The Oath of Tyndareus

Tyndareus was the King of Sparta, married to the beautiful Leda. Zeus admired her so much that he turned himself into a swan and seduced her. The resulting pregnancy resulted in Leda laying two eggs. One hatched Helen and Polydeuces, (children of Zeus), the other hatched the Castor and Clytemnestra, (children of Tyndareus).

Agamemnon fell in love with Clytemnestra, married her, and returned to Mycenae to drive his cousin Aegisthus out with the help of his father-in-law Tyndareus.

When it came time for Helen to marry, many kings and princes came seeking her hand including Odysseus of Ithaca, Menestheus of Athens, Ajax the Great, Patroclus, and Idomeneus. They each offered opulent gifts in the hopes of swaying her father. Tyndareus feared that if he chose a husband for Helen, the rest would turn against him in offense. Thus, Odysseus proposed an oath to be sworn. All the suitors swore to the gods to defend the chosen husband from any quarrel. Thus Tyndareus chose Menelaus, who succeeded him as King of Sparta.

The Death of Herakles

Herakles was the greatest of the Greek heroes. No one could match him in strength, will, and prowess. When he was temporarily driven mad by Hera he slew his own children. To cleanse himself of the crime, he was required to complete twelve labors by his nemesis King Eurysteus of Argos. Heracles famously sacked Troy years before the Trojan war, founded cities, killed tyrants, and even joined Jason and the Argonauts. When Hippocoon overthrew his brother, Tyndareus, as King of Sparta, Herakles helped Tyndareus take the throne back. Herakles had lived a long and epic life.

The princess Deianira caught the attention of Herakles and the river god Achelous. The two wrestled for her hand in marriage. The mighty Herakles won the fight after breaking off one of Achelous' horns. After the match, a centaur named Nessus offered to help Deianira across the fast flowing river, but then tried to carry her off for his own instead.

Herakles drew back his mighty bow and loosed one of his arrows dipped in the poisonour blood of the Lernean Hydra. As the centaur died, he gave his blood soaked tunic to Deianira. He told her to have Herakles put it on if he is ever unfaithful. The enchantments on the shirt will excite her husband's love.

Years later, when Deinara had a rival for the love of Herakles, she asked Herakles to wear the tunic. It was not enchanted. Instead it was still stained with the poisoned blood of the centaur. The venom poisoned Herakles and burned his flesh. Before he died, the mighty son of Zeus uprooted several trees and built his own funeral pyre on Mount Oeta. There he was joined by his great allies Iolas and Philoctetes who lit the fire. At the funeral Philoctetes received the bow of Herakles and his poisoned arrows.

After the funeral pyre burned, all that remained was Herakles' immortality. With the help of his father Zeus, he ascended to Mount Olympus and took his place among the gods.

Setting the stage

Players who come to sit at the GM's table to play in The Heroic Age are going to bring with them a lot of preconceived notions about Greek mythology. Whether they studied it in class, read The Iliad, or watched The Clash of the Titans it is almost impossible to create a character with zero fore knowledge. This is a good thing. As GM you get to play with this resonance and feed on the natural excitement your players are going to have.

The game is set in 1200 BC in the Aegean Bronze Age, and a few years before what some archeaologists consider to be the beginning of the Trojan War. There is much debate about whether the Trojan War was a real conflict or if it was completely a work of fiction. For the sake of the game, let's assume it was real.

Herakles is dead. His countless children and grandchildren fill the many great halls of many kingdoms. The Argonauts were over a generation ago. Only wise Nestor of Pelos knew those great heroes and he is over ninety years old!

The Trojan war has not happened yet. However, the various characters of The Iliad are still at home. Agamemnon is High King of Mycenae, his brother Menelaus is in Sparta. Helen has yet to be stolen away by Paris. In fact, it is very possible that as a campaign goes on the heroes can join these kings as they wage war on Troy.

