Void and the Grinners
A Nightmarish Cartel for your Fantasy World
By Sqwalikum
PART I
Background and Statistics
Void and the Grinners
The Realm has seen many threats in its days. From demonic cults to dragons and marauding bands of orcs, all manner of foes have been vanquished by heroic adventurers and guardians of the land. To say that peace is near would be foolish, however. A new, insidious force has begun to creep into the cities and towns, crawling through the slums and sewers. They are known as the Grinners, and they bring with them void. Once quiet neighbourhoods have become riddled with drug addicts, and crime is steadily increasing as the Grinners incite turf wars against all resident gangs. The Grinner cartel works with frightening efficiency, and is bringing more and more citizens into the darkness of void addiction every day. Their activity begs the question: what do they want, and can they be stopped?
This resource pack is meant to provide Dungeon Masters with a villainous organization against which they can pit their players. This organization – the Grinners – operates like a cartel or a cult, and has aspects of both. It is based around a magical narcotic distilled from beholder pus known as void. The Grinners use void not only due to its addictive and euphoric properties, but because it provides them with an edge in combat and a hive mentality that allows them to conquer territory quickly and efficiently. While their motives remain mysterious, it is clear that the Grinners will stop at nothing to spread void addiction through the slums of every city they can, even if it means fiscal loss. The Grinners can be inserted into any fantasy setting, from the Forgotten Realms to Greyhawk and homebrew worlds.
Void
Void is a dark and viscous substance, appearing as either deep blue, purple, or black depending on the lighting and the batch. If one looks closely at a vial of void, they might notice that it seems to move and swirl about of its own accord. Void is extremely addictive and is injected subcutaneously using a large metal syringe. Its viscosity often causes it to bubble out from the injection site, damaging surrounding tissues and creating large lesions on a user’s arms. Due to the lack of disposable syringes, injection instruments are typically shared among several addicts. This leads to the spread of various diseases, most notably cackle fever, sewer plague, and sight rot.
Strangely enough, void helps develop a resilience to illness and injury, allowing void addicts to survive crippling diseases while bearing the full brunt of their effects. Addicts die due to a toxic buildup of void after a few years, but may live most of those years exhibiting injuries or diseases symptoms that would kill another person, leaving the addict permanently crippled.
Beyond the uncanny resilience void grants, it is known for several other properties. Its primary feature is the euphoric highs users get. Users enter a dreamlike state, drawing upon heightened senses to help them experience the world as much more pleasing than it really is. A more disturbing property of void is the pleasure one derives from experiencing pain while high. Void addicts are effectively turned into masochists and have no fear of pain or damage to their bodies (they are often seen self-mutilating for pleasure). Void is also known to augment the brain’s receptiveness to psychic energies, and this is thought to be the source of the hive-like tactics and mentality of the Grinners.
Void begins to permanently alter the body after the first few months of addiction. These changes first manifest in the paling of the skin, which becomes clammy. Addicts also experience total hair loss and extreme loss of weight within the first few months. After some time, void begins to warp and disfigure the body. An addict’s teeth will naturally sharpen, their skull shape might warp, their eyes may change sizes or colors separate of each other, and they might begin to become lopsided in their musculature. Reptilian-like eyes and bony protrusions are also common. Less common is the development of translucent skin, which reveals the addict’s muscles, tissues, organs, and blood vessels underneath. Void also damages the brain in a process known as brain rot.
Void hardens and expands into sharp protrusions when left at a cool temperature. Thus, it is always kept slightly warm. Void addicts who die in the cold are known to become immensely heavy and grow large crystalline spikes from their corpses.
Void is incredibly dangerous to manufacture as it is distilled from beholder pus. Once a beholder is captured, it is injected with a cocktail of stimulants and sedatives that prevents it from sleeping or moving. The beholder’s tongue is bolted to its bottom jaw, and its main eye is either removed or blinded. The eyes on each of its stalks are then impaled with a needle attatched to a large tube. These wounds are allowed to fester, generating large amounts of pus, blood, and fluid which are then pumped through the tubes into large distillery vats for processing. The pus is separated from other liquids and purified to become void.
Void Use
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Delivery: Subcutaneous injection of 1ml of void is an effective dose.
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Addiction DC: Extremely addictive. The creature must succeed a DC 18 constitution saving throw each use or become addicted.
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Initial Effects: A high creature experiences void-induced masochism, dreamlike euphoria, immunity to fear, and advantage on perception checks.
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Secondary Effects: A high creature expe riences disadvantage on intelligence checks, advantage on rolls to resist dying from disease (but not when stopping its progression), vulnerability to psychic damage and disadvantage against charm effects.
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Side-Effects: After 1d4 months of use, the following occurs in slow progression: hair loss, pale and clammy skin, sharp teeth, warping body and eyes, translucent skin. Brain Rot: for every 1d4 months a creature spends addicted to void, it must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or permanently lose 1 point of intelligence as its brain is slowly liquified .
