More terrifying monsters will be appearing soon in your local D&D games.
Dungeons & Dragons has a new book coming out later this month called Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. The book is a combination of a monster manual, a player’s handbook expansion, and a guide to D&D lore, with a focus on the various conflicts that make up the D&D multiverse.
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A big part of the upcoming publication are a ton of new monsters, many of which are revised versions of classic D&D baddies. Earlier this week, the Dungeons & Dragons YouTube page posted a Dragon+ livestream video, in which D&D’s art team went over some new concept art, which included some new looks at monsters that will appear in the publication.
Here’s a look at the art along with some background on each of the new monsters:
(h/t SageAdvice for images)
Giff
One of the biggest teases in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is the presence of giff, the largo hippo-like creature seen above. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you – this creature really is dressed in Victorian style military garb, complete with a old-fashioned shotgun and a monocle. The giff are traditionally great weapon users…even though guns are often awkward for them to use due to their massive frame.
Fans are excited about the giff because it hints at the presence of the Spelljammer universe, a D&D campaign set in space. The giff were alien bodyguards and muscle that players could encounter in the Spelljammer campaign setting, and their appearance in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes means that Spelljammer could be making a comeback.
Rutterkin
This horrifying creature is a rutterkin, a minor demon introduced way back in the Monster Manual II in 1983. Rutterkin have had different origins over the years, ranging from humans trapped in the Abyss and tortured into grotesque forms to wretch demons formed from the souls of bullies.
The rutterkin’s second mouth (located on its hand) is actually a new development for the rutterkin, an evolution of the creature’s signature snap-tong that it wielded in older editions. It definitely looks a lot creepier than a demonic pincer weapon and makes us want to avoid these creatures even more.
Nightwalker
The Nightwalker is another classic D&D monster making its return in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. This classic baddie has been reinvented as a being of negative energy from the Shadowfell. This creature can kill be its mere presence alone, but it also can kill simply by pointing its finger and shooting rays of magical energy at foes.
Traditionally, nightwalkers were a type of nightshade, an undead creature made of shadow and pure evil. It’s unclear whether the nightwalker will continue to be undead, but they don’t look like a creature that players would want to encounter alone.
Sorrowsworn
The sorrowsworn are another type of horrific creatures that will appear in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. While the sorrowsworn were originally a type of demon that fed off of sorrowing and suffering, they’ve apparently been reinvented for the new book.
Now, the sorrowsworn are remnants from the Shadowfell wars and represent raw emotions and feelings like hunger, anger, or loneliness. The sorrowsworn above represents loneliness. According to Shawn Wood, one of D&D’s concept artists, this particular sorrowsworn stabs things with spear-like arms and then drags them along so that it would have company in the shadow planes.
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Abashai
The abishai are another family of creatures, similar to the sorrowsworn. The abishai are the spawn of Tiamet (the god of chromatic dragons) and have variants based on each type of chromatic dragon. The abishai are an unholy mix of devil and dragon, with some (like the white abishai above) focused on weapon fighting while others are powerful spellcaster.ย
Like other creatures seen in the book, the abishai have a long history in D&D. Gary Gygax originally debuted the creatures in an article of Dragon way back in 1983 as type of devil who serve Tiamet. Versions of the creatures have appeared in just about every edition of Dungeons & Dragons since.
Eidolon Statue
The eidolon is a classic mythological concept – a specter or phantom that resembles a living or dead human. Different RPG games have explored the eidolon concept. Pathfinder, for instance, has a summoning class that bonds with an eidolon. In Dungeons & Dragons, eidolons can be golem-like creatures created from a spark of divine energy.
The eidolon pictured above has its roots in the first Player’s Handbook, released way back in 1978 for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The cover for that book showed a group of adventurers standing in front of an idol to Moloch, with one member of the party stealing one of the gems in its eyesocket. That’s the same statue pictured above, seemingly brought to life by Moloch with revenge in its one remaining eye.
