Monster Manual Update:

Grell
By Logan Bonner

Illustration by Alexey Aparin and Francis Tsai

Flying, tentacled grells hunt their prey through dark, underground corridors. Though they psychically perceive the minds of the living, the monstrosities sense nothing more than another meal.
Grells have two priorities: colonizing new lands and eating. Instinct drives them to increase their numbers and extend their sway over as much territory as possible, but their intellect lets them plan their conquests better than any pack of predatory beasts can. Grells fall somewhere in the middle among aberrant creatures: They arent genius schemers as mind flayers are, nor are they utterly insane beasts like carrion crawlers. They have the intelligence of humans, but follow alien motivations that cause many of them to live and hunt like animals. Lives Spent in the Dark: Grells detest sunlight and avoid the surface world. Their ability to navigate without sight lets them pass through the unlit realms easily, and their psychic senses help them hunt down their prey. They hate to give up their natural advantages by going aboveground. The monsters originally hail from the Far Realm, but have infested the Underdark of every plane. That places enormous caverns can hold vast colonies of grells, providing plenty of room for them to feast and practice their alien alchemy. In the Shadowdark, they

are especially plentiful. The most ancient grells live there, devouring even the largest and most dangerous of subterranean beasts. Eaters of Flesh: To grells, humanoids provide fresh meatnothing more. Infiltrating societies, influencing affairs in the aboveground world, and amassing legions of slaves holds no appeal for the average grell. The larger and older a grell, the larger the creatures it hunts, and an adult humanoid provides the right amount of sustenance for a full-grown grell. When a grell kills a victim, it first cracks open the skull with its calcified beak. It removes the brain, since that organ is poisonous to a grell. Usually, the brain gets discarded immediately, but a grell colony might save brains if they know of mind flayers that live nearby. Then the grell devours the rest of the body, including the bones. Though grells dont worship deities, they show deference to great devourers, from the destructive tarrasque to the imprisoned Chained God. The Wild and the Civilized: An insular and reclusive race, grells dont live among other creatures. They might join a fight alongside other monsters in order to snag an easier meal, but they quickly disappear back to the nest or the colony with their meals. Many grells are feral and solitary, and the rest gather in colonies numbering from four to twelve members (though some populations can reach as high as fifty). Theres no animosity between

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Monster Manual Update: Grell

the two types. A grell is a grell, and each considers the decision to live and hunt alone or in a group a matter of personal taste. Feral grells live away from cities, making their lairs in wet caves near roads. The creatures pick off wanderers, either those who venture into the caves in search of water or fools traveling at night. The creatures are intelligent enough to move on after a time before the road gets a reputation for being haunted and the food supply dries up. Grell Colonies: Grells form colonies only in the Underdark. Occasionally, colonies keep herds of humanoid livestock to make feeding easier. None of these captives survives for long, except for the treacherous few who lead other humanoids into the grells clutches. Their society is divided into soldier, philosopher, and patriarch castes based on age and knowledge. Though a single grell defers to the wishes of a higher-caste member of the colony, any major decision is put to a vote that involves all adult members. Most grells fall within the soldier caste, and few colonies contain the powerful elder patriarchs. Philosophers stand out from their fellows, melding magic with their knowledge of the Far Realm in strange experiments. On the rare occasion when a colony pursues an agenda, its at the prodding of the colonys philosophers. Alchemy of the Far Realm: Grell philosophers practice a strange sort of magic referred to as grell alchemy. It mixes the study of arcane magic with alchemical formulas and natural science, but all following a bizarre set of rules. Instead of adhering to the ways of the natural world (or any of the other planes), grell alchemy draws on the laws that govern the Far Realm, such as they are. A creation of grell alchemy is not a spell, nor is it an alchemical formula. No words can describe it, and no one but the grells and other aberrant creatures can harness its power. When using grell alchemy, a philosopher first coats parts of its body in alchemical powders or lotions. It then gestures with its tentacles and utters a series of screeching, chittering sounds. The effects are usually subtle. Grell alchemy could be used to cloud the minds of a grells prey, or to warp the surrounding environment by subjecting it to the influence of the Far Realm. One of the more spectacular forms of grell alchemy produces a streak of lightning that creates a blinding flash where it hits. This is one of the first experiments a grell completes when becoming a philosopher, and it serves as both a sign of station and a means of defense.
Grell Level 7 Elite Soldier
XP 600 Initiative +9 Perception +9 Blindsight 12

