Archive for the D&D Next Category

Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse On Sale Now

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast with tags , , on May 17, 2022 by boccobsblog
Mordenkainen astride his kirin Petey. Both are about to be lunch to an Astral Dreadnought.

According to wizards.com/dnd:

A bestiary of wondrous friends and foes for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Sparkling with the musings of the wizard Mordenkainen, this tome features a host of creatures for use in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Hailing from every corner of the multiverse, these creatures represent some of the most benevolent and malevolent forces that D&D heroes might face.

The book also gathers together fantastical peoples from many different worlds. Each of these peoples represents a race option when you create your D&D character, expanding on the choices in the Player’s Handbook.

Compiling and updating monsters that originally appeared in Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, this book presents friends and foes for any D&D campaign, many of them accompanied by the comments of Mordenkainen. The wizard has faced many of these monsters and peoples on numerous wondrous adventures. Now it’s time for you to venture forth and face these creatures yourself!


  • Includes over 250 monsters. Updates to the monsters include making spellcasters easier for Dungeon Masters to run; giving many monsters more damage and resilience; and improving the organization of the stat blocks themselves.
  • Includes over 30 playable races. Brings all the game’s setting-agnostic races into one book, complementing the races in the Player’s Handbook.
  • A multiverse of lore. Includes updates to monster lore that refocuses the stories on the D&D multiverse, rather than on any particular world.

Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse is Available now!

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast with tags , on November 16, 2021 by boccobsblog

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Available Now!

The greatest minds in the multiverse meet at Strixhaven University. Professors convey fantastic secrets to eager students, and life on campus is frenetic. But danger lurks even here. Campus hijinks mix with mishaps and sinister plots, and it’s up to you to save the day.

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos introduces the fantastical setting of Strixhaven University to Dungeons & Dragons, drawn from the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering. It also provides rules for creating characters who are students in one of its five colleges.

Characters can explore the setting over the course of four adventures, which can be played together or on their own. Each describes an academic year filled with scholarly pursuits, campus shenanigans, exciting friendships, hidden dangers, and perhaps even romance.

Contents: 

  • Includes four brand new D&D adventures that can be played as stand-alones or woven together as a campaign from levels 1–10
  • Adds a new playable race—an owlin, one of the owlfolk who study at the university
  • Includes a bestiary of over forty magical creatures and NPCs
  • Experience D&D in new ways through the academic challenges, extracurricular activities and jobs, and relationships explored on campus
  • Includes a beautifully illustrated double-sided poster map that shows Strixhaven’s campus on one side and important locations on the other
  • Attend an elite mage university, choose your college, and adventure your way to graduation

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast with tags , , , on September 21, 2021 by boccobsblog
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is dnd_hourglass_stdbkcvr_0003.png

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is available now.

According to Wizards of the Coast:

Once every eight years, the fantastic Witchlight Carnival touches down on your world, bringing joy to one settlement after the next. Its owners, Mister Witch and Mister Light, know how to put on a good show. But there’s more to this magical extravaganza than meets the eye!

The carnival is a gateway to a fantastic Feywild domain unlike anything found on the Material Plane. Time has not been kind to this realm, however, and dark days lie ahead unless someone can thwart the dastardly schemes of the Hourglass Coven.

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight takes adventurers from the Witchlight Carnival to Prismeer, a Feywild domain of delight, and is designed for characters of levels 1–8. This book comes with a poster map that shows the carnival on one side and Prismeer on the other.

Contents: 

  • Explore the Plane of Faerie in the first official D&D adventure set primarily in the Feywild
  • Easily drop The Witchlight Carnival into any campaign—for passage into the Feywild or just a night of carnival games and wild entertainment
  • Introduces two races—play as a fairy or as a harengon, a race of humanoid rabbits
  • Adds two backgrounds—the Feylost who grew up in the Feywild, and a Witchlight Hand who works at the carnival
  • All encounters can be resolved without resorting to combat, rewarding clever ideas and creative roleplay
  • Classic 1980s Dungeons & Dragons characters return, including Warduke, Strongheart, and Kelek

ISBN: 9780786967278

SKU: C92760000

20 Feywild Quest Ideas

Posted in boccob's blessed blog, D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , , , , , on September 13, 2021 by boccobsblog
Next Dungeons & Dragons book will be a whimsical romp in the feywild -  Polygon

With The Wild Beyond the Witchlight just around the corner (Sept. 21), its high time we gave our tables some #feywildbullshit in our adventures. However, the biggest problem facing DM’s is usually just getting to the feywild in the first place. With that in mind, here are 20 feywild crossroads (portal) ideas to use in your campaign! 

