Thanks for watching everyone! What monster would you like to see show up on the show? Check out The Vineyard here: t.co/w6bu0Xsclp Check out my music channel here: www.youtube.com/@ChillTouch
Had a player that left session and they were playing a bard. He was washed overboard in a storm to explain him away. Now I know who is going to be paying his old adventuring group a visit.
Pain speaker was a healer who came up with a cure for an illness that plagued a city, he was mugged and killed on the way before being able to tell them the cure. The pain speaker now risen wanders the town, but has no one to tell the cure to because they all died from the illness
Or a painspeaker rising from the castle garden's pond, where the victim was forcefully drowned in order to keep them from warning the ruler or the populace about a treacherous scheme they accidentally overheard. It would work well as an encounter in a long ruined castle.
and thats an occasion of making your bbeg even more heinous if he on purpose catches people and lets them starve to death in cages for the sole purpose of creating pain speakers as a defense for it's lair
Painspeaker runs up to a party member. "I was told to deliver this to you. Your hands only." The painspeaker crumbles to dust after giving said member a note.
I like the idea that the Painspeaker was about to cast Vicious Mockery, before they died. Now they want to finish that stinging pun to someone, even though the context doesn't make sense at all! Examples: "Does your evil monologue always 'dragon'?" --- killed by a dragon, insult won't make any sense to most adventurers. "Beauty is inside the eye of the beholder. It's definitly not outside, that's for sure!" --- killed by a beholder It could be a bit of foreshadowing for a monster in the area. Though i mostly just think it's funny if a partymember gets an insult that wasn't meant for them.
I love the idea to have a twisted version of this monster as a dreadful boss, with all the party struggling to face it, as it unleashes horrors upon them, the cleric with their last spellslot tries a desperate maneuver with speak with dead to just have this monster tells a random bad joke and vanishes.
There are so many sad stories in reality of spouses, friends, and family members getting in fights and saying something mean, but one of them dies before they have a chance to apologize. Imagine the party killing a Pain Speaker and finding a tattered note in their clothing that says something like “I’m in trouble and I don’t know if I’ll survive to make it back to tell you just how sorry I am for what I said. I love you, [character name].” That would be a major heartbreaking item to find.
To make it worse, it could be that this happened hundreds of years ago and the person they wanted to tell is long dead themselves. Maybe the party could find this Pain Speaker shuffling around the cemetery the person is buried in, lamenting that they were far too late.
The party gets asked by someone to find their friend/ lover/ family member that they argued with several days ago but has gone missing since and they're worried about them; If they go looking for them, they'll find a painwalker.
Idea for a Painspeaker: The party meets this NPC that they befriend, they eventually find out that this NPC has really important information that they need to know. However this NPC is murdered or loses their life in someway while on their way to deliver some information to the party. Thus the party needs to fight this painspeaker but also somehow get the information that he needed to deliver to them.
That way, the only way the party could really get rid of the Painspeaker and lay their NPC friend to rest is to get the message to the intended recipient.
Back in 3.5 I had a rakshasa pay the party to seek out and capture 5 painspeakers. Turns out each was speaking part of a ritual to summon the rakshasas boss. They were very grumpy.
I have a strong urge to create a painspeaker that was just a guy that heard a joke that he didnt get, but just as he died he finally got it and he rampages all across the land just to tell to the person that told him that joke that he gets it.
Here's an idea for a Painspeaker: "In the village of Assito, there was an deaf farmer. He was a single man with very odd habits. He had a set of clothes for a wife he never had, and clothes for children he never cared for. He often gave sorrowful looks towards those who had to throw out the extra garments the village pranksters would leave in people's houses. He would often shake a passersby to get their attention before pointing in a random direction and signing 'Monster! Monster!' repeatedly. That last oddity would prove to be deadly. One day, a bandit was passing through town on his own. He ate like a dozen men and could drink anyone under the table. The old man went to the bandit and shook him, pointing to the top of town square and signing, 'Monster! Monster!' Confused and annoyed by the act, the bandit cut off the deaf man's hands before beating him up. When the bandit was done, his victim was dead. The bandit left town soon after, selling off ten spare bedrolls for ale. When the bandit left, the deaf man came back. He was not like what he was before. He was decayed, rotten, making gibberish sounds as he wandered through town. A local wizard determined the man had turned into a Painspeaker, a creature that had a message meant for the living. However, the man was born deaf and didn't know how to speak. How was the deaf creature supposed to give a message without his hands? Eventually, the townsfolk locked the undead villager in the abandoned church. To this day, the local hospital is trying to figure out what they can do to reattach the hands so they can finally give the villager's spirit peace. If only the town had a doctor."
Or just get a psychic to read the undead mind. Sign language is still a language! - the player that makes easy solutions for the things you want to be difficult
I think I'd mix up their origin when using them in my world: having them manifest the "true" language of negative energy implies that these weren't just people who never got to convey their message, but perhaps told a such a severe perversion or lie of the "true" message that it torments their soul into staying behind. Plot hook wise, it could give a lot of ins or even twist leverage if the painspeaker becomes a non-aggressive NPC. Thanks as always, Dad!
A villain telling you their evil plan before killing you takes on a whole new meaning if Painspeakers exist. It would be a potential method of making undead minions.
My brain immediately went off to consider that the painspeaker could be a dead relative of a party member. Say the PC thought their father abandoned them and grew up resenting them, only to find their painspeaker and learn how much they actually cared about them and why they never came back. Sounds like great character development!
When you brought up the spell" "Speak with Dead", I had the thought of what if the spell could create Painspeakers, either by trying to cast the spell on a corpse that had previously already had the spell cast upon it, trying to get the dead too much makes a painspeaker. Could be interesting. Or another idea of how that spell results in a painspeaker is if the questions asked when the spell is used are particularly troubling to the subjected soul in a deeply emotional way giving rise to the Painspeaker. Imagine the chaos of someone, possibly even the party themselves, accidentally creating a painspeaker
maybe a painspeaker is created when you dont ask all your question to a corpse and let it hanging for far too long, instead of just returning to being a corpse it raises from the death and starts searching for the ones who left it hanging cut to a sequel of honor among thieves where the final villain is that one corpse that was left waiting for its final question
Maybe an npc was cursed not to reveal some piece of info and the curse was so powerful that not even death couldn't dispel it without creating a painspeaker.
Painspeakers got a solid idea behind it, and could be intertwined with some Lovecraftian campaign. They could utter a word that could drive anyone mad, but those who could understand it may have a key to unlocking some Cosmic Horror. Idk, they are super cool though
I love the idea of the party killing a low tier scout/messanger in the early game only to be encountered later as a pain speaker and his mission resumed. Or the pain speaker could be the corpse of a reclusive mage who died before he could pass down his arcane knowledge and it becomes a living Mcguffin as different groups search for the wandering undead to be the ones taught the magic. The knowledge could be teachings on how to cast a spell the late mage created or an enchanting/alchemical recipe and whoever gets to it first learns the knowledge.