Medium aberrant magical beast (blind) HP 156; Bloodied 78 AC 22, Fortitude 19, Reflex 20, Will 17 Speed 1 (clumsy), fly 6 (hover) Immune blinded, gaze Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1

Traits

Human Shield The grell gains a +2 bonus to AC while it has an enemy grabbed.

Standard Actions

m Tentacle Rake (poison) At-Will Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +12 vs. AC Hit: 2d8 + 6 damage, and the target is slowed and takes a 2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends both). M Tentacle Grab At-Will Requirement: The grell must not be grabbing a creature. Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +10 vs. Fortitude Hit: 2d8 + 6 damage, and the grell grabs the target (escape DC 16). M Double Attack At-Will Effect: The grell uses tentacle grab and tentacle rake, or uses tentacle rake twice. M Venomous Bite (poison) At-Will (1/round) Attack: Melee 1 (one creature grabbed by the grell); +12 vs. AC Hit: 1d8 + 4 damage, and the target is stunned (save ends). The stun also ends if the grell is no longer grabbing the target. Skills Stealth +17 Str 12 (+4) Dex 19 (+7) Wis 12 (+4) Con 14 (+5) Int 10 (+3) Cha 9 (+2) Alignment evil Languages Deep Speech

Minor Actions

As the creature bore down, our drow companion used the magic of his kind to fill the tunnel with darkness. We couldnt see in. We heard snapping and crunching. The beast emerged from the cloud, the entrails of our ally trailing from its beak. Only then did we see the monster up close. Only then did we see it had no eyes. Ella Laird, former explorer

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Monster Manual Update: Grell

Grell Philosopher Level 11 Elite Controller

Medium aberrant magical beast (blind) XP 1,200 HP 224; Bloodied 112 Initiative +10 AC 25, Fortitude 21, Reflex 24, Will 23 Perception +12 Speed 1 (clumsy), fly 6 (hover) Blindsight 12 Immune blinded, gaze; Resist 20 lightning Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1 m Tentacle Rake (poison) At-Will Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +16 vs. AC Hit: 3d8 + 6 damage, and the target is slowed and takes a 2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends both). R Lightning Lance (lightning) At-Will Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Reflex Hit: 2d6 + 3 lightning damage, and the target is blinded (save ends). C Venomous Mind (psychic) At-Will Attack: Close burst 3 (enemies in the burst); +14 vs. Will Hit: 2d8 + 5 psychic damage, and when the target makes a melee attack, it must choose its target at random from all potential targets in range (save ends). A Psychic Storm (psychic, zone) Recharge 6 Attack: Area burst 2 within 10 (creatures in the burst); +14 vs. Will Hit: 3d8 + 3 psychic damage, and the target is dazed (save ends). Effect: The burst creates a zone that lasts until the end of the encounter. Any creature that ends its turn in the zone is dazed until the end of its next turn. Skills Arcana +13, Stealth +20 Str 14 (+7) Dex 21 (+10) Wis 14 (+7) Con 16 (+8) Int 16 (+8) Cha 13 (+6) Alignment evil Languages Deep Speech

Standard Actions

Logan Bonners credits include The Slaying Stone and Monster Vault. He lives in the Seattle area and works as a freelance game designer, writer, and editor. You can follow him on Twitter, where hes @loganbonner.

About the Author

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