The Heroic Age | Mythic Greece

Life in the Heroic Age

Greece in the Late Bronze Age was a patchwork of small kingdoms that were similar, yet politically independent from one another. Each of these palatial states was ruled by a king. The king’s most important role is in religious feasts and offerings to the gods. They did not create laws or mete out justice. Justice during this time comes from families. If a hero commits murder or steals, then the family of the aggrieved will come after them.

The most notable of these palatial states were Pylos, Tiryns, Midea, Orchomenos, Thebes, Mycenae, and Athens. People would deliver goods and services to the palace centers, which would then be redistributed by the political authority. It was a pre-money system. What this means is that unlike most games a player will not step into a store and buy the goods they need. Instead they will negotiate what they need from the king.

Heroes can visit the palaces of these kings, where they might receive a warm welcome. Food and goods (like weaponry) might be given as a gift. The kings might give them in the hopes of a great service in return. For example, Thespuis, King of Thespiae offered his daughters to Hercules if he slayed the Lion of Cithaeron, and Odysseus stays with King Alcinous on the island of Scheria. He shares tales of his adventure in exchange for food, shelter, and entertainment. The law of hospitality is important in Greek culture, players should expect to have access to any simple items they may need. More costly gifts, like ships, chariots, or warriors may require deft diplomacy.

The Mycenaeans were skilled craftsmen, which included bronzesmiths, jewelers, potters, carpenters, and cabinet makers.

City-States of the Aegean

Among the Achaeans there are those who are blessed with divine blood flowing through their veins. These great heroes are born from a mortal and a god. This pedigree grants them great power and glorious purpose.

The children of gods will not live long lives of blissful peace. They will not retire to a sleepy cottage and bounce grandchildren on their knees. Instead they will slay great monsters and conquer kingdoms. They are destined for short lives but will live on into eternity in the form of glorious song.

Blood of the Olympians

As a demigod, there is divine blood flowing through your veins. Your parent bestows upon you certain blessings because it is your birthright. In the case of virgin goddesses like Athena or Artemis, they bestow their blessing on mortals who they see fit, rather than having children themselves. The effect is the same.

Hephaestus

You are the child of the brilliant craftsman Hephaestus, god of the forge. You are a wise artisan and skilled tradesman. Children of Hephaestus tend to be Rogues, Wizards, or Bards.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence Increases by 1.

Master Craftsman. You have apprenticed at your father’s anvil as he taught you his craft. Whenever you make a Intelligence (Crafting) check to repair damaged armor or weapons, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Golden Apple

Wondrous item, rare

The Golden Apples found in the Garden of the Hesperides look as though they are made out of solid gold, but taste like the sweetest, juiciest apple fresh from the harvest. Each one of them is perfect. Eating the apple can provide several magical effects.

First, eating the apple will make you younger, your body will age back to sometime in your twenties at the height of your physical strength for one year. This effect removes any penalties due to age, after the effects have worn off you will return to your normal age. You also regain all hit points.

If the Golden Apple is fed to a fresh corpse or the spirit of a dead person, then they return to life as if they have been affected by the resurrection spell. This effect does not work on Undead.

Pipes of Athena

Wondrous item, uncommon

Athena invented the pipes from reeds and the leg bones of a deer. However, she cast them aside because she did not like the way her cheeks puffed out as she played. They were then picked up by Marsyas the satyr. Marsyas practiced with them until he could create beautiful songs with them. Then he challenged Apollo to a music contest. The prize was for the loser to be at the mercy of the victor. However, he was defeated by Apollo and his lyre. Then Apollo strung the satyr up to a tree and flayed him alive for having the hubris to challenge one of the Olympians.

You must be proficient with flutes or pan flutes to use these pipes. They have 3 charges. You can use an actions to play them and expend 1 charge to create a beautiful charming song. Each creature within 30 feet of you that hears you play must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you for 1 minute. If you wish, all creatures in the area that aren't hostile toward you automatically succeed on the saving throw. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the effect of the pipes of Athena for 24 hours. The pipes regain 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn.

