5 Tragic Monsters For Your Game
Inspired by this wonderful post
An exclamation mark after the number of HD means that a creature has Supernatural HD
Also, CW: cruelty (against both people and animals), betrayals, mental illness and body horror.
Frostbite
Frostbite (6! HD, AC as leather, 1d10 damage(from freezing hands), 2 attacks per round. Thermovision.) A person who was frozen, after being abandoned by their climbing group so that the others could survive. It is a gaunt creature, with frostbite covering its whole body. It is kept alive by the cold that is also devouring it.
It spends its time on searching any sources of warmth - it prefers flames, but if it can't find any, it will gladly tear at the flesh of living creatures. Heat does not damage it - in fact, it heals 1 HD per source of heat eaten (a burning torch will suffice). The forces that animate it do not let it go into warmer places - a cruel mockery of The Cold Ones. Instead, when there are no heat sources nearby, it will hide under a layer of snow, waiting until another group of fools will approach.
DM notes: this creature will always attack the strongest heat source, which most often means the torchbearer. If the torchbearer abandons or throws the torch, it will go for the torch, ignoring any living creatures.
Ghoulhound
Ghoulhound (2 HD, AC as unarmored, 1d6 damage(jaws that bite, when bit roll save or you suffer Agony(see below) until your wound is cleaned by a person who genuinely wishes you well). Sense of smell 7 times stronger than that of a dog)
Humans are not the only ones who are touched by the Curse of Hunger. When a dog is forced to eat another's dog meat (you have to either starve it or force it down its throat) it will begin to change. It will become gaunt and hateful. Once it ate 6 other dogs, the transformation will be complete. Ghoulhounds are not defined by their love for Man - they are defined by their hate. They hate their owners, who in turn may only keep them in line by vicious abuse. They hate all other animals, whose meat brings them sustenance but not satiety. But most of all, they hate dogs. They remember what they were, and they hate what they have become. This hatred warps into hunger for more dog flesh.
DM notes: evil people may create ghoulhounds, and sic them upon enemies. They will always focus on attacking dogs when they see them. They are also incredible hounds - especially if your prey is sentient. Keeping them in line demands both the stick and feeding them dog meat. Even so, there are many tales of wicked lords torn apart by their hounds.
Agony - on each round, you have the choice of either losing it, or taking 1d6 non-lethal damage (if you drop to 0 HP from it you are knocked out) and acting.
Conscript
Conscript (1! HD, AC as Armour (usually leather), damage as Weapon).
Many people are forced to go to war. They are put through hell just so that their lords may gain a few more golden coins. Most will return to their families, scared and scarred, but whole. Many will die, their corpses left in mass graves or on burning piles. Some will suffer even worse. Soldiers who are betrayed by their overlords, and yet survive are left without anywhere to go to. Some will choose suicide. Others will become deserters, or bandits. And others will become Conscripted in an eternal war, which only they can see.
A conscript looks like a human dressed in rusted armor, until you look closer. Their veins look like cracks upon their skin, their eyes are empty and look into the far away. In one moment, they may be friendly if aloof. They don't want to hurt you. In another, their mind goes to one of the battles that broke them - then, they fight like rabid animals, their bodies ignoring injuries until they can no longer, when they fall over dead. They may never find a home - they are cursed to wander eternally, reliving their battles until someone puts them out of their misery.
DM Notes: usually found wandering in bands, haunting areas that have known great and awful wars. Roll their reaction each turn, with a hostile result meaning that their mind is in a flashback to an old war.
Decayed One
Decayed One (3! HD, AC as Leather, damage as dagger. Anyone who sees her must save, or suffer from overwhelming despair until they save another person's life). Can detect the nearest item made out of Dryad-Wood. Has 2 MD and can cast Rot, Invisibility and Curse of Insomnia (the victim may not rest for [sum] days)
It is not easy to kill a dryad - everyone who sees one falls in love with her, and even if her body is destroyed, she will be reborn from her tree. It is even harder to chop it down when a dryad remains. Most often she will die from despair after she sees it destroyed (sadly quite a common occurrence, as Dryad-Wood is incredible for magic staffs and items), but sometimes (1-in-10) she clings on to life, animated only by her grief and demand for revenge.
Decayed Ones are smart, their hatred cold and calculating. They have been known to spend weeks or even months planning their revenge, poisoning the grounds around a wizard's tower and cursing the local villages, only to attack the wizard when he leaves his tower to investigate. Once they kill their target and return the Dryad-Wood to the ground, they will go on to another wizard, in an endless cycle of vengence for their sisters.
DM Notes: Dryad-Wood is prized for magical staffs (they grant +1 MD to the bearer) and good-luck talismans (they allow a bearer to reroll 7 saves before they burn out). Its source is usually kept a mystery, but there is an active market for it among magicians and other unscrupulous folk.
Peryton
Peryton (2 HD, AC as Leather, Damage as Axe (antlers). Flies 2 times faster than a human can walk).
It is not hard to trap a deer. They often fall into traps, their legs often break. Most often, they will die quickly from their wounds, or will be finished off by the person who set a trap. If left alone for many days, however, in desperation and shock some may chew through their legs, freeing themselves. They crawl away, leaving a trail of blood. Their pain gives them power - they grow strange fleshy wings, as they abandon most of their body, constantly screeching from its pain. They are why you must check your traps when you set them up.
A Peryton is a creature in constant pain that tries to alleviate it by bringing it upon others. It is both cruel and cowardly - it mostly attacks children and other weak creatures, then breaks their legs so that they can not escape, and their arms so that they can not defend themselves. As long as it brings the pain to another, it feels calm, and the screeches stop.
DM Notes: A Peryton will rarely attack an adventuring party, unless they are tired and wounded from a long travel. They may be easily heard from far away, their screeches also often bringing opportunistic predators.