For some art inspiration you might want to check out Theodor (https://www.google.no/search?q=theodor+kittelsen&client=firefox-a&hs=2we&rls=org.mozilla:nb-NO:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=fJi1UdW6POqE4ATw1oGYCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=959)Kittelsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Kittelsen).
Granted his stuff is mostly 1000 years too late for for the viking age, but some of the monster art can still work.
Now, this is stuff I worked on when 3.0 came out, and is not tidied up in any way, so there are likely loads of errors of all sorts here. Also, they were written in a Planescapey style, which probbly won't work if you want a more Norse style. Still, it might give some ideas.
Norse Dwarves
The Norse dwarves are a race apart from the ones that worship the traditional Dwarven Pantheon (mountain, hill, duergar, derro, etc.).
The Norse dwarves came about separately. What their origins and whence they came originally is still dark, and if they know they ain’t about to tell.
Physically, they look much the same as ‘normal’ dwarves, but are less incline to stoutness, and their heights vary more.
Mostly, it is the cultures and societies that are the greatest difference. Both races are renowned craftsmen and metalworkers of the highest order, but the greatest difference is the type of magic they employ. While standard dwarves have priests and gods of their own, Norse dwarves rarely, if ever, turn to the worship of a god. While they may respect the might of a Power, not to mention their jink, worship is out of the question. Unlike the ‘normal’ dwarves, Norse dwarves are very fond of arcane magic and many are sorcerers, wizards or multiclass with these. Otherwise they are often fighters, with select few barbarians. Monks and rangers are rare, but not unheard of. Paladins, clerics and druids are very rare. Rogues are usually those with an interest in mechanical devices and concentrate their talents to such things rather than sneaking and hiding and pick pocketing. Few are bards, since their nature doesn’t lend itself well to such aesthetic pursuits. Still, the occasional Norse dwarf bard is found, specializing in the ancient lore of the Norse dwarves, and the Norse pantheon and their allies and enemies.
One puzzling aspect is that few, if any, Norse dwarf females have been heard of. They are never encountered in their halls (by outsiders), never seen, or spoken of. Why? Only the Norse dwarves know, and they aren’t telling.
The Norse dwarves have a history of creating the biggest and most powerful weapons around. Just where did Thor get Mjølnir? Where did Odin get his spear? The Norse Dwarves, of course.
Sure, they can’t create things like this right and left. These are major artifacts that even other gods fear. They haven’t created such items in a very long time, leading some to believe that they have lost their ability. Others think that it is because they can’t be bothered to make weapons for every berk that comes along, Power or not. Despite this, they are still sought after as master smiths for ‘lesser’ weapons. If you are fortunate to get hold of a piece of their work, you know that it is worth the price you paid and then some. It will never let you down, and there is often some little extra ability that makes it a truly unique piece.
Personality:
The Norse dwarves are a lot more like the stereotypical standard dwarf than most PHB dwarves. On the whole, they are greedy, materialistic, canny and cunning. They are often wicked and unpleasant, caring only for the gleam of gold. They are not so clannish as other dwarves and readily betray their own kind if there is profit is involved. On the other hand, Norse dwarves avenge any wrong done to a member of their family by any outsider. And they use any means necessary to get even.
There are two factions or clans of dwarves, the Modsogne and the Durin. Named after the two first Norse dwarves created. Modsogne was first, and most powerful, but Durin was the most charismatic and had the greatest following. The two groups rarely live in close proximity, and almost never in the same complexes. The Durin are the ones who make most of the weapons and other items. They sell their work to anyone who has the gold to buy it, regardless of purpose to which it is put. The Modsogne are slightly more cautious and tend more towards non-violent items. Even so, there is little or no disagreement between the two.
Physical description:
As noted above, they are very similar to standard dwarves, if slightly less inclined to stoutness. They often have brown, black or red beards and hair. They live slightly longer than standard dwarves, and can reach ages of up to 500 years, even 600 in some very few cases!
Relations:
Being very insular and little inclined to socialize with and aliens except in business, the Norse dwarves are disliked or ignored by most other races. With standard dwarves, they share a mutual contempt and while they rarely come to blows over this, they rarely linger in each other’s company.
Favored classes: at creation, a person can decide whether his character wants to have fighter or sorcerer as a favored class.
Alignment:
Norse dwarves are slightly more chaotic than their counterparts. They tend towards neutral and a few chaotic elements. Few care much about good or evil, so long as their purses are full. A few are downright evil, and some very few are good. The good Norse dwarves are somewhat maladjusted to life in their clans, and often leave to go adventuring or settle somewhere else.
Norse dwarven lands:
Like standard dwarves, Norse dwarves build mighty underground halls. Few from other races are welcome here unless on business. They are less squeamish about water than standard dwarves, though they do not relish traveling over it. It’s rare to find a single Norse dwarf outside their mountains. It is then almost always on a trading mission, or a courtesy call to discuss possible business relations. They usually travel in pairs or trios.