My first thought for the painspeaker is to have it be a member of a previous group of adventurers who died trying to take down the Big Bad the group's going up against. Maybe give them some armor and an actual weapon. They learned some way to weaken the villain, but died before bringing that information back to their group. The deadly dancer and ethereal hangman that got teased also look very cool... 😲
My idea is that the Painspeaker is trying to warn about some other, bigger threat, and the moment Dungeon Dad mentioned you need to hear it's words for them to work, my mind went to another monster that uses sound he's covered before. The Painspeaker's from a town with a False Hydra, and was trying to get away to get help. But it does feel like you can use that thing it was trying to say as a great plot hook in of itself.
I could see a cool reoccurring enemy that starts off as the basic Pain Speaker Monster. But every time it is killed, it returns in a stronger form (Revenant style) until it is can speak its peace. Basically until the party figures out what it wants or it aquire its goal, it just keeps coming back. Maybe to the level of a lich as the BBEG eventually.
Holy cow. I love the idea of a pain speaker who was secretly a brilliant singer but always too cripplingly shy to show their talent and perform just bringing a party to tears with their first and final performance. Great story stuff I love the speak with dead combo
One of my immediate ideas for a fun NPC is a painspeaker who was revived by them never getting to confess their love to their best friend and life partner, but somehow they're aware that to do so will just finally separate them from their lover, so they have to continue to live in the painful happiness of being in the presence of their soulmate without ever saying that they love them.
The painspeaker isn't a Shawn of the Dead zombie, though. It is in eternal True Name agony until it does say it. Makes much more sense that it would, than that it wouldn't
I think an interesting idea could be like a little tragic Romeo and Juliet sidestory where two painspeakers that were former lovers who never got to confess are seeking eachother, and when they finally meet, they finally get to tell eachother they love the other, and finally hold hands one last time as they disintegrate to nothing like ashes to the wind
A Painspeaker fights its way thru a city, up to the castle and into the throne room. It walks up to the captain of the guard. It says, "Told... you... I... would... return.... captain... sir...". And it crumbles to dust
Another possible creative solution to the Painspeaker - which is only valid at a high enough level (too high for this creature to be a threat to the party, so not really available, generally speaking) and if the intended recipient of the message is still alive - would be to revive them. That way, they could go back to life to accomplish what they were set to do.
Idea, give the Revenant's Rejuvination and Vengeful Tracker powers to the Pain Speaker, its desperately trying to find the person the message was meant for and can only truly die when that person hears the message. Sadly, it also constantly mutters unholy death magic and will probably kill them in the process of telling them unless someone is there to act as a middleman Huh, I guess you best me to that idea
Worlds first ADD DND monster. Love it. I have a scene in mind where the adventuring party goes on an epic quest to allow this thing to speak its last words and when it finally does they are “ I quit“ One of the people in the party is so pissed off that he responds. “ you waited around for 1000 years to say that you quit?? What’s wrong with you??” As the creature is starting to disintegrate into the earth- “ you know what, you can’t quit! You’re fired!!“ The pain speaker pops back up. Everybody else in the party gives the guy a dirty look
Ooh. You could add the words for darkness or unlight (darkness spell) for some extra horror! They died, but all they can see is darkness - they're trapped in-between, where nothingness is the only thing
I get that it's a lot more dramatic & most likely better for story, but you'd think with a creation background like that Painspeakers would be fairly common. I would've imagined them as something that randomly happpens when raising corpses of people killed by Power Words, or at least died not long after being exposed to one.
Man, I wish I had this stat block for a few arcs ago in my campaign. I had an entire city die due to some other event. And the party was the perfect level to throw like two or three of them at the party before the boss
Painspeaker ideas that aren’t super plot relevant: -A villager who died before coming out to their family. -An overworked and employee who died on their shift, rose, and marched towards their boss declaring “I quit” before crumbling to dust. -A public speaker who fell I’ll and perished before their big speech, and won’t stop terrorizing the city until they have enough attention to give their speech. Painspeaker ideas that could have story beats/secret info for the party: -A solider who was slain before giving a report to their commander that has info the party needs. -The murder victim of a murder mystery. The unspoken intent could be as useful as confirming the killer, to as silly as an ego-inflating toast about themselves that could still have evidence in it. -A villain the party has slain (BBEG or otherwise) that didn’t get to give their evil speech. The speech could include details about unknown intentions/plots, and it would be a humorous excuse to have the party listen to a drawn out, grandiose villain speech.
I'm glad I found out about this monster because I'm working on a short campaign about a calamity that happens every so and so hundred years and each time it happens the divine deities have to choose a band of heroes to quell it. Past calamities will be referenced so pain speakers would be a good plot device to have
"we.... Have been... Trying to reach you about your cart's extended warranty...." Would actually be horrific in the right circumstances. Actually, are we sure that robocalls aren't just real pain speakers?!
The first thought that came to mind when hearing about this was a Paul Revere who died before he could pass on the message. Imagine coming across a Pain Speaker in a tattered and ancient set of soldiers armor dragging its undead body towards where the capital of the country that came before used to be, now just a set of ruins, with its final message being something along the lines of "They've decimated our last line, is coming, they , please evacuate the royal family and my children." before crumbling after speak with dead is used.
Excellent! As a crossover with the content of the Book of Vile Darkness, I could definitely imagine a version of the pain speaker representing a foolish diabolist that died attempting to utter the blasphemous Dark Speech, and now just keeps imperfectly stuttering the curse it attempted to use on its long forgotten foe.
We had a villain who had a whole fortress filled with nothing but traps, that the party had to make their way through as he pulled levers and shouted insults via a loudspeaking system. He was slain before delivering the final taunt. *I guess he is coming back now.*
"Within the underground labyrinth of the city, undead walk with impunity. Too vast to ever fully clear of this infestation, these areas of the Underreaches have become regular dumping grounds for unsavory endeavors. Of late however, eerie whispers have begun to echo through the silent tunnels, and tales have spread of some who fell dead upon hearing." -- I feel like the Painspeaker is just begging to be put in some environment where '30 ft' can mean 'two tunnels over, but still clearly audible.'
As you have mentioned the idea with the painspeaker only coming back to say a knock knock joke could make a great short-effect plot point if he was to die from laughter. Imagine encountering an undead laughing manianically at himself and then he swoops in to attack only to stand his ground and say his great joke only to dissipate into thin air soon after
As I soon as you mentioned it being a bard, my mind also immediately jumped to thinking of the Intoner from pointy hat. Glad you also thought of it lol
This monster makes me think of the hero's shade from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. (And honestly a lot of spirits from that series that have lingering regrets) The fledgling party is traveling between towns, hired to guard a local merchant on his traversal between towns. A painspeaker of unusually high power shows up and solos the party before telling them they're not strong enough for the trials ahead And then he keeps returning to teach the party cool techniques or becomes the mentor of the fighter. He only moves on after he's taught all of his techniques to the party.