Helm of Darkness

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This cap belongs to Hades but is frequently borrowed by Athena. While wearing this cap, you can turn Invisible as an action. Anything you are wearing, or carrying, or a friendly creature you are touching is Invisible with you. You remain invisible until the cap is removed, until you Attack or Cast a Spell, or until you use a Bonus Action to become visible again. Friendly creatures touching you become visible once they are no longer touching you.

Bridle of Athena

Wondrous Item, rare

This leather horse's bridle is an excellent piece of craftsmanship crafted by Athena herself. It can be worn as a mundane bridle by any horse, until you speak the command word, at which point wings sprout forth from your horse, granting a fly speed of 90 ft. This effect only works while the bridle of Athena is on a horse.

Teeth of the Dragon

Wondrous Item rare

This leather sack has 1d12 dragon's teeth rattling inside. As a full round action, you can bury the teeth in the soil while offering a libation of wine to Athena. For every tooth planted in this way a fully grown berserker warrior climbs out of the ground. The warriors will fight for you until they are dead. You do not have to plant all the teeth at once.

The Aegis

Magic armor, very rare

Athena appears wearing the Aegis a golden breastplate wreathed in snakes. It is a +3 Adamantine Breastplate. While wearing the armor, any critical hit against you becomes a normal hit. As a reaction to being attacked the serpents can make an attack of opportunity (using your melee attack score). Once hit, the target must make a DC 15 saving throw or be poisoned.

Athena is often depicted wearing a breastplate surrounded by snakes. Snakes are sometimes seen as one of her holy animals, and is probably part of the reason why she transformed Medusa into the hideous half serpent creature she is.

Helm of Athena

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

This beautiful golden helm is of Athena's own unique ingenious design. Your Wisdom is 27 while you wear this helmet. You also have truesight up to 120 feet as long as you are wearing the helmet.

Sword of Hermes

Magic weapon, very rare

This adamantine longsword is enchanted to grant a +2 bonus to Attack and Damage rolls made with this weapon. When making an attack with this weapon you score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Anytime you successfully hit a target with this weapon, you may take a 5-foot step without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Bow of Apollo

Magic weapon, rare

This silver longbow is enchanted to grant a +2 bonus to Attack and Damage rolls made with this weapon, and it has a range of 1 mile/3 miles.

Arrows Fletched with Eagle Feathers

Magic weapon, common

When these arrows are fired from a bow, they unleash a screech like a great eagle. When fired from a bow they do not break, allowing them to be collected and shot again.

Pelt of the Nemean Lion

Woundrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

You have resistance to damage from nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing attacks while you wear this pelt as a cloak. If a creature tries to attack you while wearing the cloak they must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened of you until the end of your next turn. Once a creature has made a successful saving throw they are immune to this effect.

Golden Breastplate of Athena

Magic armor, very rare (requires attunement)

While wearing this breastplate you gain a +2 bonus to AC, you have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and spell attacks have disadvantage against you.

Bronze Castanets

Wondrous item, uncommon

By clanging these castanets together, you can use an action to cast the thunderwave spell with it. The spell save DC is 12.

Bronze Tipped Club of Hephaestus

Magic weapon, very rare (requires attunement)

The Bronze Tipped Club of Hephaestus only has 1 charge. While attuned to it, you can expend 1 charge and make a melee weapon attack with this club. A creature that takes damage from the club must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking an extra 6d10 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much extra damage on a successful one.

The club regains 1 expended charge daily at dawn, after the sacrifice of a fine bull to Hephaestus.

Rough Hewn Club of Herakles

Magic weapon, very rare (requires attunement)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. The bonus increases to +3 when you use the mace to attack a nonhumanoid monster. When you roll a 20 on an attack roll made with this weapon, the target takes an extra 2d6 bludgeoning damage, or 4d6 bludgeoning damage if its a nonhumanoid monster.