Lone Norse dwarves are often outcasts. They will often team up with an adventuring party.
Religion:
As noted previously, Norse dwarves have little truck with religion. Some few might enter the service of a member of the Norse pantheon, usually Sif (goddess of excellence in craft), Loki, Thrym (jotun of frost and cold) or Surt (also called Sutr, jotun of fire and flame). Under no circumstances will any Norse dwarf worship the traditional dwarven pantheon, nor will any of those deities take a Norse dwarf as a priest.
Language:
The Norse dwarves have their own language that is closely related to Norse. It sounds a bit like standard Dwarven, but has a very different grammar and uses different runes. They also learn Norse and the Norse dialects used by any of their trading partners, usually humans and jotner (Norse giants)
Names:
Most of the names that standard dwarves have are also used by the Norse dwarves. Unlike other dwarves, they don’t have clans as such. Therefore they are usually known only by one names, or a last name they have chosen or been given, like Gianttricker, Hammersmith, Lightningaxe or similar names. In addition to the names in the PHB, they have more common Norse dwarf names, like:
Altjov, Dwalin, No, Nain, Niping, Bivur, Bovur, Oin, Onar, Oe, Mjødvitne, Vigg, Gandalv, Vindalv, Torin, Troh, Troin, Tekk, Fili, Kili, Fundin, Aurvang, Jare, Eikinskjalde. Nye, Nide, Nodre, Sudre, Austre, Vestre, Bombur, Nore, , Lit, Vit, Ny, Nyrod, Regin, Rodsvinn, Nole, Hepte, Vili, Hanar, Sviur, Billing, Brune, Bild, Bure, Froh, Hornbore, Fraegg, Lone
Adventurers: As noted above, most Norse dwarves don’t bother often with adventuring. Those who do are usually outcasts. They have little knowledge of the Multiverse beyond their own home areas (usually Ysgard and the Norse pantheon, but also certain Prime worlds that are under heavy Norse influence).
Dwarven racial traits:
Abilities: Norse dwarves get a +2 bonus to Constitution and a -2 to Wisdom. Though usually gruff and unpleasant, Norse dwarves can be very charming and helpful if they want to. However, their greed and general dislike for others can lead them to do things that aren’t very smart.
Medium sized: As medium-sized creatures, Norse dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
Norse dwarven base speed is 20 ft.
Darksight: Norse dwarves can see up to 50 ft. In the dark. Darksight works in the same manner as darkvision but allows the character to see color as well.
Stonecunning: Norse dwarves are so familiar with stonework that they gain a +2 bonus to notice unusual stonework, like sliding walls, traps, unsafe surfaces, shaky ceilings and new construction and similar. Also stuff that isn’t actually stonework but is made to look like it counts as stonework. A Norse dwarf that merely comes within 10 ft. of unusual stonework can make a check as if actively searching, and the dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A Norse dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate
Skills: Norse dwarves gain a +2 bonus to all skills related to stonework and metalcrafting.
Combat: Though they often trade with the jotner (giants), the Norse dwarves also get into a few conflicts with them. Therefore they train special techniques to more effectively battle them. This results in a +2 bonus to both AC and Attack when facing these beings. These bonuses do not count when facing Norse trolls.
To people who don’t know much about dwarves, a Norse dwarf is indistinguishable from a standard dwarf. The dwarves, on the other hand, instantly spot the difference. The relationship between the two races is polite, but cold and distant. They would just as soon never see each other. Still, the two races can mate and bear offspring, but these are few and far between, even for long-lived dwarves.
Norse trolls.
Strictly speaking, the word ‘troll’ is given to any big nasty creature a basher wouldn’t like to meet alone at night. There are the common Prime trolls who are stupid and can regenerate, there are the Ysgardian trolls, the Fensir, which are big, intelligent and have little in common with most other sentient races.
The Norse trolls are different. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the size of your thumb to the size of a mountain. Indeed, a few mountainsides and hills are the worn and overgrow remains of trolls caught by the sun. Ah, the sun. Like the Fensir, they are vulnerable to sunlight, being turned to stone if they are exposed. Strangely, spells like Sunburst and Sunbeam don’t affect them, only the light from a sun.
In general there are two types of Norse trolls, conveniently labeled the Elder and the Lesser. The Elder are the lesser offspring of the Norse Jotnir (giants/titans). The Lesser are degenerate offspring of the Elder.
Few see or hear the Elder trolls. Most of what is known of them are ancient songs and legends about them and how they have shaped the local landscape. The Elder were not as powerful as many of the Jotnir, but still had considerable magical powers and intelligence.
The Lesser, or common troll, are the ones that you will encounter on your journeys. The common troll is 2-3 times larger than your average basher, with brains inversely proportionate smaller. They are big, dumb, and pretty unpleasant berks, but foolish, easily tricked by a canny cutter, and very greedy. Indeed, many of the tales of meetings with ogres and hill giants in the northern reaches of many worlds are actually meetings with Norse trolls.