  1. Traversing exotic islands, the party stumbles upon a battle between Triton’s and Merfolk across a coral reef. If the party decides to help one group defeat the other, the reef becomes a portal to either the Elemental Plane of Water or feywild Lake. 
  1. While ascending alpine slopes, adventurers can choose to scale a particularly imposing cliff face or go around it. If they choose to scale it, they climb for much longer than expected, and the top reveals another, even more magnificent cliff… in the feywild.
  1. Trudging through a swamp, a player sees a group of fireflies leading off in a specific direction. As they follow, the swamp water begins to smell sweet rather than rotten and the ground becomes spongy rather than muddy. An arch of glowing green moss leads them into a colorful feywild marsh. 
  1. As your table wanders deeper and deeper into a forest, the party begins to notice the trees growing larger and larger. One tree has a large cavity at the base, big enough to sleep in. If they stay overnight, in the morning the trees will become the size of buildings (like Lothlorian), and they will have been teleported into the feywild. 
  1. Deep in a dungeon, a particularly small party member wiggles through a hole that opens up to a magnificent cavern. If they drink from the water dripping the stalactites, they will pass out and regain consciousness in a similar cavern, but in the feywild where the ceiling drips cool silver rather than water. 
  1. A rocky desert with scattered cacti greets the hero’s as they descend from the mountains. If any adventurer wants water from a cactus in blook, and slices it open, the inside of the cactus will glow a warm, bright pink. If they arrange pieces of the cactus into a circle, a portal will appear to a wildly blooming cactus forest. 
  1. The party travels through a countryside littered with isolated pillars of rounded granite pillars jutting up into the sky. If they climb one of them, they will see other pillars in the feywild floating in the sky, with vines that one can maybe, just maybe, leap and grab hold of.
  1. The group walks onto a beach that still has its morning mist shrouded over the waves. If they enter a rocky cave before the mist blows off, they will exit on a feywild coastline with marine colored waves twice as large
  1. A city museum features a painting made with magic paint of a grand countryside. If the party is there at sunrise/sunset, for a brief few seconds the painting begins to blow with breezes and chirp with birds. They can hop through it if they want, but the portal is only one way; they would need to find another way out. 
  1. To reach their quarry, the adventurers must cross a frozen lake. If they do so in a gentle snowfall, and one of them falls through, they will discover the water to be comfortably warm, and teeming with colorful life. They will even be able to breathe this fey lake water. 
  1. Mr. Mcgillicutty’s flower garden is in full bloom, and people from all across the countryside have come to marvel. Even folk from a different realm, creatures of the feywild, have taken notice, as it is eerily similar to a garden they have seen back home.
  1. Our heroes are terrified as they walk along a rickety bridge across a bottomless chasm. The red hued walls are so beautiful they rival those found in the feywild. If anyone falls off the bridge they will NOT crash into the rocks. Instead they gently land on soft moss at the bottom of a fey canyon four times deeper than the one in the material plane.
  1. As the players travel across a Serengeti type plain, they sense that a fresh spring rain will be coming soon. If they travel through the night as it rains, by morning they will not really notice how the colors of all the flora are popping, for they will be distracted byt the 50ft tall elephants roaming the feywild land. 
  1. Wandering through the woods, the heroes come across cascading waters into a pool that seems particularly radiant. If they walk behind the waterfall and grab some of the moss with supposed healing properties, when they exit they will find themselves in a feywild pool that is as large as a lake. 
  1. Crossing the countryside, the party run their hands through the fields of wheat. If they are there at sunset and close their eyes, the wheat will suddenly feel as hard as rock. Opening their eyes, they will see that the golden wheat is now solid gold… they have stumbled into the treasury of the Summer Court. 
  1. Weary from travel, our heroes enter the outskirts of a halfling village hurrying to ready for the annual festival. Once a year, satyr’s in the feywild set up the exact same decorations, creating a portal that allows both groups to party all night together. 
  1. Exploring a barren desert, the party settles down for the evening, noticing the weather to be particularly clear. If all are awake at midnight under a spectacular starry night sky, the desert will become a bright pink, and when they wake the fey desert will be full of vibrant oases as far as the eye can see. 
  1. It is autumn in the forgotten realms, and your campaign trail has led to a forest of aspen trees. The bright red, orange, and yellow is more alive than the flickering flames of a fire. As a big wind blows, for a brief few moments the fallen leaves twirl into a portal that can be entered. 
  1. In the frigid arctic, the party faces a frozen glacier. If their fire is out, the light of the full moon will reflect all throughout the clear ice in such a way that they feel they see a frozen fey banquet hall full of creatures dancing. A swift swing of the blade will shatter the thin veneer and allow them to take part in the festivities. 
  1. Strolling through the forest, the party steps down to drink from a bubbling stream. If any of them lose their balance and fall in, they discover the current is much, much faster than it looks, hurdling them down stream. If they ever dip beneath the waves, they will come up for air in a feywild river. 

