The stats I only use as an average. I envision them being nearly unbeatable by weapon attacks and capable of special knockback and trip attacks at their leisure.
Maulagryms are somekind of outsiders that feed on emotions or somesuch? Are they interlopers?
-For more in-depth information about them and their motives, I believe they are featured as villains in the Shadow of the Avatar trilogy.
I heartily recommend you read the Shadows of the Avatar Trilogy should you get the chance. No other set of books can better inform a Realms Dungeon Master about the Malaugrym than these.
But, if you don’t have the books or the time, I recommend to you the 3.0 sources Lord Karsus has outlined, as well as that which can be found on Malaugryms in the 3E Forgotten Realms sourcebook Lords of Darkness by Jason Carl and Sean K Reynolds.
A summary of the information found in that tome follows:
Malaugryms are incomparably talented shapeshifters, natives of an unknown plane who use the Plane of Shadow to access the world of Toril --from LoD.
Lead by an enigmatic being known only as the Shadowmaster, the Malaugrym (also called The Shadowmasters) are an insatiably cruel race bent on taking control of all of Faerûn. Despite there being less than a hundred in existence after the culling of their race by Elminster and only 5 or so active in Faerûn, the Malaugrym remain an exceptionally lethal threat to all that exists in the Forgotten Realms.
Realmslore hints at the possibility the Malaugrym are descendants of a long ago mortal mage (perhaps Netherese or earlier) that spawned their race.
I do not know if that mortal is the current Shadowmaster or not, but I do recall that Elminster has trapped by dire threat alone the ‘mother’ of their kind, in Waterdeep (Memory failing; help anyone that can confirm this ??).
Malaugrym are not immortal; they age very slowly. They breed by means of mating with mortals on the Prime and then capturing the offspring, or by capturing mortals whom they take back with them to the Plane of Shadow to breed with.
In their natural form they resemble beholders in that they are spheroid and can levitate, but are only about 4-5 feet in diameter with beaked mouths, three eyes over that beak and only three tentacle-like protrusions that each end in a single hooked claw.
True to rumor, they can shapechange into just about anything; from your typical house cat to a wall of stone. They can also assume hybrid shapes (such as a gigantic lion with tentacles sprouting out of its shoulders). They are exceptionally resistant to damage of all kinds but suffer greatly when wounded by silvered weapons.
Malaugrym tend to blend in with large populations. They have some difficulty mastering planar magic and are eager to find and capture any static magical portal or other means that allows travel to and from the Plane of Shadow.
Malaurgrym feel contempt for all races, but hold a special hatred for the Harpers and the Chosen of Mystra, who as recently as the Year of the Prince (1357 DR) and the Year of Shadows (1358 DR) have thwarted their efforts at domination in the Realms.
Additional information can be found in the form of a 1/3 page entry in the 3E Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book on page 277.
Also, updated 3.5 game stats for the Malaugrym can be found in the web enhancement for the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide to Faerûn download on the WotC site.
Note that in my campaign the Malaugrym are Native Outsiders (and not just Outsiders) because they require a mortal birth parent. Also, I use the 3.5 versions of Baleful Polymorph and Shapechange as a practical guide for what they Malaugrym can change into, with their hit dice acting as a cap just as hit dice cap a regular spell caster.
For the Record: I’ve never been so cruel to my players as to have a Malaugrym shapechange into a giant iron slab and crush them all to death, but that’s technically possible, depending on how old a Malaugrym it is.
You can find Ed's response on this page. Just use your browser's search function to search for "Malaugrym" and you will find the response.
:D
Illianari "the Liquid Burglar"
Show
Malaugrym Catburglar; CR 15
hp 106 (15 HD); DR 10/silver; SR 21; silver vulnerability (max damage), defensive roll 2x/day (concealment 20%)
Medium Female Malaugrym (outsider, native) rogue 6/ thief acrobat 5
Init +7; Senses Listen +8, Spot +8
Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Infernal, Undercommon, Mulhorandi, Karaturan
**************************************** ******************
AC 26, touch 19, flat-footed 17 (uncanny dodge 26) +3 AC when fighting defensive (max ac: at -9 to attacks a +11 dodge ac for total AC 37)
(+5 natural, +7 Dex, +2 deflection, +2 agile)
Resist cold 5, electricity 5
Fort +10, Ref (improved evasion) +20, Will +9
**************************************** ******************
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Flyspeed 30 ft. [perfect] (6 squares)
Melee +2 shortsword of speed +16/+16/+11 (1d6+3/19-20) or
Melee tentacle +14/+9 [reach 10ft] (1d6+1)
Ranged +2 dart of stunning +16/+11 (1d3+3/x2 [on hit stun will dc 14])
Base Attack +7; Grp +8
Atk Options Sneak Attack +3d6, fast acrobatics, slow fall 30 ft, steady stance, kip up, agile fighting, acrobatic charge, shapechange
combat gear wand of silence(3rd), cloak of displacement (20% concealment)
**************************************** ******************
Abilities Str 12, Dex 25, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 14
SQ silver vulnerability, fast healing 3, poison immunity, change shape, SR 21, fast acrobatics, slow fall 30 ft, steady stance, kip up, improved evasion, uncanny dodge
Feats Blindfight, Deadly Defence, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Appraise +18, Bluff +16, Jump +20, Disguise +16, Hide +24, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (local, Shou Lung) +18, Knowledge (the planes) +18, Move Silently +24, Tumble +24, Listen +8 Spot +8, escape artist +24, use magic device +6
Possessions boots of striding and springing, cloak of magical displacement, ring of protection +2, ring of invisibility, several stolen spellbooks, +2 shortsword of speed, 30 +2 darts of stunning, wand of silence, a bag of jewelry worth around 20,000 gp
********************************************** ***********
Ilianari was born on the Eastern Shadowplanes from a mother with the same name near the Karaturan isle and quickly rose to fame after she learned in a roguish ex-monks monastery to finer arts of balance, emulating her mothers skills as a ninja. After having to abandon the monastary after it proved to hold several recently stolen valuables she chose to flee. During this encounter she met an ancient malaugrym who nurtured her greed further, so Ilianari always strove to get her hands on peices of more expensive arts or jewelry. Using her several guises as travelling merchants she scours the lands for her decaying mentor always seeming to get her malleable hands on his chosen trinkets. Ilianari seems not to care what her mentor is doing with the wealth as long as she gets to eat a living liver out of one of the guards during her missions.