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Overdose: If a creature takes more than one dose of void less than 4 hours apart, it must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or fall unconscious. If the creature fails the save by 5 or less, it is blinded permanently. If it fails the save by over 8, it dies.
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Withdrawals and Satiation: If an addict does not take void at least once every 14 hours, they begin cravings and hallucinations. The addict gains one level of exhaustion for every 24 hours it away from void. Instead of dying on level 6, a creature must roll 1d12 + 5. This determines the number of days the creature spends on exhaustion level 5. After the last day, the creature rolls a DC 12 constitution check. On a success, it recovers from its addiction (although it retains any modifications). On a failure, it becomes comatose or dies (DM’s choice). There are possible ways to negate these effects, including magical therapy and alchemical solutions.
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Street Price: Void costs anywhere from 5sp to 5gp, depending on the buyer. Poorer people have their void ‘subsidised’ by the Grinners.
The Grinners
About the Grinners
Who are the Grinners?
The Grinners scuttle through the alleyways of seedy neighbourhoods, spreading void addiction far and wide. The cartel has expanded more rapidly than any other criminal organization in the history of the realm, taking swaths of urban territory from local gangs in bloody turf wars. When a new area is inducted into the Grinner sphere of influence, void addiction skyrockets and their ranks swell. The Grinners pose a grave danger to the cities of the realm as the void epidemic grows, however little is known about them. Their leadership remains a subject of speculation and the reason they subsidize void for the poor, sacrificing profits for the spread of addiction, is a mystery the authorities are no closer to solving. The typical Grinner appears as all heavy void addicts do: pale, clammy skin, no hair, and sharpened teeth. What distinguishes Grinners from regular void addicts are the scars stretching from the corners of their mouth to their ears, reminiscent of large smiles. This right of passage inducts addicts into the ranks of the Grinners, where they gain access to the mysterious hive-like mentality upon which the cartel operates.
Culture of the Grinners
Grinners are secretive, and rarely talk to non-Grinners outside of drug deals or negotiations. When they do converse with others, they often speak of ‘the gift.’ Grinners obsess over void, which they see as a gift to humanity. Grinners believe that void-induced masochism is the ultimate escape from the trials and tribulations of daily life. The ability to derive joy from misery is the key to happiness and enlightenment, and this is used as justification for the Grinners’ spread of void use to the unwitting denizens of slums, shantytowns, and ghettos. Grinners also claim to be able to ‘hear the void.’ Elaboration beyond this has yet to come, although many suspect the Grinners of ulterior motives which have less semblance of altruism. The name ‘Grinner’ has its roots in void-induced masochism. All Grinners are void addicts, and they are thus constantly smiling because of the immense suffering they inflict upon themselves. Grinners often live in damp, cold conditions rife with disease and pestilence. They draw pleasure from these conditions, and carve smiles into their faces to remind themselves and others of their ‘enlightened’ status regarding the gift of pain. Different types of Grinners (such as Ticklers and Gigglers) derive their titles from the degree to which they experience pleasure from pain. The longer an individual has survived void addiction, the more intense the pleasure they derive from pain. Thus, while average Grinners can often be found smiling, Gigglers, who have been addicted for quite some time, are almost always giggling as they suffer from infected surgical implants and augmentations. Grinners revel in combat, seeing it as the best way to experience the gift. Grinners often squabble over who gets to be on the front lines, although their hive mentality will quickly and silently take over, settling any disputes. The satisfying sting of a blade or impact of a cudgel is matched only by the joy Grinners derive from slaying those who oppose the gift.
Grinners have no fear of death, and welcome it all too eagerly, often sacrificing themselves in battle to benefit their allies. They fight with reckless abandon, throwing themselves at the enemy with zero regard for their own wellbeing. Grinners typically swarm the enemy, engaging heavy and mobile troops with suicidal grapples while the bulk of the forces attack softer targets such as spellcasters. Grinners save the toughest targets for last, and seek to maximize enemy casualties no matter the cost.
Grinner Statistics
Note that most of the monsters provided below are on the high end of their challange ratings- use them with caution!
Grinners
The Grinner cartel consists primarily of low-ranking addicts who take on the namesake of their organization. These regular Grinners are quite numerous, and are seen as expendable and easily replaceable by higher-ups. They typically carry makeshift weapons and wear no armor, serving as enforcers, drug dealers, and as general muscle. Grinners are the face of the organization, and can be seen on street corners selling void to addicts or in shops intimidating vendors and demanding ‘safety deposits.’ Grinners are also used to overrun rival gangs and take territory from well-established criminal organizations. Their fearlessness and combat style have caused them to be a source of dread for many street gangs, who fear their territory may be the next target of the Grinners. In combat, Grinners use their self-skewer attack on large opponents, tying them down while the bulk of the Grinners swarm around and attack the back lines, where the weakest targets are.
