Volos Guide To Monsters

From the creator of the popular blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a compilation of villainous battle plans for Dungeon Masters. In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behavior—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behavior! It’s easy for even an experienced DM to get bogged down in on-the-spot decision-making or to let combat devolve into a boring slugfest, with enemies running directly at the player characters and biting, bashing, and slashing away. In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DM’s burden by helping you understand your monsters’ abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers don’t whip out their field manuals for the first time when they’re already under fire, a DM shouldn’t wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat. Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What They're Doing is essential reading for every DM.

From the author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a follow-up strategy guide with MOAR! monster tactics for Dungeon Masters playing fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Keith Ammann’s first book based on his popular blog, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, unpacks strategies, tactics, and motivations for creatures found in the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Now, in MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, he analyzes the likely combat behaviors of more than 100 new enemies found in Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Your campaign will never be the same!

Immerse yourself in monster lore in this supplement for the world’s greatest roleplaying game This is NOT just another Monster Manual! Volo’s Guide to Monsters provides something exciting for players and Dungeon Masters everywhere. · A deep dive into the lore behind some of D&D’s most popular and iconic monsters · Dozens of monsters new to the fifth edition to include in your epic adventures · New playable races to allow you to build characters to fit nearly any type of story in your D&D game. The esteemed loremaster Volothamp Geddarm is back and he’s written a fantastical dissertation, covering some of the most iconic monsters in the Forgotten Realms. Unfortunately, the Sage of Shadowdale himself, Elminster, doesn’t believe Volo gets some of the important details quite right. Don’t miss out as Volo and Elminster square off (academically speaking of course) to illuminate the uninitiated on creatures both common and obscure. Uncover the machinations of the mysterious Kraken Society, what is the origin of the bizarre froghemoth, or how to avoid participating in the ghastly reproductive cycle of the grotesque vargouille. Dungeon Masters and players will get some much-needed guidance as you plan your next venture, traipsing about some dusty old ruin in search of treasure, lore, and let’s not forget ... dangerous creatures whose horns, claws, fangs, heads, or even hides might comfortably adorn the walls of your trophy room. If you survive. Research has never been so dangerous!

Harvard’s acclaimed geologist “charts Earth’s history in accessible style” (AP) “A sublime chronicle of our planet." –Booklist, STARRED review How well do you know the ground beneath your feet? Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most or even all of the above. The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative. Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, renowned geologist Andrew H. Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth, charting our home planet's epic 4.6 billion-year story. Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context, A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. Features original illustrations depicting Earth history and nearly 50 figures (maps, tables, photographs, graphs).

First released in 1975 and revised throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the Dungeon! boardgame lets you explore a multi-level dungeon in search of treasure guarded by terrible monsters. The deeper into the dungeon you go, the deadlier the monsters and the greater the treasure. The player who returns to the beginning chamber with the most treasure wins!

An immersive illustrated primer to the enchanted beings, magic users, and spells of Dungeons & Dragons, the leading fantasy role-playing game. This illustrated guide transports new players to the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons and presents a one-of-a-kind course on the wizards, sorcerers, and other magic-makers for which the game is known. Featuring easy-to-follow and entertaining explanations of how spells are created and used in the game, along with original illustrations of the game's essential magical characters, this book shines a spotlight on the mystical side of D&D. The perfect jumping-on point for young fans of fantasy looking to give D&D a try, Wizards and Spells also features prompts to encourage creative problem-solving skills in the dangerous situations that may be encountered in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

"Whether you need dungeon vermin or a world-shaking personification of evil, the Tome of beasts has it. Here are more than 400 new foes for your 5th edition game--everything from tiny drakes and peculiar spiders, to demon lords and ancient dragons."--Back cover.

