‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Appears to Be Bringing Back a Classic Monster

Dungeons & Dragons looks to be bringing back a monster that appeared in the original Monster Manual.

Last week, Dungeons & Dragons showed off two preview pages from their upcoming mystery publication, which appears to be a collection of updated classic adventures similar to 2017’s Tales from the Yawning Portal. The pages showed descriptions of a ruined fortress flooded and occupied by the sahuagin, a race of amphibious fish-creatures. One of the pages showed an illustration of a large arena, with a dragonborn and a halfling fighting a large creature that looks to be a horrifying cross between a lion and a shark.

Longtime fans of Dungeons & Dragons probably recognize that monster as the sea cat, a creature that first appeared in the original Monster Manual way back in 1977. The sea cat (or the sea lion, if we’re willing to acknowledge that it’s not a muscular seal with oversized flippers) is a fierce underwater predator that actually hunts sharks for sport. Although it has fish-like scales, the sea cat is actually a mammal and needs to regularly breathe air in order to survive.

Although the sea cat hasn’t appeared in the 5th Edition Monster Manual or any other recent rulebook, this won’t be its first appearance in a Fifth Edition publication. A sea cat also appeared in Tales of the Yawning Portal as one of the many monsters that lurk inside White Plume Mountain. We know that sea cats are CR 5 monsters, which means they’re a threat for low level adventurers but not for higher level players. That’s a clue that the upcoming Saltmarsh adventure that appeared in the preview pages will likely be geared for Level 1-3 adventurers.

We’ll hopefully have more information about Dungeons & Dragons‘ new publication soon. Meanwhile, let us know what classic monsters you’d like to make a reappearance in Dungeons & Dragons or find me on Twitter at @CHofferCbus to talk all things D&D!