Exoecology for Monster Hunters: a 5e Ecohorror Boss Bestiary
Created by MargoMods
Heroic ecohorror meets D&D 5e with extraplanar bosses, adventures, craftable items, and more. Available in PDF, VTT module, and print.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
3 New Subclasses Unlocked +Last 48 Hours!
about 1 year ago
– Tue, May 27, 2025 at 10:03:22 AM
Only 48 hours left!! I am so grateful for all of the support—Let's see if we can hit $50k :)
I have a few updates for you today: the subclass poll results and an overview of the next stretch goal. I'll be posting updates a bit more frequently now that the campaign is coming to a close with details about fulfillment timelines, logistics, and early previews.
The limited quantity tiers are running out, so if you want to join my table and have me run the first adventure for you, sign up soon! There are only 2 spots left for the Play with the Creator tier and 2 slots left for custom monster collaborations. The custom monster tier is perfect for you if you've always wanted a creation of yours in a published book and/or if you want to get into monster and game design, but don't know where to start.
Subclass Poll results!
Thank you for voting in the subclass poll! The winners are: warlock, druid, and ranger. All three of these are perfect, and I can't wait to start digging into the design work for them. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'll say that I'm already noodling on how to make a Poison Ivy inspired subclass (and it's probably not going to be the druid).
$50k Stretch Goal: Extraplanar Plants!
We only have 48 hours to go, but it would be incredible to hit $50k to unlock the last planned stretch goal: A Traveler's Guide to Botanical Nightmares in collaboration with DianaoftheRose. If anyone's tried looking for plant monsters, plant-based regional effects, traps, and other mechanics, you've probably run into the same problem that I have: there aren't enough to choose from. That's what this addition to the book would be dedicated to solving! Note: even if this stretch goal isn't unlocked, I can't resist the urge to add some spooky plants to the book—this would just ensure that there are more!
Exoecology Actual Play
I'm one of those people that loves to see a game or adventure played before I run it myself—if you're like me, check out this Actual Play of the Whispering Wood introductory adventure later today at 3:00 PST! It will air on TalkingXP's Youtube channel.
This book from my friends over at Quills Tiny Quests is a personal favorite of mine. Who doesn't love hags in D&D?
Unveil the Mysteries of the Ancient Crones with Satzija's Tome of Hags! ✨
Step into the arcane world of hags, covens, and lairs with the ultimate DnD 5E/2024 companion. 🔮 Packed with unique hags, witches, acolytes, and familiars, this beautifully crafted hardcover manual brims with dark magic, twisted creatures, and challenging encounters.
With 1,700+ backers, 19 unlocked stretch goals, and over 50 add-ons, Satzija’s Tome of Hags is the ultimate way to infuse your games with wicked, witchy flavor.
Unleash your imagination with Heroes & Hardships, a robust and versatile roleplaying game system designed for any setting, any character, and any adventure. Whether you're battling dragons in a medieval fantasy, piloting starships in deep space, or solving modern-day mysteries, this d10 dice pool system gives you the tools to bring your world to life. With deep character customization, tactical combat, and flexible magic systems, the possibilities are endless.
The Heroes & Hardships Core Rulebook is packed with everything you need to craft unforgettable stories, including rules for vehicles, engaging adversaries, and an extensive bestiary spanning multiple genres. Plus, enhance your gameplay with the GM Screen for quick reference and Foundry VTT integration for seamless online play. Create, explore, and conquer—your next great adventure starts here!
Campaign Halfway Mark: Stretch Goals, a Subclass Poll, and Sneak Peeks!
about 1 year ago
– Wed, May 14, 2025 at 07:33:31 AM
We're about halfway through the campaign and we've just about unlocked the next stretch goal: more scaling environmental effects!
To mark the occasion, I wanted to share some of the environmental effects I've been working on to show you what's coming plus poll results, a sneak peek at a second chromatic crab, a subclass poll, and more!
Poll Results: A Tight Race
Thanks to everyone who voted in the first poll! Many people wrote in with ranked choice votes, so I weighted people's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices rather than just tallying up the 1st choices.
It was effectively a tie between Option 1 (scaling stat blocks) and Option 2 (a wider spread of invasive species from varied planes), so I'll split the difference and focus on delivering on both.
Chromatic crabs are a great example of one way I'll go about that. Each chromatic crab will represent a different Elemental Plane and each will have larval, adult, and ancient versions similar to chromatic dragons. However, crabs have very different life cycles than a dragon does—they lay 1000s of eggs (or more)—which opens up the design space for hordes of larval chromatic crabs and only a few adult and ancient crabs.
This is a WIP sketch of a chromatic crab from the Elemental Plane of Water. It's a monstrous creature inspired by hermit crabs that can grow to fill a container of arbitrary size. The one depicted below took over a floating reef city, but just imagine what it could do if it got its hands on something like a wizard's tower. The options are endless.
Stretch Goal: More Scaling Environmental Effects!
Weather and climate are fickle things in worlds ravaged by magic and monsters. An incursion from the Elemental Plane of Water that evolves from a Minor effect to a Catastrophic effect over time is enough for an entire campaign hook, but these effects work just as well as one-off obstacles for player characters to overcome as they pass by the lair of a powerful monster.
Each environmental effect has a Minor, Major, and Catastrophic tier with escalating DCs and compounding effects. Each successive tier includes all effects of the previous tiers, unless there is a direct conflict in which case the higher tier takes precedence.
Want to see it in practice? Check out this excerpt from an early draft of the book!