In appearance, they resemble ogres, but even more brutish, warty, and foul tempered. They have enormous noses and eyes as big as pools of water. They live solitary lives in mountain caves, or, rarely, with a mate and offspring. Most trolls are male, but the few females are generally better looking and significantly smarter than their counterparts. In either case, their caves are full of treasures taken from earlier victims. They can eat pretty much any type of creature, but are fond of human flesh, and will usually try to eat anybody they come across. They are fearsome fighters, wielding troll-sized versions of greatswords, greataxes and greatclubs with frightening strength. A few also use large steel bows that allow them to take advantage of their exceptional strength.
Tales abound in rural settings about the smart local boy who many years ago outwitted a troll and took all the gold and silver in the place and went off to marry the king’s daughter. Most of these are apocryphal, but there are always some that contain a grain of truth.
The basic statistics for ogres and hill giants can be used for an ‘average’ male troll. For slightly stronger and smarter trolls, stats for the other giant types can be used. Or else something like this:
Special qualities: All trolls are vulnerable to sunlight. If caught in the sun, they turn to stone, or burst and then turn to stone (50% chance of either). Spells that create sunlight do not affect them in this manner, for some reason.
Varieties:
As noted above, Norse trolls come in a staggering variety. One of the more common variations of the basic theme there are stats for above, are the multiheaded trolls. They have a number of heads, ranging from 2 to 12. In order to properly kill these type of trolls one must hack off all heads, or else they will merely regenerate damage, similar to the hydra.
Hulder
Medium fey
Hit Dice: 5d8 +5 (38)
Initiative: +2 (dex)
Speed: 40 ft.
AC: 13 (+3 natural)
Attacks: Slam +2
Damage: Slam 1d4+1
Face/Reach: 5ft by 5ft. /5 ft.
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/cold iron, charm, trackless step, distract
Saves: Fort +2, Refl +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 17
Skills: Bluff+5, Innuendo+7, Hide+5, Move Silently+3
Feats: Toughness, Lightning reflexes,
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 4
Treasure: ½ standard (hulder aren’t much interested in such stuff)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Advancement:
The hulder is a fey creature, distantly related to dryads and nymphs. Found in colder climates, they are usually more wicked and cunning than their cousins. In appearance they are female humans or elves of great beauty. This beauty is such that they charm any male human or any animal. Their charmed beings are then taken as slaves, forced to serve the hulder in her barrow. If encountered accidentally (a rare occurrence) they are naked. If encountered when prepared, a far more likely scenario, they are usually dressed in clothes of the type local girls wear. They are charming and witty and try to get the young man to follow her home.
They have one feature that can prevent their charming attack; they have a tail. The tail looks remarkably like a cow’s tail. Anyone seeing this tail is automatically immune to any charming attempt by this particular hulder.
They live in underground barrows, the size of a small farm, where they keep their charmed slaves. These barrows are so well hidden in the landscape that they are virtually impossible to find without magic. Finding one requires a Search check in the appropriate area, DC 30. Slaves in her burrow are incapable of breaking the spell, and will serve their mistress with whole-hearted devotion the rest of their lives. If someone manages to find the burrow and bring the charmed beings out, they can make another save every day to break the spell. If the hulder is slain, all charms immediately end.
Hulder live a ways away from settlements of other beings, but usually no more than a day or so. If the settlement is only one or two small farms, they might live only two or three hours away.
Hulder are omnivorous but eat lots of meat, usually from charmed animals. They typically get these animals from the normal animals in the woods, or herds of domesticated animals that locals keep.
Occasionally a hulder will fall in love with a particularly handsome and willful human (Charisma 16+). In this case they enter human society in an unobtrusive manner, and capture his attention by exhibiting behavior that females of that particular culture use to attract the attention of potential mates. In just about every case (few though they have been), the man falls in love with her, and they perform such marriage rituals as are the norm in the vicinity. The union is a happy one, and she loses her tail. Children of these unions are normal in every way, except for a tendency to be smaller and wilder than most other children in the town. Occasionally (1% chance) this magical blood blossoms into a sorcerer. Such sorcerers will typically have mostly, or only Enchantment spells.
In most cases, however, the hulder mates with one of her slaves, and gives birth to live young. These young are invariably hulder. After 30 or 40 years, the young hulder wanders off to dig her own barrow and start the cycle over again. Contrary to the imaginations and hopes of many males, hulder do not mate for the pleasure of it, nor do they so very often.
Special qualities:
Damage reduction: The hulder ignores the first 10 points of damage dealt to her unless the weapon is made of cold forged iron.
Charm Man or Mammal (Su). The mere sight of a hulder forces any normal animal and male humans, halflings and humanoids make a Will save at DC 15 or be charmed. The charmed being will immediately follow any commands given by the hulder. Dwarves, gnomes and elves are immune to this ability. If the charm doesn’t immediately succeed, she can engage in conversation and attempt again after 1 minute. Unless the subject is very suspicious as to why a beautiful naked woman is alone in the forest and wants to hold a conversation, the second save is DC 20.
