#monsters of the multiverse

[dnd-smash-pass-vs]

Yeah it took me until like the 3rd time I saw one of these to realize it's Goblin backwards. What is it? Why it's a goblin, around that 3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) tall range. Happy, mirthful, great sense of humor, it has mage hand and can even magically make you laugh, because that's a god. Straight up divine possession. Don't try to hurt it, it'll just heal from the pain and charm you into singing its praises. and if you do kill it it'll just instantly go into the next goblin so there's no point. You see, when Maglubiyet killed most goblinoid gods, the god of Trickery and Mischief simply broke itself into pieces and ran. The goblins wiped their name from history and memory so they could never be found. Now in every goblinoid warband there is a jester, who gets to do whatever they want. If they're stopped, or the uptight hobgoblins don't allow a jester, BOOM! It's an endless wave of trickster mode goblins! So what you're fucking is a nameless mischief god who escaped death to annoy the usurping war god in the funniest way possible.

[captaincleverusernamehere]

I forgot how Monsters of the Multiverse was laid out and for a second I just thought Mordenkainen was very happy about his monsters :D

[gyrrakavian]

With goblins having Fey Ancestry now thanks to Monsters of the Multiverse, that means my goblin artificer having a gnome grandfather is completely valid.

[tigerkirby215]

I could be writing next week’s build but I’m going to bitch about Monsters of the Multiverse instead

(I’m using Prestige Eclipse Senna because it’s not like I’m going to use this artwork anywhere else. Artist unknown; made for Riot Games.)

https://old.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/ure5qd/monsters_of_the_multiverse_patch_notes_writeup/

I bought the book (mostly because I didn’t own Volo’s / Tome of Foes and I wanted the newest version of the races, also D&D Beyond content kekw) but I haven’t peeked at it properly yet. Thankfully people on Reddit have done me the favor of listing all the “patch notes” so I figure while I wait for (STUFF) to happen early in the morning I’ll just write my thoughts on what was changed in MoTM, and post ‘em whenever this thread is done.

General Changes

I like the change to innate spellcasting and that’s about all I can comment on. I was never the biggest fan of innate casting because it felt kinda bad to have one-time use spells, but getting them added to your spell list makes certain race / class combinations more interesting.

Aarakocra

Gust of Wind isn’t that impressive but it isn’t terrible. I like that it gives the Aarakocra more flavor though, and it has some interesting implications for the general adventuring day.

RIP 50 foot flying speed but that shit was broken as hell. RIP the “Aarakocra” language but it’s not like you ever got to use it lol. Overall a nice improvement that fixes balance problems and gives the race some new abilities to compensate. Still a rather boring flying race overall though in my humble opinion, and I think WoTC shouldn’t be so scared to make flying races interesting.

Aasimar

Smol Aasimar pog.

Healing Hands being buffed is nice. Being able to choose your transformation (instead of it being tied to subrace) is nice, although Necrotic Shroud is still based on Charisma because fuck you I guess no good pseudo-magical abilities for Martials.

The extra damage from your transformation being your Proficiency Bonus (as opposed to level) is a HUGE nerf. Even with the transformation being a Bonus Action (a nice buff overall) the loss in damage isn’t worth it. I thought the transformation was going to be usable Prof Bonus times per Long Rest? Being able to add Prof Bonus to your attacks and essentially cast a 3rd level spell (Fear / Fly / Spirit Shroud) absolutely isn’t worth it. Way to gut Aasimar, WoTC. :^) I’m going to be homebrewing the transformations to be Prof. Bonus uses per Long Rest, thanks.

Bugbear

Why was long limb race buffed? It was good enough smh. Legit just flat buffs for the sake of flat buffs on a race that was already rather strong because fuck balance.

Centaur

Basically nothing was changed (except for the fact that the hooves are a d6 now) which is rather ironic given reasons that will be apparent soon.

Changeling

Changelings being Fey is actually kinda interesting. The biggest change however is that Shapechanger now allows you to be Small, which is actually a pretty big buff to the race. This does actually make Changelings better than “just cast Disguise Self” which is a nice boon overall, but idk if Changelings really needed the buff.

Deep Gnome

Wow free Disguise Self and Nondetection? I mean one is way stronger than the other but it’s still a nice buff! Stone Camouflage also being pocket advantage is very useful for a variety of characters; most notably Rogues obviously but there aren’t many characters who wouldn’t appreciate free advantage for the few odd times they roll Stealth.

