Dev Diary 9: Elementals, Smart Search, & More
Dev Diary #9 for Foe Foundry, the free 5E monster generator. New Remorhaz and complete Elemental family with 15 statblocks, plus Smart Search with intent recognition and advanced filtering.
Welcome to the 9th Dev Diary for Foe Foundry the free 5E monster generator!
It's been an exciting few weeks since the last update. I've been focused on expanding the monster library with some truly epic additions and making it easier than ever to find the perfect monster for your game.
- New Remorhaz Statblocks
- Complete Elemental Family with 12 Statblocks
- Smart Search
- Export Coming Soon
- Beta Progress Update
Remorhaz: Arctic Terror
The first major addition is the Remorhaz - one of D&D's most visually striking arctic monsters. These massive centipedal furnace beasts turn frozen tundra into boiling steam with their superheated bodies.
I've created three unique Remorhaz variants:
- Young Remorhaz (CR 5) - The next generation of arctic terror
- Remorhaz (CR 11) - The classic boss monster
- Elder Remorhaz (CR 16) - Ancient matriarch with a furnace that melts caverns
Each variant has dozens of unique power combinations including:
- Furnace Dash - Charge across the battlefield, melting ice and grappling enemies
- Superheated Saliva - Pin down enemies with hardening molten spit
- Burrowing Ambush - Erupt from beneath the snow with advantage
- Superheated Body - Punish melee attackers with fire damage
- Ice Burrower - Tunnel through permafrost like water
These creatures are perfect for arctic campaigns like Rime of the Frostmaiden, and I've included table-ready encounter ideas and adventure hooks to help you use them right away.
Read the full article: Making Remorhaz Terrifying and Memorable
Complete Elemental Family
Elementals won the Patron Prioritization Poll. I created a comprehensive overhaul of Air, Fire, Earth, and Water Elementals with 12 unique statblocks spanning CR 1/4 to CR 12.
Air Elementals
- Air Elemental Breezeling (CR 1/2) - Minor wind manifestation
- Air Elemental (CR 5) - Classic tempest, enhanced
- Air Elemental Electral (CR 11) - Living lightning storm
Fire Elementals
- Fire Elemental Sparkling (CR 1/2) - Flickering flame
- Fire Elemental (CR 5) - Walking bonfire
- Fire Elemental Blazer (CR 12) - Blinding conflagration
Earth Elementals
- Earth Elemental Pebblar (CR 1/4) - Stone spirit
- Earth Elemental (CR 5) - Unstoppable juggernaut
- Earth Elemental Massif (CR 8) - Walking mountain
Water Elementals
- Water Elemental Whisp (CR 1/4) - Small water manifestation
- Water Elemental (CR 5) - Fluid warrior
- Water Elemental Torrential (CR 10) - Sentient tsunami
Each elemental type comes with 35+ custom powers that capture their primal nature:
- Drown Out the Noise - Air elementals silence spellcasters
- Lightning Impetus - Electric speed boosts
- Mud Trap - Earth tokens that drag enemies into quicksand
- Water Whip - Disarm and control the battlefield
- Raging Flames - Set the terrain ablaze
- Smoke Form - Become untouchable vapor
Plus dozens of table-ready encounter ideas and adventure hooks.
Read the full article: Complete Elemental Family for 5E
One of the biggest improvements to Foe Foundry is the new Smart Search system that makes finding the perfect monster easier than ever. Instead of trying to remember exact monster names or scrolling through endless lists, you can now search by intent and let the system figure out what you need.
Smart Search understands what you're actually looking for. Try queries like:
- "what ice monsters are available for a level 7 party"
- "tier 0 undead"
- "cave ambushers"
- "urban criminals"
The system automatically recognizes your intent and extracts the important details - challenge rating, creature types, environments, roles, and themes.
As I continue to add more monsters, the search results will continue to grow richer, and I will be continuing to enhance search.
Environments
I have begun adding Environments to Foe Foundry. Right now, creatures are already assigned to environments, and you can use them in search. I've also added them to the Catalog so you can easily browse by environment.
Role and Creature Type Filtering
The Monster Codex now lets you also organize monsters by Role, Environment, and Creature Type
- Filter by Role - Find skirmishers, controllers, artillery, or defenders to balance your encounters
- Filter by Creature Type - Narrow down to humanoids, undead, dragons, aberrations, and more
- Filter by Environment - Browse monsters that fit your campaign setting
- Combine Filters - Stack multiple filters to find exactly what you need
Export Coming Soon
I'm working on a comprehensive export system for Foe Foundry monsters! It will support multiple formats:
- Print Preview - Clean, print-optimized statblocks
- Simple Markdown - Standard markdown for any editor
- Homebrewery Format - Drop right into Homebrewery
- GMBinder Format - Paste directly into GMBinder
- Black Flag Format - Formatted for the Black Flag RPG system
The new export functionality is currently in internal preview and I've been using it to prepare for my own games.
This feature will be ready to launch as soon as the new Account System is complete, making it easier than ever to use your Foe Foundry monsters in your favorite tools and platforms. Stay tuned!
Foe Foundry Accounts - In Progress
I'm still working on the account system for Foe Foundry. I'll initially be supporting
- Patreon
- Discord
This one takes some time to get right, but I've been making steady progress.
Beta Progress Update
We're making steady progress on the Beta roadmap. Here's where things stand:
- Generator Mobile Layout - DONE ✓
- Monster Search - DONE ✓
- Monster Discovery - DONE ✓
- Monster Codex - DONE ✓
- Smart Search - DONE ✓
- Export - IN REVIEW - Multiple markdown formats coming soon
- Accounts - IN PROGRESS - Planning Patreon, Discord, and Google integration
- Save Monsters - Planned
- Share Monsters - Planned
- FoundryVTT Integration - Planned
What's Next?
I'm continuing to work on the accounts system and associated features like saving and sharing monsters. Once accounts are live, I'll be able to unlock a lot of exciting functionality that requires user state.
I'm also planning to expand the monster library with more families based on patron feedback. Check out the newest Patron Prioritization Poll if you'd like to influence what monsters get added next!
I can't wait to see what you build with Foe Foundry — and I'd love your feedback as the project grows.
Thanks for reading, and have fun running games for your friends, family, and loved ones!
– Cordialgerm