Poisoned Arrows

Magic weapon, uncommon The bronze arrowheads are coated in the venom of the Lernean Hydra. If a creature takes damage from one of the arrow, the creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 2d10 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

The Sickle of Cronus

Magic weapon, legendary artifact

The Sickle of Cronus is the most dangerous weapon in creation. It is a weapon capable of killing a god in a single swing. This adamantine sickle is enchanted to grant a +5 bonus to Attack and Damage rolls made with this weapon. When making an attack with this weapon you score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. While the flesh of gods is tough and ignores nonmagical weapons, the Sickle of Cronus ignores all resistance or immunity.

When you attack a creature that has at least one head with this weapon and roll a 19 or 20 on the attack roll, you cut off one of the creature's heads. The creature dies if it can't survive without the lost head. No creature is immune to this effect.

The Artifact of Legend

The Sickle of Cronus is a threat to Mount Olympus itself. That is why it lies in the deepest pit of Tartarus. It is too powerful to destroy, and too terrible to use. Zeus fears its strength and sees it as a threat. Yet he recognizes that there may come a dark day when he will have to wield his father's unholy weapon. That dark day would herald a twilight of the gods, and their possible doom.

The sickle is sealed in Tartarus where it is guarded by cunning traps and monsters. This tomb was designed by all twelve Olympians and they each tried to one up each other by developing more cunning ways to dispatch would be thieves.

A Prophecy

While the traps and monsters would keep away most, it would be nothing more than a challenge for the average Olympian. Who could resist running headlong into the deathpit to prove that they were able to take the worst the other Olympians could hand out and still survive. Thus, great Apollo gave a prophecy.

If any Olympian were to touch the Sickle of Cronus, it would lead to their death. They would be wiped away from the face of existence. This is sufficient to keep the gods away, because there is no afterlife for divine. Only oblivion.

 

The Goddess of Night Plots

Not everyone fears the sickle like Zeus. Nyx, goddess of nght sees it as an opportunity. Nyx is a powerful primordial goddess, she is so mighty that even Zeus is nervous around her. She fills the court of her halls with her children that she makes alone with no father. They are a dark brood who haunt the dreams of mortals and shadows of the world.

She feels that she has bowed and scraped before the Olympians for long enough. She wishes finally overthrow the Olympians once and for all. She is feeling out in the cosmos, trying to find where they hid the sickle. She knows Zeus is too greedy to have destroyed it. She has her children out hunting for it every night.

Campaign Hook

This is where the heroes come in. The Olympians cannot do anything about the sickle without facing the threat of Apollo's prophecy. They dare not move it or try to destroy it. However, the players as demigods are barely one step above mortals and 100% expendable. If they succeed, then it only brings more glory to the gods. Each of the Olympians wants their progeny to be the one to successfully defeat Nyx. Because of that, even though the Olympians are usually too self absorbed in their own squabbles to take much notice, in this case they are more than willing to offer great aid to their demigod children.

The Heroic Age | Gifts from the Gods

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love

When Uranus was wounded by Cronus's wicked barbed sickle, slices of the titan's body fell into the sea. White foam spread forth from the immortal flesh and it grew into a goddess. Aprhodite was born to inspire love and delight in the hearts of mortals and immortals alike.

The goddess of love bestows great gifts upon those who support her, granting them their hearts desire. However, Aphrodite is not a goddess to be scourned. Lives have been ruined as she twists their hearts to fit her whims.

Aphrodite is the most beautiful of all the gods and goddesses. Her hair is perfect, her skin is flawless, and her robes are always the latest fashions. She rides a giant goose. Over the ages she has had many immortal lovers like Ares, Hermes, Poseidon, Dionysus, and mortal lovers like Adonis, Ankhises, and Boutes. She gave birth to many children, regardless of the fact that she is married to Hephaestus.

Apollo, God of the Arts, Prophecy, and Light

Apollo is the son of Zeus and the titan Leto. When Leto was pregnant she was pursued mercilessly by jealous Hera. She gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on the island of Delos. Many great deeds are attributed to Apollo. He slayed a great serpent which guarded the oracle of Delphi and fell in love with countless youths, maidens, and nymphs.