Grinner
Medium (any race), Chaotic Evil
- Armor Class 11
- Hit Points 30
- Speed 35
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (14) Dex (12) Con (14) Int (8) Wis (10) Cha (8)
- Saving Throws disadvantage against charm
- Skills stealth +2, intimidate +2
- Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
- Damage Resistances none
- Damage Immunities none
- Condition Immunities fear
- Senses passive perception 12
- Languages common, thieve's cant
- Challenge 1/2 (100xp)
Pack tactics: Grinners have advantage on attack roles against a creature if at least one of the Grinner's allies is within 5ft of the creature and is not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The Grinner makes two weapon attacks
Self-skewer. Melee: +5 to hit, Reach 5ft, one target. Hit: If the target has a weapon that does slashing or piercing damage, it automatically hits one basic opportunity attack on the Grinner with that weapon and is then disarmed. The weapon is lodged in the Grinner, and can be removed with a DC 13 strength check as the player's action.
Weapon Attack Melee: +4 to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. Hit: 1d6+2 slashing damage.
Gigglers
Gigglers are those Grinners who manage to survive void addiction longer than most. Their bodies are warped and twisted into grotesque forms, and they are augmented by artificers using surgical implants. Spikes and metal plates protrude from their torsos, and they may sport blades or other such weapons in place of hands or forearms. Gigglers are strong, fast, and resilient, and are formidable foes to even the most seasoned warriors. Gigglers come in several variants. Cutters are fast and agile, using large blades and spikes to rend their opponent limb from limb. Hulks use brute force and formidable defence to crush opponents.
Giggler Hulk
Large, Chaotic Evil
- Armor Class 16
- Hit Points 78
- Speed 35
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (16) Dex (8) Con (14) Int (8) Wis (10) Cha (8)
- Saving Throws disadvantage against charm
- Skills stealth +2, intimidate +2
- Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
- Damage Resistances none
- Damage Immunities none
- Condition Immunities fear
- Senses passive perception 12
- Languages common, thieve's cant
- Challenge 3 (700xp)
Pack tactics: Giggler Hulks have advantage on attack roles against a creature if at least one of the Grinner's allies is within 5ft of the creature and is not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The hulk makes two slam attacks or a slam attack and then a grapple attack
Grapple. Attack Style: +6 to hit, Reach 5ft, one target. Hit: The target takes 1d6+2 bludgeoning damage and is grappled and restrained (escape DC 14).
Crush. Attack Style: Reach 5ft, one grappled creature. The target makes a DC 14 strength saving throw. Failed save: The target takes 5d6+6 bludgeoning and piercing damage as the Grinner hulk 'bear hugs' the target.
Slam Melee: +6 to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. Hit: 1d12+3 bludgeoning damage.
Giggler Cutter
Medium (any race), Chaotic Evil
- Armor Class 12
- Hit Points 60
- Speed 45
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (14) Dex (16) Con (14) Int (8) Wis (10) Cha (8)
- Saving Throws disadvantage against charm
- Skills stealth +2, intimidate +2
- Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
- Damage Resistances none
- Damage Immunities none
- Condition Immunities fear
- Senses passive perception 14
- Languages common, thieve's cant
- Challenge 3 (700xp)
Pack tactics: Gigglers have advantage on attack roles against a creature if at least one of the Grinner's allies is within 5ft of the creature and is not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The giggler makes four weapon attacks
Cackle (Recharge 5-6). Each creature within 40ft of the giggler must succeed a DC 12 wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw on the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A succeed save causes the creature to become immune to this ability for 24 hours.
Stab Melee: +6 to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. Hit: 1d6+4 slashing damage.
Variant: Giggler Chains
Some gigglers have chains implanted in their bodies, typically hanging from the shoulders. These chains often end in meat hooks, and can be hurled at an enemy and used to tug them towards the giggler. Gigglers equipped with chains gain the following two attacks, which can be used for multi-attacks:
Chain Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 30 ft., one creature. Hit: The target takes 1d4+2 bludgeoning damage and is grappled and restrained (escape DC 14).
Pull. The giggler pulls a target restrained by its chains 30 ft.
Ticklers
Ticklers are the stealthiest of the Grinners, and are almost always addicts of one of the smaller races. Ticklers are masters of stealth, and are employed as spies and assassins. Ticklers specialize in eavesdropping, theft, and poison, and use these skills to ruin opponents’ lives and reputations. Ticklers often plant evidence on people before tipping off the authorities, or create political scandals that hamper the unity of the law. They are known to command swarms of rats using void-tainted water. These hairless, deformed creatures act as a Tickler’s spies. The tickler uses its speak with animals spell to gain intel from the rats.