Funny you should bring Pointy Hat's Entoner, since one the first questions that came to my mind was what would happen if the one thing the Painspeaker really wanted out there that was their Magnum Opus? The one they would use to become a bardic lich? 🤔
Extra points if the pain speaker targets only such agents and those agents are the backers for the quest to deal with the pain speaker. Now you got a hook for a campaign involving the cult of Vecna!
I have an idea that utilizes your speak with dead concept. A king discovers a spy who found out a major secret of the king and has the spy killed before they can tell anyone. This could give the party a way to discover a major plot point.
I can imagine a lich telling peasents that they need to deliver a message or all their loved ones will be turned into zombies but then the lich kills then before they can say this to specifically cultivate these creatures
Nice video as always!! I'd love if you covered Elemental Mages: Ken-Kuni, Ken-Li and Ken-Sun from 3.5E. Always thought they were interesting, but have no idea how to adapt them to 5E
A lab assistant who, upon realizing he had mislabeled a flask, runs to tell the head alchemist, only to be caught in the explosion caused by the mislabeled flask being mixed improperly before he can relay the warning.
Almost did a spit take with the "it's the ladder"! Great vid Josiah! As a fellow Canadian, I love your humour. Thanks for all you do. I always want to use your creatures in my game.
The pain speaker sounds like the inverse of an Allip, one is cursed with undeath for never sharing information they should have and the other for learning information they shouldn’t have.
They're definitely on the list. Brown dragons are higher on the list, but steel dragons are on the maxed out request list. Guaranteed they'll get done at some point.
This monster has given me a very good idea for an upcoming encounter. The party is currently in a sewer system trying to rescue some courtesans who were kidnapped by a thieves guild, and the big bad of the campaign, a Lich, was going to have killed all the thieves in their lair and raised them as undead minions. Now I can have the Lich say something along the lines of "I'm sure some of these men had something they wished to say... I'll let you lend an ear to their pain." as he buggers off and some of the corpses raise up as zombies and ghouls ect, and can toss in some Painspeakers.
Back a while ago with one the rare undead vids, I was just thinking of this random Necromancer, and all he wants to do is basically fill up his Necrodex. So his goal is to make one of every kind of undead. He gets frustrated when he's just having so much trouble getting anyone to rise as a Painspeaker.
Imagine a boss fight that combines this creature with the Gray Philosopher monster this channel covered a while ago: Long ago there was an evil mage dedicated to the study of True Name Magic, who grew increasingly powerful as they came to understand more and more of the language of reality. Thankfully a legendary hero found the strength to meet the mage in combat and put an end to their studies…or so history believes. In truth the mage rose again after their death, now a Gray Philosopher shackled to the ruins of their old tower as they consider their Magnum Opus - a grand working of magic with the potential to shatter the very foundations of the world, if only they could figure out the last few pieces. When the party discovers that this threat still exists, they take it upon themselves to find the Gray Philosopher and destroy them once and for all. They locate the ruins of the mage’s tower, make their way past traps and monsters to the mage’s study, and battle against the Philosopher’s will made manifest. But as they deliver what should be the final blow, the Philosopher’s dull eyes blaze up once more with arcane inspiration as they at long last realize the final key components of their grand design. Yet again this mage rises through the sheer determination to enact their will upon the world - but now as a Pain Speaker. The battle becomes a chase as the party must stop the Pain Speaker from reaching the runic circle that yet survives at the very top of the mage’s tower, where the mage may finally speak the words that will bring their plans to terrible fruition.
I'd really love to have a Painspeaker NPC Craftsman who died without being able to pass their teachings, this caused so much strife within him that he rose from the grave. Because of this, not only does he teach his craft, but he also uses his newfound true-name magical affinity to enhance his craft. Perhaps a blacksmith became a painspeaker because he prioritized teaching his son blacksmithing over teaching him how to function as an adult dies prematurely and mourns this oversight so greatly that he arises from the grave much past his son's death. So he returns to his craft to find solace, not only offering his services and teachings, but also giving out fatherly advice to travelers and passersby in a humble attempt to console himself in a form of self-therepy. I love giving monsters a wholesome twist.
12:11 Oawohh. Poor dragon. :( That was a horrible time. Could you imagine, everything that makes you you, gone, replaced only with anger and hatred and a drive to kill.
Interesting idea, an abandoned town full of pain speakers. Most of their final words are very simple things, but it's odd that they all had these unresolved words. The reveal is that they were a Victorian-like society, where it's not 'proper' to say certain things in 'polite society'. The only non-pain speaker around is an old deaf homeless person who a) always said whatever they wanted because 'polite society can go screw itself' and b) couldn't hear the words spoken by the pain speakers, so was immune to them.
In response to Speak with Dead being able to instantly destroy this creature, I propose that the same spell might be used to create such a creature. perhaps someone died so vehement to never speak that when someone forces their corpse to talk it fights back. I'm also of the mind that the thing it has to say ideally is vital intel for the party. perhaps a famous thief died without telling anyone how they broke into a wizard's vault that the party needs to get into. Or an alchemist who discovers a cure for some magical ailment dies before publishing their findings that could have save the party's favorite npc. Consider also the interaction with the Silence spell. what happens when this type of creature is rendered unable to speak?
I was listening to this in the shower while brainstorming for an adventure im writing, having just also watched several of your other videos. Naturally this made me come up with a plot involving a high level necromancer turned grey philosopher contemplating the most perfect form of undeath. Rather than mere malices, it sends out painspeakers from its lair to seek sages across the land and convert them into grey philosophers as well, except each is tasked with contemplating the true nature of a particular undead. These philosophers are surrounded by malice-versions of these undead, allowing for level-scaling. When slain, they may call out something like "Master, I have failed you!" Or worse, "Master, I have the answer!"
A cleric of a god on undeath in killed before turning those in its church into undead by the party, only to rise again moments later and give a cursed sermon that turns them into undead anyway. I think that would be a cool way to have a phase two to a powerful boss fight.
Oooo, my first thought was a classic plot twist: maybe a big important General or Monarch or whatever sends the party on a quest to kill a bad guy. They go and do it and are rewarded. Quest done, right? Oh no. Now that guy keeps rising from the dead and coming after them, no matter how many times they put him down. Then maybe they seek guidance somehow and learn he's a Painspeaker, and cast Speak With Dead on him. The guy's final message? A warning: the person who sent them to kill him is crooked, and only wanted him dead because he planned to turn them in. And now that they know his secret, he'll be after them next.
Found your channel last night and ive been bingewatching your videos, youve given me so many ideas for my upcoming campaign and i couldnt be more grateful ❤
A necromancer and Cult about to ascend to lich hood but Is killed before finishing the chanting right now they return as pain speakers to finish the rite upgrade themselves to high undead
It's sounds similar to the crypt chanter! Witch I found from your channel lol. I'm planning on using them soon so these would be a perfect addition!! Thank you for the amazing update characters 💙 it's been a huge help for my campaigns
I got an idea from this. A necromancer lord making them on mass in dungeons. True name magic was always a favorite kick off of mine for Eldrich stuff to be introduced.
