Curious Creatures: The Horned Varanus

 

This article is inspired by unique mounts from my own home campaign. As per usual, we offer system-agnostic OSR versions and 5E. There are two variations of these creatures, those found in the wild, and those trained as unique combat war mounts available for players brave enough to ride them.

System-Agnostic OSR

Horned Varanus (Wild)

• Armor Class: 5 [14] (thick scaly hide)

• Hit Dice: 4+2 (19 hp)

• Attacks: 1 × Horn Gore (1d8) or 1 × Bite (1d6 + septic venom) or 1 × Tail Sweep (1d6)

• Movement: 120' (40')

• Saving Throws: F4

• Morale: 7

• Septic Venom: Creatures bitten must save vs. Poison or suffer 1d4 damage each round for 3 turns from necrotizing bacteria.

• Prehensile Tail: On a hit with its tail sweep against a creature human-sized or smaller, the target must save vs. Paralysis/Petrification or be knocked prone.

• Sun Basking: Sluggish in extreme cold; gains +1 to initiative and movement checks in arid/desert heat.

Horned Varanus (War Mount)

• Armor Class: 4 [15] (leather barding / hardened saddle rig)

• Hit Dice: 5+2 (25 hp)

• Attacks: 1 × Horn Gore (1d10) or 1 × Bite (1d6 + septic venom) and 1 × Trample (1d8)

• Movement: 120' (40')

• Saving Throws: F5

• Morale: 9

• Disciplined Charge: When charging at least 20 feet in a straight line before attacking with its horn, it deals double damage (2d10).

• Gladiatorial Anchor: Due to its low center of gravity and wide stance, attempts to unseat the rider or knock the mount prone suffer a -2 penalty to the attacker's roll.

D&D 5th Edition

Horned Varanus (Wild)

Large Beast, Unaligned

• Armor Class: 14 (natural armor)

• Hit Points: 45 (6d10 + 12)

• Speed: 40 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	12 (+1)	15 (+2)	3 (-4)	12 (+1)	5 (-3)

• Skills: Perception +3, Athletics +5

• Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

• Challenge: 2 (450 XP) | Proficiency Bonus: +2

Traits

• Keen Smell: The varanus has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Actions

• Gore: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage.

• Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 5 (2d4) poison damage. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute.

• Tail: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Horned Varanus (War Mount)

Large Beast, Unaligned

• Armor Class: 16 (studded leather mount barding)

• Hit Points: 59 (7d10 + 21)

• Speed: 40 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	4 (-3)	13 (+1)	6 (-2)

• Saving Throws: STR +6, CON +5

• Skills: Athletics +6, Perception +3

• Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

• Challenge: 3 (700 XP) | Proficiency Bonus: +2

Traits

• Charge: If the varanus moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and hits it with a Gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

• Low Center of Gravity: The varanus has advantage on saving throws and ability checks against being knocked prone or moved against its will. The rider also has advantage on saving throws against being unseated.

Actions

• Multiattack: The varanus makes two attacks: one with its Gore and one with its Bite or Tail.

• Gore: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage.

• Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute.

• Tail Sweep: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Please drop a comment below. We are fighting to gain traction in the algorithm and every bit helps.

Optional Rules: Backstabbing Sonsabitches (Revisited)

 

Optional Rules: Backstabbing Sonsabitches (Revisited)

Backstabbing. Just the word itself makes most players cringe. It sounds greasy, dishonorable, and downright dirty—the hallmark of cutpurses, scoundrels, and assassins who prefer the dark to an honest fight. But when you are staring down an alert castle sentry or slipping through an enemy encampment in the dead of night, slipping cold iron into an oblivious kidney is often the difference between a clean infiltration and a full-blown bloodbath.

For decades, tabletop rules have treated this dirty art as the exclusive birthright of the Thief. That has always struck me as artificial nonsense. While thieves and assassins are certainly the undisputed masters of the trade, the instinct to exploit an open blind spot belongs to every seasoned fighter who has ever survived a brawl. If a veteran warrior crawls through fifty feet of mud and puts a dagger to the base of an unsuspecting sentry's neck, they do not square their shoulders and wait for a fair initiative roll. They strike to end the fight.

These optional rules replace standard backstab mechanics with a universal Sneak Attack, opening the tactic to any character while still giving dedicated cutthroats the bloody edge they have earned.

The Ground Rules

A Sneak Attack requires genuine surprise. The target must be completely unaware of the attacker's presence. If a guard is on high alert, scanning the shadows, or reasonably suspicious that trouble is brewing, the moment is gone. You cannot "sneak attack" someone who is actively keeping an eye on you.

Precision and speed are everything. The attacker must use a small or medium weapon that lends itself to close, quiet work—daggers, shortswords, clubs, or maces. Large, cumbersome weapons requiring wide swings are right out, though sensible exceptions like a clean spear thrust from concealment are fair game. Ranged weapons may also be used for a sniper strike, provided the attacker is completely concealed and firing from short range.