Tickler
Small (halfling, gnome, or goblin), Chaotic Evil
- Armor Class 15
- Hit Points 46
- Speed 40
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (12) Dex (14) Con (12) Int (10) Wis (10) Cha (10)
- Saving Throws disadvantage against charm
- Skills stealth +2, intimidate +2
- Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
- Damage Resistances none
- Damage Immunities none
- Condition Immunities fear
- Senses passive perception 14
- Languages common, thieves cant
- Challenge 2 (450xp)
Pack tactics: Ticklers have advantage on attack roles against a creature if at least one of the Grinner's allies is within 5ft of the creature and is not incapacitated.
Spellcasting: Ticklers are level 4 spellcasters. Its spellcasting ability is wisdom (spell save DC 10, +2 to hit with spell attacks). The tickler has the following spells:
Cantrips (at will): poison spray, chill touch
1st level (4 slots): speak with animals, expeditious retreat, arms of hadar
2nd level (3 slots): spider climb, invisibility, darknessActions
Bladed Syringe Melee: +4 to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. Hit: 1d6+4 slashing damage. The tickler can choose to make target make a DC 10 constitution saving throw or come under the effects of void.
Artificers
The artificers that work for the Grinners have various reasons for walking such a dark path, although the ample supply of willing test-subjects who welcome pain is certainly an intense motivator for many scientists of the arcane. The artificers work tirelessly on their Gigglers or on the maintenance of distilleries. They hold the Gigglers especially dear, as they are the ‘children’ of the artificers. Many name their Gigglers, and keep them as dear friends or servants. Artificers prefer to fight from afar and will flee if it seems they are losing.
Artificer
Medium (any race), Chaotic Evil or Chaotic Neutral
- Armor Class 15 (leather)
- Hit Points 52
- Speed 30
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (10) Dex (14) Con (12) Int (18) Wis (12) Cha (10)
- Skills arcana +6, history +6
- Senses passive perception 11
- Languages any four languages, theive's cant
- Challenge 6 (2,300xp)
Spellcasting: The artificer is a level 10 spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is intelligence (spell save DC 16, +18 to hit with spell attacks. The artificer has the following spells:
Cantrips (at will): message, mending
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, ray of sickness, sleep, shield
2nd level (3 slots): blur, enlarge/reduce, levitateActions
Repeating crossbow Range: +6 to hit, range 80/320. The artificer's crossbow allows it to fire its alchemical formulas in the form of modified bolts, increasing the range on its abilities. It can fire the following bolts:
1.Regular bolt. Hit: 1d8+4 piercing damage.
2.Gas bolt: The shaft of this bolt is a long glass tube filled with green mist. When fired, the bolt trails gas before bursting on target. The arrow's projectile trail and everything within a 10ft radius of its impact area is covered in noxious gas. Creatures within the gas must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 4d8 poison damage and become poisoned.
3.Healing dart: A syringe of healing liquid attached to a bolt which the artificer drinks or shoots at a creature. Another creature can activate the syringe's plunger as an action. Injecting the liquid heals a creature for 6d6 hit points.
4.Powder bolt: A black powder head tips this bolt. It explodes on impact. Each creature within 10 feet of the point of impact must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 2d10 points of fire damage and be knocked prone and pushed 10 feet away. This bolt deals double damage to objects
Smilers
The smilers are the mysterious commanders of Grinner enclaves. Masters of disguise and manipulation, the smilers differ greatly from their lesser kin. These creatures lead from the back, and attempt to control enemies so that their minions can close in for the kill. If the odds are not in their favor, a smiler will typically flee. These creatures are most effective outside of combat, using their magical abilities to manipulate, deceive, and trick the enemies of the Grinners.
Mr. Smiles
Medium (any race), Chaotic Evil
- Armor Class 15
- Hit Points 80
- Speed 35
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Str (14) Dex (16) Con (12) Int (17) Wis (14) Cha (18)
- Skills stealth +5, insight +6, perception +6
- Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
- Damage Resistances none
- Damage Immunities none
- Condition Immunities fear
- Senses passive perception 17
- Languages any four languages including theive's cant
- Challenge 7 (2,900 xp)
Blink: A smiler can use its bonus action to teleport up to 20ft.
Spellcasting: Smilers' spellcasting ability is charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). The smiler has the following spells:
Cantrips (at will): friends, message, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): command, charm person, disguise self
2nd level (3 slots): hold person, ray of enfeeblement 3rd level (3 slots): fear, vampiric touch
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, blightActions
Bladed Syringe: Melee, +6 to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. Hit: 2d6+4 piercing damage. The smiler can choose to make target make a DC 10 constitution saving throw or come under the effects of void.
Hand crossbow: Ranged, +6 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+4 piecing damage. The target must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or take 4d8 poison damage and become poisoned.
PART II
The Distillery
The Distillery
Coming soon...