'Dungeons & Dragons' and Adobe Summon the Terror of Undermountain in New Design Contest

Dungeons & Dragons' fans have a chance to create a monster and have it canonized as a part of D&D lore.

Adobe and Dungeons & Dragons have announced a new "Summon the Terror of Undermountain" contest, in which fans use Photoshop to design their very own D&D monster. The new monster ties into D&D's upcoming Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure, which comes out in November.

The Terror of Undermountain is described as the illegitimate offspring of a hell beast and Halaster Blackcloak, the titular Mad Mage of the adventure. "Born from a regretted communion of the Mad Mage and a dreaded hellbeast whose name none dare pronounce," a description provided to ComicBook.com reads. "Halaster's greatest mistake stalks her father's halls, proudly wearing the scars endured from centuries of banishment and the magical deformities she wrought upon herself to survive."

"Torturing and killing those who dare venture beyond Undermountain's measured paths," the description continues. "She seeks to gain her father's approval—one which he bitterly withheld—by becoming worthy of the name, THE TERROR OF UNDERMOUNTAIN!"

Fans will be able to download a took kit containing various monster parts from the contest's website and can then follow a step-by-step tutorial on how to assemble the monster using Adobe's Photoshop CC program. Adobe is offering a free 30-day trial of Photoshop for the contest, so no purchase is necessary.

When designing their monster, contestants are encouraged to think about the creature's purpose and abilities. Why was the monster created? What is its strengths and weaknesses? What sort of personality does it possess? These questions and others will help the Terror of Undermountain come to life, both in contestant's imagination and in Photoshop.

The tool kit contains limbs based off of common monster motifs, but contestants have the creative freedom to add their own elements and use other Adobe Creative Cloud products to give the monster their own flair.

A winner will be selected by a panel made up of Wizards of the Coast and Adobe. The winner will be announced in December and will be given a $5,000 grand prize along with a chance to sit with Wizards of the Coast creatives to concept future monsters for the game.

In addition, the winning monster will be canonized as an unpainted collectible miniature to terrorize role players everywhere.

Contestants have between now and November 16th to design and submit their monster. The contest is open to residents of the US, Canada (excluding Quebec), Germany, Japan, France, the UK and Australia. More information about the contest can be found here.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage will be released on November 13th.