Duergar

I find the advantage against Stunned (as opposed to Paralyzed) odd. Is Stunned more common? Less? I dunno. I think this might just be a shadowbuff to Hold Person, which causes Paralyzed. At least Duergar are good against Monks?

You can actually cast Reduce on yourself, which is nice. and you can cast outside of sunlight. RIP Stone Cunning for Duergar lmao.

Elves

Because that’s how the document I’m reading is based on.

Trance getting 2 weapons / tools is actually rather crazy. It suddenly makes Elf Eladrin / Sea Elf / Shadar-kai Wizards, Sorcerers, and the likes capable of using rapiers if they don’t want Shocking Grasp. Rogues and Monks in particular can get whips and scimitars without multiclassing.

Eladrin

So Fey Step can be based off INT or WIS but Scourge Aasimar can’t? Fuck you WoTC.

Sea Elf

Cold resistance. N e a t. This actually makes a Sea Elf Monk a decently good build: Cold resistance, swimming speed, Elven Accuracy feat, and whip proficiency. Might make a Sea Elf Monk at some point.

Shadar-kai

Flat buff to their teleport. Kk. More of an Eladrin reskin than before (in terms of racial abilities.)

Fairy

lol

Firbolg

They kept the old Firbolg artwork? Fucking seriously?

Anyways Hidden Step being Prof Bonus uses per Long Rest is way better than before tbh. It makes it way easier to use when you need it. Other than that nothing much was changed but the problem with Firbolg was always their lore and ugly-ass appearance, not their racial traits. WoTC plz bring back 3.5e Firbolgs or make Mercer’s cowbolgs canon I beg of you.

Genasi

Darkvision is nice. Size stuff is nice. That’s all I really have to say.

Air

Biiiiiiig buffs! 35 foot movement speed, resistance to a damage type (no matter how uncommon it is it’s still nice), and two free spells, one of them being Shocking Grasp which is universally good! There’s a reason I made Zeri an Air Genasi when I built her: I think Air Genasi arguably became one of my favorite races!

Earth

Still a boring race and I don’t know what use Blade Ward as a Bonus Action has.

Fire

Flame Blade is a bad spell. They couldn’t think of anything else to give the Fire Genasi? Eh I guess they’re still fine as is, but I’d play a Tiefling instead any day.

Water

Removing Shape Water was weird but hey: Acid Splash and Water Walk are alright as spells. Water Walk in particular can be cast as a Ritual if you get a class which can Ritual Cast. Overall still kinda a boring race that’s basically only defined by a swimming speed.

-

Genasi still kinda suck with the exception of Air Genasi, which are now super cool ngl. I’m sad that Air got so many cool abilities when it was already the coolest Genasi, meanwhile Water got nothing more than a combat cantrip and Earth / Fire arguably got nerfed.

Githyanki

Astral Knowledge is pretty crazy for a Monk / Rogue for reasons I listed before with the elves. Other than that it’s basically the same, although you can’t pick the race for Medium armor proficiency.

Githzerai

Basically the same lol.

Goblin

Net neutral imo. Being able to use Fury of the Small more often is nice if you want to nova I guess.

Goliath

My DM mentioned that “Little Giant” technically stacks with Bear Totem Barbarian and other sources of the “Powerful Build” trait because of WoTC wording. Other than that Stone’s Endurance buff(?) is nice since more accessible uses of the ability helps overall.

Harengon

lol

Hobgoblin

So this is where the Feywild Hobgoblins went! I don’t like that Saving Face / Fortune of the Many still needs allies around you but nerfing it to a flat +3 is fine overall. +5 was too strong and I think +3 when you have an ally within 30 feet is a good compromise, but the need to have 3 allies close to you still sucks.

Kenku

Kenku basically got a flat buff, hm? I mean, I guess you can’t stack Expertise on Deception but everything else is a flat buff. Kenku Training in particular is absolutely fucking nutty: it’s free Advantage on two chosen skills for basically no cost. Setting this on any important skill like Perception, Insight, Stealth, or Athletics makes your character just... good for the sake of being good? Kenku arguably got overbuffed and I really don’t understand why.

Kobold

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I don’t have much to say other than “removing Pack Tactics in favor of ‘durr you get a skill proficiency’ is lame as fuck.” Was Pack Tactics overpowered? Yes. Do I prefer these boring as hell kobolds? God no. Pack Tactics explained it way better than I ever could.

