D&D Adventures 18: Bulette
A danger has been reported in the frontier towns. Local militia and villager youths marched on, hoping to kill the monster and become heroes.
But this monster is proving to be a challenge, leaving everyone who challenged it shocked, maimed, or worse. Depending on who you ask, it’s two times, no, three times the size of a horse, can cause earthquakes and glide through the air. In fact, make that FOUR times the size of a horse and it wears armor?
As exaggerated as the panicked militia and villagers' reports go, listening a bit more and asking the right questions can provide the truth: It is a Bulette, probably a big one too.
Every day, the Bulette makes its way toward the city, damaging village and town after another.
Depending on the party’s investigation, knowledge skills, etc. they can learn more about the monster and discover what it really is, but they should remember that time is of the essence.
Once they face the monster, the battle will be long and it won’t spend too much time with adventurers. Instead, it will continue to head toward the city.
Once it's defeated, celebrating the victory won’t be easy. The monster has damaged and killed many who tried to stop it and many more who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It has killed cattle and other animals, its movement has caused quakes that brought down simple village homes, it has uprooted trees and created holes… Even during the fight, maybe a spell the party cast caused a fire somewhere, or because the fight happened in the town, more buildings ended up being destroyed. However it went, the people’s lives in the whole area became a mess in a matter of days or weeks.
Will the party help the people or move on to the next grand adventure? Depending on their choice, they may face jaded people next time they are in the area, or gain the trust and goodwill of countless people. What if the party was just passing by? Also, is it completely normal for that Bulette to be so single-minded about reaching the town?
For higher levels, the Bulette could be more powerful and in fact, maybe that has something to do with why it’s there. Could it be a wizard who created a special breed or enhanced a specific Bulette? Could it be a sign from Urdlen, the evil albino mole god of gnomes?
This can be everything from a one-shot to a side story arc and maybe even expanded into a campaign.
