Changing up a monster’s stat block can drastically change the way they function in and out of combat, the way the players and their characters receive them, and even add to the story of the encounter or the world at large! It also helps keep the game fresh, so players aren’t fighting the exact same monsters over and over again, or the same ones they faced last campaign. And we’re going to discuss some simple ways to do that in this week’s article!
A long time ago, the world of Toril was in trouble. The ravages of the spellplague took a catastrophic toll upon the population, making it difficult for the economy to function. A particularly-enterprising group of wizards sought to solve the problem by stealing people from other planes to use as slaves. These slaves cried out for deliverance, and their prayers were eventually delivered to the gods of their home plane.
In this latest installment of Monsters Mastered, our aim is to elevate kobolds to something beyond a comedic encounter in your campaigns, and give them distinguishing features useful for kobold enemies, kobold NPCS, and kobold player characters alike!
There is a wrong way to play that has nothing to do with what the books have printed in black and white. How you approach the game, how you think about the other players, and your attitude while you play can be right or wrong.
A warrior race, bred for untold centuries to be perfect killing machines. Instructed by their god to brutalize and destroy all others. Trained from birth to fight and win. Taught that there is no such thing as honor or disgrace, only victory and defeat. They do not fight because they have to. They fight because they revel in it. They fight because they must.
This is what it means to be an orc.
by Steven Franklin So, you want to play a character that’s foreign and mysterious, evoking feelings of awe and wonder in everyone they meet? You wa...
Few playable races in D&D live lives as fraught with persecution, apprehension, and harsh treatment as the half-orcs. The product of an eager, ambitious race and one that is renowned and feared for its savage and bloodthirsty nature, half-orcs are unwelcome or at least approached with trepidation by most folk… and rightly so! With their particular genetic cocktail, half-orcs are not a folk to be trifled with, easily among the strongest and most cunning races in D&D’s fiction.
Have we lost what makes the creatively colorful and varied races of the world unique and interesting in the name of creativity?
Half-elves are one of the most popular races to play in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. They have mechanical advantages over other races, a lot of versatility in their bonuses, as well as an angsty roleplay hook by being alien in both human and elven societies. Half-elves may just be the objectively best player character race in DND.
Hidden deep in forgotten forests dwell clans of peace-loving giant-kin known as firbolgs. This reclusive race is often feared by outsiders, and for...
Goliaths: towering hulks of bravery and brawn that look down on all the other DND races…literally! While Dungeons and Dragons can be a power fantasy for many people, few character races physically embody it more than the goliaths. They are a race of humanoids that make their home in harsh mountain environments.
Among the many and varied races you can play in Dungeons & Dragons, few are as truly unique as the warforged. Unlike other humanoid races, the warforged are not limited by their biology. Instead, their appearance and abilities are limited only by the imaginations of their creators.
