"The Old Ones, they knew much. Not the alchemy of man nor the sorcery of warlocks and the like. No, this is the magic of gears and pulleys, the sorcery of science. Watch your every step in the tower: be wary or you may call to life the ancient defense systems. You'll know the Defenders have awoken long before you face them, that's for sure; they're louder than a stomping giant and their hulls scrape the stone walls. You'll hear them coming, I'm sure you can avoid them, go on in the tower. Me? I... I'll stay out here. Got to have a lookout post, right?"

Instinct: Destroy all Intruders! *click* Defend the domain!

• Display immense and uncaring strength
• Soldier on, ignoring all damage until the last
• Reveal a hidden function from the depths of its gearworks

Sometimes wizards get creative. Most of the time, this is a bad thing. The serpopard is a kind of chimera. It's made from the body of a leopard and has two heads sprouting from its body, vicious and serpentine. If left unchecked, such a volatile creature would eventually fight with itself and tear off its own heads. To prevent this, most Serpopards are magically bound to an enchanted amulet. It is also a ward against the Serpopard itself; wield it, and the savage beast will obey. Lose it, and you will be its next gruesome plaything. Instinct: to hunt

• Tear something in twain
• Paralyze them with venom
• Obey the amulet-bearer

A feathery head with a mosquito's proboscis, fleshy wings, and four sickly claws, the Stirge is one of the grossest pests Dungeon World has to offer. They gather in swarms under the blood moon, draining the blood of livestock and farmers alike. If you hear their dissonant chirping, hide. Instinct: to suck blood

• Latch onto them
• Fatigue the bitten
• Chirp for the swarm

"The first of our kind were born from the whims of a foul warlock, Girtablilu. In a way, she is like the very desert we roam: cruel and punishing, yet within this strife lay life and bounty. Our ancestors tore her to shreds and fed her to our young. Savage, isn't it? To you, maybe. But to us, that was food for the night. The dunes we call home are rough, hence why we are your guides on this journey. But if next time we meet our tribe bears the red paint of the hunt, do not show us mercy. We won't to you, for the desert is harsh and we need food. Now rest, we must continue our travel at dawn." Instinct: to survive

• Guide others through the desert
• Paralyze with a stinger
• Toss a javelin

Palimpsest -- a word referring to a scroll that has since been reused, its original text scratched off to save parchment. Harmless enough, just be careful what you write. If the parchment of a magic scroll is reused too often it will come alive. The text of its previous authors, faded but not gone, merges together. Now alive and hungry for more magic, the Palimpsest floats between bookshelves, masquerading as something mundane. When the time is right, it will pull an unsuspecting reader into its form. With each victim the Palimpsest grows stronger, able to invoke the magic of those it consumes. Wizards beware. Instinct: to absorb living magic

• Slowly absorb them
• Hide on bookshelves
• Invoke the magic of its victims
• Summon an inky fog

The Spiderlord has many ways to influence the forest's weaker denizens. The promise of power, for instance. To impart some lowly goblins a sliver of the Spiderlord's prowess is enough to guarantee a tribe's fealty. Now armed with arachnid appendages sprouting from their backs and a six new eyes, these goblins become vessels of the Spiderlord's bidding. Their goblin-speak is gargled by the frothing of venom, and their bloodlust has been given new purpose. They are no longer goblins -- they are Spidergraft. Instinct: To frenzy for its lord

• Pounce onto prey and poison it
• Charge with the horde

The outer spheres are places beyond understanding. More vivid and more intense than mortals can truly appreciate. Some things have powers that rival perhaps even the gods... but possess a very limited understanding of existence or motivation when applying these things. Dissolving rapidly into many smaller versions of itself, or turning things into crackers when none present themselves are but a few things such a creature can be capable of. But... why a parrot? Instinct: To fondly regard creation

• Unerringly determine the proximity and location of sustenance, especially crackers
• Warp reality to your whims
• Beckon forth an impossible number of duplicates
• Reveal the delusion that is space

Born of the earth. Rock-chewers, iron-spitters, ancient smiths. When the first Dwarf struck a mallet to metal, the Cyclopes emerged from the depths to facilitate the birth of a new iron age. Their forges are the subject of worship, and the eye of the Cyclops is an ancient Dwarven symbol that denotes perfect craftsmanship. To seek out the teachings of a Cyclops is to venture below the realm of the Dwarves -- to a place where the distinction between our world, the underworld, and the plane of earth is no longer obvious. If you can make it there, you will have already proven yourself worthy to be taught an ancient Cyclopean technique. Instinct: to forge underground

• Create something legendary
• Teach ancient metallurgy

The dreaded Rakshasa are creatures from the more infernal realms, dangerous and wily. Their princes are greater threat even still, whose sorcerous abilities outmatch most mortal magicians, and whose plans stretch forth like intricate webs. It would be recommended to stay clear away from them and their machinations, but it is unlikely that you will have a choice. Instinct: To control

• Enact plans within plans
• Conjure illusions with frightening ease
• Wield sorcerous might
• Change shape with terrifying speed

In a hole in the ocean, trapped by a mangrove forest, something lurks among silt and roots. It's dead, but not in a way that mortals can understand. It languishes and rots, waiting until it can grasp life once again in its stiffened fingers. That is now its eternal state -- reaching, raking, wrapping, sinking -- and whatever it can have, it takes. It isn't without its tricks. It understands even what it lacks, and it will use it against you in the cruelest of ways. It hears dreams and dangles that which you love just out of reach, until you've waded too far and it can take you. Instinct: to enter our living world

• invade dreams
• lure
• soulsuck