Should the world level up with the players? The question gets me thinking about the ecology of my game world. How rare is an ancient red dragon? A storm giant? A bulette? That’s really what this article is about: trying to find a framework for monster rarity.
There is a long tradition of certain D&D creatures being 'always evil'. But what if they are just misunderstood?
I have recently enjoyed watching Baron de Ropp’s YouTube videos about fantasy geopolitics, and it got me thinking about how we can do so much more with the monsters and factions in our games. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this post is ‘geopolitics’ per se, but that's certainly part of it. I think this approach … Continue reading Make Your Goblins Unique: Thinking in Depth about Monsters and Factions
With just one week until Halloween, many of us will be getting ready to run Ravenloft again. Widely considered one of the greatest adventures ever written, the original I6: Ravenloft was updated to 5th edition in 2016’s Curse of Strahd. It’s a lot of fun, and many players and DMs have said that it’s their … Continue reading How to run Strahd von Zarovich as the ultimate Halloween villain
Vecna is, quite simply, one of the most iconic D&D villains of all time. So how can you run him like a boss?
Have you ever read the Monster Manual? From cover to cover? If not, you really should. It’s a gold mine of inspiration and ideas, easily my favourite of the core rulebooks. Here are 64 mini adventure hooks I found there.
Some monsters in the Monster Manual work better as social encounters or ongoing subplots. But which? If you ever feel like you want a break from all the combat, try one of these monsters in your next adventure.
Dragons: they’re half the name of the game. But how often do you encounter them during play? I thought it would be fun exercise to go through the official Wizards adventures and count up how many you find.
What are the most powerful creatures by type in 5th edition? The results might surprise you!
How much of the Monster Manual can – and should – a DM make use of?