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.

Let the (5E D&D…?) monster masters guide you

First things first — Kobold Press carry the bona fides when it comes to monsters for 5E D&D. Players around the world love the books of monsters they produce like the classic Tome of Beasts. If you poke around here you’ll find many, many posts about Kobold Press books. We love ’em! My own long running 5E D&D Spelljammer campaign took a great deal of inspiration from the incredible Void Dragon and it’s safe to say Kobold Press are my second favorite third party creators. Any guesses about the No. 1 favorite? Hint: you’re on their website right now.

“A wide range of philosophy and perspectives are on display in these pages, including how to design monsters based on mythology, literature, or pop culture; how to balance a monster’s flavor with functionality; how to reskin monsters for any genre of campaign; how to make friends with even the most snarling beasts; how to tell a story with an encounter; how to best pace an encounter, and much more.”

— From the product description for Kobold Guide to Monsters

Before going further I feel compelled to share a thought that’s been niggling in my mind since receiving the book. While I see the value in the material contained inside there’s part of me that feels like all of this information already exists. It’s useful to curate helpful guidance in a single source like Kobold Guide to Monsters but I can’t help thinking folks seeking this sort of information could easily find it online and for free. Our own multiplatform content including nearly 3500 videos and 2500+ website posts notwithstanding several contributors to the book regularly share these thoughts and ideas on their own. Some have their own platforms like Mike Shea’s SlyFlourish website, Shawn Merwin’s Mastering Dungeons podcast, Kobold Press’s own website and others not to mention the 24/7 flow of ideas on social media.

If I’m honest it seems a tad strange to point y’all towards a book like this when so many creators (including us!) share pretty much the same ideas all the time for free. Nevertheless Kobold Press did put together this essay book, which joins a number of other similar titles filled with help and guidance for Game Masters. Here’s the rundown:

• Kobold Guide to Game Design
• Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns
• Kobold Guide to Gamemastering
• Kobold Guide to Combat
• Kobold Guide to Magic
• Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding
• Kobold Guide to Monsters

Nerdarchy Guide to Kobold Guide to Monsters

This book is a quick read. I went through the 110 page 6×9 in. book in a couple of hours. Here’s a breakdown of the sections, the essays within them and my thoughts. The introduction by Amanda Hamon, lead editor for the book, summarizes the role monsters play in our games. I touched on it earlier and it’s worth noting again there’s no where in the book (at least no where I found) indicating the material is intended for 5E D&D. Granted it’s verboten to imply any third party product is created for D&D in the first place, which can make marketing a creative challenge, but there’s nothing to say this content is meant for Fifth Edition either. Some of the essays mention the world’s greatest roleplaying game — a common indicator for D&D — but it’s not explicit anywhere despite the essays themselves very clearly aimed at this particular game rather than tabletop RPGs in general.

On Concepting Monsters

• Monsters Are Scary by Mike Mason. I couldn’t agree more how description is such a vital tool for a Game Master. Some of the more lofty thinking strays into the impractical for me but it’s valuable to explore this sort of higher thinking for the mental exercise. When the rubber hits the road and you’re running a game it’ll pay off.
• Designing Monsters From Myths and Folklore by Wolfgang Baur. My favorite of the bunch. This essay reinforces one of the most crucial qualities of monsters in 5E D&D compared with monsters in other forms of media — players aren’t scared and their characters are designed to defeat monsters, not run away and figure out how to beat them with esoteric lore. With this established the essay offers solid perspective and guidance for incorporating these kinds of monsters into a game.
• Monster Mash: Creating Your Favorite Monsters from Pop Culture by Celeste Conowitch. More to do with selling the sizzle than crunchy creation the best point this essay makes is the idea of representing pop culture monsters in 5E D&D through the context of the characters and not the source material. A party of 4th level characters facing Godzilla means the King of Monsters ought to be an incredible challenge for those characters and not an attempt to recreate the kaiju as it appears in film.
• From Concept to Creature: Building Monsters from Nothing by James Haeck. I simply enjoy reading James’ writing so this one was a particular pleasure. The focus of this essay is helping a GM understand the purpose for creating a monster. Great structure and organization to present wonderfully helpful content.