Staging a clean kill requires total commitment. The attacker spends their entire focus on the stroke, allowing only one single attack for the entire round, regardless of any standard multiple-attack abilities.

The target must have a sensible anatomy that can actually be damaged by the weapon at hand. Sneaking up on an iron golem with a bodkin dagger is an exercise in futility, and trying to get the drop on a Black Pudding is just plain silly. However, reasonable common sense applies: crushing a skeleton's skull with a heavy mace from behind or hammering an oak stake into a resting vampire's ribcage are both perfectly valid.

Landing the Blow

Catching an enemy completely flat-footed grants a +4 bonus to the attack roll.

If the attack connects, determine damage based on who is holding the weapon:

• Non-Thieves: The attack deals full normal weapon damage (including Strength or magical bonuses) plus 1 additional point of damage per character level. A 4th-level fighter swinging a shortsword deals normal damage plus 4.

• Thieves and Assassins: The true artists of betrayal deal full normal weapon damage (including bonuses) plus 2 additional points of damage per character level. That same 4th-level thief lands their strike for normal damage plus 8.

The Trauma Check: Scaling the Shock

In real combat, massive trauma delivered in a single split second is catastrophic. If a Sneak Attack inflicts damage equal to 50 percent or more of the target's maximum hit points, the victim suffers severe physical shock and must immediately make a saving throw versus Death (or a Constitution save in newer editions).

The target number to resist is 10, or half the total damage dealt by the strike, whichever is higher.

The consequences depend entirely on what kind of meat you are cutting into:

1. Mortal and Mundane Targets

(Rank-and-file guards, ordinary humanoids, and natural beasts)

• Failed Save: The victim drops immediately to 0 hit points. They collapse silently and begin bleeding to death at the rate of 1 hit point per round, or die outright if the attacker made a clean, deliberate killing stroke like slitting the throat.

• Successful Save: Sheer luck or armor deflection keeps them alive, but the impact knocks the wind clean out of them. The target is incapacitated and unable to move until the end of their next turn.

2. Monsters and Legendary Terrors

(Dragons, giants, powerful undead, and supernatural horrors)

• Failed Save: A creature of massive bulk or supernatural vitality will not drop dead from a single knife prick, but the trauma violently shatters its composure. The creature is stunned until the end of its next turn, its movement drops to zero, and it loses all reactions.

• Successful Save: The beast absorbs the agony without collapsing, but reels from the impact. It suffers a penalty (or Disadvantage) on its next attack or ability check made before the end of its next turn.

An added note for the wilderness travelers: this rule applies equally well to hunting game. A quiet hunter stalking a deer from the brush gets the exact same benefit as a rogue stalking a sentry along the ramparts.

DM's Toolbox: Random Beggars & Street Encounters (v2.0)

 

Beggars are the marrow of any fantasy city. They see who comes and goes through the gates, notice which nobles are slipping down back alleys at midnight, and hear what the town watch whispers over cold ale. Most are ordinary folk scraping by in the dirt, but the gutter has a habit of hiding deposed heirs, assassins, guild spotters, and the dead.

Use this system whenever the party traverses a market, temple precinct, or dockside alley.

Master Adjudication Flow

1. Roll 1d8 on Table 1: Common Archetype.

   • If you roll 1–6, they are an ordinary fixture of the street.

   • If you roll 7, roll twice on 1d6 and combine their demeanors.

   • If you roll 8, they are an Unusual Beggar—roll 1d6 on Table 1 to determine demeanor, then roll 1d12 on Table 2.

2. Table 2 (Unusual) adds physical tragedy, immediate danger, or circumstance.

   • Rolling a 12 escalates further to Table 3: The Exotic & The Dangerous.

3. Optional Dressing: Roll 1d6 on Table 4 (The Angle) to see how they approach the party, and 1d6 on Table 5 (The Rags) if someone searches them or offers real aid.

Table 1: Beggar Archetype & Demeanor (1d8)

Die (1d8)	Archetype	Table Manners & Behavior
1	Helpful / Deferential	Bows low, sweeps mud aside, offers directions or unsolicited advice. Grateful for even stale bread.
2	Streetwise / Cynical	Leans against the masonry, sizing up armor and boots. Knows local gangs, bribes, and watch rotations.
3	Aggressive / Demanding	Steps directly into the party's path, shakes an iron cup violently, or loudly shames wealthy-looking PCs.
4	Unwashed / Wretched	Covered in clinging gutter-slime, unhealed sores, or vermin. Demands an immediate fortitude check or step-back.
5	Sickly / Feverish	Hacking cough, pale skin, shivering under burlap. May carry a contagious local ague or river rot.
6	Drunkard / Addict	Slurred speech, stumbling gait, clutching a dreg-filled jug or smelling strongly of poppy-gum smoke.
7	Dual Nature	Roll twice using 1d6 on this table and blend the results (e.g., Sickly + Aggressive).
8	Unusual	Roll once on 1d6 above for outward demeanor, then roll on Table 2: Unusual Beggars.

