Author Archives: Law

U is for Umber Hulk, Lying in Wait

Today I really wanted to talk about the Friendship is Magic session during Delve Night, where we pitted the players against the show’s heroes, including unicorns, to disable a magical ritual that hurt anybody without friends. But on reflection, I … Continue reading

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T is for Tyrannosaurus the Great

T was surprisingly difficult, though not for lack of options. My players fought a tojanida while riding on its back, but that was more of a set piece, and that’s a different topic. They’ve fought several titans, but of the … Continue reading

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S is for Stymphalidies, the End

Yesterday I talked about a creature I intended as the campaign villain from his first appearance. Today’s monster, not so much. A stymphalidies is a large, carnivorous bird with beaks and feathers as sharp as metal. They’re based on the … Continue reading

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R’s for Rakshasa, a Foe and a Friend

Is this really the first monster with the accent on the second syllable? Cripes. Every once in a while I like going back through books of monsters and wondering why I’ve never used certain creatures. Often the answer is something … Continue reading

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Q is for Qlippoth; I Guess They’re from Space

I never understood the fascination with Lovecraft. I assume it’s because I’m an escapist who loves happy endings and triumphing over evil, and the Lovecraft mythos is about creatures so alien and powerful that to merely look upon them is … Continue reading

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P is for Pumpkin-Head Guys on a Base

Today’s monster is special because it doesn’t exist. Or, rather, they don’t exist. They’re not in any rulebook, there’s no official mini for them, and as far as I know they aren’t even in a D&D video game. Because of … Continue reading

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O is for Orcs, Orc-Speak, and Orc Home

When I was putting together the campaign setting I’m using now, I wanted to give each race a country. I didn’t want the country of elves to have elves, only elves, and all elves, because that’s not just creatively bankrupt, … Continue reading

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N is for Nerras, Shiny and Chrome

I have a reason for liking the minotaur: it’s basic and it’s functional. I have a reason for liking kruthiks: they gave me one of the most epic player stories I have. Almost everything I talk about this month had … Continue reading

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M is for Minotaur, Rarely Barbaric

I took an atypical path to tabletop gaming, and I’ll probably talk about that in more detail one day. The first D&D book I ever picked up was the 3.0E Monster Manual, and when I opened it the first monster … Continue reading

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L is for Lolth-Touched (It’s Super-Generic)

I really like monster templates. I love taking a creature the players know and putting a twist on it so they understand part of what’s going on but not all of it, like making a regular gorilla into a savage, … Continue reading

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