King Lizard – Steal this Monster

When two Lizardfolk tribes unite, local merchants have reason to be nervous, and militia men start keeping extra watchful eyes. When all the Lizardfolk in an area suddenly fall into line, riders scour the land for heroes. The first ones on the scene are rarely the last standing.

Tales abound about the King Lizard. These massive humanoids wear scales of dark green with hues deep as the earth. Their senses are as sharp as their weapons, and their accuracy well-honed. These creatures are rare indeed, and almost always lead several tribes of Lizardfolk at once.

There are three ways for a King Lizard to come into this world. The first (and most commonly told by travelling bards) is through an infusion of demonic blood. This can be an intentional act of gaining more power, where an eager Lizardfolk warrior gains the attention of the great demon Sess’Inek. Sess’Inek then infuses a bit of his power into the creature, changing his mind a bit in the process. Other times a Lizardfolk leader is kidnapped and forcibly changed in dark rites by Sess’Inek’s followers so that he might more easily gain more converts and conquer more land in his name. Such Lizard King’s are far more evil and chaotic than simply “unaligned.”

More likely, but less well known, is an ancient spiritual ritual that allows a group of Lizardfolk Mystics to infuse a well spring of divine or primal energy into one chosen champion. This act is dangerous, difficult and requires at least five mystics to complete. Due to the competitive and often aggressive relationship between separate tribes of Lizardfolk, such a grouping is strenuous to bring together. Such an occasion often starts with an obvious threat, such as an encroaching human kingdom or the appearance of other-planar creatures in the area. As such, the King Lizard comes into the picture with clear goals, but may start to seek his own rewards once the immediate threat is crushed.

The third (and least likely) method of creation is by birth. Legend tells that the King Lizard is so voracious in its sexual activities that the mate never comes out of the encounter alive. This is not true. While the King Lizard is strong, it has an abundance of control. In reality, offspring rarely survive because of the threat the idea of another King Lizard poses to the original. Youth are most often destroyed while still eggs by the King Lizards itself.

Arcana/Streetwise 12: The King Lizard is a fierce and brutal creature created by mixing the blood of Lizardfolk and demons of the abyss. In battle, the King Lizard is capable of a madness that increases its speed and turns its blood to acid.

Arcana/Nature 16: The King Lizard’s demonic power is tied directly to the demon Sess’Inek. This crazed overlord demands his subject to conquer others and destroy Lizardfolk who refuse his worship. The ritual of bloodbinding needed to create the King Lizard is a torment of pain, both physical and mental, leaving the surviving creature forever twisted.

They feed off the blood of their enemies, becoming more powerful as battles wane on, and have the ability to hurl their own blood at others, eating away at flesh.

Nature 24: While the tales of King Lizards being created by dark demonic rituals are true, they often do not apply. Lizardfolk who follow ancient tribal traditions have a means to create great champions in times of trouble. These Kings Lizards are often not bent on destruction, but trying to protect their people. They can be wise and rational leaders, often willing to barter and discuss terms of peace if it is in their interest.

If crossed, they become ferocious in battle, moving with the speed of many, and able to recover from hindering conditions more quickly than most.

In Combat: The King Lizard, while intelligent, is often an arrogant combatant. He will often allow his lieutenants to do battle before him, even watching as they die, only to then join combat alone, as if to prove to the dead his right to lead.

He keeps in melee combat with as many enemies as possible in order to take full advantage of his Battle Frenzy ability. While above bloodied, he uses Poison Spit each round, provoking melee attacks without hesitation, in order to keep any nearby ranged attackers from doing full damage.

Lairs and Hazards: Above all other Lizardfolk, King Lizards revel in swamp combat. Their speed and swampwalk ability lets them take full advantage of others’ stagnation, to keep multiple targets in range.

King Lizards often build on this by choosing areas of the swamp to lair in, near strange phenomena that blend well with the murky waters, such as Tainted Pools (Dungeon 177) and Caustic Geysers (DMG 91).

Encounters: The King Lizard is a rare solo monster, and as such, is designed to be the star of the show. At the heroic tier he’s designed to be able to face an entire party at once, getting as many as four attacks a round. His +5 to Saving throws should be enough to shake most effects this tier, but he gets an added boost whenever he bloodies an enemy in the form of Blood Taste.

Each of these is intended to feel like a solo fight, even when the King Lizard isn’t the only creature on the field.

True Solo (Level 8 ): For his “all alone brawl,” give him a nice mix of swamptiles and hard normal squares, so that he can hinder the Players’ movements, but players still feel like they have options.

• 1 King Lizard

Saving Wave (Level 10): In this scenario, the King Lizard values his life more than his pride. Allow the King Lizard to battle the Players around the tainted pool, with the Greenscale Warriors looking on and cheering. Once the King Lizard becomes bloodied, he orders to them to charge in.

• 1 King Lizard
• 1 Blackscale Crusher (Monster Vault 191)
• 7 Greenscale Warriors (StufferShack)
• 1 Tainted Pool (Dungeon 177)

Demonic Assault (Level 12): Here we see the King Lizard at the lead of an attack wave. Without the aid of the swampland, the Lizardfolk must simply overwhelm the enemy with brute force. Luckily, their demon allies are very good at that.

• 1 King Lizard
• 3 Evistro (Carnage) Demons (MM 54)
• 1 Greenscale Marsh Mystic (MM 179)
• 12 Greenscale Warriors (StufferShack)

Treasure: The King Lizard’s most prized possession is its weapon. Presented here as a battleaxe, I advise DM’s to substitute in any weapon one of the PCs favor. The King Lizard is going to dish out a fair amount of damage with it before the fight is over, and it would make a memorable trophy.

Being at the seat of command, King Lizard is also often found with the tribe’s considerable wealth, whether from trade or raiding. While many of the other weapons, necklaces and sets of armor would have been distributed amongst the other fighters, the King Lizard’s lair would be laden with the more unusual objects the tribe had come across, such as capes, gloves and wondrous items, especially its own trophies stolen from previous adventurers sent to take it down.

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