My Dad’s Monster Manual – Hook Horror
My latest DMs Guild product, The Iron Titan, is now available!
The work on My Dad’s Monster Manual continues. You can check out all the previews on this blog here. There are also a few on my Patreon!
Today I wanted to show off my father’s version of the hook horror, which he calls the leghorn! It is a very different take on this classic D&D creature.
Leghorn (Hook Horror)
Are you familiar with that cartoon character? You know, the big rooster?
Lucian J. Introcaso
Large, strong, and gullible, leghorns are featherless, muscular avian humans that stand about eight feet tall. Though they lack wings, their long arms end in fearsome hooks that belie their typically gentle personalities.
Loners Seeking Friendship. Leghorns spend much of their time alone in forests hunting game with their powerful hooks. A leghorn’s predatory appearance drives most other humanoids away or causes them to lash out at the creature. A leghorn stays isolated for its own safety, though most feel a desire to connect with others. When this yearning becomes too great, the leghorn leaves its forest and searches for friends. Some leghorns are lucky enough to find humanoids that see beyond the hooks and accept them as friends, but many are driven back into the wild by fearful mobs.
Trusting and Loyal. When a leghorn does make a friend, the avian humanoid treats the bond as sacred. Most leghorns are willing to do anything for their friends and take what their allies say as gospel truth. The avian humanoids lay their lives on the line to defend their friends and venture into dangerous lands to perform important favors for allies.
Gullible Lackeys. Because they rarely interact with other people, leghorns tend to be gullible and believe anything they are told. Bandits, cultists, and evil creatures looking for a strong minion convince leghorns they are friends. It often takes a lot of convincing to get a leghorn to see that its so-called friends are just evildoers willing to abuse the avian humanoid’s trust.
Leghorn
Medium humanoid (leghorn), neutral good
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18)
Speed 40 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| 19 (+4) | 10 (+0) | 17 (+3) | 9 (-1) | 7 (-2) | 12 (+1) |
Skills Nature +1, Perception +0, Survival +0
Senses passive Perception 10
Languages Common
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Bolstered by Friends. When the leghorn can see an ally within 30 feet of it, the leghorn has advantage on all saving throws.
Actions
Hook. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Reactions
Riposting Ally. When a creature the leghorn can see attacks the leghorn’s ally, the leghorn can make a melee weapon attack against the creature that made the attack as a reaction.
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