Dragon Encounters

December 18, 2023

YOCHLOL: Dangers of the Yochlol’s Web

The yochlol comes with one of the strangest abilities in D&D. It has the ability to turn into a cloud of toxic mist, with will render anyone inside it poisoned, making it harder for them to attack and easier for them to be attacked. Continue reading

guardian (CR 8-10), minion

battlemap, Combat rating 12, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 17, Combat rating 20, demons, difficulty 11, social encounter, traps
December 14, 2023

VROCK: A Harrying Attacker and a Treasure Raider

Let’s start with basic strategy. The vrock will perch on a high peak, or other high point, and whenever its spores are available it will fly just low enough to use them before flying back up. Continue reading

guardian (CR 5-7), minion

Combat rating 11, Combat rating 12, Combat rating 8, Combat rating 9, demons, difficulty 6, difficulty 7, difficulty 8
December 11, 2023

SHADOW DEMON & How to Use Hiding

The shadow demon has the ability to hide when it’s in partial or complete darkness. As hiding in D&D doesn’t seem to have exact rules, except for the fact that anybody spending an action has a chance to detect someone hidden*, I would Continue reading

guardian (CR 0-4), minion

Combat rating 5, Combat rating 6, Combat rating 7, Combat rating 8, demons, difficulty 6, difficulty 8, homebrew
December 7, 2023

QUASIT & Making Familiars and Other NPCs Interesting

Before we get into uses for this monster as an enemy, I’m going to start with how to use the quasit as an ally. Specifically, how it can be used when it’s playing the role of a warlock’s familiar. Continue reading

guardian (CR 0-4), minion

battlemap, Combat rating 1, Combat rating 2, Combat rating 3, difficulty 1, difficulty 2, difficulty 3, puzzle, social encounter
December 5, 2023

NALFSHNEE: Talking Fancy and Fighting Dirty

How to Use: Roleplaying a Discussion with a Demon With the nalfshnee, I am going to give a couple of different strategies that it is likely to use. You can use them all, to set up one large boss fight, or you can use one or two of them to spice up an otherwise basic… Continue reading

guardian (CR 11-16), leader

Combat rating 16, Combat rating 18, Combat rating 21, Combat rating 22, demons, difficulty 15, social encounter, traps
December 4, 2023

MARALITH: Pinning Down the PCs With Attacks of Opptunity

According to the Monster Manual, the maralith is placed the general of the demonic hordes. It’s meant to be used together with a large number of other demons. Continue reading

guardian (CR 11-16), leader

battlemap, Combat rating 19, Combat rating 21, Combat rating 22, Combat rating 24, demons, difficulty 17, difficulty 18, difficulty varies, homebrew, traps
November 30, 2023

MANES: Using the Manes’ Unique Powers

The manes erupt into a cloud of extremely bad smelling gas when killed. For our first combat encounter, realize that this would trigger an alarm. Continue reading

attacker (CR 0-4), minion

Combat rating 1, Combat rating 1/2, Combat rating 1/4, difficulty 1, difficulty 2, puzzle
November 27, 2023

HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot

The hezrou actually does have an optimal fighting method, thanks to its poison effect. It wants to be as close to as many of its enemies as possible, so as to maximize the poison condition it causes. Continue reading

guardian (CR 8-10), minion

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, demons, difficulty 9, puzzle
November 23, 2023

GORISTRO: How to Use Mazes and Forced Movement

The intended tactics for the goristro are, I think, that he makes a head charge one turn, the next turn he multiattacks, hopefully tripping at least one PC prone. Continue reading

attacker (CR 17+), minion

battlemap, Combat rating 20, Combat rating 21, Combat rating 23, Combat rating 25, demons, difficulty 10, difficulty 16, difficulty 18, difficulty 20
November 22, 2023

A Deadly Friend: How to Play Corruption in DnD

This was originally part of the glabrezu article, and part 1: Deception appears there. As this seems like something that I’m going to need for more monsters, I decided to publish it separately as its own article. This way I can refer other monsters to here, and people won’t need to skim through the glabrezu… Continue reading

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social encounter

About Me

I’ve been a DM since I was about 10 years old. (Not of D&D, admittedly, but still.) After growing bored of fights that were all the same, dungeons heavily populated by one monster type, and a general shortage of ideas, I figured I’d embark on my own trip through the Monster Manual, one monster at a time. Feel free to join the quest.

Dragon Encounters

VROCK: A Harrying Attacker and a Treasure Raider

SHADOW DEMON & How to Use Hiding

MARALITH: Pinning Down the PCs With Attacks of Opptunity

MANES: Using the Manes’ Unique Powers

HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot

GORISTRO: How to Use Mazes and Forced Movement

About Me

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