Thread by @blogofholding

Any good bestiary is filled with inspiring lore. In #LevelUp5E Monstrous Menagerie, I'm proud of the way we moved past dated tropes and found new stories to tell about classic monsters. Here are some of my favorite new MoMe monster stories and the designers that wrote them.

Anthony Alipio @dm_fromscratch repudiates the "bad medusas cursed for vanity" D&D trope. "Ancient history books speak of vain mortals who challenged a god of love, seeking to rival him in beauty, and were cursed for their arrogance," BUT...

@dm_fromscratch "...Medusas tell a different story, one of a close-knit band of snake-haired warriors called the Gorgons, who toppled the cruel and capricious deity they once served." There's tragedy in his account of Queen Medusa and her children.

@dm_fromscratch Jocelyn Gray @dngnmistressd20's ogres aren't played for laughs. "Far removed from their giant ancestors, ogre tribes still remember the calamitous fall of the giants’ empire, and their stories warn against venturing too much or building too high." And her cave ogre is no joke.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 J. R. Zambrano @jrrmungandr plays with the idea that liches' mortal names fade from history books, and their living accomplishments disappear from memory or are ascribed to others. Liches are referred to with honorifics like “The Drowned King” or “The Speaker of Oblivion.”

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr Josh Gentry @joshgntry: "To the right hand of the gods sit the saviors and scourges of mortals, and to the gods’ left sit their dogs—the hell hounds." I love the idea of hell hounds as supernatural guardians with loyalties beyond the hells. They are good bois!

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry Morrigan Robbins @MorriLoreMother did our horrifying hags, a favorite of mine. She drew on extensive folklore knowledge to bring out their creepy relationships with their mortal wards (protege? prey? both?) And in A5E, a bargain with a hag is especially dangerous.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother PJ Coffey @Coffmeister lavished poetic attention on the often neglected oozes, fungi, and other life forms which are sure to inherit the earth after the next magical apocalypse. This is the way the world ends, with black pudding "cresting and falling like a slow sea of oil."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister Peter N Martin took grimlocks, described in the MM as "degenerate, blind, savage cannibals", and gave them nobility and gravitas. They might be adversaries, they might be allies, but they are a complex and advanced culture.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister In Menagerie, grimlocks "developed vast techno-magical machinery to hold back volcanic eruptions, stabilize fault lines, and prevent the ocean from flooding the underlands. Areas thought to be geologically stable may instead benefit from underground grimlock installations."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister Will Gawned @w_gawned reconsidered another "savage, degenerate" monster, the troglodyte. "Troglodyte scent contains pheromones that supplement their spoken language, adding nuance indecipherable to other peoples...druids recognise similarities with their own secret language."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned Russ Morrissey @Morrus, the sinister commander of our #LevelUp5E line, detailed the dread knight whose face is a "burnt, blackened skull in which two tiny flames serve as eyes, and its voice echoes as though it emanates from beneath the earth." Flight of fancy or self-portrait?💀

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus Sarah breyfogle @The_DM_Sarah's bright, non-monolithic merfolk enliven the oceans: "Merfolk kingdoms span the globe, and their citizens are as varied in culture and appearance as other humanoids. Their skin can be as many colors as a tropical fish."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah Sarah Madsen @unfetteredMuse had the challenge of making a succubus/incubus replacement. The not-explicitly-gendered malcubi are insidious corruptors. While it can magically charm, "it often chooses not to: evil acts committed without magical compulsion have a sweeter savor."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse Sen.H.H.S's @SenHHS harpies can be friendly scouts and cartographers, but "an aggrieved harpy might harass the focus of its ire—ransacking their campsites and befouling their food—for months or even years before finally killing them." Righteous recurring foes.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS Shane Stacks @shaneplays worked on our guardians (which we changed from golems). "A guardian’s creator imbues it with an elemental spirit—or a bit of the creator’s spirit—during the guardian’s creation." Extra cute in the case of @MikeMyler2's new hound guardian—another good boi.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS @ShanePlays @MikeMyler2 If you've battled our dragons, chances are you've faced Cassandra Macdonald @theicequeer's work. Her chromatic and metallic dragons are terrifying, with thematic abilities and mighty great wyrm forms that make every dragon fight different from any other.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS @ShanePlays @MikeMyler2 @TheIceQueer And I love her lore. "As gold dragons learn from a young age, the more you help people, the more they need your help. Sooner or later, every side in every conflict petitions you for aid. Nasty business, says the dragon, who wants no part of it."

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS @ShanePlays @MikeMyler2 @TheIceQueer Andrew Engelbrite @aengelbrite brought gem dragons into A5E. What's more, he invented a whole new class of dragon: essence dragons! He explored new design space in ways you haven't seen before. What other dragons can use moves like Entomb, Sudden Maelstrom, and Horrid Whispers.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS @ShanePlays @MikeMyler2 @TheIceQueer @AEngelbrite William Fischer did great monster work: his chuul and variants are actually fun. More importantly, he was the book's lead editor. He left every stat and lore block better than he found it. If Monstrous Menagerie is a good resource and a good read, thank William.

@dm_fromscratch @DngnMistressd20 @jrrmungandr @joshgntry @MorriLoremother @Coffmeister @w_gawned @Morrus @The_DM_Sarah @UnfetteredMuse @SenHHS @ShanePlays @MikeMyler2 @TheIceQueer @AEngelbrite If you got to the end of this thread and don't have A5E books yet: enpublishingrpg.com/collections/le…