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Eh well I may as well copy-paste my comment on that video too:

Lizardfolk

First of all: if you saw a problem with fictional lizard people making weapons out of bones then you’re the racist one for projecting real-world racial stereotypes on fictional lizard people. :^)

Other than that it’s effectively a net neutral on Lizardfolk, but I have no idea why Cunning Artisan was removed. It feels like they took out abilities that made the race unique purely because “fuck you that’s why.”

Minotaur

Okay so they removed Cunning Artisan from Lizardfolk but then added Labyrinthine Recall to Minotaur? So are we removing stereotypes or not? I guess when it comes to fictional cow people it’s fine to make stereotypes about Greek Mythology, but stereotypes about fictional lizard people isn’t fine?

Orc

First of all the artwork is fucking cool. I’m not posting it (something something go buy the book.)

But like... Orcs are just objectively better than Half-Orcs now, right? Because the one trait that made Half-Orcs worth playing (Relentless Endurance) are available to full Orcs, and crit fishing builds are fucking bad which makes the only other trait of Half-Orcs fucking bad. Bonus Action Dash + Temp HP is better for every class except Monks and Rogues, and you were never going to play a Half-Orc Monk. (Half-Orc Rogue maybe I guess.)

I like this change because it removes the racist lore of Orcs and makes them sooooo much better as a race, but holy shit fucking lmao RIP people who liked Half-Orcs get fucking cucked.

Satyr

Weird language change that’s seemingly only done because of the new monster statblocks that WoTC has been pushing out.

Shifter

I am the resident furry and probably the only person who knows what Shifters do (like I am consistently surprised that no one knows what they do) so I can give a fairly in-depth review on the changes.

Bestial Instincts: It’s nice because you can now go for Longtooth and take a skill proficiency that isn’t fucking Intimidation. You can also choose between Athletics or Acrobatics depending on if you’re focusing on DEX or STR, with Survival being there as a nice backup. (Acrobatics and Athletics are universally good to have though to avoid grapples though.)

Languages: +1 language pog! I know I usually brush off languages but hey: a buff’s a buff!

Shifting Temp HP: It’s pretty obvious that level + CON will almost always be higher than x2 Prof bonus. That being said x2 Prof bonus is “good enough” in most cases. To illustrate my point here’s a line graph showing the relative difference in Temp HP between a character with +0 CON mod and the current Shifter Temp HP.

The difference between the two of them doesn’t become that big until around level 13 or so. Even by level 20 there’s only an 8 Temp HP difference, which yes is still noticeable but by level 20 it’s basically the equivalent of a 1st level Healing Word.

Shifting No. Uses: This is the other big thing. Being able to shift Prof. Bonus times is basically a net buff. Having your Shifting be more easily accessible isn’t just a buff for ease-of-use, but it’s also a big buff to the subraces (no more subraces lmao) that get more situational boosts from their Shifting: Longtooth can now reliably use their Bonus Action attack in most fights, and Wildhunt can use their Shifting out-of-combat without feeling like trash.

Shifting overall: Unless you’re getting Short Rests equal to your proficiency bonus this is a big net buff, and honestly if you get that many Short Rests then chances are you didn’t need your race to be stronger lol. Overall the Longtooth probably got the biggest buff (arguably being the strongest Strength-based melee combat race now although I’d still prefer to play a Minotaur ngl) with Wildhunt also being made better. Beasthide can grab skills other than Athletics now which is nice for character diversity (DEX tanks are easier to make.) Longstride is basically the only one that hasn’t gotten buffed that heavily, but even then you can take a skill other than Acrobatics if you want more movement speed on your PAM + Sentinel character or something.

Tabaxi

Smol cats pog.

Tortle

Why did they lose Survival proficiency...?

Triton

Weird buff but a buff none-the-less. You can talk to water elementals now lol, which presents some interesting thematic builds. Honestly the bigger buff is that your innate spells get added to your spell list, since you can get Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, and Water Walk...

Hey wait a second Wall of Water got replaced with Water Walk! That’s kinda shitty. I guess technically Wall of Water wasn’t in the PHB so they can’t say that you get that spell. WoW is a better spell than WW but neither spell is too ground-shattering overall, so I guess Water Walk isn’t that bad overall.

Yuan-Ti

Smol sneks lol.

