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Hello and welcome to this edition of Evolving Monsters. We look at monsters in the 5e Monster Manual and tweak them to make them more interesting. Today we’ll look at the Remorhaz. You will learn how they interact with others in the planes. Add the Remorhaz as a fascinating part of your world’s lore.
Remorhaz
The Remorhaz is one of Flutes‘ favorite monsters. It’s a monster that suits many purposes in a campaign, and its combination of fire and ice is incredibly cool. Let’s explore the ecology of the Remorhaz and how we can use it effectively in our games.
Icy Burrowers
The Remorhaz reminds me of a certain science fiction worlds’ sandworms adapted for the icy tundras. These creatures will shape some assumptions that we’ll use to evolve this monster. Each Remorhaz possesses a massive heated core. Their core keeps them warm during long cold nights in the ice. Heated cores enable them to burrow to hunt prey and melt tunnels. Using specialized senses it can stalk its prey from under the ground.
Tremorsense is a rare sensory feature. Monsters with tremorsense are usually burrowing creatures. Primarily we will focus on the way that this creature attacks. Tactics, just like all of the other creatures of evolving monsters, will be the focus of the new abilities.
The Remorhaz has long been one of the iconic D&D monsters of the tundra steppe and glacial mountains. Its ability to ambush and move in a way that is outside the capability of most of the adventurers. The swallow ability puts it on the shortlist of creatures that can do it. Additionally, the “furnace-like” heated body described in the Monster Manual Page 258 reminds me of the Fire Shield spell.
I’ll add a few simple abilities that will give this already fierce monster more streamlined capabilities. As a StoryCrafter, the Remorhaz seems incomplete, something that I’m intending to rectify now.
Bounding Ambush
Attacking from unexpected directions, the Remorhaz can surprise even the most vigilant adventurers. As an action, the Remorhaz gains a flight speed of 60 ft and may bite attack as a bonus action. The Remorhaz must end its movement on a surface able to support it or fall.
Ice Bind
The potent cold of the Remorhaz’s tail can freeze creatures to the ground. The Remorhaz tail attack can restrain the target in the ground or snow. The target must succeed a Strength save (for DC see Stat Block) or be restrained by ice. For flying creatures the ice constrains the flight mechanism and the target falls to the ground.
Repulsing Dichotomy
It is dangerous to linger too close to the creature as it can quickly heat its surroundings to intolerable levels. As an action, the Remorhaz may activate an aura of 20 ft of intense heat. At the beginning of a creature’s turn, if they’re in the aura all of the equipment they have are under the effect of the heat metal spell (for DC see Stat Block) until the beginning of their next turn. The Remorhaz may choose to apply 2d8 cold or fire damage as part of the aura. The effect lasts up to one minute while the Remorhaz uses its bonus action to maintain the effect.
Residual Frost
The creature can close its burrowed tunnels by refreezing the melted ice behind it. Any creature that is within engagement range of the Remorhaz as it moves away must make a Constitution save (for DC see Stat Block) or take cold damage (see Stat Block for damage). This chilly effect renders them unable to take reactions, including opportunity attacks triggered by the Remorhaz’s movement. On a successful save the creature takes half damage and can take reactions.
Specialized Grapple
The creature can carry grappled victims with it without slowing it down. A Remorhaz that grapples a creature of medium size or smaller can carry the grappled creature with it.
Tremor Location
Having specialized sensory capabilities, this creature can sense the faintest disturbances even at extreme distances. If the Remorhaz is not moving, it may spend a minute to focus its tremorsense. Doing so extends tremorsense out to one mile. Once it starts moving, it must stop and refocus to use this ability again. If a creature is attempting to avoid detection then they must make a DC 15 Stealth check.
Polar Myths
Fearsome monsters likely populate the polar regions of any setting. Polar villains will stop even the bravest adventurers cold in their tracks.
Myths surrounding the Remorhaz are many and varied. Remorhaz accounts typically contain heavy embellishment from traumatized survivors.
Adventuring groups seek Remorhazes for the potential magical components obtained from their body parts. Adventurers routinely quest to gather components, but the Remorhazes dual nature of fire and ice means most questers don’t make it back.
Frost Giants value young Remorhaz highly. The giants train them to guard their icy fortresses and warn of approaching adversaries.
The hunting ground of a Remorhaz is quite large, easily covering up to a thousand square miles. The Remorhaz needs a large diet to maintain the heat that it generates. If food is sparse, it freezes itself in its burrow and listens for prey. It can stay frozen this way for decades as it waits for the ecosystem to regenerate.
Stories tell of ill-fated settlements accidentally established on top of a sleeping Remorhaz. The village settlement suffered complete destruction.
Burrowing is second-nature to the Remorhaz. It performs stunning ambushes by rapidly melting ice and refreezing it in its wake. Combined with my limited flight abilities, the monstrosity is an apex predator. It can attack and consume a victim without the possibility of recourse from a defending group.
