Aether Skies: The Horizon Wyrm — Predator of the Lost Skyways
The skies of Aether Skies are filled with wonders, but not all of them are meant to be discovered. Beyond the thirteen floating cities, where established trade routes give way to unmapped aether currents, enormous creatures move through the clouds. Some are little more than...
The Lich Historian: What Does a Lich Do When Adventurers Aren’t Around?
Monsters have lives of their own, not always poised to fight adventurers. Last week we took a glance at the Gelatinous Cube Janitor in our D&D Monster Jobs series. But lets move from mindless to brilliant. When most adventurers hear that a lich has been spotted...
The Gelatinous Cube Janitor: What Does a Gelatinous Cube Do When Adventurers Aren’t Around?
Adventurers don't tend to think much about what happens after they leave a dungeon. They kick down doors, fight monsters, disarm traps, smash suspicious furniture, loot treasure chests, and eventually defeat whatever unfortunate creature happens to be guarding the final room. Then they head back...
Battlezoo Bestiary: Elemental Storm Review | More Than Just Another Monster Book
I love making monsters. As a Game Master, I've spent a lot of time creating my own creatures, tweaking existing stat blocks, coming up with strange abilities, and generally asking the question, "What if this monster could do THIS?" So when I get handed a new bestiary,...
The Goblin Inventor: What Does a Goblin Do When Adventurers Aren’t Around?
Adventurers have a pretty simple idea of what goblins do. They raid villages. They steal livestock. They build traps. They swarm unsuspecting travelers. They live in filthy caves and make life generally unpleasant for everyone around them. And sure, goblins do plenty of those things. But somebody has...
Villain Playbook: The Fallen Paladin — Creating a Memorable D&D Villain
There are plenty of ways to make a memorable villain in D&D. Last time we explored the concept of the Benevolent Tyrant as a Villain Playbook. But today we are going to go in another direction. Give them an army. Give them a powerful artifact....
The Witcher Makes D&D Monsters Interesting
One of the easiest things to forget when running D&D is that monsters are supposed to live in the world. We tend to think of them as encounters. The party enters a cave, discovers a monster, rolls initiative, and somebody eventually gets eaten, stabbed, blasted, or...
Villain Playbook: The Benevolent Tyrant — Creating a Memorable D&D Villain
Last time in our Villain Playbook series, we went all the way to the end of the world with The World Ender, a villain who doesn't want a kingdom, riches, revenge, or even power. They simply want existence itself to come to an end. This week,...
BattleZoo Eldamon Review: What If Pokémon Was Part of Your D&D Game?
I'll admit something right up front. For someone who has spent decades surrounded by tabletop RPGs, fantasy creatures, monsters, and all things nerdy, I somehow managed to largely avoid Pokémon. Sure, I knew what Pokémon were. I knew Pikachu. I knew there were hundreds of them. Then...
Aether Skies: Harvesting Magical Resources from Sky Beasts
Last week, we explored Aether Skies: Predators of the Aether Currents, introducing creatures such as the terrifying Aether Demon Shark and the mysterious Aether Manta. Those creatures demonstrated that the skies aren't simply empty space between destinations. They are living ecosystems filled with predators, prey...
Villain Playbook: The World Ender — Creating a Memorable D&D Villain
Last time in our Villain Playbook series, we met The Dragon Behind the Throne, a villain who discovered that ruling from the shadows can be far more effective than sitting on a throne. Through centuries of manipulation, the dragon built a kingdom that could become...
Aether Skies: Predators of the Aether Currents
Last week, we explored Aether Skies: Designing Sky Leviathans for Epic Encounters, looking at how enormous creatures can become more than monsters. They can become living landmarks, sources of resources, pieces of ancient lore and even campaign-defining threats. But not every creature that rules the...
The Vampire Sommelier: What Does a Vampire Do When Adventurers Aren’t Around?
There are few creatures in Dungeons & Dragons with a more complicated relationship with blood than vampires. For most vampires, blood is food. It is sustenance. It is power. It is survival. But after several centuries, perhaps one vampire has decided that simply drinking blood isn't...
Aether Skies: Designing Sky Leviathans for Epic Encounters
Last week, we explored Aether Skies: 10 Fantastic Creatures That Live Above the Clouds, looking at some of the strange and wonderful creatures that make the skies feel like a living ecosystem. This week, we're taking that idea to a much larger scale. The skies...
The Mimic Furniture Maker: What Does a Mimic Do When Adventurers Aren’t Around?
Adventurers have been opening suspicious treasure chests for as long as there have been adventurers. They see a chest sitting in a dungeon room and immediately start asking questions. Is it trapped? Is it locked? Is there treasure inside? Is this the room where the dungeon...