They nerfed Poison Immunity but this race is still overpowered bullshit overall. You now get Suggestion (and Animal Friendship?) added to your spell list for free, so they made a dumb race simultaneously more and less dumb at the same time.

---------------------------

Overall

These changes confuse me. Buffs to strong races, nerfs to weak ones, and complete removal of some abilities for no other reason than “memes lmao” seemingly. There are some good changes here but a whole lotta bad ones. Actually ya know what we may as well list all the ones I think are good and bad:

Good Changes

Changeling

Deep Gnome

Duergar

Eladrin

Firbolg

Air Genasi

Water Genasi

Githyanki

Hobgoblin

Kenku (very crazy buffs for no reason lmao)

Minotaur

Orc

Sea Elf

Shadar-kai

Shifter

Tabaxi (smol cats pog)

Net Neutral

Aarakocra

Centaur

Fairy

Earth Genasi

Githzerai

Goblin

Goliath

Harengon

Satyr

Bad Changes

Aasimar

Bugbear

Fire Genasi

Kobold (RIP in piss Pack Tactics)

Lizardfolk (Very strange nerf overall)

Tortle (Very strange nerf overall)

Triton (I liked Wall of Water more but not a huge nerf)

Yuan-ti (Poison Immunity being nerfed to Poison Resistance doesn't make up for the fact that playing a Yuan-ti gives you the Suggestion spell for free on your spell list)

Any race that’s bolded I feel very strongly about. The ones with notes in brackets usually imply that the change is very small but small enough for me to consider it noteworthy, although sometimes I just want to comment with my final thoughts.

Also when I say good / bad change I don’t mean buff / nerf, but rather if the change makes the race more balanced overall.

I guess as a whole this book is mostly harmless (with the exception of the absolute gutting of kobolds.) I’m happy to have purchased this as someone who didn’t own Volo’s Guide or Tome of Foes. But I feel like this book as a whole was a waste of printing time just to errata some stuff that didn’t need to be errata’d. Or rather, I wish that they had actually written some damn errata instead of releasing an entirely new book just to fix things.

[gamertxme]

Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (Dungeons & Dragons Book)

[thebibliosphere]

I feel like I've complained about Tim's email situation in Gotham Knights before (edit: I have), but the truth of it is just so funny.

He's signed up for so many podcasts, video game streamers, and random news alerts; it's just a constant barrage of data going straight into his constantly whirring brain. Hell, he even floats the idea of the Batfamily having their own podcast as a way to correct misinformation about them (which Jason shoots down instantly), and it's made me realize something.

Timothy Drake would be a YouTuber.

In this universe specifically, Timothy Jackson Drake, the heir to Drake Industries and the foster son of the late Bruce Wayne would be a YouTuber.

Think about it. It'd be the perfect cover. Who would ever suspect that some 16-year-old nepo baby with a YouTube channel could ever be Red Robin? You'd have to be mad. I mean, look at him.

Red Robin just dropped out of literal thin air and garotted someone four times his size, and you expect anyone to believe that's the same kid who does 24-hour Minecraft charity streams and occasionally drops 6-hour video essays (his last one was on Lex Luthor's illegal bit mining operation on the moon)?

That kid?

You think that kid is Red Robin?

Ch'yah, okay, sure. And the Joker is funny 🤡.

[pocgamer]

Monsters of the Multiverse: A Review

Taking a look at #DnD's Multiverse of Monsters book! #TTRPG

Spelljammer is live now, but if you’ve read my last post on the topic and been following any of the critiques of its slim pickings approach to the setting and its needs, you’ll have probably guessed that I can’t give the setting a fair shake in terms of review. So instead, let’s dive into a review of Mordenkainen Presents: Monster of the Multiverse! (more…)

[lemonyoatmilk]

Praise the Spider Queen 🙏✨🕸️🕷️🕸️✨🙏

[hood-ex]

DC's vampire comic was bad not because Dick Grayson was the villain, but because Dick Grayson lost in the end. He should have won and that is on that.

So true, he deserved to win, especially when his justification for killing was like, "Well you eat innocent cows and chickens that never did anything, I eat vicious people." Lmao

[dnd-smash-pass-vs]

Boggles! Tricky 3 ft (0.91 m) fey born out of feelings of loneliness. They're always emitting either sticky or slippery oil (thier choice) and can create personal use portals. Like, this doorway now leads to right behind you and I can reach in and out, Portal style portals. Needs a doorway or gap or something for one side, but not the other. Other than that, they're just mischivous little fey creatures that like playing pranks!