Trackless step (Ex). The hulder never leaves any trace of her passing, be it footsteps (pressure or heat), scent or broken vegetation.
Distract (Ex): If someone who succeeded his saving throw is attempting to follow a hulder who is fleeing, he will always lose sight of her somehow. Either he trips and falls, or sneezes, or a bird flies into his face, or he meets a bear, etc.
If combat occurs, the hulder will order all her charmed slaves to obey her and escape. If forced into melee combat, the hulder uses her fists.
Note, these stats merely represent a typical hulder. There are tales of hulder that are supernaturally strong, able to use fallen logs as clubs when imperiled. Thankfully, these are rare.
Trollkjerring.
Medium fey
Hit Dice: 8d8 +11
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 17 (+7 natural)
Attacks: Claw +8
Damage: 1d6 +2
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spells
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 20/cold iron, spells
Saves: Fort +2, Refl +1, Will +6
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 6
Skills: Bluff +6, Wilderness Lore +5, Hide +8, Move Silently +9, Innuendo +4
Feats: Toughness,
Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Neutral with evil tendencies
Advancement:
If a hulder grows old, 300 years or more, she becomes a trollkjerring. She loses her Charm ability, but gains a number of spell-like powers. She now looks old and wrinkled, a stereotypical witch. Her hair resembles a bird’s nest, and occasionally has moss and lichen growing in it. She gains a taste for human flesh, especially fat little children (so tender that the meat melts in your mouth).
She still lives in her barrow, but it no longer has any charmed beings. When she needs to eat she must steal the beasts (and humans) by normal means.
Special Qualities:Spells: The trollkjerring becomes proficient in the use of certain spells. She gains the spell ability of a 6th level sorcerer, but uses her Wisdom as her casting stat.
Nøkken (nykk)
Large fey
Hit Dice: 8d6+32 (55)
Initiative: +2 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 16 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural)
Attacks: 2 claws +8 melee
Damage: 1d6+3
Space/Reach: 10/10
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities: Aura of eerieness, polymorph,
Saves: Fort +6, Refl +1, Will +4
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 13
Skills: Hide+5, Move Silently +9, Jump +14
Feats:
Climate/Terrain: Any lake, river, pond etc.
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 4
Treasure: standard
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement:
‘The nykk lifts up his watery beard,
and awaits his prey with longing’
The nøkk is an aquatic fey, a distant relative to both trolls and hulder, that lives in lakes, rivers and ponds. The lakes they prefer are small things, easily swum across by a fairly proficient swimmer. Though accounts vary, most tales say it looks like a large old man with large, luminescent eyes, big ears, long full beard and a shaggy head. Its body is long, angular and bony, but very strong. They are carnivorous and prefer human flesh to all other, but eat mostly animals, wild and domestic.
The nøkk is used as a bogeyman in many rural settlements. Children are warned not to go in the woods alone, or too close to lakes and ponds, lest they be taken by the nøkk.
Nøkker (pl) are hermaphroditic, and produce offspring only once every 50 years. The offspring stays about 20 years in the parent’s lake before moving on to their own lake. A nøkk instinctively knows if a body of water is already inhabited by another nøkk, and will move on to another one. They are very long lived, enjoying life spans of up to 600 years, in some cases.
Special qualities:
Polymorph (Su): The nøkk can at polymorph into any natural creature or item. It can stay in these shapes as long as it wants to. It could for instance turn itself into a small purse of gold coins to lure someone to it, then revert back to its natural form to grab the person. Each change is a partial action.
Aura of eerieness (Su): The sight of a nøkk in its natural form is a most disconcerting one. Not quite as overt and powerful as dragonfear, it gives the viewer a sense of unrealness, and inhibits certain actions. For one thing, those first viewing a nøkk must make a Will save DC 13 or stand paralyzed in wonder and horror at the sight of the creature. This lasts 1d6+1 rounds. Even if the save is successful, another one must be made at DC 17 in order to avoid a -3 penalty to all mental ability while viewing the nøkk. All those within 10 feet of the nøkk must also Make a Will save DC 17 or get a -2 penalty to all physical checks, including attack, damage, feat rolls (where applicable), Dexterity checks, Strength checks, Reflex and Fortitude saves etc. Spells or abilities that remove or prevent fear or paralysis, like Remove Fear/Paralysis and other such spells do not have any effect on this ability. Spells or abilities that protect against enchantments and mind-affecting abilities do work against this ability (such as an elf’s resistance).
Charming tune (Su): Nøkker are proficient musicians and singers, though not nearly as good as their distant relatives, the fossegrimm. In order to lure men and beast to them, they play strange tunes on flutes, harps, lutes or fiddles that draw beings to them in curiosity. Anyone hearing this tune must make a Will save DC 18 or come to the lake and stand entranced by the aura, easy pickings for the nøkk.