The way I would run the Painspeaker is a person that died and either did not speak necessary truth or the spoke a great lie. For example, Alexandros had know that his once best friend was not the one to kill the high priest of Torm. In fact, he had evidence that would free him, but Alexandros kept silent as his once best friend was led to the gallowsand he thinks "Good riddance. He deserves this for stealing the love of my life." Later Alexandros meets the end of his life at point of a bandit's dagger and later rose as a Painspeaker. His Soul not allowed to rest till he speaks the words that would heal the pain that he has caused.
I think another thing that could be cool to add, though should only be done with caution as it increases the powerlevel of the creature by quite a bit, is to allow its ability to also heal nearby undead. If it is literally muttering words of power that are about unlife and necrosis, then I feel like it would make sense that creatures who represent such things should gain the same effect as a living creature being healed by "life" words of power.
This creature actually brought to mind the Speaking Demon from the first book in the Dark Tower series. In that it actually says that only a corpse may speak prophecy. But they also can’t be trusted to speak truthfully. So I’m now thinking of a Pain Speaker being some sort of prophetic demon infused corpse, inhabitable because the person died like in the source material. But it can be compelled to prophecy if certain conditions are met, maybe a charisma check once it’s been beaten to half health or something… Just some initial thoughts
hello @dungeon dad loving the content and i would love seeing more of the older beholder-kin that didn't make it into 5e I'm already planning on using quite a lot of your monsters on several points in a campaign i'm doing 😁😁
It might be fun to play up the True Name magic aspect of a painspeaker. A young wizard exploring power involved in true names has an experiment backfire on him, driving him mad as the magic of creation transforms him into a creature obsessed with the magical destruction of all things. You could potentially add some cantrips or other spells to him, to connect him to this backstory and give him more of a ranged caster feel. There are plenty of word/madness based spell options depending on how difficult you want to make this variation of the painspeaker.
Imagining the absolute nightmare of a necromancer kidnapping people known for their passion but who haven’t had the chance to fulfill their goals, and leaving them tied up & gagged in a cell to slowly starve to death and the necromancer only needs to spend the resources for “Control Undead” to get a few of these. Maybe even whispering horrible secrets to encourage the process. Also, 9:05 - is *that* the conclusion to the Pink Dragon’s “find me the best joke ever” quest?
I was thinking of this creature a bit…and what about a main villain coming back to life as a pain speaker? Either to tell some sort of ‘heir’ to their scheme to continue the scheme, or maybe in a rare case to congratulate or even thank the main party for killing them? Maybe some villains had their hands tied, so dying to get away from the plan they were forced into led them to want to thank the party. Imagine the party fleeing from this ‘monstrous being’ who keeps killing all in their path, but all they want to do is talk to the party. Did I ramble? Yes. But I thought it was a cool little idea of mine.
Yes I do indeed love pointy hat as well, that would be a really fun moment in a campaign, im fighting the urge to share this with my dm too, I might save it as an idea for a future character
Awesome video as usual!! For a a reccomendation on what monster to do next: Perhaps some of the thoon-worshipping mind flayers? The shadow flayers, Thoon infiltrators, Thoon Thralls, so on! iirc they are described in Lords of Madness, id love a conversion of them, as i intend to use them for my games!
I'm going to totally take some notes from the tale of the monkey paw, and someone's son is going to be tormenting them because they never got to tell them something. Party gets told that something seems to be lurking around their house, muttering at night, and somehow they get led to the Painspeaker son.
Unfortunately I don't have a group to play with:( But I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters. 1. A Female Drow Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen. 2. A Male Mountain Dwarf Wizard (planning School of Necromancy). 3. A Female Sun Elf Druid (planning Circle of Spores). 4. A Female Astral Elf Paladin (planning Oath of Conquest). 5. A Female Half-Sun Elf Half-Moon Elf Ranger (planning Drakewarden). 6. A Female custom Race Half-Moon Elf Half-Frost Giant Barbarian (planning Path of Giants). So basically 3 of my characters would be resistant/immune to this Monster:)
I have a setting already that this creature would fit in.... my poor players. Bonus points, the previous story they played in this setting involved another video on your channel. The False Hydra.
Painspeakers also have a lot of potential for intrigue. Like messengers killed before spreading the news of a great evil setting up in the main town. They may wander along their route between two cities, rendering the whole surrounding area dangerous, or even patrol the city at the behest of the big bad necromancer.
Thanks for watching everyone! What monster would you like to see show up on the show?
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I'd love to see more Shapechangers on the show. How about the Bog Hag (4e, 3e)? 👀
2e conversions of 5e monsters 😅😅 2e is the only I play
Painspeaker ruthlessly hunts down an old wizard friend, finally reaches them.
"Your... hat... looks... ridiculous..."
And then it crumbles to dust.
I'd probably have my character just go "He's right too. It a ridiculous hat."
He’s hunting Nagash?
... and you didn't even spell "wizard right, it only has one 'z' in it."
Bonus points if you know who he's talking about (and aren't from the UK.)
LMAO
I imagen the wizard's just hanging his arms with a dumbfound expression on his face and in a moment of silence 1 party member: ...awkward...
Had a player that left session and they were playing a bard. He was washed overboard in a storm to explain him away. Now I know who is going to be paying his old adventuring group a visit.
What's the message?
@@rexredcap589 "You guys sucked at poker." *dies*
Lol
@@rexredcap589 probably “please clear my browser history.”
@@raymondharnack4160What should we expect He's a bard
Pain speaker was a healer who came up with a cure for an illness that plagued a city, he was mugged and killed on the way before being able to tell them the cure.
The pain speaker now risen wanders the town, but has no one to tell the cure to because they all died from the illness
Love this idea!
If you want something simple and horrifying, imagine a painspeaker inside a cage in an otherwise abandoned torture chamber or strapped to a rack.
Or a painspeaker rising from the castle garden's pond, where the victim was forcefully drowned in order to keep them from warning the ruler or the populace about a treacherous scheme they accidentally overheard. It would work well as an encounter in a long ruined castle.
@@derekstein6193that's actually genius
and thats an occasion of making your bbeg even more heinous if he on purpose catches people and lets them starve to death in cages for the sole purpose of creating pain speakers as a defense for it's lair
Painspeaker runs up to a party member.
"I was told to deliver this to you. Your hands only."
The painspeaker crumbles to dust after giving said member a note.
"refuses to elaborate"
@@balintvasvari7573 but the answer is obvious: “we’ve been trying to reach you about your extended warranty.”
@@bitharne That doesn't really fit, as the Painspeaker deals necrotic damage, but that example would be psychic damage.
Not one reply got the joke lol
Last delivery, huh?
Guess you really needed to get done.
I like the idea that the Painspeaker was about to cast Vicious Mockery, before they died. Now they want to finish that stinging pun to someone, even though the context doesn't make sense at all!
