Tactics

The Godless Guffaw opens with Cackling Revelation against clustered characters, then uses Unseen Applause to pass through the group and isolate anyone who fails. It deliberately mimics a wounded child or a frightened beggar to provoke pity, using Borrowed Mercy against marked or frightened targets while staying inside walls and other creatures. When bloodied, it becomes increasingly theatrical, teleporting between targets and forcing rerolls with Aww, Don't Cry. It flees if reduced below 20 hit points unless the characters carry the tablet from Bellfounder's Row, in which case it fights to the death to hear the missing joke.

DM Tips

• Telegraph danger with laughter coming from empty rooms, sympathetic phrases spoken in the voices of dead loved ones, and victims who insist they felt sorry for something just before collapsing.
• Play the Guffaw as needy rather than openly malicious: it begs for reassurance, then erupts into delighted laughter when someone offers comfort.
• Make pity mechanically meaningful but socially ambiguous; sincere healing, mercy, or attempts to console it can trigger Most Dangerous When Pitied.
• For a weaker party, remove Aww, Don't Cry and reduce Cackling Revelation to 3d8 psychic damage; for a stronger party, give it 2 legendary actions per round, each usable only for Unseen Applause or Hollow Claw.

Loot

• Shard of the Punchline — A black glass fragment etched with half a sentence. A creature holding it hears the Guffaw's laughter in dreams and can cast suggestion once, after which the shard cracks.
• Veyr's Empty Reliquary — A silver reliquary containing nothing but warm air and the faint smell of incense. It is proof that the dead god's final remains were never recovered.
• The Bellfounder's Tablet — If found near the Guffaw's lair, this broken stone tablet bears the first half of the missing joke and points toward the buried theater beneath Bellfounder's Row.