Lake-bond (Ex): The nøkk is bound to his or her lake, and cannot be away from it for long periods of time. If out of contact with the water for more than 24 hours, it starts to dry up and fade, losing 1HD per 24 hours spent away. If returned to the lake, it must stay there for at least 1 hour per HD lost before venturing forth again.
Combat:
The nøkker prefer to avoid combat if at all possible, though they are quite capable of taking on most people. If forced into melee combat, they take advantage of their aura of eerieness and rend their opponents with powerful fingers. If things go badly, they will not stick around and allow themselves to be killed. They will usually use their polymorph ability to change themselves into a fast moving animal and vanish in the woods or water.
Draug
Medium undead
Hit Dice: 8d12 +9 (58)
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 60 ft. boat 100 ft.
AC: 15 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
Attacks: 2 claws +6 or special
Damage: 1d6+3
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special attacks: Omen, control boat, draugslag, draugsleik, draugkyss, draugklyp stunning fist (DC 15)
Special Qualities: Undead, Damage reduction 5/+1, water mobility,
Saves: Fort +7, Refl +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 15 Dex 13 Con - Int 10 Wis 13, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +7, Move Silently +6, Jump +5, Intuit Direction +9
Feats: Stunning Fist, Toughness x3
Climate/Terrain: ocean
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 8
Treasure: nil
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Advancement: 9-12 HD Large, 13-16 HD Huge, 17-20 HD Gargantuan, 21-26 HD Colossal
“Out of storm and mist comes a strange vessel - half a boat. There is only one on board. He resembles a fisherman, but the clothes he wears are strangely old-fashioned - a leather hat and a long leather jacket. Some say that his head is a tangled mass of seaweed, others say that he has no head at all. No one who journeys on the sea wants to encounter him, because he who sails a race with the draug has sailed for the last time.”
• Folklore from Oftun.
Draugir (pl) are undead of the ocean. Originally ‘draug’ meant an undead person, but is now used only in connection with the sea-draug. They are rare, and no one is quite sure how they are created. The tendency seems to be when a sailor drowns at sea a draug may occur. Folklore says: “he who meets a watery grave is tossed to and fro by the sea and turns into a draug”. The draug is never the ghost of someone known to those who encounter it, but is always nameless. In all likelihood he is the personification of all the dead who lie adrift in the sea.
They either appear in the waves alone, or, more often, on a small, partially ruined boat or skiff. The draug has the power to change its shape. In storms and bad weather the fishermen who encounter it in the shape that has already been described. Otherwise it could happen that they ran into him in the guise of a seaweed covered stone, from 1 to 4 feet in diameter.
The appearance of a draug can vary greatly beyond the standard form described above. Most are medium sized beings, like a normal man, pale-skinned with blue and green tinges, and tangled wet hair. Others are reported to be human sized but lacking a head, or be nothing but a head. In many cases they are covered with seaweed, in their clothes and/or hair. In fact, bearing a seaweed covered stone as ballast in a ship is considered an ill omen, because a draug will take you on the voyage.
There are some signs that can indicate that a draug is nearby. Abnormal amounts of jellyfish, boats and sea-faring equipment that has been disturbed during the night, putrid smells from the sea and lots of dead fish floating are all indications that draug might be in the area.
The presence of a draug is bad luck. Poor fishing, sickness, storms, shipwreck and death are common occurrences when a draug is present. Sometimes a person can hear the draug shrieking in the waves, a horribly sound that heralds the coming of a storm, and sometimes the death of someone. The shrieks sound like those of a drowning man.
Like most undead, the draug has a hatred for all living beings, granted the sweet life that was so cruelly torn from themselves. They are much more subtle than many undead, preferring to cause prolonged terror among their victims rather than immediate death. Though capable of moving on land, they rarely do so, and never more than 100 ft from the water.
Special abilities:
The draug has the ability to cause weakness and sickness with its touch. It prefers to use these attacks on someone swimming in the sea. These attacks can also be used as part of the draug’s standard claw attacks. There are 4 different types of special attacks, and each attack may have the same effect or different ones:
Draugslag (Su): draug-blow, a numbness and paralysis of the struck limb, identical in effect to the spell Paralysis, but permanent until magic is used to reverse the condition. A Fortitude saving throw DC 16 is allowed after 24 hours to shake off the effetc. Otherwise, it are permanent.
Draugsleik (Su): draug-lick, a large area of raw, painful skin that becomes infected and quickly spreads. Treat this as a Contagion spell. A Fortitude saving throw DC 16 is allowed after 24 hours to shake off the effect. Otherwise, it is permanent.
Draugkyss (Su): draug-kiss, causes painful swelling sores around the mouth that ooze blood and pus, making a Concentration check necessary when spellcasting (DC 16+spell level), causes 4 Charisma damage. A Fortitude saving throw DC 16 is allowed after 24 hours to prevent the kiss Charisma damage from becoming Charisma drain.