Examples:
"Does your evil monologue always 'dragon'?" --- killed by a dragon, insult won't make any sense to most adventurers.
"Beauty is inside the eye of the beholder. It's definitly not outside, that's for sure!" --- killed by a beholder
It could be a bit of foreshadowing for a monster in the area. Though i mostly just think it's funny if a partymember gets an insult that wasn't meant for them.
If the insult doesn't land because it doesn't make sense in the new context, does the target still take damage?
I am known to love a tragic undead spooky guy
I love the idea to have a twisted version of this monster as a dreadful boss, with all the party struggling to face it, as it unleashes horrors upon them, the cleric with their last spellslot tries a desperate maneuver with speak with dead to just have this monster tells a random bad joke and vanishes.
That sounds hilarious!
"Deez nuts" *dies*
Ligma deck *a fucking desintegrates, leaving an old, crumbled deck of cards*
@toetruck1589 oh shit, this is genious lol
Book of Vile Darkness to denote swear words is just 👌 comedy gold
Just because it can used to raise the dead doesn't mean the book is trashy.
There are so many sad stories in reality of spouses, friends, and family members getting in fights and saying something mean, but one of them dies before they have a chance to apologize. Imagine the party killing a Pain Speaker and finding a tattered note in their clothing that says something like “I’m in trouble and I don’t know if I’ll survive to make it back to tell you just how sorry I am for what I said. I love you, [character name].”
That would be a major heartbreaking item to find.
God, that's so f*cking heartbreaking. Congrats, you have emotionally wounded me
To make it worse, it could be that this happened hundreds of years ago and the person they wanted to tell is long dead themselves. Maybe the party could find this Pain Speaker shuffling around the cemetery the person is buried in, lamenting that they were far too late.
The party gets asked by someone to find their friend/ lover/ family member that they argued with several days ago but has gone missing since and they're worried about them; If they go looking for them, they'll find a painwalker.
You all are evil and such good storywriters
Idea for a Painspeaker: The party meets this NPC that they befriend, they eventually find out that this NPC has really important information that they need to know. However this NPC is murdered or loses their life in someway while on their way to deliver some information to the party. Thus the party needs to fight this painspeaker but also somehow get the information that he needed to deliver to them.
That way, the only way the party could really get rid of the Painspeaker and lay their NPC friend to rest is to get the message to the intended recipient.
Ok
if that NPC had a suitable amount of emotional value to the players, that'd have a lot of promise.
Back in 3.5 I had a rakshasa pay the party to seek out and capture 5 painspeakers. Turns out each was speaking part of a ritual to summon the rakshasas boss. They were very grumpy.
I have a strong urge to create a painspeaker that was just a guy that heard a joke that he didnt get, but just as he died he finally got it and he rampages all across the land just to tell to the person that told him that joke that he gets it.
Painspeaker who is a deceased party member who never got to tell the party something important has so much story potential
"I always hated each and every one of you, especially toby, F*k toby"
Here's an idea for a Painspeaker:
"In the village of Assito, there was an deaf farmer. He was a single man with very odd habits. He had a set of clothes for a wife he never had, and clothes for children he never cared for. He often gave sorrowful looks towards those who had to throw out the extra garments the village pranksters would leave in people's houses. He would often shake a passersby to get their attention before pointing in a random direction and signing 'Monster! Monster!' repeatedly. That last oddity would prove to be deadly.
One day, a bandit was passing through town on his own. He ate like a dozen men and could drink anyone under the table. The old man went to the bandit and shook him, pointing to the top of town square and signing, 'Monster! Monster!' Confused and annoyed by the act, the bandit cut off the deaf man's hands before beating him up. When the bandit was done, his victim was dead. The bandit left town soon after, selling off ten spare bedrolls for ale.
When the bandit left, the deaf man came back. He was not like what he was before. He was decayed, rotten, making gibberish sounds as he wandered through town. A local wizard determined the man had turned into a Painspeaker, a creature that had a message meant for the living. However, the man was born deaf and didn't know how to speak. How was the deaf creature supposed to give a message without his hands? Eventually, the townsfolk locked the undead villager in the abandoned church. To this day, the local hospital is trying to figure out what they can do to reattach the hands so they can finally give the villager's spirit peace. If only the town had a doctor."
Or just get a psychic to read the undead mind. Sign language is still a language!
- the player that makes easy solutions for the things you want to be difficult
Fucking false hydras man
Today I woke up and finally understood what the monster was
Brilliant idea
Gods above, a pain speaker AND a false hydra?! Love it!
These guys give a whole new meaning to “talking someone to death”
I think I'd mix up their origin when using them in my world: having them manifest the "true" language of negative energy implies that these weren't just people who never got to convey their message, but perhaps told a such a severe perversion or lie of the "true" message that it torments their soul into staying behind. Plot hook wise, it could give a lot of ins or even twist leverage if the painspeaker becomes a non-aggressive NPC.
Thanks as always, Dad!
A villain telling you their evil plan before killing you takes on a whole new meaning if Painspeakers exist.
It would be a potential method of making undead minions.
My brain immediately went off to consider that the painspeaker could be a dead relative of a party member. Say the PC thought their father abandoned them and grew up resenting them, only to find their painspeaker and learn how much they actually cared about them and why they never came back. Sounds like great character development!
When you brought up the spell" "Speak with Dead", I had the thought of what if the spell could create Painspeakers, either by trying to cast the spell on a corpse that had previously already had the spell cast upon it, trying to get the dead too much makes a painspeaker. Could be interesting. Or another idea of how that spell results in a painspeaker is if the questions asked when the spell is used are particularly troubling to the subjected soul in a deeply emotional way giving rise to the Painspeaker. Imagine the chaos of someone, possibly even the party themselves, accidentally creating a painspeaker
maybe a painspeaker is created when you dont ask all your question to a corpse and let it hanging for far too long, instead of just returning to being a corpse it raises from the death and starts searching for the ones who left it hanging
cut to a sequel of honor among thieves where the final villain is that one corpse that was left waiting for its final question
Maybe an npc was cursed not to reveal some piece of info and the curse was so powerful that not even death couldn't dispel it without creating a painspeaker.
Painspeakers got a solid idea behind it, and could be intertwined with some Lovecraftian campaign. They could utter a word that could drive anyone mad, but those who could understand it may have a key to unlocking some Cosmic Horror. Idk, they are super cool though
I love the idea of the party killing a low tier scout/messanger in the early game only to be encountered later as a pain speaker and his mission resumed.
Or the pain speaker could be the corpse of a reclusive mage who died before he could pass down his arcane knowledge and it becomes a living Mcguffin as different groups search for the wandering undead to be the ones taught the magic. The knowledge could be teachings on how to cast a spell the late mage created or an enchanting/alchemical recipe and whoever gets to it first learns the knowledge.
Oh, that is awesome!
