Four fantasy characters, including a dwarf warrior, a bearded man with a shield, a man with a feathered hat, and an elf with a staff, standing near an old ruined stone building with a castle in the background.

Welcome to Curious Quill, an original content resource for d20 roleplaying.

Choosing a class typically is more about its capabilities: what will it allow the character to do? But when building your character, theorycrafting on why the character, versus the player, followed that path can play a large role in creating an interesting back story. Some classes are more straightforward, while some are more open-ended. In these Class Theory features we will explore and present ideas to help illustrate the reason a character follows a class path.

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Bestiary: Grymbeasts

Grymbeasts, also known as gryms, or dire beasts, are monstrous, dangerous creatures that deviate from normal beasts. They are infected with a magical disease called petrifaction, which causes them to grow bony protrusions, or knurs. These knurs can form ridges and spikes that act as bony armor and can also be used to attack.

Bestiary: Harrows

Harrows are monsters that usually start as an existing being and are mutated into something else by the influence and power of another being. They are often similar to chimaerae, but are not a hybrid of fauna, rather they have additional unique abilities and powers.

Bestiary: Chimaerae

Chimaerae is the classification for the many monstrous beasts that are made up of more than one natural fauna: hybrids such as one of the most well-known, the griffon, which is part lion and part eagle.

Bestiary: Dragons

Dragons are the most well known and one of the most feared monsters, but for as well-known as they are across all lands, still much is a mystery including their origins.

Bestiary: Behemoths

Behemoths are gigantic, primordial monsters that have existed since the dawn of the world, and typically are or were considered the alpha predator in their home.

Gwyven: Mother of Beasts

Gwyven, known as mother of beasts, is a divine being from whom nearly all beasts originate from. Created by the Caelestine, the gods of the four elements, she was given features and qualities from each of them, features that would be the source of the fauna and other beasts.

The Baest Notera: A Taluman Bestiary

The Baest Notera is the most well-known and comprehensive bestiary in the land of Taluma. Written hundreds of years ago by the Lokk explorer Nyklandr Sylvfar, with the help of the legendary Curious Quill itself, it still is respected as the foremost authority on beasts. It accomplishes this by presenting age-old folklore and knowledge of many cultures in the classical taxonomy of the Aymirian people.

New Feat: Predator’s Sense

Orc hunters who follow the path of a Gwyvenclaw develop abilities like a natural predator. Their instinct become honed to strike first when they spot their prey.

Read More about the hunting instincts orc hunters develop.

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Background: Orc Gwyvenclaw

Orcs are known as exceptional hunters, but there are some who are renowned for taking this expertise to another level. Some orcs train to be monster hunters. They are known as Gwyvenclaws, after the Taluman divine mother-of-all-beasts Gwyven.

Read More about the Gwyvenclaw Background.