Monsters. They are the challenge of combat that propels the majority ofDungeons & Dragonsplay. Monsters can take the form of the super big bad, a horde of annoying creatures, or the local ages-old wizard. With dragons taking up half the name of this most popular role-playing game, the enemies and foes you encounter are important. To that end, you will be guided through an array of sourcebooks and supplements to add unique and challenging monsters to your games.
This list includesmust-have sourcebooksfrom Wizards of the Coast and supplemental material from third-party publishers you may not have heard of. Everything here serves its own purpose and role in your gaming and was chosen for the quality and quantity of interesting foes to face.
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (Dungeons & Dragons Book)
Follow Mordenkainen Across The Planes To Find Your Next Challenge
Sporting hundreds of monsters and dozens of playable species, this sourcebook supplies you with plenty of content for your Fifth Edition games.
Whether you’re a brand new Dungeon Master or looking for what to add next to yourcollection of books, this is a prime choice. Containing enough combat opponents to last an entire DM career, you’ll find everything from humble animals to the mightiest of ancient powers. Most of the creatures have multiple variations and a great choice of partners for designing encounters, letting you flex your creative muscles in a variety of combats.
Players and DMs alike will benefit from the vast library of study and knowledge collected by Mordenkainen. The book is written from his perspective as it covers every creature imaginable in the D&D multiverse. Besides all the player-focused content included, this is worth the price for the wide selection of monsters and NPCs within. Dragons, goblins, elementals, and more will fill out your game days with fun and engaging encounters.
For something new to try in your next game, look at theDuergar Screamer.It is a construct designed for tunneling through rock and stone with sonic attacks. The Sonic Scream it can unleash will both damage and knock players prone, and with its reaction Engine of Pain, it can retaliate against those who attack it. These two abilities make it great for a low-level mid-boss enemy or as support for higher-health foes like the Duergar Despot.
Tome of Beasts 3
Enter a new realm of the ferocious and powerful with Kobold Press
This third release of a classic creature series contains new types of foes and remixed ideas. Bring out something your table has never seen before, and spice up your game night.
Coming from the highly acclaimed publisher Kobold Press, Tome of Beasts 3 contains a wild mix of strange and new creatures for your Fifth Edition games. The third installment in their series offers void creatures, dinosaurs, oozes, and ogres; fantastical remixes of every kind can be found inside.
The Tome of Beasts series of books is often best used after your players have become used to common monsters. Switching up the player’s expectations with exciting creatures they’ve never seen before can further engage them in combats. Many new variants of creature types like elementals or fiends can spice up your supernatural encounters. You’ll have ample access to small minion-like monsters up to the most imposing end-boss power foes.
When planning your next terrifying encounter with an otherworldly monster, try out theDevouring Angel.This aberrant foe has an AOE ability that can strike your players with poison spikes and a reach attack using its Spiked Tongue. If you use the right strategy, this fearsome opponent can overwhelm players with ambushes and hit-and-run tactics.
The Game Master’s Book of Legendary Dragons
Watch the skies and take care where you delve, dragons ruled the lands for a reason
Any campaign centering around dragons ought to have this book used during its creation. For unique encounters worthy of the scale and power of draconic creatures look no further.
With dragons being such aprominent part of D&Da book full of them is a great find. The line of game master books is filled with excellent material to draw from, and in this release, you’ll have a lot to work with. You have an array of dragons with their followers and allies, player options, new magic, and three short adventures.
This book works best in conjunction with the fantastic lore and might of the dragons found in D&D. The followers and servants inside can be paired with ancient chromatic dragons to make for intensely challenging fights. Tactics and abilities discussed in the pages can be applied to other creatures of legend in your game, and the unique stat blocks act as the perfect setpiece encounter for a campaign.
As you pick a dragon to place in your final dungeon, considerKur, the Dragon of the Void.An ancient black dragon with dark powers, Kur is a heavy hitter. The legendary action Channel the Void prevents anyone nearby from healing, which can be devastating in those most critical moments. The options presented for lair actions and regional effects are powerful, such as his lair action to cast Time Stop or controlling every animal within range of his lair and powering up their attacks.
Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants (Dungeons & Dragons Expansion Book)
Look upward to face new towering opponents of every kind
This Dungeons & Dragons supplement explores all things giant. With tools for creating encounters, new monsters, and plenty of other material, this title earns its spot on your gaming shelf.