About the Author
Riley Rath is a freelance copywriter who specializes in serving the tabletop gaming community. He is currently running a campaign and playing in TOA. His favorite board games include: Space Alert, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Puerto Rico. Ever since he was a kid, he has had a vivid imagination and longed for adventure. Every stick in the hand was a sword or weapon to be used against imaginary enemies! As an adult, he continues to adventure through backpacking the wilderness, connecting with other people, and, or course, role-playing in D&D. And though when he was young he always preferred to play outside to reading indoors, he now delights in reading all sorts of history, philosophy, and theology. 

Candlekeep Mysteries Drops Today!

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast with tags on March 16, 2021 by boccobsblog

According to the WotC website:

Great Books Hide Their Secrets Well

An anthology of seventeen mystery-themed adventures for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Candlekeep attracts scholars like a flame attracts moths. Historians, sages, and others who crave knowledge flock to this library fortress to peruse its vast collection of books, scribbled into which are the answers to the mysteries that bedevil them. Many of these books contain their own mysteries—each one a doorway to adventure. Dare you cross that threshold?

Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of seventeen short, stand-alone D&D adventures designed for characters of levels 1-16. Each adventure begins with the discovery of a book, and each book is the key to a door behind which danger and glory await. These adventures can be run as one-shot games, plugged into an existing Forgotten Realms campaign, or adapted for other campaign settings.

This book also includes a poster map of the library fortress and detailed descriptions of Candlekeep and its inhabitants.

Adventure authors include: Graeme Barber, Kelly Lynne D’angelo, Alison Huang, Mark Hulmes, Jennifer Kretchmer, Daniel Kwan, Adam Lee, Ari Levitch, Sarah Madsen, Christopher Perkins, Michael Polkinghorn, Taymoor Rehman, Derek Ruiz, Kienna Shaw, Brandes Stoddard, Amy Vorpahl, and Toni Winslow-Brill.

Candlekeep Mysteries Alternate Cover

Grab your copy today!

MORE Ravenloft!!!

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , on February 23, 2021 by boccobsblog

Fans of the demiplane of dread will be happy to hear that Wizards of the Coast is releasing Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.
According to the WotC D&D Facebook page:

Fans of horror in Dungeons & Dragons know there is much more beyond the Gothic horror in 2016’s Curse of Strahd. That’s where Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft comes in with a refresh of more than 30 Domains of Dread and their infamous Dark Lords. Want to know what’s happening in the surreal fairy tale landscape of Dementlieu? Or in the dark jungles of Valachan? Or what magical horrors D&D players with Dark Gifts will have to contend against in Haslan? Van Richten will be your guide when the mist beckons on May 18th!

Monsters of the Wild

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons, Kickstarter with tags , , on February 19, 2021 by boccobsblog

Andrew Cawood and and his crew of creatives are back with the fourth title in the Monster series: Monsters of the Wilderness – Oswald’s Curse. While the other three titles focused on one environment, Oswald’s Curse traverses seven different biomes, each defined by unique monsters. This beautiful collection of over 100 5e monsters (more if we hit those stretch goals) is entwined with the story of Oswald Myrr, a powerful, and seemingly mad, wizard bent on revenge.

According to their press release:

Now on Kickstarter! Monsters of the Wilderness is the 4th book in our bestselling 5E Monster Series! 140-160 pages, fully-illustrated, full-color with hardcover, softcover, and PDF versions. Up to 120 monsters in 7 distinct regions, adventure hooks, encounter tables, events tables, locations tables, GM advice, and more. Stretch goals include extra monsters, PC subclasses, interior cover art, and custom-made dice from Q-workshop.

 Oswald Myrr is a legendary wizard who has been banished by the Wizard Council. This crazy spellcaster has unleashed a curse on the world after opening numerous portals called ‘Riftgates’. These openings enable travel around the world and to other planes. However, many evil creatures from other worlds and strange, dark energies have come through the Riftgates. 

