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Monsters

Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Monsters (Page 15)

Review: Creature Components vol. 1: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Creature Components Vol. 1 from Playground Adventures is a supplement detailing the use of spell components taken from fantastic creatures to power spells and magical items for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. The supplement gives rules and examples for the effects that components taken from many creatures may have in spells as well as new feats and magic items that emphasize the benefits of collecting components from creatures.

If you have watched Critical Role, you may have seen Vox Machina hunting monsters such as a white dragon for the Slayer’s Take and harvesting their remains. Looking into the Dungeon Master’s Guide or Player’s Handbook you might ask yourself why they would do this. Now you can bring those ideas into your game!

Kobold Press Grants Wishes with Genies Great And Small

Once in a while a really great product is introduced to us, and it is my great pleasure to be the digital town crier for this particular occasion. You, my beautiful friends, have the pleasure of living in an age when many great minds are out there creating every possibility the world can think of.
Dan Dillon, who some may know for his prominent presence on Facebook’s Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition group as well as other products for Dungeons & Dragons, has joined the illustrious banner of Kobold Press to bring Genies Great and Small: 21 New Genies of Zakhara exclusively to the Dungeon Master’s Guild. To me, this is a step closer to bringing Sandstorm back to fifth edition D&D, and is a very welcome item to any game. To make this rebirth of older editions more visual Karl Waller, of Al-Qadim fame, has provided illustrations for this supplement. (Nerdarchy’s promo code DTRPG-Nerdarchy works at the DM’s Guild and all the One Book Shelf sites for a one-time 10 percent discount on orders of $10 or more) [This coupon code is applicable to digital products only.]

Want More 5E D&D Monsters? How About Limitless Monsters?

In case you missed it, not only are Nerdarchist Ted’s weekly top picks from Kickstarter a thing here on the website, we put the spotlight on one Kickstarter in particular – Limitless Monsters from Limitless Adventures.
The campaign for Limitless Monsters continues until Oct. 28, 2017. Check out what the campaign has to offer and see what else Limitless Adventures has to offer on the Kickstarter page here.
Limitless Monsters Kickstarter

Limitless Monsters Kickstarter from Limitless Adventures Unleashes 100 D&D Monsters!

Do you like monsters? Of course you do. Whether you’re a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master on the lookout for exciting new creatures to challenge adventurers or a player whose character seeks fame, glory, gold and heroic deeds, monsters are one of the most amazing parts of the game.

Fortunately for you, there’s still time to head over to Kickstarter and back Limitless Monsters – the latest campaign from Limitless Adventures. (Campaign ends on Oct. 28). With two other successful Kickstarters to their credit already, this campaign is already funded with content written in advance to ensure delivery of high-quality material on time.

Top Ten D&D Monstrous Humanoids

The gift that keeps on giving! Nord Games’ Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde inspired not one but TWO videos on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel, plus a review here on the website. And now its generating another post.

In the video above, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch talk about their favorite monstrous humanoids in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. They each choose two, discuss the appeal and explore a bit why and how they’ve used them in games, either as player characters or as a Dungeon Master.

It’s worth noting that there is no official “monstrous humanoid” designation in D&D. There’s just straight-up humanoids. Many of them are most certainly monstrous though! Also, despite appearing in the Revenge of the Horde book, ogres and trolls are not humanoids – they’re giants. But in defense of the book, there is no claim made limiting the creature types to humanoids, simply “classic monstrous races.”

And minotaurs are monstrosities.

According to the current D&D Beyond monster database containing material up to and including Tales from the Yawning Portal, there are 231 humanoids in official D&D content. Many are individuals from various adventures and campaigns like Pharblex Spattergoo, an NPC from Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Aside from official sources, there’s plenty of third-party material like the Ultimate Bestiary.

Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #9 – Bandersnatched

[caption id="attachment_14716" align="alignright" width="219"] Night hag as seen in the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. [Art courtesy of Wizards of the Coast][/caption] Introduction In a previous encounter within Series 1 (Auntie Knows Best) there was mention of a Hag Eye. This device was being employed...

D&D 5E Spelljammer Makes the Most of Monsters

It’s been a few weeks since the last trip into the wildspace of Spelljammer for D&D 5E. My home game dabbled in a few one-shots and welcomed a new, first time Dungeon Master. Origins came and went, and several Nerdarchy projects kept me from sharing more insights into the exploits of a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer campaign.

Then I saw this tweet from Mike Mearls the other day.

And the enthusiastic replies.

And a long list of other Spelljammer fans sharing affection for the setting.

And fan groups on Facebook, Google+ and more.

We’re out there, Wizards of the Coast! While I can’t speak for all of us, it’s encouraging to know the folks behind the game we love include all of our favorite aspects from its rich history in their grand vision. In time, I’m confident we’ll get our Dark Sun, Al-Qadim, Dragonlance and Eberron fixes in official capacities.

Nord Games unleashes Revenge of the Horde on your D&D game

Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde from Nord Games offers an awesome resource for incorporating a variety of monstrous races into your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons game. At nearly 200 pages, the book presents creature options for bugbears, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, orcs and more. The book is available through Nord Games in PDF and hardcover options, for $15-45. In addition to the D&D version, there is a Pathfinder edition, too.

Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch backed the Kickstarter campaign, and you can watch their Nord Games-sponsored flip-through video above. In addition to the hardcover book, they received the reference deck, all five encounter builder decks and 258 pawns featuring the new creatures from the D&D book.

Pixelscapes D&D monster art

Pixelscapes gets psychedelic with D&D monster art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwEd5KoR-0&t=2736s Jen Gagne of Pixelscapes stopped by the Nerdarchy live chat with Nerdarchist Dave to talk psychedelic D&D monster art, drawing, sculpture and of course gaming. She’s an amazing artist, unafraid to be bold with her color selection, and she’s been gaming for a really long...

D&D monsters

D&D grung and other monsters are people, too

Monsters as notable NPCs and player characters in D&D is something I’ve touched on in past columns, including last week’s exploration of the similarities between a TTRPG GM and a Swiss Army knife. Since then, I ran the “Grungle in the Jungle” adventure idea for my gaming group. Inspired by Stream of Annihilation’s One Grung Above from WotC Product Manager Christopher Lindsay this adventure puts the players in control of a band of grung from Volo’s Guide to Monsters.

Critter Compendium brings D&D monsters of the past into the present, with creative new creatures

Critter Compendium by Tobias Beis is a collection of monsters for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, available now as a PDF through the Dungeon Masters Guild for $15. The hefty book presents a wide variety and number of creatures from earlier D&D editions converted to the current ruleset, along with original creations that includes artwork by the author. With 135 entries and appendices describing additional creatures and templates, Critter Compendium has enough creatures to populate several campaigns across the whole gamut of challenge ratings.

5th Edition Tome of Beasts – Aberrations

Hello again I am guess you can tell from the title that Nerdarchist Ted is here to talk more about the tome of beasts kobold press 5th edition  awesome monsters found in the Tome of Beasts.  Last week I touched on the Devils in the book.  You can check out that article here.  Today we are going to look at some of the Aberrations that can be found within its pages.

Aberrations are creatures from beyond.  They are nor of this world and are the things of nightmares.  This time Kobold Press brings you 20, if my count is right, new aberrations for use in your 5th edition game.  I can assure you that with this spread you get challenge ratings as low as 1/4 with the map mimic and as high as 19 with the Shoggoth

The Map Mimic is cool because it allows dms to use those nasty surprise creatures at the earliest levels.  And who does not want to have them find a map that leads to another mimic?  Think of all the fun you aberrationcan do with such a thing.

Shoggoth, I believe is right out of Cthulian Horrors.  With a challenge rating of 19 I would imagine it would be so.  This is the type of monster that could have a campaign leading up to it as the major adversary.  And since the tome of beasts gives you so many more options you have enough aberrations to make that type of game happen

The Arboreal Grappler is an awesome Ape with limbs that are at least 10 foot long.  Encounter this guy on the plains and you are all set, but meet this guy in the jungle with heavy tree cover and they might just pull you up into their world and let you fall to your death.  

5th Edition Tome of Beasts – Arch Devils and Devils

Last week I delved into the Tome of Beats and the Rulers of the Fey Court.  You can check out that kobold press tome of beastsArticle here.  This week I have torn through the devils and lets see what we get.

Not only does Tome of Beast give us some new lower tier Devils to play with but some Upper tier Arch Devils that can be a source for an entire campaign arc.  If you have not pre-ordered you own copy you can do so here.

We get 4 new Arch Devils to inspire us in new ways.  Kobold press did an excellent job of creating foes with goals and agendas.  They also added a new format of damage requiring weapons to be silvered to damage certain foes.

Arbeyach is the first Arch Devil we get to explore and he is literally made of a swarm of insects.  His greatest weapons is to cause people to be poisoned and he removes resistance and immunities from those close to him.  Be warned.  Though his power wains through inaction he has many that serve him.

Ia’Affrat is actually the offspring of Arbeyach.  While his father is a swarm of insects, he is a swarm of fire.  He is composed of tiny elementals.  So removed from flesh and blood he is immune to weapon damage of any kind.  Do not get into a fight with him unless you are prepared.

5th Edition Tome of Beasts – Fey Lords and Ladies

last week we delved into the Tome of Beasts and touched on the Dragons.  Today we are going to talk tome of beastsabout the Fey Lords and Ladies. This is from the Tome of Beasts  that is coming out for 5th Edition.  You can pre-order your own copy here.  It is expected to be released on September 13th.

They divide the fey lords and ladies up into regions and tell you the power and political side of things.  if you wanted to run a game dealing with them there is the structure set up already.  Each of these mighty beings has the ability to alter the land around around them coming in with legendary actions, lair actions and regional effects.  These beings are not toppled easily and unless you have a DM set things up poorly or you set up machinations correctly you are never going to encounter them alone.

The mythological Cold Iron comes back into play with these might Fey Lords and Ladies.  There has been no previous mention, I am familiar with. There is a side bar for how to obtain them in the game but crafter beware.  These beings are powerful and live a long time.  They might kill you just for making them.  The reason cold iron is a thing as these mighty beings can’t be harmed with weapons that are not made of the stuff.  Only 2 of the Fey lords and Ladies are able to be hurt with just regular magic weapons.  The rest require you to have Cold Iron Weapons.