Apollo inspires prophetic dreams in immortals and mortals alike. These prophecies are always wrapped in riddles, but they always come true. His followers also cure the sick and protect the weak.

Apollo is a beardless and physically flawless god. He wields a massive silver bow whose arrows can slay with a single shot and never miss (without divine intervention). He also has the power to bring plagues upon those who displease him.

Ares, God of War

Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. He is both hated and respected by mortals. War is an ugly and bloody business, but Ares rewards mortals with glory that can be earned in battle. He is a great slayers of mortals, he cares little for them and their petty squabbles. The cause of a war means nothing to him, he longs only for the pitched heat of armed conflict.

Ares rewards great warriors with magic weapons or teaches them skills in combat. He does not reward generals unless they lead from the front. He is more interested in physical prowess then brilliant strategems.

Ares is a massive perfectly muscled killer. He has a thick black beard, mighty helm, spear, and shield. He rides into battle on a massive chariot pulled by four immortal horses (Aethon, Phlogius, Canabus, and Phobus) who were born of Boreas, god of the winds and an Erinys. Ares had three children with his love Aphrodite: Phobos, Deimos, and Harmonia).

Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt

Artemis is the sister of Apollo, and Daughter of Zeus and Leto. She is an expert huntress and archer who joins her brother in bringing sudden death and plagues to mortals (Apollo targets boys and men, Artemis targets girls and women).

She is often a vengeful goddess, known to send monsters to torment kings who forget to offer appropriate sacrifices to her. She once loved the handsome giant Orion, until her jealous brother Apollo tricked her into killing him with an arrow. She has been celibate ever since.

Artemis is tall, lithe, and barefoot. She prowls through the rough forests, but no bramble snags her hem. She rides a chariot pulled by two deer with golden antlers.

Poseidon, God of the Sea

Poseidon is the god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses. He is the son of Cronus and Rhea. During the War of the Titans, the cyclopes crafted Poseidon a mighty trident, and he used it to imprison the Titans in Tartarus. After the war, the cosmos was divided between him and his two brothers. Zeus received the sky, Hades received the Underworld, while Poseidon received the sea.

The children of Poseidon have strong divine blood, and inevitably become great heroes in their own right. Poseidon is almost as powerful as Zeus, during the War of the Giants, Poseidon crushed the giant Polybotes beneath an island.

Poseidon is large, with a thick beard coated in salt from the sea. He carries his golden Trident everywhere and wears a cloak draped loosely around his shoulders. Poseidon rides from his undersea palace to Mt. Olympus on a chariot pulled by two seahorses.

Zeus, King of the Olympians

Zeus is the mightiest of all the Olympians. The youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, he was raised in secrecy on Mt. Dikte on Crete. There he was nursed by nymphs and a magical goat named Amaltheia. Once grown, Zeus came to his father, forced him to drink a magical potion which forced Cronus to throw up all of his children. Zeus stripped him of his sickle and threw them both into Tartarus.

Then Zeus and the Olympians waged a war against the Titans to conquer the cosmos. He split the spoils of war with his two brothers Poseidon and Hades. Then, he defended his throne from the giants who tried to overthrow him.

Zeus is mighty, in ever sense of the word. He wields a thunderbolt and can take any shape he wishes. He bestows blessings upon the good and punishes the wicked. He is often surrounded by a retinue of lesser gods who serve him as attendents, guards, or cupbearers.

Other Divinities

The Halls of Mount Olympus are filled with scores of lesser gods. Some of them are are the children of Olympians while others are mortals who achieved immortality. Some of them are so minor that they are barely worth taking notice while others are as powerful as any of the Olympians.

