Tales from Moonshore

Necrobats

The Necrobat lair is full of dangers and horrors where few but the bravest adventurers, or most insane bat cultist dare to go. You will find in this post the basics to make your very own Necrobat lair and fill it with the cultist and beasts that dwell within.

Written by Lux and Paige, Illustrated by Lux.

(WIP) Posted 9-12-2020
(WIP) Updated 9-13-2020 - Added extra features to bat guano and the mandible sword. Added pocket loot to some enemies.
(WIP) Updated 9-17-2020 - Added a more elaborate system for the Necrobat's innate spell feature. Also added rune images to the spells.

Necrobat

Creature - Bat

6hp, STR 12, DEX: 15, WIL 10

Attacks: d6 bite, d8 sonic screech, 1 innate spell ability, rolled from spell table below. Flys 2x normal speed, Mostly blind, Echolocation 120ft, climb walls,

Wants to protect the lair.

d6 Species

Cave Bat - Darkvision 300ft
Dark Forest Bat - Quickness in-flight: x3 speed
Sea Cave Bat - Can dive into the water for fish
Vampire Bat - Feeds on blood, regenerates 1hp per bite
Fruit Bat - Feeds on fruit, Can sense fruit at distance
House Bat - Likes to steal things from humans at night

d6 In pocket

Pouch of mysterious dust
Twig carved with cryptic symbols
Ball of incredible lint
Silver tail ring
Cup of healing paste
Moth wing cape

Necrobat Innate Spellcasting

Rather than carrying a spell tablet to cast a spell, Necrobats have learned to tattoo spell runes onto their body making themselves a living spell tablet. The spell spirit that inhabits their body slowly drives the bat mad over time and does so for most creatures that cast magic in this way. Necrobats with more than one spell runes on their body are very rare but do exist. Such bats are often utterly insane.

Casting an innate spell works like a normal spell tablet but instead of using a charge, uses the bat's life energy, giving them fatigue. It is possible to cast a very powerful spell in this way and simply black out.
Recharging innate spells usually takes a full rest on top of the spell's usual recharge ritual.

d6 Innate Spell

Displacing
Sonic Boom
Ray of Sickness
Animate Corpse
Hex
Sapping Sting

Displacing

Effect: [DICE]x2 mirror image illusions of the caster appear beside themselves for [SUM] rounds. Enemies must make a WIL save to find the real caster to attack, dispelling one of the illusions on a failure.

Recharge: Place 1d4 carved figurines of the caster around the spell and slowly move them closer once every hour for one full day. When they reach the middle, the spell will be recharged.

Sonic Boom

Effect: Emits a high pitch scream in a [DICE]x10 inch cone radius, causing [SUM] sonic damage to targets in the cone, throwing them [DICE]x5 inches back.

Recharge: The spell must be placed in a small room with a whistle that is blowing a high pitch sound constantly for a full day.

Ray of Sickness

Effect: One creature you can see must make a Dex save. On a failure, it takes [Dice] x 3 + [Sum] x 2 poison damage, or a third of it on a success.

Recharge: The spell must be placed in a soup made from boiled bugs and rotting food for 3 days. The soup does not need to be hot.

Animate Corpse

Effect: A beam of ghostly light emits from the caster up to a [DICE]x10 inch radius. Up to [SUM] corpses in that vicinity will become animated and take the form of a skeleton monster or zombie equivalent.

Recharge: Bury the spell in an opened grave for 3 days. The grave must have a corpse that occupies it.

Hex

Effect: On touch, the target must make a WIL save or suffer disadvantage on all rolls for 1 minute.

Recharge: Dice must be rolled upon the spell for a full day. When the dice cease to have winning numbers, the spell is recharged. Dice that are used in this ritual will never roll lucky again.

Sapping Sting

Effect: A claw of black light rakes out from the caster's hand up to [DICE]x20 inches at one target. Target takes [SUM] damage and is knocked prone.

Recharge: The spell must be raked with the sharp severed claws of an animal for three days. Pouring some blood onto the spell will reduce this time to one full day.

Skeleton

Skeletons are undead creatures brought to life by powerful necrotic magics. They are mindless with no memory of their former life and only seek to undo the living.

Creature - Undead

2hp, STR 8, DEX: 10, WIL 5

Attacks: d4 claw, d4 bite, Improvised weapons

Wants to kill anything it comes across.

Bat Cultist, Hexer

Bat cultist are mice that revere bats as their overlords and seek to learn the bat's innate magics and mysteries. Most are driven mad by the darkness and the dark energies surrounding Necrobats. Bat cultist are known to cover their bodies in necrobat symbols, crop their ears so they point sharply upward like bat ears and some prefer to live blindfolded and rely on hearing.

The Hexer has learned one magical ability from Necrobats and spends their time in a bat lair listening to bats to learn their secrets.

