TEXT: EN World EN5idEr | Monstrous Menagerie: The Mubida
   
  writing Kyle Carty
   color art Phil Stone
   
  editing Mike Myler
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  T
  his seemingly stitched-together 
  creature’s fur is mottled, patchy, 
  and covered with large chunks of moss. 
  Mismatched wooden antlers rest on its 
  canine head, as if they were taken from 
  different animals. It utters a low, gut-
  tural growl that sounds like the braying 
  of a motley pack of beasts. 
  Monstrous Menagerie presents new 
  and fantastic creatures to populate 
  the campaign worlds of Game Mas-
  ters of all levels of experience. The 
  creatures found within these pages 
  may be beneficent or malign, hor-
  rific or wondrous, but all are sure to 
  astound your players.
  Monstrous Menagerie
  THE MUBIDA
  hunter’s bane
  
  Monstrous Menagerie: The Mubida | EN World EN5idEr
  Open Game Content | The game rule information 
  in this article is designated Open Game Content. All other 
  material in this article, including maps and illustrations 
  (including illustrations in the public domain), in-character 
  and out-of-character narrative and descriptive text, 
  character and place names, trade dress, “EN Publishing,” 
  “EN World,” “EN5ider,” EN Publishing product 
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  Mubida Lore
  A rare monstrosity believed by hunters and woods-
  men to be a herald of strife, it is said that the 
  mubida arrive to cut off villages from the bounty 
  of the wilds around them. Many settlements un-
  dergo years of hardship because only to find that 
  the creature simply disappears without warning. In 
  truth a mubida is a highly intelligent and empathic 
  child of nature, protecting it from overharvesting 
  and overhunting. Many non-druids do not consider 
  their impact on the world around them—they don’t 
  consider the stability of the deer they hunt or their 
  impact on the ecosystem, and some druidic schol-
  ars believe that the mubida is nature’s response to 
  these actions. A defense mechanism that prevents 
  the total destabilization of the ecosystem.
  There are many ways that a mubida might be 
  brought into existence. The most common theory 
  is that the monstrosities are constructed with pri-
  mal magic by nature itself, and the common thread 
  between sightings is that they always appear in ar-
  eas where life is being harvested and hunted at a 
  rate that exceeds nature’s ability to replenish. Sages 
  have concluded that these creatures do not “arrive” 
  at a location but are instead born, fully grown in 
  unstable areas.
  Another popular theory is that this patchwork 
  creature is, not unlike the owlbear, the result of 
  too much magical experimentation on a mundane 
  creature. Unlike the owlbear and chimera, scholars 
  postulate that the responsible spellcaster was not a 
  wizard but a druid. Many historians believe that this 
  druid was a wandering shepherd that repeatedly al-
  tered their trusted sheepdog with magic in the belief 
  that improving the canine would better protect the 
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  flock. Eventually one too many spells were cast on 
  the animal and the very foundation of its body and 
  mind altered—it no longer viewed the small group 
  of sheep as its charge but rather saw all creatures en-
  dangered by the mortal races as its flock. Those who 
  subscribe to this speculation presume that all mu-
  bida share a single common ancestor as its offspring 
  spread throughout the known world.
  Finally, the third most prevalent idea regarding 
  the genesis of the mubida flies in the face of the 
  other, more widely accepted theories: they are not 
  monstrosities at all. Created from magic but not 
  true primal energies, instead they are thought to 
  perhaps be undead animated from large volumes of 
  beast corpses that are the byproduct of overhunting. 
  They do not come to protect the land, only to serve 
  as nature’s vengeance against greedy mortal races. 
  This school of thought is popular with scholars that 
  find no correlation between a mubida’s presence 
  and the stabilization of a region’s fauna, positing 
  that any dangerous creature in a region will stem 
  the tide of overharvesting due to its very presence. 
  Detractors cite the fact that a mubida has never 
  been seen harming an animal in the wild yet the 
  skeptical don’t accept that lack of evidence is proof 
  within itself.