Deimos and Phobos, Gods of Fear

The sons of Ares and Aphrodite, Deimos and Phobos are the gods of Fear and Terror. They accompany their father into battle, driving his chariot, and striking fear into the hearts of men. Their power is more than just the fear for one's life, but also the fear of loss. They are spiteful and angry gods who rejoice in the suffering of mortals. They care nothing for prayers or praise. The smell of panic is the only offering they desire.

Eros, God of Love

Eros is the son of Aphrodite and winged god of love. He was born from the bubbling sea foam at her birth. He inspires love and lust in others with his enchanted arrows. He is often found in attendance with his mother, or helping mortals and immortals to fall in love. He is a capricious trickster who gets a lot of joy out of creating inconvenient pairings (for instance: helping the two children of two rival families fall in love, in spite of the drama it may cause).

Hebe, Goddess of Youth

Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She is winged goddess of youth and the cupbearer of the gods who serves golden ambrosia at their heavenly feasts in the halls of Mt. Olympus. When Herakles ascended to Mt. Olympus, Hebe was presented to him as a wife.

Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth

Hestia is the virgin goddess of the hearth and the home. She is a patron who presides over baking and preparing meals for the family. Hestia was the first born child of Cronus and Rhea, thus she was the first child to be swallowed. When Zeus forced his father to regurgitate his swallowed siblings, she was the last to come out. Thus she is the oldest and youngest of the Olympians. Even though both Apollo and Poseidon wanted her hand in marriage, she instead asked Zeus to allow her to remain a virgin and serve in his halls.

The Horae, Guardians of Olympus

The Horae are the daughters of Zeus and Themis. These are the goddesses of the seasons who preside over the movements of the stars in the sky. These three goddesses also guard the gates to Mt. Olympus, ensuring that no one enter without Zeus's approval. In recent years, as the lives of men become more civilized, they have taken on mantles more associated with ethical society rather than the changing of the seasons.

Ilithyia, Goddess of Childbirth

Ilithyia is the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and the goddess who helps women give birth. She protects the mother and child from harm, but also has the power to stay birth. Szhe carries a torch that represents the burning pains of childbirth. She is an attendant of her mother Hera.

Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow

Iris is the daughter of the old sea god Thaumus and the Oceanid Elektra. She is the golden winged goddess of the rainbow, but also the messenger of the Olympians. She carries a magic rod that acts as a symbol of heralds as well as a pitcher that pours out rainbows. She often serves as cupbearer for the Olympians along side Hebe.

The Fates

The Fates (AKA The Moirai) are three goddesses who represent the fate of mortals and immortals alike. Clotho is the spinner who spins the thread of life. Lachesis is the apportioner of lots, who measures out the length of a mortal's life. Finally, Atropos, "she who cannot be turned," cuts the thread short.

The Fates are not an inflexible lot, they accept guidance from Zeus. Only he has the power to influence these ancient goddesses who determine the death of every mortal. They work closely with the Erinyes, who they send to punish the wicked. They are goddesses of birth and death.

 

The Muses

The Muses are nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory and inventor of language. The muses inspire artists, writers, and singers to create beautiful and new works of art.

Muses	Province
Calliope	Eloquence, Beautiful Voices
Clio	History
Euterpe	Lyric Poetry
Thalia	Comedy, Bucolic Poetry
Melpomene	Tragedies
Terpsichore	Choral Singing, Dancing
Erato	Love Poetry
Polyhymnia	Religious Hymns
Urania	Astronomy

Nike, Goddess of Victory

Nike is the winged goddess of victory. She is the daughter of Pallas, the Titan god of battle, and Styx, the goddess of the River Styx. She serves Zeus alongside her siblings Zelos (Rivalry), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force). They all act as Zeus's honorguard and have fought in the War of the Giants at his side.

Psyche, Goddess of the Soul

Psyche was a mortal who was so beautiful that men stopped worshiping Aphrodite to worship Psyche instead. This angered Aphrodite, who ordered her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous man in the world. Instead, Eros found himself captured by her beauty. After Psyche performed a series of seemingly impossible labors for Aphrodite, she married Eros.