My first thought for the painspeaker is to have it be a member of a previous group of adventurers who died trying to take down the Big Bad the group's going up against. Maybe give them some armor and an actual weapon. They learned some way to weaken the villain, but died before bringing that information back to their group.
The deadly dancer and ethereal hangman that got teased also look very cool... 😲
My idea is that the Painspeaker is trying to warn about some other, bigger threat, and the moment Dungeon Dad mentioned you need to hear it's words for them to work, my mind went to another monster that uses sound he's covered before. The Painspeaker's from a town with a False Hydra, and was trying to get away to get help.
But it does feel like you can use that thing it was trying to say as a great plot hook in of itself.
@@brettwood1351 Beat me to mentioning the false hydra plot line hook.
I could see a cool reoccurring enemy that starts off as the basic Pain Speaker Monster. But every time it is killed, it returns in a stronger form (Revenant style) until it is can speak its peace. Basically until the party figures out what it wants or it aquire its goal, it just keeps coming back. Maybe to the level of a lich as the BBEG eventually.
Holy cow. I love the idea of a pain speaker who was secretly a brilliant singer but always too cripplingly shy to show their talent and perform just bringing a party to tears with their first and final performance. Great story stuff I love the speak with dead combo
One of my immediate ideas for a fun NPC is a painspeaker who was revived by them never getting to confess their love to their best friend and life partner, but somehow they're aware that to do so will just finally separate them from their lover, so they have to continue to live in the painful happiness of being in the presence of their soulmate without ever saying that they love them.
The painspeaker isn't a Shawn of the Dead zombie, though. It is in eternal True Name agony until it does say it. Makes much more sense that it would, than that it wouldn't
I think an interesting idea could be like a little tragic Romeo and Juliet sidestory where two painspeakers that were former lovers who never got to confess are seeking eachother, and when they finally meet, they finally get to tell eachother they love the other, and finally hold hands one last time as they disintegrate to nothing like ashes to the wind
I imagine a word archon sending a group of players to deal with a pain speaker to prove they are worthy of obtaining one of the archon's words
A Painspeaker fights its way thru a city, up to the castle and into the throne room. It walks up to the captain of the guard.
It says, "Told... you... I... would... return.... captain... sir...".
And it crumbles to dust
Another possible creative solution to the Painspeaker - which is only valid at a high enough level (too high for this creature to be a threat to the party, so not really available, generally speaking) and if the intended recipient of the message is still alive - would be to revive them. That way, they could go back to life to accomplish what they were set to do.
Idea, give the Revenant's Rejuvination and Vengeful Tracker powers to the Pain Speaker, its desperately trying to find the person the message was meant for and can only truly die when that person hears the message. Sadly, it also constantly mutters unholy death magic and will probably kill them in the process of telling them unless someone is there to act as a middleman
Huh, I guess you best me to that idea
"I'm calling to reach out to you about your carriage's extended warranty....!"
Worlds first ADD DND monster. Love it. I have a scene in mind where the adventuring party goes on an epic quest to allow this thing to speak its last words and when it finally does they are
“ I quit“
One of the people in the party is so pissed off that he responds.
“ you waited around for 1000 years to say that you quit?? What’s wrong with you??”
As the creature is starting to disintegrate into the earth-
“ you know what, you can’t quit! You’re fired!!“
The pain speaker pops back up. Everybody else in the party gives the guy a dirty look
An Intoner with an ARMY of Painspeakers.
THAT sounds like a campaign.
Ooh. You could add the words for darkness or unlight (darkness spell) for some extra horror! They died, but all they can see is darkness - they're trapped in-between, where nothingness is the only thing
Glad I got to watch this before work.
I'm taking a break from work to watch this.
I get that it's a lot more dramatic & most likely better for story, but you'd think with a creation background like that Painspeakers would be fairly common. I would've imagined them as something that randomly happpens when raising corpses of people killed by Power Words, or at least died not long after being exposed to one.
Man, I wish I had this stat block for a few arcs ago in my campaign. I had an entire city die due to some other event. And the party was the perfect level to throw like two or three of them at the party before the boss
Painspeaker ideas that aren’t super plot relevant:
-A villager who died before coming out to their family.
-An overworked and employee who died on their shift, rose, and marched towards their boss declaring “I quit” before crumbling to dust.
-A public speaker who fell I’ll and perished before their big speech, and won’t stop terrorizing the city until they have enough attention to give their speech.
Painspeaker ideas that could have story beats/secret info for the party:
-A solider who was slain before giving a report to their commander that has info the party needs.
-The murder victim of a murder mystery. The unspoken intent could be as useful as confirming the killer, to as silly as an ego-inflating toast about themselves that could still have evidence in it.
-A villain the party has slain (BBEG or otherwise) that didn’t get to give their evil speech. The speech could include details about unknown intentions/plots, and it would be a humorous excuse to have the party listen to a drawn out, grandiose villain speech.
I'm glad I found out about this monster because I'm working on a short campaign about a calamity that happens every so and so hundred years and each time it happens the divine deities have to choose a band of heroes to quell it. Past calamities will be referenced so pain speakers would be a good plot device to have
"we.... Have been... Trying to reach you about your cart's extended warranty...." Would actually be horrific in the right circumstances. Actually, are we sure that robocalls aren't just real pain speakers?!
The first thought that came to mind when hearing about this was a Paul Revere who died before he could pass on the message. Imagine coming across a Pain Speaker in a tattered and ancient set of soldiers armor dragging its undead body towards where the capital of the country that came before used to be, now just a set of ruins, with its final message being something along the lines of "They've decimated our last line, is coming, they , please evacuate the royal family and my children." before crumbling after speak with dead is used.
I wouldn’t hate a video about vestiges, dad. They were so damn neat.
Excellent! As a crossover with the content of the Book of Vile Darkness, I could definitely imagine a version of the pain speaker representing a foolish diabolist that died attempting to utter the blasphemous Dark Speech, and now just keeps imperfectly stuttering the curse it attempted to use on its long forgotten foe.
We had a villain who had a whole fortress filled with nothing but traps, that the party had to make their way through as he pulled levers and shouted insults via a loudspeaking system.
He was slain before delivering the final taunt. *I guess he is coming back now.*
"Within the underground labyrinth of the city, undead walk with impunity. Too vast to ever fully clear of this infestation, these areas of the Underreaches have become regular dumping grounds for unsavory endeavors. Of late however, eerie whispers have begun to echo through the silent tunnels, and tales have spread of some who fell dead upon hearing." -- I feel like the Painspeaker is just begging to be put in some environment where '30 ft' can mean 'two tunnels over, but still clearly audible.'
As you have mentioned the idea with the painspeaker only coming back to say a knock knock joke could make a great short-effect plot point if he was to die from laughter. Imagine encountering an undead laughing manianically at himself and then he swoops in to attack only to stand his ground and say his great joke only to dissipate into thin air soon after
As I soon as you mentioned it being a bard, my mind also immediately jumped to thinking of the Intoner from pointy hat. Glad you also thought of it lol
Wow I've never seen a pack of fries filled to the brim like that.