The book is divided into 7 wilderness regions: Ocean, Arctic, Desert, Swamp/Jungle, Forest, Hills/Lakes, and Mountains. Each region has a wizard or witch from the Wizard Council and a monstrous titan (see below). 

This book features artwork by Travis Hanson. Hanson is the creator of the Life of the Party, and Beam, tabletop RPG comic strips. Hanson has provided the artwork for the previous monster books and given the line a solid, cohesive feel.

Monsters of the Wilderness: Oswald’s Curse is funding now on Kickstarter. Funding will continue until Thu, March 4 2021 7:59 PM CST. Check it out! You can learn more about Cawood Publishing, and grab their D&D5e adventures at worldofmyrr.com

Ravenloft Revamped

Posted in D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , on October 20, 2020 by boccobsblog

WotC has revised the Curse of Strahd adventure, and released it as a boxed set. According to WotC:

Bury Yourself in Gothic Horror

Unearth the terror of Ravenloft in this boxed adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia.

Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came—all according to his plan.

A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.

Coffin Components

Curse of Strahd, one of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game products of all time, split into three parts: a 224-page perfect-bound adventure for characters of levels 1–10, a 20-page Creatures of Horror booklet of new monsters that appear in the adventure, and an 8-page Tarokka Deck booklet.

A cover sheet with Strahd von Zarovich’s image on one side and Strahd’s monster stat block on the other.

A sturdy, four-panel Dungeon Master’s screen designed for use with the adventure.

A double-sided poster map showing the domain of Barovia on one side and Castle Ravenloft on the other.

54 foil-stamped Tarokka cards, which help determine the heroes’ path through the adventure.

A tuck box to hold the Tarokka deck.

12 postcards (3 copies each of 4 different cards), which you can use to invite friends to your game.

Is this new boxed set just a money grab? Is it in response to recent criticism to WotC handling of the handicapped NPC or the Vistini? In either case, will you be taking your players through the mists to the Demiplane of Dread?

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , on September 15, 2020 by boccobsblog

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden drops today. This arctic-themed adventure, set in Icewind Dale, takes players from level 1 through 12.

According to WotC:

Some Secrets are Worth Dying For

Feel the cold touch of death in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

In Icewind Dale, adventure is a dish best served cold.

Beneath the unyielding night sky, you stand before a towering glacier and recite an ancient rhyme, causing a crack to form in the great wall of ice. Beyond this yawning fissure, the Caves of Hunger await. And past this icy dungeon is a secret so old and terrifying that few dare speak of it. The mad wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood long to possess that which the god of winter’s wrath has so coldly preserved—as do you! What fantastic secrets and treasures are entombed in the sunless heart of the glacier, and what will their discovery mean for the denizens of Icewind Dale? Can you save Ten-Towns from the Frostmaiden’s everlasting night?

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is a tale of dark terror that revisits the forlorn, flickering candlelights of civilization known as Ten-Towns and sheds light on the many bone-chilling locations that surround these frontier settlements.

Item details

Price: $49.95
Release Date: 15 September, 2020
Format: Hardcover

Will you be taking your players to the frozen wastes of Icewind Dale?

Adult Sapphire Dragon Miniature

Posted in D&D 5e, D&D Fifth Edition, D&D Next, Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , , on August 17, 2020 by boccobsblog

Sapphire Dragon

As a part of  D&D’s 45 Anniversary, WotC, in partnership with WizKids has released a gem dragon mini (maxi? it’s pretty big). According to WotC:

Celebrating 45 years of Dungeons & Dragons!

The glittering sapphire dragons are the most territorial of all the gem dragons to a dangerous degree. They collect magical weapons and armor as the centerpieces of their hoards and vault them away in isolated caverns.

A sapphire dragon’s psionic nature is evident in horn and bone structures of their body. Their tail barbs and horn tips are all separate pieces, but they float in place, held aloft by the dragon’s psychic force while the dragon lives. These levitating horns and spines shift slightly with the dragon’s mood, bobbing in amusement or flaring dangerously with anger. Its scales and wing membranes are varied shades of blue, ranging from the light tones of a spring sky, to the rich, crystalline azure of sapphire gems and compressed glacial ice. In the light, many of their scales glitter and shine with luminous starburst images.

Over 160mm tall, this miniature is based on the all new art for thesapphire dragon, released by Wizards of the Coast for the 45th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Completely translucent with gemlike effects on the wings and body, this dragon is a great foe for your next adventure or a beautiful piece for display!

Item details

Price: $69.99
Release Date: 30 August, 2020 (it’s actually available now)

Need a gem dragon for your D&D campaign? You can get one here.