[sysig]

Puts the “plates” in “Fellplates” (Patreon)

[coolingrosa]

Hc that Error doesn’t mind Nightmares tentacles b/c they more like goopy slime than a persons hand or body. So instead of being left out Nightmare just wraps him up in a cocoon and calls it a day

[thebad-lydrawn-sanses]

hoLY SHIT DREAM IS ACTUALLY TERRIFYING WHAT OMG

[tervaneula]

HECK I FORGOR TO POST AN UPDATE

Frames were acquired!!! ✨

@witchofthemoss this truly was the best thing I've done in a good while, thank you for enabling me<333

[nikki-tine]

"Hello, Dear...~ 💖"

"... Aww, Did I get you a little Starstruck?~"

I wanted to make Kia Lockhart fanart for a while, and I finally managed to spit something out! Dunno why, but Elocin always seems to help with that. Hmm...

For @xsunnysoftx!

[naffeclipse]

If we’re mixing aus like this then what about naga CS Eclipse? Cryptid hunter Y/N traipsing through the jungle looking to hunt down a monster that’s been terrorizing a local town, except whoops! They found this big cuddly bastard along the way

Oh geeze though, what if BL Eclipse and SJ Naga Eclipse with Cryptid hunter Y/N,,, the shenanigans,,, the violence,,,,,

YOOO

Augh, CS Eclipse as a naga is terrifying and gorgeous! He keeps his four arms so he can be the most creature. His long tail is inky black like water under a moonless sky, and he shines iridescently with crimson and midnight blue in the light. His horns and frills are so strange and majestic. His jaws can split open and swallow any animal whole. He's quite the terrifying sight.

A monster in the jungle.

CS!Eclipse is less demonic and more monstrous, so that means no vessel to hide behind. Y/N meets him first in the darkness of night, mistaking him for a helpful person hidden behind the trees who guides them to the next town because what kind of monster would hesitate to strike them dead where they stood?

"You look lost, friend."

"I think you're right. Can you point me to the next town?"

"...Follow. Watch your step."

"Oh, thank you, sweetie. That's very kind of you."

Eclipse leads Y/N to where they need to go. Y/N tries to ask how they can express their gratitude to him for making a scary and difficult journey through the jungle at night just to help them, but Eclipse has already faded into the darkness. He still watches Y/N in their confusion at his disappearance. He knows what a monster hunter looks like. He could have killed them, but they were kind to him, unafraid when he first spoke.

Perhaps a few more midnight meetings in the thickest, densest parts of the jungle where Y/N won't catch a glimpse of his black tail or his four wicked pairs of claws would be lovely.

Perhaps Y/N might hunt too far into the jungle one night and get lost, unable to make it to town before morning. Eclipse could help them find shelter and a place to rest, never revealing himself, much to Y/N's growing intrigue. Maybe, once Y/N has finally fallen asleep, he can slip close enough to brush their hair across their forehead and feel their warmth and wonder how badly they would react once they realized what they were speaking to. But morning arises, as it always does, and Y/N wakes up to foggy dreams of their cheek being stroked as they were carried through the night. But it was just a dream. They don't find their friend in the jungle but they do find their way back to town—interestingly, they were a lot closer than they originally thought.

Now Cryptid Hunter Y/N with BL!Eclipse and SJ!Eclipse? That's not the best combo for a fighter who already has it out for any monsters.

BL!Eclipse understands what Y/N is; he loathes them. He wants to kill them the second they step where they shouldn't. Unfortunately, they have a very large shadow following their every move, so BL!Eclipse chooses to either stay away (the hunter can pick that naga off first for all BL!Eclipse cares) or wait until the hunter is alone, and then strike. He can easily stay out of sight and reach, but he is not fond of humans who think they can be rid of him easily.

SJ!Eclipse on the other hand is so much worse. Go figure. It's one thing to not immediately give in to him. It's another thing entirely to try and stop him. Imagine his umbrage at this little human trying to kill him. Cryptid Hunter Y/N is a fighter and isn't about to slow down to chat with what they know to be a lethal beast. Unfortunately for Y/N, that means a deathly encounter. SJ!Eclipse sees red and a living stress ball that he wants to squeeze to death after being shot at, and poor Y/N is going to endure far worse harm before their spilled blood gives SJ!Eclipse pauses and, perhaps, just one little reason to not squish this little bug quite yet.