  Mubida Ecology
  What fascinates zoologists and ecologists is the 
  ecology of the mubida. Its dietary needs are com-
  pletely unknown. Those who claim to have slain 
  one have stated conflicting accounts that detail the 
  creature’s intestinal tract was stuffed to the brim 
  with foliage, bones, completely empty, or missing 
  altogether. This misinformation makes it all but im-
  possible to accurately gauge the mubida’s diet and 
  the existence of predatory behavior towards the 
  mundane animals that exist in its domain. A popu-
  lar assumption is that the unique moss that grows 
  in patches on the unique creature’s hide allows it to 
  find nourishment through photosynthesis (though 
  this has yet to be proven).
  It is important to note that the mubida has been 
  observed living in perfect harmony with normally 
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Monstrous Menagerie: The Mubida
  aggressive wildlife. One woodsman reported see-
  ing a mother black bear and her cubs approach a 
  resting mubida only to have the creature gently 
  play with the newborn bears before allowing the 
  family to depart. Beastmasters that have survived 
  conflict with the mubida also report that even their 
  most trusted and well trained animal companions 
  would frequently refuse to attack the creature and 
  it wouldn’t do harm to the lesser beast in turn.
  Plot Hooks
  The following ideas can help you introduce the mu-
  bida into your game.
  Aberrant Behavior. A mubida wiped out an en-
  tire caravan of merchants and travelers heading to 
  a major city. This behavior is irregular for these 
  incredibly rare creatures, drawing the interest of a 
  group of monster hunters. They’ve placed a bounty 
  on any information relating to the mubida. In truth 
  its actions were not its own—a wicked and militant 
  druid circle discovered a way to dominate the mind 
  of the deadly monstrosity and the caravan assault is 
  just the first step in their long term plan to eradicate 
  the encroaching threat of civilization in the area.
  King’s Wood. The forest of a local noble is a com-
  mon hunting ground for nobility. However despite 
  infrequent hunting trips, something has brought 
  a mubida into the forest. As it turns out poachers 
  from several small villages and hamlets in the area 
  frequently use the game found within the wood to 
  feed their families and friends.
  Low Reserves. The frontier village of Hallow-
  thorp barely survived the winter. The game in the 
  nearby forest was hunted into oblivion and it will 
  be a long string of weeks before the first harvest 
  of spring arrives. Villagers are on edge and warn 
  travelers against heading into the woods alone. 
  Hidden in plain sight beneath the boughs of the 
  wood’s trees rests a neatly arranged collection of 
  logs bound together with thick rope and staked 
  into the earth, a large boulder resting on top. A mu-
  bida visited the region surrounding Hallowthorp 
  the previous spring and rather than heeding the 
  advice of the local druid, the hunters of the village 
  created an intricate trap to seal the creature within. 
  Anyone listening through the felled logs hears the 
  deep, guttural breathing of the mubida trapped in 
  the pit beneath it.
  Tactics
  Mubida are solitary creatures that rarely interact 
  with one another. In combat they are usually ac-
  companied by beasts commonly found in the area 
  and even dire animals seem to respect their pres-
  ence, actively protecting the creatures. 
  The mubida is a highly mobile threat that makes 
  great use of its ability to hinder opportunity at-
  tacks to set up powerful gore attacks. It prefers to 
  target isolated foes but is equally at home rushing 
  clustered groups of humanoids into one another to 
  hinder their ability to appropriately respond to the 
  threat it poses.
  A mubida is incredibly intelligent and even ca-
  pable of speech. It does its best not to make this 
  information known and instead uses the commu-
  nication of a well-organized party against them. It 
  actively creates unique counter-strategies, putting 
  pressure on spellcasters and other soft targets while 
  actively ignoring more heavily armored targets un-
  til they are all that remain or the threat they pose 
  becomes too much to ignore.
  
  Monstrous Menagerie: The Mubida | EN World EN5idEr
  Sample Encounter (CR 14–15)
  The mubida is a dangerous threat even for expe-
  rienced adventurers. The following encounter 
  works well for 9th level PCs and can easily serve as 
  the final combat of an adventure, but is designed 
  for a freshly rested party. For more fatigued ad-
  venturers, remove the giant boar and 2 wolves or 
  1 winter wolf.
