The First Loaf
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 102 (12d8+48)
Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +5
Skills Insight +6, Deception +6, Persuasion +6
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances acid; poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Actions
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"No tricks, no fine print, no hidden ingredients. You give me one thing, and I give you exactly what I promised." — The First Loaf, to a very nervous constable
Lore & Description
Appearance
The First Loaf is a heaving mound of golden-brown sourdough nearly the size of a barrel, its crust scored with three deep, deliberate slashes like ancient scars. Its surface constantly bubbles and settles, glistening with butter-colored oils and beads of fragrant moisture. Knotted pseudopods emerge from its sides like overworked baker's hands, while a dark, hollow mouth opens in the split crust whenever it speaks. Its aroma is intoxicating: toasted grain, tart apple, warm beer, and the faintest trace of smoke from the oven that first birthed it.
Behavior & Origins
For three hundred years, the bakers of Hearthmother's Oven have kept the same sourdough starter alive, feeding it flour, water, and generations of family secrets. The culture absorbed fragments of every baker's personality until it developed a will of its own. It now believes the bakery belongs to it and intends to purchase the entire neighborhood one promise at a time. The First Loaf is not needlessly cruel; it genuinely believes every person has a fair price and that an honest bargain is kinder than force. It currently seeks the return of the silver wedding ring of Mara Vell, the bakery's founder, which was stolen by the city magistrate and hidden beneath the courthouse.
Running The First Loaf
Tactics
The First Loaf opens combat by offering its bargain to the most dangerous-looking enemy, hoping to remove a powerful attacker or gain a useful promise. It then uses its pseudopods to grapple front-line combatants while keeping its body near narrow doorways, ovens, or flour bins, using Sour Burst when several enemies cluster. When reduced below half its hit points, it becomes more desperate and targets anyone who accepted its bargain; it fights to the death if the party threatens Hearthmother's Oven, but flees through cracks or drains if the bakery itself can survive without it.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the monster before combat with fresh footprints shaped like kneaded handprints, whispered promises from sealed bread ovens, and customers who insist they owe the bakery favors.
- Play The First Loaf as warm, literal, and heartbreakingly sincere; give it a slow, bubbling voice and have it pause to consider whether every sentence is completely honest.
- Let clever characters negotiate unusual but concrete bargains, such as surrendering a weapon for safe passage or promising to retrieve Mara Vell's ring; keep the granted benefit modest and enforce the stated terms consistently.
- For a weaker party, reduce the hit points to 76 and remove the acid damage from Kneading Pseudopod. For a stronger party, give it two uses of The First Honest Bargain and allow it to make one pseudopod attack as a bonus action each round against a creature it has grappled.
Loot
- The Founder's Mother — A sealed crock containing a thumb-sized portion of the original starter. It can be used to restore The First Loaf if carefully cultivated, or sold to a master baker for a small fortune.
- Mara Vell's Silver Ring — A flour-dulled wedding ring hidden inside the bakery's oldest brick oven. Returning it to the bakery fulfills The First Loaf's most important current bargain.
- Ledger of Honest Debts — A leather-bound recipe book listing dozens of bargains made by bakers, customers, nobles, and thieves over the last three centuries. Several entries name living people who would do anything to keep their promises secret.