Table 2: Unusual Circumstances & Afflictions (1d12)

Die (1d12)	Condition	Complication or Secret
1	Sensory Deprived	Blind, deaf, or mute from birth, warfare, or judicial blinding. Communicates in frantic slate scratches or taps.
2	Physically Deformed	Severe hunchback, withered limb, or twisted spine. Often viewed with superstitious fear by locals.
3	War Amputee	Missing arm(s) or leg(s). Wears scraps of an old regiment's uniform or tells bitter tales of a forgotten siege.
4	Under Attack	Currently being shaken down or beaten in an alley by 1d3 bravos, extortionists, or guild toughs.
5	Fleeing	Darting through the crowd in terror, hunted by the city watch, an angry mob, or hounds.
6	Mendicant Holy Man	Carries a begging bowl by sacred vow, not poverty. Offers a genuine minor blessing or an unsettling prophecy.
7	Old Veteran	Grizzled, scarred, and alert. Possesses excellent tactical knowledge; recognizes military insignia on sight.
8	Runaway	An escaped indentured servant, runaway noble teen, or fleeing thrall hiding beneath grease and charcoal.
9	The Ancient	Impossibly old and frail. Remembers what stood in this quarter before the fire/plague fifty years ago.
10	The Corpse	Cold to the touch. Slumped in a doorway, recently dead from cold, poison, or a quiet stiletto between the ribs.
11	Double Burden	Roll twice on this table using 1d10 (e.g., Sensory Deprived and Under Attack).
12	Exotic Enigma	Roll on Table 3: Exotic & Plot Hooks.

Table 3: Exotic Encounters & Plot Catalysts (1d12)

Die (1d12)	Identity	The Trap, Hook, or Twist
1	Branded Outlaw	Missing his left hand or marked with a hot iron. Still a master cutpurse or fences goods through dead drops.
2	Animal Busker	Accompanied by a trained mangy hound, ferret, or monkey that collects coin—or discreetly cuts purse strings.
3	The Informant	Whispers authentic street intelligence for silver. Knows who placed the latest bounty or which sewer gates are unlocked.
4	Monstrous Castoff	A goblin, kobold, or half-orc huddled under a filthy cowl, begging to survive in a hostile human city.
5	Forsaken / Blighted	Under an active supernatural curse. Touching their skin or coin transmits a bizarre, temporary affliction or bad omen.
6	Ghost from the Past	An old comrade, childhood friend, or former patron of a PC, now completely broken by misfortune or debt.
7	Fallen Aristocrat	Speaks with cultured courtly grammar. Lost estates to treachery and seeks trustworthy blades to help reclaim their name.
8	The Beggar-Master	An influential boss in the Beggars' Guild, outwardly miserable but quietly controlling 2d4 street spotters nearby.
9	Guild Assassin / Thuggee	Stalks marked targets under the guise of an invalid. Attacks with lethal surprise (as a 4th-level thief/assassin).
10	Alchemical Abomination	The scarred survivor of an escaped wizard's flesh-crafting experiment, slowly reverting or mutating further.
11	Complex Hook	Roll twice on this table using 1d10 and intertwine the two results.
12	The Gutter Sovereign	Roll 1d6 on Table 1, 1d10 on Table 2, and 1d10 on Table 3. A truly bizarre, singular legend of the city slums.

Table 4: The Angle / How They Approach (1d6)

Beggars don’t just stand still; they work the street.

1. The Tragic Ballad: Recites a rapid-fire, well-rehearsed sob story involving a burning barn, sick kin, or shipwreck.

2. The Worthless Trade: Offers a worthless token—a river pebble, a carved bone pin, a wilted thistle—so it isn't legally "begging."

3. The Loud Supplication: Hollering pious blessings to the heavens if given coin; spitting elaborate gutter curses if ignored.

4. The Horrific Display: Pulls back filthy rags to shock passersby with a hideous (and possibly fake/pigment-painted) sore.

5. The Shield / Screen: Crowds right into the party’s personal space to create cover for a juvenile pickpocket lurking behind them.

6. The Urgent Whisper: Hisses a sudden, sharp warning to the front PC: "Keep walking, don't look up at the clocktower, and don't go near the docks."

Table 5: What’s in Their Tin Cup or Rags? (1d6)

If a PC searches the body, helps clean them up, or shakes them down:

1. Gutter Scraps: 2d6 copper bits, a bent iron nail, a brass button, and dry crusts of black rye bread.

2. The Danger Coin: A single high-denomination gold coin stamped with foreign or antique royal minting that they dare not spend.

3. The Unmarked Key: A heavy, rusted iron skeleton key worn on a dirty hemp cord around their neck.

4. A Damning Letter: A water-stained parchment sealed with cracked red wax, written in delicate courtly hand, detailing a bribe.

5. The Concealed Edge: A wicked, razor-sharp bone shiv or gutting knife stitched inside the lining of their left sleeve.

6. The Token of Faith: A lead amulet to an outlawed, ancient, or chthonic deity, polished smooth by desperate fingers.