DEVOTEES OF ORCUS: Hobgoblin Monks the Erasers of Afterlife Identity

More microblogging from the scrap pile.

I think the following might be one of the single best things I've written to make a BX monster seem fresh:

➽ Monster Shaggy Humanoids: Bugbear monks are removing objects of identity from the human dead rendering them “lost” in the afterlife; Orcus approves of this

I don't say this because I think I'm an amazing adventure writer, but because this sentence is something that really satisfies a lot of requirements I have for good monster design of a type:

1. it gives the monsters an activity other than just seemingly standing around when they encounter the PCs.
2. it points toward a cultural bit that gives them a greater depth.
3. especially for humanoid monsters, it involves religion and brings the afterlife a little bit more to the forefront of the game
4. points toward something outside of the dungeon/place/plot they currently are involved in: "Wait if bugbears are doing this here, have they been doing this elsewhere? And for how long? And is this important? Should be be keeping tabs on this?"

Good stuff.