On Detailing Monsters

• Designing Memorable Monsters: Crafting Fun Encounters Through Special Abilities by Monte Cook. A luminary in the RPG industry, Monte Cook does a terrific job succinctly categorizing the purposes for monsters in games in broad terms related to what they do and how they challenge characters.
• The Hierarchy of Draconic Needs: Making Your Monsters Stand Out by Crystal Frasier. If I’m honest I gave up on this one after the first line. I don’t think dragons are boring and dragons being boring absolutely is not true. A hot take for a start could be compelling and draw interest but not for me. Next!
• The Divine Art of Reskinning Monsters by Michael E. Shea. Is there another creator in the D&D community with more practical perspective than Sly Flourish himself? So many of the commonly accepted perspectives on running D&D originated from this fella. The concept of reskinning monsters is so useful and rewarding for a GM if you only read one essay from the whole book make it this one.
• On Being an Unnaturalist: Monster Wrangling for Fun and Profit by Kelly Pawlik. This essay begins with an anecdote and I found it difficult to see the relevance or determine the main point. However there’s some great insights about publishing, which sort of overlaps with monster design and usage.

On Using Monsters

• Telling a Story with Encounters by Shawn Merwin. A topic near and dear to our hearts here at Nerdarchy. Encounters are the building blocks of everything. In our games we typically prepare a single encounter or two per session and trust in roleplaying and character decisions to fill in the rest and contribute connective tissue. A terrific essay on how dynamic encounters can be.
• Why the Characters Fight: Building Anticipation for an Adversary by Meagan Maricle. I’m not surprised a fantastic editor like Meagan organized her essay so well. Incorporating an ongoing adversary can be super tricky in a game like 5E D&D where almost without fail characters see an enemy and engage with it to the death the first time. This essay offers lots of guidance on introducing and continuing forward with an ongoing enemy with great clarity.
• Tactics Make All the Difference by Kate Baker. I’m willing to bet each of the small sections within this essay are themselves the subject of entire videos or posts from other creators, which is not to say they’re not very useful. Quite the opposite! For a new GM these tidbits of helpful ideas can make a tremendous impact and even veterans can use a refreshers now and again.
• When Fighting Doesn’t Solve Everything: Noncombat Encounters with Monsters by Steve Winter. I’m not too keen on what sounds to me a bit narrow in perspective (there’s lots of playstyles out there!). However there are some important ideas covered in this essay, not the least of which is how for better or worse a GM sets the tone for the players and their characters. If change is desired at the gaming table generally it starts there.
• Make a Friend With It: Turning Monsters Into Allies by Shanna Germain. You may have heard me express my general dislike for adventurers who want to befriend everything and how consequently the monsters in my games are very often things like oozes, plants and undead. I’m not against characters confronted with a dangerous monster trying to defuse the situation and make nice but it can certainly occur way too much for my taste. Shanna is a phenomenal writer and designer though and she shares lots of great insights into the phenomenon in her essay.
• Pacing an Encounter Just Right: How to Keep Things Moving by Vee Mus’e. This one has more to do with running encounters than it does monsters. This being established there’s solid foundational guidance included and for many GMs this may be the first time they’re exposed to these ideas.
• Maps and Monsters by Luis Loza. Even though I run games through theater of the mind style I almost always use a map as guidance for myself. This essay really gets into the purposes and functions of maps. The focus is how to enhance and complement monsters by employing great maps along with them. Even if the players in the game never see the map (like the players in games I run) they’re an incredibly useful resource.

Kobold Guide to Monsters releases on June 8, 2021 from Kobold Press. You can preorder a copy here.

*Featured image — An adventurers squares off against one of the fearsome monsters from Kobold Press. Or maybe they’ll make friends with it instead? [Art by Bryan Syme]