The dangerously funny and potentially ridiculous side of D&D’s most infamous enemies
D ungeons & Dragons is the world’s most popular board RPG game. Its appeal lies primarily in its great settings, dynamic combat mechanics, and perhaps the most interesting (and frustrating) part of any new campaign or single shot, creating unique fantasy characters that will guide you and your partymates through the story.
Character creation in D&D is almost limitless in terms of class, background, stats, and race choices. For now, let’s dwell on the latter. In addition to the main nine races described in the Player’s Handbook, there are also “homebrew” or custom races (popular choice is Viera), races taken from extended material (Tabaxi, anyone?), And perhaps the most interesting choice. , monstrous race.
That’s where the fun is.
The Dragon? In my party? This is more likely than you think. Source: Wizards of the Coast.
What can be called a monster?
Monster races are … well, monsters. This is what usually attacks and opposes your party during the campaign; they are bad guys. They’re usually vicious, not very smart, and pretty easy to kill (well, if you’re smart … and lucky). That’s just the point – they’re cannon fodder for a party to have fun.
This is all well and good for most party beginners; it allows players to use their best character builds and weird attack combinations, working together to destroy treasures in as few rounds as possible. However, for more experienced parties, it can get … I don’t mean boring because it’s not true, but definitely more run-of-the-mill.
Knowing what a normal monster looks like can give the group a chance to sit down and think about it. Players may start asking why they want to kill this goblin camp; they are just trying to live their own lives and don’t seem to even bother the city, why kill them? They have not children? Don’t they have a family and a day job?
Bokoblins are usually bad guys, but when you fall off a fighter’s armor and fall into a rogue’s knees, you might end up in a group (possibly against your will). Source: Nintendo.
Once you start to doubt this part of it, it’s easy to take the next logical step and start thinking about individual monsters. Sometimes it happens organically in the game – in one of the campaigns I’m currently playing, a homebrew based on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , Bokoblin who tried to sneak up on us performed so well that he ended up ended up in the Sanctuary that we were trying to complete, and ended up working with my character to get through the trials despite the funny language barrier. He was funny, smart and cunning, like my scoundrel. Guess who joined our party?
Playing as a monster
Of course, adding an NPC monster to a group is one thing. Letting your players create entire monstrous characters is another matter. Most monster races are not made for individual play. Their stats are usually chiseled and tuned in favor of the players, and they don’t have many hit points. This means that you will have to significantly break the rules and pull on the sheets for them to have a chance to fight.
You will also have to balance stats and world-building – how can a superintelligent mimic become a wizard? Where and how did he go to school without eating classmates? If most banshees are chaotic evil, why is this one neutral good and what do they want out of life?
The good news is that there are preset guides for using monsters as races. For example, Tyler Kamstra created a guide to using monstrous races as characters in the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition , as well as an additional guide specifically for monsters from Volo’s Guide . You can also find on sites like DndBeyond and Roll20, community created and published do-it-yourself materials that you can use in your own campaigns.
I’m not saying that it has happened yet, but I definitely would not want to play with home Tarrask. Source: Wizards of the Coast.
Your world, your way
Playing monstrous races can be a really fun way to spin a classic campaign. This is a great way to let your more experienced players cheat the rules and explore a side of the game that they normally wouldn’t understand. Hell, you could (or should!) Run a campaign with only monsters. See what life is like on the other side of the tracks, work for a villain, or let a group of pursued characters save the world from “heroes” at least once.
After all, D&D is a game; it should be a funny story that you tell your friends. Regardless of how you tell this story, it’s up to you, and if you want to play it in a classic style, you have every right to. But if you want to explore a side of the game that is not usually questioned? Take action! The world belongs to you; go ahead and grab it with clawed, feathered, tentacled or non-existent hands.
