Badgers are “fierce, clawed burrowers with black-and-white striped faces.” Their fierceness is reflected in their ability to rage once per day, making them immune to morale checks and giving them an extra 1d4 damage for three rounds. If a standard badger is not fierce enough, there is always the giant variant. I attempted to make a Shadowddark statblock for giant badgers in one of the encounter seeds below. Feel free to make changes to it as you see fit.
Encounter Seed: A man (use bandit statistics) at the local market is selling exotic goods, as well as a few different animals. In one of the cages is a frightened and angry badger. The badger is untrainable and will bite anyone who comes near it and flee when it gets the chance.
Encounter Seed: While the party is camping in the wilderness, a badger (somewhat) quietly gets into their bags. Unless they stop it, the badger causes quite a mess and consumes 1d4 rations.
Encounter Seed: In a cave or dungeon, the party is startled by two giant-sized badgers. The badgers are territorial and will attack if the party does not leave quickly. [Shadowdark Mechanics: AC 11, HP 15, 2 claw +2 (2d4), MV near (burrow), S +3, D +0, C +1, I -3, W +1, Ch -3, AL N, LV 3. Rage. 1/day, immune to morale checks, +1d4 damage (3 rounds).]
Adventure Seed: A group of fourteen pirates has made themselves at home on a vineyard near the coast. They killed several workers at the vineyard and are holding the owner, Vasper Grant, for ransom. Maria Grant, Vasper’s wife, refuses to pay. She wants justice. The pirate captain is accompanied by a loyal pet badger. [Shadowdark Mechanics: Pirate Captain: AC 12 (leather), HP 18, ATK 2 cutlass +3 (1d6) or 2 dagger (close/near) +3 (1d4), MV near, S +2, D +2, C +0, I +0, W +0, Ch +1, AL C, LV 4.]
Adventure Seed: Rumors of ruins filled with treasure in the dungeon have recently surfaced after a historian uncovered a map and an explorer’s journal. The map leads into a jungle days away from the nearest settlement. Among the various denizens of the jungle are badgers, giant frogs, hippopotami, and owlbear. If the journal is to be believed, there might even be dinosaurs.
Ridiculous Adventure Seed: One way to make it through a chamber of snakes is to first lead several badgers inside and let them do their thing.
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