Loader image
Loader image
Back to Top

Monsters

Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Monsters (Page 4)

Terrorize 5E D&D Adventurers with the Hellmouth Hydra

I am a huge fan of hydras and dragons. They are very cool creatures that can be used in so many different ways and on so many different levels. With the release of Tiamat by WizKids I was thinking of how one might use this mini either as something other than the Queen of Evil Dragons or her direct agent. If I made a new (obviously less powerful) stat block it would give people a chance to use this gorgeous mini.

Dissecting the 5E D&D Aberration Creature Type

Salutations, nerds! I’m going to get a little bit eldritch and talk about the aberration creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. What they do, what unifies this creature type, what they generally feel like. You know the drill. We’re also going to highlight five iconic aberrations, so make sure to stay tuned for the end of the article for that!

This Manual of Monsters Might Save Your D&D Adventurer’s Life

Ever faced a Dungeons & Dragons tarrasque and lived? Do you even know what a tarrasque is in the D&D multiverse? I can assure you for any character regardless of level a tarrasque is quite terrifying, as not many adventures live to tell the tale of this mighty beast. Not to mention many D&D adventurers consider a tarrasque the most deadly creature within D&D. Intense, right? The best I can describe this behemoth is Godzilla mixed with a spot of an armadillo and a dragon. There are high level adventuring groups whose end goal involves facing and defeating the creature. I can only imagine a treasure hoard of this monstrosity the size of a five story building!

5E D&D Monsters & Creatures mind flayer

Monsters & Creatures Offers a Perfect Entry Point for Budding D&D Adventurers

Have a young adventurer in your life? There is a set of Dungeons & Dragons guides specifically catered to younger readers. One of these is Monsters & Creatures: A Young Adventurer’s Guide by Jim Zub, Stacy King and Andrew Wheeler. This guide is part of an officially licensed D&D set called The Young Adventurer’s Collection. Monsters & Creatures is a total of 105 pages long and is fully illustrated in full color.

Balancing Monster Descriptions with World Knowledge in 5E D&D

There is a strange tradition in Dungeons & Dragons of withholding monster identities from players and their characters. This often takes the form of a somewhat tedious cat and mouse game of selective description that seems to serve no other purpose than to gaslight the players. While I recognize this is generally intended to instill a sense of in-world wonder and mystery I also have to wonder if it is really all that necessary or even realistic.

5E D&D Fizban's Treasury of Dragons alternate cover

Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons Reveals Big Secrets About 5E D&D’s Iconic Monsters

During a press briefing this week Wizards of the Coast I learned a ton of details about one of the three new fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons books slated for release in fall 2021 in particular. Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons dives deep into the lore of these mythical creatures. During the meeting Ray Winninger, executive producer in charge of the Dungeons & Dragons studio, asked what could be more important to 5E D&D than the creature who lends its name to the game itself. I’ve got the details on what to expect inside so let’s get into it.

5E D&D Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft monsters

Monsters of Ravenloft Inspires Compelling Antagonists and Adversaries from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

When it comes to the monsters lurking throughout the Domains of Dread the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons book Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft offers not only 32 new creature stat blocks but also takes a good deal of space to provide guidance on how to make monsters more frightening and instill horror into adventures in the Mists. Let’s get into it.

kobold guide to monsters kobold press

Become a 5E D&D Master of Monsters

Our great friends from Kobold Press sent me an advance copy of their Kobold Guide to Monsters and I’m here to share the experience with you. Hot on the heels of… You know what? Kobold Press releases so many titles I’m not even sure what’s the most recent. I’ll go with Vault of Magic since our own Nerdarchist Ted contributed to the project. At any rate Kobold Guide to Monsters is set for June 8, 2021 release and features essays from 15 different creators and personalities about monster concepts, details and usage. Since they’ve built their reputation and library on content for Fifth Edition at this point in time these essays presumably focus on 5E Dungeons & Dragons, which of course is right in our own wheelhouse. Let’s get into it.

Getting More from 5E D&D Monsters — Kangoram

Kangorams make spirited mounts. These bipedal creatures reach heights over 10 feet tall and their powerful legs mimic the bounding gait of part of their namesake while thick skulls and curling horns belie the other half. A ridge of bony plates runs down their back to the tip of their tail, which they balance on to deliver powerful kicks. Druids who understand these unusual beasts know the way to train them as a powerful mount lies in steering them away from their forward focus to exert control. These beast monsters appear in Chimes of Discordia: Fantastical Mounts, one of the digital fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products we create for Patreon supporters and later for Nerdarchy the Store. Here you’ll find expanded 5E D&D content inspired by these exotic beast creatures along with the stat block as it appears in the book ready to drop into your games.

disney frozen 2 nokk elsa

RPG Elements Abound in Disney’s Frozen 2

Nerdarchy talks about always seeking inspiration from everything but I was not expecting so much fuel for my imagination in Disney’s Frozen 2. I have always loved Disney’s animated movies and I might be behind the times on this one but as a father I can enjoy watching these movies with my kids. We just finished watching Frozen 2 and even for a movie about an ice enchantress set in a fantasy world there are loads of things I am ready to incorporate right into my own tabletop roleplaying games and my own personal magical RPG setting.

Chimera

5E D&D Monster Spotlight — Chimera

The chimera is such a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster from mythology and has made an appearance in all of the editions of the game. In fifth edition D&D a chimera can be encountered in a few different environments — grasslands, hills, mountains and the Underdark. These are all straight out of the 5E D&D Monster Manual and I’d add the aerial environment as well. This gives us quite a few places we can drop an encounter in with a chimera. They enter gameplay during tier two with challenge rating 6. Chimera are quite formidable with a decent amount of hit points, a fly speed of 60 feet and three attacks per round, one of which can be replaced with its Breath Weapon. Let us not forget villains like to employ chimera as mounts. A single chimera would be a medium challenge for four 5th level characters. These nasty beasts average 53 points of damage on a single round when they use their Breath Weapon or 32 when they can’t. If this D&D monster is played up to its full hunter archetype this is significant damage potential.

5E D&D plant monster

Getting More from 5E D&D Monsters — Stonesnapper

The semi-sapient stonesnapper plant tends to grow where creatures that petrify like to make their lairs. The stonesnapper is a common fixture in many basilisk caves and there have been stories of medusae cultivating them and keeping them as pets in bygone eras. The flowers grow in vibrant colors, capable of motion and closing their petals around small objects. Their vines are also ambulatory. The stonesnapper doesn’t require much sunlight and in fact gets most of its nutrients by scooping up the leavings of creatures that have been petrified and then devoured — the crumbs left behind by things like gorgons, basilisks and medusae. The acidic fluid built up inside the stonesnapper in order to digest these leavings is a natural remedy for petrification. These plant monsters appear in Garden of Statuary, one of the digital fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons products we create for Patreon supporters and later for Nerdarchy the Store. Here you’ll find expanded 5E D&D content inspired by these opportunistic plant creatures along with the stat block as it appears in the book ready to drop into your games.

Use This Circle of the Moon Druid for Your Next 5E D&D Game

When it comes to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons the druid is probably my favorite class. Reasons for this abound. The 5E D&D druid is super versatile and comfortably fills the role of healer, defender, controller or damage dealer. Even when players focus on one particular aspect through one of the Druid Circles and other choices druid characters can still fill the other roles in a pinch. Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted cover one such aspect in a discussion about different Wild Shape forms a druid (specifically a Circle of the Moon druid) might use.