Creature - Mouse

3hp, STR 10, DEX: 10, WIL 10

Attacks: d6 sword or d6 bow, 1 innate spell of Hex

Hex - On touch, the target must make a WIL save or suffer disadvantage on all rolls for 1 minute.

Wants to defend bats and learn their innate magics.

d4 In pocket

Pouch of bat teeth
Sharpened bone shiv
Pouch of mysterious dust
Dried mushroom

d4 In pocket

GM pick Bat guano or Mandible sword
Pouch of mushroom spores
Beetle grub
Dried mushroom

Bat Cultist, Beetle Master

The Beetle Master covers themselves in bat guano in order to fool Dung Rhinos into allowing them close. They spend most of their time in the lower cave with the dangerous beetles until they believe the mouse is a fellow insect and take orders from it using gestures from a mandible weapon.

Creature - Mouse

3hp, STR 10, DEX: 10, WIL 10

Attacks: d8 Mandible sword or d6 bow

Wants to defend bats and turn Dung Rhinos on intruders.

Bat Guano

A bag of bat guano which is a sought after fertilizer.

Warning: Prolonged exposure to guano has a small chance of causing madness.

Cost: 40p

Mandible Sword

A medium weapon made of the mandible of a huge beetle. This item is extra durable.

d6/d8 damage

Cost: 50p

Dung Rhino

These extremely aggressive insects live at the bottom of bat caves and feast on guano and anything that falls to the bottom of the cave. They cover themselves in bat guano and will not attack other creatures that are covered in guano, mistaking them for another dung rhino.

Creature - Insect

4hp, STR 20, DEX: 10, WIL 12, Armor 2

Attacks: d6 horn, d4 scissor bite - target is grappled until successful STR or DEX save

Bonus action - Ram attack, STR save to avoid being knocked prone.

Critical Hit Special - Impale on the horn.

Wants to kill anything it comes across. Except for guano, it loves guano.

d4 Cultist armor

Metal horn armor: 1d4 extra damage on horn attack
Spiked armor: +2 to Armour
Diamond tipped pincers: 1d4 extra damage on Scissor bite attack.
Extra Strap-on horn: Extra horn attack.

d4 Personality

Angry, very angry
Sadistic
Lazy
Guano connoisseur

A Necrobat Lair

This is a simple design for a very small Necrobat lair. Bats make no accommodations for cultist mice that follow them. In fact they are confined to the lower levels of the cave and rarely allowed in the upper areas where the bats live with their families, unless the mice are allowed to serve them. Necrobats treat bat cultist little better than slaves in most cases while cultist revere bats as overlords. Necrobats keep bones piled in corners of their dwelling in case they need to cast Animate corpse and they enjoy hanging upside down from the center cave shaft during the daytime. At night Necrobats leave the cave to hunt insects while bat cultist climb up from below and rummage through the bat's dwelling seeking hidden knowledge. The floor of the central shaft is covered in bat refuse and a source of guano. Large, aggressive dung rhino beetles roam the lower levels.

Feel free to use this map in your own campaigns!

"Into dark we shall be, for with not eyes we shall see."

~Bat cultist prayer~

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Necrobats

Necrobat

Creature - Bat

6hp, STR 12, DEX: 15, WIL 10

Attacks: d6 bite, d8 sonic screech, 1 innate spell ability, rolled from spell table below. Flys 2x normal speed, Mostly blind, Echolocation 120ft, climb walls,

Wants to protect the lair.

d6 Species

d6 In pocket

Necrobat Innate Spellcasting

d6 Innate Spell

Displacing

Sonic Boom

Ray of Sickness

Animate Corpse

Hex

Sapping Sting

Skeleton

Creature - Undead

2hp, STR 8, DEX: 10, WIL 5

Attacks: d4 claw, d4 bite, Improvised weapons

Wants to kill anything it comes across.

Bat Cultist, Hexer

Creature - Mouse

3hp, STR 10, DEX: 10, WIL 10

Attacks: d6 sword or d6 bow, 1 innate spell of Hex

Wants to defend bats and learn their innate magics.

d4 In pocket

d4 In pocket

Bat Cultist, Beetle Master

Creature - Mouse

3hp, STR 10, DEX: 10, WIL 10

Attacks: d8 Mandible sword or d6 bow

Wants to defend bats and turn Dung Rhinos on intruders.

Bat Guano

Mandible Sword

Dung Rhino

Creature - Insect

4hp, STR 20, DEX: 10, WIL 12, Armor 2

Attacks: d6 horn, d4 scissor bite - target is grappled until successful STR or DEX save

Bonus action - Ram attack, STR save to avoid being knocked prone.

Critical Hit Special - Impale on the horn.

Wants to kill anything it comes across. Except for guano, it loves guano.

A Necrobat Lair

"Into dark we shall be, for with not eyes we shall see."

~Bat cultist prayer~

"Be brave, Be prepared."

~Chester~