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D&D Ideas — Beasts

Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is beasts, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. The Beast of Bellard asks: What if a troll ate something and mutated in a positive way? What if the troll gained some measure of intelligence or understanding of what just happened… and wants more? You can get the Nerdarchy Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.

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Delving Dave’s Dungeon

Beasts in Dungeons & Dragons have always been weird to me. What is the difference between beasts and monstrosities? We can jump to the fifth edition D&D Monster Manual for some clarity.

“Beasts are nonhumanoid creatures that are a natural part of the fantasy ecology. Some of them have magical powers, but most are unintelligent and lack any society or language. Beasts include all varieties of ordinary animals, dinosaurs, and giant versions of animals.”

“Monstrosities are monsters in the strictest sense — frightening creatures that are not ordinary, not truly natural, and almost never benign. Some are the results of magical experimentation gone awry (such as owlbears), and others are the product of terrible curses (including minotaurs and yuan-ti). They defy categorization, and in some sense serve as a catch-all category for creatures that don’t fit into any other type.”

Is there ever a point when a monstrosity crosses over to being a beast? Take the owlbear for example. First off it’s origin isn’t even known. It’s debated as to whether it’s a natural creature of the Feywild or a demented wizard’s experiment according to the entry in the 5E D&D Monster Manual. Either way owlbears have been around a long time and span many D&D worlds.

Nothing about the owlbear is inherently magical in nature, it’s as smart as an animal and could have reasonably evolved in nature in a fantasy world. This begs the question in my mind: can a creature’s type change from one to another?

The owlbear seems like a really good case for this. I think a case can be made for any unaligned monstrosity with an Intelligence lower than 4 that lacks a language and possesses no magical or fantastical abilities. I’d be willing to reclassify 14 out of 80 monstrosities ranging from CR ¼-15 in my games.

Here is that list of 14 monsters:

• Steeder
• Piercer
• Hippogriff
• Ankheg
• Carrion Crawler
• Griffon
• Skyjek Roc
• Cave Fisher
• Owlbear
• Girallon
• Bulette
• Sea Lion
• Roc
• Purple Worm

There is one exception to the criteria I laid out above and another monster I was on the fence about. The girallon’s Intelligence sits above threshold although it’s in line with a standard ape. I could see it as a gorilla that evolved differently in another world.

The other monster meeting all the criteria I didn’t include was a hydra. It just felt like it didn’t belong to me. Now there are a few questions to answer.

• Does any of this even matter?
• What ramifications will it have on the game?
• Who’s it for?

It only matters if you want it to. The reasons I’d consider moving some of these monstrosities to the beast category are the ones I’ve listed just seem like real world monsters that could have developed somewhere else or on another world. By changing these critters from monstrosities to beasts it makes them part of the natural order of the world instead of perversions of it.

As for the ramifications that can be trickier. There are three areas that jump to mind right away: druids, rangers, and spells. This opens possible beast companion options if you’re using the Beast Master Ranger Archetype from the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook. Also druids can Wild Shape into beasts and by adding beasts you are adding options for better or worse. Finally changing the creature type changes how certain spells now interact with these creatures. Depending on your games and play styles these may or may not be problems you just need to be aware of.

For our games and groups these things wouldn’t be a big deal. We love having more options for our players. The DMs we play with tend to be experienced and are able to adjust to balance issues in the game. You could always introduce these changes as an experiment in your games. The key is just to be on the same page with everyone in your D&D group. It’ll be easier to make changes if everyone understands that it’s an experiment.

From Ted’s Head

We had some fun conversations about beasts when we talked about this on the live chat. But one of the things that stood out to me the most was reinventing my idea about creating my own versions of dire creatures. Even long before Nerdarchy was a thing I was still making my own creatures, mythos and more.

Since third edition D&D really brought new life and new options to the dire animal entries in the monster manual, I wanted my own version but I did not want to worry about anyone have a problem with me using dire. It was time to insert something new. Allow me to introduce the Dyna Animals. Perhaps you are fine with a slightly bigger and stronger version and using the term dire. If so, go with that. But if you prefer an alternative option please feel free to use the following template.