Explore a wealth of new rules options for both players and Dungeon Masters in this supplement for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. The beholder Xanathar—Waterdeep’s most infamous crime lord—is known to hoard information on friend and foe alike. The beholder catalogs lore about adventurers and ponders methods to thwart them. Its twisted mind imagines that it can eventually record everything! Xanathar's Guide to Everything is the first major expansion for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, offering new rules and story options: • Over twenty-five new subclasses for the character classes in the Player’s Handbook, including the Cavalier for the fighter, the Circle of Dreams for the druid, the Horizon Walker for the ranger, and many more • Dozens of new spells, a collection of racial feats, and a system to give your character a randomized backstory • A variety of tools that provide Dungeon Masters fresh ways to use traps, magic items, downtime activities, and more—all designed to enhance a D&D campaign and push it in new directions Amid all this expansion material, Xanathar offers bizarre observations about whatever its eyestalks happen to glimpse. Pray they don’t come to rest on you. Beauty and guile are in the eyes of the beholder!

The perfect tool to help Dungeon Masters manage their monsters during play. These 81 durable, laminated cards represent a range of deadly beasts from the Dungeons & Dragons supplemental book, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, complete with stats and illustrations. From the Banderhobb's stealth bonus to the Yuan-ti pit master's cantrips, monster cards let DMs select, organize, and access the information they need to help keep encounters running smoothly, without flipping through the books. • Color illustrations bring battles to life without revealing the monster's rules text • An evergreen accessory useful for all fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons tabletop gameplay • An invaluable resource for EVERY Dungeon Master

Just in time for Halloween, this lavishly illustrated sequel to the "New York Times" bestseller "A Practical Guide to Dragons" showcases the spooky, unexpected, and always fascinating world of such monsters as giants, goblins, and mummies.

Delve into dungeons with this kit for the world’s greatest roleplaying game Delve into the Dungeons’ Depths This kit equips the Dungeon Master® with a screen and other tools that are perfect for running D&D® adventures through dungeons, whether ruined or thriving. The Dungeon Master’s screen features a painting of a fantastic vista that plunges into the deep reaches of a mountain. Useful rules references cover the screen’s interior, with an emphasis on dungeon-delving.

Every Dungeon Master needs a screen to conceal notes and dice rolls and to have valuable charts and information close at hand. This Forgotten Realms accessory includes a 32-page booklet of tables and topography and a four-panel screen containing a wealth of information and featuring original artwork on the front.

This is a book that allows players to adventure in the pre-flood mythological world of Pangea compatible with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. INTRODUCTION: The World is ending… The gods are angry… The people want blood. Welcome to the Genesis Campaign Setting, a prehistoric world of violence and blood. A group of powerful beings called The Watchers were supposed to guide the world but instead fell in love with all it had to offer. Their offspring, the gods, war with these Titans and have set themselves up in various regions as separate pantheons of deities over the mortals. Dragons and Dinosaurs roam Pangea devouring the mixed blooded races all the while there is a prophecy of the world coming to an end, drowned in death. The world is young, only a few centuries past its first millennium. Magic is wild, powerful, and supernatural. The citizens of the world are violent, hardy, and bestial. The powers of good and evil are at a constant war. Paradise and Sheol are physical places in this world, as are Elysium, and Valhalla. From the six fingered frost giant Thor and his mighty hammer Mjollnir, to the half-blooded Nephilim Hercules and the fire breathing Leviathan Lotan, many legends have found their place in Pangea. A side note of historical and religious accuracy: Have you ever wondered if the myths of the ancients were based in fact? Have you ever wondered what the prehistoric pre-flood biblical world would look like in light of works such as the Book of Enoch and the Epic of Gilgamesh? As a religious studies major, I do not believe that this setting will be 100% accurate to what the biblical creation theory suggests, but all works herein are created with a sense of “What if?”. What if Thor and Zeus and these deities were actually the “Men of Great Renown” mentioned in Genesis Chapter 6. What if the Titans that battled and birthed the gods are these Nephilim mentioned in scripture and referred to as Titans by the Greeks. Creative license is obviously taken to create a fun campaign setting, but I hope this inspires all who play with a sense of wonder. What if this setting isn’t as fantastical as we think?