  The encounter’s area is wide and features a great 
  deal of cover thanks to large trees, overgrown brush, 
  and natural slopes. The mubida uses this terrain to 
  lure lone adventurers out into the open before dart-
  ing back into hiding.
  It is accompanied by creatures from the forest that 
  are far more aggressive than many of them would 
  normally be: 2 giant elk, 1 giant boar, 1  winter 
  wolf, and 4 wolves. These animals do their best to 
  isolate targets for the mubida by knocking victims 
  prone while others attempt to drag prone targets 
  away through the brush. 
  Thanks to the mubida’s ability to telepathically 
  communicate with animals, the normally bestial 
  creatures with which it associates are capable of 
  much more effective tactical positioning than a 
  party might expect. The beasts do not group to-
  gether unless they absolutely must so as to avoid 
  area of effect attacks (like the fireball spell), mov-
  ing in to the fight from multiple directions. Wolves 
  engage with front rank combatants to harry their 
  advance while the mubida and boar focus on at-
  tacking more vulnerable opponents.
  The animals under the mubida’s manipulation 
  prioritize their own survival and retreat when 
  the mubida feels the situation has turned against 
  them—it prioritizes the survival of the forest over 
  its own well-being.
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Monstrous Menagerie: The Mubida
  The Mubida
  Presented below is the stat block for the mubida as 
  well as the regional effects that occur in the proxim-
  ity of its lair.
  Mubida
  Large monstrosity, unaligned
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 189 (18d10+90)
  Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft. 
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   18 (+4) 
  15 (+2) 
  21 (+5) 
  13 (+1) 
  16 (+3) 
  7 (–2)
  Skills Athletics +8, Perception +9, Stealth +6, Survival +7
  Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing and slash-
  ing from nonmagical weapons
  Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, fright-
  ened, stunned
  Senses darkvision 240 ft., passive Perception 19
  Languages Druidic, Common
  Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
  Animal Ken. The mubida can telepathically communi-
  cate simple messages to beasts within 100 feet.
  Bounding Escape. Any creature that makes an oppor-
  tunity attack against the mubida has disadvantage on 
  the attack roll.
  Regional Effects
  A region containing a mubida’s lair thrives—animals are 
  more durable, require less to eat, reproduce healthy off-
  spring more frequently. The senses of non-beasts dull 
  and the very landscape seems to work against them. No 
  death goes unnoticed within the mubida’s domain.
  •	 All wild creatures of the beast type within 10 miles 
  of the mubida’s lair increase their AC by 2 and gain 
  5 temporary hit points at the end of each long rest.
  •	 The mubida becomes instantly aware of any Tiny or 
  larger creature that dies within 10 miles of its lair. 
  It knows the exact location the creature died and 
  if the death was the result of a sapient creature’s 
  actions. 
  •	 Wisdom (Survival) checks are made with disadvan-
  tage by all creatures other than beasts within 10 
  miles of the mubida’s lair.
  •	 Mundane foliage becomes difficult terrain at 
  inconvenient times for creatures other than beasts 
  within 1 mile of the mubida’s lair. e
  Charge. If the mubida moves at least 10 feet straight 
  toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on 
  the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) blud-
  geoning damage.
  Guard Dog. Creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls 
  against a beast ally of the mubida while the mubida is 
  within 10 feet of the beast.
  Shepherd’s Isolation. If the mubida hits with its first 
  attack on its turn, the target takes an extra 22 (4d10) 
  damage (of the same type as the attack) if the target 
  has no allies within 5 feet.
  Skulk. The mubida can use the Hide action as a bonus 
  action.
  Vengeful Stalker. The mubida automatically succeeds 
  on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track a creature it 
  has dealt at least 20 damage to in the past 24 hours.
  ACTIONS
  Multiattack. The mubida makes a bite, claw, and gore 
  attack.
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) piercing damage.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 10 (1d12+4) slashing damage.
  Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) bludgeoning damage.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 206 - Mubida.pdf