Arctic Ambushers
It is important to remember that this creature has an intelligence of 3-4. It is aware of attacking the thing that threatens it the most. While this usually doesn’t happen within the first rounds of the combat or the initial ambush, if there is a particularly troublesome opponent, it will likely go after them first. In the initial ambush, Remorhazes will go after the thing that has the most calories. This is usually the thing that also makes the most noise ( mounts, carts, wagons, large creatures, and such). Killing it and returning later for digestion is common for large or bigger creatures. It can swallow whole any medium-sized creature or smaller and might opt to go for an easier target in the ambush. Stranding a party in the arctic is also acceptable, relieving the group of their beasts of burden and any ability to effectively navigate the landscape.
Being hunted by a Remorhaz may take days or weeks if you are in a group, as it wears the party down and attempts to restrict movement, picking off the weaker members. To a Remorhaz, it doesn’t matter if the food is incased in ice or consumed fresh, and they have been known to keep large stores of food, frozen under the surface as fresh calories for a renewed hunt after hibernation. They are patient hunters and may wait years for the right time to strike, allowing the ecosystem to recover enough to support a period of intense activity.
Territorial
When Remorhazes hunting grounds overlap, the resulting contest of the two may never happen. The hibernation cycles may never result in the monsters encountering each other. Records of Remorhazes fighting over territory are sparse but spectacular, as it devolves into raw physical prowess, with the ice worm’s flight ability being used to try to gain an advantage over the other.
They attempt to use their heat and cold abilities on each other, this results in a devastated landscape where a contest occurred. However, some skeptics suspect that this type of behavior is part of their mating ritual. The lifespan of Remorhaz has never been determined as the ability to suspend themselves in a long-term hibernation can extend their lifespans to some of the most long-lived races.
Remorhaz Stat Blocks
Here are three versions of the Remorhaz based on their lifespans and powers. I’ll describe how to use each version.
Young Remorhaz
This fledgling monstrosity may be young but it is formidable. However, they aren’t able to use all the abilities of an adult Remorhaz. Here is what it has:
*Full description found previously in the article
**Full description found in Monster Manual page 258
Young Remorhaz’s don’t have the ability to project their heat, this makes them vulnerable and the target of capture or harvesting. They typically go after smaller prey in more temperate seasonal terrain, once they grow to full size they will venture to the icy tundra and mountains to establish a new hunting ground. It is also not uncommon to see Remorhazes hunting in small groups, although effective coordination with the group is almost impossible as they are instinctually solo hunters.
Remorhaz
This is a take on the adult Remorhaz from the Monster Manual. I put my own twist on it to use its cold powers, too.
*Full description found previously in the article
**Full description found in Monster Manual page 258
Full-sized Remorhazes have the patience to see through a hunt, lying in wait and only taking out the targets that threaten it, or can sustain it until the next ambush. They tend to attack from the side and above, preferring to erupt from the ground, fly over the target, attack via the bite attack and grappling it, and escape through a burrowed tunnel all in one round.
The Remorhaz enjoys swallowing an enemy and escaping by burrowing and sealing the tunnel behind it. This will provoke fear and desperation from your players.
Though they possess many strengths, Remorhazes have a weakness. They can only identify prey and threats through ground tremors with their tremorsense. They will typically attack the noisiest targets first, so their movements can be predictable. This was the downfall of the sand worms in Tremors (starring Kevin Bacon).
Elder Remorhaz
The strongest, oldest among the Remorhaz begin to exert their influence on the environment and lair.
*Full description found previously in the article
**Full description found in Monster Manual page 258
***New ability described below
Expansion of the hunting grounds that allow Remorhazes to thrive is paramount. The Elder Remorhaz uses climate manipulation to preserve the hunting grounds. Combined with the legendary actions, this should be a difficult monster for seasoned parties.
Icy Wastes – The weather and climate of the region have been affected by an outside force attempting to bend it to their will. Weather in the area becomes more cold and inhospitable, the Elder Remorhaz may use the spell Control Weather once per day. If it successfully maintains the colder weather for 100 days, the climate is permanently shifted one step towards cold (DMs discretion on what that looks like).
Remorhaz Encounters
There are many encounters that a storycrafter could develop to engage your players, the following are just a few examples using the new abilities outlined here.
Added Minions
Adding a Remorhaz to an encounter will likely be done as part of combat with Frost Giants. As a minion, it would be expected that Young Remorhaz is used. Their ability to sense threats from a long way away would alert the Giants to any threats that are attempting to sneak up on their fortress.
Low-End Remorhaz Encounter
Young Remorhazes are excellent options for low-tier parties. They function best as a boss fight or sub-boss fight and would generally be the center of an arc. For example, a Young Remorhaz has moved into the area during winter and is ambushing livestock, wagons, and wild game. The party is dispatched to take care of the monster before it becomes a larger issue. I would use 1 to 2 Young Remorhazes for this.
