This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
The Monster List
This is intended to be a listing of every monster that stands a chance of appearing in my Xaeruudh campaign, as a tool for constructing random encounter tables and as a way to make me think of interesting ways to incorporate as many creatures as possible. However, every monster I find —whether or not I choose to throw it at the PCs— will eventually appear here, so it may serve as an index of creatures found in sourcebooks published by Wizards of the Coast and others. Check the Sources page for which books have already been integrated into this list.
WotC keeps their own index of monsters, but this one will be more complete (by virtue of including monsters from earlier editions and potentially other publishers) and the notes will be tailored to this particular campaign. Those facts will keep the lists from being redundant.
The Xaeyruudh campaign is centered in the Forgotten Realms. It may venture into other Primes and other planes, and any monster may be considered for inclusion in the campaign.
Most of the information on this page is considered campaign notes and may not be as readily available to player characters as it is to the players themselves. If you’re participating as a player in the Xaeyruudh campaign and reading behind–the–scenes information spoils the surprise for you, you may wish to stop here.
A couple of points to bear in mind, regarding this blog as a whole.
- This blog is about the Forgotten Realms, a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons. More specifically, I explore a tweaked and tuned version of the 1e-2e setting, backed by a slow probable transitioning of 3.5e-to-5e rules. If I just confused you, then… hopefully you’ll find my prose charming and witty. Otherwise you should anticipate disappointment while browsing my pages.
- I’m just a guy. I’m not a corporation with dozens of employees and a multimillion dollar budget to play with. I like to think this makes me less susceptible to contradictions but it also means that sometimes I’m a little slower to develop and upload things than 20 or 30 people working together would be. Then again, I don’t have to get approval from an idiot boss or a Board of Nincompoops.
I actually don’t know how many versions of the monsterlist I’ve started on at this point, but I think this is the second one that will see the interwebs. I’m relying on the blog infrastructure, especially tags, to do most of the organizing for me, so we’ll see how well that works out. This will be some kind of hopefully-helpful index page.
Speaking of helpful, here are some hints on what to call groups of monsters… “collective nouns” if you prefer, or more properly terms of venery.
Navigation
There are a few different ways to sort the monsters. Note that all of these are works-in-progress, and in some cases not very much progress has been made so far.
First, by type or subtype; this method lists all Undead together, for example, or all Shapechangers.
Second, by habitat; this groups everything that lives in a particular climate/habitat — all forest-dwelling creatures, for example.
Lastly, by source; this will be an index of monsters listed in each book.
Special Categories
- PC Races
- Primeval
- Templates
Hazards
These are things which are dangerous but can’t be classified with types and subtypes. So they’re challenges, but they’re not really monsters, but they are alternatives to monsters, which makes them relevant to this list.
Absurd Adversaries
I don’t mean to be judgey, but here’s the thing: if I can’t keep a straight face while describing the monster to players, then I can’t expect them to keep a straight face either. If I can’t take the monster seriously, then I can’t expect players to take it seriously… and killing the party with an absurd adversary is absurd.
Disclaimer
Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.