Draugklyp (Su): Draug-pinch, which causes a lump or swelling that gets worse until the limb is double its normal size and useless. A Remove Curse or Heal cures the limb. A Fortitude saving throw DC 16 is allowed after 24 hours to shake off the effect. Otherwise, it is permanent.
Omen of Death: A draug can crawl aboard a boat at night, when all the crew is asleep, and fiddle around with the equipment. Someone lying in cover might catch sight of him walking up and down the boat, sitting in all the spots and fiddling with all the equipment, saying “no” “this won’t do” and “not good enough” until it comes to a spot it likes. Then it will lay the oars the wrong way, mess up the nest, tangle the ropes and lay seaweed on the seat. This is a sign that the sailor whose spot it is will die soon, usually at sea. Until a Remove Curse is cast on the unlucky sailor, the chances of something going wrong for him are increased 20-fold, and the results are nearly always fatal. Things like being washed overboard, crushed by a falling beam, falling ill, being killed by a rival etc. (The DM is encouraged to role-play this carefully)
Control boat (Su): If one or two people are out in a boat, a draug might sneak on board and take control of it. The wind will suddenly pick up, the current will take it farther and farther away from the shore, and nothing the people can do will change the boats course.
Stunning Fist (Ex): A draug has this feat without the normal requirements.
Control weather (Su): A draug can control the local weather as per the Control Weather spell, as if cast by a 9th level sorcerer. This ability can be used 1/day.
Combat:
A draug prefers to torment seafarers with storms and ‘accidents’ instead of direct confrontation. It might be seen in the storm racing a doomed ship, or conjuring a storm to sink a ship. If forced into physical combat, it will attempt to escape, or get its opponents into the water where it enjoys an advantage over land-dwellers. It will use any spells or supernatural abilities to its best advantage, trying to drown opponents.
Variants: Some draugir are more powerful than the one described above. They have the powers of sorcerers, levels 1-12. The spells available to it are all in some way connected to the ocean and water and wind. It might be able to summon other sea-dwellers to combat attackers, conjure a whirlwind, capsize a boat, etc. They can draw their spells from the sorcerer/wizard list, cleric list, druid list and Air and Water domains, so long as all spells are in some way related to the sea and the weather.
Utburd
Small undead
Hit Dice: 4d12 special
Initiative: +0 or special
Speed: 20 ft. (special)
AC: 12 (+2 natural) or special
Attacks: special
Damage: special
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft. or special
Special attacks: Hold person, invisibility, special
Special Qualities: undead, polymorph, damage reduction, 20/cold iron, weapon shifting
Saves: special
Abilities: special (Str 5, Dex 10, Con -, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16)
Skills: nil
Feats:
Climate/Terrain: countryside
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 5 (varies)
Treasure: nil
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Advancement: Large 5-10 HD
The utburd is an undead baby created by a unpleasant tradition practiced occasionally in the countryside. When a woman gives birth to a child she for some reason can’t keep (famine, poverty, youth, deformation of the babe, shame, etc.) the common course of action is to bear it out into the woods to die, hence the name (utburd: carried-out). This is a horrible and shameful act and the mother and all attending the birth keep quiet about this.
The babe is not given any milk or washing before being carried out, and most importantly, not a name; otherwise it is considered murder.
Utburd are killed in many different ways. The most common is to lay it in a hollow and leave them to starve to death or be eaten by wild animals. In many a number of cases, the babes have been found by people with better means and taken in. Others are never found, or if so they are left there.
Other times they are suffocated, strangled, stabbed or have their necks wrung. This will often create an undead babe. In the night or alone in the woods they will wail and cry. These spirits are tormenting spirits in the truest sense of the word. It hates all life, and can inflict sickness on people, it pursues them along the roads. In particular, it searches for its mother.
The utburd is known for its piercing cries, and is for this reason often called ‘ropar’ (crier) or ‘gast’ (ghost). These words are also names for owls, a bird whose shape the utburd often takes, shrieking throughout the night.
In appearance, the utburd varies greatly, not only counting the shapes it can take with its polymorph ability. Some are tiny naked children, others are throatless humans with sheep-hooves, other times a large black wolf.
The utburd isn’t dangerous immediately after creation. It usually ‘grows’ about five years, give or take, before becoming active. Before this time it merely haunts the night with its cries. Once it ‘matures’ it is a significant danger to wanderers on the roads and in the woods. It will only attack lone characters, but it will use its shrieks and cries to disconcert large parties. It might follow a party along the road, shrieking and wailing, always staying out of sight. This can be very unpleasant.
Though an utburd will attack anybody, it is most interested in its mother. It instinctively knows its mother and will attack her if at all possible. Their aim is to kill their mother to right the terrible wrong committed. The method of killing varies. One woman was found with her eyes gouged out and strangled, another was found with the utburd at her breast, having sucked her blood until she died. Others have been trampled, gutted, had their heads torn off; everything imaginable.
