Dogs are some of the most common companions in fantasy adventures, but an ordinary dog can quickly fall behind once the party starts gaining levels.

So I wanted to give them a proper progression path: Dog → Guard Dog → War Dog → Battle Hound. A simple pet can gradually become tougher, better trained, and capable of surviving alongside an adventuring party without suddenly turning into a completely different magical creature.

And the progression doesn’t stop there. The full dog section also includes stronger options such as the Warhound Alpha, Guardian Mastiff, Blink Dog, and Greater Blink Dog, with higher-level abilities focused on guarding allies, leading packs, protecting companions, and filling more specialized roles in encounters.

These statblocks are from Growing Pets and Animals Statblocks, a manual built around the idea that pets, mounts, scouts, familiarlike companions, and ordinary animals should be able to grow alongside the campaign instead of becoming irrelevant after a few levels.

The book contains 60+ animal statblocks covering dogs, cats, bats, owls, ravens, horses, panthers, tigers, spiders, scorpions, eagles, frogs, lizards, rats, and more, with progression chains that take many of them from ordinary animals into increasingly capable companions or encounter creatures.

The rules page also includes suggested advancement schedules for standard, gritty realism, low-magic, and high-magic/epic campaigns, so the DM can decide how quickly a companion grows rather than tying every game to the same progression speed.

After the original version performed well, I went back and created a full V2 update, commissioning and licensing new artwork throughout the book, cleaning up the presentation, revising existing material, and adding new statblocks and expanded progression paths. If you already own the manual, you can simply download the updated version again from DriveThruRPG.

You can also subscribe to the newsletter for updates on Mythological Items, launching on Kickstarter this September with 300+ magic items inspired by myths and legends from around the world. Subscribers can also download a free 30-page preview.

For more creatures, items, previews, and upcoming projects, you can also visit my DriveThruRPG, Linktree, or r/JonnyDM.

The briar lich is the result of a pyrrhic victory. When a corrupting blight overtook an ancient elven forest, a band of adventurers was called upon to defeat it. Led by Sister Maelis and aided by the Archon which attended her, they fought to the source of the corruption. At its heart, they discovered that destroying it outright would decimate the forest and the villages that lay within. Desperate for a solution, the party betrayed their cleric's celestial ally. Sister Maelis, used her divine magics to bind the archon's soul to the core of the scourge, cutting it off from its extra-planar source. The unexpected result was neither undead nor celestial, but a terrible amalgamation. A monstrosity in which divine power and corruption are locked in eternal conflict. Exhausted from their fight with the blight's creations, the adventuring party was in no condition to defend themselves from the threat they had just created. They all perished, including Sister Maelis.

You can play around with the homebrew of the briar lich to make your own version.

More on this monster and many other free homebrews at Patreon and my newsletter.

Did a Complete Overhaul of my Stat Blocks. Removed the Choose Biomorph Option and instead created Stat Blocks for each Loadout Combination. Added Enhancement for Legendary Creatures (Warlords,Characters). Added additional Biomorph Options to diversify the existing Stat Blocks more.

Links: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/smd5w4kd8g6wwwkj6izwt/Tyranids-The-Homebrewery.pdf?rlkey=ilylqx9j3irurmk58maz8bdhd&st=gegy103p&dl=0

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/qUI0E6gCP6-2

A new creature has been reborn from the ashes!

The tyrannical goddess Tiamat has taken many forms, and all of them deadly. This one, however, was come to bring about complete cosmic destruction. Only the strongest, and most well-equipped heroes can take her down.

This version of the five-headed dragon goddess was made for a friend who had her as the BBEG of a fantasy sci-fi campaign, and the final battle took place after a sizeable time-skip. They told me how it was a party of five 20th Level characters, each with two Artifacts of their choice. Not wanting her Aspect to get completely obliterated, I offered to put something together that would make even the most experienced adventurers quiver. Not that her Aspect is weak, but seeing what she was going up against, that version wasn't going to last long.

So, with that in mind, please understand that this version of Tiamat is NOT MEANT TO BE FAIR! Again, it was a party of five, going all-out with the strongest items they could possibly find. If they wanted to take her down, they were going to have to earn it.

You can get the PDF version of the brew HERE

Cover Art By: Flo Young

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