Manes
Image from Wizards of the Coast and D&D Beyond
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The Hook
Manes Something dark and dangerous waits at the bottom of the dungeon. A door with chaotic scribbles and magical chains. If one listens very carefully one might hear the flood of rotting demons on the other side.
Inspiration to Draw on
These little guys are a great jump scare, but they can also be a really dangerous mob at low levels. Consider pairing them up with a priest of Orcus. Give the priest the ability to transform one of the Manes into some other slightly powerful undead creature. Or consider making a hoard version of the monster. This could make it a stronger choice at the upper tier 1 or lower tier 2 level.
Personally I think it would be really cool to drop a door like the one in the hook into a dungeon. Something that is thematic but the characters are not required to find. It would show the consequences of curiosity. You could even make it so that opening the door does not release the hoard right away. Maybe it takes a few days and maybe the near by town suffers for it and blames the adventures for their actions.
Either way these monsters are great minion style creatures. Check them out and see how you can fit them into your campaign.
Check out D&D Beyond or your always near to hand copy of Monster Manual for more history on the Mane and remember to have fun with it!
Fair Use
Monster of the Week is a series we put together as a way to help DM’s generate ideas for adventures or campaigns. Please feel free to use these ideas freely. If you do use these ideas for published content, we just ask that you reference DM’s Table and reference https://www.dmstable.com/.