Special abilities:
The powers and appearance of utburds can vary, but these are some common powers.
Hold person (Su): the sight of an utburd in its natural form is so horrifying that a person seeing it must make a Will save DC 16 or be paralyzed, as per the Hold Person spell, as cast by an 8th level sorcerer.
Imitation (Ex): the utburd can mimic the sound of any animal. This is usually used to either disconcert humans, or to lure them into the woods (for instance by imitating a lost cow).
Polymorph (Su): They are capable of polymorphing into many different shapes, favorite ones being owls, ravens and small whirlwinds (about 3 feet across and 8 feet high). The whirlwind has no special attacks, but can move at 60 ft a round. In this form it is not affected by any spells or weapons or turning, except as noted in the Combat section.
Invisibility (Sp): The utburd can become invisible at will
Weapon shifting (Su): Attacking an utburd in its natural form, whirlwind form or cling form (see below) is a hazardous thing. All attacks are turned on the attacker. For instance, if a fighter attacks an utburd, the player must roll attack and damage against his own character. The only way to successfully attack an utburd is to hold the weapons the wrong way (e.g. holding a dagger by the blade and stabbing with the hilt). This inflicts normal damage. Spells work normally.
Variant powers:
In addition to, or instead of, the ones mentioned above, some utburd might have one or more of these.
Size alteration (Su): the utburd can at will change its size, from that of a flea to that of a giant. If forced into combat it will often take giant size in order to take advantage of greater strength, AC, attack bonus and hit points (equal to a hill giant’s). Feats, skills and other abilities are not gained.
Draining blow (Su): like a shadow, an utburd can drain the strength of an opponent on a successful touch. This drains 1 point of strength, with a Fortitude save DC 16 to avoid. Lost strength returns at a rate of 1 point per day.
Cling (Su): the utburd can jump on the back of a victim and make itself heavy, dragging the victim to the ground. Using this attack the utburd is incorporeal, feeling like nothing more than a ice-cold shadowy presence, making ones limbs freeze and stiffen , dragging one to the ground. The first round the victim must make a Strength check DC 7 to keep mobile. If successful, the victim can still move about normally, but cannot shake the utburd off. Every round beyond the first, the DC increases by one until the utburd is either driven off or has dragged the victim to the ground and immobilized it. Once this is done, it kills the victim. In order to cling a victim, it must jump on the victim’s back and make a successful touch attack. The victim gets to make a Reflex save DC 16 to avoid the attack. If the utburd is driven away before it can kill the victim, the victim is unhurt but for bone white claw marks on his chest and shoulders. In this form, the utburd appears to be a small shadowy, spectral child clinging to the victim’s back..
Combat:
The utburd only attacks single people. They can be tracked down and confronted by a group. In this case they will usually retreat unless the people are weak enough to be easily defeated.
If destroyed in combat the utburd disappears for a year or so before returning. To permanently destroy an utburd its body, or remains thereof, must be found and given a proper funeral rite, whatever is the norm for the culture the mother was. If the utburd catches and kills its mother, it will also be laid to rest.
Names have power, as anyone dealing with powerful fiends and undead knows. The utburd not only wishes to kill its mother, it also longs for a name. In its desperation to be named, it will misinterpret what a person says to be a name.
Here is a tale illustrating the point:
“In Reindeer Gap in Holset, there was said to have been an utburd. There was a girl who’d had a child, but she didn’t want anyone to know about it, so she killed the child and lay it under some rocks in the Gap. Afterwards strange cries were heard in the Gap. This was probably because the dead creature was unable to come to rest, since it had been murdered by its mother, and didn’t even have a name. But no one knew this, and the people thought it was a hulder that was crying instead.
Now it happened one evening that a flock of girls went past the Gap, and in the flock was the mother of the utburd. They heard a horrible shrieking, much louder than ever heard before. Frightened, they hurried past, but the shrieking followed them. In desperation, the mother shouted ‘Shut up, brat!’. Straightway a horrible laughter was heard and then the voice said ‘My mother calls me ‘Brat!’’ The girls heard this and became suspicious. Later the mother confessed everything.”
Anyone confronting the utburd and naming it can keep it from killing them. In some cases, naming the utburd is enough to lay it to rest, in others it merely ceases to be a threat to people, though it still haunts the area of its death and cries mournfully in the night.
In any case, utburd are rare and it is unheard of for an area to have more than one in its entire history, much less at a time.
