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Musing Over Monsters

 

Musing Over Monsters is an ongoing series on RJD20 that explores various monsters of D&D fame and infamy. The series hit in 2018 with Thri-Kreen: The Mind Mantids and its ensuing articles are some of the most popular on RJD20. Every few weeks, this series continues to delve into the history, lore, and possible uses of monsters, imbuing Dungeon Masters everywhere with a vigor to think more about the creatures they use in their worlds and campaigns.

This page lists all Musing Over Monsters articles in chronological order. It was last updated September 4, 2020.

2018

2019

2020

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Most Popular Articles of the Week

My Take on Matthew Colville’s 5E Action Oriented Monsters

Soaring into a manifest zone on their airship, the Misty Tide, the party erupts into a pocket of the Elemental Plane of Fire high above a sea of bubbling lava. Surrounding them are hissing fire newts mounted upon burning birds, prepared to hijack the airship and release the fire elementals powering it. The airship’s captain screams, “Hold out! We’ll escape ‘ere in a minute, I’ll get us through!” In response, the fiery raiders attack, lead by a striking fire newt warlock. The combat begins, and she thrusts her molten scimitar into the broiling air. The blade soars between each party member, scorching them with ease before reforming in her hands. Later in the combat, she deftly descends atop her burning bird below the airship, narrowly avoiding a blast of eldritch energy. In the struggle’s final moments, she dismounts from her tiny phoenix in a whirl, leaping thirty feet to gouge one of the party members with her scimitar and deal tremendous damage. Ultimately, she fails; the rest of h…
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The Case of Screen v. Screenless

It's Tuesday night. The companions of the Caught in Galen campaign are split across the community of Vorici’s Rest. My notes are laid bare before me for tonight’s session. Luna walks the stone halls of a temple, unknowingly moving closer to a beholder-like beast. Flux jogs toward the Azure Graveyard, the bloodstone he needed to dispose of tossed in a nearby alley. Roy stalks toward the Faded Ember Inn with Skraw before coming face-to-face with a humanoid made of twinkling stars and eyes like radiant suns. 
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How to Begin a D&D Campaign

The world is created, the characters are made, and the starting location is set, but how do you begin a Dungeons & Dragons campaign? There are many lines to check off on your list. Is the starting point created? Are all the session zeros finished? Is the initial plot formulated? Is the opening scene ready to go? As I prepare for the start of my next D&D campaign, Caught in Galen, I’m going to help you or anyone else out there itching to begin a campaign correctly complete their pre-campaign checklist.
The D&D Campaign’s Starting Point Where will the campaign begin? This is a key question you should know before your players begin to make their characters that I dedicated an entire article to awhile back. Will the party explore the titanic ruins of a dragon empire on a jungle continent? Will they delve into the depths of the Subterrane in chase of a rogue celestial? Will they begin caught in a giant city of an inherently magical population? Know this before anything else. Y…
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An Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Supplement - Abominable Adventures

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden hit the shelves on September 15, 2020. Wizards of the Coast’s summer 2020 adventure module encompasses the rise of a sinister threat around Faerun’s frozen northland civilization: Ten-Towns. Over the course of a Frostmaiden campaign, adventurers overcome burying blizzards, hunt a magical moose, and rid the snowy region of Auril the Frostmaiden and Goddess of Winter. Alongside the published module, a plethora of content creators have released and are continuing to release supplements to assist players and Dungeon Masters exploring Icewind Dale.
Abominable Adventures - An Encounter Guidebook in the Frozen Tundra is one such supplement.

Its creators kindly provided me with a review copy which I had a splendid time reading; outlined below is my review of it. This review includes a broad overview of the supplement, what I see as its best bit, and an area where it could be improved upon.

Before you make your decision on the buy, please take your time and …
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