Setup
The Young Remorhaz would lie in wait, a party of 3 or more individuals will likely scare it away from attacking directly. Without the Bounding Ambush ability, it would need to select its time to attack carefully. It would prefer to attack while the party is resting or avoid the party entirely, instead, going for easier targets. The party would have to come up with a way to lore it into a fight and keep it there.
Surprise Round
Attacking from a burrowed position would be the preferred method of ambush, and attempting to escape through burrowing in the same round would be the optimal outcome. With a large amount of damage that it could cause in a single round, it would try to avoid a brawl if possible, using its Ice Bind ability to prevent any opportunity attacks.
Subsequent Rounds
Repeat as needed in the form of ambushing if possible. Always try to burrow away to set up the next attack. If the Young Remorhaz takes more than 50% damage, then it will attempt to flee to heal up. After an escape, it would be hesitant to engage the party again.
Noncombat
Communication with Remorhaz is difficult. Though they are intelligent, they don’t understand language. The easiest way to deal with a Remorhaz without combat is to lure it away with loud tremors in the ground.
Mid-End Remorhaz Encounter
Remorhazes are solo hunters, so this encounter could be mimicked with the Young Remorhaz scenario where the party needs to hunt it down and kill it for various reasons. You can alternatively include it as a random or nonlinear encounter. This encounter works best for mid-to-high tier parties and can survive the initial attack. The Remorhaz is likely to attempt an ambush. If there is any significant resistance, it stays away unless food sources in the area are not plentiful.
Setup
The Remorhaz would lie in wait, predicting the party’s course and ambushing them. It would use its Bounding Ambush ability to attempt to eat a weaker or smaller party member. If it believes that it would lose a fight with the party, it avoids conflict unless there is no choice. The party would have to invent a way to lure it into a fight and keep it there.
Surprise Round
Attacking from a burrowed position would be the preferred method of ambush, and attempting to escape through burrowing in the same round would be the optimal outcome. With a large amount of damage that it could cause in a single round, it would try to avoid a brawl if possible, using its Ice Bind ability to prevent any opportunity attacks.
Subsequent Rounds
Repeat as needed in the form of ambushing if possible. Always try to burrow away to set up the next attack. If the Remorhaz takes more than 50% damage, it attempts to flee and heal. After an escape, it would be hesitant to engage the party again. When caught above ground, it uses its Repulsing Dichotomy ability to force back or disarm any opponents around it and then attempt to burrow away to ready another ambush.
Noncombat
Communication with Remorhaz is difficult. Though they are intelligent, they don’t understand language. The easiest way to deal with a Remorhaz without combat is to lure it away with loud tremors in the ground.
High-End Remorhaz Encounter
Elder Remorhazes are solo hunters so this encounter could be mimicked with the Young Remorhaz scenario where the party needs to hunt it down and kill it for various reasons. The Icy Wastes ability would allow Elder Remorhazes the ability to obscure the senses and restrict the movement of the party. This would enable prolonged, drawn-out combat and reduce the need to set up additional ambushes. The Elder Remorhaz would not take incursions into its territory lightly and would attempt to eliminate any party that would threaten its new home. This would be a good arc for high-tier parties and introduce them to some
Setup
The Remorhaz would lie in wait, predicting the party’s course and ambushing them. It would use its Bounding Ambush ability to attempt to eat a weaker or smaller party member. Using Icy Wastes builds up a blizzard around the victims first to make the ambush more effective. It will not tolerate incursions into its territory and will hunt the party over weeks to wear them down and then eliminate them.
Surprise Round
Attacking from a burrowed position would be the preferred method of ambush. It attempts to escape through burrowing in the same round for the optimal outcome. With a large amount of damage that it could cause in a single round, it would try to avoid a brawl if possible, using its Ice Bind ability to prevent any opportunity attacks.
Subsequent Rounds
Repeat as needed in the form of ambushing if possible. Always try to burrow away to set up the next attack. If the Remorhaz takes more than 50% damage, then it will attempt to flee to heal up. If it is caught above ground, it uses its Repulsing Dichotomy ability to force back or disarm any opponents around it and then attempt to burrow away to ready another ambush.
Noncombat
Communication with Remorhazes is difficult. Though they are intelligent, they don’t understand language. The easiest way to deal with a Remorhaz without combat is to lure it away with loud tremors in the ground.
Remorhaz Wrap Up
The Remorhaz is an expert ambusher and is already a powerful monster to battle. With the addition of a few abilities, we can raise this already fierce opponent to something that only the best, most powerful parties can survive. Remembering the strike-and-escape nature of this monster allows you to build tension in the narrative and challenge your party.
Adding the Remorhaz as part of the mythos and lore of your setting will allow any StoryCrafter to challenge their groups with memorable fights and daring deeds of heroism!
Until next time,
Some really great options there!
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