Zeus, King of the Olympians

This space is for the info about Zeus.

Achelous

Large sized god, (Chaotic Good)

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• Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor)
• Hit Points 157 (15d10 +75)
• Speed 40 ft., 40 ft. swimming

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STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	15 (+2)	21 (+5)	19 (+4)	17 (+3)	16 (+3)

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• Skills Deception +4, Persuasion +4, Religion +2
• Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
• Damage Immunities poison
• Condition Immunities poisoned
• Senses passive Perception 13, truesight 120 ft.
• Languages Alltongue
• Challenge 9 (5,000 xp)

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Amphibious. Achelous can breathe air and water. Innate Spellcasting. Achelous's spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16). >Achelous can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: create water, fog cloud, misty step

1/day each: bestow curse, dispel magic, call lightning

Shapechanger. Achelous can use his action to Polymorph into a large man with a thick beard or back into his true form of a bull with a handsome man's face. His statistics are the same in each form. Any Equipment he is wearing or carrying isn't transformed.

Actions

Multiattack. Achelous makes two attacks, one with his horn and one with his sword.

Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) Piercing Damage.

Sword of Reeds. +11 to hit, reach 10 ft. one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) Slashing Damage. The Sword of Reeds is a masterfully crafted steel sword forged by Hephaestus and quenched in the river Achelous. It is a +2 longsword that never rusts.

Achelous, God of Achelous River

Achelous is the source of all the world's fresh water. He is the son of Tethys and Oceanus, and chiefest of the Potamoi, the three thousand river gods. He often takes the form of a massive bull with the face of a handsome bearded man and only one horn. He is also known to take the form of a large man with a thick beard. The river Achelous is the largest river in western Greece. It begins on the eastern slope of the Lakmos mountains and flows southward over a hundred miles to the Ionian sea.

When Achelous was courting the Calydonian princess Deianira a challenger stepped forward. Heracles, son of Zeus wrestled the river god for the right to marry the beautiful princess. Heracles won by tearing off one of Achelous's horns. Now Achelous only has one horn and no princess. He was bitter over this defeat and loathes anyone related to his old nemesis Heracles.

Nymph

Nymphs are the personification of the creative qualities in nature. They are often the daughters of Titans or Olympians and can be found throughout Greece in the secret places of the wild. They are beautiful nubile maidens who live in the forests, rivers, and mountains. According to german mythology scholar Walter Burkert: "The idea that rivers are gods and springs divine nymphs is deeply rooted not only in poetry but in belief and ritual; the worship of these deities is limited only by the fact that they are inseparably identified with a specific locality."

There are many different nymphs, their variety is based upon the nature they represent. When it comes to their stats as creatures, they are all roughly the same. They differ when it comes to the spells they prepare, which reflect their nature.

Ladon, Hundred-Headed Dragon

Ladon is a huge serpent whose body branches forth into a hundred necks that end with one hundred sets of venomous fangs. Because of its many heads, Ladron never truly sleeps since a few heads always maintain a watchful sentry. Each of its one hundred heads can speak a different language. Hera appointed Ladon to be the guardian of the golden apples. While he is always watchful and dedicated to keeping thieves away from his charge, he is not very bright and easily duped.

Polyphemus the Cyclops

The cyclops Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon and the Sicilian sea nymph Thoosa. He lives in a cave on the island Thrinacia (modern day Sicily). He is joined on the island by a few other Cyclopes who live as shepherds. They have no real society on the island, living with their wives in caves with their goats and sheep.

Polyphemus is not just some dumb savage, he is also a man in love. He is in love with the the beautiful nereid Galatea (not the Galatea statue by Pygmallion). She is the goddess of calm seas, and is often seen off the coast of Thrinacia. He played music for her and offered her milk and cheese, but she spurned his advances. Instead she fell in love with a handsome Sicilian youth named Akis. In a jealous rage Polyphemus crushed him with a boulder. He still pines for Galatea.

Annotated Bibliography