Deildegast
Medium undead
Hit Dice: 4d12+3 (27)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 13 (incorporeal)
Attacks: 2 slams +4
Damage: 1d4+special
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special attacks: chilling blow
Special Qualities: Undead, Incorporeal
Saves: Fort +4 Refl +4 Will +4
Abilities: Str - Dex 10 Con - Int 11, Wis 12 Cha 10
Skills: na
Feats: Toughness
Climate/Terrain: any land
Organization: solitary
Challenge rating: 3
Treasure: nil
Alignment: neutral
Advancement: na
In the North, land is at a premium. Among hostile neighbors of various undead, fey and trolls, and landscape feature like mountains, fjords and rocky slopes, good land is hard to come by. Therefore a number of people have been tempted to move the boundary stones (deild) between their farm and the neighboring farm a little, giving them more arable land.
Sometimes this nags their conscience so much that when they die they are bound to this plane and try vainly to atone for this deed by replacing the deild. However, they are prevented from this by a number of factors. One, death often blurs the mind, and they cannot remember where the deild are. When they finally find the right one(s) they are incapable of lifting it/them. Often a special curse is laid upon a deild at its laying:
“He who lifts this deild so high that the sun shines underneath it shall forever be doomed to wander the night,” is an example of a curse.
In appearance they are spectral apparitions that look like they did at the time of death, often an old stooped man with plain farming clothes on, bearing a torch or a lantern, wandering the farms trying to find the deilds. If he has by any chance found the stone, he spends his time trying to lift and carry it, a Sisyphean labor. In the latter case, the deild glows with an unearthly light.
The lantern/torch/deild looks much the same as a will-o-wisp, giving off an eerie spectral glow.
The deildegast is not violent, but a pathetic character searching for release from this undeath. If attacked, the deildegast will attack with two chilling hands. Characters struck by the hands must make a Fortitude save or lose 1 point of Strength and Constitution. Lost points return at the rate of 1 per day (player’s choice of whether Str or Con). If destroyed in combat, the deildegast dissipates, but returns 3 nights later. The only way to permanently put one to rest is to find the displaced deild and carry it back to the proper place.
The deildegast is incapable of communication at first. If encountered by non-hostile people, it will merely give them a mournful look and keep looking for the deild(s). If three consecutive nights are spent in its company, it learns to communicate with the people. It then begs pitifully for help in reaching the proper afterlife. If the person(s) agree to help it, they must bear the misplaced deilds back to their proper places. If this is done, they gain the normal XP for defeating the deildegast. In addition, each person that helped gains a special fortune: one time later in their life they can automatically succeed at a task, be it creating an item, making an attack, succeeding a save or avoiding a spell or blow that otherwise would have killed them. The player can decide when to use this boon.
Oskorei
Colossal undead
The Celts have the Wild Hunt. The dwellers in the North have the Oskorei. Unlike the Wild Hunt, the Oskorei is not a divine event, but a horrid procession of undead spirits. Some have thought the name comes from ‘aasgaardreid’ or ‘Asgard-ride’, which would mean that this was a host of spirits sent from Asgard. This is not true. The word ‘oskur’ means terror, so Oskorei means ‘terrifying host’
The Oskorei appears as a spectral cloud that flies over the land at incredible speeds. If one looks carefully in the cloud one can see many riders. They are comprised of all sorts, men and women, old and young, warriors, farmers, craftsmen; all tearing across the sky and land in a never-ending race. At the head rides Guro, the mistress, with her husband Sigurd. Guro is a large and hideous woman, reminding one more of a troll than a human. She rides about on her horse Skokse, a large black mare that to all appearances is a nightmare, though no one has yet confirmed or denied this. Sigurd is a small man of such decriptetude and infirmity that he has to have help opening his eyes. He rides the stallion Grane, that seems in little better shape than him, despite the fact that it keeps up with the rest of the host. The others ride all manner of beings, from beetles to dogs to ravens to empty barrels! Most ride horses, however.
The actual background of the Oskorei is dark. Rumors abound. The most popular ones are these:
They are spirits sent out from Asgard to torment the Multiverse. Whether there is one that travels throughout the Multiverse or whether there is one per world, with a couple extra to flit about Ysgard, no one knows, but the leaders of the host have been described as other beings than Guro and Sigurd, something that may lend credence to the multiple-host theory.
Another rumor is that they somehow tricked some high-up, and in turn he cursed them. Of course, this rumor is an explanation for many things that no one can explain.
The Oskorei is a very powerful entity. Despite the many beings that comprise it, the oskorei is considered to be a single entity for all combat and communication purposes.
Its behavior is highly chaotic, following the whims of Guro. Sometimes it might pursue travelers, pelting them with pine cones and lumps of dirt, but nothing lethal. Other times it will grab a person’s spirit and take them on a ride around the land, returning the spirit at sunrise. Yet other times they will descend on some poor sod and tear him to shreds in less time than it takes to read about it.
Combat:
The Oskorei, being a unique and extremely powerful gathering, is extremely difficult to combat effectively and impossible to destroy. There are stories of Abyssal lords who have attempted this and failed. In all probability, nothing less powerful than a full-fledged deity is capable of permanently laying the Oskorei to rest. As yet, none have tried.
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