D&D: ‘Keys From the Golden Vault’ Introduces Nefarious New Villains
A handful of new monsters lurk in the pages of the latest D&D book, Keys from the Golden Vault. Here’s a taste.
Keys from the Golden Vault tries to do many things. And to varying degrees, it succeeds, if not spreading itself a bit too thin in the process. We say more about it in our video, here:
But, despite the lack of depth to the adventures, there are some very fun villains, monsters, and other rogues lurking in its pages. Here’s a look at some of the new creatures and NPCs introduced in Keys from the Golden Vault.
There’s something about evil spellcasters that seems especially suited to heists. A surprising number of the NPC antagonists introduced in the book are spellcasters. WotC seems to understand if you want a dramatic encounter to end an adventure, you need magic.
Markos Delphi
Markos Delphi is a Warlock who has been influenced by an eldritch horror from the far realm. Now the young scholar driven to uncover the universe’s mysteries has turned instead to the whims of a malign entity that wishes only to enter the world and work its terror upon it.
To that end, it has made Markos a powerful combatant. Weighing in at CR 3, Markos and his companion, the Fragment of Krokulmar, are a great view of what a low-level boss fight-type encounter can look like.
Markos follows the same “new spellcaster” rules as all WotC monsters post-Monsters of the Multiverse do. This means he has a scant list of three spells, but most of his combat comes from a ranged spell attack that deals 2d6 + 3 psychic damage. With 44 hit points and the ability to swap places with creatures, Markos is a mobile, damaging threat.
Fragment of Krokulmar
The Fragment of Krokulmar, on the other hand, is more dangerous because it’s a parasite attached to the body of a human knight. This is a great way to handle some kind of alien parasite—it deals no damage on its own, but it can take an action to either make attacks against it at disadvantage or to heal its host body. Sadly, it is much too vulnerable, and a single good attack will likely be enough to destroy it. And since the creature has no ability to not get attacked, it’ll likely happen in the 1st or 2nd round of combat.
Tixie Tockworth
Tixie Tockworth is an evil gnome who is currently working on becoming a construct. She has realized the flesh is imperfect, and the cold steel of a machine is the true pinnacle of evolution. She’s also a dangerous combatant, again, most of it coming down to her ability to make multiple attacks that either blast people with 3d10 lightning, or if folks get up close, a short sword attack that deals 4d6 + 3 points of damage.
But Tixie is also protected by a Force Field which has 15 hit points that regenerate completely each turn. Any damage Tixie would take is reduced from the Force Field first, and when it regenerates on Tixie’s turn, any grappled, restrained, or stunned conditions end. Which makes her a fantastic example of what a mid-level boss fight should look like. She can blast enemies with steam as a bonus action and has a built-in escape with Dimension Door. And she can’t be stunlocked out of taking her actions.
Clockwork Defender
Accompanying Tixie are many of her own creations, notably the new Clockwork Defender. This is a mechanical dog that projects intense beams of light, not to do damage, just to illuminate things. But it has a grappling bite attack that deals 1d8+2d6+3 damage and grapples anyone it bites, making them easier for Tixie to blast down.
Charmayne Daymore
Finally our last evil spellcaster, and the most powerful one presented in the book, weighing in at CR 10. She is what a mid-level party should be contending with. With an innate fly speed, decent (15) AC, and 123 hit points, Charmayne can withstand the average party whaling on her for a round or two before being in trouble. And her innate attacks have some special threats to them.
A party facing 10th-level threats probably has plenty of healing available to them. But Charmayne is a threat to the yo-yo of healing in that her signature attack, the Cinder Spite, is a fireball dealing 10d6 damage to anyone caught in a 20-foot radius sphere. But any humanoid creature reduced to 0 hit points by the spell immediately dies and is transformed into a tiny charcoal figurine.
So wounded characters might be out of the fight altogether. Charmayne also gets up to 3 reactions per round, effectively giving her legendary actions, but her reactions keep her fighting more often than you’d think. She can deal damage to an attacker, then teleport away to safety after being hit once, making it hard for multiattack characters to gang up on her.
And spellcasters will find that Charmayne can take a reaction to counter a spell cast within 60 feet of her (and no limit on the number of times per day, just a maximum of three times per round), and not only does the spell get countered, but the caster also takes 3d6 fire damage for playing.
Charmayne might actually be a threat to parties closer to her levels.
That’s ‘Keys from the Golden Vault’s gallery of rogues!
