Harvesting Monsters in ‘Dungeons & Dragons’

A new guide provides some practical statistics and guides to harvesting monsters in Dungeons & Dragons.

Dungeons & Dragons players love loot. Usually, they won’t even wait until a fallen enemy has finished bleeding out before they’re rummaging around in his pockets looking for gold and other valuables. Of course, not every enemy in Dungeons & Dragons has treasure – beasts, demons, aberrations, and other creatures probably don’t have purses of gold hidden in their pelts or pockets. This often leads players to ask their DMs whether or not they can harvest a monster, either for meat or for other items that could be sold to vendors.

We here at ComicBook.com have covered the whole “should you eat monsters” debate, but a new guide provides some basic resources for players looking to harvest monsters and make a bit of money off of their various parts. Creature Harvest Index, by D. Larson, contains a handy guide to harvesting meat, eggs, pelts, and other items off of a monster’s carcass. The first “volume” (which is only 4 pages long) covers beasts and includes everything from cranium rats to dire wolves. In addition to providing various items that can be harvested from different types of beasts, it also lists how much a merchant would pay for the good and whether the item is a trophy or has a practical use.

The guide also includes a table for determining the difficulty and time needed to successfully skin a beast and harvest its pelt. Although Creature Harvest Index doesn’t provide a ton of information, it provides enough of a foundation for any DM who constantly gets asked about how much claws

The only disappointing thing about Creature Harvest Index is that the first volume doesn’t include any of the more exotic creatures that players will want to harvest. Although the cover for the Creature Harvest Index features an owlbear, that creature is considered a monstrosity instead of a beast and doesn’t appear in the guide. However, Larson promises that additional guides are on the way (Vol. 2 will feature Aberrations) so it looks like more exotic monsters will be on the menu soon. In the meantime, Larson also published a Creature Harvest Guide to Dinosaurs for players who are playing Tomb of Annihilation or a campaign in Eberron.

Creature Harvest Guide: Vol 1 can be purchased on DMs Guild for $1.00.