A fantastic expansion of the system that is Fifth Edition, this product contains every element of a great game. There are new player options, awesome tools, and charts for DMs, exciting encounters, and a treasure trove of material to be had. This does mean that many of its pages are not dedicated to stat blocks; however, you will find a plethora of massive humanoid threats, from the more common giant to towering constructs of flesh.
With some of the basic Fifth Edition rules, you may use this one book to plot out an entire campaign of fresh encounters with giantkin. The lore and artwork contained within are stunning and will seed your mind with endless creativity. Just beware that you don’t overwhelm your players with constant giant-themed games after coming across this beautiful resource.
The most interesting find inside might be theFirbolg Wanderer.Although tall it is considered a medium creature, allowing it to fit in areas other giantkin would not. Thehistory and tricky natureof Firbolgs make them incredibly interesting to interact with, in combat or otherwise. Their spellcasting keeps them flexible in battle and they can serve many roles as allies or foes.
Planar Bestiary
Product subtitle, as short as possible (no more than a sentence length), with clear descriptive words to indicate the target buyer.
Monte Cook Games supplies another incredible resource for your game with The Planar Bestiary. If you have an interest in running adventures that extend beyond the standard material plane this is a necessity. Introducing you to over 150 new monsters for your far-flung exploration of new worlds.
For an adventure quiteliterally out of this worldtake a peek in the Planar Bestiary. This supplement, packed with monsters, has stat blocks for any creature you’d need for planar combats. Whether your adventurers have traveled to a new realm of existence or if they are dealing with faraway threats entering their world, this book has what you need. From the marvelous mind that is Monte Cook, you’re able to trust that everything in it is of the highest quality.
Journeys to other dimensions or hellish underworlds will be lifted to incredible heights using the collection of fascinating monsters within. With every creature type represented and challenges appropriate for levels one to twenty, you could plan all your campaign’s combats with this one resource. The gaps that exist in the most commonly used bestiaries are well filled here. The angels and elementals you get are nearly worth the price on their own.
To give your players the game of their life, you can send theObsidian Stalkerafter them. This servant is summoned from the plane of elemental earth to complete a task or hunt a target, if your players have disrupted a foe with planar ties then they may find one on their doorstep. Its abilities cater to chasing and surprising characters, such as Quick Glide, which allows it to essentially teleport so long as an earthen surface exists between it and its destination.
Ultimate Bestiary: The Dreaded Accursed
Face off against the dark and demented with this book of undead horrors
Nord Games brings you The Dreaded Accursed. This collection of monsters is a bestiary focused on the undead and vile. Cursed beings and powerful liches will invigorate your 5E game with new life.
To build haunting encounters with the dark and cursed, you can’t do better than this. With a massive collection of undead creatures and other monsters, The Dreaded Accursed will level up your deathly hordes and long-dead masters of magic. Tables, charts, and advice are present throughout the book for running storied combats.
Sections contain lore and resources for running those types of encounters and have stat blocks for every monster variant and threat level you’ll need. A great example is the variety of liches you can employ as dark evils in your games. Unique abilities and legendary actions distinguish new forms of lich so that your BBEG (big bad evil guy) can feel fresh for each campaign. The challenge level of creatures ranges from humble minions and ghosts to campaign-ending abominations of evil and darkness. Your players will need a set ofspooky dice to match the vibewhen going up against these fiends.
During your next spooky game, throw theChosen Championat your party. Its ability, Harrying Shield, makes the area directly around it difficult terrain, introducing a new aspect for players to consider. Paired with the cursed weaponry of the mummies, your group will have to bring careful tactics to ensure they are not overcome in battle or beset with the awful curse of mummy rot.
FAQ
What Is The Most Powerful D&D Monster?
The enormous creature that is the Tarrasque is generally considered the strongest monster in Dungeons & Dragons history. While it is truly impressive, it has weaknesses that can make it less dangerous if the players are allowed to exploit them. Other powerful beings, such as the avatar of Tiamat, can cause more trouble for a party depending on the circumstances, although the previous incarnations of the Tarrasque have often been near impossible to overcome.
What Types Of Monsters Are There?
There are 14 standard monster types in the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. They are as follows: aberration, beast, celestial, construct, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, giant, humanoid, monstrosity, ooze, plant, and undead. Certain creatures could have overlapping qualities from multiple types or be classified as a type that may not initially make sense. For example, dragon as a type is not limited to only four-legged winged creatures who have breath weapons. Types like humanoid and monstrosity can cover a huge range of creatures, with the humanoid type encompassing a vast array of two-legged beings.
