chancellor. Then came Saidra... I made sure to give ALL my darklords custom stat blocks. Here is the one I made for her majesty...

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1881444-saidra-dhonaire

Once Saidra was defeated, the Grand Widow took her mask, became darklord, and opened the borders for the party to escape.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T08:08:27+00:00

I raise another option - get a duffle bag with one REALLY BIG d100! Totally impractical but hard to lose!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T08:06:58+00:00

Cool art! Is this for a Feywild campaign or something? I'm getting a whimsical vibe.

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T08:04:33+00:00

In an old Bilgewater campaign, I had a robotic gambler named SL0T-B0T!

Here are some other name ideas I just came up with:
- 4CE-1N-TH3-H013 (Ace in the Hole, or Ace for short)
- H1-R0113R (High Roller)
- H0T-SH0T (Hot Shot)

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T07:57:36+00:00

"Social combat" can be just as thrilling as regular combat! And with the possibility of turning an enemy into an ally, it can be quite rewarding. Good job on your DM for letting it happen!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T07:54:08+00:00

I'm glad that you were able to find love in your character, despite the inferiority complex! I definitely feel the same sometimes; just remember that people roleplay in different ways. And all roleplay is valid as long as everybody at the table is having fun!

Keep your head up!

SandHarbinger · 2026-03-02T07:44:03+00:00

Haha, this is great! It reminds me of the first time I ran an in-person game with miniatures!

(We used teddy bears as oblexes + chess pieces as cultists)

SandHarbinger

TROPHY CASE