The aatxe (“aa-CHE”) is a creature from Basque mythology: a protective spirit who dwells in caves and takes the shape of a red bull or sometimes a man. The aatxe attacks criminals and evil doers, defending the villages under its care.

I picked up a copy of Kobold Press’ Creature Codex with some birthday money from my brother. At a whopping 424 pages, it’s one of the largest D&D 5e bestiaries in my collection, full of beautiful art and unique creatures.

Whenever I pick up a new bestiary, something I like to do is go through it monster by monster and find a place to stick that creature in my personal Warpwalkers Campaign Setting.

So let’s start with the aatxe. In KP’s lore, aatxe serve as agents of good deities, sent to watch over communities of their worshippers.

Aatxe in the Creature Codex

I really like Kobold Press’ take on the aatxe:

Aatxe

Large celestial (shapechanger), lawful good
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 105 (10d10 + 50)
Speed 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
22 (+6)	12 (+1)	20 (+5)	10 (+0)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)

Skills Athletics +9, Intimidation +5
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages understands all but can’t speak
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Charge. If the aatxe moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Know Thoughts. The aatxe can use an action to read the surface thoughts of one creature within 30 feet. This works like the detect thoughts spell, except it can only read surface thoughts and there is no limit to the duration. It can end this effect as a bonus action or by using an action to change the target.

Limited Speech (Humanoid Form Only). The aatxe can verbally communicate only simple ideas and phrases, though it can understand and follow a conversation without issue.

Magic Resistance. The aatxe has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Shapechanger. The aatxe can use its action to polymorph into a Medium male humanoid it has seen, or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Actions

Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) piercing damage.

Paw the Earth. The aatxe lowers its horns and paws at the ground with its hooves. Each creature within 30 feet of the aatxe must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the aatxe’s Paw the Earth for the next 24 hours.

Legendary Actions

The aatxe can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The aatxe regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Detect. The aatxe makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.

Gore (Costs 2 Actions). The aatxe makes one gore attack.

Bulwark (Costs 3 Actions). The aatxe flares crimson with celestial power, protecting those nearby. The next attack that would hit an ally within 5 feet of the aatxe hits the aatxe instead.

We’ve got a beefy CR 5 creature that can serve as an NPC quest-giver or patron for the party to interact with. There’s some details here that I particularly like.

The aatxe has limited ability to communicate — this type of limitation can result in some really fun roleplaying moments where the party tries to figure out how to understand what it wants them to know.

Second, its humanoid form is limited to a humanoid it has seen. Perhaps a member of the village was killed in a bandit raid, but was later seen roaming on the hillsides. This is the type of fun red herring that might lead the party to think they’re investigating an undead issue, when it’s actually just the aatxe taking the form of the man while it hunts the bandits. Maybe the aatxe even takes the form of one of the party members, leading them to think they’re dealing with some sort of doppelganger.

Corrupted Aatxe

Aatxe aren’t limited to being good NPCs. Kobold Press gives us the option of the Corrupted Aatxe, a form that has lost its way and slipped into tyranny, opening up more quest hooks for us: maybe the party is tasked with putting a corrupted aatxe out of its misery, or maybe a deity beseeches them to help clear the corruption and return the aatxe to the deity’s realm.

The Aatxe’s Lair

Aatxe are described as dwelling in caves, somewhat unusual environments for a bovine-inspired creature. The Basque region has several notable caves containing Paleolithic cave paintings of bulls, and it’s possible that these paintings, such as the bull from the Cave of Altamira, pictured above, are the origins of the aatxe myth.

The aatxe has its own set of lair actions, which I won’t list in full here, but there are some unique details among the regional effects. Nonmagical light spreads an additional 10ft near the lair. From sunrise to sunset, birds will serve as scouts for the aatxe, alerting it to the presence of bandits, fiends, or undead in the area. Finally, predatory beasts will avoid attacking intelligent creatures within five miles.

Reimagining the Aatxe for Nimrus

I like a lot of the ideas here, but when I saw the aatxe, my first thought wasn’t a cave dwelling creature. So let’s change some things up.

In Nimrus, the world of the Warpwalkers Campaign Setting, there is a huge eastern plain called the Sarnoss Grasslands. Inspired somewhat by the American Great Plains and the Mongolian steppe, this vast region is inhabited by herds of wild bison. The Dombaka people native to the region follow the herds at a short distance, relying on them for sustenance, while also looking after the herds for signs of disease or distress.

In Nimrus, the aatxe is a great bison bull with unusual red fur and large horns like those of bison latifrons. An agent of the goddess Marahi, the aatxe serves as an intermediary of sorts, protecting both the herd and the Dombaka communities. It fends off predators who would prey on the herd, outsiders who might poach the Dombaka’s hunting rights, and drakes who may stray north from the Nasharaq Sultanate.

When the aatxe takes humanoid form, it does so in the form of a fallen warrior or hunter of the Dombaka community it represents.

If a foe an aatxe cannot deal with on its own is in the area, the aatxe has been known to charge Dombaka wagon trains, diverting at the last moment until the wagon train circles for defense. Dombaka caravan leaders are taught to keep watch for these circling maneuvers and to heed their warnings.

How to Handle Aatxe Lair Actions With No Lair?

By turning the aatxe into a creature that follows roaming herds, the traditional idea of a “lair” doesn’t really work, but what if we take the idea of the herd itself as a lair?

The aatxe’s lair actions and regional effects all work without the idea of a set location, and while herds of bison move, they don’t do so particularly rapidly if they aren’t spooked.

At times, the aatxe may separate from the herd, either to look after the Dombaka communities in its care, or to patrol the periphery looking for poachers and predators who may threaten the herd or the Dombaka.

When the aatxe is among the herd, it is considered “in its lair” and when it is away from them, it is considered “not in its lair,” for game purposes.

Oato, Corrupted Aatxe

For generations, the aatxe Oato watched over a herd of Sarnoss bison and the Dombaka clan that followed them.

Now, Clan Echoa is led by the brutal Mama Hestava, an unpleasant woman who took over after her brother Piocho was killed in a stampede.

Hestava has been transforming her clan, replacing the old ways with new technology. She had all of the clan’s horses killed, instead equipping their wagons with powerful clanking engines purchased from the Goblin Wastes that belch acrid black smoke.

Reliant on huge amounts of oil and grease, the new engines have changed the Echoa’s hunting tactics — instead of picking off the weakest members of the herd and using all of the animal, they now race around the bison herds, whipping them into a frenzy with roaring engines and loud noisemakers, before driving dozens of them off a cliff into rocky basins they call “pishkun” or blood kettles.

The fall rarely kills the bison, who languish in pain with broken bones until waiting Echoa finish them off with long spears. Even with large processing setups nearby to process the fat needed for their new machines, the Echoa can rarely harvest all of the animals, leaving behind dozens of large carcasses to rot in the sun, a flagrant rejection of the old Dombaka way of life which takes only what the clan can use.

Driven mad by the herd’s collective fear and the Echoa’s waste, Oato has been transformed. It’s rich red fur has burnt black and twisting horns rise from its body in random places. It is trapped between forms, half humanoid, half bull, and it now stalks the Echoa, tearing them apart whenever they stop for the night.

Some of the Echoa lament the changes of their clan, desiring to make peace with Oato and return to their old ways, but Mama Hestava rules with an iron fist and is planning to hunt the aatxe down and kill it for good.

Up Next: Acid Ants!

Let’s take a look at the next entry in the Creature Codex, the acid ant, housecat-sized insects that spew acid and explode when slain!