It was a production miracle
This monster makes me think of the hero's shade from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. (And honestly a lot of spirits from that series that have lingering regrets)
The fledgling party is traveling between towns, hired to guard a local merchant on his traversal between towns. A painspeaker of unusually high power shows up and solos the party before telling them they're not strong enough for the trials ahead
And then he keeps returning to teach the party cool techniques or becomes the mentor of the fighter. He only moves on after he's taught all of his techniques to the party.
Funny you should bring Pointy Hat's Entoner, since one the first questions that came to my mind was what would happen if the one thing the Painspeaker really wanted out there that was their Magnum Opus? The one they would use to become a bardic lich? 🤔
Exactly!
"i only want you to hear my last song, my magnum opus"
"alright, we will furfil that wish"
then cut to the damn thing ascnding as a bardid lich
I love the fact that there is stockfootage of a zombie moaning at a computer
Silenced by agents of Vecna for discovery of Spellweaver ruins, the Painspeaker rises in undeath.
Extra points if the pain speaker targets only such agents and those agents are the backers for the quest to deal with the pain speaker. Now you got a hook for a campaign involving the cult of Vecna!
I have an idea that utilizes your speak with dead concept. A king discovers a spy who found out a major secret of the king and has the spy killed before they can tell anyone. This could give the party a way to discover a major plot point.
I can imagine a lich telling peasents that they need to deliver a message or all their loved ones will be turned into zombies but then the lich kills then before they can say this to specifically cultivate these creatures
"Ch-ch-ch...Chicken butt"
*crumbles to dust*
This is why they tell you to “speak now or forever hold your peace” at weddings.
Nice video as always!! I'd love if you covered Elemental Mages: Ken-Kuni, Ken-Li and Ken-Sun from 3.5E. Always thought they were interesting, but have no idea how to adapt them to 5E
"I.. am here.. to speak... to you... about... your.. cars extended warranty."
All through this vidéo, i was thinking of Pointy Hat's undead vidéos! I'm so glad and feel somehow validated that dungeon dad referenced him too XD
A lab assistant who, upon realizing he had mislabeled a flask, runs to tell the head alchemist, only to be caught in the explosion caused by the mislabeled flask being mixed improperly before he can relay the warning.
I look forward to the Mediterranean mountaineer monster the SpainPeaker (how does true name magic and dyslexia interact?)
You try to bring forth french fries into the world, but get a brick instead.
Almost did a spit take with the "it's the ladder"! Great vid Josiah! As a fellow Canadian, I love your humour. Thanks for all you do. I always want to use your creatures in my game.
As a new DM with Regularly low level PCs, I’d love to see some more low level/CR monsters!
The pain speaker sounds like the inverse of an Allip, one is cursed with undeath for never sharing information they should have and the other for learning information they shouldn’t have.
It's weird. The first time I've eaten Arbys in like 20 years, and this video comes up on my recommends.
*_Would you kindly_* cover Steel Dragons?
Cover them in what?
@@rachdarastrix5251 steel.
They're definitely on the list. Brown dragons are higher on the list, but steel dragons are on the maxed out request list. Guaranteed they'll get done at some point.
I absolutely love this idea especially the adjusted lore with the 'Speak with Dead' spell and I can't wait to incorporate that into my homegame! :D
This monster has given me a very good idea for an upcoming encounter. The party is currently in a sewer system trying to rescue some courtesans who were kidnapped by a thieves guild, and the big bad of the campaign, a Lich, was going to have killed all the thieves in their lair and raised them as undead minions. Now I can have the Lich say something along the lines of "I'm sure some of these men had something they wished to say... I'll let you lend an ear to their pain." as he buggers off and some of the corpses raise up as zombies and ghouls ect, and can toss in some Painspeakers.
Back a while ago with one the rare undead vids, I was just thinking of this random Necromancer, and all he wants to do is basically fill up his Necrodex. So his goal is to make one of every kind of undead.
He gets frustrated when he's just having so much trouble getting anyone to rise as a Painspeaker.
Imagine a boss fight that combines this creature with the Gray Philosopher monster this channel covered a while ago:
Long ago there was an evil mage dedicated to the study of True Name Magic, who grew increasingly powerful as they came to understand more and more of the language of reality. Thankfully a legendary hero found the strength to meet the mage in combat and put an end to their studies…or so history believes.
In truth the mage rose again after their death, now a Gray Philosopher shackled to the ruins of their old tower as they consider their Magnum Opus - a grand working of magic with the potential to shatter the very foundations of the world, if only they could figure out the last few pieces.
When the party discovers that this threat still exists, they take it upon themselves to find the Gray Philosopher and destroy them once and for all. They locate the ruins of the mage’s tower, make their way past traps and monsters to the mage’s study, and battle against the Philosopher’s will made manifest. But as they deliver what should be the final blow, the Philosopher’s dull eyes blaze up once more with arcane inspiration as they at long last realize the final key components of their grand design.
Yet again this mage rises through the sheer determination to enact their will upon the world - but now as a Pain Speaker. The battle becomes a chase as the party must stop the Pain Speaker from reaching the runic circle that yet survives at the very top of the mage’s tower, where the mage may finally speak the words that will bring their plans to terrible fruition.
I just cant imagine the number of bards turning in Pain Speakers after deceasing...
I'd really love to have a Painspeaker NPC Craftsman who died without being able to pass their teachings, this caused so much strife within him that he rose from the grave. Because of this, not only does he teach his craft, but he also uses his newfound true-name magical affinity to enhance his craft.
Perhaps a blacksmith became a painspeaker because he prioritized teaching his son blacksmithing over teaching him how to function as an adult dies prematurely and mourns this oversight so greatly that he arises from the grave much past his son's death. So he returns to his craft to find solace, not only offering his services and teachings, but also giving out fatherly advice to travelers and passersby in a humble attempt to console himself in a form of self-therepy.
I love giving monsters a wholesome twist.
12:11 Oawohh. Poor dragon. :( That was a horrible time. Could you imagine, everything that makes you you, gone, replaced only with anger and hatred and a drive to kill.
Interesting idea, an abandoned town full of pain speakers. Most of their final words are very simple things, but it's odd that they all had these unresolved words. The reveal is that they were a Victorian-like society, where it's not 'proper' to say certain things in 'polite society'. The only non-pain speaker around is an old deaf homeless person who a) always said whatever they wanted because 'polite society can go screw itself' and b) couldn't hear the words spoken by the pain speakers, so was immune to them.
In response to Speak with Dead being able to instantly destroy this creature, I propose that the same spell might be used to create such a creature. perhaps someone died so vehement to never speak that when someone forces their corpse to talk it fights back.
I'm also of the mind that the thing it has to say ideally is vital intel for the party. perhaps a famous thief died without telling anyone how they broke into a wizard's vault that the party needs to get into. Or an alchemist who discovers a cure for some magical ailment dies before publishing their findings that could have save the party's favorite npc.
