Zaratan
Image from Wizards of the Coast and D&D Beyond
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The Hook
Some say that the lakes and rivers were cut by the great ice walls to the north. Others say that is was mighty turtles that plodded these paths. The lakes, their footsteps, and rivers, where tales dragged.
Inspiration to Draw on
The standard Zaratan monster block suggest that Zaratan are these Über-units that can only be summoned by the most powerful casters and tend to bring the end times. BUT, what if these legendary elementals have already come to the plane, and what if somehow everything balanced out. After the dust settled, how would the world look? What did the world look like before? Are these things still around lying dormant?
I love this idea of these elder elementals once roamed and fought each other and the stories behind this is what shaped the plane. Think about what would happen if one of these woke up by accident and the balancing forces were not there/awake to hold equilibrium.
The way that Wizards of the Coast has set the lore up is directly tied to the cultists of Elemental Evil, but that does not me that you need to use it like that. Why not have an adventure where players and characters are just trying to survive and reconcile life after these beast wake up?
Where would Zaratan live? Disregard what the monster block says, how big do you imagine Zaratan to be? The earth shaking movement suggest much larger than Gargantuan.
The next things that come to my mind is how would li make it my own? Do all Zaratan look like massive turtles? Do that change as they move? What debris do they leave behind?
Check out D&D Beyond or your always near to hand copy of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes for more history on the Zaratan 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/.