When on a mission she dresses as a typical stealthy human ninja. When hit by silver she usualy takes on a female shaped form of a black ooze thats capapble of mindboggling dodges and wields her shortsword and her longer reaching tentacles at the same time.
Malaugrym Catburglar; CR 15
hp 106 (15 HD); DR 10/silver; SR 21; silver vulnerability (max damage), defensive roll 2x/day (concealment 20%)
Medium Female Malaugrym (outsider, native) rogue 6/ thief acrobat 5
Init +7; Senses Listen +8, Spot +8
Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Infernal, Undercommon, Mulhorandi, Karaturan
**************************************** ******************
AC 26, touch 19, flat-footed 17 (uncanny dodge 26) +3 AC when fighting defensive (max ac: at -9 to attacks a +11 dodge ac for total AC 37)
(+5 natural, +7 Dex, +2 deflection, +2 agile)
Resist cold 5, electricity 5
Fort +10, Ref (improved evasion) +20, Will +9
**************************************** ******************
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Flyspeed 30 ft. [perfect] (6 squares)
Melee +2 shortsword of speed +16/+16/+11 (1d6+3/19-20) or
Melee tentacle +14/+9 [reach 10ft] (1d6+1)
Ranged +2 dart of stunning +16/+11 (1d3+3/x2 [on hit stun will dc 14])
Base Attack +7; Grp +8
Atk Options Sneak Attack +3d6, fast acrobatics, slow fall 30 ft, steady stance, kip up, agile fighting, acrobatic charge, shapechange
combat gear wand of silence(3rd), cloak of displacement (20% concealment)
**************************************** ******************
Abilities Str 12, Dex 25, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 14
SQ silver vulnerability, fast healing 3, poison immunity, change shape, SR 21, fast acrobatics, slow fall 30 ft, steady stance, kip up, improved evasion, uncanny dodge
Feats Blindfight, Deadly Defence, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Appraise +18, Bluff +16, Jump +20, Disguise +16, Hide +24, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (local, Shou Lung) +18, Knowledge (the planes) +18, Move Silently +24, Tumble +24, Listen +8 Spot +8, escape artist +24, use magic device +6
Possessions boots of striding and springing, cloak of magical displacement, ring of protection +2, ring of invisibility, several stolen spellbooks, +2 shortsword of speed, 30 +2 darts of stunning, wand of silence, a bag of jewelry worth around 20,000 gp
********************************************** ***********
Ilianari was born on the Eastern Shadowplanes from a mother with the same name near the Karaturan isle and quickly rose to fame after she learned in a roguish ex-monks monastery to finer arts of balance, emulating her mothers skills as a ninja. After having to abandon the monastary after it proved to hold several recently stolen valuables she chose to flee. During this encounter she met an ancient malaugrym who nurtured her greed further, so Ilianari always strove to get her hands on peices of more expensive arts or jewelry. Using her several guises as travelling merchants she scours the lands for her decaying mentor always seeming to get her malleable hands on his chosen trinkets. Ilianari seems not to care what her mentor is doing with the wealth as long as she gets to eat a living liver out of one of the guards during her missions.
When on a mission she dresses as a typical stealthy human ninja. When hit by silver she usualy takes on a female shaped form of a black ooze thats capapble of mindboggling dodges and wields her shortsword and her longer reaching tentacles at the same time.
Great! As thanks I'll share my unique Malaugrym NPC.
Illianari "the Liquid Burglar"
That's pretty awesome. I bet she could easily fool people into thinking she belonged to any number of other organizations.
The black ooze form make me think of Ghaunadar for some reason.
I heartily recommend you read the Shadows of the Avatar Trilogy should you get the chance. No other set of books can better inform a Realms Dungeon Master about the Malaugrym than these.
yuck. I did not like those books
yuck. I did not like those books
-One of the few series' I've never read. What was it about them that you didn't like? The Greenwood prose?
- The Greenwood prose?
essentially
If they where originally human Malaugryms would still follow dieties, or are they too haughty to do so?
Lords of Darkness mentions Bane, Gargauth and Shar as deities a typical Malaugrym might worship.
I've not yet felt the need to push the divine angle vis-a-vis Malaugrym in my own campaign, but I could see it quite easily happening.
Wouldn't it be something to spring on your players the fact that the Death Tyrant they were facing a moment ago is in fact a Malaugrym High Priest of Bane?
Sounds evil (and thus fun for the DM) to me!
:D
Yes... I think it'll fit perfectly. He is in a transistion of faith from Gargauth to Shar and that will make him an enemy soon. Gargauth's avatar is also already present in the city he's in, searching for a collection of Lathanderite artifects. Need to level the party with their next adventure so they can start to get encounters with Ilianari.