Dyna Animals is a template that can be applied to any beast. Dyna Animals are always one size category larger than their normal animal counterparts. These animals hibernate and only come out every so often to feed their vast hunger. A Dyna Animal in an active cycle will defend its territory without abandon. It will never leave food behind as it can store great amounts of food within its oversized gullet, slowly digesting when it resumes its hibernation.

Being larger is not the only physical description of these types of creatures. Parts of their body take on a reptilian manner and develop armored plating or scales.

• Dyna Animals are one size category bigger, treating their hit dice accordingly.
• Increase the number of hit dice by 50%
• Increase AC by 2
• Increase the damage dice by one size
• Increase their Strength and Constitution by +2
• Increase their challenge rating by 1

These little changes along with the visual changes allow for a new creature to emerge. Dyna Animals in your world could be castoffs of older times like dinosaurs that have managed to stick around. They could be natural creatures that have been affected by magic or a disease. Or it could be something completely different. Whatever the reason, if you feel like adding a new type of creature to your game here is a simple method to make a change to stat blocks and have something new to challenge your players. You can also check with your DM to see if you might be able to use these for Wild Shape or polymorph.

From the Nerditor’s Desk

“I serve only one master. His name is Shai-Hulud.”

This line of dialogue from the Dune film that just came out struck me for two reasons — it was a dramatic scene with a great character and it gave me direction for this week’s editorial on beasts in 5E D&D.

During the live chat Nerdarchist Ted and I discussed how the worlds we create for our 5E D&D games differ from our experiences here in the world we know in real life. Nerdarchist Dave explores this idea further here in this newsletter through the idea of “naturalizing” creatures beyond the beast type. The story of Dune provides a terrific example of this with the sandworms of Arrakis. The apex predators of the most significant planet in the story’s mythology inform the culture on a global scale.

Fortunately we’ve got a fantastic analog in 5E D&D — the purple worm. Like the sandworms of Arrakis these terrifying monstrosities don’t have an agenda or complex thinking in any demonstrable way. But to the indigenous people they’re revered and respected. In fact their natural behavior and biology even hold a very important role, a scenario shared at least somewhat by the purple worm.

“Boons of the Worm. When a purple worm burrows through the ground, it consumes earth and rock, which it breaks down and constantly excretes. Precious metals and gems can thus be found within the bodies of purple worms, which are targeted by particularly brave and foolhardy treasure hunters.” — from the 5E D&D Monster Manual

Creatures need not come from the monstrosity type to make a major impact in your 5E D&D settings though. The beasts of a region can make the same kind of impact on culture. Imagine what folks might takeaway and learn from the prevalent beasts existing all around them. As part of the natural order beasts exist in relative harmony with their environment so it’s not a stretch to believe the people living nearby might very well develop values inspired by them.

In my own setting I draw heavily on Slovenian lore and culture since that’s my own background. I adapted the myth of Zlatorog, or Goldhorn, as a local legend and many players find this instantly fascinating. I think it has a lot to do with relatability. Lots of people love animals and whenever I incorporate beasts in a meaningful way during a 5E D&D campaign it seems like there’s a special kind of interest from players. (My Zlatorog is actually a lot more complicated than a mere beast though! Check out the stat block for ol’ Goldhorn and perhaps it’ll inspire some memorable stories in your 5E D&D games.)

You don’t need to be a DM to bring beasts to the forefront either. One of the most popular character options out there is the Path of the Totem Warrior for barbarians. In my experience the flavor of this Primal Path rarely gets explored. Sure, the mechanical benefits are some of the best in the game (looking at you Totem Spirit — Bear) but how often do players really lean into this? One of the very first 5E D&D games I ran a character followed this Primal Path but focused on the Eagle spirit and it informed all their decisions.

One of the most interesting aspects of any fantasy game for me is discovering the common ground with our own real world. Relatability is a priority for me on either side of the screen and beasts represent one of the most vibrant and evocative means to achieve this. They may not have all the razzle dazzle of monsters with amazing powers but instead they help make the setting come alive when the folks living in the world — NPCs and player characters alike — treat them with the same sense of wonder and appreciation as we do in our own daily lives.

*Featured image — Heroes assist a tormented town by searching a tangled, confusing woodland for its deadly inhabitant along with 54 other dynamic Out of the Box encounters ready to drop right into your Fifth Edition games. Learn more here.

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