Goose on the Loose!

Earlier this month, we featured a freakish beast that revolves around our desire to build a prominent NPC that collects all sorts of animal oddities. So, we wanted to build on that storyline with another magnificent monster. So, grab a sturdy shield – you’re gonna need it.

Alas, we did a comprehensive search in our STL libraries, Google Images, Thingiverse, and MyMiniFactory.com, but we couldn’t pinpoint the source for today’s miniature spotlight. We’re always about giving you all the details so you can snag the STL and add it to your campaign. However, sometimes files are removed by the Creator and sorta disappear into the Interwebs. So, if you recognize the creator here, please drop us a note on our Facebook or Instagram pages so we can give credit where credit is due.

We thought for sure that the talented mz4250 was the STL creator here, but his model is slightly different (a bit wider vs. our slimmer version). It’s still a great mini to 3D-print, but it’s not exactly what we’ll feature today. We also thought this crazy beast could have come from the brilliant minds of Schlossbauer or DutchMogul, but alas, no joy.

That said, our Collector NPC/Villain is obsessed with unique creatures (especially freakish mutations). He even has several bounty hunters on his payroll whose sole job is to find and locate these unique monsters. Naturally, we need to come up with this infamous accumulator’s miniature, name, and persona, but we’re still mulling all that DnD goodness over. It’ll be neat to create those bounty hunters in future posts.

So this wild Goose Hydra checks off all The Collector’s boxes. The mini is some sort of science experiment gone wrong; there’s probably (or hopefully) only one of them in existence, and jaws will drop the first time anyone gets up close and personal with it. DM Ben’s favorite game table reaction is, “What the heck is that?!” and this crazy creature is sure to make that kind of impression.

We love, love monsters that have multiple attacks and are constantly drawn to 3D prints that fall into that category. The reason is a party of four-plus players can really end combat before it truly begins. Besides all their complementary spells, the players also get a slew of attacks each round. Yes, a higher AC and a large amount of hit points can somewhat mitigate that issue, but it puts the DM in a bind, especially at higher levels. Cakewalk combat is super dull to us.

Our Goose Hydra can really give its opponents a run for their gold as it has three heads (e.g., bite attacks) and two vulture-type feet (e.g., claw attacks). On top of that, it has those long, loosey-goosey necks, so a ten-foot reach also makes this mutated monster a formidable foe. Those extra heads can also mean more saving throws and reactions (three per round vs the typical one)!

Good ol’ Reddit had a great thread and Goose Hydra 5e monster stat block by Bart and Zach from YesThievesCan on DriveThruRPG. DM Ben plans to use a version of this home-brewed build if he ever needs the numbers in a pinch.

DM Ben plans to use this Goose Hydra in our Forgotten Rails campaign setting. Specifically, it is placed in the Livestock Hovertrain car, where several other exotic (and illegal) animals are en route to The Collector. We’re picturing a one-shot DnD encounter where the animals get loose on the Hovertrain, and complete chaos ensues!

So, that’s two mythical traveling monsters (Two-footed Shark and Goose Hydra) for our Livestock Hovertrain car! We’ll probably pick one or two more to complete the scenario and have some great options to show off in a future post. 🙂

Until next time!