Consider also the interaction with the Silence spell. what happens when this type of creature is rendered unable to speak?
I was listening to this in the shower while brainstorming for an adventure im writing, having just also watched several of your other videos.
Naturally this made me come up with a plot involving a high level necromancer turned grey philosopher contemplating the most perfect form of undeath. Rather than mere malices, it sends out painspeakers from its lair to seek sages across the land and convert them into grey philosophers as well, except each is tasked with contemplating the true nature of a particular undead. These philosophers are surrounded by malice-versions of these undead, allowing for level-scaling. When slain, they may call out something like "Master, I have failed you!" Or worse, "Master, I have the answer!"
A cleric of a god on undeath in killed before turning those in its church into undead by the party, only to rise again moments later and give a cursed sermon that turns them into undead anyway. I think that would be a cool way to have a phase two to a powerful boss fight.
Oooo, my first thought was a classic plot twist: maybe a big important General or Monarch or whatever sends the party on a quest to kill a bad guy. They go and do it and are rewarded. Quest done, right? Oh no. Now that guy keeps rising from the dead and coming after them, no matter how many times they put him down. Then maybe they seek guidance somehow and learn he's a Painspeaker, and cast Speak With Dead on him. The guy's final message? A warning: the person who sent them to kill him is crooked, and only wanted him dead because he planned to turn them in. And now that they know his secret, he'll be after them next.
Haven't been here in awhile. Holy Crap. DD's editing is next level. Great work!
Found your channel last night and ive been bingewatching your videos, youve given me so many ideas for my upcoming campaign and i couldnt be more grateful ❤
Hell yeah! Welcome to the channel!
A necromancer and Cult about to ascend to lich hood but Is killed before finishing the chanting right now they return as pain speakers to finish the rite upgrade themselves to high undead
It's sounds similar to the crypt chanter! Witch I found from your channel lol. I'm planning on using them soon so these would be a perfect addition!! Thank you for the amazing update characters 💙 it's been a huge help for my campaigns
I got an idea from this. A necromancer lord making them on mass in dungeons. True name magic was always a favorite kick off of mine for Eldrich stuff to be introduced.
Imagine your chilling, then a pain speaker walk up to you “you fuckin suck dude” and disintegrates
oh boy i am planning an Age of Worms campaign right now and let me tell you, this fella is gonna speak some NASTY PROPHECY!
The way I would run the Painspeaker is a person that died and either did not speak necessary truth or the spoke a great lie. For example, Alexandros had know that his once best friend was not the one to kill the high priest of Torm. In fact, he had evidence that would free him, but Alexandros kept silent as his once best friend was led to the gallowsand he thinks "Good riddance. He deserves this for stealing the love of my life." Later Alexandros meets the end of his life at point of a bandit's dagger and later rose as a Painspeaker. His Soul not allowed to rest till he speaks the words that would heal the pain that he has caused.
I think another thing that could be cool to add, though should only be done with caution as it increases the powerlevel of the creature by quite a bit, is to allow its ability to also heal nearby undead. If it is literally muttering words of power that are about unlife and necrosis, then I feel like it would make sense that creatures who represent such things should gain the same effect as a living creature being healed by "life" words of power.
This creature actually brought to mind the Speaking Demon from the first book in the Dark Tower series. In that it actually says that only a corpse may speak prophecy. But they also can’t be trusted to speak truthfully.
So I’m now thinking of a Pain Speaker being some sort of prophetic demon infused corpse, inhabitable because the person died like in the source material. But it can be compelled to prophecy if certain conditions are met, maybe a charisma check once it’s been beaten to half health or something…
Just some initial thoughts
hello @dungeon dad
loving the content and i would love seeing more of the older beholder-kin that didn't make it into 5e
I'm already planning on using quite a lot of your monsters on several points in a campaign i'm doing 😁😁
It might be fun to play up the True Name magic aspect of a painspeaker. A young wizard exploring power involved in true names has an experiment backfire on him, driving him mad as the magic of creation transforms him into a creature obsessed with the magical destruction of all things. You could potentially add some cantrips or other spells to him, to connect him to this backstory and give him more of a ranged caster feel. There are plenty of word/madness based spell options depending on how difficult you want to make this variation of the painspeaker.
Imagining the absolute nightmare of a necromancer kidnapping people known for their passion but who haven’t had the chance to fulfill their goals, and leaving them tied up & gagged in a cell to slowly starve to death and the necromancer only needs to spend the resources for “Control Undead” to get a few of these. Maybe even whispering horrible secrets to encourage the process.
Also, 9:05 - is *that* the conclusion to the Pink Dragon’s “find me the best joke ever” quest?
I was thinking of this creature a bit…and what about a main villain coming back to life as a pain speaker? Either to tell some sort of ‘heir’ to their scheme to continue the scheme, or maybe in a rare case to congratulate or even thank the main party for killing them? Maybe some villains had their hands tied, so dying to get away from the plan they were forced into led them to want to thank the party. Imagine the party fleeing from this ‘monstrous being’ who keeps killing all in their path, but all they want to do is talk to the party. Did I ramble? Yes. But I thought it was a cool little idea of mine.
Painspeaker: Have you heard about NFTs?
Truly this is among the most vile of all Undead.
Yes I do indeed love pointy hat as well, that would be a really fun moment in a campaign, im fighting the urge to share this with my dm too, I might save it as an idea for a future character
Awesome video as usual!! For a a reccomendation on what monster to do next: Perhaps some of the thoon-worshipping mind flayers?
The shadow flayers, Thoon infiltrators, Thoon Thralls, so on! iirc they are described in Lords of Madness, id love a conversion of them, as i intend to use them for my games!
No, they're all Monster Manual V. I'll get them all added to the monster suggestions list.
I'm going to totally take some notes from the tale of the monkey paw, and someone's son is going to be tormenting them because they never got to tell them something. Party gets told that something seems to be lurking around their house, muttering at night, and somehow they get led to the Painspeaker son.
Unfortunately I don't have a group to play with:(
But I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters.
1. A Female Drow Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen.
2. A Male Mountain Dwarf Wizard (planning School of Necromancy).
3. A Female Sun Elf Druid (planning Circle of Spores).
4. A Female Astral Elf Paladin (planning Oath of Conquest).
5. A Female Half-Sun Elf Half-Moon Elf Ranger (planning Drakewarden).
6. A Female custom Race Half-Moon Elf Half-Frost Giant Barbarian (planning Path of Giants).
So basically 3 of my characters would be resistant/immune to this Monster:)
I have a setting already that this creature would fit in.... my poor players. Bonus points, the previous story they played in this setting involved another video on your channel. The False Hydra.
Painspeakers also have a lot of potential for intrigue. Like messengers killed before spreading the news of a great evil setting up in the main town. They may wander along their route between two cities, rendering the whole surrounding area dangerous, or even patrol the city at the behest of the big bad necromancer.