An early excerpt of scaling environmental effects caused by planar anomalies.
What's Next?
I'm confident that we'll hit the next stretch goal to unlock 3 more subclasses, and I'm hoping we hit the next listed stretch goal: a Traveler's Guide to Botanical Nightmares!
I thought it might be fun to put it to you all to vote on which subclasses will be next! I'll tally the votes and take the top 3 you all vote for.
The six classes that don't have subclasses in the book yet are:
Rogue
Fighter
Warlock
Druid
Ranger
Sorcerer
Respond to this update with a comment listing your top three choices from the list in order of preference! :)
Project I Love: Tattoo Arcanima
My friend Wyatt Trull is running a really cool project that only has 1 day left to back! It's one of those ideas that's obviously a good one, and I love the samples he put out.
Tattoo Arcanima delivers 100+ custom illustrated magical tattoos for 5th Edition D&D, each featuring lore, reagents, optional curses, and adventure hooks for any Game Master to furnish their world with. Get your character tatted up today!
Stretch Goal #1 Unlocked: More Monsters!
about 1 year ago
– Sat, May 03, 2025 at 10:18:33 AM
We blew past the first stretch goal! Thank you all for your support! If you want to see this project get even more full of goodies, don't forget to tell your friends about the project :)
Book Option Poll!
Want to participate in the building of this book? Respond to the poll by commenting on this update with the number 1–3 according to your preference!
Would you rather see:
1) Scaling stat blocks for big bosses like the chromatic crabs (e.g. young, adult, ancient), so that you can run the bosses at multiple tiers of play.
2) Bigger groups of thematically cohesive monsters and bosses from the same plane.
3) A wider spread of invasive species types and CRs across the different planes (elemental planes, plane of shadow, feywild, etc.)
$20k Stretch Goal Unlocked: More Monsters!
Blowing past the first stretch goal gives me the perfect excuse to take a deep dive back into monster making! Here's a sneak peek of some monsters I've been cooking up stat blocks for in preparation for hitting this stretch goal:
These oozes evolved in a demiplane with accelerated time designed by a bunch of wizards in a guided experiment of the evolution of oozes. The CR 20 "royal ooze" absorbs other oozes into its body and hijacks their abilities to use for itself in a process inspired by real-world endosymbiosis.
$30k Stretch Goal: More scaling environmental effects!
I'm excited to crank out more environmental effects in this book. Here are a few I've been noodling on that might make the cut, although there are many more where this came from!
Gravity storms: clouds gather, a portal opens, and a whole city becomes suddenly heavier (or lighter!). It's easy to imagine how much of a disaster this would be (and how to scale it—modified falling damage, projectile speeds, etc.).
Reverse Detect Thoughts: imagine an invasive flower whose pollen causes you to uncontrollably project your thoughts in a wider and wider as the infestation grows. Perfect for starting wars, ruining parties, and creating a whole lot of drama.
Project I Love: Humblewood Beyond the Canopy
Hit Point Press has released so many incredible books, and I am a big fan of their design choices in the original Humblewood book. I absolutely love these books.
Return to the magical world of Humblewood where animal and birdfolk live, explore, and adventure. Humblewood: Beyond the Canopy takes you past the edges of the Wood to discover the continent of Wesden through a lush setting guide and globe-trotting adventure.
Uncover frozen mysteries in the Crystal Expanse, ride the mighty gargaths across the plains of Firnveldt, find a warm welcome in Warrens away from the tempests that shake Stormcrag, and feel the pulse of nature in the verdant Tanglewilds.
New playable races, classes and more await you in this long-awaited standalone Humblewood sequel!
FUNDED!
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 08:46:56 AM
Thank you all for your support! This is a great start to an exciting campaign! 🎉🎉
I can't wait to see how many stretch goals we unlock! Each one we unlock will make the project bigger and better—and give me the excuse to make some things I've been dying to design (like a compendium of botanical horrors).
Stretch Goal #1 ($20k): More Monsters!
The first stretch goal is a batch of new monsters for the book! One of the monsters I'm excited about is an ooze inspired by real-world endosymbiosis—the process by which early single-celled organisms developed organelles like chloroplasts by enveloping other organisms. Just imagine what a humanoid-sized ooze could do by absorbing others in a demiplane dominated by oozes and slimes.
Let's hit that $20k :)
New Add-On: Play with the Creator
I made a new add-on available in the campaign! I'm opening up my table to welcome backers who add the "Play with the Creator" add-on to their pledge. I'll run the prequel one-shot adventure, The Whispering Wood for you and up to four other players (signing up separately)! I love getting to share this horrible little adventure with people, so I hope you decide to join me. You can update your pledge at any time to secure the add-on before they run out (I can only run so many tables while I write this book).
Projects by my Friends
I wanted to give a special shoutout to one of my friends, Josh at Lone Colossus Games. He's been a huge help to me personally as I prepared for this big project, but he also makes really cool books. His latest book, Intangible Treasures II is in the final 48 hours of the campaign! I've seen bits and pieces of this book, and I have to say: it's awesome.
Hunt the monsters, steal their power. The second, standalone volume in a growing series, Tome of Intangible Treasures II expands your options for 5e-compatible story-based rewards with:
Ritual and Harvesting systems that allow players to absorb the abilities of fallen enemies
100 fully fleshed out monsters complete with stat blocks, art, lore, adventure hooks, and tactics
300 new boons and charms that can be bestowed using materials harvested from slain creatures