Defend yourself and protect your assets in a lair that feels as real and alive as your monsters with advice from Keith Ammann, author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters. The world is a dangerous place—especially when you’re up to no good. Whether you’re a rampaging monster, a calculating mastermind, or the current possessor of the Golden MacGuffin, someone’s going to come at you. Probably more than one someone. You can’t know when, but you can choose where. You need to be ready. You need a lair. In How to Defend Your Lair, gamemaster Keith Ammann pulls back the curtain on an underrated but crucial part of any tabletop roleplaying game: the theater of battle. Say goodbye to encounters in randomly generated dungeons and hello to a game in which where the fight takes place is just as important as who is doing the fighting. This book teaches you how to use real-world principles of building security and area defense to create strongholds infused with flavor, informed by narrative, and complex enough to force your players to think strategically. You’ll look at the strengths and weaknesses of both defenders and potential attackers, creating spaces that are strong enough to keep out ordinary intruders...and to provide thrilling challenges to extraordinary ones. Including more than a dozen fleshed-out sample strongholds, How to Defend Your Lair is a crucial resource for any RPG gamemaster who wants to push players to think about how to solve problems before running at them head-on.

An illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the beloved role-playing game told through the paintings, sketches, illustrations, and visual ephemera behind its creation, growth, and continued popularity. FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE DIANA JONES AWARD From one of the most iconic game brands in the world, this official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS illustrated history provides an unprecedented look at the visual evolution of the brand, showing its continued influence on the worlds of pop culture and fantasy. Inside the book, you’ll find more than seven hundred pieces of artwork—from each edition of the core role-playing books, supplements, and adventures; as well as Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels; decades of Dragon and Dungeon magazines; and classic advertisements and merchandise; plus never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts, and more from the now-famous designers and artists associated with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. The superstar author team gained unparalleled access to the archives of Wizards of the Coast and the personal collections of top collectors, as well as the designers and illustrators who created the distinctive characters, concepts, and visuals that have defined fantasy art and gameplay for generations. This is the most comprehensive collection of D&D imagery ever assembled, making this the ultimate collectible for the game's millions of fans around the world.

The digital technologies of the 21st century are reshaping how we experience storytelling. More than ever before, storylines from the world's most popular narratives cross from the pages of books to the movie theatre, to our television screens and in comic books series. Plots intersect and intertwine, allowing audiences many different entry points to the narratives. In this sometimes bewildering array of stories across media, one thing binds them together: their large-scale fictional world. Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers describes how writers can co-create vast worlds for use as common settings for their own stories. Using the worlds of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones, and Dungeons & Dragons as models, this book guides readers through a step-by-step process of building sprawling fictional worlds complete with competing social forces that have complex histories and yet are always evolving. It also shows readers how to populate a catalog with hundreds of unique people, places, and things that grow organically from their world, which become a rich repository of story making potential. The companion website collaborativeworldbuilding.com features links to online resources, past worldbuilding projects, and an innovative card system designed to work with this book.

A study of the gruesome game characters we love to beat—and what they tell us about ourselves. Since the early days of video games, monsters have played pivotal roles as dangers to be avoided, level bosses to be defeated, or targets to be destroyed for extra points. But why is the figure of the monster so important in gaming, and how have video games come to shape our culture’s conceptions of monstrosity? To answer these questions, Player vs. Monster explores the past half-century of monsters in games, from the dragons of early tabletop role-playing games and the pixelated aliens of Space Invaders to the malformed mutants of The Last of Us and the bizarre beasts of Bloodborne, and reveals the common threads among them. Covering examples from aliens to zombies, Jaroslav Švelch explores the art of monster design and traces its influences from mythology, visual arts, popular culture, and tabletop role-playing games. At the same time, he shows that video games follow the Cold War–era notion of clearly defined, calculable enemies, portraying monsters as figures that are irredeemably evil yet invariably vulnerable to defeat. He explains the appeal of such simplistic video game monsters, but also explores how the medium could evolve to present more nuanced depictions of monstrosity.

The perfect tool to help Dungeon Masters manage EPIC fights with legendary monsters. These 77 durable, double-sized, laminated cards represent every legendary monster found in the D&D Monster Manual, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. From a lich's armor class to unicorn's horn attack, monster cards let DMs select, organize, and access the information they need to help keep encounters running smoothly, without flipping through the books. • All 77 cards have up-to-date game statistics on one side, and 73 of them include evocative art to help to bring battles to life without revealing the legendary monster's rules text. • An evergreen accessory useful for all fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons tabletop gameplay. • An invaluable resource for EVERY Dungeon Master.