How many goblinoids does a grick need to eat to grow into an alpha?

[Imbalance]

And what would that time frame be like?

The short version is that the party murdered their way through a certain goblin castle, yet barely glimpsed and subsequently fled from the grick holed up in the chapel. They saved the captive, grabbed some loot, and split.

Spoiler: For emotive, rambling detail, click here (LMoP spoilers)

Show

It's my fault, really. Things started out simply enough. But I guess I'm the one that allowed this careening nightmare of a campaign to get so far out of hand for a newb DM such as myself. It's cool, I can roll with it. We learn better by making mistakes, right?

So, when it was just the four players, I had to scramble to get the ball rolling, but Goblin Arrows ran about as by-the-book as it possibly could have. Klarg escaped, but they otherwise managed to nail the optimum outcome of every scene. I went out on a limb with one little tidbit, and it seemed to flow well.

Player five joined up in Phandalin, and it was a challenge keeping things organized. I had a hard time bouncing NPC's around and trying to bait hooks didn't work as well as I'd like, and when they went to investigate the manor I might as well have thrown the book away. That was fine, but my attempts at improvisation seemed to only dig me deeper. What may have saved me was the second encounter with good ol' Klarg. My expectation was that they would do a side quest or two, but no - they decided to chase down the recurring bugbear.

Of course, his trail ran straight to goblin HQ like a locomotive. They almost talked their way in, but the two characters that split off and found the side door left me little choice but to let the dominoes start falling. Or so I keep telling myself. Really, it was player five's Thunderwave that turned what still might have been an infiltration into an utter massacre. I threw everything at them in waves, and it certainly looked bad a few times especially with no rests, but even a buffed Klarg and the boss of the place fell before their onslaught. Cue the stage finale and a reunited party took down the doppleganger together with only single digit HP's to spare. They managed to free the owlbear and mercifully permitted the only surrendering gobbo to flee into the woods, but that was it. The only adjustment I made was having Klarg replace two hobgoblins - they killed every Cragmaw in the joint. And left the worm alone. With all that meat.

And now player six has joined. This is the guy that got me started, though, and these experiences have given me greater insight on how to keep going and not rip my whiskers out. With the ideas he and I are bouncing around and the sessions under my belt, I think i can handle the rest of this module...

So, an idea I had was for them to have to revisit the crumbling fortress at some point, weeks or more from now in-game, and find a much bigger, much hungrier threat lurking there. I can do that regardless of what the lore may say about these critters, but some outside opinions will be helpful. Let's say the grick eats a dead bugbear first while it's fresh, which is arguably the same mass, give or take, and lives off of that for a few days to a week. If at least a dozen goblins, half as many hobgoblins, another bugbear, and a doppleganger remain as carrion (assuming the grick will eat rotting corpses) would an estimate of about a month be fair before it needs to go looking for food again? And is that enough time and nourishment to grow a size factor and increase CR from 2 to 7?

Because, I kinda want it to be.

I'm also short on details of this monstrosity's life cycle and traits. There is some lore about grick nests in the Underdark, and apparently they were aberrations in prior editions. But I wonder do they lay eggs, shed skin, cocoon themselves and later emerge as bipedal heat seekers that fly by means of methane-fueled propulsion? Bummer that it has no burrow speed.

These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. Thanks in advance.

[Dungeon-noob]

First, congrats on doing well on your first time DMing! Not everyone does so well.

Second off, i don't actually think you need any more advice. Your post indicates you already have a bunch of good ideas well thought out, and done some research on your own. I'm AFB right now, but i doubt there are any important fluff conlflicts with what you're planning. It sounds like a fun idea, go for it. You're the DM, you can do this, even if it isn't LAW in the books.

[Imbalance]

Thanks, I appreciate that.

Still, I posted for conversation's sake, and to give the monsters their due.

Other thoughts? Would gricks regurgitate pellets of their food?

[iTreeby]

Thanks, I appreciate that.

Still, I posted for conversation's sake, and to give the monsters their due.

Other thoughts? Would gricks regurgitate pellets of their food?

In 3.5 edition, there was a book called lords of madness that went very very in depth with several aberrations including the grick. I'm sure it could answer some of your questions... But it is alien even in the fictional setting of dnd, if you want it to reproduce by budding based on meat consumption, it can, I you want it to mature in weeks, it can. If you want creative explanations... Their growth cycle can be based on star alignment or they can hibernate when full to quickly grow. Or they can hatch large and shrink as they age because they flow opposite of native time. You are the DM, you have lots of leeway. On the other hand, you can also tell the players to decide what is most interesting and roll with that.

[loki_ragnarock]

Maybe they molt their skin with every growth cycle?

Like, the when the PCs return they find one skin. Then another. And another. Each bigger than the last.

Relief, slowly budding horror, reveal.

[Nagog]

I was unfamiliar with the Grick before this post, but looking at them now they seem fairly interesting. If I were to run the follow up visit to it's lair, I'd include the following:

Piles of bones, obviously regurgitated.

Some corpses bloated and, if searched/disturbed, burst with what look like 4-5 inch long maggots (larval Gricks)

Arches of hallways destroyed as though something Large passed through them. To further the effect, have the ceiling under such an arch also be collapsed. Characters with higher passive Investigation scores will notice that none of the rubble lies in the center of the hallway, as if whatever passed through brushed it aside as it passed.

In the chapel, the floor and pews have been heavily disturbed, creating a form of rocky/difficult terrain (to take advantage of it's stealth ability).

A high passive perception may discover a layer of slime/mucus on the floor and walls, and in some areas, the ceiling.

Overall, a boss battle can be fun, but it's made memorable by the buildup to it. If necessary, I'd also give the Grick Alpha an HP boost mid-battle if you feel the buildup worked but the battle was too easily won. Buildup to a disappointing battle can often lower a party's feelings of accomplishment upon defeating the monster.

[MaxWilson]

I can do that regardless of what the lore may say about these critters, but some outside opinions will be helpful. Let's say the grick eats a dead bugbear first while it's fresh, which is arguably the same mass, give or take, and lives off of that for a few days to a week. If at least a dozen goblins, half as many hobgoblins, another bugbear, and a doppleganger remain as carrion (assuming the grick will eat rotting corpses) would an estimate of about a month be fair before it needs to go looking for food again? And is that enough time and nourishment to grow a size factor and increase CR from 2 to 7?

Because, I kinda want it to be.

Great! You can always say it's a mutant grick which grows unusually quickly.

[Imbalance]

I like these ideas. These are very much in line with what I want to do, that I can bank for later application. I also pondered the horror of a grick plague, but that may be taking things too far. Plenty to work with, though.

Thanks!