Jackal and Hide

Slow and steady wins the DM prep as we continue to build out our nifty new Tresendar Manor encounter piece by piece. Let’s tackle a few more key elements and get this pending battle ready for the game table!

To briefly recap for our new readers, DM Ben is prepping Episode 2’s Fun in Phandalin Ruins encounter inside the free D&D Beyond Acquisitions Incorporated module. So far, we’ve 3D-printed and painted the actual courtyard ruins, so next we need to do the above-ground Jackal and Hide fight.

Let’s set the scene. Omin Dran sent the players to conduct reconnaissance in Phandalin to determine why another Acquisitions Incorporated franchise, The Fellowship of the Golden Mongoose, had mysteriously and suddenly gone off the grid. They approach the crumbling ruins only to see a Jackalwere named Hamebi combing the debris with a large pack of sniffing Jackals.

Since we’ve 3D-printed and painted a nice modular set of ruins, it’s time to select the supporting cast of monster miniatures.

This battle calls for a large pack of ten Jackals, a pretty steep set of monsters, considering it was written for a lower-level party. Now, 3DRPG could absolutely 3D-print them in no time, thanks to the supportless options from EC3D Designs. They have some great wolf and beast options that would do nicely here.

• Beasts and Baddies II (wolf pack)
• Beasts and Baddies I (gnoll pack)

The two gnoll beasts in the front row on the left would be perfect here. On a lazy Saturday afternoon, we could print up an entire plate of them in a jiffy.

Still, we have a golden rule here at 3DRPG: “Don’t produce what you already have.” Meaning, we’ve been avid Dungeons and Dragons collectors for nearly 30 years, and our shelves overfloweth with amazing miniatures, scatter pieces, and terrain.

So, since we have more than enough pre-painted options for our “search dawgs,” we’ll lean on WizKids pre-painted miniatures to get us to the fig finish line. Besides, going this readied selection route ensures we keep moving on our massive unpainted pile of shame.

The Hunting Hyena miniature was our favorite jackal-ish monster pick, and we just happened to have the most duplicates of it. He’s an oldie but a goodie and hails from the War of the Dragon Queen set. We’ll still describe them as Jackals but utilize these Hyena minis and stat block (see below).

DM Ben is also slipping in this innocent baby doe animal by Brite Minis. Resident painter Kimmy Utah did the honors here. We’ll have this little fella pop up near wherever the party is stealthing and give them a little heart attack in terms of potentially blowing their cover.

So, now we needed the Jackalwere boss miniature to represent the squad leader supervising the jackal hunting mission. Again, EC3D Designs has some insanely good options from their marvelous Empire of the Scorching Sands set, but DM Ben is selfishly saving those minis for our massive 3D-printed Egyptian setting, coming to a game table near you.

Hamebi isn’t a main character, so this Jackalwere miniature from their Sands and Stone set will do just fine.

In terms of the DnD 5e stats for our Jackal pack, the module is expecting a lower-level party, but our group is already at level five (as we always inject a ton of home-brewed encounters) in whatever module we play. So, instead of AC 12, HP 3, and att +1/1d4-1, DM Ben will utilize and tweak the Hyena 5e stat block: AC 11, HP 10, att +4/1d6+2, Pack Tactics.

The Jackalware is also a bit underpowered for our party level, so DM Ben went with a Reddit Jackalwere Slayer stat block: AC 12, HP 36, +4 att/1d4+2, Pack Tactics. Essentially, we bulked him up a tad so that he could last a few rounds.

Lastly, DM Ben really wants to push the AI Franchise rivalry narrative and ensure the group is mindful of all these competing adventuring groups that are naturally only out for themselves (in true capitalist form). Hence, he wants to make Face Cards to help the group keep track of the factions as they encounter them.

We felt the logos from the DnD 5e module were cute, but we wanted to make our own with Google’s Gemini and liven them up a bit. These Franchise logos can take various forms and be displayed in different ways, such as tattoos, banners, patches, etc.

The first one is a tattoo of The Six. And the second one is for The Fellowship of the Golden Mongoose. Sure, the spelling is off on the tattered flag, but we think that oops just adds to the comedic effect of that bumbling franchise.

Until next time!